google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Tuesday, November 5, 2019 C.C. Burnikel

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Nov 5, 2019

Tuesday, November 5, 2019 C.C. Burnikel

Is your name Google, because you have everything I want.  There is a dating app hidden in each of today's theme answers.  Apps didn't exist back in the dark ages when I was dating.  Do these apps replace bad pick-up lines?  Here is a fun puzzle from our very own C.C.

18-Across. Black-and-yellow pollinator: BUMBLE BEE.



24-Across. Tense tennis moment: MATCH POINT.

37-Across. Volatile situation: TINDER BOX.
54-Across. Body part that provides limited motion: HINGE JOINT.


And the Unifier:
61-Across. Mobile download for single people, and what the starts of 18-, 24-, 37- and 54-Across have in common: DATING APP.


Across:
1. Works on a quilt: SEWS.  My mother made over 500 quilts for the Linus Project ~ an organization that donates quilts to children in hospitals or are victims of disasters.  This is the last quilt my mother made.  She completed it just a few days before she was killed.


5. Team that won the Women's World Cup in 2019: USA.

8. Winter skating sites: PONDS.  Rinks also work, but some skating rinks are available all year long. Ponds are less reliable and the ice is never smooth.

13. Yawn-inducing: HO-HUM.

15. Melancholy: SAD.
16. Love to pieces: ADORE.


17. Burr, to Hamilton: ENEMY.  As in Aaron Burr (Feb. 6, 1756 ~ Sept.  14, 1836), Vice President under Thomas Jefferson, and Alexander Hamilton (Jan. 11, 1750s ~ July 12, 1804), the 1st United States Secretary of the Treasury.  The former shot and killed the latter in a duel.  Everything you ever wanted to know about the Hamilton-Burr duel.


20. Fodder for fantasy football: STATS.  As in Statistics.

22. Cause for a handshake: DEAL.

23. Waited to be found, maybe: HID.

26. Classroom staffer: AIDE.

27. Word after drinking or driving: AGE.  Are the Drinking Age and Driving Age same in your state?

28. Maple extract: SAP.  My family had friends who had a sugar house in northern Vermont.  When I was a kid, I used to go there during sugar season and we would have Sugar-on-Snow.  The sap would be heated to syrup, and while still hot would be poured on fresh snow.  It would immediately harden. It was so tasty!

29. Many an eBay user: SELLER.

31. Curtain holders: RODS.

33. Jack of "Dragnet": WEBB.  Jack Webb (né John Randolph Webb; Apr. 2, 1920 ~ Dec. 23, 1982), portrayed Sgt. Joe Friday on Dragnet.  He wanted just the facts, ma'am.


36. Honeycomb units: CELLS.

40. Lion in "The Chronicles of Narnia": ASLAN.  This critter has become a crossword staple.


43. Marquee name: STAR.


44. 24-hr. banking conveniences: ATMs.  Do you remember the first time you used an Automated Teller Machine?

48. Sits on the throne: REIGNS.


50. Picture file suffix: GIF.  Ever wonder what GIF means?  It is an abbreviation for Graphic Interchange Format.

52. Fish-to-be: ROE.  Roe, Roe, Roe your Fish ...


53. Batting practice area: CAGE.  Think Baseball.
58. Fire pit residue: ASH.

59. "Soldier of Love" Grammy winner: SADE.  Sade (née Hele Folasade Adu; b. Jan. 16, 1959) is a British-Nigerian singer.
 

60. Much paperwork: FORMS.  Everyone's favorite forms.


64. Takes a breather: RESTS.

66. Kagan on the bench: ELENA.  Elena Kagan (b. Apr. 28, 1960) is an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court.  She joined the Court in August 2010.  She was the 4th woman to serve on the High Court.  She also makes frequent guest appearances in the crossword puzzles.


67. "Take that!": HAH!

68. Chuckleheads: DOPES.  I don't think I have ever used this word to describe someone.

69. Guitarist's aid: STRAP.

70. Moth-eaten: OLD.  It's old, because holey didn't fit.

71. "Pretty Little Liars" series novelist Shepard: SARA.  I am not familiar with Sara Shepard (b. Apr. 8, 1977).


Down:

1. Pronoun for a mom: SHE.

2. Way, way back when: EONS AGO.

3. Sparked, as one's appetite: WHETTED.

4. "Poison" shrub: SUMAC.
The poison Sumac is on the left.

5. Flash drive port: USB.  The Universal Serial Bus makes frequent appearances in the crossword puzzles.

6. Riyadh resident: SAUDI.  Riyadh is the capital of Saudi Arabia.


7. Jingle-writing guys: AD MEN.  Do you know who wrote this little jingle?  *


8. Veil of gloom: PALL.

9. Poem from an admirer: ODE.


10. Ritzy San Francisco neighborhood: NOB HILL.  This neighborhood of San Francisco is home to many unique and historic buildings.


11. Hanukkah toy: DREIDEL.  [Note:  Because Chanukah is a transliteration of a Hebrew word, there are various spellings of the word in English.  The "CH" at the beginning of a transliteration indicates to the reader that the word is pronounced with a guttural "H" sound.]



12. Farm machines: SEEDERS.

Not intended for home use.

14. Traditional stories: MYTHS.

19. Dugout rack items: BATS.
21. Produce offspring: SPAWN.

24. Spoil: MAR.

25. Opinion pages: OP-EDs.  This has become a crossword staple.

26. Echo Dot assistant: ALEXA.  Amazon's assistant.  This one comes complete with a clock.


30. Prefix with friendly: ECO-.  As in Eco-friendly.

32. Place for a play: STAGE.  Nice clue.

34. Wager: BET.

35. North Carolina fort: BRAGG.  Fort Bragg is named for Confederate General Braxton Bragg (Mar. 22, 1817 ~ Sept. 27, 1876).  He had served in the United States Army, but resigned in 1856 to become a sugar plantation owner in Thibodaux, Louisiana.  He later joined the Confederate army, where he became a General.  He lost the plantation after the Civil War.  He died suddenly at age 59.


38. Place for a stay: INN.
39. Court filing: BRIEF.

40. Hangouts for video game players: ARCADES.

41. Chef's condiment: SEA SALT.  Sea Salt is made by evaporating seawater.  Some people claim is has healthful benefits, but there is no scientific evidence to support this theory.

42. Not as heavy: LIGHTER.

45. Dietary supplement once pitched by Anna Nicole Smith: TRIMSPA.

46. Centaur or chimera: MONSTER.
Centaur
Chimera

47. __ foot in: enter: SET.

49. Fluffy rug: SHAG.  Are these rugs still popular?

51. Norwegian inlet: FJORD.


55. Twin Falls' state: IDAHO.  Twin Falls is a town in Southern Idaho in the county of the same name.


56. Mount Everest is on its border with China: NEPAL.  Nepal is the only country in the world with a national non-quadrilateral flag.


57. Layered cookies: OREOS.  You can get Oreos in all sorts of flavors.
59. Piece of cake: SNAP.  I wanted Easy, but the perps objected.


62. Once __ while: IN A.

63. Deg. of distinction: Ph.D.  As in a Doctorate of Philosophy.

65. Retirees' benefits org.: SSA.  As in the Social Security Administration.


Here's the Grid:

*  Barry Manilow wrote a lot of ad jingles, including "I am Stuck on Band-aids."

If I don't comment on the blog, it's because a couple of weeks ago I really made a mess of my google account, and now it doesn't give me any options to comment when I am on my mobile device.

QOD:  Life it too short to work so hard.  ~  Vivien Leigh (née Vivian Mary Hartley; Nov. 5, 1913 ~ July 8, 1967)

44 comments:

OwenKL said...

No problem with the puzzle, but the theme bollixed me. TINDER I've heard of, MATCH is logical, but HINGE? And I've been married twice, both times to world-class klutzes, so I sure wouldn't want a date from BUMBLE!

Oh, I would just ADORE
To have a home by the shore!
By sea or POND
To float upon,
And forget the world evermore!

SARA was a SELLER of CELLS,
But the cells she sold were shells.
For her counterfeit fudgin'
She was thrown in a dungeon,
Now she lives in a cellar of cells!

{B, A+.}

Lemonade714 said...

C.C. continues to appear in all venues, including her home field. Having an unmarried son, I have heard of 3 of the 4 theme words hinge was unknown. I also had forgotten all about TRIMSPA and the tragic life of ANNA NICOLE .

I was wondering if it was coincidental that the DREIDEL was followed by SEEDERS which looked a lot like SEDERS.

Am I the only one who does not know the story of your mother's death, Susan?

Thank you, ladies.

BTW, OKL the second limerick was wonderful. Thank you as well.

Jinx in Norfolk said...

FIR, but erased dodos for DOPES. And I thought I was being sooo smart waiting to decide between dodos and dolts. I had trouble in the Waycross area, but thought the rest was Tuesday-easy.

MATCH.com pounds the airways with ads, but I've never heard of BUMBLE or HINGE. I hadn't heard of TINDER until this year's annual golf boondoggle to Myrtle Beach. One of our two single participants got tired of our tradition of watching The Masters replays and left in an Uber. He returned early the next morning looking like he hadn't slept a wink. I think that both were looking for a one-time thing, but he plans to look her up when we return in 2020.

The business law teacher of my MBA course told us that in court, BRIEFs are never BRIEF.

I just watched a Adam Ruins Everything about the ecological damage done by Mt. Everest climbers. I already knew about the thousands of discarded oxygen bottles. But I didn't know there are so many dead people frozen in place that some of the cadavers have become landmarks. Don't even think about the amount of poop left up there.

FLN: The Krispy Kreme smuggler has been reinstated and given distributor status.

Thanks to CC for another fine puzzle. And thanks to Hahtoolah for another stellar review. I think that all (or nearly all) states have 21 as the drinking age. The MADD mothers forced congress to tie federal transportation money to that change many years ago. In Virginia, one must be at least 15.5 years old to get a learner's permit (to drive; one doesn't need a permit to drink here).

TTP said...

Don't recall TRIMSPA or never heard of it. Didn't know SARA Shepard either, but the logical first A gave me both answers, so no failure today !

Thank you C.C. and Hahtoolah.

Never heard of BUMBLE or HINGE. My golfing buddy - the scratch golfer - showed and told us about TINDER on the tee box one day while we waited for the slow play groups ahead of us. He said it's a hook up site.

Illinois is 21 and 16. I was reading something the other day about a soldier that served overseas (and fought iirc), and came home on leave but couldn't have a beer because he was not yet 21.

The Carol Burnett show could be so funny. Went With The Wind

Poison Sumac... Yesterday I walked both sides of the honeysuckle hedgerow that straddles my property line with the neighbors. I thought I'd eradicated the poisy ivy, but she got a rash earlier this year after working on her side. It's hard to spot because of the non-poisonous ground cover ivy that's mostly on her side. At this time of year, the poison ivy leaves change color to a reddish hue and are easier to find. Didn't see any.

Yes, I saw on the early morning news that Krispy Kreme corporate has now "partnered" with the college as an independent operator and will give him 500 dozen-count boxes of Krispy Kremes to start. A nice outcome.

desper-otto said...

Good morning!

Thought this one might be EASY, but it turned into a SNAP. That was my only stumble. I don't think any of those APPS would work on my high-tech flip-fone. Thanx for the entertainment, C.C., and for the tour, Hahtoolah. (I was also surprised at the comment about your mom. Are you willing to explain?)

PONDS: In my ute it was a given that the mill POND would have 4" of ice by Thanksgiving, and the skating season could start. No longer true.

QUILTS: I vaguely remember that all of us kindergartners had to have our own QUILT for nap time. Do they still do that?

RODS: That Carol Burnett segment is one of her funniest. Thanx for posting it, TTP.

ATMS: I don't remember the first time I used an ATM, but I do remember the first time I used self-checkout.
[Put the item in the bag.]
"It's in the bag."
[Put the item in the bag.]
"It's in the bag."
[Put the item in the bag.]
After my next response, I was no longer permitted to shop at that particular grocery store.

Jinx in Norfolk said...

Forgot to mention that tonight is the opening of the NCAA Men's basketball season. And what a great way to start. At 7:00 EST ESPN has #3 Kansas v. #4 Duke, followed by #1 Michigan State v. #2 Kentucky. I hope State Farm has some new commercials. I like the Aaron Rogers commercials (with his real State Farm agent but pseudo sports agent), but the current ones are getting trite.

Last year #2 Duke beat #1 Kentucky by 40 points. Hope the game is closer this year, but I wouldn't mind seeing my Wildcats get beaten. I'll be cheering for them, but I don't want this crop of freshmen to think this season will be easy.

thehondohurricane said...


Morning everyone,

Got through the challenge today, but with some moderate difficulty. I knew the "Northmen had various spellings for FJORD, but the J was a wag. Earlier in the summer some of my HINGE JOINTS took a beating when I tripped setting up a table. Nothing broken and I'm almost back to normal.

Happy my first post in some time was a CC puzzle. Knew it would be a challenge, but doable.

Gotta run, Casey is bugging me. A couple deer just appeared and he's going "ape".





dreidel,

Oas said...

Always a great morning when you can start it with a CC puzzle. Thanx.
Great tour Hahtoola .
FIR but didn’t get the theme . Being in la la land for 51 yrs have no need for dating apps.

Owenkl et al If two women are standing on a street corner dressed in potato sacks , which one is the prostitute? The answer is in todays puzzle.
Cheers

TTP said...



C.C. has a puzzle today over at USA Today - Games

Spitzboov said...

Good morning everyone.

FLN - Thanks Michael for your info on my fractional characters question. I will try to put it to use.

Solved without difficulty. Got the theme fill but didn't fully 'get' it until reading Hahtoolah's intro. Well done. Love the visuals (GIF's?)

D-O - - Re: self checkouts. I don't favor them, but if heavy checkout traffic dictates, I reluctantly use them. I've found that if you act stupid, hapless and doddering, someone will quickly come over and do it for you and speed things up a lot.

Ray - O - Sunshine said...

Dont want to "BRAGG" but not only no crossouts I kept the letters in each square just small enough to not cross the the numbers as the crossword gods intended.

Speaking of "myths" never realized that by having the torso of a man (or woman...see "Fantasia") and the body of horse a centaur has two sets of lungs.

Almost identified Hamilton and Burr as "rivals" but did a perp check first.

Never heard of "trimspa" (could probably use it myself) filled with perps

Nice start to a dreary "sad" "hohum" rainy cold fall day with just a bit of colorful foliage hanging on for dear life

Husker Gary said...

Musings
-Not knowing TRIMSPA or two of the sites did not diminish my fun
-Making smooth POND ice
-The pre-Miranda Dragnet episodes are true legal and TV artifacts
-Two STARS heatedly argued over marquee billing. Solution: One is first on top and one is first left to right .
-Having Power Of Attorney over her mother’s affairs has generated countless FORMS for my wife
-Here’s a HE giving birth
-All fans of sports movies know the one with a BAT named Wonder Boy
-I spent many hours getting MIL’s horrible 40-yr-od SHAG carpeting out of her basement
-Once IN A while he won’t call…. But it’s all…. In the game
-Lovely effort, Susan!

Madame Defarge said...

God Morning.

Finally back in my old routine after our trip to Maine. What a delight! Spotty Internet and very little screen time. But, oh, that ocean and those trees! Even a Nor'easter--although she sped leaf-shedding along overnight. Lots of knitting and reading, but not much CW-ing

I was happy to be back to a C. C. puzzle. I'm pretty out of puzzle shape, but I did find the theme--in part: I've only heard of MATCH and TINDER, but I still struggled in the SE as I didn't know SARA or anything about Anna Nicole. Thanks, C.C.

Hahtoolah, What a fine review! Thank you so much. I am certain that took a lot of time.

Have a sunny day. Looks like we will here, but it's awfully cold for November.

SwampCat said...

Good morning.

Fast and fun puzzle for me today. I didn’t get the theme of course, and still don’t recognize most of those apps, but perps were friendly.

I questioned MYTHS for traditional stories; first seem quite right but it fit and made sense. No problem.

Hahtoolah I loved the write up! Thanks so much for Braxton BRAGG and Carol Burnett.

OAS, your version of the potato joke made more sense than the one I know....”three potatoes were standing...”. Women in potato sacks seems much more reasonable.

D-O, little kids who nap at school still need some sort of covering but in my experience it’s mostly synthetic blankets now. Pity.

Susan, I also made lots of quilts. It’s an addiction! And lots of fun.

Owen, poor Sara!! A++ indeed! Thanks for the laugh.

Tinbeni said...

Hahtoolah: Outstanding write-up & links.

OwenKL said...

OAS: That's an easy question. The pro is the one not wearing a potato sack marked "Oregon"!

My first thought was Raymond Burr vs. Hamilton Burger.

Centaurs were not MONSTERS! The euphonious Mentor was a Centaur, teacher, and IIRC also a doctor. The Centaurs in Harry Potter were not nice, but everywhere else I can recall reading about them, they were the good guys.

OwenKL said...

*eponymous

Abejo said...

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

Hahtoolah, sorry to hear about your mother. Hope it was not a recent event.

Caught the theme with DATING APP, but did not know what BUMBLE, TINDER, and HINGE alluded to. I am a little behind the times I guess.

My most difficult answer to get was ENEMY at 17A. I read the clue; Burr, to Hamilton. I thought has to be MASON for Perry Mason and Hamilton Burger. No cigar. Then I tried PERRY for the same reason. No cigar. Then I tried AARON for Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton. No cigar. I knew I wanted MYTHS for 14D, and SUMAC for 4D, so ENEMY hit me in the head and it worked. The rest of the puzzle went much easier.

SADE was unknown, but perps fixed that. Same for SARA. Also for TRIMSPA.

Cold today while guarding. 31 degrees.

See you tomorrow.

Abejo

( )

Lucina said...

Hola!

What fun to have a C.C. puzzle once again! And aptly reviewed by Hahtoolah! Thank you both.

I decided to again solve in ink and I got it! Another flawless grid! That will likely change tomorrow as I take my pencil in hand.

I had no idea that so many dating sites existed and have head only of MATCH through TV ADS. Several people I know have met their mates on the internet and have married them.

My fourth graders read The Chronicles of Narnia so I'm familiar with ASLAN. One of my students remarked, "nothing like that ever happens in my closet!"

Susan, that's a beautiful quilt and what a wonderful legacy your mother left in creating and donating quilts.

I remember Anna Nicole Smith but not TRIMSPA which was filled entirely by perpage.

Have a beautiful day, everyone!

Irish Miss said...

Good Morning:

Another CC offering with a fresh theme, so well hidden that I was scratching my head trying to find a link. I've heard of Match and Tinder but Hinge and Bumble were totally unknown and, IMO, totally off the wall as dating app names. I have no recollection of TrimSpa, and Sara Shepard is not on my radar, but the rest of the fill was pretty straightforward or easily inferable, so an easy solve.

Thanks, CC, for a fun Tuesday and thanks, Hatoolah, for a bright and cheery summary with the usual array of dazzling visuals.

I'm still grumpy after going through the mind-boggling, patience-trying, frustrating experience of trying to speak to a human at Spectrum Cable to request a human serviceman. I called three different numbers, all answered by Rosie the Robot who wants to fix your problem by rebooting your cable box, something I have already tried, with no resolution of my problem. My perseverance earned me a serviceman's visit, scheduled for Thursday, between 12:00-1:00.

Hondo, don't be a stranger.

Madame Defarge, welcome back. (I envy your Maine experiences.)

Swamp Cat, nice to hear from you. I hope your posting problems have been resolved.

Have a great day.

Misty said...

How exciting to get a Sunday C.C. commentary, a Monday Boomer review, and now a C.C. Tuesday puzzle. Weeks don't start any better than this. I loved this puzzle until I got to the southeast corner, which did give me a bit of trouble for a while. But it helped to get the regular OREOS. Nice to see ELENA Kagan in the puzzle, and that Jack WEBB from "Dragnet" so long ago. Can still hear his terse speech. So, thank you for a delightful puzzle, C.C. And your write-ups are always a delight, Hahtoolah.

I bought my plane tickets to visit Dad and my brother in Pennsylvania at Thanksgiving online--thinking that would be the easiest way to do it. But still no confirmation a day later--very worrisome. Hope I get some response today.

Have a good day, everybody.

Oas said...

That lame joke I thought of is probably as old as the hills . The degree of mirth it generates definitely depends on the teller and the listener and the immediate circumstances and maybe the amount of wine flowing .
Cheers

Oas said...

I had to pay for my sins today. That traffic violation I mentioned last month was supposed to cost me over three yes three hundred greenbacks. The Justice who heard my explanation was sympathetic to my case to the tune of cutting the fine nearly in half. The most money I’ve made in fifteen minutes for a very long time.
I’m raising my glass to this as we speak
Chees

Misty said...

My Thanksgiving plane ticket arrived online this morning. Huge relief. It will be a pleasure to spend Thanksgiving with my 91 year old Dad and my brother.

Jayce said...

I liked this puzzle. TIMDER and MATCH made me think maybe the theme had something to do with igniting fires, but BUMBLE didn't fit that theory. Then along came HINGE, which further confirmed that my fire idea was wrong. Ah, they're dating apps.

Hahtoolah, I also very much like your presentation style. Thanks for doing the Tuesday reviews.

As a kid, I skated on frozen PONDS and made Sugar-on-Snow. The latter were made from sugar our mom had heated to the point of it becoming a caramel syrup, which we poured onto a ball of snow ensconced on an ice-cream cone.

By golly, as I think about it, I realize I have never used an ATM. I don't think LW has either. Also, neither of us has used self-checkout. A lot of the time I don't go the way my car's navigation system tells me to go. I also don't know what the minimum drinking and driving ages are here in California.

When the first standards for USB were published, and Intel was just starting to promote it, I predicted it was too complicated ever to be widely adopted. I was half right: it is complicated as heck. I was half wrong: it is very widely adopted. I suspect my prediction about USB-C will be equally wrong.

Owen, I like your verses today.

Reading about Anna Nicole Smith's problems reinforces my belief that having a Will is exceptionally important to those you leave behind.

Irish Miss, our experience with AT&T DSL is similar: the first thing they do is tell you to reset the modem. In fact, they expend an inordinate amount of time walking you through the process. Well heck guys, of course we have already reset the modem! And then, finally, after much haggling, when we do arrange for a serviceman to come out, purportedly to check/repair the line, most of the time all the serviceman does is, you guessed it, reset our modem and declare the issue resolved. I do admire one guy, though, who, after resetting our modem and declaring the issue solved, strongly advised us to switch to "the other guys."

Best wishes to you all.

Jayce said...

Misty, so glad your plane ticket arrived. I understand your relief.

Lucina said...

Jayce:
I'm curious. How is it that you have neve used an ATM? Do you go directly the bank for cash or do you pay everything with credit cards? I know of one other person who doesn't even have a debit card; actually I know a few people and they are still in the convent and have no need for it. However, most of us do, so how is it with you if you don't mind my asking?

Misty:
I'm so glad for you that your plane ticket arrived.

jfromvt said...

Entertaining Tuesday puzzle. Thanks CC!

I believe I first used an ATM in 1979, when I went to grad school in NY. Don’t recall them being around in small VT at the time. Other than a few bells and whistles, they were pretty much the same as the ones today.

Ol' Man Keith said...

ALEXA has become part of my daily routine. She answers my questions, often with TMI, and times my exercise workouts. I am constantly reminding her to turn off her *#@! screen when I want to watch TV. (Her main face sits right under the bigger screen.)
I treat her rudely, but she is nothing if not forgiving.

Misty ~ Glad you'll be visiting your 91 year old Dad for Thanksgiving. I hope he is in good health. His age speaks to your longevity!

This was a good pzl, about the same degree of challenge from start to finish. Thank you C.C.!
I guess it speaks to my age that I did not recognize any of the theme fills as DATING APPs.
Back when I was between marriages, I did sign on to a brick-and-mortar dating service for a while.
It led to several blah dates and a 2nd marriage which turned out to be a foolish thing, one of the stupidest choices in my life. Random chance has worked out much better for me--for us!
~ OMK
____________
DR:
A 3-way on the near side. Only C.C.’s main line contains a sufficient balance of consonants & vowels to form a fair anagram, viz.:
A bevy of jokers, or any great plenitude of persons devoted to good-natured laughter or light ridicule. I speak of…
A JOSHER SEA”!

Irish Miss said...

Lucina @ 3:03 ~ The last time I used an ATM was probably 1985, or so. I have never used a Debit Card to pay for anything because I have never accepted one from a bank; zero interest in using one. Almost 100 % of my spending is by credit card but I also keep a certain amount of cash on hand which I withdraw from my bank on a regular basis. This is very convenient as my bank has a branch inside the supermarket where I shop. My recurring bills are either charged to my credit card or automatically deducted from my checking account. My financial system is simple, with minimal bookkeeping, but works for me. (I recently redeemed my Chase and Discover cards rewards for $300.00 gift cards for Omaha Steaks.) I'm also probably one of the few Luddites who doesn't have a cell phone but anyone (moi) who has an 18 year old car with 26,000 miles on it doesn't go anywhere far enough or often enough, to need a phone., IMO. (I might as well be in the Convent! 😇)

Jayce said...

Lucina, I don't mind your asking. We have had no need to use an ATM because:
(1) We pay for almost everything by credit card. Some bills we pay by check. And some payments are made by electronic account-to-account deposit.
(2) We keep some cash in our wallets to pay for anything that is not paid or payable by card or check, such as a bowl of clam chowder at our favorite seafood joint. LW gets the cash by going directly to the local bank branch and "cashing" a check.

Hmm, this sounds pretty much like what Irish Miss said.

CrossEyedDave said...

Well, sort of remember doing the puzzle this morning,
not too bad, with several things circled to question later...

Now, of course, I cannot remember a single thing I had questioned,
& the write up seems flawless...

While lurking, have not been able to post of late, things
just keep happening. Sunday, they delivered two main sections & no puzzle,
Monday they redelivered one main section, & no puzzle...

Also Monday, I got ripped off by a New Car SaLESMAN, (SNEAKY BASTARDS!)
( I really thought I had talked him down, then found out later he talked me up...)
Anywho, the old MiniVan is going to Sister In Law so she can Ferry MIL around
with her walker, as she is getting out of Rehab next week!
( broken neck, two months, amazing!)
(or is it three, I kinda lost track of sh*t when things went downhill...)

Which brings me to a new puzzle!
How do you fit a MiniVan's worth of Crap into a smaller SUV
& still keep it neat enough to keep DW happy?
(ah, the life of a pack rat is always about space...)

ANywho, I did bookmark Ode to Billy Joe to learn strumming patterns!
(never used a guitar strap, gets in the way...(see El Kabong...)

This dating tip link is brought to you by Mr. Meow...

& if you wonder why ATM fees keep going up, it's the Health Care...

ANywho,who (my form of P.P.S.)
DW uses my Alexa to help her sleep by playing the sound of waves on the beach
all night. But it keeps me awake because all that sound of running water makes me want to go to the Bathroom...

Being a visual person, & not having the time to go on a cruise,
I thought a drone video might help me sleep.
I haven't seen the whole thing yet, I fell asleep...

PK said...

Hi Y'all! Yay, a C.C. puzzle! Thanks, you always have such good fills. Thanks for a great expo, Hahtoolah! You certainly whet my curiosity to know what happened to your mother along with sympathy for the event.

MATCH.com was the only dating site I'd heard of for sure. Someone on TV said something about TINDER that made me wonder what it was. But I was completely un-HINGEd with BUMBLE. No longer looking for a companion.

I've never used an ATM or self-checkout. My debit card got hacked before I ever used it, so I gave up on that item. I have been going to the bank drive-thru for cash, but haven't been driving and I'm out of cash so that's next on my agenda of outings. Need something to tip my delivery services & prepare early for three birthdays & Christmas.

Ol' Man Keith said...

I'm with you, Lucina! I do not have a fancy cell phone.
There was a time in one of my earlier lives when I had to be available for phone calls nearly 16 hrs a day.
It got so I would take advantage of late night hours by unplugging our landline when I went to bed.
("But what if there's an emergency, a death in the family?!!"
"It'll wait. Leave a message.")

I guess others see cells as a convenience. To me, it means people can reach me whenever THEY want. I liken it to "belling the cat," and I'm the f*#@ing feline.

I confess I keep an old flip phone--for use in emergencies only. I do not ever give out the number.
I have used it once--for a 911 call.

I am a little* envious of all the games and apps that my wife has on her smart phone.
~ OMK
____________
*
Just a little.

TTP said...

Me too. Credit cards, ETF payments and cash. A pack of 40 checks lasts about 6 months or so.

I think I got an ATM card in 2008 but I don't think I used it until 2011 or 2012 when the local branch of my remote bank closed. I use it every once in a while, but it's probably been 2 months since I used it last.

I also have a cell phone now. For maybe the last three years. It stays plugged in to a USB charger in an unused outlet in the dining room. I check it every two or three days but have been trying to make a habit of checking it once a day. I don't take it with me when I'm out, but have used it to report a power outage to the electric company.

I'm far from a Luddite, but only very occasionally use an ATM. I avoid many of the popular social media sites because of the data collection they do. I don't use the cell phone for any apps and social media stuff. Cell phone apps are too invasive and require too many permissions for data that they don't need, IMO. Like Dash T said about Ring doorbell cameras, you are the product.

TTP said...



I questioned myself. Seems like that was way too many checks.

Ally sends checks in books of twenty. So maybe 3 or 4 a month to places that I don't want to have my credit card number or don't do ETF types of payments.

Yuman said...

Pre dating apps, I answered an ad in “The Single Scene” dating paper and met my husband. We have been happily married for 35 years. My best friend tried it and met her husband. Currently, my daughter tried several dating apps, met a very nice guy and they are engaged. There are positives and negatives of online dating. You need to do your homework, use common sense, and be cautious.

Lucina said...

This is all very interesting about debit cards, cash and paying bills. I am not surprised, though, given our ages. Although I have a debit card I rarely use it and like some of you, most of my bills are automatically paid either by credit card or withdrawn from my checking account. I rarely use cash anymore.

Jinx in Norfolk said...

My credit unions use a debit card for ATM access. I have mine set for $1 per day maximum, since I only use it for ATM access. If someone hacks your debit card, you are protected by bank policy. If they hack your credit card, you are protected by federal law. I use a Costco Visa for everything I can. My rebate check this year was over $800.

I remember falling in love with the ATM at the Torrance, CA Crocker Bank in the Del Amo shopping center, circa 1978. I thought it had a much better attitude than Crocker's human tellers.

I have to defend the people who write up the troubleshooting scripts. I helped roll out ISDN (advanced voice and data telephone services) at GTE, and got involved with the scripts for that. It amazed me to find out that "is the green light on?" question (meaning is it plugged in) solved quite a few tech support calls. What drives me crazy is being transferred to a higher level of tech support, only to have to do everything I have just tried.

Anonymous T said...

Tech Support in a nutshell.

Play later, -T

Hahtoolah said...

Hi, friends. I thought I had mentioned my mother's passing shortly after it happened. We lost her 3 years ago this month. She was run over in a freak accident.

I haven't used and ATM in years. I had just started my first real job in the early 1980s when ATMs really came into popular use where I lived. I thought they were great.

Anonymous said...

ERNEST GAINES, une légende louisianaise et originaire de la paroisse de Pointe-Coupée, est décédé ce matin.

Anonymous T said...

Hi All!

Whoot! Two C.C. puzzles today (thanks TTP). Both were fun and I noticed the same word in the NW of one & SW of the other puzzle.

Thanks Hahtoolah for the fun expo - loved the picture for ROD and learning Barry Manilow did the Stuck-On commercial; I was hoping DREIDEL was the South Park version :-) [Google it folks - I ain't linking that].

WOs: rot b/f checking perps for MAR, DRaIDEL, TeNDER
ESPs: TRIMSPA, SARA -- Only an A made sense for the WAG.
Fav: Seeing Jack WEBB [1:36 - mentions b/f / after Miranda HG]

The word FJORD always makes me think of Slartibartfast. [Wiki]

Only HINGE, as a dating app, is new to me. I heard of BUMBLE from the Swipe-Wars. I think I also heard on a Market Place segment that only women can initiate contact in BUMBLE.

{A, A+}
LOL DR OMK.

Misty - I was going to say check your Spam folder but you got the ticket before I could post! It will be a great trip!

OAS - and that's how I recall to spell I DA HO :-)

Fun to see you back CED.

Yuman - your reference to Personal Ads put Escape (Pina Colada song) in my head but that's about cheating (or wanting to) and falling back in love (I guess?)

I use ATMs all the time. Every two weeks for the cleaning lady & lawn guy (they like greenbacks). The last time I was in a bank was to pickup Euros I ordered online.
I don't mind the self-checkout if I have 5 items or fewer. I agree w/ D-O that the machines are a bit ignorant. //funny story D-O

Jinx - they (Fed Transportation) did the same thing to Louisiana with transportation money & Drinking AGE. Louisiana held out. Unfortunately, it went to 21 the year I turned 18; Fortunately, private clubs could still serve 18yros. Every bar suddenly became a club with $1 membership available at the door.

Cheers, -T

Wilbur Charles said...

Amazing. I dash through this Tuesday CC and never noticed the theme. CC constructs a very doable XW but, again, I never noticed the constructor.

I do all my posting on cellphone and only use the bank ATM. Else expensive fees .

Late again. I did the WSJ CC XW on-line. 26 minutes but a lot of that was fumbling around.

WC