Take Me Out to the Ball Game! Who gets the most Runs Batted In? The POWER HITTER!
17-Across. Corporate acquisition offer: TAKEOVER BID.
24-Across. Unfair hiring practice: GENDER BIAS.
34-Across. Marquee actor's honor: STAR BILLING.
48-Across. Life-changing incident for Peter Parker: SPIDER BITE.
And the Unifier:
57-Across. One batting cleanup who gets a lot of the stat hidden in 17-, 24-, 34- and 48-Across: POWER HITTER.
Across:
1. Sister's attire: HABIT. Religious garb.
6. Transmits, as a text: SENDS.
11. Young guy: LAD.
14. 2019 Australian Open winner Naomi: OSAKA. Naomi OSAKA (b. Oct. 16, 1997) represents Japan on the world tennis circuit. She was born in Japan to a Japanese mother and a Haitian father. She won the 2019 Australian Open, however, sadly she was eliminated from play in the 2020 Australian Open just last week. American Coco Gauff (b. Mar. 13, 2004) beat her. Look how young these professional tennis players are!
Naomi Osaka, age 22
Coco Gauff, age 15
15. Get used (to): INURE.
16. King Kong or Donkey Kong: APE.
King Kong
Donkey Kong
19. Pampering place: SPA.
20. "You should leave now": PLEASE GO!
21. Studio stand: EASEL.
23. Crew team's blade: OAR.
27. Nixon's older daughter: TRICIA. Tricia Nixon (b. Feb. 21, 1946) was married to Edward Cox (b. Oct. 2, 1946) in 1971 in the White House Rose Garden while her father was still President.
30. Belfast's province: ULSTER. Ulster is the green area on the map of Ireland.
31. Coil of yarn: SKEIN. A CSO to our resident knitters.
32. Geometry product: AREA.
39. "Close Encounters" hoverers, briefly: UFOs. As in Unidentified Flying Objects.
40. Arrange loosely: DRAPE.
43. Christie of mystery: AGATHA. Dame Agatha Christie (née Agatha Mary Clarissa Miller; Sept. 15, 1890 ~ Jan. 12, 1976) wrote over 60 detective/mystery novels. Her best known recurring detectives/sleuths are Hercule Poirot and Miss Jane Marple. Christie herself was involved in a personal mystery in 1926 when she disappeared for 11 days after a quarrel with her first husband.
47. Without exception: TO A MAN.
51. "Yada, yada, yada" letters: ETC.
52. Link to the internet: MODEM.
53. Has an easy catch with: TOSSES TO.
56. Soufflé need: EGG.
60. Big name in jeans: LEE.
61. Airport shuttles: TRAMS. An airport tram in needed to get from one terminal to another at the big airports. The Atlanta airport calls it the Plane Train. I use this one a lot because I nearly always have to go through Atlanta when I fly.
62. "__ Jacques": FRÈRE.
63. Give permission to: LET.
64. Final authority: SAY SO.
65. Fork-tailed seabirds: TERNS.
Down:
1. Family-style Asian dishes: HOT POTS. We found a fabulous Hot Pot restaurant in Houston that made hot pot just like we had in Chengdu.
2. Just for fun: AS A LARK. After getting the Lark, I wanted On A Lark, but the Sister's HABIT told me that was not the correct answer.
3. Bear claw makers: BAKERIES. Clever clue.
4. DIY furniture store: IKEA. This store has become a crossword staple. The company was founded by Ingvar Kamprad (né Feodor Ingvar Kamprad; Mar. 30, 1926 ~ Jan. 27, 2018).
5. Art community NNE of Santa Fe: TAOS.
6. Prolonged battle: SIEGE.
7. Scandal-plagued energy giant: ENRON.
8. Well-worn pencil: NUB.
9. Soft & __: deodorant: DRI.
10. Matzo meals: SEDERS.
11. Collie of old TV: LASSIE.
12. Become visible: APPEAR.
13. Handshake events: DEALS.
18. "Tom's Diner" singer Suzanne: VEGA. I knew the song, just didn't known its name.
22. NYC dance company: ABT.
25. Dramatic one-on-ones: DUELS.
26. Airline that doesn't fly on Shabbat: EL AL. A crossword staple.
28. Op. __: footnote abbr.: CIT. Today's Latin lesson. Op. cit. is an abbreviation fo Opus citatum, which means "the work cited".
29. __ flash: quickly: IN A.
32. Britcom starring Jennifer Saunders: AB FAB. Jennifer Jane Saunders (b. July 6, 1958) is one of the stars of the British comedy Absolutely Fabulous.
33. __ Grande: RIO.
35. Industrial area of western Germany: RUHR.
36. Words of commitment: I DO.
37. Agency under FDR: NRA. As in the National Recovery Administration. This agency was established on June 20, 1933.
38. Casino regular: GAMESTER.
41. Dressmaker's guide: PATTERN.
42. Concert extras: ENCORES.
43. Orbital high point: APOGEE.
44. 1959 Sandra Dee title role: GIDGET. The movie was before my time. Sally Field played the Gidget on the television show.
45. Drink suffix: -ADE. A partial CSO to the blog's Lemonade.
46. Dangles a carrot in front of: TEMPTS.
47. New Age pianist John: TESH. He probably doesn't like this picture anymore.
John Frank Tesh (b. July 9, 1952)
48. Get a whiff of: SMELL.
49. Market express lane units: ITEMS.
50. Sculpted form: TORSO.
54. Sort (through): SIFT.
55. Basic French verb: ÊTRE. This ver has become a crossword staple. I have conjugated it here in the past.
58. Man-mouse connector: OR A. Are you a Man OR A Mouse?
59. Method: WAY.
Here's the Grid:
QOD: Listening is being able to be changed by the other person. ~ Alan Alda (né Alphonso Joseph D'Abruzzo, b. Jan. 28, 1936), American actor
47 comments:
Nixon's daughter... Had to get -RICI- from perps before remembering.
Belfast's province... Had to get -LS-ER from perps before recalling.
Britcom starring Jennifer Saunders... Had to get A-FA- before recalling.
NYC Dance company... Had to get ABT from perps.
"Tom's Diner" singer Suzanne... Had to get VEGA from perps. Listened to about half of the song. Never heard it before.
In today's D'OH ! moment, my souffle need was a pan before an EGG. D'OH ! A ramekin, not a pan ! Who bakes a souffle in a plan ? No one. D'OH !
TaunTS before TEMPTS.
Concert extras went from tshiRtS to EsCORtS to ENCORES.
Coco Gauff is special. If she keeps progressing, she'll be a superstar on the courts. GGG. Girl got game.
I watched that FRÈRE Jacques video and I still don't understand what that song is about.
Have you ever been in the checkout line next to an open express line and get beckoned over to express by the cashier ? Then, just about the time you get the last of your 37 items up on the conveyor belt, you notice the line of the scowling and impatient looking people forming behind you.
Solved as a themeless, but saw the theme after the reveal. No hangups, just smooth sailing. Very comfortable.
Good morning!
Much, much easier than yesterday. No WAGs required. Zip, zip, done. It'd sound like bragging if I told you how fast it really was. I noticed that CSO to Mme Defarge. Thanx, GG, BV and Hahtoolah.
OSAKA: Where we landed on our tour of Japan back in the 60's.
ETC: I think I've mentioned that intoning "Yada, yada, yada" during the jurors oath makes the judge get all frowny.
LASSIE: Why do we always see Timmy (Jon Provost) and never Jeff (Tommy Rettig)?
ITEMS: TTP, was that you ahead of me in the express line? Too many items makes d-o get all frowny. BTW, "Frere Jacques" is a simple little ditty that everyone learns in first year French. Roughly translated: "Are you sleeping, Brother John? Morning bells are ringing. Ding, dong, ding" Yeah, I said it was simple.
Good morning everyone.
Got it all sans erreur. Simple theme but executed well, I thought, by the elegant choice of fill. No strikethroughs or look-ups were needed.
ULSTER - Last I knew; 6 counties. Belfast is in County Antrim. Just south of Belfast are the Mountains of Mourne in County Down. Very beautiful.
Thanks Hahtoolah for another lively and informative intro.
Spitzboov, Northern Ireland has six counties, Ulster Province had nine (including Donegal, Cavan and Monaghan), the UK enclave is not all of Ulster.
Thanks Billcohoes. Only repeating what I was told by the locals when we were there long ago.
Quick solve - already with a baseball theme before spring training! I had a quick switch when I had DUETS - thinking the dramatic part of the clue was on the stage- before changing to DUELS. I had heard the VEGA song but couldn't have told you the artist or the name of the song!
Thanks Susan and Gail& Bruce!
Thanks Gail and Bruce for a fine puzzle.
Fairly quick with enough pauses to wait for the perps to reveal some of the unknowns,
The theme entries filled in easily enough .
Thanks Hahtoolah for the tour.
FLN Irish Miss and AnonT. Yes it is special to have Mom around . Just as special I think is that the sibs get along . All for one and one for all works well.
Cheers
Boatload of proper names but thanks to the perps made it solvable. Didn't see the theme until I came here.Didn't care for the gimmick. I won't get into some of the cluing.
Good Morning:
Gail and Bruce never fail to deliver a fun, easy, and satisfying solve, IMO. I saw the RBI sequence early, but the reveal was still a surprise. Only unknown was Vega, but I really goofed in the NE corner by confidently thinking King Kong and Donkey Kong called for App instead of Ape. It took me longer than it should have to see this error. Other than that, it was smooth sailing. Nice CSO to Madame Defarge at Skein. I wonder if a young solver would even know what a Nun's Habit (Hi, Lucina) is.
Thanks, Gail and Bruce, for always pleasing us puzzlers and thanks, Hatoolah, for the dazzling photos and links and folksy commentary.
FLN
Keith, good news about Janice. I hope she has a speedy recovery.
Bill G, best wishes to Bararba as she begins her treatments.
Hola!
RBI? Really? I did notice the baseball theme but RBI means nothing to me for reasons I explained yesterday. But I enjoyed the solve so thank you, Bruce and Gail. You are still a POWERhouse duo.
Keep to the 15 or 10 or as many ITEMS as allowed, please. Frowny doesn't begin to describe my feelings otherwise.
It didn't take long for the fill to APPEAR in this grid and I used pen.
I don't shop at IKEA and am sure I never will. It's not my style.
PATTERN is a familiar word from my sewing days of the past. A few years ago I finally gave up my box filled with Simplicity, Vogue and other PATTERNs.
SKEIN immediately brought Mdme Defarge to mind. Did anyone see KNITTING in the Book Chapters category of Jeopardy last night? A Tale of Two Cities, of course, and no one knew it except Alex.
Thank you, Hahtoolah, for your delightful discourse!
Have a lovely day, everyone!
Liked the puzzle and what seemed to me to be solid perps. I needed the reveal to see the RBIs.
Keith I am glad Janice is recovering well. IMO,the surgeons can do amazing things these days.
Bill and Barbara, I am sending you healing thoughts.
My Japanese DIL serves hot pot meals called nabemono. Majority of the nabemono dishes are enjoyed in a communal manner, where the fresh, raw ingredients are prepped and arranged in serving plates surrounding a shared pot with soup broth on the table. Everyone then helps themselves by cooking and sharing the meal in the most lively manner. Examples include sukiyaki and shabu shabu.
TTP, I am always embarrassed when an idle fast checkout cashier calls me over when I have too many items. I go, but inevitably someone with a few items shows up and scowls. If I were to decline, the cashier would call someone else with too many items. My opinion, only YMMV.
Musings
-Shirley Bassey’s definitive James Bond theme warns “He's the man, the man with the Midas touch, A SPIDER’S touch”
-Robert Mitchum famously didn’t care who got STAR BILLING in his movies
-Those young tennis players make the Williams sisters seem even more amazing
-Dame AGATHA’s mysteries were natural successors to my love of the Hardy Boys in my yute
-Here we “play catch with” not “have a catch with”
-The worst boss of my childhood was a short, ill-tempered man nicknamed NUB
-Such a great scene when the boats did APPEAR! (1:22)
-ENCORE? Nope, “Elvis has left the building”
Addendum to FLN
-97-yr-old MIL seems to be doing famously at this Memory Care Facility after three days. They recommend we not see her for about a week to get her oriented.
-Listening to a nurse administer the pre-admission memory test to her mother broke Joann’s heart.
Desper-otto, thanks for explaining FRÈRE Jacques. Never knew.
Yellowrocks, it's happened enough times at the our grocery store (Jewel-Osco) that I'd have to believe that it is a standing order for the express lane cashier.
There's also a register at the service desk. Sometimes they even call us over there if there aren't any customers there.
The cashiers probably don't mind. They have to be there anyway. The store does a good job of keeping the lines flowing.
Why would anyone be embarrassed by having too many items in the express lane when the attendant, acting under store policy had called you over.? It's really none of the other shoppers' business any more than if you are getting extra cash on your debit card which the clerk doesn't have enough of so they have to wait until a front office type 'reloads' them. Are you there to ingratiate yourself with other shoppers or trying to get out of there in a fast, civil way? Just be polite and say 'please' and 'thank you' when called for. Look at it as making up for the times when a perfectly available checkout lane closes just as you are anticipating a quick check-out. Just my 2¢
Dagnabit !
Did it again. Chopped off my thanks to GG, BV and Hahtoolah in my first post, and got distracted and failed again in my second post !
Also, best wishes to all that are ailing or healing, or dealing with life-changing events.
Luckily,
the sun was shining on this puzzle...
Hi All!
Thanks Gail & Bruce for another fun outing; three(ish) weeks until pitchers and catchers report to Spring Training.
Thanks Hahtoolah for the expo. For some reason I associate the Doot-ta-doot-a [Tom's Diner] song with I Dream of Jeannie [oh, I LIU - Here's why].
WOs: GAMblers, Wrens b/f TERNS
ESPs: ULSTER, TO A MAN (as clued), Fraunch
Fav: AB FAB. DW & I watched with a grimace & LOL at every episode.
FLN - Good news re: Janice OMK! Keep us posted.
HG - Heartbreaking for Joann, I'm sure. God Speed both you.
TTP - been there, done the pantomime "but, but, but... She told me to come here... with my >12 ITEMS." Life goes on.
D-O: LOL Judge w/ frowny-face. I've got Jury duty next Tuesday; All I'll guarantee is I'll be more impartial than the Senate :-)
PSA - If you have a Mandoline get one of these.
Last night, after seeing Youngest inducted into NHS [National Honor Soc.], I raced home to build a salmon. In a hurry and eschewing the guard, I lost ⅙ off the pad of my right middle finger while slicing lemon for the fish. Talk about acid in a wound!
Cheers, -T
Always happy to see a Gail and Bruce puzzle, and enjoyed this one even though the southeast corner was a bit crunchy for me. And Susan, your pictures are just wonderful, along with your explanations--totally enjoyable.
Growing up Catholic I got HABIT instantly. Nice to see AGATHA in the puzzle, and I also fondly remembered GIDGET from those movies. Also LASSIE from early TV. Kind of a nice journey back to the sixties and seventies and eighties, now that I think about it. Don't know my baseball, so never got the theme or those RBIs in the longer items. But no problem, it was still a lot of fun.
I did watch "Jeopardy" last night, Lucina, and still don't get the KNITTING cue answer.
Have a root canal coming up today--not looking forward to it.
Have a good day, everybody (hopefully me too, even so).
In commenting, what does CSO stand for ? C shout out ?
Ron in LA, it's a coincidental shoutout. Blog regulars know that Mme Defarge is an avid knitter, so SKEIN in today's puzzle was a CSO. (Misty, the character Madame DeFarge is the "bitter knitter" in Dickens' A Tale Of Two Cities.) You can check out frequently used abbreviations at the Olio|Abbrs page from the r-h side of the main blog.
LA Ron - Coincidental Shout-Out. MdF knits, as all the Cornerites know, so a SKEIN of yarn evokes her (in our collective minds). Ibid ICE for TIN's (Pinch) neat nemesis, TOMs for TTP & D-O, PINS (or bowling anything) for Booomer, Santa-anything for our dear-departed Argyle, yada, yada, yada. Welcome, stay, play, and get to know the characters at The Corner.
Cheers, -T
Well, I think ingratiating might be too harsh a word.
As impatient as I can be at times, if I have a fully load cart, I'll often let someone with just a few items go ahead of me. Especially at stores such as the big box home centers that don't necessarily have express line checkouts.
I don't consider that type of behavior ingratiating any more so than I would consider holding a door open for another person as being ingratiating or subservient. I deem it polite, considerate and civil behavior.
There's nothing wrong with having some amount of empathy for the people that came to the express line behind someone with a full cart, nor potentially being somewhat embarrassed for being 'that guy' or 'that woman' even though, as you stated, that it was the cashier that beckoned you over.
But that's me. Probably why I like most people in Wisconsin and most Canadians. Almost always polite and considerate of others, and sometimes to a fault. (Hey Canadian drivers, it's ok to zipper merge !)
Spitzboov, I'm not calling you out, but rather want to make certain my position is understood. I would believe, based on your writings and comments here that you are a considerate and polite person. I think ascribing ingratiating behavior to someone that is empathetic of others is perhaps either a harsh presumption or just an unfortunate choice of words.
This Tuesday grid filled quickly.
One write-over....DRY/DRI.
ANON T...doesn’t your slicer come with the hand tool to hold the food?
On that note...about 66 years ago (wow) I was riding my 20” bike out my driveway, hit the sand at the bottom (from the winter plow trucks) while power pedaling, the rear tire just slid out and I landed on my side. My dad came out, saw that all I had was a scrape on my leg, as he cleaned the scrape up he said a phrase that I still remember.....”Haste makes waste”. Funny that after all these years I still remember that. When I got back from the ride the sand had magically disappeared from the driveway apron. I guess mom talked to dad. And I still take my time, especially when in a hurry, haha.
And on to Hump Day. Gee, I haven’t said that in a while as I am and have been retired.
TTP, yep, that's happened to me. If I had a full cart, I think I wouldn't switch lines.
I used up too many skeins doing Christmas knitting, now have tendinitis in my hand and have to wear a splint.
The nun said, "It is usually my HABIT
To take criticism timid as a rabbit.
But accusations fry us
That we practice GENDER BIAS
In our choir that performs upon the Sabbath!"
We are all singing, TO A MAN,
Every chance, the chants we can.
But there are notes soprano
We can only hit piano,
'Cept AGATHA, the POWER HITTER in our van!
We must give to her STAR BILLING,
Because when the the stars are willing,
The highest she can get
Like a soaring EL AL jet
Is an APOGEE that really is thrilling!
Hahtoolah: Wonderful, informative write-up & links.
Well I'm stuck with 68 degrees and sunny skies ... AGAIN !!!
A "Toast-to-ALL" at sunset.
Cheers!
TTP - I let people go ahead of me, too, if they have only a couple items. It's a considerate thing to do.
My comment was only confined to the situation where one is already committed to the unloading belt and is emptying out ones cart. At that point I consider I have helped the store by more fully utilizing their check-out capacity and reduced the wait time as a whole.
I just thought, since 2 or more had commented, that it might be interesting to see where the comments might go.
My rhetorical use of 'ingratiate' may have been a bit harsh. It was not meant to be personal.
Terrific Tuesday. Thanks for the fun, Gail and Bruce, and Hahtoolah.
I FIRed and saw the RBIs in good time. (Easter Egg with TOSSES TO above POWER HITTER.)
Three inkblots today.
My handshake events were Duels before DEALS; then I smiled to see that I needed DUELS for 25D.
Nixon's daughter was Trisha before perps corrected me to TRICIA.
My cleanup batter was a Pinch HITTER before POWER HITTER perped. (Isn't a good Pinch Hitter usually a Power Hitter??)
Most souffles need plural EGGs.
AnonT would have like a Rush clue like Geddy ___ for 60A.
CSO to MadameD last night on Jeopardy. I see Lucina beat me to the details. (There was a Wimple answer too - not HABIT.)
I must LIU- the difference between INURE and Enure, and TERNS and Ernes. We get all of them here frequently. (OK, apparently inure and enure are variant spellings with inure being more commonly used now; perhaps Canadian/British usage still favours enure.) (Briefly, an Erne is a sea eagle, white-tailed eagle, while a Tern is a sea bird similar to a gull with a forked tail.) More knowledge from doing CWs to tuck away.
I was misdirected by "Bear claw makers" to thinking of indigeneous crafts like Dreamcatchers.
TTP-re zipper merge: yes, DH always stays in the lane that is closing until nearly to the merge point. This nearly always causes me to feel that other drivers are angry that he is "butting in"; I know that it is more efficient, but Canadians haven't gotten the message and pull into the closing lane at the first sign. Do Americans regularly zipper-merge??
OMK-glad to hear Janice came through the surgery OK. Best wishes for her recovery.
BillG- thoughts & Prayers for Barbara and her treatment.
HuskerG - "losing" a loved one due to their memory loss is very difficult. Wishing comfort for Joann in this change of role when the parent becomes the child. Been there.
Wishing you all a great day
Wonder if it was Brother John that the morning Cathedral bells brought to Susan Vegas' mind. Nice smooth puzzle.
Fairly easy Tuesday puzzle..spelled RURH mysteriously corrected by AGATHA perp. Also put sniff before SMELL
As the wife does most of the grocery shopping I avail myself of self checkout for the few ITEMS I purchased. Hate the lines waiting for credit cards that don't work and arguments over coupons and sales.
Hope today isn't the APOGEE of the crossword week.
A nice solid weekday pzl from the Grabowski/Venzke team!
As a fan of Call the Midwife, I got HABIT right away! The rest was just slightly chewy. No problems.
Phone call this morning with Janice: She spent a restless night with a lot of pain, but a nurse arrived with drugs even as we were finishing the first call. I let her sleep for a while, and she felt "much, much better" on the second call.
She finally had some sleep, and then the physical therapist got her out of bed to walk around.
Thanks to all for your kind wishes!
~ OMK
____________
DR: A single diag, NE to SW. The anagram refers to the final stage of an educational journey designed to teach the skills required to guide people and organizations, a...
"LEADERSHIP LEG"!
OMK:
Good news about Janice! Today's medicine is extraordinarily effective, IMHO.
Gary:
One of the hardest events in life has to be leaving one's mother in a care home. I sympathize with Joann.
After these many years of reading your comments and some of your life's tender moments, I assume that nearly everyone on this Blog is a caring, thoughtful person and giving up your place in line would not require a second thought. You all measure up in my opinion.
Good afternoon, folks. Thank you, Gail Grabowski and Bruce Venzke, for a fine puzzle. Thank you, Hahtoolah, for a fine review.
Cruciverb was out to lunch again today. Printed it from L A Times site.
Puzzle went quickly. A couple ink blots. Tried DRY before DRI became obvious. Tried FRIAR before FRERE worked much better.
Caught the theme as I progressed. Saw the RBI's.
We get IKEA a lot. I have eaten breakfast at ours. Real cheap. Same for TAOS, but have never eaten there.
ABFAB is new to me.
When I saw NRA I thought of the other NRA, to which I belong.
Just had ENRON recently, too. Not complaining.
Have to run. Still have a sump pump to fix. See you tomorrow.
Abejo
( )
Thank you, Lucina!
I certainly agree about modern medicine. I am sure I would never have reached this age w/o the aid of fine doctors who keep up on the latest in research and practices.
OTOH, I find we have gone out of our way to develop unnecessary layers of complexity and cost that complicate our lives, to the benefit only of thousands of unwanted administrators in corporate medical plans, for-profit insurance companies, HMOs, etc &c.
(BTW, I don't see this as a "political" statement but as a matter of human rights and economic equality.)
~ OMK
{C+, B, A}
LOL DR OMK (ok, maybe just listening to the NHS ceremony hits home).
C, Eh! - Yeah, Geddy LEE would be apropos with the baseball theme! There's so much he's collected.
PVX - yes, the mandoline does come with a guard but it gets in the way. I'm buying the chainmail glove for future use.
Your bicycle story reminds me of when I road my BMX down "dead-man's turn" at Lincoln Park. If one, in winter, sled'd the route, you'd have to turn to avert the boulder and then brake b/f skidding into the pond [if deep-winter, no problem; 'tis ICE]. I did the slope on my BMX and crashed w/ handlebars in my chest. Oh did that hurt. Breathlessly, walk'd my bike home, I did :-) #StupidSelf
Lucina - Hazza! Not another group more gracious than Cornerites.
Cheers, -T
Joann and Gary, I feel for you. Memory loss and loss of former personality is devastating for the subject and the family. As Pat Nixon said it is the "long goodbye." My mom suffered from Alzheimer's for more than 15 years, deteriorating more every month. We cried on the way home many times after we visited. Death seemed to be a blessing and relief for her. IMO. YMMV.
I feel blessed with good health. I've just had all my annual tests except for tomorrow's mammography. I passed with flying colors. Minor aches and pains. I am slowing down mentally and physically, but still above expected for my age. Time to see the glass 2/3 full, instead of 1/3 empty. Of course, there is always the specter of a sudden downfall, such as Alex Trebek's. Not bragging but feeling thankful.
I ,too, let those with just a few items precede me in a checkout line, even if I have unloaded my cart and the checker has not begun. If the scanning has started there is no going back. I wonder why so many are impatient and accusative. Unfortunately, I often choose the line where there is a hangup, but I can't blame the help or the customer most times.
I like zipper merge, but only when most people follow it, which they do not. I always hang back to let others merge before me, and most of the time I merge into the first available safe spot when zipper merge is not being followed. I know this defeats zipper merge, but usually there is no zipper merge. Just my personal preference. I follow zipper merge thankfully when it is being used
OMK, "OTOH, I find we have gone out of our way to develop unnecessary layers of complexity and cost that complicate our lives, to the benefit only of thousands of unwanted administrators in corporate medical plans, for-profit insurance companies, HMOs, etc &c." I fervently agree.
To my mind, Frere Jacques refers to waking up Brother John saying that the morning bells are ringing, so it is time too get up, John. I believe that bells at monasteries call the monks to prayer at specific times.
I liked this puzzle. I usually like Gail and Bruce's creations.
Good afternoon, everyone! A fun solve today, thanks to Bruce and Gail. Noticed the RBI theme in the long fills, but needed the reveal to put it all together. Delightful expo, Hahtoolah.
No real speed bumps along the way other than those already mentioned: TRIshA before TRICIA; had to wait for perps to determine if Suzanne’s last name was VaGA or VEGA. I thought the pairing of LAD and LASSIE was cute. This cradle-Catholic filled in HABIT automatically.
Like Yellow Rocks, I believe Brother John is being called to Matins (“Sonnez les matines” / “Morning (Matins) bells are ringing”), the earliest of the Offices of prayer observed by members of clergy throughout the day, which also include Lauds, Vespers and Compline. I’m a big fan of the Brother Cadfael mysteries by Ellis Peters, and the various Offices are mentioned frequently in these stories. The marvelous Sir Derek Jacobi played the good Brother in the Masterpiece Mystery series back in the ‘90s.
My heart goes out to those dealing with the health issues of their loved ones – healing thoughts coming your way.
Have a wonderful evening!
I count the beeps not groceries. Not that I care; it's paying that takes the time not to speak of arguing about discounts.*(I see Ray-O has same beef.
"I don't shop at IKEA and am sure I never will. It's not my style.". But I do like Swedish Meatballs
Wow, they didn't know about Mme DeFarge's knitting? It's such a great
Meme?!
Yuman, as I was telling the J-folk, I was at VA Eye docs today. The peripheral vision test entails clicking, clicking etc. I had to switch to the left hand for the right eye. Passed but no time to get new glasses(nor mileage).
-T,C+??? I got three W's on Owen's most amusing l'icks. #1 was my top. But you more than made up with that with the baseball/Rush link. He's genuine. **
I was a shwinn-a-maniac as a 'ute. Stairs and traffic were my go-tos.
Java, there was a Father ?? Mystery series too, n'est-ce pas?***
I had TO A TEE which didn't last long.
WC
*I'm a BOGO guy
** But I can't do post 60s Rock
*** In keeping with French theme. Btw, Jacques=James
WC, you’re right! According to imdb.com there was a series in 1974 based on the Father Brown stories written by G. K. Chesterton. It only lasted one season. There was a reboot in 2013 that is apparently still running. I’ve never seen the show(s) nor read the books.
Thank you, Desper-otto, for explaining the "KNITTER" mystery to me.
I love the Father Brown Mysteries by G.K. Chesterton which I read in high school! PBS runs the series on Saturdays in this area. However, I am not fond of the actors.
Java Mama:
What an insightful interpretation of Frere Jacques! Even as one who formerly prayed Matins, Lauds, Vespers and Compline, it never occurred to me that might be the reference. We never had bells calling us to prayer so that's one reason I didn't associate it. I believe cloistered orders might be called by bells. We were just expected to be in chapel at the appointed time.
AnonT:
Good point about the glove. It's the reason I never use my mandoline, the nicks and cuts!
Well, I/m back after DW tried to re-dress my wound, my wound re-bleed, and a trip to the ER. That was fun [NOT!] and they fixed-up my middle-finger to the size of telling them what I really thought of their tetanus shot :-)
Java Mama - Father Brown Mysteries can be found on your local PBS station.
WC - Geddy is for real; as are all the Canadian LADs of RUSH. //For the record, they started very late '60s :-)
How am I thyping sans middle finger? See: left :-)
Cheers, -T
OMK and Yellowrocks -- The core of the problem is that population increase leads to bureaucracy. I used to be Michael ... but I became # 5,510,000+ in Northern California Kaiser, and now that I have become an Oregonian -- aka Oregoner -- I am #35,000,000+ in NW Kaiser's eyes.
How do you cope with too many people? Once numbers are assigned, someone has to check them, and then there's fraud, and then referral approvals. and then someone to stupidvise, er, ah, supervise, and then lawyers, and then HIPPA....
The systems set up to help us, wind up being hindrances.
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