"SOCIAL GATHERINGS"
20. Soirée for woodchip manufacturers?: SPLINTER PARTY. Splinter group just flew off my fingertips. Bzzt !
26. Soirée for certain divers?: PEARL JAM.
37. Soirée for spreadsheet creators?: CELL RECEPTION.
47. Soirée for fake coin makers?: SLUGFEST.
55. Soirée for army enlistees?: PRIVATE AFFAIR.
LET'S SOIRÉE ! - The last word of each theme answer is a type of social gathering. OK, slugfest is one word, but you get the idea.
This is Andrew's third LA Times puzzle. His first was a Wednesday. His second was a Thursday. He's back to party with us on Friday !
Across:
1. Component of an Olympic bronze medal: ZINC. The metals used in this year's Olympic medals have been primarily sourced from recycled electronics. Japanese citizens donated over 6 million discarded and unused cell phones !
5. Off-road vehicle maker?: TONKA.
10. Peddle: HAWK. First thought was sell.
14. Brand in a studio, maybe: IKEA. Studio apartment.
15. Chooser's choice: EVENs.
16. Onetime capital of the Mughal Empire: AGRA. It was the first four letter city name that came to mind. Never did think of a second city name...
17. Seats facing the altar: PEWs.
18. Alley button: RESET. Boomer uses this button when the rack didn't set the pins down correctly. He also uses it to clear the pins left standing after the prior bowler finished (e.g. after a third ball in the 10th frame.)
19. Genesis problem: RAIN. CAIN was a problem too. Just not with the perps in this puzzle.
23. Energized: AMPED.
25. Inspection: LOOK SEE. Formal and then informal.
30. Govt. stipend: SSI. Supplemental Security Income (SSI) is a Federal income supplement program funded by general tax revenues (not Social Security taxes):
 | It is designed to help aged, blind, and disabled people, who have little or no income; and |
| It provides cash to meet basic needs for food, clothing, and shelter. |
31. Angel dust letters: PCP. Phencyclidine (PCP) is a mind-altering drug that may lead to hallucinations (a profound distortion in a person’s perception of reality). - Drugs.com
32. Neural transmitter: AXON.
34. Powerful 2017 hurricane: IRMA.
41. Solo number: ARIA.
42. Gear for Lindsey Vonn: SKIs. American former World Cup alpine ski racer on the US Ski Team. She won four World Cup overall championships—one of only two female skiers to do so, along with Annemarie Moser-Pröll—with three consecutive titles in 2008, 2009, and 2010, plus another in 2012 - Wikipedia
43. Service reward: TIP.
45. PETA concern: FUR.
50. Need for big dos: CATERER.
54. Spherical extremities: POLEs.
59. Green hue: LIME. Not exactly lime, is it ? But too cool to pass up.
60. Louvre Pyramid architect: IM PEI. How I.M. Pei’s Louvre Pyramid Broke the Mold
61. Chatroom spammers: BOTs. They've been pounding this blog lately, but most are routed to the moderation folder.
64. Manipulates: USEs.
65. Really funny ones: RIOTs.
66. City-circumventing road: LOOP. Loop 610:
67. Hot message: SEXT.
68. American in Paris, perhaps: EX PAT.
69. One of 11 for Julia Louis-Dreyfus: EMMY.
Down:
1. 12345, for Schenectady, NY: ZIP. Evan Kalish knows this. Postlandia
2. Turner on a turntable: IKE. Rolling Stone magazine ranked Ike and Tina Turner at # 2 of the "20 Greatest Duos of All Time" in 2015. # 1 were the Everly Brothers. I'd never heard of some of the duos.
3. Times, at times: NEWSPAPER.
4. Spirited toon?: CASPER.
5. Actress Hatcher: TERI.
6. "Top Chef" set piece: OVEN.
7. Building project for cranes?: NEST.
8. Get down to earth?: KNEEL.
9. First pro team to play on artificial turf: ASTROs. It was 1965. NY Yankee Mickey Mantle hit the first homerun in a spring exhibition game shortly after construction ended. Dick Allen of the Phillies hit the first regular season homerun. The natural grass died, and was replaced by the first iteration of Astroturf for the 1966 season.
10. Samurai ritual: HARAKIRI. No images. Doesn't pass the breakfast test.
11. Lab gelatins: AGARs.
12. Pen: WRITE.
13. GOOD Music record label founder: KANYE. Kanye West created the GOOD Music record label in 2004. It is a backronym for Getting Out Our Dreams.
21. Cholesterol letters: LDL. Waited to see if HDL (high-density lipoproteins - the "good" one), or LDL (low-density lipoproteins - the "bad" one).
22. Presume: POSIT.
23. Common 99-cent purchase: APP.
24. Hajji's destination: MECCA.
27. Potter's creation: JAR.
28. Plot lines: AXES. Thought of arcs at first , but that's more of story lines.
29. Imitates derisively: MOCKs.
33. "American Gods" author Gaiman: NEIL. No idea. Perps.
35. Traveler's overnight spot: MOTEL ROOM. Waited to see if Motel or Hotel.
36. Seasoning seed: ANISE. Anise, also called aniseed, is a flowering plant in the family Apiaceae native to the eastern Mediterranean region and Southwest Asia. Its flavor has similarities with some other spices, such as star anise, fennel, and liquorice. - Wikipedia
38. Buoyant protection: LIFEVEST.
39. Actress Dern of "Twin Peaks": LAURA.
40. Sch. with a Harrisburg campus: PSU. Penn State University.
44. NBA stat: PTS. Points.
46. Hang up the spikes: RETIRE. Hung up mine in 2015.
48. 2.3, perhaps: Abbr.: GPA. Grade Point Average.
49. Slight character flaw: FOIBLE.
50. 2.3, roughly: C PLUS. Grade
51. Come up: ARISE.
52. Big name in stopwatches: TIMEX. John Cameron Swayze told us, "It takes a licking and keeps on ticking" and the TV ads seemed to prove it.
53. Compilation album add-on: REMIX.
56. Per item: APOP.
57. Spanakopita cheese: FETA.
58. Solidarity symbol: FIST.
62. First of a generic trio: TOM. Tom, Dick and Harry. Hi Tom !
63. Expert on bugs?: SPY. Bugs are covert listening and recording devices.
39 comments:
Good morning!
This one was sufficiently crunchy for a Friday. I liked it. Fell into the SELL/VEND/HAWK trap, but that was the only Wite-Out moment. It took a little noodle power and sideways thinking to get 'er done, but done it is. Thanx, Andrew and TTP (and thanx for the SO to both of us).
KARAKIRI: Because Seppuku was too short.
LDL: My LDL is somewhat high, but because my HDL is unusually high, my doctor isn't too concerned.
RETIRE: Hard to believe it's been almost ten years. There's no way I could go back to a full-time job. Good thing I don't want to.
Loop 610: It's the inner loop around Houston. Then they built Beltway 8, another loop about 10 miles further out. Now they're working to complete Grand Parkway 99, still another loop about 35 miles out from downtown Houston. Can you spell urban sprawl?
Oops, that was supposed to be HARAKIRI.
Fun puzzle with a few missteps, otherwise a fairly fluid solve. I enjoyed the theme and the long crosses facilitated the fill.
I did not know how to spell Harakiri. I wanted Hotel Room but, being from Florida, remembered Irma. I also went for Sell instead of Hawk. I grew up in Schenectady so Zip was an easy one, GE was so large the USPS gave them 12345.
One letter away from a Pangram (no Q)
Thank you Andrew and TTP for a Fun Friday.
This was a faster than usual Friday - WEES about CAIN before RAIN and SELL before HAWK.
The theme made the solve increase speed as I went down the puzzle.
Thanks to TTP and Andrew!
Enjoyed the theme, but had SSa instead of SSI. No red letters on paper, so I didn’t know about my error until I came here. One letter off in both of my Times puzzles this morning. Pray for me.
Bottom left section was the last space that needed conquering. Good theme + no real clunkers in the fill = an enjoyable puzzle. This took 11:12 to finish.
Good Morning:
There was a lot to like in this offering, starting with the fun word, to me, anyway, Foible! Then we have some very clever cluing including Get down to earth=Kneel, and these fun duos: Fist ~ Fest, Tip and Jar, and Kneel ~ Neil. Also liked Caterer above Private Affair and the clecho clues of 2.3. Because of the tricky cluing I went astray on Sell/Hawk, Cain/Rain, Eenie/Evens, Mint/Lime, and Neal/Neil. Nice CSO to our anything but generic Toms, DO and TTP! As I said, lots of fun, true to the theme, as well.
Thanks, Andrew, for a delightful solve and thanks, TTP, for another learning and entertaining expo.
The PETA concern=Fur reminded me of their latest pronouncement that it's demeaning and marginalizing to refer to domesticated animals as Pets. They would prefer we use the term "Companion." Someone asked if they're planning on changing the organization's name from PET(A) to something less offensive. I'd go walk my companion, but I don't have one!
Have a great day.
TTP, thanks for explaining the Alley RESET button. I haven't gone bowling in many years, and I couldn't figure out what that was referring to.
I'll join this PARTY this morning. I couldn't get going in the North with the IKEA clue stumping me, wanting SPLIT before SPLINTER, and SELL stuck in my brain. But CASPER The Friendly Ghost cleared up the NW and HARA KIRI (always thought it was hari kari pronounced like HARRY CAREY) was performed by the Samurai because the SS Admin. disallowed his disability claim. No SSI. The last time it was checked, over 20% of SSI recipients receiving SSI were faking it. But one they start receiving it it's nearly impossible to get them off.
NEIL, LAURA, & KANYE were perped. Easy puzzle for a Friday.
SEXT, Facebook, Twitter,...etc. Be careful what you post because it NEVER disappears. It will eventually come back to haunt you.
Everly Brothers over the Righteous Brothers and Simon & Garfunkel- gimme a break. "Wake Up". They must have "Lost their Loving Felling" on that accord but who really reads Rolling Stone.
Good morning everyone.
Got PRIVATE AFFAIR early which helped getting the theme. Didn't know my LSD from PCP so; a wite-out there. Had Cain, too.
TTP, thanks for listing Andrew's CW bio. I think he did a good job today.
Had trouble with the NE corner. Started with splinterGROUP, once I figured that out, still had CRATE instead of WRITE and HACK, not HAWK, and I knew xAAN was wrong. So 3 wrong squares.
Supposed to get a foot of snow, starting in earnest soon. Good day to stay home. Most events tonight already cancelled in northern VT.
Musings
-Subbing in history today where I have to lead a discussion in the recent impeachment trial. I will try to avoid any land mines
-A just right Friday puzzle
-SPLINTER PARTY – No Ross Perot or Ralph Nader this year
-I leave a TIP of 20% or 1¢
-PETA – I wonder if Lily is offended when we call her our pet
-Artificial turf has mostly come and gone in baseball fields as only the Rays and Jays still have it
-Hmmm…I wonder why LIFE VESTS are also called Mae Wests?
-We saw LAURA DERN play the mother in Little Women yesterday
-I’ve always thought You’ve Lost That Loving Feeling is the best ballad duet ever. Phil and Don and Paul and Art are great too even though they wound up hating each other
DNF. Looked up KANYE, which had me fix cRaTE, but wasn't enough to get me to fix cAIN. DNK the HARAKIRI / Samurai connection.
What did the leper say to the hooker? Keep the TIP.
Jimmy Buffett sang Steve Goodman's Banana Republic. It's a good tune about EXPATriated Americans.
Lots of Crane NESTs here in central FL. Sandhills are my favorites.
I was thinking of the commercial TTP used for TIMEX. Ironic for a "stop" watch clue.
Thanks to Andrew for the fun. Maybe next time I'll FIR. And thanks to TTP for the interesting review.
FIR which is always iffy for a Friday.
Spelled Caspar with the second "A" like one of the friendly Magi. Pawn before HAWK. SPLINTERgroup before PARTY
A Genesis problem: had the center "AI" first..Cain?..pair? (2 of every kind). Ah the Flood.
Favorite theme answer PEARLJAM. Then I googled the origin of the band name. Lots of theories one of which would have the blog police at my door.
"Who designed the Louvre pyramid?" "IMPEI."
"No you're not!"
EXPAT: a generic Irish Miss's former boyfriend?
"Genuflect" is actually the action of kneeling on one knee and immediately standing. I was a groomsman in a wedding centuries ago. At the rehearsal the priest said. "At this point please genuflect." The Protestant kid behind me tapped me on the shoulder. "Do What!!??" I graceously showed him.
The 12345 ZIP of our Thruway neighbor to the east may be easy to remember but spelling its name...another issue entirely.
Part of an old song:
《I spelled Anaconda and even Tonawanda,
So what does she expect of me?
I just can't spell Schenectady.
I can spell Pomona, Seattle and Tacoma, but I can't spell Schenectady,
I mastered Ypsilanti and Agua Caliente, but I can't spell Schenectady.》
Hola!
With several erased spots staring at me from the grid, I finished without lookups but should have researched HARAKIRI. I stayed with CAIN and that seemed fine. Hand up for SELL/PAWN/HAWK. Erase. Erase. Erase. KANYE surprised me.
Also, HOTELROOM then MOTELROOM when IRMA emerged
Yum. ANISE. I love licorice.
Did not know NEIL Gaiman but perps helped.
The people I know who receive SSI have serious illnesses and could not survive without that assistance.
Thank you, Andrew Linzer for a sweet puzzle. And thank you, TTP, for setting me straight. My main FOIBLE is not rechecking the solve.
Have a fun Friday, everyone!
Hi Y'all! I was on your wave-length for an easy fill, Andrew, thanks! Great expo, TTP!
Please explain why "plot lines" = AXES. Don't get it...
My brother was on the PSU faculty for several years in the 1980's, so a gimmee. I visited them in Harrisburg.
Phooey on PETA! I'd rather be a PET than a companion. A little stroking is good.
Can someone please explain RAIN? Tried EVIL.
Fabulous Friday. Thanks for the fun, Andrew and TTP.
I thought this was easier than the usual Friday. . . and then I arrived here to discover that I FIWed in my NEWSPAPER, not once but thrice! Oh the humiliation! And Anon@8:03 finished in 11:12! But I had fun and that is what matters.
Let me count the errors: this Canadian had a Natick at the cross of the unknown HARAKIRI and that American clue "government stipend"; we call it social assistance provincially and there is a GIS (Guaranteed Income Supplement) from federal government. (I entered SSA)
Plus I couldn't remember IRMA and entered Emma. (Poset seemed as good as POSIT, but apparently it has to do with set theory.)
Hand up for Pawn instead of HAWK. (I didn't notice the incorrect NANYE). My Samurai ritual was Parakami LOL!.
Then to add insult to injury, I see that I did not go back to fill in the O in the cross of LOOP and TOM.
I smiled at SPLINTER PARTY and even more when PEARL JAM appeared.
Thinking of yesterday's 'FROS, I wondered if the "need for big dos" was a Pick. Oh, it's a CATERER for our PRIVATE AFFAIR (hello IM).
Two hands up for waiting for perps to decide between MOTEL and hotel, HDL and LDL. (no Hs today).
Plenty of CSOs today - TOM (any Dicks or Harrys?), SPLyNTER, Boomer's RESET, all of us who are RETIREd.
Canadians have Postal Codes not ZIP numbers. (The combination of capital letters and numbers is a pain to type.)
Enjoy the day.
PK@11am - Think of a graph, not a story. You plot the results on the X and Y AXES (plural for Axis).
Anon@11:09 - yes I thought of Sin but it was too short.
RAIN refers to the story of the Flood (Noah & ark in Genesis 6-9) and resulting destruction was certainly a problem.
Fun Friday puzzle, many thanks, Andrew. Not easy, but then Fridays and Saturdays are always toughies for me. But all those visits to church got me PEW right away. And I was proud of myself for guessing NEST instantly as what a crane bird would build. I remembered LAURA Dern and that got me FUR. My Dusty likes to be PETTED so he has no problem with PETA. Besides LAURA, I also got TERI and remembered Louis-Dreyfus' EMMYs--nice to see all those references to women in show business. Also got IM PEI. But all those long fills? Nope, needed help with those. But still a real pleasure, and I always enjoy your write-ups, TTP.
Have a great weekend coming up, everybody.
FIW, I spelt Hara Kiri wrong...
HK, you wont believe the origin of "Mae Wests."
welcome to the Goldfish Club!
And Genuflect?
Wow, that's a word that takes me back to the first time
I heard it. roughly between 1:20 & 1:28 apparently it is something chipmunks do in front of Lion Kings?
TTP: Outstanding, informative write-up. Good job!
SLUGFEST may have been "My Favorite" theme answer ever.
Husker: I hope your students enjoy the "Impeachment Trial" discussion today.
Hope everyone has a "Great Weekend."
Cheers!
I had mostly the same experiences that you all had. After getting KA I put in KASEM before the perps required KANYE. Needed perps to confirm the spelling of HARAKIRI. Had HOTEL ROOM before MOTEL ROOM and LIFEBOAT before LIFE VEST. My dad often said, "Let's go have a LOOKSEE." TROLLS was too long so BOTS it had to be. Do members of PETA eat FETA?
Wishing you all a good day.
Loved the party atmosphere today. Quick solve for a Friday. No write overs, except putting one answer in the wrong spot and changing it immediately. Enjoyable theme, Andrew. I liked some of the misdirections, like NESTS and TONKA. Thanks for your always spot on expo, TTP.
PARTY changed HARI KIRI to HARA KIRI
Thanks, admins, for weeding out the bots and nastiness. You make this a pleasant place to be.
Do you like spanakopita, a traditional rich Greek pie stuffed with spinach, onions, cheeses and herbs that are all enfolded in crispy, flaky phyllo dough? I have eaten it in diners when it was just out of the oven. Flaky and crisp. Yummy. Before ordering, I always ask when it was made, because day old is not flaky and crisp, but disappointing.
I assumed the vest was called a Mae West because it made the wearer look busty. CED's URL confirms it.
The longer I thing about it, the more in awe I am of yesterday's theme, off hand hand off, etc.
I just finished the annual guardian report and now am gathering income tax and investment data. Paperwork is not my cuppa tea. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.
I am researching retirement living options.
A doable Fri pzl, fun throughout. I admit I had to "sound out" C-PLUT before realizing the crossing perp had to be SEXT, thus yielding C-PLUS.
(As an old professor, I was not at all impressed by that GPA.)
I wanted SEPPUKU rather than HARA KIRI, as a less rude name for the same thing. Wouldn't fit, of course. It's a shame that this is the only "Samurai ritual" we seem to know.
~ OMK
____________
DR: Two diagonals, one on each side.
They yield some curious anagrams. On the near side, we have...
"DUCKY POOP",
and on the opp. side, we find a repeat appearance of one of today's brand names--and what appears to be a sad sign that our toy maker is going to war. I refer to the new line of...
"TONKA ARMORS"!
Just one small complaint from someone who gets overly focused on small things. 54-across: a pole may have a SPHERICAL ball on the top of it, but the pole, itself, is CYLINDRICAL.
Good afternoon, folks. Thank you, Andrew Linzer, for a fine puzzle. Thank you, TTP, for a fine review.
Got started easily in the NW. It's nice to finally know the ZIP Code for Schenectady.
Liked the theme. The answers were pretty easy once you got a start.
2.3 confused me for a while. Then I got it.
Tried OMEGA before TIMEX. I should have known better.
With a name like Spanakopita, it had to be FETA.
Spelling of HARA KIRI was different than I thought it would be. HARI KARI was my first entry.
Once I had the A at 16A, I finished AGRA. Never heard of that empire.
Lots to do this evening. See you tomorrow. I will be in Evanston all day, so who knows when.
Abejo
( )
Ruberap @ 1554 - I think what was meant was like, the N or S poles on the Earth, a sphere. Being a Friday (clue) the Earth's poles are extremities in light of their remoteness.
On another featureless sphere like a simple ball, there are no extremities since all surface points are equal.
I ran through alphabet twice, but somehow skipped over the X in AXON. I had thought of ARCS for Plot lines and AXES to obviously fit too(in a non-novel usage. FIW, aaarrggghhh!
I see TTP thought of ARCS, too.
We always pronounced it like the announcer: Harry Carey. Whoops, Big Easy had it.
WEES on "Group" - Ross Perot is the most famous SPLINTER PARTY but Teddy's Bullmoose got us Woodrow Wilson .
HG, best laugh of the day*. I remembered an oldies holiday weekend where Righteous Bros were voted all-time best
We traveled to in-laws in Grand Rapids MI from NH and Utica was ½ way. But I recall stopping in Schenectady. And another burg nearby (?)
CED, I actually inked Guess before POSIT.
Ruber, the North Pole is a spherical extremity of the orb known as Earth
Jinx, re. Rush post; I'd read it, knew the author so I couldn't grok the commotion.
WC
** Until Jinx came along
North or South Pole was my thought, too.
Hi All!
AWOL the last couple of days as I caught up on work. Did the puzzles and enjoyed reading y'all nevertheless. mb - wishing Jaelyn a quick, well-set, recovery.
Hand-up for the one bad square at HARAKaRI.
Thanks Andrew for the delightful puzzle [See: IM's post]. Thanks TTP for an outstanding review - I'm assuming the LIME-Green Alfa Guilia was for me :-)
WO: AXiS until I finally! figured out RECEPTION. That, the P in PSU, and the R in JAR (really, a Potter makes Jars?*), were my last squares.
ESP: NEIL
Fav: TONKA. I had that dumpster TTP and it was my favorite toy at Grandma's house.
LOL DRs OMK! Loved #2
Ruberap - I had the same thought at 54a.
Neither HOTEL/MOTEL were my 1st thoughts. I read the clue and thought INN and, with MOT already there, tried mentally to ink MOTor inn - one too letter short.
OMK - re: the only Samurai rite we know. I blame SNL & the Samurai Delicatessen sketch; that's how I learned :-)
I'd have picked I Can See Clearly Now for best Sonny & Cher duet but I Google'd and found Jimmy Cliff wrote it and Johnny Nash originally recorded it in '72. The power of TV, eh?
Cheers, -T
Mostly WEES. Andrew, I enjoyed your Friday opus and found it a tad easier than a usual Friday for me. TTP, I’m glad it’s you guys who “get” to filter out all the drek that flows out of the sewers and into the blogs, and not me. That stuff is way too annoying for me. And I always enjoy your expos.
Didn’t have much trouble with this one; as I said, I found it a bit easier than usual. Had to change SELL to PAWN. Had to change PAWN to HAWK. Glad it stopped there.
I caught the theme early on, and that helped a bunch.
Favorite answer: CELL RECEPTION. Favorite word: FOIBLE. I dunno... I just like that word.
Well, that puts quit to another day. I’m off to play radio. Have a good evening, all.
I enjoyed the theme and got the idea fairly quickly. Hand up SSA/HARAKIRI was a challenge.
When I first came to California as a teen with little money I got a room in a rooming house for about $125/month. I slowly began to realize that about half of the other residents had "spiders in their heads" as my wife calls it. They were living on SSI.
As far as I could tell it was a bargain for taxpayers. They were paid a small amount each month to live in a small room and buy food at the local supermarket. They didn't bother anyone else and sometimes they were even interesting to talk to. Way cheaper than keeping them in jail for at least ten times that price. Also way more humane.
Here I was with my family in 1970 at the Houston ASTROdome. Home of the ASTROS.
Note the electronic sign hailing it as the Eighth Wonder of the World! You can see them laying out the ARTIFICIAL TURF (ASTROTURF). They boasted on the tour that they could make artificial weather inside the Dome!
I was very honored to own one TONKA truck as a child. It was a birthday gift when we were living out in the woods in New England. From a child named John who lived in what was basically a shack. I was very moved. I wish I knew what happened to it. I kept it until I left home for college. I wish even more I could find John.
Another day where I wrote an insightful, stimulating and amusing post and never bothered to hit send. TTP you are getting better every week. I really enjoy Spanakopita.
Be well all
From Yesterday:
CanadianEh Thank you for your email! I will indeed be happy to follow up there!
I am glad that so many others know about the New Jersey Pine BARRENS. Way cool that you worked there Hungry Mother. Yellowrocks and PK glad that you made it there, too.
As a teen I was passionate about frogs and planned a career studying them. I learned that there was a unique treefrog that lived in the Pine BARRENS of New Jersey. All of my father's family lived near that area. Yet none of them ever heard of the Pine BARRENS. My grandfather even sneered at me that there could not possibly be BARRENS anywhere in New Jersey.
Here is a description of the Pine BARRENS Treefrog with some beautiful photos.
After begging my parents for years to take me there on a family visit we finally went there. I did find some other frogs and enjoyed the scenery, but did not find the Pine BARRENS Treefrog. Somewhere I have photos of our short visit there.
Yellowrocks and Lemonade yes I very much enjoy Spanakopita. Trader Joe's has two versions. One is delicious. The other is horrid in my opinion. Get the one in the light green rectangular box. It is our go-to food to bring to potluck dinners. It is very popular and we always have to be sure to bring enough!
Picard, thanks for the interesting posts about ASTROturf and the Pine Barrens. FYI, Rusty Staub was the first Astro and later the first Expo.
I lived in Jersey for six months:9/67-2/68 but didn't know about the Barrens nor that cute frog. I also didn't know that NJ could actually get cold (by Boston standards)
WC
FWIW, the fillo dough used to make spanakopita is hygroscopic, so fresh-baked is the only way to go. Ditto for baklava, which -- Greek-style -- is sweetened with honey, also hygroscopic ... and soggy by the next day.
My grandfather was born in Schenectady in 1857. Someday I may visit there to find baptismal records, and so which county in Ireland he was from.
I love spanakopita! I'm sure I have mentioned that in Athens we ate a slice for lunch every day. It was sold near our hotel for $1.00 and it's the best money I ever spent abroad.
Picard:
You do have the most unique and interesting experiences! That frog mating call is certainly eye-catching!
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