23. This year's hatchlings?: NEST GENERATION. Next generation.
37. Chopin virtuoso's self-assurance?: ETUDE CONFIDENCE. Exude confidence.
50. Greek cross in a company logo?: CORPORATE TAU. Corporate tax.
58. Opinion surveys on text changes?: EDIT POLLS. Exit polls.
80. Time to honor an aircraft manufacturer?: BOEING DAY. Boxing Day.
91. Shark's interim appendage?: TEMPORARY FIN. Temporary fix.
97. Ripening of a Mediterranean fruit?: OLIVE COMPLETION. Olive complexion.
Reveal:
120. Pupil with a phonetic beginning that hints at what the circled letters comprise: X CHANGE STUDENT.
BOEING DAY and OLIVE COMPLETION changes are amazing, long and unexpected.
No straying X'es, so all's good. Paul probably had plenty of theme choices. But once Rich OK'ed the final set, he had to grid the entries in the strict order. Not much gridding flexibility.
Across:
1. Noble, unselfish sort: GALAHAD. Son of Lancelot.
8. Copy: PARROT.
14. Language of the Quran: ARABIC.
20. Magnetite, e.g.: IRON ORE.
21. Port N of Pittsburgh: ERIE PA. N hints at an Abbr.
22. Examine in detail: PERUSE.
25. Influential groups: ELITES.
26. Quelques-__: a few, in French: UNES. 119. East, in Essen: OST. And two Spanish references: 33. Acapulco aunt: TIA. And 34. Mayo is found in it: ANO.
27. One in a shell: TURTLE.
28. ER workers: RNS.
30. "Bellefleur" author: OATES. Wiki says Joyce Carol Oates has 58 novels published. Stunning.
31. Half a tuba sound: PAH.
32. Scrips: MEDS.
35. Quarterback Manning: ELI.
45. Highland hillsides: BRAES.
47. Attorney general after Sessions: BARR. He and Roseanne. Not many cluing options.
48. Tummy muscles: ABS.
49. Coal carrier: HOD. Looks heavy.
54. Exist: ARE.
55. Diva deliveries: SOLI. Plural of solo.
56. Formally commend: CITE.
57. Ancient assembly areas: AGORAS. Alliterative all the way.
60. Extend People: RENEW.
62. Santa feature: BEARD.
64. Kids' song refrain: E I E I O.
65. Some QB protectors: RGS. Right guards.
68. Alpine peasant dress: DIRNDL. Consonant-rich.
70. Sealed: UNOPEN. I use "unopened".
73. Animal house: DEN.
74. Skateboarding move: OLLIE.
76. Peak: CREST.
78. Lover of Silvio in "Pagliacci": NEDDA. We had this before. I forgot.
83. Jeered: HOOTED.
85. Buckwheat noodle: SOBA. Plenty in our local grocery stores. But no udon.
89. U.K. honors: OBES. OBE = Order of the British Empire.
90. Faller of 2001: MIR. De-orbited in March 2001.
93. Bug: TAP.
94. Knock: RAP.
95. Q.E.D. word: ERAT.
96. Hoists: HEFTS.
103. UFO crew, in theory: ETS.
104. "One Mic" rapper: NAS.
105. Anaheim MLB team, in crawl lines: LAA. And 112. Baseball brother: ALOU. Korean baseball is on.
106. Meh: SO SO.
108. Film buff's channel: TCM.
111. Typical hole-in-one, e.g.: EAGLE.
113. Triage ctrs.: ERS.
114. Piggies' protector: BOOTIE.
117. "... __ saw Elba": ERE I.
118. White rat, e.g.: ALBINO.
123. Beach locales: COASTS. Lots of solid 6-worders in Paul's grid.
124. Bread maker: EARNER.
125. Heartfelt: EARNEST.
126. Most massive: HUGEST.
127. Heavy hammer: SLEDGE.
128. High houses: SENATES.
Down:
1. Generate: GIN UP.
2. Place to play: ARENA.
3. Become discouraged: LOSE HEART. Great fill.
4. Queen's offspring: ANTS.
5. Monopolize: HOG.
6. Mountain ridge: ARETE. Learned from doing crosswords.
7. Strip of vegetation: DENUDE.
8. Chipper: PERT.
9. Seriously shrunken sea: ARAL.
10. Baptism, for one: RITE.
11. Outdoor gear brand: REI. And 67. Item of camping gear: SLEEPING BAG.
12. Portugal's second-largest city: OPORTO.
13. Astringent in red wine: TANNIN. Also in tea.
14. "Tarzan" critter: APE.
15. Puts in more film: RELOADS.
16. French satellite launcher: ARIANE. No idea. Read more here.
17. Grabbed for a chat: BUTTONHOLED. Another great fill.
18. "Of course": I SEE. 42. "As if": I BET.
19. Prefix with pit: CESS.
24. At one time, at one time: ERST.
29. Apple browser: SAFARI.
32. Japanese soup: MISO. Just don't feel comfortable going to our Asian grocery stores. I really miss touching things that I don't intend to buy.
36. Sufferer healed by Jesus: LEPER.
38. Super, slangily: UBER.
39. Like some artifacts, thanks to radiocarbon: DATABLE.
40. Clear: ERASE.
41. French vineyard: CRU.
43. Border __: COLLIE.
44. Inventor of an early stock ticker: EDISON.
45. Discreetly send a dupe email to: BCC.
46. "Vive le __!": ROI.
51. Eastern royal: RANI.
52. New __: AGER.
53. Limo service vehicle: TOWN CAR.
54. Extend: ADD ONTO.
55. "... or __ thought": SO I.
58. Coastal flier: ERN. Sometimes it's ERNE.
59. Await judgment: PEND.
61. Sistine Chapel mural setting: EDEN.
63. Quaint coin-op eatery: AUTOMAT.
65. Surname in a 1983 Styx hit: ROBOTO.
66. Worldwide: GLOBAL. This picture is widely circulated in Chinese social media. The coronavirus is under control there. This is the price of victory.
69. Arid: DRY.
71. Equal: PEER.
72. Historic Icelandic work: EDDA.
75. "__ for Innocent": Grafton novel: I IS.
77. Sex educator Hite: SHERE.
79. So far: AS YET.
My home town Xi'an has 12 million people. Total 123 coronavirus cases. 3 deaths. No new cases for the past 10 weeks. But people still wear masks, fearing of second wave. You
still have to have your temperature taken when you take a bus or go to a
grocery store.
81. 2008 TARP beneficiary renamed Ally Financial: GMAC.
82. Simple radio antenna: DIPOLE.
84. Eye opener?: OPTI. And 92. Stat start: RHEO. And 101. Bone: Pref.: OSTE.
86. Like garage parking: OFF-STREET.
87. Modicum: BIT.
88. Reply to a ques.: ANS. Answer.
91. Bus. card info: TEL.
94. Is indignant about: RESENTS.
98. Carousel traveler: VALISE.
99. Funny brothers: MARXES.
100. Programming language named for a mathematician: PASCAL.
102. Sounds: NOISES.
107. Bristlelike parts: SETAE.
109. Perfume, as at High Mass: CENSE.
110. Hands, in slang: MITTS.
111. Apiece: EACH.
114. Boston or Chicago: BAND.
115. Blood type, briefly: O NEG.
116. Shrek, for one: OGRE.
117. "Giant" author Ferber: EDNA.
121. Charlemagne's domain: Abbr.: HRE. Holy Roman Empire.
122. Coffee hour vessel: URN.
Happy Mother's Day to all the moms on our blog!
C.C
Thanks, C.C. That's interesting about Xi'an. And I heartily add my wish for a Happy Mother's Day to all the lovely moms.
ReplyDeleteLast Sunday was my B'day - I'm now a Senior Citizen. My present was I got to run around (at a safe distance) with my granddaughters. Ava is 14 months and has started toddling. Addie is 4 - she ran at 12 months and has never stopped.
ReplyDeleteGood morning.
Happy Mother's Day to all the moms !
Paul, belated Happy Birthday wishes to you !
Mayo is found in it ? MINnesota, of course. Combine that with PEer at instead of PERUSE, and the unknown ARIANE and OATES, and that one little corner took a good 5 minutes to get correct.
Found the X replacement with ETUDE STUDENT and EDIT POLLS, but didn't see what was happening with the circles until I solved the reveal. That's when I knew to go back and look for STUDENT in the circles. Great job, Paul ! Very creative.
You almost got me in a couple of places with your noun/verb switches, and with pEN / DEN for animal house. Like C.C., I would normally use UNOPENed, but that's another good trick to potentially stymie solvers.
It probably didn't hurt my time that I solved your "Repeat After Me" puzzle in yesterday's Merriam-Webster. Even when editors rewrite some of the clues, a constructor's "voice" still comes through.
Blaise PASCAL was a genius. His name though sounds like a fire wielding superhero character.
C.C., nice review. Domo arigato. I learned that from Styx' Mr. ROBOTO.
Your coal HOD image is much different than what I remembered from my youth. Just google coal hod and press the Images tab. When my mom and dad bought the old farmhouse, the first thing my dad had replaced was the old coal burning furnace. There was a room in the cellar, probably 10' x 15' that was where the coal was stored, fed from a chute on the outside wall. One of my first chores at the "new" house was shoveling the remaining coal into a hod and then trudging it across the basement and up the stairs and out to one of the sheds.
FLN, WikWak, I can't imagine. Hope you are getting as much help as you can get. I hope you enjoy it out west !
Canadian Eh, you are correct. We have had NIQAB before. One time. Sept 16, 2017, clued as "Arabian Peninsula veil." I didn't post that day, and apparently didn't solve either. That was when so many of us were dealing with the big Equifax fiasco. Anyway, NIQAB been mentioned a few more times in subsequent puzzle's comments, all by you ! So you must be more familiar. That's the thing about crosswords, isn't it ? Just as today, someone else might have blown through that NE corner that gave me fits.
Vermontah, I too thought of BADENOV but ruled it out because the clue only had Doright's first name Dudley, so last name Badenov wouldn't agree, kinda like that Spanish language gender agreement discussion. Then yes ! Natasha ! But the perps I had didn't agree. A couple more helped me recall SNIDELY Whiplash. I think he was the one that tied Nell to the tracks. Anyway, first name to first name agreement.
Good morning and Happy Mother's Day (or is it Mothers' Day)!
ReplyDeleteI was certain it was BENT ONE'S EAR, so that eastern seaboard took quite some time before BUTTON HOLED elbowed in. Changing APOP to EACH and AGORAE to AGORAS went quicker. Yay -- d-o figured out the theme before the reveal. Boo -- d-o managed once again to DNF. It could'a been L or R, and I zigged when I should'a zagged with LOBOTO (as in lobotomy?). Bzzzzzt! Enjoy the ceramic dalmation. Thanx, Paul and C.C.
ALLY: I bank there. Much better interest than brick-and-mortar banks. Plenty of ATMs -- my nearest is at the local Walgreens. The only downside I've found, Neanderthals who don't use smartphones must use mail-deposit. That would be moi.
OFF-STREET: Almost nobody parks in their garage around here; that's for storage! The cars sit out on the driveway. If we had basements, maybe it'd be different.
PASCAL: My favorite computer language was Delphi -- an object-oriented version of PASCAL.
TTP mentioned the Equifax debacle. What ever happened with the cash payment or credit monitoring they were supposed to provide?
Big assist from the great mother of our children in supplying the “N” in DIRNDL. I was thinking “service” as in need of a tow and was inventing a company called TOWaCAR.
ReplyDeleteHi Y'all! Happy Belated Birthday, Paul! Glad you got some time with the granddaughters. Thanks, C.C., very interesting poster and info about Xi'an.
ReplyDeleteThis puzzle was hard for me but I didn't LOSE HEART and filled it with help from red-letters in places. I did get the theme replacing the X which helped about halfway thru. Challenging & interesting.
Happy Mother's Day to all ye who have had children. My son came yesterday with a beautiful mixed plant assortment for my porch and we gabbed for several hours. Forgot about the virus and hugged him goodbye. Refuse to worry now unless symptoms develop. I sure needed a hug!
GALAHAD was a PARROT who
ReplyDeleteWould squawk when he was spoken to.
His noble crest
(On head, not chest)
Would also rise a notch or two!
If the QURAN you would PERUSE
It's ARABIC that you must use.
Translated verse
May be diverse
And the meaning thus confuse.
To play ETUDES with CONFIDENCE
A Chopin STUDENT must convince
His finger tips
They are the pips!
(Despite conflicting evidence!)
A CORPORATE logo with a TAU
May declare Tomorrow's Now!
It is good news
Should they choose
To include it in the Dow!
Should one make a timid TAP
Or forceful rat-a-tat type RAP
The response
From the ensconced
Should be the same, quod ERAT!
{B, B, B+, B-, B.}
ReplyDeleteI'm afraid I haven't been following the blog the past few days, so hope I haven't missed too many life-changing events. But with my fan Paul Coulter as constructor, I couldn't be derelict today. I do apologize, Paul, that none of these were ones I considered A-level. Erato did roll them off easily, but Thalia didn't supply much special humor.
Owen, I agree the third one is the best. I give it an A+ I also like the first a lot. That one is an A.
ReplyDeleteThe puzzle was great, the write-up was also great. As Paul said, it is amazing a city of 12 million was barely touched by COVID19.
ReplyDeleteAnother long solve only because of the size, but unknowns were limited CENSE ; ARIANE which I wanted to be ARIADNE, which turned out to be right but in the wrong language; and, NEDDA . I love the word DIRNDL which reminds me of consonant rich PRNDL .
The HODS look like brick hauling ones.
Thank you, Paul, and for the continued updates on your girls. Many of us also have granddaughters and they are a true joy. Speaking of true joy, that is part of what you deliver always C.C. Be safe.
Good morning everyone.
ReplyDeleteHappy Mother's Day to all the Moms out there.
C.C. - Thanks for your perspective on Xi'an. It's helpful to put it in context.
Avg. difficulty for a Sunday for me. Liked Paul's cluing. One wrong - ROBOTO - but enjoyed getting the rest right and sussing the answers. Don't like circles, but I guess they were needed today.
HOD - I identify with TTP. Had a coal bin just like he described, and had to lug the coal HODS upstairs to where the "Warm Morning Stove" was. I was one happy kid when we installed an oil heated boiler.
Albino - Has the Latin ALB for 'white'. Like 'albedo'
ARÊTE - First learnt in geomorphology. French - also means fishbone, bridge, ridge, CREST. Not to be confused with 'arrêt' meaning 'stop'.
SAFARI is my browser. Seems to work pretty good.
TOWN CAR - I've had three (all bought used.). They don't make them anymore.
AUTOMAT - I ate at a Horn and Hardart AUTOMAT in NYC when I was 10 in 1948. Then I thought it was the "cat's ass."
IRONORE - Other common ores include hematite and taconite. Lots of taconite traffic on L. Superior.
DIRNDL - "short for German Dirndlkleid, from German dialect Dirndl girl + German Kleid dress" (south German). Mädchen is standard German for girl. Deern is used in the north.
Ost - Grew up with it. The Ost See was the Baltic Sea.
Good morning, folks. Thank you, Paul Coulter, for a fine puzzle. Thank you, C.C., for fine review.
ReplyDeletePuzzle went along pretty easily, for the most part. A few tough areas. Caught the theme after a while. A little mystic at first, but then fell together. STUDENT. The X substitutions all made sense.
34A ANO. No idea what that is. Perped.
I read 7D backwards. I thought it meant a strip of vegetation. Like a row of something green. I got it with perps, and then I gave out a big DUH.
NEDDA was unknown. Perps.
I see my favorite home town made the puzzle. ERIE, PA.
I did not finish Saturday's puzzle without help. Too tough for me.
We had a bird's nest (robin) right off pour front porch, with four eggs. The mother sat on the next most of the time. Last night something got the eggs. Too bad. We were looking forward to the hatchlings.
See you tomorrow.
Abejo
( )
Nice versifying, OwenKL.
ReplyDeleteBut, where did Mom go? We usually see her in the puzzle on these Hallmark Holidays.
Musings
ReplyDelete-The gimmick was a hoot and then the reveal took it to another level of hootery
-Cotton gin inventor is replaced by a quarterback
-No HOD for me when I carried bricks
-The officer CITED me for running that stop sign but it was not a commendation!
-I had a hole-in-one for a birdie after I hit my first shot out of bounds on a short par 4
-Japanese and German subs made minor attacks on our COASTS in WWII
-When is the last time you RELOADED film into a camera?
- Cary Grant, Doris Day and Audrey Meadows in That Touch Of Mink at the AUTOMAT (6:30)
-Happy Birthday, Paul, but we got the present!
Delightful Sunday puzzle, thank you for stopping by, Paul. Happy belated birthday, and how lovely that you have two sweet grand-daughters to play with. And, C.C., your Sunday commentary is always a pleasure, many thanks for that too.
ReplyDeleteI loved seeing DIRNDL in this puzzle, because I grew up in Austria at a time when this was still a woman's dress-up outfit. I have a lovely black and white photo of grandmothers and aunts and cousins, with all the women are wearing DIRNDLS, including me, at about age six or seven.
Owen, I really enjoyed your poems this morning, and how nice of Paul to comment on them.
Have a good Sunday, everybody.
What a novel theme. There is no way I would have caught it either. I was having trouble in many places, especially the ETUDE CONFIDENCE fill.With FID already in place I guessed FIDDLER. Was I ever way off. I had completed OLIVE COMPLETION, TEMPORARY FIN, & BOEING DAY but until X-CHANGE STUDENT and the clue about the circles was filled I couldn't do the rest.
ReplyDeleteSome anonymous person earlier asked why I really didn't like to solve the themes and this is a great example. I would rather have solved it WITHOUT the theme answer filling in the blanks, which it did for me today.
NEDDA, SOBA, DIRNDL, ROBOTO, CENSE(noun or verb?)- unknowns filled by perps
AS YET- C.C.- unless they have tested all 12,000,000 people there is no way to know how many positive COVID19 cases there were. My son-in-law's business partner didn't even know he had it. ZERO problems. They run some surgery centers and had to test all the employees.
Hola!
ReplyDeleteHappy Mothers' Day to all mothers! I'm enjoying my flowers and had a visit from my daughter yesterday. The joys of motherhood!
One of the first things I sewed when we changed from the habit was a DIRNDL skirt made from said habit.
Paul, thank you for today's pleasant grid. It was just right for a leisurely Sunday morning.
I happen to have an OLIVE COMPLE(X)ION so I'll take a CSO on that.
Many years ago I saw an ALBINO man and it startled me not only to see all that whiteness, even his hair, but especially to see his red eyes.
I cringed at HUGEST!! Really, Paul? You couldn't make something else work there?
Does anyone say VALISE? In Spanish, now obsolete, it's veliz. Maleta is the current term.
CSO to my great-grandson at BOOTIE. I occasionally find them in odd places!
Have a very pleasurable day, everyone!
Lucina - Mea culpa on HUGEST. You're right, it IS a bit cringe-worthy. In building a puzzle, there always are trade-offs. You should see some of the bad fill at various stages before a grid is ready. But change one word, and consequences usually radiate through the whole quadrant. Anyway, I'm glad you're having a nice Mother's Day. I hope all the moms get visits, too,in person or online.
ReplyDeleteHappy Mother's Day!
ReplyDeleteI liked this puzzle very much, and was impressed by the Xcellent theme. Thanks for posting, Paul Coulter. I like your work.
Thank you for the write-up, C.C. Interesting about Xi'an. Many interesting things about that city.
OYSTER turned out to be TURTLE. Sure enough I picked OOM, which had to be changed to PAH. And NAG had to become TAP.
No comment on Mr. BARR.
We know a woman named ALBINA. It is pronounced All Bean Uh.
I noticed EARNER next to EARNEST (and URN), TAP next to RAP, and ERAT sort of near EREI. ONEG and OGRE. SOBA and OBES. ARE, ARENA, and ARETE. I don't know why I especially noticed those today. Seems like something Irish Miss might notice.
Last to fill was the R crossing ROBOTO, which I didn't know at all, and RGS, which could just as well have been an L (hi, desper-otto.)
Favorite clue/ANSwer is Carousel traveler: VALISE.
I have eaten at the Horn and Hardart AUTOMAT in downtown Philadelphia many times in my teen years. I have also played around with DIPOLE antennas and RHEOstats.
Stay well, all.
A bit slow to catch onto the theme, but it helped a bit when I figured it out. Clever theme and creative fill.
ReplyDeleteLemonade hand up I thought of PRNDL when I saw the utterly unknown and impossible DIRNDL. Learning moment.
I still don't get how UNOPEN is correct? Having that packed in with unknown EDDA and NEDDA was a challenge. Did WAG it to FIR.
Yesterday we walked to this COAST from our home. I feel very grateful for this in every way.
Spitzboov and Jayce interesting to hear about your experience eating in the Horn and Hardart AUTOMATs. I knew of this in New York because it is in the musical "Hair". In the song where one of the black stars sings about how blacks were stuck in stereotypical positions. "Table cleaner at Horn and Hardart".
My mother had to explain it to me. And then my parents took us to the actual place in New York City. I did not know it was in Philadelphia, too. Apparently, they are gone now.
Happy Mother's day, folks!
ReplyDeleteI did the puzzle Saturday, cuz it comes out with our weekend edition here. I put it aside so I could refer to it when on this blog, but it disappeared. Oh well. WOE is me. I know WOE wasn't in the puzzle but it does pop up a lot so I thought I'd caplock it.
I still stand by my objection to OTRA v. OTRO for Friday's puzzle. It doesn't matter who is saying it, it's what gender the "other" is referring to. And the default is OTRO. Just as the default for a clue like "that to madrileno" (Sorry no enya squiggle on top of the n) should always be ESTO not ESTA or ESTE.
End of castillian rant!
DR
From Yesterday:
ReplyDeleteBillG, AnonT and CanadianEh thank you for the welcome back greeting! Yes, I am very grateful to live in an era of modern surgery. Getting things glued back together with Crazy Glue is a big improvement over the old days of stitches. Not to mention the laparoscopic techniques that are far less traumatic than the older open surgeries. This surgeon really is a wizard.
WilburCharles I do have many MTA stories. When I lived in Boston it really was like in the Charlie on the MTA song where you had to pay to get off if you went far outside the city.
The day I moved to California was one of the most awful days of my life. A few days before the move I asked an MTA operator if I could bring my bicycle on the MTA just to go one stop under the Harbor to get to the Airport. He said it is no problem if I go early in the morning when few people are on the MTA.
The day of the move I went very early and no one was on the train. I just had to go one stop. An MTA operator came out and yelled at me to get my bike off the train. He did not want to hear anything. He picked it up and threw it off. I had to ride many miles around the Harbor to get to the airport.
The rest of the travel that day involved an airline called World Airways that is mercifully out of business now. Truly evil people. That is another story.
Most of my memories of the MTA are happy, though, and I love to ride it when I go back to visit.
SwampCat the sexy Star Trek outfits may not be "professional" today, but they were a big draw at the time. Costume designer William Ware Theiss based these designs on his "Theiss Titillation Theory": "The sexiness of an outfit is directly proportional to the perceived possibility that a vital piece of it might fall off."
Give Roddenberry credit for getting women on the crew at all. NASA refused to do so back then and the network wanted no women on the Enterprise.
Great puzzle today, Paul! You must have had me in mind when you wrote it; answers fell as the gentle dew from heaven. (I made that up.)
ReplyDeleteCC, the information about Xían was interesting, especially the poster.
I’ll take SOs at DIPOLE (mine are all down and wound up, ready for the big move on Friday) and PASCAL (did lots of programming in this language in my yute).
I caught on to the X-tremely clever gimmick with ETUDE CONFIDENCE, which helped with the following ones, but I confess to not noticing the STUDENT in the circles until I came here. Outstanding construction, Paul!
TTP, I could always use a little more help. :P
ABEJO, the reason ANO didn’t make sense to you is that the N is really Ñ. Año = year en español.
Back to the basement and packing, packing, packing. This is the first time in my life that I wish I had fewer tools!
Stay safe!
And LEMONADE, I noticed the bricks in the image of a HOD. In fact, it surprised me that the puzzle referenced a coal hod; I had only ever known the term as used in bricklaying. Learning moment for WikWak.
ReplyDeleteD-O, agree, Styx ? was unknown here and L or R on the guard. I guessed Left guard and FIR.
ReplyDeletePicard, I recall World Airways. They took us from Yokahama to LA via Alaska. Hundreds of GIs crammed into that plane. But coming from 'Nam we weren't into luxury and were thrilled to get home. After missing a whole bunch of pictures because of a camera RELOADing snafu I had a bunch more and left camera and film on a bench as I ran for the plane home.
This was slow but steady going. I had old fav APOP/EACH; Also that MLB crawl for the Halos started at Ang. Pressure resulted in the odd "Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim"
Li- HEFTS. RENO/BARR, BUTTEDHEADS/BUTTON HOLES. So..
Very inventive, entertaining xword from Paul who did not disappoint. And I can't wait for Bobbi who never disappoints.
After last box I went back and found STUDENT and then grok'ed the X.
WC
ROBOTO as a surname is as Kilroy is to...
ReplyDeleteno, just...no
Hi All!
Sunday Lurk here JUST TO [SAY] kvetch re: Styx clue and maybe the HOD (which I only know from xwords and == bricks). No, I didn't play today [not in my paper] but I did enjoy reading everyone.
Happy Mothers' Day all you Mums out there.
DW had a nice one - she & I put in 18 flowing crawling thymes between the driveway & house whilst Youngest built (you ready for this?) Belgian waffles, spinach & mozzarella omelet (for DW), scrambled eggs, shredded potatoes, bacon and some weird whipped coffee thing (that was very yummy) for brunch.
For dinner, I lame'd out w/ burgers on the grill.
Happy Belated Birthday Paul. Always enjoy you dropping in. Stop by even when you don't have a puzzle. (Do you solve daily?)
{B+, A, A-, B+, ?}
D-O: I recall Delphi as an IDE [integrated development environment] for Pascal and C++. I used C++ more than Pascal.
Turtle...?
Did I mention Franklin?
S/He's a red-eared little one the size of a silver-dollar.
Eldest (the only kid who could forrealz find a unicorn 'cuz that's just her) found him near the pool and saved him (her?) from certain chlorinated death.
We now have a tank, light, and allthings-whatever to make a little reptile happy in the kitchen. But he's still a neurotic little guy (gal).
He'll (she'll?) be hanging out on the pebbles under the heat-lamp but run and hide if you walk into the kitchen [you don't see this - only hear the pebbles falling].
Why am I telling you this? I donno. But I will say, the kids get a huge kick out of me waking into the kitchen and doin' my mafioso:
"Yo Frankie.
Huh?
What's up little Turtle?"
The kids think I'm enamored with him (her?).
Youngest & I are going to setup a Turtle Cam this week because,
and we swear to gods,
Frankie moves things in his tank around when we're not looking.
I have another note jotted but forgot the context:
I will quote:
"It ain't what it wasn't."
I'd love to know what that meant / what I was thinking when it was scribbled.
Cheers, -T