Animal Crackers. You'll crack up when you find the animals in each IDIOM (56-Across).
18-Across. Animal kingdom predator: FOX IN THE HENHOUSE.
29-Across. Animal kingdom traitor: SNAKE IN THE GRASS.
49-Across. Animal kingdom eccentricity: BATS INTHE BELFRY.
62-Across. Animal kingdom complication: FLY IN THE OINTMENT.
And two related theme clues:
56-Across. Figure of speech: IDIOM.
2-Down. Fanatic love of animals: ZOOMANIA.
Across:
18-Across. Animal kingdom predator: FOX IN THE HENHOUSE.
29-Across. Animal kingdom traitor: SNAKE IN THE GRASS.
49-Across. Animal kingdom eccentricity: BATS INTHE BELFRY.
62-Across. Animal kingdom complication: FLY IN THE OINTMENT.
56-Across. Figure of speech: IDIOM.
2-Down. Fanatic love of animals: ZOOMANIA.
Across:
1. HIV-treating drug: AZT. Short for Azidothymidine.
4. Word with contracts or contractions: LABOR. As in Labor Contracts and Labor Contractions.
9. More brooding: MOPIER.
15. Mauna __: LOA. Mauna Loa is a Hawaiian volcano that last erupted in April 1984.
16. Frugal way to wed: ELOPE. Fun new clue for this crossword staple.
17. Big blood vessels: AORTAE. Plural of Aorta. You should only have one.
21. Car radio letters: AM/FM.
22. Genius 8000 toothbrushes, e.g.: ORAL-Bs.
23. Flanders of Springfield: NED. Homer Simpson's neighbor.
24. Bakery draw: AROMA.
27. Most populous continent: ASIA.
28. Road Runner stills, e.g.: CELS.
32. Lucy of "Elementary": LIU. Lucy Liu (b. Dec. 2, 1968) played Joan Watson on the television crime series Elementary, which ran from 2012 ~ 2019.
33. Bark holder: TREE.
34. Absorb, with "up": SOP.
35. Speeder's undoing: RADAR.
37. Igor, to Dr. Frankenstein: ASS'T. Igor was Dr. Frankenstein's assistant. Dr. Frankenstein created the monster. Does the clue indicate to you that the answer is an abbreviation?
40. Like Redbox films: ON DVD.
44. __ a plea: COP.
46. One removed by a wine lover: CORK.
48. Musical knack: EAR.
54. Enticement: LURE.
55. Space: ROOM.
57. Nonprofit URL ending: ORG.
58. Sheena who collaborated with Prince: EASTON. Sheena Easton (née Sheena Shirley Orr; b. Apr. 27, 1959) and Prince (né Prince Roger Nelson; June 7, 1958 ~ Apr. 21, 2016) first met in 1984 and collaborated on several hit songs.
60. It can end on a high note: ARIA.
66. 1927 movie innovation: TALKIE. It was also a Walkie.
67. Turkic language: UZBEK.
68. The Bosporus, e.g.: Abbr.: STR. As in the Borporus Strait. It is part of the continental boundary between Europe and Asia. It connects the Black Sea with the Sea of Marmara. It is also known as the Strait of Istanbul. In May 1766, a 7.5 magnitude earthquake struck the Bosporus.
69. Zooms: SPEEDS.
70. Sauce made with pine nuts: PESTO. Yummers! I am growing some basil in my garden this year so hopefully I will be able to make some pesto later this summer.
71. PreCheck org.: TSA. As in the Transportation Security Administration. I am always happy when I get the PreCheck mark on my plane ticket. I have no immediate plans for flying now or in the near future, though.
Down:
1. Two before Charlie: ALFA.
3. It may involve cooking the books: TAX FRAUD.
4. Super Bowl IV MVP Dawson: LEN. Len Dawson (né Leonard Ray Dawson; b. June 20, 1935) played in one of the early Super Bowl games. The game was played in Tulane Stadium in New Orleans. The Kansas City Chiefs (an AFL team) trounced the Minnesota Vikings (an NFL team) in a score of 23 - 7.
5. PC shortcut key: ALT.
6. __-chic: hippie-influenced fashion style: BOHO. BoHo apparently stands for Bohemian Homeless. Who knew?
7. Performs surgery: OPERATES.
8. Go over again: REHASH.
9. Guys' attaché alternatives: MAN BAGS. Mmmm ... No.
10. Fireworks cries: OOHS!
11. Golf expert: PRO.
12. Apple music app: iTUNES. I used to get my podcasts from iTunes, but the operating system changed.
13. Stands for oils: EASELS.
14. Clarinets, e.g.: REEDS.
19. "It's just a flesh wound": I'M OK. I just ran amok.
20. Nobelist Wiesel: ELIE. Elie Wiesel (Sept. 30, 1928 ~ July 2, 2016) was born in Sighet, Transylvania (now a part of Romania). During World War II, he and his family were deported to Auschwitz. His mother and sister were immediately killed, but Elie and his father were selected for labor. They were later transported to Buchenwald. His father died in Buchenwald, but Elie survived. He went on to write over 50 book, several of which were about his experience in the concentration camps. Probably his most famous book is Night, which was originally written and published in French. In 1986, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his humanitarian works. When I was in college, I was fortunate to meet him.
25. Some undergrounds: METROs. Think of the subway system in Paris.
26. It can be fresh but not insulting: AIR. Fun clue and answer!
28. Crunch's rank: CAP'N.
29. 35mm camera type: SLR. As in Single Lens Reflex camera. We see this a lot in the puzzles, but what does it really mean? Find out here.
30. Cultural funding gp.: NEA. As in the National Endowment for the Arts.
31. Swindled: ROOKED.
36. Entr'__: ACTE. Today's French lesson. It literally means "between the acts".
38. Work a crowd: SCHMOOZE.
39. Digit for water testing?: TOE.
41. Clear-cut, as for lumber: DEFOREST.
42. Pesky critters: VARMINTS.
43. Parched: DRY.
45. Pittsburgh team: PIRATES.
47. Stat for the 45-Down: RBI. As in Runs Batted In. I think Hank Aaron (b. Feb. 5, 1834) still leads with the most runs with 2,297 RBIs.
49. Gunny sack fabric: BURLAP.
Burlap Tote ~ It's BOHO Chic.
50. Socks pattern: ARGYLE. Why Argyle is a pattern for socks and not suits.
51. Enjoy a bagel, say: NOSH. I had the plural of this word last week. It comes from the Yiddish word נאַשן, meaning "to nibble on".
52. Add: TOTE UP.
53. Actor Neeson: LIAM. Liam William Neeson (b. June 7, 1952) was married to Natasha Richardson. He played Oskar Schindler in the movie Schindler's List.
54. Artists' pads: LOFTS.
58. City west of Tulsa: ENID. Enid make frequent appearances in the crossword puzzles. It is the 9th largest city in Oklahoma. Can you name the 8 largest cities in Oklahoma?
59. Pen points: NIBS.
61. First razor with a pivoting head: ATRA.
63. Pres. after Harry: IKE. As is Dwight David Eisenhower (Oct. 14, 1890 ~ Mar. 28, 1969), who was President immediately after Harry S Truman (May 8, 1884 ~ Dec. 26, 1972).
64. Site-seeing place, with "the": NET. As in the Internet.
65. Ring ref's decision: TKO. As in Technical Knock Out.
Here's the Grid:
QOD: If the world were perfect, it wouldn’t be. ~ Yogi Berra (né Lawrence Peter Berra; May 12, 1925 ~ Sept. 22, 2015), American baseball player and coach
45 comments:
Unemployment's going up, we have LABOR CONTRACTIONS;
LABOR CONTRACTS call for union actions!
Workers are MOPIER,
Feeling less hopier,
Where is the virus that causes satisfactions?
Today we have a theme of IDIOMS with VARMINTS,
ZOOMANIA combined with locations or apartments!
FOX IN THE HEN-HOUSE, guarding the place
From any PREDATOR of the avian race.
SNAKE IN THE GRASS, a slithering neighbor,
Regulating rodents, but could be a TRAITOR.
BATS IN THE BELFRY, twittering their RADAR,
Causing ECCENTRICITY to reach for its nadir.
FLY IN THE OINTMENT, tainting it with muck,
Making COMPLICATIONS to the formula in flux.
I think you want to erase the comment on 37 across, and this comment.
The themers almost filled themselves in today. So much crosswordese, I smiled my way along. My only write-over was getting to AORTAE.
Oops, let's try that again...
Good morning!
Smooth solve, just a minute longer than yesterday, which is about right. All of the themers were "in the language" and easy to suss. Thanx, Seth, Jeff, and Hahtoolah (that may be BURLAP, but it ain't no "gunny sack").
ARGYLE: Wish he were still lurking.
DEFOREST: Could be Lee of triode fame or Kelly of StarTrek.
ORAL-B: My 10-year-old electric gave up the ghost last month. Amazon Prime to the rescue.
"Bosporus": Saw an article yesterday that with reduced shipping due to the Corona virus dolphins have been seen frolicking in the Bosporus.
SLR: On one of David Attenborough's nature programs, a Lyre bird imitates the sounds around it, including the distinctive "clunk" of a shutter and the whirr of the auto-winder. Chain saw, anyone?
Hi diddily ho, neighborinos ! Good morning.
The idioms were all well known and easily solved with just a few perps.
I chuckled at your "ran amok" comment, Hahtoolah.
The Pirates are my all time favorite National League team. Roberto Clemente was my favorite player among so many. I miss baseball.
I also miss Argyle. Scott got a CSO today !
Hahtoolah, I would go with Oklahoma City, Tulsa, McAlester, Muskogee, Norman, Moore and (brain freeze trying to remember the home city of Oklahoma State). And then maybe Lawton, Durant or Ponca City. Good poser.
OwenKL, I am confused by your 5:02 comment.
Deper-otto, of triode fame ? Wow, where did that come from ? Your radio days ?
I love to watch the David Attenborough programs, but I never saw that one of the Lyre bird before. Truly amazing. Can't wait to show DW. Thank you for that !
Toodily doo !
Today was also the birthday of the great George Carlin (1937-2008).
Jeff is a great mentor to so many. Never heard of BOHO but that did not slow things down much.
In addition to Yogi Berra and George Carlin, we could celebrate the birth of:
1907: Katharine Hepburn
1820: Florence Nightingale
1928: Burt Bacharach
Thanks, Susan and the latest in the Cheneration of new constructors
The "Dr." in Frankenstein indicates an abbreviation. I think that what Owen was pointing-out.
Today is also an appropriate moment to honor all the nurses who are the front line of defense against our latest pandemic on this INTERNATIONAL NURSES DAY . I love you mother dear, wherever your soul may be.
Two small nits to pick:
14 A clue: Clarinet. The photo is of an oboe.
49 D clue: Gunny sack. The photo is of a tote-bag. Yes, both are made of burlap.
Gunny sacks have a long history in agriculture for carrying and storing potatoes, onions, etc in quantities approaching one bushel. The burlap tote bag is a legitimate item but also a kind of johnny-come-lately knock-off.
DD
Musings
-_ L … tempted me to enter ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM
-Golfers who get MOPIER on their bad days make everyone uncomfortable
-Crossworders will like the AROMA of these Dutch letters in Pella, Iowa
-When you meet another driver flashing their lights at you – RADAR ahead!
-It was many decades before Pat won KC another Super Bowl after LEN
-In my nursery days, a B & B tree meant “balled in BURLAP”
-A chilly first day of league for us “elderly” gentlemen a month late. FORE!
Good Morning:
This was a delightful, just-right Tuesday solve, with a nice menagerie of mischievous critters! 🙈🙉🙊 My only unknown was Uzbek. I’m not sure which is sillier sounding, Man Bags or Murses. Nice big CSOs to Tony at Alfa and our Dear Santa at Argyle. I miss “Elementary” as I really enjoyed the characters and their chemistry together, despite the fact that I missed half of what Jonny Miller said.
Thanks, Seth and Jeff, for bringing some much needed diversion and levity into our topsy-turvy world and thanks, Hatoolah, for the time and effort you expend to give us lots of enjoyment with commentary, facts, and eye candy galore!
Lemony @ 7:49 ~ I loved your Cheneration comment.
Stay safe, all.
Good morning everyone.
I liked Hahtoolah's intro. Always colorful.
Easy enough solve today. No erasures or look-ups were needed. I liked the animal content IDIOMS, and they were all easily getable after a few perps.
NOSH - We had that a few days ago.
SCHMOOZE - Comes from the Yiddish. German has a verb 'schmusen' (to cuddle or fondle), but it may not be etymologically related.
Thank you Jeff, Seth. Great write up Hatoolah.
FIR and actually picked up the 57a. quickly which is unusual for me.
Hank is a lot older than I thought.
Looks like Enid slipped to #10 in 2018. Stillwater creeped to ninth.
This alum missed Norman as 3rd largest. 2010 census 110,925. 2018 est. 123,471. When I was in school, I don't think the population was over 60,000 even if you counted the 20,000+ students.
MO
Easy. The theme was cute. Sometimes I used a perp or two jogged my memory.
DO, I agree about the gunny sack. I grew up in rural Pennsylvania. Large gunny sacks were used for feed and potatoes.
Thanks for the delightful and amazing lyre bird clip.
In the 70's Gary Burghoff played Radar in Mash, a supposedly recent high school graduate. Although Gary was in his 30's at the time he was believable as a kid. As he aged we realized he was no kid, but overlooked it, because his character was beloved.
Similarly, Dan Blocker who played Hoss Cartwright in Bonanza was in this 30's and 40's during the series. Toward the end he appeared too old to Ben's son, but it was acceptable because he was familiar and loved. Bonanza and Mash are two of my favorite old time series. I still watch the reruns.
When I consider how useful my handbag is to me, I feel sorry for men not having one. In the days when men carried briefcases, they doubled as hold-alls, including lunch and personal items. I hope ,an bags become acceptable. Maybe messenger bags would suffice.
In support of Hatoolah. The 14a. picture looks like a perfect representation of a clarinet to me.
Live sports without anyone in the stands is going to be weird. This coming Sunday. Live NASCAR & golf, even if you aren't a fan, they're not re-runs.
MO
That sure looks like a clarinet. Look at the shapes of the mouthpiece and bell.
The difference
I liked the animal IDIOMS from Jeff and Seth. Good puzzle. Hahtoolah's stroll through the grid was informative and enjoyable.
Not much else to say that hadn't already been said by others.
Have a great day everyone and please be safe.
Well, I guess I do have something more to say.
No Doubt About It. That is a clarinet. I played one just like it in Junior High.
I corrected the clarinet photo. The gunny sack photo, however, was intended to be a joke.
Easy Fun Tuesday puzzle aided by obvious (that means even I was able to figure them out early) long themed clues. I opted to answer just acrossclues first only checking perps when there was a conflict (kea/LOA) with only one inkover: dare/LURE. * pat's himself on the back*
Never heard of BOHO...(boo hoo!). Could stand with a few less surprise 3 letter fillers like OHHs (ahh, aah, ooh). TOTE UP? Sounds more like hauling upstairs?
IMOK.. "Just a flesh wound. " the fleshy part of my AORTAe)
"The Beverly Hillbillies" Granny distinguished between VARMENTS (dialect for vermin) and Elly Mae's "critters" (creatures) some of which she may have secretly made into "vittles" (victuals).
Favorite clue: Crunch's rank!
Hands up. How many have used a CORKscrew on a wine bottle only to realize it was twist off cap!
More ZOOMANIA... time to get goosed:
Stage a dramatic production with ARIAs.....Operate
Smurf crossed with a moose hybid= SCHMOOZE. (Also referred to as a Murf)
That wasn't your tickery but.....ARGYLE.
Can't see ______ for the TREEs...... DEFOREST.
As my hair gets longer and wilder it looks ______ everyday.....MOPIER
Another 40 degree day gloomy day.
Terrific Tuesday. Thanks for the fun, Seth & Jeff, and Hahtoolah.
Just a little crunch today, but with only a couple of inkblots and a little P&P, I FIRed. The familiar IDIOMs helped the solve.
I had Hobo chic before perps corrected it to BOHO; similarly, Capt changed to CAPN (I don't eat that cereal!). I thought of Entr' Amis but entered ACTE.
I noted some more baseball today with PIRATES and RBI. Plus some art with EASELS and LOFTS. (And Hahtoolah created another pair with BURLAP totes and TOTE UP. Anyone else remember potato sack races at picnics with those gunny sacks?)
And another close pairing with the Bosporus STR near Turkey and those UZBEK speakers.
That chemical structure diagram of AZT brought back memories of Organic Chemistry & Biochemistry - interesting but overwhelming subjects to study. Who else here can diagram the Krebs cycle?
Yes, I saw the CSOs to AnonT (ALFA) and Santa (ARGYLE)!
I saw ZOOM-ANIA and Zooms in the clue for 69D. SPEEDS and RADAR are appropriate with this recent local news story. I hope that 18-year-old does not get his parent's car again! (That SPEED is 191 mph for you Americans!)
RadarSpeed308km
Wishing you all a good day.
Irish M: "Elementary" one of my favorites too. I had the same problem with Sherlock's speaking (and most British and accented speakers) so I always have the closed caption feature turned on. DW tells me to get my hearing checked to which I always respond...WHAT?
CanadianEh!, that's Maynard G. Krebs, right?
Loved the theme answers today. It was a quickie! I also questioned whether the "Dr." in 37 Across was sufficient to signal an abbreviated answer and decided it would have to do.
Fun theme! Hahtoolah wow, you really outdid yourself with your illustrations and comments. Thank you! Way cool that you met ELIE Wiesel.
Never heard of BOHO and did not get why STR was the answer for Bosporous. Learning moments when I read the write-up here.
I memorized the Phonetic Alphabet, so ALFA was a gimme. But learning moment about the numbers. In your ROOM illustration, can someone please explain what you are supposed to do with all those bed pillows when it is time to go to bed?
OwenKL can you please explain your self-referential comment on 37A?
DW and I got to see these Channel Island FOXes up close and personal during our excursion last summer.
This was the same excursion that had such a tragic ending when the boat burned a few weeks later in the "Conception Disaster".
From Yesterday:
BillG and Wilbur Charles thank you for explaining the TRIPLE JUMP. I had no idea.
Wilbur Charles thanks for sharing the Roy Rogers/Dale Evans joke. What is really weird for me: When I was a college student, one of my rooming house housemates told a completely different joke... that had the exact same punch line! He even sang the punch line.
Good afternoon, folks. Thank you, Seth Geltman & Jeff Chen, for a fine puzzle. Thank you, Hahtoolah, for a fine review.
Yellowrocks: Where are you from in rural, Pennsylvania? Just curious. Abejo
Puzzle went easily being a Tuesday. The theme became obvious and I ws able to get them all before I finished. That actually helped me to finish.
Never knew what was in PESTO. Pine Nuts? Who would have thought.
Yes, ARGYLE. Nice CSO to our old friend.
I enjoy FIREWORKS. Always have. We used to see them annually in Erie, PA. when I was a youth.
TREE became very easy once I changed NPA to NEA. Duh!
The Blue Angels flew over Chicago this morning. Too far for us to see.
Weather looks good today. See you tomorrow.
Abejo
( )
Enjoyed your puzzle, Seth and Jeff--many thanks. And as soon as I saw all those great pictures and images popping up I knew it was Susan's commentary today--many thanks to you too, Hahtoolah.
Some fun clues to enjoy, like 'stands for oils' to give us EASELS, and 'frugal way to wed' for ELOPE. And some delightful television references. I always loved RADAR O'Reilley on "Mash," and I can still see a weekly "Elementary" with Lucy LIU on one of my TV channels. Happily, have no problem with Sherlock's accent.
Have a good day, everybody.
I love Pesto,
(Note, Store bought/supermarket pesto is disgusting -yuck!)
but cannot get pine nuts.
So I use walnuts, which is delicious...
Here is a basic recipe,
but the fun part of pesto is experimentation!
Try Cashews! Skip the red pepper flakes! use different oils!
Pesto is a very versatile thing...
P.S., (& the greenery does not have to be Basil...)
Gary, one of my Golf league'ers was once an assistant PRO. He moped when his play was sub-standard. I noticed he played better when he was angry. So...
I angered him, he played better but stayed angry-at me. Sheesh, so much for Mr Nice-guy
WAZE has eliminated the need for the flashes. I still do it although some of those pick-up guys I should let suffer
Yep, chilly here too, it didn't reach 70 until late morning.
Aaron spent '52 in AAA*, Mathews was a rookie. Then, after spring training in '53, the Boston Braves took a left and ended up in Milwaukee. And Lou Boudreau had just broken up the Redsox, Ted was in the Marines. Wrong team left.
In "Monk and the Three Pies" the villain races the kids in a gunny sack race to win an apple pie*.
Picard, he probably told the joke right. Or...Was it a different "Roy"?
WC
*So if he was 19 in '52 he'd be about 90
** He thought the shell casing was in there
This was a fun Tuesday grid.
Write-overs...LUI/LIU.....d’oh.
When I have issues with the speaker's volume or clarity, I turn up the center channel speaker which solves the problem.
And on to Wednesday. Stay Safe, it’s going to be tougher now with everything opening up...
Remember....still no medicine, no vaccine, still extremely contagious, still no symptoms while able to spread it.
There was a doc on TV, he said something notable...”Remember, the virus has no legs, you are it’s transportation.”
Seth, thank you for the very creative animal theme.
Opening with ZOOMANIA and having an animal in each answer, I thought of John Lampkin who often has animals in his puzzles.
Susan, I always look forward to your many wonderful links and pics.
Canadian Eh! Yes, I remember the three legged races in gunny sacks. These days cloth ties are often used to tie the legs together instead of using gunny sacks. With gunny sacks, both of us holding up the sack added a different dimension.
Picard, I loved your fox pictures. They look so cute and cuddly, although they really do not make good pets. We have a fox or two in the woods behind our condos. We used to have many wild turkeys, but I haven’t seen them lately. Since a new development was built on the property adjacent to ours, we see many fewer birds and much less wildlife. Maybe with the current shelter in place policy the wildlife may come back for a while.
Abejo, I lived in Sullivan County PA from ages 4 to 15. There are only about 7500 people in the entire county and only one traffic light. Sullivan County is in the beautiful Endless Mountains. We return for a week every summer and go back for leaf peeping there in the fall.
Between the ages of 15 and 18 I lived in Northumberland County, PA, a county rich in farmland. I earned money using gunny sacks to pick up potatoes from the fields. The farmers were primarily PA Dutch, not the Plain people (Amish and Mennonite), but he so-called “Fancy” PA Dutch, far less conservative Germans. The last two generations seem to have assimilated almost completely and have lost the PA Dutch language and customs.
I attended Susquehanna U in Selinsgrove,PA.
Thanks for the recipe CED. How long does it keep? I am the only one eating here.
Hola!
Bad night last night and couldn't get to sleep so of course I'm here late.
I had fun at the ZOO, er, grid with wild animals all around. Thank you, Seth and Jeff!
I learned that Dr. Fauci was involved in the development of AZT in the 80s. Perhaps he will discover how to curb if not cure this current virus.
CSO to ARGYLE whom I miss as I'm sure everyone else does.
CSO to Anon-T at ALFA once again.
I've never heard of BOHO chic nor LEN Dawson so had two blanks. I should have known LABOR, though.
I remember many years ago seeing photos of Marilyn Monroe dressed in BURLAP with the caption that she would look good in anything, even BURLAP.
And I recall being so sad for LIAM Neeson when Natasha Richardson, his wife, died in a freak accident while skiing.
With the basil that's growing in the patio I have made PESTO; a little goes a long way.
Thank you, Hahtoolah, for the insightful tour; I am impressed that you met ELIE Wiesel!
I hope all are enjoying a fabulous day! Temps are in the 100s here.
Good afternoon, all. NW corner had me thinking that this wasn't a normal Tuesday xword as I couldn't do the Loa/Kea thing. Boho wasn't much help either, Uzbek, Ned and Str??? Didn't really get the theme except the long answers were all known and the puzzle filled in. NW corner was the last to fill. Nice puzzle Seth and Jeff. Write up cleared up other questionable fill, Hahtoolah, thanks.
FLN It is funny how the minds of this blog work (funny in a good way). I enjoyed the scrabble rap. I did the same as others 10, 10, 4, 4, 1 not realizing that was only one Z. duh. I wondered what would have happened if a jeopardy contestant pointed that out to Alex? lol
FL weather has been very accommodating this year. Feel for my northern friends.
I'll go ahead and pile on about the picture of the clarinet. Yes, it is definitely a clarinet, not an oboe, but I would say it is upside down. The flat part of the mouthpiece, where the reed goes, is normally on the lower lip of the player's mouth, while the slanted part of the mouthpiece goes against the upper lip. *Jumping off the pile now*
I liked this puzzle. Good ole Mauna LOA/KEA choice: fill in the A and see what one or the other of the perps is. Same thing with AORTA: wait for the perp to see if it ends with S or E. I do only have one, but my doctor says it has some plaque in it.
Hahtoolah, so cool that you got to meet Elie Wiesel.
Learning moment: so cool that Dr. Fauci was involved in the development of AZT in the 80s. Thank you for that info, Lucina.
I, too, turn on "Closed Captioning" when I can't hear or understand the dialog. We don't have a center speaker so we can't turn it up. Maybe it is the absence of a center speaker that makes it so difficult to discern dialog. Most modern movies apparently assume everyone has a center speaker because they deliberately mix the sound to make the dialog come out the center speaker. The sound effects come out the left and right speakers, usually VERY loudly, drowning out everything else. It seems to me the mere presence of loud noise is considered to be good dramatic effect or something.
Is that BOHO chic bag really burlap? Or is it canvas?
I often "wear" what I call my "pouch," which is a MANBAG my wife made for me to carry stuff around in. Since I require two canes to walk, it is clumsy at best to try to otherwise carry anything, since my hands are occupied gripping the handles of the canes. So the "pouch" comes in very handy.
Good wishes to you all, whom I trust are staying sensible and safe.
ROS @ 10:27--"vittle" is the correct pronunciation; "vikshoo-el" is an orthographism.
Yellowrocks, I spent my teens in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and my Dad and brother still live there. Nice to see several Pennsylvanians (long word) on the blog.
My family also has roots in Pennsylvania. I was born in Pittsburgh, where my mother's family had lived for at least 3 generations. My mother's uncle was a founder of Evans Glass which eventually was bought out by Pittsburgh Plate Glass. After my mother's mother divorced her father she moved all of us lock stock and barrel to the northern Philadelphia area, where, it turns out, my father's family had lived for generations. My dad was born and grew up there, so I and my siblings are all products of the union between a former Pittsburgh clan and a Philadelphia clan. My sister married a man who grew up in Lancaster and graduated from Franklin and Marshall college there; they currently live in Pottstown, PA. Since then I and others of my generation (my cousins) have pretty well dispersed and only my aforementioned sister and her son's family still live in PA. I feel fortunate to have been there during the heyday of "The World's Greatest Orchestra" under the direction of the great Eugene Ormandy, have attended countless concerts by them, and have met and had conversations with several of the orchestra musicians and even once with Ormandy himself. Unfortunately he was in a foul mood at the time and came across as the stereotypical tantrum-throwing maestro.
In my career I was in a prolonged project with what was then AMP Corporation in Harrisburg (the connector manufacturer now known as TE Connectivity) and got to know that area pretty well. Dang, that Three-Mile Island nuclear power plant sure is huge up close! And Hershey is, or was, a cute little town with street lamps in the shape of Hershey Kisses.
Bottom line: I still feel a connection to and fondness for Pennsylvania, especially the suburbs north of Philadelphia.
Oh, my.
Too late to ignore it now.
The comment on "37. Igor, to Dr. Frankenstein: ASS'T." has been re-written, but still overlooks how the use of the abbreviation "Dr." is an indicator the answer ABSOLUTELY MUST BE AN ABBREVIATION! Thank you to Anon@7:51 for pointing that out.
And if I'm going to criticize Hahtoolah's otherwise excellent expo, I may as well note her missing the reveal (which I did note in my poem) of the crossing of VARMINT IDIOM.
Re "Elementary" -- Sherlock had an accent?*
IM -- "Murses" was a new word to me. [add: Looks like Ray spells it "Murf" 😄 .] Man have pockets. Watch pockets, change pockets, vest pockets, inside jacket pockets, I've even seen hidden pockets behind lapels and in neckties!
YR -- like the new avatar, and it's the same shade as your header name! Thanks for the tutorial on the instruments!
d-o -- A.k.a. Maynard Gilligan Krebs, right?
*Remember, I'm deaf. He who laughs last, had to wait for the closed captioning.
Home made pesto will last for,5 to 7 days in the fridge.
Frozen, it will last 3 to 4 months.
Using an old ice cube tray to create ice cube size frozen pieces
Is an excellent way to create single servings for breakfast toast.
(Defrosting is an experiment I will leave to you)
(I have never had pesto Long
No enough to freeze any...)
One caveat:
It is a lot like guacamole in that it will turn brown when bad.
If it's brown, toss it!
Yellowrocks thank you for the kind words about my Channel Islands FOX photos. Way cool that you have FOXes in your place, too.
This species is endemic to the Channel Islands off the coast of Santa Barbara (found nowhere else on Earth). It is smaller than the gray FOX species on the mainland that it evolved from. My limited observation is that it is less shy and more curious than mainland FOXes, too.
Here are some fun facts from the National Park Service about this Channel Islands FOX.
Wilbur Charles I think the Roy Rogers joke I heard from my old housemate did involve Roy Rogers. But not Dale Evans. It involved a house cat, not anything exotic. Not sure which version came first or which is the "right" one. Either one is good! Singing the punch line is key to the success of the joke, though!
I did find my old housemate a couple of years ago and we briefly exchanged emails. He is now a professor emeritus at a small liberal arts college called Gustavus Adolphus College. It looks to be in the area near where CC and Boomer live.
Back in the day he was quite an adventurer, going to remote areas of Brazil. I really do want to have a longer exchange with him and follow up on some of those adventures. I will note that they involved interesting Amazonian substances.
D'otto and OwenKL- LOL RE Maynard G Krebs!
Actually it was Hans Adolf. "The citric acid cycle itself was finally identified in 1937 by Hans Adolf Krebs and William Arthur Johnson while at the University of Sheffield,[10] for which the former received the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 1953, and for whom the cycle is sometimes named (Krebs cycle).[11] per Wikipedia
I am surprised nobody here remembers it . . . Or maybe they just haven't commented yet.
I didn't realize foxes were common in urban areas until I began visiting my friend who lives in San Rafael. One lives somewhere in her neighborhood and she frequently leaves food out for him. He quietly goes in and out of her yard.
Nice relaxing puzzle today which I FIR. How about that? (First time I've written FIR on this forum. I still think of it as "finished in regulation," something like hitting "greens in regulation" in golf, something I don't do very much.)
TOTE UP? There's something I would never write. Always known it as "tot up." But the interwebs told me that "tote up" is also acceptable. The same interwebs, through something called the Urban Dictionary, also suggested the following two meanings for "tote up." "1) to be completely,utterly and fabulously done up for some event/occasion 2) to be completely, utterly and ridiculously fucked up."
Ok then.
If you're not a baseball MANIAc, you can skip the next graf.
First, as any spelling stickler/baseball stat hound knows, "RBI" is a misnomer. It should, of course, be RsBI. RBIs is just wrong! Sure enough, Hank Aaron is still the all-time RsBI leader with 2297. Some fun was had rooting around those interwebs again, thinking about RsBI and stats. I didn't know that hated Red Sox nemesis Alex Rodriguez was third on the all-time list, behind Aaron and Babe Ruth. Of course, A-Rod had just a little pharmaceutical assistance, but still impressive. Another interesting factoid is that there are only two active players in the top 100 of career RsBI and 5 in the top 200. I guess Hammerin' Hank can rest easy.
I know, I can get tiresome talking about baseball, but another interesting factoid about this tangent is that Pete Rose is 103rd on the all-time RsBI list. 103rd! This is the dude that got more hits than anyone in baseball history! I guess nobody was on when he got all those hits.
End of baseball digression.
Very entertaining review today, loved the pic of the seagull dipping a delicate TOE into the water, also the pic of RADAR.
I'll probably see y'all early in the morning, working the 11-7 shift tonight so I'll probably be doing the Wed crossword early in the morning, sleepily.
Vermontah out!
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