google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Sunday, November 15, 2020 Lee Taylor

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Nov 15, 2020

Sunday, November 15, 2020 Lee Taylor

Theme: "Workplace Superstitions"  - Various superstitions are punnily reinterpreted, somewhat fitting the profession in each clue.

22A. Weather forecaster's "Don't"?: OPEN AN UMBRELLA INDOORS.

29A. Beautician's "Don't"?: BREAK A MIRROR.

67A. Carpenter's "Do"?: KNOCK ON WOOD.

99A. Ice skater's "Don't"?: STEP ON A CRACK.

109A. Banker's "Do"?: FIND A PENNY AND PICK IT UP.

15D. Pianist's "Do"?: CROSS YOUR FINGERS.

38D. Construction worker's "Don't"?: WALK UNDER A LADDER.

I'm not familiar with "Don't step on a crack". Winters in Minnesota are brutal, impossible to avoid cracked roads when we walk.

In China, we have a few superstitions: Don't share a pear with others. Pear & "separation" have the same pronunciations in Chinese. Don't clip your fingernails at night. You're inviting ghosts. 

And of course, everyone eats fish for Spring Festival. Fish sounds like "surplus". So you won't be poor  next year.

Across:

1. Street fights: SCUFFLES.
 
9. Skimpy skirt: MINI.
 
13. Diacritic for a long vowel sound: MACRON. Like this.


19. Caltech city: PASADENA. Rose Bowl! By the way, Gary, we don't follow the Lynx. Boomer watches the Timberwolves from time to time.

20. Low-pH material: ACID.

21. Italian innkeeper: PADRONE. New word to me.

25. Throw away: TOSS.

26. Batter's stat: RBI. Tiny dupe: 89. Baseball stat: RUN.

27. Caesar's rebuke: ET TU.

28. Manuscript marking: STET.

34. Pink Floyd's Barrett: SYD.

35. Boarding aid: JETWAY. The bridge.



39. "American Idol" fixture until 2010: SIMON. Had a terrifying motorcycle accident a few months ago.

40. Other side: ENEMY.

42. Gave a sigh: EXHALED.

44. Words heard shortly after many a marriage pronouncement: NOW KISS. "You may now kiss the bride".

46. Major artery: AORTA.

50. Exercise, as power: WIELD.

51. Kimono ties: OBIS.

53. Tolkien talking plant: ENT.

54. 17th/18th-century British ruling house: STUART.

55. Little guy: TYKE.

56. "__ Misérables": LES.

57. Home security co.: ADT. Our neighbor used to have a ADT sign in their yard. Now it's gone. But when I walk closer to their yard on my way to our mailbox, something beeps. I'm just trying to avoid the icy patches on the road.

58. Indigenous Nepal mountain people: SHERPAS.

59. Bear genus: URSUS.

61. "Narc" co-star Ray: LIOTTA.

63. Bona __: FIDE.

64. Big name in romance fiction: AVON.

70. Brainchild: IDEA.

71. Vulcan mind __: MELD. This concept happens in some Chinese fantasy novels also.


72. Start of a play: ACT ONE.

73. Versatile game piece: QUEEN.

75. Comprehensive: IN DEPTH.

77. Wanna-__: BES.

78. Snack item: NUT. And 85. They're often tapped out: BEERS.

79. Corp. leaders: MGMT. Management.

82. After-dinner party: SOIREE. This sounds so surreal right now. Boomer and I just live in our two-person "Disney Bubble".

83. Heartache: WOE.

84. Christmas tune: NOEL.

87. Bit of character assassination: SMEAR.

88. One hanging at a food court: MALL RAT.

90. Had a longing: YEARNED.

92. Sucked (in): LURED.

94. Spring bulb: TULIP. I don't think these are ginger roots, Jayce. Some of you mentioned that they might be iris or daffodils bulbs. I clipped the picture from a Japanese lady who was visiting her grandma in the countryside last week. I originally thought they might be taro roots.She had no captions.

96. Follows: ENSUES.

97. Doo-wop group __ Na Na: SHA.

102. Copied: APED.

103. Henry __: VIII.

104. Ages and ages: EON.

105. "An Essay on Criticism" poet: POPE.

116. Russia, vis-à-vis Crimea, in 2014: ANNEXER.

117. "__ it a rest!": GIVE.

118. Prepare for conflict: EMBATTLE. I've only used the form "embattled".

119. Brought up: REARED.

120. Eject: SPEW.

121. Final shot: LAST HOPE. Properly placed in the grid.

Down:

1. Catch a glimpse of: SPOT.

2. Guitar gadget: CAPO.


3. Plays for a fool: USES.

4. Some coolers: FANS.

5. Big Pharma watchdog: Abbr.: FDA.

6. Sportscaster Berman: LEN.


7. Harden: ENURE.

8. South American dances: SAMBAS.

9. Put a dent in: MAR.

10. __ fishing: ICE. Hardy soul. 

11. Zippo: NIL.

12. One stuck in traffic, at times: IDLER.

13. Fertilizer ingredient: MANURE.

14. Say further: ADD.

16. Difficult to hoe: ROOTY. Look, I uprooted this tree.

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjS4SrhaYwLr7qEMA2-bFjYMGHdvP7YRIk_dnNzs5bOGgbDdQHbm_eW-ydaFTc7LyXYoE7FwnYGLuzjjudHNknSFg1oh9P3Kx0Ju6fwomPd-Z67umsnQbM2Kb9dWw5MEYXLKRuOSqGhXZ8/s1600/DSCN0528.JPG

17. When rights may be restricted: ON RED.

18. Fit together compactly: NEST.

21. Climbing equipment: PITONS.

23. Two-piece suits: BIKINIS.

24. Words in Newton's first law: AT REST. Copy from NASA:  Newton's first law states that every object will remain at rest or in uniform motion in a straight line unless compelled to change its state by the action of an external force. This is normally taken as the definition of inertia. ... If that velocity is zero, then the object remains at rest.

29. Son of Odin and Frigg: BALDER.

30. Deli option: RYE.

31. "Famous" cookie maker: AMOS.

32. Work on a green, say: MOW.

33. Entered permanently: INKED IN.

35. Bar mitzvah celebrant: JEW.

36. Red sign over a door: EXIT.

37. Nonbinary gender pronoun: THEY. Singular they. The example Wiki gives:

"This is my friend, Jay. I met them at work. They are a talented artist."

41. Deckhand: MATE.

43. Grab a bite together: DO LUNCH. Nope. Need to stay in our "Disney Bubble". See also 80. Restaurant window posting: MENU.

45. Being dragged along: IN TOW.

47. Speedy: RAPID. Hope your mom has fully recovered, Nina!

48. Fantasy football deal: TRADE.

49. Lost completely: AT SEA.

52. Utterly infatuate: BESOT.

54. Relief from the heat: SHADE.

57. Lotion ingredients: ALOES.

58. With determination: STOUTLY.

60. Take to the rink: SKATE.

62. Chef's hat: TOQUE. Happy chef.



64. Not quite right: AMISS.

65. Spiteful feeling: VENOM.

66. Classic tune: OLDIE.

68. Early programming acronym: COBOL. Tony probably knows it, but he's more of the modern programming wizard.

69. Show reverence for, as a deity: KNEEL TO.

74. Confine with a dike, say: EMBANK.

76. Northern neighbor of Chile: PERU.

78. Took in: NOTICED. Boomer and I were stunned to see these wild turkeys at the VA hospital.


81. Corner, in a way: TREE.

83. Attack with enthusiasm, as a project: WADE IN.

84. "The Lion King" lioness: NALA.

86. '60s radical gp.: SDS.

88. Area of expertise: METIER.

91. Common Market initials: EEC.

93. Promised to attend, perhaps: RSVPed.

95. Drive forward: PROPEL.

97. Title holder: SPINE. I mentioned before. One of our blog readers actually read this classic Chinese book. I was stunned. It was so complicated for me.



98. Temporary tattoo dye: HENNA.

100. Sonar sounds: PINGS.

101. Jungian archetype: ANIMA. Learned from doing crosswords.

102. Hardly in the neighborhood: AFAR.

105. Core: PITH.

106. Chicago Bulls forward __ Porter, Jr.: OTTO.

107. Feature of some orange juice: PULP.

108. Sport in which the entire body is a valid target: EPEE.

110. Firefighting tool: AXE.

111. Pup's protest: YIP.

112. Michigan in Chicago: Abbr.: AVE.

113. Word before age or year: NEW.

114. "60 Minutes" airer: CBS.

115. Dennings of "2 Broke Girls": KAT.

C.C.


48 comments:

desper-otto said...

Good morning!

Recognized the Dos and Don'ts, except for the one about the penny. They made solving easier/faster. I'll take that CSO at OTTO. Wasn't familiar with that usage of STOUTLY -- learning moment. Thanx, Lee and C.C. (Are you sure those are wild turkeys? They look like buzzards to me.)

LEN: I can fail to recognize almost any sportscaster's name, though I do remember Earl Gillespie and Ray Scott from my ute.

FIDE: Do you pronounce that E with a MACRON or a schwa?

COBOL: Stands for COmmon Business Oriented Language. It's about as wordy as a computer language can get. Ugh!

There's a cold front coming through that'll drop the temps at least 10 degrees in the next hour. Our morning bike ride is beginning to look "iffy."

Lucina said...

Hola!

How unusual to find only one other comment!

Today's newspaper had no title and no constructor's name. However, it wasn't difficult to see the "Do's and Don'ts". Thank you, C.C. for your further insights. I am not in the least superstitious.

As always Sunday puzzles are a bit of a slog only because of the size. I enjoyed finding the well known sayings. In the case of STEP ON A CRACK it continues with BREAK YOUR MOTHER'S BACK. We used to play that when walking home from school.

All my answers were INKED IN with not a single wite-out. That is a very good accomplishment for a Sunday puzzle. COBOL was initially spelled COBaL but WOE changed it. ROOTY seemed forced.

I NOTICED the lack of names! LEN Bermen perped itself and I know STUART well enough that it wasn't a problem. I don't read romance novels but do know that AVON publishes them.

Also noted was the CSO to desper-OTTO.

SHADE is highly prized here in the desert where the sun blazes in summer.

As usual I enjoy seeing any connection to poetry though Alexander POPE is not a favorite of mine. I prefer the romantics. Surprise! Surprise!

Again, thank you, C.C.

Have a sensational Sunday, everyone!





TTP said...



Again with a typo. My "Word before age or year" was NEe and my "Eject" became SPEe. D'OH !

Thank you, Lee Taylor, and thank you, C.C.

Mark said...

As Devo let us know...Step on a crack, break your mamma's back. Didn't think it was an ice skater issue, do they step on anything? Now whip it, whip it good!

Slow go today, almost two hours. An enjoyable two hours.

OMaxiN said...

FIR with cross fingers and LAST HOPE final fills.
Changed tether to PITONS, kiss her to NOW KISS, and gasp to HOPE.
Did not see some clues already filled by perps.

D-Otto: I don't think there are buzzards in the USA. Vultures yes.

Thanks Lee and C.C.
MO

Irish Miss said...

Good Morning:

I like this type of wordplay, especially in a larger grid which allows longer fill, resulting in fleshed out phrases. I, like DO, am familiar with all sayings except for the one about the penny. Seeing Pope reminded me of a sign on an English professor’s office door, “Abandon Pope, All Ye Who Enter Here.” Like Lucina, I’m not the least bit superstitious but I wonder about the origins of such specific directives. CSO to HG (NASA) and DO (Otto), both entries appearing quite often.

Thanks, Lee, for a pleasant Sunday solve and thanks, CC, for the review and analysis and for sharing some of your cultural customs.

Forty five years ago today, I said those ubiquitous crossword puzzle words, I Do. Unlike today’s gloomy, gray skies, the sun shone brightly, although the blustery wind and 50 degrees temp left no doubt that it was mid-November in the Great Northeast. Unlike today, all was well and joy and happiness reigned. 😢

Have a great day.

desper-otto said...

OMaxiN, Brittanica says it's like the difference between a duck: One foot is both the same.

Shankers said...

Hello, is everyone sleeping in? Liked the theme which made it easy to suss many unknowns such as meld, macron, padrone and meatier. My brainiac brother attended Caltech earning his undergraduate, Master's and PhD in high energy physics, so Pasedena was a gimme. I, on the other hand, got the dregs. We live in parallel universes according to him. So sad.

Shankers said...

Metier, not meatier.

Yellowrocks said...

Loved the theme. Only KAT, BALDER and SYD were unfamiliar. Perps to the rescue.
When I was a kid we said, "Step on a crack, break your mother's back." The cracks are the grooves laid at regular intervals in a concrete sidewalk. We took exaggerated steps over them.
Find a penny pick it up; all day long you'll have good luck.
I was going to spend Thanksgiving visiting David, Motoko and Kenny. There is no virus at Kenny's college, Villanova U. However, more and more family members of people I know have Covid. I am torn. Also, almost all of my kitchen equipment is packed.

TTP said...


C.C. has a puzzle, "Ease In" over at Merriam-Webster. You can also get it at the Universal site.

Lucina said...

TTP
Thank you for the link to C.C.'s puzzle. I've printed it and will now solve it.

Hungry Mother said...

FIR. I’m always glad to be reminded of Grace Murray Hopper, the inventor of COBOL (Common Business Oriented Language). I never learned it but used plenty of other programming languages in my career. I met Dr. Hopper when I picked her up at the Harrisburg (PA) airport in a sports car. She always wore her Navy uniform and laughed as she bent herself into the seat. We had some great conversation for the hour’s drive to Shippensburg University where she was speaking and on the way back. One of her gimmicks was to give everyone in the audience a foot-long piece of wire and say, “This is a nanosecond.” Hers is a great story for the young women in your life. By the way, I enjoyed he puzzle in spite of my completed grid being a large blot of ink.

Malodorous Manatee said...

Valerie solved just about all of this puzzle and then hit the Northeast and Southeast with MACRON, ROOTY, PITH and OTTO. I was able to assist her in working through that and, together, FIR.

In school, I was taught how to program in COBOL and APL (A Programming Language) although from this I remember nothing. Still, I am certain that the manner of looking at things that the experience taught me has been a useful tool. As my father used to say, "You don't realize what it is you are actually learning while you are learning it."

NaomiZ said...

I enjoyed the puzzle and recognized all of the superstitions, but failed at 79 Across, Corp. leaders, where I expected an abbreviation ending in S, and couldn't make sense of s_EE for 81 Down, Corner, in a way. MGMT and TREE! Oh! Fair enough. Thanks for the fun, Lee, Rich, Joyce, and C.C.! Thanks for the wild turkeys, too! Wild birds are a delight to me, and that's one we'll never see in L.A.

SwampCat said...

Interesting puzzle. I knew all the superstitious expressions but I’m not sure they are related to the workplace. That seemed forced to me.

Someone else mentioned STEP ON A CRACK. That’s walking down a sidewalk!

Still, a fun puzzle. Thanks all.

Husker Gary said...

Musings
-C.C.’s fun Chinese superstitions added to my enjoyment today. I am not even a little superstitious!
-INERTIA carried me over the edge and down the side
-PASADENA – Home of The Rose Parade, Big Bang and The Little Old Lady
-MACRON – The President of France is aced out by a pronunciation mark
-SIMON definitely does not believe in “everyone gets a trophy”
-This timeline shows how Henry VIII’s Tudor house related to the Stuarts
-Penn State had plenty of LAST HOPE opportunities yesterday but the Husker defense turned them away
-MANURE – Farmers call vehicles full of this “honey wagons”
-Surface ROOTS (ROOTY? Really?) make one part of my yard impossible for grass
-INERTIA demos are my fav things to do for kids
-PARDONE and METIER – I’m not really allergic to learning
-I use the PING function on my Apple Watch to find my iPhone a lot
-Off to Omaha!

Ray - O - Sunshine said...

Dreary Sunday. Have no newpaper access to the puzzle but somtimes like to review clues and answers for future cerebral storage.

RSVPed means only you have kindly responded to the host's request as to whether or not you will attend a function. Its not a promise to attend.

Irish Miss congratulations on your 45th wedding anniversary. When you became an Irish Mrs...🔔💍💒

Chairman Moe said...

Puzzling thoughts:

FLN —> Dash T, my daughter is the bassoon prof at UGA, not cello. But to your credit and guess, a lot of music written for cello can be played by the bassoon ... they share the same clef and at times sound alik

Since Lucina and I get the same newspaper, similarly, there was no theme title nor constructor listed. Thanks CC for the recap and thanks to the constructor, whom ever THEY are

I started the puzzle with ESPY and PICK in 1 and 2 down, but as I slogged thru THEY eventually changed to the correct words

I started with BOY in 35 down; I changed the B to J and the O to E, but wouldn’t YIELD the Y, as neither JEW nor WIELD came to mind. I guess I’ve always thought of the word “Jew” as being somewhat derogatory

The PICK UP A PENNY (as good luck) to me only meant if it were “heads” up as opposed to “tails”

Ray - O - Sunshine said...

Oops just noticed that RSVPed answer had the modifier "perhaps" promised to attend...**never mind**

The need to brag...the NYT 2 week old puzzle our Newpaper carries...FIR in record time...🐓

CrossEyedDave said...

Forgive me if I look askew at the puzzle theme...

Did you ever notice that those drinks with little umbrellas are never served indoors?

Mirrors, reminded me of some job interviews I have had...

CrossEyedDave said...

no woody jokes pls...

how times have changed...

CrossEyedDave said...

When I see a penny on tails,
I kick it along until it lands on heads,
& leave it for the next person...

I cannot find it on Google,
but try to bend your middle finger
when your index finger is on top of your ring finger...

Can't do it!

Now try with your index finger UNDER your ring finger!

No problem!

Why?

CrossEyedDave said...

Actually, my aversion to hairballs is why I will not walk under a ladder...

waseeley said...

More likely Turkey Vultures, a type of Buzzard. Definitely not Wild Turkeys (a type of Bourbon I believe)

COBOL is still around and is one of the most widely used programming languages on mainframe HW, (which are still around too. The language and HW are optimized for "batch processing" (the stuff financial institutions do at night while we're all sleeping). Dw made good money maintaining COBOL until she retired a few years ago. Besides re-coding all of it in Java, Python, or the language de jour would be prohibitively expensive because no one knows exactly how it all works!

waseeley said...

Yes, YR. We too took pains to keep our mothers out of the hospital by not stepping on sidewalk cracks.

Mal said...

Fun puzzle. I had never heard of epee as a sport, only as a sword in fencing.

inanehiker said...

This was a slow and steady solve - I enjoyed the different superstitions and glad Lucina, IM, YR et all finished the sayings. Very much a thing we did as kids! WEES about ROOTY - meh...
I took the "don't step on a crack" with the ice skater - as a skater on a pond - if you step on a crack you might very well go in!

Thanks CC and Lee!

My mom is doing much better - my sis stayed until yesterday but she was really doing well by last Wednesday. Thanks for asking. It was a 2 1/2 week slog especially as she got worse at the end before she got better - COVID is hard on 89 year olds!

Anonymous said...

Not familiar with MELD. Read it up on Google, in this connection, it means 'some form of superpower to feeling empathy and mind reading of other persons, just by touching them.

C.C., Those roots look like Artichokes, or Sun chokes or maybe, Taro root or even, Calocasia. More likely, the first two, based on the nodules and root size.
We cannot say for sure until you see the top of the plant, as well.
Its definitely not Ginger.

Regarding 37 Down - Non Binary Gender pronoun. - THEY.
The example given is
This is my friend, Jay. I met them at work. They are a talented artist.
Since, this is a single person, shouldn't it be
They IS a talented artist ???

I recently, last year, actually, attended a non-denomination Civil Marriage ceremony.
The probate judge, the officiant, did marry the couple but did not say, 'You may kiss the bride', because this was an Asian couple, and in many cultures it is considered impolite to kiss, in public, for any occasion.
They did hold hands, though. ;-)

waseeley said...

Thanx also to TTP for the link to CC's puzzle at Merriam-Webster, to CC for her illuminating analysis, and to Lee for a fun puzzle. As children we learned what superstitions were from these examples (but as my son often says, many have some basis in truth, e.g. not walking under ladders!).

68D One of Admiral Hopper's principal design goals for COBOL was that it be "English like" and therefore easy to read and write for business people. What she didn't realize was that "readin' and writin'" skills are not as widespread among that population as she thought. Regardless of the language used for "coding" (a widely abused term), programming requires the ability to think logically. As many will have noticed in recent years this is also a skill in scarce supply. IMHO all of the "higher level" languages that have superceded Assembly languages (the original symbolic source codes) have not been able to compensate for the aforementioned societal deficits.

101D The "ANIMA" was Jung's term for the "feminine archetype" that resides in all of us to varying degrees, in both men and women. The corresponding "masculine archetype" is the "ANIMUS". Both terms come from the Greek word for "spirit". I believe that the variations in this spirit among all people is one of the things that makes life so fascinating.

Anonymous T said...

Sunday Lurk say...

inanehiker - thank you for the good news about your mom! She (and you) have been in my thoughts. And you're right, coming out of C19 is rough on the body.

As Mark@8:43a knows DEVO is conceptually De-Evolution. Now Whip it good [2:45 live - they still got it!]

D'Oh! - Bassoon... Sorry C.Moe.
Yes to you & CED (funny links, Bro!) - for a tails-up found penny, you bend down, flip it heads, and leave for the next guy that comes along. :-)

C.C. I knew a little COBOL but not enough to cash-in during Y2K. Those guys (and waseeley's DW?) came out of retirement for $300 to $400 per hour. Neighbor (had to be in his 70s then) in my old neighborhood had an ISDN line to his house provided by IBM.

Hungry Mother - that you got to meet Grace Hopper... Wow! I've only watched her talks & interviews [w/ Letterman 9:47]

MIL's on her way over with coffee in tow... There goes NAP time :-)

Cheers, -T

ATLGranny said...

After working on the puzzle in two sessions due to a busy morning, I FIR. It felt like an accomplishment since ENEMY, CROSS YOUR FINGERS, and MGMT were slow to come. Other themers were quicker and helped me with solving the surrounding fill. Thanks, Lee, for the nice puzzle and to C.C. for her interesting review. I enjoyed hearing about Chinese superstitions and how they are based on similar sounding words. FIND A PENNY AND PICK IT UP isn't a saying I grew up with but can see how it is a good idea: you'll be a penny richer, and over time....

Hope to you all have had a restful Sunday. See you tomorrow.

ATLGranny said...

Hope you all have had a restful Sunday. Hope TO you too. :)

LEO III said...

Well, I had a two-fer today: First of all, I had a DNF. Never was able to completely suss the NE corner. Never heard CROSSYOURFINGERS. Couldn’t figure out why a piano player would want to do that. I suppose it’s like actors and actresses saying, “Break a leg.”

However, had I actually filled in all of the blanks, I would have had a great big FIW. Because I didn’t know LIOTTA/TOQUE, I was unsure about ALOES, which begat BET instead of BES for WANNA.

On the plus side, I did better today on a Sunday puzzle than I have in a long time.

Being the contrarian that I am (and as some have also alluded), I have to complain that two of the long answers are not superstitions at all. The STEPONACRACK clue specifically referred to ice skating. If I catch an edge in a crack in the ice, I’m gonna fall down go boom! That ain’t a superstition! Likewise, there is nothing superstitious about WALKUNDERALADDER. I could easily get killed if I did that and something fell on me. It was one of the things my uncle taught me early in my ute.

Couldn’t figure out why I was having so much trouble figuring out LEN Berman. The only "sports" Berman I could remember is Chris Berman (the other “BOOMER”) on ESPN, and I knew he wasn't LEN, but I had no choice but to leave LEN there, since I DID get the NW corner filled in early in the going.

Lemonade714 said...

As with most Jewish families, I grew up surrounded by superstition. I never understood most of it but paid attention because I loved my parents. Speaking of which, Moe being called a Jew is not intrinsically a pejorative. It depends on tone and context. There are some who prefer other terms but I know I am a Jew and proud of it. As my paternal grandmother always said, " I don't care what you call me, just don't call late to dinner."

CED, I have no trouble bending my middle finger either way. Is that freaky?

Off to do the Universal

Lemonade714 said...

MAL you can read about the competition in the men's épée at the MEN'S 2016 Olympics .

-T, that must be one large cup of coffee if it has to be towed to you

Jayce said...

I liked this puzzle and the superstitions. Well constructed. Spelling the Norse god's name as BALDUR made me wonder if ---U was the name of a specific little guy. (You can tell from that statement that I worked the puzzle down-across-down-across.) Like NaomiZ I was looking for an S as the last letter of "Corp. leaders". Henry turned out not be FORD. At least I remembered CAPO this time, but I keep getting fooled by SPINE.

I presume PADRONE in Italian is the equivalent of Patrón in Spanish.

Hungry Mother, very cool story about Grace Hopper. Thanks for relating it.

Irish Miss, so glad you are having an especially good day.

Inanehiker, glad your mother has surmounted the hump and is getting better.

I guess I'm a little bit superstitious, because I do say "Knock on wood."

LW and I have been mostly staying at home (not a Disney bubble) and avoiding contact with others.

Those do look like wild turkeys to me, but I'm not a bird expert. Their beaks are longer than the beak of a buzzard and they have that telltale wattle under their chins.

I like the term mall rat. I also like the term desert rat. When my mom was still alive, living in Tucson, she had a neighbor who totally epitomized a desert rat. He was very tan and didn't seem to mind the hot, direct, sun, and when I asked him how he could stand it he replied laconically, with just the slightest hint of a knowing smile, "Because I'm 75% plant."

Good wishes to you all.

Yellowrocks said...

For us step on a crack was just a pseudo superstition like the black cat one. We pretended to believe. I have known step on a crack for 80 years and today is the first I heard it connected to ice skating.
Crossing your fingers is said to bring good luck, common here. Only the fingers part has to do with piano playing.

Anonymous T said...

Lem - Coffee was from "FourBucks"... We had a nice social distance visit on the front law.

I grew up Catholic. I've never understood "Jew" in the pejorative... My lawyer is Jewish, my Dr was (new Dr; she's Hindu), and many of the best comedians are (do we need to list them all?*). And Jews are even astronauts! :-)

And some Jews study De-evolution.

//see how I did that? Devo -> Max Brooks (yes, Mel's son!) :-)

Just for kismet - I'm literally listening to NPR's On Being right now and the Rabbi is discussing inclusion.

Cheers, -T
*We can start w/ Three Stooges all the way through Jon Stewart

CanadianEh! said...

Super Sunday. Thanks for the fun, Lee and C.C.
I FIRed and found all the Superstitions (which were all familiar to me).

I had INKED IN CEOS and MGMT was slow to replace it.
Cons changed to USES, Weedy to ROOTY (meh!).
How many of you had Espy before SPOT. LOL!

ANNEXER caused a nose wrinkle.
LIOTTA, LEN and BALDER were unknown but perps were friendly.

Ades changed to FANS (Oh, those kinds of coolers).
Speaking of cool, we had SKATE, ICE fishing and I could wear my Canadian TOQUE.
(C.C., I considered the stat clues a clecho; isn't "60D Take to the rink=SKATE" and "99A-Ice Skaters Don't" a Dupe?)

FLN, YR - so sorry to hear about Tim. Thoughts and prayers for all the family.
inanehiker - glad to hear of your Mom's recovery.
Irish Miss - hope that happy memories made this Anniversary happy also

Good evening all.

Malodorous Manatee said...

... and Bill Dana, despite the character he portrayed, was Jewish.

Bill Dana The Astronaut on the Ed Sullivan Show

Wilbur Charles said...

I saw INKED IN as a CSO but never corrected LeOTTA. Since I got the other 100+boxes I'm claiming a 9/10 FIR. TTP, I'll FIR you if you give me one? Kapeesh?

COBOL was my intro to IT. It's big advantage was in fact its wordiness. A business procedure could be documented IN the code. Documentation has always been scarce at best.

For all my sports acumen I never connected OTTO with Porter. I'm familiar with Kevin but for notoriety. Actually this is the Kevin Porter I recognized.

-T, I faithfully hit your links. < 30 secs on Devo.

The key today was grok'ing the long fills, although UMBRELLA came quickly. ALOES didn't fit with BEt. ROOTY??

WC

Edward Duarte said...

Me: bald , balder, baldest

Malodorous Manatee said...

CC's Universal puzzle finally showed up in my app. EEclectic, as usual. Very nice.

waseeley said...

Dw was still in the thick of it back then. Dates in COBOL were not easy to change and there could be 100s of places to change them in a single jobstream and thousands of jobstreams in a single system. The problem had been recognized and planned for at least a decade or two before the millennium, but it was still a nightmare. We thought the world was going to end!

Michael said...

Although this is late (9:25 PM Pacific), I'd like to claim a CSO for Pasadena. I was born there, went to Pasadena schools and PCC, and walked almost all of Pasadena as a meter reader for Water and Power. (But never used COBOL, just BASIC.)

Anonymous T said...

Michael - Apple Basic was my 1st language. With a 300bps modem, buddy & I got into hacking after watching War Games [Trailer].

I just finished some code that is, um... yeah; don't ask. :-)
//no worries - it's all WhiteHat.

Cheers, -T

Gramma Beth said...

And you made typo which was my mistake, it's PasAdena.

Agree, skaters only step into ice and then glide/skate. Knew the rule, though. What about find a penny heads up, all the day you'll have good luck... Heads down, you'll wear a frown.