google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Monday March 29, 2021 Don Gagliardo

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Mar 29, 2021

Monday March 29, 2021 Don Gagliardo

Themes: Unique Signs

21. "Parking" image, on signs: P IN A SQUARE.


39. "Kosher" image, on labels: K IN A TRIANGLE.

59. "Registered" image, on product names: R IN A CIRCLE.

 

Boomer here. What a nice surprise to see Don G's byline.

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXacv2MdKmctRcEm9p6z4yID9S4OH07kbtcY6VxcKdUzOOY4jx3vbcmF3-oftK4pkiH_95_6SpZTKRGFLxOa0hupReoVc5bFrxjLbjIZ81ygcVR2qGhZJDYi2dafHKxsq1FaNl7Nd1iuA/s1600/Don.JPG
Don and his wife Barbie

Three images in three different shapes in a rare 16x15 grid.  I was looking for a big B in the silhouette of a bowling pin. Great to see you, Don.  I have many memories of you showing C.C. the ropes of the crossword highs and lows!  Thank You. 

Across:

1. Buckwheat porridge: KASHA.  I guess I am only familiar with Cream of Wheat and Malt O' Meal.



6. Tears, as paper: RIPS.  Or Aaron Judge RIPS one out of Yankee Stadium.

10. Hobbyist's book: HOW-TO.  I have many books from Jim Beckett.  Baseball card hobby.

15. One submitting a tax return: FILER.  It's that  time of year for sure. The feds have changed the last date to file to May 15.  We don't care.  TurboTax got that monkey off our back. With help from Desper-otto.

16. Operatic solo: ARIA.

17. State bordering both Nevada and Canada: IDAHO.  I have cousins in Twin Falls.  My uncle left Minnesota with his family years ago to plant potatoes.

18. "Almost!": CLOSE.

19. Drink brand associated with NASA missions: TANG.  Of course I have had orange juice now and then, but I never tried TANG.   I never tried flying to the moon either.


20. Fight off: REPEL.  Here in the "Land of 10,000 mosquitoes we sometimes use "Off" to REPEL them.

24. "As I see it," to a texter: IMO.  In My Opinion.

25. Stay alcohol-free: ABSTAIN.  When I used to enjoy a cocktail I don't remember that it was ever free.  Now with the cancer meds I am taking, ALL alcohol is strictly forbidden.  So I save about $50 bucks a year.

27. Ad that spreads awareness, briefly: PSA.  Well I know this as Prostate Specific Antigen.  Mine has been hovering around 7, a little bit high.  Interestingly it also stands for grading of baseball cards.  Remember the Mantle rookie card photo that C.C. posted a while back.  It had been graded with a PSA9.  10 is the best. 

28. Baseball's Musial: STAN. 13. 28-Across nickname: THE MAN.  He was THE MAN.  A lifetime Cardinal with 3630 hits and 475 career home runs.  He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1969.  I saw one game at Busch Stadium.  It was a 1987 World Series Twins vs. Cardinals.  Of course Mr. Musial was retired by then, but I am sure he was in the ball park watching.  Later I went to the USBC Bowling hall of fame, but Stan was not there. 



29. Princess from a galaxy far, far away: LEIA.  I believe Star Wars was popular in 1987 also.  I was not into it, but my son ? Never mind.

30. Society newcomer: DEB.

32. Minnesota NFLer: VIKING.  What can I say?  Mike Zimmer is trying hard.  The first move was to fire the place kicker Dan Bailey.  That should help IF they find a better one.

34. Slacks: PANTS.  Golf courses are opening up here.  Soon its time to hang up the PANTS and break out the shorts.

36. Second drop-down list, say: SUB MENU.

42. Garage floor blemish: OIL SPOT.  Not in our garage.  Santa Fe dos not leak.  Neither did our Dodge van.

43. Wabbit hunter Fudd: ELMER.  Silly Wabbit, Trix are for Kids.

46. Forward, to Fellini: AVANTI.  Used to be a fancy Studebaker.  I don't think they make them anymore.

49. "Just a __!": SEC.

51. "Count on me!": I CAN.

52. Blubbers: SOBS.

53. "Pow!" relative: BAM.  I think BAM BAM was Pebbles boyfriend.

56. Potatoes often used for fries: RUSSETS.

58. Cape __, Mass.: COD.  Sounds like a great fishing spot to me. 

61. Draw out: EDUCE.

63. DIY furniture brand: IKEA.  A regular Crossword word.  We have an IKEA store near the Mall of America.  C.C. and I went there once,  That was enough.

64. Fridge forays: RAIDS.

67. Diet-friendly: NO-CAL.  I need the Pepsi version.  Trying to keep that glucose low.

68. Blab: TELL.

69. Boredom: ENNUI.

70. Eccentric: DOTTY.  DOTTIE Pepper was a great LPGA Pro.  Now she provides commentary for tournaments.


71. Creative pursuits, with "the": ARTS.

72. Yard-grooming tool: EDGER.  It's getting to be time to get those lawn tools out of the garage.

Down:

1. Fast-food co. serving buckets: KFC.  We have not been there for a long time.  KFC sold many of their restaurants to Popeye's.  I went once, never again.

2. Feel sick: AIL.

3. Aptly named clean-up basin: SLOP SINK.  We have two in our home.

4. Speaker's ers or ums: HESITATIONS.  A golfers nightmare.

5. Sports spot: ARENA.  Many a home for hockey and the NBA.

6. Some rodent homes: RAT'S NESTS.  Looks like my hair in the morning.

7. Baghdad's land: IRAQ.

8. Alluring poster: PIN-UP.

9. Long stories: SAGAS.

10. Add to the staff: HIRE.  MN Gophers new head basketball coach Ben Johnson.



11. Poetic salute: ODE.

12. Elk: WAPITI.

14. Chinese tea: OOLONG.  Great stuff.  Helps prevent diabetes.

22. Help: AID.

23. Poetic bird of one word: RAVEN.  Nevermore.

25. Mont Blanc, e.g.: ALP.

26. Arthur of "The Golden Girls": BEA.  Pretty good comedy.  Betty White is the only Girl to be still with us.



28. King Kong's home: SKULL ISLAND.


31. Patting-the-baby's-back goal: BURP.  Why not just put 7 Up in his or her bottle.

33. "Picnic" playwright: INGE.

35. Petulant state: SNIT.

37. Book jacket blurbs: BIOS.

38. "His Dark __": fantasy trilogy: MATERIALS.

40. Defendant's story: ALIBI.

41. Hosting the roast: EMCEEING.  I have not seen too many roasts lately.  I don't even see reruns.

44. Use the feed bag: EAT.  I just use a knife and fork.

45. OR attendants: RNS.  Also, I received my Pfizer shots from RNs at the VA.

46. Go up: ASCEND.

47. Ritualistic kind of doll: VOODOO.  Who Do?  You Do!

48. Kidnap: ABDUCT.

50. Surly mutt: CUR.

54. Singer Baker with eight Grammys: ANITA.



55. Manufacturer: MAKER.  Mr. Coffee provides me with a MAKER

57. Stony debris: SCREE.

59. Count (on): RELY.

60. Gael or Breton: CELT.  Boston NBA Player.

62. Lap-loving pet: CAT.

65. Past __: late: DUE.  Remember, Federal Tax return is DUE May 15!

66. __ Loin of Beef: Bugs Bunny character: SIR.

 

Boomer



 

49 comments:

Hungry Mother said...

A bunch of dooks. Great theme.

desper-otto said...

Good morning!

Wow, long time, no see, Mr. (hard-g) Gagliardo. Newcomers to the corner are probably unaware that C.C. got her start in crosswording with collaborations under Don's tutelage.

Guess who failed to properly parse the PINA/KINA/RINA. Yup. Wanted GRUEL for 1a. (Have I ever mentioned that I hate when I need Wite-Out at the start?) Wasn't familiar with KASHA nor the SLOP SINK, but an alphabet run filled it in. That gave me PINA??? SQUARE. Still, d-o enjoyed the outing. Thanx to Don G and Boomer. ("It's getting to be time to get those lawn tools out of the garage." -- Got mine out of the garage ten years ago. Haven't missed 'em.)

ASCEND: In my ute I had a "Watch My Ascend" sticker on my bicycle fender.

Today's project: Leaky faucet stem in the bathroom. I suspect an o-ring, but won't know for sure 'til I "open the hood." Note to do-it-yourself-ers: It's recommended to shut off the water before attempting faucet repairs.

Vidwan827 said...

Continued prayers and Best Wishes for your ongoing medical problems.
Sincerely hope your prognosis turns out to be better. God Bless.

ATLGranny said...

Back on the Monday track with a FIR. Somehow I saw the "letter in a shape" theme quickly with the first one so that helped. I had more trouble with SUBMENU, almost leaving MEmo (thinking of yesterday's mistake?), but proofread it in time to catch it before reading Boomer's tour. Thanks Boomer and Don G for today's good start to the week.

Hope you all are doing well, as I sit sneezing and enjoying the view of Spring blooms in the sun. But I am not complaining....

John E said...

HM:What are dooks?

Yellowrocks said...

More fun than most Monday puzzles because it was not done as fast as I can write. It was easy enough and fair, but I needed a down or two to suggest many answers. After square and triangle I sussed circle. When I finished I wondered, PINA? KINA? RINA? OH! P IN A. Then I saw it. Clever.
Nice to see you again, Don.
Many college dorm rooms are rats nests. David, who is very neat, shared a house with sloppy house mates.
I say mares nest more than rats nest.
TANG tastes quite artificial. It is good for cleaning dishwashers.
I am not a fan of any porridge or hot cereal. I will skip it and just take coffee. KFC was my first fill, fortunately, so the K suggested KASHA.
Only HIS DARK MATERIALS was completely new to me. The names were known, but I needed a perp or two to jog my memory.
Vidwan, best wishes for your solving your medical problems.

inanehiker said...

Clever theme - it took me a few to get the parsing like YR - PINA, KINA - I was scratching my head a bit before the lightbulb went on!
I had KASHI before ARENA switched it to KASHA - because the cereal brand with KASHA in it is KASHI!

Thanks Boomer and Don Hard-G! When I first started doing puzzles more regularly there were lots of CC and Don G collaborations!

Lemonade714 said...

inanehiker, KASHA is generally served hot like porridge. It was a favorite of my older Jewish female relatives, but never one of mine.

My brother from another mother, I imagine our group which is aging gracefully will still reflect the ravages of time.

I also had and frankly still have no real knowledge of 38. "His Dark __": fantasy trilogy: MATERIALS

Wilbur Charles said...

This is my Sunday post. Didn't start until 10pm and fell asleep during the Write-up.


Well D-O, explained AYE (YEP, Not cards) and TTP clued me in on D&D being Dungeons and Dragons. TSR was perps. However….

I had US_ and thought of ship for port(as did Naomi, I see). My only bad square. I got held up on the RBI section. I had BUST ing /ERS. My MINIvan became bug like the old VWs. I had to add MY to GUT. TRIM for piping is still vague.

I think Jeff LYNNE was part of the Wilburys. Once I guessed SOIGNE I had the extra N.

TTP, just three? Did you call them "Hikes"?

Re. Last post. =Challenging. A xword that need P&P - >an hour of mind work. Something about the kitchen comes to mind

WC

Husker Gary said...

Musings
-“Signs, signs everywhere there’s signs”
-I’ve only heard of KASHA on Seinfeld
-Almost/CLOSE doesn’t cut it on the golf course
-REPEL – We had hundreds of ants in the garage last night. One strip of this and they were dead in minutes
-KFC doesn’t like to use the word for the “F” in their name
-I came this CLOSE to putting an “N” in DARK MATER_ALS. Huh?
-Those roasts were so politically incorrect that they will never see the light of day again. Rickles would be out of work!

Spitzboov said...

Good morning everyone.

A puzzle from Hard G. Been some time but still a pleasure. Solve went easily. Fill was nice and varied; sometimes a bit whimsical. Had some old standbys; INGE, ENNUE, ODE, ALP and some others, Interesting theme. FIR.
ANITA - My sister's name.
Buckwheat - Not a true grain. A member of the rhubarb family.

_T - - Yep, she's free. Proceeding northerly at 4 knots. Tough to steer at such a slow speed. Probably has tug assist. Large ship like that can't go too fast either because of Bernoulli effect sucking it to the canal bed or one of the sides.

Inch of snow overnight. Probably came from Minnesota.

Thanks Boomer for the intro.

desper-otto said...

Wilbur, yup, Jeff Lynne was one of the members of the Traveling Wilburys. Here's an example of PIPING.

Bob Lee said...

Nice easy Monday, esp. once I sussed out early the theme by getting P IN A SQUARE.

Never heard of KASHA or DOTTY or AVANTI, but they filled in easily from the crosses.

Stan the Man was easy for this Boomer to recall.

Yellowrocks said...

HG, something like that insecticide always worked for me until one time years ago it did not. In a bilevel house one floor is partially below ground level. One morning two feet of the floor from the wall out into the room was covered with hundreds of ants, no floor showing, there were so many. I sprayed and they all died. Every morning the floor was again covered and I killed the ants. Finally I called an exterminator. There was a huge colony of ants below ground near that wall. He exterminated the whole colony successfully.
Dotty was heard more when I was young. Now it is more likely to be seen in fiction or reviews of fiction.
It has been very windy here, but unusually warm. The daffodils, hyacinths and forsythia are gloriously blooming. There is a light green and pink haze on the hillsides from the deciduous trees coming into flower. I love spring and fall here. I would miss them in a different clime.

Irish Miss said...

Good Morning:

Seeing Don G’s byline brought a smile to my face as I well remember the early days when Don and CC’s collaborations appeared almost weekly. And what a fresh, clever theme Don has conjured up for us. It took me a few minutes to parse the P In a Square, but then the others fell into place easily. There was a bit of crunch for a Monday but that’s fine with me as I’d rather have to think a little vs just filling in the blanks automatically. I liked seeing Stan with the referencing The Man and the Sir/Cur duo, and Ennui, which is a favorite word of mine. CSO to Boomer and CC at Viking.

Thanks very much, Don G, for an enjoyable and long overdue challenge and thanks, Boomer, for an exceptionally witty and folksy commentary this morning. I particularly enjoyed seeing Dottie Pepper acknowledged, as she is a local (Saratoga) prodigy. My late nephew knew her from participating in junior golf tournaments when she was known as Red Hot Pepper, for her temperament. She was on TV this past week being interviewed about a book she has coming out about her first coach and mentor.

I always read the previous day’s comments before coming to the daily blog and was pleasantly surprised to hear from Bill G last night, especially because I thought of him earlier this morning and wondered how he was doing. So, Bill G, glad you dropped by and hope that you will count on us as often as you need or want to. We are always here with you and for you.

Have a great day.

Lucina said...

Hola!

What a treat to find a Don (hard) G puzzle this morning! Very amusing and fresh fill which I finished quickly. I don't time myself but had only a half cup of coffee and it was done.

KASHA filled but I was thinking KASHi. It's not a cereal I EAT.

STAN Musial is one of the few sports figures I remember.

And it's always fun to be reminded of poetry, in this case RAVEN and ODE as well.

Yesterday's puzzle gave me fits and I haven't finished yet. Quip puzzles are my VERY LEAST favorite ones.

I hope you all enjoy a beautiful and happy spring day today!

CanadianEh! said...

Marvelous Monday. Thanks for the fun, Don and Boomer.
I FIRed and saw the Shape theme, but hand up for needing a few minutes to parse the P IN A!

KASHA was new to me. SLOP SINK is not a word I hear here either. I would call it a laundry sink. Another regionalism??

I had I'm In before I CAN.
COD entered quickly but I was prepared to change to Ann if the other Cape was required.
I knew the French Avant=forward and AVANTI in Italian was not too great a stretch.

IDAHO borders on six states (including Nevada) and one Canadian province, Alberta.
I got Poe's RAVEN, but had HESITATIONS about the "one word" part of the clue. OH, "Nevermore"! Thanks Boomer.

CSO to Oo with that Chinese tea.
Hope none of you are waiting for IKEA products. "Sweden's IKEA said it has 110 containers on the stricken Ever Given and other ships in the pile-up." But the ship is now moving; there is hope for your shipment.
FLN - good to hear from you BillG. Please keep joining us.

Wishing you all a great day.

NaomiZ said...

Good Monday morning, Cornerites! I encountered serious HESITATIONS in the northwest. Never heard of a SLOP SINK and thought that 1D was going to be an abbreviation for a type of container. But the letters in shapes were clear to me, and I was able to FIR, avoiding a Monday massacre. Thanks to Don for a creative challenge, to Rich for editing, and to Boomer for cheerfully explaining it all.

desper-otto said...

FLN:

TTP, thanx for the Leon Hale link. I always enjoyed his conversations with the mule, his annual trips south to meet Spring, and his annual foray onto Loop 610 to see if he was still fit to keep driving. Commiserations on your "sinking house." We had one of those in Houston which sucked up many thou$and$. We had a load-bearing interior door which turned out to be expensive. Also we were in San Antonio when the foundation repair company "floated" the house with grout...lifting the master bath shower off its drain line, cementing 30 feet of sewer line. We didn't realize immediately when we got home. By the time we did, the cement was fully set and the line had to be replaced.

Bill G, good to hear from you. You're always welcome here.

TTP said...



Good to see you back, Don ! Thanks, Boomer !

Liked the theme. It had me glancing at the perps to make sure I didn't have typos. After completion and the congrats message, I had to stare at the theme answers for a bit before parsing it correctly. Sweet !

Desper-otto, I know you meant Dash T, but get your bottle of wite-out. You typed TTP.

I can imagine you having that "Watch My Ascend" sticker on your bicycle. Any calls to the parents from concerned neighbors that you recall ? Not sure why my mind drifted to Mayfield, with a concerned June on the phone, then cupping her hand over the mouthpiece, "Ward, Fred Rutherford's wife is on the phone..."

Misty said...

Fun puzzle to start the week--many thanks, Don. And I always enjoy your witty commentaries, Boomer--thanks for those too.

Thanks, especially, for the lovely picture of "The Golden Girls." I just loved BEA Arthur and her troupe's TV show back in the day.

I had all sorts of little goof-ups this morning, like ROBIN instead of RAVEN, and "I'M IN" instead of "I CAN." One silly moment came when I had put in ELMER Fudd, but erased it because it just looked as though it wasn't going to work. Then had to put it back in--Duh!

I'm not a sports person, as you all know, but couldn't believe I remembered STAN Musial this morning. Yay!

Have a wonderful week, everybody!

desper-otto said...

Yeah, thanx TTP, sorry Anon-T. You guys are too confusing. One moves from Texas to the upper midwest, and the other moves from the upper midwest to Texas. I'll try to keep you straight in the future. No promises.

On the plumbing front: Well, it's not the stem. I took it apart as far as I dared with no joy -- it's a "garden tub," and there's only access from the top. I finally raised the white flag and called a plumber. Good thing it's not an emergency. They think they can probably get to it the second week in April; they're still tied up fixing broken pipes from the "great freeze."

desper-otto said...

Misty, don't feel alone. My knowledge of baseball ended with the careers of Eddie Mathews, Sherm Lollar, Warren Spahn, Nellie Fox, and Minnie Minoso.

CrossEyedDave said...

I dunno what went wrong today,
(Must be Monday...)
I never saw the theme, or how ingenious it was,
All I saw was Pina, and went looking for the Nina and the Santa Maria...

The clue for "pants" was "slacks?"
Hmm, I wonder if Friday it will be
Hot dog relief?

Here is some more bad parsing:

exhibit A

exhibit B

And Elmer Fudd requires pulling out some old Robin Williams,
Goodnite everybody!

waseeley said...

Thank you Don for a fun puzzle and for a fun pun fest Boomer.

The puzzle was pretty straightforward except for PINA, KINA, and RINA, which I initially thought to have been some secret kabbalistic passwords used to gain access to the inner sanctums of CruciVerbaLism. But I clung stubbornly to all the perps until a sudden flash of DOH! and the sound of BAM! enLIGHTened me! Completely missed the SIGN included in the clue for 21A

Favs were

1A KASHA - Dw used to make that porridge back in our hippy days. Thanks to Spitz @9:11AM for cluing me in on its relationship to RHUBARB.

12D WAPITI often wandered the wilds in pages of Boys Life back in the 50's.

17A & 56A "IDAHO" is often used as a synonym for RUSSET potatoes.

Cheers,
Bill

Ray - O - Sunshine said...

Monday gives us un cruciverbo gagliardo (gahl-YARD-oh) "a robust crossword"

The theme? Hmmm...oh oh P, K, and R in a shape ...
Most official & international parking or no parking signs feature a P in a circle not a square. Just sayin' 🤷

I'm familiar with our eastern states that border Quebec and Canada Eh's Ontario province, but the western states not so much... Sounds disgusting but needed perps to fill the SLOPSINK. Weren't we recently corrected and informed that NESTS were not homes. (Almost put porno for PINUP 🤭)

Didn't realize the people of Brittany, in France, "the Bretons" were CELTic ("Keltic"). If they had a basketball team they'd be CELTic ("Seltic).🏀 Then there's the Broadway production of "Stan, the Musical". Is there a reason AIL follows KFC? 🤢

I watched just the first season...meh....he can keep "His Dark MATERIALS"...not my cuppa OOLONG tea ( and remember don't steep the OOLONG too long)..
.King Kong is once again back to battle Godzilla 2021.

Hoagie & Grinder list....SUBMENU.
Baba's purchase.....ALIBI.
OILSPOT on yer tummy....ABSTAIN.
"Can't believe what I _______ !!"...EMCEEING.
Way above Baja...NOCAL.

.Seems March will go out like a 🦁 at least in Upstate/central NY. After a 75 degree day last week. Woke up to this. Sheesh!

Madame Defarge said...

Good (almost noon) Morning.

That was fun. I, of course missed the theme except for the shapes. Then I hit registered trade mark, went back up to kosher and then parking was a breeze. Thanks Don for my challenge today. Glad to see you here.

I liked STAN as a cross in THE MAN. Ah, the good old days of baseball. I'm in the "Metrics hasn't improved the game" camp. No wonder the kids have given up on following baseball! Not to mention the collections of rich crybabies.

Thanks for the tour Boomer. Nice links again. Gagliano, in Italian, glides across the "gli" as if there were peanut butter on the roof of one's mouth eliding over the second g. It means strong or robust. In America most names with the gli are pronounced as "glee."

Oddly enough, I'm off to do a little Italian homework. Have a sunny day!

unclefred said...

FIR but in a disgraceful 26 minutes. My problem was not parsing the theme answers. PINASQUARE and the others made no sense since I did not see the P IN A...bit. So I spent a lot of time trying to fix what I was sure was wrong when in reality it was correct all along. Only WO was LOCAL:NOCAL. Nice, tricky CW, thanx Don! Terrific write-up as always, thanx, Boomer!

oc4beach said...


Finished the puzzle without getting the theme. I let perps do the work and didn't see that PINACIRCLE was P IN A CIRCLE, etc. Other than not getting the theme, the puzzle moved along quickly. Boomer provided the V8 can head slap that I needed.

I originally had KASHi vs KASHA because of the cereal brand name. ARENA changed the I to the A.

Glad to hear that the Ever Given has been unstuck. It will take a while for the Suez Canal to get back to normal and for the world economy to settle out. This was

Have a great day everyone.

Anonymous T said...

Hi All!

Thank you Don "Hard-G" for the grid. @PINA I kept thinking "drop a letter(s)?" KINA & RINA confused me....

Thank you Boomer for 'splain' it. Duh - poor parsing on my part.

WOs: I started THE MAN in 12d's squares, SkREE b/f CIRCLE, lO-CAL -> NO
ESPs: KASHA, INGE, DOTTY
Fav: Theme aside (pretty cute Don), crossing of STAN THE MAN was very nice.

Misty - I did like ODE & RAVEN too.

Boomer - I saw both Cardinal Teams at Busch II. Then football Cards left for Arizona. I got to see a game w/ Bro (CEO Bro) at Busch III. Absolutely beautiful stadium.

HG - Comedy Central tried to revive the roast but,... it was mostly vulgarity. There will be nothing like Rickles [5:52 Frank Sinatra; b/f my time but...]

WC & D-O: That's right!!, Jeff Lynne was in The Traveling Wilburys [End of the Line 3:25]

D-O: So, DW got herself shot #2 today at Reliant Stadium and...
She got lost on Loop 610.
In my book, she failed the Leon Hale test...
That Alfa* Giulia will soon be mine :-)
//we'll see about the piping tomorrow :-(

YR - now that your community fees take care of the flowers...
Isn't it nice to see them w/o all the work & worry? Good on you - you deserve it.

Play more later.

Cheers, -T
*OIL SPOT - one evening the Giulia just barfed out all the transmission fluid. Big spot left in the garage.
Anthony, Let's Fix (it) Again - #ALFA :-)

Wilbur Charles said...

I had a friend who became seriously Catholic. He was a sportswriter and wrote a book on Catholics in Sports and Musial was featured. Stan had the famous meeting with Pius XII where he informed the Pope that he was a Cardinal.

In Bond's segue in America he drove a Studebaker. LIU doesn't find it but IAN* drove an AVANTI.

Oh yeah, Boomer, CC is a fisherman's paradise. Btw, did you try the IKEA meatballs?

Stan wasn't quite Ted on those stats but still awesome. As are Boomer Write-ups.

After all the "ina"s were in place I finally grok'ed the theme. I was looking for an explanation of the trick.

WC

* Had him yesterday

Anonymous T said...

Didn't refresh b/f posting say...

unclefred - looks like we had the same WO @NO-CAL.

MDF - I'm mostly Italian but, without my hands, I can't speak it :-)
//It was funny that, when in Italy, I could understand most everything but had no idea what they were sayin' :-)

Ray-O: Bro (Army Bro) said last night he can't wait for Godzilla / Kong movie. I don't see what more there is to discover(?) in the movie or on SKULL ISLAND (btw, I nailed it - no perps!).

CED - LOL. Here's more [ala HG's lyric quip - Five Man Electric Band 4:05]

Cheers, -T

Ray - O - Sunshine said...

Anon T...No matter how bad the movie is I'll definitely watch it. 🦍 The CG stuff will be over the top based on the trailer.

CrossEyedDave said...

Anonymous-T,
This reminded me of the movie War Games.
I seriously wanted to try this....
(Without the sign, of course...)

I dunno, seems batty to me...

Hey! It's what I was thinking about the above link!
(They stole it!)

AnonymousPVX said...


Despite not seeing the theme at all I was able to get the solve.

I couldn’t see PINA/KINA/RINA as separate words, so I just left them in as the crosses were correct.

When I saw the explanation I had a Homer moment. Doh!

Had LOCAL b4 NOCAL, that was it.

Feeling up to snuff today finally.

My son was taken to the hospital yesterday for anal bleeding that would not stop. He’s on warfarin so it was serious. He had a procedure done a week earlier, a sphincterotomy. There was a tear where a stitch pulled. He had emergency surgery and should be released today.
I’m a 1,000 miles away, had my heart in my throat all day Sunday.

One never stops being a “Dad”, for sure.

Stay safe.

Yellowrocks said...

Anon PVX, what a scary time for a dad. I wish your son a speedy uneventful recovery.

John E said...

Anon PVX: Best wishes for your son's health.

Lemonade714 said...

PVX, our thoughts and prayers are with you. Nothing more frightening for a father, especially when you are far away.

Ol' Man Keith said...

A neat PZL, but disappointing because of the asymmetrical grid. A 16x15 PZL lacks diagonals.
~ OMK

LEO III said...

Easy romp today, with an FIR. (Still haven't finished the Saturday or Sunday puzzles.)

Since I usually work the DOWNS first, the theme answers were pretty much filled in by themselves. Neat theme, and thanks, Don G. Nice expo, Boomer.

For as long as it has been around (remember the scene in GOLDFINGER?), I really haven't done KFC that often. Popeye's spicy chicken tenders used to be my favorite, but their spicy chicken sandwich (it's all in the spicy mayo) usually wins out these days. I also like Chick-fil-A, and there are a couple of "Louisiana" chicken joints near the 'hood that are pretty good too.

I still have and love the entertainment center I got at IKEA over 25 years ago. Took a buddy and me a couple of six-packs to put it together (well there was an "observer" who helped with the latter), but we did a fine job. Considering how much I paid for it, compared to how much a fancy, assembled one would have cost, it was one of the smartest purchases I ever made.

Got some other things to do. I'll look at the attachments later.

Chairman Moe said...

Puzzling thoughts:

Busy day; just finished the puzzle

Too many write-overs typically for a Monday; this was at lesser Wednesday hard

We went from spring to summer here. Hit 90 today!

Irish Miss said...

AnonPVX ~ What a terrible ordeal for your son and frightening time for both of you. Best wishes for his speedy recovery.

Malodorous Manatee said...

Thanks for the fun Don and Boomer. For me, another hard day on the slopes with the grandkids. I will cope, somehow. 😁

Malodorous Manatee said...

Best wishes for your son's speedy recovery, AnonPVX...and with that some peace of mind for you.

Ray - O - Sunshine said...

Anon PVX...Just read your comments..sounds like things are under control for your son. Keep us posted.

Don G. said...

Thank you, Boomer, for a lovely write-up. You did not tell the rest of the story. C.C. was teaching me how to make puzzles after a short time. She caught on quick and kept going with it.

I was surprised that this was a Monday puzzle. That "P IN A " is not obvious at first. I knew it would be interesting because of that.

I finally had time in the past year to try out some puzzles because of Covid. It was difficult coming up with a puzzle acceptable to Rich. I think the competition is tougher than ever because there are many very good constructors out there now. I will try again, but I am very slow making a puzzle now.

Thank you all who made comments. It is a pleasure to know that people remember me. It gives me more reason to keep trying to construct a publishable puzzle.

Misty said...

How nice of you to check in to the blog, Don G. We'll all really look forward to your your next clever and delightful puzzle.

Lucina said...

Don G:
Thank you for checking in with us. It is a pleasure to solve your clever puzzles and I hope we soon have more of them from you.

Bill G:
I hope you check in more often. It's always good to hear from you.

AnonPVX:
Best wishes for your son's quick recovery.

Michael said...

Today's addition to your Russian vocabulary -- KASHA, fig., jumble, muddle. An English equivalent would be, ""What a mess!" or SNAFU.