google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Tuesday, August 10, 2021 Nora Devin and Pat Devin

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Aug 10, 2021

Tuesday, August 10, 2021 Nora Devin and Pat Devin

Private Institutions of Higher Education.  Hidden in each theme answer is a private American research university.

17-Across. *   Where many hockey face-offs happen: CENTER ICE.  Rice University is a private research university in Houston, Texas.  It was named after William Marsh Rice (Mar. 14, 1816 ~ Sept. 23, 1900).  He was a wealthy businessman who bequeath his fortune to found a university.  He was murdered by his valet, who had been hired by a third party in an attempt to divert Rice's fortune.  It's a fascinating story.


24-Across. *   Physical ability acquired via repetition: MUSCLE MEMORY.  Emory University is a private research university in Atlanta, Georgia.  It was originally known as the Emory College and is named in honor of John Emory (1789 ~ 1835), who was a bishop in the Methodist Church.


49-Across. *   Contest won by the last fighter standing: BATTLE ROYALE.  Yale University is a private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut.  It is the 3rd oldest institution of higher education in the United States.  It was named in honor of Elihu Yale (Apr. 5, 1649 ~ July 8, 1721), the school's primary benefactor.

60-Across. *   Comics Great Dane: MARMADUKE.  Duke University is a private research university in Durham, North Carolina.  The school has had a number of names throughout the years, but is now know as Duke in honor of Washington Duke (Dec. 18, 1820 ~ May 8, 1905).


And the Unifier:

38-Across . Where one might learn etiquette ... or a hint to the answers to starred clues: FINISHING SCHOOL.


Across:
1. 4-Across holder: JAW.  //  And 4-Across. Chewing need: TEETH.

9. Comes (from): STEMS.

14. Rock in a vein: ORE.  A crossword staple.

15. Actress Berry of "X-Men" films: HALLE.  Halle Maria Berry (b. Aug. 14, 1966) makes frequent guest appearances in the crossword puzzles.  She will celebrate her 55th birthday this coming Saturday.


16. Easy putt: TAP IN.

19. Kind of acid in proteins: AMINO.

20. Journalist Couric: KATIE.  Katie Couric (née Katherine Anne Couric; b. Jan. 7, 1957) has been a news anchor for NBC, ABC and CBS as well as other new-type programs.


21. Spicy: HOT.

23. Work with a needle: SEW.


29. Ready to harvest: RIPE.

32. President after Grant: HAYES.  Rutherford Birchard Hayes (Oct. 4, 1822 ~ Jan. 17, 1893) was the 19th President of the United States.


33. Oral health org.: ADA.  As in the American Dental Association.

34. Phoenix-to-Albuquerque dir.: ENE.  East-North-East.


35. Malek of "Bohemian Rhapsody": RAMI.  Rami Malek (né Rami Said Malek; b. May 12, 1981) portrayed Freddie Mercury (né Farrokh Bulsara; Sept. 5, 1946 ~ Nov. 24, 1991 ) in the movie, Bohemian Rhapsody.

Rami is on the left.

36. Amtrak express: ACELA.  We occasionally see this train in the puzzles.

42. Does' mates: STAGS.

43. Mardi __: GRAS.  The next Mardi Gras falls on Tuesday, March 1, 2022.


44. Zip: NIL.

45. Paris' __ de la Cité: ÎLE.  This is an island in the Seine River that runs through the center of Paris.  The Notre Dame Cathedral is on this island.


46. Peninsular Persian Gulf land: QATAR.


48. Depend (on): RELY.

52. Authentic ending?: -ITY.

53. Japanese veggie: UDO.  Not your usual Tuesday vegetable.

54. Birthday process: LABOR.  Ouch!

58. River through Rome: TIBER.


64. Call to mind: EVOKE.

65. Geometry basic: AXIOM.  In mathematics, an Axiom is "a statement or proposition on which an abstractly defined structure is base."  Clear as mud!

66. Cab cousin: ZIN.  I am getting tired of these abbreviations for wines: Cabernet and Zinfandel.

67. H.S. health course: SEX ED.  Sex Education was very minimal when I was in High School.

68. Old photo tint: SEPIA.

69. British zoo opening?: ZED.  In Britian, the last letter of the Alphabet is not Zee, but Zed.

Down:
1. Athletic stereotype: JOCK.

2. Region: AREA.

3. Left: WENT.

4. Brexit target org.: THE EU.  As in The European Union.


5. Canal site: EAR.



6. Inventor Whitney: ELI.  Eli Whitney, Jr. (Dec. 8, 1765 ~ Jan. 8, 1825) is best known for inventing the Cotton Gin.

7. Attention from Dr. Mom: TLC.  As in Tender Loving Care.

8. Lighthearted laugh: HEE-HEE.

9. Hawaii or Alaska: STATE.  Alaska was granted statehood on January 3, 1959.  Hawaii joined the Union on August 21, 1959.

10. Flat hat: TAM.

11. TV pilot, often: EPISODE ONE.

12. Lotion ingredient: MINERAL OIL.

13. __ owl: SNOWY.  They are such beautiful birds.


18. Word with capsule or clock: TIME.

22. Mantra syllables: OMs.  We chant Om at the beginning and end of our yoga classes.

25. Former Iranian leader: SHAH.  Mohammad Reza Pahlavi (Oct. 26, 1919 ~ July 27, 1980) was the last Shaw of Iran.  He was ousted in the Iranian Revolution in February 1979 and died in exile.


26. Garment with spaghetti straps, for short: CAMI.  As in a Camisole, which you can get in Camo.


27. Deceiving: LYING TO.

28. Speed ratio: MACH.  Everything you wanted to know about the Mach number, but didn't know to ask.  It is named in honor of Ernst Waldfried Josef Wenzel Mach (Feb. 18, 1838 ~ Feb. 19, 1916), a Moravian-born physicist.  He was certainly a lot smarter than me! 


29. Umps' counterparts: REFs.  The difference between an Umpire and a Referee.

30. Ambition: INITIATIVE.

31. Hockey's "sin bin," formally: PENALTY BOX.


35. Blog feed letters: RSS.  Apparently, RSS means Really Simple Syndication.

36. Rm. coolers: ACs.  I really need my Air Condition to cool the Rooms in this heat.

37. Friend: ALLY.

39. "Oh, now __ it!": I GET.

40. Ethically uncertain: GRAY.  The pandemic turned my hair gray.

41. Lee known for desserts: SARA.




46. Proof-ending letters: QED.  Today's Latin lesson.  QED is an abbreviation of phrase quod erat demonstrandum, which literally means: What was to be shown.

47. Food court attractions: AROMAS.


48. Audition (for): READ.

49. Nibbles: BITES.

50. Attracted: LURED.

51. Animal name starting with a double letter: LLAMA.

55. Fly sound: BUZZ.


56. Tulsa native, e.g.: OKIE.  Tulsa is in Oklahoma, hence and Okie.  The term actually has a historical derogatory meaning, as it referred to the migrant worker who was forced to leave Oklahoma during the Dust Bowl in the 1930s.  Kristin Hannah wrote about this migration in her 2021 book, The Four Winds.


57. Tear: REND.  //  And 62-Down.  Tear: RIP.

59. Just make, with "out": EKE.

61. Wood-splitting tool: AXE.


63. "Little ol' me?": MOI.




Here's the Grid:


  • חתולה


45 comments:

Jinx in Norfolk said...

FIR, but my teeth were in my jar before they were in my JAW, and "I see" became "I GET" it now. Guess I just don't care about Hollywood enough to ever remember RAMI. Also didn't know ILE de la Cite, but perps were easy.

FLN - Vid, the difficulty of English speakers being understood when they try to speak French works the other way, too. I remember a story from the Stone Age (maybe the Reagan administration) that claimed that, at a state dinner, the French president rose and proposed a toast to wish the first family of the US "a penis." He got a whisper in his ear and restated that he wished them "happiness." Also happens with Southern-to-Yankee speech. Jimmy Carter once had a press conference, and the covering newspaper reported that Carter had announced the US approach for the GNC. Carter's comments were really regarding the Aegean Sea.

Thanks to Pat and Nora for the Tuesday challenge, and to Hahtoolah for the entertaining tour.

Hahtoolah said...

Good Morning, Crossword friends. I found this to be in interesting puzzle, and it "forced" me into looking into the schools' origins.

QOD: I’m not the type of person who dwells too much on bad things. ~ Betsey Johnson (b. Aug. 10, 1942), American fashion designer

desper-otto said...

Good morning!

After finishing d-o went reveal-hunting. Aha, right in the middle. OK, now I see 'em. So your H.S. SEX ED was "minimal," Hahtoolah? Mine was non-existent. Maybe that's why in a class of only 63, seven girls were pregnant at graduation. Thanx for the exercise Nora and Pat (Do you suppose they're husband and wife? Sister and brother? Sister and sister?). Enjoyed your tour, Hahtoolah.

Jinx, on PBS you'll find Donkey Hodie. Cervantes would be proud...or mortified.

Anonymous said...

Took me 5:40 to graduate from this one.
Out of the gate, I had gum instead of jaw. I didn't know the Paris clue.

ATLGranny said...

Thanks, Pat and Nora, for our Tuesday teaching puzzle. I GET it and see that EMORY, our local school, is one of the four themers. Plenty of long interesting fill today. Briefly, my tooth was in my gum before perps made adjustments. Perps also helped me get the right president, HAYES, since we didn't memorize the presidents in school, nor have SEX ED.

Many thanks also go to Hahtoolah for your jolly and informative review, always one of the highlights of my week. Hope everyone is having a good start to the week!

Yellowrocks said...

Really funny blog and comments so far. Susan, always A+. Pictures, info and fun.
Although I saw the reveal, FINISHING SCHOOL, I didn't find the schools. I think the FINISHING part led me astray.
JAW and TEETH brought to mind the nutcracker.
CAMIs are handy when I can't find a top to place under a jacket or a very low neckline.
We drink a lot of CAB and ZIN on this Corner. These informal words seem common place to me.
Susan, thanks for pointing out the difference between REF and UMP.
I left the R in RAMI blank and forgot to go back to it. I didn't know RSS either.
I have been lurking quite bit. I do the puzzle and read the comments almost every day, but I find some of the unfactual nits off-putting. They could have been easily looked up in just a few minutes. I am so tempted to comment on that, but I don't want to carp.
SEX ED was a chapter of our health class curriculum in HS. The boys and girls were bored. Several of our seniors, too, graduated while pregnant.
As president I am spending much time restarting our square dancing club. I fear we will get a mandate to mask up indoors by Sept. Although we are requiring proof of vaccination, our dancers will not attend this vigorous activity with masks because it is hard to breathe with them. All that effort for nothing.

Anonymous said...

Missed Emory, as I had USC from muscle memory

Spitzboov said...

Good morning everyone.

Puzzle from the Devlin Duo today. Straightforward solve. No strikethroughs. FIR. RAMI / RSS was touch-and-go, but RSS looked right. Liked the double-stacked long downs. Unusual to see a Q entry w/o a U in either direction. QATAR / QED.
LLAMA - Animal sound ending in double letter - BUZZ.

Always a treat to read Hahtoolah's intro.

Tinbeni said...

Hahtoolah: Reading your write-up's is more FUN than solving the puzzle.

A "Toast-to-ALL" at Sunset.

Cheers!

Malodorous Manatee said...

I agree with what Tinbeni said . . .and the puzzle, itself, was fun.
I did not know RSS so that was an learning moment today in SCHOOL.

CanadianEh! said...

Terrific Tuesday. Thanks for the fun, Nora and Pat, and Hahtoolah.
I FIRed in good time with just one inkblot (hand up for Gum before JAW) (referring to Leno from yesterday?)
But I neglected to go back and find those SCHOOLs; but this Canadian is not that familiar with them anyway.

We had a mini hockey sub theme with CENTER ICE, PENALTY BOX and REFS. Perhaps associated with SNOWY, but not HOT.

Of course you all know that I wrinkled my nose and entered CENTER ( we only have Centre ice in Canada😮😁), LABOR, and GRAY. But I smiled to see ZED ( Canadian zoo opening too) at the end.

The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah is a great read.

We have had plenty of discussion re RIPE tomatoes for BLTs and sauce. Great photos AnonT. I am finally harvesting here too.

FLN- Sandyanon, you are correct that I omitted the w sound in Froid. It seems more like frwah but the r sound is made very quickly. I’m not a linguist obviously.
Vidwan- I entered MMR (measles, mumps, rubella) for the triple vaccine the other day. It held me up for a long time until I changed to DPT. I’ll have to read the discussion again and comment later.

Wishing you all a great day.

Irish Miss said...

Good Morning:

I zipped right through this with no w/os and no stumbles, but it took a few seconds to parse the schools as I was looking at the entire last word. This gave me pause, thinking Memory School, Ice School, what kinds of schools are they? But then the penny dropped and all was well. I’m going to guess the constructors are sisters. I hope one or both drop by to confirm or correct. Like the Rend/Rip and Jaw/Teeth duos.

Thanks, Pat and Nora, for a fun Tuesday and thanks, Hahtoolah, for the much-need dose of chuckles and smiles. Loved the two “fishy” cartoons!

We’re in for a stretch of very hot and humid weather this week so the A/C will get a good workout.

Anon T, welcome back! Glad you had such a good vacation.

Have a great day.

Wilbur Charles said...

Disaster in the "_A_I"/CAMI/RSS. If I'd known the dress I'd have had a shot. RSS seems to be obscure, too.

I didn't grok the theme. But I was stuck on the Natick of Saturday proportions.

A hockey game broke out I see. Re. HS pregnancy: I was told that one of them involved a teacher.

WC

unclefred said...

What Spitzboov said. DNK UDO, RAMI, RSS, ILE, which made the R in the perp a lucky guess; it just looked right. I’ve spent far too much time in bars, and can’t recall anyone ordering a CAB….unless they wanted a taxi. I’m afraid I forgot to even look for the theme or reveal, just went right past them. Hahtoolah enlightened me. Thanx for the fun, PD & ND. And thanx for the terrific write-up, Hahtoolah.

Yellowrocks said...

I believe that the term ZIN became more common among wine drinkers after our bar days. Its first known use was 1974. I have been aware of it only in the last 5 years or so. It is found in print in wine articles.
"As one’s relationship with wine can evolve from something like childhood romance (in my case, white zin) into something nuanced, special and sophisticated (dry, tannin-rich cabernet), coffee, too, says Moore, has its own gateway."
— Amy Drew Thompson orlandosentinel.com, 16 Aug. 2019

"The biggest draw of the region is old vine zin, but the 550,000-acre American Viticultural Area or AVA is also awash in chardonnay, merlot, cabernet sauvignon and sauvignon blanc."
— Nora Heston Tarte, The Mercury News, 6 June 2019

Ron in LA said...

Do we really need 'eke' every week or more as an answer ?

Bob Lee said...

Nice easy Tuesday, tho like Irish Miss it took me a while to figure out the schools.

I kept thinking School Memory? School Ice? School Royale? (as in Roy-al)

How about the other way? Center School? (Is that a Brit thing?) Battle School? (LOL - Ender's Game!) Slapped head when I finally figured it out.

Had a college girlfriend named Sarah. People thought it was very funny to call her Sara Lee.

Jinx in Norfolk said...

Bob, funny story about Sarah. A favorite waitress' first name is Kendall. I asked her if she would consider marrying someone surnamed Jackson. She said of course she would - she would just keep her maiden name.

Misty said...

Fun Tuesday puzzle, many thanks, Pat and Nora. And your commentary is always a pleasure, Hahtoolah.

I never saw the theme cues and so missed the theme altogether. Would also have had trouble detecting EMORY in MEMORY. But it was nice to see KATIE, HALLE, and SARA in the puzzle, and that sweet MARMADUKE.

Friends coming for dinner tonight, so gotta run.

Have a good day, everybody.

waseeley said...

Thank you Nora and Pat for SCHOOLING us in the PRIVACY of our favorite Corner re institutions of HIGHER learning. And thanks Susan for helping us FINISH IT RIGHT and for all of your usual feline felicity. And what Tinbeni said.

As an OLD GUY, I tend to think of "Finishing Schools" as places for refining YOUNG LADIES. Plunking down four years of tuition just for studying ETIQUETTE in an IVY LEAGUE establishment seems a bit pricey. Especially when I can learn it all in a an afternoon for only $699, with an option on how to set the table for only an an extra $150.

WC - the CAMO CAMI is actually an underdress not a dress. Hahtoolah's pic COMOFLAGED that.

TTP, does BLOGGER itself support RSS? If it did, I could just sit back, glance at my READER queue from time to time and collect BON MOTS from my fellow Cornerites.

Cheers,
Bill

TTP said...


Hi, Bill.

Yes, Blogger supports RSS. Actually Atom. Same diff ...

On the main Blog page ( https://crosswordcorner.blogspot.com/ ), scroll down to the very bottom where it says "Posted By" and "Labels". Look for and press Atom. Choose your Reader.

You'll start getting the daily Posts (the daily blogs, as created by you and your peers). I believe you'll still have to press the blue link (today's is Tuesday, August 10, 2021 Nora Devin and Pat Devin) to the actual blogspot to get to the reader comments.

Alice said...

Like Anonymous @ 9:07, I thought I was done when I saw USC in MUSCLE MEMORY and looked no further in that entry. Missed Emory completely.

Jayce said...

I liked this puzzle. Hand up for GUM before JAW, and for trying to find schools such as ice school, memory school, battle school, and so on. Thanks to Pat and Nora for a fun puzzle.

Hahtoolah, a terrific write-up, as usual. Thank you.

Speaking of the schools, I have one and two degrees of separation from three of them. I went to Yale. A classmate at Yale went to Rice. And my nephew went to Duke.

I can understand why the R crossing RAMI and RSS would not be immediately forthcoming.

The only SEX ED I ever had was "Don't do it."

Jinx, I loved learning about that "happiness" event.

THEEU is quite an interesting crossword entry. So is TLC. And so are QATAR and QED as Spitzboov pointed out.

Take care, all.

Anonymous T said...

Hi All!

Easy peasy Tuesday easy. Thanks Pat & Nora for the (oh, there was a theme?) pangramic puzzle. The double 10-stacks in the NE & SW were fun too.

Great expo, Hahtoolah. I missed the theme until your write-up. D-O: 1 -T: 0 :-)

WO: SHAw (duh)
ESPs: ILE, UDO
Fav: I'll go w/ CSO to what I call DW @20a.
Runner-up: Citing an AXIOM for the QED.

C, Eh! I always pause at filling GR_Y waiting to see if it's a color or a colour :-)

RSS - I used to have a RSS reader for multiple feeds. Over time it became, like Twitter now, less useful / pertinent to me.

In the Army, we called OCS (Officer Candidate School) FINISHING SCHOOL. OCS ensured Butter-Bars became "refined gentlemen." ;-)

File under: Believe it or not...
The Catholic HS I went to taught us SexEd (one week during PE class) Freshman year. We were introduced to the reproductive system and how all that worked before the boys and girls were separated into different classes. The gym teacher told the boys how to use a condom; I have no idea what the girls were taught.
Maybe that week is why most of the Catholic schools where I grew up have closed -- not enough new Catholics to fill a classroom. :-)

Cheers, -T

Vidwan827 said...


Thank you Nora and Pat Devin for a very nice and relatively easy puzzle, that I enjoyed very much.
Thank you Hah2lah for a terrific, as usual, review, which I enjoyed even more than the puzzle.

Thank You Jinx of Norfolk for your english-french-english jokes. I'll try to remember them in my memory !

I did not know of RSS, although I am familiar with another type of RSS, a major political org in India, best not mentioned here, at all.

Learnt a lot about the private schools of higher education, though I have visited only one of them...Yale.
Maybe Hah2lah, you should find out a Quote Of the Day, along the lines that some of these founders may have had ill gotten wealth, but the education institutions they left behind, made up, and more, for all that. Stanford of Calif. was a robber baron, was of dubious reputation, Elihu Yale was an embezzler, an indian slave trader, and tax dodger, but his institution, is a wonder of the world ...

Despite Marc Anthony's words ... The good that men do, often DOES live after them....

Have a nice day, all.

Lizza said...

Hi everyone. Got all the answers except for mss. Didn’t get the theme until Marmaduke, oh well. Happen to love Duke basketball because of Coach K, now retiring.
All girls Catholic school student here as well. The closest thing we were taught about sex was one very brief chapter in our health education textbook taught by the school nurse. But no makeup or nail polish allowed. Just clear lipgloss and a little bit of blush. I didn’t mind it at all. Loved not being around boys, I had 3 brothers at home and all their friends. Totally loved all of my female friends and classmates and of course all of my good sisters. Never regretted my experience. Still best friends with many girls. 45th HS graduation anniversary this year, no reunion taking place. So be it.
Thanks for an enjoyable puzzle and critique.

Ol' Man Keith said...

A fine Tuesday PZL from the Devlin Team. Nicely written up by Hahtoolah--as is her usual wont.

But I have to wonder: if Reza Pahlavi was the last "Shaw" (sic) of Iran, was George Bernard the first?
~ OMK
_____________
DR:
One diagonal, near side.
The anagram (13 of 15 letters) seems to designate some kind of urban ladybug,
or a...

"NONRURAL MIRID"!

Anonymous T said...

OMK - cute DR but LOL on George Bernard!

Vidwan - Pop says he's working real hard now to be good and make up for his ornery ute as to get his ticket punched for Heaven :-)

Lizza: I, a male, attended a traditional All Girls Catholic HS (Ursuline) four years after it went co-ed. I remember one of the Nuns commenting on how "nice it is you girls show up with mended dresses and combed hair now that the boys are here. My class looks lovely."

With a ratio of 15:1 girls to boys, even I could get a Sadie Hawkins date :-)

Cheers, -T

Jinx in Norfolk said...

Vid, I think I got at least one and maybe both of those tales from "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the White House" by David E. Johnson. I think my copy got lost a few moves (or as we say in crosswordese "relos") ago.

AnonymousPVX said...


No issues with this Tuesday go.

TTP…thanks for that insurance link, I agree with it 100%.

I think the clue for 54A should have had a space…Birth Day process.

See you tomorrow.

Michael said...

Vidwan @ 3:58: Ah, yes, hindutva forever!

Anonymous T said...

Jinx - The AXIOM is: 4 moves == 1 fire. -T

Husker Gary said...

Musings
-Heads – I tell you why I’m late. Tails – I don’t tell you. It’s Tails!
-_SS/_AMI looked bad but I got ‘er done
-We have RIPE tomatoes everywhere. BLT’s with real T’s are frequenting our table
-ADA – I just left the office of a member in good standing. The return trip will cost me $400 of a $1,000 bill
-The earliest possible Mardi Gras is on a February 4th
-My school board member neighbor is already hearing rumblings about future SEX ED
-Some say the cotton gin was invented by an African American who had no right to file for a patent
-I know some teachers who actually did have to punch a time clock every working day
-George Lucas asked Al Pacino to READ for the part of Han Solo first. Al declined.
-Granddaughter just arrived and is staying the night so I can drive her to the airport at 5a.m. tomorrow.
-Always fun, Susan!

Lizza said...

Great story, -T. My mother, aunts, uncles (9 boys and 3 girls) attended my alma mater which was co-Ed until the start of WWII. Then everything changed with all the young men going off to war. That was when the school eventually started to become an all girls school. I’m sure that’s how it was for many schools. Eventually many of the catholic schools had to become co-Ed again to maintain enrollment. Lucky you!

Ray - O - Sunshine said...

Fairly simple Tuesday, the theme too, if I had paid attention ..misinterpreted as "anatomy" based..JAW, TEETH, MUSCLE .

One inkover.."teehee" which should be the correct spelling of the oft mispelt CW "teehee" but was wrong anyway..(HEE HEE 😆). TIBER (Italian: Tevere, "TEH'-veh-reh", Rome's bohemian Trastevere neighborhood ≈ "Trans-Tiber" "across (trans) the Tiber"). Wasn't expecting THE EU. We had LYING and then RELYING. Guess we "can't handle the truth!!"

Didn't know that's what a BATTLE ROYALE meant; not just a major conflict? Cotton Gin: I hear ELI mixed it with tonic and a lime.

Whether it should be spelt: "GRAY" or "GReY" is a GRAY (or grey) area. First time I heard a "zebra" pronounced like "Debra" was Sherlock Holmes on "Elementary".. jarring. Canada Eh I know our letter Zee is your Zed, what about our striped equines?🦓

What many homes in New Yawk City lack....ACELA
Amana competitor....TAPIN
Cyclops' facial features... CENTERICE
Remedial academy for quitters FINISHING SCHOOL

Busy day...

Anonymous T said...

Oh RAY-O... Oh, dear indeed. You EVOKED this: (and I apologise in advance)

“Now it [Babel fish - a universal translator life-form that lives in your ear] is such a bizarrely improbable coincidence that anything so mind-bogglingly useful could have evolved purely by chance that some thinkers have chosen to see it as the final and clinching proof of the non-existence of God.

The argument goes something like this: "I refuse to prove that I exist,'" says God, "for proof denies faith, and without faith I am nothing."

"But," says Man, "The Babel fish is a dead giveaway, isn't it? It could not have evolved by chance. It proves you exist, and so therefore, by your own arguments, you don't. QED."

"Oh dear," says God, "I hadn't thought of that," and promptly vanishes in a puff of logic.

"Oh, that was easy," says Man, and for an encore goes on to prove that black is white and gets himself killed on the next zebra* crossing.” [cite: Douglas Adams]

Cheers, -T
*if you don't rhyme it w/ Debra, you're not GETting the crux :-)

waseeley said...

-T @5:19 PM Is that like a ZEDBRA, a max-sized British foundation garment?

Malodorous Manatee said...

Before God disappeared in that puff of logic was (s)he heard to say "So long, and thanks for all the fish"?

Wilbur Charles said...

My Alma mater(BC) was all male, became coed and now are forced to lessen requirements for incoming boys in order to keep the ratios close

WC

Yellowrocks said...

When I taught we had two afternoons and evenings for parent conferences with no classes on those afternoons. One time all the parents of my students wanted to come on the first day, so some of my evening meetings ran long after other teachers went home. I had no meetings the next day, but I had to stay in the building the second afternoon and most of that evening though I had given as many meetings as the other teachers. Clock puncher or professiobal?
In my elementary school a fellow student named Sarah Bear had matured very early. All the boys joked. "Who wants to see Sarah bare?"

Lemonade714 said...

The Monday simplicity of the theme was the schools were the final letters in each of the theme answers- finishing the answer.

As other have said I hope Mr/Mrs Mr/Mr Ms/Ms Devin stop by and introduce themselves but I guess it is too late. Gary you have them on your radar?

LEO III said...

Downloaded the puzzle last night, right after I left the Corner. FIR in fairly good time for me. Got the theme and the schools, after I saw FINISHINGSCHOOL and RICE.

I was able to come up with RSS, but not because I actually know what it is.

My high school girlfriend put her foot down!!! “NO!!! There will be NO sex education!!!"

-T --- FLN, yeah, that’s about right, give or take a mile or so. For example, when they are landing on Runway 13R (from the northwest), they usually turn final out around the Galleria (I-69 and Loop 610, for those not familiar with the geography). But SOMEBODY knew where your flight was, and that you were arriving early. They just didn’t have anywhere else to put you, since you were early. Who knows? Strange things happen over there.

Later….

Yellowrocks said...

Lemonade @ 9:27 thanks. Now I get it! Finishing means the last letters. It makes the theme that much more clever.

Vidwan827 said...


Thank you Lemonade, I was just giving my last look at the blog before jumping into bed, and I'm glad I caught your comment.

Very clever ( as the brits would say it - ) indeed.
I think you must have solved a lot of british cryptic puzzles in your lifetime, to 'know' the hidden codes of certain words. The english cryptics use many such pseudo-codes to beguile their solvers. It certainly does add another layer of charm to the puzzle.

Good night, all.

pdevlinmath268 said...

Hi all!

Sorry for the late response, but it's nice to see the community here, and thanks for the kind words.

To "settle" the question of Mr/Ms, Mr/Mrs, Ms/Ms Devlin, it's actually none of these!

As it turns out, we're Dr/Dr Devlin. :-)

Hope that clears it up.

Best and happy solving!
(Dr.) Pat Devlin and (Dr.) Nora Devlin