google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Monday October 4, 2021 Chris Gross

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Oct 4, 2021

Monday October 4, 2021 Chris Gross

Theme: ENDS IN A TIE (59. Concludes with no clear winner ... and what each answer to a starred clue does?)

17. *Yellow tomato with red swirls: BIG RAINBOW.

27. *"Our group doesn't agree": WE THINK NOT.

44. *Phillie Phanatic, notably: TEAM MASCOT.

Boomer here. Chris Gross is our own Chairman Moe, who blogs the Friday puzzles for our blog. This is the LA Times debut for Moe. Congrats!

Moe and his girlfriend Margaret
    
Congrats to the Benilde Saint Margaret's High School Bowling team for chalking up a few victories in the best of five matches on Fridays. I get to be one of the coaches.

Across:

1. Card that loses to a trey: DEUCE.  Unless it is wild!

6. Equine control: REIN.

10. Dazzled: AWED.

14. Boo-boo: ERROR.  I miss those stupid ten pin spares frequently but I don't call it a Boo Boo.

15. Besides that: ELSE.  Nothing ELSE is more frustrating. Especially since I just bought a new plastic spare ball from Greg of A-Z Pro Shop.

 Greg & Boomer 9/28/2021

16. Waterslide cry: WHEE.  A bit East of Minnesota is a place called "Wisconsin Dells".  They have huge water park slides that I am afraid of but I like the Miniature Putt Putt golf.

19. Dismiss from work: FIRE.  You should not have started that FIRE in your waste basket!

20. __ coffee: cool drink: ICED.  Marilyn Monroe and Tony Curtis liked it HOT!


21. Anonymous Jane: DOE.  A Deer, A female deer.  Sound of Music.

22. One-on-one teacher: TUTOR.  I am ONE for about 12 young bowlers.

23. Mortarboard hanger: TASSEL.  Congratulations graduates!

25. Flier's seat choice: AISLE. You can use your cell phone to find the AISLE for the stuff you want to buy.

31. Heed, with "by": ABIDE.

35. Couple's pronoun: OURS.  Not always - "What's hers is hers and what's mine is hers too."

36. Currency for 19 states: EURO.  I bought a few of these when they were first issued.  I thought they might be worth something but they are lying in a box.

38. Dull movie, say: BORE.  "Go off to see the Wizard"  Never a dull moment!

39. "Spider-Man" actress Kirsten: DUNST.

40. Staircase part: STEP.

41. Fish that complains a lot?: CARP.  Catch one in Minnesota?  They are not good to eat but you are not allowed to toss them back into the lake. 

42. One less than nona-: OCTA.  Then how come OCTober is the tenth month?

43. Liability offset on a balance sheet: ASSET.  Seems as though September 2021 reduced a few sheets this year.

47. Environmentally friendly: GREEN.  A place to putt.

48. Highway divider: MEDIAN.  Much safer than a double yellow line.

53. Opposite of old age: YOUTH.  I am really offended clues with "Old Age" in them.

55. Long, long time: EON.  "What more could I do, I'm so inspired by you, I haven't been there for the Longest Time".  Billy Joel.

57. About, on a memo: IN RE.

58. Inuit word for "house": IGLU.  I used to spell it IGLOO.

62. Bosc or Anjou: PEAR.  Bosc and Anjou are a PAIR of PEARS.

63. Snail __: letter carrier's burden: MAIL.  It is not as bad here as it is in say rural Montana, but sometimes we get our MAIL around ten o'clock AM and the next day maybe at suppertime? 

64. Golfer Sam: SNEAD.  A little before my time, but I have some neat Arnie Palmer postage stamps.


65. Arid: SERE.  Is this the lady in the cell phone that tells others where to go?

66. "Do __ others ... ": UNTO.

67. Singer __ Rae Jepsen: CARLY.

Down:

1. Ledger entry: DEBIT.  Wall street hands them out frequently.

2. "Fear of Flying" author Jong: ERICA.

3. Impulses: URGES.  I get them twice a week, to BOWL.

4. Firewood units: CORDS.  As I have mentioned before, I do not use the basement fireplace in our home anymore.  Not worth the mess.

5. Victorian or Elizabethan: ERA.  We older folks are in the IRA ERA.

6. Janet __, attorney general after Barr: RENO.  Great Bowling Center, Buffets, and casinos, but it ain't that other city further south.  

7. Hamburg's river: ELBE.

8. Prefix with metric: ISO.

9. Never been used: NEW.  Now I know "What's New"?

10. Terrible quality: AWFULNESS.  Just throw it away and take the loss.

11. Low-visibility snow events: WHITEOUTS.  We have those in Minnesota.  A little rough on the driving but nowhere near the catastrophe of hurricane IDA in the South and East. 

12. Gateway Arch designer Saarinen: EERO.


13. Bucks in a forest: DEER.  Those are the animals with the horns.  You are not allowed to shoot DOES in Minnesota..

18. Doing nothing: IDLE.  I cannot remember the last time I did nothing.

22. "For shame!": TSK.

24. Meadow mom: EWE.  Those are the sheep without horns.

25. Respiratory cavity: AIR SAC.  Do not let Covid get in them.

26. MIT's "I": Abbr.: INST.

28. Froot Loops mascot __ Sam: TOUCAN.  Kellogg's seems to haff forgooten how to spell Fruit.

29. Fox-and-hounds pursuits: HUNTS.

30. Shade provider: TREE. We just had our back yard elm tree thinned out. It seems to have been providing too much shade.

31. Alphabet sequence symbolizing ease: ABC.  Monday puzzles for our faithful are found to be as easy as ABC. Not me.

32. Word with row or sail: BOAT.  "Gently down the stream",

33. Imperfect, as sale goods: IRREGULAR.

34. Arrival's opposite: DEPARTURE.  At least you do not have to go through a TSA line after an Arrival .

37. Choose (to): OPT.

39. Capitol feature: DOME.  Our Twins and Vikings used to share the Hubert H. Humphrey MetroDOME but it's gone now and both teams have new places to play.  No snow at U.S. Bank stadium in the late fall, but you never know about the Twins in open air Target Field.


43. Absorbed, as a cost: ATE.  I Absorbed breakfast this morning.

45. [Yawn]: MEH.

46. Upscale hotel: OMNI.

49. Ross or Rigg: DIANA.

50. Prefix meaning "between": INTER.  I thought an INTERSTATE Highway meant both states.

51. Sans-serif font: ARIAL.

52. Impoverished: NEEDY.

53. Golfer's putting jitters, with "the": YIPS.  I can miss putts without having YIPS.



54. Curved molding: OGEE.  OH GEE, I missed another ten pin.

55. Do some prose-tightening: EDIT.

56. Nobel Peace Prize city: OSLO.  Norway seldom receives headlines.  Many of my ancestors are from there.

59. Big Aussie bird: EMU.  I really do not like Liberty Mutual commercials!

60. Indian bread: NAN.

61. Pres. advisory group: NSC.  North and South Carolina??

Happy wishes to our sweet Irish Miss - may the doctors and meds bring a smile to your face and ours. 


 

Boomer

66 comments:

desper-otto said...

Good morning!

Congrats on your LAT solo debut, C-Moe. Nicely done. Even d-o managed to suss the theme. No Wite-Out required today. Thanx for the tour, Boomer. (It's for the same reason that September is the 9th month. Guess we can thank Julius and Augustus for that.)

TREE: A year ago the local tree guy convinced me that our 90-footer was fine, just needing a little trim. Drove past his house on our Saturday bike ride, and he was quick to tell me that the 90-footer is a hazard, and needs to come down. Not sure he's acting as a fiduciary here.

OwenKL said...

I've commented on WHEE before.
(from this blog, 6/24/21) An acrostic fan, a crossword fan, and a Jumble fan come across a genie's magic water-slide. The genie tells them whatever they yell going down the slide, that's what they'll end up in.
The acrostic fan goes first, yells "Lemonade", and splashes into a pool of lemonade.
The crossword fan goes next, yells "Scotch", and splashes into a pool of scotch.
The Jumble fan hasn't been paying much attention, so goes last, yelling "WHEEE".

OwenKL said...

An IGLU is shaped like a DOME,
But it's not a place senators roam.
It sits in the ground,
Not atop like a crown.
To the INUIT, it's somebody's home!

If your DEBITS exceed your ASSETS
The worry might give you night sweats.
But if the credits
Exceed the debits,
You won't get kicked out on your ass yet!

WHITE-OUT may keep your page clean,
But is that ERROR fluid GREEN?
Does it pollute?
While the need is acute,
Let's vow not to use it on screens!

{A-, A, B.}

waseeley said...

Congratulations Chris on your debut constructor outing in the LAT. I was able to UNTANGLE this puzzle with a FIR and even got the theme - must be the old BS ("Boy Scout") in me. Knowing how to UNTIE (CSO to Jinx) knots is just as important as being able to TIE them.

And thanks BOOMER for another fine review. And nice pic in the Pro Shop. So that's the "GREG" I've been mistaking you for (and thanks to D-O for pointing out my persistent FOX PASS)?

Gotta go as I have some errands to run, but I'll be back.

I'll start the ball rolling as 26D INST appears to me to be a CSO to Picard. Hands up from any MIT alums I'm missing (Anon -T?).

Cheers,
Bill

Jinx in Norfolk said...

FIR, but erased also for SERE (misread the clue as "and") and ARIeL. DNK BIG RAINBOW or CARLY.

Around here they are clearing our beautiful wooded MEDIANs, adding lanes, and installing Jersey walls to reduce head-on collisions in the absence of the wooded medians. A Saturday clue for this one would be "an average statistic" (meaning not "mean" or "mode"). Would get baseball fans sidetracked.

Q: Would the Queen like a Pepsi Cola instead of her tea this afternoon? A: WE THINK NOT.
Off to the birthplace of Pepsi today. We love New Bern and the surrounding area.

Thanks to C-Moe for the fun grid, although I forgot to look for the theme. And thanks to Boomer for another great review.

desper-otto said...

Jinx, was the town named "New Bern" before or after the great fire of 1922?

billocohoes said...

OCTober is the tenth month because when the Romans named it, their year began in March. So did the English year, until they switched to the Gregorian Calendar in the 1750s

Big Easy said...

When C.C. mentioned one of the Cornerites having a debut I was wondering who it would be. When I looked at the paper without my glasses I thought I saw Chris CROSS and thought Grammy Award winner. Then I put the reading glasses on and saw GROSS. Congrats, Mr. Chairman. Maybe your bowling team can take on Boomer.

As for the puzzle I FIR with no unknowns.
Kirsten DUNST was supposed to come to my house to act in a movie scene (Midnight Special) but it ended up just the woman who played her mother.


OSLO & FLN

Picard-" If anyone can name a more urgent policy issue than the Climate Crisis, please do speak now."

I'll speak. Rapid Population growth will the bigger problem, long before there is any real change in the climate; so will countries fighting over natural resources. Nations' industrial fishing fleets depleting the oceans is an example. Precious metals, fossil fuels, ability to grow food and even clean water will become scarcer at a rate 1,000+ times faster than any significant or even noticeable climate change. What about the next pandemic- COVID 22, 23...COVID99. Throughout history epidemics are the rule, not the exception. Does anybody really think that a few thousand scientists can save billions of people every time a new disease arises? I don't.

The greenhouse effect, aka global warming, now called 'climate change' is way down the list of things humans need to worry about. Agricultural scientists who have greatly increased crop yield have kept the world from starving but the people in the EU and elsewhere are calling GMO crops 'Frankenfood'. They need to worry more about eating than the climate.

Wilbur Charles said...

Aa a kid c. 1953, my brother said "Who do you want in the Masters: Hogan* or SNEAD"? Not knowing either I bet Sam. My first gambling loss.

I had a WHITE OUT driving N on 90 east of Lake Erie. Anyone with a brain pulled over. Even I finally did.

MIT is a CSO to Picard like NETWORK SECURITY to Anon-T fln

Yes, C-Moe gave us a 95% ABC run except CARLY

WC

* Before Ben got the YIPS

Ps, I too forgot to look for the theme

Spitzboov said...

Good morning everyone.

Congrats to Chris on a fine Monday puzzle. Fun to work on. FIR. DNK DUNST , but it perped easily. Liked the double columned longer downs. Nifty theme - - (Working in a word like 'tombolo' [sandy isthmus] would have added a type of western neckwear.)
OSLO. - - When we were in Stockholm, we took a guided walking tour of the old City, and the guide showed us where the Nobel prizes are awarded. When Norway gained independence in 1905, she said the Swedes gave Norway the Peace Prize to award because they thought the Norwegians were a very argumentative people. (Sorry, Boomer, that's what she said. :-))

Have a great day.

Vidwan827 said...

Thank you Mr.Chris Gross, our mystery constructor, for an easy Monday puzzle. There were no answers, therein, to which I had to exclaim,'Thats gross'....

Seriously, congratulations, and best wishes for more success. I know you've worked hard and put in many efforts, and I'm glad you have been rewarded. Mazel Tov.
BTW, when I hear of gross, ... I generally think of eggs .... and donuts. :-)
Looking at your real picture, I now have an idea of Gross Anatomy...

Thank you Boomer, for your unfailing humor, and your sweet song for Agnes. Unlike yesterday's tune, I was actually familiar with today's song. You live life to the fullest and you are an inspiration to us all. Keep well.

I had a few boo-boo's ...the first I thought.'What Beats a trey' ... and I was looking for a quatro ... or, a full house.
For the currency for 19 states, I thought 'Confederate Dollar' ... too long.

Then for the theme, I wondered whats a Scot Tie ??? ... maybe just a piece of string ....

I have a very busy day ahead, So you all have a great day.

Anonymous said...

No draw today. Finished it under the 4 minute mark (3:56).

Nice work, Mr. Gross.

Malodorous Manatee said...

Congratulation,Ch. Moe! I am told that constructing good Monday-level puzzles is more difficult than constructing more difficult puzzles. You have succeeded admirably.

Husker Gary said...

Musings
-What a fun Monday puzzle, Chris, where the gimmicks were parts of other words!
-Those tenpins don’t have much margin for ERROR, do they Boomer?
-Also Billy Joel - Harry Truman, Doris Day, Red China, Johnnie Ray - We Didn’t Start The FIRE
-I spent 23 summers hiring kid to pull these TASSELS
-I remember C.C. writing she likes CARYL Rae
-URGES – 50F has delayed my golfing one until later today
-Joann estimated it would cost $1,500 to trim five of our trees. The bid was $750 but he can’t start until November
-Since the roof was held up by air, I remember a slight push when leaving the HHH DOME.
-My great friend Dani OGEE found out she will be a grandmother in January

CanadianEh! said...

Marvellous Monday. Thanks for the fun, Chris (congrats on your debut) and Boomer.
I FIRed in less than 10 minutes (Anon@9:04 wow- under 4!) and smiled at the TIE theme. Great Monday-level CW (WHEE easy- peasy). Only slowdown was starting to enter Blizzards before WHITEOUTS. (ICED and IGLU are appropriate with that.)

I have never heard of BIG RAINBOW tomatoes. They would be attractive sliced on a plate.(better than GREEN tomatoes)

We had DEER and DOE (plus EWE, CARP, TOUCAN for more fauna).
I noted ASSET and DEBIT, EURO and EERO.
We had AWED crossing AWFULNESS (interesting INRE different meaning for AW).
Old CW favourites OGEE, ERA and EON, EERO.

DOME at the Rogers Centre was closed yesterday due to rain. The Blue Jays won, but lost out on a wild card entry into the post-season when the Yankees and Red Sox won their games. That is what happens when you don’t win crucial games (last week against the Yankees) and leave your future in another team’s hands.

Of course Canada’s original Inuit people used IGLU instead of igloo. We will take a U wherever we can get it. LOL����

Wishing you all a great day.

Kkflorida said...

Congrats Chris on your debut puzzle. A fun Monday solve with no white out needed. Thanks for the expo boomer.

Ray - o - sunshine said...

Great way to start a week.. all hits, no alphabet sequence ABC runs, the only ERRORs is a correct puzzle answer. Had to think for a sec about the theme..oh yeah tie, bow, knot, ascot. ��

a contronymic phrase?... "Kirsten may not be DUNST with Spider-Man movies." ☺

YIPS...Do golfers actually start barking when they miss a putt? ��️‍♀️⛳

I read it as "waterside" cry...("ahoy"?) perpwaited for WHEE. (oh, watersLide!) Perpwaited on TASSEL (always think it's "tassle") and AISLE..(almost wrote in "coach"). Considered peso for currency for many states but perpwaited EURO. Hamburg river...ketchup?..��

The Roman New Year used to start in March ergo septem, octo, novem, decem...ber..were the 7 - 10th months. Only 10 months. January and February added later. The Romans had a helluva time keeping the seasons in sync with the months.

Never heard of BIG RAINBOW tomatoes. All our Central NY summer, and now fall, rain has caused a lot of amateur garden tomato crop to rot on the vine.��

Always wondered why DEER don't slowly migrate south in early fall and follow the food source rather than nearly starve in our barren snowy winters. They don't hibernate like bears or store up food like squirrels and chipmunks.��

Elliot's rascally sibling.....AWFULNESS
How many able to play at "this game"....TOUCAN
Say yes to the Nice dress.....WHEE
Equine control lost during the storm, the horse wouldn't come in out of the ____ REIN.

Have a great week..��

Ray - O - Sunshine said...

my blog account seems to have undergone a WHITEOUT... Happens once a month..hmmm

Ray - O - Sunshine said...

guess it's back..🙄

YooperPhil said...

Congrats on your Times debut Chris! Fun puzzle to start the week. Never knew the Inuit word was “iglu”, why it was Anglicized to a double “o” I don’t know.

unclefred said...

I continue to have problems posting comments from my iPhone, which I used to do every day. Anyway, posting now from my PC: Congrats Chris on this fine debut! FIR in 15 but with several W/Os, TASSLE:TASSEL, ELBA:ELBE, OCHO:OCTA, INTRA:INTER. DNK YIPS, BIGRAINBOW, CARLY. Boomer your comment about a fireplace reminded me of a pet peeve. I live in Fort Lauderdale and we don’t have many days with cool enough weather to turn off the A.C. and open the windows. Inevitably, when one of those rare days come along, neighbors will start up their fireplaces, fouling the air so bad the windows must stay shut anyway. D-O @ 5:35, I suspect your tree guy is doing a CYA move in case your tree falls on your house after him telling you it was fine.

Wilbur Charles said...

RayO, no barking but an anguished cry for someone name Alice often ENSUES when leaving a putt short

WC

Misty said...

Woohoo! Woohoo! How exciting to get a Monday Chairman Moe puzzle--and I got the whole thing correctly without a single error or any cheating. Woohoo!

And then the additional gift of Boomer's delightful commentary, with great pictures and ending with the lovely song for our dear Agnes. A complete delight all around. Thank you both!

My favorite clue was the "Fish that complains a lot"--had to be a CARP.

But, I must say, I have never, in my decades and decades heard the word AWFULNESS! Completely new to me--but still funny.

Couldn't believe the Golfer's jitters are YIPS--but, hey, I'm not a golfer.

Have a great week coming up, everybody.

Picard said...

Fun TIE theme! Did anyone notice that MASCOT appears as a clue and as an answer?

Bill Seeley and Wilbur Charles Thank you for the shouts out for me and MIT! Today, we also have EERO SAARINEN making yet another appearance. In the past I have shared photos of us juggling and unicycling near his MIT Chapel building. But I forgot that he designed the amazing Kresge Auditorium right next to the Chapel.

Here you can see my photo of most of EERO SAARINEN's magnificent Kresge Auditorium at MIT.

This was at our 2015 reunion, so it is partially blocked by our reunion tent.

As a child I was briefly in HAMBURG, but we don't seem to have any photos there. My father didn't want to spend an extra second in Germany that was not necessary. The War was very fresh in his mind.

oc4beach said...


Congratulations of a very nice puzzle C-Moe. I sailed through it without seeing the theme until Boomer 'splained it in his write-up.

I didn't know BIG RAINBOW or CARLY, but perps were kind today and allowed them to be filled in.

Boomer: DOE can be hunted in Pennsylvania, but only during Doe Season which can vary every year. You need a special Doe license to hunt them. On the first day of Deer season in Pennsylvania there can be around a million armed hunters in the woods. If this were a standing army it would rank 5th in the world behind China, India, the United States and Russia.

It's interesting how "The Fear of Flying" had nothing to do with airplanes.

Have a great day everyone.

Picard said...

Chairman Moe I almost forgot: Congratulations on your LA Times debut!

Wilbur Charles Thank you for the kind words about my BRANDENBURG GATE photo. I am honored that you take the time to look at all of my photo links!

Big Easy Thank you for taking the time to list your priorities of urgency. I agree that overpopulation is the issue that drives most of the crises we face. However, I respectfully disagree about the urgency and importance of the items on your list.

Market forces usually work well when it comes to allocating scarce resources. When the price of rare metals goes up, it is an incentive to put in more effort to scavenge them from the ocean or use other exotic methods. I agree that water will be a problem. But mostly due to the Climate Crisis.

The Climate Crisis is like a meteor heading at the Earth. Nature has no obligation to give us a warning before a disaster. We are in those final moments now where if we throw everything at it, we can divert the meteor. If we wait any longer, a horrific disaster will happen that will dwarf every other issue.

If we invest massively in sustainable transportation, energy and agriculture now, we might avert the disaster. Such investment has no down side and it has many up sides.

The Nobel Committee in OSLO will look at GRETA THUNBERG as a way to signal that there is no greater issue on the agenda. Pandemics come and go. But there is no meaningful recovery after the meteor of the Climate Crisis hits.

Anonymous T said...

Hi All!

Congrats C. Moe on the solo! Nicely done.
Though, I am a little confused - is THIN KNOT the themer? The others are types of ties (Bow, Ascot) but 'knot' isn't a tie.
//Google comes up with Skinny Tie but not thin-knot tie... Hmm - I must be missing something.

Fun expo, as is par, Boomer. Thanks for the tour.

WO: SNEeD
ESPs: ERICA, DUNST, CARLY
Fav: CARP's clue was cute.
Other fun: DEBIT|ASSET, DOE|DEER, REIN|RAINbow.

{B, A+, B}

Waseeley - nope, not me at MIT.

BIG RAINBOWs.

LOL - WHEE (oui) to the Nice dress, Ray-O.

I recently heard a story that EERO didn't like the perfect catenary for the Gateway Arch, so modified the chain with smaller links in the middle.
Here's some fun with math INRE STL Arch [.pdf]

Have a wonderful afternoon.
Cheers, -T

PK said...

Hi Y'all! Fun & fast puzzle, thanks, Chris. I am AWED by your debut. Great expo, Boomer.

Only unknown: never heard of a BIG RAINBOW tomato. But then I can't eat tomatoes anymore. Give me hives.

Snail MAIL: Post Office is living up to that name. Got my bank statement last week on the 29th. The check I had mailed on Sept. 7 or 8 was not DEBITed to my account. The check was for my house & car insurance. I called my agent. Took three calls to them to learn my check had arrived at the insurance office in another state on Sept. 23 -- two weeks after the postman took it from my door. It was due on the 15th. Glad I didn't have a claim altho I know there is supposed to be a grace period. I read that USPO will b slowing down by not using airmail as often because it is cheaper overland. Oh the AWFULNESS of that.

CanadianEh! said...

Picard@12:11- great catch re Mascot dupe. I had missed that.
Thanks for the Knesset Auditorium photo.

AnonT- thanks for the Rainbow tomato photo. Do you grow them?

desper-otto said...

Are you sure that thing isn't a bi-grain bow?

Tinbeni said...

Chairman Moe: Great "First Puzzle".

Fave today was 20-a ... I do like "ICED Coffee".

A "Toast-to-ALL" at Sunset.

Cheers!

Wilbur Charles said...


Rather lengthy but illustrates what Greta and Picars are up against
How SpecialInterests can pervert Science

OwenKL said...

A puzzle by Chris
Gross, but it was a fun one.
May we have more, please?

Big Easy, our own redneck climate denier! It's a good thing most of your comments are good ones on the puzzle, or I'd take offense!

Climate change is real. We are already seeing effects. YOU'RE already seeing effects with stronger and more frequent hurricanes hitting NOLA! And it feeds on itself, so the effects will increase at an exponential rate. If it's not stopped in time, Earth could become like Venus, with a surface temperature that would melt lead! Even if we could build shelters to survive, not enough of our ecosystem could to continue to support life.

The other things you mention are all good points. But we're making better progress against them. Plagues are nature's way of solving the population problem. What we need is one that makes 9 out of 10 people sterile, while keeping the actual death count low. So long as religions and cultures promote large families, plagues are the only solution.

This went on for several more paragraphs that I've erased.

OwenKL said...

Since I'm on the subject, Jayce, what do you think of this?:

Could the solution to global warming be nuclear winter? Select a few volcanoes that are active enough to be free of any local populations (or ignore any local populations if in North Korea), and lob a few nuclear missiles into them. How many might it take? A handful, a few dozens, hundreds? Between just the US & Russia, we have thousands available. Let's put them to good use! Nuclear winter would be devastating, but only for a couple years. Global warming, turning Earth into Venus, would be forever.

waseeley said...

Picard @12:11 PM Beautiful pic of the Kresge Auditorium! I recall briefly visiting MIT years and years ago, but somehow missed this magnificent structure. The next time I'm in Boston this will be near the top of my list - along with our third visit to the Christian Science Mapparium.

While I'm not a skeptic on ACC (Anthropomorphic Climate Change) I am skeptical about the likelihood that we will muster the collective will to do anything about it. I fear that in the end Gaia will fix it by eradicating the source of the problem.

Lemonade714 said...

Moe, I applaud you for your success in getting publishe early and often, even as you have learned the reality of rejection. These days, while there are many more venues there are also many more constructors. I also know the use of gridbuilding apps has made a tremendous difference to how many submit puzzles. Maybe if I ever retire I will try to create some solos.
Your Mascot/Mascot dupe hardly seems worth mentioning. I did want to know your thought on KNOT. Well done.

We all continue to pray for Agnes and Boomer and anyone else who needs more heath.

Thank you all

waseeley said...

oc4beach @12:15 PM As I recall it had something to do with "ziplessness". 😉

waseeley said...

-T @12:27 PM And how does one MAKE a KNOT? 😀

OwenKL said...

waseeley A good knock to the head will raise a knot!

ATLGranny said...

FIR today, thanks to C Moe's excellent debut puzzle! Needed the reveal to get the theme. Finished it quickly this morning, but had an appointment for an annual physical so had to wait until later to read your review, Boomer, and see how I did. Nice fill, C Moe. Looking forward to the next!

Good job today, Boomer, both on your review and for the nightclub act for Irish Miss. I'm sure it lifted her spirits. Hope she, and everyone else, has a good week.

ATLGranny said...

That's KNOT funny, OwenKL!

Lemonade714 said...

Bill, T and I both understand one TIES a knot, but the other two are types of ties (nouns) not tie (verb). That is why I asked Chris his thought.

Speaking of which. Boomer, Sam Snead played on the PGA tour with his last official start in 1983, at age 67. In the 60s and 70s he was still playing regularly and singlehandedly helped creat the Senior PGA tour. Back when I was younger and more money than brains, I had the pleasure of being on the same golf course with him for two Senior events. Arnold Palmer was also there for the second. They both were vary gracious gentlemen and unintimidated by my 16 handicap. The amateurs played a scramble and I could put so I was always popular. Great memories and I know Moe is also a golfer along with Boomer, George, Gary and others

Jinx in Norfolk said...

D-O, New Bern was named before the American Revolution. That was before Pepsi was invented, and I'm pretty sure it was before Lemony was born too.

WC - when I leave a putt short, my sympathetic buddies console me by asking if my husband plays golf too.

PK, I'm on record here in the Corner of being a severe critic of the USPS. Bit I'm betting that in your case, it was the lock-box operation where you sent your payment who messed up.

Big Easy - Drag out your asbestos undies. Folks who are a little right of the faculty lounge are grudgingly tolerated around these parts if they don't speak up much. If you malign Saint Thunberg (or Saint Fauci, for that matter) around these parts you will get lit up. You may remember when I pointed out that (at the time) she was a minor child and wouldn't be trusted by our government to make basic decisions for herself like entering a contract, whether to smoke, whether to drink, whether to pose nekkid on the internet, whether to buy a firearm, and plenty of other things our society thinks a minor shouldn't be entrusted with, I was called everything except a child of God. That was one of the reasons I went MIA for most of a year. I'm thinking it wasn't long enough.

OK Picard and Owen, time to put up. How long will the planet survive if we don't make severe changes to the way we live? Al Gore, revered by the left as a man of science, told us we would already be dead my now, if you remember.

waseeley said...

Anonymous -T @12:27 PM, et. al. RE CATENARY ARCHES

Catenary arches are a popular way to build ceramic kilns. Here's a pic of a 2 chambered kiln using them. These kilns are an alternative to straight-sided kilns which use a "sprung arch" at the top, but require welded supports to keep the arch from collapsing. My kiln is a "Minnesota Flat-Top", which doesn't use arches, but rather welded angle-iron brackets at the corners, held together with tie rods to keep the roof bricks together. I was fortunate to run into a professional welding engineer at a party, who did the welding for free. His work involved programming computers to control welding machines, and he jumped at the chance to weld "the old fashioned way".

waseeley said...

Boomer - I just saw your latest video (had thought it was an encore of yesterday). Very touching. Sounds like Glee Club Doug has still got it in him! 😍

Chairman Moe said...

Puzzling thoughts:

First of all, thanks to Boomer and all of my fellow Cornerites for all of the positive comments. It’s fun to be on THIS side of the blog!

I’m going to have to check later regarding my original clues and entries that may have been edited. Margaret and I are “on a date” today, and all of my puzzles reside on my laptop.

This may have been one of my first solo attempts, and I’m pretty sure it was rejected by one other editor before I submitted it to Rich. He originally told me it might not publish until 2022, so his moving it up in the order was pretty cool.

As many of you know, CC assisted/collaborated on my first two published puzzles; Mark McClain and I did my third. It was way cool, too, to follow them in the LAT these past three days! They have been very open and candid with their thoughts, and have helped me immeasurably. Thanks to you both!

I’ll check back later … love you guys!

Moe

Anonymous T said...

All: and another reason for the Blog's Rules "no politics and no personal attacks."

If an online platform was capable of convincing the other side you're right, FaceBook would go poof. //oh, wait; they are down today :-)

Cheers, -T

TokenCreek said...

Jinx: Please don't leave. This to shall pass.

TokenCreek said...

"no politics and no personal attacks." For some people.

waseeley said...

Sounds like the Corner could use a little global cooling. Before anyone make another comment, please look at the admonition just above the first line of your comment.

Cheers,
Bill

Ol' Man Keith said...

A nice, EZ PZL, perfect for a Monday. Thank you, Chmn Moe, AKA Chris Gross! (I suppose you have already considered--and rejected!--changing your surname to "Cross"?)

And thank you, Boomer, for your follow-up! Well done, sir!

Not being a golfer, I did not know "The YIPS" were familiar to nervous putters. I have heard the term a few times among actors getting ready to go on stage. Nice to know the source of the expression.

You didn't need to be a golfer to know the name of Sam SNEAD. Everyone of my generation had to sit through Movietone newsreels before our favorite cartoons would be played. For some bizarre reason, every newsreel had a section devoted to golf! Grrr.
I have nothing against the memory of Mr. SNEAD, except that he dominated the screen--Back in The. Day.
~ OMK
____________
DR:
Four diagonals, one near to hand, three opposed.
The near diag offers an interesting anagram (13 of 15 letters), a strangely deviant label, referring to one's passionate devotion to someone or perhaps something verboten, maybe to a cult leader, or even to certain personal practices that others find offbeat.
I mean an...

"EDGY ADORATION"!
-or-
allowing for an alternate spelling of Mr. SNEAD's name, the anagram may be of a special date, a sort of "perv holiday" reserved for giving in to one's private but possibly wicked desires--maybe to certain quasi-legal longings.
This might well be identified as one's...

"DEGENERATE DAY"!

Misty said...

Am still hearing your sweet song to Agnes in my head after listening to it this morning, Boomer. Hope she had a chance to hear it.

Jayce said...

I liked this puzzle. Congratulations, Chairman Moe. Loved the clue for CARP (hi Misty).

Excellent song(s), Boomer.

OwenKL @ 1:40 PM, an interesting idea. I think the answer is probably too complicated for me to even try to address.

TASSEL: I blush to confess that the still youthful side of me will always feel a twinge of lust at the thought of Katrina Van Tassel, a character in The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.

"What's hers is hers and what's mine is hers too" is definitely true in our household.

I wonder if maybe IGLU seemed too, um, Turkish or something.

I have a fond memory of first learning of CARLY Rae Jepson when C.C. posted a video of her singing "Call Me Maybe" a few years ago.

So, are inelastic or rupturing AIR SACs in the lungs (emphysema) really an "obstructive" pulmonary disease? I think not.

Good wishes to you all.

Anonymous T said...

C, Eh! Before today, I'd never heard of the BI-GRAIN BOWs (funny, D-O). I'm going to start some seeds this January. They look delicious.

DEGENERATE DAY for the EDGY ADORATION? :-)

OKL - I think nuking the planet is a Bad Idea(TM).

waseeley - those kilns look like nice pizza ovens :-)

Jayce - when I think of TASSEL, I think of Cheech's tutu-top [Up in Smoke].
//why anyone (friend of Grandma(?)) let me watch that movie when I was an 8yro, I don't understand...

C, Moe - can you elaborate on THIN KNOT ties? OKL knocked/knotted me in the head and I forgot the question :-)

Cheers, -T

Chairman Moe said...

Dash T et al: Margaret and I are still on our date! For the life of me I can’t remember why I chose KNOT over any other word (BOLO did come to mind, Spitz).

As for Gross vs Cross, of course I got that reference a lot growing up. But “Gross” never meant “gross” as in disgusting. I always associated it with 12 dozen or large. And never realized that Gross was a Jewish surname until I went to school in Pittsburgh.

Vidwan827 said...


I had a busy day today, and I just came for some diversion...

Anon -T, I thank you for the math paper by Paul Calter,.... it refreshed some of my math equation memories from high school and college. I knew the ST. LouiS Gateway monument is a catenary .... y = aCoshx ... not y = Ax*2 + c, but many of the details were fuzzy. That article clarified some of what I didn't know.

************************

As for Greta T. and the Climate Warming ... since we can't do anything about it at the blog ... lets just drop it. Most of us will be long dead before it happens.
Just a humble suggestion. Its not worth arguing about.


Jayce, the turkish suffix to last names, that you must have been thinking of, ... is -Oglu , which is very close to Iglu.
BTW, ..... -oglu means 'son of' ..... as in Eydin-oglu. Something like Ben- in jewish, as in BenShamir .... and -bin in muslim (arab) names, as in BinHasan ( for boys) or -Bint Layla ( for girls) etc.

Finally, as a CPA, I must hint gently, that DEBITS actually apply to increase or help ASSETS ... as CREDITS attach to Liabilities.... Although there is no problem with the way the clue to 1. Down was worded, OwenKL's second limerick somehow implies that Debits are bad for assets, or are some form of contra-assets , like Accumulated Depreciation, for instance.

In general DEBITS increase ASSETs.
Credits increase LIABILITIES ...
Atleast in the American system of Accounting, the British system is the exact opposite...


Finally, at this length of this post, I have some genial advice for Ms. PK ...

I too used to use SNAIL MAIL to mail my checks, my monthly payments, my mortgage, Utilities etc. ... Now, I pay most everything by phone, or charged to a credit card, which I pay off every month, or a direct withdrawal from my smaller checking account. This, not only saves me envelopes and postage, but the payments are immediate, and the confirmation is immediate. I write less than 8 checks per month, mostly donations, gifts and such. I either charge it, or pay it directly thru my checking account. Maybe you could also consider this.

Good night, all.

LEO III said...

Although I tried to mess up down in the SE corner (NSA and DIANE), excellent proofreading on my part rescued me. It wasn’t that I didn’t know NSC and DIANA; I just wasn’t thinking to clearly at 0300 this morning. I also got the theme.

Nice debut, C-Moe, and another nice write-up, Boomer!

Back in the ‘70s, we were all going to die from the impending Ice Age.

-T --- I think you might be overthinking it: A BOW, a KNOT and an ASCOT are all the result (END) of something being tied. Please correct me if I’m wrong, C-M.

My uncle went to MIT. He’s much smarter than I am. He’s also still doing gigs with his trombone. I, unfortunately, put down my trumpet the day I graduated high school. Wish I hadn’t.

Chairman Moe said...

Late night comments:

So, I submitted this puzzle back on March 20 and Rich accepted on August 4. As I reread the submission notes as well as the clues, I only had to work out one corner (SE), as a word I used needed changing. I also caught another word I had submitted that I changed when I found that any clue for it would be too controversial. In the end, Rich kept about 40% of my clues with a few of those tweaked for brevity or added to with further information. Dash T, I wish I could take credit for the clue @ 41-Across but that was Rich's.

OMK, knowing your delight in finding a diagonal acronym, I will try my best with each succeeding puzzle I create to isolate something fun in that line! ;^)

I have a few more puzzles submitted for Rich; fingers crossed that one or more will find its entry here again someday.

Cheers!

Michael said...

Dear Jinx @ 2:43:

I am completely with you on disparaging the USPS. The long-term effects of DeJoy(less)'s antics are going to cost us all a lot of money, in late fees, and in not-responding-in-time fees., if this 'plan' of his continues. (It also shows political powerlessness in action -- a mere observation, not a political comment, BTW.)

PK said...

Jinx, I think you may be right that the insurance co. personnel may be the slackers here, but I've had several other USPO problems too.

Vidwan, I may have to go to another form of payment, none of which do I know how to do at this point.

The only people who are living a true "green" life are those in 3rd world countries who live at subsistence level in a jungle and don't drive cars. Owen, you are a scary man today.

LEO III said...

I think I get to write exactly ONE check a year, when I renew my car registration, which I do in person. Everything else is done either online or via cash or credit card (paid off every month).

inanehiker said...

Late night solve for me - I was at a conference in Grand Rapids, MI over the weekend - big thunderstorms delayed everything at the airport yesterday so I was going to miss my connection at ORD. So I had to fly home today- with my poor office staff having to scramble to reschedule my day!

Easy breezy Monday - I thought of the KNOT answer like the Windsor KNOT as a type of tie.
I always hesitate when spelling TASSEL and LADLE - wanting to write TASSLE and LADEL

Happy birthday IM and prayers for you and your team of providers!
Congrats CM on your publish!
Thanks Boomer for an amusing blog!

Wilbur Charles said...

L714, I also playED a lot of golf just not lately. I was in a Scramble with a crew from a bar / restaurant. One golfer, some assorted cooks, bartenders. I joined at 3rd hole and on the 17th we had a chance but my 5 iron to the 185 yard green was short.. The cook sank some amazing putts.

I think Palmer was the key to Senior Tour popularity. It started out as legends. 16 isn't a bad hcap. Two bad drives per 9 holes will do it. 7 good tee shots make one a Scramble Star.

WC

Jinx, I suspected that was the reason for your hiatus. As someone said, please stick around.

OwenKL said...

Verb: you can tie a bow or tie a knot.
Noun; you can wear a bow tie or an ascot tie.
Looks like they balance out to me!

Vidwan, two types of business keep accounts from the customers side, and so debits and credits are reversed in those two fields. I spent my working years as a hotel auditor, so that's the way I roll.

Jinx, the climate apocalypse won't happen in my lifetime, but maybe in my grandson Dano's, and almost certainly in my great-grandson Micah's. I hope some solutions are carried out before then, (non-nuclear bombs in volcanoes?) but it's not guaranteed, and gets harder every year.

OwenKL said...

Oops. The two businesses that reverse debits and credits are hospitality and banks.

Michael said...

Hmmm, our high today seemed to be a TASSEL tussle....