google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Monday July 4th, 2022 Catherine Cetta

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Jul 4, 2022

Monday July 4th, 2022 Catherine Cetta

 

Theme: FIRECRACKER (59. Fourth of July noisemaker ... and the function of the black squares in lines 3, 6, and 10) - FIRE is broken up in 3 different ways.

16. Half-__: rhyming coffee order: CAF and 17. Closing line after presenting an argument: I REST MY CASE.

28. Nebula Award genre: SCI-FI And 30. One way to get caught: RED-HANDED.

47. North American evergreen: BALSAM FIR And 50. Say "I do" without the ado: ELOPE.

Boomer here. 

I hope all of you are having a great three-day weekend. I am taking the day off with you. No VA appointments on this holiday.  I think our city has a fireworks show, but we are usually sleeping by that time.

Across:

1. Remind repeatedly: NAG.

4. Girl __ Cookies: SCOUT.  I like the chocolate mint ones.

9. Journalist Swisher: KARA.



13. "My man!": BRO.  He ain't heavy, he's my BRO.

14. Alpha __ Alpha sorority: KAPPA.  I thought it was "Phi Beta ____"

15. Lubricated: OILED.  I cannot believe the price of an oil change these days.

19. Elsie the Cow's dairy brand: BORDEN.




21. "Questions welcome": ASK ME.  I don't know.  Ask someone else.

22. Ireland, to the Irish: EIRE.

23. "The Dancing Class" painter Edgar: DEGAS.

26. Cedar Rapids state: IOWA.  Cedar is a tree, Rapids is a spot in a river, and IOWA is only famous once every four years when they try to pick a president.

32. Silky fabrics: SATINS.

34. Island home of the Hana Highway: MAUI.  Over 700 square miles, a big section of Hawaii.


35. Magazine VIPs: EDS.  Mr. Sullivan and Mr.  R. Murrow.

36. Pinches pennies: SCRIMPS.  Pinch 500 and you may buy a gallon of gas.

38. "Now I get it!": AHA.

41. Holier-__-thou: THAN.

42. Scheduled: SLATED.  Twins are done with Guardians for awhile.  I wish they would change up their Pigpen ....... I mean bullpen.



51. Quaint "once": ERST.

52. Lets up: EASES.  I wish our hotter than normal Minnesota weather would ease up.

54. __ and proper: PRIM.

55. Fatherly nickname: POPPA.  There are restaurants called Poppa(s).

57. Hide-and-seek hideout: CLOSET.  No room to hide in mine.

62. "That hurt!": OOF.  Do not move my left arm!  Thanks.

64. Future DAs' exams: LSATS.

65. Member-owned grocery stores: CO-OPS.  Farmer-owned chicken houses.

66. Actress Thurman: UMA.  Odd first name.



67. Eclectic online digest: UTNE.  Utah or Nebraska.

68. Arizona's __ National Forest: TONTO.  Lone Ranger's buddy.

69. __-Mex cuisine: TEX.  A lot seems to go wrong in that state.

Down:

1. "This Is Us" TV network: NBC.

2. Coffee bean variety: ARABICA.  We buy coffee that is already ground.  Not sure what bean it is.



3. "Pursue your dream!": GO FOR IT.  Green under 200 yards away?  GO FOR IT!

4. Slide on an icy road: SKID. Yup, icy road season is just a few months ahead here.



5. Was concerned: CARED.

6. First game of the season: OPENER.  Baseball is here.  Football openers are coming soon.

7. Emotional highs: UPS.  Delivery company.

8. Body ink, for short: TAT.

9. Begin to take effect, as medicine: KICK IN.  Football openers are coming soon.

10. Dessert menu phrase: A LA MODE.  I scream for ice cream!



11. Mended for a second time: RE-SEWED.

12. Citrus drink suffix: ADE.  Lemon, Orange, or Kool.

15. Yiddish laments: OYS.

18. Songs made by mixing two songs: MASH-UPS.

20. Mortgage adjustment, for short: RE-FI.  It could cost you these days.

22. Twisty letter: ESS.  SSS.

24. Some spring babies: GEMINIS.  Twins.

25. Driver at the Oscars: ADAM.  We live close to A DAM on the Mississippi.  It's where we get some of our electric power.

27. Commercials: ADS.  The Game Show channel has a ton of them.

29. Lead-in to "gram" in social media: INSTA.

31. Ideological gap in Congress: AISLE.  And they don't seem to get along too well.

33. Bagel spread: SCHMEAR.



37. Nadal of tennis, familiarly: RAFA.



38. Actor Vigoda: ABE.  And President Lincoln.

39. Plucky member of an orchestra?: HARPIST.

40. Losing candidate: ALSO-RAN. Elections are coming this fall.

43. European peaks: ALPS.  Biggest and highest range in Europe.

44. Left in a big hurry: TORE OUT.  Many puzzles are TORE OUT and mailed to friends,

45. Perfect example: EPITOME.

46. Rep.'s opponent: DEM.  Elections are coming this fall.  oops I already said that.

48. Tampa Bay city, familiarly: ST PETE.  ERSBURG

49. __ with: take into consideration: RECKON.  I RECKON NOT!

53. Was out: SLEPT.  Gotta do this only on my right side for now.

56. Some HP products: PCS.

58. "In that neighborhood" phrase: OR SO.  Twins need ten relief pitchers OR SO.

59. Wintertime bug: FLU.

60. Do something: ACT.

61. Dove sound: COO.  Say it twice and it's a different bird.

63. Number on older business cards: FAX.

Boomer

38 comments:

unclefred said...

FIR in 12. Marvelous Monday CW heaven. Only DNK: UTNE. Also DNK SCHMEAR has a “C” in it, I thought it was spelled SHMEAR. Oy. The theme was evident with the very first theme fill, but did not need that knowledge for the rest of the CW. Thanx CC, for this nice, easy, fun start to the week. My favorite kind of CW! And thanx Boomer for the fun write-up. With all you’re going through, I don’t know how you manage to keep your sense of humor; good for you!

desper-otto said...

Good morning! (And happy Fourth of July!)

This was an easy romp. Had the circles, forgot to look at 'em. Forgot to read the full reveal clue. Forgot to look for the theme. But it was a good puzzle. Thanx, Catherine and Boomer. (Hope your left wing is back in service soon.)

OILED -- At the dealership you can get an oil change for $200 (with coupon). After the last "free" one on Wednesday, methinks I'll shop around.

"Cedar Rapids" -- I'll take a CSO at that one. Lived there for a good part of the '70s. It's called the City of Five Seasons. Number five is "time to relax."

Boomer said...

Holy Cow Desper-otto !! And I thought oil change at Valvoline for $90.00 was spendy. My good news is that hopefully, the huge sling I was given to protect my healing shoulder will be removed in 7 days. This does not mean I will be able to hit a nine iron or pitching wedge. However I may be able to fold a newspaper, type with two hands, or pick my nose with a left hand. Right now, we have a physical therapy person, (paid by the VA) come to our home weekly yo get me ready to be a normal human next week.

Jinx in Norfolk said...

FIR, and I didn't have to blow anything up. DNK KARA, the KAPPA klub, BALSAM FIR, This Is Us, ARABICA, or ADAM.

It seems wrong, but the balsa tree (where balsa wood comes from) is a hardwood.

The only Driver I know is Minnie, who sounds like a diminutive chauffeur.

I'll always think of ABE as Det. Fish.

Is a REFI a "mortgage adjustment"? Only if you are making a sail adjustment when you trade in your boat. A "mortgage adjustment" is what happens to folks who took out an adjustable-rate loan because of that sweet teaser rate.

This is 2022. How could anyone still be in the CLOSET?

Can't have the frequent visitor "AMA" on a Monday, so we just have ASK ME.

I'll be singing this song to Zoe-the-greyhound during the fireworks tonight.

Thanks to our "other" CC for another fine Monday romp, and to Boomer for the chuckles.

KS said...

FIR, and Happy Fourth. Spent too much time with Kara and Tonto. And I did not need circles to see the splitting of fire. Nuff said!

Jinx in Norfolk said...

DO - My 2013 Honda CRV came with oil changes and state inspections for as long as I own the car. They try to upsell me on unnecessary stuff, but I just say no. My 2001 RAV4 came with just complimentary state inspections; sometimes I take it there and sometimes I just have it done locally and pay the $20. I do the RAV4's oil changes myself. I change the transmission fluid myself too, even though it is supposed to be permanent. (There ain't no such thing as permanent transmission oil.)

ATLGranny said...

I'm on F I R E! Another FIR today on the 4th of July. Thanks, Catherine, for an appropriate puzzle with a theme referencing the holiday. And thanks, Boomer, for cheering us on. Getting your sling off in a week will be a big step toward normalcy.

Some WOs due to spelling issues and one word entered in the wrong spaces. Must pay attention! But overall a fun easy puzzle. GEMINIS was a surprise. I kept trying to think of various babies until perps made it obvious.

FLN: Thanks, Picard for the swing dancing video. Looks like a lot of fun!

Jinx, I like your lullaby for Zoe. The 4th is a busy noisy day. I just watched on TV the Peachtree Road Race being run by 45,000 runners in spite of the humidity. The limit is 60,000, but COVID has had an effect. Hope everyone has a fantastic holiday.

Yellowrocks said...

Fun, easy puzzle. Often the first thing that popped into my head was the answer. Didn't know Kara, Tonto, Adam, but they were easily deduced. We have seen UTNE here frequently. Living in the NY/NJ metropolitan area, we hear schmear a lot. About one third of my students were Jewish.
I had Nisssans for many years with excellent personal dealer service from the desk and from the same mechanic all those years. Dealer service on my present Toyota is so impersonal. "Run 'em through as quickly as you can." Now I use an excellent local service. Cheaper and no unnecessary upsells.
Balsa is used for model airplanes because the strength to weight ratio is so good.
I have been solving every day and even taking notes but not posting. From yesterday, I loved Girl with a Pearl earring and read it twice.
BTW, since so may dissed BEACHY, I have come across it at least six times. Beachy clothing, beachy vacation, beachy area. It seems natural to me.
Yesterday we had a picnic on our balcony here for the first time ever. Delightful weather. No grills allowed, but burgers made on the stove top were delicious. Our company always loves them.

Anthony Gael Moral said...

Thanks, Catherine, for the Independence Day remembrance; it sparkled.

Irish Miss said...

Good Morning:

This was a nice, easy start to the week and a timely theme for Independence Day. No unknowns, no w/os, and no nits. This would be a good introduction to a new solver, as are most Mondays.

Thanks, Catherine, for an easy, breezy offering and thanks, Boomer, for your humor and steadfast dedication, through thick and thin.

Have a safe and meaningful Fourth! 🇺🇸🗽

waseeley said...

Thank you CC2 for a fun Monday FIR(E). I suspect that the theme wasn't as easy to pull off as it might seem. And thank you Patti for POPPING this one up on everybody's BIRTHDAY.

And thank you Boomer for a fine review with your usually Monday morning levity. A great way to start the week and I always look forward to it, especially after the slings and arrows of the outrageous weekend.

A few favs:

23A DEGAS. "The Dance Class" is in New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art. This link has a brief audio clip describing what's going on in the painting.

34A MAUI. Started with OAHU, but quickly found myself ENISLED from the rest of the fill.

50A ELOPE. Clever clue.

40D ALSO RAN. One of them still thinks he's running!

48D ST PETE. The home of The Dali Museum, one of my favorites.

Cheers,
Bill

Husker Gary said...

Musings
-A fun FIRE CRACKER gimmick! - Our kitty has adjusted to all the noise but stays very near us.
-A lovely 1” rain last night should clean up some of the firework debris this morning
-Sing along: “From the land of sky-blue waters, from the land of pines, lofty BALSAMS, comes the beer refreshing, Hamm's, the beer refreshing.” Not Balsa.
-I’m told the synthetic OIL I use should last 5,000+ miles but I change every 3,000
-The need to SCRIMP when we were first married has carried over to frugality 55 years later
-GO FOR IT – If the green is 200 yds away with water in front, I hit a ball I have found not bought
-If I fail to take my Omeprazole, heartburn will KICK IN about 2pm
-I read about a guy on a horse behind Ford’s Theater in 1865 who TORE OUT
-Burgers in the cul-de-sac tonight with 100F heat. Might be a sparse crowd.

Monkey said...

Fun puzzle this morning. Many rears ago, before internet I subscribed to the Utne Reader. I’ll have to check it out online.

Congratulations AltGranny on your cracking all those puzzles successfully.

I’m one of those Gemini spring babies.

Have a great Fourth everyone.

CrossEyedDave said...

my favorite "fire-cracker..."

It was one of these 15 gifs, one of which might make you laugh.
It was bottle rocket in shower that cracked me up...

Re: free oil changes?
(Cautionary tale)
Bought a new car, dealer etched security numbers on windows without my permission, wanted $300-
After much "debate," I got the $300 theft removed.
Car came with lifetime free oil changes...
1st 5000 miles brought in car, changed oil! On way home check engine light goes on! I
Returned to dealer, waited an hour while they changed "defective" fuel pump.
No charge under warranty to me, but charge to warranty company = $300- coincidence?
I have never gone back there to get my "free oil change..."

If you watch the fireworks live tonite, be prepared!

Next, I am going to research where balsa wood comes from...

Vidwan827 said...


Thank You Catherine Cetta for a nice and easy Monday, which I enjoyed very much. The only words that I paused on was SCHMEAR and SCRIMPS ... I was thinking of Philly Cream chesse and Lox, and SKIMPS ....

Boomer, nice to hear from you, .... glad you're on the mend and the sling gets removed soon. Your feisty attitude regarding the Cleveland Indians, er, The Guardians is hilarious !! BTW, that is the first time I've ever seen their logo ( ... in your write up today.) and I actually live in and near Cleveland. I have a ton of the Indians and Cheif Wahoo or Wazoo merchandise from garage sales ... which I assume will be worth a bundle .... presumably, long after, I'm long dead and gone ...

Have a Happy Fourth of July everyone, and dont eat too much ....

Jinx, I loved your doggy folk style, "Imagine" song cartoon ... I also looked up the original lyrics and the song by John Lennon.




Ray - O - Sunshine said...

Kind of dyphikult for a Monday, maybe holiday puzzles are s'pose to be?..lots of blanks at the beginning. Unknown proper names. Felt more Thursdayish. But great theme and answer set up.

Inkovers: Oahu/MAUI, schmeer/SCHMEAR, ahh/aah/AHA (OOF!! 😬)

ELOPE, "I do" without the "ado" or all the "dough" 💰. "ERST upon time...." (yesteryear). TONTO national park? Kemosabe is jealous..😲...UTNE, huh?

ORSO,(Ital. "bear" male, "Orsa Maggiore").

Put a lot of holes in the lawn...GOFORIT
Temper....EIRE
What drives de car....DEGAS
Nagger....HARPIST
Tex-Mex product of spicy Elves...FIRECRACKER
What my Alpha PHI Delta Frat BRO did with many a centerfold...TOREOUT.

Boomer, thanks for yer review..haven't lost yer cents..scents...SENSE of you-more. 😃

D-O: Are they putting motor oil or gold in your car?

JINX: "still in the closet"?? . Many of my gay buds/colleagues (specially one married) see the SCOTUS handwriting on the wall. Considering leaving the country, moving north. A nervous 4th for many.

Stay safe with the FIRECRACKERS

🇺🇸

Jinx in Norfolk said...

Tante: "Many rears ago, before internet...". Well, aren't YOU the rouge, marking time that way. Just a regular Larry King!

Picard said...

I was impressed with this FIRE CRACKER construction. The letters were in order (not scrambled) and the CRACKER moved sequentially through the FIRE letters.

These cascading pools on MAUI's HANA HIGHWAY are my favorite.

Who else has been to these cascading pools on the HANA HIGHWAY?

From yesterday and today:
AnonT, Vidwan, PK, ATLGranny Thank you for the very kind words about our DANCE MOVES. I was a very slow learner and took lessons for many years in the 1990s before I would subject myself on anyone else.

But now I really enjoy it and it seems most of my followers enjoy it, too. DW is easily bored, so I need to keep improvising new MOVES!

Jayce Thank you for also trying to grasp how EASE OFF could lead to the E to A switch. Has anyone figured this out?

PK said...

Hi Y'all! I got all FIREd up about this puzzle, Catherine, thanks. My only act of celebration. Boomer, you perfect the art of "laughing to keep from crying". Bless you!

Last fill: "K" in KARA/KICKIN cross. I wanted sARA/sICKIN. DUH!

DNK: KARA, TONTO, RAFA. Last two perped in okay. Had to red-letter run KARA finally. Oh well.

Pinch pennies = SCRIMPS. I had to do this all my life until the last 20 years. Now I'm too tired to go out and spend it.

FIRECRACKER: Two nights already of constant barrage in my area from 9 p.m. until midnight. It gets so crazy here, my daughter & SIL took their two dogs and went to a pet friendly Airbnb cabin in the woods two hours from here. Their one little dog always has a nervous breakdown with all the booms and he is sICK with kidney failure this year so they didn't want to distress him further.

YR: glad to see your post. I was wondering what had become of you.



Chairman Moe said...

Puzzling thoughts:

FIR; the last square to fill was the 9-a/9-d "K". KICK IN and KARA didn't register at first

I'll take a CSO to TONTO National Forest/Park as it stretches for many miles in Arizona. I've hiked along parts of it. Closest "entrance" for me is just a few miles away from my house

I haven't been doing the past few days' puzzles but scanned through the comments. Not sure I understood CC's comment about keeping Spaghetti Sauce in the fridge for more than a week. What could possibly go wrong? Just curious and too lazy to google it ...

Happy Independence Day! I'll be viewing some FIRE CRACKERS later this evening

See y'all on Wednesday instead of Friday this week ...

waseeley said...

Picard @12:06 PM. If you strip the E's from either end of EASE, you get A's?

Monkey said...

Jinx: I was jinxed by poor typing. I meant YEARS. I’m no Larry King, whatever that might mean.😜

PK said...

Moe: I have known of two separate incidents when old salsa caused severe vomiting/diarrhea. Once was my son at home. One was on a bus trip. Only the people who had eaten salsa got sick. We'd all been afraid that if it was a virus it would sweep thru the bus & ruin the trip. Nope. One bad night for two women and it was over.

Jinx in Norfolk said...

Tante - I gotcha. (Larry King as married 9 times. I was going to say Hugh Hefner, but thought that was too easy, just like Hef.)

CC and C-Moe - If you put the red sauce in the fridge, and when you get it out the top looks like pesto, you probably shouldn't eat it.

Misty said...

Delightful Fourth of July crossword puzzle--many thanks, Catherine. And, Boomer, your commentaries, like C.C.s, are always a pleasure.

I've been trying to cut back on coffee by using twice as much milk in each cup. Problem is that it makes me fall asleep while working on the crossword puzzle--happened yesterday, and again, this morning.

But the FIRE-CRACKER theme was fun.

I was never a girl-SCOUT--came from Austria when I was 10 years old, but couldn't join while I was not a citizen.

Fun memory of Elsie the Cow and her BORDEN brand.

TONTO was another happy memory. Remember watching "The Lone Ranger" on a black and white TV and that made me a big Western fan!

Don't remember seeing SCHMEAR in a puzzle before, but I know what the word means.

Have a great day and beautiful silent fire-works tonight.

Wilbur Charles said...

I keep forgetting. I went to breakfast Sat morning and needed a newspaper. I found a Wednesday USA Today. Groan. But…
There the xword created by the one and only …
CC Burnikel. What a treat. Only drawback was it took only ten minutes and I still had the grilled, made from scratch biscuits to enjoy.

So I caught up on old news

Fln, started at but ran into snags. Restarted late, fell asleep and FIR this morning. So much ink, such a mess

And I goofed this morning. ?ARA could be anything and I left S without running through the alphabet. KICK IN, Duh

I prefer a SCHMEAR to a spread. Strawberry cream cheese preferably

Picard I'd like to see that dance with you in tux and tails. And..
My BRO's case was identical to yours. The other 80,% just don't get tested

I just hit a link and this was below it. In honor of Erato and her progeny, Owen I give you The Cowboy Poets Skip to #2, the lunatic genre

Fln, ENIGMA. The movie refers to cracking the code but not using it because they couldn't afford to tip off the Germans, lives were lost.
The Nazis had embedded spies at Pearl but for another reason Britain didn't
tip off America as radio traffic to Japan had to alert Churchill about the attack.

Mostly easy but sticky in a few places.

WC

CrossEyedDave said...

Picard,
I did the road to Hana on my Honeymoon.
Did not stop at the cascading pools because at the time i did not know they existed.
Also, it was like skiing the slalom in a car for hours only slowing down for the one way bridges.
(But I did get a T shirt...)


PK,
Home made Salsa has never lasted more than an hour at my house.
(The supermarket stuff has enough preservatives to be used in taxidermy...)

Oh, and Picard,
I want to see you do that dance with your wife while you are on a unicycle...
(Cmon, I know you can do it!)

Ray - O - Sunshine said...


We left the inlaws Chicago, Highland Park near suburb just in time yesterday. They told us all July 4th parades are now canceled today as we celebrate the second amendments right to shoot up a patriotic parade.

Thoughts and prayers, etc, etc, etc...

Ol' Man Keith said...

I wondered who calls their dad POPPE, because I did not know the correct spelling of the perp, SCHME(E)AR.

Otherwise, it was a smooth-as-butter Monday PZL from Ms. Cetta, monitored by Boomer.

Update: Terrible news today from Highland Park, IL. How to stop the madness?!
I guess it was bound to happen on this day so loaded with symbolism.
Our protective measures so far are too few and too weak. We must care enough to act.
~ OMK

Jayce said...

There is a lot to like about this puzzle and I liked it. Relied on a perp to reveal whether it was EIRE or ERIN. Had GOOD and proper before perps showed it was PRIM. Also PAPPA had to become POPPA. I smiled seeing SCIFI crossing REFI. UMA sure is a dignified-looking woman.

Here's wishing you all a good day.

Jinx in Norfolk said...

277 people have been shot to death this year in Chicago, through 6/30. 9 more just this weekend. No outrage from the Corner. Guess they don't count. You can bet that most were gang / drug thugs, but you can also bet that more than 6 were innocents.

I think the new federal law has a chance to make a difference. It provides increased funding for mental health and school safety, and includes incentives for states to implement "red flag" laws. Maybe we can finally deal with these largely young and disturbed ticking time bombs, as well as the idiots that declare "if I can't have her, no one can".

But don't disarm yourself. In the wake of the "defund the police" movement and cashless bail revolving door policies, police departments all around the country are experiencing serious manpower and morale problems. You need to be prepared to defend yourself and your property unless this damage can be undone.

Let's grieve and pray for all the victims this epidemic of violence has created.

Michael said...

Dear Jinx @ 6:26: I -- and I think most of us -- are outraged. But the reality is that there isn't much we can do about the state of affairs ... until we invent time machines to go back and fix events, thereby creating a different set of problems. As for Chicago, I was ordained there, but live in Oregon. 'Nuff said.

Ray - O - Sunshine said...

"Yet research clearly shows that more guns do not keep people safer — they do the opposite. Having a gun in the home increases the chance for accidental injury, homicide, and suicide, all of which have been shown to outweigh the potential protective benefits of firearms." Apr 7, 2020

inanehiker said...

@Jinx - I think most people posted before they got the news of the Highland Park shooting, the Corner is a very caring group- you're jumping to a lot of unwarranted conclusions. Obviously not in the morning paper - I heard about it when I looked at the news at 6 pm, so egregious

LEO III said...

Happy Independence Day, everyone --- or what is left of it! I finally took some time to actually finish a puzzle, mainly because I planted myself in front of the TV to watch some of the "Aerial America" shows on Smithsonian Channel today. I think I saw that they were running 50 hours of them over the weekend. In my humble opinion, it is one of the finest series of TV shows ever produced.

Anyway, I got a FIR on a puzzle that was not really difficult, but it required some Wite-Out. I think I had three different variations, before I finally saw BALSAMFIR.

Anyway, thanks Catherine and Boomer.

Hopefully, it will be a reasonably quite evening here in the 'hood tonight. We've been in this house since 2000, and the peeps in the cul-de-sac behind us seemed to be having a contest to see who could make the most noise the longest. Hasn't been too bad the last couple of years, so either they moved out, or their kids did, so there was no audience anymore.

CanadianEh! said...

Marvellous Monday. Thanks for the fun, Catherine and Boomer.
Very late to the party after entertaining friends we hadn’t seen since pre-Covid.
Did the CW after, and was glad to FIR in good time, even with a tired brain.
And the theme was easy to suss, and timely for my American friends (and only a few days late for Canadians).
Hope you all had great celebrations.

I had one big inkblot changing the Canadian Guides and their cookies to the American SCOUT. (We use Scouts for the boys.)
I thought about Oahu, but it wouldn’t perp. MAUI was the Hawaiian island needed.
Another inkblot where I TORE Off instead of OUT.

It took a minute to make sense of COOPS by adding the hyphen.
I noted a slight dupe with UPS and MASHUPS.
I loved the clue for ELOPE.
Even this Canadian knows that DEMs sit across the AISLE from Reps. No politics.
(And this Canadian has very different views on guns.)

So sorry to hear of the shootings in Chicago.
Good evening all.


Anonymous T said...

Happy Fourth

Explosive fun over breakfast, Catherine. Thanks for the grid.

Appetizing breakfast images [Milk, Coffee, bagel w/ SCHMEAR, pie ALA MODE for good measure], Boomer. Always great to read your Monday re-cap. Thanks.

WO: ARABIan
ESPs: KARA, TONTO (as clued),
Fav: GEMINI made me think of The Moody Blues.

TanteN - I too had a subscription to UTNE.

YR & LEOIII - Nice to see yous PIPE-IN today.

Jinx - when interest rates dropped in '12 we REFI'd from 30yr to a 15yr for house we are still in.
//BTW - we decided not to sell and just lease it. Too much equity and the remainder of the $$ owed is at ~3%.

We typically don't mention gun violence at The Corner because solutions/non-solutions have become very political. All (mass) shootings are tragic and are likely unintended consequences of "feel-good" (on both sides!) policies initiated a while back.
//C, Eh! - I bet you do have a different view!

CED - I found this re: BALSA and BALSAM:
Another tree to not confuse with the Balsam Fir is the Balsa tree. Famous for its extremely light wood, being abut twice as buoyant as cork, the Balsa tree is native to a small area in El Salvador. Technically the wood of Balsam Fir weighs about 25 pounds per cubic foot, compared to between six and seven pounds per cubic foot for Balsa wood. [cite]

Time to hit the showers. DW & I unpacked some stuff at the new house (my soldering desk is back in business!) and, after driving home, went for a bike ride before she bathed while I spent my time tidyin' garage in 103 Hindex... I stink ;-)

Cheers, -T

PK said...

Another heavy barrage night here. Still going on since dark. My neighbor's dog heard me in my house and started barking as he does sometimes when his owner is gone. I stuck my head out the window and started talking to him. He was complaining and trying to tell me something. A huge boom sounded fairly close by. He jumped straight up about a foot and fell over on his back on the slope like he'd been shot. He TORE OFF across the yard. Then he looked back at me like he thought I'd caused the boom or else he just wanted me to make it stop. Poor old guy.

Jinx: I learned about the Highland Park shootings from your post.