google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Saturday, August 6, 2022, C.C. Burnikel

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Aug 6, 2022

Saturday, August 6, 2022, C.C. Burnikel

Saturday Themeless by C.C. Burnikel 

My favorite honorary
Cornhusker.
Today our wonderful ringmistress steps forward with a lovely Saturday Themeless puzzle. Here are her comments:

This puzzle has quite a bit of clue changes. I'm rusty at making themeless, especially the cluing part. As for the fill, I remember coming up with the upper right stack quickly, then struggling with the connecting Downs to the lower stack.

                  


Across:

1. Includes, briefly: CCS - C'mon, starting a puzzle with your own initials is pretty cool!

4. Bell hooks work whose title comes from a line often attributed to Sojourner Truth: AIN'T I A WOMAN Info on this very interesting woman (including why she uses no capital letters with her name) and 
11. Sojourner Truth forte: ORATION.

 

15. Prune: LOP.

16. Pink flower with a yellow center: PRAIRIE ROSE - The N.D. state flower


17. "Oklahoma!" Tony winner Stroker: ALI - The first wheelchair user to win a Tony. In her speech she dedicated the award to all people who think a disability has to hold you back.

 

18. Mayonnaise-based condiment: TARTAR SAUCE.

19. Jedi on Dagobah: YODA - Oh yeah, there's another Star Wars character that had four letters and ends in an "A"

21. Taskbar lineup: ICONS - Here's the one we bloggers use for our postings


22. Walked: TROD.

23. Negligent: REMISS.

25. Aim: POINT.

27. "Born a __": Trevor Noah memoir: CRIME - The story of his childhood in the twilight of apartheid in South Africa


28. __ pool: STENO.

30. Elements of Byzantine architecture: DOMES - The epitome of this architecture is said to be the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul (Constantinople when it was built in the 6th century).


31. Last-minute participant: LATE ENTRY - The owner of this year's Kentucky Derby Rich Strike  found out 30 seconds before the deadline that his horse would be allowed to run. This filly won with 80-1 odds against her.

Notice Rich Strike is wearing #21
in the 20 horse race.

35. Journalist Tarbell: IDA - This muckraker got Standard Oil declared a monopoly that had to be broken up.

 
36. Award with a Journalistic Integrity category: PEABODY - Judy Woodruff was the 2021 winner

38. Quebec street: RUE - There is a McDonalds is at 760 RUE Bouvier, Québec, QC G2J 1A3, Canada

39. Equal-pay issue: GENDER GAP - Our pay scale was the same for all when I was teaching.

41. Whirlpool subsidiary: AMANA.

43. Strike force?: UNION.

44. Jellyfish's lack: BRAIN - Here ya go!


45. Medicare Advantage program: PART C


47. Hawk: PEDDLE.

48. Self-referential: META - META crossword clues refer to the clue itself such as recent 42. Head for Vegas?: LAS.

49. Best possible: IDEAL.


52. Forgets to charge the phone, say: ERRS.

54. "Okay, you got me": I DON'T DENY IT.

57. NPR host Shapiro: ARI All things considered and...

58. Mail with a North Pole return address: SANTA LETTER.

59. __-de-sac: CUL - 18th century Fr. for "bottom of the sack". Today: dead end street.

60. Multipurpose piece: SLEEPER SOFA - How 'bout sofa/bunk beds


61. Problem that often grows with fame: EGO.


Down:

1. Tandoor material: CLAY - CLAY ovens seen in India and Pakistan


2. System with shades of meaning: COLOR CODE - Here are some colors and the HTML CODE




3. Character who debuted in the 1962 comic book "Amazing Fantasy": SPIDERMAN.


4. Germane: APT.

5. Game challenge: I RAISE - Poker

6. Busters: NARCS.

7. Nickname of vodka-maker Beveridge: TITO - A shortening of founder Bertito Beveridge's name


8. Home country of Oscar-winning filmmaker Asghar Farhadi: IRAN His IMDB

9. Flight number: AIR SPEED.


10. Director Anderson: WES.


12. Grieve: MOURN.

13. Broad tie: ASCOT.

14. Sine qua non: NEED.

20. Brest friend: AMIE - Brest is a city in the far west of France


24. "That did me in": I'M SPENT.

26. Minor gridiron gain: ONE YARD - Seattle needed ONE YARD to win a Super Bowl but stupidly decided to pass and the ball was intercepted and the Super Bowl was lost.


28. Nick who's coached four Heisman winners at Alabama: SABAN - My Class of '64 classmate was the pilot for Nick SABAN'S recruiting plane for years


29. Sporty car roof: T-TOP.

30. Unkind remark: DIG.

31. Vacaciones destination: LAGO.

Lago de Sant Maurici 

(Lleida, Catalonia, Spain)

32. Rugged contest: TRAIL RACE - Not a road race!


33. Hallway accent: RUNNER RUG.


34. House call?: YEA.

37. "Spamalot" co-creator: ERIC IDLE - A member of the Monty Python comedy troupe


40. Vaudeville great: DURANTE - Vaudeville, radio, movies and TV


42. Cooked: MADE.

44. Faith: BELIEF.

45. Use the elliptical: PEDAL.


46. Make reparations: ATONE.

47. Check words: PAY TO.

48. Major in transgender activism: MISS - I had/have no idea but C.C. assured me that this was her clue/fill


50. Bucks in a forest: DEER.

51. Treebeard and friends: ENTS - Frequent visitors here

53. Isolated work group: SILO.
55. Touch a touchscreen: TAP.

56. Part of a chorus line?: TRA - Followed by la la...







 

60 comments:

OwenKL said...

FIRight! Varol has most certainly changed the difficulty quotient! Crunchy today, but Thursday hard, not Saturday.

Sojourner Truth has the theme today. Her famous speech is a favorite in oral interp contests.

The jelly fish, it has no BRAIN,
It wouldn't come in from the rain!
It has no spine,
No stand on CRIME,
Perfect for a Senate campaign!

This will be a META ode
To meta poems -- like this ode!
It's meta meta, sir,
Progressively it's messier
Think its EGO will explode?

{A, A-.}

PK said...

"That did me in" = I'm spent. Thanks, C.C. & Gary.

Thanks, red-letter runs.

Subgenius said...

Getting “Ari” instead of “Ira” was the last thing I had trouble with. On the whole, I found CC’s puzzle fair and doable (I would expect nothing less from her.) FIR, so I’m happy.

desper-otto said...

Good morning!

"Includes" wasn't HAS. Have I ever mentioned that I hate it when 1a isn't obvious? I hate it even more when I get it wrong. Wite-Out finally saved the day. Other stumbles were DOES/DEER and BONES/BRAIN. The odds were with me on IRAN. That B in SABAN could'a been a G, R, or T before PEABODY settled the matter. Thanx for the weekend workout, C.C. and for the elucidation, Husker.

DEER: We had four does and a half-dozen fawns gathered round our birdbath yesterday. In this hot weather we have to fill it a couple times a day for the critters. Deer, coons, and the neighborhood stray cats rely on us.

Big Easy said...

C.C. gave us a very doable Saturday offering with this puzzle. Unknowns that were solvable by guessing after a few perps such as AIN'T I A WOMAN, PRAIRIE ROSE, Born a CRIME, SPIDERMAN, and TRAIL RACE. I had to guess a lot to solve those, I DON'T DANY IT.

MISS-no idea about that fill either.
ALI and TITO were perps.
SLEEPER SOFA- usually not very comfortable.

Off for a bike ride before it rains.

Irish Miss said...

Good Morning:

We don’t get a CC Saturday offering very often, so this was a pleasant treat. Like Subgenius, I went astray at Ira/Ari, which I do every single time, and also at Efts/Ents, Payee/Pay To, and Spine/Brain. Unknowns were Ain’t I A Woman, Prairie Rose, and as clued,Ali, Crime, Tito, and Miss. I spent some time trying to think of a foreign word for Arm because I was reading Vacaciones as a foreign word for Vaccinations. I appreciated the relatively low three letter word count and some lively fill and clever cluing, my favorite being Strike Force?=Union. Being familiar with CC’s style, I think I could single out most of the many clue changes that CC mentioned.

Thanks, CC, for a Saturday challenge that had just the right balance of effort and reward. Thanks, HG, for your usual visual treats and commentary. You prove, once again, that a picture is worth a thousand words. I’m glad you solved my bewilderment with the clue for Miss, as that really had me scratching my head.

Last night’s birthday party was lots of fun with the usual chaos, cacophony, and camaraderie: 25 Adults, 4 Infants (Great-grandchildren), and 1 Dog. I was reminded that my BIL was celebrating his 96th, not 94th, birthday, all the more remarkable.

FLN

Tante Nique and Anon T, good luck with your moves. I’ve had my share over the years and know how daunting they can be.

A few days ago, CanadianEh mentioned that she has an old-fashioned first name. Jayce’s interest was piqued and he threw out some possibilities, none of which were correct. I, too, was interested as I consider my name to be old-fashioned as well. So, CEh, my guesses are Victoria, Penelope, Martha, Florence, Eleanor, Abigail, Iris, Amelia, Charlotte, Matilda.

Have a great day.

Anonymous said...

I closed the circuit (cc) on this one in 14:07.

I had the same unknowns as Ms. Irish Miss, meaning I struggled with the top-right section.

I don't think I've heard anyone say "runner rug"; rather, they just say, "runner."

Good Saturday puzzle. Nice job to C.C., and H.G.

Wilbur Charles said...

FLN, WHMS was great. And I'd seen it before but not the whole movie. Also, lots of late posts but I had to get right on the Saturday xword (I'd never solve it this morning I took a bogey on wordle)

Mr S insisted on B(PART) and I even know Eric Idle. But he topped it with PEwAL. I had WON'T DENY IT. I tried to check before coming here but I'm brain dead (c my strange attempt to solve wordle)

"chaos, cacophony, and camaraderie" Great alliteration IM(and… You left out Nora*)

I only noticed it was CC after the FIW. It was certainly FIR 'able. It started with the usual white but SABAN was LHF(for me and I even remembered Noah 's title(He was born of an illegal mixed marriage))

WC

* I had an aunt Nora and Agnes

TTP said...


Good morning. Thank you, C.C., and thank you, Husker Gary.

That north-central Minnesota area gave me a bit of difficulty. I had APT, AIRSPEED, WES, ASCOT AND NEED, and eventually "saw" the ending words of WOMAN, ROSE and SAUCE. I was leaning towards IRAN due to the name, and thought I remembered TITO from the commercials the guy does on TV even though I don't drink hard liquor. But the first part of those 3 long answers at the top did not want to fall. So I threw in TITO and IRAN and stared until I "saw" TARTAR, and that was enough to let me see I RAISE. NARCS was the last to fill.

Yesterday I mentioned SLEEPER SOFA in my comments about Jake's Hide-A-Bed crossword, and it shows up today as an answer. That's a neat hide-a-bunk-bed you found, Gary. I also liked the visual that showed AIR SPEED relative to ground speed with no wind assist, helping wind and hindering wind. The same applies to world class sprinters. We still would say ground speed though, even though they are off the ground more than they are on it.

I looked up H.R. 3884. It was the MORE Act of 2020. The formal name is the Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement Act of 2020.

Re: CanadianEh?'s old fashioned name. I'll play along and venture one. Gertrude.

desper-otto said...

Old fashioned names? My mother was Doris and my grandmothers were Clara and Paula.

Irish Miss said...

Wilbur @ 9:08 ~ Nora never entered my mind as I was focusing more on the British influence. My paternal grandmother was Nora and my sister Eileen’s given name is Noreen, but due to a contentious parental disagreement, she was never called Noreen. (The Irish are a stubborn lot, as you well may know.)

TTP @ 9:20 ~ Jayce mentioned Gertrude.

DO @ 9:40 ~ Great possibilities.

TTP said...


Irish Miss, thanks. I guess I missed that Jayce offered Gertrude. Does that mean I get another chance ? If so, I'll go with Lenora.

Is there a limit on this game ? :>)

desper-otto said...

Lorena, Olga, Esther, Maude.

Anthony Gael Moral said...

Not sure about RUNNERRUG. It's a runner in the real world. Even SLEEPERSOFA seems redundant.

TITO was a bit remote. MISS was a mistake.

I loved "Union" for STRIKEFORCE.

Monkey said...

Since I’m in a time crunch and my mind is on other things, I didn’t finish this one. I kept reading BEST FRIEND, til I came to my senses. CC always produces fun and fair puzzles. I’ll have to go back over this one.

Irish Miss: thank for the good wishes. I’m a little frazzled right now.

For CanadianEh, I vote for Élodie.

Have a good weekend, all.

Acesaroundagain said...

Loved this one, but I knew I would. Starting with your initials is super cool. "House call" had me thinking. "Flight number" was a good. Great Saturday fun. GC

Irish Miss said...

TTP @ 10:41 ~ No limit on guesses, make as many as you wish. I hope others chime in! CEh, see what fun you started? 🤣

TTP said...


My grandma was Esther. Two of her daughters were Mildred and Ethel.

How about Winifred ? Or Eunice, Ruth, Henrietta, Wilma, Mabel. I don't think any of those are popular now, and might be considered old fashioned.

PK said...

I've been looking at pictures today of my 16-yr-old grandson who is with other teenagers doing scientific research in Yellowstone National Park. They are camping out and doing animal counts, poop collections, identification of invasive plants, amphibian ID. Etc. Have seen bears, bison, prong horns and my grandson's favorite Wolves. Such an adventure in learning. Some outstanding nationally known scientists on hand to give instructions.

TokenCreek said...

My $.02 worth on Can,Eh. Amy or Beth...?

Anonymous said...

My maternal grandmother was Clementine. (Oh my darling, oh my darling, oh my darling Clementine,.....) DH's mother was Lorene. Cora? Bertha?

Misty said...

Woohoo! A C.C. puzzle this morning--Saturdays don't get any better than this. Thank you so much for this delightful experience, C.C., a great treat. And thank you for your great commentary, Gary, which is also always a pleasure.

Well, there sure wasn't much of a GENDER GAP in a puzzle that starts off with AIN'T I A WOMAN. And we did get a few women after this, like MISS, and IDA, and the STENO, who is probably a woman too.

But there were also lots of men, beginning with SPIDERMAN, and TITO, and ARI, and YODA, and, of course, SANTA.

We got a couple of jobs, too, NARCS and the folks who commit a CRIME, and STENO and the person who has to offer an ORATION, and all the folks in the UNION. Let's hope everyone gets the PAY TO checks they deserve.

Well, I DON'T DENY IT, I'm getting a little tired already and think I'll head to my SLEEPER SOFA for a morning nap.

Liked your fun poems, Owen, many thanks.

And have a great day, everybody.

waseeley said...

Thank you CC! I really liked this puzzle, but had to bounce around a bit until I landed on a FIR. My last fill was your name!

Thanks Husker for another stellar review. Actually I think this puzzle WAS themed - every entry was somehow connected to 1A!

A few favs:

4A AIN"T I A WOMEN. I'd heard this title before, but didn't know where it originated. Very interesting link on Gloria Watkins Gary.

38A RUE. A CSO to CanadianEh! that I'm sure she won't regret.

44A BRAIN. They don't seem to be a SINE QUA NON for some humans either.

10D WES. My favorite WES ANDERSON film is the dramedy The Grand Budapest Hotel.

48D MISS. DNK, but figured "Major" had to be her first name name.

40D DURANTE. Perhaps best know for this sign off. And just who WAS Mrs Calabash?

53D SILO. There are proven IT Service Management (ITSM) methodologies designed to break down these SILOS. They give organizations a competitive advantage, and companies that don't adopt ITSM will fail in the long run.

Cheers,
Bill

FLN to CMOE: As I was tied up by grandchildren yesterday (literally!) I didn't get to your puzzle until today. I think it was harder than C.C.'s outing today. I knew the last name of the Israeli PM was BENNETT, but DNK his first. Clever that you used a nickname and thus called for "BIBI" [instead of BENJAMIN] NETANYAHU. After I filled that, all the other missing pieces eventually fell into place. Still a DNF though.

Monkey said...

Wow! I got the wordle on the first try this morning. That’s never happened to me before.

I’ll take that as a good omen.

Wilbur Charles said...

Very strange

WC

Monkey said...

Wilbur Charles: you’re so clever.

unclefred said...

Lots of white for the longest time, then, slowly, it all came together for a FIR but took 40 minutes. I’m sure nobody is surprised at unclefred’s usual turtle-time. But at least I did FIR. W/O IRA:ARI, and in 54A CANT:DONT. SW was last to fill. I love that bunk-bed sleeper-sofa HG found! Spider-Man debuted in 1962? Seems like he’s been here longer. I loved Durante, aka “the shnoz”. Oh yeah, another big W/O TRIATHLON:TRAILRACE. That slowed down the SE for a while, along with IRA:ARI. Old fashioned names? My maternal grandmother was Augusta. She was an amazing person that could do anything, it seemed. She made her own pasta from scratch, and knitted, plus what ever you call making doilies. She sewed on a foot-treadle Singer, and could make anything with that machine. Anyway, thanx, C.C. for the terrific Saturday CW. And thanx HG for the wonderful write-up.

Lucina said...

Hola!

Fun puzzle from our Fearless Leader, C.C. today! Yea! I finished in good time for me on a Saturday. PRAIRIE ROSE is my favorite because I love ROSES. I grew some for a few years but my leaving for weeks at a time sealed their fate. I could not depend on anyone to water and care for them.

Every once in a while I watch Trevor Noah so Born a CRIME was easy. He mentions it every now and then when he talks about his childhood in South Africa.

CSO to our dear departed SANTA.

PEDDLE and PEDAL

I have great memories of LAGO Chappala in Mexico when we visited some friends in Guadalajara and they took us there for a Sunday afternoon brunch. It's serene and beautiful!

And speaking of friends (and family) yesterday's funeral was elegant and somber though no body was visible, only a container with ashes. The church, which is one of the biggest in Phoenix, St. Francis, was at least two thirds full. It attests to the popularity and fondness for my late BIL who was a local hair stylist for almost 50 years. He was a perfectionist and won many awards for his style. He cut my hair for that many years and I really miss his unique touch though these days I'm just happy to get it trimmed.

Afterward we went to my niece's home for dinner and comradery. So much so that I got home at 12:45 AM.

Again, thank you, C.C., for today's challenge. And thank you, Gary, for another incisive review.

Ta Ta for now, everyone! Have a wonderful day.


Lucina said...

Names:
My aunts were Lorraine, Angela, Elda, Sophia, and great-aunts Anna and Chona. My great-grandmother was Grizelda. Grandmothers Lucina and Aurora.

Will Canadian Eh reveal hers?

Irish Miss said...

Token Creek @ 12:00 ~ It was CEh’s mentioning of the names of Little Women’s March sisters, Amy, Beth, Jo and Meg, none of which is her name, that started this whole mystery.

One name I forgot to submit was Louise.

unclefred said...

BTW, my other grandmother, my dad’s mom, was named Martha, another old-fashioned sounding name. My paternal grandparents operated a farm in North Dakota. My dad grew up on that farm and would tell me stories of cutting blocks of ice from the Cannonball River and dragging them back to the farm with a team of horses. The ice would be put into a big hole in the ground lined with straw, and would serve as the “refrigerator” during the summer, because there was no electricity. Martha was also an amazing woman that could do many things. I would sometimes take the train from Milwaukee to Bismarck then ride with grandpa to the farm where I would help during harvest time. It was usually a wheat crop, although sometimes oats. The 1950’s. Forever ago.

Jayce said...

I liked this puzzle quite a bit. Like waseeley, my last fill was the CCS. Silly me, I had ERIK IDLE filled in, which gave me PART K, and I had to do a "Check grid" to find it. So I guess CCS was not my final fill; changing the K to a C was my final fill. Hand up for having to change SPINE to BRAIN and IM TIRED to IM SPENT. Thanks to CC for another professionally crafted puzzle and to Husker Gary for another enlightening commentary.

I used to work with a team of colleagues from Brittany (Bretagne), France. They weren't from Brest, though; they all lived in the city of Rennes.

Owen, I especially like your verses today.

Good wishes to you all.

Subgenius said...

My grandmother on my father’s side was named “Pearl,” that strikes me as an old-fashioned name. My grandmother on my mother’s side was named “Rose,” perhaps not quite so old-
fashioned, but still a possibility.

Anonymous said...

Runnerrug, sleeper sofa? Where does this woman shop for furniture??

Jinx in Norfolk said...

FIW, missing dITO vodka and COLOR mODE for the system of shades of meaning. Been busier than a port-a-potty at a chili cookoff. Got back from Zoe's morning walk to find DW freaking out because one of the under-cabinet light assemblies in the kitchen was strobing. Switched it off, which settled her down and still left enough counter light. Then I fed Zoe, started a load of laundry, and turned my attention to getting a Boston Butt on the slow cooker. Loaded up DW and Zoe and headed off to Home Depot for porch paint and under cabinet light. Got home and didn't like the light, because it was more of a workshop style without an on/off switch, so DW and I returned it at HD and got a more suitable unit at Lowe's. Pit stop (fuel only) at Costco, then back home to modify and install new light fixture. During stolen minutes I got to work on CC's masterpiece.

Erased lido for LAGO, and hand up for ira before ARI.

In telco talk, CCS is "100 call-seconds".

One aims a rifle, but POINTs a shotgun.

In his whimsical song Mental Floss, Jimmy Buffett wrote:
"I'd Like To Be A Jelly Fish
Cause Jelly Fish Don't Pay Rent
They Don't Walk, They Don't Talk
With Some Euro-Trash Accents

They're Just Simple Protoplasm
Clear As Cellophane
They Ride The Winds Of Fortune
Life Without A BRAIN"

Thanks to CC for the fun challenge, and to Gary for pointing out the fine points.

Ol' Man Keith said...

A wonderful gift of a PZL from C.C., expanded upon by Husker G!

Quite a prize today. A chewy toughie.
I was stymied for the first 15 minutes, but I could not dishonor the work of our leader by bailing.
I stuck it out, and much to my surprise it began to open up as I worked the bottom left corner. Then other sectors started to lean my way.

For the first time I found I was making headway, not by feeling out the sense of the clues but simply by filling in letters that standard spellings might require.
Y'know: to place an "S" where a word ought to end as a plural and a "D" when past tense was being hinted.
The next step was to fill in partial answers where words were starting to form: YARD because it showed "RD" and it was a football clue, and WOMAN because I knew the perp WES and the word ended in "N," then ENTRY because I had "NTR." Things like that.
Slow going, but real progress.

Finally, I had enough partial words that I could go for the sense. This is always the best part, the most fun.
And I LOVED skating home with C.C.'s fine XWD.
~ OMK
___________
DR:
As might be expected, today's XWD offers two well-balanced diagonals, i.e., one to each side.

On the near side, we have several options for anagrams. I choose a somewhat bizarre one (12 of 15 letters) because it happens to sum up the observable aesthetics of today's PZL. We are all familiar with the expression "Kit and Caboodle." It comes from the 18th century British soldier's field gear, in which the kit stood for his outfit and Kaboodle (old spelling) was his knapsack. The latter word came to mean "everything--the works!"
With that understanding, today's offering from C.C. is not just any old kit, but truly a...

"BEAU CABOODLE"!

OK, enough for the near side. The far side gives us the real prize--a true JACKPOT!!
Yes, friends, we have a winner, a real rarity--15 of 15 letters. This one sums up what we get when a XWD uses words both plain and fancy, even including references to such well-spoken folk (specializing in our common idiom) as Jimmy DURANTE and Sojourner Truth!
Today's winning anagram is (drum roll, ratta-a-tat-a)...

"OSTENTATIOUS GAB"!

Sandyanon said...

I rarely chime in, but have to say that my maternal grandmther's name was Ivanyetta Hildegarde! Unique rather than old-fashioned, perhaps.

Ol' Man Keith said...

Those with a quick eye can easily spot that today's second anagram (see above) can be jiggled a bit to turn it into a comment on the first anagram.

The first refers to the beauty of the verbal luggage of today's crossword, using as a metaphor a soldier's backpack or duffle. The second speaks directly to the same "GAB."
But by reversing the letters, we can see it as the same poetic BAG.

Duh. Ain't language grand?
~ OMK

Anonymous said...

SANTA LETTERs are letters sent to Santa, and hence have a return address of the sender, wherever he or she may live. They don't have a RETURN ADDRESS of the North Pole. They're sent TO the North Pole.

waseeley said...

unclefred @1:36 PM Sounds like your grandmother liked to TAT. Whatever you do don't tell Patti about this or we'll start seeing stuff like: "It's not what you TH'INK": TAT

Names: I had two grandmothers named BERTHA. Also an aunt EVELYN and an Aunt LOUISE ("Auntie Louie") on my Mother's side (she had 9 siblings so I may have missed one or two), and Aunt HELEN on my Father's side.

Sandyanon @ 3:31 PM Hildegarde is one of my favorite composers (and saints). She was a mystic and literally a renaissance woman. Here's her O Virtus Sapientiae ("O Power of Wisdom") 2:10 min.

waseeley said...

Anonymous @5:10 PM. I think these refer to letters FROM Santa TO naughty children, informing that all they're getting for Christmas is COAL in their stockings.

Yellowrocks said...

Lost my blog again! I think that after I edit it, I forget to tap PUBLISH. The second time this week.
Very clever clues, but the top half was loaded with names and killed my motivation. I looked up several and FIR with help. Not that satisfied today.
Are we getting more proper nouns than we used to?

Sandyanon said...

Waseeley, I did know a little about Hildegarde and her beautiful talent.

Never heard of anyone else named Ivanyetta, though.

TTP said...

Lucina, I think C.Eh might be playfully coy about it. She might only give us a "bingo" at some point, saying that, "Someone guessed right today"... without revealing anymore :>) This game might go on forever !


Unclefred, does needlepoint sound correct ?

Yellowrocks, do you mean you lost your comments ? Glad the blog wasn't lost. :>)
You may not have seen my question yesterday, but I thought you would have been one person that was familiar with the PA Dutch and Amish tradition of using bundling boards to give young courting couples the chance to get to know one another.

Java Mama said...

Hi everyone! My entries in the Old Fashioned Names Guessing Game belong to my two grandmothers, Alma (mother's side) and Pauline (father's side).

Have a wonderful day, all!

waseeley said...

Sandyanon @ 5:38 PM IVANYETTA sounds Russian or Slavic perhaps. I've not heard of that one. I've got one more to add: GERTRUDE. One of the saints I've known personally was nicknamed "Trudy" after this saint (in the Church of the Brethren no less). She was the mother of a dear friend. Saint Gertrude was a Benedictine nun from the 13th Century and the only woman that Catholicism has seen fit to add "the Great" to her name. She was also the author of one of my favorite prayers, which I won't share here as it's "overly liturgical".

A final note: many of the woman's names mentioned above fell out of favor after WWII because they were Germanic in origin.

Sandyanon said...

Waseeley, my guess, though I can find nothing in family history to bear it out, is that she was named after an Ivan. And she named her oldest son Ivan, so that seems at least possible. Lots of family history is hard to track down, don't you think?

Anonymous said...

Aunt named Evangeline.

waseeley said...

Sandyanon @6:52 pm Unless you have a genealogy maven for a sister. She has traced my English Mother' side to the late 18th Century and my Father's side back to the mid-19th. Her only problem is that she refuses to ship (e.g. the family tree as currently pruned). Instead she metes it out in dribs and drabs via emails. It would be nice to see the big picture.

Vidwan827 said...


Thank You CC for a very challenging puzzle, that was a slog, for a novice, (like me.)
I finally completed it with some help. some of the clues were very cute and interesting, and I tried them on my younger daughter and SIL.

But, some of them were very complex. like the Trans activist Miss Major. (Whaaa. )
The solving took a lot of time, and the fact that I am travelling North, parallel to the island of Manhattan,..... with a plethora of absolutely rash drivers ...... amidst a huge bunch of traffic jams. .... didn't help.

Thank you Husker Gary for a fine review blog, with all the explanations.

Well, onto Sunday.
Have a good weekend, you all folks,


Lucina said...

St Catherine the Great.

CanadianEh! said...

Super Saturday. Thanks for the fun, C.C., and HuskerG.
I’m late to the party after a busy day, but I solved this puzzle with a tired brain, and I will end the day and the CW with EGO. (Yikes, that’s a run-on sentence.!)

At first I was intimidated by all the names; plus, this Canadian needs to be educated about Sojourner Truth (and MISS Major).
But I persevered with WAG s and perps and FIRed. I even got the C in your American health care answer.

Learning moment about jellyfish; I wanted Spine. It’s Tin Man who said, “if only I had a BRAIN.”
I wavered between aDA and IDA, iRA and ARA, but finally got the vowels correct.

Children in Canada can send a letter to Santa at H0H 0H0 (letter, number sequence like our postal code); they will receive a SANTA LETTER back facilitated by our caring postal workers.

I really wanted 56D “part of a chorus line” to be LEG. TRA was anticlimactic.

Wishing you all a good evening. I’ll read you all later.


CanadianEh! said...

Oh my! I see that I have been the object of a guessing game today.
All I can say is “none of the above”.
But you have sure come up wit( some old-fashioned names!

Michael said...

It depends on what CEh! means by "old -fashioned," which could even be mid-Byzantine, with saints' names like Anastasia, Euphrosyne, Nonna, Eudoxia, Julitta, ... and many more.

CanadianEh! said...

That should be “with”.
What beautiful names and wonderful memories you have all contributed today.

CanadianEh! said...

Michael- believe me, I am no saint!

Anonymous T said...

Hi All!

Long day and less than 1/3 unpacked...

Thanks C.C. for the puzzle to play this morning. Thanks HG for the expo - I guess C.C. is one of the exceptions we can interview ;-)

WOs: ORATory, LEIA, DeRANTE - not knowing 31d nor 28d, I was nearly sunk there. AINT I A WOMAN - thanks for parsing that, HG
ESPs: RUE, MISS as clued, LAGO, SABAN
Fav: ERIC IDLE
RUNNER-up: PEDDLE and PEDAL

ARI Shapiro often sings with the band Pink Martini [3:30]

Trevor Noah's standup [8:17] is brilliant.

{A, B+}

@8:21 - ditto just 'RUNNER'

Lucina - that is wonderful that show up to show respect & love for your BIL.

The name game was fun. MIL's is Ora - she hates it so much she goes by Shelly.

Enjoy'd reading y'all. After moving today, I'M SPENT and ready for a little TV and bed. Unfortunately, we can't find the box with the remote controls in in.
//TanteNique - don't let them pack your remotes! :-)

Cheers, -T

Yellowrocks said...

Thanks For thinking of me,TTP. The Amish have the bundling board, not us. The Pa. Dutch, with buggies, old fashioned clothing and quaint customs are the Plain Dutch, the Amish. There are other Plain groups, but I do not know whether they have bundling boards. We are the Fancy Dutch, mostly Lutheran and German Reformed,and almost all have adopted modern ways. In a few more generations I suspect the Fancy Dutch will become totally assimilated and diluted by intermarriage. At the annual Kutztown Pa Dutch folk festival many know only English and follow very few of the customs..

TTP said...


Yellowrocks, thanks.

Also, in re your 5:27 remarks that your comments to the blog were lost 2 days in a row...

Your Friday comment was in the Spam filter so I approved it, but there was nothing in there for Saturday.

Parsan said...

A fun puzzle and very interesting explanations! Bravo C.C. and HG!
Grandfather named his boys after British notables (Nelson, Chilton, etc.) but Grandmother, oh my, named her girls with double names that included Wilsie, Beryl, Ruby, Addie, Gertrude, Hattie, Maxine, Pearl, and Pauline!