google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Tuesday, November 1, 2022 Zachary David Levy

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Nov 1, 2022

Tuesday, November 1, 2022 Zachary David Levy

Art Class:  The last word of each theme answer is something that an artist might create.

17-Across. Ron Howard film featuring firefighters: BACK DRAFT.  Ron Howard visited us just last Thursday.

25-Across. Crossbreed with curly hair: GOLDEN DOODLE.

47-Across. "Saturday Night Live" segment, e.g.: COMEDY SKETCH.


60-Across. Toon McGraw in a Stetson hat and a matching holster: QUICK DRAW.


White Rabbit on the first day of this new month!

Across:

1. "You wish!": AS IF.  //  And 22-Across. "__ seen enough": I'VE.  //  29-Across. "None for me, thanks": I PASS.

5. Move slowly (through): WADE.

9. Words before ears and thumbs: I'M ALL.

14. Software test version: BETA.

15. Laudatory poems: ODES.

16. "Rocky" actress Shire: TALIA.  Talia Shire (née Talia Rose Coppola; b. Apr. 25, 1946) is the younger sister of  movie director Francis Ford Coppola (b. Apr. 7, 1939).  [Name #1.]


19. Fodder for a mill: GRIST.

20. Belief in nonbelief, so to speak: ATHEISM.

21. Small bite: NIBBLE.

23. More knotted, as a tree trunk: GNARLIER.

30. Jacobson of "A League of Their Own": ABBI.  Abbi Jacobson (b. Feb. 1, 1984) was in the 2022  remake of A League of Their Own, not the original 1992 film with Tom Hanks and Geena Davis.  There's no crying in baseball.  [Name # 2.]


31. "No more procrastinating!": DO IT!  Nike's slogan.

35. Candy heart word: LUV.


36. Faucet: TAP.

38. __ bran: OAT.

40. Full-contact fighting sport, for short: MMA.  As in Mixed Martial Arts.

41. Future atty.'s exam: LSAT.  As in the Law School Admissions Test.

43. Apple device introduced in 2010: iPAD.  //  And 33-Down. Apple computer that debuted 12 years before the 43-Across: iMAC.

45. Hipbone-related: ILIAC.


50. Register operators: CASHIERS.

53. Sch. group: PTA.  As in Parent Teacher Association.




54. Gasoline rating: OCTANE.  Everything you wanted to know about Octane ratings, but didn't know to ask.

55. Personal identifiers: BIO DATA.

59. Broccoli part: STALK.

62. Book name: TITLE.  Read each book in order.



63. Lobby for: URGE.  Change the first vowel and you get 64-Across. Fairy-tale beast: OGRE.

65. Golf legend Sam: SNEAD.  I learned about Sam Sneed (né Samuel Jackson Sneed; May 27, 1912 ~ May 23, 2002) from doing the crossword puzzles.  [Name #3.]


66. Poet Sharon: OLDS.  I am not familiar with the works of Sharon Olds (née Sharon Stuart Cobb; b. Nov. 12, 1942).  [Name # 4.]


67. "Here __ nothing": GOES.

Down:
1. Swedish pop group: ABBA.  The first letters of each of the band members forms the name of the band:  Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson, and Anni-Frid Lyngstad.  [Name # 5.]


2. Legislative position: SEAT.

3. Rash symptom: ITCH.

4. Some forged documents: FAKE IDS.


5. Deteriorate: WORSEN.

6. Patriarch from Eden: ADAM.  The name Adam (אדם) is the Hebrew word for man.  It is pun on the   Hebrew word adamah (אדמה) which means "earth" or  "soil", since Adam was said to be formed from the dust of the earth.  [Name # 6.]


7. Rapper Mos __: DEF.  Mos Def (né Dante Terrell Smith; b. Dec. 11, 1973) makes occasional guest appearances in the puzzles.  [Name # 7.]


8. Ballpark fig.: EST.  As in Estimate.

9. Dated term for a celebrity socialite: IT GIRL.  Silent screen starr, Clara Bow (née Clara Gordon Bow; July 29, 1905 ~ Sept. 27, 1965), was the original It Girl.


10. Multicolored, as some rye: MARBLED.  As in Rye Bread, not the alcohol.


11. "I was somewhere else" statement: ALIBI.

12. Hosiery thread: LISLE.  Not a Tuesday word.

13. Not now: LATER.

18. Let go (of), as assets: DIVEST.

21. Olympic gymnast Comaneci: NADIA.  Nadia Elena Comăneci (b. Nov. 12, 1961) was the first gymnast to be awarded a perfect score of 10 at the Olympics Games.  She competed in the 1976 and 1980 Olympics.  In 1996, she married fellow gymnast Bart Connor (b. Mar. 28, 1958).  [Name # 8.]


23. Lump: GOB.

24. "I'm __! Who are you?": Dickinson poem: NOBODY.  A poem by Emily Dickinson (née Emily Elizabeth Dickinson; Dec. 10, 1830 ~ May 15, 1886) [Name # 9.]

25. Fish organ: GILL.

26. "Bloom County" penguin: OPUS.  [Name # 10.]


27. Volcanic flow: LAVA.

28. Smartly dressed: DAPPER.


32. Leave out: OMIT.

34. Dashboard RPM dial: TACH.


37. "Save Me" singer Mann: AIMEE.  Aimee Mann (née Aimee Elizabeth Mann; b. Sept. 8, 1960) was in the 1980s band 'Til Tuesday before she began her solo career.  [Name # 11.]


39. Video-sharing app: TIKTOK.


42. "Black Panther" hero: T'CHALLA.  A character from Marvel Comics.  [Name # 12.]


44. Commercials: ADS.

46. Iditarod front-runner: LEAD DOG.  The Iditarod origin story.
48. Sounded like a pig: OINKED.


49. Kitchen rack array: SPICES.
50. Sells for: COSTS.

51. Be part of, as a play: ACT IN.

52. Kansas or Arkansas: STATE.



55. Texas city nickname: BIG D.


56. Mythical ship sailed by Jason: ARGO.  Hi, Lemonade.  I hope you are getting better.  [Name adjacent.]

57. Button on a deli scale: TARE.  What is the difference between Zeroing out and Tare?


58. Bowls over: AWES.  Hi, Boomer!  You're AWEsome!


60. Quid pro __: QUO.

61. Clickable link: URL.

Here's the Grid:

חתולה




45 comments:

desper-otto said...

Good morning!

New day, new month, but TARE is still tarrying. Didn't slow things down, though. Nice one Zachary and Hahtoolah. (Loved the Wizard of Oz cartoon.)

IMAC: Had a bad experience with one. One day it was a computer, the next it was a boat anchor.

GOB: Thought of GLOB first. Why are sailors called GOBs? Dunno.

LEAD DOG: There's a fellow in the 'hood that "walks" his dogs from his wheel chair.

Jinx in Norfolk said...

FIR with no erasure. As usual, I found the Tuesday puzzle to be easier than Monday's offering. I even knew a show biz name (QUICKDRAW McGraw)! But I didn't even know that they had done a remake of A League of Their Own.

A NIBBLE is also a small byte. A traditional byte consists of 8 bits; a NIBBLE consists of 4 bits.

CSO to OMK @ ACT IN.

A guy I worked with in BIG D had a print of The Creation of ADAM on his cubicle wall. The caption was "Pull My Finger". (Actually, we worked in Las Colinas, next door to the TPC course where I ran into Byron Nelson a couple of times, and had to wait for Tom Kite to finish shooting an instructional video on fairway bunkers before our group could continue our round.)

FLN - WC, the Murphy and adjacent Shell in Silver Springs both have gas prices about the same as Ocala's Sam's. Unfortunately, the nearest Costco is in Orlando (I think). Around here (Norfolk), prices don't change at different stations simultaneously. The station with the best price changes almost daily. I've noticed that there is less variance in gas prices in Florida than there is here. (Of course gas prices aren't set by what the station paid for the stuff in the storage tanks. If it was, stations would be stuck with gas they couldn't sell when prices drop.)

Thanks to Zachary for the fun romp, and to Ha2la for another visual treat.

Subgenius said...

I don’t have too much to say about this puzzle. I’m fortunate in that I’m familiar with both T’challa and Quick Draw McGraw. So the puzzle wasn’t too hard for me. FIR, so I’m happy.

Hahtoolah said...

Good Morning, Crossword friends.

I agree with you, D-O on TARE. I'd say that TARE is the word of the month, except we are in a new month. Sorry you had a bad iMac experience. That's all we have ever used at home.

QOD: Money can buy you a fine dog, but only love can make him wag his tail. ~ Kinky Friedman (né Richard Samset Friedman; b. Nov. 1, 1944), American writer and humorist

Anonymous said...

Took me 4:30 today to paint the picture.

I didn't know Abbi (or, like Jinx, they remade a "League of their Own"), Opus, or the Olds. Only knew Aimee from prior crosswords. Vaguely recalled "T'Challa."

Funny review, thank you Hahtoolah.

ATLGranny said...

Another learning day with a FIW (three in a row!) I had two spelling issues with proper names but guessed right on them and missed another: Sneed/SNEAD crossing TCHALLA. I need to learn more about characters in Marvel Comics! Otherwise the puzzle eased along with only a WO at GOLDEN pOODLE. Thanks Zachary for a LUVly puzzle.

Thanks Hahtoolah for your review plus extras! My favorite was the bookcase titles. I see you had trouble with SNEAD vs SNEeD too. The theme was clear enough but I rushed to read your review without thinking about it. Now I understand D-Otto's frequent remarks about not seeing the themes.

White Rabbit! Hope you all have a sunny start to November!







KS said...

FIW, never heard of Sharon Olds, and mistakenly put big A at 55D.

Ray - O - Sunshine said...

3rd time the charm?

Fun Tuesday..fairly easy, didn't know AIMEE Mann, Mos DEF, OLDS, (it's Tuesday,.shoulda been a car clue), ABBI (but of course I did know ABBA). Didnt remember TCHALLAH though I saw the movie...(isn't that a bread for a Jewish Holy Day?)...That "multicolored" rye tastes marbelous.

Inkover: plod/WADE.

Almost put grain for GRIST but didn't perpwork. ITGIRL: more of a bombshell ("a glamorous, vivacious, or sexually attractive actress, model, etc."...Lana Turner, Marilyn Monroe) rather than a "socialite" (Paris Hilton, Jackie O) any hoo why did PTA become PTO for a while?... SNEAD useta be SNEED?

(Ar-kan-sáw, so why not Kan-sáw? 😃)

But I DIVEST...

ATHEISM .Definition of an agnostic..." an atheist over 60"

I knew IMAC was introduced very early but perpwaited for ADS for IPAD not Ipod.

Jinx @6:22 so a NIBBLE is 50 cents? (4 bits) 😀

🇨🇱 "BIG D, A, double L, AS" 🏇

When I get a round "tuit", I'll DOIT! 😠

🏧 ! ..🏧!...Hilarious H2LH!!

Computer room lass....ITGIRL
Scuba gear...DIVEST
Put on a scale...WADE
What a ghost has...NOBODY

Time to NIBBLE on some leftover Halloween chocolates 😋.

🍫

CanadianEh! said...

Terrific Tuesday. Thanks for the fun, Zachary and Hahtoolah. (I’ve seen that bookcase before, but still love the creativity.)
I FIRed in good time, but forgot to look for the artistic theme. I need a reveal to remind me.

Several inkblots to change Poodle to DOODLE, grain to GRIST.
TCHALLA was unknown, but I was more confident of the A in SNEAD.
I thought of Preppy for 28D, but those Ps weren’t in the right place. DAPPER is a great word!

It can’t be All Bran when we already have IM ALL. OK, OAT bran.
This Canadian was not sure if that Texas city was BIG H, A or D. I WAGged the D (plus OLDS seemed better than Olas or Olhs).

Wishing you all a great day.
GNARLIER is just GNARLY,

CanadianEh! said...

Ray-o- you often post while I am composing, and I don’t come back to comment again. I do enjoy your humour!

Wilbur Charles said...

I notice "On the Beach" by Neville Shute on the book rack. Matriculating in the 60s, Vietnam was similar to the radioactive doom cloud. So…
Party, party, party apres ca le deluge

When I saw Sneed on the link I thought you were referring to Sam's nephew JC. If only Sam could have putted better…*

T'SHALLA was 7 perps. Lots of names but I knew most of them(TALIA,NADIA…)

This was perfect for a Tuesday: plenty of LHF for the newb and challenging for the likes of me. My Citrus County Chronicle has a great Sports page and good comics but the two xwords are just too easy. There's a Thomas Joseph xword in the tbtimes inset which I'll try to do ink free but it's just challenging enough to get me filling it.

Having said that, Patti is to be commended for putting some spice into the early week while avoiding Naticks

KS you were thinking of the Big A clue(ANGELS) from Saturday

Jinx gas prices usually pop 20-25cents at EVERY** Station and then start dropping a few pennies every other day. The Port of Tampa futures price seems to coincide with the jobs report number with 250k as par. The pattern of 2010-2016 seems to be back except a $1.00 higher

Solving online I D-Otto'ed the theme

WC

* He never won the big one (US Open) missing some makeable putts
**I mean WaWa, Racetrack Circle-K etc

Irish Miss said...

Good Morning:

This was an easy Tuesday romp with a theme that was evident early on. I didn’t know Abbi or T’Challa but other than those two entries, everything else fell into place easily. I believe we’ve had Sharon Olds a couple of times recently, so I remembered her name. Golden doodles sound warm and fuzzy but my niece has one who is neurotic and rambunctious, so much so that he once managed to open the refrigerator door and devour a pound of butter. Shortly thereafter, he knocked an entire case of wine off the kitchen counter.

Thanks, Zachary, for an enjoyable start to a new month and thanks, Hahtoolah, for a cheerful start to my day with the peppy sounds of ABBA, and the rib tickling Skeleton Dance, topped off by the chuckle-inducing peripatetic “oinkers”, the Bookcase “Story”, and the “Auntie Em” discovery! Great stuff! Thanks for your tireless efforts to entertain as well as enlighten.

FLN

Picard, I took piano lessons but I don’t remember having any difficulty with the finger, which was probably due to the placement on the keys not requiring the same dexterity of other tasks. In no way did my altered finger contribute to my lackluster piano playing, that can be attributed to a youthful lack of interest and discipline.

Have a great day.

Lucina said...

Hola!

Welcome November! It brought cooler temps, too. It's 59 right now.

Thank you, Zachary David Levy and Hahtoolah for today's entertainment and a good start to this month.

LISLE brings back memories of when I received my shopping list before going to the convent. I had never heard of LISLE stockings but soon learned.

When I saw TCHALLA I was sure it was wrong. Learning moment for me.

Time for me to return to bed. Have a great day, everyone!



Ray - O - Sunshine said...


Canada eh @ 9:25

I'm honoured

😌

CrossEyedDave said...

Tuesday?

I thought i would have a nit with "Tchalla,"
But it turns out I have a bigger nit with "QuickDraw."

It was, is, and always will be, "Queeksdraw!"
(Just ask BabaLooey...)

(Or maybe sometimes, "El Kabong...)

Big Easy said...

Good morning all. A quick trip around the grid that was in my PICAYUNE (not OPUS' Bloom Country Picayune) newspaper before I go to the grandkids house and walk their 2nd GOLDEN DOODLE.

ABBA & ABBI to go along with other proper names today.
I've heard pigs grunt but never go OINK
COMEDY SKETCH- SNL quit being funny years ago.
"QUEEKS"DRAW and Baba Looey, his sidekick- remember them from my younger days.

Monkey said...

Smooth sailing this morning. No erasures, good guesses. What’s not to like. Good start to a new month. Only two left in the year.

TTP said...

Good morning. Thank you, Zachary, and thank you, Hahtoolah.

“Except for my kid being born, this is the greatest night in the history of my life. I just wanna say one thing to my wife who's home. Yo Adrian, I did it!" (Sylvester as Rocky, TALIA as Adrian). Now that movie had some great acting and dialogue.

AS IF it mattered, I somehow ended up with AS aF.

The Jackson Pollock - Police Sketch Artist cartoon was funny. Fun puzzle, fun review.

I was never very good at drawing things. I hard a hard time sketching stick figures, and it took a long time and a lot of practice to be able make the "Kilroy was here" doodle. I was so bad that in kindergarten, I think I was the only one that didn't get a star for my artwork Thanksgiving turkey. You know, the one where you trace around the splayed fingers of your hand.

In 1994, Mark Chestnutt had a different meaning for BIG D in this hit song with catchy lyrics.
Goin' Through The Big D - Mark Chestnutt Never heard that Jo Stafford song before this morning.

Wilbur Charles and Jinx, if you aren't already familiar, just go to Gasbuddy to find the current prices anywhere. Orlando is about $1.00 / gal cheaper than my area of the Chicago burbs. I wanted to compare to prices IN Chicago, but for some reason the search for Gasbuddy Chicago is erroneously returning results for gas prices in Kenosha, WI. Chicago / Cook County gas is 50 to 75 cents more than out here in the burbs.

Wilbur Charles, now there you go, throwing shade on Sam SNEAD, one of the all time greatest golfers ever. No golfer has won more PGA Tour events (82) than that self taught player (with hand carved clubs) from Virginia. He also won 7 majors in his career, but missed playing in 14 majors because of WWII. BTW, he should have won when he competed in his first US Open where he finished as first runner up. The guy that was declared winner should have been DQ'ed for having 19 golf clubs in his bag. He won 142 professional events total, so obviously he knew how to putt.

CrossEyedDave said...

Well,
Right now, I'm in Florida. So I can't talk about the price of gas here without it getting political.

So,
We covered (marvel?) comics figure...

Hanna-Barbera figures...

Ah, I know, Kids Puppet shows!
I have always wanted to find and watch (to relive my "yoot,") a Thunderbirds episode I have never seen yet. And today, because of the contents of the crossword, "I found one!"

Here, without any fear of copyright infringement, or plagerism, is a (brand new?) unseen episode of Thunderbirds.!!!
(This one's for you Big Easy...)

Be sure to watch till the end for links to other treasures, like, "Stungray," and Firebrand XL4-1/2...

Irish Miss said...

Mea Culpa to Golden Doodles everywhere. It just dawned on me that my niece’s hellion is a Labradoodle! She also has a Bernese Mountain Dog and a Yellow Lab. Meal time must be a free-for-all! 🤭

TTP said...



Halloween is over. There were some really creative costumes and so many of the little ones were so precious. It seemed that more parents than usual donned costumes. It was a rather low turnout this year and we have way too much candy leftover. Towards the last hour or more, I sat by the garage door on the side of the house and gave out handfuls, and then told the little ones to go ring the doorbell around the corner on the front of the house to get some more. I think we only got about 40 or 45 children.

My neighbors dressed up. He was a Captain America or something, and she was a Care Bear. They went down the street with their young girls and one of the daughter's friends. They left a bowl of candy on their front stoop, with a cardboard sign to "Please take only two." He had told me that was his plan. Early only, before many were out, two boys about 10 years old headed for their house after leaving ours. I saw them helping themselves to more than two. More like two handfuls each as they grabbed into the bowl a few times apiece... What we didn't get this year were the teenage boys without costumes. But come to think about it, I think our subdivision is in transition. I don't recall seeing as many teenage boys around this year.

Wilbur Charles said...

I just saw the clip of "League" and ROTFL. I've got to see that Remake

Thanks IM for the hint to read those TITLES in order. Clever
I thought hahtoolah was saying read book 1 then book 2… BTW, another sterling write-up. I said, "It's Tuesday, can't wait to read hahtoolah "

Ballpark fig.: I thought of RBI,HRS,ERA…OPS

TTP, SNEAD was a great putter but within ten feet not so great. He, Hogan,Palmer. Nicklaus and Woods are the GOATS. Google wanted Hagan and we can't forget Bobby Jones. Hogan's problems were <6' putts(yips)

That kid walking the dog on a skateboard reminded me of Phillip, age 11, while visiting in Tenn. taking Goliath the Golden for one of those walks. A friendly police officer picked him up and drove the pair home

WC

Misty said...

Delightful Tuesday puzzle, many thanks, Zachary. And always enjoy your commentary, Hahtoolah, thanks for that too.

A local IT GIRL needed an ALIBI, so she paid for a FAKE ID and that allowed her to ACT IN a play in a STATE where she LATER lived. When she was caught, she just said I PASS.

Have a great day, everybody.

Jinx in Norfolk said...

WC, why you be hatin' on Byron Nelson? He won 11 tournaments in a row, a record. Tiger is second with 7 consecutive wins. Them's GOAT numbers.

My uncle played a round with Snead, long after Sammy retired. Snead hung around the Greenbrier (WV) clubhouse and hustled people to play him for money. For my uncle, the stakes were just low enough that it was worth losing every hole for the honor. It was a different era - Sammy made a little over $700,000 in his career, which included 82 wins in his 330 top 10 finishes. Good money for back then, but not enough to enable one to live on for the rest of one's life. By contrast, even the lesser tournaments on today's tour pay about $700,000 for second place.

Picard said...

Enjoyed the DRAWing theme. Hand up struggled with those crossed names like TCHALLA/SNEAD, BIGD/OLDS and NADYA/ABBY. Had the latter to FIW. I consider that a loss for the editor as that is perfectly reasonable. I have never seen ABBI as a name.

Here I was inside a LAVA tube in Hawaii.

Hahtoolah Thanks for all of your illustrations. Especially enjoyed the ILIAC HIPBONE song. Never heard that version before.

I only know this version of Dry BONES from this memorable scene in the 1960s surreal TV show "The Prisoner". Anyone else?

From Yesterday and today:
IrishMiss Thank you for explaining your experience with a missing finger bit and playing an instrument. I have a co-worker friend who told me his story. He was riding his motorcycle and stopped to adjust the chain. He was mystified to see a finger lying on the ground under the chain. Apparently, he felt no pain when it was cut off. He is one of the best engineers I know.

AnonT, Lucina, Wilbur Charles Thank you for the very kind words about our Halloween adventures, my photos and my wife! We went back last night for the grand finale and costume contest. Such a joy for so many young people to be enjoying themselves in a positive and creative way!

PK said...

Hi Y'all! Easy doable puzzle, thanks, Zachary. Thanks for another informative expo, Hahtoolah and all the funnies.

Despite thinking this puzzle was easier than Monday, it took me 3 minutes longer thanks to a jitterbug curser. Which tends to make me curse.

DNK: ABBI, OLDS, DEF, NOBODY, OPUS, AIMEE, TIKTOK, TCHALA. Perps & WAGS.

I knew BIG D, having live west of there a year. Took the Dallas paper.

Halloween brought a couple sets of Trick or Treaters, but I had nothing for them. Told them I was sick (true) & hoped nobody wanted a sick person's candy. We haven't had T-or-Ters in many years. New people just moved in last week & some others earlier in the year but I've never seen any kids. Must play indoors or back yard. My young relatives sent pictures of their local Halloween celebrations. I remember those days with my kids. Not fondly. Someone usually upchucked before morning.

Picard said...

More from Yesterday:
Wilbur Charles is correct about the foolishness of pandering politicians when they cut the gas tax to curry favor.

This Forbes article explains why cutting gas taxes has no effect on gas prices.

Gas prices are set by supply and demand market forces. On any given day, the price is set by how much supply there is and how much people are driving. If you lower the tax, it just means the people in the supply chain get that money instead of it being collected by the government.

The government uses it to maintain the infrastructure for driving. It is a lot cheaper to pay a tax to fix those potholes than it is to replace your suspension.

Not to mention that the US fuel taxes are so low that they barely make a dent in the true cost of driving. Driving is heavily subsidized in the US at the rate of hundreds of billions of dollars each year.

The only way gas prices will go down is if people drive less. No one wants to hear that.

Ol' Man Keith said...

Hahtoolah brings us today's Levy XWD.

Easy and fun to do.

SNEAD was the one golf pro we all knew about in my youth. He was in the Sports section of the newsreels every Saturday at the Metro on Union Street.

Well, another Halloween has come and gone. Not much to say about it in our nabe. We used to have the lights on and candy ready--and we'd only pull one or two customers.
We just gave up about five years ago, maybe sooner than that.
Now we just turn out the lights and nobody bothers us.
No fun for anybody.
~ OMK

sumdaze said...

ZDL's puzzle felt like a just-right Tues. challenge. There was no reveal so we were left to DRAW our own conclusions.

Hahtoolah, I liked the skeleton dance video! So fun!

Jinx in Norfolk said...

"The only way gas prices will go down is if people drive less." C'mon Picard. Following your logic, the only reason that gas prices soared is that the amount people drive soared. That's just not so. We don't drive that much more now than we did in pre-Covid 19 days, and cars are more fuel-efficient now. BTW, that Forbes article made the same omission that WC made - the author should have compared the NY gas price movement with the same-time movement from NJ and maybe other nearby states like PA.

I would join you in backing an INCREASE in the federal gas tax with one caveat: An independent forensic auditing group be brought in to determine what portion of the tax revenue collected over that last 20 years has been used for roads and bridges, with a side list of waste projects, with that group to be retained to evaluate new projects before the money is committed. Here in Norfolk we got a bunch of DOT-funded wheelchair ramps in our sidewalks, which I was all for. Since then they have torn them all out - twice - to make largely cosmetic changes, also fully federally funded. I would also add the massive amounts spent changing out all the red "don't walk" / green "walk" signs with stick figures with and without the diagonal slash as an indication of an overfunded, out of control bureau. Now we have a $25 million foot bridge in Arizona solely for bird watchers. It doesn't cross a highway, it crosses a (usually) dry river bed. Transportation funds shouldn't be used for such projects; let the Zonies fund it (if they even want it). I'm sure there are hundreds of other boondoggles in this department alone, and I imagine that every other department is just about as wasteful. I don't mind paying taxes; it just aggravates me to see my money wasted.

Anonymous said...

I was surprised at how easy today's puzzle was. I go back and forth from across to down, back to across, etc., so some answers were filled in before I read the clue. Thanks, ZDL, for the fun! Thanks for the expo, Hahtoolah, and explaining the theme! There was a theme? NOt thatt I noticed!

I need to go back and check out the extras Hahtoolah gave us. Several of the unknowns by others were unknowns to me too.

Fav: 21a Olympic gymnast Comaneci NADIA. My daughter started recreational gymnastics when she was 2 years old and stayed with it on a competition team at the gym and on the high school team until she graduated so we had interest in Nadia. That's also my favorite dog at the shelter. From yesterday: 14. Not good: BAD. BAD Leroy Brown!! Nadia's next door neighbor is Leroy. Scroll down the page to "meet" Nadia and Leroy. Adoptable dogs

No trick or treaters for us. A couple neighbors sat at the end of their driveways to hand out candy. DH and I opted to stay inside, so kids would have had to climb up the driveway to get the goodies. I guess it's not worth the effort. Next year I don't want to even try.

Have a great day! Happy November!

Picard said...

Jinx Glad you understand the value of raising the fuel tax.

The main reason gas prices soared this year is obvious: Putin invaded Ukraine. Americans have no power to change that fact. Therefore, the only way Americans can lower gas prices is to drive less.

Anonymous said...

How about a bridge for coyotes and mountain lions to cross the freeway! (true Story).

Anonymous said...

The gas companies made more profit this year than other companies. Increase is due to price-gouging.

Yellowrocks said...

Typical Tuesday under Patti. Fast and easy, but requiring a little though and checking perps.

We had a Halloween square dance last night open to the community, no experience necessary. We were told nobody would come because they had to stay home for trick or treaters. Before hand I was regretting sponsoring it, but I was happily surprised that we had better than usual attendance and lots of fun. Trick or treating is dying out to
trunk-or-treat and house parties. We had no kids come to our house in the last few years.
There was a Quick Draw McGraw TV series in the late 50s and early 60s and also comic books, so this was a gimme.
My mom worked in a hosiery mill after high school. She spoke of lisle stockings. Another gimme.
We often hear about grist for the gossip mill. With social media this is common and often unfounded and unfair.
T CHALLA, OLDS, and AIMEE needed perps and wags.
Glad the series was postponed. Tonight I will be home to watch it.

Anonymous T said...

Hi All!

Tuesday breezy fun. Thanks Zachary.

Another LOL inducing expo, Hahtoolah. The Covid 'story books', Dorthey's ATM, Fake ID, and Pollok: Police..., all great. Thanks for all you put into our Tuesday entertainment.

WO: I just inked PRO instead of QUO
ESPs: LISLE, ABBI, T'CHALLA
Fav: OPUS! Bloom County was brilliant.

Today's lunch: Rubin on MARBLED rye. //I think it was subliminal suggestion

Someone's an Apple fan: iPad, iMac, iMall, iPass, iLIAC //Apple bought Long Island Aquatic Club(?) ;-)

IT Girls of today -- they're sexxy 'cuz they know Information Technology and a NIBBLE from a Byte. //I'm on Jinx / Ray-O's wavelength today...

Did you know Bart Connor is a Sooner [BOOMER!]? He and NADIA live in Norman, OK where they run their gym.

Sharon OLDS was last seen October 16th. HG provided a different picture of her. I looked at her hair and thought "aptronym" and it stuck.

BigE - Have you seen SNL lately? AA Meeting was cute.

TTP - the best Family in Costume goes to The Flintstones. Fred, Wilma, BamBam, and little Pebbles.
The best solo goes to the 9' I'm-not-sure-what-it-was-but-it-was-cool. The kid had his hands in enormous claws and said, "Can you just put some in my claw, I can't really grab anything." We had about 50 kids show. The older ones (maybe Freshmen) only took one piece?!?

Cheers, -T

Lucina said...

No trick or treaters in this neighborhood. I didn't even buy candy and if I had would likely have eaten myself. Not good! Another Halloween is past. But today is All Saints Day and I went to Mass at 12. The church was almost full which surprised me.

Jayce said...

I liked this puzzle okay. Liked Hahtoolah's write-up more. Also enjoyed reading all your comments.

TTP said...



Wow ! Husker Gary's cousin and former student Alec Bohm just hit a fastball for a home run, and it was the 1000th home run in World Series history !

Hahtoolah said...

Ray@9:20 Challah a bread traditionally eaten by Eastern European Jews each Shabbat (Friday night) meal and on major holidays. It is a yeast bread enriched with eggs and oil. It is actually quite easy to make.

Wilbur@9:28 On the Beach is on my TBR list. I recently read A Town Like Alice by the same author.

I had 5 trick-or-treaters last night, so have a ton of candy left over. Wish I could share it with y'all.

Wilbur Charles said...


Picard, Forbes doesn't have it exactly right except the conclusion. The futures price is geared to anticipated demand. In the ultimate irony, increasing the tax and diverting it to public transportation is a better solution. The actual price paid at the pump would be the same. A floating tax is the better solution

I was afraid this might get political . I just wanted to state some basic (obvious?) information

-T, Really,really dumb question?. Who's the older guy (SNL clip) who walks out at the end?

* Okay, Byron has to be mentioned but that was only a dozen years, 4 of them wartime. There's a whole other tier. Sarazen,Trevino,Watson,Player…

WC

Anonymous T said...

Abysmal 4&1/3 of pitching and the bats stayed quiet all night. What a painful game to watch.

Congrats, HG on your cousin's home run. I saw it and couldn't not be happy for the kid.

WC - That older guy is Tom Hanks. Played Woody in the Pixar films Toy Story.

Cheers, -T

D4E4H said...

Rabbit, Rabbit !

I posted last on 3-1-22. Something happened in March that caused me to slowly fall farther and farther behind in all areas of my life.

Carol and I work puzzles, but we are playing catch up all the time. We are up thru Wed. 10-26.

I write today to insure that each of you know that November is National Peanut Butter Lover's Month.

Ðavið

Lucina said...

David
It's good to hear from you. How are you faring? Thank you for that information about peanut butter, something I absolutely love! I'll be sure to celebrate by indulging in more of it.

TXMs said...

Anon-T@10:33 - Glad I recorded but did not watch. McCullers is the first pitcher to give up 7 HRs in WS history. I really like Dusty as do his players, but he's gotta go - judgment way off. He left Verlander in too long, and they got 5 runs to even the score before Dusty pulled him. I can't remember, but I think the Braves beat us 4-1 in the WS recently.

Hahtoolah - great recap as usual. I always look forward to your cartoons - they're all hilarious. Thanks!