Hello Cornerites!
sumdaze here. Today's puzzle comes to us from constructor Jack Murtagh. Searching our blog, I could only find one other L.A. Times puzzle by Jack. That one appeared on Thursday, Aug. 1, 2019 and had a fun, step-down gimmick. Welcome back, Jack!
The theme for today's puzzle is GO FIGURE!
an idiomatic expression that expresses perplexity, puzzlement, or surprise.
One might find a bit of each of those in today's offering. Let's take a look.
Beginning with the themed clues, we find:
20 Across. *Spiderlike arachnid: DADDY LONG-LEGS.
33 Across. *Does some rear-tire balancing on one's bike: POPS A WHEELIE.
41 Across. *Personification of a snowy season: OLD MAN WINTER.
 |
| Old Man Winter by Keegan Currier pen & ink on bristol board |
And the unifier:
56 Across. Some male role models, and what can be found at the starts of the answers to the starred clues: FATHER FIGURES.
noun
- an older man who is respected for his paternal qualities and may be an emotional substitute for a father.
DADDY, POPS, and OLD MAN are all synonyms for FATHER. (You can ask Anon-T about the 2nd one.) CSO to all the Cornerite FATHERs & FATHER FIGURES!
Now that we have that straightened out, I will warn you that, in recognition of the FATHERly subject matter, I am going to intersperse today's write up with a dozen DAD jokes. Groan!
Dad Joke #1: Why do spiders know everything? They get their information from the web.
Dad Joke #2: Why didn't the bicycle stand up? It was tw0 tired.
Still here? OK, let's move on to the rest of the grid.
Across:
1. Fastener that's an apt rhyme of "clasp": HASP. a flat metal plate with a loop through which the lock goes in. 
5. Damp: MOIST. MOIST makes the List of Words Everyone Seems to Hate
10. Units of electrical resistance: OHMS. and 10 Down. Greek letter that represents 10-Across, in physics: OMEGA. Nice crossing!
14. Norway's capital: OSLO. Its currency is the Krone.
15. Elevator button symbol: ARROW.
16. TV alien played by Robin Williams: MORK.
 |
| Mork & Mindy 1978 - 1982 Hand up for having a pair of ranibow suspenders like Mork's. |
17. Bank claim: LIEN. Add an 'a' to get 16A.
18. Sierra __, Africa: LEONE. 7 Interesting Facts
19. Marketplace for unique gifts: ETSY. Founded in 2005. How did constructors manage before that?
23. French toast need: EGG. My grandmother immigrated from Marseilles, France. French toast was her best dish.
Dad Joke #3: What kind of cars do EGGs drive? Yolkswagons.
24. Mantra syllables: OMS. Not to be confused with 10A. OHMS.
25. Slushy drink: FRAPPÉ. I do not drink caffeine so I had to look this up. It appears to be a shaken iced coffee drink invented in Greece in the 1950s, though the name derives from the French word for "shaken".
24. Mantra syllables: OMS. Not to be confused with 10A. OHMS.
25. Slushy drink: FRAPPÉ. I do not drink caffeine so I had to look this up. It appears to be a shaken iced coffee drink invented in Greece in the 1950s, though the name derives from the French word for "shaken".
28. Sitcom title role for Brandy: MOESHA. Here is the IMDB Page.
30. Alien-hunting org.: SETI. Acronym for Search for ExtraTerrestrial Intelligence. about SETI and a Primer on SETI
32. Large deer: ELK. Differenece Between Elk and Deer
36. Mother Earth, in Greek myth: GAIA.
39. "It's the end of an __": ERA.
46. Female deer: DOE. a deer, a female deer ♪♪♪
47. Charged particles: IONS.
48. Attribute (to): IMPUTE.
54. Computing pioneer Lovelace: ADA. Recognizing Ms. Lovelace's contributions is a good opportunity to recommend this episode of the Planet Money podcast on women and computing. Episode 576: When Women Stopped Coding (You can listen for 17 minutes or read the transcript.)
55. Green vegetable: PEA.
Dad Joke #4: I went to see a beet poet the other day. There were a lot of hip PEAs there.
60. Protruding part of a fedora: BRIM.
60. Protruding part of a fedora: BRIM.
 |
| Indiana Jones wore a brown fedora. |
62. Speechify: ORATE.
Speechify: verb
- deliver a speech, especially in a tedious or pompous way.
63. Post-it __: NOTE.
Lisa Kudrow in Romy and Michelle's High School Reunion (1997)
"Um, I invented Post-Its."
adjective
- expensive and of high quality; luxurious."the luxe 65-room Four Seasons hotel"
65. Some spouses: WIVES.
66. Actress Arlene: DAHL. (Aug. 11, 1925 - Nov. 29, 2021) She is known for playing the lead in the 1959 version of Journey to the Center of the Earth and for being Lorenzo Lamas' mother. No relation to Roald, a more 'Monday-ish' name.
 |
| Arlene & Lorenzo |
67. Adolescent: TEEN.
68. Part of some school uniforms: SKIRT.
69. Mined materials: ORES. Not to be confused with 6D.
Down:
1. Texas __: poker variety: HOLD 'EM. Another HOLDover from yesterday's puzzle.
2. Nutty Italian cheese: ASIAGO.
Dad Joke #5: What do you call cheese that isn't yours? Nacho cheese.
3. R&B singer Percy: SLEDGE. Perhaps best know for When a Man Loves a Woman (1966).
3. R&B singer Percy: SLEDGE. Perhaps best know for When a Man Loves a Woman (1966).
4. Frog habitat: POND.
 |
| Just for the smiles.... |
Dad Joke #6: Why do frogs never park illegally? They are afraid of getting toad.
5. Store locator in a large retail space: MALL MAP.
6. Cookies that came in limited-edition Neapolitan and Snickerdoodle flavors in 2022: OREOS. 25 Really Weird Oreo Flavors
7. Waffle __: IRON. clever way to clue this CW staple
6. Cookies that came in limited-edition Neapolitan and Snickerdoodle flavors in 2022: OREOS. 25 Really Weird Oreo Flavors
7. Waffle __: IRON. clever way to clue this CW staple
Dad Joke #7: Why didn't the man IRON his 4-leaf clover? He didn't want to press his luck.
8. Tune: SONG. Let's enjoy a cheerful Sesame Street throwback (in Spanish, too).
8. Tune: SONG. Let's enjoy a cheerful Sesame Street throwback (in Spanish, too).
9. Last of a dozen: TWELFTH. The 12th elf taught me a trick for writing this word.
11. Tough stretch of summer: HOT SPELL.
Dad Joke #8: What is the witch's favorite subject in school? SPELLing.
12. __ Claus: North Pole resident: MRS.
12. __ Claus: North Pole resident: MRS.
21. Start of a pirate chant: YO HO. A pirate's life for me!
a YO HO sing-a-long
Dad Joke #9: How much does a pirate pay to get his ears pierced? A buck an ear.
22. New York canal: ERIE.
26. Ballet class bend: PLIÉ.
27. Squeaks (by): EKES.
29. Email filter target: SPAM. Speaking of OREOS (6D) and SPAM...
 |
| Any takers? |
30. South Asian dresses: SARIS.
31. Actor McGregor: EWAN.
34. Stitched up: SEWN.
 |
| I wonder what this Stitch is Up to? |
35. Wyatt of Tombstone: EARP.
36. Neil Gaiman's "American __": GODS. Not really my thing but I did read it a couple of years ago out of curiosity. Speaking of FATHER FIGURES, it is full of symbolism.
37. Very often: A LOT.
Dad Joke #10: Why was the math book crying? Because it had A LOT of problems.
38. French phrase meaning "obsession": IDÉE FIXE. My French grandmother did not teach me this one.
38. French phrase meaning "obsession": IDÉE FIXE. My French grandmother did not teach me this one.
42. "__ that the truth!": AIN'T.
43. Absentees: NO SHOWS.
44. Most clutter-free: TIDIEST.
45. Online periodical: EMAG. Electronic MAGazine
49. Commotion: UPROAR.
Dad Joke #11: What kind of lion doesn't roar? A dandelion.
50. Sprout incisors: TEETHE. "Sprout" is a verb here, so it "TEETHE".
50. Sprout incisors: TEETHE. "Sprout" is a verb here, so it "TEETHE".
51. Art studio stands: EASELS.
53. Budget noodle dish: RAMEN. When I used to snowboard in Japan, I always liked to stop for a steaming bowl of ラーメン at lunchtime. Then, with a warm belly, I would go upstairs to the napping area.
54. __-dinner mint: AFTER. Hand up for missing the hyphen and getting stuck on trying to think of a brand name.
57. Miami Heat coach Spoelstra: ERIK. Men's basketball. Perps helped.
On April 28, 2008, Spoelstra became the 6th Head Coach in Heat history. As of this writing, his team is at 22 (W) and 20 (L). I wonder if any of his players think of him as a FATHER FIGURE.
58. Sitarist Shankar: RAVI.
58. Sitarist Shankar: RAVI.
Dad Joke #Last of a dozen: Knock knock. Who's there? Ravi. Ravi who? Ravioli.
59. "Go back!" computer command: UNDO.
59. "Go back!" computer command: UNDO.
60. Sandwich letters: BLT. Bacon, Lettuce, & Tomato
61. "You will __ the day!": RUE. I hope not. The DAD jokes weren't that bad.
Here's the grid:
That's all for today. I look forward to reading your thoughts!
41 comments:
I replaced “unrest” with “uproar.” Other than that, I don’t have too much to say about this puzzle. I will say that I really enjoyed Neil Gaiman’s “American Gods,” truly a Fantasy classic. Anyway, FIR, so I’m happy.
DNK ADA, GODS (as clued), GAIA, MOESHA or DAHL, and managed to write NOTE at 64A instead of 63A making a mess in the SW. I thought the theme was different names for fathers: DADDY, POPS, OLDMAN. Anyway, FIR in more than usual Monday time due to the number of DNKs and my dopey mis-write. But a fun CW none-the-less. Speaking of wheelies, today is the day in SOFLO where various idiots (hundreds) take their off-road vehicles onto the road in gangs, doing wheelies, running red lights, and generally fouling up traffic while claiming to celebrate MLK day. It originally started as “guns down”, a worthwhile idea, but quickly evolved into a lawless nightmare. MLK would not approve.
Oops! Forgot to say Thanx to JM for thecCW, and to Sumdaze for the nice write-up.
Good morning!
Solved this one quickly, no Wite-Out need apply. Even saw the theme; I must be dreaming. Thought YO HO referred to that bottle of rum song. Noticed that those 4-letter names (MORK, EARP, DAHL, RAVI) were skewed toward the older crowd. Thanx, Jack and Sumdaze. (Interesting facts about Sierra Leone. We need more facts about Sumdaze. Aficionado of dad jokes? Taught cattle roping in Norseland? Snowboarded in Japan? Had a French grandmother? There's gotta be quite a story in there somewhere.)
IMPUTE: I've only run into this word in the payroll sense -- IMPUTEd income.
FIW, missing ShIRT x ERIh. But I got my Natick (GAIA x GODS), so I got that goin' for me.
I love DADDY LONG LEGS. I lived in a big tent for a few months, and shared my tent with them. When there were more than about 10 individuals, I would gather up the extras one at a time and relocate them to other parts of the forest.
Most aircraft (but not the Beechcraft Bonanza, AKA "V-Tailed Doctor Killer") have rudders, but no stern. They have "tails".
I remember a certain FLOTUS who floated the idea that folks who owned their homes free and clear should have IMPUTted income equal to the amount the house would rent for. It "floated" like a lead balloon.
I call BS on the list of "Words Everyone Seems to Hate". This is a list of what the authors think we would hate, if we were as smart as them. What percent of the population do you think have even heard of "lugubrious", let alone put it on a list? On a side note, USA Today tells us not to use "ni hao", "hola", "aloha" or "shalom" unless we are members of the ethnic group that uses the term, lest we be cancelled for microaggression. (I think they print this tripe just to see conservatives' hair catch on fire.)
Thanks to Jack for the fun, and to Sumdaze for the dad jokes (and the other stuff you wrote).
FIR, no problems, except for doubting Moesha, whom I've never heard of.
Took 4:19, yes SIREe, it did.
I disliked the God/Gaia crossing, today's actress (same as yesterday's actress?), and the side-by-side Erik and Ravi.
I liked the review, and the absence of circles.
Hi Y'all! Thanks, Jack, for a fun & doable puzzle. Thanks, Sumdaze, for a fun and dad-able expo.
We always called them grandDADDY LONG LEGS, which threw me off for one tiny moment. I think they are not called spiders because they don't construct webs. Have a distinct smell if stepped on or rolled over on.
I'm so old that I was a big fan of Arlene DAHL in my youth.
Didn't have to EKE out this puzzle. It came easily.
Furnace conked out yesterday (down to 17⁰ last nite). Hoping to get a new one today. Hard to type with impending frostbite, sorry)(Just a sec while I break that icicle off my nose 🥶)
Start the week off R with a FIR. A puzzle with Daddy issues...😁....(but how is the theme "go figure"?)
Inkovers: girl/GODS, impart/IMPUTE
ASIAGO cheese (is not just for nutty Italians!!)
"Fill it to the rim with BRIM"
OMEGA: O Mega = the big (mega) Greek "O"
Omicron: O micron = the little (micron) "O"
DADDYLONGLEGS: arachnids, but not spiders 🕷 .. only 2 eyes (not 8) ...and they have no spidey- sense 😄
Where you "very often" find used cars....ALOT
"But ______ he jes' keep snowin' along" 🎵....OLDMANWINTER.
Lion's (LEONE) directions on how best to attack....MALLMAP.
More toward the STERNS....AFTER.
Mondays on Broadway....NOSHOWS
SD: thanks for the Dad jokes. I'm gonna use 'em on my 12 yo grandson..altho' lately his laughter is replaced by groans...(A non scientific sign of impending puberty...😏).
BTW..what did your grandmère call FRENCH toast ? 🤔
Good Morning:
This was a fun solve with a cute and obvious theme, although the reveal was more serious than what I was expecting. I never cared for Old Man when used to reference one’s father; Anon T’s “Pops” is so much more respectful and loving. I didn’t have any stumbles but I think a newbie might with Moesha, Gaia, SETI, and Erik. I liked the Ohms/Oms duo.
Thanks, Jack, for starting the week off so smoothly and thanks, Sumdaze, for a cheerful, punny expo with equal parts of fact and fun. I loved all of your Dad jokes because I’m easily amused. On a more serious level, When A Man Loves A Woman reminded me of the eponymous movie starring Andy Garcia and Meg Ryan that portrayed the devastating effects of alcoholism on a marriage and the family.
Have a great day.
A happy FIR this Monday, though not WO free. I was cruising along until I got to FRAPPE where I first entered FROSTY. Below that I had ROE (actually a European deer) before I saw it was ELK. Then I wrote EARP where GODS belonged and REDO instead of UNDO. Other than that I found the puzzle easy enough with helpful perps where I needed them. Thanks, Jack!
Another fun review from sumdaze, thanks! You do like to tease us with your personal hints. Tell us more. D-Otto and I want to know. Nice use of Dad jokes to compliment the theme which was easy to see today.
Enjoy your holiday today, everyone. And hope you can get someone to replace your furnace today, Ray-O. 17 degrees, Brrrrrr!
For me, this was a true Monday level puzzle. No erasures or stumbles. Well maybe one when I hesitated on MOESHA, but I trusted the perps. I would love to see the back side of OLD MAN WINTER and welcome a HOT SPELL.
I’m sorry ROS for your loss of heat. I hope you get relief soon.
Sumdaze, I enjoyed your silly DAD jokes.
My dear mother, many years ago used to play MRS Claus for children’s parties. She wore a long red dress, a white bonnet and the kids loved her because she was so jolly and fun. She’s been gone a long time, but I still miss her so.
Hola!
Yes, I can say "Hola" because I am of that ethnic group. Sadly I rarely get to speak Spanish now that all the elders are gone. My mother always preferred it to English though she was fluent in both.
Drat! I spelled GAIA, gaea, though I know better since we see it often in puzzles. And I did not notice that IDEEFIXE was not correctly spelled.
Other than that the rest of the puzzle flowed nicely.
It saddens me to see MORK and think of Robin Williams. In San Francisco we often pass his house which was pointed out to us by a former resident of the city.
My granddaughters love to watch MOESHA.
I wish you all a happy day! It rained over night and will likely continue two more days according to the weather report.
Thank you, sumdaze. Yes, your jokes were groan worthy.
Marvellous Monday. Thanks for the fun, Jack and sumdaze. (Loved those Dad jokes esp. “buck an ear”!)
I FIWed in good time and saw the FATHER theme. (It did take the them reveal to send me back to 20A to correct my childhood expression, Dandy Longlegs) to DADDY. That also helped to reveal the unknown SLEDGE, and give me the E in the equally unknown MOESHA.)
Above-mentioned area was my only inkblot. I did require an alphabet-run to reveal the G in the GAIA/GODS cross.
Is that uniform part a Shirt or a SKIRT? ERIK seems better that Erih, and confirms the K (not C) spelling. (Not so for Jinx)
Brussels sprouts have teeth? What is this?- Veggie Tales? Oh, verb not noun!
Ray-o- Hope your furnace problems are FIXEd soon.
IM- I’m with you on OLD MAN.
Tante Nique- lovely memory of your mother.
Happy MLK holiday to my American friends.
Wishing you all a great day.
Musings
-We’re happy to see a DAMP and MOIST day here on the prairie today.
-I eschewed EURO and quickly put in OSLO for Norway capital. Turns out their money is the krone.
-Contact is a wonderful movie about the philosophy and mechanics of SETI. Trailer
-STERN is my second word in Wordle. What’s yours?
-ORATE – Reps and Senators talk for hours on end and don’t change even one vote. What’s the point?
-Arlene DAHL throws a crumb to us who don’t know obscure actors on obscure shows on obscure networks
-I sub for one English teacher who has the TIDIEST desk and shelves I have ever seen!
-Ya gotta love Google. I put in “ラーメン” and found those characters here as a Ramen dish
-After dinner mints used to be a penny at the cash register. Uh, not any more!
-Fun review, Renee!
-Our lovely head custodian is from Costa Rica and we exchange buenos dias/tardes and both have a nice laugh. I’m good at reading faces, and f I sensed any discomfort I’d quit immediately.
I forgot to say I remember ARLENE Dahl who was married to the handsome hunk, Fernando Lamas.
Musings 2
-I texted my granddaughter this morning who is pursuing a Master’s in D.C. and has a minor in French to give me a sentence with idée fixe in it. She gave me one that is correct and so true!
-Ma petite-fille a une idée fixe au Taylor Swift. (My granddaughter has an obsession with Taylor Swift).
-I really love that girl!
Normal Monday, not much to add. Pretty sure I've seen this theme done in a Universal crossword on Father's Day.
Dad Joke #13 - A man walks into a bakery and asks, "Do you have any big pieces of shortbread?" The baker responds, "No, we don't make them any longer."
There, now we have a baker's dozen of dad jokes.
Nice puzzle and great write-up today. I guess the Dad Jokes were our PUNishment for the day. The bigger the groan the better the Dad Joke.
WEES about some of the unknowns, but the perps filled in nicely. I needed to change NEATEST to TIDIEST and wait for the perps to fill in MOESHA, FRAPPE and GAIA. However, I did put in DAHL without any hesitation.
My daughter gave me a toy at Christmas that tells Dad Jokes when you push a button. One example: Did you hear about the new restaurant on the Moon. The food is great, but it has no atmosphere.
When I was still working I always stayed late every night catching up on paperwork that didn't get done during the day. The cleaning crew who took care of our offices were usually there then. Most were from Ecuador and didn't speak English and since I didn't speak Spanish we had difficulty communicating at first. I set up an English to Spanish translator on my computer so we could communicate using the keyboard. I even learned a little Spanish and made some new friends in the process.
Have a great day everyone.
Hi All!
Thank you Jack for an early Father's Day puzzle. You even got Mom in there at 36a.
Sumdaze - Snowboarding? GenX much? :-) Loved the expo (End of the World comic is priceless!). Dad-jokes: Groaner puns that somehow are blamed on fathers.
WO: started NeatEST
ESP: SLEDGE | MOESHA, GOD (as clued), ERIK, DAHL
Favs: OHMS xing OMEGA and ADA Lovelace.
Ray-O: Hope your furnace gets fixed / replaced post haste. I also hope you have a cozy fireplace to warm up to.
//In Houston, Texas Toast is just called "toast" :-)
Ooops, add MRS to ESPs - didn't notice the c/a until TanteNique's lovely story.
Lucina - on the way to Tiburon from SFO we passed through the Robin Williams tunnel. The opening is rainbow colored - just like his suspenders.
C, Eh! - The Girls loved Veggie Tales. It wasn't bad - the creators were huge fans of Monty Python [Note: The PEAs have an outrageous French accent].
What's wrong with greeting people in their native-tongue? Or just speaking another language for fun & practice? DW's Aunt always greets us in French or Italian. //And with Eldest knowing both - they go on talking w/o us :-)
Nice one @11:34 - My turn: A man walks into a bar and says, "Ouch!"
Cheers, -T
Fun Monday puzzle, many thanks, Jack. And your commentary was a lot of fun with many laughs, many thanks for that too, Sumdaze.
My goodness, lots of OLD men in this puzzle, but what about their WIVES, their MRS, their mother FIGURES, wearing a SKIRT? Do they IRON clothes, including SARIs? Do they cook RAMEN, and bake OREOS, and serve EGGs for breakfast, and cook A LOT of other food? Do they sing SONGs, and paint pictures on EASELS, and write articles for E-MAGs? And can you imagine them doing all that while still maintaining the TIDIEST of households? Yep, the ladies sure deserve a lot of credit.
Have a great week coming up, everybody!
Thanks Jack for a fun Monday FIR. Please don't wait so long for your next puzzle.
And thanks Renée for a fun and funny review. And as a DAD myself, I really loved your DAD jokes.
Lots of good stuff, but as I have special interest in 30A SETI I'll just comment on it [Way TMI ALERT!].
(1) I read Seth Shostak's article and found over 2 dozen references to the word SIGNAL, but none to the word SIGNATURE. Thus far I think SETI leaves unanswered the question of how will we would actually recognize that a signal is coming from an "intelligent civilization"? Achieving a consensus on this would be very helpful. In fact just defining the word "intelligent" might be even more helpful. Alan Turing would argue that there is a test for intelligence, but in this case we can't ask the source questions.
(2) Shostak mentioned the Drake Equation in his article. Carl Sagan has speculated that the "L" factor (the lifetime or "window" of these signals) might be limited to the interval between the inventions of radio transmissions and nuclear weapons.
(3) Carl Sagan was also one of two writers who used SETI transmissions as the basis for science fiction stories. In Sagan's book CONTACT, the signature was a stream of prime numbers followed by digital code with instructions for building a machine. The book was later made into a movie starring Jodi Foster and Matthew McConaughey.
In 1961 a British TV series called A for Andromeda and starring Julie Christie was made, based on a story by famed astronomer Fred Hoyle. The SETI transmission in this case contained instructions for creating a life form.
Back here on Earth, some have suggested that the cosmic signature that SETI has long been searching for can be found in the information inside our cells.
Cheers,
Bill
FLN Didn't have time to publicly lick my wounds for my FIW yesterday as I was attending a Baptism in Falls Church, VA. One of my nephews recently became a DAD and this was our first opportunity to see our new Great nephew. Not only is he Great, but he's adorable! I was having a discussion with my BIL about what he'd like Jay W to call him and I related this story:
Son: "So what do you want Julia to call you Dad?"
Me: Whatever she calls you, with "Grand" in front of it".
AnonT
Yes. That is also a poignant reminder of Robin. I love going through that tunnel.
My friends and I will be going to visit our friend, Claire, who lives in Petaluma but we are going to Oakland not SFO. When we plan to rent a car we prefer Oakland because the process is much easier and doesn't require taking a shuttle. The rental car office is on an upper floor at the airport.
I don't know if I've ever mentioned that Claire has two PHD's and she is a prolific grant writer. She still writes them and has garnered thousands of dollars for various organizations. We are going to celebrate her 92nd birthday with her. Talk about brilliant! Yes, she is that.
à la Taylor Swift...au is masculine
😊
Greetings! A LOT of tricky areas in this puzzle. Relied on perps for GODS, ADA, MOESHA. ERIK (could 68A be SkIRT? - no). But then, HASP and LEONE were gimmees with the cluing.
WO neatEST -> TIDIEST.
For as often as I've seen TWELFTH in writing, I forgot there was an "F" in it. I don't remember spelling the whole word out - it's usually just 12th for me.
Thanks, Jack, for the puzzle, and thanks sumdaze for the fun review. Loved the links and the jokes, especially #9!! LOL!!
Correction: 68A was SKIRT, solved when ERIh became ERIK.
Anonymous @8:17 AM Yet another DAD joke! You don't like circles? Who knew?
HG @10:39 AM Beat me to it on the CONTACT trailer. I raise you an "A for Andromeda".
Anonymous @11:34 AM ROTFL!!!
ROS @12:36 PM Yes but a Swift (Une Martinet en Français) is feminine. 😄
Not just Lord Byron's daughter (the bum left her when she was a baby), Ada Lovelace was so precocious that she was writing programs before there were even computers. She even has a programming language named for her (ADA not LOVELACE). At one point it was the required language for DOD applications.
Loved the dad jokes! Moesha is a werkend commentator on NPR.
Anon@1:41 -- I think you're thinking of Ayesha Rascoe on NPR's Sunday Edition, not Moesha.
A most informative explication by sumdaze of this Murtagh XWD...
I am glad to see that "Family Tree" of the Olympic gods. A handy way to keep the generations apart. Very helpful. Now I see why Zeus is among the "new gods."
Surprised--and mildly happy--to see Arlene DAHL remembered among today's clues. I remember her from the '50s and/or '60s on "What's My Line?"
~ OMK
____________
DR: Four diagonals, three on the far side.
On the near side, we have an anagram (13 of 15) that sounds worse than it is.
Imagine an impudent piece of vegetation, if you can. And now, think of it in a vulgarism that suggests a prostituting canine.
Stumped? Well, what are you left with?
Right! --it's a piece of ...
"HOREHOUND SASS"!
Seems to be lotsa misremembering going round today. OMK, that was Arlene Francis on What's My Line?
I liked this puzzle and the write-up by sumdaze. I love dad jokes.
Speaking of toys that make jokes when you press a button, a few years ago our son gave me an "iDad" for my birthday. It's flat like a greeting card and looks like an iPad. When you press one of the half-dozen buttons on it, it tells a dad joke or says something that is stereotypically something a dad would say, such as "Ask your mother." I still keep it, even though the battery in it died long ago.
Exactly one week from today I go in for cataract surgery, both eyes. I surprise even myself that I'm not feeling apprehensive about it; I'm actually looking forward to it. The weeks afterward are going to require great care in following all the post-op procedures, especially scheduling the eyedrops.
Good wishes to you all on this day we commemorate a wise man.
D-O @3:06 PM I thought of Francis too, but Dahl's Wiki bio lists her as both a mystery guest and a panelist on WML. The series ran for 26 seasons. Maybe the casting director had a soft spot for Arlenes.
Lucina, when I used to fly to various destinations, I always preferred going in and out of Oakland Airport, if possible, because it is much easier to navigate it than the "user unfriendly" SFO airport. At one time, long long ago, I most preferred the San Jose airport because it was so simple, "primitive" by today's standards.
And yes, I also enjoy going through the Robin Williams tunnel and down the long "Waldo grade." Going through San Francisco (19th Avenue and all that) is, on the other hand, no fun at all.
Gimmee: I was a Heat fan when a very young ERIK Spoelstra became coach. I started watching because a University of Kansas player named Wayne Simien had been drafted by the Heat. My niece had married one of Simien's teammates and he sat at our table during dinner. ERIK has had a more winning career than that kid did.
I think I knew MOESHA because she was on Dancing With The Stars many seasons ago.
So...Carrier Heating Systems used to be made in Syracuse, an hour away. (The SU Carrier Dome Sports Complex, Carrier Circle etc)...no more. They're made in Iowa and Mexico
The contractor had to travel early this AM to a warehouse in Rochester, 2 hours away to get a replacement furnace. Now installed and running. ☺
Thought my Luddite DW would have a fit when she saw the new thermostat was a touchscreen but we calmed her down and the contractor took his time showing how simple it actually is to use
Ray-O: Good news re: heat. Stay warm eBuddy.
D-O: Politico could use your fact-checking skills ;-)
Jayce - when flying back from SFO after Thanksgiving with DW's Aunt, I realized I made a huge error and we were to depart San Jose. Fortunately, I realized my f-up the night before and we all set alarms an hour earlier for the 0'dark-thrity* flight... Turns out there was no need as San Jose (even with rental drop-off) was easy in and easy out (to the sky).
Also, Jayce, I was given a toy that, at the press of a button, makes rude bum noises. Fun at parties - guaranteed to break the ice.
And now for something completely different [Eric Idle]
Where's CED today? He'd have a field-day.
Cheers, -T
*what does the O stand for?
Jayce @ 3:16 pm: Getting the drops in your eyes on schedule is very important. I have a relative who didn't and her eyes are still a problem. DW made an Excel spreadsheet with the times and which drops get done. We followed it religiously and I didn't experience any problems. Good luck.
Jayce:
Good luck with the eye drops. As oc4beach said, keeping the schedule is important and you seem like a disciplined person so very likely all will be well. Once the routine is all over you'll be glad you did all that.
I now use eye glasses only to read whereas I used to wear them all the time, bifocals in fact.
I just heard that another round of vaccines will soon be required.
Waseeley @ 12:22 -- All this SETI hypothecation assumes that aliens think like us. This remains one of the weak points in the system As an example, what if the aliens on, say, Procyon b don't like prime numbers? It seems to me that SETI is similar to Rorschach testing, as we read ourselves and our motives into absentee alien ink blots.
-T "*what does the O stand for?"
It's a ZERO, as in the military way of ruining one's sleep: "We're lifting off at zero-dark-thirty," meaning very early in the morning.
Post a Comment