Hello Cornerites! Happy New Year to you all! Best wishes for health & happiness in 2023!
It is my pleasure to take you through Dylan Schiff's 5th L.A. Times puzzle. He has one Friday, two Sundays, and two Mondays to his credit. I hope we will see more from him in the coming months.
Today's offering has a well-hidden theme, four themers, ten 2-word answers, only four 3-letter fills (Hi Irish Miss!), a pair of 10-letter fills, and a reveal neatly tucked into the SE corner. Well done, Dylan!
Our theme is: BURN, BURN, BURN
Johnny Cash, Ring of Fire
Let's start with the 4 starred clues:
20. Across* Frozen structures that help with some winter migration: ICE BRIDGES. Here's one theory.
27. Across* Food that lacks nutritional value: EMPTY CALORIES. Definition, Food List, & Examples
44. Across* For all to see, after "in": BROAD DAYLIGHT.
50. Across* Yoga mat material: FOAM RUBBER. Types of Foam in Yoga Mats
What could possible connect these 4 themers? Let's go to the reveal:
54. Down. "Hamilton" song about destroying love letters, or what one can do to the ends of the answers to the starred clues: BURN.
If you are not familiar with the song, you might guess at BURN. Here is the song with the lyrics:
Burn is sung by the character Eliza Hamilton. (See 42 Down.)
... with 27A, we have BURN CALORIES. Perhaps a New Year's resolution?
... with 44A, we have BURN DAYLIGHT. My first thought went to this clip from The Cowboys (1972), starring John Wayne. (42 sec.)
That is Roscoe Lee Browne playing Jebediah Nightlinger.
... and with 50A, we have BURN RUBBER. peel out
Let's not BURN any more daylight before we move on to the rest of the grid...
1. List on the side of a taco truck: MENU. ¡Muy Delicioso!
5. TV's __ at Nite: NICK. a cable TV channel
9. College student's declaration: MAJOR. They call it that because it is a MAJOR decision.
14. 8-Down mineral: IRON. and 8D. Leafy vegetable rich in 14-Across: KALE.
Prior to becoming a "superfood", one of the biggest purchasers of KALE was Pizza Hut. Surprised? They used it to decorate the perimeter of their salad bars. Kale & Pizza Hut
15. Vegetable pod that thickens gumbo: OKRA.
16. Photoshop maker: ADOBE. an American software company
17. NPR journalist Totenberg: NINA. You can hear her on All Things Considered.
18. Rotary phone part: DIAL.
 |
| the evolution of the phone |
19. Add to an email, as a gif: EMBED. The above comic is EMBEDed into this blog.
Bonus: hard or soft 'g'?
23. __ facto: IPSO.
23. __ facto: IPSO.
adverb
- by that very fact or act."the enemy of one's enemy may be ipso facto a friend"
24. Small batteries: AAs.
25. Pang: THROE. We usually encounter this word in its plural form, as in "collapsed in the THROEs of agony".
33. Stories: TALES. Tall TALES are skyscrapers.
34. Valentine's Day icon: CUPID.
35. Bubble bath spot: TUB. where you can wash off the CRUD
38. Yucky buildup: CRUD.
39. __ throat: STREP.
40. Word on some diet products: LITE.
41. Stitched border: HEM.
42. Scornful smile: SNEER.
43. Trite: BANAL.
47. Before, with "to": PRIOR.
48. 20-vol. lexicon: OED. "Vol" is abbreviated. So is The Oxford English Dictionary.
49. Many an Eastern European: SLAV.
57. Group of pundits on a TV news show, e.g.: PANEL.
 |
| Hi unclefred! |
 |
| Hi Picard! |
60. Mystical glow: AURA.
61. Braugher of "Brooklyn Nine-Nine": ANDRE. I have seen this show so I am familiar with this actor. The show aired for 8 seasons (2013-2021). It is full of laughs and has a talented, fun-to-watch cast. ANDRE played the intensely pragmatic Capt. Raymond Holt.
Capt. Holt giving work & life advice. (35 sec.)
62. Oscar winner Malek: RAMI. 2019 Best Actor for Bohemian Rapsody
 |
| RAMI in the role of Queen's Freddy Mercury He rocked! |
63. Baby bed: CRIB.
64. Authority to decide: SAY-SO.
65. __ vera gel: ALOE. good for sunBURNs
66. ACL location: KNEE. Anterior Cruciate Ligament
Down:
1. Short skirt: MINI.
a history of the MINI skirt by Vogue (5:39 min.)
"While short skirts were worn by noblemen in Ancient Egypt and in China by women of the Duan Qun Miao, the miniskirt entered the contemporary fashion lexicon in the West during the swinging 1960s."
2. "What Truth Sounds Like" writer Michael __ Dyson: ERIC. 4.1 stars on goodreads
3. Zero: NONE.
4. Without any reduction in intensity: UNABATED.
5. DVD player error message: NO DISC. Fun clue!
6. "Just messin' with ya!": I KID. the opposite of "I KID you not"
7. Jagged rock: CRAG.
9. "Parenthood" actress Whitman: MAE. I have never seen this show. Here's a pic of Mae and her beautiful smile.
11. Entry on Indeed.com, e.g.: JOB POSTING. Indeed.com explained
12. Like many sumo wrestlers: OBESE. I am a bit uncomfortable with this clue because we are talking about dedicated athletes with intense training regimes. There is more to it.
13. Start over: REDO. Need a REDO? No prob! Just hover over this button.
22. Narrow piece: STRIP. Ray Stevens sang about STRIPping in 1974.
"Don't look, Ethel!"
26. Kept secret: HID.
27. __ A Sketch: ETCH.
28. Female horse: MARE. In common cowboy parlance, a female horse is a filly until she is bred; after which, she is referred to as a MARE. The world of horse racing has its own criteria.
29. Distilled alcohol made with fruit: PLUM BRANDY. My friend Aki-san's dad gave me a bottle of his homemade PLUM BRANDY. He knew what he was doing.
30. Played a part: ACTED. theater
31. Drew (in): LURED.
 |
| A LURE is used to LURE fish. |
32. "The Phantom of the __": OPERA. So many wonderful songs from which to choose. Today I will go with Michael Crawford singing The Music of the Night (1987).
36. Salt Lake state: UTAH. State motto: Industry; State snack: Jell-O
37. Accessory with a buckle: BELT.
39. Wolf (down): SNARF.
40. Easygoing: LAID BACK.
42. Tony nominee Phillipa: SOO.
 |
| Phillipa originated the role of Eliza in Hamilton. |
43. Chicken cordon __: BLEU. 5-star recipe
45. Missouri and Ohio: RIVERS. "States" also fits. Nice misdirection!
46. Small terrier: YORKIE.
 |
| Yorkshire Terrier originally bred for "ratting" |
49. Health resorts: SPAS.
51. Spanish "other": OTRA. used to modify feminine palabras
52. Depleted Asian sea: ARAL. I need to keep these straight: Ural Mountains & ARAL Sea.
53. Personnel note: MEMO. I was surprised to read that the first known use of "MEMO" was in 1705.
55. Cleveland's lake: ERIE. My idea of Eden is to play an aria on an oboe as I roam the shores of Lake ERIE while snacking on an Oreo before going to two spas where they will cover me in aloe.
56. Broccoli __: RABE.
58. Novelist Tolstoy: LEO. Born 9/9/1828, making him a Virgo.
Here's the completed grid:
That's all for today. I look forward to reading your comments!
I had heard the expression “burning daylight “ but couldn’t have told you what it meant until I saw that John Wayne clip. Other than that, I don’t have too much to say about this puzzle. FIR, so I’m happy.
ReplyDeleteGood morning, and Happy Second New Year.
ReplyDeleteThis one was like marching through snow -- crunch, crunch, crunch. D-o liked it. Of course, he failed to read the full reveal clue and likewise failed to get the theme. [And there goes that New Year's resolution!] Nicely done, Dylan. (Any relation to Adam?) Enjoyed your expo, Sumdaze, especially your take on ERIE. (Your blog profile could use a little de-sparsing.)
As Anon SS might say, I torched this one in under 10 minutes, about normal for a Monday (my guess is SS will light this one up in under 5). Nice work on this one Dylan, and a clever theme I didn’t see till the reveal.
ReplyDeleteSumdaze ~~ a really fine review, especially liked your take on ERIE!
FIR, but erased spasm for THROE, scum for CRUD, stale for BANAL, and scarf for SNARF. Natick ERIC x NINA was an easy WAG.
ReplyDeleteWhen I toiled at GTE, SOO (pronounced "sue") meant State of Oregon. Seems like we were always in court with them over one thing or another.
If I had to have a little dog, it would probably be a YORKIE. A lot of RVers have them, and they seem to be a sweet, if noisy, breed. I tell folks that at 65 pounds, Zoe the greythound is my small dog, She's nearly 100 pounds lighter than my late Irish Wolfhound Merlin, who tipped the scales at 160. (I measured Merlin from his back paw, to hip, to the tip of his nose to see how tall he would be if he stood straight up with his nose in the air. 6' 10". Grandson called him "Moose.")
Thanks to Dylan for the fun Monday puzzle, even though I thought it was show biz heavy. And thanks to Sumdaze for the fun review. Hand up for especially appreciating your comment on ERIE. Original thought on BANAL fill.
Sorry sundaze, missed opportunity in the ERIE comment - instead of snacking on Oreos you should SNARF them down, filling yourself with EMPTY CALORIES
ReplyDeleteFIR, but the theme was unclear to me since I did not understand burn daylight. Oh well.
ReplyDeleteI guess my ears were burning while YooperPhil was typing, as I finished in 4:41 -- without the need for any midnight oil.
ReplyDeleteI missed the theme too, but enjoyed the puzzle. And, the review.
I think it's time for me to learn this Phillipa Soo.
I didn't know today's writer (Eric) or actress (Mae).
Hola!
ReplyDeleteMany times I've received the advice, "Don't BURN your BRIDGES. You may have to cross them again."
Nice one, Dylan Schiff. And equally nice, sumdaze, thank you.
At 7:42 A.M. it still isn't BROAD DAYLIGHT here. In fact, it's overcast and possibly a portent of more rain today.
Since I already had ALOE in place, OTRA went in with no problem.
YORKIE of course recalls the late Queen Elizabeth II who loved hers.
Being a short person, I always have to HEM any slacks I buy. It's a gift when they fit perfectly without alteration.
Fortunately I don't have to search JOB POSTINGS and can be LAIDBACK in retirement.
Have a lovely second day of the year, everyone!
This CW at first glance looked like a typical Monday but then I discovered the proper names, of which I knew only one: LEO. I should have known NINA, since I have listened to the program, but couldn’t recall the name. So I did FIR but not quickly. AND totally missed the theme until Sumdaze ‘splained it. (Hello, D.O.!) So, overall an entertaining way to start the week. Thanx, DS. Thanx too to Sumdaze for the terrific write-up. AND for the solar panel shout-out. Speaking of: my neighbor had a tree line of fishtail palms serving as a hedge. They made a very ugly hedge. They also grew 50’ tall and blocked several of my solar panels. I made a deal with him: I paid to have the nasty trees taken out and the stumps ground, and he paid to put in a new hedge which he agreed to keep at 6’ tall. This all occurred last week. Now I am finally getting full benefit of my solar panels. To my surprise I discovered my health improving dramatically since the fishtail palms are gone!! Turns out I was allergic to them!! I had thought I had “sick house syndrome” and must have black mold growing somewhere that I couldn’t find. When away from home I would feel better! Turns out all these years of poor respiratory health was caused by those &%^~£@ fishtail palms! What a relief to have them gone. Don’t EVER plant those things! They are also LOADED with tiny poisonous crystals, in addition to the hyper-allergenic pollen they produce.
ReplyDeleteGood Morning:
ReplyDeleteWhat a pleasant start to a new week and a new year. A simple, yet well-hidden theme, with an Aha reveal. Wasn’t familiar with Eric or Mae, but perps were fair so no problems. Had Spa before Tub and Nada before None. Always appreciate the low three letter word count, which today was a mere 8. sumdaze, I think you missed the 4 downs, in addition to the 4 acrosses. 😉
Thanks, Dylan, for a fun Monday solve and thanks, sumdaze, for a pleasant tour and analysis. I enjoyed your riff on your Edenic stroll around Lake Erie.
Have a great day.
Happy New Year to all.
ReplyDeleteGood morning!
ReplyDeleteWhat a nice Monday puzzle at the start off the New Year. Thanks, Dylan.
At box 19: AN I or an E?? I don't know actress Whitman, but I had an in-law who spelled her name MAE, so I went with it and guessed right. Google says IMBED and EMBED are synonyms of a sort.
I really wanted a B instead of an E in throe, which is usually seen as a plural, but was solid with OBESE, so I stayed with the E.
I remembered our recent encounter with SNARF vs. scarf, so GIR this time.
I love Phantom of the Opera. I saw the play twice, and saw Michael Crawford recap the music. What a delightful evening!!
My Grandfather had the first style phone in your "Evolution" comic, sumdaze. The earpiece was held in one hand, and the mouthpiece on a tall stick was held in the other. What a nice memory!
Thanks, sumdaze, for your review.
What? I messed up a Monday by entering iMBed and MAi and not rethinking it. (My excuse is that's the way I pronounce it!) FIW. I did change heart to CUPID when perps filled in. And I appreciated the reveal explaining the theme. Thanks, Dylan, for a puzzle with a couple of learning moments today.
ReplyDeleteThanks, sumdaze, for your jolly review. I liked your story at ERIE, too. Any of it true? Nice colorful grid too.
Hope all of you are getting back to normal and have a good day!
Always a different solve for me on the major holidays- my small city doesn't have a newspaper on those days so I do the on-line solve then. It ends up slower in some ways and quicker in others. I do miss the curling up on the couch with the afghan.
ReplyDeleteUntil the reveal I thought the first word of the themers were going to have a link but BZZT.
Always hard to see people in the grocery store line having an entire cart filled with EMPTY CALORIES
I enjoyed SD's links to musicals as I'm a big fan of them in general but those 2 musicals are in my top 10. It's amazing to me that Michael Crawford who was the first and most iconic Phantom both in London and on Broadway also played Cornelius Hackl in the movie version of Hello Dolly! with Barbra Streisand- what a range of acting and singing styles!
Thanks SD and Dylan!
Fun to have a bonus federal holiday today- will have another cup of tea and watch the Rose parade!
Well,
ReplyDeleteTodays puzzle appears ripe for silly links, here goes...
Burn "Britches?"
a helpful guide to burning calories...
burn rubber?
Now, burning daylight has to be a twofer, because that bacon on a biscuit link reminded me of a clip I just saw from a movie I had never seen, called "falling down." the movie scene that made McDonald's serve breakfast all day!
and finally...
Musings
ReplyDelete-Me too, inanehiker, I thought the fun theme was in the first four words not the last
-Many a film director is afraid of BURNING DAYLIGHT.
-Be careful what you say or write in anger. You might be BURING BRIDGES.
-On Saturday, Evan Mulvihill had “9. Okra or orca unit: POD”
-UNABATED to the quarterback
-DIAL – When I was young, I told the operator the number. Now I tell SIRI what number I want.
-Elvis sported a SNEER and a swivel
-TV PANEL evolution – a) rational give and take, b) screaming at each other, c) only going on programs where you won’t be challenged
-My principal had this MINI SKIRT duty in the 60’s and 70’s
-Mike Tyson: “Everybody has a PLAN(A) until they get hit in the mouth”
-A fun and engaging review, Renee!
BURNED thru this one fairly quickly. A lot of old standbys and a gettable theme
ReplyDeleteInkover: throb/THROE, heart/CUPID.
Still SNARFing and not ScARFing food down. ICEBRIDGES? Listen to NINA T on NPR amd knew ANDRÉ. As Sumdaze funnily points out a lot of E(e)RIE common answers.
First time I saw the "Mini Jupe" was on the cover of the magazine "Paris Match in the 1960's in French class... If a girl had shown up with a HEM that high in my (public) HS she would have been suspended. The MINI skirt took a few years to reach central NYS. 😉
Stylish Warsaw woman but not a ____ to fashion.. ..SLAV
Japanese sashes....OBESE
Can't LURE fish if the hook is ____ ..UNABATED.
Hafta start taking down outside Christmas decorations/ lights while the weather is warm (read: above freezing) and is threatening to rain soon
I strolled through this puzzle, enjoying the scenery. I was so relaxed, I forgot to check the reveal. Good one.
ReplyDeleteLucina: queen Elizabeth had corgis, maybe some yorkies too, but she was famous for her love of corgis. DH had a corgi as a child called Miss Pooch.
After the EMPTY CALORIES of holiday feasts, MEMO to self: it’s time to eat LITE. I like fruit brandys and since that contains fruit, it must be healthy.😎
Please forgive my obsessive linking, but it BURNS MY BUTT that I find an "old" movie, that I really want to watch, but I can't because it is only available on one streaming service, that you have to pay for...
ReplyDelete(I'm not going to pay for a complete service just to watch ONE movie!)
But this falling down movie got me intrigued. Why does he have a machine gun in a fast food restaurant? And more importantly, why does being pissed off about rules and regulations, and soggy burgers resonate so loudly in my head? I had to find out more...
In retrospect, I found out later, that this "seemingly" ordinary guy, just had "too much."
He just wanted to visit his daughter on her birthday, but his car broke down, and he needed to make a phone call. Needing change he goes in a Korean convenience store, gets more upset about how the "price of everything" has gotten ridiculous, and somehow walks out with a baseball bat!
Trivia note: this clip got the movie banned in Korea.
(Continued...)
So, here is this "burned out" guy, that just can't take any more, trying to quietly drink his 50 cent coke, when he gets accosted by gang members for " not being able to read their graffiti."
ReplyDeletethis causes him to lose his baseball bat...
But, leads him to get a machine gun?
You've seen the McDonald's scene, but there are many more escapades with the machine gun. But "some how," he gets a bazooka!
the only problem is he doesn't know how to use it!
Now I really want to watch this movie, to see what other silliness occurs. But what is really burning my britches is that looking at these clips, has caused some algorithms to continually and repeatedly pop up ads, that request I "buy or rent"this movie...
I don't wanna buy or rent this movie! It's over priced!
(Hmm, I do have a baseball bat...)
Happy 2023, Everyone!
ReplyDeleteI must be more behind the times than I thought - I’ve never heard of “gif” or “Indeed.com”, but no one commented. Now added to my data base, if I can just remember them.
sumdaze Thank you for the TREK shout out. Two days in a row with TREK calls for a post.
ReplyDeleteHere I entered the Star TREK Experience in Las Vegas in January 2005.
Hand up never heard of BURN DAYLIGHT.
sumdaze Thanks for the ETCH a Sketch Mona Lisa and the many other learning bits. Interesting indeed to consider an ICE BRIDGE from Europe to North America. It seems that there were many MIGRATIONs of humans from both Europe and Asia to North America. No one can claim to be the original natives.
SUMO wrestlers may not be OBESE in the usual sense. But the article notes that as soon as a SUMO wrestler stops the vigorous workouts, they do become OBESE. Life expectancy for SUMO wrestlers? 60-65 years old. About 20 years less than the general Japanese population.
From Yesterday:
ReplyDeleteSplynter Hand up good to see you again! I loved your posts when you were an official blogger.
Lucina Still not sure if you ever saw my reply about BAT MITZVAH?
CanadianEh, AnonT Thank you for the kind words about my Pompidou Center and DAVE BARRY photos. Yes, there will only ever be one Mark Twain. Even if half the things he said he never actually said!
You inspired me to post this short video of some street dancers playing around at the Pompidou Center.
Nothing fancy; just fun to watch them having fun.
ReplyDeleteGood morning. Thank you, Dylan, and thank you, Sumdaze
Couldn't figure out the theme until I got to the clue at 54D and entered BURN. Nice.
- The image for evolution of the phone made me think of the time when consumers were first able to buy and use their own phones. Then the "princess phone" came out, and it seemed that everyone just had to get one.
- Hand up for heart before CUPID.
- Loved that "Solar Panel" cartoon. I'll bet they shed some light on the subjects they were seated for.
- I agree, sumdaze, Rami Malek was great as Freddie Mercury.
-Hover I did !
- CRUD - I scrubbed the kitchen sink with scouring powder the other day. Then I noticed that the bottom of the strainer needed to be scoured. I took the rubber stopper off of the strainer, and OMG ! There was a lot of CRUD that was trapped between the stopper and the strainer. Yuck !
Neat Monday puzzle, many thanks, Dylan. And enjoyed your commentary, Sumdaze, thanks for that too.
ReplyDeleteWell, this puzzle had some positive recommendations, didn't it? If we get ourselves a MENU with EMPTY CALORIES we can probably avoid becoming OBESE. After you lose some weight, and become LAID BACK, you might even be allowed to enjoy as single glass of PLUM BRANDY. But then be sure to go back to PLAN A and eat LITE food, and have some OKRA to get some IRON, and spend some time in the SPAS.
Have a great first week of the year coming up, everybody.
OK CED, your contribution demanded that I post this "bridges" link.
ReplyDeleteThen there was Howard Beale in Network.
Gary, I'll see your MINI SKIRT test and raise you the Ann Landers pencil test. Put a yellow #2 pencil in the inframammary fold (underboob). If it falls out, you don't need to wear a (crossword autofill) bra.
Marvellous Monday. Thanks for the fun, Dylan and sumdaze (LOL at your comment re ERIE).
ReplyDeleteI FIRed in good time, but needed the reveal to see the BURN theme. Hamilton is returning to Toronto in February at the Princess of Wales theatre. Its previous run was cut short in March 2020 by the pandemic.
I had three inkblot areas.
Heart changed to CUPID. I see that I am not alone here.
My “bubble bath spot” was a SPA but turned into a TUB. SPAS was needed at 49D.
I wanted to Attach that email gif, but only entered the AT before I realized it wasn’t going to fit. EMBED ensued (see next paragraph).
The NE corner was the last to fall; I had no idea about Indeed.com, I was deciding whether those college students were going to Aver or Avow their declaration, and didn’t know Whitman. When MAJOR dawned after an alphabet run for the J, the rest unravelled.
My first thought for 44A was In Plain Sight, but BROAD DAYLIGHT fit.
Spinach was too long, KALE is the newer superfood. (And Misty’s OKRA?)
I noted STREP crossing STRIP.
Plenty of names, but perps were fair.
Great link to our CBC re ICE BRUDGES. Thanks sumdaze.
CSOs to LEO and NINA (inanehiker). Any UTAH natives or SLAVs?
Wishing you all a great day.
Wendybird- I’m with you about gifs. Reading more about them, I see that they would be virtually useless as an attachment; they are meant to be embedded. What we don’t learn doing CWs.
ReplyDelete@CED - if you still have a DVD player - see if the movie is available to check out from your local library
ReplyDeleteThanks Dylan for your fine FIRable Monday puzzle. Not too hard, not too soft, it was a true Goldilocks of a puzzle.
ReplyDeleteAnd thank you sumdaze for the guided tour. I didn't get the theme until the reveal, and even then didn't get it. After all it's the day after New Years and my eyes are still BURNING.
Fav fill: 48A OED. Years ago we bought the Two-vol. edition and luckily we read the fine print before buying it. We used to refer to it frequently, but it has been largely obsoleted by the Internet. We still use the nifty magnifying glass though.
Cheers,
Bill
p.s. Oh and I pronounce GIFs like the peanut butter.
I think the other bloggers will agree that it is so interesting to read everyone's comments after spending days immersed in a puzzle. You all have so much to contribute! TTP, Picard, Misty, et al.
ReplyDeleteCED @ 10:11. Loved "burn rubber".
IM @ 9:12. Thank you for the correction. I thought that seemed too good to be true. I should have "triple"-checked.
ATLGranny @ 9:53. Not a word is true. I was playing with a list of the most common 4-letter CW fills.
unclefred @ 9:05. That is wild about the fishtale palms. So happy to hear you are rid of them! I am going to read more about that.
I heard "BURNING DAYLIGHT" many mornings during my cowboying years. It surprises me that some people were not familiar with the saying. It just goes to show what our individual backgrounds bring to the solve.
Hi All!
ReplyDeleteThanks Dylan for the quick Monday puzzle that didn't BURN me.
Great expo, sumdaze. Interesting about Kale / Pizza Hut.
WO: JOB liSTINGS
ESPs: ERIC, MAE, SOO, ANDRE
Fav: NICK at NITE - in college, DW & I caught up on every Dick Van Dyke, MTM, Patty Duke, & Dobie Gillis. Also Dragnet (but DW didn't fancy that).
Runner-up: NINA Totenberg - not only a great reporter but also 'cuz her stories, inre: Sotomayor's hearings, prompted Youngest (at 9yrs) to strive for the Supreme Court. She (Youngest) starts pre-law in the fall. NINA's back-story is fascinating too with 'inside the BELTway' scoops.
Pop's DW had YORKIES. And they are good at rodent hunting - one eve we had a blast drinking beer & watching Bitsy (Yorkie) & Sicily (lab-mix) mouse in the garage; the dogs communicated like magic (and they got their varmint).
I know I'm wrong but I still pronounce it the way I heard it - Hard-G .gif.
Unclefred - that is awful about 'sick home' but fantastic you figured it out and your neighbor agreed re: palms. And a plus for your solar PANELs.
Inanehiker - I know exactly what you mean about carts full of crap-food. I guess it's 'cuz it's cheaper than real food(?)
HG - Great "learning" links (that's a real football rule?). I remember the Nuns performing skirt-checks on the girls. Some of the girls still had their uniforms from years earlier so... titillation at the Catholic School :-)
RosE - Fun story - I've only seen the stick-phones in old movies. Rotaries are my grandparent memories. I'm curious if you still have it.
MAJOR? I knew(ish) mine when I was 14. I wanted to be a Computer Architect (Mike Brady was an architect and had a nice house). I was later told that there was no such thing but EE was close, so I did that.
Maybe BURNING DAYLIGHT is a Midwest expression for lulling about. I've heard it all my life. That, and "Make Hay while the Sun Shines." Basically, 'get your ass in gear while there's still light out.'
Speaking of...
Cheers, -T
Waseeley: I too used to have the two volume fine print OED. I got it free when I joined some book of the month club many years ago. When we moved this year, I gave it away. Indeed, it had a nice magnifier.
ReplyDeleteAnon-T, Alas, my grandfather's telephone is long gone, probably to the fact that my family, on both sides, was not into keeping things for sentimental value or historic significance. Many things, in hindsight, I wish I had now.
ReplyDeleteOf note, my father's extensive Lionel train set, stored in my grandfather's basement, was lost to the flooding of hurricane Agnes.
You can view many old classic movies free on a video site named heritage films.
ReplyDeleteI liked this puzzle. I liked yesterday's too.
ReplyDeleteunclefred, I am so glad you discovered it was those fishtail palms that were harming your health and that you are so much better now that they are gone.
Thank you, sumdaze, for your review.
LW and I made one New Year resolution: that we would make no resolutions.
Good wishes to you all.
Misty, I think you have misunderstood the meaning of EMPTY CALORIES. They do not let you lose weight. On the contrary, they are calories that are stored as fat, but provide no useful nutrition. Meaning they are likely to make you OBESE.
ReplyDeleteHappy New Year, all!
ReplyDeleteToday, sumdaze escorts us as we "Feel-the-Burn" machinations of Mr. Schiff's XWD!
Did somebody already 'splain why it is SNARF and not SCARF?
Please point me toward the reasoning.
I used to say "scarf" in England, and nobody corrected me.
Were they just being polite?
Say, I heard that Meryl STREEP had STREP.
Doesn't one cancel the other out?
The NY Times had PRADA today.
(Coincidence? I. Think. Not.)
~ OMK
____________
DR: Two diagonals, each per side.
WE got us a W I N N A H!
The near diag yields a JackPOT!!!
ALL 15 letters are used to give us an anagram that describes the status of Br'er Rabbit when he feels most secure from the predations of Br'er Fox and Br'er Bear.
We all know he likes his ...
"BRIAR RECUMBENCY"!
And PS...
ReplyDelete"BRIAR," being part of today's anagram JackPOT, will be recognized as appropriate by pipe aficionados.
A BRIAR BURN of a certain depth is necessary to protect the bowl. To cure virgin briar, you need to let it burn slowly, to build up a cake, not let it get too hot--and not wipe it out too soon.
~ OMK
I see my long posting has disappeared!
ReplyDeleteNot the first time this has happened.
Why?
There was nothing political or controversial in it.
I won't try to repeat the entire thing--just make note of today's diagonal anagram because it would be a shame to see it go to waste.
It provides us with a rare JackPOT!
(With ALL15 letters in use.)
Today's near-side anagram describes Br'er Rabbit's sense of security when he feels most safe from the predations of Br'er Fox and Br'er Bear.
We all know the trickster bunny enjoys his...
"BRIAR RECUMBENCY"!
~ OMK
Thanks for explaining, Meaning Man. I had no idea, and I will certainly continue to do my best to avoid empty calories, if I can.
ReplyDeleteMy only comment from last week is same today
ReplyDelete"A little bit of work for a Monday "
And …
Fln re. Michael's late post: How about "Dying for Dummies"
Same missteps: ScARF,THROb, spa/TUB
Picard, Star TREK Vegas must have made your day
CED , you've outdone yourself; I had to share the KMA clip
NtSof that Uber violent clip
-T, no "I Love Lucy"? Phil in 90s binge watched it
True story. My son spent a semester at Catholic school and found the uniforms very sexy vs wear anything public
EMPTY CALORIES is indeed an oxymoron
WC
-T @ 1:50: "I know I'm wrong but I still pronounce it the way I heard it - Hard-G .gif."
ReplyDeleteI'm with you, but there is another level to be considered. In Spanish and Ukrainian, the hard 'g' becomes an 'h,' so we then have 'heef'!
WC @8:25pm --
ReplyDelete"empty calories" is, I think, an oxymoron if you take it literally, since calories, by definition have some kind of physical effect or quality. But if you think of "empty" as describing a lack of any nourishment associated with them, then it makes perfect sense: you're ingesting substance that has no value.
I guess!!!
FIW! I'll not paste my rant about E/I or similar combos of words depending on the name of some obscure (TO ME!!!) actor, actress, politician or whatever of whom I've never heard. Anyway, I had IMBED/MAI.
ReplyDeleteOops, looks like I just paraphrased it.
Not all taco trucks have the menu on them:
Tila’s Tacos
Leo III - Brilliant Taco truck! //where in H-Town is that?
ReplyDeleteMichael - funny. Just what I needed to rest.
Cheers, -T
Oh, Yes, my mind is ever slipping away to never, never land I'm afraid. That is how it seems anyway.
ReplyDeleteTanteNque
Thank you for that correction about the Queen's CORGIS not yorkies. As the strawman or was it the tinman, said, "if I only had a brain".
I hope the New Year is starting well for everyone.
Yes, the scarecrow wanted a brain; the tin nan wanted a heart. Didn't the lion want courage?
ReplyDelete-T --- I first saw the truck in March, 2016. We had our raffle plane at an aviation event up at Conroe airport. That's when I got a photo of it (not the one I posted here). We were set up right across from the truck, and I was literally laughing all day long. I'm pretty sure it was Carlos making the tacos that day, but they were very excellent. (I AM a taco aficionado! Tacos are one of my basic food groups!)
ReplyDeleteI can't really tell what's going on here. It looks like Tila has lost her lease for her restaurant at least two times since I first saw the truck. I can't tell whether the restaurant is up and running right now or not, but it looks like the food truck is still operational. There are a couple of phone numbers on her website.
Now you know as much as I do. I'm going to have to do some research.
Sandy, as I recall the wizard's gift to the scarecrow was a diploma which is quite apropos
ReplyDeleteThe other gifts were similarly apropos but I forget exactly what they were
WC