google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Sunday Janaury 7, 2024 Jordan Hildebrandt

Gary's Blog Map

Jan 7, 2024

Sunday Janaury 7, 2024 Jordan Hildebrandt

Theme: "Following Protocol" - Each HTTP error is re-phrased as knight-related:

22. HTTP 504: Knight fails to return to castle before portcullis closes for curfew: GATEWAY TIME OUT.

 35. HTTP 403: Knight not approved to embark on second search for the Holy Grail: FORBIDDEN REQUEST.

49. HTTP 419: Knight's squire's apprenticeship no longer in force: PAGE EXPIRED.

80. HTTP 500: Knight fails to tip waitstaff at banquet: SERVER ERROR.

96. HTTP 405: Knight illegally aims for opponent's head during joust: METHOD NOT ALLOWED.

Reveal:

113. Medieval protocol for knights, or an alternate title for this puzzle?: CODE OF CHIVALRY.

I bet D-Otto and Anon-T enjoyed this puzzle. They know all the errors. Thankfully you don't need to know those error messages to solve this grid. 

Don't recall seeing such a theme anywhere before. Love the freshness and originality.

Across:

1. Totally wiped: BEAT.

5. College Board exam for jrs.: PSAT.

9. Fondant colorer: DYE. I did not know the meaning of "fondant", cake icing.



12. Dream big: ASPIRE.

18. Roman aqueduct section: ARCH.

19. Active volcano on Sicily: ETNA.

20. Timely benefit: BOON.

21. Bedouin, e.g.: ROAMER. Brave souls, those who live in the Sahara.


25. Soft cotton fabric: MUSLIN.

26. Literary comparisons: SIMILES.

27. Organs that affect balance: EARS. 39. Swab for 27-Across: Q-TIP.

28. Boutonniere counterpart: CORSAGE.

29. Bed cover: DUVET.

30. "Turn up the heat!": BRR. Bill & Margret's new co-op place is toasty. And I feel so safe and loved.  Margaret painted these.


 

31. Fade, say: WEAR.

33. Triangles on a map, typically: Abbr.: MTNS.

34. Flower in some O'Keeffe paintings: IRIS.

40. Snap veggies: PEAS.

41. Sign into law: ENACT.

42. Push notifications: E-ALERTS. Not a word I use. All my notifications are off. I check when I want to check.

43. DOJ staffers: ATTYS.

45. Ryan of "Star Trek: Picard": JERI.

46. Puglia lang.: ITAL. Not familiar with Puglia.

53. Gets fit: SHAPES UP.

57. Routine material: JOKES. Stand-up routine.

58. Store securely: STOW.

59. Blues label based in Memphis: STAX.

60. Icy layer: RIME.

61. "Pressure" singer Lennox: ARI.

62. Tennis unit: SET.

65. Some fossils: TEETH.

67. Citi player: MET. Patti is long-time Mets fan.

69. 16th POTUS: ABE.

70. Baby carrier: WOMB.

72. Spindly: BONY.

74. Villain's hideaway: LAIR.

76. "The Sparks Brothers" director Wright: EDGAR. He often collaborates with Simon Pegg.


78. Commuters' region: SUBURBIA.

83. Meh: SO SO.

84. Lump of soil: CLOD.

86. Finnish tech giant: NOKIA.

87. Lowered a lot, as prices: SLASHED.

90. New cadet: PLEBE.

92. Rowdy crowds: MOBS.

100. French friend: AMIE.

101. Fairy tale meanie: OGRE.

102. White peg in Battleship: MISS.

103. Car port?: AUX. Connection port. 


104. Waterfall on a doughnut production line: GLAZE.



105. Fuel mining site: COAL PIT.

107. Angry speech: RANT.

109. Toyota sedan: COROLLA.

112. Suggest: HINT AT.

116. Rise: ASCENT.

117. "Sadly ... ": ALAS.

118. Spark interest?: LEND. Great clue.

119. For a __ pittance: MERE.

120. Hi-fi system: STEREO.

121. Civil rights initialism: BLM. Black Lives Matters.

122. Brouhahas: ADOS.

123. 115-Down votes: AYES. 115. Affirmative: YES.

Down:

1. Sack: BAG.

2. Error remnant: ERASURE.

3. Probiotic yogurt brand: ACTIVIA.

4. Rap anthem by Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five: THE MESSAGE. 1982. Another learning moment for me.



5. Ring out: PEAL.

6. Warm compress target, maybe: STYE.

7. Termite eaters: ANTS.

8. Mai __: cocktail: TAI.

9. "Monsters, Inc." factory product: DOOR.

10. "Pinkie promise?": YOU SWEAR. Also 14. Make the grade: PASS MUSTER. 71. Place for a pick-me-up?: BUS SHELTER. 85. "Time to blow this popsicle stand": LET'S ROLL. Excellent entries.

11. Isengard attacker: ENT.

12. Weapons expert: ARMORER.

13. Sweet and __: SOUR.

15. "Better get a move on!": I'M LATE.

16. Royal tenures: REIGNS.

17. "Ready Player One" author Cline: ERNEST.


20. Santa costume need: BEARD.

23. Sharp quality: WIT.

24. Warrant: MERIT.

28. Attention: CARE.

29. Swing dance move: DIP.

30. "The Graham Norton Show" airer: BBC.

32. Recruit: ENLIST.

35. Big bash: FETE.

36. Agate kin: ONYX.

37. Speaks with a sore throat: RASPS.

38. "No good __ goes unpunished": DEED.

44. Model/activist Holliday: TESS.



45. Like tiaras: JEWELED.

47. Parmesan substitute: ASIAGO.

48. __ support: LUMBAR.

49. Like a sponge: POROUS.

50. With hands on hips: AKIMBO.

51. Teensy: ITTY.

52. Fishy topping: ROE.

54. Goofy sort: HAM.

55. Splitting tool: AXE.

56. Coeval: PEER. Is "coeval" a common word?

57. Spielberg shark thriller: JAWS.

59. Sister on "Succession": SHIV. Unknown to me. Happy for the new clue angle.

63. Flow partner: EBB.

64. You, in Montrรฉal: TOI.

66. Driveway-patching gunk: TAR.

68. Actress Hatcher: TERI.

73. Cheesy layered snack: NACHOS.

75. Keep up on the issues?: RENEW.

77. One prone to histrionics, informally: DRAMA LLAMA. Learned from doing crosswords.

79. Hershey caramel candy: ROLO.

80. Faygo or Fanta: SODA. Wikipedia says Faygo is "a soft drink company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan."

81. Get-up on Sunday morning?: ROBE. Sweet clue also.

82. __ out a living: EKED.

88. Come clean about: ADMIT TO.

89. Sulky mood: SNIT.

90. Ninth planet, until 2006: PLUTO.

91. Fishy topping: LOX.

93. Ill-fated "Grey's Anatomy" resident George: O'MALLEY.



94. Nutty: BIZARRE.

95. Match at the poker table: SEE.

96. Coffee-and-chocolate concoctions: MOCHAS.

97. Narcissist: EGOIST.

98. Hypnotic state: TRANCE.

99. Areas of expertise: LANES. Splynter's lane is wide.

104. Sen.'s domain: GOV.

106. Greenhouse unit: PANE.

108. Genesis figure: ADAM.

109. Included in an email thread: CC'ED.

110. "How terrible!": OH NO.

111. Divests (of): RIDS.

113. Uber or Lyft alternative: CAB.

114. Tampa's st.: FLA.

C.C.


I was very sad to learn that Old Man Keith passed away. He was an active member of our blog for so many years. Always a gentleman. You can learn more his life here.


46 comments:

  1. Good morning!

    Recognized the error messages, but the clues didn't send my mind there. They made sense after they filled in. Went wrong with BUS Station, but that's what Wite-Out's for. There were several unknown names, but the perps were fair. I often find 21X21 puzzles to be a slog, but this one was fun. Thanx, Jordan and C.C. (I got a malware warning about your Puglia image.)

    ReplyDelete
  2. I saw what the constructor was “getting at” at about the second themed entry. After that, it wasn’t too difficult to figure things out. FIR, so I’m happy.
    FLN - Welcome back, SS. I’m very happy to see your return and I’m sure “Ms. Irish Miss” as you call her is quite happy as well. (Are we the “ three musketeers” of the group or what?) Anyway, it’s good to have your “wit and wisdom” back among us. Blessings!

    ReplyDelete
  3. FIR, but erased jedi for JERI, ani for ARI, ascend for ASCENT, skor for ROLO, and bizzare for BIZARRE (UNTIE!)

    Today is:
    NATIONAL BOBBLEHEAD DAY (they have been around for more than 100 years. My favorite is of Neil Boortz, a former Atlanta talk show blabbermouth and all around rabble rouser)
    NATIONAL TEMPURA DAY (in 1549, Portuguese sailors arrived in Japan and introduced this way of battering seafood and vegetables)

    ATTN Jordan and Patty: There is a difference between an abbreviation (ABE) and an acronym (POTUS.)

    I've never heard of a COAL PIT, and I grew up in Eastern Kentucky. LIU; it's a term used in the United Kingdom and South Africa.

    If you believe that BLM is a civil rights organization, I've got a fine bridge to sell you.

    I'm too weak to split wood with an AXE. I use wedges and sledge.

    Would it have killed you to clue LET'S ROLL as "Flight 197 heroic phrase"?

    I'm somewhere around 45 minutes to 3 hours away from TAMPA, depending on I-4 traffic. Reminds me of I-405 ("The 405") in SoCal.

    A rare FIR that I didn't enjoy. Thanks to CC for the fun review.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. As I recall they call this type "open pit mines" and they are used to dig for coal or other types of minerals rather than tunnels.

      Delete
  4. SERVER ERROR is the error of the "knight," not the server. The knight left no tip.

    Waterfall on a doughnut production line: GLAZE. But glaze is not water.

    Place for a pick-me-up?: BUS SHELTER. What is a bus shelter? Perhaps "bus stop shelter."

    Goofy sort: HAM. Another clue too far afield. Hams can be goofy, but they can be tall or blond. Goofy and HAM are not intrinsically related.

    Nutty: BIZARRE. Same problem as above.

    Areas of expertise: LANES. No, they are not. LANES are in no way related to fields of expertise --- especially if the field is the English language.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. There are other types, such as waterfall braid, a hairdo that doesn't have water involved.

      Delete
  5. FIR. I found this to be a little crunchy for a Sunday puzzle. Still scratching my head over drama llama, which I've never heard of, and the crossing of Shiv and Stax required an educated guess, and I guessed right.
    Got the theme on the first clue and answer, and the rest fell into place after that.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Took 18:23 today to finish coding this one.

    Good Sunday puzzle today.

    Thanks, SubG. I'd be honored just to be included in the same sentence as you and the admirable Ms. Irish Miss.

    Great trip, but like they say, it's great to be home too.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Good Morning:

    This was certainly a creative and well-executed theme but was a little too technically focused to offer much in the way of word play or sparkle in the themers themselves. However, CC's professional eye caught several noteworthy clues and entries that I glossed over, but now admire and appreciate. The solve wasn't difficult but it was slow-going because of the numerous unknowns, to me, including Stax, The Message, O'Malley, and, as clued, Ari, Edgar, Shiv, Ernest, and Tess. I went astray at Thin/Bony and MLK/BLM, not too bad for a Sunday grid. Also unknown were two themers, Gateway Time Out and Method Not Allowed. Ayes crossing Yes stood out, as did the clecho cluing for Roe and Lox. I have never seen or heard the word Coeval, and at first glance I thought it was a typo for Coequal. I think the puzzle was a pangram, but didn't verify that thought.

    Thanks, Jordan, and thanks, CC, for the review and commentary. I enjoy and appreciate your inside information and opinions as they give a different perspective to the work being critiqued. I'm glad Bill and Margaret are such good friends to you. Margaret's quite talented, judging from the photo.

    SubG @ 5:47 ~ Three Musketeers, indeed! ๐Ÿคฃ

    FLN

    SS, welcome back. Hope you had fun in the sun in the Sunshine state. ๐Ÿ‘๐ŸŒด

    Have a great day. BTW, the new season of All Creatures Great And Small begins tonight on PBS.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Yes IM, it is a pangram Jeri, quest, aux and bizarre ensured that. KS, I, too, never heard drama llama, drama queen, yes.

    Wanted nomads for Bedouin, but it wasn't plural. Backed into ari instead of Ani, Itty instead of itsy and plebe instead of probe(y) as in NCIS probationary agent. Sorry, I have no accent agree to use, ergo (y).

    Great theme, Jordan. Too bad you couldn't find two others for the long vertical fill at 14D and 71D. C.C., you are right on the spot again for your Sunday assessment. We'll done each of you.

    Nothing ventured, nothing decided.

    SNOW!!!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Musings
    -Error codes paired with knight behaviors: amazing.
    -JOKES: Nobody did it better than Rodney Dangerfield
    -It’s easy to tell what types of animals belonged to these fossil TEETH
    -I still have no idea about Friday’s SLASH FICTION
    -George O’MALLEY met his fate at a BUS SHELTER
    -For several years we had PEER coevals in our classrooms
    -“Stay in your own LANE” is advice for me when I criticize people who have skills I don’t
    -The huge COAL pile just a ¼ mile south of me is from PITS in Wyoming
    -Waterfall counter top

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. HG @10:43 AM Got a 404 trying to open your "Waterfall counter top". Was that a "meta comment"? ๐Ÿ˜€

      Delete
  10. I like the theme, though it took some time to get them. I had to check for errors a few times to find my mistakes, but that was enough to keep me moving forward without any reveals. That makes for a good puzzle, by my standards.

    ReplyDelete
  11. It was an easy puzzle to FIR but I would use the word BIZARRE to describe it, but I am not familiar with those particular error messages. If you don't log off or close out from a financial site you'll get a 'timed out' or 'session closed' but that's the only ones I remember. The only trouble I had was in the SW where I filled PEAT BOG for the 'Fuel mining site but the perps corrected it to COAL PIT.

    "Push notifications"- I always block them; they would drive you crazy if you allowed them from sites you visit. E-ALERT? Never heard of it. Like C.C., I get zero notifications except for text alerts.

    Unknowns- JERI Ryan, EDGAR, MISS, DYE, THE MESSAGE, ARI, TESS, ENT, DOOR, BBC, Coeval & PEER, SHIV, ERNEST, OMALLEY- all those A&E fills were perps

    I wanted to fill LEAD for "Spark interest" but OH NO changed it from interesting to financial.

    AKIMBO- is that word used anywhere other than a crossword puzzle? Curious.
    TESS? C.C., you can't unsee something. She need to be modeling for Ozempic, not Cosmo.
    "Coevel"- the answer is NO.
    DRAMA LLAMA- easy fill but I'd only heard the term 'drama queen', usually referring to either young boys or girls who overreact to any and everything.

    BUS SHELTER- I read an interesting article this week about Greyhound shutting down bus depots. The real estate is more valuable to somebody else and many too vagrants continually hang around the depots.

    Jinx- shakedown artists live and breathe everywhere. What I don't like is when you buy something the clerks at some stores and restaurant chains ask "would you like to 'round up' or 'donate' to some charity. We donate both time and money to various charities and appreciate their suggestions about as much as I like the 'tip jar' you see at just about everywhere these days.



    ReplyDelete
  12. Yeah, "waterfall" is what they call schedule planning methodology that produces Gantt charts that look like stairsteps. No water in the carts, although I have seen plenty of plans that are all wet.

    Our poor Product Promotion people used to use "stay in your lane" a lot. Seems that everyone thinks they could do a better job in advertising than the folks who are trained and paid to do it.

    Not in the puzzle, but I've often called clueless people "404s," (File Not Found.)

    Where I grew up, mining was 1) underground or B) surface (AKA strip.)

    ReplyDelete
  13. Big Easy - Yeah, I hate those too, except for the tip jars. If the crew is competent and attentive I'll throw in a bill or two.

    I used to be a big proponent of United Way. I earmarked my contributions to the Boy Scouts of America. Then I found out that yes, my dollars went there, but they reduced the amount they gave from the general fund by the same amount. Then for a while our senior management decided we would be 100% participating. It was made known that although not mandatory, at least a one-time contribution would be in your financial best interest. I found out later that the parade of senior management touting their participation as "Fair Share" contributors was followed a month or two later with cancellations. (A few were true believers, but most were pretenders.) One year we got notification that under no circumstances were we compelled to contribute, and that our performance rating or pay would not be affected by our contribution decisions. Sounds like Legal stepped in.

    ReplyDelete
  14. I recognize the cleverness and difficulty of creating such a puzzle. I’ve gotten some of those annoying error messages. They usually make me panic. That’s how I felt throughout this puzzle. Also, with interruptions it took a while, but I eventually finished it.

    CC, Puglia is home to a wonderful bread I buy regularly at Albertson’s called pugliese bread.

    I like the word AKIMBO, and, yes, I’m afraid to say, I use it occasionally.

    I had never heard DRAMA LLAMA either, just DRAMA queen, but I like it, I like the rhyme.

    ReplyDelete
  15. CC Thank you for the Keith Fowler Wikipedia article. Quite an honor for an honorable man.

    I found this extremely difficult. I did not know any of the names. Except, of course JERI RYAN. She doubled viewership on Star Trek Voyager. Not only was she beautiful, she was one of the most interesting characters. She indirectly may have led to Obama becoming president. Google it.

    The theme was amusing, but even this nerd did not know those codes. Last area to fill was that massive cross of proper names STAX/SHIV/MET/TERI/EDGAR/ASIAGO. Had WORKS OUT before SHAPES UP. FIR.

    Here we saw BEDOUINs along the highway in Israel near the Good Samaritan site.

    The BEDOUINs manage to live in peace amid so much conflict around them.

    From Yesterday:
    Monkey Thank you for the update on the famed GOTHIC cathedral. So tragic, but good to know so much of it was saved. I wondered if it ever would reopen. Yes, I think "adjacent" letters would be more correct than "consecutive".

    Regarding the BLOOD BANK controversy, some indeed take DONORs. Our BLOOD BANK is huge and sterile. One time I was a DONOR there and when I filled the bag, there was no one in sight or earshot to help! Since then, I prefer to be a DONOR at the Bloodmobiles. The Bloodmobile will be back in three weeks and I am signed up.

    AnonT Thank you for the America link for Ventura. Me, too! Some of it is dream-like. I love the alligator lizards here, but rarely see them in the air!

    ReplyDelete
  16. Jinx- Last year DW and I took her 96-year old aunt's car to a drive-thru car wash in Spring Hill, FL. As I was about to pay the ONLY person who worked there offered to put my credit card into the reader (I could have done it) and one of the options was "Tip for the Staff".

    The only 'staff' was Diane and George, who dried off the card, vacuumed the floors, and cleaned the windows. I've encountered many similar situations but that was the worst.

    NO TIP was entered. None of the car washes in the NOLA area have that option (yet). Their new schtick is to sell a monthly subscription for unlimited washes. No thanks on that one either.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Had 'ITSY' for 'ITTY' which gave me 'SEETH' for the fossil clue. It looked wrong but I couldn't see my way past it. :-(

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous @1:10 PM Same FIW here. I've never seen Succession so I didn't know sister Shiv. Does she have a sharp WIT?

      Delete
  18. Hi Y'all! I had absolutely no idea what those theme numbers stood for. Don't remember getting anything like them on my screen. Another constructor whose language I do not speak. I filled the puzzle with help of red-letter runs in places such as described by other commenters. Too many unknowns, both words & names.

    C.C., thank you for an informative expo.

    I still don't know what PUGLIA is. Do I care enough to google it?

    I was surprised no one seems to know about COAL PIT. I remember flying in somewhere out west over a huge open pit coal mine with huge machines that looked like ants.

    Hand up for DRAMA queen at first. Don't find a LLAMA very dramatic, unless while spitting on you.

    ReplyDelete
  19. I loved the theme and several of the nifty fill (PASS MUSTER, etc.) that C.C. already pointed out. I learned that ants eat termites. ORC became ENT, SHEET became DUVET, WANE became WEAR, HOAR became RIME, and PRAM became WOMB. The very fact that answer X could become answer Y is what, IMO, defines a crossword puzzle as a crossword puzzle.

    Names I did not know, but got from the perps:
    STAX label
    EDGAR Wright
    THE MESSAGE and Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five
    ERNEST Cline
    "The Graham Norton Show" but BBC emerged after I got B-C
    TESS Holliday
    SHIV
    George O'MALLEY.

    Names I did know:
    ETNA
    JERI Ryan
    NOKIA
    TERI Hatcher.

    With all of the above names, none of the answers is amenable to the "It could have been X but turned out to be Y" rubric. No sussing possible. Logic cannot be used. Nothing more than mere trivia knowledge.

    Is ASIAGO really a Parmesan substitute?

    Good reading you all.

    ReplyDelete
  20. PK@2:05 Puglia is a city in Italy famous for its delicious bread.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Nope. A big DNF for me! Frustration overwhelmed me with an overabundance of esoteric defs and allusions to pop-culture. After just 90 minutes with just 1/4 coverage, I caved. I yearn for the days puzzles were based on general knowledge, not just evanescent pop-culture trivia. I'm ready for your brick -bracks ....let'em fly!

    ReplyDelete
  22. Taylor Swift is very popular these days, and is getting very rich, but will any of her songs be remembered 20 or 100 years from now? Evanescent indeed.

    ReplyDelete
  23. Well, I had to do 2 puzzles today - the one in my newspaper was titled,"That's Amore" by Gary Larson & Amy Ensz - usually when that happens that puzzle shows up in a few weeks. When it wasn't the puzzle in the blog - I then went online to solve "Following Protocol" by Jordan.
    I have seen a couple of HTTP error messages over the years - but not most of these- but it was solvable without knowing the original computer message with the silly knight cluing in my usual time!

    I knew fondant is cake icing that looks beautiful - but is all for show- the taste is SOSO!
    I think Puglia is just a region of ITALy like Tuscany or Umbria- ITALian is spoken there

    Thanks CC for the blog and Jordan for the puzzle

    ReplyDelete
  24. Thank you Jordan! As I related earlier I FIWd this one not knowing "Sister SHIV". That said, as a retired IT guy I thought this is one of the cleverest puzzles to come to the Corner. I've seen a lot of the numeric codes IRL, but certainly don't recall all of them. But I do remember their textual descriptions (what the network was complaining about) and it was pretty easy to suss them with a few perps. I just double-checked them all from a list on the Wiki and the fill for each was a legitimate "in the jargon" translation of this bumbling Knight's faux pas -- he may have been CHIVALROUS, but I doubt that he got a lot of ROSES from the QUEEN.

    And thank you C.C. for another fine review, making the themers much easier to understand for non-techies. And thank you for the tribute to Keith Fowler. Not only was he a gentleman and a scholar, but I really loved his SLANT on the diagonals he'd discover in each puzzle.

    Cheers,
    Bill

    ReplyDelete
  25. @Jayce - Taylor Swift's first hits were around ~2008, which is 15 years ago - so I'm sure she'll make it to 20 at least ;)

    ReplyDelete
  26. Jinx @11:22 AM The Mesabi Range in Northern Minnesota has extensive deposits of iron ore in open pits. Two centuries ago American colonists used to mine copper ore in small open pits a hundred yards or so behind my son's house near Liberty Reservoir in Carrol County, MD. A hundred years after that American citizens dug shafts deep into the Earth to mine the same copper and some chrome.

    ReplyDelete
  27. FLN: Chairman Moe, I still look around every now and then.     I don't read most of the comments; I'm just looking for spam.     I'm practicing to be an introvert :>)

    Just watched the Titans beat the Jags.     Unbelievable turn of events.     BTW, the moniker "Coach Cliche" made me laugh.     Too funny!

    ReplyDelete
  28. Welcome back SpeedySolver. Somehow I missed your return before my post.

    Anthony Gael Moral - You've never heard "stay in your LANE" for deal with your job and let us do ours.

    Waterfall is also and (older) programming methodology mostly replaced by Agile. More than you (probably) wanted to know.

    All you ever wanted to know about HTTP - RFC2616 and RFC9110.

    Years ago, the Girls taught me Drama Llama.

    BigE - I've also noticed suggested tips went from 10/15/20% to 18/20/25%. I'm going to back to paying in cash so I can just leave the change for a cup of coffee.

    Indeed R.I.P. OMK. Those who have my puz2blog program will recognize his avatar as the desktop icon. I used that 'cuz he called me Anonymous -T when I still posted anonymously. I liked the ring it had and created my avatar from his "suggestion." And, I used his avatar for the bloggers program as an homage.

    Cheers, -T

    ReplyDelete
  29. Bill, the fill was COAL PIT.

    Bayou Tony - cool OMK connection.

    ReplyDelete
  30. Even though I can’t claim a true FIR ( I had to ask Jack for one answer) I really enjoyed this puzzle. The themers were unusual and fun, and the fillers were a bit unusual, such as AKIMBO, PASS MUSTER, WOMB, which kept it interesting. Perps helped with the pop culture, so it seems the constructor wanted us to enjoy ourselves.

    Thanks, Jordan for the nice challenge, and thanks,C.C., for the great tour. How’s the flutter kick coming along?

    Fingers crossed for a Michigan win tomorrow. GO BLUE!!

    ReplyDelete
  31. Anon-T

    I have never heard "stay in your LANE" for deal with your job and let us do ours" but I'm sure everybody has heard:

    "That's not my job"

    After a few times of hearing that said I usually would find a reason to make it severely unpleasant and that person would be on the street looking for 'his job'. I welcomed suggestions from any employee.

    ReplyDelete
  32. Hola!

    I finally finished this puzzle which I started early this morning. It just did not move me to finish quickly. In fact, I dozed in between times. I got the "knight" theme all right and found it mildly amusing.

    DRAMA LLAMA is a new term for me. I had DRAMA QUEEN first but of course that quickly proved wrong.

    My late friend, Betty, had a Toyota COROLLA that she loved and kept it for many years.

    So if PLUTO is no longer a planet, what should we call it?

    There is no way I would know a rap tune by Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five or any other rapper. Incidentally, what a curious name.

    "Arms AKIMBO" is often found in novels and forms a definite picture of a person in that pose.

    I don't get "car port" AUX. Anyone?

    It's a good thing that "isengard attacker" ENT is only three letters and easily perped. I had no idea about either term.

    I very much like the notion of a CODE OF CHIVALRY and would love it if it still existed but in a modern format.

    I hope your Sunday has been restful and pleasant, everyone! It's chilly here for a change.

    ReplyDelete
  33. Thanks to Jordan for combining medieval knights with internet-speak! Brilliant! I stumbled upon the theme when QTIP showed me QUEST. ALAS, I had a FIW with the same thing Anonymous@1:10 and waseely@2:18 described.
    FAVs: AKIMBO (one of my favorite words), Get-up on a Sunday morning?, and Spark interest?

    Thanks to C.C. for her take! I agree when she said, "Thankfully you don't need to know those error messages to solve this grid."

    Hi TTP! I knew you were still on the job because every once in a while I'll see a spam comment disappear. Thank you!

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  34. Puzzling thoughts:

    FIW/DNF as I had to turn on the reveal puzzle to get RE in REQUEST and the ER in E ALERTS

    Not familiar with all of the ERROR CODES - I try to stay as geek-less as possible when it comes to IT ... wine, cigars, Scotch, Bourbon/Rye, OTOH, I can geek with the best

    Thanks to the constructor and our blog matriarch for all of the new knowledge ... which I may or may not remember after today!! ;^)

    TTP -> it'll be interesting to see if the Steelers will actually win a playoff game or not. I didn't watch the Jags game; I'm watching the Cardinals/Seahawks game while typing this reply. [spoiler alert] - the Seahawks were eliminated from the playoffs when GB beat the Bears. James Conner (former Steeler and Pitt grad) is having a banner year and game

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  35. Lucina @ 5:46 ~ Your late friend, Betty, and I share an affinity for the Corolla and its longevity. Mine is 23+ years old and the Odometer just recently passed the 30,000 miles marker. It still looks brand new and gets me where I want to go! ๐Ÿ˜‰

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  36. C.C. thank you so much for posting that wonderful picture of Keith Fowler along with that informative and interesting article about his life and career. We will all miss him so much, and our hearts go out to his wife and family.

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  37. Wow…not being a coding nerd, this puzzle was initially so BIZARRE it made my eyes GLAZE over — I stood looking at it with arms AKIMBO for a while, and it became a comedy of ERRORS ๐Ÿ˜Ž. But after getting a pair of the theme fills, I grokked where the idea was going; loved the CODEOFCHIVALRY reveal! Got good grins from a couple of the clues, too, like the ones for LEND and BUSSHELTER (hand up for “station” at first). That term, btw, is common nomenclature here in SoCal for the little huts at our bus stops.

    Being a llama owner, btw, I can tell you they aren’t dramatic creatures by nature, but rather quiet beasties and very smart, supposedly (per the experts) on par with dolphins — although how said experts draw this parallel, I haven’t a clue… ๐Ÿฆ™

    Well done, Jordan, and we’ll hope your next one doesn’t go 404 ๐Ÿ˜†

    ====> Darren / L.A.

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  38. inanehiker, good point, but can you name or hum any of her songs?

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  39. Lucina - AUX stands for auxiliary input. If your car doesn't have Bluetooth, you can jack-in your CD player, Walkman, or what ever via a 3.5mm adaptor. Most stereos have this too.

    BigE - I'm with you on "not in my job description" folks. If the trash needs taken out, just do it (or find a new gig).

    Cheers, -T

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  40. IrishMiss
    Betty would be pleased to know you also drive a COROLLA. We had many adventures in hers and bless her, she drove my mother on many errands and was always available for her. That is one of the qualities in her that endeared her to my heart. I really miss her.

    AnonT
    Thank you for explaining AUX. I do have bluetooth, thankfully, and use it constantly. It would never occur to me to say "not my job"; sometimes going the extra mile helps to accomplish a task quicker and also put one in good graces with others.

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  41. @Jayce- yes I can!

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For custom-made birthday, anniversary or special occasion puzzles from C.C., please email crosswordc@gmail.com

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