google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Wednesday, July 31, 2024, Zachary David Levy

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Jul 31, 2024

Wednesday, July 31, 2024, Zachary David Levy

 MY HEART'S CONTENT

It is peculiar that I blogged July 31st last year as well - that day was my second "debut" at the Corner as a blogger; 'tis unique to be able to blog the "same" day two years in a row.   Today's puzzle is from a familiar constructor here at the corner - his last grid appeared on MM's watch June 28th this year.  I do not think that I could be blessed with a theme any closer to my blogging heart - let me count the ways I can run amok using "little women" in my post.  But first, the theme answers;

17. Grand Ole Opry fixture from 1940 to 1991: MINNIE PEARL - mini

28. "If These Walls Could Talk" star: DEMI MOORE - demi

36. Actress who played Lucy on "Raising Hope": BIJOU PHILLIPS - bijou, is not "little" in Frawnche - turns out it's British - I am chagrinned


43. Singer born Emma Lee Bunton: BABY SPICE - well, baby, but still....

And the Reveal -

60. Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy ... as well as 17-, 28-, 36-, and 43-Across?: LITTLE WOMEN

Never read it, and now I am curious.....

I was thinking more like this

The "little (shortest) woman" is the cutest
And Awow We Go~!

ACROSS:

1. Snake charming snakes: COBRAS

7. Lacking pep: FLAT

11. Many a plaid cap: TAM

14. Damage, in a way: AMOUNT  - I usually refer to anything more than $100 as being "damage"; however, I was "accosted" this week at the supermarket my a strange woman who wanted to point out to me that a pound of butter was $7.49 - I so rarely buy butter, I told her I had nothing to compare it to....

15. Like notes that aren't sharp, briefly: LO-FI - FLAT was in the grid already - this is the "other" kind of "not" sharp, as in poorly defined

16. Fuming feeling: IRE - the blogger format is generating a tremendous amount of "IRE" in me

19. UFC sport: MMA - Mixed Martial Arts; not my thing; I did watch Table Tennis from Paris tho

Bernadette Szocs, Romania

20. Sources of jealousy, perhaps: EGOS

21. Avis rival: ALAMO - car rentals

22. Larry's housemate on "Curb Your Enthusiasm": LEON - never saw the show; filled via perps

23. Pilfer: ROB - pinch, swipe, boost, palm, the "five-finger discount".....

24. Estadio chant: OLÉ

25. State of matter: SOLID - the others being Liquid, Gas and Plasma - this last one being the state found in a fluorescent light - I did not know that; see here

26. Dress up: ADORN
Velma and "Danger-prone" Daphne

32. NL East city: ATLanta

34. Account: TALE - interesting; the theme of that Jul '23 puzzle was "Long Story"

35. "__ the fields we go ... ": O'ER - Jingle Bells - we're just 146 days from Christmas~!


40. Check writer's need: PEN

41. Mine, en français: AMOI - Les Frawnche

42. Pit stop brand: STP

46. Abates: EASES - I had WaNes - that's 60% 100% correct

50. Hound's sniffer: SNOUT

51. Driveway sealant: TAR - I was out using the tractor this weekend to try and fix my stone wall - but it's too far gone; I'd like to rebuild the whole thing, and TAR PAVE my driveway, but I can't afford it this year.

53. Special attention, for short: TLC - Tender Loving Care

54. Pond blanket: SCUM - my first thought, but considered ALGA, too

55. Kit filled with money and passports, in spy movies: GO-BAG


58. Film transition: FADE - also known as a WIPE

59. Nomadic invader: HUN - ah.  Not ANT.  Yeah - that's the picnic invader

62. MDW alternative: ORD - no clue, but when I was composing the blog, I realized these are the codes for Chicago's airports - Midway & O'Hare

63. Family name in baseball's only all-brother outfield: ALOU - Baseball crossword standard, for C.C.

64. On the house: NO COST

65. Thesis pieces, briefly: WDs - WORDS: a quaint play on Reese's Pieces; I like it. 

66. Lyric tributes: ODES - seems to be in at least one crossword a week lately

67. Unforeseen plot elements: TWISTS


DOWN:

1. Cell component?: CAMERA - cell PHONE; I was thinking JAIL cell at first

2. "Whoa": "OMIGOD~!"

3. Congo ape: BONOBO - there's also an electronica artist known as Bonobo

Flutter - my heart is a-flutter

4. Box score total: RUNS - more baseball

5. "The Phantom Menace" boy: ANI - Anakin Skywalker, AKA Darth Vader

 6. Absolute bargain: STEAL - see 23A.

7. Teeny circus performer: FLEA

8. Nutrient-rich soil: LOAM

9. Naturally curly style: AFRO

10. "Fake it __ you make it": TIL

11. Narrative device employed in "Russian Doll": TIME LOOP - I've heard of the show, but I don't have Nextflix - the IMDb

12. Some tall antiques: ARMOIRES



13. Wander aimlessly: MEANDER

18. Responded in court: PLED

22. Water closet: LOO

24. How caviar may be served: ON TOAST - I tried ON SUSHI first

25. Ore refinery: SMELTER

27. Koothrappali on "The Big Bang Theory": RAJ - I cannot stand this show.  Sorry.

29. Guiding principle: ETHIC

30. __ tai: MAI
Someone buy that woman a Mai Tai

31. Misfortunes: ILLS

33. Sum thing?: LUMP - lump sum, as in lottery winnings

36. Tofu, essentially: BEAN CURD - I tried SOYBEANS; I was also offered some fried tofu by a co-worker this past week, but she has not brought any in - yet.

37. Not out of play: INBOUNDS - as in football, tennis, golf, etc.

38. Luau bowlful: POI

39. Letters on some beer cans: IPA - getting to be like ERA and OREO; desperately trying to find new ways to clue this fill

40. "Wild Kratts," e.g.: PBS SHOW - PBS KIDS, actually; I had no clue, and when the " -SS -" appeared, and I figured something was wrong at first

44. "Love it": YUM 
I luv Chocolate Moose Tracks the best....

45. Citation abbr.: ET. AL.

47. John who played Blackie Parrish on "General Hospital": STAMOS

48. Most senior: ELDEST - just had to change my oldest "O" to "E"

49. Hound's trails: SCENTS

52. Book deal negotiator: AGENT

55. __ the lily: GILD

56. Oklahoma Natives: OTOE

57. AC measures: BTUs

58. Ellipse points: FOCI - I knew that the two "focal" points were used with a piece of string to male an ellipse - this is how I made the arch over my office shelf; I did not realize there's the "line method", too....

60. Language along the Mekong: LAO

61. Blow away: WOW - and one last image before I sign off

 I think I see "Little Women" on the shelf there....

Splynter




 

44 comments:

  1. A tough puzzle for me, particularly because I never heard of “Bijou Phillips.” And, until Splynter explained it, I didn’t get how that particular name fit with the reveal, although I could ‘kinda’ see the others. Anyway, FIR, so I’m happy.

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  2. By the way, let me add that I’m also very ‘happy’ that the format remains ‘normal,’ at least, for now!

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  3. Good morning!

    I'm very happy that the internet is operating normally, at least for now.

    Interesting puzzle, but SOCAL really slowed me down. Had no idea who Emma Lee Bunton might be. Tried ALGA for that pond (Hi, Splynter). Didn't recognize MDW as the code for Midway (Hi, Splynter). Had no idea on those "thesis pieces" -- WDS is really lame. Got the theme, and finished in good time, so this was a nice mid-week exercise. Thanx, ZDL and Splynter. (Methinks you're gonna catch hell today, but not from me.)

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  4. How is o my God spelled OMIGOD?? with an I

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  5. FIR without erasure, but I thought "alga" before SCUM.

    For some reason MINIE PEARL, ORD and ATL came to me right off the bat, without a single perp.

    You can see a lot of BIJOU PHILLIPS in the crime drama Bully, based a true crime in Florida. LITTLE WOMaN Rachel Miner costars and also spends a lot of time on screen nekkid. (BIJOU is the daughter of Mamas & the Papas leader John Phillips.)

    My favorite LITTLE WOMaN is Dana Perino, press secretary to Bush 43. With a good tail wind, she reaches the lofty height of 5' 0". Smart, optimistic and dedicated to the Visla dog breed.

    Thanks to Zachary for the fun challenge, and to splinter for the terrific review, especially all those lovely sticks.

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  6. Took 9:17 today, ninas.

    I did not care for this cross-name puzzle at all.

    Really leaning into the whole "Today's actress(es)" thing. Maybe it would've helped if I knew Bijou, her role, or her show/movie. In the interest of equal time, I also didn't know today's actor's role (Blackie?), nor did I know the Curb Your Enthusiasm actor and/or character.

    d-o is spot on: "wds" is lame.

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  7. FIR w/o help but it took 19:55, for me they’ve gotten progressively harder this week which hasn’t always been the case as of late. The only themer I was unfamiliar with was BIJOU PHILLIPS, and most of the other proper names also required perps. BONOBO was new for me. I agree that WDS was a little weak, but the clue was cute. Seems we are encountering more made up abbreviations these days, we had EPS for episodes the other day. Flying American from here or to here always includes a layover at ORD. ATL could have had an airport related clue also. This puzzle made me think of Elton John’s “Tiny Dancer”. I refer to DW’s GO BAG as her Everything Bag. Thank you Zach for today’s challenge and to Splynter for the fine review, especially the eye candy!

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  8. I found some of the clues strange: damage- amount, account - tale, whoa -omigod.
    Then there was all the proper nouns - 17 by my count. Next issue were the foreign terms, french- amoi and Mekong language- Lao. All in all a complete dud.

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  9. 9 names by my count...........way too many.

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  10. Good Morning:

    The only woman I knew from the cluing was Minnie Pearl, while the others needed some perps, especially Baby Spice, a total unknown. The names didn't help with the reveal clue as I had no idea of the definition of Bijou, though Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy gave me Little Women. I have never heard of Lo Fi, nor Oh Mi God, nor Leon, ORD, Stamos, or Ani, all as clued. I also found some other cluing off kilter, even for a Wednesday. Abbreviating Words (5 letters) to Wds (3 letters) is awkward, to say the least. CSO to Hahtoolah at Yum!

    Thanks, Zachary, and thanks, Splynter, for pinch hitting once again.

    Have a great day. Fingers crossed that the present format remains unchanged! 🤞

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  11. The SW corner came close to blowing me away. Many unkowns. “KRATTS? but a few well placed perps did the trick. The theme was sorta clever LittleWomen as Minnie, Demi (French for “half”), Baby, but BIJOU? (French for “jewel”). Why not Brooke, a little river, or Lane, a little street, or Pebbles, a little Flintstone 😃

    But wait I see I FIW. Had UTES not OTOE ( wondered what a GuBAG was? 😳) didn’t notice that gave me ALeU too.

    Finally figured out AMOUNT …. The final or total cost … as in what’s the “

    “Blackie Parrish?” …. LOFI?

    “State of matter” SOLID, liquid, gas, plasma, and “it doesn’t”

    How do you train a performing circus flea? When it does a trick correctly do you toss it a dog? “Check writers need” cash in the ACOUNT ☺️. Now I know, “Driveway sealant” in Mexico is La Brea

    Inkover: flag/FLAT,

    “Russian Doll” was one of those series where the seasons were so far apart I couldn’t remember what the story was about other than it was in fact a TIME LOOP

    Happy Humpday .

    One hump or two ? 🐪🐫

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  12. FIR. Oh joy, more proper names, and the theme built around them!
    Once again we get a Thursday or Friday puzzle early in the week. That makes three in a row so far. Weird clues and strange spellings.
    Overall, super yuk!

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  13. FIR, no help today.

    Splynter, a "fade" and a"wipe" are not the same. They are both transitions but a fade makes a picture slowly become dimmer until it disappears (usually to black) whereas a wipe has a defined line move across until one picture replaces another, no dimming.

    DO, what SOCAL?? I don't see no bloomin' SOCAL.

    Nice puzzle Zach. Fine review, Splynter (except as noted). They are close to my heart as well. My DW has been with me for 55 years.

    Good to be here today. I try to do the puzzle every day, but often I don't finish until late.

    Maurice Chevalier said it best, "Thank heaven for little girls, for without them what would little boys do?"

    Everlovin'.

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  14. Once again Patti has chosen “cutesy clues” and stupid 3 letter abbreviations. Just lazy editing IMHO

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  15. Lee @8:59am: When DO referred to SOCAL, he was referencing the Southern California (SW portion) section of the grid as a section that slowed him down. Picture the grid as a map of the US.

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  16. Nice to see the old format back, for now.

    The NW and the SW were the last to fall. I had ant for HUN for a while. Didn’t know MDW. I knew MINNIE was spelled right so had a hard time entering OH MIGOD.

    I’m not fond of proper names as theme fills although it is a cute theme.

    BIJOU in French means jewel, but is also a sweet term of endearment that connotes smallness. When I was a child my mother often called me “Mon petit bijou”.



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    Replies
    1. Thanks for the Bijou explanation makes sense. I like Mon petit chou “‘My little cabbage “

      Delete
  17. Good Morning! Well, I was not on Zachary’s wave length today, particularly on the west coast.
    ESP: LEON, TIME LOOP, STAMOS
    Google: BONOBO, BIJOU, PBS SHOW, BABY
    Splynter, noted you had your own theme going with the theme.

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  18. So many proper names lately. Perps were very much needed today. FIW, I made a careless error, no good excuse. Proper nouns making a sea of white were my downfall on Sunday. Even when I know the names or they are easily perped, I prefer common nouns.
    The omigod spelling has been around since the 1960's. I see it or OMG in novels much more often than Oh my God. Some think omigod seems less profane.
    The only theme name new to me was BIJOU PHILLIPS.I perped and wagged the surname. Just the J in RAJ and the theme let me guess BIJOU. I know it as a small treasure, a little jewel, or a small and elegant residence. Yes, I have heard it as an endearment. Similar to Schatzi in German.
    I would hate to be called a little cabbage.
    Not flattering IMO, little cabbage, muffin, cupcake, pumpkin, honey bun.
    Okay IMO, sweetie, honey, sugar, sweetheart
    If brushing against the spy's stockings releases poison, how can she avoid poisoning herself? The stockings touch her legs all the time.
    I liked the cute misdirections. Damage works as amount, but I believe damages would be even better. Notes that aren't sharp-lo fi. Cell (phone) component-camera. Sum thing-lump (lump sum.) This almost made up for all the names.

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  19. FIR on paper, no cheating, and was amazed that I was able to do it in reasonable time, given the plethora of unfamiliar names.

    I'd like to echo Yellowrocks re: OMIGOD, which is in general use. Amirite?

    While the theme played into Splynter's predilection for objectification of the fairer sex, the novel LITTLE WOMEN portrayed sisters with all the sorrows, hopes and dreams of fully human beings.

    Thanks for the challenge, Zachary! The perps were fair, so you got us there.

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    Replies
    1. I agree, I am getting tired of all the unnecessary photos of "sexy" women in a lot of the puzzle reviews.

      Delete
  20. Musings
    -A fun solve and gimmick. I enjoyed learning BIJOU.
    -I’m sure I’m not the first to say LO-FI yields notes that are not as sharp as HI-FI
    -ALAMO Rent-A-Car has a facility at 2135 Austin Hwy San Antonio, TX 78218. :-)
    -ATL led NE by 25 points in Super Bowl LI but managed to lose in OT.
    -TALE in sports
    -Cloud cover and a nice breeze EASED the effect of high temp and humidity yesterday
    -The last scene in The Bob Newhart Show is considered to be one of the best TWISTS in TV history
    -TIME LOOP was best used in Groundhog Day
    -The MEANDERING Missouri River has made it so that going from downtown Omaha to its airport, you technically have to drive through Iowa for a few blocks
    -Hitting the boundary line in basketball and football is out of bounds but IN BOUNDS in baseball and tennis
    -Cool Hand Luke tried pepper to throw bloodhounds off the trail

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  21. Yay! The old format is back!

    I will be incommunicado for a couple of weeks,
    So if they change the format again, please complain (Um, er, comment) for me...

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  22. Not a fan of this crossNAME puzzle, but managed to eke out an FIR despite the weak clues. Things like "omigod" and "amirite" indicate poor education or laziness to me. On the other hand, Splynters well-adorned recap was well-enjoyed!

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  23. Not to be judgmental or critical of other's opinions, my own preference is Oh My God and Am I Right. To each his/her own.

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  24. H.Gary, in the NHL, you aren't offside unless your entire body is on the wrong side of the blue line. Toe dragging to stay onside until the puck arrives is a high art.

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  25. FIR, But… wow, what a lot of names! As far as amount goes, I’ve always heard the expression as ‘what are the damages’ plural, even though it would refer to an amount - singular. But many thanks to perps for unknowns of Lofi, Leon, bijou Phillips, bonobo, foci, wild krafts?! . I don’t mind timeloop as an answer, just the clue for a show millions have never seen! While I took a bit to get imigod, I have seen it used as a rushed version of words pushed together in a jumble. And wds is a looong stretch. Seriously, constructors need to get a clue - even though I’m happy with a FIR.

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  26. Others have registered complaints in their comments. You can add unclefred to those, as there were too many unknown names (as clued) and some clue/fill that I just scratched my head and thought, "Huh?" These included 14A, 15A, 1D & 33D. With Splynter's explanation, only 1D seemed O.K. But "Sum thing?" is a LUMP? And LOFI? No way. Overall, I did FIR due to perps and a few lucky guesses, but didn't like this CW as a whole. Too many things referring to TV shows I have never watched. (mumble, grumble, grump!) However, ZDL did offer up a CW, which I am totally unable to produce myself, so maybe I should shut up and be grateful for the entertainment. Thanx to Splynter for the terrific write-up.

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  27. Hola!

    I finished, sorta, with the help of ALEXA though I started with MAMBA. COBRA came later. Although it was a very long time ago, I should have recalled the dancing COBRA I saw in Africa. A man sat on the sidewalk playing his flute while the COBRA "danced" to the music.

    There is no way I would know BIJOU or BABY SPICE. LITTLE WOMEN was easy as it's one of my all time favorite books/movie. Having grandchildren, I've seen the PBS SHOW, "Wild Kratts".

    I'm the ELDEST of my siblings.

    Crosswords have taught me that tofu is BEAN CURD.

    ARMOIRES don't necessarily have to be antiques, IMO.

    Thank you, ZDL and thank you, Splynter; you certainly provide us with eye-popping visuals!

    Have a wonderful day, everyone! the format on my computer is normal.

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  28. I found the comment on what appears to be high school girls to be cringe worthy.
    Maybe they just look young, so it's all okay.

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  29. unclefred, I thought the LUMP clue was cute -- you've heard of a lump sum, right?

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  30. Hi All!

    I didn't think I had a chance with all the names... And I was right!

    Thanks for the grid Zachary. Thanks for the post-DNF salve, Splynter.

    DNF'd the SW. I had no clue AMOI, 36a's BIJ__, and was so busy trying to figure out how to spell Beyonce at 43a, that no other name came to mind :-(

    Lucina - according to DW, ARMOIREs do need to be antique because they've been out of style for over 10 years. :-)
    I don't care; I love the one that hides the TV - looks like Frank Lloyd Wright designed it.

    MINNIE PEARL: Everyone of a certain age had to watch Hee Haw with their Grands (there were only 3 other channels and one TV) so this was a gimme. If DW forgets to take the tag off her clothes before she dons them, I say "You're MINNIE PEARLing over there." Only we get it :-)

    Back to work. Cheers!
    -T

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  31. Lucina @ 1:12

    Correct that armoires are not necessarily antiques. In Europe bedrooms usually don’t have closets. An Armoire comes as part of the bedroom set often purchased in as many sections as desired and matching the design of the rest of the set. The advantage is that the room can be more easily arranged rather than with a fixed closet like we most often have here

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  32. A puzzle intended for Splynter to recap, thank you RM.

    Creating puzzles is not as easy as commenting on them, so I enjoy them all. Saying a young woman is cute hardly seems inappropriate to me but I probably have been inappropriate too many times.

    Bob Newhart was a gem and I miss him already.

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  33. I started thinking today must be Friday while parsing through this one... I agree with all the comments about too many proper names and awkward entries, although overall it was a fun solve and should have even been an FIR but I screwed it up with scup/yup instead of scum/yum.

    Ironic that perhaps the easiest fill of the entire grid was the reveal (Little Women).

    Had to come here to get an explanation for MWD & ORD, and to see where I had seen Bijou before (thx Jinx), and to find out what "gild the lily" means--if anyone explained that one I missed it... What is being done to this poor lily??


    But the main reason I showed up today was to drop a bombshell: Tomorrow is my father, Tehachapi Ken's 80th birthday! He is still keeping up with the CWs and reading everyone's comments most days, and continuing to recover. I'll try to get him to post tmrw or at the very least read all the comments.

    Have a good one.

    -Jim


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  34. Saying a young woman is cute, in isolation, isn't inappropriate.
    In the context of all the other images though, I'd say it is inappropriate.
    But again, that's just my opinion.

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  35. A.Jim, please wish your dad a happy birthday from me tomorrow. I miss him.

    Although I never heard it explained, I always thought that it meant that a lily was so beautiful that nothing was added but cost by gilding (applying gold) to it. (Not to be confused with "gelding the pony," which is totally different.)

    Bayou Tony, my sisters and I would understand the "Minnie Pearl" comment immediately.

    My (110 year) old house only has one closet, and that one was added during a remodel by a previous owner. We have a very old armoire that helps a lot. The odd thing is that I don't think it has a single screw or nail in the whole thing. We hired an antiques expert to assemble the thing when we moved to Norfolk, and I was amazed by how everything fitted together.(Fun fact - the house was built with gas lighting. There are several rooms that still have the valves just above the baseboards, although we don't use gas for anything these days except for heating the water for the radiators.)

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  36. I was a tad short on today's answers. Ba-dum-tss!
    Nevertheless, thanks to ZDL for his puzzle and to Splynter for his write-up. I filled CAMERA and LOFI but did not know why they worked. It's nice to be able to come to The Corner for an explanation.

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  37. I liked Splynter's write-up more than the puzzle.

    I held my nose at "Pilfer: ROB" because robbing is a violent crime but burglary, i.e. pilfering, i.e. furtive stealing, is not violent or committed with force.

    I also felt "On the house: NO COST" is a bit off because "on the house" means free but it still costs somebody something. I put in GRATIS at first. On further thought, I suppose it could mean "no cost" to me. Meh.

    I did like "Teeny circus performer: FLEA" and "Sum thing?: LUMP".

    BABOON --> BONOBO.
    OLDEST --> ELDEST.
    AWE --> WOW.

    Clues that are simply paraphrases of the answer and therefore inherently untranslatable:
    "Whoa"
    "Love it"
    At least there's only 2 of them.

    Good wishes to you all.

    By the way, yesterday's blog that appeared in the weird format yesterday on my iPad is suddenly "normal" today.

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  38. Fun fact: I actually have an ARMOIRE! It's part of my bedroom set and is roomy enough to hold underwear in one drawer, socks in another, pajamas in another, etc. One side has a line of drawers and the other side has a door that opens to shelves where I have small baskets to organize various items. At the bottom is one long drawer for various articles of clothing, namely, all my shorts. Shorts are obligatory in summer so a large supply is needed.

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  39. Lucina, your armoire sounds just like mine: underwear, shorts; socks, and all. I, too, give priority to shorts, being in Tucson, AZ.

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