I R Malodorous Manatee and I R here with a recap of this Friday morning's puzzle from puzzle setter Zachary David Levy. In the puzzle, at 58 Across, he asks the question that David Spade is snidely posing, above:
58 Across: Rude greeting, or an apt title for this puzzle?: AND YOU ARE ? In this case, though, we are required to take the phrase literally as in adding (and) U R. Zachary takes standard items and adds U R to the beginning to create appropriate answers to the clues. Something AND U R.
This is the third puzzle in a row that I have recapped where "letter play" is at the core of the themed-answers. Fortunately for our still-recovering-previously-scratched-up heads today's letter play is not as enigmatic as it was a couple of weeks ago. Today, this gimmick is employed at four places. I R ready to point them out if U R ready to take a look:
17 Across: Cash in Eurasia?: URAL GREEN. Al Green the singer morphs into money in the URAL region along the border between Europe and Asia. Green being slang for money. The expression "long green" has been around since the late 1880s, but it isn't as popular as some more recent slang terms for money, like moola (or moolah), dough, or even scratch.
24 Across: Greetings from the bear's den?: URSINE WAVES. A SINE WAVE is a periodic wave whose waveform is the trigonometric sine function. Got that? Here, it simply morphs into something a bear might do.
35 Across: Like an address bar?: URL SHAPED. A computer-ese reference. The address bar is at the top of an open browser web page. This solver is not sure at all what URL SHAPED means (perhaps a wide, not very high space) but it was derived, in this case, from L-shaped. Perhaps 39 Down (below) will inspire someone to open a neighborhood Address Bar
49 Across: Tunes for some pathetic Dickens characters?: URCHIN MUSIC. Here, CHIN morphs into URCHIN. In baseball, CHIN MUSIC refers to a pitch thrown at a batters head. I am pretty sure that no batter said "Please, sir I want some more" ala Oliver Twist.
Here, now, the filled-in grid:
... and, as is customary, the other clues/answers:
Across:
21. __ Lingus: AER. A frequent crossword flier.
22. Many a dance track: REMIX. I REMIXed a REMIX. It's back to normal.
23. DOJ arm: FBI.
34. Bone, in Italian: OSSO. As in OSSO bucco.
41. From Los Angeles to San Bernardino: EAST. Easy for this SoCal solver. Likely not so easy for folks from other places.
42. Crew: POSSE. Modern slang. No U.S. Marshall in a TV western ever said "Round up a crew".
46. Driveway stuff: TAR. What in TARnation!?
53. Tavern owner who stocks Duff beer: MOE. MOE Syzslak. A "Simpsons" TV show reference.
54. Covers: COATS.
55. Allow: LET.
56. Shellacking: ROUT. Slang for decisive victory/defeat.
57. When repeated, "et cetera": YADDA.
63. Where chickens come home to roost: NESTS. A clue meant to be taken literally.
64. Bile: IRE.
65. Map feature: INSET.
1. Payment to a breeder: STUD FEE. I suspect that the horse would work for free.
2. Having a decent prognosis: CURABLE.
3. Like many songs or movies in Farsi: IRANIAN.
4. Spicy herb seasoning in gumbo: FILE. As in FILÉ gumbo.
6. Unshackles: FREES.
7. French endearment: CHERI.
43. Some Pacific Islanders: SAMOANS.
44. Nemesis: SCOURGE.
48. Feel sorry for: PITY.
50. Charged: HAD AT. Hand up for first thinking RAN AT.
51. Of an arm nerve: ULNAR.
52. Tufted marsh plant: SEDGE.
56. Destroy: RUIN.
57. Dark portion of a Chinese circle: YIN.
66 comments:
Definitely some Friday-level misdirection going on. I would say this puzzle was about “medium grade” in difficulty; not too hard, but not too easy either. It helped that I understood the gimmick after the first couple of themed entries; helped a lot. Anyway , FIR, so I’m happy.
YooperPhil here ~ so I would guess everyone had a bad start by confidently entering EPA…
Good morning!
Figured out the theme before the reveal. WWNC*. When Dickens showed up this solver immediately inked in URIAH...and then had to Wite-Out most of it. EPA/FCC was cruel. Also needed Wite-Out for rAN AT/HAD AT (Hi, Mal-Man). Doctor Who isn't really SCI FI, more fantasy, methinks. (Those salt shaker shaped Daleks were cute.) Thanx, Z.D.L. and Mal-Man.
YADDA: Judges don't like that as a response to the juror's oath. Believe me.
QR CODES: I know what they are, but don't know how to scan 'em. I've also heard "drop a pin" but have no idea what that's about.
Took 9:58 today.
Not only did I confidently enter EPA, I also fought giving it up even when I couldn't get anything going in that section, which includes today's French lesson, the herb I didn't know, and the screwy (but hey, it's Friday) clues for "ing" and "file."
I don't think a doctor has ever taken my vitals. Nurses? Yes. Doctor? No.
To scan a QR code, simply open the camera app on your smartphone, and let it focus on it for a moment or two, then a link or icon will appear that you can tap on.
FIR, but of course erased epa for FCC. Also dee to ING, serge to SEDGE, epi to OPI, reed for RUIN (thought I was filling "tufted marsh plant), and mace for FILE.
H.Gary's favorite computer bar isn't the address bar. It's the "space" bar, of course.
Do constructors use TAR and asphalt interchangeably?
I don't think PIRACY is really a concern for software engineers. More the requirements analysts' concern.
I also don't think that docs check VITALS these days. More likely an RN or a NP.
I guess Dave and Busters and their wannabes are BARCADEs, 'tho I've never heard the term.
Thanks to Zachary for the fun-but-challenging Friday puzzle, and to our MalMan for another fine tour.
(I wrote my foolishness today using my laptop with it's lid down, using a monitor from my 2-monitor desktop, a wireless mouse and a wired keyboard. I like it, and am going to get a portable monitor to use when camping. I have a two-week trip planned soon, so I'll be able to assess if it is worth lugging around the extra hardware, even after I fix or replace my failing laptop.)
FIR. I got the theme as being things that started with UR, but didn't see Al Green for example. If I had I would even now be scratching my head at Chin music. Huh?
My favorite clue was "exams for pupils". So clever!
Overall this was a typical Friday outing and not as enjoyable as some, so there's that.
Just as I thought while solving, the video clip shows "YADDA" should have only one "D"
My dance music is usually REtro, not a REMIX
I agree. My learning moment was Filé powder, also called gumbo filé, which is a spicy herb seasoning made from the dried and ground leaves of the North American sassafras tree (Sassafras albidum). This brought me to Sassafras is a genus of three extant and one extinct species of deciduous trees in the family Lauraceae, native to eastern North America and eastern Asia. This tree has a long history in North American culture. Various tribes used the leaves, root bark, and wood in a variety of ways. The Choctaw, for example, used dried, powdered sassafras leaves to thicken soups and stews.
Very few judges have a sense of humor when they are in a courtroom, which I learned the hard way when i was young.
MM, I am impressed by the dishes that are educational. I grew up near the planet Melmac.
Thanks ZDL and MM
Shouldn't it be Yada, not Yadda? Or am I missing something?
BE from my phone
I found this to be a bear of a puzzle until I noticed the URs. I caught it at urchin music. The last to fall was that tricky air monitoring organization. Don't know the Greek alphabet, and I was stuck on EPA. Wrong air people
SOi, Ali, RHO, OPI were unknown and it took a while for me to let go of the environmental protection agency. But I managed to finish.
BARCADE is a new one for me.
PIRACY. Way back in the stone ages, programmers were worried about not enough MEMORY in the computers. Piracy was not a problem but running out of memory was.
FILE gumbo. Hank Williams ex-wife and Hank Jr lived down the street from my ex-wife's house in Shreveport. She won a big lawsuit for being misportrayed in the movie Your Cheating Heart.
Musings
-Fun! I tried to make the Dakota part of the puzzle hard but persistence and my eraser saved the day. I had to parse the lone proper noun gimmick: AL GREEN
-It appears that batter who got CHIN MUSIC did not have a modern wraparound helmet
-I boarded the EPA bus immediately too! Oh, that kind of air.
-RHO, sigma, tau mirrors R, S, T
-CREDO: I am not literate enough to eat at Valerie’s table
-We would die a little less sooner on MARS than any other planet, but we would die
-Nearly a decade has ELAPSED since Husker FB was relevant
-Replacing storm-damaged gutters has eliminated two NESTS
-CURABLE: My medical issues are annoying but come nowhere close to life-threatening
-EYE TEST: My last one showed I could correct my double vision or cataracts but not both at the same time. The former now and the latter next year.
-I knew (made up) the lyric but now know what FILÉ means
-RECAPS are less necessary when you are binge watching. Uh, someone told me. :-)
-Jinx, that comment had a laugh-out-loud response out here on the prairie!
-Fun write-up, Double M!
I found 3/4 of the puzzle to be Wednesday-like and the NW corner to be a bear. I didn't know Doctor Who was a T series. I looked up SCI FI.
I missed the theme. V-8 can moment.
CON was new to me.
I see yada yada, yadda yadda, and yada yadda on the internet. There is often more than one right answer.
You will die on this plant, too. LOL
My doctors redo BPs all the time. I have white coat syndrome and usually do better that way. Also nurses take my BP first thing after I come in the door. The doctor takes it after I rest awhile.
Some tasks can be performed only with QR codes. Too bad if you don't have a smart phone. Nowadays many savings rewards are only on apps.
Why FCC? I am glad I let it stand. Thanks, MM, for suggesting airlines.
We had delicious osso boco in Manhattan. The marrow can be scooped out and it enriches the yummy sauce too. They are quite meaty and one or two per person is plenty.
Didn't root beer originate sassafras roots?
FIR, but struggled. Of course I entered EPA for FCC which perps filled since CHERI was the obvious contender but I needed MalMan’s explanation to know why.
I did see the UR early on but was at a disadvantage since I’m not familiar with AL GREEN, SINE WAVE, and CHIN MUSIC. I had to rely on perps and WAGS to finish the long answers.
I don’t think of filé as spicy. It’s just a thickener.
Speaking of disconcerting, that’s the feeling I get when posting because my words sometimes disappear and I have to trust I’m on the right line.
Thanks MAL MAN for the nice write up.
Excellent puzzle and gimmick today, but the real fun began with MM's review. Rare for me to LOL! That was a great URSINE WAVE GIF! I *love* Valerie's CREDO plates. Where in TARnation? -- brilliant. Your sommelier crack at 34 Down? -- ha ha! And zebras upgrading from barcodes to QR codes? -- love it. Also appreciated the explanation of FCC, which I was able to fill without understanding it. Nice FIRday puzzling.
Thanks, Zach, for the excellent grid.
Finicky Friday. Thanks for the fun, Zachary and MalMan.
I required a couple of Google visits to give me SCI FI and FILE, but I did get the UR theme.
Plenty of inkblots.
Hand up for EPA before FCC.
YADA needed an extra D.
Beeps changed to BINGS
Is my negating word Non, not or NOR?
I noted ODOR directly under AROMA.
Then we had those “friendly” clues for ECO, USER, ICY.
I wanted the storybook bear to be Pooh (Paddington was too long). But it was PAPA giving us the URSINE WAVES.
Wishing you all a great day.
Hola! The U R gimmick helped me at URCHIN. Before that I relied on perps and finished quickly for a Friday. URSINE WAVES was funny.
Before AND YOU ARE appeared I saw ANDY . . . . which confused me and made me pause until the whole phrase emerged. As I understand it, the PIRACY of MUSIC and CDS is the modern bane of artists.
Yes, I've also seen YADDA spelled in a variety of ways.
Thanks to MalMan and ZDL for the Friday fun! Have a wonderful day , everyone!
Yes, Monkey. I hate it when I am posting and can’t see my entire post. But as soon as a start to enter more words, it reappears. It seems to happen when my post becomes longer. But it is the jumpiness when trying to enter a link that has bothered me the most. I have given up posting links because it takes too long.
MalMan- all your videos are continually playing today and I think they are swallowing up my battery life. Anybody else?
Lemonade714 beat me to it, but I too was perplexed by file'. So I researched and came up with the same info.
Yes, powdered sassafras leaves used as a thickener instead of okra.
Yes, sassafras roots were the original source of root beer..
Surprisingly, the reason for its disappearance may have been mistaken. I quote from wiki!
"Why is filé powder illegal?
Health concerns. Safrole and sassafras oil have been banned by the FDA as a carcinogen since 1960 and cannot be used in food manufacture for this reason. According to a study published in 1997, sassafras leaves (from which filé is produced) do not contain detectable amounts of safrole.
https://en.wikipedia.org"
I had more fun readin the write up today than doing the puzzle. Only Malodorous Manatee can add aroma to words like no other.
I quote:
"34. Fragrance: ODOR. I once met a wine waiter with a really bad body ODOR. Sort of like a dead skunk only sommelier."
LMAO!
Sorry to hear that CEH. They were imported from Youtube using the protocol offered by the blogging software. You might try pausing each one after you have watched it. Other than that I will have to leave it to greater tech minds than mine.
A thumb's-up vote from me today. Zachary constructed a solid puzzle, one that was often amusing and clever.
Let me get just a few reservations out of the way first:
--it was peculiar that there were hardly any Horizontal problem entries. The Verticals, OTOH, included such head-scratchers as CON, ING, FILE (the herb), SOO, OPI, and down in the SW, BARCADE and QRCODES side-by-side.
--My vitals are generally taken by an RN, an NP, or a PA, not an MD.
--I think Zachary--or Patti--could have come up with a better clue for POSSE than "crew."
But overall I found today's challenge to be quite satisfying, well-constructed, and a perfect Friday pastime. The"UR" theme was clever, and contained some bright misdirections. And how refreshing not to be inundated with proper names! Also, even the few problems I noted above were almost without exception placed in the vicinity of helpful perps.
Got the theme from URAL GREEN and URSINE, noticing the common UR. No way I was getting URCHIN and I had no idea of what sort of genre CHIN MUSIC was, then I came here… yeah, my sports knowledge is basically nonexistent.
I had FREES, then erased it for EPA, then immediately saw that CON had to be right and put in FREES and FCC. “Air quality”? Probably a stretch without a question mark, even on a Friday. The rest of the puzzle didn’t feel Friday-challenging, it was much easier than yesterday’s.
Thank you, ZDL, and thank you, Malodorous Manatee. A very fun review!
Initial entries of ATF before FBI, EPA before FCC, NOn before NOR, COmpS before COATS, Raze before RUIN, mAmA before PAPA, LOO before SOO. All easily corrected after checking perps.
MM, Like a bar? L shaped.
Like an address bar? URL shaped. Add the UR to L shaped. That's my take on that one.
Speaking of the FBI: QR CODES - If you are inclined to scan them, be careful. FBI issues new warning about QR code scams. Scan only trusted codes, and don't enter personal or financial information.
I have no issue with the clue for software PIRACY. Consider beyond a major software developer. Perhaps a software engineer that developed a killer app. Got it copyrighted and went to market, where it took market share. Soon however, pirated copies started being offered on the interwebs for substantially less money. In another example, a software engineer may implement controls and design a software program to (hopefully) prevent it from being copied or reverse engineered.
Akin to what Yellowrocks said. Every year when I get my physical, my doctor always checks my pulse and my blood pressure, even though the nurse has already done those. Then he additionally checks my respiration, my grip strength and other VITALs.
C-Eh!, check your YouTube settings. Perhaps Autoplay is turned on? Also, I avoid composing my comments in the Blogger comments field. I generally create them in notepad and and paste from there.
Now this was an enjoyable experience! A crossWORD puzzle filled with clever misdirection, (yes, EPA and POOH for me, too!) Many aha! moments, plus a few D'ohs thrown in for good measure. Took a while to reach the FIR, but a very satisfying outing. Bravo! MM, thanks for the great tunes. Think I'll pull out my copy of "Casablanca" now.
Yeh - I’ve never before seen it w/ 2Ds … Poetic License?
The wordplay was too reminiscent of a smart 9-year-old’s early attempts at puns and Spoonerisms.
I didn’t get the theme until I got to (UR) CHIN MUSIC, but then, it wasn’t a sterling theme. The UR version of that and (UR) AL GREEN didn’t match up as well as the other two theme entries, which is why AL GREEN was my final fill. The “end of end” wasn’t otherwise apparent to me, and CON CONfounded me for a while.
Unknowns to me were BARCADES and QR CODES. YADDA bugged me because, as MalMan’s link proved or at least indicated, they spelled it “yada” on the show, and it’s a “word” most of us never heard/knew pre-“Seinfeld.” I wasn’t sure TAR was “driveway stuff.” The driveways around here are concrete. I liked SCOURGE, though. I trust those of you who abhor names in these puzzles also enjoy seeing words like SCOURGE.
Thank you, O Odiferous One, for sorting it all out today.
Bit of a challenging, but still fun Friday puzzle--many thanks, Zachary. And thanks for your always helpful commentary too, MalMan.
Well, I'm glad I saw CURABLE before I got down to that SCOURGE at the bottom of the puzzle. It would no doubt be helpful to have medication that REVIVES one after a problem like that and takes care of all our VITALS. But it would probably still be a good idea to get an EYE TEST. Then we'd be in good enough shape to travel so some of the interesting places in this puzzle, and visit the IRANIANS, and the SAMOANS, and that DANE and other places in the EAST. But that'll have to wait for a while.
Have a fun weekend coming up, everybody.
CE, you are most welcome but now I'll have to come to terms with another nickname. MM and OO!
Hi All!
I too wanted EPA but I knew 8d had to be CON (#DEFCON) and wanted FREED for 6d... CHERI took a while to conjure - thank you cartoons!
Thanks Zachary for the "harder than it needed to be" puzzle. It was a real poser.
Great expo, MManatee. LOL the zebra comic and "sound" advice!
WOs: Are -> AER (#untie!), I started IN Arabic(?) for 3d.
ESPs: ING, FCC, SOO, BAR CADE (we used to have happy hours at Joystix)
Fav: I'll go with FCC, even though that was an evil clue :-)
I have FILE in my spice rack. Don't know what it really is (oh, thanks Lem!) but you can't make Red Beans and Rice without it (& andouille sausage).
Wait, a carcinogen, CED? In Boy Scouts we'd make Sassafras tea out of the roots - it was yummy.
I thought AL GREEN, a representative from Houston's 9th, was a little obscure for most. I didn't know the R&B singer until MManatee explained.
I want'd POOH (URSINE) Bear too, C,Eh! - and having PSALMS didn't sway me until RECAP had to be.
SS @9:58 - a little PSA: read the URL that pops up (I think most phones fixed this - Apple did) before letting your phone go to the QR CODE. Some of us hackers like to overlay our codes over a restaurant's menu ;->
//for last year's HOU.SEC.CON, a buddy made QR overlays for our badges so when a vendor scanned it, they'd get "Thanks for the SWAG" as our name :-)
It was cool, most of the vendors were our local reps and I knew them.
Jinx - I got the 15" version of this monitor. All it takes is USB-C for both power and video. I'd never heard of the brand before, but it was fairly cheap so I gave it a go. I've not been disappointed in the year I've had it.
BE - back in the day, Microsoft didn't really care if you pirated their software; they were going for market dominance over Lotus 1-2-3 and Word Perfect. Nowadays, good luck getting out of the rent you pay 'em.
//Of course, I've released all my code as FOSS (Free (as in beer) Open-Source Software). Not that any of it is a killer-app that'd make me $$$$. And yes, I support the EFF (I'm wearing that tee* now :-))
That's enough from me. Y'all have a great afternoon!
Cheers, -T
*the adult size - gotta donate for that :-)
Lotus 123 and Word Perfect. I used both of them. A lot. But then I also thought that Betamax was the superior format.
Got the gimmick with the first theme fill, but still struggled. This CW was a combination of easy and DNK fills, with enough DNKs that I had to do several alphabet runs. So although I completed the CW, I can't claim I FIR. Alphabet runs, in my book, are cheats equivalent to Goggle searches. Thanx for the entertainment, ZDL. Great write-up, MalMan, thanx. I don't have time to read the comments now, will come back later. Peace.
I still have soft copies of all my MBA papers, all in WordPerfect. I also have some undergrad work in Lotus Symphony files. Don't know why I would ever want to look at them, or how I could display them.
I ordered a 15" external monitor that comes with a carrying case. I found an HP laptop that's on sale, and configured better than my current one it is <$500, plus tax and shipping. I'm sure that the repair would be at least $200, so it's kinda a no-brainer.
- Hand up for EPA
- Hand up for RAN AT
- Hand up for never heard of BARCADE
- Hand up for never heard of SINE WAVE
- Yet still quite enjoyable!
The final challenge was the radar sound. For sure it had to be either a BING, a DING or a RING. No way it could be anything else. The O_I cross was no help, which apparently is a nail polish brand. Somehow PING came to me at the last moment and gave me the FIR!
You really should watch The Hunt For Red October that the MalMan linked. Great flick, and James Bond plays the captain of the good guy's submarine.
I don't know about that, Big Easy. I remember back in the days when programs were sold on 5 1/4" floppies. I bought software that would let me clone it (for backup purposes, of course.) The softheads found a way to thwart those programs, so I bought an expansion card that let me make clones of them too. There was talk of selling software on floppies that had physical damage (maybe a pinhole cut by a laser) but I think their lawyers largely nixed that idea for fear that the hole would eventually start wrecking floppy drives.
MManatee - Betamax was better but more expensive and harder to PIRATE. Oh, and (I was too young to know this IRL) porn was the VHS Bata-killer app.
DW used Betamax in her early RTVF (Radio, Television, Film) studies.
Jinx - I recently (last 6 months) found a grad paper I wrote. I can't understand what I said about machine vision NOR half the formulas I used :-)
//buddy of mine had all his undergrad work on 5&1/4" floppies. His mom (an English Prof) decided to make things tidy for him while he was at grad school and type up the labels. Put the floppy through a typewriter, she did :-o
... and Sony, IIRC, refused to license the Betamax technology while dozens of other companies produced VHS machines.
Jinx, Big Easy is talking about a time a few years before floppy disks. In 1969, magnetic core memory on the IBM Sys/3 was a whopping 4K, and there was a total of 29 instructions that were all written between 3 and 6 bytes (thank you, Wikipedia). I just recall that he has written before about his company having a Sys/3.
Now that I look more closely,, the YouTube videos are not running. But all the other ones that are not just photos are continually running - OK and You Are, 24A, 49A, 53A, 55A, 57A YADDA. When I open and leave my Safari browser at yesterdays blog, nothing is running. Very strange.
Yes, I could try creating my comments and links in Notes and copying from there. Thanks
I entered this to TTP also.
Now that I look more closely,, the YouTube videos are not running. But all the other ones that are not just photos are continually running - OK and You Are, 24A, 49A, 53A, 55A, 57A YADDA. When I open and leave my Safari browser at yesterdays blog, nothing is running. Very strange.
C-Eh!, Oh, ok. Those are a special kind of image file called a GIF. They allow a short series of images to be posted as if it was a video clip.
Oh, and those original floppy discs were 8" ...
Floppy disk storage . I used many of those "back in the stone ages"
Those images are in GIF format and they do "run" (move) constantly but I doubt very much if it is having an impact on the battery life. It does not look like waseeley used any gifs in yesterday's blog.
Yep, MM (OO(?)), that's my recollection too. I think they (Sony) learned their lesson when working with Phillips on the compact-disk.
I still have a soft spot for Sony. The Walkman was crazy insane (EPIC?) and the Discman was even more so.
//I still have both somewhere in a closet along w/ DW's test-tapes :-)
I think double D’s are awesome! 🤣👍🏽
. . . and in a drawer somewhere I have a Zune.
My neighbor bought a Sony Betamax. I bought a Mitsubishi U31 VHS (which I still have). Ironically, he later bought a Sony LED TV, and I bought a Samsung plasma TV. So each of us bought the better technology at the time, and both of us ended up with the technology that soon was passe.
FWIW, sonar (not radar in the clue) always produces “pings”; radar produces a “blip”. (This acc. to my ex-Navy friend) 😎
====> Darren / L.A.
Oh yeah, core! The #1 ESS (a telco switching system)from Western Electric stored subscriber information (mainly telephone number and where it connected to the switching system) in core. Every day the techs in the central office had to put a core card into a programmer, write the latest and greatest, then install it in the system. That system was soon replaced by the 1A ESS and it's solid-state memory, which went on to great commercial success. Our early system, the #1 EAX, used core, plus drum memory. Drums looked and sounded like canister vacuum cleaners standing on end. Patches were sent by engineering to the sites on 8" floppies. I got into the game circa 1977 with our vastly-improved #2 EAX system. It used 4K memory chips. A LOT of 4K memory chips.
Sorry -- that was WHAT in TARnation! I usually read and compose on my phone, and it's a bit of a challenge.
Hand up EPA before FCC. I have a French friend who used to call her kids "mon CHERI" so it really is a thing. Last to fill was FILE, which seemed wrong. Learning moment.
Here is the HELLO KITTY train we rode in Japan in April.
It is all pink. When it stops near the end of the video you can see the HELLO KITTY drawings on the sides. Learning moment it is 50 years old. That is probably why they created the train design.
MalMan, AnonT, TTP Beta was indeed far superior. My boss/mentor gave me a Beta player/recorder as a gift when our first company was sold. It still runs. Yes, plasma was also superior. Our TV is still plasma.
From Yesterday:
waseeley True, users may not read the manual. But if I rewrite the manual, it still officially makes it A FEATURE NOT A BUG.
I also boarded the EPA bus with the rest of y’all, along with Pooh for my storybook bear and “ran AT”. None lasted very long once perps started filling in.
But overall, today’s offering from Z.D.L. was a blast — I still haven’t learned to scan down for the reveal clue before starting the puzzle, so it took me all the way ‘til URCHINMUSIC before the proverbial V-8 hit concussed me.
As always, The Manatee’s RECAP was the post-FIR highlight for me; The Fugs “SARAN Wrap” got me ROTFL that someone besides me remembers that stuff — you Da Man, MM/OO! Zappa was a warped genius…and one helluva guitar virtuoso (ref: “Shut Up ‘n Play Yer Guitar”, 1981). RIP
And yes, BetaMax was a superior format re: quality — but Sony got so anal about ownership that, in the end, VHS became the standard, sending BetaMax to join 8-tracks in the techno-junk pile.
====> Darren / L.A.
Hi, UncleFred at 2:29 PM! I love that you are so hard on yourself. Picard set the standard for me that a FIR meant no help from other people, reference sources, or online searches -- nada de eso! Picard also insists that the theme must be grasped, and sometimes that requires a few more minutes of study. But to be able to solve a clue by an alphabet run means that you are already pretty close with perps in place, and you just need to jog your imagination to see the light. I would say you are *too* hard on yourself, but to each his own! With admiration for your strict standards ... NaomiZ
We still have the Sony Walkman that I bought for my wife when she was training for her Chicago Marathon. I came across it a few months ago in a box in the basement, and it still works!
😁 Next you'll be saying something about The Best Band You Never Heard In Your Life. Ring of Fire
Darren, where in L.A. are you?
NaomiZ I am honored that you have adopted my personal definition of FIR. I totally agree with you:
unclefred Why do you think it is a cheat to do an alphabet run? You are not getting any information from outside your own head.
I started doing crossword puzzles under orders of my speech therapist. After I was hit by a car and suffered traumatic brain injuries. She taught me the alphabet run as a totally honest and legitimate way to solve the puzzles.
So, there you have a professional opinion! Of course, you are free to disregard this. But I agree with NaomiZ that you are being too hard on yourself. If you didn't seek information outside your own head, it is a FIR.
I went looking for my Sony disc player, found the case, but it was empty! I guess it was taken during the robbery of my jewelry a few years ago. One of my grand-nieces who got hooked on drugs in high school has robbed most of the family of their valuables. She is now estranged from the family and her children have been taken from her. Ancient history, though, for us. The youngest one was a newborn and all were adopted by one of their aunts, five altogether.
I will add that I enjoyed the AND YOU ARE theme as quite creative. Had no idea what CHIN MUSIC was until coming here. FIR.
I agree with the way Picard put it re: alphabet runs - it's all within one's own head. Bing, Ding, King, Ming, Ping, Ring, Sing, Wing.
Yada yada first appeared in the1940's soon after WW II ended, long before Seinfeld. It seems common to me. I don't think of Seinfeld when I hear it.
I don't consider an alphabet run a DNF
Thanks MalMan. Maybe my battery is getting old.
North Hills, up in The Ditch (aka Valley😎).
====> D.
😎👍🏽
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