google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Wednesday, Sep 25th, 2024, Kyle Dolan

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Sep 25, 2024

Wednesday, Sep 25th, 2024, Kyle Dolan

  C-3PO

I AM a Brass-colored Robot~!

A refreshing departure from the Wednesday puzzles of late - no circles, a handful of well-known proper names, and an author I have not blogged before; Kyle has had five other puzzles published for the LA Times this year.  A metal-as-adjective theme culminating in a 21st century bane - the Captcha verification.  The Corner has this unfortunate feature - it's a very aggravating security check, especially when it doesn't work properly.  The two ferrous and one copper/zinc alloy themers; 

16. Margaret Thatcher biopicTHE IRON LADY - held office while this band was most popular in the United Kingdom - and the world.  The song's intro is most appropriate, considering the theme. . . .

IRON Maiden, The Prisoner - "I am not a number~!"

27. Nickname in Metropolis: MAN OF STEEL - AKA Superman; I grew up with the Christopher Reeve version, who played the title role in the movie from 1978; its main theme composed by John Williams 

Superman The Movie trailer

42. Admirals, colloquially: NAVAL BRASS - The highest rank in the Navy is CNO, Chief of Naval Operations ( the Wiki ), currently held by Admiral Lisa Francetti; the highest active rank, Fleet Admiral, was last held by William "Bull" Halsey - I mention him because as I was researching the clue/answer, I read that Bull was born in NJ ( so was I ), died on Long Island ( I think I would have ) and was lying in state at the Washington National Cathedral - where I am currently renovating the Pipe Organ~!

56. Captcha confirmation well-suited to the people in 16-, 27-, and 42-Across?: I'M NOT A ROBOT

I'm not a robot, I'm an Ewok deity~!

And Away We Go~!


ACROSS:

1. Tunneling pests: ANTS - household pests, too, but they're not so bad in my home

5. T-shirt style: V-NECK

10. Hesitant sound: ERM.... - there was a lot of this in Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

13. Bake or grill: COOK - generic food preparation verbs

14. Event that may begin at sunset: SOIRÉE

15. Highest number on an old clock: XII - Twelve, in Roman numerals, but not necessarily an "old" clock, technically

18. "60 Minutes" network: CBS - typically delayed due to an overrun of the Sunday NFL game. . . .

19. Had dinner: SUPPED - a "alternative" way to DINE

20. Many profile pics: SELFIES - I'll add a gratuitous one. . . .

The WNC façade pipes are along the wall in back

22. Fra __: spicy Italian sauce: DIAVOLO - I've not heard of this; filled via perps

Shrimp Fra Diavolo - looks yummy; the recipe

25. Course not requiring much effort: EASY A

26. Carded at a bar, informally: ID'ED

30. Affectionate treatment, for short: TLC - Tender Loving Care

31. Actress Tomei: MARISA - I always recall her "biological clock" ticking scene - name #1 I know

"My Cousin Vinnie"

32. Like the sound of a double bass: DEEP - and 32ft Wood Bourdon Pipes, too

34. Provide food for: CATER

35. Misplaced: LOST

39. Greenery symbolizing victory: LAUREL - cannot see this word and not think of. . . . 

Most of the scenes from Blazing Saddles are NSFW these days

41. Fox foot: PAW

46. Crumbly, briny cheese: FETA

Oooh, on pizza, great idea~!

47. Benefit: AVAIL

48. Carolina __: superhot peppers: REAPERS

50. Casual eateries: BISTROS

53. Obscure for security reasons, perhaps: REDACT

No such thing as UFOs

55. Degs. for English majors: BAs - Bachelor of Arts

59. Google Maps fig.: ETA

60. Opened for the doctor: SAID "AH"

61. One of the Gilmore girls: RORY - she was the daughter - played by Alexis Bledel; name #2 I know

I did watch for a while - back in 2000

62. Rehoboth Beach's st.: DELaware - I knew this because my buddy Mike P lived near Dover, and we all went down to visit the "Hamptons" of the state

We did the boardwalk thing - I recall buying handcrafted chocolate

63. PC key: ENTER - yes, it's nowhere to be found on a MAC

64. Skating jump with a forward take-off: AXEL - skating jump + blah blah blah = Ektorp


DOWN:

1. Play segments: ACTS

2. Football tactic for fast-paced offense: NO-HUDDLE - Football is here~! Summer is gone~! The Jets are 2-1~!

3. Ski binding part: TOE PIECE

I'd like to go skiing again

4. Bypass button in some apps: SKIP AD - this option cannot show up fast enough, IMO

5. Fashion designer Diane __ Furstenberg: VON - All perps - amazingly, of all designers, sumdaze began her Monday blog with a dress from her - go figure~!; her Wiki

6. Soccer zero: NIL - A gripping soccer "football" match is typically ONE - NIL; my dad was a hard-core English FOOTBALL fan, and could watch hours on end, but the pace bores me - I prefer hockey

7. Historic times: ERAS

8. Turn over: CEDE - ah, not 'ROLL'

9. Like some ignition systems: KEYLESS - My 2020 Subaru Crosstrek was the only KEYLESS ignition auto that I have owned - and I sold it back to Carmax at a profit, despite it having problems, because the dealerships were desperate for hybrids

I loved the car, hated the problems

10. __ tax: EXCISE - DAH~! Not INCOME, which messed up my NE corner

11. Marbled beef cut: RIBEYE

12. Book in a pew: MISSAL - Double Dah~!  I had HYMNAL

14. Biblical city: SODOM - Not Babel; I may need to brush up on my church readings. . . .

17. Go "vroom vroom": REV - I am a huge fan of the ABS Show "Castle" - vroom vroom made me think of this scene from Season 1

Pa-na-na-na-na~!

  21. __ flaw: FATAL

23. Hedy of Hollywood: LAMARR - name #3 I know

Pioneer of Wi-Fi, GPS and Bluetooth - and not too hard on the eyes, as well

24. Red-hot: ON A TEAR

26. "__ be my pleasure": "IT'D"

28. Part of a vague threat: OR ELSE~! - or else, what~?

29. Many a Christmas tree: FIR

33. Hair braid: PLAIT


That's a LOT of hair

34. Grizzly baby: CUB

36. Spot for Statler and Waldorf on "The Muppet Show": OPERA BOX - name(s) #4 & 5 I know


37. Fig. submitted with many a college application: SAT SCORE - Standard Aptitude Test

38. Pan Am rival: TWA - both defunct airlines

40. Courtroom cry: "ALL RISE"

42. Snagged: NABBED - a mere two letters difference, clue-to-answer

43. Take flight: AVIATE

44. Liege's tenant: VASSAL - Feudalism - the Wiki

45. Jazz singer VaughanSARAH - ¯\_(ツ)_/¯  Name #6, and I like HuskerG's "shrug" emoji from Saturday, so I am running with it; I had this Sarah confused with MacLachlan Sarah

46. Hat for Indiana Jones: FEDORA - another John Williams composed theme

Mr. Chicken, in a fedora

49. According to: PER

51. Arabian Peninsula country: OMAN - sumdaze had a similar map on Monday as well. . . .

52. Fit of pique: SNIT - I had to wait and see if it was SNIT, SPAT, HUFF, TIFF. . . .

54. "bfn" reply: TTYL - Bye For Now = Talk TYou Later

57. Tribute in verse: ODE

58. Hull sealant: TAR - Brett Hull SEALS the 1999 Stanley Cup final with a controversial 3OT goal

Rule 78(b)

Splynter


56 comments:

  1. I didn’t have too much trouble with this puzzle, except maybe for the Italian sauce and “erm.” Other than that, smooth sailing. FIR, so I’m happy.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Good morning!

    Managed to scrape up DIAVOLO from some memory crevice. I'm sure I've never had it. Failed to notice the theme on the way through the grid. Surprised? Still, finished in under 7, so it wasn't too difficult; nothing too obscure. Thanx, Kyle and Splynter.

    KEYLESS: My car has keyless entry. Part of a bundle which included a very expensive and totally useless moonroof.

    SAT: Never took it. UW wanted ACT scrores, instead.

    CAPTCHA: If you've gone "blue," you can skip the CAPTCHA. One of the few blogger features that I really like.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I just realized that there is no "blue." It's gone. I also don't see the CAPTCHA, either, but maybe it's there for non-formerly-blue folks.

      Delete
    2. Desper-otto, I saw what you did there.

      Also, not that it matters, but it is reCAPTCHA rather than CAPTCHA. This newer commenting UI uses reCAPTCHA badge. Some users may get a simple, one-time, "I'M NOT A ROBOT" checkbox, and they may not even get that again. Think cookies. Only the most suspicious traffic gets challenged to solve the picture puzzles.

      As for being Blue... It still exists in the Comments Archive. For today, the link is:
      https://crosswordcorner.blogspot.com/2024/09/wednesday-sep-25th-2024-kyle-dolan.html
      But most people are commenting on current blogpost's comment page. For today, that is:
      https://www.blogger.com/comment/fullpage/post/5995532066584316410/907080252707519243

      Delete
  3. FIR, but erased hymnal for (the unknown) MISSAL, and open a box for (the unknown) OPERA BOX.

    FLN - At least during the original blog format era, I think we discovered that most of the folks who comment here do check for late comments before reading the current review. I still do so, and I'll bet that the new format hasn't deterred many.

    How old do I have to be before I stop crushing on MARISA?

    The Norfolk Admirals (ECHL) hockey team begins the season on October 18th.

    Greyhounds Reach the Beach® is held every year on Columbus Day weekend at Rehoboth Beach. I tried to link https://grtb.org but Blogger doesn't like it. It's safe - I promise.

    Anyone else catch DEL next to ENTER?

    Maybe Kyle and Patti should have left out the "old" reference to clocks and used it for "hull sealant." I'm sure TAR hasn't been used for that purpose in their lifetimes, except maybe for historical restoration projects.

    Home sweet home today. Cutting the trip a couple of days short because of forecasts of some pretty bad weather on Friday, and I hate arriving home when it rains all day.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I don't know why you stressed DO. I said that. "... most of the regular readers take a look/glance at the previous day's comments..."

      Not many are going back to read the comments from 3,4, or 5 days ago to see if any new comments have been added.

      Delete
    2. I’m 71, Marisa still does it for me.

      Delete
  4. FIR. I guessed diavolo and skip ad; I wasn't really sure of either.
    The theme seemed a stretch to me. Even after coming here and reading the explanation I'm still not sure I get it. I expected the reveal to be about metals since we had iron, steel, and brass. But robot? Hmmmm!
    This was a typical Wednesday puzzle. Perhaps a tad on the crunchy side, but doable. However, I did not find it enjoyable.

    ReplyDelete
  5. A fairly EASY puzzle from Kyle with just a few unknowns-DIAVOLO, RORY, DEL, MISSAL, bfn as a clue. I was expecting a metal unifier after IRON and STEEL.

    i AM NOT A ROBOT (although made of metal parts) doesn't seem connected to the theme fills, IMHO.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Oh joy, ERM again, which was actually my first thought upon reading the clue, frequent appearances as of late tell me it’s now part of the CW lexicon. That aside, I thought this was a nice, straightforward, doable midweek puzzle with a solid theme and reveal. I knew all the names except RORY and the Muppet characters, OPERA BOX, REAPERS and DIAVOLO were all perps. Hedy LAMARR was one very impressive woman. Since the new format here, I have not had to prove I’M NOT A ROBOT before my comment publishes. Some of those captchas were ridiculous, ie; “check all boxes with traffic lights”, and then offered 16 or so squares with blurry pictures. Thanks Kyle, enjoyed your work!

    Splynter ~ liked your write-up today, and I agree - that Shrimp Fra DIAVOLO looks delicious, I’ll save the recipe. I also agree, that IS quite the PLAIT!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Took 5:38 today for me to a gold digger.

    I knew diavolo (tried it recently - very good), but struggled to spell it. I didn't know this Von or Rory, but I knew today's actresses (Marisa & Lamarr).

    I continue to object to "textspeak" in the puzzles, such as bfn and ttyl. It's almost as annoying as those pesky circles. I also dislike "erm."

    ReplyDelete
  8. *Oops. ... to BE a gold digger.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Well, I found the reveal to be a clever and unexpected key to the three theme entries. Well done, Kyle.

    Two of my favorite actresses made the puzzle today, Hedy Lamarr and Marisa Tomei. And they crossed each other! People should know that as accomplished an actor as Lamarr was, she was also a brilliant inventor.

    Unfortunately, the dreaded ERM made an appearance today. Please, constructors, these are crossWORD puzzles, not cross-ANNOYING-CLEARING-OF-THROAT-SOUND puzzles.

    Splynter, I note that you are refurbishing the organ at the National Cathedral. Two questions: what is the make of the organ; and is the cathedral organless for the duration?

    My alma mater, the University of Redlands, has had a Casavant pipe organ since the 1920's. We call her Cassie. Well, she started showing her age about twenty years ago, and so we shipped her to the Casavant Freres in Montreal for a little (2-year) R & R. Having returned to her home in Redlands, she is again sounding glorious.

    Thanks, Kyle, for a satisfying Wednesday exercise.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Got an EASY A on this puzzle, the simplest so far this week with a crystal clear theme. (Wait they forgot the Tin Man from the Wizard of Oz.)

    NAVy sounds better than NAVAL BRASS (A belly button ring?). The Brit ERM (they don’t pronounce R’s after a vowel so kinda like our American UM.) Always wanna fill ON A roll but know it’s always wrong ergo perpwaited.

    Made the mistake of taking the fam to Rehoboth Beach in April. Yikes it was cold. At least they had an indoor pool

    So those are the names of the two muppet wiseacres. 😊

    SAIDAH: kinda goofy but at least not a Proper Name like RORY (Lorelei) Gilmore, an unknown, if you didn’t see the 2000-07 series. Finally got around to it last year.

    Fra DIAVOLO 😈 as opposed to “Frangelico”, 😇 a liqueur/cordial

    Pastor familiarly…. REV.
    A new mixed sport: singing an aria while sparring….OPERABOX
    Letter added to S and L clothing labels to denote extremes….EXCISE

    Happy humpday🙂

    ReplyDelete
  11. Oh joy, ERM again, which was actually my first thought upon reading the clue. Frequent appearances as of late tells me it’s now part of the CW lexicon. That aside, I thought this was a fair, nicely clued, doable midweek puzzle with a solid theme and reveal. FIR in 11:57. I knew all the names except RORY and the Muppet characters. OPERA BOX, DIAVOLO and REAPERS were all perps. Hedy LAMARR was one very impressive woman. Since the new format arrived at the Corner I have not had to prove I’M NOT A ROBOT before my comment is published. Some of those captchas were ridiculous ie; “check all boxes with traffic lights”, and then offered a dozen blurry pictures. Thanks Kyle, enjoyed the solve.

    Splynter ~ nice write up today and I agree with you on two points - that Shrimp Fra DIAVOLO looks delicious (I saved the recipe), and yes that IS quite the PLAIT!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Good Morning:

    I don't understand the reveal's relationship to the themers, either. Can someone please explain? Anyway, it was a smooth and rapid solve with only one unknown, Reapers, and only one w/o, Van/Von. I think Erm is here to stay, as is text speak, whether we like it or not.

    Thanks, Kyle, and thanks, Splynter, for your chatty review and personal tidbits. Marisa Tomei is a fine actress who proved her dramatic strengths in the gut-wrenching film, In The Bedroom, and her comedic chops in My Cousin Vinny.

    Have a great day.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Good Morning! Nice tour today for the middle of the week. It flowed pretty smoothly with only a few guesses.

    All the names were known to me, and perps filled OPERA BOX for the unknown Muppet characters.

    ON A TEAR was the last to fill to complete the O in the spicy DIAVOLO and the R in REAPERS.

    I thought I had the theme with LADY and MAN, but NAVAL BRASS threw me off until I came to the Corner. OH!! LOL! I was looking at the wrong word! Now I get it!! Good one!

    Thanks, Splynter! I enjoyed your fun and fact-filled review.

    ReplyDelete
  14. I thought this was Monday. An easy, smooth CW this morning. Cute theme.

    I’m surprised some people aren’t familiar with MISSAL. I guess you have to be Catholic?

    I hope bloggers in Florida will be safe from hurricane Hélène. That was my dear mother’s name.

    Thank you Splynter for nice recap and congratulations on making a profit on your Subaru.

    ReplyDelete
  15. ERM, I guess that will have to add ERM to my CW lexicon (as YP mentioned, above) although, ERM...it rubs me the wrong way. Still, its no worse than snood or anoa or any of the E- words, I suppose.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Someone in Britain uttered “ERM” in 1911, so it’s fair game for a CW.

      Delete
    2. If you listen closely while British players are speaking during interviews during the PGA and LIV golf tournaments, you will hear ERM fairly often.

      Justin Rose, Padraig Harrington, Shane Lowry, Ian Poulter, Paul Casey and others come to mind. Surprisingly (to me anyway) is that I have yet to hear Rory McIlroy say ERM.

      Delete
    3. Maybe it's because Rory McIlroy isn't Birtish.

      Delete
    4. That's me, Jinx, commenting about ol' Rory. I'll try to restore my name after a good night's sleep.

      Delete
    5. Jinx, I don't think I've ever heard of anyone being Birtish. :-) We must have similar keyboards. Untie!

      Delete
    6. I think that you might get to enjoy a Northern Irish Car Bomb if you call Rory "British."

      Delete
  16. This was an amusing puzzle with all the themers having a metal paired with a person and/or persons but not actually made of a metal like a robot would be - hope that helps Irish Miss. IRONically our Captcha went away with the new format - at least on my computer YMMV

    I dodged a few of the 2 options like hymnal/MISSAL because I had already filled in the M. My kids went to a Catholic school in Wisconsin so I learned about MISSALs there.

    Also learned pretty quickly practicing in towns near farmland to ask about what people had for SUPper for the evening meal, because dinner for many was the noon meal instead of lunch

    My kids loved The Gilmore Girls during their teen years- so that was a gimme

    Thanks Splynter for the blog - enjoyed the John Williams tunes and the link to the Sip& Feast blog for the Fra DIAVOLO. The pic of Rehoboth beach in DELaware was a good reminder never to go there - I avoid like the plague packed beaches - which you might get the plague at
    FLN: thanks TTP for letting me vent a bit

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's good to vent.

      Also, if interested, see my response to Desper-otto above. ReCAPTCHA is still there, it it just not as noticeable as it once was.

      I should have also added that commenters who are logged into their Blogger account don't get challenged, just like in the previous user interface (UI) for commenting.

      With the new UI, and with this version of reCAPTCHA, suspicious comments are filtered out for moderation.

      Delete
    2. Thanks, Nina, now it's perfectly clear. 😉

      Delete
  17. I may have found a way to get revenge on captcha...

    Anywho,
    It was a crossword puzzle that enlightened me that Douglas Adams wrote more than just just "hitchhikers guide to the galaxy." In my search for more inanity, I came across a free YouTube movie called "Absolutely Anything".
    I watched it last night simply because I like the comedic actor, Simon Pegg, an enjoyed it immensely.

    Wanting to share my good fortune, I wanted to link it here. But quite honestly, in looking for a short clip to generate interest, I found nothing that would titillate the breakfast/coffee club here. (Might even turn you off...)
    So, here is a link to he entire movie, (if you would wish to watch it.)

    absolutely anything

    If you can get past the introduction, and get to the beginning of a schoolteachers very bad day, I can promise you that you will forget all your problems for an hour and a half by watching some one else's problems...

    ReplyDelete
  18. Musings
    -My Man Of Steel was George Reeves. That show was appointment TV for me and I always wore my Superman non-V-NECK tee shirt.
    -Nice pipes, Splynter!
    -The only joke my FIL knew was to say, “Eat hardy but not laurel” before every meal.
    -Farmers around here are REAPING, picking, combining and baling this time of year.
    -My Mac a “RETURN” button and yes I remember doing that manually . Another anachronism kids today will never see, sigh…
    -The same kids will probably never have to put a key in an ignition either.
    -SAT scores are making a return as college entrance data.
    --I loved Sarah’s Broken Hearted Melody. Get a load of the setting where she is singing this!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. On the same wavelength as your FIL. One of two entries I was able to tie to "Blazing Saddles" today. "I'd like to give you a Laurel...and Hardy welcome." "That's Hedley!" :)

      Delete
    2. What in the wide world of sports is going on here?

      Delete
    3. “Now who could argue with that?”

      Delete
  19. This was fun, KD! However, “Captcha” (I’m computer illiterate) was unknown, so when I looked it up it indicated differentiating between humans and machine input. The admirals and Ms. Thatcher are human but Superman is a literary figure. He isn’t a bot so I guess he qualifies. Over thinking this, right? (and getting it wrong).

    Rehoboth Beach - spent many summers there with 22 family members in a rented house. We watched Mary Lou Renton, hometown girl, win gold at the 1984 Olympics. Much screaming! Ah, memories!

    Fra DIAVOLO - delicious! Carolina REAPERS - new to me. HedyLAMARR - most beautiful actress of her ERA, IMHO.. SARAH Vaughn - velvet voice.

    Did not cut my hair until age 12. My Mother PLAITed my hair every morning before school. Common hairstyle back then.

    Happy day, all! Parsan

    ReplyDelete
  20. The theme answers are people that sound like they're made of metal ... but they are not robots (which *are* made of metal)! Very clear to me. I thought the puzzle was delightful. Thank you, Kyle, and thanks to Splynter for 'splainin'.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Monday on a Wednesday today, and I love it. Only nit = ERM. I tried DIABLO but that didn't fit. Quickly DIAVOLO perped in. 10 names, but only DNK 2. Splynter you mention Christopher Reeve. He is why I don't ride horses. I mean, if they can kill Superman.... DO @ 5:02 same for me re UW. What else to say? Thanx KD, I really enjoyed your creation. And thanx Splynter for the wonderful write-up. All your time and effort is appreciated.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Unclefred, you only had one nit? Only one candela per square meter?

      (I'm just having fun with the tech definition of a nit)

      A nit is a unit of measurement used to quantify the brightness of electronic displays, particularly those with emissive technologies like LEDs, OLEDs, and microLEDs.

      One nit is equivalent to one candela per square meter (cd/m²)

      Lumens, on the other hand, are a unit of measurement used to describe the total amount of visible light emitted by a light source. Unlike nits, which focus on the brightness of a display surface, lumens measure the overall light output of a device.

      Delete
  22. Another Monday-like puzzle! Definitely an "EasyA". Starting to dread the next few days.

    ReplyDelete
  23. Slow to see the connection between metals and ROBOTs. The robots in my experience are plastic and/or software. Last to fill was cross of ROR?/TT?L as I don't do text speak. FIR. When I see BF I think of something NSFW.

    Splynter Thank you for the LAUREL clip from Blazing Saddles. I don't think I ever noticed that joke before.

    We have lots of TAR on our beaches. It was indeed used by the Chumash natives to seal the HULLs of their tomol boats.

    From Yesterday:
    Jinx Thanks for the clarification about ENOLA GAY. Interesting that I have now seen the ENOLA GAY aircraft and the direct effects on the ground.

    TTP It is a tough call about posts more than a day old. I came to this blog by Googling something from the puzzle. Someone could Google something that is days or even weeks old and find the comments that were added late. I also always check the "Notify Me" box on days I post. So I do see late posts.

    As for comments being appropriate, I have been quite pleased that people are generally being quite civil in this election year. Critiques of the puzzle seem fine to me as long as they are not just personal attacks. I would rather be offended once in awhile rather than have too much censorship. Perhaps that is just me.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Picard, that is also how I got here. I was new to solving crossword puzzles about 10 years ago, and I only solved them in the Sunday paper during football season while waiting for the games to start. One day, I came within a couple of letters of finally completing a Sunday puzzle, and I googled. I found this blogspot with the answers for that day. After lurking a few months, I started commenting.

      What may surprise you, and perhaps most other readers, is that approximately 27% of crosswordcorner blogspot pages (and the words and comments in them) aren't indexed. There are various technical reasons that pages aren't indexed. After Google decides that a page can't be indexed, it is very hard to correct the issue and get them to crawl and index the page again.

      Indexing is when Google finds (crawls) a page, then processes content of the page and puts the page into the Google index (indexes it), where the page may be eligible to appear in Google Search results.

      That is why you may not get a hit when searching for a word or phrase that you are absolutely certain you used or read about on this blogspot.

      Yes, the Notify Me function will alert the readers who use it, that someone had replied to a comment of theirs. That in turn may cause the person to read other, late arriving comments.

      I generally approve late comments. I do delete those that add no value. But some people are habitually late. The chances of their comments being seen go down substantially with each passing day. That is my message to Darren and a few others. We recently had someone comment on a blog post that was 11 days old, apparently wanting to get in the conversation, based on their comments.

      Delete
  24. Hola!
    Wow! Metallic people! Thank you, Kyle Dolan. I went through this pretty quickly and chuckled quite a bit. Missal was a nice surprise. For those who don't know, it is a book that contains the complete order of the Mass and includes an entire year of Masses with Lent, Advent, etc. It's a wonderful aid to follow the Mass along with the priest and helps to not get distracted.
    DIAVOLO tripped me up a bit and I originally had DIAVOLi.
    I, too, am a big fan of MARISA Tomei as well as of Hedy LAMARR, both beautiful, talented women. Enjoy your day, everyone!

    ReplyDelete
  25. TTP Thank you for your thoughtful and interesting reply. I did not realize Google misses so much. But it seems they still get most of it. We appreciate you and the others who do the administrative work. I think the main point I was making was not to stress too much over it: It is OK to err on the side of leaving stuff up and not worry that someone might be offended.

    And, regarding old posts, I think the limit for needing approval used to be a week or more. I think that worked fine and probably causes less work for you. When I first started, I always was posting a day or more late. And when I come back from travels I sometimes like to comment. Few people may see it, but it doesn't do any harm. Thanks again for your work.

    Lucina Thank you for taking the time to give your thoughts on the SPANGLISH puzzle on Sunday!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Picard, actually, before me, no comments were filtered for moderation. When I assumed the position, the rule was None for Comments Moderation. It is now set at 2 days, and that setting prevents a lot of spam from being posted to old blog pages.

      The setting of None was the problem, not the late arriving comments. Bots and spammers were posting comments to blog posts all the way back to the beginning of this blog. Hundreds and hundreds of them were in the archives. Almost all of them contained URL links to sites that were malicious in nature, potentially loading malware to anyone that linked to them.

      It took me months to find and delete all of those spam comments and links, as well as the thousands of "This comment has been removed by the author" entries.

      Now it's just routine. At least once a week, and often more frequently, I'll look to see what comments Blogger filtered out (correctly or incorrectly).

      I don't stress over it. I just make a decision to delete or allow.

      Delete
  26. Thanks to Kyle for his Wednesday contribution! Interesting grid, with the two plus signs.
    Thanks to Splynter for the fun blog! Yes, that was an amazing coincidence with the Diane VON Furstenburg dress. I did not want to laugh at Mr. Chicken but could not help myself. I also liked the Marisa clip.

    ReplyDelete
  27. Funny (to me anyway).... Scroll back up to Yooper's 7:50 AM comment that I just found in the Spam filter (and approved). I have no idea why Blogger's algorithm would have sent it to spam. He apparently noticed it was missing, because he posted similar comments at 8:23 AM.

    It's always a good idea to save comments before publishing, as Unclefred recently stated. You never know when Blogger's comment review tool is going to remove a comment (correctly or incorrectly).

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. TTP ~ I really have no knowledge of how Blogger and the Corner operate. When I didn’t see my comment I just thought I forgot to hit “PUBLISH” and rewrote it. 🤷‍♂️

      Delete
  28. Neat Wednesday puzzle--a little tough here and there but quite manageable--many thanks for this treat, Kyle. And your pictures and commentary were a pleasure, Splynter, thanks for those too.

    Well, as soon as I saw COOK I figured out that we might have a chance to be SUPPED in this puzzle, maybe at a SOIREE close to supper time. I doubt they'd be offering a RIB EYE steak, but they probably have a BISTRO to CATER and supply us with some FETA cheese and other great snacks. Makes for a pretty good afternoon and evening, I'd say.

    After that we could put on a V-NECK shirt and a FEDORA and go out and get a seat in our OPERA BOX to enjoy a great performance. But first we should take a few SELFIES in our dressy outfits.

    Hope you all have as good a day as we hope we'll have.

    ReplyDelete
  29. Easy Wednesday puzzle. I love many fra diavolo dishes, especially mussels.
    I see ERM all the time in novels and hear it in conversations.
    Somehow I know reapers, the world's hottest chili pepper, by reputation only. They are too hot for me.
    I know missals. We Episcopalians us The Book of Common Prayer.
    TTP, thanks for all your hard work and for deleting snarky texts.

    ReplyDelete
  30. Nice to know all the good work you do, TTP. Thank you.

    ReplyDelete
  31. Nice puzzle.
    When I was a kid my family would often spend summers at Lewes Beach in Delaware. Sometimes we would go down to Bethany Beach to spend a day. We once went to Rehoboth Beach and disliked it so much (crowded, cold, and lots of tar in the water) that we never went back.
    Good reading you all.

    ReplyDelete

  32. Yellowrocks and Monkey, thank you. I try to keep this site safe for the users, free of malware and malicious links.

    Yooper, sometimes I wonder myself. We went from the old blogger to the new blogger. They've changed the functions that bloggers use to create the reviews. We went from the old commenting UI to the new commenting UI. Then they released an algorithm that searches user comments for spam and certain words.

    They don't tell us any of this stuff beforehand. It just happens. It keeps some of us wondering why certain things are happening.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. TTP- I’ll add my thanks for all the work you do behind the scenes.

      Delete
  33. CanadianEh!, and sumdaze, thank you.

    ReplyDelete

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