Theme: "Oh Where, Oh Where ... "
Puzzling thoughts:
Today's play-on-words Friday-level puzzle was offered to us by none other than David Alfred, "one if by land, two if" Bywaters! This is now three-in-a-row for me recapping some of my favorite puzzlers (Rich, Patti, and now David). As many of you know, one of my partners-in-crime, waseeley, is also a fan of David's and regularly shares with us his fortnightly, crossword cavalcade
David often comes up with a fiendish connection in his puzzles, so I reached out via email to him to confirm (or deny) that these entries had anything more than what appears on the surface. David was honored to think that I had uncovered a secret code, perhaps ... but as he said, "it was by mere chance" that he came up with 5 phrases that have a double-meaning, all of which were framed by a clue question beginning with the words "where to find". Did you have the wherewithal to figure them out?
Let's explore each one and see if we can find out the meaning behind the clues:
17-across. Where to find a dogcatcher at the end of the working day?: BY THE POUND. David's first clue/entry was to explore the whereabouts of a dogcatcher (do these even exist anymore?) when his shift is over. By the dog POUND of course! Would this entry have been as exciting if it had been clued: "How bananas are sold?" Nope
But speaking of bananas, I find it interesting that Trader Joe's is a retailer who sells bananas individually as well as in a bunch. So, which is the better deal? Individual or by the pound? Well, if you allow that a single banana - on average (with the peel) - weighs about 8 ounces, then their selling price of 19 cents each (maybe it's now a quarter) is a pretty good deal. The by the pound price is usually around 69 cents per
31-across. Where to find a Tyrolean shepherd?: ABOVE THE FOLD. Normally, C-Moe uses the Thesaurus-saurus (see 70-across in the recap) to confirm synonyms. And while Moe has heard of the word fold in reference to a flock of sheep it took a while to confirm (open the link)
The phrase, above the fold, is a newspaper reference that applies to the headline (or major news story) that appears above the folded part of the paper. Maybe as this one so erroneously did back in 1948?
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Notice how the paper is folded |
38-across. Where to find an Iowa farmer in late summer?: BEHIND THE EARS. This was by far the corniest of the crop ... 😀
Too bad, though, that David didn't have a few extra squares in the puzzle grid to allow him to add an adjective to the phrase. Then the clue could've been:
How to find an Iowa farmer after a late summer thunderstorm?: ___ BEHIND THE EARS 💧💧💧
46-across. Where to find a Chicago suburbanite?: OUT OF THE LOOP. Fortunately for those who regularly visit the Crossword Corner, you are never out of the loop. Even when we are faced with trying to figure out certain actors, authors, places, or things; the bloggers here are always eager to do the googling for you and offer it in our comments ...
So why a Chicago suburbanite? Well, for those of you who are unfamiliar with the "landscape" "The Loop" is both a geographic reference as well as a pretty famous area in downtown Chicago (see the rectangular loop in the map below)
63-across. Where to find a lumberjack at lunchtime?: ON THE STUMP. David ends his quintet of quirky quips with a reference to political speeches and rallies. We steer clear of discussing politics here at the Corner ... but we do like to post cartoons!
Today's grid is brought to you by Sharpie®:
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| The Grid - My first time using a highlighter 😂 |
As an aside, there were 24 3LW's today ... again, a result of having 57 of the 225 available squares occupied by the theme entries ... we'll soon learn if Irish Miss minded these, or not ... I'm guessing, not!
As a further aside, David provided me (through our email correspondence) a couple more of the entries he had for this puzzle that didn't make the cut:
Clue: Where to find the lighthouse keeper on foggy Fridays?: BESIDE THE POINT.
Clue: Where to find the scientist who created the abbreviations for silver (Ag) and gold (Au)?: UNDER THE TABLE
My "grade" for this puzzle is a solid, ⭐⭐⭐⭐
6. Oscar season oversight: SNUB.
10. Org. concerned with lab safety?: SPCA. Cute clue; DAB's or PV's? In this case the "lab" is a dog; not a room for science experiments
14. Not haram: HALAL. Here's the difference
15. Potential London flat?: TYRE. Lots of play-on-words today! The London "flat" refers to an automobile tyre; not a rental unit (apartment)
16. Broccoli unit: HEAD. My partner, Margaret, advised me last week that broccoli is a man-made vegetable - Cauliflower, too as it turns out
19. Goals: AIMS.
20. Brief indication of flexibility: OBO. Or Best Offer. As in an ad (you'll see this on eBay) where an item is listed for sale for a price of, say, $50.00, OBO
21. Slender fish: EEL. GAR also fit, and it's a pretty slender fish IIRC
24. Quaint assent: YES'M. Contraction for yes, ma'am (also a contraction)
26. Out of harm's way: SAFE. Which supports (5-down. Away from the wind:) ALEE
29. "__ you asked ... ": SINCE.
34. Opening stake: ANTE.
36. Pitching superstar: ACE. Walker Buehler may have been the ACE in this year's World Series
37. Marker: IOU. PEN also fit
43. Rx provider: DOC. With 24 3LW's you're bound to get several that are abbrs.
44. Delighted cry: OOH.
45. In addition: ELSE.
51. Not just glance: STARE. How good are YOU at a starting contest??
52. Many a Saudi: ARAB.
53. Jazzy improvisation: SCAT. Ella was one of the best
57. Attempts: TRIES.
59. Coded plea for help: SOS. Morse code. Dit dit dit, dah dah dah, dit dit dit (... --- ...)
61. Nev. neighbor: ARI. CSO to me, Lucina, Yuman, et al
62. "Despicable Me" voice actress Kristen: WIIG. This actress pronounces her last name the same as an artificial hairpiece: "wig". But if you look at it again, what if she pronounced it like a video game platform + the last letter, might you get this?:
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Wii - G |
68. Core supporters: BASE. This term was used ad nauseum during the Presidential campaign
69. "Booped" body parts: NOSES.
70. Acute: KEEN. The Thesaurus-saurus agrees!
71. Roe source: SHAD. I prefer mine from sturgeon
2. Perhaps: MAYBE. Do you think maybe there'll be a Moe-ku today? Perhaps ...
3. Some flutes: ALTOS.
4. "Caught you!": HAH. See! There was a Moe-ku; hah!
7. Greenwich Village sch.: NYU. Right in the heart of Greenwich Village
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Washington Square Arch near NYU |
8. Large container: URN. A large-sized container (urn) is often used for coffee; a small-sized container (urn) is often used as an alternative to a coffin
9. Hotel capacity: BEDS. Same answer applies to a hospital's capacity
10. "Doctor Zhivago" star: SHARIF. Aka, Michel Yusef Dimitri Chalhoub
11. Lingerie array: PEIGNOIRS. I wondered if this word had been used before in a major crossword puzzle - apparently, yes
12. Almost had it: CAME CLOSE. For some reason, this brought to mind a quip I wrote some ten years ago (October 2014). Not sure if those here are familiar with the racehorse I reference, so when you get to the last word click on the link ...
13. Spots: ADS. So here, all along, the images on a Dalmation's coat are actually ads?? 😉
18. Uruguayan coin: PESO. We had this word entry on Tuesday; Susan gave us the list of those other countries who use the peso as their currency of choice ...
23. Call upon: USE.
25. Class that brings problem after problem?: MATH. Why is it that I have a problem with this clue and its answer?? Maybe, because I couldn't find a Moe-ku to fit the answer ... how about a Moe-l'ick instead, that is sorta related ...
27. Part of a boa: FEATHER. SPLEEN and SCALE didn't fit. And when I found this image, I couldn't see any feathers ...
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Where the heck are its feathers??? |
28. Inscribe with acid: ETCH. Could've been clued: "___ a Sketch"
30. Part of a prof's address: EDU. Only since 43-across (DOC) was already used
32. "__ mir bist du schoen": 1937 hit: BEI. Who here remembers the Andrews Sisters? Let's see. In 1937 my future parents were in grade school ...
33. Little snicker: HEE. We gave out these little "snickers" for Halloween this year
34. "At last!": ABOUT TIME. This clue/entry would've been more appropriate if it were at the end of my blog!! 😂😂
35. Peach kin: NECTARINE. Here's the difference between the two
39. "Au contraire!": NOT. The clue was in Frawnch
40. Qatar's capital: DOHA. Coin flip here: If you chose the capital as in currency, then rial fits. But in this case it refers to the government center
41. Job listing letters: EEO. Except on Old MacDonald's farm, where jobs there are listed E-I-E-I-O
42. Italian ski destination: ALPS. Where you just might run into that Tyrolian shepherd fellow from 31-across
43. Bobs and buns: DOS. I hear that pre-Windows computer technicians chose MS-DOS for their haircut styles ...
47. Root: ORIGIN.
48. Charge: FEE. The noun; not the verb form
49. __ out at: LASHED. My twisted brain saw this image as someone who might resemble this:
50. Slender woodwind: OBOE. Played by that slender fish in 21-across, maybe??
54. Make happen: CAUSE. How did this happen? Just 'cause
55. On, as an alarm: ARMED. Once again, my brain went in a different direction when I saw the word armed. I wondered if there were any cartoon images of an octopus holding 8 alarm clocks, but this one is funnier:
56. A bit buzzed: TIPSY. I swear I was cold stone sober when I wrote this blog ... (which, FTR, was done on Monday the 4th)
58. Sounds of woe: SOBS. "There's no crying in crossword puzzle blogging!"
60. U.S. IDs: SSNS. See 65-down; you need one of these to apply
62. Stir-fry need: WOK. How about another Moe-l'ick?
64. "Pass": NAH. Oh, you don't want another Moe-l'ick or Moe-ku??
65. PreCheck org.: TSA. PreCheck for frequent travelers is a must - I got mine as part of Global Entry
66. Foot part: TOE. Toe, which rhymes with Moe, who is now going to bid you à bientôt! 😃
37 comments:
Not an easy puzzle, but then, I wouldn’t expect one on a Friday.
I note “OBO” and “oboe.” And I had to replace “also” with “else.” Also, it took me a while to get the spelling of “peignoirs.” But eventually, I figured it out. FIR, so I’m happy.
Good morning!
Went sideways with VAT [URN] and OSHA [SPCA], but everything worked out with a judicious application of Wite-Out. Clever puzzle from D.A.B. Clever write-up from C-Moe. What's not to like? (Yes, I remember the Andrews Sisters. Rum and Coca Cola was somewhat risqué back in '44, or so I've read. My sisters collected several of their records.)
Finished while boarding our Boston to Ft Myers flight before I lost WiFi and needed to turn on airplane mode. Fun puzzle with easy with repitiitous clues
TTYL
Double the fun today with a creation from DAB, and an equally enjoyable blog from C-Moe. FIR in 14:34, three entries - PEIGNOIRS, HALAL and BEI were entirely perped. New to me was an alarm being ARMED and NOSES being booped. Thank you David for the puzzle and C-Moe for your in depth report, your Moe-ku fit nicely with todays theme!
The flight path from DOHA to Dallas, arcing SSW, is directly overhead my house in Michigan (I often track flights on the Flightradar24 app).
FIR. This was a struggle, but to be expected on a Friday. Last to fall was the NE, mostly because of peignoirs. When I figured it out I didn't remember how to spell it.
The theme was clever and I had fun trying to figure them all out. The cluing was tough, but mostly fair.
Overall an enjoyable puzzle.
I didn't know several of the long answers, but the many short ones filled in all the blanks. So a tough Friday ended in the win column.
As our Chairman noted, BEHIND THE EARS seems to be missing something, like WET. All the rest double as stand alone phrases.
Had no idea on PEIGNOIRS. Gonna have to look that up in case it comes around again.
Looking forward to what will probably be a Saturday buzzsaw, lol.
Mr Bywaters gave us some real Friday level cluing for mostly simple answers, along with a cute theme. I liked it! I changed OLAf to OLAV, and NOn (French like the clue) to NOT (English). Only unknowns were BEI and DOHA.
This puzzle felt like a special treat, and so did Chairman Moe's commentary. Thanks much!
Took 7:59 today, somehow. Felt longer than that.
I had a very similar solving experience as my neighbor, YooperPhil. And, like SubG, I had to switch also for else.
Peignoirs was unknown, as was the foreign word titled song from the 1930s, and halal/haram. But, I knew today's (voice) actress (Wiig).
I agree that "behind the ears" doesn't sound like a phrase (at least comparatively to "by the pound", "above the fold", and "out of the loop"), nor does "on the stump".
FIR, but erased rah for OOH and also for ELSE.
There were three things I greatly enjoyed this week, and two of them were DAB crossword puzzles. My favorite today was "brief indication of flexibility" for OBO. Of course, seeing the obligatory OBOE was comforting, especially in the absence of Oreo.
Old Bailey, I also plan to do a little internet research on PEIGNOIRS, although I fully know what they are.
Thanks to DAB for another fine puzzle, and to our Chairman for another punny review. But I don't get the "BITCH PLEASE" message on the eyebrows.
Fun themers - with DAB's creativity - I have mostly heard of "wet BEHIND THE EARS" for a novice
Not sure if CM was joshing us with the Boa constrictor anatomy - but the feather was on BOA that would be like a puffy scarf around the neck
I think of PEIGNOIR as a word my grandmother would say or in older novels
Late to a meeting - so thanks CM and DAB!
Hola!
It's been a while since we've seen one of DAB's puzzles and it's a welcome sight! I love the puns! And I love seeing one of my favorite actors, Omar SHARIF. He was such a handsome man.
Yes, I'll take a CSO at ARIzona and also one at EDU.
ORIGINs is an interesting new show on TV.
For a Friday I thought this was an easy solve but I'm sure tomorrow will be a challenge. Was it just yesterday that we saw OMNI as a hotel?
I also think of WET to precede BEHIND THE EARS. And I have a memory of riding in a cable car to the top of the ALPS and eating lunch there.
Great clue for MATH. It's still early so I think I'll go back to bed. Have a lovely day, everyone!
I remember an old Hank Ketcham cartoon where Dennis the Menace says, "Mom always tells me to wash my neck and behind my ears...so that's all I wash."
IH: of course I was joshing with the boa anatomy 😉
Came to the Blog to learn what Peignoirs was. Based on the clue, I thought I would have a juicy image to post. I bet Splynter is as disappointed as I was...
Oh boy as clued was a tough one for me. I can't envision it as enthusiastic, or impatient, possibly due to Quantum Leap...
Good Morning! What a challenging but doable puzzle today! I loved the theme.
I so wanted 1D to be LETS GO!!
CSO to Husker Gary at 1A.
Clever cluing for TYRE, MATH.
I trusted but had to come to the Corner to get OBO.
The NE gave me the most pause. I was back and forth between “labs” being my loveable pups or a research facility, trying to make it work when finally, SPCA appeared. And then getting the right letters in the right order for PEIGNOIRES – only with the help of perps.
Okay, hand up for “BOOPING” my NOSE at 69A 🤣🤣🤣!
Dog catcher, now often referred to as Animal Control Officer, and yes, they are very active. Again, I refer you to Rocky Kanaka and his Sitting with Dogs very uplifting website or on FB. He comforts and promotes adoption of stray pups in a California shelter who in turn works closely with the ACOs.
Thanks, C-Moe for your signature Moe-Licks & Ku, toons and commentary today.
Loved this rather crunchy CW. When I saw DAB’s name, I knew it would be fun.
Some clever clues: TYRE, MATH, as well as the long answers.
HALAL was a lucky WAG. And no obscure proper names to annoy me.
For too long I hung on to nEEDY. I remember when I was a child my much older sister, who was a great singer like our mother, but not me, singing “BEI mir bist du shön”. Seeing this title here brought back many memories.
Thank you C-Moe for reaching out to our constructor and for a great review. That octopus cartoon is priceless.
I must be getting better at this game since I have been able to complete all the S-F puzzles without help this week and last week. Forget the Saturday ones. The arcane answers and crazy clues are often too much without a little Google help.
Nice little theme today. Thanks to David and C-Moe for their collaboration and presentation. Poor clue for 45A. 'Otherwise' would have been better than 'in addition'.
The dual 9's in the NE and SW were a nice touch, great word selection.
Said the potato, "It's better to get mashed than fried".
Above.
Definitely fun themers this morning. Wii G Boards and the Andrews Sisters will likely be rattling around in my head most of the day. Er, thanks for that Ch. Moe, I think.
You have never said, "Oh, boy, am I hungry. I can't wait for dinner!"??
I was doing an early morning check on comments FLN and noticed
that today's puzzle was by David Alfred Bywaters. Like MOE I
consider DAB to be one of my alltime favorite constructors, so
I ran off a copy and solved it and couldn't resist a few comments ...
As usual DAB's puzzles are full of fully RIPE puns.
A few favs:
53A SCAT. Wanted RIF. We had the great Ella Fitzgerald yesterday singing Embraceable You.
11D PEIGNOIRS. I think a JPEG would have been a better illustration of this fill MOE.😊 Here are some selections you can buy for your sweetie.
32D BEI. Today's German lesson: "To me you are beautiful!" A CSO to Spitz.
Great review MOE!
Cheers,
Bill
Fantastic Friday. Thanks for the fun, David and CMoe.
I FIRed in good time, and smiled at the themers (favourite was BEHIND THE EARS).
But I had plenty of inkblots.
I knew PEIGNOIRS but the proper spelling required perp correction. (I see I was not alone.)
Aha at 4D changed to HAH. Aah at 44A changed to OOH. Sigh at 58D changed to SOBS (plural required). I was having trouble with my sounds.
Hand up for Also before ELSE.
I caught the misdirection with SPCA and TYRE immediately. (I smiled at SPCA and BY THE POUND.). MATH clue was great too.
Abs wouldn’t fit as “core supporters”. Ah, BASE.
W
We had our favourite OBOE and the flutes turned out to be ALTOS. (Yesterday we had BASS (not to be confused with BASE).
Wishing you all a great day.
Lee, I thought the same about that clue for ELSE. But when I LIUed to find proof of my nit, I found this example: “ in addition; besides. - anything else you need to know?"
PEIGNOIR has an interesting word origin. “ The origin of this word is curiously related to a lady's long hair and the time at the end of the day when she would comb or brush it. The Middle French peignouoir means "garment worn over the shoulders while combing the hair," from peigner, "to comb the hair." The Latin root is pecten, "a comb." (vocabulary.com). Im glad I didn’t have to remember that original spelling!
Wow, we've been fortunate two days in a row to be treated to the work of dexterous puzzle constructors. Today's challenge by David was clever and fun, and largely free of names and obscurities.
I appreciated the five theme answers, the only one of which that was vague to me being the sheepfold.
David's cluing was fair and clever. As a former math teacher, I especially liked "Class that brings problem after problem" (MATH). Other good ones were "Org. concerned with lab safety?" (SPCA), "Brief indication of flexibility" (OBO), and "Potential London flat?" (TYRE).
And how about getting both OBOE and OBO into one puzzle? David clearly was having fun in the design and construction of this puzzle. And for the solvers, we got to enjoy a Friday puzzle that was actually pretty straightforward and far from inscrutable. The few head-scratchers, like HALAL, WIIG, and DOHA, were scattered around, so there were no Naticks, as these words were easily perped.
So thanks again, David, for sharing your proficiency and cleverness with us in providing such an amusing and satisfying solve.
Musings
-Where Neil and Buzz were in 1969: OVER THE MOON
-DAB never disappoints! I have followed Bill’s urging to solve more of David’s puzzles.
-Real storm chasers had lots of activity this spring as multiple tornadoes hit OMAHA
-Omaha has been the AAA home of the Cardinals, Dodgers and Royals-Storm Chasers.
-HALAL came out from somewhere for me.
-London flat/TYRE, Flexible/OBO – Great!’
-Buddy Holly leapt my mind immediately when I saw OH BOY
-My URN will have the NASA Logo (“meatball”) on it
-I knew PEIGNOIRS but its seemingly random placement of vowels and a silent G? :-)
-My congressman CAME CLOSE to being unseated Tuesday
-A math teacher just came in and asked me to give up my free period to teach a “real” lesson for her and I was delighted to do so and have to go prepare a lesson.
A super clean puzzle today by DAB. The clues were misleadingly good. I FIR but kept going back to the NE; I knew the cross perps were solid but I didn't know any word that began PEIGN. After filling PEIGNOIRS, I left it and then asked DW because it was new to me. Other than Kristen WIIG, there were no unknowns filled by perps.
I had to change TULSA to OMAHA for the Storm Chasers. Both are in tornado alley.
With the question mark behind 'lab safety' I guessed it would be SPCA instead of OSHA.
HEAD- I've only heard of broccoli spears, stems, and florets but it was an easy fill since broccoli and cauliflower were both developed from HEADS of cabbage.
Hagiographies- I knew OLAV and guessed Saint. Self anointed?
BEI- I know a lot of German but know nothing about the song.
Lots of clever clues. Somehow, OMAHA popped into my head at 1A, although I DNK "Storm Chasers", so I felt I was off to a good start. DNK OBO, PEIGNOIRS, or WIIG. 9A had me thinking science lab until the V-8 can hit. Although it took 20, I did FIR, with a few WAGS and many perps. I loved the theme, and the CW overall is right at Friday level. Thanx DAB for the fun. Thanx too to CMoe for the terrific write-up.
Now I know why the wine steward looked at me funny when ordering PEIGNOIR for my wife at a French restaurant!
I have a problem with those French words that have "eign" in them. So for instance I mix up "beignet," that delicious New Orleans pastry, with "peignoir," which is something entirely diifferent.
Exactly--see my comment above. It's those annoying "eign" words--mostly French--that are the problem. I got into a similar situation in New Orleans trying to order a beignet. I think I asked for a peignoir.
Super puzzle, unsurprisingly, given the constructor. Fun theme entries (OUT OF THE LOOP being my favorite, but they're all good) and great fill...PEIGNOIRS is terrific. Thanks to David for the treat and the Chairman for the post-solve tour.
And then there are those annoying words in the English language that end in -gh, like cough and bough, rough and thorough. Very confusing.
The theme, which I would call Prepositional Positions, was enjoyable, and as a journalist who has designed many a section front, including Page 1A, I especially enjoyed ABOVE THE FOLD, which Chairman Moe explained well.
It was a fairly easy FIR, and I enjoyed the exercise. But I was expecting a more Friday-level puzzle from DAB, who relied too much on weird clues for ostensibly easy entries in an attempt to create Friday-level difficulty. I kept saying, “well, yeah, but . . .” Yeah, broccoli has a HEAD, but . . . Italy has ALPS, but so do Switzerland, Austria, Germany, France, all of which would top Italy on most lists of which countries have Alps. That kind of thing. Pesos in Uruguay, for example. Even the Kristen WIIG clue was sort of in that category. Is Despicable Me one of the top credits on her resume? No! The clue, not the actress, was too obscure.
Irish Miss made a keen observation about me some months ago, that all my years of trying to make words and ideas as clear as possible spoiled me for some of the imperfections of the crossword world, where sometimes obfuscation is the aim. Sometimes the results of obfuscation are clever, but more often they are, as IM aptly puts it, “too clever by half.”
NITS: The post office abbreviation for Arizona is AZ, and the Associated Press abbrev. was Ariz., before the style changed to no abbreviations of states at all. But ARI is legit when clued as “on scoreboards,” which is why it’s usually clued that way. .. A superstar is probably an ACE, but just about any team calls its best pitcher the ace, and they can’t all be superstars. Not even nearly.
LIKES: PEIGNOIRS, for sure! Hand up for Tulsa before OMAHA, but that’s the kind of challenge I like. I didn’t like the clue for OH, BOY as much as I would have if it had cited the Buddy Holly song I’m most likely to perform in karaoke. “MAYBE Baby” would be No. 2. BTW, Buddy’s hometown showed up last night on Wheel of Fortune in an answer that included two other towns in Texas, Dallas and Houston. Two of the contestants clearly weren’t familiar with Lubbock.
Perhaps you should have ordered the Camisole or the Nuisette.
Actually, I've never said "oh boy" in my life.
Regarding dinner, this is what I usually say, possibly because DW has made spinach and mushrooms as a side for 968 days in a row...
(P.s., in addition to being a wonderful cook, sadly DW hates mashed potatoes and gravy. Can I come over your house for dinner?)
I knew this would be a fun morning when DAB appeared! Not exactly a "WOK in the park", (Thanks, Moe!) but an enjoyable outing by all means. I've always been an Andrew's Sisters fan since I discovered my parents collection of 78s at an early age. I once heard that a persons taste in music is set in stone by the age of 30. It might be true, as very little of what came after the 70's seems to have stuck!
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