google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Tuesday, August 24, 2010 Dave Mackey

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Aug 24, 2010

Tuesday, August 24, 2010 Dave Mackey

Theme: "Play Ball!" - The ending words of the theme entries are activities used in baseball, softball, and cricket. Any others?

20A. Quilter's layer : COTTON BATTING. The layer of fabric that makes a quilt warm. Based on the notion of "beaten" fabric, it isn't woven from threads.

28A. Camper's activity : TENT PITCHING. A weak entry.

49A. Not out of contention : IN THE RUNNING

59A. "Tom Jones" author : HENRY FIELDING. (1707 - 1754) An English novelist and dramatist known for his rich earthy humour and satirical prowess.

Argyle here.

Our constructor today has his own blogspot and did some NYT puzzles. Today's is a step up from yesterday's and, to me, not as smooth. No real problems.

Across:

1. Strikebreaker : SCAB

5. Start of a childhood learning song : ABCD

9. Music groups : BANDS

14. Movie director's unit : TAKE

15. Linguist Chomsky : NOAM. A professor emeritus of linguistics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

16. Each : EVERY

17. Song with a cadenza, perhaps : ARIA

18. Defunct Atlanta arena : OMNI. Completed in 1972, the arena was demolished in 1997.

19. Floored : WOWED

23. Comedian/actor Robert : KLEIN. This gentleman, is known for his wry wit and unique brand of humor.

24. Wagon wheel depression : RUT

25. Country with borders on three diff. oceans : USA. Did you forget the Arctic Ocean off Alaska's north shore?

33. Onetime Leno announcer Hall : EDD. A native of Boston, Hall grew up in Corning, NY, and attended Syracuse University. He now lives in Los Angeles.

36. Hockey score : GOAL

37. Capital west of Haiphong : HANOI. Haiphong is on the Vietnam coast.

38. Graceland middle name : ARON. Elvis Aron Presley.

40. Agile mountain animals : GOATS

43. Earth 42-Down : GEOL.. Earth Science = Geology.

44. Copy room powder : TONER

46. Ancient Andean : INCA. The best alliteration today.

48. Zoo swinger : APE

53. Mario Brothers letters : NES. Nintendo Entertainment System (abbreviated to NES or Nintendo). Mario Brothers is their biggest game.

54. Demand payment from : DUN. Word origin & history of dun. "to insist on payment of debt," 1620s, perhaps related to dunnen "to sound, resound, make a din," or shortened from dunkirk (c.1600) "privateer," a private vessel licensed to attack enemy ships during wartime, from Dunkirk , French port from which they sailed. Yet another, less likely, theory traces it to a Joe Dun , supposedly a London bailiff famous for catching defaulters.

55. Ancient Greek region : IONIA. On the Turkish coast. Map.

64. TV spot : PROMO

66. Shoppe adjective : OLDE

67. Actress/artist Sommer : ELKE. This German-born actress and now artist, lives in Los Angeles, CA and has no children.

68. Some woodwinds : OBOES

69. Pass unprofitably, as time : KILL

70. Tiger's 2004 bride : ELIN. Tiger's 2010 ex.

71. Petrol purchase : LITRE . British lingo.

72. French summers : ETEs. French lingo.

73. Huff and puff : PANT

Down:

1. Pile neatly : STACK

2. Holiday tune : CAROL. Hi, Carol.

3. "Go fly __!" : A KITE

4. "Amscray!" : "BEAT IT!" . Amscray is scram in pig Latin.

5. In a short time, old-style : ANON

6. Box office disaster : BOMB

7. Where Jesus turned water to wine : CANA. There are four villages in Galilee which are candidates for the biblical Cana.

8. Composer Shostakovich : DMITRI. He was a child prodigy as both a pianist and composer. Romance (from The Gadfly).

9. Cast a spell over : BEWITCH

10. Bell-ringing fragrance giant : AVON

11. World's second largest island : NEW GUINEA. Greenland is the largest island.

12. Rap's Dr. __ : DRE

13. Guitarist Barrett : SYD. He was a founding member of the band, Pink Floyd; he died in 2006.

21. 10 C-notes : ONE G. C-notes = $100 dollar bills, ten would make $1,000, one Grand.

22. Syllable of rebuke : TUT

26. Prying sort : SNOOP

27. Like a contortionist : AGILE

29. Eggy seasonal drink : NOG

30. Lao-tzu principle : TAO. The way.

31. Like the nose on your face? : PLAIN

32. Broom rider : HAG

33. Skip the bistro : EAT IN

34. Monotonous sound : DRONE

35. Plea made with one's hands up : "DON'T SHOOT!"

39. Bk.after Ezra : NEH. The Book of Nehemiah is sometimes called the Second Book of Ezra.

41. Former Opry network : TNN. The Nashville Network (TNN)

42. Chem. or phys. : SCI.

45. Rudolph tip-off : RED NOSE. A good guide on a foggy night.

47. Indigo dye source : ANIL. A leguminous West Indian shrub.

50. Capek play about automatons : R.U.R.. (Rossum's Universal Robots)

51. Break up a team? : UNYOKE. A team of horses or oxen. This week is fair week.

52. Smack a homer, in baseball lingo : GO DEEP. and 65. Squeeze bunt stat : RBI. Special bunt when there is a man on third.

56. Nabisco wafer brand : NILLA

57. Finish, as a comic strip : INK IN. Fill in the outlines.

58. Rep : AGENT

60. Part of EMT: Abbr. : EMER.. Emergency medical technicians. EMT

61. Move like a butterfly : FLIT

62. Not working : IDLE

63. Marine shockers : EELS

64. D.C. deal maker : POL

Answer grid.

Argyle

67 comments:

Dennis said...

Good morning, Argyle, C.C. and gang - well, this was a good Tuesday-level puzzle. The NW went ok, but I needed perp help to get the first theme answer, which turned out to be a pretty big hint. That made two of the remaining three theme answers pretty easy, but I needed perp help again for 'Henry Fielding'.

I can never remember Tiger's ex-wife's name; I remember everything else about her, just not her name. I learned that New Guinea is the world's second largest island, but other than that, didn't have any unknowns among the regular clues.

Favorite answers? 'Go deep' and 'Tent pitching', of course.

Today is Vesuvius Day. Hmmm......how to celebrate....

Did You Know?:

- The state capital of Texas has been moved 15 times.

- Raised-bump reflectors on U.S. roads are called Botts' Dots. (Elbert Botts invented them.)

- The low man on a totem pole is the most important man in the tribe.

Hahtoolah said...

Good Morning, CC, Argyle and all. I had difficulty getting traction in the top half of the puzzle, but ultimately was able to complete with no outside help.

My first theme clue was HENRY FIELDING (read the book years ago back in High School). Then, when I went back over the theme, I got COTTON BATTING, which led me to the baseball theme and it was smooth sailing from there.

I really wanted Flop for the Box Office Disaster, though, not BOMB.

My favorite clue was Break Up A Team? = UNYOKE.

Hand up for forgetting about the Arctic Ocean. USA revealed itself through the perps.

Off to the top of Cadillac Mountain on Mt. Desert Island.

MJ, I forgot to mention yesterday that I love your new avatar. Your grandson will love it when he is old enough to appreciate ...

QOD: Everybody's worried about stopping terrorism. Well, there's a really easy way: stop participating in it. ~ Noam Chomsky

Dick said...

Good morning Argyle and all, this was a very strange puzzle today. I had a love hate relationship with the puzzle this morning. The hating occurring with obscure crossings like 15A “Linguist Chomsky” and 8D “Composer Shostakovich” and then seeing “Song with a cadenza, perhaps” as the clue for aria.

Anyway, I managed to complete the puzzle except for the above mentioned crosses which I would hope for in a Tuesday crossword.

Hope you all have a great Tuesday.

Barry G. said...

Morning, all!

This puzzle took me a good deal longer than yesterday to complete, although I'm not entirely sure if it was the puzzle or just me. Everything just came a little slower today. Maybe it was the fact that none of the theme answers were immediately obvious. The referential clue for 43A certainly slowed me down a bit. And the proper names of people I did not know (EDD and ELIN) didn't help.

A fine puzzle overall. Just slow. Enjoyable, though!

kazie said...

No lookups, mostly smooth running but with perp help here and there. I did know Henry Fielding, couldn't remember how to spell NOAM, and since our paper isn't here yet, I did it online, so it was easy to miss a few clues because perps filled them in as I went.

As usual with fast solves when I don't have to think too hard about what the theme connection might be, I didn't even see what it was until I was here.

creature said...

Good morning,Argyle,C.C. et al.,

Got theme from 'batting'right away, then, with perps,got 'unknowns': NOAM, ELIN, HENRY FIELDING. I, also, forgot Artic Ocean, and wanted to put 'tsk' instead of 'tut'. Ditto New Guinea, per Dennis.

'Flit' was my favotite answer-ala ali-our hometown hero.

Bill said...

Good Morning All
Yesterday was quick and today was a 25 minute slog. As for help, I seldom look anything up. Either I get it or I don't. It's really not that important to me. The unknowns usually fill themselves after several trips through the grid and then I have the D'oh moment. Todays was ONEG!! Could not figure what the h*** 10 C-notes wanted. I knew "M" and "1000" wouldn't work but "grand" or "G" never crossed my mind. D'oh!!!! Oh, well, such is life.
CY'All Later

lois said...

Good morning Argyle, CC, et al., Excellent job, Argyle. I'm hooked on 8D Shostakovich's Romance. Thank you for that. I usually think his piano compositions are too atonal, but this Romance that you gave us is just beautiful. Thank you.

Past that, easy and fun puzzle for a Tues. I love the theme, which I got and which helped with Henry's name59A Fielding. Loved seeing our favorite 'Carol' here and Noam Chomsky who we study with his language acquisition device.

New word for me is 'Dun'54A. I guess it's a verb, but I 'dun'no. How do you use it in a sentence? "I -O -nia" some money and she keeps 'dun'ning me for it,the 'hag'! Or a combination adj/verb: Are you 'dun'? No, but I'll be through in a minute. Go to the next outhouse.

Fav clues/ans were 'eat in'
'stack', 'go deep' 'beat it ', 'pant', 'rut',
'bomb' and 'don't shoot'...but then it is 'Vesuvius Day...so erupting is in order today. Go ahead and shoot then! How about some moon shots? Maybe we should 'unyoke' and 'promo'te some 'olde' 'goats' today too in honor of Vesuvius Day. I KNOW they are not 'dun'...it may 'kill' em, but at least they won't be 'idle' and we won't have to 'ink in' their smiles. I bet they'll make Mt. Vesuvius look like a gnat's fart in comparison. Being olde doesn't mean you're not in'klein'ed to be 'in the running'. 'Tut tut'. Far from it!

Enjoy your day.

Dudley said...

Hello Puzzlers - What Kazie said.

I zoomed through without noticing the theme. Just a few unknowns, all perp-filled.

I much preferred Edd Hall over his replacement John Melendez (as the Tonight Show announcer). I wonder why he uses two Ds in Edd, and wonder why he left such an easy job! Must have been well paid, wouldn't you think?

HeartRx from yesterday - Hmm, never thought of the town of Dudley. I picked that alias in a hurry one blog day. A brother called me Dudley Doright when we were little. I live near Barnes Airport. What's the Big Bunny?

Spitzboov said...

Good morning all. Nice write-up, Argyle.

About as easy as yesterday's. One pass and a little backfill and it was done. Liked the baseball theme. Did not know Henry Fielding but the earlier baseball gerunds gave me FIELDING, and HENRY came from the perps. 43a. GEOL was a WAG before checking 42 d. Glad to see ÉTÉS are back.

NEW GUINEA - During most of 1944, my avatar operated along the northern shore of New Guinea and the Admiralty Islands.

Lois' mini 'rant' on the little house suggests a story:

THE TINY CABIN

A social worker from a big City in Massachusetts recently transferred to the Mountains of North Carolina and was on the first tour of her new territory when she came upon the tiniest cabin she had ever seen in her life.

Intrigued, she went up and knocked on the door. 'Anybody
home?' she asked.

Yep,' came a kid's voice through the door.

'Is your father there?' asked the social worker.

'Pa? Nope, he left afore Ma came in,' said the kid.

'Well, is your mother there?' persisted the social worker.

'Ma? Nope, she left just afore I got here,' said the kid.

'But,' protested the social worker, 'are you never together as a family?'

'Sure, but not here,' said the kid through the door.
'This is the Outhouse!'

(Government workers are so smart)

Husker Gary said...

Good Morning from the Hinterlands! This was a slight step up the difficulty ladder but still very doable.

I mentioned PISA as a bucket list destination for me and my wife's was a little more domestic as she wants to see Elvis ARON Presley's Graceland which we will do at the end of this month. That is if Tennessee is dried out. What rain!


Break up a team took an expansion beyond teams that kick, hit and throw various types of objects!

I was going for INTHEREPITCHING but ran out of blanks.

Vesuvius Day (Thanks Dennis!) reminds me of our trip to Pompeii. It is amazing to see and Vesuvius is still cooking to the North as it looms over Naples. The setup around Pompeii seemed like a county fair and not as elegant as it would be here. Street vendors were hawking every imaginable device in tents.

Some of the bldgs in Pompeii have graphic pictures above the beds in different rooms to denote what specific physical pleasures could be obtained in that alcove. Who says there is no universal language?

The castings of the bodies in their last throes of agony are displayed in rickety, rusted cases that don't seem to do justice to 2,000 yr old artifacts.

It has finally cooled off here and it is going to get down into the 50's this week!

Question of the day - What musical contains a reference to the Last Days of Pompeii (pronounced Pom Pee aye aye by Paul Ford)

kazie said...

Husker Gary,
I remember being more impressed with Herculaneum than Pompeii. At Pompeii, all I remember are some partial buildings, but mainly deeply RUTted roads made of huge boulders that were worn down by metal wagon wheels. At Herculaneum there were more complete houses and paintings like those you describe. At that time, in 1970, they were still excavating a lot of sites in the area.

Anonymous said...

Spitzboov`s remarks reminded me of the old adage(s): "Smart enough (good enough) for gubment work!"

Splynter said...

Hi there ~!!

Well, I just about shot myself in the foot on this one, and had to open up the red letters on a Tuesday ( ARGH! ); the problem -
I got the theme from PITCHING and RUNNING, guessed at FIELDING, and naturally went with BUNTING - which is a coarse cotton fabric. Could not figure out my problem, and knew the name of Chomsky, that it was something NO--, and also knew I needed Dmitri, but...

Oh well.

I started with RUS for the three oceans clue, then it occurred to me that I don't need to be too far from home on this one. My lesson for the day was all Geography - the second largest island, and that today is "Vesuvius Day"

I certainly erupted at work early this morning - but tomorrow is a new day !

Splynter

Tinbeni said...

Argyle, Good write-up on a blah puzzle, JMHO.

Though I'm a hugh baseball fan, I was not WOWED by these themes or this grid.

Seemed like a puzzle where I just read the clue, INK IN an answer. Sigh ... Then go to the next clue.

ABCD = lame. Alphabet runs should be banned.

Geography related questions were gimmies. USA, INCA, NEW GUINEA, IONIA, HANOI.

NOAM & DMITRI were unknown but easy via perps.

FLIT has panache.

Anonymous said...

Good day all. A little tougher than yesterday, but fairly easily done with the perps. Didn't get the theme until coming here, which is surprising as I am such a baseball fan. GO TWINS - despite a little setback last night. Funny that ELIN is mentioned, and the divorce just went through yesterday. Like you Dennis, I loved GO DEEP (yea Thome) and thought there were many other clever clues. Got a few via perps that I never even looked back to see if they fit the clue.

Husker Gary I would love to go see Pompeii. They had a fascinating exhibit at our Science Museum with statues made of the actual positions people were in when they died. Apparently the heat of the lava literally disintegrates the person, leaving air pockets in the formed lava. Then they would fill the pockets with a substance, and viola, a person, or dog or some such thing would appear. It was awesome. Many of the remains were in mid-motion when they died.

Finally broke the humidity. Bike ride time to enjoy the good weather.

Anonymous said...

It took me 10 minutes to log in today. Don't know what is going on, but apparently my blog literally disappeared. Anyone else have this issue? Will have to post a pic later on when I have more time.

Anonymous said...

Sorry, things look like they are back to normal?????? Just testing to see that a picture appears now.

fermatprime said...

Hello All!

Thanks ARGYLE! Loved the Shostakovich. They are playing the fifth symphony either this evening or on the weekend on KUSC. Can't compare with playing it in an orchestra. Once conducted by the late great Rostropovich.

Horrible case of insomnia. (Been awake since 1:00 PM PDT. So I figured I'd work a few EASY puzzles. Today's was not very difficult but also not very much fun. Got the theme rather quickly. No cheating.

Here is my


BAD MATH POEM

We know that 5 plus 5 is ten
A number seen 'oft and again
For, as everyone knows
We've 10 fingers (and toes)
So 10's been or base since back when


Cheers,

fermatprime

daffy dill said...

Good morning! Good write up, Argyle.

Didn't have too many problems this morning. I figured out the theme after I got BATTING and FIELDING. I knew NOAM and swagged DMITRI. The only Hall I could think of was Arsenio(sp). EDD and KLEIN came from perps. ELIN was a given because I read several news sites before doing the puzzle.

Sorry about your Twins' loss last night, KQ! Go Rangers! I was pulling for a no-hitter.

Bye, y'all.

Jeannie said...

I thought this was just a little bit harder than yesterday. I got the theme which is amazing as I am not a baseball fan at all. I haven’t watched one single game this season and have even turned down free tickets to the new stadium. Football however, is another thing…I didn’t know Noam Chomsky but got that as well as Elke, anil and RUR via the perps. Demand payment from – dun is my learning moment for the day. It was ironic to see Elin in the puzzle the day after her divorce from Tiger was finalized. My favorite clue today was “break up a team” – unyoke. Hey, even Carol made the puzzle today! It’s hard to believe that Avon has been around since 1886. See article.
I always thought that the low man on the totem pole meant you were the newest employee. Who knew?

kazie said...

Jeannie,
I think the totem pole thing refers to the fact that the rest of the pole would collapse without the bottom part. Like the chain being only as strong as its weakest link.

Clear Ayes said...

Good Morning All, Good Tuesday for me. I started with the Downs, which worked out very well. After that, both COTTON BATTING and HENRY FIELDING filled in. I got a glimmer and went back to fill in the other two theme "ING"s.

As so commonly happens, my sticking place was with three letter (53A) NES, (50D) RUR and (54A)DUN.

We've been Robert KLEIN fans for many years. He's quite a good musician and his harmonica playing and doo-wap singing is well know. Here'e a production number of his long time theme song I Can't Stop My Leg

Husker Gary, Paul Ford was terrific in "The Music Man" as Mayor Shinn. I suspect it was Mayor Shinn who made the comment about "Pom Pee aye aye".

carol said...

Hi all you bright people:

I had the worst time getting started with this thing. I just was not on Mr. Mackey's wave length. The clues/answers seemed too difficult for a Tuesday - IMHO: Chomsky, Capital west of Haiphong, Shostakovich, Guitarist Barrett, Ancient Greek region...WTH???

I did finish it, but sure needed help.

Spitzboov: loved your 'tiny cabin' story! :)

Lois, you are a funny, exceptional lady....LMAO at your comments.(again)

Chickie said...

Hello All--I was able to get to the puzzle a bit earlier today. It is going to be hot here today, so I wanted to get things done before it heats up. We've had such mild (even cold) weather this summer and now it will be over 100 today. What 24 hours will do.

I got the theme of the puzzle straight away. However, In the running turned out "In tie winning." This gave me In Joke for Break up a team! Hey, it looked OK to me. It was quickly fixed however, as I had to look up RUR. I didn't know the name of the Capek play.

I thought this was a tad harder today than yesterday and it took me longer to finish.

Tiger's and Elin's pictures were a sub-headline in our paper today, so that was a gimme. But I had to change One M to one G to fill in Goal. Sometimes doing the across and downs together, isn't always the best way to complete a puzzle.

Have a good day, everyone

Grumpy 1 said...

Good afternoon. This was pretty easy. Everybody keeps talking about the baseball theme. I thought it was "Clue!" as in the board game. HENRY, IN THE COTTON TENT, with a BOMB.

We will be marking off a few more places on our personal bucket list, and revisiting some that have been marked off before, during the next seven weeks. The big ones are the pyramids, the Holy Land and the D Day landing sites. It's about time to start packing.

Today is primary election day here in Florida. Wonder if there will be any eruptions worth noting today?

Gunghy said...

There are TEN names in this puzzle. That's 13.7% of the clues (for the mathematically inclined.) Crossing Noam and Dmitri is just cruel. On a Tuesday, it's unconscionable. It didn't help that I had ABCS. But, hey, Smitri works for me!!

Other than that, meh.

Now that I'm back near a computer, I do have a complaint about yesterday's cluing. Regatta flapper took me a long time to get, because if your SAILs are flapping, you are in trouble! At worst, you're in irons, at best, you are luffing. Either way, you are not going anywhere fast.

It's scheduled to hit 103 here today with a 107 tomorrow. But it's a dry heat.

Tinbeni, happy day after birthday.

MJ said...

Happy Tuesday, all.
I had smooth sailing today, as the few unknowns filled themselves in via the perps. Favorite clue/fill was "Plea made with one's hands up/DON'T SHOOT."

Argyle, excellent blogging. Enjoyed the links and the additional information you provided.

Annette and Hahtool-Thanks for the shout out at my current avatar. We had a great week playing with Drake, his parents,and my BIL in and near Drake, which is on the Eastern slope of the Rocky Mountains. BIL lives in Drake, and there are many shirt-tail relatives nearby, so we generally visit every year. BTW, Annette, that's an amazing story about finding your sister's first and last names on intersecting street signs.

Enjoy the day!

Mainiac said...

Good Afternoon All,

Great write up Argyle.

Pretty typical Tuesday. Had a couple to erase. Flop instead of Bomb and Flap instead of Flit. I wouldn't let go of either which had me scratching my head for those two blocks.

Hahtool, If your in BH look me up. My office is on Park Street next to the playground.

Have a great Tuesday.

dodo said...

Morning, solvers,

Pretty much what's been said. Pretty easy today, no lookups and lots of perp help,

Don't know if any of you are aware of this: Freerice.com. This is a nonprofit program to help feed the hungry and improve your vocabulary at the same time. You're given a word and four multiple choices for a definition. For every one you get right, ten grains of rice are contributed to the UN World Food Program. If you get one wrong, you'll get a second and even third chance until you get it right. In about 20 minutes of playing, I contributed 2,200+ grains. You're shown how many bowls that is. It's fun and not a complete time-waster. Try it and help feed the hungry.

Cheers, dodo

Frenchie said...

C.C., Argyle and folk,

Another great write up, Argyle! Fun theme by Dave Mackey! Thanks.

51d. Break up a team? UNYOKE Given the theme, I jumped to breaking up a 'baseball' team...that first, split second impulse I have when I see the clue without the perps, strike...ha! ha! Wishful thinking! OK, forgive me this...The yolk's on me!

67a. Actress/artist Sommer/ELKE Didn't she appear in a commercial for recording pure sound (maybe the Sony cassette tapes) and her voice played back shattered a crystal goblet? Early 70's.

56D. Nabisco wafer brand/NILLA When I first moved to FL for college, I met some locals and they served these big Banana Cream Pies. Nilla Wafers crust, Vanilla Pudding, sliced fresh bananas and about 6" of whipped cream. It was delicious! I'm sure it was a heart attack in a pie pan. Those 'crackers' loved their Nilla Wafers! So did I.

54a./50d.RUR-Capek play about automatons/DUN-demand payment from. Thank you, Argyle, My new word! I never heard of either. RUR-palindrome!

@Lois, I never did 'go deep'...Am I missing out on something?

@fermatprime, very cute ditty, Insomnia is a bomb...I had it at 3:30 this morning and knew I'd be a wreck for the rest of the day...hope you pulled out of it!

Gotta run,

I'm out.

Jayce said...

Warm Tuesday greetings to you all.

Nice puzzle, not too hard but not super easy either. Hooray for Tuesdays.

Many of the proper names I got right off the bat, such as DMITRI, ARON, NOAM, ELIN, ELKE, and HENRY FIELDING. Some names I did not know, such as KLEIN, EDD, and SYD, but they were attainable from the crosses.

After getting FIELDING, BATTING, and PITCHING, I got cocky and pencilled in BUNTING for the last part of 49A. That led me to pencil in TNT for 41D and BUR for 50D, none of which I realized was wrong until I came here. My forehead is now splashed with V-8 juice.

As for 25A: Country with borders on three diff. oceans, once again I overconfidently put in CAN, thinking of Canada, but again the surrounding fill soon disabused me of that. And yes, I had neglected to think of Alaska at first, having already mentally rejected USA.

A lot of 4- and 5-letter words in this puzzle, which sure beats those remnant 3-letter ones. Some nice 6-letter and longer fill, and clever and fun cluing, too. My favorites are PLAIN and DONTSHOOT. BEWITCH is great fill, having that TCH which can look funny without the rest of the word.

"Amscray" left me wanting to put a Pig-Latin word in for 4D, but EATITBAY wouldn't fit.

Dennis, you would like GO DEEP.

It's going to be over 100 degrees here today, and we have already closed up all our windows and curtains so as to keep the house cool. We, and most people who live here, have no A/C, since it is really not needed except for 10-20 days out of the year. We'd go for a drive (the car does have A/C) if we needed to, to cool off, but it's a "bad air" day and unnecessary driving is discouraged.

All the best to you all.

Jayce said...

I forgot to say thanks to you, Argyle, for your informative writeup, so thanks! And thanks for the link to Shostakovich's Romance.

Spitzboov, thanks for the Tiny Cabin story. Very funny :) Part of the fun of this blog is reading about the various experiences you all have had, stories and jokes you tell, and to-do items you you have on your bucket lists.

Always love your "did you know" tidbits, Dennis. It's a fun way to learn new things. Thank you for making the effort to post them.

Lois, I really enjoy your blogs, the way you use the fill words to tell a "story." Adds a lot to the pleasure of this blog. Thank you.

I guess Naples is a gorgeous city, but I sure wouldn't want to live right at the foot of active Vesuvius! (I'd rather risk earthquakes, haha.)

Fermatprime, I figured that is why many number systems are base 10. I guess the other major system is base 60, eg ancient Mayan and Babylonian. 60 is such a cool number! Like 24, it has quite a menu of integer factors to choose from. Sorry you have not been able to sleep well lately, and hope are able to soon.

Hey Gunghy, I guess SMITRI works for the actor Bill Smitrivich, too! haha

Dodo, thanks for the heads up about freerice.com. Interesting they would dole out rice by the grain.

Warren said...

Hi Argyle,C.C. & gang, an enjoyable puzzle today even if slightly harder than Monday's. We (my wife and I) got ~90% of it all but the upper right and bottom left before she left for work today.

For Jayce, in what part of San Jose do you live? We're in the Cambrian area very close to the Church of the Chimes.

A few years back my wife was working from home and we installed central A/C.

We also installed
Eagle Shield space age insulation about 2 years back and the house stays cool all day long in the summer, I also installed a solar powered attic exhaust fan that helps too.

;-)

daffy dill said...

It is mid-90s here right now, but we have had several days of 100+ temps. Not unusual, but like Gunghy said, it is dry heat.

We replaced our HVAC unit in February. It is a high efficiency unit, so it uses a lot less electricity than the old one did.

I guess I'm one of the few puzzlers here who knew NOAM Chomsky. I took three linguistic courses in college; his name was familiar because of that. I usually do well with names like that or political figures. It is pop culture names that I have to get from perps or from G.

kazie said...

Jayce,
Remembering Naples when I was there, we were joking about the quote "See Naples and die", which is meant to say it's so beautiful, one has to have it on one's bucket list and see it before you can die. Beautiful it may be, but the smell during a garbage strike in May was unbearable!

Actually, my only reason to go back would be to visit the Isle of Capri again. The views of the Mediterranean from the high cliffs there are breathtaking.

MJ said...

Dodo,
Freerice.com is a great site for kids (adults, too) to learn while having fun. You can also click on "Change subjects" and access questions about art, chemistry, geography, math, and foreign languages. One neat feature is that the difficulty level self adjusts depending on selecting correct/incorrect answers, so kids don't get frustrated, and as you pointed out, the questions that are missed are repeated until the correct answer is selected. A great learning tool, and philanthropic, at that.

Anonymous said...

from erieruth - Google kicked me out - don't know why - so I'm commenting under *anonymous* - before I have been erieruth!

I agree withTinbeni - ban alphabet strings ... unless they are really really clever!!

erieruth said...

Google let me back into the game!!!

Great blog - thanks for all the good information, comic insights, and interesting comments!!

Husker Gary said...

Kazie, I couldn't agree more on Capri. Capri and a park on Oahu are the two prettiest places I have ever been. Capri Ski Lift to the top of Ana Capri had not only had a breathtaking view of the Tyrennhian Sea but was also very fragrant from all the gardens below. All we had was a rickety seat and a rusty bar to pull down for "safety". In America, we would have had a yoke, harnesses, three times the number of cables and a signed waiver to not sue!

We too were in Naples during a garbage strike and the smell was horrendous and the street people are scary, which we were told on the bus.

We were further told that the south of Italy was less educated and educated than the north which is the stereotype of the USA (not believed by me!). Italy has only been a real country since 1865 and so the Italians are much more territorial. Our guide in Florence said, "FIrst, I am a Florentine, then a Tuscan and THEN an Italian." He also disparaged his southern countrymen.

Jayce said...

Warren, that Eagle Shield stuff looks pretty good. I confess we should insulate our house better. I'll swear it has zero insulation now! It is an old house, though.

We're near the Westgate West center, just off of Lawrence Expressway.

Oh my gosh, kazie, you were there during a garbage strike? Whee-ew! It sounds like you were able to enjoy all the beauty with your other senses anyway.

Hahtoolah said...

Spitzboov: I resemble that remark you made about government workers! LOL!

kazie said...

Husker Gary,
Thanks for the ski lift ride. It reawakened some distant memories. And I know exactly what you mean about the safety issues. Europeans seem to get by mostly with far fewer precautions. I just got my journal out and read the section on Naples. It was actually April when I was there, and I certainly was not impressed either with the city or its people. I know I didn't like the Romans, and had remarked that Napolitans were worse.

I didn't venture any farther south, but went west to the coast at Bari, then on to Brindisi to catch a ferry to Corfu.

Gunghy said...

IT'S BEEN A TOUGH YEAR

But not everyone is as lucky as I am......

The economy is so bad that I got a pre-declined credit card in the mail.

I ordered a burger at McDonald's, and the kid behind the counter asked, "Can you afford fries with that?"

CEO's are now playing miniature golf.

If the bank returns your check marked "Insufficient Funds," you have to call them and ask if they mean you or them .

Hot Wheels and Matchbox stocks are trading higher than GM.

McDonald's is selling the 1/4 'ouncer'.

Parents in Beverly Hills and Malibu are firing their nannies and learning their children's names.

A truckload of Americans was caught sneaking into Mexico .

Dick Cheney took his stockbroker hunting.

Motel Six won't leave the light on anymore.

The Mafia is laying off judges.

BP Oil laid off 25 Congressmen.

crazyhorse said...

Hi everyone

Thanks Argyle for the write up. As always it is great.

No real problems with this puzzle. Knew most of the names, which is unusual for me. Loved the link for Romance. Beautiful.. Did not know Henry Fielding, but came with the perps.

MJ
I was going to ask you where you were with the sign for Drake, but you answered it. Thanks

Fermataprime
I'm so sorry about your insomnia, I hope you will be able to find some relief soon.
My daughter is one of the personalities on KUSC, so I'm glad you listen

lois said...

Frenchie 1:11: Holy Potent Hotwick, Friend, is THAT ever a loaded question! Yes, if you never did "go deep" I'd say you are definately missing out on something at the very least "essential"..something I'd call beyond exciting and one thing that I'd call thrilling - 52D of today's c/w...among other things.

Jayce: thanks for the kind words. Love your input and sense of humor. Glad you're here.

Gunghy: great one liners. Love those!

Grumpy1: LOL w/your 'Clue' idea. Cute. Safe travels to you. Bring back pix so we can live thru you. 7weeks?

Well, boys, I'll give a new slant to 'go deep' tomorrow. The stretching procedure for my esophagus is scheduled for the morning. Thank you for your applications and enthusiasm for participation. I appreciate all of your exceptional equipment as well as your expertise in the area. (You have given 'full disclosure' a whole new meaning). You are all such magnanimous men - brings a tear to my eye - as you all have demonstrated by your rising to the occasion and your coming forward. Thank you one and all from the bottom of my ..uh..heart.
This operation's code name is ...what else?...'Deep throat' !!!!Let the games begin! See you later. I'll keep your applications on file and close to my ...heart.

ARBAON said...

Think up a theme, compose some fills, take several blank puzzles and see where the fills fit best. Try to fit other words into puzzle.
Write your clues at approximately the same level of difficulty. I guarantee that the occasional "atit", "eel(s)" "ete(s)", "tesla", (etc.) and even some alphabet runs will be necessary. They are often the price for a satisfying puzzle.
Puzzle makers aren`t crazy about them either...but they are the "price of doing (puzzle) business" as are some obscure words and names.
Example(s): geol,elke,elin, and Aron with one "a".
We`ll never have the respect puzzle makers are due until we try to compose one ourselves. I shall now climb down off my soap box. :)

carol said...

Gunghy (4:14) LOL...great ones! Loved them.

Dodo: Love free rice, I've had it on my desktop for a few years now. It's a lot of fun and great way to improve vocabulary and other areas.

Lois: Now you've done it...opened the door so to speak, got the boys attention and I know they will all wish you 'well' tomorrow. Isn't it nice to have stand up guys rooting for you?

Just Curious said...

Jeannie : You have mentioned that you are not a baseball fan AT ALL several times lately. We got it, but why don't you like it AT ALL?

Dennis said...

Lois, good luck tomorrow. I know you'll do well, but you certainly could've saved the doctor expense.

How long's the recovery process?

Bob said...

I was really busy today and didn't get around to finishing today's puzzle, so I'll have to give this one a pass.

Mainiac said...

Lois, Even though I haven't chimed in....... Good luck tomorrow!

Anonymous said...

Good night everyone.

Thanks for the great write up, Argyle.

Lois, does your travail never end? Esophagus stretching! Good grief. I'll be thinking good thoughts for you tomorrow. And best wishes for it to be successful and painless.

Gunghy, loved the comments.

Cheers, and sleep tight.

xtulmkr said...

Hope this comment is not too late.

Frenchie, the commercial you referred to was for Memorex; "Is it real or is it Memorex?"
The singer was Ella Fitzgerald.

MJ said...

Lois,
Best of wishes for your procedure tomorrow.
Hugs to you!

dodo said...

Good Luck, Lois dearie. I'm pulling for you!

Jeannie said...

I am very sad, and I have not posted because of Clearayes condition. CA, I need to get this out. My best friend in the last year and a half has lost her Mom and her baby Brother to this dreaded disease. She and I have a long standing relationship as she is the sales manager for BK. We met in 1994 and worked for the same boss. Since that time she has gone through a nasty divorce that she experienced when her kids were 3 and 7 (now 16 and 20) and all kinds of ups and downs. Our boss at the time recently got divorced and I set them up together (he and I remained friends). He now has terminal liver cancer and she is at her wits end. Since they are not married, our company won't give her family leave. She can't leave him alone anymore. Thankfully, our CEO is working with her. I am trying to help when I can. I am so bummed out as I love them both. I am truly worried about Mary though. I plan on staying at her house a couple of days this week as it is closer to work than where I live. I just hope I am able to see and help the "Old John that I knew and still love".

Gracey said...

As one anon to another. You are cruel. From what I can understand Jeannie has been a poster from way back (pretty and a smart woman). Poeple from the past that are Jeannie fans as I am, what do they say, "get her back". Not sure if that is the right terminoligy. I am learning from grand-kids.

Grace, taking a step.

MJ said...

Jeannie,
My heart is with your heart tonight.
Hugs to you, too.

Jeannie said...

Gracey Dear, you are a Dear. Thank you for understanding my plight. Got "her" back would be more understandable in the younger generation's lingo. I got it though and that is all that is important to me. As I said, you are a "DEAR GRACEY". Now go BLUE, it isn't necessary, but we would all like to know where you are from and more about a nice lady such as yourself.

Jeannie said...

Thank you MJ, and Gracey. I just finished packing my bag. Tricky here in MN as you never know how the weather will be at this time. All I know is I am heading to work tomorrow and from there to Mary's.

Linda, I know you will read this, and THANK YOU. It's really hard but I need your help on this one.

kazie said...

Jeannie,
You are such a dear friend to those you care for. I know your friends will appreciate whatever you can do for them. Those of us who have been here for a while understand the need to share some of these situations. Sometimes it's easier to open up here than with other people.

Lois,
I certainly join others in wishing you well tomorrow. If your throat is out of commission for a while, it won't stop your fingers doing the walking! So keep us in the loop.

Chickie said...

I know that it is late, but I wanted to let you know, Lois, that you are wished the best on your procedure tomorrow. I will be thinking about you.

Jeannie, You are a TRUE friend.

Gunghy, The comments on the economy were hilarious. Sometimes too true! Thanks for posting them.

Good nite, everyone.

Bill G. said...

Jeannie, Kazie, MJ, Dodo, Gracey, Lois, etc., I love you guys. Anon, 10:26, not so much.

Bill G. said...

And CA too!

It's damn hot here today (86) but some you guys have it much worse.

Gunghy said...

Jeannie and Lois, All the best to you both.

Anon @ 10:26, I'll pray for you.

Gunghy said...

One from my son: It's God's job to judge the sinners, it's the Marines' job to arrange the meeting.