google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Sunday August 8, 2010 Dan Schoenholz

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Aug 8, 2010

Sunday August 8, 2010 Dan Schoenholz

Theme: "Somet(h)ing's Missing" - Letter H is dropped from common CH, SH & TH starting two-word phrases. The vowels following the *H combination are all different and the vowel sounds remain the same after the drop.

27A. Plan a Big Apple heist? : C(H)ASE MANHATTAN. Base phrase here is Chase Manhattan. CH + Long A combination.

42A. Snorkeling? : T(H)ANKLESS TASK. Thankless Task. TH + Short A.

60A. Portfolio for retirement planning? : S(H)AVING KIT. Shaving Kit. SH + Long A.

70A. Do a Gap stockroom job? : S(H)ORT PANTS. Short Pants. SH + Diphthong OR.

86A. Clothes dryer, so it's said? : S(H)OCK ABSORBER. Shocking Absorber. SH + Short O. fun clue. Nicely crossing PAIRS (71D. An 86-Across may break them up).

101A. Made off with the meat? : C(H)OPPED SIRLOIN. Chopped Sirloin. CH + Short O. "Make off with" = COP = Steal.

37D. Iguana pals in Ecuador? : T(H)REE AMIGOS. Three Amigos. THR + Long E in EE spelling. Oh, dear, I had no idea that iguana live in trees. Hence TREE AMIGOS.

45D. Shamu's arena? : S(H)EA STADIUM. Shea Stadium. SH + Long E in EA spelling. (Correction: It's SH + Long A sound in EA spelling. The only theme answer where there is vowel sound change.)

Fantastic theme title! I actually read it as "Something's Missing" instead of the H-dropped hint "Somet(h)ing's Missing', but grokked the gimmick after the second theme answer.

No I/U to follow those CH/SH/TH. I am sure the constructor considered those options but could not find sparkling phrases to fit his theme pattern or symmetry. I could only think of T(H)ICK AND THIN & T(H)UG OF WAR. But both are three-word phrases, so out and out!

Also no WH or PH play. I suspect those combination starting words do not lend themselves well to H drop.

Very enjoyable solving. Sunday puzzles are huge, but they are pegged mostly at Wednesday difficulty level. The grid breakdown is also very solver friendly, lots of accessible four-letter (52 in this grid) and 5-letter (45 today) words.

Across:

1. Mardi Gras accessory bit : BEAD. Happy start for Hahtool.

5. Relished : ATE UP

10. Skinny sort : SCRAG. I only know crag. Not enough squares for my SCRAWNY.

15. Soprano Gluck : ALMA

19. Until : UP TO

20. Latte variant : MOCHA. Would have been perfect is there's absolutely no CH/SH/TH fill in the whole grid.

21. What Spanish Olympians go for : EL ORO. The gold.

22. Ready to be driven : TEED. Golf ball.

23. Father : SIRE

24. "We're finally __ own": "Ohio" lyric : ON OUR. Easy guess.

25. Needle : TEASE

26. Hullabaloo : TO-DO

30. Consequence of a strong punch? : SHINER. Slang for "black eye". I was thinking of the beverage punch.

32. Believe : FEEL

33. Squirrel (away) : SALT

34. Windblown : AEOLIAN. New word to me. From Aeolus, god of the winds in Greek myth.

35. Possibility : OPTION

38. "__ Mio" : 'O SOLE. "My Sun".

40. Microwave maker : AMANA

41. Florist's staple : FERN

45. Utah airport initials : SLC. Oh, Salt Lake City then.

48. Less restricted : FREER

50. Sediment : LEES. Wine dregs.

51. Get affectionate, with "up" : COZY

52. Santa's reindeer, e.g. : TEAM. And DUO (79. Small 52-Across).

53. Scratch (out) : EKE

54. Excuse : ALIBI

56. Direct, as one's future : SHAPE. Nice clue.

58. Where "The Nude Maja" hangs : PRADO. In Madrid. Over 100 Goyas there. Haltool linked both The Nude and The Clothed Maja before.

59. Where Mandela was pres. : RSA (Republic of South Africa)

62. Out of bed : ARISEN. And ADOZE (107. Snoozing).

63. Dr. Bunsen Honeydew, e.g. : MUPPET. I peeked at the answer sheet. Have never watched "The Muppet Show".

65. Peanut product : OIL

66. Most likable : NICEST

68. Online reading material : E-ZINES

72. All alternative : ANY

75. Unyielding : RIGID

76. Intended : MEANT

78. It might be verbal : ABUSE. Awesome clue.

80. Academic : MOOT. Dictionary has "purely academic" as the second meaning of Moot. New definition to me.

81. Southern collective? : Y'ALL

82. U.S. Treasurer Rosie : RIOS. Have never heard of this lady.

83. Car in a Beach Boys song : T-BIRD. Which song?

85. FAQ response : ANS (Answer)

90. Subterfuge : RUSE

91. Playboy bunny and others : LOGOS

92. "Amo, Amas, I Love __" : A LASS. Is this a poem?

93. Canine cover : ENAMEL. Canine teeth.

95. Nonwinner : ALSO-RAN

98. Ban target : ODOR. Read Ban as a verb rather than the noun Ban deodorant.

99. Seriously injure : MAIM

100. What you may do before you weep? : READ 'EM. Does this refer to Barry Manilow's song "Read 'Em and Weep"?

106. Jingled : RANG

109. Al __ : DENTE

110. 1944 turning point : D-DAY

112. Payment made by hand? : ANTE. I was not fooled.

113. Race official : TIMER. Always thought timer as a device rather than a person.

114. Oak, in a nutshell : ACORN. Nice clue, "in a nutshell".

115. Choice word : ELSE

116. River to the North Sea : YSER. Every letter in this river is a common word ending letter. That's why you see the river again and again at the bottom/right edge of the grid.

117. Twitch : SPASM

118. Got off the road, in a way : TOWED

119. Permits : LETS

Down:

1. Certain Volkswagen : BUS

2. Sweeping : EPIC. I don't get the clue.

3. Razor brand : ATRA

4. Has no problems : DOES FINE

5. You might need it when you're flustered : A MOMENT. To collect yourself. Great clue.

6. Like Romantic music : TONAL. What's the difference between tonal and atonal music?

7. MBA's course : ECON

8. "Nope" : UH-UH

9. Lightweight umbrellas : PARASOLS

10. Avoids a trial : SETTLES

11. Line holder, on a ship : CLEAT. Not aware of the nautical meaning. Is it like anchor?

12. Equine color : ROAN. Reddish brown.

13. Horace's "__ Poetica" : ARS

14. Doesn't push, with "on" : GOES EASY

15. Fifth-century warrior : ATTILA. Attila the Hun.

16. Téa of "Jurassic Park III" : LEONI

17. Mythical sorceress : MEDEA. Jason's wife. Lemonade knows very well how he jilted her.

18. Embellish : ADORN

28. Want ad abbr. : EEO

29. One might be hard to believe : TALE. The grammar confused me. I'd prefer the clue to be "One that might be hard to believe".

31. Response to being held up, maybe : HONK

34. Blow away : AMAZE

35. Put on the market : OFFER

36. Car allowance, preferred parking, etc. : PERKS

38. Half a quarter? : ONE BIT. Two bits = a quarter. Got me.

39. Unit of wound thread : SKEIN

40. Upon : ATOP

43. 1993 survival film : ALIVE. Was ignorant of the film.

44. Improvisational style : SCAT

46. Stow cargo : LADE

47. "Hurry up!" : C'MON

49. Croaked : RASPED

52. Speaker in the Hall of Fame : TRIS. Tris Speaker.

55. Track circuits : LAPS

56. Avoid : SKIRT

57. Dagger handle : HILT

58. Car radio feature : PRESET

61. Thug : GOON

62. Book between John and Romans : ACTS. I forgot.

64. The Big __: pitcher Randy Johnson's nickname : UNIT. Gimme. Lefty. I have his rookie card. It's not worth anything. Hall of Famer Walter Johnson (Right-handed) was nicknamed "The Big Train".

66. Agnew's natterers : NABOBS. "Nattering nabobs of negativism". Alliteration.

67. Occupied : IN USE

68. Funny Bombeck : ERMA

69. National park through which the Virgin River runs : ZION

70. Room in a casa : SALA. Casa = House. Spanish.

73. Ratched or Houlihan : NURSE. Hello, Buckeye!

74. Tyrolean refrain : YODEL. Tyrol is an province in Austria. Unknown to me.

76. Little Richard's Georgia hometown : MACON. Nicknamed "Heart of Georgia" as it lies in the geographical center of Georgia. I don't know who Little Richard is, Dennis. Safe traveling today!

77. Fraternal group : ELKS

81. Where asanas are seen : YOGA MATS. Asanas are Yoga postures.

82. Found hilarious : ROARED AT

84. Victoria's Secret catalog poser : BRA MODEL. Jazzbumpa loves Adriana Lima.

86. Ticked off : SORE

87. Salon snafu : BAD PERM

88. Cuisine for Babe : SLOP. Babe the pig.

89. Bump from behind : REAR-END

91. One of the inn crowd : LODGER

94. Zilch : NIL

95. Orderly display : ARRAY

96. Is inclined : LEANS

97. "À votre __!" : SANTE. Literally "To your health" in French.

98. Trickles : OOZES

99. Anglican Church headdress : MITRE. Like this. I can never remember the damned word.

101. Unresponsive state : COMA

102. Empire State Building style : DECO

103. Put one over on : SNOW. To deceive/fool.

104. Unoccupied : IDLE

105. Political cartoonist Thomas : NAST. He created Democrat's donkey & GOP's elephant.

108. Guacamole, for one : DIP

111. "Of course" : YES

Answer grid.

I've been enjoying MJ's always observant, sunny and caring comments, and I was so pleased that she sent me this wonderful picture to share with you. She said:

"What you'll see is a photo of our family taken yesterday (August 5, 2010) when we all got together for brunch. It's rare that we are all together, as no one has a regular M-F, 8-5pm sort of job.

Seated around the table, DIL Christianne (holding Drake, who'll be 5 months old on Sunday), middle son Andrew, DH Ray, oldest son Cameron, and his girlfriend Tess. Standing in the back. L to R, my mom Shelly, youngest son Oliver (Drake's father), and myself."

MJ is nearly 60 years old, and her husband Ray is nearly 70. But both look incredibly young, don't you think so?

C.C.

36 comments:

Hahtoolah said...

Good Morning, CC and all. I actually noticed the missing "H" in the title, which made it easier for me to parse out the theme clues. It still took a pass through before I fully caught on to it though. My first theme clue was Iguana Pals = TREE AMIGOS.

Thanks for the shout out (twice), CC. You are right ~ any puzzle that begins with a Mardi Gras (BEAD) clue can't be all bad. You have a good memory to remember that I previously linked the two Goya paintings of the Maja!

I was thinking of Dogs for Canine Cover. When I uncovered ENAMEL, I smiled. I was also amused to see AL DENTE so close to ENAMEL.

I initially wanted BUG for Certain VW, but knew that SIRE was the correct response for Father.

My favorite clue was Oak, In A Nutshell = ACORN.

I never saw the movie ALIVE, but read the book about a year ago. It was a true story of a plane crash in the Andes in the early 1970s. Most of the survivors were young men on a Uruguay rugby team. It's an amazing story.

I smiled when completing CASE MANHATTAN. I just finished reading a book in which the author's mother was accepted as an exchange student from India to the US. Her destination was Manhattan. She thought she was going to NYC. Imagine her surprise when, after she arrived in the US, she found that her final destination was actually Manhattan, Kansas!

Bump From Behind = REAR END has some DF connotations!

QOD: The most noble art is to make someone happy. ~ P.T. Barnum

Dennis said...

Good morning, C.C. and gang - not much time this morning, 'cause I've gotta get some stuff packed and also have to cover the hobby store from 12-4. Will leave right after and point south.

I loved the theme - it was extremely clever. The first theme answer was the 'aha' moment and made the remaining ones pretty easy. Favorite clues by far were 'What you may do before you weep' and 'Oak, in a nutshell'. And of course, any puzzle with a mention of the Beach Boys is gonna be ok in my book. Two answers gave me a problem. First, I don't care for 'adoze'; word or not, it's weak to me. And 'Aeolean', after a bit of research, seems to mean a noise or motion as if made by the wind. Those quibbles aside, I had a lot of fun solving this one, and that's the name of the game.

C.C., the Beach Boys song is 'Fun, Fun, Fun'; one of the refrains is, "and she'll have fun, fun, fun till her daddy takes the T-Bird away". And the term, 'read 'em and weep' is most often used in card games when someone shows a winning hand.

MJ, what a great looking family! And C.C.'s right - time has been extremely kind to you both.

Today is Sneak Some Zucchini onto Your Neighbor's Porch Day. Skip mine, please.

Lemonade714 said...

Happy Sunday, 8-8-10. My son is in the air returning from Roma, and I am pretty excited.


I really liked the humor in all of the theme answers, it was very entertaining theme; and except for my ever increasing distaste for ATRA as fill, and agreeing with Dennis with ADOZE, this was a nice Sunday puzzle. Not difficult, but still much I did not know such as ALMA GLUCK who combined opera and way before my time (why would you chose Alma Gluck as a stage name?); the meaning of SCRAG , to who is our Treasurer, or who is Rosie RIOS who comes close to being her own anagram.

In case you are not familiar the MAJA and do not remember Hahtool’s previous posts (newbies?) NUDE , and how many wanted VW BUG before bus?

I also thought What you may do before you weep? : READEM, Canine cover : ENAMEL One of the inn crowd : LODGER were all fresh and clever. I like the run of DENTE, DDAY and ANTE (another poker reference).

I liked DENTE, DDAY and ANTE (more card playing) all together.

MJ. I can never get my family to pose; nice job, maybe I can force them this time

Lemonade714 said...

C.C. as the baseball fan that you are, you can use SERGIO MITRE picturing him wearing the liturgical hat instead of his Yankee cap, and the word will always be with you.

As for the SWEEPING: EPIC, it is the panaoramic meaning of SWEEPING as an adjective, not the noun which is being used to trick the solvers.

Dudley said...

Hello Puzzlers -

Good Morning C.C. and special thanks for your detailed write-up. Today's large grid had so many unknowns I needed your post just to make sense of it all!

I didn't spot the missing H in the title, but did so in the first theme fill TANKLESS TASK. From there I made progress.

Hand up for VW BUG.

MJ - A fine and happy family!

I never knew that aeolian was a word. Having a bit of background in pipe organs, I have long known about Aeolian-Skinner organs, but didn't catch the name origin. Aeolian seems to make sense, where innately breezy instruments are concerned.

Splynter said...

Hello to all,

I have to disagree with just one little thing of the write-up, and that is SEA stadium does not have the same vowel sound as SHEA, which is pronounced "Shay". I am here on LI, NY, home of the Mets.

My favorite clue is "TREE AMIGOS" - I had an iguana, Zeus, who got to be about 4+ feet long with his tail. I built him a "tree" out of PVC pipe covered in artificial grass - he loved it. Spent the better part of the day up there. Had to let him go when I left that apartment. He went to a zoo in Texas.

Aeolian is also a "mode" in guitar, and the Aeolian mode of "C" is A minor.

I like the style of Art Deco, and the Chrysler building is a better example.

Yes, bump from behind - I don't need to go there, we were all thinking it, I ~FEEL~ !!!

Splynter

Anonymous said...

Good Mid'day all / Next to the answer blog with witty comments, I like to see the pics of the bloggers. What a grand and consistently handsome group of people. I guess I'm out.

I had to keep clicking in and out to find out who was whom, in MJ's picture. Maybe Oliver, youngest son, should have been described as Christi's hubby. I was toggling between photo and caption, to connect the faces and the relationships, I thought Andrew, sitting next to Christi, was her husband, and Oliver was Drakes father , unnecessarily complicating the relationship. I should have realized, crossword bloggers have stable, staid and perfectly conventional family lives.

Bill G. said...

Great photo, MJ and a very enjoyable puzzle except for ADOZE. Yuck.

CC, tonal music is what you are used to. In the old days, it would be a tune you could hum or whistle. Atonal music sounds like some random notes strung together. To my unsophisticated ear, it doesn't seem like music at all.

Here is a nice link to how a cleat is used to secure a line on a boat.

lois said...

Good morning CC et al., Fun puzzle indeed! Great and clever theme. Laughed at several clues and enjoyed it all. Liked how 70A 'sort pants' crosses 'skirt' and 'pairs' - which is what I'm going to do today...shop! well, hobble and shop. I refuse to be 'de-feeted'! Hand up for 1D Bug too. Loved 100A 'read 'em', '31D honk, and 89D Rear end. It occured to me that getting merely 'bumped from behind' isn't enough to get me 'teed' off. That's just a 'tease'. But getting rammed 'up to' the 'hilt' would set me
'freer', make me 'sore' and certainly give us some
'offer's to 'honk' about and probably get one or both of us 'towed' & made a 'lodger' in jail. No thanks. I'd rather meet 'a-man-a'nother way, preferably one 'alive', not 'idle' and not 'coma'tose in bed by 9PM when I'm just warmin' up, one who owns a boat and not a 'yoga mat', but who is in 'shape' and who comes w/'perks' and can make an 'offer' I can't refuse. Until then, 'al-ma' 'array' of skills will be stored for 'a moment'. Uh uh, practice just rang the bell. Gotta go.

Enjoy your day. Dennis, safe travels to you. You have my #?

Grumpy 1 said...

Hello CC and gang. This one started a little slow... yes, I went for BUG and hung onto it until the bitter end before finally deciding to check other possibilities. Spelling ATTILA with one T, two L's messed up that corner for a while also. I finally got enough crosses to see the base words in the theme answers and that filled a lot of the puzzle.

OOZES doesn't equate to trickles in my book, but it fit the space so I went with it.

Anyone else thant went with SHIRK instead of SKIRT? It didn't stay there for long. The theme answer forced a review and correction.

All in all, I liked the theme and the clues. It a was not too easy, not too hard kind of puzzle. Just what is needed for a lazy Sunday morn.

I knew it wouldn't fit the space or the theme, but "sirloin" was filled by perps and from the clue I really wanted to see "purloined sirloin" as the entry. Maybe some other time...

Dennis said...

Enjoy your day. Dennis, safe travels to you. You have my #?

On speed dial.

Al said...

To add a little color to Splynter's post, Aeolian mode in music is that Latin-flavored "Santana sound". Or maybe your tastes run more towards Acoustic Alchemy (you might have to put up with an ad first...)

Husker said...

After only an 85% effort yesterday, I was heartened by a pretty easy time on Sunday! Then C.C. took some of the air out of my balloon and said it was only a Wed. level of difficulty! Oh well, celebrate what you can. C.C.'s comments and research are always fun and thought provoking. Her Victoria Secret link also stimulated more than my intellect!

I also did BUG for BUS and SPOOL for SKEIN and wanted MUZZLE for canine cover until I saw the tooth and nothing but the tooth.

I also wonder if there is a crossword puzzle made without the word EKE in it.

Fun Sunday and a refuge from the 115 degree inferno oustide. How in the world did we/I grow up without A/C?

Another Quiet Fan said...

CC has the ability to bring out the beauty in every puzzle and every Crossword Corner contributor. You have an enviable crowd here.

Anonymous said...

LA Times is one ladder easier than NY Times, which has Thursday difficulty for Sunday puzzle.

Bill G. said...

Husker, where are you from to be suffering with 115 F temperatures? Very comfortable weather here so far this summer. Cloudy mornings, sunny afternoons, highs in the upper 60s with a nice sea breeze. Pleasant. I feel fortunate to be experiencing such nice weather considering what much of the rest of the country is suffering through. It would be great if this area could avoid the hot, dry, windy Santa Ana conditions that invariably bring serious brush fires.

I stumbled across some old classics on TCM. I had never seen Captain Blood with Errol Flynn and Basil Rathbone. After a dreary start, I really enjoyed it. Even though I've seen the original Adventures of Robin Hood several times before, I'm enjoying it again. It's bright and full of swashbuckling fun, the way I think Robin Hood should be. Subsequent remakes have tended to be too dreary and somber for my tastes.

Gunghy said...

Thank you all for the birthday wishes yesterday. All I missed was a call from my son in Afghanistan to make it perfect. My brother in Oz cut it close. He called last night at 10:30, but then I was just fixing dinner after getting back from a ride.

I only get title and author on Sundays, so I usually, like today, forget to look. Case Manhattan came first, but copped ---loin provided the AHA! Seemed harder than a Weds. to me. That may be that I was not working on the same wavelength. Does WELL for 4D, SAVE for 33A and SPOOL for 39D are all examples of the skew I had in my thinking.

On the other hand, BUS was filled before I read the clue.

A Vee-cleat: friction holds the rope, it's quick release. (Sometimes when you don't want it to.)

Here, C.C., have Fun, Fun, Fun!!

Hey, Another Quiet Fan, turn blue and you can be 'enviable', too. Why not? you are here, so you are part of the family.

Off to tend the sock absorber, not that there are many of those used in this sandal weather.

Spitzboov said...

Good afternoon everyone. A good romp today, but ultimately all gettable without lookups.

Thought theme was ok, got it half way thru. WAGS included PRADO and TIMER; NABOBS was a gimme. Clues for EL ORO, EKE, Y'ALL, ACORN, TEED, and LODGER were quite clever.

AEOLIAN - The loess soils of the US Midwest and of the Huangtu Plateau of China are AEOLIAN, some times spelled 'eolian'.

Here is a picture of a cleat.

Husker said...

Bill G.,
I am from a small town of 30,00 that is 20 minutes from Omaha in Eastern Nebraska and the air temp is 97 but with a dew point over 76, the "feels like" temp is well over 100 and will 115 later today.
The corn around here looks amazing and with all the rain is transpiring at a frantic rate which feeds the humidity.
This weather is infinitely worse than the record cold and snow of the winter past. I can take all the winter weather and snow blowing is not bad at all. It seems much easier to take refuge from cold than heat (which can feel claustrophobic), although my man cave downstairs ain't all that bad!

Jayce said...

Hello everybody. Wonderful puzzle today, for all the reasons you all have mentioned. Loved the clever way leaving out the "h" resulted in a humorous phrase. Made for a pleasant Sunday morning.

Gunghy, thanks EVER so much for the link to Fun, Fun, Fun. I love that song, and of course it brings up many fond memories. A college mate was famous (to us) for being able to sing that high falsetto, oo weee ooo wee ee ee ee ooo, part.

I'm glad that some of you enjoyed the Emperor Concerto yesterday. That performer was a really cool guy. He's dead now, bless his soul.

Wow yes, MJ, you and your hubby don't look your ages at all! Thanks for sharing your photo.

Adriana Lima is good to look at also.

Is anybody leaving any zucchinis on your neighbor's doorstep today? Funny "Rhymes with Orange" cartoon in today's comics showing a couple canoing in a huge carved out half-zucchini. 'Tis the season.

Best wishes to you all.

Hahtoolah said...

Gunghy: It seems I missed your birthday yesterday. Let me wish you a belated Happy Birthday.

MJ: Nice family picture

Dodo and Lucina: Nice of you to share your get-together photo as well.

ARBAON said...

Had to stop and take a nap...Sunday puzzles are so long...

"sort pants" and "sock absorber" were my favorite theme fills.

Wanted "babies breath" for 41a but there were only 4 spaces...
funny how absorption has a "p" while "absorb" (the root word) has a "b".

My rudimentary Spanish came in handy for 21a, although I tried to fit just "oro" there for the longest.

CC: In poker,when you throw down what you know is the winning hand you say, "Read em and weep."

"Medea" is also the main character in many Tyler Perry films and plays.
Aside from being very funny, his plays and films carry a good message. His own story is quite inspirational.

Lightning getting close...signing off.

Tinbeni said...

First off, YES I entered BUG.
Looked at GIRE, thought WTF?
Nope, it's a VW BUS & SIRE.

Was thrilled to see EZINES in my grid, yet again.
I just love all the 'E'things; etail, enews.
They make me AGOG!

Caught on to the drop the 'H' theme at C(H)ASE MANHATTAN.
Big Whoop!
We see these soooo often they have become tiresome.
Today's themes got a "ho-hum, sigh' each time I solved one.

Car radio feature = PRESET.
Yup, that's a big selling point.

A friend of my Croaked recently.
Everybody thought he died.
I told them: "Nah, he just RASPED!"

When I put on some romantic music last night.
I remembered my gal-pal said to me:
"That's very TONAL ..."

OK, I guess I'm the one wearing the cranky pants today.

"A votre SANTE!"

I'll toast you all at Sunset.
(OK, its raining here ... but the sun still goes down, like my FUN level did for this weak Sunday offering).

MJ said...

Happy Sunday, C.C., and friends.

First of all, thanks for all the kind comments about our family photo. As I told C.C., it's always a special treat to get all of us together, as it's a challenge due to variable work schedules. As it was, Andrew and Tess had to trade off shifts to be able to make it.

I really enjoyed today's puzzle. A great theme, and a lot of clever clues. I always put a little star next to clues that bring on a smile or a "you got me" groan, and I had more than a dozen today. Hand up for BUg and not noticing the missing "h" in the theme title, even after grokking the theme immediately.

My favorite theme fills were TREEAMIGOS and SOCKABSORBERS. And the bag of lonely socks in our laundry room is testament to the fact that the latter is for real. Every once in a while a mate will show up, and the happy pair return to the drawer.

Al- Interesting that you linked Santana today. In our church service today, we had a guest musician, Leon Patillo, who was a lead vocalist with Santana from 1973-1981. Besides singing and accompanying himself in a gospel number this morning, he told the congregation that he wanted to honor all current or ex-service members, and gave an outstanding rendition of "Proud to Be an American." He shared that his father gave his life in the service at the age of 47.

BillG-I'm with you about loving this pleasantly cooler summer. Hard to believe all the "record low highs" we've been having.

Enjoy the evening!

Bill G. said...

MJ, great family photo. I'm in Manhattan Beach. Where in SoCal are you located?

Lucina said...

Good afternoon dear puzzlers.

It's been a long weekend for me. Darling granddaughter had some last minute shopping for school which starts tomorrow. My wallet is now lighter and thinner.

Very nice puzzle today with a good theme which helped me quite a lot. I especially enjoyed
S(H)OCKABSORRBER as well as
C(H)OPPEDSIRLOIN.

Hand up for BUG and since it made no sense I slid down to the bottom where I usually find traction in these long Sunday xwds. It all fell together nicely and quickly; but I first had ODER river then YSER emerged because ARRAY seemed definite.

Timbeni, I immediately thought of you when EZINES appeared and knew you would hate it.

No, did not like ADOZE but I'm always pleased I can fill Spanish words, PRADO, ELORO abd TREEAMIGOS. That is funny and reminded me of the movie The Three Amigos which is a hoot.

it was startling in Costa Rica to see the iguanas in trees; they seem so heavy yet there they lie sunning themselves right on the treetops. Do they live in Florida also?

MJ, wonderful pic of your family and yes, you and your DH look much younger than your years.

I hope you are having a lovely Sunday and Dennis, I wish you a wonderful, speedy trip.

Otis said...

Hi, all.

Loved the puzzle; chuckled at most of the theme answers.

Laughed at the Manhattan story, Hahtool. A few years back, the front-page story in our newspaper concerned an Australian who had intended to take a vacation to Glasgow, Scotland. Instead, he landed in Glasgow, Montana, a town of approximately 3,000 in the middle of nowhere in the northeastern part of the state and where he ended up spending his week or two of vacation.

The same newspaper put the 'H' back in the title of today's puzzle, so there wasn't a hint for us.

Hand up for BUG, and I even owned a '73 bus for a few years. A bright orange version, it was dubbed 'The Great Pumpkin'.

Yes, CC, "Amo, Amas, I Love A Lass" is a poem. It is by John O'Keefe.

Adios, (tree)amigos.

dodo said...

Hello, puzzlers, Wonderful writeup, C.C. And thanks for showing the blog pix.

MJ, it's true. Neither of you look your age! That's a great picture of a very goodlooking family! Must have been a handful raising three boys, but it certainly doesn't show!

Otis, thanks for answering my question about 'nano'. What I am doing now is about as techy as I get! My cell phone is a Jitterbug and I still haven't figured out where to plug my camera into the pc to get pix. Give me time. But no Ipods, please! I printed the link so I could show it to my other technologically deprived friends! I did know vaguely that 'nano' had to do with 'small'. However doesn't it also have a connection with very large numbers? Never mind, don't bother to tell me, I'll just forget!

Lois, it's great that you're getting around so well. What are they doing about your swallowing problem? My dad had something like that, I think. Anyway, have a good school year. I'm glad you'll have a new administrator. Every little bit helps!

Hand up for 'bug', but it didn't last long because 'sire' changed all that and the whole puzzle fell together nicely. I did it on the computer so it took me longer than it should have, what with correcting all the typos! But it was an enjoyable one with no big problems. What more can I ask?

Over, and out. dd

HeartRx said...

Good evening C.C. et al.

Late post because I spent the weekend with my BFFs from the Sturbridge Book Club. We went to the races in Saratoga, NY on Sat (I won $60, YAAAY) then went "tubing" on the Battenkill river today. Lots of fun & laughs. So I did the xword when I returned tonite... everything everyone said today X 10. I am torn - do I love my book club friends or my xword corner friends better? Answer: They R all Great !!

ARBAON said...

Not LIFETIME network`s usual fare but they showed a film called "Amish Grace" tonight. It`s worth catching any encore...based on the Nickle Mine incident.

ARBAON said...

MJ: I`ve been a fan of Leon Patillo for years! In fact, so long that I have cassettes of him!

Grumpy 1 said...

Lucina, yes, iguanas live in Florida, but only in the southern part of the state. They are not a native species, have few predators and are generally considered a nuisance. We had a couple of nights of freezing temperatures that caused many iguanas to freeze and fall out of their trees. If you're waiting for the punchline, there isn't one. It happened. We had one in our back yard for months, never to be seen again after the freeze.

Jerome said...

Yoko Ono's cover of a Bill Haley song-

Sake Rattle and Roll

Anonymous said...

Hi CC
I just read the solution for today's Sunday puzzle by a person I don't know, Shoenburg , I think it was. If you know this person, could you forward these three comments to him? He was trying to find out what these clues meant. Thanks, and also for your hard work keeping us informed on the puzzles that are sometimes so convoluted and tricky.
JJ

"Read em and weep" refers to the stock market crash numbers printed in the newspaper during the depression. Meant the stocks had gone down so badly that it made people cry.

T Bird is in the Beach Boy song, "Fun Fun Fun till her Daddy took the T Bird away." (the sporty Ford thunderbird car, of course)

A cleat is like a metal ring on a boat where a rope can be put through.

JJ

Annette said...

MJ, you've got a great looking family! You look like you're in your glory, with all your loved ones gathered around you.

I haven't had time to do today's puzzle or read the blog as one of my sisters flew down for the weekend. Three of us spent most of it watching home movies, looking at old pictures, and reminiscing! It was wonderful, but no time for any puzzles or blogging.

A belated Happy Birthday to Gunghy, too!

Lemonade714 said...

Well my brief is done, my first for an Oregon court, and I came back and am shocked nobody enlightened C.C. about the wonder of Little Richard who must be heard to be believed, seen to appreciated, BIOGRAPHY and who influenced so many especially the Beatles and the Rolling Stones.

Good Golly Miss Molly!