google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Wednesday November 10, 2010 Pamela Amick Klawitter

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Nov 10, 2010

Wednesday November 10, 2010 Pamela Amick Klawitter

Theme: Barter Town - The first word of each two-word theme answer is a synonym for 'trade.'

18A. Flea market cousin : SWAP MEET. San Jose, Ca hosts "The Original World's Largest Flea Market."

24A. Mickey Mantle or Mark Teixeira, notably : SWITCH HITTER. A player who bats both left- and right-handed.

39A. Fill in at school : SUBSTITUTE TEACH. Nice shout out to several of our regular commenters.

51A. Currency differential : EXCHANGE RATE.

62A. Commercial imbalance : TRADE GAP. The amount by which the value of a country's visible imports exceeds that of visible exports.

Melissa here.

A rare weekday puzzle from our LAT Sunday regular constructor Pamela Amick Klawitter. The grid design resulted in lots of 4-letter (30) & 5-letter (19) entries.

Across:

1. "60 Minutes" correspondent : SAFER. Morley. Did three tours in Vietnam.

6. __ Helens, Wash. : MT. ST. Mount Saint Helens. May 18th of this year marked the 30th anniversary of an eruption there which lasted 9 hours. The result of an earthquake measuring 5.1 on the Richter scale.

10. Setup punch : JAB

13. Pump option : PREPAY. Gas pump.

15. Tad : IOTA

16. L.A.-based oil giant, familiarly : OXY. Occidental Petroleum Corporation.

17. Get there : ARRIVE

20. Soccer VIPs? : MOMS. Haha, nice.

21. Source of low-alcohol wines : ASTI. A white sparkling wine produced in an area to the south of the town of Asti, in Piedmont, Italy.

23. No longer newsworthy : PASSE

27. Diet successfully : LOSE

28. Counsel : ADVISE

32. "__ Gold": Peter Fonda film : ULEE'S

35. Helper: Abbr. : ASST.

38. Lobbying gp. : PAC. Political Action Committee.

43. Modern __ : ERA. Bit of a stretch I thought.

44. Friend's pronoun : THEE. 'All the world is queer save thee and me, and even thou art a little queer'. Robert Owen (1771-1858).

45. "Then ..." : AND SO

46. Karate instructor : SENSEI. Japanese title of respect, used to address teachers and professionals.

49. Glued to the tube, say : RAPT

57. Shoelace protector : AGLET. We all know this by now.

60. Smack back? : EROO. Smackeroo. Also with sock- or stink-. Or more appropriately, switch.

61. It's wet in Oaxaca : AGUA. Spanish for water.

64. "The Sound of Music" quintet : OSCARS. Best director, Best film editing, Best score, Best picture, Best Sound.

66. "Awesome!" : RAD

67. Botanical junction : NODE. The point on a stem where a leaf is attached. Like this.

68. Golf commentator Pepper : DOTTIE. Did not know her.

69. Poet Lowell : AMY. Welcome back, Clear Ayes!

70. Texter's sign-off : TTYL. Talk to you later.

71. Many Miley Cyrus fans : TEENS.

Down:

1. Sends unwanted e-mail : SPAMS

2. Road sign symbol : ARROW

3. Nuclear pioneer Enrico : FERMI. Italian physicist who developed the first nuclear reactor.

4. Bible letters : EPISTLES. Twenty one epistles in the New Testament (not counting Revelation), most believed to be written by Paul.

5. Toyota __4: SUV model : RAV

6. Peruvian volcano El __ : MISTI. Again with a volcano.

7. Namely : TO WIT. "That is to say."

8. Ticketing place: Abbr. : STA. Station.

9. Danced like Bojangles Robinson : TAPPED. Remember this scene?

10. Stereotypical diner name : JOE'S. Eat at Joe's.

11. Forest choppers : AXES

12. Unit of computer memory : BYTE. Eight bits make one byte.

14. Slangy assents : YEAHS

19. Sportscaster Albert : MARV. Broad jumper. I KID!

22. Knife holder : SHEATH

25. Budgetary concern : COST

26. British art institution : TATE. Network of four art galleries in the UK (Tate Britain, Tate Liverpool, Tate Modern, and Tate St. Ives).

29. Apple touchscreen computer : I-PAD

30. Anatomical pouches : SACS

31. Return from a cave? : ECHO. Sneaky, but I nailed it.

32. Finds a purpose for : USES

33. Dangle a carrot in front of, so to speak : LURE

34. "My Country" author : EBAN. Subtitle, "The story of modern Israel." Needed perps.

36. Seek damages : SUE

37. Buffet heater : STERNO.

40. Suffix with meteor : ITIC. Meteoric rise to fame. Sometimes unexplainable.

41. Finish line indicator : TAPE.

42. Play break : ENTR'ACTE. French for "between the acts."

47. Watermelon bit : SEED

48. Magnitude : EXTENT

50. "... 'What __ boy am I!'" : A GOOD. Little Jack Horner nursery rhyme.

52. Exciting : HEADY.

53. Adrien of cosmetics : ARPEL

54. Colorful quartz : AGATE

55. Shroud city : TURIN. Shroud of Turin.

56. Lets up : EASES

57. Name on a razor : ATRA

58. Fat measure : GRAM

59. __ Luck : LADY

63. Understood : GOT

65. Heavy drinker : SOT

Answer grid.

Melissa

42 comments:

Dennis said...

Good morning, Melissa Bee, C.C. and gang - maybe it's just that I'm glad to be back in warm, sunny weather, but this seemed easier than most Wednesdays. Getting 'Safer' and 'spams right away really opened everything up and it flowed pretty smoothly from there. Hopefully more later, but I've got a lot going on already.

Unknowns ncluded 'Eban', 'Misti'. Favorite clues were 'Soccer VIPs?' and 'Return from a cave?'. Favorite answer? Melissa Bee's 'broad jumper' for Marv Albert.

Clear Ayes, it's great to see you back and hear that you had a wonderful time. I'm really looking forward to seeing the pictures. Melissa Bee, great job on the blog.

Today, in addition to being the Marine Corps Birthday (235 years), is Forget-Me-Not Day.

Barry G. said...

Morning, all!

And welcome back, Dennis!

This was a bit of a struggle for me today. I got zinged in the NW corner after putting CURVE for 2D and MVP for 20A. I also started out with STAHL for 1A, but got rid of that when I saw that 4D had to be EPISTLES. Alas, my other wrong answers stayed there a lot longer.

The bottom of the grid was also tough, mostly because I'm not up on my text-speak and had TTFN (Ta-ta for now) instead of TTYL for 70A. As a result, neither HEADY nor ARPEL (who?) revealed themselves to me immediately.

The rest of the puzzle was just fine. I was happy to see AGLET in the grid, since it's one of my favorite words. I was less happy to see ITIC again, however. As Melissa Bee points out, we all expect the word to be meteoric, not meteoritic. I mean, seriously, has anybody ever actually used the word meteoritic outside of crossword puzzles?

Hahtoolah said...

Good Morning, MelissaBee and Friends. This was a good Wednesday puzzle. The top half was easier for me than the bottom half.

AGLET is that "oh, so useful word" that I learned from doing crosswords.

Friend's Pronoun = THEE was a great tricky clue, since Quakers are known as Friends, and ostensibly use the word THEE in everyday conversation. I doubt that in today's world, however.

Favorite clue was Return from a Cave = ECHO. I know we have seen variations of this before, but it still makes me smile.

Abba EBAN is becoming a crossword staple.

Clear Ayes: Love your new avatar and necklace. When you get tire of it, feel free to send it to me! HaHa! Looking forward to hearing of your trip.

CC, Please come back and chat with us. After all, we are all guests in your house!

In honor of our Nuclear Pioneer (3-Down) here is today's QOD: Before I came here I was confused about this subject. Having listened to your lecture I am still confused. But on a higher level. ~ Enrico Fermi

Lemonade714 said...

Good morning Melissa and her drones,

I thought it was a very nice and complete theme, but quite an easy puzzle for Wednesday. Did not know MISTI, not up on Peruvian volcanoes, I guess. The only thing I thought of was this MOVIE .

Other than that, Hahtool already spoke of my questions about the Quakers and BG reminded us of the huge uproar we had the last time METEORITIC was used.

Dennis, timing is odd, but it was beautiful yesterday and will be again today, but at least this way, we get you first.

I liked RAD and RAV, and DOTTIE PEPPER has become a very good announcer after a fine career.

half way home, see ya.

fermatprime said...

Hello all!

Thanks to MB and Pamela!

CA--Wonderful to have you back!

Again an easy puzzle. Perps took care of things that I did not know, like MISTI.

It is very difficult to type lying on my side using left hand. Friend cut a board to cover partially the open headboard. Couldn't get up far enough to use it. (I goof up ever third word, and sometimes the same word three times. Must look into audio software for Mac!)

Have a great day!

Tinbeni said...

Melissa Bee, Excellent write-up.

Really enjoyed this theme.
Always like to see NY YANKEE's in the clues. Especially Mickey Mantle (childhood fave). Both are fine SWITCH HITTERs.
Also liked the "shout-out" to Husker Gary the SUBSTITUTE TEACHer.

OK, today's Politically Incorrect moment: I wanted "No longer newsworthy" to be Palin before the perps showed me it was just PASSE.

Whenever I see FERMI, I wonder where is our latest best buddy Tesla.

Last to fall was TTYL, all perps, since I have never texted ... and it seems to me that if you are doing this you aren't really "talking to each other" in the first place, let alone "later."

Pamela, thanks for getting me in the grid ... SOT.
(More of a persona ... not a reality).

FUN breezy Wednesday.

Cheers to all at Sunset !!!

Mainiac said...

Good Morning Melissa Bee, CC and All,

I struggled with this one. Soccer Vips and Nuclear Pioneer was a problem in the NW. The Ulees and Eban cross was foreign as well as Entracte and Dottie. Gotta like a grid with Sensei and Jab though. Oscars was a tricky one also. Needless to say red letter help was required.

Nice job blogging as usual MelB. Welcome back to Dennis and CA.

And a very happy birthday to the Marine Corps!

Happy Hump Day.

creature said...

Good Morning C.C.,Melissa Bee and all,

Welcome back to your regular slot, Dennis.It looks right and I will 'forget you not'.

Same for you CA; pretty pendant!

The puzzle was pleasant; some bumps along the way, such as 'sensei'- got thru perps, but didn't know it.
I liked 'soccer Moms' and found 'Modern era 'sorely lacking.

Fermatprime, it sounds so hard for you right now. I admire you for keeping on pecking out the posts. Thanks. I like hearing from you.

Jeanie, I understand now. Its a good idea. I thought you said you would post a recipe for it-sorry.

Melissa , I liked your 'broad jumper' clue.

Have a nice day everyone.

thehondohurricane said...

Good day to all,

This was a Jekyll & Hyde for me today. The North and Central sections were speed runs and the South was a real struggle. Like others, I had no idea what a Texters sign-off was and relied on perps. Wasn't sure about Arpel. The L was a wag.

Like others before me, favorite clues were Soccer VIP's & Return from the cave.

Have a wonderful Wednesday everyone. I'm back to puppy duty.

Spitzboov said...

Good morning all.

A snappy salute and 'Happy Birthday to the Corps' to Dennis and all the other Marines out there. BZ. Hope you enjoy your cake.

While not a speed run today, the puzzle was easy for a Wednesday. Unknowns like MISTI and ARPEL were easily gotten from the perps. The theme words were uncomplicated but I didn't realize there were 5 'barter' phrases until coming here. Thanks Melissa. WAGs included DOTTIE and AMY. Liked 20a MOMS. Favorite fill: TO WIT.

Enjoy the day.

Hahtoolah said...

Did anyone notice the the two volcano clues not only intersected, but were also the number 6 clue (6-Across and 6-Down).

HeartRx said...

Good Morning MB CC et al.

Great write-up Melissa Bee! I loved your alternate clues for sportscaster Albert and Smack back - had to chuckle on both.

Welcome back, Dennis. Seeing you up there restores order to our little world ;-D and I will not surely NOT forget the Marine Corps today.

My only hiccup/hiccough was with the crossing of ULEES with "My Country" author, but finally sussed them out with perp help.

I really liked 64A "The Sound of Music Quintet" for OSCARS. I was trying to remember how many children were in the Trapp family, but knew the AGP wouldn't work with that answer. Of course, having ENTRe ACT at 42D didn't help.

Overall, not a bad puzzle and sufficiently challenging for Hump Day. Have a good one, everybody!

HeartRx said...

oops - should have proof read a little better - "not - not" means I will, but I meant NOT !

kazie said...

Good morning all,
I had difficulty in the mid south too, wanted IMBO and didn't think of TTFN or TTYL, the latter being completely unknown to this non-texting tracfone user. Had to google ARPEL--another complete unknown.

Many other unknown names, but perped them. I couldn't even remember SAFER, I guessed SAVER, which made VERMI incorrect too. Names aren't my forte even when I should remember them!

Hahtool,
Didn't we discuss recently that the Quakers had all died out because of their marriage practices preventing them from marrying outside their faith? Not sure if I remember the reason correctly though.

ASTI brought back memories of being in the Torino youth hostel and sneaking in a bottle of wine to enjoy after our meal, and then discovering it was quite the done thing anyway. Maybe if the local wine is low alcohol that explains it, but what did we know?

CA,
Beautiful pendant!

I may have linked this site a long time ago, but for those who have not seen it, here are some examples of NZ greenstone. Just a lead-up so Clear Ayes has more time to sort her pix for us.

Hahtoolah said...

Kazie: We recently had a discussion about the Shakers who didn't believe in having sex, so that sect had died out. Richard Nixon was a Quaker. He was more known for his expletives than his polite "thee" and "thou" language.

MH said...

I flew through this puzzle today. Never really got the theme but it didn't matter as I just filled it in from top to bottom - unusual for me. Even though it was pretty easy I enjoyed it a lot. Hadn't seen AGLET, ATRA, and RAD in a while but they were recalled from long term memory. For some reason I had recently looked up ENTRACTE and other play parts recently so it was a gimme.

Nice job with the blog and I wish all a good day! It's reassuring to see Dennis as the first commenter again ;-)

windhover said...

The (or another) sect that died out from foregoing sex (often in theory rather than practice, I'll wager) was the Shakers, not the Quakers. There is a desired Shaker village about 20 miles from here, where every building has separate entrance doors. They were well known for their crafts, which may have served to keep their minds off it at times. They relied on recruitment from outside to maintain their numbers. It didn't work very well.
On the other hand, we have a number of Quaker friends here, and most seem to be quite active in their practice (of the finer things in life).
Welcome back, CA. How about a little Wendell Berry when you have time. A selection from the "Country of Marriage" collection might fit well with the Quaker/Shaker customs.

carol said...

Hi all, happy Hump Day! (to those of you that work outside the home)...to the rest of us, it's always the weekend :)

Dennis, nice to see you back in your regular place...not that I really mind anyone else being 'first', but I am used to you being there.

I had a lot of difficulty with the SE corner...up until then it went well. (I didn't know what a Karate instructor was called though- 46A)

Could not think of Turin. Didn't science figure out the shroud isn't the real thing? Why would it still be 'revered'??

Took quite a while to dredge up who/what Miley Cyrus fans would be. I now have another dent in the V-8 can :)

Have never heard of Dottie Pepper either, don't follow golf anymore.

I can never remember whether it's 'AROO' or 'EROO' in the word endings with SMACK or SWITCH.

Barry - I agree that ITIC tacked on METEOR is goofy. I wanted ITE but it didn't fit.

Grumpy 1 said...

Good morning, MB, CC et al. I guess this is about right for a Wednesday. Completed with no help, but took a little longer than yesterday. I fell into the STAHL/SAFER trap right away, but I knew RAV had to be right so made that "switcheroo" and was off and running in that corner. I had STALE insted of PASSE... PALIN never entered my mind. Like her or not, she's anything but "no longer newsworthy".

It pays to read the comics! The "Nancy" strip sometimes has Nancy in a Karate class addressing her SENSEI, so I nailed that one.

The only other sticky spot was TATA for TTYL but that straightened out with HEADY. Perps took care of everything else. Several words that were unknowns a few months ago when I started doing crosswords are now popping up when needed. You CAN teach an old dog new tricks!

I got all the theme answers easily but never bothered to look for a theme.

Good to see you back on top, Dennis. Usually, by the time I get to the blog I could just write "what Dennis said" and move on.

Fermatprime, I know the frustration that you are going through right now. Here's wishing you a speedy recovery.

Happy hump day, all (whatever your definition of "hump" may be).

Clear Ayes said...

Good Morning All, I finished up this puzzle last night. With just a few little annoying blips, MISTI, OXY, PAC, ITIC (yup, I don't like it much either) and TTYL, it went pretty smoothly.

Both SWITCH HITTER and EXHANGE RATE had to be helped with perps. I had RIND for (47D) for "Watermelon bit" to begin with, so it took a little while to straighten out that area.

I don't know why good old (32A) ULEE's Gold made me smile. I guess it was just a reminder that as much as they change, crosswords still have their standbys.

AMY Lowell really made me smile. I have a poem coming right up.

Kazie, my notes are proving to be less than stellar too, so I have some figuring out to do. (Where WAS that mountain and where WERE those sheep?)

BTW, we got a lot of laughs from the friendly rivalry between the Kiwis and the Aussies. There were several folks from Oz with our tour and quite a bit of teasing went on. Our tour guide referred to New Zealand as "Oz's cooler younger brother". Not to worry, the Australians got their teasing in too.

melissa bee said...

barry g, you're right, even when my head is saying meteoritic, my fingers say meteoric.

kazie said...

Hahtool and Windhover,
Thanks for the corrections and enhancement of my "knowledge" (subject to memory lapses). I always get the Quakers and Shakers mixed up. I do remember how horrified I was years ago to read of their (Quakers'?) mistreatment in Michener's Chesapeake.

One other reaction while doing the CW today: My association of a poem called "My Country" is this one which compares Oz with England:

My Country
by Dorothea McKellar(1885–1968)

The love of field and coppice,
Of green and shaded lanes,
Of ordered woods and gardens
Is running in your veins.
Strong love of grey-blue distance,
Brown streams and soft, dim skies -
I know but cannot share it,
My love is otherwise.

I love a sunburnt country,
A land of sweeping plains,
Of ragged mountain ranges,
Of droughts and flooding rains.
I love her far horizons,
I love her jewel-sea,
Her beauty and her terror –
The wide brown land for me!

The stark white ring-barked forests,
All tragic to the moon,
The sapphire-misted mountains,
The hot gold hush of noon,
Green tangle of the brushes
Where lithe lianas coil,
And orchids deck the tree-tops,
And ferns the warm dark soil.

Core of my heart, my country!
Her pitiless blue sky,
When, sick at heart, around us
We see the cattle die –
But then the grey clouds gather,
And we can bless again
The drumming of an army,
The steady soaking rain.

Core of my heart, my country!
Land of the rainbow gold,
For flood and fire and famine
She pays us back threefold.
Over the thirsty paddocks,
Watch, after many days,
The filmy veil of greenness
That thickens as we gaze.

An opal-hearted country,
A wilful, lavish land –
All you who have not loved her,
You will not understand –
Though earth holds many splendours,
Wherever I may die,
I know to what brown country
My homing thoughts will fly.

Grumpy 1 said...

@ ClearAyes,

We have been on several cruises where there were quite a few Kiwis and Aussies with us and have noticed the rivalry between the parties on the opposite sides of the "big ditch". We have also been to both countries and really enjoyed our short times there.

I agree, the NZ wines can be quite good. When we were there five years ago, all of their wine was sealed with screw caps. There were a lot of comments about not having seen those since the old college days of "Mad Dog" and "Boone's Farm". Gradually, the rest of the world is catching up to the Kiwis in that area.

Clear Ayes said...

It is whitebait (I think it is a type of young herring) season in New Zealand. For some reason it is very expensive and is considered a delicacy. A simple whitebait sandwich cost about $15 US. Lots of less expensive salmon and trout in NZ too...segue into AMY Lowell poem now.

The Trout

Naughty little speckled trout,
Can't I coax you to come out?
Is it such great fun to play
In the water every day?

Do you pull the Naiads' hair
Hiding in the lilies there?
Do you hunt for fishes' eggs,
Or watch tadpoles grow their legs?

Do the little trouts have school
In some deep sun-glinted pool,
And in recess play at tag
Round that bed of purple flag?

I have tried so hard to catch you,
Hours and hours I've sat to watch you;
But you never will come out,
Naughty little speckled trout!

- Amy Lowell

Kazie, I loved the poem by Dorothea McKellar.

Husker Gary said...

Good Morning all from the increasingly chilly Great Plains! Nice write-up Melissa and Semper Fi Dennis today and tomorrow on 11/11!

It was 56 when I got up this morning and it is now 46 and dropping! It is my lovely bride’s 64th birthday today and she and her twin sister and mother are going to Omaha today for lunch. That is when I’ll have to make a decision about my newly acquired golf addiction.

Thanks for the shout out Tinbeni, I am going to be “39 acrossing” four times in the next 7 days! I am going to be doing advanced math and that should be interesting as I haven’t done calculus for a while.

Got ‘er done but:

-I had Counsel ADVICE instead of ADVISE – dang nouns and verbs

Liked Returns from Cave and Soccer VIP’s and am always amazed at how many ways clues can refer to suffixes and prefixes. Joann got a nice SMACKEROO for her 64th today!

I wish my fat was only GRAMS!

Texting shorthand is not my strength!

SWITCHHITTING has an additional connotation of course since #7 patrolled center field for the Yankees. Hearing the truth about boyhood heroes Mickey Mantle
can be very sobering. There are a lot of feet of clay out there. Where have you gone Joe DiMaggio?

Dennis said...

Ok, the blog's back to normal now that we have a CA poem.

Husker Gary, Happy Birthday to your wife (and her twin, of course).

I agree with the comments about NZ wines being good; one of my favorite Merlots is from NZ's Black Barn Vineyards. I'm also really looking forward to Clear Ayes' pictures, as NZ has long been on my bucket list of places to visit. Also, Clear Ayes, how was the food?

This may well be my last coherent post of the day.

Our annual local birthday breakfast ended up with about 40 former and current Marines. The traditional breakfast fare was followed by cake (cut by the youngest and the oldest Marines present) and two shots of Jack, which don't appear to be sitting well with my french toast. In an hour, it's on to Philly for the big celebration and God knows what else. You may even see us on the evening news; occasionally, the Philadelphia gathering gets national coverage just because of the sheer number of people who show up.

Hope it's a great day for everyone, and please do think about the troops currently in harm's way as we celebrate Veterans Day tomorrow.

Jeannie said...

Great write up today Melissabee. I did pretty well today. I sussed out the theme right away so that always helps me in the long run. I didn’t have to visit old Mr. G, but got plenty of perp and red letter help with Oxy, Fermi, Eban, and entr’acte. For some reason I have always liked the word “passé”. I didn’t like namely- to wit though. Favorites were smack-eroo and return from a cave – echo.

Creature, I used the blog search engine on the front page and found the macaroni and cheese recipe. If you go to the blog archive and look up November 17, 2009 you will find it. It’s quite long so I didn’t want to repost it. I will send it to you via e-mail.

Dennis, if I remember last year, breakfast included some Grey Goose, or was it mimosa’s?? Be careful, and don’t drink and drive.

daffy dill said...

Morning, M.B., C.C., and all.

Not exactly an easy run today, but doable with perps. I knew SAFER right away, but wanted diesel for 13A. I knew 1D had to be SPAM, so I "erased" diesel and tried premium, which wouldn't fit. I waited for the perps on that clue. I had ENTRAC_E for 42D, but still couldn't get it because I had no knowledge of DOTTIE Pepper. Went on the chance that "act" was a part of it and it turned out to be right. Also, texters' lingo is outside the range of my experience, so I had to wait for perps there. I still didn't know what it meant until Melissa's explanation.

My favorite clue was "return from a cave." Clever!

Y'all have a nice day now, ya hear?

Jayce said...

Hello everybody. Fun puzzle today. I worked everything out except the TTYL, for which I penciled in TTFN (ta ta for now) at first. Never did get the L (as BarryG said, Arpel who?) until coming here. Thank you, Melissabee, for a fun writeup and neat-o links. I laughed out loud at your broad-jumper remark.

Jazzbumpa, so heartwarming that listening to your performance of "Pictures" brought tears you your eyes. If there is any way to do, I would LOVE to hear it. By the way, I keep gravitating back to Two-buck Chuck; it's very drinkable.

Best wishes to you all, and special best wishes to our men and women currently and previously in uniform.

Lucina said...

Greetings Cyber Friends! I wish THEE a joyous Wednesday.

Great Blogging, MB.

I was SUBSTITUTETEACHing again today so did this puzzle very quickly but stopped dead in my tracks by tester's sign off, TTYL, had to rely on Melissa's blog for that. I don't text.

Some really good clues from Pamela which have been mentioned especially return from a cave, ECHO.

Much to do so I'll check in later. I love your necklace, CA.
Looking forward to pics.

Glad to have you back, too, Dennis.

Happpy Wednesday!

lois said...

Good evening Melissa Bee, CC, et al., Fun puzzle but not a speed run. got a lot of across action whch surprised me. Enjoyed the write up, Melissa. You do a great job.

Welcome back, CA. Loved the poem.... and your too Kazie. That's how I feel about Okla. Well done, both of you.

Good to have you 'on top' again, Dennis. That's just how I like it. Welcome back. Cheers!

Happy Marine Birthday to our resident Marines, Dennis and Argyle...my favorite Santa, baby.
Thank you for all you've done for us...and to all our service men and women.

Enjoy your day/night. It's show time...but far too cold to go topless. Can you imagine! People 2feet away would have to duck if I were topless and turned around. Could injure somebody. Bam!

carol said...

Melissa Bee, I forgot to tell you what a great job you did with the puzzle explanations...I sorely needed some of them.

Happy Birthday Marines! Dennis, have a few drinks for all of us. You can nurse your headache tomorrow.

Lois, laughed out loud at the picture of you swinging around and knocking some poor dude senseless with your frozen tata's!!! :)

Hahtoolah said...

For those of you who are in Fantastic Mr. Fox withdrawal (since he appeared in Monday and Tuesday's puzzle), here's your opportunity to see him again. The show is playing in New Orleans through the end of the year. I got a sneak preview. It's fun!

Lemonade714 said...

Yes, it is good to see Dennis post first CA provide a poem, and an almost receipe from Lo-li-ta. I am surprised at the difficulty with FERMI as we had him appear in so many puzzles the past few months, including September 24, October 16 and 23. Since he helped develop the bomb, I would say the old TERRA FIRMA is not too safe from ENRICO FERMI, or some such silliness. Maybe we need his PICTURE .

Seldom Seen said...

...and now an obscure reference for our musical interlude.

Marvin Philip Aufrichtig (Marv Albert) often appeared on David Letterman with his "Albert Acheivment Awards". They were a montage of sports blooper videos with "The 12th Street Rag" as background music.

Seldom Seen said...

O.k. here's Marv's video.(Don't be scared!)

creature said...

Jeannie- Thank you so much for all the information and ultimately all your recipes on that date. I have copied them and even DH is excited, because he likes to make split pea soup. I think we will be doing that some time this fall. Yor recipe really is long, but sounds heavenly.Again, thanks and thanks to Lo-li-ta also.

dodo said...

Greetings, everybody.

Well, it's nice to have things back to normal again with both Clearayes and Dennis back where they belong.

Great writeup, Melissa Bee! You've don it again!

I thought this was pretty easy for a Wednesday, though I had the same problem as almost all of you seem to: TTYL! Even when I saw it I had no idea what it meant. Thanks for the explanation, MB! Then I had hea_y and without looking at the clue again I entered v, which then gave me nove for 67A! Idiotic! Had to wait for the perps to get Misti, but it wasn't long. Adrian Arpel is sold in many department store cosmetic depts. I've never used it, tho.

Favorite clue: 'Sound of Music Quintet". But I only got it with the perps. I, too thought it might be the children, but was pretty sure there were too many. It must have been 8 since they were able to be a whole scale, weren't they? Clever theme, though I didn't suss it out. The theme answers were no trouble.

CA, what a beautiful jade piece! I'll bet you have green eyes, too.

Annette, thanks for your help. I still have trouble, but I'll get it sooner or later!

Best to everyone!

Chickie said...

Hola Everyone,
I've been very busy and didn't get to yesterday's puzzle until way after dinner. I found it to be a bit hard as I've never played poker, but the perps were a great help.

I did want to welcome CA back and also to add my Thanks to C.C.'s for all the hard work our daily bloggers put in for our enjoyment and enlightenment! There that said, on to today's puzzle.

I found it considerably easier than yesterday's, and had it finished while eating lunch. Any unknowns were filled in again today with the perps. I especially liked "The Sound of Music Quintet"/Oscars, and Return from a cave/Echo.

I had one square left out, the N in Sensi,so I can't say that I finished this all on my own. I just didn't go back and check my work. I should know better than that!

Hahtool, I loved your QOD. So true. After I sat through a lecture on the Linear Accelerator at Stanford U. then toured the facility, that is EXACTLY how I felt! I tried to nod in all the right places!

Another meeting tonight, so I'll say bye for now.

Bob said...

Another pretty easy puzzle (15 minutes). About the same level of difficulty as yesterday's.

I'm being hammered at school right now, and it's going to continue through next week, so my posts to the blog in the meantime will likely be minimal. I'll try to find time to check in briefly each day though. After the 19th I get a much needed breather.

Anonymous said...

Good night all!

Great write up, Melissa Bee. And two poems; what a treat.
Happy birthday to Husker Gary's wife and twin.

Fermatprime, I admire your spunk and determination. You are an inspiration to us all.

And I do wish a happy birthday to all the marines; good thoughts tomorrow to all our service men and women.

Clear Ayes said...

WH@9:25, you got it friend. Check back tomorrow. Wendell Berry is a wonderful poet, essayist and philosopher. We may not be tempted to change our lives as much as you and The Irish have, but reading his work is an inspiration to try and be just a little bit more aware of our surroundings....hey, it might help and can't hurt.

BTW, I thought of you while in the warmer areas of NZ. What I understood is that common farming practice is to keep sheep in the fields 24/7, all year round (no predators, so they sure looked relaxed and well fed), except for shearing, or for when slaughter time comes around. The same goes for most cattle, all pasture, no grain. The "girls" wander down the paths and come home to the barn when it's milking time and then are turned back out. GAH ordered a few glasses of grass fed milk at breakfasts and it tastes very different from our American milk...the steaks are very good too!

Dennis, good bucket list choice. NZ is reputed to be the "Adventure Destination". Hiking, zip lines, bungees, sky diving, jet boats, white water rafting.....the list goes on. Lots of fun (insert CA's scream here) things to do.