google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Thursday, May 12, 2011, Mangesh Sakharam Ghogre

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May 12, 2011

Thursday, May 12, 2011, Mangesh Sakharam Ghogre

Theme: Machine Language. All the clues are powers of 2: binary numbers, the way computers (or phone texters) communicate.

17A. 8?: HAD DINNER. Ate. (23 or 0000 1000 in binary)

26A. 2?: EXCESSIVELY. Too. (21 or 0000 0010)

50A. 1?: TOOK THE GOLD. Won. (20 or 0000 0001)

62A. 4?: IN FAVOR OF. For. (22 or 0000 0100)

39A. They're not literal, and this puzzle's title: FIGURES OF SPEECH. In math terms, numbers are "figures".

Hi all, Al here on Thursday, Thursday, gotta get down on Thursday... Any Rebecca Black fans? Oh, Friday, you say. Well, I guess that's as close as I'll ever get to being infamous.

I found the puzzle today strangely slow going at first, but it wasn't really all that hard, I just wasn't tuned in. The theme today was fairly modern and enjoyably geeky, even though I refuse to abbreviate my own text like that. I would have liked to see the clues appear in numeric or reverse numeric order though, to give it a third level of complexity, but still pretty tricky.

ACROSS:

1. Not quite dry: DAMP. Originally meant "a noxious vapor", the phrase "come in out of the damp" was from the notion of the night air being bad and miasmatic gasses arising from the soil.

5. "Battle Cry" author: URIS. Leon. A tale of a mixed-ethnic group of Marine enlistees coming together as a close-knit fighting unit.

9. Yippie name: ABBIE. Hoffman. Youth International Party, anti-Vietnam protests, the Chicago eight at first, then down to seven when Bobby Seale (Black Panthers founder) was singled out and tried separately.

14. French darling: AMIE.

15. Reduce bit by bit: PARE.

16. Virginia political family: BYRDS. Harry Flood Byrd and son (Jr.).  I prefer the musical group.

19. "Back Stabbers" group, with "The": OJAYS.

20. Ones with dark-spotted faces: DICE. Possibly my favorite clue for the puzzle today. You can always tell, without looking or touching, what the bottom number on a six-sided die is by subtracting the top from seven.

21. Annual draft org.: NBA. National Basketball Association.

23. 46th U.S. state: OKLA.homa.  Wolverine sings!

24. Nuevo __: Peruvian currency: SOL. A lesson in run-away economics, the original currency, the inti became so hyperinflated that new money had to be issued in 1991 at the rate of 1 sol = 1 million inti.

29. Dig up: UNEARTH.

31. "Ain't __ Sweet": SHESome Beatles accompanied with 57A. Its full name means "jumping flea" in Hawaiian: UKE.

32. Pastures: LEAS.

33. Protein building block, for short: AMINO. Amino Acids. Haven't ever seen or heard it used in this shortened form.

36. Animal's stomach: MAW. Learn something new every day.  I used to think this word just meant a gaping mouth.

43. Happy hour order: ALE.  Ale, ale, the gang's all here!

44. Varnish resin: ELEMI.

45. When doubled, a fish: MAHI. I already think I know what JZB will say, half-baked, probably.

46. "Wheel of Fortune" purchase: AN I.

47. Contrary retort: DOES NOT. Playground rhetoric. The height of forensic capabilities.

55. Female rabbit: DOE. Whale? Cow.  Elephant? Cow.  You'd think there would be more original names for those.  At least a female swan is called something different, a PEN.

56. Business head?: AGRI. A prefix clue.  Agribusiness is a portmanteau of agriculture and business, referring to the range of activities and disciplines encompassed by modern food production.

58. Raison d'__: ETRE. French, "reason or justification for existance". Kiss.

60. Insipid: BLAND.  Orig. from Latin blandus "mild, smooth, flattering, alluring".  Current meaning probably influenced by blasé.

66. It's slower than adagio: LENTO. Musical terms, Italian.

67. Somber genre: NOIR. French for black.

68. "Up in the Air" Oscar nominee Farmiga: VERA. With George Clooney, a movie about downsizing, apparently. Why anyone would go to see that is beyond me.

69. First noble gas discovered: ARGON. The third most common gas in the Earth's atmosphere, more common than carbon dioxide.

70. Lake Michigan city: GARY. Indiana.

71. Noted sin scene: EDEN. As in original sin.

DOWN:

1. Morse character: DAH. Or DIT, or even DOT.

2. Org. featuring seasonal flu information: AMA. American Medical Association. Vitamin D3, and probiotics for prevention.

3. Fifties, say: MIDDLE AGE.

4. Start to cure?: PEDI. Another prefix. A Pedicure is foot care.

5. After the current act: UP NEXT.

6. Operated: RAN.

7. Goddess of peace: IRENE. Greek mythology.  Roman equivalent: PAX.

8. Some Bosnians: SERBS.

9. Donor classification letters: ABO. Blood types, A, B, AB, and O, along with Rh+ and - are the most-known, but actually Rh by itself has 50 types, where D, C, c, E, and e are the main 5.  The + or minus only refers to the D form.  And ABO/Rh are only two out of 30 blood group systems. It is much more complicated than you can imagine and has its own discipline called immunohaematology.

10. Exclamation from Colonel Pickering: BY JOVE. Jovis Pater (Jupiter), also linked to a euphemistic shortening of Jehova.

11. Start to stop: BRAKE. As in "apply the". Caught me trying to think of a prefix at first.

12. Pastoral poem: IDYLL.  Latin idyllium, from Gk. eidyllion "a little picture".

13. Common college admissions requirement: ESSAY. Latin exigere "test"

18. Cake finisher: ICER. Didn't get caught thinking about suffixes. There's a video game called Portal that tells you: "the cake is a lie", which basically is a metaphor for unkept promises made to you in an effort to get you to finish some task.

22. Like-minded gps.: ASSNS. Groups, associations.

45 comments:

Dennis said...

Good morning, Al, C.C. and gang - a nice puzzle today, but it seemed easier than the normal Thursday offering. Even the theme, once '8'/'had dinner' became apparent, was fairly simple. Some clever clues made this one fun.

I surprised myself, remembering that the O'Jays sang Back Stabbers. That helped me get 'By Jove', since I didn't know who Colonel Pickering was. 'Sulfa' was a gimme, as we used to carry it in our first aid kits; when someone was hit, it was part of the treatment to sprinkle it around/into the wound. I really liked 'food chain', 'blessing preceder' and 'one who brings out the inner child'.

Can't comment on Al's write-up yet, as we have another blitch and the blog's unavailable thus far.

Today is Fatigue Syndrome Day and International Nurses Day. Coincidently, many, many years ago (45, to be exact), I got smuggled into a student nurses' dorm overnight and learned first-hand what Fatigue Syndrome was. Oh, it's also National Limerick Day; I can't wait to see today's offerings -- I honestly don't know any clean ones.

Did You Know?:

- The autopsy of John Dillinger revealed his physical endowment to be normal. It was a morgue photo of his body - in which his arm was positioned under the sheet, creating a noticeable bulge - that led to the legend that his male organ was so unusually large it had been kept by the Smithsonian for its collections.

Barry G. said...

Morning, all!

Basically a speed run today, except for the fact that I had a stupid typo (BIRDS/BIJOVE instead of BYRDS/BYJOVE) that took forever to discover at the end.

The theme was fun, but I twigged to it immediately and that let me blow through all of the theme answers with no hesitation. And all the perps were pretty basic as well. ELEMI would have given me fits in the past, but I've now seen it enough to actually remember it unassisted. I think the only real unknown today was OJAYS -- never heard of them nor their song "Back Stabbers."

Hahtoolah said...

Good Morning, Everyone. This has been an interesting week, with some of the earlier puzzles being more difficult than the later ones. Just wait until tomorrow ~ it will probably be a killer.

I loved today's theme, though. 8? = HAD DINNER was my first theme clue, and at first I thought the number referred to time, as in having dinner at 8 pm. The other theme responses cleared me of that though. Very clever theme.

My favorite clue was Start to Stop = BRAKE.

Jeannie: Thanks for the recipes. Even though I am not big on cooking myself, I enjoy the recipes.

Today is Yogi Berra's 86th Birthday, so in his honor, here is today's QOD: Half the lies they tell about me aren't true. ~
Yogi Berra

Husker Gary said...

Al, et al, my namesake city has been a regular of L8! I'm a math guy but blew by the powers of 2 theme and just used the numbers as homophones! Oh well, not 2 worry, it all came nicely B4 long!

Musings
-Brings out inner child? Gotta love it!
-Harry Byrd is symptomatic of what is wrong with Congress. He has brought more money into W.V. than any state deserves as have others on the other side of the aisle! Merit should trump ear marks!
-MAW meaning was new to me also, Al
-A female goose is called a, uh, goose and I’ll be seeing them on the 9th fairway today!
-Couldn’t find my favorite version of Morse Code of Love by favs Manhattan Transfer, but this is good 2! Dits and dahs galore!
-Johnny Carson’s favorite limerick involved “A man named Dave”
-Fore - 4!

Lemonade714 said...

Colonel Pickering is a character in PYGMALION which I am sure was an important play for our own, Mangesh. It is so delightful to keep seeing puzzles from constructors whose comments we read. I thought the theme was creative, and wonder if Mangesh is as mathematical as Al.
Happy Birthday Yogi, no lie.

Abejo said...

Good Morning, folks. Thanks, Mangesh, for a swell puzzle. Really enjoyed it. Thank you, Al, for the great write-up and clever comments.

It was just a few hours ago I entered yesterday's blog.

This puzzle went easy. Caught the them right away and the resulting answers helped me with the puzzle, as a whole.

I remember Col Pickering saying "BY JOVE, I think she's got it!" My Fair Lady.

GARY came easily. Go by it every time I head east to Pennsylvania. Quite often I am on the train and it goes right by the mills. Impressive. I can go round trip from Chicago to Erie, PA, for $100 on Amtrak. What a deal!

I missed OJAYS. Had SJAYS. Thought ABO was ABS (plural of AB). Oh well. That reminded me of trying to give blood a week and a half ago. They would not take it due to my blood pressure. It was 180/110. So, I am on a diet now to try to drop my blood pressure. I have lost 3 1/2 kilos in 10 days. I signed up to give again the end of May. Hopefully, I will qualify.

See you tomorrow.

Abejo

Anonymous said...

Seemed "just right" for Thursday level of difficulty.

My 'perps' got their work-out and after my slog. "BY JOVE I got it" all correct.

Quite a few write-overs.
At first for that "Wheel of Fortune" purchase I had 'an E' before ELIHU Yale showed me it was "AN I".
Had 'roam' before EDEN got me ROVE.
For 46th state, saw it was 4-letters, and wrote in Utah ... OKLA and that NE corner was the last to fall.

Fave was the 'Blessing preceder' ACHOO.
Followed closely by 'Food chain' I-HOP.

TABLA, Indian drum, a learning moment.
Along with UKE meaning 'jumping flea.'

Anonymous said...

oops, that last one was me.

Blog won't accept my sign in.

Tinbeni

Tinbeni said...

Forgot to say ...

Cheers to all at Sunset !!!

sherry said...

Liked the grid thought it was fairly easy for a Thurs.
Couple of problems,i.e. pastoral poem-didn't get last "L". Actually the north east corner was somewhat problematic: By Jove? The theme was fun. had trouble with IHop. which made that corner tough.

kazie said...

The best Thursday CW I can remember, and the write-up took me almost as long as the puzzle did, due to all the fun music links. Thanks Mangesh and Al!

I didn't get the theme right away, due to having DAT for DAH, but then EXCESSIVELY jumped out at me and I realized the homophone idea and I was away and running. My only other real hangup was ELIHU, which I had to look up. I also had HONOR for FAVOR until perps stepped in. Other unknowns were OJAYS, ONEIL, VERA, ELEMI and EDTV, but wags and perps helped with all those.

I'm off to beat the heat for my dog walk. Enjoy your day!

Grumpy 1 said...

Good Morning Al, C.C. and the usual suspects. BY JOVE, this was a gr8 puzzle, not 2 difficult, not 2 easy.

I saw the 1,2,4, 8 mathmatical progression and wondered if there was any significance, but didn't find any connections.

It filled easily enough, but I wasn't thrilled with 1 being the same as won. The other three are pronounced the same. That one isn't, at least in my neck of the woods.

I started out with Adams instead of BYRDS, but BY JOVE told me that wasn't the right. Then I remembered that the Adams' were from Massachusetts, so I was doubly wrong.

Loved the dark spotted face clue.

Dr. Dad said...

Good morning.

Got the theme clues fairly early. That darn "elemi" got me again.

Another Yogi quote: "You should always go to other people's funerals; otherwise, they won't come to yours."

The puzzle had a clue involving cake:

This is a cake. And this is Edith.

You know what they say - "You can't have your cake and Edith too.

Have a great Thursday.

Unknown said...

The moon must be in the seventh house, because I finished this puzzle and even got the theme (sort of)!
Whew!
Thanks, Al, for the informative write-up! I always learn something from it. It's also nice to dust off my ancient Latin. Mrs. Marks, my high school Latin teacher would be so proud, bless her sweet heart. She once told me that she'd never had a student whose mind wandered like mine did!
Jazz, please do send your video to me. Contact info is in my blog profile, but I think you probably knew that!
A new post was added for Mother's Day.
I am off to celebrate this year's volunteer efforts at a local school. Our church circle has been packing backpacks with food for kids who go hungry over the weekends. The food is child-friendly and provides milk, protein, fruit and vegetables to needy kids.
Bye, Y'all!

HeartRx said...

Good Morning Al, C.C. et al.

Thanks for the write-up, Al. You revealed an added elegance in it, by noticing that the numbers used by Mangesh are all powers of 2 - I completely missed that one!

Even without that bit of knowledge, I still thought this was an elegant puzzle! I wonder if our constructor has ever played a TABLA? He certainly has many talents.

In honor of Limerick Day, and apologies to our local attorneys, here is a cute one by a witty woman who has won the Robert Benchley Society Award For Humor:

A wealthy old woman named Kate
Left her dog an enormous estate.
Her children all stewed
Till they finally sued.
Who won? Well, each lawyer did great!
~Madeline Begun Kane

Have a great day, everyone!

Vidwan827 said...

I was surprised to find Mr. Ghogre's name on a Thursday (!) puzzle - and I'll be damned if I dont try to solve it. To the best of my knowledge, he has never been to the US or the Western countries ... tells you what expertise one can pick up on the internet, and through sheer perseverance. Very nice job !

BTW, there are more English speakers in India, than the population of the US and UK combined ( source- David Crystal, The Guardian, Nov 19, 2004) - ( per Anu Garg, another Indian-American, 'The Dord, the Diglot and an Avocado or two'.)

Al - you are a genius - and a great savant ( without being an idiot-savant -). Your knowledge seems to be inexhaustible. Only an IT expert could have tied in the binary connection - and you even have time for video games ?? Your info on blood groups and Ems was fascinating ! Boy, how much did I learn. Many, many thanks.

Husker Gary said...

I promised a picture from our lovely trip to Pella, Iowa to see their famous tulips and here are Joann and me posing in one of the many gardens of tulips that are just starting to lose their blooms. The second picture is of the giant wind mill that was built from Dutch artisans and grinds grain on days with over a 4 mph breeze.This being able to take day trips like this is a definite advantage to being retired!

Everyone here at home asked me what the giant fields of tulips looked like but I told them that farm ground is way too valuable over there to commit to vegetation that is useful for only a few weeks. The bulbs are flown in every year, planted in large beds all over town and then dug up in late May and replaced with annuals in their town flower beds. Their Pella tulip festival saw the town realize over a hundred thousand dollar profit last weekend!

Vidwan827 said...

Al - For the first time, in ten months,, that I can remember, I tried to Google for a crossword clue ... I googled, 'Goddess of Peace' - and the VERY FIRST link offered by Google, out of 4.6 million, was your blog !!!

So , as Tinbeni would say, 'A toast to your 15 minutes of fame'.

BTW, now that I think about it - thats how I found out about this blog in the first place.

BTW, the second link, for Goddess of Peace, had 'Tara' - a goddess in Tibetian Buddhist philosophy .... which also happens to be my daughters name. An alternative clue to the 'throne of Irish kings' and the legendary plantation ?

carol said...

Hi all -

I started out so much better than I thought I would for a Thursday but that soon changed when I got to the NE corner. Could not think of ABBIE, BYRDS or OJAYS. OKLA fooled me too, I didn't pay enough attention to the abbr and I put in OHIO. Sigh.

Liked the theme once I got past HAD DINNER. Very clever! Of course, I had no idea about the 'geeky' part of it...I just had fun.

Spitzboov said...

Good morning all. Nice helpful write-up, Al.

I agree with Al; A little slow but not 2¹ hard:-). Got the theme early. Did not know ELEMI but the perps helped. UKE was a WAG. Liked the higher % of vernacular fill: IN FAVOR OF, UP NEXT, IF I DO, etc. Great job by a non native speaker, as Vidwan points out.

Have a good day.

Jazzbumpa said...

Hi gang -

You know I love word play - and number play, too - so this theme was a treat. I'll let MAHI go, though I prefer my fish fully baked. (BTW - Had the best calimari ever at the Tuscany in Chicago's Little Italy) Really hate the affix clues, but I'll let those go as well.

Overall, a fresh, clever puzzle with a lot of sparkling originality. I keep wondering when the options will be all used up, and constructors keep surprising me.

Mangesh - you done good!

Al - This was a perfect puzzle for you to blog. I think you did this one better than anyone else could have.

Had to g-spot OKLA, I sad to admit. Had BYRD in mind but his name had somehow flown away.

Mom - please send me an e-mail. Makes it easier at my end.

Godess of peace - new knowledge. My mom's twin is ironically IRENE.

IMBO.

Cheers!
JzB

Jazzbumpa said...

How did I get "JzB" in blue instead of "jazzbumpa?"

These inter-tubes sure am confusing.

Cheers!
JzB

Avg Joe said...

National Limerick Day??

OK, I'll play. This one is credited to Calvin Coolidge:

I sat by the Duchess at tea.
It was just as I feared it would be.
Her rumblings abdominal
were truly phenomenal,
And everyone thought it was me.

Clear Ayes said...

Good Morning All, Congratulations Mangesh. You were hitting your stride on this one.

The theme was "Thursday tricky". I had to do some zigging and zagging to fill in the picket fence look. And I didn't even catch the "powers of 2: binary numbers" that Al described. That's way too mathematical for me. I thought the clues/answers were straight punny FIGURES (numbers) OF SPEECH, which was good enough for me.

Favorite clue/fill was 34D One who brings out the inner child?/MOM.

Yes Abejo, "I remember Col Pickering saying "BY JOVE, I think she's got it!" My Fair Lady."

Laughed at 49D/EDTV. Matthew McConaughey, without a shirt....no Academy Award there.

68A/VERA Fermiga was excellent in "Up In The Air". It takes place in the world of a "corporate downsizer", but is about isolation and fear of commitment. George Clooney played the ax-man who eventually sees the error of his ways.

Jerome said...

OJAYS, LENTO. Look closely. It's comical!

ORANG crosses ARGON

The A of NBA is the A in ASSNS. So, we've got ASSNS crossing ASSNS. But I'm not going to say a word about that.

Not so comical-

IFIDO- Rin Tin Tin's autobiography

GENOA- No, but I've heard about her

EKING- What 'enry said about Lear

ICER- Starbucks's reply to Ahab

SERBS- Start of a Bosnian rebel's shout... "Serbs, you right!"

And the really pathetic...
DOESNOT- It comes out of a deer's nose

Bill G. said...

It's hard to believe such an enjoyable puzzle could be constructed by a non-native speaker. Well done! Fun writeup too. Thanks. I was sure somebody was going to ask why two to the zero power was one but I guess everybody knows that.

Husker Gary, loved the 'Morse Code of Love' song. I agree with you; The Manhattan Transfer is/are the best!

Abejo mentioned old country music yesterday. Would you believe I've got a Hank Williams CD cued up in my car right now? So many classics including 'Lovesick Blues.'

Clear Ayes said...

One of the definitions of an IDYLL (or IDYL) poem is "A short poem or prose piece depicting a rural or pastoral scene, usually in idealized terms.". This one is by Ravi Shankar (yes, THAT Ravi Shankar, the famous sitarist).

Crossings

Between forest and field, a threshold
like stepping from a cathedral into the street—
the quality of air alters, an eclipse lifts,

boundlessness opens, earth itself retextured
into weeds where woods once were.
Even planes of motion shift from vertical

navigation to horizontal quiescence:
there’s a standing invitation to lie back
as sky’s unpredictable theater proceeds.

Suspended in this ephemeral moment
after leaving a forest, before entering
a field, the nature of reality is revealed.

Dudley said...

Hello Puzzlers - This clever puzzle made me work a bit. I caught on to the theme all right, but failed to notice the powers of 2. I just figured Mangesh picked the homonyms without taking into account their math qualities.

Never heard of Back Stabbers or the OJAYS. That was a wag. Spelled ELIHU wrong of course. The UKE clue was unfamiliar. Then there's that darn ELEMI - no doubt we've had it before, but it's close to impossible to recall. TABLA doesn't even look like it should be a percussion instrument.

Surprised at how late OKLA became a state! I was Andrew Carnes in "Oklahoma!" in high school. I had an air powered BB gun to use as a prop instead of a real shotgun. The action called for me to cock it, threateningly, to reinforce some wedding plans. Trouble was I didn't take care to stay off the trigger and it soon went off with a loud but empty POP. Sorta took the drama out of the scene...

Anonymous said...

Here goes, for National Limerick day:

From a tour book on Nantucket:-
Any mention of the word 'limerick', in public, is a non-bailable offense...


A gentle old lady I knew
Was dozing one day in her pew,
When the preacher yelled "Sin!"
She said, "Count me in!
-And as soon as the service is through!"

There was a young lady named Hall,
Who wore a newspaper dress to a ball,
The dress caught on fire
And burnt her entire
Front page, sporting section, and all.


There was a young girl named Ann Heuser
Who swore that no man could surprise her,
But Pabst took a chance,
Found a Schlitz in her pants,
And now she is sadder Budweiser.

treefrog said...

I haven't been on the blog for a long time. Decided to start doing the puzzles again. I've been doing the ones in our paper. Obviously easier than these!

I started very slow. When I got 'in favor of' the lightbulb went on. I too looked at it as homophones. I don't get the binary stuff!

My daughter married a Pickering. I used to think it was an uncommon name. Favorite clue was 'blessing preceder'.

It took me forever, but I did finish the whole thing.

I hope this wakes up a few brain cells.

Anonymous said...

Jerome !!!

You probably think Genoa but did Jamaica ?

creature said...

Good Day C.C., Al and all,

Al, very creative write-up. Thanks for the tip on how to quickly tell the bottom number on dice; good links, too.

Mangesh, the puzzle was tops as was the layered theme and the fill. Thank you for your best.

Perps gave me OJAYS, MAW, TABLA, SOL and VERA. Actually, SULFA too; I would have spelled it sulpha., if I had had any extra spaces.

I’m just from a sleep study night at the local hospital and I did not sleep. I’m scheduled for one more night of that, next month. I’m off to lie down for a bit.

Have a nice day everyone.

Jeannie said...

Al writes such an informative blog
When I find the puzzle to be a slog
I always learn something new
All those blood types, who knew?
Sometimes I feel like a bump on a log.

Dennis said...

Old, but still good:

There once was a fellow McSweeny
Who spilled some gin on his weenie
Just to be couth
He added vermouth
Then slipped his girlfriend a martini.

Lucina said...

Good day, everyone! Al, you outdid yourself on the theme. I,too, thought it was straightforward puns. You math types are awesome!

As some of you, I found this a tad easier for a Thursday, though started slowly until INFAVOROF turned on the light for me. Then I went back and filled the other theme answers.

Very clever, Mangesh; I was pleased to see your name and realized it had been a while since your last puzzle.

ASU, again, my alma mater!

OKLA is familiar because AZ is #48 and NMEX and OK were admitted just prior to us.

ARGON was a recent answer in Millionaire.

Fav clue: noted sin scene, EDEN

CA:
You hit the mark on UP In the Air.

Have a terrific Thursday, everyone!

Lucina said...

Jeannie:
I copied your recipe to try in the near future. Thanks.

Funny limericks, all!

mangesh said...

Hey hi folks - so nice to be here again. Am extremely pleased that you guys have enjoyed my puzzle.

For me ,the best part of making this puzzle was enjoying the moment when I came up with the theme answer- Figures of Speech. and that joy is multiplied ..reading your responses..

Honestly, I saw the "power of 2" pattern to my theme numbers for the first time on this blog. Thanks to Al and gang for this additional angle to this puzzle.

My fav clues - faced with dark spots, Sin scene, brings out inner child,

some original clues which Rich changed (rightly so) -
When you start to go downhill (MIDDLE AGE) changed to Fifties, perhaps

Lipstick for the cake (ICER)

B-r-e-a-k-f-as-t ? (IHOP) i was referring to chain of breakfast joints

I wish i could meet you guys some day ..may be at ACPT next year which i plan to attend.

Thanks Al and CC for hosting my puzzle here. Privelege and pleasure is all mine!

Good day all from Mumbai - India
www.mangeshghogre.com

windhover said...

Is it my imagination that (with a fleeting exception a little earlier) we are attracting a much better class of Anons lately?
OK, I'm going again. ;-}

Spitzboov said...

WH: You may be right about the anons. There still seems to be a fair % of SDs, however.

carol said...

In honor of Mr. Dillinger:

They always say "what's in a name",
Well, there was a John of some fame,
Now it may be wrong,
but it was said that his 'schlong'
was the cause of all of his fame.

eddyB said...

Hello.

Two, Four, Eight.
Who do we appreciate?

Mangesh! Mangesh!

Nice and easy Thursday puzzle.

Check back after 5PM again. I may not get to see da judge. They only
have one more shot at me this year.

Just like the Sharks. It is win or play golf.

Take care.

Jeannie said...

I didn’t do 2 badly considering it was a Thursday. It helped that I got the theme when “had dinner” revealed itself. I had a little trouble with elemi, and uris but the perps helped me there. It seems I got my French lesson today with Etre and Noir. I did know amie. I also had no idea what a “yippie” was but had most of the letters so I made a WAG for Abbie. I also learned that a maw is an animal’s stomach.
All in all, it was a good way to spend a very rainy lunch hour.

Al, like my limerick said, I always learn something when you are at the helm.

Lucina, the bow tie pasta with the asiago cream sauce is one of my favorite pasta dishes. Enjoy!

Dennis I had never heard that fact about John Dillinger’s um endowment.

TinoTechie said...

Here is a limerick of my own creation.

There once was a bean bag style chair
That had just a minuscule tear.
But it was insidious
and did leak continuous.
And now it's so flat its not there.

Greg

Edward Learjet said...

Just an attempt:

A virile blog monitor named Dennis
was justifiably proud of his

He prowled down the halls
and mauled all the

Of those whom he considered a menace.

dodo said...

Hello, everyone,

I wanted to say 'hi' early today, since my last two posts apparently were too late to be printed. I haven't read the comments yet and have to be out of here shortly, so more later. dodo