google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Tuesday, May 3, 2011 Jeff Chen

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May 3, 2011

Tuesday, May 3, 2011 Jeff Chen

Theme: Hop to It - Our little unifier hops across the bottom of the grid, as indicated by the circles. Check the answer grid for the proper placement of the circles if your version is missing them or are incorrect (Cruciverb puz file contained an error, the three circles should be moved one column right to 60D). Because the unifier is in the vertical columns, I will list them left to right instead of top to bottom.

51D. Sing like Bing : CROON

30D. 2007 Iraq War strategy : TROOP SURGE

6D. In whatever way possible : BY HOOK OR BY CROOK

34D. Little one hopping across today's puzzle : ROO. Winnie-the-Pooh's little buddy.

9D. Stereotypical deal-making site : SMOKE-FILLED ROOM

10D. Was angry to the max : HIT THE ROOF

60D. Cheer : ROOT

Argyle here. Lemonade714 must have some pull. He asked Friday, "Isn't it time we had a Jeff Chen puzzle?" and here we are. You might call this a visual theme. If you had the circles, it was easy to pop in ROO in the appropriate places, perhaps a little too easy. It might have been more satisfying to find them on your own. ?

Across:

1. Schmooze, as with the rich and famous : HOBNOB

7. Baseball's Cobb et al. : TYs

10. Fabled loser : HARE

14. Hooters' hangout : OWLERY. The Owlery is a room on the top of Hogwarts Castle's West Tower, where the school owls and the owls belonging to students live during the school year. Of course!

15. __ Kippur : YOM

16. Quite angry : IRED

17. Money to burn : WEALTH

18. Pi follower : RHO

19. Musical quality : TONE

20. Canonized pope known as "The Great" : ST. LEO. He was an Italian aristocrat, and is the first pope of the Catholic Church to have been called "the Great". He is perhaps best known for having met Attila the Hun in 452, persuading him to turn back from his invasion of Italy. Reason enough to make him a saint, eh?

21. Spoken thumbs-up : A-OK

22. Feds concerned with counterfeits : T-MEN

23. Top-level URL ender : .GOV

25. Donkey's bray : HEE-HAW

27. "Oopsy!" evoker : MISTAKE

31. "How silly __!" : OF ME

32. State emphatically : AVER

33. Legendary Bruin : ORR. Played his first ten seasons with the Boston Bruins.

35. Words with a sigh : "I TRIED"

39. __ Bell : TACO

40. Phantom's rival, in "The Phantom of the Opera" : RAOUL

42. Nobel Institute city : OSLO

43. Lay to rest : ENTOMB

45. NBA's Magic, on scoreboards : ORL. The Orlando Magic play in the Amway Arena.

46. Actress Lena : OLIN. Swedish-born Lena Olin already had a successful career as an actress before she came to Hollywood.

47. Settles the bill : PAYS

49. Fixed charges : SET FEES

51. Washington-based warehouse club : COSTCO

53. Hubbub : ADO

54. Pakistani language : URDU

55. Barbecue morsel : RIB. 13Down. Site of a 55-Across removal : EDEN

57. Less polite : RUDER

61. Dark film genre : NOIR. French black; noting the black numbers in roulette.

62. Nickel source : ORE

63. Cat also known as the dwarf leopard : OCELOT. Image.

65. Quarterback Flutie : DOUG. Played in both the NFL and the CFL.

66. "__ the land of the free ..." : O'ER

67. "Check that out!" : "OH, LOOK!"

68. Bar buyer's words : ON ME

69. Bar barrel : KEG

70. Treating maliciously : MEAN TO

Down:

1. In what way : HOW

2. Hasn't settled yet : OWES

3. Beginning trumpeter's sound : BLAT

4. "Gimme a Break!" star Carter : NELL. TV sitcom ran '81 to '86 on NBC.

5. Sandinista Daniel : ORTEGA

7. Banks with an Emmy : TYRA She has had so many different looks, I'll just lick the Google search page.

8. "__ and a bottle of rum!" : "YO-HO-HO!"

11. Odor : AROMA

12. Buy more Time, say : RENEW. The magazine.

24. Aloe __ : VERA

26. 911 respondent : EMT. Emergency Medical Technician.

27. Play or room follower : MATE

28. Nobelist Pavlov : IVAN. The Russian physiologist who went to the dogs.

29. Breakaway group : SECT

36. Ginger and Mary Ann's home away from home : ISLE. TV's Gilligan's Isle. The show was Gilligan's Island but the theme song called it Gilligan's Isle.

37. Nobelist Wiesel : ELIE

38. Crime bosses : DONs

41. Major in astronomy? : URSA

44. Yoga student's roll : MAT

48. Nighttime bash : SOIREE

50. Acknowledgment of a witty rejoinder : TOUCHÉ Derived from the sport of Fencing.

52. Hatred : ODIUM. You may be more familiar with the adjective form, ODIOUS.

54. Annul : UNDO

56. North Atlantic hazard : BERG

58. Oscar __ Renta : DE LA

59. North Carolina university : ELON

64. WBA decision : TKO. World Boxing Association/Technical Knockout.


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59 comments:

Dennis said...

Good morning, Argyle, C.C. and gang - fun puzzle today, starting off with a fun word, 'hobnob'. However.....as soon as I got the theme, I filled in the rest of the circled answers with 'roo', including 59D, and you know how that worked out.

'Owlery' was a new word for me, but it perped out quickly. I wanted 'set rate' for 49A, but the 'f' in 'hit the roof' precluded that. Other than those two, a very smooth solve; Jeff Chen's puzzles are always well done. Favorite clues were 'Buy more Time, say' and 'Site of a 55-Across removal'.

Argyle, a most enjoyable read, but I almost lost a mouthful of orange juice when I saw your typo regarding Tyra Banks. Freudian slip? (And don't be changing it -- it's a classic)

Today is National Teachers Day and World Press Freedom Day. Every day should be Teachers Day for all their contributions, and as to World Press Freedom Day, did anyone see the 60 Minutes interview with Lara Logan, who was brutally sexually assaulted by the crowd while covering the upheaval in Egypt? It was gut-wrenching to listen to, especially the fact that no one came to her aid for over twenty minutes. I'll never understand that level of cowardice.

Did You Know?:

- Apropos of yesterday's discussion of ads, the very first toy commercial shown on TV was aired April 30, 1952: "Meet Mr. Potato Head...the most wonderful friend a boy or girl could have."

Barry G. said...

Morning, all!

Mostly a speed run today, with a few bumps in the road here and there. I don’t think I’ve ever filled in so many long answers so quickly, btw. Every single one just came to me right away with no perp help needed whatsoever.

The first minor bump was at OWLERY. Even after getting the first three letters via the perps, I still needed all the rest of the perps to get this. I’m sure it’s a perfectly cromulent word, but it just didn’t spring to mind.

Another minor bump was ORE. I really thought that “Nickel source” would be a little more specific, but it was not to be.

I think the only other minor bump was right at the theme reveal where I can never remember how to spell RAOUL and left the middle “O” blank until I looked over the puzzle and figured out what the theme actually was (my version had no circles to help out). Once I saw all the little ROOs “hopping” all over the place, it was easy to fill in.

Oh – with regard to AROMA at 11D… Strangely enough, I just explained to my wife yesterday that ODOR and AROMA are not actually synonyms, since ODOR specifically means “unpleasant smell” and AROMA means “pleasant smell.” Ah well…

Argyle said...

Spell Check doesn't replace a proof read...Dennis, you're right, it is a classic.

fermatprime said...

Hello all,

Fun puzzle today. Nice work, Jeff. Great blog, of course, Argyle.

Favorite answer--OWLERY. Cool word.

Least favorite answer--RENEW. Ten years or so ago I quit my subscription to Time Mag. They proceeded to send me many threatening letters to send collection agency out. They finally gave up. I will never purchase an issue again.

Sinus problems have reached stage where I cannot tolerate the situation any more. I read where you can have them "blown out." Any advice?

See ya' later!

Dudley said...

Hello Puzzlers - What Dennis said, pretty much, except that Harry Potter made me aware of OWLERY. Filled that one right in. I've been impressed that so many tame and trained owls were available for filming the Harry Potter series.

My sister always wanted an OCELOT. They are handsome. I suppose a really tame one would be all right...

Thanks for the photos HeartRx, sure looks like fun!

windhover said...

Argyle:
Re: the typo.
The iPhone screen needed a good cleaning anyway.

Hahtoolah said...

Good Morning, Argyle and friends. I quickly got the theme after filling in the first to ROOs, but had fun with all the unusual clues / answers: SMOKE-FILLED ROOM, BY HOOK OR BY CROOK, etc.

My favorite clue was Buy More Time = RENEW.

I am not generally a fan of cross-referenced clues, but I was amused by RIB and EDEN.

Doug Flutie played for Boston College. I saw him play in the Cotton Bowl in the early 80s. All I remember of that game is that the weather was terribly cold, so I spent most of the game in the only place in the stadium that was warm ~ the ladies room!

Windhover, so good to see you! Your comment gave me a good laugh (and inspired my QOD). I'm sure you must be busy with your lambkins.

QOD: Laughter is the corrective force which prevents us from becoming cranks. ~ Henri Bergson

Dick said...

Good morning Argyle and all, a really fun puzzle today, but I had a very difficult getting started. I totally “hit the wall” in the NW corner when I started and finally gave up and continued with the remainder of the puzzle. I managed to complete the entire puzzle except for the NW so I sat and stared at it for a long time. Hobnob finally fell and then the remainder of that section filled.

I really liked the connection of 13D and 55A, Eden and rib, very creative. Also, liked 12D buy more Time and I did notice that Time was spelled with a capital T.

Even though I struggled today I thought the construction, development and cluing were excellent.

Argyle, whether by design or a minor brain fade your comment on Tyra Banks was great.

Hope you have a great day.

thehondohurricane said...

Good day folks,

Did not have the benefit of the circles for the "roo" fills, but the absence didn't slow me down. I slowed me down. Just a lot of dumb mistakes (too many to enumerate) that were easily corrected when I began to focus. The eraser sure had a good workout.

Until I understood the "roo" connection, I did not think "hit the roof" was strong enough for "Angry to the max." Qwlery???? Why does it seems owls have their own language, where nest would have worked for the majority of our other avian friends?

Have to boogie on out. Life's a turmoil right now. My "to do" list covers June & July these days. I go on IR for most of July and 1/2 of August. Of course, wife's birthday & our anniversary-50th- fall in July. Anniversary is covered-Hawaiian cruise in January. Birthday???????? TBD!

Everyone be well.

HeartRx said...

Good Morning Argyle, C.C. et al.

Argyle, this write-up will go down in my books as one of your finest. I can't even begin to describe the devastation on my desk from the coffee that was snorted all over my papers when I read the TYRA comment.

I didn't have the little circles, so didn't really notice the "hopping" part until I came here. Cute.

And, it was nice to see two of Boston’s favorite sons – DOUG Flutie and Bobby ORR…(not to be confused with 45A ORL, 62A ORE or 66A O’ER.)

Other great fill that I liked were HEE-HAW and YO HO HO. Fun stuff!

I'm glad you all enjoyed the pics. It really was fun. And thanks, Argyle, for ID'ing (is that a word??) the birdie in my avatar. I just thought he was a cute little feller...

Have a great day everyone!

Barry G. said...

fermatprime: I feel you pain, quite literally. I woke up at 4:45 this morning with a pounding sinus pressure headache and train in vain to ignore it and go back to sleep. I finally got up at 6:00 and took a Sudafed, which has eased the pressure and pain somewhat. This has been happening a lot lately.

----

With regard to Doug Flutie, I actually grew up around the corner from him in Natick, MA. He was three years older than I and therefore I never met him, although my older brother went to school with him. I, on the other hand, knew his brother, Darren.

Hahtoolah said...

Since William INGE makes frequent appearances in crosswords, you might be interested to know that today marks the 98th anniversary of his birth. He died in 1973.

Grumpy 1 said...

OK, Argyle, which image were you concentrating on when you "licked the Google page"? The second one works for me...

I did this one on Cruciverb and, after seeing ROO in a few of the stacks of circles, filled in the rest of them. After some head scratching in the SE corner I spotted the lack of symetry and pulled a switcheROO to get things where they belonged. No hopping around the grid needed to do this one.

My only hangup was putting ERDU instead of URDU and then trying to make sense of annul/ENDO. Pass the V8, please...

OWLRY was new to me, but then I haven't read any Harry Potter novels.

Fun one Jeff.

Grumpy 1 said...

Oops, OWLERY, not Owlry.

Unknown said...

This was a great as wel as fun puzzle to start the day.
Thanks for the write-up, Argle!
Fermatprime, some of my friends who suffer from sinus woes swear by the neti pot. They use it everyday to flush out their sinuses. Others say that putting a little Vaseline inside their noses traps the pollen before it has a chance to take a hold on their sinuses. I cannot say whether either of these works, since I rely on my allergy cocktail everday (Zyrtec and a Rx). The doc added an eyedrop Rx last week too. If the $122 pricetag for the bottle dosen't help, I'll invest in Brillo pads for releif. They are much cheaper, but might cause other irritation!
Favorite clue? North Carolina University-Elon. This is a fabulous school in NC and no, it isn't a Tarheel!
I am off today to have lunch with the girls and have my nails "done". What a chore! Hahaha
Have a great day all!

Husker Gary said...

Not much to say on this cute, easy Tuesday puzzle with an amusing theme that, as Argyle said, might have been best left to discover sans circles. Two days in a row I have awakened to the handiwork of Jack Frost with beautiful days to follow.

Musings
-I first forgot the second preposition in by hook or BY crook
-Old joke – Taco Bell? Hispanic phone company.
-No idea on OLIN but theme put her in today’s lineup
-Bogie was the king of film noir!
-Cheap, former friend never uttered the words, “On me”.
-Diva Tyra Bank’s temper is legendary! Maybe she needs a good licking!
-I heard that eventually whenever Pavlov’s dog ate, he felt the uncontrollable urge to ring a bell!
-Mags like Time are becoming anachronistic to a generation that gets upset if web pages don’t load in 5 seconds or less.

Abejo said...

Good Morning, folks. Thanks Jeff, for a swell puzzle. Great, and a little humorous, write-up, Argyle.

Zipped through this quickly. However, I could not get started in the NW until I had BYHOOKORBYCROOK.

OWLERY was a new word, but it does make sense. After the puzzle I checked my 1956 Webster. It is not there. It could be in a larger dictionary, however.

I did not catch the theme, but had no circles either. More time would have helped me, but I had to get to work.

Thought ON ME and KEG were clever, being next to each other.

See you tomorrow.

Abejo

creature said...

Good Morning C.C., Argyle and all,

Yeah, Argyle, you got my attention with ‘licks’; it didn’t sound like you, but I thought ’ what the heck , he’s loosening up his style, a little bit, I’ll go along with it’. Laughed at your comment on Pavlov, too.

I always like Jeff’s puzzles and this Tuesday one is no exception. Lots of fun ‘hopping around the grid’; matter of fact, at least one of us says that at least once a week. Is that where this theme comes from, Jeff?
OWLERY was my surprise word; no Harry Potter here. Thanks, Jeff.

Speaking of surprise words, BarryG, I had no idea you were a ‘Simpsonite’; “cromulent’-? I will have difficulty with your word-questioning from this day forward. However, I did get a kick out of your exit from ‘the box’. I figure you and Argyle had something ‘funny’ for breakfast; check that Sudafed .

Have a nice day everyone.

Tinbeni said...

HeartRx
I agree, the highlight of the puzzle are the ORR, ORE & OER.

The circled ROO's added little to my solving experience.

I TRIED to like it but OF-ME and ON-ME in the same grid doesn't rate an A-OK.

Barry G. said...

That's all right, Creature. I've always felt that a little creative wordplay embiggens the smallest man... ^_^

Dennis said...

As in, 'embiggens real?'?

Anonymous said...

I was a little worried when I saw Jeff Chen - On a Tuesday ! - No fair ! But after I got the circled words, it was easy enough. I remember reading about Mr. Chen in an interview - he is a very brilliant and accomplished genius.

Argyle - sparkling commentary - except that please be considerate and no enticing pics on Tyra Banks - at least on weekday mornings - I have enough of a work overload, as it is, and I do not need any distractions. ( But thanks for your blog.)

Thanks to Barry G. for the word 'cormulent' - not in any of my 3 dictionaries - but a useful word, nevertheless. Along the way. I also learnt the word 'embiggen' - but I still dont know what it means. Thanks to Husker Gary for Tyra's other assets - I am so glad my earnings dont depend on my diet - or my moods.

Anonymous said...

Enjoyed Mon and Tues puzzles,as well as write-ups and comments. I'm glad they were not too difficult; since the weather is sort of improving,and I want quicker solves so I can get in the garden and get to work!
Besides, my fav puzzles are about WORDS, not obscure facts and
stuff you gotta Google!

Spitzboov said...

Good morning Argyle and all.

Jeff, Great fun puzzle. Loved all the ROOS. Quickly filled them all in which sped up the fill, but didn't particularly assist me with cranky fill. Just fun. Also liked the 15 ltr down fill phrases. Favorite clue was 'major in astronomy' - URSA. Learning for today was that OCELOT is a 'dwarf leopard'. OWLERY is a new word. No searches were needed.

Have a good day.

Scotty said...

OK, Barry G. Help me out. I can't find "cromulent" in any dictionary, so what is a "cromulent word"?

fermatprime - I immediately thought of the neti pot, which a friend uses beneficially.

Fun puzzle today. Again, no paper. I'm getting to like the online solving better and better all the time. For me they seem to fill more readily than the paper version.

More rain today. Ugh!

Clear Ayes said...

Good Morning All, I did a little hopping around the puzzle today too. Once I got the first ROO, I filled it in everywhere I could. That backfired at 59D, but it was soon corrected.

I really admired the fifteen letter
6D/BY HOOK OR BY CROOK and 9D/SMOKE FILLED ROOM. We don't see too many across the board verticals.

40A/RAOUL came right too me after Bill G.'s and my little "Phantom" discussion yesterday.

37D/ELIE Wiesel wasn't difficult either. We've seen him before and I recently finished reading his book "Night".

Dennis, we did see the Lara Logan interview. What a brave woman she is. It was interesting that it was the veiled women in the area who took her under their protection and stopped the assault.

Another doctor day today. See you all later on. Hope your weather is as nice as ours!

Grumpy 1 said...

I found this on Cracked.com. I not only explains our "new" words, but ties in nicely with the Tyra sub theme of today's discussion.

"Simpsons Origins:
In "Lisa the Iconoclast" (Feb. 18, 1996), two of the most well-known Simpsons-centric words were introduced, when legendary Jebediah Springfield is quoted as saying, "A noble spirit embiggens the smallest man," and another teacher reassures Mrs. Krabappel that embiggen is a "perfectly cromulent word."

Real World Applications:
Like cleave-which means both "to bring together" and "to separate"-cromulent is its own opposite, meaning both respectable and not respectable at all. If you have a hard time remembering this definition, think about cleavage; how two breasts are separate, yet as one. In fact, go ahead and think about cleavage right now. As a matter of fact, think about cleavage as a solution to any problem. Then, fail Calculus."

Jeff Chen said...

Hi everyone! Thanks for the nice words. Such a great group of folks here. Lemonade714, I think you've missed your calling as a lobbyist. Can you set straight the literary agents that have been rejecting me? =] I actually got some nice words back from one agent who I'm revising for. My toes are crossed.

Grumpy_1, my first draft included THEOLSWITCHEROO.

(use voice of Shatner in Star Trek II here) SWITCHEROO!!!

Thanks to Rich for helping me evolve a pretty iffy first draft!

Anonymous said...

Grumpy 1 - You should be a writer on the Simpsons - ( this is in my mind, the ultigreat compliment ) !!!

Anonymous said...

Cleavage is a perfectly respectable function in Calculus -

think,

a parabola ( y**2 = 4*a*x ) ,

or a Sin(x) curve,

or a Catenary { Y = Acosh(Bx) },

or an ellipse [ x**2/a**2 + y**2/b**2 = 1 ]

or in an extreme case,

a hyperbola [ x**2/a**2 - y**2/b**2 = 1 ]

... then do a Cauchy-Reimann contour integration, and there you have it.

carol said...

Hi gang,

Really loved this puzzle! HOBNOB, SMOKE FILLED ROOM, BY HOOK OR CROOK...for some reason just came so easily to me. My version did not have the circles, so ROO was slow to emerge.

OWLERY was a new word...I love owls, just didn't know there was a special place to put them/keep them.

55A and 13D were my stumbling blocks I got EDEN, but just couldn't figure out how the heck that worked with a BBQ. Very sneaky - and I used up a V-8 can.

Argyle - I laughed at your 'licking' of the G-Spot...fun times for you so early in the morning :) :)

Jeannie said...

Fun puzzle from Jeff! Nice of you to stop in, Jeff! Loved the long fill answers “by hook or by crook” and “smoked filled room”. My online version didn’t have the circled letters so I didn’t get the “roo” connection until reading Argyle’s fine write up. A couple I got via the perps such as Rho, StLeo, and Urdu, but no look ups needed today. I noticed quite a few two letter fills like mean to, oh look, on me, I tried and of me. My favorite today was “buy more Time say,” – renew.

I learned something new today in owlery. Hmmm….so that’s the new word for “brassiere” now?

One of my brokers is taking me to PF Chang’s today. I love their Orange Peel Shrimp! The weather is a bit better today with sunshine and 50-60. I’ll take it!

Bill G. said...

Happy Tuesday! I really enjoyed this puzzle. I was wondering why Jeff and Rick decided all the theme-related answers would be vertical? Wouldn't the puzzle work just as well rotated 90 degrees? No worries -- just wondering why.

We got a letter from the IRS telling us they had changed our refund to include an extra $40. OK, but I wondered why. I took the letter to our CPA. He called the IRS and everybody finally agreed they had made a mistake. His advice was to deposit the check and pay them back the extra when they send us another letter. OK, but their letter implied that if we did that, we might be liable for interest. I can't believe they would charge us a few cents interest on their mistake. If they do, I will pay it and include a strongly-worded note fussing at them. When will they ever simplify the tax code? In our lifetime? I doubt it.

I'm glad we finally got Bin Laden. All the celebrating about killing somebody seems a little uncomfortable to me though.

Dr. Dad said...

Good morning. An easy puzzle with a whole bunch of 'O's not just in ROO.

I liked "keg" being close to "on me." T-Men and Gov. Ore is over Oer = interchanged letters and the words almost sound the same and then couple that with "Orr".
Ta-co, Cost-co. My "mistake" - silly "of me".

Sorry, just rambling but I see a lot of things in the puzzle that seem to go together.

Hope everyone has a great Tuesday.

Jeannie said...

I forgot to ask. Ginger or Maryann?

Lucina said...

Hello, Everyone! Wonderful blogging, Argyle.

I'm short on Time because my car is due for an oil change. Appt. at 10:30 this A. M.

Jeff, what a fun puzzle you gave us, thank you. More comments later although it was straight forward with no obscure cluing; OWLERY was new to me and I see that spell check doesn't like it either.

I hope your Tuesday is beautiful and the weather is clearing for the cold and snow embattled.

JD said...

Good morning Argyle, C.C. et al,

Fun puzzle, Jeff! Perfect for a Tuesday.

"I am not generally a fan of cross-referenced clues, but I was amused by RIB and EDEN."..me too.
That was my favorite.

Didn't have circles, but am familiar with the Pooh clan.

Gotta run...little one here today.

lois said...

Good afternoon Argyle, CC, et al., Argyle you are my hero...give a lickin' and keep on tickin'. If you'd ever need your skills or stamina tested, I'd like to volunteer. Just keep it in mind.

Fav. clue reminded me of my dear Santa Baby and was YO-HO-HO..
which would be a salutation to two of my finer personal friends. And I do like Rum too.

Gotta run. Hot pool game in Richmond...all defensive ploys are being considered. Money's on the table.

Enjoy your day!

creature said...

BarryG,

Your bogometer measured Jeff's Bogosity:OWLERY and your bogosity tried to jam my bogometer with a Simpsonism vs. a Potterism.

Grumpy decided to put an end to it all.

Oh well, fun.

Anonymous said...

Argyle: Got chocolate?

Dennis said...

C.C., I bought the puzzles; I've done the first two so far and they've both been very good.

HeartRx, great pictures - I'm really jealous. It's long been a bucket list item to ski over there, the Swiss alps in particular.

Jeff, thanks for checking in, and good luck with that literary agent.

Anonymous said...

Lois: My bucket list includes owning a matched pair of dappled grays...beautiful pic!

Dennis said...

I read the first part of anon's post, "Lois, my bucket list includes owning a matched pair..." and thought, "Oh jeez, here we go".

Dappled's ok. Gray, not so.

Dudley said...

Jeannie 11:27 - Mary Anne, definitely. Ginger always seemed high maintenance to me, even when I was a kid. M.A. was just wholesome.

Chickie said...

Hola Everyone. The puzzle today was a fast fill and lots of fun.

I wondered what all the circles in the puzzle were, so I hopped ahead and did the center west section and found ROO. I filled in the Roos, and rest is history.

Thanks Argyle for the writeup and Jeff for a great puzzle. I do like a puzzle that I can do without Googling and using my dictionary. Didn't need either today.

Husker good comeback on Tyra. Re:temper. I laughed again when i read your retort.

Hob Nob, Hee haw and Yo Ho Ho are just a few of the fun fills today.

Chickie said...

I also watched the Lara Logan interview on Sunday. I thought that the women of this world are so strong! This goes for those who helped shield Lara and for Lara's courage during and after the assault. Bravery comes in all forms.

This was hard to watch and I'm sure very hard for Lara to do.

Mainiac said...

Afternoon All,

Owlerly is a new one that needed perps as well as Pakistani Language. I liked the grid spanning vertical fills. Very fun grid Jeff and nice you dropped in.

Argyle, Great write up but my screen and keyboard didn't need the coating of homemade split pea soup. One of my Supers came running in to give me a Heimlich I was choking so badly. No more reading the blog at lunch.

dodo said...

Greetings,gang,

Loved 'owlery'!We've read 'rookery' so why not 'owlery'?
Since our paper doesn't id the constructor, I didn't know it was a Jeff Chen. That would have really intimidated me. Good thing I'd fnished the puzzle. Lots of fun!

Argyle, you're in great form today!
Lotsa laughs!

Is 'cromulent' for real? And Creature, 'bogosity?' Is that having to do with Bogart, that Ace of Noir?

dodo said...

Oh, Dennis! I am sorry! When I was your age that had a more benign meaning!

Razz said...

Afternoon CC DF's and DFettes. (appropriate today, no?)

Great write up Argyle.

Roo, roo, roo you boat gently...
Fun Xword Jeff.

Jeannie - You forgot Lovey Howell! LOL

L8tr all.

Lucina said...

Dodo:
I was on your wave length today! Driving along to my appt. it occurred to me, too, that we have rookery so why not owlery of which I had not heard.

Fun stuff today with ROO.

creature said...

Dodo, BarryG used a word, cromulent, made up by the Simpsons [cartoons] to comment on OWLERY, which is from Harry Potter. I was using 'bogosity' and bogmeter to tease him about the bogus factor of his using the word, cromulent.

All in fun, of course.

Of course, to further the fun, Barry retorted with another Simpson made-up word, embiggen; then Grumpy blew our cover. TMI

HUTCH said...

fernaprine! I suffered for ten years from "sinusitis". Finally, after yelling at my doctor, he prescibed every pill he could think of. And it worked! I believe "spiriva" did the trick in great part and also an antibiotic which is geared specially for nose and ears. Amomoxin or something like that .Hang in there and "good luck".

Hahtoolah said...

After a week of 80F, today was "freezing" it never reached above 57F. We are also concerned about the height of the Mississippi. it is coming close to the top of the levees!

windhover said...

Hahtool,
We got another 2 1/2 inches of rain today, which is now on it's way to you. Unlike the tornado(e)s, (where is Quayle when you need him), you can see this coming for days.
Stay safe.

windhover said...

Sorry about the it's.
damnyouautocorrect.

Lemonade714 said...

Very late to the party and I sent out the invitations, damn. This vision stuff is beginning to mess with my time.

Jeff your puzzle was exactly what the doctor ordered, thank you and thanks for stopping by.

I am glad I did not use cruciverb as the misplaced circles would have ruined everything, well maybe I can do Don G's effort in a more timely manner

Dennis said...

dodo, I can't remember the last time someone said to me, "when I was your age" -- thanks for that.

Windhover, how's things down on the farm? Still the busy (busier?) time?

Frenchie said...

CC., Argyle and folk,

I must sharpen up if I am to continue to hobnob around with this group! I was not on the same wavelength as Mr. Chen today! I had to really apply myself to put things together consequently missing the clever theme which I can see was quite playful. :(

I hope all is well with my fellow bloggers. How are things going in the storm damaged areas? I send positive energy your way.

I'm off to read the write up and blogging now and ...

I'm out.