google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Monday, January 2, 2017 Neville Fogarty

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Jan 2, 2017

Monday, January 2, 2017 Neville Fogarty

Theme: Fowl Play - And not the cooped-up chicken counting card game.

20. Longtime navigation method: DEAD RECKONING. Dead Duck

36. Rabbit's foot, perhaps: LUCKY CHARM. Lucky Duck

42. Toy sold in eggs: SILLY PUTTY. Silly Goose

56. Kids' game hinted at by the starts of 20-, 36-, and 42-Across: DUCK, DUCK, GOOSE

Argyle here. Nifty Monday from Neville. He is usually later in the week. The four long columns stitch it all together.

Across:

1. Plus: ALSO

5. Kernel-less picnic discards: COBS

9. What judges wear: ROBES

14. In a little while: SOON

15. "Once __ a midnight dreary ... ": UPON. 51-Down. Award named for Poe: EDGAR

16. Kick out of the country: EXILE. Perhaps to end up on the following.

17. Spring break destination, perhaps: ISLE

18. Nevada gambling city: RENO

19. Like thickets: DENSE

23. List of mistakes: ERRATA, in subsequent edtions.

24. Golf scorecard figure: PAR

25. Med. condition with repetitive behavior: OCD. (Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder)

28. Tries to be heard in a noisy room: YELLs. Because "Psst!" won't cut it.

31. Save: RESCUE. Dogs, cats, winos.

33. Rascals: CADs

38. Geometry calculations: AREAs

40. Small battery: AAA

41. Body part often sculpted: TORSO

45. Paradise: EDEN

46. Et __: CETERA

47. Puts a tight lid on: SEALS

49. First st., alphabetically: ALA.



50. "__ you serious?": ARE

52. "Hold on a second": "NOT YET"

60. Reeves who played "Ted" in "Bill & Ted" films: KEANU. Excellent!

62. High spirits: GLEE

63. Bit of deception: RUSE

64. Clark's exploring partner: LEWIS

65. Author Rice: ANNE

66. Like 2, 4, 6, and so on: EVEN

67. "The Count of __ Cristo": MONTE

68. Charlie Brown's "Phooey!": RATS. Classic.


69. Erotic: SEXY

Down:

1. Parenthetical remark: ASIDE

2. What a two-fingered "L" represents: LOSER. "Let's not be L7." (square)

3. Word with panel or power: SOLAR

4. Limited-time retail offer: [ONE DAY SALE]. But wait! Call in the next 15 minutes...

5. Panacea: CURE-ALL

6. Oil-exporting org.: OPEC. (Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries)

7. Hit on the head: BONK

8. Poke around: SNOOP

9. Forward, as mail: REDIRECT

10. Plow-pulling animals: OXEN

11. Church game handout: BINGO CARD

12. Golfer Ernie: ELS

13. Recognize: SEE

21. I-95, e.g.: Abbr.: RTE

22. __ a soul: NARY

26. Evil legacy: CURSE

27. Evil spirit: DEMON

29. Maui party: LUAU

30. Sings like Ella: SCATS

32. Retail outlets with many loafers?: SHOE STORES

33. First to stab Caesar: CASCA. Publius Servilius Casca was the first to strike Caesar with a dagger. (Even Lila Cherry used this on a Monday.)

34. Animated film mermaid: ARIEL

35. 1973 #1 hit for Helen Reddy: DELTA DAWN. Remember?



37. "Kiss Me __": KATE. A musical version of The Taming of the Shrew.

39. New York university city: SYRACUSE


43. Picnic area: PARK

44. Baseball's Bronx Bombers: YANKEES

48. Calculator function: LOG

53. "__ Lost That Lovin' Feelin'": YOU'VE. Bill Medley and Bobby Hatfield, The Righteous Brothers.



54. Devereux's earldom: ESSEX. Obscure reference to an opera by Gaetano Donizetti, 1837, maybe? Link

55. So, so small: TEENY

57. Inch or mile, e.g.: UNIT

58. Forearm bone: ULNA

59. Dollar fraction: CENT

60. Merged Dutch airline: KLM. KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, legally Koninklijke Luchtvaart Maatschappij N.V. Air France–KLM merger.

61. Fair-hiring letters: EEO. (Equal Employment Opportunity)


Argyle

62 comments:

OwenKL said...

The writer's block maintains. Quantity is back up, but quality is still down.
{C+, C, C, C+, B-.}

Once UPON a midnight dreary
EDGAR canoodled with his secretary
By EQUAL OPPORTUNITY
His secretary then was free
To nail the stock-boy with objections NARY!

DELTA DAWN, what's that pendant you have on?
Do you intend wear it as a LUCKY CHARM?
Is it meant to make you SEXY?
"It's a DEMON token so I'm hexy,
To lay a CURSE on CADS who would do a maiden harm!"

Said GOOSE to DUCK while winging over SYRACUSE
"I must land below, I have some feathers loose."
Said the DUCK to the minion
"I would offer up a pinion
But I suspect your O.C.D. is but a SILLY RUSE!"

There was a mean lawyer from ESSEX,
Grilled witnesses hot on REDIRECT.
He was filled with GLEE
At the third degree,
And pretended each one was his ex!

There was a grumpy Roman named CASCA
Whose hemorrhoids led to disasta'!
Before toilet paper
Corn COBS were in favor,
But they weren't soft as those from Nebraska!

fermatprime said...

Greetings!

Thanks to Neville and Santa!

Only unknown was LOSER. Otherwise easy.

Went swimming yesterday. Pool too cold for my arthritis (85 degrees). Need to replace part of equipment.

Enjoyed Sherlock. Anyone else?

Have a great day!

Jinx in Norfolk said...

Had two erasures - can never remember how to spell KEANU, and had impS for CADS - but the perps quickly showed me the errors of my ways.

I liked Helen Reddy as a kid, but I was madly in lust with Petula Clark.

DEAD RECKONING - DEAD is an abbreviation for "deduced", and considers time, heading, speed and current to estimate one's position based on the last known or assumed position.

Am I the only one who has never heard of DUCK, DUCK, GOOSE?

Fun romp today. Thanks Neville and Santa for a nice workweek opener.

desper-otto said...

Good morning!

Jinx, there are at least two of us. Enjoyed the puzzle, and didn't get the theme, as usual. Back in the 80's KLM was my favorite airline to Europe, non-stop Houston to Schipol. Singapore Airlines was the best crossing the Pacific. Thanx, Neville and Argyle.

OCD: [knock, knock, knock] Penny!

One nit. Delta Dawn was a Tanya Tucker hit, covered the following year by Helen Reddy.

thehondohurricane said...


Count me in as never having heard of DUCK DUCK GOOSE. Minor issue, but shouldn't the cluing for 49A have been plural? ALAbama & ALAska. Agree, Bama is # 1 when spelled out completely.

Couple of incorrect starts that put the eraser to work. 4D, ........only/SALE & 52A, NOT now/NOT YET.

BINGO has disappeared in CT since the casino's came upon the scene.

Thank you Neville for a nice start to the week.

Christmas officially ends today for our family because one DIL said today was the only day they had available. And once again, I am totally PO'd. It will be a challenge for me to keep my big mouth shut.

Hahtoolah said...

Good Morning, Argyle and friends. I played DUCK, DUCK, GOOSE as a kid. This was a good, easy puzzle to ease into the week, even though I don't start the work week until tomorrow.

My only error today was to try Not Now before NOT YET.

Chairman Moe: Several years ago, before I-49 skirted Natchitoches, Louisiana, we stopped in the town to eat. I asked the waitress about 5 times how to pronounce the name of the town. She cheerfully obliged, but I still had no clue as to the pronunciation. It was quite some time before I learned how to say it.

We are in for some sever weather here. I hope everyone is safe and sound.

QOD: The saddest aspect of life right now is that science gathers knowledge faster than society gathers wisdom. ~ Isaac Asimov (Jan 2, 1920 ~ Apr. 6, 1992)

desper-otto said...

Continuing last night's discussion on place names: When I was starting out in radio, we had a booklet, published by the AP, showing correct pronunciation of Wisconsin place names. Very helpful.
RIO: Rye'-Oh
MUSCODA: Mus'-kuh-Day'
WEYAUWEGA: Why'-Oh-We'-Guh
ASHWAUBENON: Ash-WAH'-Buh-Non
CHETEK: Shih-Tek'
GILLETT: Jill'-It
MANAWA: Man'-uh-Wah'
OCONOMOWOC: Oh-Con'-uh-Mo'-Walk
SHAWANO: Shaw'-No
Now, if they'd only included California place names like La Jolla, much embarrassment could have been avoided.

BunnyM said...

Good morning!
Fun Monday puzzle to get the week started - thanks Neville and thank you Argyle. I couldn't see the theme until I read your write up :)

Only a few missteps : I had errors for ERRATA and imps for CADS. I knew it was wrong after getting ARIEL but couldn't remember CASCA and wanted 'I Am Woman' for DELTADAWN which didn't fit ( I forgot she sang this after Tanya Tucker)

I played DUCKDUCKGOOSE a lot in elementary school. Out of curiosity I just Googled it to find out the origin. It seems to have started in Minnesota with Swedish immigrants where it's "Duck, Duck, Gray Duck" - a translation of the original Swedish "Anka, Anka, Grattanka".
Fun tidbit :)

Happy Monday friends. It seems like a Sunday to me as DH is home enjoying his last day of a four day weekend. I will be off track all week ;)

Anonymous said...

Aren't CADS a bit lower than "rascals"?

RetFizz said...

Thank you, thank you, thank you, Neville for such a whiz-through puzzle! It was so late after finishing and entering the last comment for yesterday's puzzle, is that I thought I might as well stay up and take a crack at today's. What a pleasure! Sailed through very fast, with no lookups or red letters. Hand up for Only before Sale, and count me in as one who never heard of Duck, Duck, Goose.

I was so intent on going fast, fast, fast that I didn't look for the theme.

“Devereux's earldom: ESSEX. Obscure reference to an opera by Gaetano Donizetti, 1837, maybe?” Or, perhaps, a less obscure reference to the 1939 movie, “The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex,” starring Bette Davis and Errol Flynn. Splynter, methinks you jest.

FP, I also thought Sherlock was very well done, but as I said late yesterday— no, actually early this morning, very dark. And DO, in that same comment, I implied that almost everyone knew how to pronounce La Jolla. Guess not.

inanehiker said...

Nice Monday - with a fun theme. I had imps for CADS too. I DVR'ed Sherlock to watch later as the fam was glued to the Packers/Lions game. Good to have a nice finish to the regular season!

I've played many a game of DUCKDUCKGOOSE over the years, what's fun is the game is so easy to teach and translate the words into other languages. I have played it on mission trips in Central America and West Africa. Kids are kids the world over and since this game doesn't require any equipment and can accomodate as many kids as you have-- we can do it anywhere!

Enjoying the 3 day weekend! Thanks Argyle and Neville!

Madame Defarge said...

Good Mroning.

Happy New Year, everyone. I haven't been here since last Tuesday. I'll have to do all that make-up work sometime soon. I had a couple of my grands for overnights. Alone. Lots of fun as I can devote all our time to one kid. Then the other gets to spend similar time with mom and dad.

I did very well today and even found the theme early. Yay! I'm off to a good start for the new year. Oops, did I just hex that?

Thanks Neville and Argyle for all the Monday fun.

Have a peaceful day.

RetFizz said...

Anonymous at 9 AM, for once I agree with you.

And now to bed.

Spitzboov said...

Good morning everyone.

Fairly easy solve today. Liked the theme. Conk or BONK? Cobs took care of that. Got CUREALL from perps, but didn't parse it to CURE-ALL until I was done.



Yellowrocks said...

Easy Monday puzzle when I put the answers in the proper corresponding cells. Other than that no prob.
I always associate Delta Dawn with Helen Reddy. No nit because it really WAS Helen's #1 hit in 1973, as the clue says, regardless of the fact that it was in Tucker's top 10 in 1972. We have many Delta gas stations here. Almost every time I pass one Helen's voice sings in my head.
My Japanese DIL calls the Phillip's screw driver PLUS (+)and the slotted screw driver MINUS (-). That is common in Japan, said in Japanese, of course.
I, too thought CADS was a little strong for RASCALS.
I thought everyone knew Duck, Duck, Goose, my kindergarten teacher mindset. I led a preteen youth group at church during that time. I told them we would have snacks when the big hand was on the nine. I had to duck and cover!
We used to tell the kids to hold their pointer fingers straight up with their thumbs pointing inward. The hand that formed an L was the left hand. Naturally, some kids turned their hands with palms facing them and thumbs pointing outward. The right hand formed the L. Never mind, beginning square dancers seem not to know their left foot from the right one.

oc4beach said...


Easy and nice Monday start for the New Year from Neville. I didn't get the theme until I read Argyle's explanation of Duck, Duck, Goose.

I only had a few hitches like others did with IMPS vs CADS and NOTNOW vs NOTYET. I needed perps to fill in ERRATA and DUCK DUCK GOOSE. Other than that it was a nice smooth solve today.

Even though I've heard the term DUCK DUCK GOOSE, I didn't know it was a kids game or how the game worked. There is an internet search engine called DUCKDUCKGO that does not track you. It's also a nice little App that I have on my IPhone and use occasionally. I should probably use it more often to keep from getting all of the ads that spring up from searching for CW answers. I'm still getting ads for Six Sigma training.

Waiting for the Rose Parade to start and then the Rose Bowl game. After that, my College football watching days for the year will be over until next fall.

Have a great second day of the new year.

Chairman Moe said...

"Puzzling Thoughts":

HNY - hope we all will have a great 2017. I'm hoping for some numerical CHARM this year since my birthday is 02/17 ...

I had EARS and ERRORS where COBS and ERRATA later appeared. These two were my sole miscues.

My kids, IIRC, played DUCK DUCK GOOSE as well as Marco Polo when they were in the pool.

SILLY PUTTY out of the egg doesn't stay pliable for too long.

More of the mispronounced city names: Newark DE is not the same as Newark NJ. Nor is Cairo IL the same as the metropolis in Egypt. And folks from KY will always pronounce Louisville more as "Lew-a-vull", but never as "Lewey-ville".

An archived limerick using a today's puzzle word:

Hit the joint in my arm and first cried;
When it felt really crazy inside.
If an elbow you hit,
Make no bones about it,
'Cause the ULNA has a humerus side.

Irish Miss said...

Good Morning:

Well, this was an easy-peasy start to the week. Jinx in Norfolk, I think we're on the same wave length, i.e., yesterday we both goofed with Op Ed/Finesses and today we got our Imps and Cads mixed up, although I still think an Imp fits a Rascal better than a Cad. To me, a Cad is someone of questionable character, whereas an Imp is usually thought of as a playful, if somewhat naughty, prankster. I would also be joining you with never having heard of the game, but this same theme was used a few months ago in the NY Times. Prior to that, though, I had never heard of it and have no idea how it is played.

Thanks, Neville, for a fun romp and thanks, Argyle, for the grand tour.

I, too, DVRed "Sherlock." I saw only one previous episode last season but I enjoyed it and am looking forward to watching it again.

Have a great day.

Husker Gary said...

Musings
-I concur with Argyle’s judgment of niftiness!
-To save power, Apollo 13 used DEAD RECKONING to plot their return to Earth
-In place of LUCKY CHARMS, some college baseball teams do this for luck
-Name this movie with SOON embroidered on a wall hanging
-My blog ERRATA from yesterday 1. RAY RICE not LEWIS
-If I worked in an animal shelter, I’d want to RESCUE them all
-Kids have trouble differentiating between AREA and perimeter in algebra
-“Hold on a second” X-ray tech has to get behind the lead wall
-When is a RUSE (:26) just plain unsportsmanlike?
-My wife’s maiden surname was Christo and she had a cousin named Monte who is now Dr. Monte Christo
-Gov’t panacea is “Throw more money at it”
-Modern school lingo is to “REDIRECT bad behavior”
-A sore BINGO LOSER! (1:59)
-DELTA DAWN evokes a very tough financial time in our marriage
-You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’” is the best R ‘n R ballad ever for me
-Benedict Cumberbatch’s Sherlock is a Netflix favorite of mine

Sailorman said...

Did anyone notice that today's unifier is the same as today's New York Times syndicated puzzle? How could such a little known game wind up in two completely separate puzzles on the same day?

Lucina said...

Thank you, Neville and Argyle for an amusing start of the week!

WEES regarding CADS v. rascals and count me ALSO as one who has never played DUCKDUCKGOOSE but only learned of it in CWs. If the primary grade students played it, I wasn't aware.

Love KEANU but have never seen his dark movies, only A Walk in the Clouds.

All my adult life I have battled against OCD and have to a great extent overcome it; yesterday, however, it seemed that my mind was operating on two tracks, one zoned in on solving the puzzle as usual, another stuck on 1937 though I clearly knew it was 1917.

49A clearly states, FIRST state alphabetically so no need for plurals.

Have a wonderful day, everyone! It's beautifully crisp and nicely cool here.

Yellowrocks said...

GREENWICH
Greh nich - England
Green witch – NJ
CASTILE
Ka STEEL - Spain
Cast isle – NY
BOGATA
Bo guh TA- Columbia
Bu GO ta- NJ
TRIPOLI
TRIP uh lee Lybia
New Tripoli truh POL ee -PA
Emmaus, PA was named for a town now in Israel. Both pronounced it e MAy es. For a time the PA Dutch inhabitants dropped one M, Emaus, and pronounced it e-mouse. Maus is mouse in German and PA Dutch.

I wonder whether those who named these towns had only read the names and so pronounced them according to their grasp of phonics, never having heard the original pronunciation.

Dudley said...

Hello Puzzlers -

Typical Monday. I'm glad the Cads<Rascals got mentioned already. I hesitated at that one. Somehow I knew that Duck, Duck, Goose existed as a kids' amusement but it was unknown at our playground, apparently.

Looking forward to Sherlock tonight, because I forgot to tune in last night. The DVR caught it.

About the left versus right confusion: it seems similar to the east/west. That was always so easy in my mind. However, in 1993, I visited an old schoolmate from Massachusetts who had moved to Oregon as an adult; she reported that with the ocean now on an unfamiliar side, she tended to scramble east and west. I have since noticed the same thing happening to me when I consider east and west in unfamiliar lands.

TTP said...

Good morning all.

Good to see Neville back. And another musical Monday from our docent !

Also a good thing I do the puzzle online, or I would have had a major ink blots on that left side. With ON in place, I tried to key in ONE TIME ONLY. Then I changed it to ONE DAY ONLY. Then finally ONE DAY SALE.

Didn't know of Devereaux and didn't know he had a realm, but ESSEX was easily perped.

In winter when I was still preteen, we played a game we called DUCK DUCK GOOSE on Father's Pond behind the Catholic church. One person was in the middle, and would call another's name. The objective was to skate to the other side of the pond without being caught. If caught, and you broke away before your catcher could say DUCK DUCK GOOSE, you could still try to get to the other side. If not, there were two people to catch the next one. And so on. The last one caught got to be the one in the center when the next game started. You learned how to skate pretty well. Maybe there's another name for that game, but I am certain we called it DUCK DUCK GOOSE.

Shout out to Bill G and Orangemen everywhere.

Lucina said...

Just now I went back to read last night's late posts regarding pronunciations (speaking of which, many people say PRO-NOUN-CIATIONS)and had to laugh. Never having seen that particular episode of Seinfeld I wasn't aware of it and is a case in point. Del boca vista is incorrect because del is masculine and vista is feminine. Correctly it would be "vista de la boca" or, "view of the mouth." But maybe the writers didn't really care about that.

Argyle said...

It turns out the story of the Queen and the Earl has been told many times and in different venues. Oft times, the Earl is Robert Devereaux.

I do know Blanche Devereaux from Golden Girls on the other hand but then, many men knew Blanche. ;-)

TTP said...


It was so many years ago, so I shouldn't have been so certain.

The game was One Two Three, Fox and Geese.

Spitzboov said...

I believe Bill G is a Cornellian.

Wanted imp before CAD loomed. Spitzboov translates into imp, rascal, or rogue.

Chairman Moe said...

Lucina @ 11:32

Here is a clip of Frank Costanza and Seinfeld's parents in one of the episodes of Seinfeld that references Del Boca Vista, a fictitious community in S Florida.

As I now reside in the "general vicinity" of where Del Boca Vista was supposed to be, I am guessing that the writers decided to use a mix of some well-known retirement town's names (Delray Beach and Boca Raton) to create this retirement village. And trust me, there are scores of these gated and non-gated areas in both Broward and Palm Beach Counties. Sometimes it feels as if we are in the 6th Borough of NYC ...

Husker Gary said...

Musings
-Did anyone else play Fox and GOOSE? Our southern bloggers probably did not.
-How about watching a basketball game from the very top row at Syracuse’s Carrier Dome? Not for me.
-My football watching capacity is just about sated!
-John Wayne’s take on one of our pronunciation issues at the end of this clip (1:44)

Chairman Moe said...

HG ---> Pretty sure that JW meant Nacogdoches TX (nak-a-doe-chess) and not Natchitoches LA (nak-uh-dish), but still pretty funny. Where did you ever find that?

CanadianEh! said...

Happy New Year! Fun CW today with a little bite for Monday. Thanks Neville and Argyle.
Quick break while granddaughters are napping. Maybe we should play Duck Duck Goose when they wake up. I used to have this game at my daughter's early birthday parties.

Hand up for Imp before CAD. CASCA was all perps. Thought of This year's fad Hatchimals instead of Silly Putty. I

Re pronunciation: we have a Port Dalhousie pronounced Dal' ooz'ee vs. Dal'-howz-ee (university near Halifax).

Love Hahtoolah's QOD- sadly true.
LOL at your teaching stories YR.

Grandparent duty calls!
Have a great day.

Misty said...

Nice to have a Monday speed-run, Neville--many thanks! This one was a lot of fun, even though I too never heard of DUCK DUCK GOOSE and so didn't get the theme until the end. Was that ONE DAY SALE at the SHOE STORE? Enjoyable expo, Argyle.

I was inundated by Christmas cards when I came back from Austria last week, and answered them by e-mail, Facebook, and with cards only when there was no quicker way. A great relief to have them all done.

Have a great week, everybody!

Husker Gary said...

-Chairman, here’s the movie that generated that line.

Anonymous T said...

Hi All!

I'm late today... 2 hours on the phone w/ Comcast trying to get the new box setup to no avail... Oh well, old box still works and it has Sherlock recorded on it.

Thanks Neville for a fun theme - I ruled at Duck, Duck, Goose in 1st grade :-)
[ASIDE: the game, as I recall, is kids sitting in a circle facing each other while one walks around behind their backs BONKing each gently saying 'Duck.' Then, you finally say 'Goose!', and that kid in the circle has to jump up and chase you around the circle and tag you before you sit back to their spot. If they do tag you, then it's their turn]

Thanks Argyle for the expo. Love me some Skynyrd -- and we know how it's Pronounced.

WOs: ONE DAY only; I knew ERRor was such going in; and Brute @33d...duh!, he couldn't have been the 1st if Caesar said Et tu.

ESP: DELTA DAWN. Not until Argyle's link did it ring a bell. [hey, I was 2 then!]

Fav: 37d. I say that to DW 'cuz, well, that's her name and I want a smooch. We've not lost that 'Lovin' Feelin'...

CURSE next to DEMON was cute too, esp. xing EDEN.

{T,C,B-,B,B+} {Nice}

HG - BINGO! w/ your link... LOL.

Y'all have a great day. Cheers, -T

OwenKL said...

hondo hurricane: your comment about last day of Christmas and needing a day available for it leaves me mystified. Depending on sect, the last day should be either Dec. 25, or January 6, but it either case it just passively is, not something that anyone needs to be available for.

I know of DUCK, DUCK, GOOSE, though I never played it, and I think Red Rover, Red Rover only once or twice. Red Light, Green Light was more common in my play groups, and we played a lot of Prison Ball.

New Mexico probably has its share of mispronunciations, but two stand out: the small towns of Madrid (MAD'-rid) and Thoreau (threw). Several years ago, I listened to an audio book with a narrator who mispronounced New Mexico place names in ways I never realized they could be mispronounced! Most infuriating was a major character named Sandoval (SAN-do-val) he consistently pronounced as two words (sand oval)! Mercifully, I've forgotten the name of the book, author, and narrator.

Anon@9:00 I agree CADS are lower on the spectrum than rascals, and would probably object to their being equated anywhere else, except a crossword clue.

I watched Sherlock, but not sure why. I do like both the lead actors, but the plots and camera work are horrid! Jumps past, future, or dream are rarely flagged until after the fact; when they speak, they do so too rapidly to follow, interspersed with unnecessary stretches of silence; those make already improbable plots even harder to follow. Actually, those are criticisms of most British shows.

TX Ms said...

Anon-T from yesterday. Caught up on my reading this morning - interesting article about Steve Kennan (old-fashioned geophysicist)/Apache, and also the Balmorhea battle. (How do you pronounce the West Texas site?) Never been there, but it sounds beautiful from a Chronicle travel article some months back.

As for pronunciations, I can never figure out Native American names - thank you, D-O. J.J. Watt is from Pewaukee, WI - any guesses on that pronunciation?

Having grown up in Texas, I've never heard of the duck game.

Bill G. said...

Happy New Year to everybody!

Thanks to Neville and Argyle. I enjoyed the puzzle, the write up and all of the comments.

Right you are Spitz; a Big Red Cornell graduate. Not without a struggle though...

Are Huell Howser's PBS shows only available in California or are all of you familiar with him? He's easy to tease (Oh wow Luis, look at that! Oh my gosh!) but his sincere enthusiasm for interesting things and beautiful sights is a joy. One of our local stations is running a marathon of some of his shows and I'm enjoying them all over again.

I think I would have a tough time being Watson to Cumberbatch's Sherlock. He is so egotistical, bordering on being obnoxious and unlikable.

Barbara has been struggling through the side effects of the chemo mostly OK with some bouts of nausea, only a little appetite and needing several naps a day. It seemed to catch up with her this morning when she collapsed in the hallway (fainted?) and couldn't get up by herself. After a struggle, we finally made it. She's sleeping again now. All of this has left me depressed which is why I haven't been posting much lately. There are only two more weeks of chemo scheduled. I'm hopeful that will be a transition to better times for both of us...

Anonymous T said...

TX Ms - Don't YELL it out! My job's difficult enough already! :-) [I've no idea how Belmoh????... Is even spelt... I've never been there either but I'm tracking all 'news' (the under web protesters are a' gatherin']

Bill G. I'm so sad for you. DW thinks I'm nuts for not wanting any treatment [if I ever need it - I do like my cigars] aside from what I saw on HBO's Vice [graphic film - don't click if you ARE easy to hurl]. I watched FIL in Chemo - not for me. My thoughts are w/ you Pal - God Speed to Barbara and you. -T

Misty said...

Bill G., so sorry to hear about Barbara's difficult time, and yours. I'll send prayers and good thoughts your way.

Steve said...

I totally missed the theme on this one - it's the first time in years I've been baffled by a theme, so thanks for the expo, Argyle!

@Sailorman - the puzzles are lined up weeks, if not months, ahead of time, so it's a totally random coincidence. It's funny how these things do happen though.

My thoughts are with you, Bill G.

Lucina said...

OwenKL:
Sandoval is my maiden name and I have heard many and diverse pronunciations so it doesn't surprise me. Since many of my relatives, including my brothers of course, maintain that name, the mispronunciations continue and still grate.

Thanks for all the clips; haven't watched them all but I'll be back for that later.

Yellowrocks said...

Bill, I am so sad for both of you to hear of Barbara's rough time. It is indeed scary and depressing. Here is a sincere wish that after the chemo course is through things will look up for both of you.You both have been in my thoughts this week. ESP?

desper-otto said...

BillG, sorry to hear of your setbacks. Good wishes coming your way.

TxMs, it's just like Milwaukee, but with a Pea in front -- Pea - walk' - ee.

SwampCat said...

Late to the dance, but I had to say how much I enjoyed this outing. Thanks, Neville and Argyle.

Hatoolah, I had the opposite problem. I learned to SAY Nachitoches before I saw it written. I still have trouble spelling it'! Same with Tchoupitoulas. Easy to say if you've grown up with it, but impossible to spell.

Owen, you make me smile.....

Jayce said...

Lots to like about this puzzle. I had never heard of DUCK DUCK GOOSE until it came up in some conversation about a year ago. Cute theme, though. It's really hard to come up with a good theme.

I enjoy the discussions and examples of the different pronunciations. Reminds me of how I had to be instructed how to pronounce the name of Beatrice, Nebraska, a little town not too far from Lincoln where I was working on a contract many years ago. It's Bee AT triss. Like the first two syllables of beatify. I won't regale you all with a repeat rant on how I hate how newscasters, etc. incorrectly pronounce the capital city of China as Bei zhing.

We watched Sherlock last night and both of us thought it was really weird. Like Owen, we didn't like the camera work at all and the jumping around in time. I hope, now that that soap opera-ish and "artsy" approach to exploring the characters of the characters is over with, that we can go back to Sherlock solving mysteries. Oh, and without swat teams rappelling from the skylight, please, or the married Watson sexting with a random woman on a bus. Sorry if that's TMI.

Bill G, beaming good thoughts your way. I hope Barbara enjoys a full recovery. Two more weeks to go!

Best wishes to you all.

Husker Gary said...

Thinking of you and Barbara, Bill.

thehondohurricane said...


Bill G, I wish nothing but positive results for Barbara. You are both in my prayers.

HG, I'm 100% in agreement with you. I too would want to rescue them all if I worked in an animal shelter. Dogs, especially, have been part of my life for as long as I remember.

Anonymous said...

Happy New Year! Happy Monday! Back to an easy puzzle that I could do, unlike last week. Thanks, Neville F., for allowing me to think I'm smart again. Of course I didn't even look for the theme so Thank You, Argyle for the expo!

Jinx in Norfolk, thank you for explaining DEAD RECKONING. I've heard of it before but had no idea what it meant.

I remember DUCK, DUCK, GOOSE from my childhood and my daughters'.

BillG, you and Barbara are in my thoughts.

As far as rescuing all the dogs at the shelter, I think it depends on the shelter. The one where I volunteer, people always comment on how clean it is, how happy the dogs are, how well the staff and volunteers know each of the animals. Knowing how well they are cared for lets me go home with a clear conscience.

Have a good evening.

Pat

Ol' Man Keith said...

Oh, I get it now.

Couldn't for the life of me understand how the initial words (DEAD, LUCKY, & SILLY) related to the game DUCK DUCK GOOSE. But thanks to Argyle's sterling explanatory skills, I am now enlightened.

Watching the last minute of the Rose Bowl at 49-all. Will it go into OT?

Ol' Man Keith said...

No OT. Mr. Boermeester of USC saw to that.

(Incredibly perfect name for an undergrad footballer!)

TTP said...

Bill G,

Thinking of you and Barbara.

Also, I forgot that it was Cornell, not Syracuse.

TX Ms said...

Bill G, the very best positive thoughts coming your way for Barbara and you. Y'all have been through so much - only two more weeks - positive waves!

D-O, thanks for the Pewaukee pronunciation. I was really hoping it would be pronounced pah-wauk-ee, rather than, well...

How could I forget Houston? From englishforums.com: "In New York City, there is a street named "Houston St." People here pronounce it as "house-ton". Whereas the city down in Texas, I believe people pronounce the city as "hyus-ton".

My last contribution- g'night! Sorry, Anon-T.

Neville said...

Thank you all for solving and commenting, especially Argyle for leading the discussion for this particularly-subtle-for-a-Monday theme.

In other tough-for-Monday bits, the friends I'm staying with right now were independently stymied by CADS/CASCA -- they both tried LADS/LASCA, which I think is a reasonable guess.

I was surprised to learn how many of you were unfamiliar with DUCK DUCK GOOSE. It was a mainstay of our recesses of elementary school (not so) long ago.

One cut clue that I liked, but was likely too lengthy: [Where you might find I-25, but never I-95] for BINGO CARD (and to play off the clue for RTE).

Bill G. -- I'll keep Barbara in my prayers tonight.

That's all from me for now... be on the lookout for a trickier puzzle from me in a few weeks! :)

Lucina said...

Bill B:
I'm so sorry and sad for what you and Barbara are experiencing and shall keep you in my prayers.

Recently I spoke to a friend of mine, 89 years old, whom I hadn't seen for several months. She informed me that she had cancer of the liver and spine but was now cancer-free. She was treated with radiation and stem-cell therapy. It seems miraculous and perhaps one day every type of cancer can be cured in that way.

For now, we hope and we pray.

Neville, how nice of you to visit and read our comments. Keep constructing your puzzles. They are fun.

Dudley said...

Just watched the new Sherlock, and as usual, I missed a few little plot points that would have added clarity (had to go back and rewatch a few bits). Overall, though, I liked it a lot. The outcome has me unhappy but I'll say no more about that for fear of spoiling.

Since Jayce brought up the secret texting with the random woman, I feel free to pile on and say Watson wouldn't have been that naïve, not after years of detective work. He would surely know she's some kind of spy.

OwenKL said...

Pojoaque (po-WA-key) is a town midway between Santa Fe and Los Alamos, just north of Cuyamungue (?).

Anonymous T said...

Dudley - perhaps I was paying too much attn to 37d during that bit but I missed that 'girl on the bus' was some sorta spy. Is she? I hope they put the whole Mary story-line to rest and get back to the game afoot [Miss Me?]. Not sure what Watson will do w/ a baby on his own (the infant; not Sherlock) but I wanna see more Doyle.

Neville - thanks for stopping by w/ inside baseball. That would have been a cool clue for Bingo. I do look forward to your next effort.

TX Ms - I was just kidding... Any hacker worth their salt targeting us would know who I am. Like I know the guy on 1/1's pB5.

Lucina - wow. @89 she beat it - she must be living right.

Cheers, -T

RetFizz said...

I came back again after the Rose Bowl game and other doings to see if there were more comments. Wow! I was not disappointed. Is that normal for a Monday? I haven't been doing many Mondays. Desper-otto, I reread my comment about La Jolla, and it now seems to me a bit cavalier. Sorry, no offense intended.

Lucina at 11:32 AM, I've always been so amused by the incongruity of the fictional name Del Boca Vista in a few Seinfeld episodes, it never occurred to me that it was ungrammatical. My guess is that the writers did care that it was ungrammatical, and just threw it in to make the name even more ridiculous. As to your later comment about Sandoval being your maiden name, with my limited knowledge of Spanish I would pronounce it sahndoVAL, but I've never heard it said like that, and my guess is that all the place names in the southwest that have that name are not given the Spanish pronunciation. Thanks to Chairman Moe at 12:42 PM for his Seinfeld clip, which links to more such clips.

Lots of comments about Sherlock today. I was glad to discover that I wasn't But only one to enjoy it. OwenKL at 3:15 PM, I'm sorry you didn't like the plot. But as far as the rapid speech in British shows is concerned, I urge you to turn on closed captions. At my age, I don't hear very well, so I use closed captions for every show I watch, if they are available. (You can even get them on most movies in the theater now.) I too wondered about texting the girl on the bus. I suspect that she'll show up in later episodes. And upon further pondering the sad ending, I realize that it was inevitable in order to keep the connection with Conan Doyle.

RetFizz said...

PS. Howston Houston. There was a physics professor named Houston (pronounced Howston) who left Caltech sometime after my graduation to become the president of Rice University in Houston. TIME magazine had a few paragraphs about the move, which they typically headlined "Houston to Houston."

BillG, my late wife was also named Barbara, so it pains me even more to read about you and your DW. I was lucky that mine didn’t have cancer. Good luck with her treatment—I have several friends who lived years after their chemo.

The Rose Bowl game was one of the most exciting that I've ever seen. I was forced to root for the University of Spoiled Children because they’re in the same conference as my grad school Bruins.

I’m so slow. Too late. My brilliant comments will go unread. Oh well—as the man said, and now to bed.

Chairman Moe said...

RetFizz - comments read; maybe not "brilliant" but they were enjoyable. 😀

Especially liked your "sobriquet" for USC! Not a big fan of theirs but enjoyed seeing them battle back and beat the Nits.

Wilbur Charles said...

I'll keep this mercifully brief. Had no time to get at it until late, then reading the blog put me to sleep.

There's an idea, Misty

And I just finished Tue and I'll head over there. It's nice to have some crunch early in the week.

But I wanted to mention YEW and it's juxtaposition with SHERLOCK. Doyle wrote historical novels and in the "White Company" he had a company of bowmen who sang

And what of of the Bow
The bow is made of YEW Wood
A true wood
The wood that bowmen love
(And More...

Doyle was an English humorist and If SHERLOCK is missing that humor, it's not for me

Still, I'll try to catch an episode

WC, a day late etc