google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Sunday, August 7, 2016 Donna S. Levin & Bruce Venzke

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Aug 7, 2016

Sunday, August 7, 2016 Donna S. Levin & Bruce Venzke

Theme: "A Fee for Victory" - V is changed into F, all key words go through spelling changes. 

23A. Municipal tennis court? : COMMUNITY SURFACE. Community service.

38A. Crowded dorm symptom? : A ROOM WITH A FEW. A Room with a View.

66A. Embellishment on Arabic calligraphy? : ALIF GARNISH. Olive garnish. Holy smoke, I pronounced ALIF wrong all these years. I thought A has the schwa sound.

75A. Last log entry? : FINAL RECORD. Vinyl record.

118A Request at the poultry farm? : I'D LIKE TO BUY A FOWL. I'd like to buy a vowel.

99A. Animal always without a home? : PERMANENT WAIF. Permanent wave.

16D. Cause of playtime sadness? : LOSING ONE'S NERF. Lose one's nerve.

51D. Brother-and-sister biathlon training regimen? : SIBLING RIFLERY. Sibling rivalry.

I bet many of you figured out the gimmick by looking at the title alone. I did also. The more I solve/make this type of sound change puzzle, the more I realize how hard it is to find a non-self-evident title that captures the gimmick.

Judging by the byline order, Donna came up with the theme idea, then she and Bruce brainstormed the theme entries together. Then Bruce designed the grid (Intersecting long theme entries is his hallmark). Then maybe Bruce filled the grid and Donna clued the whole grid. Or they each filled half and clued half. 

Loved the theme. Donna and Bruce are total pros. Unless you brainstorm this type of sound change theme yourself, you won't realize how much imagination and skills are involved in coming up with a consistant set.

Across:  

1. "Ring Around the Rosie" word : ASHES. Sigh. Never heard of this nursery rhyme.

6. Belts : SWIGS. Both verb/noun works.

11. Drop : OMIT.

15. Firefly emanation : GLOW

19. Regatta racer : SCULL. Not ROWER.

20. Bacon in a parlor game : KEVIN. Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon. I was picturing real bacon.

21. Rare state bird : NENE

22. Apple's apple, e.g. : LOGO
 
26. Nobel Peace Center home : OSLO

27. Jackson ejector : ATM

28. Goes bad : ROTS

29. Father __ Sarducci: "SNL" character : GUIDO

30. "Good __!" : GRIEF. Not GRAVY.

31. Artist Mondrian : PIET


33. Rudely awaken : ROUST

36. Throat trouble? : FROG. Nice clue.

37. __ Tin Tin : RIN
  
 41. Bayer that might cause a headache? : BEAGLE. I don't get this clue. Why "headache"? Also 86. 41-Across, e.g. : BREED

44. Après-ski option : SPA. Not RUM.

45. "Jurassic Park" threat : TREX

46. Cause of a municipal alert : SMOG. Quite serious in my hometown Xi'an last winter.

48. Online ref. since 2000 : OED

49. Radiographer's tests : CT SCANS. We also have 40. The "A" often seen in 49-Across : AXIAL. The latter is unknown to me.
 
53. Guadalajara gal pal : AMIGA

56. WWI French battle site : ARGONNE. Stumped me last time.

58. "La donna è mobile," for one : ARIA. Hey, we have Donna!

59. In a proper manner : DULY

61. Francis of "What's My Line?" : ARLENE

63. Conk : BEAN

64. Massage : RUB

65. Feature of ths clue : TYPO
 
68. Contradict : BELIE

70. Israeli statesman Abba : EBAN

72. Buster? : NARC. Another great clue.

73. Like __: probably : AS NOT
 
78. Otherwise : ELSE

80. Show one's humanity : ERR

81. "Aw, fudge!" : DANG. I had DARN. By the way, Rich does not allow DAMN any more.

82. Potential benefit : UPSIDE

83. Editor's "Let it be" : STET.  And 113. Opposite of 83-Across : DELE

 84. Spy-fi villain in a Nehru jacket : DR NO

85. Quadratic formula course : ALGEBRA. Googled afterward. Knew that formula in Chinese, which gave me headache in high school.

87. "I'm not afraid of __; I just don't want to be there when it happens": Woody Allen : 
DEATH

89. Mucinex relative : SUDAFED. Where did the drug company pick up this name?

91. Neighbor of Leb. : ISR

92. Biryani base : RICE. Never heard of Biryani. You?

94. Senator Bail Organa's adopted daughter : LEIA.  I thought he's a real US Senator.  "Star Wars".

96. Written guffaw : LOL

97. Taken over : SEIZED
 
105. Adversary : FOE

106. Eldest Bennet daughter in "Pride and Prejudice" : JANE

107. __ Soleil: 17th-/18th-century royal : LE ROI. The Sun King.

108. On Vine St., say : IN LA

110. Spaniard's "L'chaim!" : SALUD

112. Chased from the closet : OUTED

114. Ices : OFFs

116. Business card abbr. : TEL

117. Not odd at all : EVEN
 
122. Geeky sort : NERD

123. Wedding cake layer : TIER

124. Detroit's Joe __ Arena : LOUIS

125. Holmes of "The Kennedys" : KATIE. She does look like Jackie Kennedy.


126. Temperance advocates : DRYs

127. Head of France? : TETE

128. DeMille specialties : EPICs

129. Wood that sinks in water : EBONY. Got via crosses.

Down:
 
1. Music rights gp. : ASCAP

2. Old Roman name for Ireland : SCOTIA. Oh, I did not know this. 

3. Large '90s-'00s SUV : HUMMER

4. Boston's Liberty Tree was one : ELM

5. Disparage : SLUR

6. Bunny slope conveyance : SKI TOW

7. Scuba gear : WET SUIT

8. Brown, for one : IVY. Gimme for our regulars.

9. Vets-to-be : GIs

10. Cozy : SNUG

11. Having a heck of a winning streak : ON FIRE

12. Pastures : MEADOWS

13. Disguised, briefly : INCOG. A common topic in old Chinese novels. High officials, including emperors, often go incognito to villages.

14. Driver's aid : TEE. Golf. Does Champions Tour stop in your area, TTP? It's free here. 3M also gives each spectator a bag of goodies: Scotch tape, Post-It notes, etc.  Here is Boomer on Friday.

15. Meathead's wife in '70s TV : GLORIA. No idea. All in the Family,

17. Act like a wolf : OGLE

18. Pound sound : WOOF

24. Rouen's region : NORMANDY

25. Elizabethan neckwear : RUFF. Also a learning moment.

30. One of the Allman Brothers : GREGG. Cher's ex.

32. Scarpia's killer, in a Puccini opera : TOSCA

34. Errant : STRAY

35. Him and her : THEM

39. WWII cost-stabilizing agcy. : OPA. No idea. Office of Price Administration
41. Wood-damaging insect : BORER. Gluey word.

42. "Stormy Weather" singer : LENA HORNE. We don't see her full name often.

43. Place with a serpent problem : EDEN

47. Handcuffs : MANACLES

49. Atkins no-no : CARB

50. Kind of test : TRUE-FALSE. Sparkly.

52. Powerful campaign force : SUPER PAC. Sparkly.

54. Humdrum routine : GRIND

55. Bravo preceder : ALFA

57. Geishas' sashes : OBIs

60. Sections of the brain : LOBES

62. "Snowy" wader : EGRET

65. It may be taken in the afternoon : TEA. Suddenly none of the local grocery stores carries Bigelow Jasmine tea right now. Strange.


66. Battery terminal : ANODE

67. "Sorry, lad" : NAE

69. Kansas-born playwright : INGE

71. H2SO4, e.g. : ACID

74. Stepped : TROD

76. Gruesome : LURID

77. Kingdom : REALM

79. Make a fool of : STULTIFY. New word to me.

81. Place of honor : DAIS

83. Really impress the critics : SHINE

84. __ Lama : DALAI. So much wisdom in Tibetan Buddhism. 
 
88. Color like aqua : TEAL

90. Information company co-founder Charles : DOW. Did not know his given name.

93. Shoulder decoration : EPAULET

95. Good for the heart and lungs : AEROBIC

98. "Gadzooks!" : ZOUNDS

100. Complete : ENTIRE And 103. Completely : IN TOTO

101. Stink : REEK

102. Easy to use, in adspeak : NO FUSS

104. Arrived from above : FLEW IN

106. Best Actress between Cher and Jessica : JODIE (Foster). Got via crosses. Googled and found out that she won Oscar in 1989 for "The Accused". I thought it's for "The Silence of the Lambs".

109. Strike zone? : ALLEY. Nailed it.

110. Transmit : SEND

111. Maintain : AVER
115. Benefit : SAKE. For the sake of.

118. Hairy Addams cousin : ITT

119. Outdo : TOP

120. Avignon agreement : OUI

121. '60s quartet adjective : FAB. Four.

C.C.

36 comments:

fermatprime said...

Greetings!

Thanks to Donna, Bruce and CC!

Cute theme. Clear from title. Pretty quick work.

Those that were perped/wagged: RICE, ARGONNE, JANE, EBONY, NORMANDY, TOSCA, STULTIFY, DOW, JODIE.

Cheers!

Anonymous T said...

Morning all!

C.C. - SUDAFED is shortened psudo-ephedrine-hydro-cloride (Psud-E-phed or Sud-a-fed aloud). As opposed to real-ephedrine HCL, aka: mini-thins, white-crosses, cram-time study aid,* speed. Can't get either OTC now-a-days 'cuz it's used in home labs to make meth.

Cheers, -T
*guilty - got me through EE :-)

OwenKL said...

FIRight!

{B+, A, B+, A-.}

Will it happen or will it not? It's as likely AS NOT!
Will you like it or will you not? You're as like AS NOT!
Will you think this poem tripe,
Over-done and over-ripe?
When you finish reading it, will you conclude I'm A SNOT?

Give me some more of that SUDAFED,
This flu has hit me UPSIDE the head!
I know in a week
I'll be feeling peak,
But for the moment, I'm feeling DEAD.

Snoopy was a BEAGLE dog,
Flew his house into a SMOG!
Instead of a baron
It was harem-scarum
With a wicked witch, and now he was a FROG!

A five line poems are hardly EPICS,
No cast of thousands, no rogue T.REX.
Just a humble verse
Simply down-to-earth --
That might lure some lovelies into sex!

Barry G. said...

Morning, all!

Fun puzzle today. The theme answers were mostly a delight to uncover (although FINAL RECORD didn't seem wacky enough and ALIF GARNISH was just a head scratcher). Had to work a bit to get stuff like ARGONNE. AXIAL cam easily because as a tech writer for a medical software company I write about CT imaging software and have had to learn AXIAL, CORONAL and SAGITTAL.

Learning moment of the day was that SCOTIA was the ancient Roman word for Ireland. I always thought that Nova SCOTIA was Latin for "New Scotland".

71D reminds me of a bit of doggerel I learned in my youth:

Johnny was a scientist
Now he is no more
For what he thought was H2O
Was H2SO4

Hahtoolah said...

Good Morning, C.C. and friends. I have missed seeing Donna Levin's puzzles. Hope we can see a lot more of her works.

Piet Mondrian's birth name was originally spelled Mondriaan, but sometime in the early 1900s, he dropped an "a."

RIN TIN TIN was a real-life dog, rescued from a battle field in France during World War I.

The word SCOTIA has in interesting history.

Jackson ejector was a nice fresh new clue for the ATM.

In honor of his 89th birthday, today's QOD is a nod to Louisiana's infamous governor: I never speak ill of dead people or live judges. ~ Edwin W. Edwards (b. Aug. 1927)

desper-otto said...

Good morning!

Doh! Gotta learn to read the puzzle title! Since weekday puzzles have no title, I forget to look for it on Sunday. I got the theme anyway -- so there! Cute. I think my favorite theme entry was FINAL RECORD. It's an ex-deejay thing. Hand up for DARN before DANG showed up.

Always had a slightly different "take" on STULTIFY -- make to appear stupid. To me that's different from make a fool of.

C.C., a beagle can be a barker (bayer), and that could cause a headache. I'm happy to report that our recently resident bayer has found a new home. He went off to the adoption clinic yesterday and was gone within two hours. He went home with a father and his 11-year-old son. Looked like a good match. Now he's just a $400 memory.

Dudley said...

Hello Puzzlers -

Smiled right out loud at "I'd like to buy a fowl". Clever stuff!

Morning, C.C. - adding to D Otto's take on "bayer", I assume that there was also an implied reference to Bayer aspirin, intended to make a headache go away.

Katie Holmes is a good choice as a Jackie portrayer. I don't know much about her work, but I did see her in Mad Money recently.

Lemonade714 said...

Since the topic of the day is the Bayer clue; my thought is baying is howling, not barking. And a dog (or coyote or wolf) . The aspirin people would be unhappy to think their medicine caused a headache.

Nice ot see Donna, but what about Gail?

Thanks all

billocohoes said...

Have seen BIRYANI on store shelves, it's a mixed rice dish from Muslim areas of northern India. The name is derived from Urdu.

Husker Gary said...

Musings
-A wonderful puzzle and that made me LOL several times. C.C.’s evaluation was very illuminating
-Snopes.com debunking myth about ASHES, etc. in Ring Around The Rosie
-My first game thought was “Steal The Bacon”
-Those ATM’s will now eject Tubman’s
-ARLENE in a cocktail dress, a mink stole and white gloves seem so dated now. Search on YouTube for episodes.
-To ERR is human, but for some to forgive is DANG near impossible
-Nothing said “American Excess” like the HUMMER
-JA(Y)NE MEADOWS was also on that elegantly dressed What’s My Line panel
-NERD test: Would you correct someone who says “gave them to she and I” instead of her and me?
-The GRIND starts soon for my “still-teaching” former colleagues
-My daughter has sworn off coffee and switched to TEA because of sleep issues. Starbucks stock declined the next day!
-Non-military EPAULETS
-I had _ O _ I E and was pretty sure JOLIE (yeah, I know it’s a surname) had never won an Oscar

Irish Miss said...

Good Morning:

This was a lot of fun due to a clever and "punny" theme. Really liked Room With A Few, Sibling Riflery, and Buy a Fowl, but they were all smile-inducing. Thought of Tin at (Chez) Incog(nito) and Boomer at Alley. Loved the Bayer=Beagle combo.

Thanks, Donna and Bruce, for a pleasant Sunday solve and thanks, CC, for your wonderful guided tour.

DO, I'm sure that $400.00 memory will last a long time and be worth every penny. 🐶

I went to a very fancy 90th birthday party for a BIL on Friday night. There were about 50 family members there including 3 great-grandchildren. Not wanting to fall back on the ubiquitous gift card as a present, I had a V-8 moment and decided to send him some Omaha Steaks! Big CSO to HG's and Avg Joe's territory! 🍽

MmeDefarge, so sorry to hear of your problems and the need for a second surgery; hang in there! 😉. After hearing your issues and Bluehen's, I just hope I 'm never faced with any replacement surgery. (A very close friend has had both hips and both knees replaced; there but for the grace of God.....)

Have a great day.


TTP said...

Good morning all. Thank you Donna, Bruce, and CC.

True dat CC ! I sussed the game by the title, but still struggled mightily - as I always seem to do - with the spelling changes. I guess certain LOBES of my brain routinely dismiss these imaginative alternatives. Add in the Sunday sized grid, and this one puzzle took as long as the combined times of the first five this week.

BuRgANDY before NORMANDY tripped me up for quite awhile.

Strike Zone ? Where Boomer lives when he's at the ALLEY. Really good bowlers are super consistent and can make minor but meaningful adjustments based on lane conditions. Really good bowlers pound, or hammer, the strike zone. Ebonite now owns the popular Hammer brand of bowling balls and equipment. Can you guess what their LOGO is ?

Not familiar with like as not. More familiar with as likely AS NOT.

As a manager and leader, there are times to be DULY terse. However, your effectiveness may wane if you are unduly terse.

BORER. The Bronze Birch Borer killed my river birch 20 some years ago. The Emerald Ash Borer killed my neighbor's ash. It needs to be removed before it falls on the power lines and my shed.

BAYER. Neighbor 3 houses away has two Beagles. Their baying vocalizes recognizably different emotions. I like them. However, it is the humdrum woofing of the two Newfies (Loki and Thor) two doors away that can cause me to develop a headache. They have this big, deep basso woof that comes out for no apparent reason. It's acyclic, and doesn't seem to be event driven. They just woof. Very annoying.

CC, I'm not sure how often the Champions Tour stops in Chicago. Don't think there's an annual stop. The PGA used to stop at Cog Hill for the Western Open. I think the LPGA has a tour stop here.

Jerome said...

Interesting how F and V are natural partners in English spelling. KNIFE/KNIVES, THIEF/THIEVES, LIFE/LIVE, GRIEF/GRIEVE... and on and on.

I'D LIKE TO BUY A FOWL gets a 5 star grin from me.

Abejo said...

Good early afternoon, folks. Thank you, Donna Levin and Bruce Venzke, for a fine puzzle. Thank you, C.C., for a fine review.

I could not finish Saturday's puzzle. However, today's went fine. Took me about 2 hours.

Could not catch the theme right away, then ALIF GARNISH gave it to me. That helped with the others.

Lots of slow answers and lots of perps and wags. That is what it is all about, especially on a Sunday or weekend puzzle.

Tried SLUGS for 6A. SWIGS won that battle after I changed my thinking.

The SE corner was my last to fill. No idea who KATIE Holmes was. IN LA eluded me. ALLEY was not on my wave length. I finally got PERMANENT WAIF and I'D LIKE TO BUY A FOWL. Then I filled in the corner. Wallah!

I remember 85A. X= b minus the square root of b squared minus 4ac all over 2a. I hope I got that right.

Going to a picnic today at Medinah Temple. Weather looks good.

See you tomorrow.

Abejo

( )

Abejo said...

Just looked it up. x=-b plus or minus the square root of b squared minus 4 ac all over 2a.

Abejo

MJ said...

Such a clever puzzle today, an enjoyable solving experience. When I didn't get the "tada", I turned on red letters and found I had 0 (zero) instead of O (oh) at 23A. My favorite theme answer was I'D LIKE TO BUY A FOWL. Thanks Donna and Bruce.

And thanks for the expo, C.C. Biryani was unknown to me, too. I looked up a recipe and it looks interesting but very tedious to prepare.

We just returned from a wonderful vacation in the Rocky Mountains. We stayed in a small, but cozy cabin that was built over 100 years ago by DH's great-grandfather. No telephone, no TV, no cell service in the area. Just a lot of great times hiking, fishing, and visiting with extended family.

Enjoy the day!

Madame Defarge said...

Hello,

Thanks Donna and Bruce. Fun workout; I still don't understand the theme, but some days are like that. I see the F but not the Fee.

Lots of favorites today, but especially TYPO. Nope, didn't see it on the first pass! Fun.

Thanks, C. C. for taking us on the tour!

Jayce said...

I liked this puzzle a lot. I like letter substitutions, so that had a lot to do with it. Love the clues for BEAGLE and FROG. When I finished the puzzle I didn't get the ta-da, so had to turn on red letters to see where I erred; turns out I spelled SkOTIA and SkULL with a K instead of a C. Didn't see the TYPO in the clue until after I filled the answer.

LW and I used to frequent an Indian restaurant that had excellent curries and biryani rice dishes, among other things. They closed down about 4 years ago and we haven't found another place that we like nearly as well. She and I miss it.

Thought of Anonymous T at ALFA and Nice Cuppa at afternoon TEA.

Best wishes to you all.

OwenKL said...

Wrote my poems when I was tired last night, then woke up just long enough to groggily post them this morning. Just looked them over and see I didn't change past to present nor singular to plural in the last two. Oops.

WAIF I thought only applied to human children, not animals, but just looked it up and find 2 out of 3 references agree it can also apply to non-humans.

Both CAT and CT scans refer to the same type of diagnostic examination. ... The [newer term] CT scan is completely known as ‘Computed Tomography’, while [the older term] CAT scan, in full, is ‘Computerized Axial Tomography’.

Technically, "ths" is not a TYPO since it was done on purpose. But then, how could one make any mistake on purpose?

A mildly amusing article on DEATH/ DIE/DYING

tawnya said...

Happy Sunday!

Enjoyed the puzzle, of course! I'd better as it's the only fun I get to have today! Last week of my summer semester so I have a ton of studying to do before Wednesday.

I LOL'd at the Bayer joke - I could recognize a Beagle baying from a mile away! They are so distinct and look so cute when they are doing it. For some reason I never mind it when all the neighbor dogs are barking at something, but I go crazy when it's just the one dog barking at nothing for hours.

D-otto - congrats finding a new home for your foster! My foster also went to a new home yesterday! After three weeks of a super energetic labradoodle puppy invasion, my mellow crew celebrated when he left. Everyone went right back to normal laziness and was happy to sleep in this morning!

Father Guido Sarducci was always good for a laugh, here's his 5 minute university and a bit from SNL

The CT scans are taking pictures in "slices" so we can see things like tumors, cysts, clots, aneurysms, and other soft tissue abnormalities. The slices can be taken in different directions (like there is more than one way to slice a tomato) and AXIAL is the most common. The axial essentially takes slices of the head and body from front to back. It is similar to having someone stand above you and peer into your brain from the top of your head. Using our tomato, we would lay it on it's side and slice off the top. Hoping this is informative without being too graphic. Here's some examples just for fun.

Wishing you all a pleasant day :)

t.

Steve said...

Ouch! DNF - I had SHELL for SCULL in the NW corner and just couldn't let it go. I didn't know SCOTIA to correct it for me and couldn't see the SUV because of the incorrect "E". Great ATM clue, I never figured that out either.

Loved the theme.

C.C./MJ - I love biryani, it's a one-dish meal a great option if you're feeding a lot of people (think paella). A lot of Indian food looks like it might be a ton of effort to prepare, but often it's just a question of having all the spices to hand. The recipe I use has 24 ingredients, plus water - it sounds a heck of a lot but it takes me five minutes to assemble half of them (the spices).

Misty said...

Well, I thought I did pretty well for a Sunday, even though I cheated on two items, and goofed up on the ALIF/ ALFA cross. But other than that I got everything else, which felt great--reminded me of the old Merl Reagle Sunday crossword days--challenging but very doable! So, many many thanks, Donna and Bruce. And you too, C.C. for your always helpful write-up.

Am very touched by the puppy pre-adoptions on this blog.

Have a great Sunday, everybody.

Anonymous said...

Sorry...it's morbid. But I couldn't resist!

It’s a LURID scene IN LA
She is BEANed by a FOE
In the back ALLEY he OFFS her
DEATH in ASHES that GLOW
Beneath the ELM set ON FIRE
There is GRIEF for JANE DOW

Boo LuQuette AKA Boudreaux in Eunice, La. said...

Ebony and a few other trees like the iron bark and ironwood trees in Australia are so dense and heavy that they sink instead of floating.

Jerome said...

Madame Defarge and Misty- Since you were both English teachers, how about your opinion about about something. I'm working on filling a crossword grid. I'd really like to be able to change PORES to PONES. Many dictionaries simply define CORN PONE as CORN BREAD, and a lot of other things depending on the region. PONE in some dictionaries is defined as JOHNNYCAKE. Here's the question- Since CORN PONE and JOHNNYCAKE can be pluralized, can PONE be pluralized as well? It doesn't look right, feel right or sound right.

I would appreciate your help before I go bananas trying to find an answer.

Anonymous T said...

{A, A, B-, B+}

Jerome: I consulted an authentic Southern Belle & awesome cook (MIL) and she said they'd use plural PONES as in "How many PONES of cornbread we makin'?" Though to her PONE != Cornbread loaf/muffin but bits of the batter shallow-fried w/ onion. Hahtoolah, SwampCat, and Big E can probably shed some light on the topic too (MIL's from N. Louisiana).

That said, my $0.02, as a solver, if it makes for a great perp-fill then I'd let PONES slide.

Tawnya - I had Fr. GUIDO's 5min U on tap in case no one linked it. Good on you & thanks. If y'all didn't watch Tawnya's link, take the 4 minutes - the concept is so funny 'cuz it's true.

Cheers, -T

Anonymous said...

A better clue for DULY would be "In proper time."

A WAIF is a (human) child, not an "animal."

Isn't DRIES the plural of DRY, not DRYS?

"Brown, for one," is an IVY LEAGUE UNIVERSITY, not an IVY.

Other fouls: 38A, 41A, 114A.

Yellowrocks, SHUT UP.

Big Easy said...

I didn't look at the title and solved almost all of the puzzle but but due to some of my own carelessness, Donna and Bruce STULTIF-IED me today. STULTIFY??? Who has ever heard that word before. I could never complete the NW as is spelled SKULL for SCULL, PEET for PIET, drank quite a few SWATS (instead of SWIGS) of 'Brown' ALE and didn't get into the IVY league school. Silly me, I thought SCOTIA was Scotland so my SKOTEA could have been Ireland; I didn't know. But the theme was easy to pick out, even with my mistake of COMMUNIT'E' SURFACE.

Hahtoolah- you left out former governor Edwin W. Edwards more famous quote- " The only way he would lose an election would be caught in bed with a dead hooker or live boy"

Anonymous-T, I've live In Louisiana all my life and have never heard a single person use the term 'cornPONE when referring to corn bread. But I've heard bad jokes called 'corn pone' instead of corny.

Mucinex and SUDAFED are not even remotely related. 1. Mucinex is either a 600mg or 1200 mg strength of 'guaifenesin' ( the ingredient of Robitussin, which is 5mg). SUDAFED comes in two completely different ways- pseudoephedrine- acts like ephedrine which acts like an amphetamine- thus all three are banned Olympic substances. But if you ask a pharmacist for 'Sudafed', you'll get phenylephrine (Sudafed-PE) unless you specify the original.


"Ring around the Rosie"- what does that have to do with ASHES?

Bill G. said...

Here's a thought for all of you guys who go to the trouble to enlighten us with your solutions and wit with your daily expositions. Why not put your name at the beginning of your blog rather than at the end? People often switch places and fill in on different days and I'm not always sure who is responsible for the clever posts until the end. I thought today was probably CC but I wasn't sure until the end. No big deal but I would appreciate knowing right at the top if it's not a problem.

I visited Barbara again in the hospital today. She is much more alert and is feeling much better. Still, her doctor won't let her have any food until her digestive system starts operating. (I don't understand that concept because there's nothing in her gut to be operated on. It would seem like a little bland food might 'prime the pump.' Oh well, what do I know...?) At least she has the Olympics on television to entertain her a little. I wish she could come home but I'm guessing it will be three days or more.

So many of the Olympic volleyball players are from this area.

"Ashes, ashes, all fall down."

Madame Defarge said...

Jerome,

I wouldn't be a stickler about pone or pones. I'm not sure how many regionalisms follow strict interpretations of grammar and syntax. AND I'm generally pretty flexible about how something fits the puzzle. I am not as didactic as the Anon at 6:53 who claims an IVY is not a school. Just as I said about regionalisms, s/he apparently doesn't know anyone who attended an Ivy and thus has never heard the word used in that fashion.

Have a good evening.

Madame Defarge said...

Oops. Just saw Anon T's response. Right on the money, both subject and source.

Mike Sherline said...

Anon @ 6:53 PM

Dries is 3rd person singular, present tense of the verb to dry (s/he dries).

Drys is the plural of the noun dry - a supporter of the 18th amendment, such as a member of the WCTU or the Anti Saloon League.

Ivy League colleges are often referred to casually as ivies, though usually collectively (the ivies).

Are 38A, 41A and 114A “fouls” just because you had trouble figuring out the answers?

I sure hope YR ignores your ignorant command. Her posts here are intelligent, informative, and a pleasure to read.

I won’t stoop to your level and tell you to shut up, but you really should take a chill pill.

Big Easy @ 8:29 PM -

It’s a playground game - I seem to remember little girls in a circle, holding hands and going around & around chanting:

Ring around a rosie
Pocket full of posies
Ashes, ashes
We all fall down.

And falling down and giggling.

Anonymous T said...

Iffa you stilla-wake-a One-a more Father Sarducci.

Bill G. I did catch some of the Olympics today - the woman's bike race. I was OMG when the rider went down 6km out. I hope she's OK (it looked ugly). USA lost in the last seconds as the Euros broke pace and flew by her.

Jayce - I did get to play w/ the ALFA today. Eldest & I went for a 40 min country drive then washed the baby and put it back into the crib, er, garage.

Cheers, -T

Gwynne said...

Crosswords expand your vocabulary.

Anonymous said...

Shut up, Mike; you're WRONG.

Wilbur Charles said...

As I posted earlier, I'd mislaid this. I liked it a lot but really had to slog through.

I had SLOOP. Yes, Scotland took it's name from the Scotians that settled there.

The top gave me a lot of trouble. ASCAP held firm. The original BACON was Roger the philosopher who devised the conundrum. I think SI did a takeoff using a football player named Bacon.

Well, enjoyed the write-up, Steve's got a good idea; ie. I had the same one.

The GUR