google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Tuesday, July 17, 2012 Jim Peredo & Jeff Chen

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Jul 17, 2012

Tuesday, July 17, 2012 Jim Peredo & Jeff Chen

Theme: Abigail Adams need not apply - Four entries with two A's for initials, men only.

17A. Eight-time tennis Grand Slam champion : ANDRE AGASSI

24A. Yosemite environmentalist and photographer : ANSEL ADAMS

38A. "Goody Two Shoes" singer : ADAM ANT. Video(3:18)

51A. American Dance Theater founder : ALVIN AILEY. This guy. Image.

62A. Mole—and, read slightly differently, what 17-, 24-, 38- or 51-Across is : DOUBLE AGENT or DOUBLE 'A' GENT (It would seem there was a little trouble parsing, or printing, the first part of this clue. Did you have trouble?)

Argyle here and Alan Alda isn't. A couple of odd things; I started in the NW block which gave me Andrea for the start of 17-Across and a ???. Perps to the rescue. 38-Across was just the opposite; I filled in Adam Ant and never saw the word, adamant.

A little hard for a Tuesday but the perps seem to be very helpful. It was nice to see first and last names together. Not an easy thing. A debut for Jeff's partner today. See constructor's note.

Across:

1. Not very bright : STUPID. And 1D. Very bright : SMART. Clecho start!

7. Ride in new wheels, say : SPIN. Unless they're stolen, then it's a felony.

11. Tattooist's supply : INK

14. Threat : MENACE

15. Lovers' __ : LANE

16. "Pretentious? __?" : MOI

19. Unusual : ODD

20. Yank out of bed : ROUST

21. Padded footstool : OTTOMAN

23. Pear or plum : TREE

27. Parakeet's home : CAGE

29. Gridiron play also called a sweep : END RUN. No baseball today.

30. Drops on the grass : DEW

33. Steak on a stick : KEBAB

36. "Meh" : "SO-SO"

37. Doc's bloc: Abbr. : AMA. 30, 33, and 37-Across were 36A cute.

41. Env. insert : LTR. (letter)

42. Astronaut's gp. : NASA

44. Hip-hop headwear : DO-RAG. Haven't had this in awhile.

45. Drain-cleaning chemical : LYE

46. Freezer bag brand : ZIPLOC

49. Ship's slammer : BRIG

54. Quadri- doubled : OCTO. Numerical prefixes.

58. Without end : ETERNAL

59. Spirits measure : PROOF. The measure of alcohol in a liquor.

60. Means to enlightenment : ZEN

64. In days past : AGO

65. "What's more ..." : "ALSO ..."

66. Literary family name : BRONTË

67. Spitz in your lap, briefly : POM. The Pomeranian (often known as a Pom) is a breed of dog of the Spitz type.

68. River in western Belgium : YSER. Except in Belgium they call it IJser. Map.

69. __ & Hedges: British smoke : BENSON

Down:

2. Pavarotti, notably : TENOR. Three notable tenors. Link(3:57)

3. Excessive, as pressure : UNDUE

4. About 3.26 light-years : PARSEC. And I always thought it was a word made-up for Sci-Fi shows.

5. Rapper-turned-actor : ICE T

6. Anti-narcotics org. : DEA. (Drug Enforcement Administration)

7. Venetian blind parts : SLATS

8. Kindergarten adhesive : PASTE. Umm, tasty.

9. Shoe tightener : INSOLE. If you put a thicker one in your shoe than what you had, I suppose it would be tighter. Still, strange clue.

10. Upscale retailer __ Marcus : NEIMAN. A private company founded in 1907 in Dallas, TX. Ironically, they opened their own store rather than take a chance on the fledgling Coca-Cola company. Wiki link But they did alright.

11. "Can't stop me now!" : "I'M ON A ROLL!"

12. Indicate agreement : NOD

13. Kindergartner : KID

18. Like chunky milk : GONE BAD. Or real buttermilk.

22. Puts two and two together : ADDS

24. Like a prized cabernet, say : AGED

25. Affected by mold or mildew : MUSTY

26. Sound from a La-Z-Boy, perhaps : [SNORE]. La-Z-Boy = recliner chair.

28. Alias letters : AKA. (also known as)

30. Tony of "Taxi" : DANZA


31. Kind of address : EMAIL

32. Painful insect toxin : WASP VENOM

34. Latin 101 word : AMO

35. Biceps builder : BARBELL

39. Not a one : NARY

40. With "F," end-of-week cry : TGI. (Thank God It's Friday).

43. Came to earth : ALIT

47. At some point : ONE DAY

48. Christmas songs : CAROLS

50. Snake-haired she-beast : GORGON. Medusa was one of the Gorgons but was slain by Perseus.


52. Occupied : IN USE

53. Repair bill line : LABOR

55. "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" directing brothers : COENs

56. Kemo Sabe sidekick : TONTO

57. Quite a lot : OFTEN

59. Use a peeler on : PARE

60. Ray gun sound : [ZAP!]

61. Self-regard : EGO

63. Go out to sea : EBB


Argyle

This just in: Constructor's Note

I came up with the idea for this puzzle one day last fall while driving. The word AGENT just popped into my brain and somehow I parsed it abnormally and it came out A-GENT. I thought I could come up with names of men whose initials were A. It wasn't until days later when the phrase DOUBLE-A GENT appeared to me, that I knew I had something.

At that point I had only been solving crossword puzzles for a few months. I'm a geocacher. I like to hide things out in the woods and have people find them based on GPS coordinates. Sometimes I like to disguise the coordinates with the use of a puzzle. Some of my puzzles are word-based, so I thought I'd try my hand at making a crossword puzzle.

In October, Jeff had a puzzle appear in the NY Times. He offered his guidance to newbie constructors and I jumped at the chance. After many, many emails (and many more) back and forth, after a lot of hand-holding and hair-pulling, (hmm, I smell a puzzle theme) he helped me whip the puzzle into shape. Jeff is a very patient teacher and I owe him a huge amount of thanks for his guidance.

This is the first puzzle I ever worked on. With Jeff's help, it became publishable. My subsequent efforts have been miss-and-hit, mostly miss. However, I am happy to say I'll be having my first solo effort appear in a, shall we say, competing publication, sometime soon.

FWIW, most of the clues for today's puzzle were changed by the editor. I'm disappointed that I wasn't able to write more on-target clues for the Tuesday audience. That's something I need to work on, I guess.

Originally, each of the theme answers was clued in such a way that they sounded nefarious (ANDRE AGASSI was "Professional racketeer?", ALVIN AILEY was "Will help you move a body?"). And actually, to begin with, I had ALDRICH AMES instead of ALVIN AILEY. Jeff felt that since he was a real-life DOUBLE AGENT, that it messed up the consistency of the puzzle. I of course, bowed to his knowledge and experience.

My other favorite clues that didn't make the cut were "They're hidden under mattresses" (SLATS), "What the weird kid eats" (PASTE), "One that's always getting stepped on" (INSOLE), and "Like a prized cabernet (or chunky milk)" (AGED).

All in all it's been a fun and rewarding experience. I hope it provided a bit of entertainment for the crosswording community. In two weeks I'll be moving to the UK with my Air Force wife, but I hope to continue this new hobby of mine, and hopefully earn some more bylines. Thank you for this opportunity.

Jim Peredo


54 comments:

Barry G. said...

Morning, all!

Cute little Tuesday puzzle. Argyle already mentioned the good parts. Like him, I started out with ANDREA at 17A and had trouble coming up with a female tennis player. Unlike Argyle, I also stared at ADAMANT for awhile wondering why I had an adjective instead of a name there...

I did manage to get the theme answer entirely from the clue. No problem parsing it, although the em dash got a but messed up in Across Light and appeared as an empty box.

Learning moment of the day came with WASP VENOM. I knew that bees had venom, but I always thought that wasps simply had a pointy sting that hurt a lot.

Wasn't crazy about KID being clued as "Kindergartner," since my 7-year-old is still a KID as far as I'm concerned and he's getting ready to start second grade...

HeartRx said...

Good morning Argyle, C.C. et al.

After filling in ANDRE AGASSI, I "got" the theme with ANSEL ADAMS (I have several prints by him, so that was a gimme). I thought, "OK, people with A-A initials", "36-A".

Then I wondered how it would be unified:
"Like some small batteries"?
"Alcoholics Anonymous"?
But DOUBLE A-GENT was clever, and got a smile in the end.

The fill was nice and clean, but just a bit crunchy for a Tuesday. I don't remember ever seeing GORGON in a puzzle, while I'M ON A ROLL was fun to see, and GONE BAD conjures us so many different meanings...

It was nice to hear from one of the constructors how the theme came about. Thanks J + J !

Lemonade714 said...

Fun puzzle, I knew Agassi and the rest was downhill. While the rejected clues would have been too much for a Tuesday, they show a nice turn of mind. Look forward to more from this new constructor, and applaud Jeff for all his work in helping people follow this dream.

Yellowrocks said...

Clever little Tuesday puzzle. I was on the constructor's wave length from the start and so found it very easy. I had Aggassi first, so that gave me Andre. I was interested in how Jim came up with the theme.

I have learned that the clues and answers are not always exact synonyms.

General rebel can be Lee, although there are many other rebel generals. Ricer was sieve. All ricers are sieves, but not all sieves are ricers.

So a kindergartener is a kid, although not all kids are kindergarteners.

Hahtoolah said...

Good Morning, Argyle and Friends. What's not to like with a puzzle that begins with a Not Very Bright/Very Bright crossing!

Like the HeartRx and Lemonade, I quickly got the theme with ANDRE AGISSI and ANSEL ADAMS. Still, the DOUBLE AGENT/A-GENT was a nice twist.

My only error was to try None instead of NARY.

The COEN brothers have directed some interesting films.

Neiman Marcus always puts out a stunning holiday catalogue. Out of my price range, but fun to look at.

My favorite clue was Dorps on Grass = DEW.

QOD: Talent does you no good unless it's recognized by someone else. ~ Robert Half

Barry G. said...

@Yellowrocks: I would agree, if the clue had been "Kindergartner, for example." As phrased, it was just too inexact for my tastes. Not saying it's wrong, just that I didn't care for it.

Yellowrocks said...

This Christmas Nieman Marcus and Target are offering a limited joint collection featuring name designers.Do you think we will find something we like that we can afford?
Link Nieman Marcus

Sfingi said...

Liked this one a lot.

I was lucky enough to have seen ALVIN AILEY and troupe perform.

Learned something - how to spell NEIMAN. Thought it was NieMAN like niemand since that's how people have been pronouncing it. If it is a German name, it really should be pronounced "nye-man."

The word, NARY, seems to be making its rounds recently.

I was hit by the Estonian virus last Monday and am glad to be finally spruced up again. That with the awful heat here for 3 weeks, has been a real drag.

Mari said...

Yellowrocks: I agree with you on the rejected clues. I would never have gotten the rejected clue for SLATS, but I like the one for INSOLE. (Especially since I don't particularly get "Shoe Tightener".)

I got the unifier and said, "Ah..Double Agent." It wasn't until I read Argyle's write-up that I saw "Double A-Gent" - very clever!

I wanted Hassock instead of OTTOMAN, and Medusa instead of GORGON.

My favorite clue: 18D: Like Chunky Milk: GONE BAD. I was thinking of cereal and blueberries for dinner tonight, now I'm having second thoughts!

Mari said...

Yellowrocks @ 7:49 am: I'd probably have a better chance being able to afford something at SkyMall! :)

kazie said...

Sfingi,
I had the same dilemma with NieMAN for the same reason.

In general though I enjoyed all of this--I thought it a good Tuesday level, and I was able to suss it all out without much perp help. I did start with ROUSE/ROUST, and hadn't given much thought to the rapper clue, assuming I had no idea. but then on returning to it the T became obvious.

PROOF --what I've been doing to the newsletter all weekend. Now it's finally done!

I think the unifier was clever.

desper-otto said...

When I got to the unifier, I immediately questioned how ANDREA GASSI could be a gent.

Yes, Barry, wasps do have venom -- and I'm allergic to it. Have to keep an Epipen in the house.

What is the origin of MEH? Anybody know? And how many legitimate ways can KEBAB be spelled?

It was good to see YSER again, and PARSEC made it's second appearance in the past few days.

CrossEyedDave said...

Aha! I knew there was a reason i was on the constructors wavelength, i am a GeoCacher myself! (102 found so far.) Actually, i prefer the original clues

There are lots of funny Double "A" images

I always thought MEH was worse than so so...

64A Spitz... (nah, i wont go there,,, too easy...)

CrossEyedDave said...

Double A Gent

My GeoCaching name is 123Flash, & the best thing about Geocaching is finding places that other people thought were interesting. I have found more amazing things near my home in the last year than i have in the past 20 years! The worst thing about Geocaching,,, digging in insect filled holes. I really prefer the ingenious caches. My favorite Geocache was in Washington D.C. called GCk12J "last stop for a weary traveler" in the WWII memorial.

Here was the clue:

No matter where our troops went, he seemed to be there first. It is only right that he is here too.

These coords put you several feet north of your target. Look West of PA. & South of the Golden Gate.

To verify your visit, email me with the THREE WORD inscription found next to the likeness of our intrepid traveler.

Trust me. If you found it, you'll know it. If you're thinking of guessing, keep looking.

Can you guess what it was that i found???

Irish Miss said...

Good morning:

This was a fun puzzle. Got the theme early on and smiled when I filled in the unifier. Very clever, Jeff and Jim. Good luck to Jim in his future efforts and kudos to Jeff for his generous mentoring and guidance.

I did go astray with lovers' spat before lane and with Tao before zen for way to enlightenment. Both were quickly resolved with perps.

Have a super Tuesday.

Mari said...

CED @ 9:18 AM: I have no idea what you found, but GeoCaching sounds like fun.

Mark S said...

Very enjoyable puzzle for me.

Few missteps, 33A Satay, not kebab, or kabob or....

67A had me thinking Mark Spitz laps in the pool, never thought of dogs.

desper-otto said...

CED -- Was it "Kilroy Was Here"?

Irish Miss said...

Argyle:

Thank you for the link to The Three Tenors. What a treat to revisit that performance and seeing my favorite conductor, Zubin Mehta, was an added bonus. Also caught a glimpse of Louis Jordan in the audience.

Qli said...

Wonderful puzzle; good collaboration, Jim and Jeff.
Thanks for the Three TENORs link, Argyle.

I hate hearing someone say TGIf when it's my turn to work the weekend....

Wanted to tie in a sunflower seed reference for "Spitz in your lap", since Spitz is a less salty brand found around here; the Dill Pickle flavor is addicting. It's easy to end up with Spitz in your lap if you eat 'em while driving.

Steak on a stick sounds a little like Fair food. Our State Fair starts Friday. New foods this year include Deep Fried Brownies, Red Velvet funnel cake and Chocolate Dipped Chicken (from one of the Chinese food vendors; is that something people in China eat, C.C.?). Can't wait to try a treat while watching the 4-H kids show their animals!

CrossEyedDave said...

Ah, Desper-otto got it!

The WWII Memorial

& actually engraved on the back
at the Cache Co-ordinates

Jazzbumpa said...

Hi gang -

I love mis-parsing words and phrases, so this puzzle was a treat. Didn't get it without the unifier, which is brilliant.

I've had wasp problems around my house for years. Only one sting in the last decade, or so, and the venom victim was grandson Danny, quite a few years ago.

Used lots of perp help for the names.

Spelt NIEMAN rong. There is no trap I won't fall into.

Great debut for Jim Peredo.

Summer concert season ends this week for me. Last rehearsal tonight.

Cool regards!
JzB

eddyB said...

Hi.
Finally out of hospital. Docs saying getting back up to speed is going to take awhile.

Don't want to do this again. Kind of scary.

Take care. eddy

Spitzboov said...

Good morning everyone. Good write-up, Argyle. Thanks.

Just back from the dentist with my new cap. So now I can chew the fat again. Ha. I agree with others that the puzzle seemed a little harder for a Tuesday. Main entanglement for me was wanting some form of Arthur Ashe before the perps made AGASSI clear. Spelling of NEIMAN didn't help. What Sfingi and Kazie said - Amen. Guess we should pronounce the EI as in recEIve. D. Otto, I think 'meh' originated with JazzB. Argyle posted about the Belgian spelling of IJser. The Dutch (and I think the Flemings) went to a standard phonetic orthography in 1949. The [I as in 'mine' sound in English] has 2 digraphs in Dutch, ei and ij. They call it the short "i" and the long "i" The long "i" is hard for an English speaker to pronounce - hurts the jaw. Since the YSER is in Flanders, I think we should go with their spelling, Ijser. JMHO.

Meanwhile I'm looking for a lap to sit on.

Eddy, glad you are out of the hospital.

96º here at 1130.

Enjoy the day.

Bill G. said...

I enjoyed the puzzle. Thanks JJ (Jim and Jeff).

I started out with LOVERS LEAP instead of LANE. Dunno why. I don't even know what a lover's leap is.

Listening to the three tenors, I've always noted how Pavarotti's voice seemed a just little mellower than the other two.

Any of you northerly folks get a glimpse of the northern lights lately?

Lucina said...

Greetings, Argyle et al.

What a nice sashay from J & J. I was on their wave length immediately and WEES about the puzzle. It was a great SPIN that took little more than a PARSEC.

Didn't completely understand POM but it emerged with the downs. Do you know that in Spanish TONTO also means STUPID?

I usually hesitate at YSER whether to start with Y or I but ONE DAY settled that problem.

Fermatprime: Did you watch Perception last night? I think the problem with it is that it lacks tension. In all the good dramas the tension is so real that I can hardly sit through the commercials, but in Perception it is only curiosity that keeps me interested. What do you think?

Have a terrific Tuesday, everyone!

Lucina said...

eddy, I'm glad you are out of the hospital. Best wishes for your complete recovery.

Misty said...

Terrific speed run for me this morning with not one erasure! Hurray! Loved starting with STUPID and SMART crossing (made me wonder which one I was going to be this morning!). Got AGASSI next and then ANSEL ADAMS, and that let me "suss" (am I using that word right?) the theme. So thank you, Jim and Jeff, for a fun puzzle. And Jim, good luck with your new adventures.

Eddy B., so glad you're home again.

Have a great Tuesday, everybody!

Lemonade714 said...

Eddy B, glad you are home. I know the the feeling.dealing with CHF.

The more I review this puzzle, the more I like the theme and think it like C.C.'s work yesterday, really works as a Tuesday.

lois said...

Good afternoon Argyle, CC, et al., Super fun puzzle! Great speed run thru the top half then perped & wagged my way thru the rest w/a few knowns. Perps were excellent which made it fun. Thank you, Argyle. The theme was nowhere near me. I was abslutely ADAMANT that the theme was men's names including17A and 24A and otto-man and kebab, except that 'bab' was just misspelled. Kabob? Nowhere! The PROOF is in the bottle and I can prove it!

Amen Desper-otto! How can tennis' Bad Boy be a gent, Double or Single? Certainly not on the court but more likely IN the court.
He's not the worst tho'. Another J & J combo...Jimmy and John, remember?

Other than that misrepresentation of Agassi, this puzzle was adorable. Congratulations Jim. Hope to see a lot more of you. Loved the history of this idea and your original clues. Very clever. Wish we had more people like your Jeff in this world.

Enjoy your day.

Husker Gary said...

The reveal was very fun on this puzzle as everything else was pretty straight forward and fun to work Jim and Jeff. Personal notes were very interesting as well.

Musings
-STUPID is as stupid does
-Our little town of 25,000 now has three tattoo parlors and our recent town festival saw a lot of INK. Some tat peeps also had DORAGS.
-Lover’s LEAP occurred to me
-By the third day in Fla. I had to physically ROUST a lot of teenagers out of bed!
-Seinfeld’s Elaine Benes could name TENORs Placido Domingo, Luciano Pavarotti and “that other guy”. Beautiful link, Argyle.
-Old riddle – “How do you make a Venetian blind?”
-NEIMAN, “IE or EI”?
-“Does this milk smell bad to you, dad?” Yuk, it’s what we do.
-Doncha just love an $80 labor bill to put in a $2 part in one minute?
-Kemo Sabe
-My first geo-caching experience was done while I was reading a GPS unit at 60 mph on a federal hwy. Damn, I’m competitive.

Jayce said...

Hello everybody. I enjoyed yesterday's and today's puzzles a lot. Such distinctive characteristics among the constructors! Sometimes one can almost see the constructor's personality and point of view in his/her work.

There was a funny episode in a now-defunct television comedy starring Cheech Marin in which Marin kept intoning "tonto" in reference to a non-Spanish speaking relative, who totally misunderstood it.

So, "Bernsteen" vs "Bernstine" ...

My last name is German, but we don't pronounce it the way a German speaker would. When people ask me how I pronounce my last name, I joke that if you were German you would pronounce it [and then I pronounce it.] I get lots of rolled eyes.

Do Michiganers pronounce shish kebab as "kebaab"?

Welcome back, Eddy B. and best wishes to you all.

Jayce said...

Jim Peredo, thank you ever so much for your comments. Very interesting indeed.

Abejo said...

Good afternoon, folks. Thank you, Jim Peredo and Jeff Chen, for a great puzzle. Thank you, Argyle, for a good write-up.

Congratulations, Jim Peredo, on your first puzzle. It was a good one. Thank you, Jeff, for participating.

This puzzle caught my attention right off the bat, STUPID and SMART. I believe I have been both, many times.

Got all the themes except ALVIN AILEY. But he came with perps.

I also had NONE for 39D, then changed it ti NARY.

Never heard of a GORGON. Perped it.

I have eaten many KEBABs. Love them.

We are getting PARSEC a lot. Maybe I will actually remember it.

Off to work in my garden. It is approaching the high 90's. I will not be out there long.

See you tomorrow.

Abejo

Abejo said...

Welcome back EddyB. Stay healthy!

Abejo

Chickie said...

HOla Everyone, A a bit harder for me than some Tuesday puzzles, but the perps, and a bit of guessing helped me fill in everything without a mistake.

Parsec was a new word for me and Adam Ant was an unknown. I had to look up Parsec to make sure I had a correct word.

I thought the Double A-gent was a great unifier. Really clever.

As I've said many times before I learn something new almost every time I do a crossword.

Eddy B. I'm so glad you are home from the hospital. Take care of yourself.

Jim Paredo, Thank you for the insight into your puzzle today. It is always interesting to find out how ideas for CW's come about.

Jeff Chen said...

Hi everyone!

It was great fun to work with Jim on this. Good times.

Happy Tuesday,
Jeff

Lemonade714 said...

Eddy B. Glad to hear you are out of the hospital; it ook me about 3 months to feel recovered from my CHF hospitalization. One day at a time. Walk eat well and relax. Jeff C. you are a jem.

Anonymous said...

I'm seeing double again.
I'm seeing double again.

Lucina said...

CED: Recently a local gentleman who was a GeoCacher was found dead from a fall in the mountains. I had never heard the term before and was surprised to learn that his entire group had been out searching for him.

I don't know if your search takes you to dangerous terrain but if so, please be careful.

Marge said...

Hi all,
Another nice puzzle. I do well to solve them,let alone construct them.

On 34D I had ova and couldn't understand what or who Adavant was. The perps helped me get it right. I never heard of dorag. I also liked stupid and smart crossing.

Our temp is 102 right now, no rain clouds any where.

Have a good evening all!
Marge

Manac said...

Bill G.
No light show here in NH for me but heard that it was possible. Alas, I live in a secluded valley (dale, glen vale, whatever works via the perps) and surrounded by some towering trees so I would never see them. Coincidentley
Northern Lights was the name of my daughter's softball team a few years back.

Unknown said...

I tried LEAP instead of LANE.
Just reading 'like chunky milk' almost made me gag1
Didn't like INSOLE.
Liked the puzzle but it took me longer than it should have. Slow brain today.
I watched Perception last week and liked it. Haven't watched last night's episode yet.
Still waiting for those thunder showers.

Warren said...

A good puzzle today, me and my wife only got ~1/2 done before she left for work. We got Andre Agassi and Double Agent but I didn't grok the parse until I got here.

Regarding the questions on where Meh started? I think I first heard it used on The Simpsons.

eddyB: I'm glad to hear you're home again! I hope you'll be well enough to come to the fall BHC sale on 9.22 and 9.23.12.

Anonymous said...

Link meh

windhover said...

Hang in there, Eddy. Glad to see you back.

CrossEyedDave said...

Lucina @3:56
Thank you for your concern, but do not worry, my fear of heights precludes my falling. (unless i jump!) My main concern is that my one means of exercise, my bicycle, may no longer be available to me, because i keep falling off the dang thing! Yes, Geocaching sometimes takes me in dangerous places, and i am often alone, but i figure i am going to die anyway, so why not in an adventure instead of a hospital...

Irish Miss, i am glad i can make you laugh.

Bill G. You must be rubbing off on me, i never posted puzzles before!

Lemonade714, your post made me look up CHF. Yikes! I did not know you could recover from something like that!

Sfingi said...

@Desper-Otto - in Italy, Andrea is usually a man's name. Andrea Camilleri is the author of a series of Sicilian mysteries that we've been reading and watching on DVD and which we recommend. Another candidate for the modern George Simenon, in which every iota, ort or mote of food and drink is described.

In the same area, hubster's favorite TENOR is Giuseppe DiStefano, who is deceased. However, Roberto Alagna is pretty good and still with us.

An AA that was missed was Anthony Anderson.

Lemonade714 said...

CED, I was talking about recovering from nine days in the hospital, not that the CHF cured itself.

Welcome Charlette, we all take longer than we think.

fermatprime said...

Greetings!

Great job, Jim, Jeff and Argyle. Listened to the tenors' aria for the nth time as I read these posts.
A bit harder than the usual Tuesday for me. But it all fell in. Favorite answer: i'M ON A ROLL.

eddyB--so happy that you have escaped from hospital and are (I trust) feeling better!

Re: Perception.

I do not mind the "lack of tension." I will keep watching. Spoiler alert. I have difficulty discerning who is real and who is imaginary. Woman with long blonde hair, whose lap our nut sat in?

Bill G: I too had Leap before LANE. It's an older people thing, maybe?

Another day unable to get ahold of oral surgeon. Hate to have bone scan again with someone else for possible implants. Also, bad back tooth is getting to the point where I cannot tolerate the pain at all, even with food all ground up in the Cuisinart.

Cheers!

Yellowrocks said...

I am not always fond of early week puzzles. This week we have had two fine ones back to back.. Jim and Jeff, I enjoyed your Roman numeral theme and interesting fill. CC, your puzzle yesterday was a masterpiece with many nuances and great fill.

I had hoped to see the Northern Lights tonight, but no such luck.

Our temps. were still in the 80's when I returned home at 11:00 PM, after highs in the upper 90's this afternoon.

Eddy, congrats on your "escape." I wish you the best of health

Lucina said...

Fermat: I agree about the blonde woman. It's intriguing because we don't know if she's real or not. Despite my earlier remarks, I do enjoy Perception.

Jim Peredo said...

Thank you everyone for the kind words. I really enjoyed the discussion.

I spent the day with 6 kids (three of them mine) seeing some sights in San Francisco. We were on the go the whole time, so it was hard for me to try to find a paper to buy! Eventually I found a SF Chronicle which carried the puzzle and later I found a San Jose Mercury which also has it. I never did manage to find an actual LAT. Oh well.

CED: We really are on the same wavelength. I looked at your geocaching.com profile, and we have the same occupation! I also came up with the same answer as desper-otto: "Kilroy was here", though I never would've gotten it without Google Earth!

One of my original goals was to get the word GEOCACHE into the puzzle. I did...sort of. I had GEOCACHES where IM ON A ROLL is now. The surrounding fill wasn't too bad either. But Rich rightly said it was unsuitable for a Tuesday, so out it went.

Our geocaching name is Team Peredox, though mostly it's just me. I don't have any active hides at the moment, but you can view my geocache creations from my profile on geocaching.com.

Thank you all again. It's been a fun day!

Argyle said...

Don't be a stranger, Jim. Stop in anytime.