CROSSWORD SETTER: Jeffrey Wechsler
THEME: Pop in Jays … each of today’s themed answers is a common phrase, but we POP IN a letter JAY at the start of one word to match the clue:
16A. Exceptional practical joke? GREAT JAPE (from “great ape”)
23A. What bearded men get in blizzards? SNOWY JOWLS (from “snowy owls”)
34A. Short hike for a beginner? MAIDEN JAUNT (from “maiden aunt”)
48A. Jack’s friend resting on the hill? JILL AT EASE (from “ill at ease”)57A. Pretentious showoffs, or, another way, what one would do to create 16-, 23-, 34- and 48-Across POPINJAYS
BILL BUTLER’S COMPLETION TIME: 16m 55s
ANSWERS I MISSED: 2 … AMIE (A Tie), WII MINI (Wii-tini!!!)
Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across
9. Savors, with “in” BASKS
Our verb “to bask”, meaning “to expose one to pleasant warmth”, is derived from the gruesome 14th-century term “basken”, meaning “to wallow in blood”. The contemporary usage apparently originated with Shakespeare, who employed “bask” with reference to sunshine in “As You Like It”.
15. Hwy. paralleling I-95 US-ONE
US Route 1 runs from Fort Kent in Maine right down to Key West in Florida.
I-95 runs from down the East Coast of the US from northern New England to southern Florida. Although it is one of the oldest interstates in the country, it isn’t complete. There is a section of the route in Pennsylvania and New Jersey that is served instead by the New Jersey Turnpike. The current plan is to “finish off” I-95 in that area in 2018.
16. Exceptional practical joke? GREAT JAPE (from “great ape”)
“To jape” means “to joke or quip”. The exact origins of “jape” are unclear, but it does seem to come from Old French. In the mid-1600’s “to jape” was a slang term meaning “to have sex with”. No joke!
The hominids are the great apes, and belong to the family of primates called Hominidae. Extant genera that make up the family Hominidae are:
– chimpanzees
– gorillas
– humans
– orangutans
17. Wrist brand TIMEX
The Timex Group, the manufacturer of watches, evolved from the Waterbury Clock Company that was founded in 1854 in Waterbury, Connecticut. The company achieved tremendous success in the early sixties largely due to an innovative marketing campaign. Advertisements featured the memorable tagline “Timex – Takes a licking and keeps on ticking”. In 1962, one out of every three watches sold in the US was a Timex.
18. Condos, to the management UNITS
The words “condominium” and “apartment” tend to describe the one type of residential property, a private living space with facilities shared with others residing in the same building or complex. The difference is that a condominium is usually owned, and an apartment is rented. At least that’s how it is in the US. The word “condominium” comes from the Latin “com” (together) and “dominum” (right of ownership).
19. Arrest readings: Abbr. RTS
Rights (rts.)
21. Lunch spot DELI
The word “delicatessen” (or “deli” for short) came into English from the German “Delikatessen”. The Germans borrowed the word from French, in which language “délicatesse” means “delicious things (to eat)”. The term’s ultimate root is “delicatus”, the Latin for “giving pleasure, delightful”.
22. Michelangelo’s “David,” e.g. NUDE
When Michelangelo’s famous statue of David was unveiled in 1504, it was at a time when the city-state of the Florentine Republic was threatened by rival states (including Rome). The statue depicts David after he has decided to fight Goliath, and the subject is sporting what is described as a “warning glare”. David was originally placed outside the Palazzo della Signoria, the seat of government in Florence, and that warning glare was directed very deliberately in the direction of its enemy, Rome. The original statue of David can be seen in the Accademia Gallery in Florence, where it has resided since 1873. There is a replica of the statue in its original location in the public square outside of the Palazzo della Signoria.
23. What bearded men get in blizzards? SNOWY JOWLS (from “snowy owls”)
The term “jowl” can be used for the jaw or the cheek, and more specifically for a fold of flesh hanging from the jaw.
The snowy owl (also “snow owl”) is such a beautiful-looking creature, I think. The snowy owl has plumage that is thick and white making it well-adapted for life north of the Arctic Circle.
27. Band from Birmingham, Eng. ELO
The Electric Light Orchestra (ELO) is a symphonic rock group from Birmingham in the English Midlands. The band’s manager was Don Arden, father of Sharon Osbourne (wife of Ozzy).
Birmingham is the second-most populous city in the UK, after London. It is located in the West Midlands of England, and was originally a market town. Birmingham grew in size dramatically during the Industrial Revolution, and was once known as the first manufacturing town in the world. The city takes its name from the Beormingas, an Anglian tribe that settled the area in the 6th or 7th century. Birmingham’s nickname is “Brum”, and natives of the city are called “Brummies”.
29. Distressed, with “up” HET
Someone who is “het up” is “heated up, angry”.
30. Cast aspersions SNIPE
“To snipe” is to attack with snide criticism, especially from a safe distance. This usage of the term is an extension of the older meaning, to take a shot from a hidden position (as in “sniper”). Such a shot was originally taken when hunting the game birds called “snipes”.
32. Plenty SCADS
The origin of the word “scads”, meaning “lots and lots”, is unclear, although back in the mid-1800s “scads” was used to mean “dollars”.
34. Short hike for a beginner? MAIDEN JAUNT (from “maiden aunt”)
A “jaunt” is a short pleasure trip, although back in the 1500s the word described a tiresome journey. Back then, one would “jaunt” a horse, meaning that one tired it out by riding it back and forth.
37. Goodman’s forte SWING
Clarinetist and bandleader Benny Goodman was known as the King of Swing.
39. Prepare for a siege DIG IN
Our word “siege” comes from a 13th century word for a “seat”. The military usage derives from the concept of a besieging force “sitting down” outside a fortress until it falls.
40. “Voices Carry” pop group ‘__ Tuesday TIL
‘Til Tuesday was a New Wave band from Boston that performed and recorded from 1982 to 1988. Aimee Mann got her start with “Til Tuesday, as bass player and vocalist. The band’s best-known song is the hit “Voices Carry”, released in 1985.
41. 1964 Nobelist’s monogram MLK
Martin Luther King, Jr. was only 35 years old when he won the Nobel Peace Prize, making him the youngest person to be so honored. King was given the award for his work to end racial segregation and discrimination using non-violent means. The following year he was awarded the American Liberties Medallion by the American Jewish Community.
45. Discreet email letters BCC
A blind carbon copy (bcc) is a copy of a document or message that is sent to someone without other recipients of the message knowing about that extra copy.
48. Jack’s friend resting on the hill? JILL AT EASE (from “ill at ease”)
The “Jack and Jill” nursery rhyme dates back at least to the 1700s:
Jack and Jill went up the hill
To fetch a pail of water.
Jack fell down and broke his crown,
And Jill came tumbling after.
52. 1975 Pure Prairie League hit AMIE
Pure Prairie League (PPL) is a country-rock band from Waverly, Ohio. The band takes its name from a fictional temperance union that was featured in the 1939 Western movie “Dodge City” starring Errol Flynn.
54. “A Few Good Men” playwright Sorkin AARON
The wonderful screenwriter Aaron Sorkin got his big break when his stage play “A Few Good Men” was picked up by a Hollywood producer. Since then Sorkin has written great films including “The American President”, “The Social Network”, “Charlie Wilson’s War”, “Moneyball” and the excellent “The West Wing” television series. There is a new television show of his showing on HBO these days that is getting good reviews called “The Newsroom”.
57. Pretentious showoffs, or, another way, what one would do to create 16-, 23-, 34- and 48-Across POPINJAYS
Back in the 12th century a “popinjay” was a colorful parrot. By the 14th century the word was being applied to people who were considered beautiful, but by the mid-16th century the term applied to people who were vain and talkative.
Down
2. Iroquois League tribe ONEIDA
The Oneida people originally lived in the area that is now Central New York. The Oneida were one of the five founding nations of the Iroquois Confederacy, also known as the Five Nations or Iroquois League (i.e. the Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga and Seneca).
5. NBA legend, familiarly DR J
Julius Erving is a retired professional basketball player who was known as “Dr. J”, a nickname he picked up in high school. Dr. J was a trailblazer in many ways, being the first player associated with slam dunking and other moves above the rim.
6. Org. that regulates vaccines FDA
Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
8. Damaging combination ONE-TWO
A one-two punch combination might do a little damage.
12. Rang tragically KNELLED
The word “knell” is used for a solemn ring from a bell, often associated with death or a funeral. “Knell” comes the Old English “cnell” and is probably imitative in origin, sounding like a peal from a large bell.
20. Barrett of Pink Floyd SYD
Syd Barrett was the lead singer and a founding member of the English rock band Pink Floyd. Barrett was only active as a musician for just over ten years. He retired from the music scene in 1975 and spent the next 30 years living off Pink Floyd royalties until he passed away in 2006.
Pink Floyd were an English rock band founded in 1965. The band’s most famous albums were probably “The Dark Side of the Moon” and “The Wall”.
25. Pope Francis, e.g. JESUIT
Saint Ignatius of Loyola (also known as Inigo Lopez de Loyola) was a Spanish knight from a noble family in the Basque region of Spain. He left behind his easy life to became a hermit and a priest, and eventually founded the Society of Jesus (The Jesuit order of the Roman Catholic church).
Pope Francis was elected on 13 March 2013 as the 266th Bishop of Rome and leader of the Roman Catholic church. The new pope is famously taking a much simpler and more modest approach to the office, as he did with his life back in Argentina. Francis is the first pope since 1903 not to reside in the papal residence, choosing to live instead in the less lavish Vatican guesthouse.
27. Brain teaser ENIGMA
Our term “enigma” meaning “puzzle, riddle” comes from the Greek “ainigma”, which means the same thing.
30. __ Jose SAN
Seeing as there is no accent over the letter E, my guess is that this clue refers to the city of San Jose, California.
San Jose is the third-largest city in California and is located at the heart of Silicon Valley. The city was founded by the Spanish in 1777 and named El Pueblo de San José de Guadalupe. Under Spanish and Mexican rule, the territory of Alta California had its capital in Monterey. When California was made a US state, San Jose was named as the first capital, in 1850. Subsequently, the state legislature met in Vallejo in 1852, Benicia in 1853, and finally settled in Sacramento.
31. Word with living or bitter END
The phrase “living end” is a colloquialism, as in “you are the living end!” meaning “you are so outrageous!”
The “bitter end” is a conclusion of a difficult situation. The phrase is nautical in origin. “Bitts” are pairs of posts on the deck of a ship or on a wharf around which mooring lines are wound to secure a vessel. The “bitter end” of a cable or rope is the part at the extremes of the line that is wound around the bitts.
33. “The Situation Room” airer CNN
“The Situation Room” is a CNN news show aired in the afternoons, and hosted by Wolf Blitzer. I’m not a big fan of the format, to be honest …
34. Top designer? MILLINER
A milliner is someone who makes, designs or sells hats. Back in the 1500s, the term described someone who sold hats made in Milan, Italy, hence the name “milliner”.
35. Reel relatives JIGS
Jigs and reels are types of folk dances.
36. Fever with chills AGUE
An ague is a fever, one usually associated with malaria.
37. Place in Monopoly’s orange monopoly ST JAMES
The street names in the US version of Monopoly are locations in or around Atlantic City, New Jersey (such as “St. James Place”).
38. Lower-cost Nintendo offering WII MINI
The Wii mini is smaller version of the incredibly successful Wii gaming console that was released in 2012.
42. Relative of Inc. LTD
In Britain and Ireland the most common type of business (my perception anyway) is one that has private shareholders whose liability is limited to the value of their investment. Such a company is known as a private limited company, and has the letters “Ltd” after the name. If the shares are publicly traded, then the company is a public limited company, and has the letters “plc” after the name.
A company that has incorporated uses the abbreviation “Inc.” after its name. By incorporating, a company forms a corporation, which is a legal entity that has legal rights similar to those of an individual. For example, a corporation can sue another corporation or individual. However, a corporation does not have all the rights of a citizen. A corporation does not have the Fifth Amendment right of protections against self-incrimination, for example. It is perhaps understandable that the concept of “corporations as persons” is a frequent subject for debate.
46. Was too sweet CLOYED
“To cloy” is to cause distaste by oversupplying something that would otherwise be pleasant, especially something with a sweet taste.
47. Pen occupants CONS
Convicts (cons) are found occupying the penitentiary (pen).
“Pen” is a slang term for “penitentiary”. Back in the early 1400s, a penitentiary was a place to do “penance”, a place of punishment for offences against the church.
50. Reprimand ending A NO-NO
That would be a no-no …
51. Hindustan ruler RAJAH
“Raja” (also “rajah”) is word derived from Sanskrit that is used particularly in India for a monarch or princely ruler. The female form is “rani” (also “ranee”) and is used for a raja’s wife.
“Hindustan” is a historical name for the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent. The name translates as “Land of the Hindus”. I am told by a kind blog reader that the term “Hindustan” is frowned on by some inIndia because of its religious connotation.
56. Numbers for songs?: Abbr. SYN
The word “numbers” is a synonym (syn.) for the word “songs”.
58. Kung __ chicken PAO
Sichuan (also Szechuan) is a province in southwest China. Sichuan is noted for its cuisine, which is hot and spicy as it uses plenty of garlic, chili peppers and the Sichuan peppercorn. A famous Szechuan dish in the US is Kung Pao chicken.
59. Alcatraz, e.g.: Abbr. ISL
Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary was a maximum high-security prison operating from 1934 to 1963 on Alcatraz Island in San Francisco Bay. The US Army had opened Fort Alcatraz on the island back in 1859, and constructed the first prison there in 1868. The first buildings that were to become the Federal Penitentiary were erected between 1910 and 1912, and again were used as a military prison. The construction was modernized and became the Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary in 1934. The Federal prison housed famous inmates like Al Capone, The Birdman of Alcatraz and “Machine Gun” Kelly. The prison was closed in 1963 by Attorney General Robert Kennedy, as the cost of operation was excessively high and major capital improvements were needed.
For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. How an airport shuttle travels TO AND FRO
9. Savors, with “in” BASKS
14. Take a load off UNBURDEN
15. Hwy. paralleling I-95 US-ONE
16. Exceptional practical joke? GREAT JAPE (from “great ape”)
17. Wrist brand TIMEX
18. Condos, to the management UNITS
19. Arrest readings: Abbr. RTS
21. Lunch spot DELI
22. Michelangelo’s “David,” e.g. NUDE
23. What bearded men get in blizzards? SNOWY JOWLS (from “snowy owls”)
26. Place to luxuriate SPA
27. Band from Birmingham, Eng. ELO
28. Glorifying work ODE
29. Distressed, with “up” HET
30. Cast aspersions SNIPE
32. Plenty SCADS
34. Short hike for a beginner? MAIDEN JAUNT (from “maiden aunt”)
37. Goodman’s forte SWING
39. Prepare for a siege DIG IN
40. “Voices Carry” pop group ‘__ Tuesday TIL
41. 1964 Nobelist’s monogram MLK
44. Destroy, in a way GUT
45. Discreet email letters BCC
48. Jack’s friend resting on the hill? JILL AT EASE (from “ill at ease”)
51. Pull up stakes, briefly RELO
52. 1975 Pure Prairie League hit AMIE
53. Comfy room DEN
54. “A Few Good Men” playwright Sorkin AARON
55. Supply near the register MINTS
57. Pretentious showoffs, or, another way, what one would do to create 16-, 23-, 34- and 48-Across POPINJAYS
60. War need? ENEMY
61. Perturbed IN A STATE
62. Warning sound SIREN
63. Storage place TOOL SHED
Down
1. Appear TURN UP
2. Iroquois League tribe ONEIDA
3. Wane ABATE
4. “Shoot!” NUTS!
5. NBA legend, familiarly DR J
6. Org. that regulates vaccines FDA
7. Dupe REPRO
8. Damaging combination ONE-TWO
9. On the other hand BUT
10. “Just like me” AS I DO
11. To a degree SOMEWHAT
12. Rang tragically KNELLED
13. Some discriminators SEXISTS
16. Tries (for) GUNS
20. Barrett of Pink Floyd SYD
23. Lost one’s footing SLID
24. “Uh-uh” NOPE
25. Pope Francis, e.g. JESUIT
27. Brain teaser ENIGMA
30. __ Jose SAN
31. Word with living or bitter END
33. “The Situation Room” airer CNN
34. Top designer? MILLINER
35. Reel relatives JIGS
36. Fever with chills AGUE
37. Place in Monopoly’s orange monopoly ST JAMES
38. Lower-cost Nintendo offering WII MINI
42. Relative of Inc. LTD
43. “Consider that a gift” KEEP IT
45. Dress down BERATE
46. Was too sweet CLOYED
47. Pen occupants CONS
49. “I’ll take a shot” LET ME
50. Reprimand ending A NO-NO
51. Hindustan ruler RAJAH
54. Single-file travelers, at times ANTS
56. Numbers for songs?: Abbr. SYN
58. Kung __ chicken PAO
59. Alcatraz, e.g.: Abbr. ISL
Hello all,
… on a fiendish Friday. Comments are best left alone.
Bill, Hindustan means 'Land of the Hindus', … it is the word, 'India' that stands for the land of (the Indus).
Pakistan is thus the Land of Pak, land of the 'pure'. Though PAKS, coined by Rehmat Ali, in Cambridge, UK, in 1932 — 15 yrs. before actual independence in 1947, was supposed to stand for the Punjab, & ( North West frontier province of – ) Afghanistan (!), Kashmir and Sindh – with their muslim majorities. Pak also means 'five', the five rivers that comprise the Indus – Chenab, Jhelum, Ravi, Beas and Sutlej. (I hope you're taking notes ….)
Officially, the word Hindustan, is very much frowned upon, in India, because it is considered very religiously bigoted and chauvinistic. 'India' and 'Bharat' are overwhelmingly preferred. After all, India is supposed to be a secular republic, and there is no state religion. But the name persists – like in Hindustan Aeronautics, Aluminum, Antibiotics, Automobiles, Steel, Oil and Chemical company names.
'Kung Pao' or 'Kung Bao' means, "with (roasted ?) peanuts". I am very fond of chinese food, especially the Szechuan spicy.
Have a good day, and a good weekend, all.
Hello everyone –
Another Friday puzzle that will take me the weekend to recover from. This took me forever even with a million googles. I was just really outside my comfort zone here.
I guessed wrong so many times it got ridiculous. Rolex instead of Timex, before that racists for sexists, woodshed instead of toolshed, and I had IFive as running parallel to I-95. YES it's far away, but it is parallel…sort of.
Also jape? That's a new one for me. Maiden aunt is another term I really don't use or hear or even know so maiden jaunt wasn't at all obvious to me.
Oh well, I'll be here all day if I keep talking about what baffled me. I did like the background on the statue of David. That seems like something I should have known, but I didn't…
Humbling humbling puzzle for this solver.
Bill owes me a Jameson and Guinness tonight for getting me addicted to these things ..
Best –
Thank you Bill, (Mr. Encyclopedia Irish-annica), for totally destroying one of my favorite bucket list memories. So, the statue of David in the open square, near the Uffizi, is a reproduction ?? All that long journey and trip – for nothing ? Our guide must have been in sultry mood, that day, in 2002, because he mentioned nothing about a reproduction. If I wanted a repro, I could have travelled to the Penn. Academy of Fine Arts, in Philadelphia.
I knew it, I knew it, I knew it – that there was something 'odd' about the statue, when I noticed how well endowed David seems to be. (Especially the forearms and palms – ) ;-D)
Life imitates Art imitates Life.
Oh well, bucket lists are so egocentric anyway.
Well, Bill and others, I think we all could use a not-so-Wii-Tini after this one. I did like some of the word play in the clues, well versed by the constructor. But another Friday grid where the theme is no help in solving, it's just there.
60A: not really–Hitler didn't need any enemies to roll over Europe. 29A: never heard it before. English? Colloquial? 1A: Seriously, you can't do better than that?
Bill will know that there is a prominent JESUIT prep school in SAN JOSE, Bellarmine. And are we sure the Pope took his name from Francis of Assisi, and not the other prominent Jesuit, St. Francis Xavier.
We had some talk about "philo-" a few days earlier. I noted a crossword lover may be a Φιλαινιγμα, or "phil-enigma," from the Greek word for a puzzle.
Some day I'll have to have a crib sheet of Middle Eatern and Subcontinental royal titles, too many.
I too visited the reproduction of David in Florence only to learn later that it was the reproduction that I raptured over. Went back at a later time only to find out that the museum holding the original was closed and only open infrequently. Hopeless.
Do you remember those Timex commercials on TV back in the 50's. John Cameron Swayze would come on (this was live TV before videotaping) and perform a stunt with a Timex, such as strapping it to the propeller of an outboard motor and running the motor in a tank of water, then showing that it "takes a licking but keeps on ticking". I'll bet Timex held their breath every time.
I haven't heard the term "het up" in many years, and never before in a crossword. It used to be a phrase I would hear in and around Maine, said sometimes by the old New Englanders.
I never realized there was a real bird called a snipe. When I was a kid at summer camp we were told to go on a "snipe hunt" to catch an elusive bird by carrying a sack to trap it in. Turns out this is a longstanding practical joke. Snipes in reality are very difficult to catch and certainly not with a bag.
The Supreme Court with the Citizens United case and others recently has moved more and more toward granting corporations the same complete rights as citizens. For example, a corporation can now give as much money as it wants to political candidates as an expression of its first amendment rights of free speech. IMHO if corporations are given all the rights of citizens, they should have to take on the responsibilities as well. Just saying 🙂
I saw and photographed the original David at the Academia in 1988. I didn't know it was only open sporadically. I guess I was lucky that day!
A lot of staring a lightly inking in answers that got changed to the right ones eventually. It finally all came together so this was a good "solve" for a Friday. When I finally got "popinjays" things started to roll and "to and fro" also really helped along the top left corner because then "turn up" for one down got inked in. A fun and challenging puzzle for sure. If Saturday is a quantum leap up in difficulty I'm already starting to quake.
Hi Bill and all.
Lunch for girl friend's birthday today and electrician just put in a new porch light.
Yosemite Sam should write my comments today.
Cluing was too obtuse for me.
TO AND FRO…can't there be a better clue than that?
Really disliked Wrist Brand.
Aw C'mon!!!
Had RIDDLE for brain teaser.
Yadda to the third power.
See y'all tomorrow.
I would like to disagree with how "het up" is viewed it this puzzle. Googling shows considerable support for the "angry" interpretation, but careful reading of the various sources leaves room for what i believe is more correct
Growing up in the 1940's in a very rural community, there were still people that occasionally used that phrase, and it ALWAYS meant excited or enthusiastic, never "angry". A modern equivalent could be "stoked" or "pumped up".
An excellent example of this usage is in the lyrics of "strawberry roan" which first appeared in a movie of the same name in 1933, and was much later made popular by Marty Robbins.
Very clever puzzle – got 5/6 of it.
Oneida is my county, and we all learned the Confederacy. All but the Mohawk and Onandaga would fit, initially. In history, they were later joined by the Tuscarora. The Oneidas are doing well, now, with their Turning Stone Casino. The head, Ray Halbritter, spoke at my church years ago. He witnessed the famous fire at the Territory that the local fireman refused to put out. One of the dead was an uncle. Halbritter vowed to make his tribe self-sufficient. First, he went to Harvard.
Where's Bill?
@Pookie
He my be licking his wounds since he hardly ever DNF's…I've got a busy Saturday and Sunday (early delivery to San Juan Capistrano and then Irvine for my wife's store tomorrow (7 AM for the first one so I have to be on the road about 5:30 AM tomorrow) may play havoc with my Saturday puzzle solving. We shall see. Hope everyone has a great weekend and I'm look forward to watching the N.O. Saints tomorrow for their 2014 season opener against the Falcons.
@Vidwan
Thanks for pointing out the error in "Hindustan" note. I'll fix that right now.
@Jeff
I'm heading over to Ireland on Monday for an extended vacation. Just for you, I'll stop into a pub and have small whiskey and a point bottle of Guinness. Just for you …
@Willie
Yes, I think acquaintances of mine went to Bellarmine. It seems to be one of those schools where family tradition dictate that father goes, therefore son must go. I did attend a Jesuit school myself for a year as a teenager. It was the only part of my education which was an all-male experience. I think I prefer co-ed …
@Piano Man
I've only spent a day in Florence, and my librarian wife was all over the original vs. reproduction "David" issue. We had planned on seeing the real thing, but the lines were awful. We weren't dedicated enough, and I think we went for lunch instead!
@RestMyCase
You are the man! A better tourist than the rest of us 🙂
@Tony Michaels
Congrats on the clearance. I almost got there, but nearly never won the race …
@Pookie
I've been struggling with the blog these past few days as I have visitors in town from all over the world. My eldest is getting married today (Saturday), and we had 50-60 people at our house yesterday for a rehearsal dinner/barbecue. And the stress of having to make that "father of the groom" speech. Ugh … But, today is a happy day for our family 🙂
@Anonymous
I appreciate the input on the "het up" answer. I find that a lot of times clues and answers refer to alternative usage of words and phrases, and I can get a little rankled that my assumption about the meaning is different than that in the puzzle. I've decided to treat the whole thing as a learning experience, and just let it wash over me 🙂
@Sfingi
The first place I settled into in the US was in Onondaga Country, not far from Oneida County. Howdy, ex-neighbor 🙂