THEME: "Give it a tRY" — "RY" is added to end of first word of a familiar phrase, creating the usual wackiness...
Hey, it's (yet) another array of phrases enwackified by added letters. Today: "RY." I see what the theme answers R? But Y? Why "RY?" Talk about your arbitrary letter combos. The best thing I can say about this puzzle is that the answers are truly impressively long. Five of 13+?? Wow. After that ... not much good to say. I feel like a puzzle that crosses EAT with EAT does not deserve a full write-up. That's a new kind of sloppy/lazy. Just astonishing. Makes crossing pronoun "I" with pronoun "I" (see middle of grid) seem like a negligible infraction by comparison. Honestly ... EAT x/w EAT. I await your defenses of that one.
Theme answers:
17A: Battlefield success strategy? (infant RY formula)- 21A: Church pool table features? (vest RY pockets)
- 35A: Downside of grits and chicken-fried steak? (count RY calories)
- 43A: Armed guard? (sent RY packing)
- 50A: Customs of dessert chefs? (past RY practices)
Crosswordese 101: EES (54D: Some Caltech grads) — Electrical Engineers. Bottom-of-the-barrel but occasionally necessary bit of crosswordese. SST and EES like to hang out together, as they have much in common.
[Please god let this song title become crosswordese]
What else?
- 5D: Dada, to many of its critics (NON-ART) — still don't believe this is a valid word. I *know* it's not a good word.
44D: Suffix with law (YER) — it hurts.- 21D: 1970s fugitive financier Robert (VESCO) — Who The !@#$? This scandal was (largely) before my time. Sounds really interesting. I like the part at the end of his Wikipedia entry where it says, "Vesco reportedly died of lung cancer in November 2007 and was buried at Colon Cemetery in Havana. However, these reports of his death have been disputed." I love a good faked death legend.
- 31D: Pre-A.D. (BCE) — just ... no. If you are using "BCE," then you are also using "CE," not "A.D."
- 36D: "How dare they!" ("THE NERVE!") — far far far and away the best answer in this puzzle. Fantastic.
See you Monday, and please, if you haven't read it yet, please read Orange's follow-up to yesterday's puzzle. It's ... just the best thing I've read in a while.
~RP
[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter]
82 comments:
When I tried to cross EATIT with EATON I said screw it and "Revealed" all the surrounding answers just to confirm it. Just couldn't believe it was possible, not to mention justified. I've never "Revealed" before in a LAT.
Guys, I hate the EAT/EAT dupe as much as you do. I had EATON clued as "Stationery brand" and my editor changed it. 'Nuff said.
I was preparing to grumble about NONART at Diary of a Crossword Fiend, but then I Googled it and found a slew of artsy and philosophical writings using exactly that word. Maybe it helps to be an art historian. I didn't learn about NONART in college, but I did study anti-plays. They may be the dramatic analogue of NONART. Or not. I don't know.
EATON as a stationery brand is still not great fill (though it would help to not have the EATing dupe). There's also little-known Bond girl portrayer Shirley Eaton, industrialist Cyrus Eaton, Jackson's Sec'y of War John H. Eaton, and New Haven Colony cofounder Theophilus Eaton—not a one of 'em famous enough for the average crossword solver to have heard of them. Crane is a much more famous stationery brand, but CRANE can be clued as a noun, verb, and Frasier's last name.
This puzzle was just a mess for me from beginning to end. I couldn't get much purchase anywhere. I saw the EAT cross and kept erasing it thinking it was soemthing else. The rest of my start off fill was wrong, UGH.
Wow. You guys are harsh today.
To be honest, I didn't even notice the EAT/EAT cross until I came to the blog.
I thought the puzzle was spot on today. Little or no trite stuff and a character from the Simpsons that I actually knew.
Ooops. I forgot the SST answer. Boo!
That's a shame Dan! Eaton (for EAT ON) was a good clue, a long time quality stationary company many would know.
When Robert VESCO obsconded with millions it was sensational news back in the day. Perhaps it is the availability of news now (internet, plus traditional sources), and more agressive investigating, but reports of financiers looting is commonplace today. Is there more of it going on is it harder to conceal?
Proud to have finished this puzzle, for it took a long time to get started.
Liked brave-GUTSY and coward-SISSY in the same puzzle. Caught on early to the TRY which helped with the long answers.
About COUNTRY CALORIES, I don't know anyone that eats chicken-fried steak and grits together. IMHO, plain grits are just awful, but baked with garlic and cheddar cheese; delicious!
A boss smoked PERFECTO's. Eeeuuuw! I can smell it now.
Thanks Dan and Rex!
Noticed the constructor was Dan and knew the puns were coming.
AT LEAST the daily SST was positioned opposite from yesterdays. And since ETE wasn't used, I guess EES had to fill in. @RP that CW101 helps.
My bane: "The Simpsons" characters, thanx crosses for APU.
VESCO was my slam dunk, the '70's Madoff.
LUCE was mentioned recently, I made a MENTAL note, another dunk.
Faves - WILL OPINE (it's what we do here).
SEMITE for Arab fell into place from the discussion a few days ago.
2 cup of coffee puzzle, a total love/hate thing until I finished EATing IT.
Rex, Your write-up was "fair and balanced" and I enjoyed the clip, Thank You.
@RP, your objection to "pre-A.D." is dead on. The fact that the intended answer is obvious doesnt't excuse the clue. And I just turned in my Fall grades! Feels good, huh?
@Van55, I didn't notice the EAT/EAT cross until I read Rex's writeup either. Is the issue the repetition of word parts, or of their proximity? Anyone?
Fun puzz. Love themed puzz's, especially when I get the theme. Unlike today. First theme answers filled were VESTRY POCKETS and PASTRY PRACTICES, and I'm thinking Aha! Anagrams on, what, PASTRY? No. Hmmm. Pare letters as I get more filled in and get down to TRY in all the theme answers. OK, so it's something like "Try and try again". But why no clever, suggestive title pointing in that direction? Doh! (Anyone know why some people use "D'oh"?) Thanks for the explanation Rex.
When I first saw the puzzle, I thought it would be impossible. But since I instituted a time rule on no budge puzzles at the end of the week, things changed. I Googled 3 clues, those for VESCO, HELENA and MESA, and everything fell in. What a difference! I would never have got those 3, though I vaguely remember VESCO.
When finished, was aware I didn't actually know STYLET, ACETYL, Operation Detachment as IWO, STRO and FITLY, and would not have got them w/o crosses. Is STRO for real, sportsters?
Did not notice EATIN by EATON.
I've learned a little Simpson trivia, which helped.
I agree the opposite of BCE is CE, but I still got it.
Must we have SST every day? I don't even eat chicken and chocolate every day.
@Sfingi, the ref is the MLB Houston Astros, so in a punctuated puzz world it would be 'STRO.
@Lit.doc
Apparently in the "crossword rules" having two words crossing or even in the same puzzle is a big "No-No." The other day @Orange saw a problem with Live & Life in that days themes. These don't bother me as much as the BCI-v-AD-v-CE thing today does.
I use duh, so the doh-v-d'oh is moot.
@Sfinge
STRO is barely acceptable for Astro. How lazy can you get taling about your team, Houston?
As to the SST (or ETE) thing ... well I do probably have a Scotch every day. I'm thinking of coming out with my own brand and naming it either SST or ETE (EON, EEE, EOS are also in play)
I love these puzzles with the wacky theme answers -- the "punnier" the better. And I liked the clue and info for RAINOUT -- anyone else remember the Albert Hammond oldie "It Never Rains in Southern California"?
oops, mis-typed again (damn smashed finger)
I meant the BCE-v-AD-v-CE thing today = lame.
And talKing about the Astros.
I did not see any punctuated reference in the clue leading to 'stro.
who you callin' a yes-man?
Pet peeve: Crossword editors need a little lesson in what a suffix is? YER is not a suffix. Yes, it is a string of letters that can be appended to LAW to create a new word. It is not a suffix, though, since that string of letters doesn't have a meaning associated with it. It can't go on any other words to form new ones. Even something like -OID is a suffix since it can attach to many different things (e.g. FACT, SLEAZE, PLANET, etc.). It can't attach to any old thing, but it can attach to at least several different stems with a more or less predictable meaning.
Obviously, the fact that YER is just a ore or less arbitrary subpart of a word means its not as good of fill as an actual suffix would be (since a suffix has meaning of its own). If a grid really needs something like YER, though, the fix is easy: change the clue from "Suffix with law" to "Ending with law" or something more vague like this.
@ Scott: I'm totally with you on that rant, particularly as YER can quite easily be clued as [___ out] or ["Get ___ Yayas Out"] or some such.
It's tough to cram 3 15s and 2 13s into a puzzle (I've tried) so I have some sympathy for the yukky parts of the grid. EAT/EAT was quite unfortunate though. I also feel like baby formula is more in the language than INFANT FORMULA, but maybe that's just me.
Thanks Rex and Dan!
I usually like the wordplay puzzles that Dan constructs, but not this one... seems a bit strained to me. Also, it seems far too easy for a Friday puzzle, but that's okay since I'm doing some last minute shopping and time is at a premium. IM BEAT !!!!
Yeah, I too think EATIT/EATON stinks.
I'm greatly offended by (31d)... BCE IS TANTAMOUNT TO CURSING MY GOD! BCE stands for "Before the common era." Both the innocently insensitive and the overtly disrespectful people expect to eventually replace BC, which means "Before Christ," or "Before the Messiah". I'm a Christian and this hurts me...it's just another assault on my faith and an attempt for "book burners" to rewrite history.
"Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good TIDINGS of great joy, which shall be to ALL PEOPLE..."
@JNH: Are you joking? The calendar doesn't belong to one particular religion, I don't think.
SSTS Ad nauseum! With that said, I was a little intimidated by this puzzle especially the NW, but I chipped away, bit by bit and it finally fell into place. I got the theme on the second RY. I wasn't bothered by the EATON/EATIT cross. Didn't notice it until RP's write up. NON ART came easily to me as an art history major of YORE. We were often assigned essays on what was/wasn't art. I even took a sophomore level class titled "What is Art?" By the end of the semester, I hadn't a clue. I do IMHO consider Dadaism ART that is often wacky and playful. It was very avant garde in it's day. Marcel Duchamp is my favorite Dadaist. We have seen LUCE often lately. I used to work for an art publisher that was a subsidary of TIME until HBO came along and it was sold. My designer was a retired fellow with the last name LUCE. I wonder if he was a relative? I also don't think of YER as being a suffix, but I do like that little YER cat picture. Rex, that video was just hysterical! WTF?
@Parsan - love cheese grits, but try to avoid them due to having to COUNT(ry) CALORIES. Chicken Fried Steak is just over the top.
@Scott - my dictionary equates 'yer' with 'ier', which indeed makes it a suffix along the lines of furrier, collier, clothier. Sawyer is the only other example I can think of that uses a Y. Nonetheless, if the dictionary says it then it runs.
I don't have any more trouble with EATIT crossing EATON, especially as it was originally clued. SETTER crossing SETON as an example should be OK - not optimal but OK.
Letter substitution / addition themes are supposed to be taboo unless you can explain why. This is a rule that I don't fully understand, because these phrases are pretty good, and some can be hilarious.
@Tinbeni and Lit.doc - I would really like someone to clear up the duh, doh, d'oh cunundrum. Hasn't duh has been around a lot longer that doh or d'oh. Is it a regional thing? Am I correct in understanding that d'oh is a Bart Simpson variation? Personally I have always said Duh, and it will remain my favorite. Thoughts anyone - on this very deep subject?
@GLowe: There's also bowyer, one who makes archer's bows.
@CrazyLady: You're correct.
Off my soapbox.
I do like Dan's corny puns, like (13d) WILL = "Source of heir cuts"
[insert groans here]. I have to say that most of Dan's puzzles are quite spirited. Also, they prompt much discussion... a good thing for bloggers and blogees.
The first thing I thought of when I saw "Dada" was POPART. I hardly can agree with those who call it NON-ART.
INRI is a Latin acronym for IESVS·NAZARENVS·REX·IVDÆORVM (Jesus Nazarenus, Rex Judaeorum). Translated this means "Jesus the Nazarene, King of the Jews."
When I started the puzzle, I thought I was NEVER going to solve it w/o a LOT of cheating! The only thing I had in the top half of the puzzle on the first run-through was "RAINOUT," a guess on my part (which happened to be a good one, pat on back).
Down at the bottom I got a few more, and just kept plugging away and plugging away. I figured out the themes all had "TRY" in the middle, but not until "VEST[RY]POCKETS" did I figure out what the trick was. That enabled me to fill in some more on the first theme clue which *finally* cracked the NW corner.
I didn't like the EAT/EAT cross, and thought YER as a suffix was week (though I concede that as an equivalent form to -IER it's passable), but otherwise I liked the puzzle b/c it was a real challenge for me.
I eventually solved it w/o a single google!!!!!
Oh, and I forget whether PG or Orange mentioned in a previous day's comment section that the clues/answers are all provided in part so that people find the blog when they google a clue ... and that is EXACTLY how I found the blog some 6 months ago. My challenge now is, if I google a clue, to find a source to get the answer WITHOUT getting to this blog ;) b/c I wait till I'm done to read the blog!
when i saw EAT/EAT i knew a) what rex's reaction would be, and b) what dan would say. man oh man, rich, why did you do that? shirley EATON is plenty famous for a friday, as is the stationery. also, former NBA center mark EATON is a reasonably big name in sports, not that he's ever been a crossword clue. he was a dominant shot-blocker who was NBA defensive player of the year twice and on the NBA all-defensive team five times. he's still the career leader in blocks per game.
i liked this puzzle but found it very tough going. hardest LAT in weeks. VESTRY is not a very familiar word, and i agree with corgi about "baby formula" sounding more natural than "infant formula." the NE corner was particularly tough, as i'd never heard of PERFECTO cigars and lots of the other clues were pretty difficult for me.
scott, i agree with your rant in general terms, but in specific, -yer is listed in at least some mainstream dictionaries as an actual suffix with an actual meaning. editors don't make this stuff up, so (as is often the case) perhaps your beef is with dictionaries, not crossword editors. that said, i'd usually rather see YER clued as a standalone word (albeit an informal one), but some variety isn't a bad thing.
Did not like the eat it/ eat on and how could you not see the two crossing each other? Took a while to get cracking, just not on the wave length this morning and yes, in Houston it's either 'Stros or Astros, perfectly acceptable in my book. i hope they do better next year.
A good challenge for a Friday - I eventually enjoyed it
Orange, it is...check your calendar history.
Besides, why would anyone want to discount someone's feelings about Christ?
I wish we'd see more of Christ in Christmas. Maybe those "BCE atheists" will next want to change our dictionarys, history books, and yes, even our calendars to say XMAS (ughh!!!)
@Scott - This non-suffix suffix - that bothered me on Wednesday's NYT. Dull finish = dullARD. I couldn't guess what sort of matte an ARD was. Now, they didn't call it a suffix as such, so I guess I should have got it. Now I'm en garde.
@Tinbeni - after a while everything will be abbreviated to grunts, stone age style. However, I've been told that late in the week, they don't have to tell us that they are abbreviating.
I forgot about the 4 Dada suicides. I believe infirmity and age are good reasons for suicide, or terrible guilt for having poisoned kids with melamine - but art?
@Orange - and BRAYER, one who makes bras.
Back to the arbitrariness of letter substitution: Why RY? Well, we had a couple pretty good puzzles a while back that added QU arbitrarily. The only difference I can see is that these were sundays, ergo titled, with QUED UP or something on the top of the page.
Is there another difference that I missed?
@crazycatlady
Apparently the "d'oh" is a popular expression by Homer Simpson.
Anything and everything I know about "The Simpsons" I learned from doing Crossword Puzzles. When I see these clues, I cringe.
I have only seen the show a couple of times, didn't find it funny ... Sophomoric humor to me is trite, Freshmen humor even worse.
I'll just show my age and stick with "duh."
@JNH
I have to agree with Orange on this one. I did not find the 31d clue "Pre-A.D." to be an assualt on my religion. My objection was the cluing seemed to be mixing apples with oranges.
And Dan DID begin this CW with TIDINGS in this season.
RE: Made up words
Constructors/editors use dictionaries as their authority, right? But what dictionary becomes the "last word" in the English Language? Are we allowing any perversion of English to be entered into our commonly used dictionaries? Soon constructors will be tapping into the Urban Dictionary (God forbid!)
Maybe I'm just too mmuch of a purist, but I take umbrage with this justification for crappy fill words.
@Glowe
Only the Urban Dictionary uses QUED for QUEUED.
@JNH: It's not just a calendar for Christians any more. It's international and nearly universal.
Let us speak no more of religion. It has no place in a crossword blog—we already get into politics a bit too much here. Why risk alienating great swaths of people by talking about these hot-button topics? Oy!
@Orange
Sorry I expressed my heartfelt feelings about Dan's puzzle
Bye
@JNH - Yeah, that Julius Caesar guy was quite some Christian, what with inventing the Calendar 99% as we know it in 46 BCE. The only thing the Gregorian Calendar, that which we now use, modified was correcting the leap year calculations, getting rid of three of them every 400 years.
Christians make up approximately 1/4 of the world's population, as such they don't have a stranglehold on anything. One quarter of the population insisting on pegging year 1 to Christ's birth may likely have the effect of pissing off the other three quarters. Making it religiously neutral has nothing to do with atheism, or discounting anyones feelings towards Christ, but simple respect for the fact that others, the vast majority, feel and believe differently.
Ok we have beaten the "eat it/eat on" crossing (w/Dan's explaination it was changed by RN), Duh, Doh, D'oh and the BCE being disrespectful to Christians, to death, yadda, yadda, yadda.
Yet here in this season of "TIDINGS of joy" the real issue of the day has not been addressed.
Namely that ACETAL, an alcohol-based compound, is used in cosmetics.
Is this really in keeping with "THE SPIRITs" of the season?
Let's be crystal clear about this pressing issue of the day.
Cosmetics be damned! Alcohol should ONLY be used making spirits ... beer, wine and (of course) Scotch !
DUH and D'OH are Not not not interchangeable. The latter — a HOMERism, not a Bartism — is almost exclusively said by someone remarking on his/own idiocy, though you might say it somewhat sympathetically in response to someone else's idiocy. DUH is way way way more often said sarcastically (and with a mocking tone that D'OH couldn't ever achieve), and said to others, though you can say it self-deprecatingly about your own actions.
Whew.
EATON. Of course. That makes sense.
John, I assume you were kidding with all that BCE "hurting you" nonsense. Any non-Christian who was that sensitive would walk around this country in a Constant World Of Pain.
rp
~~GLowe: thank you for clearing up the YER issue. I know people with family names of both Collyer and Collier. [we will let Sfingi decide which name is 'colliest'!
~~Orange: AMEN!
~~JNH: Dictionaries have both prescriptive and descriptive aspects. Many point out which words or variants belong to slang or popular vernacular, or specify regional variations. American and Canadian and British and Indian and South African dictionaries will differ in their selections, and in whether a word or expression gets noted as vulgar/slang/standard or not. Language evolves and no printed material can keep up with words as they are formed, die out, or chhange meaning. Rich and Will as editors no doubt differ on what's acceptable in the puzzles they edit. Excluding words like 'ain't' and 'd'oh' and 'blog' isn't a good idea, is it?
The b.c.e. designation isn't "anti" anything, it's neutral. And common in academia.
~~ALL: The puzzle? Yes, a few gaffes but still challenging and doable. Loved the 'heir cut' clue. Theme answers did make me smile.
@Rex Both you and Orange dismiss my feelings and religious beliefs as a joke.
Quoting you- "John, I assume you were KIDDING with all that BCE "hurting you" nonsense. Any non-Christian who was that sensitive would walk around this country in a Constant World Of Pain."
Quoting Orange- "Are you JOKING? The calendar doesn't belong to one particular religion, I don't think."
WHY WOULD I BE JOKING ABOUT MY FAITH!
Your admonishments are far far far more offensive to me than the original BCE thing (which I'm sure that Dan did with no malice intended).
Amy told me in so many words to shutup about this. Why then are you, a level-headed man, continuing to rub salt-in-the-wounds?
I said after I made my statement, "OFF THE SOAPBOX", and I went off in another direction, but the bloggers seem to want to gloat over this issue.
IRESTMYCASE
Thanks Rex. I realized after I posted the comment, that I meant Homer not Bart. I never actually watched the Simpsons, but I absorbed some knowledge of the show though "osmosis" since my kids had it on constantly. Those characters are lurking somewhere in my sub conscious. I have to say that I was always a tad creeped out by Marge's hair. Thanks for your clarification on duh and d'oh. Now I can get on with my day!
"A.D." / "B.C." does not and never has had anything to do with anyone's "faith." At all. It's not Biblical. It was devised in 525 C.E. If the alternative dating system were the "Screw Christ" system, then yeah, get offended, but C.E. is a faith-neutral way to refer to the calendar. Pick your battles.
rp
BC/BCE, a non-religious issue?
Read this:
BCE vs. BC
@Rex
I picked my battle.(see 12:30 post)
ACETAL an alcohol-based compound, is being used to make cosmetics.
This subversive diversion can only lead to dire circumstances in the production of Aqua-Vitae, ie: Scotch!!!
This must be stopped. NOW !!!
Whew ... I'm glad I got that off my chest (again).
As to the rest of this rigamarole:
No three letter answer (BCE) to what I consider an obuse, apples and oranges, clue (Pre-AD) HAS or could EVER assualt whatever are my religious or non-religious beliefs.
They (my beliefs) are what they are, solely mine. I'll live with them just fine.
TinB.
That logic is precisely the reason I do not wear cosmetics. Scotch, unlike many beauty products is not tested on animals. Nor is limoncello, my favorite beverage in the evening.
Mmm, scotch. I'm having some now. Well, not now now, but in, like, 2 minutes. Cragganmore (more, more)!
But first ... I'm going to test it on my dogs.
rp
@split Inf.
First off, I thought your earlier comment @ 1:01pm was very well stated.
We do see slang in these puzzles all the time. I don't take them as a slight to my language. It is what it is.
Scotch has been tested.
My girlfriend says "When you imbie too much and we make love ... you're an animal!"
I googled limoncello, I may just have to expand my liquor cabinet.
Well, I did a Universal on the 16th that had UTILE crossing USERS (Clued as "Utility customers")! It thought to myself at the time that I wouldn't be seeing such a thing in the LAT!! Admittedly I didn't see it til I got here, but you guys burst my bubble!
Not wanting to stoke the flames, but a Christian here who never bothers or sees the point in being offended by anything a non-believer has to say about anything related to Christianity... Try and convert them, by all means, but don't expect a reverence that they by definition won't be able to understand. In any case BC/BCE/AD is just a convenient reference point and is in no way Biblical. Neither is Christmas for that matter...
@Rex
If memory serves me, your wife got you the Cragganmore for your birthday (Nov.26 / Thanksgiving).
Two things about that:
1) Those are some very lucky dogs.
2) My first is 15yo Pinch in a glass like my avatar ... I toast you with envy.
As a person of Jeiwsh persuasion I am humiliated every time I have to refer to a date as BC or AD how arrogant to force me to use that sort of reference. Remember I came first and y'all stole our script.
This commments section has degenerated in a way that I have never seen, screw the crossword at this point let's talk about Avatar.
You think *you* have calendar issues ....
Calendar issues....
Try living four dimensions....
YER all having calendar issues... : )
Y'all are cracking me up!
I thought tinbeni was female...but maybe not.
@*David*, I'll bet you always enjoy the not-your-holiday lights and decorations this time of year! (Such tremendous use of electricity...)
People who make calendars oughta be called calendaryers.
I have an extra ticket to the Walker for tonight. Anyone want to go? Dinner first at Common Roots, which I swear is not called "Christ Roots" by anyone.
The puzzle? FITLY bothered me almost as much as the other stuff. But seriously, let me know if you wanna come to the Walker.
I can't make it to Mpls in time unless a plane picks me up a block away and goes straight to the Walker.
Seth, I was gonna grumble at Fiend about FITLY too, but I Googled it and all sorts of people are using it. Not as many as NONART, maybe, but it's out there. Who knew?
@Orange
If you click on my name, you find out that I am 57, divorced and a widowER (that means I am a male & my 2nd wife died).
Now if memory serves me, you could get that Tralfamadore whatever who lives/travels in the 4th dimension to get you to Walkers on time.
OMG shades of SlaughterHouse Five & Vonnegut?
When I was an ExPat in Croatia I made a trip to Dresden, Germany.
Years prior I worked for a man named Dresden.
In WWII, we fire-bombed / leveled it for no reason but to show them we could do that.
It is a beautiful city now.
2nd Scotch time ... NOW !!!!
Tinbeni, how do you drink your scotch? I'm a novice with the single malt stuff and I keep thinking I'm doing it wrong (though I have to say, it doesn't feel wrong).
I'm a FITLY and NONART user. Really say these words in my speech and even hear them in the speech of others. Had to think twice about what the PDS groups of law and order ref meant--got it now, Public Defenders.
Thought today's puzzle was great. Thanks all. I've been laid up for a while, but feeling better at last and glad to be back in the swim.
@Rex - a good single malt should be served straight up in a brandy snifter.
Period.
@Rex
We had a short discourse on this on your birthday, late in the day.
As to Scotch ... I'm THE 2nd best drinker in the world. Someone has to be better at it than me (that's a probability thing, I've never met one).
I prefer to use a Brandy Snifter glass (about 4 inches across at its widest point).
I chill it in the freezer or add ONE (and never more) ice cube.
Pour in a jigger or so, say 2 oz.
Take a small sip, let it linger, the longer the linger the better, before swallowing.
Now here's the thing, you can just put it under your nose and sniff (that is why it is called a snifter) and just inhaling the fumes for a little bit, it will get you zonked.
Yup, without even sipping, you can get a real buzz on just sniffing.
(cavaet-emptor, buyer beware).
If you don't use a snifter, drink it NEAT (no more that 1 cube) you do not want to water it down.
@Orange
On Nov.18th at the end of the day you, CHarles Bogel & I had a reparte about "Those aren't Pillows" ... and I explained a whole lot about myself in my last comment. Spouses named Suzette aren't men.
See step 6, here.
@Rex
Never saw that site before, but it sums up what I was saying.
I seen "so-called scotch snobs" pour it over a glass filled with ice ... Why? That's just a scotch & water, yuck! (small 's' intended)
Its like that James Bond "shaken not stirred" martini ... THAT equals a watered down martini.
It is ALL about the distiller's craft, and it needs to be embraced.
(and they already added water to bring down the proof ... do you really need more?)
And I call this section of todays comments:
Tinbeni's gambit ...
Anything to get off the religion discourse over BCE.
But by mentioning the religion thing you've totally negated the getting away from it thing!
Here's the thing re: Scotch undiluted — I feel like it's a bit burny. Like my taste buds are being numbed a bit.
Maybe I'll just smell my scotch from now on.
P.S. to paraphrase a notable "Simpsons" character: Best. Comments Section. Ever.
Good Scotch should taste a little "oakie" the burny thing, let it linger a little longer, roll it around your mouth, that taste bud numbness is a good thing, it should also be smooooooth, there aren't enough "o's" in smooth to describe it.
Remember "it's an acquired taste" ... and it gets better over time.
(by now them's have lost there bitching inertia)
OOh what fun to sit back and listen to the ranting.
Good comments, yes.
I'm enjoying some Dewar's signature now.
Neat ,of course.
I also enjoy Johnnie Walker Green every so often.
Puzzle? Oh, hated it.
@PurpleGuy
Welcome to the party pal!
(Bruce Willis - Die Hard)
JW Green, Good choice, another great 15yo.
For Christmas each year I treat myself to a bottle of the Johnnie Walker Blue 20yo.
I'm not saying it is measurably better ... but at least its not a teenager.
What a bunch of F***in pikers. Rex, you've got two dogs, right? Why not do as I did in days yore. Every evening, buy a quart, put it in the trunk of your car. Take one dog out for a walk, swig half the bottle. Exchange one dog for the other, finish bottle. Try to find your way back to the house.
This works better in the fall in winter, kind of sucks in summer. Always select as the second dog the one most likely to drag you home. I think there were more tricks, but frankly, I don't remember too many of them. Reasons being obvious.
@Tinbeni - What came first, booze or make-up? Which leads me to a question I've had for a very long time. Did Native Americans / Indians / Indigenous persons/ ever use alcohol before the whites came? I can see where a society might never distill liquor, but is it possible they never ran across naturally occurring alcohol from fruit or grains? I've often thought they may have tried and decided it was poison or counter-productive and swore never to do it again; after all, they already had other mind-bending plants and had ritualized their use.
But, they certainly used make-up for any number of occasions.
Anyway, family names can be spelled any number of ways, and Collyer is associated with the OCD brothers in Manhattan who died in their junk.
So, as long as you're up, get me a Grant's.
Bacardi
@Djinn
Ouch, here I was thinking that PDS was referring to Police Depts.
I never even thought of Public Defenders.
It's good to have you back and that you're feeling a lot better now.
@Sfingi
I believe my studies in history indicate a definitive vote for the booze.
Although, primitive man, including the women, did crush flowers and berries and rubbed it on themselves ... probably due to that smell thing, at first ... also for coloration and religious purposes. Hardly makeup which is "perfected" using animal testing.
As to the native indigenous persons, I have read where they made a kind-of beer. This had more to do with killing germs they discovered in some waters (note, they didn't know they were "germs" just noticed that when they drank it, they got sick). And like you said, they had the good stuff ... peyote!
Down here in the spring the birds eat these red berries (don't know their name) that have been heating up/cooling off all winter and they quite frankly get drunk, alcohol forming freely in nature ... its a hoot to watch when it happens.
In fact, your own body will create a simple form of alcohol from your own diet as it is digested ... kind of makes me wonder about the boasting teetotalers who say they have never had alcohol.
What happened here today?
I found out one thing: Rex commented seven times. I'm going to let my friends at the other site know....
@Tinbeni: you're not a girl???
@mac
100% American Male
A while back I clicked on your name, and @mac you're a Female. living in Connecticut, who is a Designer.
I could go on ...
A moniker like "mac" at first made me think you were a guy ...
@Tinbeni: sorry, I hadn't clicked yet. m, a and c are my first initials. Once a bunch of us at Rex's blog thought someone was a male who wasn't. Her comment: I've got to tell my husband I blog boy!
@Tinbeni,
It's interesting how all the women expect that someone they like will be a woman. I'm pretty sure I thought you were a woman to begin with, too. Some guys have a way of pulling their dick out (figuratively) every time they comment. This is off-putting.
Thanks to @Topper for making me legitimately LOL. I will be practicing all today's drinking tips in the near future. I would use being snowed in as an excuse, but ... it's going to miss us. Just.
rp
Thank you for reminding me. I have got to find out what brand that Scotch I had at the party the other night. I drink mine 2 oz, straight, sipped over about 30 min. This stuff had a really nice burn.
I did not mind the eat/eat cross. But I didn't believe it at first. Tried several alts. None worked.
Dick
@Rex
Years ago I was the CFO for a coompany that owned Medical Clinic's ... in Women's HealthCare.
OB/GYN, Birthing Centers & Abortion.
I was the only non-doctor man ... working with 170+ women, for 10 plus years.
You learn to communicate on a higher level than the type of conversations say in a Sports Bar.
I have way more ladies as friends, they talk about "real-Life" and most "guy-talk" is SOOOOO boring, sports, girls (in-a-cheap-way) blah, blah, blah.
I love sports, and talking sports, and I listen to sports radio/TV, but ... I also have way way more female than male friends. I grew up with a very independent mother and a wicked smart / funny / exasperating sister and, so it was virtually impossible for me to see women as anything but equals. I've always been an outsider, guy-wise, when it comes to "normal" gender stuff. These ads on sports tv and elsewhere, where schlubby guys lie to get women, or don't understand women, or do degrading things (to themselves and others) to try to score with a woman, and the women are all (conventionally, boringly) hot and dim ... not a world I live in or would want to live in. Weirdly, my best women friends (and sister) all have more male than female friends. Something about gender segregation makes people a little nutso / boring, frankly. In General! I'm sure there are exceptions. No offense to Smith grads intended.
rp
@Rex
I too am a very big sports fan, remember, Die Hard New York Yankees, F-1, even the TB Bucs (not a good year, this one) Univ.South Fla (1st BA) Univ. Miami (MBA), hell I like curling in the Olympics.
But I draw the line with the yahoo's who can't even figure out a flag in the backfield is usually Holding, who know nothing about the 'actual sport' ... and the comments about a ladies atributes are boring.
They are Ladies not whores, act accordingly.
I'd rather read a book, sip some Scotch than spend a minute with the NASCAR crowd.
It is very dim here when the Daytona 500 happens in Feb.
Luckily I live on the West Coast where the sunsets are perfect.
testing google account
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