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Relative difficulty: Easy-Medium
THEME: lisping on the front end —familiar phrases that start with "S" have that changed to "TH-" and (with appropriate spelling changes) wackiness ensues:
Theme answers:
- THAW / MILL (1A: With 68-Across, release philosopher John Stuart from cryonic suspension?)
- THICK / PUPPY (9A: With 66-Across, slow learner in the litter?)
- THIGHS OF RELIEF (20A: Turkey servings for the famished?)
- THUMBER OLYMPICS (38A: Quadrennial competition for hitchhikers?)
- THEME'S OK TO ME (53A: TV critic's approval of a show's opening tune?)
Omri [...] (fl. 9th century BC) was the sixth king of Israel after Jeroboam, a successful military campaigner, and the founder of the House of Omri, an Israelite royal house which included other monarchs such as Ahab, Ahaziah, Joram, and Athaliah. Along with his predecessor king Zimri who ruled for only seven days, Omri is the first king mentioned in the Bible without a statement of his tribal origin: although some scholars speculate that Omri was from the tribe of Issachar, this is not confirmed by any biblical account. // Mentioned in the Hebrew Bible as well as extra-biblical sources such as the Mesha stele and the Black Obelisk of Shalmaneser III, Omri is also credited with the construction of Samaria and establishing it as his capital. (wikipedia)
• • •
The theme is what it is. It feels old hat, but it has a certain cuteness. Didn't enjoy the fact that two of the themers were so radically cross-referenced. Awkward. Gimmick was obvious from the get go. Here's the opening:
Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld
[Follow Rex Parker on Facebook and Twitter]
P.S. D CUPS > C CUPS (27D: Features of many bras) ... not intrinsically, just, you know, today.
Fun puzzle, amusing theme -- I enjoyed it.
ReplyDeleteThumbs up!
I guess @009's giddiness from last week wore off pretty quickly.
@LMS, I know, I KNOW, you remembered ANC today (fingers crossed). Yeah, kind of clunky. Had OM for Ahab clue and all I could think of was OMoo. Big hang up in the extreme SE. Did like BRINE and SICEM, and hitchin a ride, pretty good as far as earworms go. Thx @Rex.
ReplyDeleteMedium for me. No erasures and @Rex OMRI was the only WOE.
ReplyDeleteGot a chuckle out of this one. Is it PC to be amused by lisping? (Hi Tweety)
Like it more than Rex did, but he's right about the fill. If this had been a Gaffney meta I'd be looking for clues in those sections.
ReplyDeleteI didn't realize Ned White had a lithp, thuffering thuccotash!
I enjoyed this puzzle, it gave me a few chuckles. My favorite theme entry was THICK PUPPY.
I thought however that the ones with an S in them should have been THITHE OF RELIEF, THUMBER OLYMPICTH and THEMETH OK TO ME. What I didn't like much was that two of the themers were delegated to the corners, especially cross referenced across the entire real estate of the grid, which made them feel kind of isolated and not part of the main event.
The fill therefore suffered in those corners, especially NW and SE. ALLI and T-NUT were a little UGLI, as were E-MAG, OMRI, and EGAL, which was trite crosswordese 45 years ago. AISLE, ISLE and HIDIN in the NE ain't picnic either. I believe this was the first time ever that I saw five entries starting with letter-: T-NUT, H-BAR, H-BOMB, C-CUP, E-MAG. Did I miss any? That's overdoing it in my book -- thank goodness I don't have a book.
Once again, ASHORE is not "how things may drift," it is "where things may drift." ASHORE is definitely a location. The last time I came ASHORE, it was a place. Afloat is a method, ASHORE is not.
And then there is HOO. HOO? HOO? Now I sound like an owl.
Favorite non-themers: ASTRA next to NIHIL. Not much else stands out -- I missed the long down entries of 6+ letters. ASKSIN and NISSAN didn't do it for me.
It is after XII o'clock -- gotta go to sleep. Good night all.
I agree that the entries were dull and kind of junky, but the theme was fresh and cleverly-clued. I liked it a lot.
ReplyDeleteTHEME'S OK TO ME. But once I'd connected my T-NUT to my H-BAR I was groaning, and there was more to come. I did love the low (TENT) stakes and having my puzzle drop TROU.
ReplyDelete@Alias Z, I think there are a few more:
T-RACE {Getting from the Red Line to the Blue line in Boston?}
E-MS and E-GAL {The virtual character in "Her?"}
N-ILE and A-ISLE {Place where big bombs were tested?}
I-SEE {Next big Apple product?}
S-TEAM {19th option?)
Disclaimer: Please note the following comment you are about to read is from an amateur solver that rarely finishes past a Wednesday (and I didn't, in this case). Reader discretion is advised.
ReplyDeleteFirst Take: Bah, I was so sure I was going to finish this one. Made great progress, then got the full theme (including the corners, which I didn't pick up on right away), and then hit a wall in three different areas due to incorrect answers. I foolishly had TAGGED instead of TAILED for (Followed as a suspect) due to my having THIGHSOFREGRET instead of THIGHSOFRELIEF. In the end, a DNF for me, but it was close. Less keen on the fill versus Monday and Tuesday, but this one was adequate overall. At a quick glance, seeing HBAR and TNUT (and EMAG? No thanks.) stick out make me cringe a bit, but the theme amused me and I near finished. I'll take it.
Favorite Clue and Answer: THUMBEROLYMPICS (Quadrennial competition for hitchhikers?) The other theme answers were amusing enough, but I got them and moved on. Once I dropped in the TH and got THUMBER, I saw I had THUMBEROLYMPICS basically filled in and didn't get it until I read it aloud in my ahead. The silliness of it probably made the puzzle for me. (Thinking about it, the theme in a way kind of allows it to be a quasi-interactive puzzle.)
Thing I learned: I didn't know that an UGLI was a hybrid. I know of its existence from the punny clues of former crosswords, but thought it was an exotic standalone. A hybrid of grapefruit, orange and tangerine--huh. For those who have actually tasted an UGLI, feel free to WEIGH in on this one.
Final Take: I agree with Rex' analysis of the fill: If ARIA isn't in the top of bail-out fill, you've got problems. At the end of the day, for the casual solver (I would include myself in this group, despite my now trend of doing it every day), it gets the job done for a fun-enough theme at a coffee shop or something.
Liked the puzzle, but the B in 38A bothered me. It just didn't seem to fit with the other long answers. Loved how the corners fit in, loved THICK PUPPY. Avatar sometimes fits thar bill, maybe with age things will improve, sure is cute though.
ReplyDeleteLooking forward to a cool rebus tomorrow. You with me @joho?
@JFC in response to your comment yesterday. We think the tragic loss to the Seahawks last season will propel the Packers to the Superbowl. Any bets?
ReplyDeleteTHUMBEROLYMPICS is OKAYTOME, but the others are a bit too wacky and one, THAW MILL struck me as beyond having any plausibility, any connection, however far-fetched, between the base phrase and the goofified version. We are supposed to imagine someone who lived in the 1800's is in cryonic suspension? And then he's "released" from said suspension? Too much of a stretch for me.
ReplyDeleteSo the theme didn't grab me and there was NIHIL in the fill to compensate. And I always go into a nit snit over 23A HBAR (and its oft used counterpart IBAR). Both are usually clued as is the case today, "Flanged construction beam". Yeah, in crossword construction. That's the only place I've ever seen one of them. SOSAD.
Grapefruit also a hybrid, no? It is only the second S in THUMBEROLYMPICS that represents an "s" sound; the other second S's are "z." I think of ASHORE as an adverb, not a noun.
ReplyDeleteThe grid pattern of this puzzle has been used 12 times in the Shortz era. Prior to today's puzzle the last time it was used was in 2004. Curiously 9 of the 12 grids were puzzles by Gregory E. Paul.
ReplyDeletegrids
The grid has 40 black squares which is more than the recommended maximum of 38. However, this puzzle differs from the others in that it has five theme entries rather than three (the other two are the tucked into the upper and lower corners: THAW MILL and THICK PUPPY). Perhaps the theme density was why Will Shortz forgave the extra black squares.
🌕🌕 (2 mOOns)
ReplyDeleteEverything was fine except RIPS. Never heard that word used in that context. No doubt my problem but as I TROU out the moons….
The THEMESOKbyme and on Wordplay Ned apologizes for OMRI. Very easy for a Wednesday. Wednesday is my gateway puzzle and as such I have high expectations.
3 solid puzzles in a row. Thank you Ned.
Like my blog mates I appreciate THICK PUPPY. Note: When you say SICEM to a THICK PUPPY it throws up.
Any ideas where "Natasha Bella" found her avatar pic?
ReplyDelete@jae yesterday - I don't know if that's a good thing.
If you are going to use a RRN hide it off to the side with great crosses where one (well, me) might not notice. Do not, I repeat, Do Not put it smack dab in the middle with RIG for a cross, smiling like a cheap whore in a seedy bar... or Natasha Bella.
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ReplyDeleteWell, right off the bat, I had "sir" for how to address that sergeant, so that messed me up for a bit.
ReplyDelete@Moly Shu – I *did* remember ANC! Hah!
@Z - you're kidding, right? Shark Tank meets Dancing with the Stars!
@McFly – I liked your "thighs of regret." I had ten, count'em -ten Reesie CUPS yesterday watching the USA-Germany game. Just sayin'. . .
I'm not much of a cook, so my, uh, kitchen-think solver brain shorted out and I had "saute" before STEAM. That gave me "Utne" crossing "meme." I swear, I always go to "meme" before EGAL. Knowing that 68A had to be MILL sorted that corner out. I can throw around the name Jeremy Bentham, too, if I have to, but it's a stretch.
I'm with those who liked this. I have a high tolerance for gluey fill if the theme pays off, and I liked the lispy answers. 61 squares devoted to themers. That's a lot of real estate to work around. I saw all the objectionable entries and knew there would be complaints. It's a topic that has been discussed in the crossword blogosphere for a long time: fill vs theme. Monday through Thursday, figuring out the theme for me is my only focus, and that helps me dispatch things like OMRI, NIHIL, and HOO with nary a thought. Well, it used to be nary a thought. Since I've been participating here, I've become much more aware of the less-than-desirable entries, but I'll take the trade-off any day for THICK PUPPY and THEMES OKAY TO ME. Let's just all pause and be thankful that THONG OF SOLOMON is a 14. THONG BIRD, on the other hand, brings up funny mental images.
So I'll go stand next to @Whirred Whacks and @mathguy and the others who enjoyed this.
Good theme - with clever placement in the corners.
ReplyDeleteBut it did have a roughish, masculine tilt - with Drop TROU, and sick puppies, and construction beams, bra sizes, swinging bats, sleuthing suspects, etc. An interesting stream of consciousness from the constructor. And, perhaps, a lisp fits into this profile somehow as well.
I agree, @dk. Around here, if someone 'RIPS one' you don't think of baseball.
ReplyDeleteI thought the puzzle was fine, if unmemorable.
THICK PUPPY brought a big smile. THAW MILL works for me, too, probably because I don't take any of these silly answers literally and happily join in on their wackiness.
ReplyDeleteI got a kick out the theme and didn't dwell on the fill.
I always perk up when I see a constructor is able to make two 14s work.
Yes, @chefwen, I, too, am hoping for a tricky rebus tomorrow but in the meantime, thanks, Ned White, for the fun today!
,
I felt SOSAD over the thought of the PUPPY MILL occupying the bottom corners of the grid.
ReplyDeleteI looked up the legend that the Habsburg lisp was due to ankyloglossia and could find no evidence to support that claim. The American Academy of pediatrics had finally recognized it as a condition that should be treated not just for prevention of lisps, but also for more comfortable feedings for both mothers and babies. It is one of many causes of maternal pain and weight loss in babies. Recently a biomechanical engineer did a brilliant study on how the tongue functions while infants feed. The tongue actually dies not have a full wave pattern. The anterior part of the tongue merely goes up and down. It is the posterior tongue that creates peristalsis.
While much of the fill was SO SAD, the theme was a HOOt. Especially liked THICK PUPPY and THUMBER OLYMPICS.
DeleteDoes the THPELLCASTER do the crossword before she comes here?
Ankyloglossia = tongue tie.
ReplyDeleteOh, @Rex, I hope you are able to shake your UGLI mood.
ReplyDeleteAmy (NYT blog) hated this puzzle worse than Rex did. I can see her points, and generally agree.
ReplyDeleteRex's scathing review aside, I did think that HBOMB, HBAR, and TNUT were a bit much.
ReplyDeleteThe CCUPS and ANC crossing were a near DNF...I don't know Mandela's org., so AN--and then any size bra cup would have worked.
Otherwise, puns.
It was certainly not as bad as Rex made it out to me...at least for me.
"Been in a murderous mood all day for no clear reason, so I'm going to try hard not to take it out on the puzzle, but it's not going to be easy because the concept here is tired and the fill is truly wretched. There's no way your really good constructors are gonna subject you to a raft of junk like this."
ReplyDeleteYou obviously failed miserably in achieving that goal. Quit being such a whiner.
Really liked it. THAW MILL amused me. THEMESOKTOME was perfect.
ReplyDeleteTexeira RIPS one to right; its outta here! Completely in the language of baseball.
Welcome back, @Rex! Some pollyanna type has been impersonating you.
ReplyDeleteIn baseball, as I've heard it, you 'rip' a hit when you hit it hard and low -- "he ripped a single to left' -- you 'slam' a homer.
As for the puzzle, I'm with those who enjoyed the theme and didn't worry too much about the fill -- although H-BAR got to me. The wikipedia disambiguation page gives 4 meanings of the phrase, none of them having anything to do with an overachieving I-beam.
Being a little THICK, I didn't see THAW right away, so I put in MILL and solved the puzzle from the bottom up. Kind of interesting.
I want make sure that you understand how much I bent over backward to be nice to this puzzle. Let me make it very clear: comments like "the concept here is tired and the fill is truly wretched" and "a raft of junk like this" and "the worst little corner I've seen in ages" are comments that show, sadly, that my "murderous" mood had no effect on my impression of this puzzle. You see I overcame my mood and was just as fair as I could be do this repugnant pile of horse cookies. It's just a coincidence that a puzzle this bad was published on a day when I woke up on the wrong side of the bed. On another day, maybe I would have heaped praise on this piece of junk. Nah.
ReplyDelete
ReplyDelete@LMS, we learned recently that only the Marines address a sgt. "sir", Army sgts. work for a living and the Navy has no sgts. This helped me avoid the "sir" error.
Did you notice that just about every sentence in Natasha Bella's erudite comment starts with "So"? I get many emails from girls named Natasha. They are always 24 years old, wear C-CUPS, and want to come to America for a thong and a dance to call me PUPPY and make me happy.
Speaking of Russians and PUPPY, let me offer you the suite from the ballet "The RED PUPPY*" by Reinhold Glière ending with the "Russian Sailors' Dance." Sorry, no excerpts from the ballet EL CID by Massenet, nor a TOSCA ARIA nor TOSCA néni today.
*This is how I heard Russian sailors pronounce "poppy."
Didn't enjoy this puzzle theme as much as usual on a Wednesday. The TH for S substitution seemed forced, and after the first one I solved (THAW MILL) it seemed overly tiring to discover more. Things I learned: HBAR is a thing, apparently. Didn't know NIHIL or OMRI due to a substandard education, presumably. Also RIPS for home run swings...is that really a thing?
ReplyDeleteI want to say something positive too, so... KER (13D start to "plunk") made me laugh. A little.
If one hath a lithp doethn't the lithp thtick around? Thumber Olympicth, Tighth of relief, themeth ok to me? Thith inconthithtenthy bothered me. Tho Thad.
ReplyDeleteTOSCA RIPS RECAP
ReplyDeleteRUGRATS HID IN RED C CUPS
THEME'S OKAY TO ME
@Alias Z - I hadn't gotten past the avatar. Based on that I guessed an enhanced DD cup, not a C CUP. Now that you have pointed out the excessive use of "so" it raises an interesting grammatical point. Apparently there exists the Dramatic So and the Melodramatic So.
ReplyDelete@LMS - Pretty sure The Thong of Solomon is a XXX classic starring Natasha Bella.
I liked the solve, and liked Rex's rant. I can enjoy the theme, and can learn something from Rex's harsh, and often over-enthusiastic criticisms.
ReplyDeleteI had a bit of a lisp as a little kid, just with the -tch- in kitchen or chicken. People used to ask me to say "kit-thin window" so they could titter.
Our resident barred owls have been HOO-HOO-HOO-HOOing for a couple of weeks now. Haven't heard the screech of their fledgling RUGRATS yet, though.
Mr. White, yes, there was some cringe-worthy fill, but was it unforgivable? Nah - like yesterday, I had fun guessing the answers.
@Grammar Nazi's Friend (et. al.). -- (from yesterday)
ReplyDeleteI missed all your ignorant posts after mine yesterday, but just now saw them, corrected all of you.
Sorry to all others here ...
If it weren't for Natasha Bella, we'd have nothing to talk about except the fll, so at least she gave us that. But I wish spellcasters were like vampires, who can't enter a blog unless they are ASKed IN.
ReplyDeleteThis was disappointingly easy for a Wednesday -- I finished with no cheats at all. Oh, wait, not true. I used Google to verify OMRI.
My standards for puzzle construction just dropped a notch, though. Last night I went to a baby shower and the main organizer had set up some games for us, including a "word scramble". First column had some "child-rearing-themed" words and phrases (e.g., "self esteem"), second column had gibberish collections of letter. Challenge is to find out which gibberish contains the scrambled version of which word or phrase. Made more challenging by the fact that the scrambled versions also contained EXTRA letters -- so two of the entries could have been unscrambled to spell "quality time", and finally, even more challenging by the fact that one of the phrases did not actually have a corresponding scramble because the one that was supposed to match was MISSING one of the letters.
At least Mr. White's puzzle didn't have any eels. Thank you, SIR.
I pray to God there was booze at that shower.
DeleteI'm with @Amy on this one, which seems rude, tacky at best. Quite surprised that this theme saw the light of day.
ReplyDelete"Even, to Yvonne" could have also been "pair" (odd = impair). Clues like this one should not be ambiguous.
ReplyDeleteI have to agree that the fill was sub par but there is nothing wrong with the theme. Wacky - Yes. Tired - No
ReplyDeleteMcflly - Enjoy your review for the rest of us who rarely finish a Wednesday. Keep them coming. I had the same stupid mistake of TAggED instead of TAILED. So THIGHS OF REgret instead THIGHS OF RELIEF. DNF.
I missed the late-night comments yesterday, so, thanks to @Billy C, I went back to take a look.
ReplyDelete@Billy C from yesterday @8:48pm:
"So does a lot of informal posts here for which you have ZERO tolerance."
Others quickly pointed out what a wretched sentence this is, and our dependable buffoon @Billy doubled down to defend himself.
There is simply no arguing with someone who thinks this sentence is grammatically correct in any context.
Only a guy could come up with a clue that asks for the feature of a bra and responds with a cup size. Is the feature of your tighty whitey underwear 34? Sheesh. If that didn't give it away, there's always Drop Trou, something women say... never.
ReplyDelete**RP Negativity Count for 07/01/15**
ReplyDelete- murderous
- tired
- truly wretched
- raft of junk
- far from self-aware
- repugnance
- tired
- much worse
- worst little corner
- no excuse
- Barf
- truly unprofessional
- lamest
- terribly, desperately wrong
- not a thing
- lazy
- terribleness
- how not to fill puzzle
- Embarrassing
- old hat
- Didn't enjoy
- Awkward
- I can barely look at this grid
- Gimmick was obvious
- UGLI
- Gah
- gimmick
- weird
- wholly unsatisfactory
Total RPNC = 29
Delightfully goofy. Add me to those who liked it a lot and especially loved THICK PUPPY. "Start to 'plunk'" and "Sob syllable" also made me laugh.
ReplyDeleteSome nice neighboring pairs: ASHORE-REEF, the Latin ASTRA-NIHIL, the epic-in-their-own-way EL CID and TOSCA, MISTY by STEAM. TAILED next to HID IN reminded me of the recent NY State manhunt.
Did anyone else need to sing the Jetsons' THEME to themselves to remember ELROY (just notice the cute contrast with EL CID)?
Last answer to go in...RIPS. I ran the alphabet and I hate doing that. RIPS is not the word for a homer swing to me.
ReplyDeleteThis puzzle didn't make me cranky. It made me think of Bugs Bunny.
While I always enjoy a gimmick and can appreciate this one, as a "wordie", I prefer to
celebrate correct spelling, usage, AND pronounciation. It seems the point of being here, even if sometimes we can't "hear" each other as well as we should. I'm out of the pulpit for the rest of the day. Sorry, Bugs.
Can't decide which is more entertaining- Rex's rant or Porker's rant about Rex's rant...
ReplyDeleteNot a bad puzzle- I agree- THEMES OKAY TO ME- but that SE corner was UGLI.
Yesterday, we had cute puns. Today we had cute puns. But, unlike yesterday, today's puzzle offered quite a bit of resistance. I figured out what was going on at THIGHS OF RELIEF (you gotta love that answer!) Like @Whirred, mathguy, joho, et al, I really enjoyed this puzzle. I smiled at all the puns, but even had they not been as funny, I still would have appreciated the challenge presented.
ReplyDeleteLike @lms, I also had SAUTE before STEAM. Plus I had FEMA before FDIC (I was looking for a river bank type of bank.) But no other writeovers.
@Alias -- Nice pickup on ASHORE. I agree: It should be a "where", not a "how". I was briefly thrown by it, too.
I never care whether Rex likes 'em or doesn't like 'em. I only care how he rates them. And the fact that he found today's easier than yesterday's is a mystery to me.
@Loren, me too on how to address a sergeant! I guess you could call them ALS?
ReplyDeleteHOO boy, me too started this PUPPY right off with the bat with THAW MILL and an evil grin, anticipating how well this would goover with OFL and other aficionados of xword punishment. Must admit that THUMBEROLYMPICS elicited a mOO of disbelief even here, but I loved it. SOSAD that some find it UGLI. Only UGLI one pour moi is PUPPY MILL.
Stake in TENTS is, low or high. Make mine a NY strip, pls.
Oh yeah, thought I thaw a mithed opportunity to clue THIGHmaster to THuzanne THUMBERS [thigh].
@AlasZ, thought you might be serving up some succotash, and have another goat ASHORE.
@JFC, we'll always have ILSA, won't we?
@dk, I'm on a 10-day tour of cleanup duty for a 14 yo cocker and a triumvirate of cats who jealously bolt their food, so thanks for the SICEM PUPPY combo.
Little known fact: Rodin's first crack was at sculpting a novice swimmer, which didn't work too well, on account of the waves. He said "I'm thunk, though I went for it hook, line and thinker"... and that's when inspiration struck.
A friend [of mine, whose else's?] posed for a rare portrait by artist Thaddeus Jameson. As with many of his works, it was done in black & white, which didn't please her, so she asked him, "Colour me, Thad".
When the Tall Ships sail in: Hi there, THALER!!
Well-meant advice to anorectics: Go forth and THIN no more
What Thor said: What I have joined, let no one put a thunder
What Macbeth said to his Lady: You're making me in THANE
What the trumpeter said when the roof leaked: Thatch mo'
What the neurophage ordered at the deli: THALAMI on rye
(That took more brains than guts)
And one for the chemists' relatives: Working with some refractory solids can give you the heartbreak of thoria, Sis
That'll be enough, after a quick shout-out to THUDSbury, ONTARIO.
Enjoy all y'alls' Wednesday.
"Thyrsi for Circe"
@Mr. Nazi, sir --
ReplyDeleteRe: "There is simply no arguing with someone ..." Hm-m-mmm ... Isn't that what you just did?
BTW .. The sentence was grammatically correct, and factually correct. Sorry you don't get that.
BTBTW -- How'd you like the puzzle? It took me a while to see the theme, but chuckled when I got it at "sick puppy." It didn't occur to me until I got here, but I tend to agree that the theme is a bit insensitive.
A hand is more than the thumb of its parts.
ReplyDeleteAs I read Rex's legitimate critique/RECAP of this puzzle's construction, I was watching a PBS rerun of "Mount RuSHmORE/American Experience" which detailed the IcONIC monument's amazing construction. What a contrast! The footage covering the 14 years of construction is remarkable to view, esp. as Independence Day approaches. It made me a bit MISTY-eyed. Catch it if you can.
ReplyDeleteAgreed that the OKAY THEME was weakened by the UGLI fill.(EMS was pretty awful). So what else is new? I bow down to anyone who even endeavors to construct a puzzle, warts and all!
Thanks, NW and WS.
Really? A theme based on a speech impediment? The world xword constructors remains firmly planted in the distant past. Next time, maybe a puzzle that mocks the mobility impaired. Good Lord, Shorz, you have truly reached the bottom.
ReplyDeleteSome delightful comments here this a.m. @Leapfinger: I absolutely loved "We'll always have ILSA." (Though I couldn't find the JFC post that provoked it.) @Alias: Your sergeants comment was SO funny, considering what an astonishing amount of time the people on this blog spent talking about the proper way to address sergeants a few days ago. One of the things I have, happily, never had to worry my pretty little head about. (When you think of me, don't think of women chomping at the bit to get into the Marine Corps. Think of Private Benjamin.) @Hartley: Can't find the shower you're referring to -- the one where you're hoping booze will be served. @Anon 10:13: nice pun. Why not tell us who you are?
ReplyDeleteThe NY Times could do better than to publish a puzzle in which making light of a speech defect is the theme. And it's a shitty puzzle to boot.
ReplyDeleteI take it back. THEME'S not OK TO ME. I didn't se the offense,mane I'm sure the constructor didn't mean any. But an offense it is. I'm sorry.
ReplyDeleteAddendum to @Loren: Like you, I focus on the 'me' in 'theme'.
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad that you came up with THONG OF THOLOMON; I had some real hesitation about airing With a THONG in my Part.
Lips-sealed on the subject of tongue-tied. Pour moi, peristalsis occurs elsewhere:
Thanks, @AlasZ. Virtually all Canadians sport a Red Puppy on Remembrance Day. Yours is a fine example of the art before the Revolution put its stamp on the culture. Baci mi, bambino!
We all seem to be getting somewhat deep into D CUPS; I'm thinking the best fill would be the S-CUP SCUPpernong... Coming soon, to a vintner near you. [Never mind, the grape is better than the wine.]
Hard to keep up with the comments coming thick and fast...
Hey All !
ReplyDeleteI contacted the spell caster, he asked me to spell caster...
This THEMES pretty neat. OKAY TO ME! Fav was THUMBER OLYMPICS. Now that's good stuff. B is silent, to the poster who complained about it not being a solid themer, so all's good. H BAR new, only know t-bar or i-bar. Three writeovers: Bid->BET, RElief->REMEDY (before I got 20A), TROw->TROU. Another 100% with no cheats today! Woo HOO! To recap, Sun, Mon, Wed 100%. Man, I'm good! (Enjoy it while I can, Fri and Sat right around the corner!)
Since I'm the Resident Word Ladder Guy (already forgot the name! :-) ), lets go from THAW to MILL:
THAW
THAT
TEAT
TEAL
SEAL
SELL
SILL
MILL
EXUDE
RooMonster
DarrinV
@Billy C: As loath as I am to give grammar nazi any hint of credit for serving a remotely useful purpose in these comments, he's absolutely right that there's nothing at all grammatically correct about "So does a lot of informal posts ...".
ReplyDeleteAs to the puzzle: It can be seen as a simple substitution theme (only the initial S's are swapped, after all), but it still comes too close to mocking a genuine speech impediment. Maybe if there'd been a reference to this, it would have been better. Maybe. Still wouldn't have overcome being on the wrong side of the theme quality to fill quality ratio.
@Nancy:
ReplyDeleteNOT a correction, but I thought you'd might be interested to know that the original, and still preferred, expression is "champing at the bit." It has evolved into the still acceptable "chomping at the bit," but the history behind the phrase is fascinating. It joins "spitting image," "the proof is in the pudding," and "run the gauntlet" (among many others) as phrases that have become more commonly used in their bastardized forms over time.
Verbumleitermaus! That's who I be! Ah, I guess Word Ladder Guy is also acceptable. :-)
ReplyDeleteRooMonster
When I finished this THICK PUPPY, my first thought was that Steven Pastis was now writing puzzles under the name of "Ned White". You know, just like Pooh lives under the name of Sanders. (For those of you who do not have a newspaper with comics in it, Pastis is the creator of "Pearls Before Swine", a comic that often featurs bad -- no, terrible -- puns.)
ReplyDeleteI solved this one from the bottom up. Almost a DNF until I got OLYMPICS, which gave me ELCID, which meant that crosswordy author was EDA and not Ena. In the NW, I had G flat before G CLEF.
Hands up if you've never heard of SHEA butter.
Bad fill, yes, but much slack must be cut for a puzzle that has THEMES OK TO ME".
Addendum to my post @ 11:22: How could I have forgotten "card shark?" I'm slipping in my old age.
ReplyDelete
ReplyDelete@Leapy, Thad Jameson and Auguste Rodin in one comment, and it's not even Auguste yet? I am chuffed to see you back in your usual punny, creative form.
You must remember this, a kiss is just a kiss, but a thigh is just a thigh in a bucket of KFC.
ASHORE was used in NYT puzzles 89 times since April 1954. "How" clues were used only six times, starting with Patrick Berry on January 21, 2007 (see below). The other 83 times the correct (in my view) "where" clues were used in many creative ways, my favorites being "Having missed the boat", "Taking liberty" and "Not on the briny", along with lots of "On terra firma"s, "On land"s and "Not at sea"s.
Wednesday, July 1, 2015: How things may drift - Ned White
Friday, May 22, 2015: How some things are washed - David Woolf
Wednesday, November 6, 2013: How driftwood may end up - Jacob McDermott
Sunday, January 10, 2010: How something might be washed - Mel Rosen
Friday, July 6, 2007: Bad way for a ship to be driven - Pete Mitchell
Sunday, January 21, 2007: How things may get washed - Patrick Berry
Perhaps Will thought it wise to mix it up a little to confuse everyone. It doesn't work for me, it just pitheth me off.
Sri and out.
@old timer: It seems appropriate to solve this one from the bottom up. I always try to drop TROU before entering C CUPS.
ReplyDeleteRex nailed it today. ONE CARD is not a thing
ReplyDelete@Nancy, refer to @EllenS. Sorry. On the iphone, a reference appears in gray, right under the original post. I forgot it gets posted chronologically on the computer. As in all things, my iphone is more logical. If you're ever confused in the summer, Nancy, may I suggest a nice rose wine?
ReplyDelete@aketi -- yes I saw that PUPPY MILL too, accompanied by the SOSAD. I preferred to shorten that PUPPY and focus on the PUP TENT.
ReplyDeleteI feel ambivalent about whether it's okay to base a theme on a speech impediment. You can see it like a simple sound-for-sound subsitution, I suppose, but that doesn't really remove the lisp association. The theme answers made me smile, but then there was that "oh, wait" afterward. Is my heart too "bleeding" in this case? Just don't know.
The puzzle itself was medium for me, with a couple of crunchy areas. CCUPS seems like green paint to me. After all was said and done, I enjoyed the solve, but then there was that "oh, wait".
Factoid: A PUPPY is born toothless, unable to hear or smell, and doesn't open its eyes until it is nine to twelve days old.
ReplyDeleteQuotoid: Always write angry letters to your enemies. Never MAIL them." -- James Fallows
Mini theme: AISLE/ISLE/NILE/NIHIL
ReplyDeleteI hate it when my noun and verb disagree. Generally I just stay out of it.
ReplyDelete@Alias Z - ASHORE is a tricky one. That "a" seems to suggest "where" to me, too, as in "at the" or "toward." How though, seems okay if the sense is "condition." I wouldn't easily use it that way so it is not the "preferred" usage in my opinion, but the language is more flexible than I am.
I'm with Lewis on the theme. It twitched my "don't go around insulting people" bone. But I've never met an adult with a noticeable lisp (speech therapists in public schools seem to do a very good job eliminating them) so I don't know if lisps are even much of a thing anymore. Is it an insult if there is no one to insult? Or am I just sheltered from people who have embarrassing lisps? So, yeah, an uneasy unease with the theme.
@AliasZ, @Nancy,
ReplyDeleteIn the dictionary, SHORE is a noun, but ASHORE is an adverb. I think "how" would be acceptable for any adverb.
Insensitive? Insulting? It never occurred to me that this theme was offensive until reading the comments. As a self-confessed child lisper, I feel eminently qualified to weigh in.
ReplyDeleteI don't remember being embarrassed or mocked as a kid, and I don't think it lasted very long. Like @Z, I don't know of any adult that speaks that way, so there must not be any.
Didn't Gilda Radnor and SNL have a very successful, very long-running gag making fun of Baba Wahwah's speech impediment?
Funny - no one complained about the stuttering puzzle a few months back- a speech impediment that affects adults.
Which brings me to my stuttering anecdote:
I was selling laptops to the Scarsdale police department. The Chief of Police was a very gregarious guy. He (and the stutterer in question) told me this story:
The desk sergeant was a stutterer. When a lost driver stopped to ask directions to the town of Mamaroneck (an unfortunate toponym to have say when you have that affliction), he struggled mightily to get the question out.
The Sgt. struggled to tell him to take a luh-luh-luh-left on Ma-ma-ma-maroneck Road.
Assuming he was being mocked by an insensitive oaf, the driver said "Fu-fu-fu-ck you!", and stomped off in a huff.
Must not be easy to deal with that kind of impediment.
LOL @Lewis! If you wear a D or double D CUP and have to squeeze into a C CUP you will definitely realize that C CUP is not green paint!
ReplyDeleteI noted this, especially the theme answers -- easily worth some crosswordese fill.
ReplyDeleteRex, why such a subtle review? What did you really think about this?
Oops, "noted" should have been "enjoyed."
ReplyDeleteThis was kinda the Looney Tunes of crossword puzs. Most of the Warner Brothers stable of cartoon characters had stutters, lisps, whatever it was Elmer Fudd had, southern/Mexican/French accents, etc. Even the Roadrunner's beep sorta had a Brooklyn accent.
ReplyDeleteThat was one OMRI sucker of a SE corner, fill-wise, to say "T-t-that's All Folks!" with, btw.
@009: har. Sure glad U decided to take yer real foul state of mind and make lemonade. Hate to think what U mighta done, if U had decided to take it all out on the WedPuz. (yo, @COIXT Records)
Ned, Ned, Ned… If U are gonna make a desperate SE corner, I say why pussyfoot around? Go for it! One example…
ACROSS
62. Saturn's bitty buddy??
65. M&A moment of discovery sound
68. See 1-Across
DOWN
52. Backward shopping areas??
57. [You look familiar, but I have no earthly idea what your name is]
58. Breakfast of champions, e.g.
59 Real mixed up foreign dude??
[Note on the above: day-um. You'da thought @muse would have the common courtesy of supplying the answer for something like this!]
KER-NIHIL, U XII THICK PUPPIES,
M&A
Insensitive theme vs sensitive solvers? Compare and contrast, with special attention to context, and the spelling of 'bowdlerize'.
ReplyDelete"One HOO seeks cause to feel insult will seldom find disappointment", Epictactless
@Gramma Nazi, enjoyed your bit on the history of phrases. The proof is in the eating (or reading), isn't it? I'm still more comfortable with a 'card sharp' than with 'jumping the shark'.
@old timer, no surprise that I thoroughly enjoy P<Swine whenever I see it. If you like AAMilnery, I hope you've seen The POOh Perplex, a handful of analyses from various perspectives: journalistic, Red Scare, psychoanalytic, etc. It changed forever how I think of Eeyore's burst birthday balloon and the empty honey-pot.
Sri Lancashire
30D - Web giant? AOL is a Web Giant? (maybe it was in the late 90's, early 2000's, but these days it is just another content provider. If AOL is a web giant, what are Google, FB, Twitter?
ReplyDeleteThink of the RIPS answer this way. When a batter takes a mighty swing, and whiffs, fouls it off or pops up, the announcer might say he was 'swinging for the fences', 'just missed it by a hair' or 'really took a rip at that pitch'.
ReplyDeleteIts more often used in the context of over-swinging.
RT
ReplyDelete"Been in a murderous mood all day for no clear reason, so I'm going to try hard not to take it out on the puzzle,"
Not hard enough evidently.
As far as Rex Porker is concerned, Rex Parker is the gift that keeps on giving.
ReplyDeleteI wonder what Rex's students do when he's in a murderous mood?
Lisping is a form of a handicap so I am mildly surprised the NYT would publish this theme. I guess some handicaps are better than others. When I was a mere child in a CPS grade school, I was sent to speech therapy because I had trouble saying my Rs. Rabbit came out wabbit, a bit like Elmer Fudd. In that class I learned Twinkle, twinkle little staRRRR. How I wonder where you RRRR!!!! Eventually, I outgrew the problem or how to enunciate my Rs. So now I can properly pronounce Wex Pawka.
@Chefwen, I don't think it would be good to bet you that the Pack will make the Super Bowl (much less win it) and they probably are the favorite to win the North so I'm not going there. Maybe individual games. My only goal this year is to see John Fox's frozen face in December to see how long it will take for him to retire.
JFC
@M&A
ReplyDeleteU asked a couple of days ago for the constructor with the highest U average. Here is what I found.
Jeremy Newton got 130 U's into his 13 published puzzles for an average of 10 U's per puzzle. Next highest U average was Kelsey Blakley: 70 U's in 8 puzzle for an average of 8.750000.
I have put all of Jeremy's U words and the U averages for all constructors with 7 or more published puzzles here
Where do you get all this data from?
ReplyDelete@r.alph: Wow. mucho thanx. U do very excellent work. Them constructioneers can not help but take notice, now that they know U are watching em and gathering these stats. (This is still allowed, under the revised Patriot Act law, btw.)
ReplyDeleteMight be too late for that Albert J. Klaus dude, tho (U-average below 2, and last published in 1996). Albert pitched a shut-out, on 25 Jul 1994, btw; surprised that the Shortzmeister let that one get thru.
The people with the highest U-averages did have a high % of SunPuzs, which would figure.
M&A is now inclined to fearlessly estimate: the number of unique 15x15 grid pattern combos, that meet @r.alph's latest condition set, would number about 10 to the 15th power. They call that a quadrillion, I'm told. Some of these grids would probably look butt-ugly, however. It's actually hard to believe there has been any duplication much of grid layouts at all, so far. Maybe some constructioneers just find some layouts more convenient (and less butt-ugly) than others.
M&A has just about exhausted all viable 7x7 symmetric runtpuz grid patterns, with published puzs, btw. And M&A has even had one with all white squares! Had written one up with all black squares, but the xwordinfo solver software absolutely will not accept it. Retirement may need to be considered? But I digress…
Thanx again, for those neat "respectfUl" stats.
Masked & Anonymo4Us
Except for Nancy Nicholson, it looks as if women (and Commonwealth constructioneers) tend to be light on U's. This might be a new Y-chromosome-mediated trait. Do we have data on constructioneer citizenship?
ReplyDeleteFor reasons known to few, it was a kick to see Xan Vongsathorn's name come up again. That guy can run rings around a theme.
@Anonymous 3:07PM
ReplyDeleteFrom xwordinfo.com, e.g., the following URL will display today's puzzle in JSON format
http://www.xwordinfo.com/JSON/data.aspx?date=7/1/2015&track=true
Then it is just SMOP (Small Matter Of Programming)
@M&A
All black squares? If this is true let me know the desired behavior over at the parking garage. I may be able to modify my program to accommodate it.
ReplyDeletemy testimony goes to DR ZACK BALO ,me and my ex boyfriend breakup 4 months ago and he told me that he don't love me any more and went to be with another woman.i was still in love with him and need him back i try to get him back but all my effort was in avail until i reach out to the internet for help and i saw a testimony of a spell caster,i decided to give it a try and i contacted him and tell him my problem.He cast a love spell for me and guarantee me 3 days that my ex boyfriend will come back to me and to my greatest surprise my ex boyfriend come back to me and beg for forgiveness and promise never to live me again,i am so happy my ex boyfriend is back to me again,thank you DR ZACK BALO for reuniting me and my ex boyfriend back together again.if you need him to help you Email wiseindividualspell@gmail.com or contact him through his phone number +2348078927387
ReplyDeleteOh Susanna, don't you cry for me,
I come from Alabama, with my Banjo on my knee.
I cringed every time another lisped answer was revealed. I'm also surprised that NYT would agree that this was a good idea.
ReplyDelete@Z, Tita, Lewis, and JFC,
ReplyDeleteI had a bit of unease too with the theme because the lisp that is created by tongue tie is exactly the "th" for "s" version. I had speech therapy for that type of lisp but I was never teased. Because I work with babies who have sucking and swallowing issues, I spot tongue ties all the time in babies and their parents. It is hereditary. The Americam Academy of Pediatrics made the recommendation to include its diagnosis in pediatric residency training only in 2010. So there are many who were not diagnosed in childhood who retain the lisp. Some have swallowing issues as well. Tongue tie is easily corrected with scapel or laser. I have developed an acute ear for the tongue tie lisp when I watch TV or movies.
Thilly, thtupid puthle.
ReplyDeleteBooHOO, Aliaz. I was sure you would give us Laurie'th thong.
Surprisingly, I do remember SHEA butter.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteAnd sank you all who set me straight about SROS a couple of days ago. Ah yes, I stood at the MET regularly one THUMBER many YEARs' ago when I was still a budding soprano.
ReplyDeleteYesterday I had the Kentucky Derby Puzzle in printed version on International NYT.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteweingolb said...
ReplyDeleteThis debate of ASHORE describing the how or the where reminds me of the Sheryl Crow lyric that always goes offkey to my ears: "You don't bring me anything but down" ...at which point I imagine Ms Crow's lover appearing with armfuls of goose feathers.
Hey, where's the warmth of a welcome in which one ASKEDIN. Seems equally cold to me. Job interview, salesman on a wintry day, these are scenarios I think of when one is being ASKEDIN. That clue drove me nuts.
@weingolb,
ReplyDeleteI had a good laugh at your vision of Sheryl Crow's lover.
a) It was a funny line, per se.
b) I just did a load of laundry and threw in a pair of down bootees at the last minute, not realizing that a small hole had worn through the sole in one of them. No apparent problem with the wash, but when I opened the dryer, heaps of gauzy little puffballs cascaded to the floor and floated through the air. Staticky as well, since I hadn't thrown in a fabric softener sheet. Had to carefully take the whole load outside, and shake each item (DCUPS and all) clear on the back porch.
So I'm making some reality-based adjustments to your vision...
I'm sure glad @Rex did not allow his mood to affect his review.
ReplyDeleteI liked it - acknowledging some bad fill - because the themers were surprising and amusing.
The FDIC does not protect banks; it protects depositors.
Did we really need the parenthetical addition to 16A? Would anyone have been unable to finish without '(store announcement)'?
SICon before SICEM, THICKkitty before THICKPUPPY, elroy before HBOMB, TEAtax before TEAACT.
@weingolb...
ReplyDeletePapa was a rolling stone... ... All he left us was alone...
@grammar nazi -- I hesitated between champing and chomping, I really did, since I was sure whichever one I picked would be wrong and that I'd hear from you about it. Thanks for telling me I wasn't really wrong. I picked the word that seems to be used more nowadays and that I thought readers would be more familiar with. But understand that I was well aware that there was a choice. Unlike some people here, I am never unhappy with your observations and think they can often be quite enlightening.
ReplyDelete@Hartley70--Just read @Ellen S's post. Thanks for directing me. Now I see why you thought anyone at that shower would need booze. (I didn't have rose tonight when I got home; I had cabernet. But it's not a hot day. Cab is just fine.)
@Susannah's ex-boyfriend (5:05) I read your comment, then went back to see the post that inspired it. Then I laughed. In fact, it may be the hardest I've EVER laughed on this blog! Really funny! Wish I knew which of the Rexworld "regulars" you are.
Wonderful. A theme about a speech impediment...and the theme entries were terrible
ReplyDeleteto boot. This puzzle should never have been accepted.
The only good thing that came about from this was Rex's witty review...it was
sunshine on a cloudy day!
Dang, I needed a drink just reading it, and I wasn't even trying to make sense of it. In case it turns out to be decipherable, all kudos to @Ellen S for comprehension, reTENTion and transmission.
ReplyDeleteAmerican is changing for the best i can say this because the gay community just literally got liberated i mean we can officially get married and be part of the the American society. When i heard the news i was filled with joy i mean me and my fiance the man i have always can finally own our marriage certificate in Georgia.It was not always right for us if you know what i mean. Before we got married in California ,he was not in love with me or i would say he was in love with me and lost for another guy and it was frustrating.We were off and on and mostly times our break up was always bad it always ends with huge fight. I loved him and wanted to be all his for the rest of my life but he did not see that he wanted to have me to himself and still see other guy i mean who does that? He was the queen of heart breaker and also was perfect when he wants to mend the heart. This was why i also went back to him no matter what always led to our ugly break up. But this madness just kept going on over and over with us and like i said i was sick of it. You can't hurt me over and over again and still come back to me i mean i am not a play thing you use and drop when you tired. Judge me if you will it not like i care because all my life people have always said trash about me but if i had paid their attentions i would not have been this happy. After searching for means to make him commit to me even taking him with me to couple counseling i decide i contact a spell caster called Obudun Magonata it was just an arbitrary choice i mean, i told myself if he can't help me i will move on with my life maybe the one i clam to be the love of my life was not the one after all. Obudun Magonata is an angel sent from a place i don't know.He save me and made me he happiest man on earth or more preferable the happiest gay man on earth . I don't know how he did it just after he help me cast a love spell, every pain that i was going through was lifted of my shoulder like magic my lover became the queen of hearts i would say he became mine and loved me like his life depended on it.When i first contacted Obudun Magonata, he told me to come down to his temple so i may witness the greatness of his work we got the materials we used for the spell together and just after four day i say the greatness of his power.But i spent a lot Because i had to travel all the way to Africa.It will be cheaper for me to have had him get the materials form me but i was foolish. But its amazing i still got my heart desire. He also told me that the gay community will soon be free and in just two months his prophecy has come to pass. Who wants to tell me he is not great contact i you will here you will not regret your decision use thus address spiritsofobudunmagonata@yahoo.com
ReplyDeleteOh, well. So much for an island of refuge.
ReplyDeleteNice puzzle I enjoyed it Thank you
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteHello everyone i want to share a live testimony on how dr zack balo was able to bring my husband back to me, myself and my husband were on a serious breakup, even before then we were always quarreling fighting and doing different ungodly act.. My husband packed his things out of the house and we had to live in different area, despite all this i was looking for a way to re_unite with my husband, not until i met dr zack balo the great spell caster who was able to bring my husband back home, dr zack balo cast a love spell for me, and after 3days i started seen results about the spell.... Today my family is back again and we are happy living fine and healthy, with dr zack balo all my dream came through in re_uniting my marriage, friends in case you need the help of dr zack balo kindly mail him on( wiseindividualspell@gmail.com ) or call him on +2348078927387, Sir i will forever recommend you.....
I am Jennifer from USA, When I eventually found testimonies about this spell caster Dr AKERECO, how he helped many people to get their lovers and broken homes back, i contacted him through his email address drakerecospellcaster@gmail.com because my boyfriend whom i really love with all my heart and also love me too, but suddenly change and turned his back on me and hated me with passion I was absolutely desperate to get my boyfriend back. Life without my boyfriend was a real mess for me and my parent I wanted a dramatic change and I thought magic could be the solution. After discussing the resolution with DR AKERECO, he gave me hope that he will restore my relationship back because he already engaged me. I felt confident that he will actually make my boyfriend to return home and he did! It’s fantastic what this great spell caster have done for me, his help is priceless! I don't know what I would have done without DR AKERECO does his job so well he is organized and highly functional, i believe he is the best spell caster i can count on when it comes to all kinds of spell, I was floored that his spells worked, if you need help, His legit website:http://drakerecospellcaster.webs.com Again his email is email: drakerecospellcaster@gmail.com I assure you things will turn around for you..
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteI am very happy today for what God used (Dr ATASE) the great spell caster to do in my life. My name is Greg i had a fight with my wife in the past which led to our breakup. I tried all i could to make her come back to me but she refuse and said it was over between us, one day i came across a testimony on the internet on how (Dr ATASE)used his spell to reunite two lovers so i decided to contact (Dr ATASE) via email and he assured me that my wife will come back to me within 2 day after he has finish the spell.I am very glad today to tell the world that (Dr ATASE) is truly a man of his word because my wife came back to me and fell on her knees begging me to forgive her and accept her back. Do you have a problem ? You can easily contact him through his email id which is indiaspelltemple@yahoo.com ..
This would be all, please you can also help me share this to those who needs it. Again his email is indiaspelltemple@yahoo.com Thanks
Midred Jackson Says
ReplyDeleteAm giving this testimony cos am happy
My name is Midred Jackson from Michigan I never believed in love spells or magic until i met this spell caster once. when i went to Africa in June 28th 2013 this year on a business summit. i ment a man called DR OTIS DARKO. He is powerful he could help you cast a spells to bring back my love’s gone,misbehaving lover looking for some one to love you, bring back lost money and magic money spell or spell for a good job.i’m now happy & a living testimony cos the man i had wanted to marry left me 3 weeks before our wedding and my life was upside down cos our relationship has been on for 2 years… i really loved him, but his mother was against me and he had no good paying job. so when i met this spell caster, i told him what happened and explained the situation of things to him..at first i was undecided,skeptical and doubtful, but i just gave it a try. and in 6 days when i returned to taxes, my boyfriend (is now my husband ) he called me by himself and came to me apologizing that everything had been settled with his mom and family and he got a new job interview so we should get married..i didn’t believe it cos the spell caster only asked for my name and my boyfriends name and all i wanted him to do… well we are happily married now and we are expecting our little kid,and my husband also got a new job and our lives became much better. in case anyone needs the spell caster for some help, email address: otisdarko60@yahoo.com
GREAT OTIS DARKO I thank you very much thank you in 1000000 times.. if not you I would have been losted and wasted thank you. Email Him Through his email address... otisdarko60@yahoo.com
please make sure you contact him for any financial difficulties okay..
What a powerful man such as DR OTIS DARKO.. he is so much powerful..\\ email him for any difficulties.. otisdarko60@yahoo.com................... YOU CAN ALSO ADD US UP ON WHATSAPP USING THIS MOBILE NUMBER:+2348077526136
Need a spell caster?then think of Dr Otis Darko he is real reliable and he does what he promise you.I know all this because he helped with my marriage problem.For security reason i will not live my name here but i can tell you all he did to help me.Me and my family live in the US military base here in America,my wife is a solider and i love it that she is and i support.But being a solider means she is half my wife and fully the U.S army.before her three tour we were so in love and we had a kid son who we both love him.It all changed after her two tour in Iraq and Afghanistan,i noticed the distance her second tour she stopped call at first i thought maybe she was part of an accident but i found out that she was OK in Afghanistan.She explained that she always on patrol.It got ugly on the third. I guess in the last two tours she found herself a new lover and then totally forgetting me and our boy.I can not say i did not notice because she always has to be some where instead of with me,coming up with some silly excuse not to be with me that is ( have sex ) and her entire behavior told me all i needed to know. i did my research and i had a hint that it was her squad lieutenant. I had know evidence so a could not take the matter to any body.It killed me to seeing this happen i was going suicidal.What hurt me the most was she going home knowing that i suspect she infidelity,she kept lying to me over and over again.The power of positive thinking helped me a lot.I thought that maybe i can find in the help on the internet with the people who had being in the same problem with him.I found a lot of ways but nor worked except Dr Otis Darko spell.At that time five month ago i was so confused that i could do anything to get my wife back so i contacted Dr Otis Darko with his email address i saw in some comment on the internet at otisdarko60@yahoo.com. I laid down my problem to him and told him the entire story and he even confirmed my hint was right, how he did i do not know but he was right because my wife told me later after the spell was made effective. Dr Otis Darko cast a spell on them both do not know what he did but it seem he made them both forget they ever crossed path romantically speaking like they never know each other expect there official relationship that is squad leader and solider.I owe my life to DR OTIS DARKO what he did saved my marriage.I can tell you this because i have tried and it worked for me.Your case also have a solution with Dr Otis Darko contact him with his email otisdarko60@yahoo.com.................... YOU CAN ALSO ADD US UP ON WHATSAPP USING THIS MOBILE NUMBER:+2348077526136
ReplyDeleteHello Everyone, please read my testimony, my name is Anne Paul and i live in Switzerland, i never knew there are still real people who can still solve problems for real, my problem was solved under forty eight hours by GREATSHAKEKE i met online, His email is greatshakekespelltemple@yahoo.com First i thought he was fake, till my problem was solved by him, (this man is very powerful he live in India) my husband just woke up one morning and left me and my two kids for almost four years, not too long i lost my job i was struggling to feed myself and my kids. till one faithful day a friend of mine introduce me to this spell casting , she told me this man can solve all my problems, first i doubted, this man did it for me, i got a better job with more higher income, and my husband return home under forty eight hours begging me to forgive him. this man can help you solve the following problems: contact him again his email address is greatshakekespelltemple@yahoo.com I assure you that you will also drop your testimony.
ReplyDeleteHello Everyone, please read my testimony, my name is Anne Paul and i live in Switzerland, i never knew there are still real people who can still solve problems for real, my problem was solved under forty eight hours by GREATSHAKEKE i met online, His email is greatshakekespelltemple@yahoo.com First i thought he was fake, till my problem was solved by him, (this man is very powerful he live in India) my husband just woke up one morning and left me and my two kids for almost four years, not too long i lost my job i was struggling to feed myself and my kids. till one faithful day a friend of mine introduce me to this spell casting , she told me this man can solve all my problems, first i doubted, this man did it for me, i got a better job with more higher income, and my husband return home under forty eight hours begging me to forgive him. this man can help you solve the following problems: contact him again his email address is greatshakekespelltemple@yahoo.com I assure you that you will also drop your testimony.
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteMy Name is Alan Pratte, From TEXAS,USA. I wish to share my testimonies with the general public about what this man called Dr OTIS DARKO has just done for me , this man has just brought back my lost Ex husband to me with his great spell, I was married to this man called Steven we were together for a long time and we loved our self’s but when I was unable to give him a child for 2 years he left me and told me he can’t continue anymore then I was now looking for ways to get him back until a friend of mine told me about this man and gave his contact email: otisdarko60@yahoo.com then you won't believe this when I contacted this man on my problems he prepared this spell cast and bring my lost husband back, and after a month I miss my month and go for a test and the result stated am pregnant am happy today am a mother of a baby girl, thank you once again the great DR OTIS DARKOfor what you have done for me, if you are out there passing through any of this problems listed below:
1) If you want your ex back.
(2) if you always have bad dreams.
(3) You want to be promoted in your office.
(4) You want women/men to run after you.
(5) If you want a child.
(6) You want to be rich.
(7) You want to tie your husband/wife to be
yours forever.
(8) If you need financial assistance.
(9) How you been scammed and you want to recover you lost money.
(10)Stop Divorce
(11) CURE TO ALL KIND OF SICKNESS/DISEASES HERE
Email... otisdarko60@yahoo.com...... YOU CAN ALSO ADD US UP ON WHATSAPP USING THIS MOBILE NUMBER:+2348077526136
Need a spell caster?then think of Dr Otis Darko he is real reliable and he does what he promise you.I know all this because he helped with my marriage problem.For security reason i will not live my name here but i can tell you all he did to help me.Me and my family live in the US military base here in America,my wife is a solider and i love it that she is and i support.But being a solider means she is half my wife and fully the U.S army.before her three tour we were so in love and we had a kid son who we both love him.It all changed after her two tour in Iraq and Afghanistan,i noticed the distance her second tour she stopped call at first i thought maybe she was part of an accident but i found out that she was OK in Afghanistan.She explained that she always on patrol.It got ugly on the third. I guess in the last two tours she found herself a new lover and then totally forgetting me and our boy.I can not say i did not notice because she always has to be some where instead of with me,coming up with some silly excuse not to be with me that is ( have sex ) and her entire behavior told me all i needed to know. i did my research and i had a hint that it was her squad lieutenant. I had know evidence so a could not take the matter to any body.It killed me to seeing this happen i was going suicidal.What hurt me the most was she going home knowing that i suspect she infidelity,she kept lying to me over and over again.The power of positive thinking helped me a lot.I thought that maybe i can find in the help on the internet with the people who had being in the same problem with him.I found a lot of ways but nor worked except Dr Otis Darko spell.At that time five month ago i was so confused that i could do anything to get my wife back so i contacted Dr Otis Darko with his email address i saw in some comment on the internet at otisdarko60@yahoo.com. I laid down my problem to him and told him the entire story and he even confirmed my hint was right, how he did i do not know but he was right because my wife told me later after the spell was made effective. Dr Otis Darko cast a spell on them both do not know what he did but it seem he made them both forget they ever crossed path romantically speaking like they never know each other expect there official relationship that is squad leader and solider.I owe my life to DR OTIS DARKO what he did saved my marriage.I can tell you this because i have tried and it worked for me.Your case also have a solution with Dr Otis Darko contact him with his email otisdarko60@yahoo.com.................... YOU CAN ALSO ADD US UP ON WHATSAPP USING THIS MOBILE NUMBER:+2348077526136
ReplyDeleteMy Name is AZIBA OLUBOISE. I never believed in Love Spells or Magics until I met this special spell caster when i contact this man called otisdarko60@yahoo.com Execute some business..He is really powerful..My wife divorce me with no reason for almost 4 years and i tried all i could to have her back cos i really love her so much but all my effort did not work out.. we met at our early age at the college and we both have feelings for each other and we got married happily for 5 years with no kid and she woke up one morning and she told me she’s going on a divorce..i thought it was a joke and when she came back from work she tender to me a divorce letter and she packed all her loads from my house..i ran mad and i tried all i could to have her back but all did not work out..i was lonely for almost 4 years…So when i told the spell caster what happened he said he will help me and he asked for her full name and her picture..i gave him that..At first i was skeptical but i gave it a try cos have tried so many spell casters and there is no solution…so when he finished with the readings,he got back to me that she’s with a man and that man is the reason why she left me…The spell caster said he will help me with a spell that will surely bring her back.but i never believe all this…he told me i will see a positive result within 3 days..3 days later,she called me herself and came to me apologizing I NEVER BELIEVED IN LOVE SPELLS UNTIL I MET THIS WORLD'S TOP SPELL CASTER. HE IS REALLY POWERFUL AND COULD HELP CAST SPELLS TO BRING BACK ONE'S GONE,LOST,MISBEHAVING LOVER AND MAGIC MONEY SPELL OR SPELL FOR A GOOD JOB.I'M NOW HAPPY & A LIVING TESTIMONY COS THE WOMAN I HAD WANTED TO MARRY LEFT ME 2 WEEKS BEFORE OUR WEDDING AND MY LIFE WAS UPSIDE DOWN COS OUR RELATIONSHIP HAS BEEN ON FOR 2YEARS... I REALLY LOVED HIM, BUT HIS MOTHER WAS AGAINST US AND HE HAD NO GOOD PAYING JOB. SO WHEN I MET THIS SPELL CASTER, I TOLD HIM WHAT HAPPENED AND EXPLAINED THE SITUATION OF THINGS TO HIM..AT FIRST I WAS UNDECIDED,SKEPTICAL AND DOUBTFUL, BUT I JUST GAVE IT A TRY. AND IN 7 DAYS WHEN I RETURNED TO USA, MY GIRLFRIEND(NOW WIFE) CALLED ME BY HERSELF AND CAME TO ME APOLOGIZING THAT EVERYTHING HAD BEEN SETTLED WITH HIS MOM AND FAMILY AND SHE GOT A NEW JOB INTERVIEW SO WE SHOULD GET MARRIED..I DIDN'T BELIEVE IT COS THE SPELL CASTER ONLY ASKED FOR MY NAME AND MY GIRLFRIENDS NAME AND ALL I WANTED HIM TO DO... WELL WE ARE HAPPILY MARRIED NOW AND WE ARE EXPECTING OUR LITTLE KID,AND MY WIFE ALSO GOT THE NEW JOB AND OUR LIVES BECAME MUCH BETTER. IN CASE ANYONE NEEDS THE SPELL CASTER FOR SOME HELP, HIS EMAIL ADDRESS IS; otisdarko60@yahoo.com ......HOPE HE HELPS YOU OUT OUR OPPORTUNITY ... CONTACT THIS GREAT SPELL CASTER VIA EMAIL: otisdarko60@yahoo.com.
ReplyDeleteMy Name is Dan Anelos ..I never believed in Love Spells or Magics until I met this special spell caster when i contact this man called otisdarko60@yahoo.com Execute some business..He is really powerful..My wife divorce me with no reason for almost 4 years and i tried all i could to have her back cos i really love her so much but all my effort did not work out.. we met at our early age at the college and we both have feelings for each other and we got married happily for 5 years with no kid and she woke up one morning and she told me she’s going on a divorce..i thought it was a joke and when she came back from work she tender to me a divorce letter and she packed all her loads from my house..i ran mad and i tried all i could to have her back but all did not work out..i was lonely for almost 4 years…So when i told the spell caster what happened he said he will help me and he asked for her full name and her picture..i gave him that..At first i was skeptical but i gave it a try cos have tried so many spell casters and there is no solution…so when he finished with the readings,he got back to me that she’s with a man and that man is the reason why she left me…The spell caster said he will help me with a spell that will surely bring her back.but i never believe all this…he told me i will see a positive result within 3 days..3 days later,she called me herself and came to me apologizing and she told me she will come back to me..I cant believe this,it was like a dream cos i never believe this will work out after trying many spell casters and there is no solution..The spell caster is so powerful and after that he helped me with a pregnancy spell and my wife got pregnant a month later..we are now happy been together again and with lovely kid..This spell caster has really changed my life and i will forever thankful to him..he has helped many friends too with similar problem too and they are happy and thankful to him..This man is indeed the most powerful spell caster have ever experienced in life..Am Posting this to the Forum in case there is anyone who has similar problem and still looking for a way out..you can reach him here: otisdarko60@yahoo.com... CONTACT THIS GREAT AND POWERFUL SPELL CASTER CALLED OTIS DARKO ... HIS EMAIL ADDRESS IS : otisdarko60@yahoo.com ... CONTACT HIM NOW AND BE FAST ABOUT IT SO HE CAN ALSO ATTEND TO YOU BECAUSE THE EARLIER YOU CONTACT HIM NOW THE BETTER FOR YOU TO GET QUICK SOLUTION TO ALL YOUR PROBLEMS...
ReplyDeleteHello To The World At Large,
ReplyDeleteI am Miss Wacks.,From united states of America.I will start by saying to all that have experience heart break and also cant do with out there lover should please stop here and read up my story, So as you will know how to go solving or getting your ex back from this spell caster..AND AGAIN I WILL WANT TO ALSO TELL ALL THAT THIS SPELL CASTER I WILL WANT TO TELL THE WHOLE WORLD ABOUT IS HARMLESS AND DO NOT HAVE ANY SIDE EFFECT, BUT TO RESTORE AND GIVE YOU BACK WHAT YOU DESERVE, COS WHEN I MEET WITH THIS SPELL CASTER THAT WAS INTRODUCED TO ME BY THE WIFE OF MY BOSS IN MY WORKING PLACE, HE MADE IT CLEAR THAT HE CAN CAST SPELL ON SO MANY OTHER PROBLEMS EXCEPT IN GETTING YOUR EX OR MAKING YOUR LOVER TO LOVE YOU MORE THAT WILL SUITE YOU. Last year December, My lover was cheating on me and was not also give me the attention that a man should give to a woman,And really that was troubling my mind and tearing my heart apart to the extent that i was not concentrating in the office the way i use to before the break up by my lover.And before that incident,I always see how my boss use to love his wife so much. I was binging to think that i was not doing the right thing to him that will make him love me forever,So i really gathered my courage and went to my boss wife office to ask her the secret that made her husband love her so dearly,In the first place she refused in telling me,She asked me why i am asking her such a question,That if is it not normal for every man to love his wife.I told her the reason that made me ask her about this question,That my lover started cheating on me lately,When i knelt down before her for her to see my seriousness in this issue that i went to ask her,She opened up to me by telling me that i should not tell anybody about what she want to tell me,The wife to my boss started to say to me that she used a very powerful spell on his husband to love her,And the spell that she used is harmless, But the spell is just to make him love her and never to look for any other woman except her. I QUICKLY ASK HER HOW DID SHE GET TO KNOW THIS GREAT,POWER,DURABLE AND PERFECT WORK SPELL CASTER,she said that a friend of hers also introduce her to him. Then i also ask her how i can meet with this spell caster.SHE SAID EVERYTHING TO ME,THAT THE NAME OF THIS SPELL CASTER IS DR OTIS DARKO ORACLE TEMPLE. My next question to her was how can i get this wonderful spell caster,She said she is going to give me the email of the spell caster for me to contact him for my problem,Really she gave to me this spell caster email and i contacted him and explained all to him,And after every thing that needed to be done by the spell caster, In the next two days, My lover that hated me so much came to house begging for forgiveness and i was so glad that i have finally gotten my heart desire..I was so grateful to this spell caster for what he has done for my life.. So i made a promise to him that i will always continue telling the world about his wonderful work towards me and also to other that came to you before and also the people that will also get to you from my story that i narrated online now..I will want to say to the entire world that you should not cry over noting again, That there is a great man that has been helping individuals to restore there Joy and smile in there faces !! The direct email to get this man is : otisdarko60@yahoo.com ,This is what i want to tell you all out there,That is thinking that all hope is lost ok. CONTACT OTIS DARKO TODAY: otisdarko60@yahoo.com. Thanks
Regards,
Miss Wacks.
ATTENTION EVERYONE,
ReplyDeleteBE CAREFUL HERE NOBODY CAN HELP YOU HERE OR EVEN SUGGEST HOW YOU CAN GET YOUR EX OR LOVE BACK, ANY TESTIMONIES OF MOST SPELL CASTER HERE MUST BE IGNORE.BECAUSE MOST OF THEM ARE SCAM I MEAN REAL SCAM WHICH I WAS A VICTIM AND I GOT RIPPED OF THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS BECAUSE I WAS SO ANXIOUS TO GET MY WIFE BACK AFTER SHE LEFT ME FOR OVER 2 YEARS WITH MY 7 YEARS OLD SON JERRY,I HAVE APPLIED TO 7 DIFFERENT SPELL CASTER HERE AND ALL TO NO AVAIL THEY ALL ASK FOR SAME THING SEND YOUR NAME YOUR EX NAME ADDRESS AND PICTURE PHONE NUMBER ETC WHICH I DID OVER AND OVER AGAIN AND MOST OF THEM WERE FROM WEST AFRICA UNTIL I SAW A POST ABOUT ANITA SPELL CRAFT AND I DECIDED TO GAVE HER MY LAST TRAIL.HE ASK ME FOUR THINGS MY REAL NAME,MY EX AND MY EX MOTHER NAME AND $380 AND SAID MY EX WILL COME BACK IN 24HOURS, I HAVE PAID OVER $4800 ON SPELL CASTING AND COURIER AND NOTHING HAVE WORK FOR ME AFTER 3 DAYS I WAS THINKING ABOUT HOW MUCH I HAVE LOST SO FAR SO I SAID LET ME GIVE HIM A TRY SO I CALLED HIM AGAIN AND SEND MY REAL NAME,MY EX AND MY EX MOTHER NAME AND THE $380 BECAUSE I SWEAR IT WAS MY LAST TRY SO I WAS WAITING AS HE TOLD ME TO WAIT TILL NEXT DAY AND I COULD NOT SLEEP THAT NIGHT BECAUSE I REALLY LOVE MY WIFE AND WANT HER BACK AT 9PM THAT DAY I SAW MY WIFE ON LINE ON FACE BOOK AND SHE SAID HI AT FIRST I WAS SHOCK BECAUSE SHE NEVER TALK WITH ME FOR THE PAST A YEAR AND 9 MONTH NOW I DID NOT REPLY AGAIN SHE SAID ARE YOU THERE? I QUICKLY REPLY YES AND SHE SAID CAN WE SEE TOMORROW I SAID YES AND SHE WENT OFF-LINE I WAS CONFUSED I TRY TO CHAT HER AGAIN BUT SHE WAS NO MORE ON LINE I COULD NOT SLEEP THAT NIGHT AS I WAS WONDERING WHAT SHE IS GOING TO SAY, BY 7.AM THE NEXT MORNING SHE GAVE ME A MISS CALL I DECIDED NOT TO CALL BACK AS I WAS STILL ON SHOCK AGAIN SHE CALL AND I PICK SHE SAID CAN WE SEE AFTER WORK TODAY I SAID YES SO SHE END THE CALL IMMEDIATELY I GOT OFF WORK SHE CALL ME AND WE MEET AND NOW WE ARE BACK AGAIN I CALL DR OTIS DARKO SPELL THE NEXT DAY THANKING HIM FOR WHAT HE HAS DONE IN FACT I STILL CALL HIM AND THANK HIM AS MY LIFE WAS NOT COMPLETE WITHOUT MY WIFE PLEASE BE CAREFUL HERE I HAVE BEEN SCAM THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS IF YOU WANT A TRUE LOVE SPELL THEN CONTACT DR OTIS DARKO SPELL HOME NOW: otisdarko60@yahoo.com
Attention:
ReplyDeleteMy Name is Jane Mercy, I wish to share my testimonies with the general public about what this man called Dr Otis Darko spell temple, on what he has just done for me , this man has just brought back my lost Ex husband with his great spell, I was married to this man called Mathew we were together for a long time and we love each other but when I was unable to give him a child after 2 years, he left me and told me he can’t continue anymore then I was now looking for ways to get him back until a friend of mine told me about this man. My friend gave his email to me and asked me to contact him but I didn't want to because I doubted at first but later reconsidered because it's so rear for a man to be as powerful like she said. So I contacted her through this email ( otisdarko60@yahoo.com ) You won’t believe this when I contacted this man and told him my problems he cast the spell and my ex came back begging on his knees and asking me to forgive him. Not only that after a month I miss my monthly flow, when I went to my doctor, he confirm that I am pregnant so I told myself that I will testify to the whole wide world about the wonders of the powerful man if I give birth successfully. I am so happy today because I am a mother of a bouncing baby girl, thank you once again the great Dr Shakes Spear for what you have done for me, if you are out there passing through any of the following situations :
(1) If you want your ex-back.
(2) If you always have bad dreams.
(3) You want to be promoted in your office.
(4) You want women/men to run after you.
(5) If you want a child.
(6) You want to be rich.
(7) You want to tie your husband/wife to be yours forever.
(8) If you need financial assistance.
(9) Herbal care
(10) if you are unable to satisfy your wife sex desire due to low err action.
(11) If your menstruation refuse to come out the day it suppose or over flows.
(12) If your work refuse to pay you, people owing you.
(13) Solve a land issue and get it back.
(14) Did your family Denny you of your right?
(15) Do you have a low sperm count?
(16) Are you contesting for any political position in your country?
(17) Case solves E.T.C
You are free to contact him at ( otisdarko60@yahoo.com ) ..... CONTACT HIM NOW FOR ALL ANSWERS TO ANY KIND OF PROBLEMS: otisdarko60@yahoo.com..... YOU CAN ALSO ADD US UP ON WHATSAPP USING THIS MOBILE NUMBER:+2348077526136
Midred Jackson Says
ReplyDeleteAm giving this testimony cos am happy
My name is Midred Jackson from Michigan I never believed in love spells or magic until i met this spell caster once. when i went to Africa in June 28th 2013 this year on a business summit. i ment a man called DR OTIS DARKO. He is powerful he could help you cast a spells to bring back my love’s gone,misbehaving lover looking for some one to love you, bring back lost money and magic money spell or spell for a good job.i’m now happy & a living testimony cos the man i had wanted to marry left me 3 weeks before our wedding and my life was upside down cos our relationship has been on for 2 years… i really loved him, but his mother was against me and he had no good paying job. so when i met this spell caster, i told him what happened and explained the situation of things to him..at first i was undecided,skeptical and doubtful, but i just gave it a try. and in 6 days when i returned to taxes, my boyfriend (is now my husband ) he called me by himself and came to me apologizing that everything had been settled with his mom and family and he got a new job interview so we should get married..i didn’t believe it cos the spell caster only asked for my name and my boyfriends name and all i wanted him to do… well we are happily married now and we are expecting our little kid,and my husband also got a new job and our lives became much better. in case anyone needs the spell caster for some help, email address: otisdarko60@yahoo.com
GREAT OTIS DARKO I thank you very much thank you in 1000000 times.. if not you I would have been losted and wasted thank you. Email Him Through his email address... otisdarko60@yahoo.com
please make sure you contact him for any financial difficulties okay..
What a powerful man such as DR OTIS DARKO.. he is so much powerful..\\ email him for any difficulties.. otisdarko60@yahoo.com................... YOU CAN ALSO ADD US UP ON WHATSAPP USING THIS MOBILE NUMBER:+2348077526136
You see, this is what I mean. Someone had to approve all this spellcaster stuff. I just don't understand, and no one will explain it. I will try to rephrase my question: If this is a blog site for commenting on crosswords--and it's BEING MONITORED for content, as the statement "All comments must be approved by the blog author" suggests, then WHY OH WHY is he letting all this CRAP in? I mean, come on. "Dr. Darko???" Sounds like a villain for Spiderman.
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of letting crap in, what happened to Will today? He CANNOT have seen this abomination. I don't even know where to start. I don't lisp, but I can well imagine that one who does would NOT say "THEMESOKAYTOME." In a desperate effort to extract some kind of amusement from today's mess, I'll try a BS-ism:
Oh Miss CCUPS, let me be brief:
I dropped TROU, seeing you on the REEF.
Let me ASKIN my dream;
I must let off some STEAM!
And I so need your THIGHSOFRELIEF!
That done, I'll just say this: Ned, don't quit your day job. F.
@NCA President: agree with you on cup size. It is like "green paint".
ReplyDelete@JFC: I also had problems with my r's. All my siblings had names that began with "r". What a disaster! I did not get speech therapy. It probably did not exist. I still have problems when I am tired. And adults do make fun of you just like the children.
The puzzle was OK. I got the theme at 20A. I did not find it offensive though.
Who let the spellcasters out? Or in?
ReplyDeleteWould this puzzle have been more or less interesting if I had a THICK lisp? Even @John Child didn’t THink about it without prodding.
SHEA has been reduced from a stadium to a butter. KER-plunk
SOSAD that ALLI know is that my standards ARLO, OLDE CHOIR maids are all ISEE,AISLE find out what’s HIDIN’ in their CCUPS, and that THEMESOKAYTOME. HOO THAW by NILE NIHIL.
ONECARD is indeed a thing. Green Paint.
AOL is NOT a web giant....not anymore. Get a clue, Shortz
ReplyDeletespacecraft: You're commenting on a post from a month ago. Comment moderation just started like three days ago. Relax.
ReplyDeleteI'm always forgetting about the timeline. So then, in a month I can look forward to a spell-free blog? We shall see. I would join the real-timers if it didn't require a download. I don't do downloads. You never know what-ALL you're downloading. But thanks for the reminder, PG.
ReplyDeleteI knew @spacecraft would have some issues, and that’s OKAYTOME. I pretty much agree. Starting with the RRN, then the “letter first” words. I’m sure the only one of the bunch (and it’s quite a bunch) we appreciate is CCUPS.
ReplyDeleteThen there’s NILE, NIHIL, AISLE, ISLE – competing with ELCID and ELROY.
Does a St. Bernard bear a THICK PUPPY?
You know that ILSA and I were out on the BRINE, it turned UGLI when we struck a REEF; but we washed ASHORE upon an ISLE and for a YEAR she offered THIGHSOFRELIEF. MAIL REMEDY by ELROY ASKSIN.
At one time in my life I could have joined the THUMBEROLYMPICS. I hitched a lot of rides.
Eniwetok?? C'mon that's UGLI.
Solved this more or less from the bottom up, so the flanged items weren’t with me right away. Nor those letter-before- words. But I had @spacey’s RRN goin’ for me, which is nice.
ReplyDeleteJust a little tech stuff on all those beams, bars, and nuts: While irritating in a puz, there are some distinctions between them. An H-beam is not merely an I-beam on its side. The vertical “I” part of a beam is longer than its flanges and the taller it is, to a point (depending on thickness), the more load it will bear. For an H-beam, all 3 elements are approximately the same dimensions; one of the most common uses is as piling for foundations, very commonly described and paid for as “H-pile”. There’s another word for xword constructors. Sorry.
As for TNUT, that’s my wife; she drinks it from rising to retiring. I should probably read her the TEAACT.
ILSA = Ingrid Bergman = yeah baby.
The lispy thing was kind of OKAY, but nothing to MAIL home about.
We have some pretenders to Burma Shave here today. Where is he, BTW?
ReplyDeleteA player can RIP a line drive, but he RaPS or slams (or whatever your favorite verb) a home run.
I liked this puzzle, despite the PIC-ness of its amusing theme and some of the fill.
After 9 years in marriage with my hubby with 3 kids, my husband started going out with other lady and showed me cold love, on several occasions he threatens to divorce me if I dare question him about his affair, I was totally devastated and confused until an old friend of mine told me about a spell caster on the Internet called DR. KEN who help people with their relationship and marriage problem by the powers of love spells, at first I doubted if such thing ever exists but decided to give it a try, when I contacted him, he helped me cast a love spell and within hours my husband came back to me and started apologizing, now he has stopped going out with ladies and he is with me for good and for real. Contact this great spell caster for your relationship or marriage problem and all kinds of problem you find difficult to solve and he will put a solution to it. Here is his email address, drkenlovespell@gmail.com or you can call him on +1 903 847 0267.
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteGET BACK WITH YOUR EX NOW ... CONTACT PRIEST ODUAM TODAY +2348153363047 OR SPELLOFSOLUTIONS@GMAIL.COM
How to restore a broken relationship and marriage issues
ReplyDeleteLike the movies we see ,every relationship does not always have a happy ever after. Factors are always there to bring down the relationship you have given your all. It can be as a result of dishonesty, failing finance , misunderstanding , job requirement and so on. It take more than a lot to save a failing relationship take it from me i have been there before. Now i know a few ways that can help restore a failing relationship i am going to work it down from the top to the last best way i know.
Understanding
Understanding is one way to restore a failing relationship. But as easy as it sounds, it is the hardest task to accomplish,Why is this? let see. In a relationship no one like to be that person that never get heard like he or she does not exist. Men feel like everything said or do by them is right because they are men and they think they need to always be in charge because men are the head and women feel like they need to be respected and there opinion matters alot. If they both can not balance this i do not see any hope for that relationship because after so many fight resulting from misunderstanding they will call it the end.
Stable Finance
This is mostly for the men. It is important to have a stable finance because a lot of bad things can happen due to financial trouble. Even if your spouse choose to stay with you through the troubled time you might just see yourself as the fault and before you know little things and talk about money leads to fight and as you know the relationship falls. But stable finance can only restore a failing relationship to an extent before some other factor kicks in.
Couple Counseling
This for a very long time has been the the last terminal point of almost all couple before the final fall.Here the relationship are either restored or destroyed.Couple Counseling has recorded a high amount of success over the years but does not ensure that the relationship will stay strong for a very long time.Studies show that most of the relationships saved by counseling experience a positive change for a maximum of 3 to 5 years before failing again and some just do not even experience any change. Some even lead to divorce at the end. I am not saying couple counseling does not work i am just saying, it does not really ensure a long lasting relationship.
Love Spell
To me this is the only way that ensures you and that someone you love will always be together just as they promised you. My marriage had its own trouble bigger than counseling, Understanding and all the things a relationship is built upon the only thing that worked for me was the spell Akpe Osilama did for me. It was the only help that i seeked that actually worked for me that is why i am saying it the Ultimate.My friend who advised me to contact a spell caster has stayed married to her husband for 28 year and some months now because of the love spell Akpe Osilama did for her.I cannot talk about mine because its just been four months without trouble again that always seperate us. You want to save your your relationship contact the spell caster with this email chiefpriestakpeosilamaspellcast@yahoo.com
ReplyDeleteI was in total despair when I found Dr. Todd. My life was going terrible and I didn't know if I was coming or going. I had just gone through a rough divorce, wasn't making enough money to sustain me and my children, and my 17 year old son had just gone to jail for the first time. When I talked to him, I immediately found a sense of peace. He was very honest with me and I could feel that. He also told me that everything would be okay. After my work began, things began to change. My bills were all caught up, the relationship I was in became much stronger, I was never FLAT broke, and my son was released from jail earlier than we expected!! I also completely got over the failed marriage and began to move on. And, received a better position at my job which will cause an $800 per month increase!! I felt completely comfortable with the work that was being done because I was always encouraged by Dr. Todd. manifestspellcast@gmail.com is the BEST!!!!
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