EV 865 One Type of 46

[dr b]

If I am not mistaken Doc HH noted two weeks ago that he'd be absent for this week's meeting of the N&C club, so I will take it upon myself to start the proceedings (and will be really embarrassed if someone has already done so).

I found this one to be pretty easy going, populating the grid and finding the 4 unclued lights in a relatively short time. However, I then discovered I had identified only 12 of the 14 clues that need to be "put right"! Harumph. I will go back over them later tonight to see what I skipped over the first time through.

[ringer]

Are there going to be stars on this page dr b?
Have finished all my marking - now down to the analysis. Spent 3 hours tonight fiddling with spreadsheets. Whoever dreamt up National Curriculum Levels needs shooting!!!
Despite what DocHH is saying about DC I'm kinda missing it although I suppose my waistline was rapidly expanding with all the goodies that have been on offer.
PG and devadolly - many thanks for your feedback re bbqs - will let you know what we decide

[dr b]

No! No stars! I have decreed it! BWA HA HA H.... Ooh, now I'm dizzy....

We had a major Midwest "severe thunderstorm" that knocked out my internet access for an hour or so - horrors! Also knocked down quite a few tree branches so my yard is a bit of a mess. At least there was no hail and/or tornadoes - 'tis the season. Of course now the sun is back out, an example of the adage "if you don't like Midwest weather, just stick around - it'll change soon".

[dr b]

I am finishing the June Crossword Centre prize puzzle (a nifty one with a nice payoff at the end, I daresay) and have two wordplays I'm unclear on:

Fleet lies leaderless at one side or the other (7) L?R?I?S

Seems clear it's LORRIES (fleet of trucks) but I don't see why.

Also:

6. Nonpareil speech therapist�s description of New York (6) U?I?UE

UNIQUE (nonpareil), but why?

Perhaps the answers will come to me in a dream.....

[DocHH]

Good morning dr b
For FLEET,
L(eft) OR R(ight) + LIES without L

I'll ponder the other one.

[Physicsgirl]

I have heard the phrase "New York's unique; unique New York" used in elocution before. Could this be it?
Mini PG back on solids and starting to assume more regular sleeping patterns rather than the 2-3 wakings she has been doing for the past week or so (aaargh). Thank you for asking.
Devadolly, glad the eye is on the mend. I am currently struggling with tendonitis in both wrists/thumbs thanks to the little one .... but how can I not pick her up when she's so cute and gurgly?
Glad of the respite from the hot weather (sorry, but 24+ several days running is too hot for me) and hoping for some rain for the veggie patch. Have transferred toms to their growbags in the greenhouse, and now I'm going to get mini weighed at the clinic - though judging by the chunky thighs, not much to worry about!

[dr b]

Both those explanations make sense - I had not heard "New York unique" before, and I do not think I could say it 10 times, fast. Thanks.

It's only supposed to be 66 (F) today after hitting 92 yesterday, so I too will enjoy the respite from the heat. Hope you all have nice weather in your neck of the woods too.

[devadolly]

Dunluce spuds very nice but prefer the Vales Emerald so far!
Physicsgirl, so pleased Mini is getting back on form, tendonitis.............OW! Perhaps you should get one of those floating 'dollies' cameramen have and then you could perch her on that and there would be no lifting and carrying!
Doc HH, no, we have a perfectly good set-up in DC for chatting, chomping and slurping whilst brainstorming, it's only you who is trying to make us think of ourselves as failures because we inhabit the DC, we think of ourselves as communicators and brain stretchers, besides, there isn't room anywhere to put a second pool for Minipg and Physicsgirl and I are not building a second Bar-b-que!
Oh.........I don't like the sound of your weather drb, tornado, hopefully always off my cowardly radar.

[DocHH]

I hadn't heard that elocution phrase before either.
Weather is lovely, intending to try and wear out a garden chair on the patio. Temperature around mid 20's�C, and not a cloud in the sky.
I suppose the task for today is to clear the debris from your garden dr b!
Glad to hear minipg doing well.

[Christiana]

Devadolly, what a lovely word - brainstretcher. Definitely one I fancy as a description, especially if it means sprawling out in the DC with strawberries and an appropriate drink at my elbow. I can tell myself I'm exercising!

[devadolly]

Go for it Christina! Come on DocHH have a strawberry.
Am going to take EV in to clinic this pm and have another good look at it (been lying dormant since last burst) and see if I can't finish the bottom half, can't for the life of me think of any particular 1a's.
Hope you get your yard cleared drb, any of it burnable - presuming you have fairly bitter winters where you are????

[dr b]

DD: winters in St Louis are quite variable, year to year or even week to week. It can be below zero (F) for several days in a row and then warm up to the 40s or 50s (sorry, my F to C converter is in my other pants at the moment!). Or, we'll get a foot of snow that will melt in a week.

Re tornadoes, they just come with the territory. I lived in Los Angeles in the 1980s, and folks there were astonished that anyone could live in the midwest because of the tornadoes. The irony, of course, is that they all live on a fault line that could send LA into the ocean! But they were quite blase about earthquakes since they experienced small ones all the time. My view is that the odds of getting hit by a tornado are very small (even if one is a mile away it's unlikely to hit you) whereas an earthquake gets everybody and everything. So it's just a matter of what you're used to, I guess.

Another irony is that last spring, there was a fairly strong earthquake that was felt in St. Louis. There is a also fault line called the New Madrid fault that, in 1812, caused a major earthquake that rang church bells in Boston, so they say. If the New Madrid fault were to blow, St. Louis could suffer a lot of damage. So that would be ironic, to say the least.

[novalis]

Hi Devadolly!

Hope the clinic visit goes well. Brewer's has some examples of 1a including the one to be entered below the grid and Googling/Asking Jeeves helps as well.

Work gathers pace. Have just emailed all my team with the latest information. New systems are always such "fun"!!

Hi Dr B -- Have you managed to tidy up yet?

[DocHH]

Devadolly, how did the clinic appointment go? Hopefully good news.
The strawberry was very nice, it went well with the clotted cream out here in the "Completed Corner", but my hamper is still packed! Am I allowed to paddle in minipg's pool, I'd help to teach her to swim?
How is Ginger Mog?
How is the southern section advancing? As far as an example of 1ac is concerned, cryptically, did your "rabbit call"? That's quite comical, but not near the knuckle, probably more the Spanish Archer?
ADiOS ................?

[devadolly]

Thank you DocHH & Novalis, clinic appointment very encouraging, got rid of the anti-biotic drops and the steroid drops have been reduced to 3 x 1/7 for a week, then 2, and finally once a day..................unless it gets no better and then it's back again, so it's fingers crossed. Didn't get a chance to peruse the EV at all, no sooner had I scrabbled it out of the bag than I was called, afterwards it was back to the grind. Today is not a day for concentrating (yet) as THE bottom tier of THE cake is currently being hovered over and is in the final stages of cooking (15minute obs) and my fingernails are down to the quick!
If you want to start a CC Doc you must feel free to do so, Mini's pool is staying in the DC and I am sure she will allow you to share it if you join our merry band, I'm already blowing up the armbands for her. Ginger Mog is fine and he is very flattered to be remembered, very much in hunting mode at the moment, happily almost always furry rather than feathered but he has sniffed out a Blue-tit nest 3/4 way up an old apple tree (it is just as well that he needs all 4 feet to cling on so hasn't got a spare 'hand' to disturb them). He did bring a Swallow in the other day but it was rescued and flew away - he got a clip and a reminder that birds were off-limits. He is currently sprawled on his window-sill gently roasting in the sun. Whoops! There goes the buzzer, better check the blood pressure ...............................................................

[DocHH]

Devadolly,
Sounds good news from the clinic. My "cringers are fossed" that after your treatment the problem doesn't recur, and that my last post helps with the southern part of EV.

There are 2 cats (Ralph and Eric) from next-door-but-one who have adopted my garden, a particular sunny/shady spot where they sleep most of the day. I suspect they are trying to evade the 2 children which just happened to arrive over the past few years in the past few years intruding into their housel! Ralph likes to watch as Herself and I garden!! Herself's sister has a Norwegian Tree Climbing cat, regret the blue-tits would not stand a chance. The curtains suffered badly until she was allowed out into the garden!

Am currently in discussion with "HRH" suppliers to ensure their FOC donations make it more attractive for ALL EV N&Cers to remain in CC, my ultimate goal! There are possibilities of "butler" services, personal shoppers and even personnal scribes to fill in EV! Negotiating also with HMRC that none of these are taxable Benefits-in Kind, or even liable to any form of CGT if relocation is required to a second (non-main/flipped) residence, alongwith tax-free relocation expenses. Rather important as your funding by MP expenses is under quite detailed scrutiny!

How did the first tier of the cake turn out, purrrfect I suspect. I have been practising for holiday, the garden chair may well need replacing tomorrow, probably by a sun-bed!