I have been crypticising diligently.
Here are some more accurate results of my efforts.
Q New piece of fiction (5)
A Novel
Q Meeting up once more on a French island (7)
A Reunion
(this relied on general knowledge; post-colonial island near Mauritius.)
Q Piggy friend to whom one writes (3-3)
A pen-pal
Q Reforms only in French city
A Lyon
(anagram of 'only'; gen knowledge of French geog required! plus, what's with the Frenchness? Bloody Dominic Strauss-Kahn.)
Just realised I have lost a cryptic (or mislabelled soemthing, somewhere) because I can't find the solutions for the "pen-pal" edition...oh well!
Onwards to 'Friday'.
Q Spotted area on Adriatic Coast (8)
A Dalmatia
Q After starters, be with her for choice language (6/2)
A Either/or (I mainly got this from the use of the / !)
This was my favourite.
Q Dusty whodunnit a welcome sight at a summer barbie? (ie Barbecue) (4, 4)
A cold case
Saturday, 27 August 2011
Mitzicryptic August 27
3 clues from yesterday, and a couple from the day before. Many activities in meat-space have prevented me attended to the blogging part of the challenge, but I find it's good to prioritise 3-D activities and not become a slave drone to technology (said daucer-eyed with itching typing fingers.)
I am curious about how much cryptic crosswords rely on one's general knowledge beyond the vocab-knowledge that is concealed in the actual clue.
My recent reliance on Aussie slang was incorrect. While a "terrible blue" is related to fury', the clue simply needed me to mix up the letters in 'blue', at it to the letter "c", and think of a word related to 'cell'...the answer was CUBICLE (not 'century'...): it was not a cricket question.
Either way, from 'cubicle', I worked out another answer.
Q Bloke has right to be concealed (6)
A Covers
('cove' is old-fashioned cockney word for bloke)
Q Lubricates tablets in tanker's mishaps (3, 6)
A Oil Spills
(the tanker mishap was a bit of a giveaway, but the "tablets" reference is a synonym for 'pills'.)
Q Omen Sean misplaced for windflowers (8)
A Anemones
(my friend T used to have Japanese windflowers in a pot; it took me a while, and I would not have known anemones were the nerd name for windflowers, but I went with a gut instinct, seeing as the letters were 'misplaced', as you can see.)
Q Model in sleep ruined grinding tool (6)
A Pestle
I am curious about how much cryptic crosswords rely on one's general knowledge beyond the vocab-knowledge that is concealed in the actual clue.
My recent reliance on Aussie slang was incorrect. While a "terrible blue" is related to fury', the clue simply needed me to mix up the letters in 'blue', at it to the letter "c", and think of a word related to 'cell'...the answer was CUBICLE (not 'century'...): it was not a cricket question.
Either way, from 'cubicle', I worked out another answer.
Q Bloke has right to be concealed (6)
A Covers
('cove' is old-fashioned cockney word for bloke)
Q Lubricates tablets in tanker's mishaps (3, 6)
A Oil Spills
(the tanker mishap was a bit of a giveaway, but the "tablets" reference is a synonym for 'pills'.)
Q Omen Sean misplaced for windflowers (8)
A Anemones
(my friend T used to have Japanese windflowers in a pot; it took me a while, and I would not have known anemones were the nerd name for windflowers, but I went with a gut instinct, seeing as the letters were 'misplaced', as you can see.)
Q Model in sleep ruined grinding tool (6)
A Pestle
Friday, 26 August 2011
It Takes Time
well, i'm off to a slow start in reconnecting with 30 people. i'll be making excuses and giving reasons. they're more for my benefit than trying to convince you.
so, here we are...what?...10 days into this challenge? so, theoretically, i should have reconnected with 10 people. okay, how about 5? and you may challenge me on one of those, but i'm counting it.
after two years away in the Peace Corps, my Girl Child has returned from South Africa. admittedly, i spoke with her on the phone fairly often (it was a tad expensive dialing halfway across the world...go figure) and e-mailed on occasion (e- service was sporadic and expensive where she was). but, since her return this past Friday, i've considered this to be a major reconnect in my life. she's actually here in person!
the others? a couple friends from years past. and a couple friends from not to long past (though i'd felt i'd really lost track of them...and them, me).
so, i'm going to have to kick it up.
and will do so just as soon as Daughter Person leaves here to begin her life in another state (this weekend? boo!!).
so, here we are...what?...10 days into this challenge? so, theoretically, i should have reconnected with 10 people. okay, how about 5? and you may challenge me on one of those, but i'm counting it.
after two years away in the Peace Corps, my Girl Child has returned from South Africa. admittedly, i spoke with her on the phone fairly often (it was a tad expensive dialing halfway across the world...go figure) and e-mailed on occasion (e- service was sporadic and expensive where she was). but, since her return this past Friday, i've considered this to be a major reconnect in my life. she's actually here in person!
the others? a couple friends from years past. and a couple friends from not to long past (though i'd felt i'd really lost track of them...and them, me).
so, i'm going to have to kick it up.
and will do so just as soon as Daughter Person leaves here to begin her life in another state (this weekend? boo!!).
Thursday, 25 August 2011
Rest day!
I'm taking today off from running. It isn't really reasonable or safe to run every day, and I've run for four days straight now, so I'm giving myself permission to have the day off from running. Rest days are important, too!
Mid-week "Flap Update" ("flap-date"?)
i am on track.
but i learned a lesson the hard way last night.
Wednesday nights have evolved into my 'practice backpacking' night, as well as an 'upper body' night. After kicking my own ass on the hiking trail* (25 pound pack, just an hour, but i'm in start-up mode), i returned home and still had to do my push ups.
i did them.
but i was in a bit of discomfort. not the upper body, but the lower back.
Next time? Do the upper body work BEFORE the hike. D'uh. Seems obvious.
but i learned a lesson the hard way last night.
Wednesday nights have evolved into my 'practice backpacking' night, as well as an 'upper body' night. After kicking my own ass on the hiking trail* (25 pound pack, just an hour, but i'm in start-up mode), i returned home and still had to do my push ups.
i did them.
but i was in a bit of discomfort. not the upper body, but the lower back.
Next time? Do the upper body work BEFORE the hike. D'uh. Seems obvious.
~~~~~~~
* And perhaps spending a post-hike hour at the wine shop, conveniently located in between the trail head and my home....
Reading & Riding: Day, uh... 8-ish
So my "every day, no excuses" plan failed to take into account travel. I just got back from a trip with my oldest son to visit my mom in Florida. No real opportunity for riding. So I did the next best thing: I turned my 8-year-old loose on all that Florida had to offer, and vowed to keep up with him every step of the way.
We went to the beach, a sea bird and sea turtle rescue center, and a very tall lighthouse. I even suggested we climb to the top, just to get some exercise in.Unfortunately, the spiral staircase around the outer edge of the lighthouse had a steep incline, and a vertigo-inducing open center, so he bailed about a third of the way up. I kinda didn't blame him.
The next day we spent a long hot morning at the biggest flea market I've ever been to, wandering the labyrinthine aisles looking at all sorts of cheap knock-off goods and edible oddities before having a light lunch and heading off to a water park. I think I counted eight times up the four-story water slide towers, not to mention all the walking at ground level. My always-wet feet on always-hot concrete still feel a bit shredded, and walking barefoot on our living room rug is somewhat reminiscent of velcro.
The next day we were up bright and early to head for Disney's Magic Kingdom. Rather than doing rides and attractions that were close by, we followed his whims, back and forth across the blazing hotgiant pizza stone amusement park grounds. I knew we'd done it right when at the end of the day I told him it was time to go and he said "okay, good."
Day three was spent kayaking, with me doing all the paddling and him gawking at boats and birds and everything else. The payoff was a cove full of at least a dozen friendly manatees, all of whom wanted to be our friends. They had a dog-like desire to be close to us, nibbling on the boat straps and resting their flippers on the sides of our kayaks. (They also have dog breath, for what it's worth).
After that, we walked on Daytona's boardwalk and splashed around some more in the waves before finally hopping the train back to North Carolina.
I even ate relatively healthy stuff, with an abundance of salads and a minimum of fried foods. If you knew me, you'd know that means I must be getting serious.
Since getting back yesterday morning, I've gotten back in the saddle, so to speak. Here are my stats for the last two rides:
Tuesday, 8/23
Weight: 230.6
Distance: 4.14 miles
Calories: 176
Wednesday, 8/24
Weight: 230.6 (is my scale stuck??)
Distance: 4.05 miles
Calories: 172
I might have to bump up my program on the bike tomorrow. It's too hard to read and pay attention to how hard I'm pedaling at the same time, so I may have to let the technology push me rather than me pushing myself.
--
We went to the beach, a sea bird and sea turtle rescue center, and a very tall lighthouse. I even suggested we climb to the top, just to get some exercise in.Unfortunately, the spiral staircase around the outer edge of the lighthouse had a steep incline, and a vertigo-inducing open center, so he bailed about a third of the way up. I kinda didn't blame him.
The next day we spent a long hot morning at the biggest flea market I've ever been to, wandering the labyrinthine aisles looking at all sorts of cheap knock-off goods and edible oddities before having a light lunch and heading off to a water park. I think I counted eight times up the four-story water slide towers, not to mention all the walking at ground level. My always-wet feet on always-hot concrete still feel a bit shredded, and walking barefoot on our living room rug is somewhat reminiscent of velcro.
The next day we were up bright and early to head for Disney's Magic Kingdom. Rather than doing rides and attractions that were close by, we followed his whims, back and forth across the blazing hot
Day three was spent kayaking, with me doing all the paddling and him gawking at boats and birds and everything else. The payoff was a cove full of at least a dozen friendly manatees, all of whom wanted to be our friends. They had a dog-like desire to be close to us, nibbling on the boat straps and resting their flippers on the sides of our kayaks. (They also have dog breath, for what it's worth).
After that, we walked on Daytona's boardwalk and splashed around some more in the waves before finally hopping the train back to North Carolina.
I even ate relatively healthy stuff, with an abundance of salads and a minimum of fried foods. If you knew me, you'd know that means I must be getting serious.
Since getting back yesterday morning, I've gotten back in the saddle, so to speak. Here are my stats for the last two rides:
Tuesday, 8/23
Weight: 230.6
Distance: 4.14 miles
Calories: 176
Wednesday, 8/24
Weight: 230.6 (is my scale stuck??)
Distance: 4.05 miles
Calories: 172
I might have to bump up my program on the bike tomorrow. It's too hard to read and pay attention to how hard I'm pedaling at the same time, so I may have to let the technology push me rather than me pushing myself.
--
And I ran...
I just got off the treadmill, where I ran 3.75 miles, to make up for the fact that I only ran 2 yesterday due to lack of time. Perhaps my goal should just be to get ON the treadmill and run at least a mile, because if I do that AND I have time, I will always run for 45 minutes (because that's how long the shows are that I watch while running, and I hate to stop in the middle of a show).
Feeling good, and I could definitely go faster. Maybe tomorrow.
Feeling good, and I could definitely go faster. Maybe tomorrow.
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