Hobby Gardener

@Steve L Sorry you didn’t enjoy the puzzle. I found it delightful.

@Andrzej Sorry to hear that! I’m surely not the only one who will miss your contributions to the comments.

@dutchiris I appreciate your thoughts, but I‘m beginning to find this flood of complaints about „too easiness“ pretty tiresome. I always used to look forward to the witty comments, like John Ezra’s reframing of the clues/solutions or Sam Lyons‘ erudition and quips or Andrej‘s Polish comparisons and curmudgeonliness. These easiness complaints are getting so boring!

@HeathieJ Love your take on judging the puzzles! Do I need to appease the mighty emu?

@Andrzej Could the wavelength problem have something to do with CC not being a Mr.? And: The use of the E-word is wonderfully justified/transformed in the comment by John Ezra. Do read!

@Andrew This grandma immediately thought of 31a.

@dutchiris What a wonderful comment!

@Lewis Great story!

@Sam Lyons Bosco is most surely from the Balkans. In a recent TV documentary about Slovenia, I saw his brothers and sisters barking away bears and wolfs from a sheep herd. Bosco also spends a lot of time barking things away, often invisible pieces of the sky that are falling…

@Lewis Thanks for the mushroom jerky recommendation. Sounds good, but it should be noted that most wild (foraged) mushrooms should not be eaten raw. Maybe there’s heat involved in jerky production tho — I don’t know. The typical “button” mushrooms in the supermarket are edible raw (as are porcini). My favorite contronym is „cleave“.

@SBK I was unsure about the meaning of your comment. Does the word „table“ somehow fall into the contronym category? I was thinking of writing to you that „we recently tabled on freshly foraged mushrooms „—-but then I became unsure and tried googling whether this usage is ok in English. Instead of an answer I got this lovely poem: Mushrooms (1959) Overnight, very Whitely, discreetly, Very quietly Our toes, our noses Take hold on the loam, Acquire the air. Nobody sees us, Stops us, betrays us; The small grains make room. Soft fists insist on Heaving the needles, The leafy bedding, Even the paving. Our hammers, our rams, Earless and eyeless, Perfectly voiceless, Widen the crannies, Shoulder through holes. We Diet on water, On crumbs of shadow, Bland-mannered, asking Little or nothing. So many of us! So many of us! We are shelves, we are Tables, we are meek, We are edible, Nudgers and shovers In spite of ourselves. Our kind multiplies: We shall by morning Inherit the earth. Our foot's in the door. Sylvia Plath

@Sam Lyons Wishing you a good recovery, Sam. It’s always a pleasure to hear from you, whatever state (State) you’re in. I hope you’ll be in Europe for a while: eager to see if you enjoy adapting or succumb to your homesickness. Adapting is a fascinating exercise, and it‘s funny to observe how many of the national stereotypes (which we should definitely not set store by) end up having a grain of truth. And lead to comical (or jarring) misunderstandings.

@Andrzej I found it amusing that you don’t consider yourself „good at socializing with people who effectively are strangers“, seeing as you socialize quite effectively in this forum!

@Mean Old Lady This contribution is touching and wonderful. I agree with you 100%.

@Nancy J. Indeed! The duvet is enveloped in sheeting — sort of like a pillowcase, but buttoned or zipped shut. I think it’s the most wonderful way of sleeping (typical for Germany and Scandinavian countries). The feet are free and not clamped down between sheet and mattress.

@Grant The Kirschwasser is also essential for Schwarzwalder Kirschtorte!

@Helen Wright Isn’t the name sort of confusing? „-pause“ usually denotes something finite, something where there’s a continuation afterwards. But what is the“meno“ that then continues? And the clueing with the word „event“ was also misleading in a similar sense. Wouldn’t „phase“ or something similar be more apt?

@Andrzej Beautiful and cute. A puppy to love.

@Jim Having lived in Europe for over 50 years and done a fair amount of traveling, I’ve come to the conclusion that the Swedes are the nicest Europeans. Wasn‘t Minnesota settled by lots of Swedes? Maybe they imported their niceness, and it caught on..

@HeathieJ I always enjoy your comments!

@john ezra Hans: Can‘t it be acceptable in the sense of „acts like a bad person“ as opposed to „acting in an inferior way“? Not sure, since ly-adverbs are difficult for German speakers and I may have absorbed this over the years.

@Lauren Sorry you got chided. It seemed obvious to me that you were relating your subjective experience and not the result of a scientific survey. I think this kind of feedback is acceptable and shouldn’t merit the standard put-down.

@Francis Somehow, I think there’s some true — but rather sad — wisdom in that joke.

@Andrzej Many years ago, my husband and I got a female German Shepard puppy which we named Papagena. My husband had a speech impediment after an operation, and it was a name he could pronounce well, especially in the shortened form, Papa. After we‘d had her for a while, and she knew her name, I played the „Magic Flute“ Papageno/Papagena duet on the phonograph one day. She ran to the loudspeaker and tipped her head in that questioning way most charmingly.

@Sam Lyons I left beautiful Washington State (Lake Sammamish!) in 1969 on a postgrad trip to Europe and only returned to visit family over the years. I’ve been here to stay for many decades now. European culture had always fascinated me, and it is still a thrill to experience it in so many forms: music, art, architecture - and not least: political discourse. I live in the very tame landscapes of northern Germany, and it took some time to adjust to land and people. At first seemingly strict and non-humorous people revealed themselves over time to be capable of deep, reliable friendships — and also with keen senses of humor. Humor here is ubiquitous, just mostly different from the American and British versions. There are lovely landscapes here — not as dramatic as in the U.S. West, but this densely populated country takes the protection of historical and environmental treasures seriously. Sorry to go on and on…

@Andrzej I’ll be interested to see how many recos you get for this. I was very amused, having become adapted to the (purportedly non-existent) German sense of humor, which tends heavily to the ironic—often to ridiculous extremes.

@john ezra I nominate this for comment of the year! (Better than curried emu)

@Puzzlemucker Reading an exchange like this is one of the joys that keep me in this comment community!

@Leanne Next time, try heading up from KC thru Olathe and the Flint Hills before going west. I found the area full of wildflowers and beautifully unflat. Living for years on the North German Plain has taught me to appreciate flat and flattish landscapes.

@Mean Old Lady A light quilt - without a sheet - is my favorite for the rare hot nights we get here in northern Germany. The batting (wadding) is wool, which sounds paradoxical to use in the heat, but wool has amazing thermal properties, and I never sweat under my summer quilt. It is easily machine washable btw. Quilting is less well-known here than in the US, UK, Australia, New Zealand and Scandinavia, but there is an active quilting community (to which I belong). And there are some extremely talented Polish quilters!

@Andrzej Purrfect!

@Paul I’m sorry that the name headcheese evokes so much repulsion. Living in Germany for many years, I’ve gotten to know many variations of headcheese (Sulze), all of them delicious. They usually have a sweet/sour component in the gelatin and are especially delicious with fried potatoes and tartar sauce. Being a meat eater, I feel that it is somehow important to justify the consumption of an animal by minimizing waste. That means utilizing every part, not just the juicy steaks and chops.

@Andrzej God, he’s cute!

@Andrzej Thanks for the picture! Such a lovely pup! Poodles have sort of gone out of style here in Germany right now. It’s a pity because they’re so intelligent and fun. I’m not sure they make an impression as watchdogs though. Keep us up on him, please.

@Francine Thanks! It sounds eligible for my list (of what I consider) „The least healthy breakfasts in the world“, along with churros. 🤣

@Andrzej Non-piano? So you’re not thrilled about the Chopin competition in your town right now? Sorry to hear because I love piano so much..

@Mean Old Lady Enjoy your party and all the best for a happy new year from a fellow quilter

@CCNY All the best to you! (This is my smultronställe too…)

@Ace I often use autocheck towards the end of the week if I feel that I won’t manage to solve the puzzle or if it will take more time than I want to spend on it. It’s still fun, even if it’s not the true path. It will probably become less necessary with time as my solving skill (hopefully) increases.

@suejean You’re speaking from my heart!

@Vaer I agree—Scarpia is the villain I most love to hate, of all the operas I know. My favorite Scarpia is Ruggero Raimondi.

@Carol Indeed!

@Whoa Nellie Wow! Just wow!