google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Saturday, Nov 28th, 2015, Greg Johnson

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Nov 28, 2015

Saturday, Nov 28th, 2015, Greg Johnson

Theme: None

Words: 70 (missing Q,X,Z)

Blocks: 32

Upon review of the years gone by, I see that Mr. Johnson has been a consistent Tuesday contributor to the LA Times crosswords - but today he's given us a great challenge for a Saturday.  Non-standard grid, nicely symmetrical, with triple 7-letter corners.  I picked my way through this one clue by clue, and I eventually got a foothold in some places, and that allowed me to WAG a few.  Alas, I ran into one cell that just wouldn't fill in, and that was because of "spelling" mistakes on my part - so I went red-letter to see where I went astray.  Anyway, we had two spanners, and one 11-letter climber;

17a. Remote setting : MIDDLE OF NOWHERE


58a. Spanish-style home decor : TERRACOTTA TILES


18d. 1995 film in which Sean Connery played King Arthur : FIRST KNIGHT - good movie - and Julia Ormond is beautiful


'Tis the seas-on-ward~!

ACROSS:

1. Furniture support : SOFA LEG - he means this kind of leg....

8. Hard-to-find hardware? : SPY-CAMS

15. Learned : ERUDITE - the adjective, not the verb

16. Side trip guide : AREA MAP

19. __-Pak subcontinent: Asian region : INDO

20. Homework initials? : DIY - Do It Yourself; Home Depot has Do-It-HERself classes; we are about one day away from finishing up the house project - did the siding today

21. Like some backup files : ON CD

22. Top dog : NUMERO UNO

27. Cutesy plea for affection : KISS, KISS

30. Eye site : POTATO


34. Bird that will swim but not fly : EMU

35. Pound, e.g. : UNIT - dah~!  Not POET - 25% correct

36. Upset state : DISMAY

37. Letters associated with z's? : REM - Rapid Eye Movement sleep; I had a full-on sensory dream of a cat pawing me and then lying down on my back one afternoon while I napped; I asked my room-mate, and he said there was never a cat in the house - I looked it up on the dream interpretations site, and it's associated with feminine sexuality - damn, I hope so~!

38. Tetanus symptom : LOCKJAW

40. Former "NFL Today" sportscaster Cross : IRV

41. Train for firefighting : RAPPEL

43. 2014 Wales summit host : NATO

44. Iowa campus : COE

45. Refusal of hospitality, often : INSULT

46. Thief's target : IDENTITY

48. Literary legionnaire : BEAU GESTE - frequently in crosswords, but I did not know much more about the story until today - more here

50. Salinger heroine : ESME - Nailed it - but again, seen in a lot of crosswords

53. Golden ratio symbol : PHI - ah, like "Pi" for, well, 3.14159....in this case, it's 1.61803 - more here

54. It may be crunched : DATA - my one corner that messed me up

63. Treaty topic : TEST BAN

64. Dress uniform adornment : EPAULET

65. Reuse productively, as trash : UPCYCLE - new word for me - and my spell-check; the word "repurposed" has gained some traction around here

66. Dish from the Italian for "foam" : SPUMONI - Dah~!!  I put in spumATi, so I was all screwed up down here

DOWN:   

1. Trailer leader : SEMI - the tractor part

2. "Out __?" : OR IN

3. Hunter with a distinctive laugh : FUDD - Elmer, that is

4. Supplements : ADD-ONS

5. Small in a small way : L'IL 

6. Juillet's time : ÉTÉ - Frawnche

7. Like the Spaceship Earth sphere : GEODESIC


8. Panasonic subsidiary : SANYO

9. Supporting : PRO

10. "Dismal" tree in Shakespeare's "Titus Andronicus" : YEW

11. Partnership : CAHOOTS

12. "You said it!" : "AMEN~!"

13. Standup comic Maron : MARC

14. Earned a citation? : SPED - har-har

23. Lute family member : UKULELE

24. Company that merged with Konica : MINOLTA

25. Screen alert subjects : UPDATES - always seems to be Adobe Flash Player

26. Firm denial : NO, I WON'T

27. Gymnast Strug : KERRI

28. "Let me explain ..." : "I MEAN..."

29. Collection areas : SUMPS - oops, not Dumps - but that was 80% correct

31. Firenze friends : AMICI

32. Typically 78-card deck : TAROT - I have a deck, but have not looked at it in years

33. Exasperated cry : "OY VEY~!"

39. Burmese gems : JADEITES


42. Time for significant changes : PUBERTY

47. Yawn inducer : TEDIUM

49. Barely ahead : UP ONE - oops, not ONE UP

50. Incredulous accusation : ET TU - Brute~?

51. Flow slowly : SEEP

52. Richie's mom, to Fonzie : Mrs. C

55. Téléphone greeting : 'ALLO

56. Mock election voter : TEEN

57. Product of white Muscat grapes : ASTI

59. Easy as __ : ABC - oops, not PIE

60. "East of Eden" son : CAL

61. Galaxy download : APP - Galaxy, the Samsung Smart Phone (or tablet; I have one)

62. Two before 53-Across : TAU

Thanks to all who comment, especially for those who comment on my Saturday postings.  Thank you, too, to C.C. for the opportunity to be able to blog here in the first place~!!!

Splynter

49 comments:

OwenKL said...

The ERUDITE professor, his reputation he'd earned
From accepted theories that he'd overturned.
Indeed, it was said
There were few so LEARNED,
But he credited his mentors, from whom he had LEARNED!

George Barany said...

Interesting puzzle by @Gary Johnson, good explanation by @Splynter, and what a fun limerick from @OwenKL. Just a couple of days ago, the world celebrated the 100th anniversary of Albert Einstein's Theory of General Relativity ... if only someone had done a tribute puzzle about that (a few of us were tossing around ideas, but couldn't close the deal).

With C.C.'s encouragement, I want to share with you an unusual 74-word themed puzzle by @Ned White (who incidentally has a 72-word themeless today at the other paper). This one is called Faulty Construction; be sure to read Ned's "midrash" when done.

Lemonade714 said...

Some fun fill like SPUMONI, RAPPEL, GEODESIC, CAHOOTS and all of UKULELE along with unknowns KERRI Strug and the odd JADEITES.

I did want to thank C.C. for finding you SPLYNTER as you are the perfect Saturday blogger sharing your experience as a solver, not trying to impress us but setting your realistic struggles and triumphs. All the pretty legs are nice also. Saturdays are lots of work; thank you.

December is near

Barry G. said...

Morning, all!

Computer woes today making me late. I fear my CPU is on it's last legs...

Challenging puzzle today, but ultimately doable. I struggled with little stuff like OR IN, IRV and COE and had missteps with stuff UPCYCLE (wanted RECYCLE) and ABC (wanted PIE). Heard of Jade, but never JADEITES, so that also took awhile to get.

Who knew EMUS could swim?

desper-otto said...

Good morning!

Things looked bleak for awhile, but then got worse. The first pass didn't yield much. COE was a gimme -- I used to work right up the street from it. IRA Cross was wrong, though Splynter would claim 66% on that one. BTW, Splynter, was that the best leg shot you were able to find for today? NO SIREE didn't pass inspection, but looked good for a few minutes. Got UPCYCLE, but hadn't heard that expression before.

OK, I've delayed long enough. In the end, it was a DNF. My "Collection areas" were DUMPS, and the "Cutesy plea..." was a KIDS KISS. I let that D stand. [Sigh!] Sesst lah vye, as we say in Texas.

TTP said...

Thank you Greg and Splynter.

Puzzle was fine I guess. I couldn't get any flow going. It just seemed off, but maybe it was me.

desper-otto said...

For no particular reason...

What was the gotta-have toy introduced 70 years ago on November 27th? 400 were sold in the first 90 minutes.

billocohoes said...

Since I was doing the puzzle in pen-and-paper today, and I put in GEODETIC instead of GEODESIC, and also a hand up for DUMP, I was left deciding that KID SKITS are a cutesy plea for affection, or at least applause.

Anonymous said...

Splynter, you have found a new way to misspell LI'L – as have LIL' KIM and LIL' WAYNE.

Speaking of misplaced apostrophes, the Frawnche for "hello" is ALLO, not 'ALLO.

And,when did RECYCLE become UPCYCLE?

Yellowrocks said...

Fun Saturday, Greg. Interesting and doable. Close, but no cigar. Hand up for KIDS KISS, instead of KISS KISS, which does make more sense. V-8 can moment. I was stalled for a while in the SE, but then SPUMONI broke that area open. Splynter, I always love your honest Saturday write-ups and marvel that you tackle the hardest puzzle every week.
I must cover my patio furniture with a tarp and bungees this morning before the weather turns too cold. I am in my post Thanksgiving lazy spell. I am exercising and dieting and have returned to my normal weight, but otherwise I am vegging out.

Yellowrocks said...

Anonymous said,
"And,when did RECYCLE become UPCYCLE?"
According to Wiki,
“The first recorded use of the term upcycling was by Reiner Pilz of Pilz GmbH in an article by Thornton Kay of Salvo in 1994.”
“Upcycling, also known as creative reuse, is the process of transforming by-products, waste materials, useless and/or unwanted products into new materials or products of better quality or for better environmental value.”
IMO, it indicates recycling something to a higher use than it originally had.

Bluehen said...

While this solve was definitely not a speed run, I did finish in a little better than average Saturday time. The dearth of low-hanging fruit on the first pass was troubling, but perps and perseverance won the day, as much as anything, I believe, because the cluing was somewhat straight forward for a Saturday. Last to fill was the "c" in COE. Never heard of it, and I lived in that neck of the woods. Oh, well. Live and learn. Thank you for a great puzzle, Mr. Johnson, and you Splynter for your usual entertaining expo.

Turkey bone gumbo tonight. A family favorite. Thanks, Emeril.

Irish Miss said...

Good Morning:

This was a toughie for a while, but I did finish w/o help, finally! I knew Kerri but not Marc and also had dumps/sumps. Upcycle and Jadeites are new to me, also

DO, would that toy be GI Joe? The timing would be right but that's just a wild guess. Love your Texas-style C'est la vie. You have a great sense of humor,

Thanks, Greg and Splynter, for a Saturday challenge and spot-on expo.

It's gray and dreary here today with temps in the low 40's. I think our run of beautiful Fall weather has come to an end. No complaints, though, as November can be nasty, as was the case on Thanksgiving, 1971, when we had 22" of snow.

Lucina, (and other movie buffs) I have read rave reviews for Brooklyn and Spotlight. I read the book, Brooklyn, years ago and loved it. Spotlight is the expose of the cover-up by the Catholic Church, of Boston's pedophile priests.

Have a great day.

Apias said...

Could swear it is kiss kiss. Sumps are collection areas as well. Alas.

OwenKL said...

WBS! Not a particularly good day for me. Had to turn on the red letters only about half-way thru, tho with their help I did finish it. When time for the blog to post (4:30 in my time zone), I still had only one limerick ready, and was trying in vain to write one rhyming SOOTS, LUTES, & CAHOOTS. :-(

George: Don't understand your comment about Einstein not getting a tribute. The LAT for Nov.23 was an excellent one! Ned's puzzle was a good one however. My only stumble with it was the crossing of 49d, which I had trouble parsing until it was all filled in, and 63a, which had a pretty weak clue. "Local person in the paper" would have been better. Interesting it was only one letter different from an entry in today's LAT.

BEAU GESTE was a story of that French affair,
The Foreign Legion jilted men often joined in despair.
Fancy togs of the UNIT,
From spats to EPAULET,
Were wasted at posts in the MIDDLE OF NOWHERE!

Anonymous said...

These were nutty puzzles all week!

Husker Gary said...

A just right Saturday from Greg with “gettable” long fill and clever cluing

Musings
-Ah, LEARNED with two syllables
-This type of AREA MAP is particularly good
-I’m switching from DIY to HID (Hire It Done). How’s the commute Splynter?
-Our pix are ON CD, on Carbonite, on flash drives and in the cloud
-Three-letter cwd bird? You pretty much got yer TIT, OWL or EMU
-If Russia retaliates against NATO member Turkey, then what…
-Can you identify the three Geste brothers from 1939’s Beau Geste?
-Gardeners can UPCYCLE lots of things
-Buyer requested ADD-ONS are a nightmare for homebuilders
-The openings where the triangles meet on Spaceship Earth serve as rain collectors to funnel water out to the lagoon
-KERRI Strug’s courageous vault on her injured ankle (:13) still gives me goosebumps
-Our high water table here can cause SEEPAGE in basements and therefore SUMP pumps are required
-Alexander Graham Bell suggested saying “Ahoy” when answering a phone
-Brilliant limerick, Owen!

Husker Gary said...

Post post
Thanks DO, I had to look up that toy and it was fascinating to read about it. It was the only toy that Grandma Opal had at her house for us play with (use in our playing?). It also found its way into my classroom.

Lucina said...

Hola, friends!

Though I didn't initially think so, this was a great puzzle. It seemed daunting and undoable at FIRST but with some few and far apart fill I soon connected them into words and phrases and finished in under my regular Saturday time. Thank you, Greg Johnson!

TERRACOTTATILES was my first fill and I suspected ETTU but let it play out. The same with "easy as" which could be PIE or ABC, which quickly became apparent. Since I had a really good MINOLTA for many years, that was easy though I had NUMBER ONE before NUMERO UNO.

Splynter, SUMPS was my downfall, too, as KIDSKISS seemed fine as did DUMPS. I finally recalled KERRI Strug but it took a while.

This was a fine challenge with no dreck as Jerome says. Like others JADEITES and UPCYCLE were both new to me. Liked seeing OYVEY. I feel that way sometime.

Splynter, thank you for being our Saturday host. Every week you do an outstanding job and entertain us as well. I look forward to your leg postings though today's was different, ahem.

An upside to changing my eating habits is that I didn't have that bloated feeling and yesterday felt quite energetic. That's unusual for the day following the Thanksgiving feasting when I typically felt lazy and didn't do much. Yesterday I cleaned my oven!


Have a really great Saturday, everyone!

Madame Defarge said...

Good Morning!

WooBoy! I was off on this one. I walked away three times, but I kept picking away. I like SPUMONI, GEODESIC, and especially POTATO, particularly Splynter's reminder. Remember when the Potato Heads came only with the parts because it needed a real potato?!

Thanks Greg for keeping me from shopping online! I'm with Lemonade: Thanks Splynter for walking us through these tough Saturdays!

Have a good day.

VirginiaSycamore said...

Have to post quickly as ride is coming.

Thanks to Greg for the puzzle and to Splynter for his wonderful write-ups. I confess to turning on red letters very early in my solving. Too many of the easy ones had dual answers, such as PIE or ABC. But that is usual for Saturdays.

To DO was the toy Lincoln Logs? If not I guess some cowboy related thing. It came out before I was born so I am guessing.

VS

C6D6 Peg said...

Thanks, Greg, for a challenging puzzle. FIW to do Dumps/Sumps...... Oh well, another day.

What, Splynter! NO LEGS? No pics of a girl lying on a sofa? Ha, ha!

Yellowrocks said...

Would the toy be a Slinky? We didn't have any in our house in the 1940's. My kids had them in the 1960's. There were some animal pull toys with Slinkys in the middle and Slinky eyeballs, but the original was much more popular.

desper-otto said...

No, the toy wasn't G.I. Joe, and it wasn't Lincoln Logs, and it wasn't cowboy-related. It was invented in Philadelphia and made its debut at the local Gimbels Store. Remember Gimbels? Give up? You can find the answer HERE.

AnonymousPVX said...

Finished but "COE" got me, I had amigi coming down.

Tough but doable.

PK said...

Hi Y'all! OY VEY, so much I didn't know from the clues! But enjoyed the discoveries as they came anyway. Thanks, Greg! Thanks, Splynter!

This was sure a "U"-heavy puzzle -- I counted 10. Three UP words were surprising. I thought repeat words weren't allowed. Repeat syllables must be okay.

Never heard of MARC Maron. Cheech refused to squeeze into the space.

What is "firenze" friends = AMICI? All perps. Maybe I should look it up, hunh?

Second day with a movie I hadn't heard of.

I have such strange dreams most days/nights, I'd be afraid to look up their meaning. Usually nothing related to anything that occurred during my waking hours. My sleep patterns are very erratic.

Golden ration = PHI was all perps. I read Splynter's nicely provided link and still don't understand it. Don't care much.

We got a Slinky about 1950 along with some Silly Putty in the first toy store I ever remember entering. Our great aunt took my little sis and I to the store and bought us these to keep us occupied for several days at her house. We were in the city because my grandmother had been diagnosed with breast cancer and was having surgery. That Slinky was mesmerizing to a sad and scared little girl. You couldn't wear the thing out, but many years later, my youngest brother managed to bend it out of shape.

So good to hear from Vidwan yesterday. I was wondering about him the other day. I miss his unique "voice".

PK said...

Okay, I looked up Firenze. For any of you unERUDITE yokels out there who, like me, didn't know, its what Italians call the city of Florence. Why did the English start calling it anything else?

desper-otto said...

PK, I'll bet it was that same English guy who renamed Napoli, Torino, Milano and Roma.

GarlicGal said...

(good one, DO.)

My first pass over was very dismal. LOCKJAW...that was it!I persevered and slowly clues began to click. I really enjoyed the challenged. Thank you Gary and Splynter. And of course a big CSO to C.C., our leader.

Off to our downtown to Shop Small!

Big Easy said...

Curse you, Mr. Johnson for making me spend so much time to grind this 'nice' puzzle out. I looked at it early this morning and put it down after about three fills-REM, MILOLTA & IRV Cross. After the house cleared out of all relatives, I decided to try it. I finally finished it by luckily spelling AMICI, and guessing COE (unknown) and OYVEY- unless that is how they spell it when the judge comes in, I've never heard or seen that either.

Other new words unknown to me were MARC Maron, KERRI Strug, TAU & PHI (never learned the Greek Google new name), YEW, UPCYCLE, FIRST KNIGHT. I knew EPAULET, but not how to spell it. SPUMONI is what I always get at Angelo Brocato's Ice Cream Parlor. ASTI & EMU were WAGS. I filled OOZE, OF IT, AMIGI (wild guess),JADE ORES, RHO, & DUMPS before SEEP, OR IN, AMICI, JADEITES, PHI, & SUMPS.

It was a struggle but I was determined to finish after three straight DNFs.

Big Easy said...

Anonymous PVX- before I guessed AMICI and didn't know of COE. I was actually thinking of Kampground Of America- KOA, and OYVAY would have made as much sense ( to me) as OYVEY. But Sebastian COE once held the world-record in the mile run and there was no abbreviation in the clue. GOA just didn't look right.

Yellowrocks said...

What a delightful Friday and Saturday for me! No expectations other than a few easy meals, no snafus, no responsibilities, no coping. Alan is reasonably comfortable for the nonce. I am glad there are no doctors' office hours this weekend. I feel great physically. I am more and more fit every day 6 months beyond my three knee operations. After almost a year of stress and daily coping, especially with Alan, I needed these days of healthy idleness. I will return to the fray tomorrow with renewed vigor. We are preparing for an epidural for Alan.
Being a part of the Corner family has been invaluable to me and helps keep my sanity. Thanks, all of you, for your kindness and concern.

PK said...

Big Easy, OY VEY is a Yiddish phrase expressing dismay or exasperation, also may be spelled OY VaY, OY Veh. (according to Wiki. I've heard it in movies and seen it in books. I'm not Jewish.

Jayce said...

Excellent puzzle. I had to look some things up, without which I could not have solved it. I enjoy reading your writeups, Splynter.

Anonymous T said...

Hi All!

I had a better showing on this Sat. pzl than normal - 62% right, right Splynter? :-)

53a was my first "know it!" I won second at State (LA) in HS for math re: my logarithmic reversal of the Fibonacci numbers using the Golden Ratio... Thanks Mrs. Treese!*

And w/ that, TAU, APP, SPUMONI, ASTI, DATA... I got the NE corner next and smatterings about. MRS.C reminded me to reCYCLE - it's as Easy as pie, er, ABC. Funny, I UPCYCLE'd a 15yro baby-food jar I had for the DIY trebuchet bucket.

A perp or two got me GEODESIC - in grade school a buddy & I played w/ that geometry.

Thanks Greg for the fun and Splynter for the other 28% of the pzl. Now I can stop wasting time on it (even w/ KISS KISS, I wasn't going to get 27d) and make ham-bone-bean soup. It's certainly cold enough for it.

Fav - 18d. My first try was men in tights (different kinda Trailer than a SEMI), but that was Patrick Stewart. I blame YEW for putting that in my head.

Other Fav - CAHOOTS. I just love that word.

HG - Eldest & I used a similar MAP walking >17mi. in D.C. (according to iPhone). We had a great time together.

D-O: I was guessing Slinky or Silly Putty... (but you told us at 12:15 and PK had the same thoughts...)

Lucina - Glad you're feeling chipper again. Garlic Gal - good to see you post again.

Cheers, -T
*Mrs Treese was a math teacher that pulled me out of the "neighborhood" classes and made me feel smart in ADDition to dorky. She changed my life's trajectory... I wish I'd have thanked her and Sister Marry Hellen - those were teachers.

Anonymous T said...

Oops, I meant "thanks Splynter for the other 38%" Or, maybe I didn't; maybe 10% still doesn't LOCK w/ me :-) C, -T

Lucina said...

Today I started my holiday shopping at Barnes & Noble where they have great educational toys as well as books, movies, music, etc. To my surprise there was a kit for making UPCYCLEd items out of plastic bags!

Had I not seen it in today's puzzle it would have been a mystery. I learn so much here!

Thank you, AnonT. Feeling energetic is a very nice result of light eating.

Lucina said...

GarlicGal:
When you say "I enjoyed the challenged" I hope you don't mean all of us! LOL

desper-otto said...

Aha! Jayce, I just finished watching the PBS Nova on Einstein's Mind. Now I know where you got the inspiration for that disappearing sun question.

Bill G. said...

AnonT, I've always loved learning about the Golden Ratio and The Fibonacci Sequence.

I've got a couple of pine cones that I show my students. The number of spiral bracts are always consecutive pairs of The Fibonacci Sequence. Also, the number of spirals found in the seed array in the center of a sunflower. Neat!

Did you know you can find The Fibonacci Sequence in Pascal's Triangle. Surprising...

I just got a call from one of my engineering friends from about the 1960s. He was always a little bit of a "poor soul" though he did manage to have a really cute girlfriend for a while. Now he is hooked up to a dialysis machine for about eight hours a week. Sad...

Anonymous T said...

OK, w/ ERUDITE in the pzl and on the heel of Thanksgiving, who's a teacher that touched you? (wait, um...).

Another stellar one I remember: 7th grade math @ St. Joe's - Mr. Catalano. 1st day of class, as he wrote his name on the board he spoke "My name is CA TA LA _NO_!" He had us architect dream houses and let Pat & me out of class to play on the new Apple ][ computers. He also kept me in from recess for 2 weeks until I could do 100 multiplications in 2 min. The latter didn't stick but I found I love programming and higher-maths.

To my teachers!

Cheers, -T

SwampCat said...


Anon T, so many teachers. Mr Frederick in history who challenged us, Everything you thought about the French Revolution was wrong. I was so embarrassed ...I had never really thought at all about the French Revolution!

And Mr Acer in English who pushed me to write more than I thought I could.

And Mr Suggs in Physics who believed I could understand Physics....I was never really sure! Good teachers have been a blessing to me!

Owen, loved it!! Splynter, great as usual.

And the puzzle defeated me, but was so much fun!

Madame Defarge said...

The Fibonacci Sequence and lots of other math shows up in knitting. Sometimes the math gives me fits-- that's when I call out to DH if he's home! He's very patient. AND I just knit on. As an English major with an MA who knits, I can NEVER deny the importance of math!!!

SwampCat said...


Mme :D: My knowledge of math/ numbers is basically....Some.....a few... Not so many ...more than that...a whole big bunch. I just have trouble with the exact numbers!!

I tend to round off times, too. So, both 11:27 and 11:35 are "about 11:30,". Drives my engineering kids crazy!!

Freond said...

Close, but FIW with one mistake. Probably spent 20 minutes going over and over it, wondering why I didn't get the ta-dum. I thought it was OY VAY (which is a valid alternate spelling), instead of OY VEY. I figured COA was College of Ames, or something like that, although with no indication that it was an abbreviation, that thought was a mistake. Was no one going to explain exactly what COE was? Coe College, a tiny (1300 students) college in Cedar Rapids? Sorry, that's just too obscure, especially when crossed with an alternate spelling.

Spitzboov said...

DATA - I usually think of DATA in the plural so 'It' in the clue threw me off.
Not my favorite puzzle today.

Back to grazing on leftovers.

VirginiaSycamore said...

To Swamp Cat at 8:26 pm

It is interesting to think of how numbers were "discovered" by mankind. Only the really basic numbers like one and two have their own words for themselves. like one half. A duet. A solo. etc.

Until the system of 10 made it to Europe, all the calculations had to be done on Roman numerals. Various types of bead systems were used to speed it up, etc.

I am thankful for the intelligent discussions on this blog. And the silly ones too!
VS

PK said...

My high school accounting teacher was a lazy guy to begin with and a coach who was out late at basketball games and not prepared to teach. He'd come in to class and ask me if I'd studied my assignment? Of course, I had so he'd have me teach the class. Because of this I made sure I knew the stuff. I developed a real love for double-entry bookkeeping (without computers which weren't available then). This knowledge served me well getting my first jobs, helped me keep up with the farm business, and get my last job. Even a poor example of a teacher can be valuable in the right circumstances. One of my classmates who was struggling with the class at first later became an accounting major then CPA & auditor. I don't know if I helped him.

Madame Defarge said...

With all my misunderstanding of numbers, I do realize there is something so essential about them. They make for perfect knitting and certainly music, none to mention the rest of the perfection in nature and the universe. A number--HA!--of math teachers I knew were self-taught musicians. I always thought their clear understanding of numerical relationships made it easier for them to understand music. If they could "see" numbers, certainly they could "see" music. My second 4th grade grandson "sees" numbers and hates to do his homework because he can't always show his work or his thinking is ahead of his class. Maybe his teacher. . . .