Grundoon59

In looking for information on renewal, I saw a Tweet indicating production started this week so it looks like season 17 is a go!

3/5 with 1* which I only got thanks to rewatching a Time Team episode last week that laid out all the relevant period invaders of Britain. No Liszt or Shakespearean characters for me (although I do believe the information was somewhere in my brain box for both but nowhere near verbalizing either). I will bring some fixings for open face sandwiches (which I first had in Denmark - the first place I visited in Europe) to go with the aebelskivers. Happy Belated Anniversary @Toothbrush!

5/5 - don't ask me how but the only wild guess was Tuesday and I went with Camus based on a vague memory that he had died young around that time. Monday and Wednesday popped quickly to my brain. I have attended far too many Billy Joel concerts not to get Thursday and I will give thanks to Bill Bryson (book and movie) for Friday.

3/5 with one * (thanks to a long ago trip to Australia with some time spent in Canberra - apparently this fixed the date somewhere in my brain). I saw/heard some publicity about Jamie Lee Curtis returning to her role - I only ever saw the first film but have always liked her in other roles. Had a brief fascination with Benedict Arnold years ago so remembered his epitaph. For Monday, I was pretty sure that it was the next book by the author of The Kite Runner but couldn't get any closer than that. Friday my brain was not firing on many cylinders thanks to my boss hosting an event with good food and beverages late in the day, so I had a great time but never came near the answer.

2/5 with no *. Got KFC (mainly by saying Spice Girls out loud) and the Cubs (mainly by thinking of early baseball cities with two teams and then focussing on the "young" part of the clue). All the others were ones that I knew were contained somewhere in my brain cells but no pneumatic tube system was available to deliver the information in time.

3/5 with 3 * - I couldn't wrap my Monday brain around the geographical route and somewhere in the dimmest recesses of my brain I knew Thursday's answer but it would not have appeared at the forefront for a very, very long time. For Friday, I give instget credit to both Revere and Longfellow but mostly to my longsuffering parental Grundoons who let me drag them around the Freedom Trail a ridiculous number of times on visits to Boston relatives. What a great way for a history obsessed kid to burn off energy (the longest walking day I remember was the Trail, Jamaica Pond and Bunker Hill monument). I need to get back into that shape.

3/5 with 1*. Started the week strong and drifted off at the end. Thank you to W&M American Lit classes for the Dickinson info - sorry I let down the History Department by not getting to the Praetorian Guard in time! Meta made sense when I saw it but I would not have gotten there for love or money.

Once again, I have to thank American literature classes at William and Mary for knowing FJ. For some reason, Hope is a Thing with Feathers and Because I could not stop for Death stuck with me from Dickinson's work. However with the latter, I always sing the few lines I remember clearly to the tune of Amazing Grace and/or Gilligan's Island so now thanks to FJ, I have an earworm that is driving me slightly round the bend.

4/5 with no * - I got stuck on Mandela and then debating whether Ghandi had ever won a Nobel Prize so never made it to Tutu. Several lucky guesses this week but will take the answers however they make it to my brain.

The Long Goodbye Part 2 Season 16 Episode 24 -April 10 2023 I agree with everything you said @Trey and will add that I am glad Miss Cherry did the right thing by the end. I was also pleased so many people cared about Watts (including Miss Cherry) that he finally realized his voice did matter and that he needed to accept their help. I was counting on the Brackenreids returning (but realized I was using a web-episode of Frankie Drake as my "proof") so happy to see some evidence last night that they were not finding Yorkshire as good a fit for them as they anticipated. An excellent cliffhanger for the end of the season but having been burned by Frankie Drake, I am not sure I will rest easy until I see confirmation of Season 17's existence.

Anyone else feel like it is going to be a really long summer? 🙄

2/5 with 1* - got Grisham and Driving Miss Daisy. Somewhere in the deepest recesses of my brain, I knew Maginot but all I could come up with was - "you know the French Line". Rhinestones was so perfectly sensible that I laughed out loud when it was revealed but I was nowhere near getting the answer and I wasn't picturing South America at all successfully on Friday.

Since opening day at Greenfield Village is only a week away, it was heartening to see it as a clue and sad to see no one got it. I grew up thinking everyone had such a place in their backyard (and it is probably one of the reasons I also ended up going to college next door to Colonial Williamsburg). The Model T rides are loads of fun but so is everything else GV related and for me the best of the best is the historic Base Ball games (I am counting down the weekends until the season resumes there). Also don't miss the custard stand. I have had and made both kinds of crusts for a variety of pies. I prefer to do lattice tops but usually wouldn't for an apple pie (too much wonderful juice to escape).

@statsgirl - thanks for the info. I was visiting Toronto from probably the late 60s onward but as a kid, I wasn't really in tune with such things. I do remember the government liquor stores in NOTL and the Stratford area when I was there for theater (probably saw them in Windsor as well but they didn't register). It is kind of ironic that the Niagara Region has so many wineries now. The Sunday closures probably weren't a big deal to me since I am sure most trips were weekend getaways and we would have been heading back home to Detroit on Sunday. Thanks also for the information on the Annex - I know the general area you are talking about.

@peacheslatour - Julia had two scenes that I remember - one early with William where she was depressed about the lack of funding for the Womens' Clinic and the other at the train station with George/Effie/William and the Brackenreids. I am very proud of but very worried for Watts. I was pleased to see William, George and, to some extent, Higgins try to help him/speak up for him.

@peacheslatour - I actually agree (and realize that my initial post didn't accurately reflect that). In terms of setting things in motion, it was excellent. I am just nervously waiting for next week (and I am hoping next season).

16/23 The Long Goodbye, Part One 4/3/23 I don't want to give away the plot but yikes what was that? Lovely to see so many core characters but I don't think I was happy about what happened to any of them. Hopefully Part Two will resolve some of the plot strands in a way that leaves the characters in better circumstances. Last night left me feeling a little unsettled. I do have a couple of historical questions if anyone knows. Was "Toronto the Good" really such an oppressive thing? From viewing Frankie Drake, it appears the City was somewhat more accepting in the 1920s (but that could partly just be the post WWI reactions to life) - any insights would be appreciated. Also where was the Annex that George & Effie were referring to for their house? I have a limited idea of Toronto geography from visits over the years but was curious about how far out of town and in which direction they were talking about.

3/5 with 1*. On Monday, I was too distracted to read the clue properly although neither chemistry nor Egyptian gods are strong suits of mine. For Thursday, my brain stuck on Whirlpool (which I was sure was wrong) and resolutely refused to go anywhere else. I am pretty sure I owe the Gotham answer to a QI episode plus a lot of early American lit classes (go W&M) which made my author mental rolodex for that period pretty robust.

16/22 Scents and Sensibility, March 27, 2023 Count me in with those who enjoyed this episode. Thomas and Margaret are always a delight to watch together - especially their reactions to where the gift came from/what it was/what he would be doing to make it up to her. Loved Effie's commentary on society weddings. Miss Hart and Julia were fun and I really enjoyed Miss Hart staring down Rupert at the crime scene after he wasn't listening to either William or George. Clearly, he knows to obey strong women. Did get a little confused on who all the bridesmaids were and how they connected to the bride but that may have been on me (my viewing got interrupted for a wonderful reason - one of my neighbors brought me over some of their Ramadan dinner). I agree with @peacheslatour - it did feel old school in the best possible way. Like @Trey I am worried about the possibilities indicated in the preview for last two episodes but hope it is a temporary situation or a misdirect.

3/5 with one *. Misread Monday's clue and couldn't recover in time. For Wednesday, I kept repeating "you know, the Catch-22 author" but didn't make it to Heller in time. For James Bond, I mainly got it thanks to one of my favorite QI episodes which had the panel and audience singing the words to the original version of the music which had more of an Bollywood theme.

16/21 Murder in F Major, March 20 2023 I enjoyed the episode as well but could have done without the Julia's suitor subplot. I was somewhat annoyed that she was so taken with all the flowers he sent, especially when she told Effie that he had been slightly creepy previously. I did like everyone's reactions to classical music and especially George's logical questions about the conductor's role. I mostly figured out the who done it part but there were enough red herrings to make the journey enjoyable. I am sorry we are nearing the end of the season but I guess it really does mean spring is arriving. I am still enjoying the whole show enough to keep my fingers crossed for a season 17.

4/5 with 1* thanks to a lot of lucky guessing - the guessiest (TM Grundoon) of all was for Wyoming - I almost went with the Montana route but something made me change my mind at the last second. Totally remember where I was when I saw Indiana Jones in a theater for the first time but couldn't have come up with that answer if you paid me a million dollars.

4/5 with 2* - with a history major's brain (ancient though it is) to the rescue plus a couple of cruise sailings/channel crossings out of Dover in my travel past. Could not make my thought process work fast enough to get beyond "you know, the Thesaurus dude" but am happy with the week as is. Always glad to have a William (and Mary) answer to cheer for!

@Prevailing WindI need to apologize for my confusion about the availability of this season on Acorn. When I watched what I thought was an Acorn episode yesterday (via Xfinity), I learned that I was getting it through Ovation instead. Glad you got the info and that Acorn will have it at the end of the month.

16/20 Just Desserts March 6, 2023 I enjoyed the episode, more Julia's mystery than Murdoch's (since I guessed correctly at the cause of death in that one very quickly) but I am continuing to like Miss Hart more and more, especially in her new relationship. Both stories moved along nicely and I almost didn't notice that there many regular characters were not in the stories (always glad to see the Crabtrees, Higgins and Watts but didn't really miss them last night). I was almost liking Leslie Garland until he reverted to type. Julia as investigator was good but there were a few too many red herrings in her plot. Thanks for the heads up @Trey- I saw the preview but again failed to note the two-week break.