Friday, July 5, 2019

QOD:  Never let anyone define what you are capable of by using parameters that don’t apply to you.  ~  Chuck Close (né Charles Thomas Close; b. July 5, 1940)

Thursday, July 4, 2019 / 4th of July

QOD:  If you can go through life without experiencing pain, you probably haven’t been born yet. ~  Neil Simon (né Marvin Neil Simon; July 4, 1927 ~ Aug. 26, 2018)

Wednesday, July 3, 2019

QOD:  If an idea is worth having once, it’s worth having twice.  ~  Sir Tom Stoppard (né Tomáš Straussler; b. July 3, 1937), Czech-born playwright

Tuesday, July 2, 2019

QOD:  Prohibition didn’t work in the Garden of Eden.  Adam ate the apple.  ~  Vincente Fox (b. July 2, 1942), President of Mexico

Oh, Say Can You See ...   

Invisible Tape

18-Across. Invisible impediment in the workplace: GLASS CEILING.  A Glass Ceiling is an unofficial barrier to advancement in a profession.  This especially impacts women and minorities.

58-Across. Invisible impediment in the sky: SOUND BARRIER.  Here is an explanation and some  photographs of jets smashing the Sound Barrier.

12-Down. Invisible impediment in the theater: FOURTH WALL.  The Fourth Wall is the conceptual barrier between the actors and the audience.  The audience can see "through" the wall, but the actors are oblivious to the wall.  The television sit-com show, The Office, would allow the actors to break through the fourth wall and speak directly to the audience.

29-Down. Invisible impediment in science fiction: FORCE FIELD.

Across:

1. Former NFL running back Jennings who won "Dancing With the Stars" in 2017: RASHAD.  I didn't get off to a good start with today's puzzle, as I am not familiar with RASHAD Jennings (né Rashad Andre Jennings; b. Mar. 26, 1985).  In 2009, he was drafted by the Jackson Jaguars.  He later played for the Oakland Raiders and the New York Giants.  In 2017, he was on Dancing with the Stars.  The following year, he joined the show as a judge.

7. Cuban dance: RUMBA.  Origins of the Rumba:

12. Govt. Rx watchdog: FDA.  As in the Food and Drug Administration, which is housed within the United States Department of Health and Human Services.

15. Give in (to): ACCEDE.

16. Thorny plant: BRIAR.

17. Belonging to us: OUR.  This Blog is OUR Happy Place.

20. The Pac-12's Trojans: USC.  As in the University of Southern California.

21. Solar phenomena: SUN SPOTS.  Sun Sports are the darker areas that appear in the sun's surface. They are the "cooler" areas on the sun.  You can learn more from The National Weather Service.

22. Kooky traits: QUIRKS.

24. Flub it: ERR.

25. Able to speak easily, as a language: FLUENT.  How many languages can you speak?

27. Badly mistaken: OFF BASE.

31. Average schlub: JOE SCHMO.  I think of a Joe Schmo as being a bit of a jerk.

34. 53-Down noise: CROAK.  //  And 53-Down:  Pond critter:  FROG.

35. Not worth debating: MOOT.

36. Is in the red: OWES.

37. Civil suit cause: TORT.  A tort is just a civil wrong.  Not to be confused with the dessert, which is spelled with an "e".

Sacher Torte.

38. Predators in pool halls: SHARKS.

40. Designer Jacobs: MARC.  Marc Jacobs (b. Apr. 9. 1963) is probably best known for his line of handbags.  They are a tad out of my price range.

41. Set in stone, say: ETCH.

42. Benevolent: KIND.

43. Hägar's wife: HELGA.  A reference to the comic strip Hägar the Horrible.

44. Paul Newman caper film: THE STING.

46. Comedian Elayne: BOOSLER.

Elayne Boosler (b. Aug. 18, 1952)

48. Full of moxie: FEISTY.

49. Theater segment: ACT.  Tricky.  I initially thought we were looking for a section of seating in the theater.

50. "Reservoir Dogs" co-star Harvey: KEITEL.  Harvey Keitel (b. May 13, 1939) has starred in a number of films.  He usually portrays a tough-guy.  I never saw Reservoir Dogs, but it is known for its violence.

52. Find at a dig: ARTIFACT.  Here is an artifact recently discovered from an excavation in the City of David in Jerusalem.

57. Blackjack eleven: ACE.

61. Twitter guffaw: LOL.

62. Chose (to): OPTED.

63. Bit of ramen: NOODLE.  Several years ago, Blue Iris, one of our Blog members, provided a recipe for a Bird Seed Salad that uses Raman Noodles.  I make this salad on occasion when I need to bring something to a potluck dinner.

64. Football lineman: END.

65. Prerequisites: NEEDS.

66. "Communist Manifesto" co-author with Marx: ENGELS.  Karl Marx (May 5, 1818 ~ Mar. 14, 1883) and Friedrich Engels (Nov. 28, 1820 ~ Aug. 5, 1895) wrote the Communist Manifesto in 1848.  Engels died of laryngeal cancer at age 74.

Engels and Marx

Down:

1. Garb for many a Dickens waif: RAGS.

2. Rights-defending org.: ACLU.  As in the American Civil Liberties Union.

3. Read quickly: SCAN.

4. Gas brand with toy trucks: HESS.  I initially tried Esso, but that didn't fit well with the perps.

5. Marketing jargon: AD SPEAK.

6. Interior designs: DECORS.

Star Wars Living Room Decor

7. Grand slam quartet, in baseball shorthand: RBIs.  As in Runs Batted In.

8. Internet address letters: URL.  The Uniform Resource Locator makes frequent appearances in the puzzles.

9. 1002, in old Rome: MII.

10. Regal meals: BANQUETS.

11. Participates in a debate: ARGUES.

13. Nightfall: DUSK.  Dusk technically applies to that period between the darkest twilight and complete darkness.

14. Curved sections: ARCS.

19. French "to be": ÊTRE.  Conjugated in the present tense:

          Je suis  //  Nous sommes
          Tu es  //  Vous êtes
          Ils / Elles est  //  Ils / Elles sont 

23. Workers' earnings: INCOMES.

25. Scandinavian cruise sight: FJORD.  Some beautiful sights of Norway.

26. "Please understand ... ": LOOK.

27. Eight-member ensemble: OCTET.  A String Octet typically consists of 4 violins, 2 violas and 2 cellos, but I will give you an example of an octet for wind instruments.

28. Suds: FROTH.  I had _ROTH, and all I could thing of was Broth, but that didn't make sense.  Then the lightbulb went on.

30. Packaged buy including shower curtain, towels, etc.: BATH SET.

32. Join the flow of traffic: MERGE.  In the ideal world ...

33. Basketball Hall of Famer Robertson: OSCAR.  Oscar Palmer Robertson (b. Nov. 24, 1938) had a long career in the NBA, first playing for the Cincinnati Royals, then the Milwaukee Bucks.  He was also the plaintiff in the 1970 anti-trust lawsuit, Robertson v. National Basketball Association.  The lawsuit settled in 1976 and resulted in today's current free agency rules.

35. Like some stray mutts: MANGY.

38. Slalom setting: SKI SLOPE.

39. Clue: HINT.

43. Producer of curls: HOT IRON.  My hair is just wash and wear.

45. Attaches with rope: TIES ON.

46. Cutting remark: BARB.

47. Number on a pump: OCTANE.

50. Curly leafy green: KALE.

51. Micro or macro subj.: ECON.  As in Micoreconomics or Macroeconomics.

52. Tacks on: ADDS.

54. Staff helper: AIDE.

55. Phone in a pocket: CELL.

56. "__ chic!": TRÈS.  More of today's French lesson.

59. Sporty truck, briefly: UTE.

60. Nancy Drew's beau: NED.  Ned Nickerson was Nancy Drew's beau.  They used to get around in a roadster.  I loved this mystery stories when I was a in grade school.  The stories were so exotic to this 4th grader.

Here's the Grid:

Monday, July 1, 2019

QOD:  If you don’t have confidence, you’ll always find a way not to win.  ~  Carl Lewis (né Frederick Carlton Lewis; b. July 1, 1961), American athlete

Sunday, June 30, 2019

QOD:  Looking back, I realize that nurturing curiosity and the instinct to see solutions are perhaps the most important contributions education can make.  ~  Paul Berg (b. June 30, 1926), Recipient of the 1980 Nobel Prize in Chemistry