Friday, February 21, 2020

QOD:  Worry is like a rocking chair: It gives you something to do but never gets you anywhere.  ~  Erma Bombeck (née Erma Louise Bombeck; Feb. 21, 1927 ~ Apr. 22, 1996), American humorist

Thursday, February 20, 2020

QOD:  There is nothing worse than a sharp image of a fuzzy concept.  ~  Ansel Adams (Feb. 20, 1902 ~ Apr. 22, 1984), American photographer

Wednesday, February 19, 2020

QOD:  For I am not so enamoured of my own opinions that I disregard what others may think of them.  ~  Nicolaus Copernicus (Feb. 19, 1473 ~ May 24, 1543), Polish astronomer and mathematician

Tuesday, February 18, 2020

QOD:  You think you can do anything, and then you slowly learn how wrong you are.  ~  Miloš Forman (né Jan Tomáš Forman; Feb. 18, 1932 ~ Apr. 13, 2018), Czech-born film director

It's just a Jump to your LEFT.



20-Across. *  Billy Crystal comedy featuring a cattle drive: CITY SLICKERS.  City Center.

City Slickers was a 1991 film.

The Central Business District in New Orleans

30-Across. *  Exact look-alike: DEAD RINGER.  Dead Center.

 Dead Ringer was also a 1964 movie starring Bette Davis.

Dead Center

38-Across. *  Daily filming schedule on the set: CALL SHEET.  Call Center.  In my experience, the people at the call center are in some far-off town and often speak with such an accent neither one of us understand each other.

50-Across. *  One in la-la land: SPACE CADET.  Space Center.

And the unifier:
59-Across. Somewhat liberal, or where you might find the first words in the answers to starred clues: LEFT OF CENTER.


Across:

1. Govt.-backed investment: T-NOTE.  As in a Treasury Note.

6. Travelocity recommendations: INNS.

10. Comprehends: GETS.

14. Commandment verb involving parents: HONOR.  Fact: Did you know that the 10 Commandments are found in both Exodus and Deuteronomy and that the order of the Commandments differ depending upon one's religious theology?

15. Niño's "nothing": NADA.  Today's Spanish lesson.

16. Difficult exam: ORAL.

17. Kagan of the Supreme Court: ELENA.  Elena Kagan (b. Apr. 28, 1960) is an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court.  When she assumed the office in August 2010, she was only the 4th woman to serve as a Supreme Court Justice.  Prior to joining the Supreme Court, she was the first female dean of the Harvard Law School.  She makes frequent guest appearances in the crossword puzzles.

18. Fruit grown in bogs: CRANBERRY.  Massachusetts is known for its CRANBERRY Bogs.

22. __, amas, amat ...: AMO.  Today's Latin lesson.

23. Gnaw (at): EAT.

24. Grocery walkway: AISLE.

28. Offshore oil drillers: RIGS.

Oil Rigs as seen from the beach at Grand Isle, Louisiana

34. Stiff-upper-lip type: STOIC.

36. Under, in French: SOUS.  Today's French lesson.  Think of the Sous-chef, who is the second in command in the kitchen, after the executive chef.

37. Graffiti signature: TAG.  Many buildings in Rome are covered in graffiti.

42. Musical gift: EAR.

45. Roman robe: TOGA.

46. Hustle genre: DISCO.

54. Croat or Serb: SLAV.

55. Mexican mister: SEÑOR.  More of today's Spanish lesson.

56. Correct: FIX.

58. "__ had it!": I'VE.  Enough, already!

64. Soap opera genre: MELODRAMA.  A melodrama is a performance with a lot of exaggerated emotion.

67. 1960s jacket style: NEHRU.  The history of the NEHRU Jacket.

68. Cooking spot: OVEN.

69. Large-scale: EPIC.  Cecil B' DeMille's movie The Ten Commandments was an EPIC movie.

70. Warning signs: OMENS.

71. Like fake fruit: WAXY.

72. See socially: DATE.

73. From Lillehammer, say: NORSE.  Lillehammer, Norway was the site of the 1994 Winter Olympics.

Down:

1. "My Best Friend's Girl" rock band: THE CARS.  Sadly, Ric Ocasek (né Richard Theodore Otcasek; Mar. 23, 1944 ~ Sept. 15, 2019), frontman for The Cars, died last fall at age 75.  Shortly before he died, he executed a new will, which specifically cut out  Paulina Porizkova (née Pavlína Pořízková; b. Apr. 9, 1965), his wife of 30 years.  They had been in the middle of a divorce, but still shared a house together.

2. Like poker games for high rollers: NO LIMIT.

3. Small takeout order: ONE TO GO.  Strange clue and answer.

4. Tiger mascot with a red scarf: TONY.  Of course, my first thought was LSU's Mike the Tiger, but he doesn't wear a read scarf.

5. Clear data from: ERASE.  //  And 52-Down. Wear away, as a coin surface: EFFACE.

6. Provoke: INCITE.

7. Dealer's foil, briefly: NARC.  Short for a narcotics agent.

8. Southern neighbor of Sask.: N. DAK.  North Dakota is south of the Canadian province of Saskatchewan.

9. Reasonable: SANE.

10. Enters: GOES IN.

11. "To say they __ I dare not be so bold": Shakespeare: ERR.

12. North Carolina __ Heels: TAR.  North Carolina had been was known as the Tar and Turpentine State due to its early industry of distilling pine sap.  The name later evolved into just TAR Heel.

13. Cunning: SLY.

19. Slow-cooked, as short ribs: BRAISED.  Braising is a cooking method that uses both wet and dry heats.  Food is first sautéed or lightly fried, then slowly stewed in a closed pot.  More complicated than my cooking methods.

21. Young chap: LAD.

25. Bilko's rank: Abbr.: SGT.  Sgt. Bilko was a character on The Phil Silvers Show, which ran in the late 1950s.  It was before my time.

26. Grazing area: LEA.

27. Joule fraction: ERG.  This has become a crossword staple.

29. [not my error]: SIC.  More of today's Latin lesson.  SIC is a Latin adverb that is inserted after a quoted word or phrase to indicate that the original quoted passage contained the error.

31. Family name in Mideast politics: ASSAD.  Bashar al-ASSAD (b. Sept. 11, 1965) is the current President of Syria.  The name al-Assad means Lion in Arabic.

32. Homer's "I'm an idiot!": DOH!

33. Feel remorse over: RUE.  Also the French word for Street.

35. Provided food for: CATERED.

39. Tone-__: "Wild Thing" rapper: LOC.

Tone-Loc (né Anthony Terrell Smith; b. Mar. 3, 1966).

40. NYC airport near Citi Field: LGA.  As in the LaGuardia Airport. I flew into LaGuardia the last time I was in New York last summer.  The airport is named in honor of Fiorello H. La Guardia (Dec. 11, 1882 ~ Sept. 20, 1947), the 99th Mayor of New York City.

41. "__ the season ... ": TIS.  Well, it will be the season in about 10 months!

42. Scout leader?: ESS.  Oh, as in the letter "S".  Not keen on this type of cluing.

43. Monkey relative: APE.

44. Sought a political seat: RAN.  Hot topic this year.

47. Move like a mamba: SLITHER.  The Mamba is a venomous snake native to Africa.

48. Carlsbad __ National Park: CAVERNS.  A visit to the Carlsbad Caverns is on my bucket list.

49. Do to death: OVERUSE.

51. Revolutionary territory: COLONY.

53. Nervous twitch: TIC.

57. Noble gas: XENON.  Xenon with the atomic number of 54 is a colorless and odorless gas.  It was first discovered in 1898.

60. Dancer Astaire: FRED.  Fred Astaire (né Frederick Austerlitz; May 10, 1899 ~ June 22, 1987) and his sister, Adele (née Adele Marie Austerlitz; Sept. 10, 1896 ~ Jan. 25, 1981), were both dancers.

61. Spanish appetizer: TAPA.  Yummers!

62. Leave out: OMIT.

63. Verne captain: NEMO.  Jules Verne (né Jules Gabriel Verne; Feb. 8, 1828 ~ Mar. 24, 1905) was a French novelist who is considered the "Father of Science Fiction".  Captain NEMO is the fictional character in 2 of Verne's novels: Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea and The Mysterious Island.  The former is the better known of the two novels.

64. Work on a lawn: MOW.

65. "Training Day" actress Mendes: EVA.

Eva de la Caridad Méndez (b. Mar. 5, 1974) is on the left.

66. "Superman" villain Luthor: LEX.

Here's the Grid:

Monday, February 17, 2020 / Presidents' Day

QOD:  I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life.  And that is why I succeed.  ~  Michael Jordan (né Michael Jeffrey Jordon; b. Feb. 17, 1963), African-American professional basketball player

Sunday, February 16, 2020

QOD:  Philosophy: Unintelligible answers to insoluble problems.  ~  Henry Adams (né Henry Brooks Adams; Feb. 16, 1838 ~ Mar. 27, 1918), American historian