Friday, April 10, 2020 / Good Friday

QOD:  Resentments don’t hurt the person we resent, but they do hurt us.  ~  Anne Lamott (b. Apr. 10, 1954), American writer

Thursday, April 9, 2020

QOD:  Life is like a sewer: What you get out of it depends on what you put into it.  ~  Tom Lehrer (né Thomas Andrew Lehrer, b. Apr. 9, 1928), American mathematician and comedian

Wednesday, April 8, 2020

QOD:  We have to choose between a global market driven only by calculations of short-term profit, and one which has a human face.  ~  Kofi Annan (né Kofi Atta Annan; Apr. 8, 1938 ~ Aug. 18, 2018), Ghanaian Secretary-General of the United Nations

Tuesday, April 7, 2020

QOD:  Sometimes it’s worse to win a fight than to lose.  ~  Billie Holiday (née Eleanora Fagan, Apr. 7, 1915 ~ July 17, 1959), African-American singer

You're Such a Ham.  The word "Ham" is found spanning the two words of each theme answer.

17-Across.   *   New Jersey city on Raritan Bay: PERTH AMBOY.

25-Across.   *   Leader of the pack: ALPHA MALE.

38-Across.   *   It prohibits unreasonable searches and seizures: FOURTH AMENDMENT.  The text of the 4th Amendment of the United States Constitution reads:

     "The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized."

49-Across.   *   Light-bulb-over-the-head instance: AHA MOMENT.

And the unifier:
61-Across. Spam relatives ... and a hint to the answers to starred clues: CANNED HAMS.

Across:

1. Unresponsive state: COMA.

5. Loosen up, to a pitcher: THROW.

10. Light bulb unit: WATT.  The Watt is a unit of power, as defined by the International System of Units (SI) as a "derived unit of 1 joule per second, and is used to quantify the rate of energy transfer."  All clear now?  It is named after James Watt (Jan. 19, 1736 ~ Aug. 25, 1819), a Scottish inventor.  The important thing is to know that when you flip the switch on your wall, the overhead light goes on!

14. Welcoming: OPEN.  Many restaurants are now open for take-out only.  They still welcome those orders, though.

15. African howler: HYENA.

16. "Sin City" actress Jessica: ALBA.

Jessica Marie Alba (b. Apr. 28, 1981)

19. Thick slice: SLAB.

20. Semicircle, say: ARC.

21. Green Gables girl: ANNE.  Anne of Green Gables is children's novel first published in 1908 by Lucy Maud Montgomery (Nov. 30, 1874 ~ Apr. 24, 1942) about a young orphan girl who is sent to two middle-aged sibling who wanted to adopt a boy to help with the farm.  Instead, they got .  It is set in Prince Edward Island, Canada.  I remember visiting the Anne of Green Gables Museum with my family when I was young, and after I had read the book.

22. Kick back: CHILL.

23. Comic Smirnoff: YAKOV.  Yakov Smirnoff (b. Jan. 24, 1951) was born in Odessa, Ukraine.  He emigrated to the United States in the 1970s.  Oh, and by the way, that's Dr. Smirnoff to you.  Last year he earned his doctorate in psychology.

28. Wiener schnitzel meat: VEAL.  I'll just note here that eating veal is controversial due to the treatment involved in how the animals are raised.  Enough said.

30. Red Sea country: YEMEN.

31. Trembling trees: ASPENS.

34. Terrier's sound: ARF.  A crossword staple.

35. Disney frame: CEL.  A crossword staple.

42. Boy king: TUT.  His formal name is Tutankhamun.  His tomb is said to be cursed.  You be the judge.

43. Mr. Rogers: ROY.  Oh, I forgot about Roy Rogers (né Leonard Franklin Slye; Nov. 5, 1911 ~ July 6, 1998).  The only Mr. Rogers that I could think of was Fred Rogers (né Fred McFeely Rogers; Mar. 28, 1928 ~ Feb. 27, 2003).  Roy Rogers' 3rd wife was Dale Evans (née Oct. 21, 1912 ~ Feb. 7, 2001).  He was her 4th husband.

44. Cleared from the board: ERASED.

45. Family car: SEDAN.  Did you know that the word Sedan was first used to describe a car in 1912?

48. Elvis' middle name: ARON.  Elvis Presley (Jan. 8, 1935 ~ Aug. 16, 1977), of course.  There is some controversy over his middle name.  It is sometimes spelled as Aaron.

52. Sherpa's land: NEPAL.

56. Large pears: BOSCS.

57. Actress Skye: IONE.  Ione Skye (née Ione Lee Leitch; b. Sept. 4, 1970) makes frequent appearances in the crossword puzzles.

59. The "E" in BCE: ERA.  As in Before the Common Era.

60. Boo-boo: OWIE.

64. Tease mercilessly: RIDE.

65. Curved moldings: OGEEs.  O, Gee!  It looks rather like this doorway.

66. Frozen drink brand: ICEE.

67. Souvenir shop apparel: TEEs.

68. Lyrics: WORDS.

69. Rx items: MEDS.

Down:

1. Insured's contribution: CO-PAY.

2. Wagner work: OPERA.  Richard Wagner (May 22, 1813 ~ Feb. 13, 1883) wrote many operas, but he is probably best known for his Ring Cycle, a series of 4 operas.  The Ring Cycle is loosely based on Norse mythology.  Many opera houses recently performed the Ring Cycle over the course of 4 years starting in 2013 to mark the 200th anniversary of Wagner's birth.  A brief bio of Wagner. 

3. Pharmaceutical giant: MERCK.  Merck is one of the largest pharamceutical companies in the world.  It was incorporated in New Jersey.

4. Industrious crawler: ANT.

5. Word in a comparison: THAN.

6. Pew book: HYMNAL.

7. Buck the system: REBEL.

Rebel Wilson (b. Mar. 2, 1980)

8. Beatle bride: ONO.  Yoko Ono (b. Feb. 18, 1933) makes frequent guest appearances.  John Lennon was her 3rd husband.

9. "No __!": "Uh-uh!": WAY.  No Way did you miss this answer!

10. Message on a dusty car: WASH ME!  My car desparately needs a good wash.  It has been sitting idle in my carport for the past three weeks collecting pollen.  I did take it for a spin the other day just to give it a bit of a "let stretch."

11. NATO and others: ALLIANCES.

12. Pre-Little League game: T-BALL.   

13. Card-playing surface: TABLE.

18. Lack, briefly: HAVEN'T.

22. Cell pic taker: CAM.  As in the camera in the cell phone.

24. Walkie-talkie word: OVER.  Roger that.

26. Combustible pile: PYRE.

27. Playboy founder Hugh: HEFNER.  Hugh Marston Hefner (Apr. 9, 1926 ~ Sept. 27, 2017) published the first issue of Playboy in 1953.  Thursday marks the 94th anniversary of his birth.

29. Hindu retreat: ASHRAM.  Some are quite exotic.

31. Away from the bow: AFT.

32. Trifling amount: SOU.

33. Saves for later: PUTS ASIDE.

34. __ Ray, one of folk rock's Indigo Girls: AMY.  I know of the Indigo Girls.

Amy is on the right.  Emily Saliers is on the left.

36. Chicago-to-Lansing dir.: ENE.  As in East-North-East.

37. Inc., in England: LTD.

39. Top of the line: A-ONE.

40. Went on and on: DRONED.

41. Pride of lions?: MANE.

46. Show hosts: EMCEES.

47. One side of a two-column list of rules: DOS.

48. Made up (for): ATONED.

49. Scrub the launch: ABORT.

50. Mandel of "America's Got Talent": HOWIE.  Howie Mandel (né Howard Michael Mandel; b. Nov. 29, 1955) got his start on St. Elsewhere, a hospital drama that aired from 1982 to 1988.

51. San Fran gridder: NINER.

53. Tranquility: PEACE.

54. Packing heat: ARMED.

55. Does high-tech eye surgery on: LASES.

58. Legendary loch: NESS.  Real or a Hoax?  You be the judge.

61. Milk source: COW.

62. Previously: AGO.

63. Pronoun that's a homonym of a religious song: HIM. vs Hymn.

Here's the Grid:

Be safe, everyone and mind those stay-at-home orders.  They really can help the spread of the virus.

Monday, April 6, 2020

QOD:  Never practice what you preach.  If you’re going to practice it, why preach it?  ~  Lincoln Steffens (né Lincoln Joseph Steffens; Apr. 6, 1866 ~ Aug. 9, 1936), American investigative journalist

Sunday, April 5, 2020

QOD:  Leadership is the art of accomplishing more than the science of management says is possible.  ~  Colin Powell (né Colin Luther Powell; Apr. 5, 1937), American 4-star general and United States National Security Advisor