Friday, October 30, 2020

QOD:  Our government must forever be a kind of war of about one half the people against the other.  ~  John Adams (Oct. 30, 1735 ~ July 4, 1826), 2^nd President of the United States

Thursday, October 29, 2020

QOD:  Put light against light ~ you have nothing.  Put dark against dark ~ you have nothing.  It’s the contract of light and dark that each gives the other one meaning.  ~  Bob Ross (né Robert Norman Ross; Oct. 29, 1942 ~ July 4, 1995), American painter and art teacher

Wednesday, October 28, 2020

QOD:  Punctuality is the virtue of the bored.  ~  Evelyn Waugh (né Arthur Evelyn St. John Waugh, Oct. 28, 1903 ~ Apr. 10, 1966), British writer

Tuesday, October 27, 2020

QOD:  Knowing what is right doesn’t mean much unless you do what is right.  ~  Theodore Roosevelt, Jr. (Oct. 27, 1858 ~ Jan. 6, 1919), 26^th President of the United States

A Themeless Tuesday?  Where does this LEDE?  LEDE: The opening sentence or paragraph of a news article, summarizing the most important aspects of the story.

Across:

1. Analyze grammatically: PARSE.

6. Comic Silverman: SARAH.

Sarah Kate Silverman (b. Dec. 1, 1970)

11. Atlanta-to-Miami dir.: SSE.  It will take nearly 11 hours to drive South-SouthEast from Atlanta, Georgia to Miami, Florida.

14. At full speed: AMAIN.  This is an archaic usage of the word.

15. Actress De La Garza: ALANA.

16. "Buffy" airer after The WB: UPN.  As in the United Paramount Network.

19. Part of LGBTQ: GAY.

20. Ashtabula's lake: ERIE.  Ashtabula is a city in Ohio.  It's the tiny red dot on the map below.

Seeing Erie reminded me of our dear friend Abejo seen here with Madame DeFarge.

21. Fruity drinks: ADES.  Hi, Lemonade!

22. Master, in Swahili: BWANA.

24. Earthquakes: SEISMS.

26. Cold one at a bar: BEER.

33. Split up: END IT.

36. Aired again: RERAN.  Hubby has recently been watching reruns of Raymond Burr's version of Perry Mason.

37. Immigrants' subj.: ESL.  As in English as a Second Language.

38. Gunk: GOOP.

39. Helen who sang "I Am Woman": REDDY.  Sadly, Helen Reddy (née Helen Maxine Reddy; Oct. 25, 1941 ~ Sept. 29, 2020) died just a month ago.  Last Sunday would have been her 79th birthday.  

40. In good health: WELL.

41. Post-apartheid ruling party: Abbr.: ANC.  As in the African National Congress.  It is the ruling party of the Republic of South Africa.

42. With "en," hot, in sports slang: FUEGO.  Today's Spanish lesson.

43. Spoils, with "on": DOTES.

47. __ center: exact middle: DEAD.

48. Unaffiliated film studios: INDIES.  As in Independent films.

52. Artist's flat hat: BERET.

54. Poker Flat chronicler Harte: BRET.  Bret Harte (Aug. 25, 1836 ~ May 5, 1902) make frequent guest appearances in the puzzles.  He is known for writing short stories of adventure and the California Gold Rush.

57. __-dieu: kneeler: PRIE.

58. Antipollution org.: EPA.  As in the Environmental Protection Agency.  The agency was established in 1970.  William Ruckelshaus (July 24, 1932 ~ Nov. 27, 2019) was its first administrator.

62. Ready-fire link: AIM.

63. Correct, as text: EMEND.

64. Like Olympic pools: LANED.

65. __ Victor: record label: RCA.

66. Broad valleys: DALEs.  Hi, Lucina!

67. Mike who voiced Shrek: MYERS.

Mike Myers (né Michael John Myers; b. May 25, 1963) is on the left.

Down:

1. Treasure map word: PACES.

2. Love, in Rome: AMORE.  Today's Italian lesson.

3. Pie cuts, geometrically: RADII.

4. Lateral skid: SIDE SLIP.

5. Big picture?: Abbr.: ENL.  As in Enlarge.

6. Anti-DWI gp.: SADD.  Formerly known as Students Against Drunk Driving, it is now refers to as Students Against Destructive Decisions.

7. On the safer side, at sea: ALEE.

8. Cleaning cloths: RAGS.

9. Oscar winner Lee: ANG.  Ang Lee (b. Oct. 23, 1954) just celebrated his 66th birthday.  He has been nominated for 9 Academy Awards and has won 3 Oscars: Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon for Best Foreign Language film; Brokeback Mountain and Life of Pi won for Best Director.

10. Washed-up star: HAS BEEN.  I have a friend who calls her ex-husband her Was Been.

11. Sucrose-rich root veggie: SUGAR BEET.  Who know there were so many different kinds of beets?

12. Bridge: SPAN.  When it was built in 1969, the Lake Ponchartrain Causeway, connecting Metairie and Mandeville, Louisiana, was the longest bridge over water.  It spans just under 24 miles.

13. Irish New Ager: ENYA.  Her full name is Eithne Pádraigín Ní Bhraonáin (b. May 17, 1961).  No wonder she goes by Enya!

18. Steinbeck's "__ of Eden": EAST.  East of Eden is one of my favorite John Steinbeck (Feb. 27, 1902 ~ Dec. 20, 1968) novels.  Steinbeck was the recipient of the 1962 Nobel Prize in Literature.

23. World Wide __: WEB.

25. Sch. near Harvard: MIT.    As in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.  Many years ago, I worked there.

26. Time for cake with candles, informally: B'DAY.

28. Cornered on a limb: TREED.

29. Flowerpot spot: LEDGE.

30. MD meeting an ambulance: ER DOC.  As in the Emergency Room Doctor.

31. "Cast Away" setting: ISLE.  I never saw this movie, which starred Tom Hanks (b. July 9, 1956).

32. Building additions: ELLs.

33. "Good grief!": EGAD!

34. It's forbidden: NO-NO.

35. Semifictional film genre: DOCUDRAMA.  Sully, the 2016 movie which also starred Tom Hanks, is an example of a docudrama.  It was about Captain Sully Sullenberg (b. Jan. 23, 1951) as he was forced to make an emergency landing in the Hudson River.

39. Felt bad about: RUED.

40. 2006 film about crosswords: WORDPLAY.  A "must see" for crossword lovers.

42. Open-bodied truck: FLATBED.

43. Animal house: DEN.  // And 52-Down:  Den denizen: BEAR.

45. Buzzing flier: BEE.

46. Friends and neighbors: KITH.  According to the Macmillan Dictionary: "Kith comes from a word of Germanic origin meaning ‘known’.  Kin is also of Germanic origin, from an Indo-European root meaning ‘give birth to’.  Your kith are your friends or acquaintances, while your kin are all the people you are related to."

49. "Flashdance...What a Feeling" singer Cara: IRENE.  This song won Irene Cara (née Irene Cara Escalera; b. Mar. 18, 1959) an Oscar for Best Original Song.

50. Down-yielding duck: EIDER.

51. Plants-to-be: SEEDS.

53. "Beowulf," e.g.: EPIC.  When I was a kid, I thought this Old English epic poem was about a wolf.

54. Belgian composer Jacques: BREL.  Jacques Romain Georges Brel (Apr. 8, 1929 ~ Oct. 9, 1978) was also a successful actor.  Sadly, he died at age 49.

55. Hall of Famer Sandberg: RYNE.  Ryne Dee Sandberg (b. Sept. 18, 1959) played for Philadelphia and the Chicago Cubs.

56. Approx. takeoff hours: ETDs.  As in Estimated Time of Departures.

60. Actress Thurman: UMA.  Uma Karuna Thurman (b. Apr. 29, 1970) and John Joseph Travolta (b. Feb. 18, 1954) in their famous dance scene from Pulp Fiction.

61. "Slippery" tree: ELM.

Ah, there is a theme after all.  It just got buried!

17-Across. Breakfast dish that sounds spoiled?: CODDLED EGGS.

27-Across. Snack cake brand named for a four-year-old: LITTLE DEBBIE.

44-Across. Two-level bus: DOUBLE DECKER.

And the Unifier:

59-Across. Postpone an article's essential points ... and a hint to 17-, 27- and 44-Across: BURY THE LEDE.  We have had som discussions recently on the word LEDE.  According to Meriam-Webster, "The spelling of lede is allegedly so as to not confuse it with lead which referred to the strip of metal that would separate lines of type. ... In journalism, the lede refers to the introductory section of a news story that is intended to entice the reader to read the full story.

Here's the Grid:

Another hurricane is headed my way!

Monday, October 26, 2020

QOD:  That’s the trouble with trying to influence the undecided voter.  First you have to find one.  ~  Pat Sajak (né Patrick Leonard Sajdak; b. Oct. 26, 1946), American television game show host

Sunday, October 25, 2020

QOD:  Happiness is not an absolute value.  It is a state of comparison.  ~  Zadie Smith (née Sadie Adeline Smith; b. Oct. 25, 1975), British novelist