Friday, August 6, 2021

QOD:  When you do something exactly wrong, you always turn up something.  ~  Andy Warhol (né Andrew Warhola; Aug. 6, 1928 ~ Feb. 22, 1987), American pop artist

Thursday, August 5, 2021

QOD:  Passion is an amazing floating device.  ~  Lizz Winstead (b. Aug. 5, 1961), American comedian

Wednesday, August 4, 2021

QOD:  If you’re walking down the right path and you’re willing to keep walking, eventually you’ll make progress.  ~  Barack Obama (né Barack Hussein Obama, II; b. Aug. 4, 1961), 44^th President of the United States

Tuesday, August 3, 2021

QOD:  Life teaches you how to live it, if you live long enough.  ~  Tony Bennett (né Anthony Dominick Benedetto; b. Aug. 3, 1926), American singer  [Tony Bennett died on July 21, 2022]

Today's puzzle is pretty self-explanatory.  The the circles are arranged in a square, and the letters in each square spell the word FAIR.  Interestingly, the first two letters of the unifier also form one of the 5 SQUAREs.

35-Across. Honestly ... also, like each set of circles?: FAIR AND SQUARE.

Across:

1. Big __, California: SUR.  It looks pretty.

4. Photographer's directive: SMILE.

9. Medicare section for doctors' services: PART B.  Everything you wanted to known about Medicare Part B, but didn't know to ask.

14. Functionality: USE.

15. Hauled away: TOWED.

16. China from Japan: IMARI.  Tricky, tricky!  Not a typical Tuesday clue.  Imari is a term for a colored style of Japanese porcelain (china).

17. Cowed, aptly: BUFFALOED.

19. To help, to Henri: AIDER.  Today's French lesson.

20. "House" star Hugh: LAURIE.  Hugh Laurie (né James Hugh Calum Laurie; b. June 11, 1959) was also George Blackadder, a character in the BBC comedy Blackadder.

21. "I can't think straight right now": I'M FRIED.

23. "Rocketman" John: ELTON.  We were Sir Elton John (né Reginald Kenneth Dwight; b. Mar. 25, 1947) adjacent last week, when his lyricist partner, Bernie Taupin, appeared in the puzzle.

24. "It's obvious": I SEE.

26. Baba in a cave: ALI.  A reference to the Arabic folk tale Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves, from One Thousand and One Nights.

27. "The Waste Land" poet's monogram: TSE.  As in T.S. Eliot (né Thomas Sterns Eliot; Sept. 26, 1888 ~ Jan. 4, 1965).

28. Fed. law known as Obamacare: ACA.  As in the Affordable Care Act.

29. Hamper: HOG TIE.

32. Industry honcho: BARON.

34. High times?: NOONS.

39. Cubs' group: PRIDE.

40. Between dry and soggy: MOIST.

41. Like library books: REREAD.  I am a big fan of using libraries.

43. IRS examiner: AUD.  You hope an Auditor doesn't need to examine your tax records.

44. "Don't say anything!": SHH!

47. Always, to a poet: EER.

48. Amazon transports: VANS.  The vans are all over the place.  The company was just hit with a huge fine in the EU for violating privacy laws.

50. "Caveman" diet: PALEO.  Everything you wanted to know about the Paleo Diet, but didn't know to ask.

52. Wok dish: STIR FRY.  Yummers!

55. Fire alarms: SIRENS.  Also creatures of Greek mythology who lured sailors to become shipwrecked along the rocky clast of their island.

56. Bulgaria's capital: SOFIA.

57. Bob Marley's religion: RASTAFARI.

60. Looked at the wrong way?: OGLED.

Not Bert and Ernie, too!

61. No longer on one's plate: EATEN.

62. Red choice, briefly: ZIN.  These wine abbreviations are become staples in the crossword world.

63. Yule melodies: NOELS.  Christmas songs.

64. Tell: SAY TO.

65. ER graph: EKG.  As in an Electrocardiogram, also known as an ECG.

Down:

1. Rent from a renter: SUBLET.

2. Regular requests: USUALS.

3. Prove wrong: REFUTE.

4. Ink blot, for one: STAIN.  May also be used in a Rorschach test.

5. Espionage figure: MOLE.

6. "Letters from __ Jima": Eastwood film: IWO.  Letters from Iwo Jima was a 2006 Japanese-language American film directed by Clint Eastwood.

7. "To Kill a Mockingbird" author: LEE.  Shortly before her death in 2016, a second book by Harper Lee (née Nelle Harper Lee; Apr. 26, 1926 ~ Feb. 19, 2016) was published.

8. Money in music: EDDIE.  Eddie Money (né Edward Joseph Mahoney; Mar. 21, 1949 ~ Sept. 13, 2019) was a singer-songwriter.

9. "La Vie en Rose" chanteuse: PIAF.  Édith Piaf (Dec. 19, 1915 ~ Oct. 10, 1963) was a French singer-songwriter.  She was best known for her torch songs.

10. "The Kite Runner" boy: AMIR.  The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini (b. Mar. 5, 1965) was published in 2003.  It is a fascinating novel about a slice of life in Afghanistan.

11. Home heater or engine cooler: RADIATOR.

12. Forest perimeter: TREE LINE.

13. They're below par: BIRDIES.  A golfing reference.

18. To's opposite: FRO.  To and Fro.

22. "I could take it or leave it": MEH!

24. Desktop image: ICON.

25. Folklore sleep aid: SANDMAN.

28. Coach Parseghian: ARA.  Ara Raoul Parseghian (May 21, 1923 ~ Aug. 2, 2017) makes frequent guest appearances in the crossword puzzles.  He was the football coach at the University of Notre Dame for several years from the mid-1960s to the mid-1970s.

30. Burden: ONUS.

31. Bearded critter: GOAT.

32. __ one's time: wait: BIDE.

33. Neighborhood: AREA.

35. Off the hook: FREE TO GO.

36. Pellet gun, for one: AIR RIFLE.

37. __-chef: SOUS.  A sous-chef is the second in command in the restaurant.

38. Four times a day, in an Rx: Q.I.D.  Today's Latin lesson.  Q.I.D. is an abbreviation for the Latin phrase:Quater in Die, which means Four Times a Day.

39. Fake, as some nails: PRESS ON.  I'll pass on the Press-ons.

42. TV recording device: DVR.  We still have a Digital Video Recorder.  We occasionally check out DVRs from our public library.

44. Raunchiness: SLEAZE.

45. Playwright Ibsen: HENRIK.  Henrik Johan Ibsen (Mar. 20, 1828 ~ May 23, 1906) was a Norwegian playwright.  He is best known for his play A Doll's House.

46. Cleaning, as a driveway: HOSING.

49. Lew who played Dr. Kildare: AYRES.  I only knew of the early television medical drama that starred Richard Chamberlain (né George Richard Chamberlain; b. Mar. 31, 1934) as Dr. Kildare.  Apparently, there was also a movie series in which Lew Ayres (né  Dec. 28, 1908 ~ Dec. 30, 1996) played Dr. Kildare in the films.

50. It has keys for flats: PIANO.  Cute clue.

51. Chow request: ARF.  Another cute clue.  The chow refers to the dog breed.

53. Cambodian cash: RIEL.

54. In things: FADS.

55. [Keep this clue]: STET.  The word is used by proofreaders, and means: Let It Stand.

58. Remote battery size: AAA.

59. Babe's place: STY.

I hope you found this puzzle to be Fair and Square!

חתולה

 

Monday, August 2, 2021

QOD:  Ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.  ~  James A. Baldwin (né James Arthur Baldwin Aug. 2, 1924 ~ Dec. 1, 1987), African-American writer and activist

Sunday, August 1, 2021

QOD:  At the worst, a house unkept cannot be so distressing as a live unlived.  ~  Dame Rose Macaulay (née Emilie Rose Macaulay; Aug. 1, 1881 ~ Oct. 30, 1958), British writer