Friday, October 8, 2021

QOD:  Live a life of grace.  You’ll be a better person for it, and so will your children.  ~  Chevy Chase (né Cornelius Crane Chase; Oct. 8, 1943), American comedian and actor

Thursday, October 7, 2021

QOD:  All love is doomed, seen in the light of death.  ~  Anita Shreve (née Anita Hale Shreve, Oct. 7, 1946 ~ Mar. 29, 2018), American novelist

Wednesday, October 6, 2021

QOD:  Texting is fingered speech.  Now we can write the way we talk.  ~  John McWhorter (né John Hamilton McWhorter, V; b. Oct. 6, 1965), African-American linguist

Tuesday, October 5, 2021

QOD:  Work for something because it is good, not just because it stands for a chance to succeed.  ~  Václav Havel (Oct. 5, 1936 ~ Dec. 18, 2011), Czech writer and statesman

Shuffle the Word.  Rearrange/shuffle the letters of the word Take will give us Alternatives of that word.

16-Across. *   Ground-beef-and-gravy dish: SALISBURY STEAK.

25-Across. *     Penny-pincher: CHEAPSKATE.

36-Across. *     "Ode to a Nightingale" poet: JOHN KEATS.  It's a long poem, but you can read it here.

50-Across. *     Hung in the balance: WAS AT STAKE.

And the unifier:

59-Across. Different points of view ... and a hint to the ends of the answers to starred clues: ALTERNATE TAKES.

Across:

1. Tie named for an annual race venue: ASCOT.  The horse race is also the event where women were very elaborate and outlandish hats.

6. Destroy, as one's hopes: DASH.

10. Spanish hero El __: CID.  El Cid (né Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar; 1043 ~ 1099) was a Castilian knight in medieval Spain.  The Moors referred to him as El Cid, which is the name that has been passed down in history.

13. Land at the water's edge: SHORE.

14. Look at rudely: OGLE.

15. Genetic messenger: RNA.

19. Out of sorts: ILL.

20. Ginormous: HUGE.

21. Actor Eckhart of "Sully": AARON.  Aaron Eckhart (né Aaron Edward Eckhart; b. Mar. 12, 1968) played the First Officer Jeff Skiles in the movie about Sully Sullenberg and the plane rescue on the Hudson.

23. Hefty slice: SLAB.

28. Completely wrecks: TOTALS.

30. Pastry with a crust: PIE.  Yummers!

31. Long-jawed fish: GAR.  Everything you wanted to know about the Gar, but didn't know to ask.  Not to be confused with Picard's crush, Teri.

32. Shorthand crackerjack: STENO.  As in a Stenographer.

33. 2019 comedy "__ It Romantic": ISN'T.

35. Cuban coin: PESO.

39. Numbers game: KENO.

42. Where about one-third of Istanbul residents live: ASIA.  Cross the Bosphorus going east and you leave Europe and enter Asia, without entering a new country..

43. Yellowjackets, e.g.: WASPS.  Are Yellowjackets really Wasps?  I was stung twice by a wasp the other day while working in my garden.  The creatures had built a nest in one of my shrubs as I was trimming it back.  Ouch!  Fortunately, I didn't experience an allergic reaction.

47. George Harrison memoir "__ Mine": I ME.

48. Only partner?: ONE.  But One is the Lonliest Number!

49. "Border" breed: COLLIE.

54. Cat breed from an Irish Sea isle: MANX.

55. 101 course, typically: INTRO.

56. Commanded: BADE.

58. T'ai __: CHI.

63. NFL receivers: TEs.  As in Tight Ends.

64. "Crikey!" is a mild one: OATH.

65. Soccer shoe: CLEAT.

66. Dreyer's partner in ice cream: EDY.  Edy's Ice Cream has become a crossword staple.  It's slow churned.

67. Miss Muffet fare: WHEY.

68. Flocks' relatives: HERDS.

Down:

1. Basketball stats: ASSISTS.  Some of the greatest assists in NBA history?  You be the judge.

2. Bulb in a vinaigrette: SHALLOT.  Sometime an onion can be substituted for a shallot.

3. Collect and put in order, as document pages: COLLATE.

4. "You do it, __ will!": OR I.

5. Radio host John: TESH.  John Frank Tesh (b. July 9, 1952) also tries his hand as singing.

6. Bread-to-be: DOUGH.  I am thinking of trying my hand at making sourdough bread.

7. See eye to eye: AGREE.

8. Wily: SLY.

9. Fellows: HEs.  Meh!

10. Sound from an old staircase: CREAK.

11. Steamed up: IN A RAGE.

12. Montana neighbors, with "the": DAKOTAs.  An interesting history on why there is a North and South Dakota.

17. Tampa NFL team: BUCs.  Hi, Tin!

18. Shock, as a perp: TASE.

22. Emperor after Claudius: NERO.

24. Steve Martin's instrument: BANJO.

26. Sleep clinic study: APNEA.  People with sleep apnea often use a C-PAP to help them sleep.  The new C-PAP model by Philips is being recalled due to the noxious gas that it can produce.

27. Falafel holder: PITA.  Yummers!

29. John in the Albert Hall: LOO.  Cute clue!

33. Atlas enlargement: INSET.

34. Enjoy the slopes: SKI.

35. Song of praise: PSALM.

37. Oscar-winning composer Zimmer: HANS.  Hans Florian Zimmer (b. Sept. 12, 1957) won an Oscar for his score in the 1995 movie The Lion King.

38. Weeks in a fortnight: TWO.  Origin of the word Fortnight.

39. New Zealander: KIWI.  Why New Zealanders are called Kiwis.

40. Flow (from): EMANATE.

41. Cuddled up: NESTLED.

44. One shirking work: SLACKER.

45. "Angels dancing" site, in a theological question: PINHEAD.

46. Gender-biased sorts: SEXISTS.

48. Oklahoma tribe: OTOE.  This is becoming a crossword staple.

49. Formally give up: CEDE.

51. Pretentious: ARTSY.

52. Let up, as a storm: ABATE.

53. "My Life on the D-List" comic Griffin: KATHY.

57. Carve in stone: ETCH.  Or an Etch-A-Sketch.

60. Use oars: ROW.

Oars in a Row

61. "Don't think so": NAH.

62. Microbrewery brew: ALE.

Here's the Grid:

חתולה

Monday, October 4, 2021

QOD:  To write something, you have to risk making a fool of yourself.  ~  Anne Rice (b. Oct. 4, 1941), American novelist  [Anne Rice died on December 11, 2021 at age 80.]

Sunday, October 3, 2021

QOD:  Never offend an enemy in a small way.  ~  Gore Vidal (né Eugene Louis Gore Vidal; Oct. 3, 1925 ~ July 31, 2012), American writer