Friday, October 29, 2021

QOD:  Art is a wrestling with the meaning of life.  ~  Jon Vickers (né Jonathan Steward Vickers; Oct. 29, 2916 ~ July 10, 2015), Canadian opera singer

Thursday, October 28, 2021

QOD:  In a superhero movie it’s typically good guy and bad guy, and bad guy attacks.  Well, in real life, evil seduces.  ~  Joaquin Phoenix (né Joaquin Rafel Bottom; b. Oct. 28, 1974), American actor

Wednesday, October 27, 2021

QOD:  I prefer dead writers because you don’t run into them at parties.  ~  Fran Lebowitz (née Frances Ann Lebowitz; b. Oct. 27, 1950), American author and humorist

Tuesday October 26, 2021 Daniel Sweren-Becker and Daniel Nessbaum

QOD:  I told my kids when they were little, “Look, kids, your mother and I are screwing you up somehow.   We don’t understand how, or wer wouldn’t do it.  But we’re parents.  So somehow we’re damaging you, and I want you to know that early.  So just ignore me when I go to that part of my parenting.”  ~  Pat Conroy (né Donald Patrick Conroy; Oct. 26, 1945 ~ Mar. 4, 2016), American Southern writer

One Word, Many Definitions:

20-Across. *   Island known for its bars?: ALCATRAZ.  Alcratraz was once a Federal Penitentiary.  It is now a museum.

35-Across. *   Tom Sawyer's creator: MARK TWAIN.  See also 29-Across.  Mark Twain was the Pen Name of Samuel Langhorn Clemens (Nov. 30, 1835 ~ Apr. 21, 1910).  Mark Twain was actually a term that was used in Mississippi River steamboats, which measures the depth of the water.  The term literally means "mark number two", which signifies 12 feet: the safe depth for a steamboat on the river.

45-Across. *   Highest peak in the Alps: MONT BLANC.  A Montblanc Pen is an expensive writing instrument.

And the unifier:

58-Across. What the answers to starred clues are, in different ways: PEN NAMES.

And, we have an additional theme clue posing as a French lesson:

29-Across. __ de plume: NOM.

An another interesting definition of the word Pen.  Did you know a Female swan is called a Pen?

Across:

1. Conservatives' foes, briefly: LIBs.  As in Conservatives and Liberals.  'Nuff said.

5. Word with run or drive: TEST.  As in a Test Run or a Test Drive.

9. More than nudge: SHOVE.

14. Inactive: IDLE.  Not to be confused with 2-Down. Adored singer, say: IDOL.  Since these two words cross, does this make the Idol Idle?

15. Muppet who doesn't use the pronoun "I": ELMO.

16. One faking it: POSER.

17. Frame of mind: MOOD.

18. Landed: ALIT.  This has become a crossword staple.

19. Student's measuring stick: RULER.

22. Windshield shades: VISORS.

23. Homer's neighbor: NED.

24. Thrill: ELATE.

26. Part of a play: ACT.  Hi, OMK!

31. Polar masses: ICE CAPS.

38. In a wistful way: SADLY.

39. Soft French cheese: BRIE.  Yummers!

40. Dunks, Blazers and Jordans: NIKEs.  All are models of Nike athletic shoes.

42. Corned beef specification: LEAN.

43. Happening: EVENT.

47. Bureaucratic sticking points: RED TAPE.

49. Sign of a sellout: SRO.  Standing Room Only.  The Fire Marshal might have something to say about a SRO performance.

50. __ Vegas: LAS.  Sin City.  Las Vegas has a very interesting history.

51. Slides uncontrollably: SKIDS.

53. Not online, for short: IRL.  Text-speak for In Real Life.

55. Best of the hits: TOP TEN.  Casey Kasem (1932 ~ 2014) can still be heard on some oldie radio stations.

63. Opera solos: ARIAS.  I have to include this aria from Carmen.  The first post-Covid live performance of the Houston Grand Opera will be Carmen.

64. Steep rugged cliff: CRAG.

65. Indianapolis NFLer: COLT.  The team began in Baltimore, then in the 1980s, moved to Indianapolis.

Logos of the team over the years.

66. Linguistic group that includes Zulu: BANTU.

67. Bee home: HIVE.

68. Green smoothie green, perhaps: KALE.  This is a very trendy leafy vegetable.  The idea of putting Kale in my morning smoothie, however, is not for me.

69. Somnology study: SLEEP.

70. Mellowed in a cask: AGED.

71. Winter fall: SNOW.

Down:

1. Peruvian capital: LIMA.

3. Voting unit: BLOC.

4. Family car: SEDAN.  More families in my neighborhood are apt to have an SUV over a Sedan.

5. Remove, as the wall in Reagan's demand to Gorbachev: TEAR DOWN.

6. Jazzy Fitzgerald: ELLA.  Ella Fitzgerald (née Ella Jane Fitzgerald; Apr. 25, 1917 ~ June 15, 1996) make occasional guest appearances in the Crossword Puzzles.

7. Tyra Banks portmanteau for happy peepers: SMIZE.  How to Smile with your Eyes.

8. Little one: TOT.  Followed by 9-Down: Little ones: SPRITES.

10. Obsolescent doctor visit: HOUSE CALL.  When we were kids, the family pediatrician made house calls.  My sister was sick once, too sick for my mother to feel comfortable taking her to the doctor's office, so Dr. Wilson came to the house.  When he went into my sister's room, she was under her bed and holding tight to the slats, so couldn't be pulled out from under the bed.

11. Viking trading post now a world capital: OSLO.

12. Zig or zag: VEER.

13. Boots the ball: ERRS.

21. Camper's quarters: TENT.

22. Little sucker?: VAC.  Cute clue.

25. Bedding: LINENS.  Everything you wanted to know about linens, but didn't know to ask.

26. "Waves of grain" color: AMBER.

27. Slice the turkey: CARVE.

28. True partner: TRIED.  Tried and True!

30. Badly injured: MAIMED.

32. "It's __!": "Sold!": A DEAL.

33. Opening strategy: PLAN A.  In 2020, I was on a committee planning a region conference.  That was our Plan A.  When Covid came along, we had to go to our Plan B and hold our conference via Zoom.

34. Lip-__: mouths the words: SYNCS.

36. Campus setting for Neil Young's "Ohio": KENT STATE.  Ohio is the anti-war protest song.

37. When repeated, classic New Orleans refrain: IKO.  The history of the Mardi Gras song Iko Iko.

41. Like guitars and sitars: STRINGED.

44. Starts to learn, as a hobby: TAKES UP.

46. Delivered: BORN.

48. ATM user's need: PIN.  As in a Personal Identification Number.

52. Parsley piece: SPRIG.  What is a Sprig, anyway?

54. Doesn't have: LACKS.

55. Bar bills: TABS.

56. Spoken: ORAL.

57. Tree with cones: PINE.

59. House overhang: EAVE.

60. Gripe: MOAN.

61. Cockney greeting: 'ELLO.

62. Ragout or goulash: STEW.  Yummers!

64. Half a Latin dance: CHA.

Here's the Grid:

חתולה

Happy Halloween!

Monday, October 25, 2021

QOD:  The greatest lie ever told about love is that it sets you free.  ~  Zadie Smith (née Sadie Adeline Smith; b. Oct. 25, 1975), British novelist

Sunday, October 24, 2021

QOD:  We call “Nature”; only reluctantly admitting ourselves to be “Nature” too.  ~  Denise Levertov (née Priscilla Denise Levertoff; Oct. 24, 1923 ~ Dec. 20, 1997), British-born American poet