Friday, September 9, 2022

QOD:  If you give me six lines written by the hand of the most honest of men, I will find something in them which will hang him.  ~  Cardinal Richelieu (né Armand Jean du Plessis; Sept. 9, 1585 ~ Dec. 4, 1642), French clergyman and statesman

Thursday, September 8, 2022

QOD:  Nobody can assume that, to a writer, everything is off-limits.  ~  Ann Beattie (b. Sept. 8, 1947), American novelist

Wednesday, September 7, 2022

QOD:  There is a loneliness in being uber-connected.  ~ Jennifer Egan (b. Sept. 7, 1962), American novelist

Tuesday, September 6, 2022

QOD:  I don’t know why my brain has kept all the words to the Gilligan’s Island theme song and deleted everything about triangles.  ~  Jeff Foxworthy (b. Sept. 6, 1958), American comedian

Yoga Class:  The last word of each theme answer is also a yoga pose.

17-Across. *   George Plimpton football memoir set in Detroit: PAPER LION.

25-Across. *   Courtroom hotshot: LEGAL EAGLE.

35-Across. *   Informer: STOOL PIGEON.  This is my favorite pose.

48-Across. *   Cowardly type: SCAREDY CAT.

And the unifier:

57-Across. Asanas found at the ends of the answers to the starred clues: YOGA POSES.  Everything you wanted to know about Asana Yoga, but didn't know to ask.

Across:

1. "Sorry, rules __ rules": ARE.

4. Dizzying designs: OP ART.  Short for Optical Art.

9. __ up on: unites against: GANGS.

14. Villain Luthor: LEX.  [Name # 1.]  //  Change the vowel, and you get 29-Across. Bagel topper: LOX.

15. Prefix with -lithic: PALEO-.  Paleolithic.  Also known as the Old Stone Age.

16. Love to pieces: ADORE.

19. One awarding stars, perhaps: RATER.

20. "... the __ of defeat": "Wide World of Sports" phrase: AGONY.

21. "Black Panther" director Coogler: RYAN.  [Name # 2.]  Ryan Kyle Coogler (b. May 23, 1986) has directed a number of films.

23. Excite, with "up": AMP.

24. King or queen, but not prince or princess: CARD.

28. House pest: ANT.  Remove a consonant and the ANT becomes a house Pet.

30. Manage to achieve: ATTAIN.

31. Reciprocal of cosine: SECANT.  //  And 39-Down. Inverse trig function: ARCSINE.  We all remember our high school math class, right?

34. Trace: HINT.

38. Water-to-wine town: CANA.  A Biblical reference where Jesus performed the miracle of turning water into wine at a wedding.

40. Hiking sites: TRAILS.

41. Maker of Zesty Curly frozen French fries: ORE-IDA.  Yummers!  Actually, I have never tried these, but I do like Ore-Ida's Tater Tots.

44. D.C. stadium: RFK.  Formally known as the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium.  It is currently being demolished.

45. D.C. fundraising org.: PAC.

51. Love, in tennis: ZERO.  Why does Love mean nothing in Tennis?

52. Chiding syllable: TSK.

53. Milne bear: POOH.  Winnie the Pooh is a fictional teddy bear created by A.A. Milne (né Alan Alexander Milne; Jan. 18, 1882 ~ Jan. 31, 1956) in the 1920s.

54. Puts in order: SORTS.

55. Sibling's daughter: NIECE.  Word origin.

60. Scandal-plagued energy company: ENRON.  This company disintegrated almost overnight back in 2001.

61. Nebraska city: OMAHA.  Hi, Husker Gary!  Years ago, when I was first looking for a job, I was offered a job in Omaha.  My potential boss told me, however, that moving from the Northeast, I would experience "extreme cultural shock" living in Nebraska.  So instead, I moved to the South.  No cultural shock there, eh?

62. Mined resource: ORE.  Not to be confused with the 41-Across and the Ore-Ida potato products.

63. Patch, as a lawn: RE-SOD.

64. Fruit-hitting-the-floor sound: SPLAT.

65. Big Apple paper, for short: NYT.  As in the New York Times.

Down:

1. Llama kin: ALPACA.

2. 1980s president Ronald: REAGAN.  Ronald Wilson Reagan (Feb. 6, 1911 ~ June 5, 2004) was the 40th President.  Can it really be over 40 years since he began his term as President?  [Name # 3.]

3. Commodity sold abroad: EXPORT.

4. The Grand Ole __: OPRY.  The home of country music.

5. Chum: PAL.

6. Boxer who said, "It's hard to be humble when you're as great as I am": ALI.  Muhammad Ali (né Cassius Marcellus Clay, Jr.; Jan. 17, 1942 ~ June 3, 2016) would "float like a butterfly, sting like a bee." [Name # 4.]

7. Corp. shake-up: RE-ORG.  As in Reorganize.  It seems like the banking industry is always undergoing re-orgs.

8. Skater Harding: TONYA.  Tonya Maxene Harding (b. Nov. 12, 1970) is best known for her troubles past.  In 1994, her ex-husband attacked her rival, Nancy Kerrigan.  Tonya was banned from competitive skating and turned to boxing.   [Name # 5.]

9. January birthstone: GARNET.  I have 3 options for my birthstone.

10. Oral health org.: ADA.  As in the American Dental Association.

11. "Why does this keep happening!?": NOT AGAIN.  Yup.  I'll be out next week again.

12. Unseen troublemaker: GREMLIN.  Also the model of a vehicle that was manufactured in the 1970s.

13. Garden of Eden creature: SERPENT.

18. Terminate: END.

22. Mobile's st.: ALA.  Mobile, Alabama is on the Gulf of Mexico.  The George Washington Tunnel on I-10 runs under the Mobile River, then emerges to join the bridge that spans the Bay of Mobile.  The tunnel is a bottleneck on the interstate and there is always a long line of traffic of cars waiting to go through the tunnel.  Interesting fact about Mobile:  the first Mardi Gras in the Americas was held in Mobile.

25. El Pollo __: southwestern restaurant chain: LOCO.  El Pollo Loco is a California-based chain.  I was about to say I had never heard of this restaurant, but our local paper recently announced the company is expanding in south Louisiana.

26. Glorify: EXALT.

27. One of the Musketeers: ATHOS.  The Three Musketeers is a French historical adventure novel by Alexandre Dumas.  It was written in 1844 and is on my TBR list.  The novel, which is set in the 1620s, recounts the adventures of a young man named d'Artagnan who befriends Athos, Porthos and Aramis, who are the musketeers.  [Name # 6.]

29. Summer sign: LEO.  Hi, Leo III!

31. Flight part: STAIR.

32. "Fresh Air" airer: NPR.  Fresh Air is a radio talk show hosted by Terry Gross.  She has been hosting the show since 1975.

33. Small crown: TIARA.  Apparently in the British royal family there are strict rules about wearing Tiaras.

35. Tennis shoes: SNEAKERS.

36. Birthday present: GIFT.

37. Caribou cousin: ELK.  What's the difference between an Elk and a Caribou?

38. Kevin of "Yellowstone": COSTNER.  Kevin Costner (né Kevin Michael Costner; b. Jan. 18, 1955) plays the patriarch in the television show Yellowstone.  [Name # 7.]

42. Rely (on): DEPEND.

43. Commotion: ADO.

45. Human being: PERSON.

46. Major thoroughfare: ARTERY.

47. Pamper: COSSET.  Not a Tuesday word.

49. Toys on strings: YOYOs.

50. Bite hard: CHOMP.

51. Opening setting of "Madagascar": ZOO.

54. Squabble: SPAT.

56. Dove's sound: COO.

58. "Death on the Nile" actress Gadot: GAL.  Gal Gadot (b. Apr. 30, 1985) is an Israeli actress.  [Name # 8.]

59. "I understand now!": AHA!

Here's the Grid:

חתולה

Monday, September 5, 2022

QOD:  Dictators fear laughter more than bombs.  ~  Arthur Koestler (né Artúr Kōsztler; Sept. 5, 1905 ~ Mar. 1, 1983), Hungarian-born British author

Sunday, September 4, 2022

QOD:  There is only one kind of shock worse than the totally unexpected: the expected for which one has refused to prepare.  ~  Mary Renault (née Eileen Mary Challans, Sept. 4, 1905 ~ Dec. 13, 1983), British novelist