Friday, September 22, 2023

QOD:  Weakness admitted is the very stuff of good friendship.  ~  Fay Weldon (née Franklin Birkinshaw; Sept. 22, 1931 ~ Jan. 4, 2023), British novelist

Thursday, September 21, 2023

QOD:  Whatever you do, always give 100 percent.  Unless you’re donating blood.  ~  Bill Murray (né William James Murray; b. Sept. 21, 1950), American comedian and actor

Wednesday, September 20, 2023

QOD:  My grandmother always used to say, “Summer friends will melt away like summer snows, but winter friends are friends forever.”  ~  George R.R. Martin (né George Raymond Richard Martin; b. Sept. 20, 1948), American author

Tuesday, September 19, 2023

QOD:  Good things happen slowly; bad things happen fast.  ~  Abigail Thomas (b. 1941), American writer 

Spirits in the Material World:  The first word in each theme answer is an other-worldly Spirit.

20-Across. Ability to keep cool under pressure: PRESENCE OF MIND.

25-Across. Small beards: SOUL PATCHES.

47-Across. Chile that's among the hottest in the world: GHOST PEPPER.

And the unifier:

52-Across. "I like your attitude!," and what can be said about the starts of 20-, 25-, and 47-Across?: THAT'S THE SPIRIT.

Arrgh!  Today is Talk Like a Pirate Day.  I hope you didn't abandon ship as you completed today's puzzle.

Across:

1. Like a grand-scale tale or fail: EPIC.  Don't try this at home.

5. Obligation: ONUS.

9. Activist Thunberg who is the youngest Time Person of the Year: GRETA.  Greta Thunberg (née Greta Tintin Eleonora Ernman Thunberg; b. Jan. 3, 2003) was on the December 19, 2019 cover of Time magazine.  She was 16 years old at the time.  [Name # 1.]

14. Top-ranked: A-ONE.

15. Eggplant __: Italian entree, briefly: PARM.  Yummers!  Eggplant Parmesan is one of our favorites.

16. Strung along: LED ON.

17. Civil rights icon Parks: ROSA.  Rosa Parks (née Rosa Louise McCauley; Feb. 4, 1913 ~ Oct. 24, 2005) is best known for her role in the Montgomery, Alabama bus boycott.  After her death, her casket was placed in the Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol for two days of public viewing. She was the first woman and the second African-American to lie in state at the Capitol.  She was the 31st person and the first American who had not been a United States government official, and the second private person (after the French city planner Pierre L’Enfant) to be honored in this way.  [Name # 2.]

18. Logician's "therefore": ERGO.  Today's Latin lesson.

19. "Let me clarify ... ": I MEAN ...  Aye, Aye!

23. "__ la vie!": C'EST.  Today's French lesson.  That's life!

24. Labor Day mo.: SEPT.  Our current month and more of today's Latin lesson.  The name September is of Latin origin.  September or meaning “seven,” from the Latin “septem.”  September is the ninth month of the calendar.  The old Roman calendar had just ten months a year and September was the seventh month.

29. Org. whose annual awards are presented at Nashville's Bridgestone Arena: CMA. The next Country Music Awards ceremony will be on November 8, 2023.

32. Spare in a trunk: TIRE.

33. Male pal: BRO.

34. Deadly: LETHAL.

36. Sought-after guests: A-LIST.

38. Sr.'s nest egg acronym: IRA.  As in the Individual Retirement Account.

40. Paper unit: SHEET.

41. Laughs at the joke, say: GETS IT.  He who laughs last didn't get the joke.

43. Roxy Music co-founder Brian: ENO.  Brian Eno makes very frequent guest appearances on Tuesdays.  [Name # 3.]

Then and Now.

45. Gutter spot: EAVE.

46. Surname in the freezer aisle: EDY.  This brand of ice cream appears often in the puzzles.  It's known for being slow-churned, which it claims makes its ice cream so good.  [Name # 4.]

50. Hip and stylish: CHIC.

51. Tangy: TART.

58. Gaggle members: GEESE.  Hi, CanadianEh!

59. Greek aperitif: OUZO.  Ouzo is a dry anise-flavored aperitif.  It is a clear liquid, but if you add water (ice), it will turn cloudy.

60. "Good job": NICE.  Also a French city on the French Riviera.

61. Clear kitchen wrap: SARAN.

62. South American country with most of the world's alpacas: PERU.

63. Kept in the email loop: CC'ED.

64. Build up: AMASS.

65. "__ on the roof / And kicked off the moss": lyrics in Elton John's "Your Song": I SAT.  Time for a musical interlude.  I don't think I ever actually listened to the words of this song.

66. Squeezes (out): EKES.

Down:

1. Wyatt of the Old West: EARP.  Wyatt Earp (né Wyatt Berry Stapp; b. Mar. 19, 1848 ~ Jan. 13, 1929) is best known for the infamous shootout at the OK Corral in Tombstone, Arizona.  [Name # 5.]

2. Below average: POOR.

3. State of self-doubt: INSECURITY.

4. Never-ending: CEASELESS.

5. Subwindow in a browser: OPEN TAB.

6. Drug cop: NARC.

7. Insist: URGE.

8. Press into a small space: SMOOSH.

9. Brief looks: GLIMPSES.

10. Send money: REMIT.

11. Genesis garden: EDEN.

12. Frog kin: TOAD.

13. __ Taylor Loft: ANN.  Ann Taylor Loft is a women's clothing store.  Clothing sold there is cheaper / less expensive than similar clothing sold at at Ann Taylor.  There is no actual person named Ann Taylor  related of the store.  [Name adjacent.]

21. Sixth sense letters: ESP.  As in ExtraSensory Perception.  A bit of a bonus as ESP may relate to today's theme.

22. Sense: FEEL.

25. Place for a play: STAGE.

26. Lubricated: OILED.

27. One more than bi-: TRI.

28. Pear centers: CORES.

29. Rock band known for the power ballad "The Flame": CHEAP TRICK.  The band Cheap Trick has been around since 1973 and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2016.  [Name # 6.]

30. Novelist Binchy: MAEVE.  Maeve Binchy (née Anne Maeve Binchy; May 28, 1939 ~ July 20, 2012) is an Irish novelist.  I read one of her novels for one of my book clubs.  It was like reading a Lifetime movie.  [Name # 7.]

31. Change: ALTER.

35. Political treatise by Machiavelli: THE PRINCE.  The Prince was and attempt by Niccolò di Bernardo dei Machiavelli (May 3, 1469 ~ June 21, 1527) to provide a political guide on how to acquire poser, create a state and keep it.   His belief that politics has its own rules shocked his readers.  His name has become a synonym for political maneuvers marked by cunning, duplicity, or bad faith.  Interestingly, The Prince was first published in 1532 ~ 5 years after Machiavelli died.

37. Makes less loose, as screws: TIGHTENS.

39. Aardvark's morsel: ANT.

42. "Watch __ space": THIS.

44. Decides to withdraw: OPTS OUT.

48. Squid kin: OCTOPI.

49. "The Raven" poet's monogram: EAP.  Edgar Allan Poe (Jan. 19, 1809 ~ Oct. 7, 1949) wrote The Raven.  [Name # 8.]

50. Homes in Havana: CASAS.  Today's Spanish lesson.

52. United group: TEAM.

53. Olympian queen who cursed Echo: HERA.  Hera is the Greek goddess of women, marriage and childbirth.  [Name # 9.]

54. Tints: HUES.

55. Vampire Weekend lead singer Koenig: EZRA.  I'm not familiar with either the band nor its lead singer.  Ezra Koenig (né Ezra Michael Koenig; b. Apr. 8, 1984).  [Name # 10.]

56. Drink brand with a polar bear in its logo: ICEE.  Yummers!  Especially refreshing on these hot summer days.

57. "Bill & __ Excellent Adventure": TED'S.  Keanue Reeves (né Keanu Charles Reeves; Sept. 2, 1964) and Alex Winter (né Alexander Ross Winter; July 17, 1965) starred in the 1989 film, Bill & Ted Excellent Adventure.  It was about 2 high school students who traveled in time.  [Name # 11.]

58. Govt. property overseer: GSA.  As in the General Services Administration.  Sumdaze thinks the office is usually closed on Mondays, but it looks like you can Chat with the office from Sunday at 9:00 pm through Friday at 9:30 pm Eastern Time.

Here's the Grid:

חתולה

Monday, September 18, 2023

QOD:  A second marriage is the triumph of hope over experience.  ~  Samuel Johnson (Sept. 18, 1709 ~ Dec. 13, 1784), English writer and lexicographer

Sunday, September 17, 2023

QOD:  In the summer the song sings itself.  ~  William Carlos William (Sept. 17, 1883 ~ Mar. 4, 1963), American poet