Friday, September 29, 2023

QOD:  You fail all of the time.  But you aren’t a failure until you start blaming someone else.  ~  Bum Phillips (né Oail Andrew Phillips; Sept. 29, 1923 ~ Oct. 18, 2013), American professional football coach

Thursday, September 28, 2023

QOD:  To a lot of people, a perk is the bathroom key.  But to me, the real perk is freedom.  ~  Sam Zell (né Shmuel Zielonka; b. Sept. 28, 1941), American real estate billionaire and philanthropist

Wednesday, September 27, 2023

QOD:  The art of love is largely the art of persistence.  ~  Albert Ellis (Sept. 27, 1913 ~ July 24, 2007), American psychologist, American psychologist

Tuesday, September 26, 2023

QOD:  The years between 50 and 70 are the hardest.  You are always being asked to do things, and you are not decrepit enough to turn them down.  ~  T.S. Eliot (né Thomas Stearns Eliot; Sept. 26, 1888 ~ Jan. 4, 1965), American poet

UP, UP, and Away.

14-Across. *  Like birdies and eagles: UNDER PAR.

23-Across. *  Expert in community development: URBAN PLANNER.

40-Across. *  Publisher of scholarly journals: UNIVERSITY PRESS.

53-Across. *  India's most populous state: UTTAR PRADESH.

70-Across. Presumptuous newcomers, and what the answers to the starred clues literally have: UP STARTS.  Each theme answer is a two word phrase where the first word Starts with the letter U and the second word Starts with the letter P.

Across:

1. Loving murmur: COO.

4. Generic dog name: FIDO.  Which United States President had a dog named Fido?  *

8. Short __: pancake orders: STACKS.

16. "Très chic!": OO LA LA.

17. Pride and joy: EMOTIONS.

18. Snapped: LOST IT.

19. Perfect Sleeper company: SERTA.  [Name # 1.]

20. Short race, for short: ONE-K.  As in a race that is One Kilometer.  One Kilometer is 0.621371 miles.

22. Even one: ANY.

27. Nonkosher sandwich, briefly: BLT.  As in a Bacon Lettuce and Tomato sandwich.  It's the Bacon that makes it Treyf (unkosher).

30. Distress call: SOS.  The SOS in the distress call don't actually stand for anything.

31. Baseball Hall of Famer Sandberg: RYNE.  Ryne Sandberg (né Ryne Dee Sandberg; b. Sept. 18, 1959) played baseball for 16 years.  He was a second baseman for the Philadelphia Phillies and the Chicago Cubs.  He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2005.  [Name # 2.]

32. Folk wisdom: LORE.

34. Feel poorly: AIL.

36. Paul of "Breaking Bad": AARON.  Paul Aaron (né Aaron Paul Sturtevant; b. Aug. 27, 1979) won several awards for his portrayal of Jesse Pinkman on Breaking Bad.    [Name # 3.]

44. Make a dance club version, say: REMIX.

45. Animal park: ZOO.

46. "Note to __ ... ": SELF.

47. Swarm (with): TEEM.

50. Montero Lamar Hill, __ Lil Nas X: AKA.  Montero Lamar Hill (b. Apr. 9, 1999) is a rapper who became know with his country rap song Old Town Road.  [Name # 4.]

52. Almost empty: LOW.

58. "No seats" sign: SRO.  Standing Room Only.

59. "Moonstruck" Oscar winner: CHER.  Before she got into acting, Cher (née Cherilyn Sarkisian; b. May 20, 1946) teamed up with Sonny Bono (né Salvatore Phillip Bono; Feb. 16, 1935 ~ Jan. 5, 1998) and were a popular 1960s duo.  [Name # 5.]

60. Madeline Miller novel about an "Odyssey" witch: CIRCE.  I have read neither the original Odyssey nor the more recent Circe.  Madeline Miller (b. July 24, 1978) has an advanced degree in the Classics, and has written several novels based on ancient Greek mythology.  She is probably best known for her 2011 novel The Song of Achilles.  [Name # 6.]

64. Bluster: HOT AIR.  Hot Air helps balloons go UP.

66. Monopoly space with a police officer: GO TO JAIL.

69. "Despite that ... ": EVEN SO.

71. Begin to blush: REDDEN.

72. Greek vowels: ETAs.  Uppercase/Lowercase: Η η

73. Private __: EYE.

Down:

1. Sticks for pool sharks: CUES.

2. "I'll pay for dinner": ON ME.

3. Off-putting smell: ODOR.

4. Franciscan brothers: FRIARS.

5. Nasdaq debut: IPO.  As in Initial Public Offering on the National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations.  Nasdaq vs. Dow.

6. "SNL" alum Aykroyd: DAN.  Dan Aykroyd (né Daniel Edward Aykroyd; b. July 1, 1952) portrayed many characters on Saturday Night Live, including one of the Coneheads, and Elwood Blue of the Blues Brothers.  He also starred as one of the original Ghostbuster.  [Name # 7.]

7. Director Welles: ORSON.  Orson Welles (né George Orson Welles; May 6, 1915 ~ October 10, 1985) caused quite a stir in 1938, when his radio adaption of H. G. Wells's novel The War of the Worlds, which caused some listeners to believe that a Martian invasion was in fact occurring.  [Name # 8.]

8. Only: SOLELY.

9. Recharged, in a way: TOOK A NAP.

10. Racers Unser Jr. and Unser Sr.: ALs.  Father (Alfred Unser, Sr.; May 20, 1939 ~ Dec. 9, 2021) and Son (Alfred Unser, Jr.; b. Apr. 19, 1962) from the famous Unser racing family, which began with Louis Unser, Jr. (Mar. 16, 1896 ~ Oct. 18, 1979), the patriarch of the racing family.  [Names # 9 and 10.]

11. Board game with the tagline "Trade Build Settle": CATAN.  I am not familiar with this game.  The board is an interesting shape.

12. Kevin of "Dave": KLINE.  Dave was a 1993 comedy movie about a small business owner named Dave who unwittingly became President.  Dave was portrayed by Kevin Kline (né Kevin Delaney Kline; b. Oct. 24, 1947).  [Name # 11.]

13. Goat-legged deity: SATYR.

15. Legendary rebuke: ET TU.  Today's Latin lesson.  Did you remember this from last Tuesday?

21. Broadcaster with pledge drives: NPR.  National Public Radio appears with some frequency in the puzzles.

24. Tusked beast: BOAR.

25. Flaws and all: AS IS.

26. Zeros in on: NEARS.

27. Become hazy: BLUR.  Like being at the optometrist ... is it clear on the right or on the left?

28. Unaccompanied: LONE.

29. Add lace to, e.g.: TRIM.  RGB wore lace collars.

33. Musical set in Buenos Aires: EVITA.  The musical was loosely based on the life of Eva Perón (May 7, 1919 ~ July 26, 1952).  [Name # 12.]

35. Claiborne of fashion: LIZ.  Anne Elizabeth Jane Claiborne (Mar. 31, 1929 ~ June 26, 2007) was an American fashion designer who was born in Belgium to American parents.  She has ties to Louisiana: her ancestor, William C.C. Claiborne (1770s ~ Nov. 23, 1817) was the first governor of Louisiana after the state gained statehood. [Name # 13.]

37. React to a shock: REEL.

38. Home of the Norwegian Military Academy: OSLO.  Norway traces its military forces back to the Vikings.

Cold Response Training by the Military

39. Warning that might prevent a click: NSFW.  Textspeak for Not Suitable For Work.

41. Work out: EXERCISE.

42. Bumpy-skinned amphibian: TOAD.

43. Joining device: YOKE.

48. "You've Got Mail" writer/director Nora: EPHRON.  Nora Ephron (May 19, 1941 ~ June 26, 2012) was a journalist, writer and filmmaker.  She also wrote and directed When Sleepless in Seattle.  In addition to rom-coms, she also wrote Silkwood, a dramatic film based on the life and death of Karen Silkwood.  [Name # 14.]

49. GI's field ration: MRE.  Meals Ready to Eat.

51. Fancy neckwear: ASCOTS.  A brief history of the necktie.

53. Theater guide: USHER.

54. Treasure stash: TROVE.

55. Schlepped: TOTED.  Schlep can mean either to carry or to take a tedious journey.

56. Squabble: ARGUE.

57. Daughter, in Spanish: HIJA.  Today's Spanish lesson.

61. Hardly ubiquitous: RARE.

62. Selma or Salem: CITY.  One is in Alabama and the other is in Massachusetts (or Oregon if you are west-coast oriented.)

63. Instead: ELSE.

65. "Is there more?": AND ...  Tell me more!

67. Make a call: OPT.

68. Agcy. that X-rays shoes: TSA.  With Global Entry, the Transportation Security Administration no longer requires one to remove shoes.

Here's the Grid:

*  Abraham Lincoln.

חתולה

Monday, September 25, 2023

QOD:  Lies written in ink can never disguise the facts written in blood.  ~  Lu Xun (Sept. 25, 1881 ~ Oct. 19, 1936), Chinese writer

Sunday, September 24, 2023

QOD:  I would never name-drop.  It’s tacky.  My best friend, Gwyneth Paltrow, taught me that.  ~  Ross Matthews (b. Sept. 24, 1979), American television personality