Tuesday, July 1, 2025

QOD:  There are two things that can destroy a family business: the family and the business.  ~  Estée Lauder (née Josephine Esther Mentzer; July 1, 1906 ~ Apr. 24, 2004), American businesswomen and founder of the Estée Lauder cosmetics company

A Riot a Minute:  The first word of each theme answer, including the unifier, is a description of a type laughter.  Several of these terms seemed a bit antiquated to me.

17-Across. Canned responses featured on many classic sitcoms: LAUGH TRACKS.

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28-Across. Alcohol, in 1920s speakeasy slang: GIGGLE WATER.  I was not familiar with this term.  It even predates my parents.

46-Across. Egg, in diner slang: CACKLEBERRY.  I was not familiar with this term, either.  Apparently, Cackleberry is a slang term for a hen's egg because it is a combination of the word "cackle" (the sound a hen makes), and "berry", which is roughly the shape of an egg.

And the unifier:

59-Across. Bozo, and a feature of 17-, 28-, and 46-Across: CHUCKLEHEAD.  Also known as a blockhead.

Any other laughs?

Across:

1. Curved segments: ARCS.

5. Happy shout: HOORAH!

11. Scoreboard figs.: PTS.  As in Points.

14. Actress Petty: LORI.  Lori Petty (b. October. 14, 1963) was in many films in the 1990s.

Then and now.

15. Saint of Ávila: TERESA.

16. Nev. neighbor: ARI.  Arizona is the neighbor of Nevada.  The Hoover dam is on the border of these two states.  Hi, Lucina!

19. Bled, as dyed fabric: RAN.

20. Fix a sloppy cartographer's work: REMAP.

21. Generic painkiller: ASPIRIN.  The active ingredient of aspirin is acetylsalicylic acid.  It is derived from willow bark and has been known to relieve pain for over 3,500 years.  Aspirin, that we purchase from the drug store was developed in the late 1890s by chemist Felix Hoffmann (Jan. 21, 1868 ~ Feb. 8, 1946) at Bayer.  Aspirin taken in large quantities, however, can cause gastric bleeding.

23. Fictional lion whose name is Turkish for "lion": ASLAN.  Aslan is a major character in The Chronicles of Narnia, by C. S. Lewis (né Clive Staples Lewis; Nov. 29, 1898 ~ Nov. 22, 1963).

24. Course for intl. students: ESL.  As in English as a Second Language.  This has become a crossword staple.

26. Shape of a tornado: CONE.

27. Cowboys, on scoreboards: DAL.  Think football and the Dallas Cowboys.

32. Attempt: STAB.

34. "__ too shabby!": NOT.

35. Rather thick: DENSE.

36. Share a border with: ABUT.

38. Needs one more candle on one's cake: AGES.

39. Jackrabbits, e.g.: HARES.  Jackrabbits are hares, but are not rabbits.

41. Peach or coral: HUE.

42. Milky gemstone: OPAL.  Everything you ever wanted to know about opals.

49. Quaint "Hurry up!": HIE.

50. Rich person's suffix: -AIRE.  Hand up if you are a Billionaire.

51. Stat that may increase with a homer: ERA.  As in Earned Run Average.

52. Love, in Torino: AMORE.  Today's Italian lesson.

54. Before daybreak: PRE-DAWN.

57. Striped African antelope: ELAND.

58. Touchdown hr.: ETA.  Not football, but flying in a plane.  Estimated Time of Arrival.

63. Oil field structure: RIG.

64. Force: COMPEL.

65. Buy in, in poker: ANTE.  //  And 66-Across. Call, in poker: SEE.  //  And 1-Down.  Winner takes __: ALL.

67. __ rasa: blank slate: TABULA.  Today's Latin lesson.

68. "Stay" singer Lisa: LOEB.  Stay is career-making song Lisa Anne Loeb (b. Mar. 11, 1968).  The song was from the movie Reality Bites, and was the first number-one single on the Billboard Hot 100 for an artist without a recording contract.

Down:

2. Greets like a tiger: ROARS AT.

3. Villain de Vil of "101 Dalmatians": CRUELLA.

4. Greek letter on the AutoSum button in Excel: SIGMA.

5. URL intro: HTTP.  We had this recently.  HTTP stands for Hypertext Transfer Protocol.

6. Poetic "above": O'ER.

7. Pop star Rita: ORA.  Rita Sahatçiu Ora makes frequent guest appearances in the puzzle.  She is a British singer, actress, television personality, and fashion icon.  She was born in Kosovo in 1990.

8. Think back to: RECALL.  Do you have total recall?

9. Gives a proper "Jeopardy!" response: ASKS.

10. Locking device: HASP.

11. Colorful, chatty birds: PARROTS.

12. Company noob: TRAINEE.

13. One seeking redemption: SINNER.

18. Put up, as art: HANG.

22. "Just watch me!": I CAN SO!

23. Some Super Bowl highlights: ADs.

24. Awards "quadruple crown": EGOT.  The EGOT (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony) Awards is often seen in the puzzles. 

25. PD rank: SGT.  As in Sergeant in the Police Department.

29. Occupied: IN USE.

30. Groundskeeper's tool: EDGER.

31. Tiny: WEE.

33. Spoke in a husky voice?: BARKED.

37. "The Fresh Prince of __-Air": BEL.  A Will Smith sit-com that ran in the 1990s.

38. Subtle glow: AURA.

39. Scrunchie, for one: HAIR TIE.

40. Farm measure: ACREAGE.

41. Feminine pronoun: HER.

43. Bus. card info: PHONE NO.

44. Broadcast time: AIR DATE.

45. Gymnast Suni: LEE.  Suni Lee (née Sunisa Phabsomphou Lee; b. Mar. 9, 2003) is an American artistic gymnast.  In the 2020 and 2024 Olympics, she was the all-around gold medalist and won the bronze medal on the uneven bars bronze medalist.

46. Tangy buds in chicken piccata: CAPERS.  Everything you ever wanted to know about capers.

47. Deaden: BE NUMB.

48. Ivy university featured on "Gilmore Girls": YALE.  I never watched Gilmore Girls, but Yale was an obvious fit.

53. Taj __: Indian tourist site: MAHAL.

55. Bank holding: Abbr.: ACCT.  As in Account.

56. "OMG!" kin: WHOA.  Really?

57. Purnell of "Yellowjackets": ELLA.  Ella Summer Reed Purnell (b. September 17, 1996) is a British actress who began her career as a child model.

60. PC core: CPU.  As in Central Processing Unit.

61. Kenan's former comedy partner: KEL.  Kenan and Kel was a sit-com from the late 1990s that starred Kenan Thompson (b. May 10, 1978) and Kel Mitchell (né Kel Johari Rice Mitchell; b. Aug. 25, 1978).  Kenan later went on to star on Saturday Night Live.

62. "Smitten Kitchen Every Day" cookbook writer Perelman: DEB.  I am not familiar with Smitten Kitchen Every Day.  Apparently, the Smitten Kitchen began as a cooking blog.

Here's the Grid:

חתולה