Tuesday, August 4, 2026

QOD:  What the caterpillar calls the end, the rest of the world calls a butterfly.  ~  Lao Tzu, Chinese philosopher

I Double Dare You:  The word Check can follow the first and second word of each theme answer.

16-Across. *  Video game boost that may repair damage: HEALTH SPELL.  Health Check / Spell Check.  I am not familiar with the term Health Spell as it refers to video games.

23-Across. *  Waterproof garment: RAIN COAT.  Rain Check / Coat Check

34-Across. *  Internal setting controlled by thermoregulation: BODY TEMPERATURE.  Body Check / Temperature Check

49-Across. *  High-intensity workout program: CROSSFIT.  Cross Check / Fit Check

And the unifier:

59-Across. Go over twice, or what can be found in the answer to each starred clue: DOUBLE CHECK.

Here's the Grid, so you can Double Check my responses.

Across:

1. Corn cores: COBS.

5. Pet rehoming org.: ASPCA.  As in the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.  The ASPCA has been around for over 150 years.

10. Sandwich letters: BLT.  As in the Bacon, Lettuce, and Tomato sandwich.

13. Opera solo: ARIA.  A crossword staple.

14. Replacements for flat tires: SPARES.  Here's to you, Desper-Otto!

15. "__ la la!": OOH.

18. __ Lanka: SRI.

19. "Absolutely out of the question!": NO SIREE.

20. Wall surface: PLASTER.

22. Quick snooze: NAP.

24. Unleashed: FREED.

27. Cry for attention?: HEY.

28. "You're __ human": ONLY.

29. Charged particle: ION.

30. Barely gets (by): EKES.

32. Vietnamese soup: PHO.  Pho is a Vietnamese soup dish consisting of broth, rice noodles, herbs, and some sort of meat. 

40. Span of epoch proportions?: EON.

41. Frozen dessert brand: EDY'S.

42. NBC show that inspired "30 Rock," for short: SNL.  The Saturday Night Live abbreviation is a crossword staple.

43. Dull pain: ACHE.

46. Superhero franchise initials: MCU.  As in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

47. Steel girder: I-BEAM.

52. Kissing in the open, for short: PDA.  As in Public Display of Affection.

53. Beeper on the road: CAR HORN.

54. Promo in a magazine: PRINT AD.

58. Sci-fi visitors: ETs.  As in ExtraTerrestrials.

61. Alumna bio word: NÉE.  Today's French lesson.

62. Add to a kitty: ANTE UP.

63. Lo __: noodle dish: MEIN.  Lo Mein was part of the theme of last week's puzzle.

64. Take a crack at: TRY.

65. Cook in a basket: STEAM.

66. Annual May auto race, informally: INDY.

Down:

1. "High Hopes" lyricist Sammy: CAHN.  Sammy Cahn (né Samuel Cohen; June 18, 1913 ~ Jan. 15, 1993), was a lyricist and songwriter.  He is also known for the song, Let it Snow!

2. "Milk's Favorite Cookie" brand: OREO.  A crossword staple.

3. Skewed view: BIAS.

4. __ solution: contacts wearer's need: SALINE.

5. Cathedral recess: APSE.  Another crossword staple.

6. Sticky tree juice: SAP.

7. Purchase in advance: PRE-PAY.

8. String section instruments: CELLI.  Today's Italian lesson.  Celli is the Italian plural for Cello.

9. Lion of Narnia: ASLAN.  A reference to C.S. Lewis's novels The Chronicles of Narnia. 

10. Paul Revere House city: BOSTON.  The Paul Revere House is a historic house museum at 19 North Square in the North End of Boston, Massachusetts.

11. Cosmetics giant: L'ORÉAL.

12. Two points, in tennis: THIRTY.  Anyone know why tennis has such a weird scoring system?

14. TV soccer analyst Messing: SHEP.  Shep Norman Messing (b. Oct. 9, 1949) is an American retired soccer goalkeeper.

Back in his soccer-playing days.

17. Swap with: TRADE TO.

21. "Amscray!": SCOOT.

23. High regard: RESPECT.

24. Bit of baloney: FIB.

25. Milne youngling: ROO.

26. Infinity sign's lack: END.  There is no beginning, either.

27. Stitched border: HEM.

31. "Jeopardy!" host Jennings: KEN.  For years, Ken Jennings (né Kenneth Wayne Jennings, III; b. May 23, 1974) co-hosted a podcast called Omnibus.

32. Be nosy: PRY.

33. Like some Orthodox Jews: HASIDIC.  They are not equivalent terms.  Hasidic Judaism is a specific 18th-century mystical branch focused on joyful spirituality, distinct clothing, and a hereditary leader called a Rebbe.

35. "For crying out loud!": YEESH!

36. School URL suffix: EDU.

37. Draw upon: USE.

38. Molecule in some vaccines: RNA.

 

39. Shade tree with serrated leaves: ELM.

43. Regional speech pattern: ACCENT.

44. Meteorite's mark: CRATER.

45. Rocking toy, in baby talk: HORSEY.

46. Very hard to see: MINUTE.

48. Vietnamese sandwich: BÁNH MÌ.  It looks like a po-boy.

50. Combo meal drinks: SODAS.

51. Moving line on a weather map: FRONT.

52. Work overseen by a sous-chef: PREP.  Today's French lesson.  The word sous means under.  The sous-chef is second-in-command in the kitchen.

54. Deep purple: PLUM.

55. Adolescent: TEEN.

56. Tart: ACID.

57. Big Apple fashion letters: DKNY.  DKNY stands for Donna Karan New York.  The fashion company was founded by fashion designer Donna Karan (née Donna Ivy Fake; b. Oct. 2, 1948) in the late 1980s.

60. Arthur of "The Golden Girls": BEA.  Did you know that Bea Arthur (née Beatrice Arthur; May 13, 1922 ~ April. 25, 2009) served in the military during World War II?  She served in the U.S. Marine Corps Women's Reserve and worked as a typist, truck driver, and dispatcher.

I Dare You to Complete this Puzzle.

חתולה

Thursday, August 3, 2023

QOD:  If you are creative, you get busier as you get older.  ~  Tony Bennett (né Anthony Dominick Benedetto; Aug. 3, 1926 ~ July 21, 2023), American singer

Wednesday, August 3, 2022

QOD:  Start planning before you think you should.  ~  Martha Stewart (née Martha Helen Kostyra; b. Aug. 3, 1941), businesswoman

Tuesday, August 3, 2021

QOD:  Life teaches you how to live it, if you live long enough.  ~  Tony Bennett (né Anthony Dominick Benedetto; b. Aug. 3, 1926), American singer  [Tony Bennett died on July 21, 2022]

Today's puzzle is pretty self-explanatory.  The the circles are arranged in a square, and the letters in each square spell the word FAIR.  Interestingly, the first two letters of the unifier also form one of the 5 SQUAREs.

35-Across. Honestly ... also, like each set of circles?: FAIR AND SQUARE.

Across:

1. Big __, California: SUR.  It looks pretty.

4. Photographer's directive: SMILE.

9. Medicare section for doctors' services: PART B.  Everything you wanted to known about Medicare Part B, but didn't know to ask.

14. Functionality: USE.

15. Hauled away: TOWED.

16. China from Japan: IMARI.  Tricky, tricky!  Not a typical Tuesday clue.  Imari is a term for a colored style of Japanese porcelain (china).

17. Cowed, aptly: BUFFALOED.

19. To help, to Henri: AIDER.  Today's French lesson.

20. "House" star Hugh: LAURIE.  Hugh Laurie (né James Hugh Calum Laurie; b. June 11, 1959) was also George Blackadder, a character in the BBC comedy Blackadder.

21. "I can't think straight right now": I'M FRIED.

23. "Rocketman" John: ELTON.  We were Sir Elton John (né Reginald Kenneth Dwight; b. Mar. 25, 1947) adjacent last week, when his lyricist partner, Bernie Taupin, appeared in the puzzle.

24. "It's obvious": I SEE.

26. Baba in a cave: ALI.  A reference to the Arabic folk tale Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves, from One Thousand and One Nights.

27. "The Waste Land" poet's monogram: TSE.  As in T.S. Eliot (né Thomas Sterns Eliot; Sept. 26, 1888 ~ Jan. 4, 1965).

28. Fed. law known as Obamacare: ACA.  As in the Affordable Care Act.

29. Hamper: HOG TIE.

32. Industry honcho: BARON.

34. High times?: NOONS.

39. Cubs' group: PRIDE.

40. Between dry and soggy: MOIST.

41. Like library books: REREAD.  I am a big fan of using libraries.

43. IRS examiner: AUD.  You hope an Auditor doesn't need to examine your tax records.

44. "Don't say anything!": SHH!

47. Always, to a poet: EER.

48. Amazon transports: VANS.  The vans are all over the place.  The company was just hit with a huge fine in the EU for violating privacy laws.

50. "Caveman" diet: PALEO.  Everything you wanted to know about the Paleo Diet, but didn't know to ask.

52. Wok dish: STIR FRY.  Yummers!

55. Fire alarms: SIRENS.  Also creatures of Greek mythology who lured sailors to become shipwrecked along the rocky clast of their island.

56. Bulgaria's capital: SOFIA.

57. Bob Marley's religion: RASTAFARI.

60. Looked at the wrong way?: OGLED.

Not Bert and Ernie, too!

61. No longer on one's plate: EATEN.

62. Red choice, briefly: ZIN.  These wine abbreviations are become staples in the crossword world.

63. Yule melodies: NOELS.  Christmas songs.

64. Tell: SAY TO.

65. ER graph: EKG.  As in an Electrocardiogram, also known as an ECG.

Down:

1. Rent from a renter: SUBLET.

2. Regular requests: USUALS.

3. Prove wrong: REFUTE.

4. Ink blot, for one: STAIN.  May also be used in a Rorschach test.

5. Espionage figure: MOLE.

6. "Letters from __ Jima": Eastwood film: IWO.  Letters from Iwo Jima was a 2006 Japanese-language American film directed by Clint Eastwood.

7. "To Kill a Mockingbird" author: LEE.  Shortly before her death in 2016, a second book by Harper Lee (née Nelle Harper Lee; Apr. 26, 1926 ~ Feb. 19, 2016) was published.

8. Money in music: EDDIE.  Eddie Money (né Edward Joseph Mahoney; Mar. 21, 1949 ~ Sept. 13, 2019) was a singer-songwriter.

9. "La Vie en Rose" chanteuse: PIAF.  Édith Piaf (Dec. 19, 1915 ~ Oct. 10, 1963) was a French singer-songwriter.  She was best known for her torch songs.

10. "The Kite Runner" boy: AMIR.  The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini (b. Mar. 5, 1965) was published in 2003.  It is a fascinating novel about a slice of life in Afghanistan.

11. Home heater or engine cooler: RADIATOR.

12. Forest perimeter: TREE LINE.

13. They're below par: BIRDIES.  A golfing reference.

18. To's opposite: FRO.  To and Fro.

22. "I could take it or leave it": MEH!

24. Desktop image: ICON.

25. Folklore sleep aid: SANDMAN.

28. Coach Parseghian: ARA.  Ara Raoul Parseghian (May 21, 1923 ~ Aug. 2, 2017) makes frequent guest appearances in the crossword puzzles.  He was the football coach at the University of Notre Dame for several years from the mid-1960s to the mid-1970s.

30. Burden: ONUS.

31. Bearded critter: GOAT.

32. __ one's time: wait: BIDE.

33. Neighborhood: AREA.

35. Off the hook: FREE TO GO.

36. Pellet gun, for one: AIR RIFLE.

37. __-chef: SOUS.  A sous-chef is the second in command in the restaurant.

38. Four times a day, in an Rx: Q.I.D.  Today's Latin lesson.  Q.I.D. is an abbreviation for the Latin phrase:Quater in Die, which means Four Times a Day.

39. Fake, as some nails: PRESS ON.  I'll pass on the Press-ons.

42. TV recording device: DVR.  We still have a Digital Video Recorder.  We occasionally check out DVRs from our public library.

44. Raunchiness: SLEAZE.

45. Playwright Ibsen: HENRIK.  Henrik Johan Ibsen (Mar. 20, 1828 ~ May 23, 1906) was a Norwegian playwright.  He is best known for his play A Doll's House.

46. Cleaning, as a driveway: HOSING.

49. Lew who played Dr. Kildare: AYRES.  I only knew of the early television medical drama that starred Richard Chamberlain (né George Richard Chamberlain; b. Mar. 31, 1934) as Dr. Kildare.  Apparently, there was also a movie series in which Lew Ayres (né  Dec. 28, 1908 ~ Dec. 30, 1996) played Dr. Kildare in the films.

50. It has keys for flats: PIANO.  Cute clue.

51. Chow request: ARF.  Another cute clue.  The chow refers to the dog breed.

53. Cambodian cash: RIEL.

54. In things: FADS.

55. [Keep this clue]: STET.  The word is used by proofreaders, and means: Let It Stand.

58. Remote battery size: AAA.

59. Babe's place: STY.

I hope you found this puzzle to be Fair and Square!

חתולה