Tuesday, July 16, 2024

QOD:  Every once in a while, someone will mail me a single popcorn kernel that didn’t pop.  I’ll get out a fresh kernel, tape it to a piece of paper and mail it back to them.  ~  Orville Redenbacher (né Orville Clarence Redenbacher; July 16, 1907 ~ Sept. 19, 1995)

The Answer is Always Chocolate.  What was the question?  The first word of each theme answer is Chocolate!

16-Across. Arbitrary allowance for error: FUDGE FACTOR.  Chocolate Fudge

24-Across. Poker player with the tallest stacks: CHIP LEADER.  Chocolate Chip.

47-Across. Rite of passage for a Jewish boy: BAR MITZVAH.  Chocolate Bar.

59-Across. Words on a novelty apron: KISS THE CHEF.  Chocolate Kiss.

Here's the unifier:

36-Across. Sweet treats for a valentine, or what the starts of 16-, 24-, 47-, and 59-Across are: BOXES OF CHOCOLATE.

And, in keeping with the Chocolate theme:

45-Down. Apt candy for a snack break?: KIT KAT.  Yummers!  One of my favorite candy bars.  I guess it is good for a snack break, because you can easily break the bar into pieces.

Across:

1. "Jurassic Park" resin: AMBER.  Everything you wanted to know about Amber, but didn't know to ask.

6. Big name in champagne: MOËT.  The perfect beverage for a celebration.  The company has been making champagne for over 280 years.   [Name Adjacent.]

10. Pigpen: STY.

13. Glacier-climbing tool: ICE AXE.

14. First word of a fairy tale: ONCE.  Best opening line in a children's book:  "Once upon a time there lived... 'A king! ' my little readers will say immediately.  No, children, you are mistaken.  Once upon a time there was a piece of wood."  *

15. __ vez: again, in Spanish: OTRA.  Obviously, this is today's Spanish lesson.

18. Sonnet or ode: POEM.

19. Phony: FRAUD.

20. Margaret of "Fire Island": CHO.  Margaret Cho (née Margaret Moran Cho; b. Dec. 5, 1968) is an American stand-up comedian and actress. In Fire Island, she portrayed an LGBT Asian-American on vacation with a group of gay friends in Fire Island.  [Name # 1.]

21. Play parts: SCENES.

23. Ivy in New Haven: YALE.  Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut was named after Elihu Yale (Apr. 5, 1649 ~ July 8, 1721).  [Name Adjacent.]

26. Out of __ world: THIS.

28. Not online, online: IRL.  Textspeak for In Real Life.  This appears with some frequency in the crossword puzzles.

29. Dove's sound: COO.

31. Prefix similar to quad-: TETRA.  Also the name of an early video game created by Alexey Pajitnov (b. Apr. 16, 1955). 

33. 38-Down dispenser: ATM.  //  And 38-Down: Money: CASH.

35. Talk a big game: CROW.

40. Inning's six: OUTS.  Because each baseball team has three outs per inning.  Clever.

41. Tyrannosaurus __: REX.

42. Many Omanis: ARABS.  The official name of the country is the Sultanate of Oman and it is located on the eastern side of the Arabian Peninsula.

43. Shivered syllable: BRR.  It was unseasonably cold in Iceland.  Temps are normally in the 60s in June, but the first week or so we were there, temps were in the 40s.  BRR ...

44. Barinholtz who won "Celebrity Jeopardy!" in 2023: IKE.  I recognize his face, but did not know his name.  Ike Barinholtz (b. Feb. 18, 1977) starred in The Mindy Project.   [Name # 2.]

46. Community FYIs: PSAs.  As in a Public Service Announcement.

51. Cheeky answers: SASS.

55. Legal scholar: JURIST.

56. Organ with a lobe: EAR.

57. Desert flora: CACTI.

58. Shortly, shortly: ASAP.  As in As Soon As Possible.

62. Piffling: MERE.

63. Uffizi display: ARTE.  Today's Italian lesson.  The Uffizi Gallery, which is in Florence, Italy, houses many Renaissance masterpieces.  It's well worth the visit.  Even the building itself, which was built in the late 1500s, is a masterpiece.

64. "Love that": IN TO IT.

65. NNW opposite: SSE.

66. Body positive activist Holliday: TESS.  Tess Holliday (née Ryann Maegen Hoven; b. July 5, 1985) is completely unknown to me.  [Name # 3.]

67. Brick-and-mortar worker?: MASON.

Down:

1. Honda luxury line: ACURA.

2. Olympian's aspiration: MEDAL.  What are the medals made of?

3. French loaves: BAGUETTES.  Yummers!  When we lived in France, we had fresh baguettes and cheese every day.  You had to eat the baguette the day you bought it, though, because if you didn't, you could use the baguette to hammer nails.

4. Struck through: EX'ED.

5. Penalty caller: REF.  As in Referee.

6. Sweet rice cake: MOCHI.  Everything you wanted to know about Mochi but didn't know to ask.

7. In first place: ON TOP.

8. Prefix with hotel or tourist: ECO-.  Everything the Eco-Tourist should know about an Eco-Hotel.

9. Less verbose: TERSER.

10. Crustacean eaten by sea turtles: STONE CRAB.

11. Moving sidewalk creators?: TREE ROOTS.  Tree roots can also move driveways.

12. Thanksgiving tubers: YAMS.

13. Not without risk: IFFY.

15. Opinion piece: OP-ED.   The term Op-Ed is short for "opposite the editorial page".  Apparently, the New York Times began publishing the Op-Ed Page in 1970, and it now refers to the practice of newspapers placing opinion pieces on the opposite side of their editorial page.

17. German cries: ACHs!  Today's German lesson.

22. Berkeley, briefly: CAL.  Berkeley is a town/city in California.  

24. Bologna bye-bye: CIAO.  More of today's Italian lesson.

25. Long ride, for short: LIMO.

27. Bits of time?: HRs.  As in Hours.

30. Need to repay: OWE.

31. Band wagons?: TOUR BUSES.

32. Like a limited edition: EXTRA RARE.

33. Hardware chain that celebrated "100 Years of Helpful" in 2024: ACE.

34. "appreciate u": THX.  More textspeak.

35. Mensches: CLASS ACTS.  Mensch, today's Yiddish lesson, and it means a person with integrity and honor.  If someone is called a Mensch, it is a real compliment.  

36. __ for apples: BOB.  [Name adjacent.]

37. Lose sleep, maybe: FRET.

39. "Your Song" singer Rita: ORA.  Rita Ora (née Rita Sahatçiu; b. Nov. 26, 1990) was born in what is now Kosovo, but her family moved to England when she was a baby.  Her parents changed their surname from Sahatçiu, which means watchmaker, to Ora, which means time, because it was easier for English-speaking people to pronounce.  She is married to the New Zealand filmmaker Taika Waititi (b. Aug. 16, 1975).   [Name # 4.]

44. Online convos: IMs.  Instant Messages.  More textspeak.

46. Take different paths: PART.

48. Like peaches in summer: RIPE.  Yummers!  I love fresh, ripe peaches.

49. Cocktail twists: ZESTS.

50. Bouquet bearers: VASES.

52. Sneeze sound: ACHOO!

53. Oktoberfest mug: STEIN.  Oktoberfest begins in Munich this September 21.

54. Verb in a bread recipe: SIFT.

55. Scone spreads: JAMS.  Yummers!

57. John of "Argylle": CENA.  John Cena (né John Felix Anthony Cena; b. Apr. 23, 1977) is probably best known for being a professional wrestler, although he has moved into acting.  [Name # 5.]

60. Anger: IRE.

61. That guy: HIM.

Here's the Grid:

*  Opening line of Pinocchio, by Carlo Collodi.

חתולה

Sunday, July 16, 2023

QOD:  How quick we are to learn: that is, to imitate what others have done or thought before.  And how slow to understand: that is, to see the deeper connections.  ~  Frits Zernike (July 16, 1888 ~ Mar. 10, 1966), Dutch physicist and recipient of the 1953 Nobel Prize in Physics

Friday, July 16, 2021

QOD:  I work best after the deadline has passed, when I’m in a panic.  ~  Tony Kushner (né Anthony Robert Kushner; b. July 16, 1956), American playwright 

Thursday, July 16, 2020

QOD:  To fall in love is awfully simple, but to fall out of love is simply awful.  ~  Bess Myerson (July 16, 1924 ~ Dec. 14, 2014), American model

Tuesday, July 16, 2019

QOD:  Every once in a while, someone will mail me a single popcorn kernel that didn’t pop.  I’ll get out a fresh kernel, tape it to a piece of paper and mail it back to them. ~  Orville Redenbacher (né Orville Clarence Redenbacher; July 16, 1907 ~ Sept. 19, 1995)

I Feel Good.    Ah, the dreaded Circle puzzle.   The letters in the circles are anagrams of feelings.  Sadly, most of the feelings shown today are not pleasant ones.

17. "La La Land" Oscar nominee: RYAN GOSLING.  As in ANGRY.

25. Obsolescent coin-op communication device: PAY PHONE.  As in HAPPY.

47. Secondhand rides: USED CARS.  As in SCARED.

55. Eerie stillness: DEAD SILENCE.  As in SAD.

34. What a bittersweet moment may evoke ... and a hint to each set of circled letters: MIXED FEELINGS.

Across:

1. Singer LuPone: PATTI.  Patti LuPone (née Patti Ann LuPone; b. Apr. 21, 1949) played the role of Eva Perón in the Broadway production of Evita.  She later played the mother on the television drama Life Goes On.

6. Certain Jamaican, religiously: RASTA.

11. Dol. parts: CTS.  100 Cents makes up 1 Dollar.

14. Get-go: ONSET.

15. Predictable: USUAL.

16. Poke bowl fish: AHI.  Poke bowls are becoming very trendy.  Poke (pronounced "po-kay") means "to cut" or "to slice crosswise" in Hawaiian and is a raw sliced fish dish.  I first had poke when visiting in Hawaii and it was delicious.

19. Gym exercise unit: REP.  As in a Repetition.

20. Beat in a hot dog contest: OUT EAT.  The Annual Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest was held earlier this month ~ on July 4th.  The winner downed 74 hot dogs and buns in 10 minutes.  Wouldn't you rather slow down and enjoy your food?

21. Farm yield: CROP.

Crop Circles

22. Singer Styles and illusionist Houdini: HARRYs.  I am not familiar with Harry Styles (b. Feb. 1, 1994).

Harry Houdini (né Erik Weisz; Mar. 24, 1874 ~ Oct. 31, 1926) was a well known illusionist.  I learned recently that he had a younger brother who was also a magician and illusionist.  His brother went by the name Theodore Hardeen (né Ferenc Dezső; Mar. 4, 1876 ~ June 12, 1945).

28. Fateful March day: IDES.  Beware the Ides of March.  Actually, each month has an ides, which is the middle of the month.  March is particularly fateful because it is the traditional date that Julius Caesar was killed.

29. Not timely, as a birthday wish: BELATED.

30. African adventure: SAFARI.

Not to be confused with the Web browser.

33. Jazz great Fitzgerald: ELLA.  Elle Jane Fitzgerald (Apr. 25, 1917 ~ June 15, 1996) and I have become good friends.  This is the third time she has made a guest appearance on a day I prepare the blog commentary.

39. "I don't believe you!": LIAR.

40. Rudely sarcastic: SNARKY.

42. "Dirty" drink: MARTINI.

46. Two of a kind: PAIR.

49. Bites (on): CHOMPS.

51. Eye covers: LIDS.

52. Dr. Seuss' real last name: GEISEL.  We remember Dr. Seuss (né Theodor Seuss Giesel; Mar. 2, 1904 ~ Sept. 24, 1991), as a children's author.  Before he began writing children's literature, however, his early work is much darker, discriminatory and was often censored.

54. Chocolate dog: LAB.

60. Swelled head: EGO.

61. NOW co-founders: WOMEN.  NOW stands for the National Organization for Women.  It was founded in 1966 by 28 women, including Representative Shirley Chisholm (1924 ~ 2005), Betty Friedan (1921 ~ 2006), and Pauli Murray (1910 ~ 1985).

62. Ski run bump: MOGUL.

63. __ screen: medical test for poisons, etc.: TOX.

64. Nonreactive, as gases: INERT.  The inert gasses are on the far right of the Periodic Table.  They include Helium, Neon, Argon, Krypton, Xenon, and Radon.

65. Uppity types: SNOBS.

Down:

1. Spanish "for": POR.  Today's Spanish lesson.

2. "Pick a card, __ card": ANY.

3. Homeland Security screening org.: TSA.  As in the Transportation Security Administration, which is housed in the United States Department of Homeland Security.

4. Jazz ensemble instrument: TENOR SAX.

5. PC troubleshooter: IT GUY.  As in the Information Technology Guy, more commonly known as the Techie.

6. Trick: RUSE.

7. __ on the wrist: A SLAP.

8. Befitting: SUITABLE.

9. Sun-lover's hue: TAN.

10. "Solve for x" subj.: ALG.  As in Algebra.

11. Snack for Bugs: CARROT.

12. Dream partner: THE ONE.  Cute clue.

13. Drank daintily: SIPPED.

18. Tie-breaking NHL periods: OTs.  As in Over Time periods in the National Hockey League.

21. When doubled, a Latin dance: CHA.  The dance is the Cha-Cha.

22. That dude's: HIS.

23. 2018 Best Supporting Actor Oscar nominee Driver: ADAM.  Adam Driver (b. Nov. 19, 1983) received the Best Supporting Oscar for his role in BlacKKKlansman, in which he played a white undercover police officer who infiltrated the Klan.

24. Int.-lowering mortgage deal: RE-FI.  As in ReFinancing the mortgage.

26. Hollers: YELLS.

27. Like the nose on your face?: PLAIN.

31. Ancient artifact: RELIC.  Ancient Relics may appear where you least expect them.

32. Menzel who voices Elsa in "Frozen": IDINA.  Idina Menzel (b. May 30, 1971) had been in many Broadway musicals.

33. Racket end?: EER.  As in Racketeer.

35. Legitimate target: FAIR GAME.

36. Custard-filled pastry: NAPOLEON.  Yummers!

37. Mass unit: GRAM.

38. Uno card: SKIP.  I can't remember the last time I played Uno, so didn't remember this card.

41. Nos. on wine labels: YRS.  As in the Year of the vintage.

42. Short-in-front, long-in-back men's hairstyle: MULLET.

43. Crumbly Italian cheese: ASIAGO.

44. Netflix competitor: REDBOX.  Redbox began as a DVD rental service found in malls and grocery stores.  They now offer a streaming service.

45. QB stats: TDs.  A football reference to the Quarter Backs and Touch Downs.

48. Ritual Jewish meal: SEDER.  Here is a brief explanation of the items found on the SEDER plate.  There are at least 5 items on the Seder plate: (1) a Shank Bone; (2) an Egg; (3) Bitter Herbs, also known as mayor; (4) vegetable; and (5) Charoset, a sweet mixture generally made of fruits and nuts.  Many seder plates all include an additional bitter herb.

49. Long-running forensic series: CSI.  Stands for Crime Scene Investigation.  I watched the original show for a few years when it first came on in the early 2000s, but lost interest after a few years.  The show ran for 15 years.

50. Command posts: HELMS.  Hi, Spitzboov!

53. Stevie Wonder's "__ She Lovely": ISN'T.

55. Sobriety checkpoint initials: DWI.  As in Driving While Intoxicated.

56. Loooong time: EON.

57. Nonprofit aid gp.: NGO.  As in a Non-Governmental Organization.  A brief history of the NGO.

58. Baby bear: CUB.

59. Raised railroads: ELs.

The El in Chicago.

I hope this puzzle left you feeling Happy.  I known I am happy.

And here's the grid:

I'll leave you with a QOD:  Every once in a while, someone will mail me a single popcorn kernel that didn’t pop.  I’ll get out a fresh kernel, tape it to a piece of paper and mail it back to them. ~  Orville Redenbacher (né Orville Clarence Redenbacher; July 16, 1907 ~ Sept. 19, 1995)