Tuesday, January 18, 2022

QOD:  Some people talk to animals.  Not many people listen, though.  That’s the problem.  ~  A.A. Milne (né Alan Alexander Milne; Jan. 18, 1882 ~ Jan. 31, 1956), British author

Animal Sounds that Aren't.

16-Across. Antidote fraud that doesn't come from a duck?: QUACK CURE.  What does the duck say?

28-Across. Social media barrage that doesn't come from a bird?: TWEETSTORM.  What does the bird say?

43-Across. Voguish term that doesn't come from a bee?: BUZZ PHRASE.  What does the bee say?  Also known as Buzz Words.

58-Across. Fabric made from tree exteriors that doesn't come from a dog?: BARKCLOTH.  What does the dog say?  Hand up if you knew what Barkcloth is.

Across:
1. Broke off, as talks: ENDED.

6. Retired flier: SST.  We haven't seen the SST Concorde in the sky since its retirement in October 2003.

9. Lola's nightclub, in song: COPA.

13. To a degree, informally: SORTA.  I'm sorta okay with clues and answers like this.

14. Lyndon Johnson girl beagle: HER.  And the boy dog was named Him.

15. Breakfast sizzler: BACON.

18. Northeast express train: ACELA.  This train line appears with some frequency in the puzzles.

19. Swipe: STEAL.  I was thinking of "swipe right" or "swipe left" instead of actually theft.

20. Pub with suds and entertainment: BEER HALL.

22. Jog or racing gait: TROT.

24. Caught in the act: SEEN.

25. Bat's home: CAVE.

33. German river: EDER.

34. Gets really high: SOARS.

35. Asian language: LAO.

36. Director Wertmüller: LINA.  Lina Wertmüller (née Arcangela Felice Assunta Wertmüller von Elgg Spanol von Braueich; Aug. 14, 1928 ~ Dec. 9, 2021) was an Italian film director best known for her art-house films from the 1970s.  She died just over a month ago at age 93.

37. Rock gp. sometimes joined by Young: CSN. With Young, the band is known as CSN&Y.

38. __ stick: bouncing toy: POGO.

39. Wide shoe spec: EEE.

40. "When I Need You" singer Leo: SAYER.

42. Hunchbacked lab assistant: IGO

46. Daly of "Judging Amy": TYNE.  Tyne Daly (née Ellen Tyne Daly; b. Feb. 21, 1946) is the older sister of actor Tim Daly (né James Timothy Daly; b. Mar. 1, 1956).

47. Three-vowel African river: UELE.  Everything you wanted to know about the Uele River, but didn't know to ask

48. Bit of bickering: TIFF.  If the tiff is big enough, it might result in a gift from Tiff's ...

50. Military "pineapples": GRENADES.

54. Wikipedia policy: NO ADs.

57. Archaeological find: RELIC.

Sad, but true.

61. __ worse than death: A FATE.

62. Downed: ATE.

63. Arm bones: ULNAE.  The plural of Ulna.

64. Ho Chi __ City: MINH.  Formerly known as Saigon.

65. "Sure": YEP.

66. Certain NCOs: SSGTs.  As in Staff Sergeants.  This abbreviation appears with some frequency in the puzzles.

Down:

1. Letters on a law office door: ESQ.  Esquire it the title one can use after passing the bar exam.

2. We, to one who says "oui": NOUS.  Today's French lesson.

3. "Dang!": DRAT.

4. And so on: ET CETERA.  Today's Latin lesson.

5. Senegal's capital: DAKAR.  It's also a port city.

6. Moo __ pork: SHU.  You, too, can make this at home.

7. Balkan native: SERB.

8. Certain surgeon's "patient": TREE.  Cute clue!

9. Prestige: CACHET.

10. Cousteau's field: OCEANOLOGY.  Jacques-Yves Cousteau (June 11, 1910 ~ June 25, 1997) was a pioneer in ocean and marine conservation.

11. Gallup specialty: POLL.

12. Fastidious to a fault: ANAL.

15. Exposes: BARES.

17. Thickens, as cream: CLOTS.  You can purchase clotted cream across the pond.

21. Approximate nos.: ESTs.  As in Estimates.

23. Like a good-sized garage: TWO CAR.

25. People focus, for short: CELEB.  

26. "Bye" that's bid: ADIEU.  Another clever clue.  And more of today's French lesson.

27. Caracas native: VENEZUELAN.  Caracas is another port city.

29. Snap course: EASY A.

30. Writer Hemingway: ERNEST.  Ernest Miller Hemingway (July21, 1899 ~ July 2, 1961) wrote many books that are considered classics.  I had to read some when I was in high school.

31. Make fun of: RAG ON.

32. Mandy of "This Is Us": MOORE.  Mandy Moore (née Mandy Leigh Moore; b. Apr. 10, 1984) is also a singer.

38. Traps for the unwary: PITFALLS.  Pitfall was also the name of a relic of a Atari video game.  At the time it seemed really state-of-the-art.

40. Lawn tool storage building: SHED.

41. Sign again: REINK.  Meh!

44. Highest point: ZENITH.  Zenith was also an American company that manufactured televisions.  The company sold its shares to LG in 1995.

45. "Peyton __": PLACE.  Before it was a television show, Peyton Place was the 1956 novel by Grace Metalious (née Mary Grace DeRepentigny; Sept. 8, 1924 ~ Feb. 25, 1964).  The novel was quite scandalous when it was first published as it delved into the dark secrets of adultery, incest, lust, abortion and murder in a small New England town.

49. Concentrate: FOCUS.

50. Fat unit: GRAM.

51. Bank offering, briefly: RE-FI.  As in Refinance.

52. "Buy It Now" site: EBAY.

53. Fill to the max: SATE.

55. Bell sound: DONG.  I tried Ring and Gong before settling on Dong.

56. PDQ, in the ER: STAT.

59. Sales agent: REP.  As in a Representative.

60. Cock and bull: HEs.  Both a Cock and a Bull are male animals.

Here's the Grid:

חתולה

And Now I will Bid you Adieu!

Tuesday, July 6, 2021

QOD:  When you talk, you are only repeating what you already know.  But if you listen, you may learn something new.  ~  14^th Dalai Lama (religious name: Tenzin Gyatso; né Lhamo Thondup; b. July 6, 1935), Dalai Lama

Summer Grilling.  How would you like your steak cooked?

17-Across. Natural's ability: RAW TALENT.

24-Across. Cerium or yttrium: RARE EARTH METAL.

40-Across. Like prisons for not-the-worst criminals: MEDIUM SECURITY.

54-Across. Famous: WELL-KNOWN.

Across:

1. NYC theater award: OBIE.  The Obie is the Off-Broadway Theater Award.

5. Jackson 5 hairdo: AFRO.

9. Blue Ribbon brewer: PABST.  How Pabst got its Blue Ribbon.

14. Caleb's twin in "East of Eden": ARON.  East of Eden is my favorite John Steinbeck (Feb. 27, 1902 ~ Dec. 20, 1968) novel.

15. Bank claim: LIEN.  //  And 19-Across:  Bank offerings: LOANS.

16. Acquiesce: AGREE.

20. Willie Nelson album of pop standards: STARDUST.

21. Has coming: MERITS.

22. Banned bug spray: DDT.  DDT is the abbrevation of Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane.  It was first synthesized by an Austrian chemist named Othmar Zeilder (1850 ~ 1911) in 1874.  Rachel Carson (1907 ~ 1964) was the first crusader against the use of DDT due to its harmful impact on the environment.

23. Wrap for sandwiches: SARAN.

30. Acted alarmed, as a horse: SHIED.

31. Designer Saarinen: EERO.  We had a clue about Eero Saarinen (Aug. 20, 1910 ~ Sept. 1, 1961) just last Tuesday.   Eero Saarinen and his father, Elie Saarinen (Aug. 20, 1873 ~ July 1, 1950), were both well known architects from Finland.  Eero designed the Dulles International Airport in Washington, D.C., and the Gateway Arch in St. Louis, Missouri.  As I noted last week, Eero appears quite frequently in the crossword puzzles.

32. Pretoria's home: Abbr.: RSA.  As in the Republic of South Africa.  Pretoria is just one of South Africa's capital cities.  The country has 3 capitals, but Pretoria is its administrative one.

33. Under-the-wing fuel containers: PODS.

34. Decrease: ABATE.

36. Like thick, green lawns: LUSH.

37. Suffix with meth-: -ANE.  The chemical structure of Methane:

38. Ex-Yankee with 696 career HRs: A-ROD.  Alexander Enmanuel Rodriguez (b. July 27, 1975) will celebrated his 46th birthday later this month.

39. French equivalent of the Oscar: CÉSAR.  It is a rather odd looking trophy.

44. Scandal-plagued energy giant: ENRON.

45. Musician Brian: ENO.  Brian Eno (né Brian Peter George St John le Baptiste de la Salle Eno; b. May 15, 1948) used to make frequent guest appearances in the puzzles, but we haven't seen him in a while.

Brian Eno ~ then and now

46. Composer Berlioz: HECTOR.  Louis-Hector Berlioz (Dec. 11, 1803 ~ Mar. 8, 1869) was quite a prolific composer.

48. Roads that avoid downtown: BY-PASSES.

53. Carrier that added "ways" to its name in 1997: US AIR.

55. ABBA's "__ Mia!": MAMMA.

56. Vowel-heavy baseball family name: ALOU.  The family baseball includes brothers and sons: Felipe Rojas Alou (b. May 12, 1935), Matty (né Mateo Rojas Alou; Dec. 22, 1938 ~ Nov. 3, 2011), Jesús (né Jesúu María Rojas Alou; b. Mar. 24, 1942), his sons Moisés (né Moisés Rojas Alou Beltre; b. July 3, 1966) and Luis (né Louis E. Rojas; b. Sept. 1, 1981).

57. Vowel-heavy end of a court game: ALAI.  Change the last 2 vowels from the above and you get the game of Jai Alai.fif

58. Holmes smoked them: PIPES.  Think of Sherlock Holmes.

59. Chimed: RANG.

60. Confined, with "up": PENT.

Down:

1. Dinghy movers: OARS.

2. Tough tyke to handle: BRAT.

3. "Field of Dreams" setting: IOWA.  Field of Dreams came out in 1989.

4. __'acte: intermission: ENTR.  Today's French lesson.

5. Hint at, with "to": ALLUDE.

6. Party with a piñata: FIESTA.  Also the name of a grocery store in Texas.

7. Cost of living?: RENT.

8. Toronto's prov.: ONT.  Hi, CanadianEh!

9. Sicilian seaport: PALERMO.  We visited Palermo in 2019.  We had to drive down a very, very narrow street to get to our hotel.  There was only about 6 inches leeway.  It was quite an experience.

10. Ancient Greek meeting places: AGORAE.  Today's Greek lesson.

11. FDR advisory group: BRAIN TRUST.

12. Dispatched: SENT.

13. Melanie's "Working Girl" role: TESS.  Working Girl was a 1988 rom-com movie that starred Melanie Griffith (b. Aug. 9, 1957).

18. Said further: ADDED.

21. 1984 Olympic slalom champion: MAHRE.  Philip Ferdinand Mahre (b. May 10, 1957) and his twin brother, Steven Irving Mahre (b. May 10, 1957) both competed in the 1984 Olympics.  They are fraternal twins.

23. Editor's "Let it stand": STET.  A crossword staple.

24. French wine region: RHÔNE.

25. Military assistant: AIDE DE CAMP.

26. Dorm, briefly: RES.  As in a Residence.

27. Aptly named English novelist: READE.  Charles Reade (June 8, 1814 ~ Apr. 11, 1884) was a novelist and dramatist.  Rather obscure for a Tuesday, I'd say.

28. Test, as ore: ASSAY.

29. Cowardly Lion portrayer Bert: LAHR.  Although he was quite a prolific actor, Bert Lahr (né Irving Lahrheim; Aug. 13, 1895 ~ Dec. 4, 1967) is best known for his role as the Cowardly Lion in The Wizard of Oz.  Appropriate, I suppose, since he was a Leo.

30. Inbox annoyance: SPAM.

34. Knight's "suit": ARMOR.

35. Cap'n's mate: BOS'N.

36. Floral necklace: LEI.

38. Natural light shows: AURORAS.

39. Frog sound: CROAK.

41. Punctually: IN TIME.

42. Sri Lanka, once: CEYLON.  A brief history of Sri Lanka.

43. Disconnect from the socket: UNPLUG.

46. Camel feature: HUMP.  One hump or two?

47. Actor Morales: ESAI.  I learned of Esai Manuel Morales, Jr. (b. Oct. 1 1962) from his appearances in the crossword puzzles.

48. Composer Bartók: BÉLA.  Béla Bartók (Mar. 25, 1881 ~ Sept. 26, 1945) makes frequent guest appearances in the puzzles.

49. "Oh, __!": "Whoa!": SNAP.

50. Exclusive: SOLE.

51. Obi-Wan portrayer McGregor: EWAN.  Ewan McGregor (b. Mar. 31, 1971) portrayed a young Obi-Wan Kenobi in the Star Wars prequel.

52. Agitated state: SNIT.

54. High-card-wins game: WAR.

Here's the Grid:

חתולה