Tuesday, August 5, 2025

QOD:  Research means to investigate something you do not know or understand.  ~  Neil Armstrong (né Neil Alden Armstrong; Aug. 5, 1930 ~ Aug. 25, 2012), American astronaut

Years on End.  

4-Down.  *  Grayish time at dusk or dawn:  HALF LIGHT.  Half Year //  Light Year.  Did you know there are three distinct types of Half Light? There is Civil Dusk/Dawn, Nautical Dusk/Dawn and Astronomical Dusk/Dawn.  These stages are determined by the position of the sun below the horizon.

18-Down. *  Removed from the docket, as a legal hearing: OFF CALENDAR.  Off Year  //  Calendar Year

28-Down. *  Penultimate: SECOND LAST.  Second Year  //  Last Year

37-Down. *  Nontraditional: NEW SCHOOL.  New Year  //  School Year  The school year begins here on Thursday, August 7.  

And the unifier:

10-Down:  Like some annual accounting comparisons, or what can be found in the answers to the starred clues:  YEAR ON YEAR.  The word Year can be added to each of the words in the theme answers to give us a new concept.

Across:

1. Cashew, e.g.: NUT.

4. __-hop music: HIP.

7. Director Reiner: ROB.  Robert Norman Reiner (b. Mar. 6, 1947) is probably best known as his portrayal of Michael Stivic from All in the Family.  One of the earliest films he directed is This is Spinal Tap.  He also directed When Harry Met Sally ...

10. Tuber in West African cuisine: YAM.

13. Nonsense refrain syllables: SHA LA LA.

15. Laudatory poem: ODE.  A crossword staple.

16. Big bird: EMU.  Emus appeared in last Tuesday's puzzle.

17. In full view: FOR ALL TO SEE.

19. Like Big Bird's name: APT.

20. Seaport's loading and unloading area: WHARF.

21. Opening of a never-give-up slogan: IF AT FIRST.  This initially looked at this answer and saw I Fat First.  What??!!

23. Unfriendly: ALOOF.

25. Editor's target: TYPO.

26. B'way musical set in Paris: LES MIS.  Or more formally, Les Misérables.  I see this shortened to Les Miz more often than Les Mis.  The musical is based on the 1862 novel by Victor Hugo (1802 ~ 1885), which was about the June Rebellion of 1832 in Paris.

29. Spy org.: CIA.  As in the Central Intelligence Agency.

31. Burden: ONUS.

34. Logger's tool: AXE. 

Paul Bunyan with his Axe in Bangor, Maine.

35. Brag: GLOAT.

37. "Bye Bye Bye" boy band: *NSYNC.  The boy band that was active in the late 1990, and helped to launch Justin Timberlake's career.

38. Open __ night: MIC.

39. 1-800-555-2368 for Ghostbusters, e.g.: HOT-LINE.

41. Pilot's update, briefly: ETA.  As in Estimated Time of Arrival.

42. Up in the air: ALOFT.

44. Hem again: RESEW.

45. Broadcast: AIR.

46. Silver State city near Tahoe: RENO.  Reno, Nevada is the home of the National Judicial College.

47. Junior: SON.

48. Fish-eating hawk: OSPREY.

50. Unit of medication: DOSE.

52. Prom, for one: DANCE.

54. Brand of flour since 1880: GOLD MEDAL.  Everything you ever wanted to know about Gold Medal flower.

57. "By the power of Grayskull" cartoon hero: HE-MAN.

61. Pen name letters: AKA.  Also Known As.

62. "Fingers crossed!": I SURE HOPE SO.

64. Tax org.: IRS.  As the Internal Revenue Service.

65. Fella: LAD.

66. Cock-a-doodle-do-er: ROOSTER.

67. "Unforgettable" singer __ King Cole: NAT.  Sadly, Nat King Cole (né Nathaniel Adams Coles; Mar. 18, 1919 ~ Feb. 15, 1965), died of lung cancer at only age 45.

68. Lamb's mother: EWE.

69. No. on a resume: TEL.  As in a Telephone number.

70. "A Change Is Gonna Come" singer-songwriter Cooke: SAM.  The death of Sam Cooke (né Samuel Cook; Jan. 22, 1931 ~ Dec. 11, 1964) remains mysterious many decades later.

Down:

1. "Click this link at your own risk" letters: NSFW.  Not Suitable For Work.

2. "Crikey": UH, OH!

3. "The Big Lebowski" actress Reid: TARA.  Tara Reid (née Tara Donna Reid; b. Nov. 8, 1975) portrayed Bunny Lebowski in the film.

5. __-at-ease: ILL.

6. Barbecue spot: PATIO.

7. Santa __, California: ROSA.

8. Folk singer known as "The Voice of the Civil Rights Movement": ODETTA.  Odetta (née Odetta Holmes; b. Dec. 31, 1930 ~ Dec. 2, 2008) makes occasional appearances in the puzzles.

9. Muscular: BEEFY.

11. Concert blasters: AMPS.

12. Pup without a pedigree: MUTT.

14. SoCal NFLer: LA RAM.

22. Wall St. debuts: IPOs.  As in Initial Public Offerings.

24. Capital city near the North Sea: OSLO.  The capital of Norway.

26. Rapper Kendrick: LAMAR.  Kendrick Lamar (né Kendrick Lamar Duckworth; b. June 17, 1987) is a Grammy and Pulitzer Prize-winning rapper, songwriter and record producer.

27. One cast out: EXILE.

30. "Seriously?": IT IS.

32. Release, perhaps: UNTIE.  Unite!

33. Frightening: SCARY.

36. Other, in Spanish: OTRO.  Today's Spanish lesson.

40. Like much classic Las Vegas signage: NEON.

43. Sustenance: FOOD.

47. Teeter-totter: SEESAW.

49. Pals, in slang: PEEPS.

51. "Say cheese!": SMILE.

53. Warning signal: ALERT.

54. "Buy low, sell high" result: GAIN.

55. Creole pod: OKRA.  Okra is a staple in Gumbo.  It is also good fried.

56. "Bro!": DUDE.

58. New York MLB team: METS.

59. Sailing: ASEA.

60. Social standard: NORM.

63. Soil-turning tool: HOE.

Here's the Grid:

חתולה

Tuesday, October 1, 2024

QOD:  I needed a password eight characters long, so I picked “Snow White and the Seven Dwarves.”  ~  Nick Helm (né Nicholas Tristan Phillip Helm; b. Oct. 1, 1980), British comedian

I Spy with My Little Eye.  Each theme answer is a two-word phrase and each word begins or Opens with the letter "I", hence each phrase is an "EYE" Opener.

17-Across. *  Scoop: INSIDE INFO.

23-Across. *  One in a chain west of mainland Greece: IONIAN ISLAND.

35-Across. *  "I like the way you think": INTERESTING IDEA.

50-Across. *  Medium for a junior coder: INVISIBLE INK.

And the unifier:

59-Acrpss. Startling revelations, or what the answers to the starred clues have, phonetically: EYE OPENERS.

Across:

1. Pop star Lady __: GAGA.  Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta (b. Mar. 28, 1986), is said to have taken her stage name, Lady Gaga, from the Queen song Radio Ga Ga.  [Name # 1.]

5. Picture puzzle: REBUS.  A rebus is a puzzle device that combines the use of illustrated pictures with individual letters to depict words or phrases.

10. Ooze: SEEP.

14. Travel without a destination: ROAM.

15. Ivy in Philly: U PENN.  A brief history of the University of Pennsylvania.

16. 24/7 cash devices: ATMs.

19. Perlman who played Barbie's creator in 2023: RHEA.  Rhea Jo Perlman (b. Mar. 31, 1948) is probably best known for playing Carla Tortelli on the sit-com Cheers.  [Name # 2.]

20. "Loving" actress Ruth: NEGGA.  Ruth Negga (b. May 4, 1981) is an Irish-Ethiopian actress best known for her portrayal of Mildred Loving in the 2016 movie, Loving.  The movie was based on the story of Richard and Mildred Loving, who were the plaintiffs in the Supreme Court Case of Loving v. Virginia.   They had been criminally charged with an interracial marriage, which was illegal in Virginia.  Their surname was so appropriate for such a suit.  [Name # 3.]

21. Argentine aunt: TIA.  Today's Spanish lesson.

22. Meager: SCANT.

26. Alias indicator: AKA.  Also Known As.

28. Concert device: AMP.

29. Upcycles, say: REUSES.  Merriam-Webster defines Upcycles as: "to recycle (something) in such a way that the resulting product is of a higher value than the original item : to create an object of greater value from (a discarded object of lesser value)".

30. Gentle suggestion: HINT.

32. __ Beta Kappa: PHI.  The Phi Beta Kappa Society is the oldest academic honor society in the United States. It was founded at the College of William & Mary in Virginia, in December 1776.

34. Tonsils-checking doc: ENT.  Ear, Nose and Throat Doctor.

41. Sonny: LAD.

42. My Chemical Romance genre: EMO.  My Chemical Romance is a rock band.

43. Actor Weathers: CARL.  Carl Weathers (Jan. 14, 1948 ~ Feb. 2, 2024) is probably best known for his role as Apollo Creed in the Rocky franchise.  He died earlier this year.  [Name # 4.]

44. Transferred, as property: DEEDED.

47. Ga. capital: ATL.  Atlanta is the capital of Georgia.

49. Sewer scurrier: RAT.

53. Cookout spot: PATIO.

54. Third key in a reboot sequence: DEL.  //  And 40-Down. Second key in a reboot sequence: ALT.  When the combination of Ctrl+Alt+Del are pressed together, it is a computer keyboard command.  The function of the key combination generally interrupts or facilitates interrupting a function.  The choice of the three keys was deliberate, so it is not something that one would do accidentally.

55. Not exactly, casually: KINDA.

58. Yale students: ELIs.  This is becoming a crossword staple.

61. Zipped along: TORE.

62. Large water lily: LOTUS.

63. Morales of "NYPD Blue": ESAI.  Esai Manuel Morales (b. Oct. 1, 1962) makes frequent guest appearances in the puzzles.  Today is his 62nd birthday.  [Name # 5.]

64. Got wiser, hopefully: AGED.

65. Stubbornly old-fashioned: FUSTY.  And an Old-Fashioned word and one I will probably never use.

66. Retired fast fliers: Abbr.: SSTs.  As in SuperSonic Transport airliner.

Down:

1. Smile: GRIN.

2. First-class: A-ONE.

3. Planet largely composed of helium and hydrogen: GAS GIANT.  There four gas giants in our solar system: Neptune, Uranus, Saturn, and Jupiter. 

4. Chum: AMIGO.  More of today's Spanish lesson.

5. Edgar Allan Poe's "The Murders in the __ Morgue": RUE.  The Murders in the Rue Morgue is a short story by Edgar Allan Poe (Jan. 19, 1809 ~ Oct. 7, 1849) and was first published in 1841. The story is widely considered to be the first modern detective story.  The story takes place in Paris, France and is about C. Auguste Dupin who solves the mystery of the brutal murder of two women.

6. Finish lines?: EPITAPHS.  Cute clue.  Some famous or infamous last words.

7. Country formally known as Dahomey: BENIN.  Hand up if you recognized either of these country names.  Benin is a French-speaking in West Africa.  It is said to be the birthplace of the voodoo religion.  It was known as the Dahomey Kingdom from 1600–1900.

8. Biased: UNFAIR.

9. __-cone: SNO.

10. Cutting, as some remarks: SARCASTIC.

11. Odorless gas: ETHANE.  Ethane is structurally the simplest hydrocarbon that contains a single carbon–carbon bond.

12. Corrects: EMENDS.

13. Prep exam with a high score of 1520: PSAT.  A crossword staple.  Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test.

18. "SNL" alum Carvey: DANA.  Dana Thomas Carvey (b. June 2, 1955) was on Saturday Night Live from 1968 to 1993.  He created The Church Lady.  [Name # 6.]

22. Hurled: SLUNG.

24. Blocks: IMPEDES.

25. [More details below]: SEE NOTE.

26. Yellowfin tuna: AHI.  Yummers!

27. Kith and __: KIN.  This expression dates from the 1300s and originally meant “countrymen” ( kith meant “one's native land”) and “family members.” 

31. On the air: TELEVISED.

33. Suburban suffix: -ITE.  As in a Suburbanite, a person who lives in a city.

36. Music source in a car: RADIO.

37. "Just sold my last one": I'M ALL OUT!

38. Lack of light: DARKNESS.

39. Time period: ERA.

44. __ box: interactive window: DIALOG.

45. Complete: ENTIRE.

46. Skeptical question, perhaps: DID YOU?

48. Show appreciation, on Facebook: LIKE.

51. Borscht need: BEETS.  Borscht is a soup made with red beetroots as one of the main ingredients.  It's actually quite delicious.

52. Dressed to the __: NINES.  What is the origin of this expression?

53. Activist org. with a rabbit in its logo: PETA.  People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.

56. "Curses!": DRAT.

57. eBay caveat: AS IS.

59. Will Ferrell holiday film: ELF.  [Name # 7.]

60. Therapist's maj.: PSY.  As in Psychology.  Not to be confused with the singer Psy who appeared in the puzzle a couple of weeks ago.

Here's the Grid:

I hope that any of you who were impacted by Hurricane Helene are safe and didn't suffer a lot of damage.  That storm was much more damaging than originally anticipated.

חתולה