Tuesday July 23, 2024

QOD:  The more you reason, the less you create.  ~  Raymond Chandler (July 23, 1888 ~ Mar. 26, 1959), American novelist and detective fiction writer 

Do Not PASS Go.  Today's treat comes to us from our very own Irish Miss and C.C.  Do Not PASS up the opportunity to complete today's puzzle.

17-Across. Vocalist who expresses unrequited love: TORCH SINGER.  Pass the Torch

28-Across. Early sci-fi adventure hero: BUCK ROGERS.  Pass the Buck.

35-Across. Hockey feats: HAT TRICKS.  Pass the Hat.  The modern equivalent is the on-line GoFundMe request for money to pay for something or to reward someone.

46-Across. Cocktail makers: BAR KEEPERS.  Pass the Bar.

And the unifier:

57-Across. Kill a few hours, and an apt title for this puzzle?: PASS THE TIME.

Across:

1. Vehicle not allowed in Venice: CAR.  Cars are not permitted in Venice, Italy; boats are the preferred method of public transportation, even police vehicles.

4. Museum piece: RELIC.

9. Relax in a tub: SOAK.

13. Mineral deposit: ORE.  A crossword staple.

14. __ acid: AMINO.  Protein building blocks.

15. "More or less": SORTA.

16. Put money (on): BET.

19. Skin bump: WART.

21. In first place: AHEAD.

22. Letters on tubes of toothpaste: ADA.  As in the American Dental Association.

23. Pencil end: ERASER.

26. "And that's final!": I MEAN IT!

31. Bring on board: HIRE.

32. Mil. rank: SGT.  Sergeant is a military rank.

33. Anchor a boat: MOOR.

34. "__ your age!": ACT.

39. Madrid Mrs.: SRA.  Today's Spanish lesson.

41. Previously: ONCE.  "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."   Oh, wait!  That was last week.

42. Franchise that includes "Iron Man" and "WandaVision," for short: MCU.  As in Marvel Comic Unlimited.

45. Chimney dust: SOOT.

49. Petitions to a higher court: APPEALS.

51. Workplace for a forensic scientist: DNA LAB.

52. Uno e due: TRE.  Today's math and Italian lesson.

53. Vision-correcting surgery: LASIK.

56. Barest trace: WISP.

61. "Couples Therapy" network, for short: SHO.  I am not familiar with this show, which is apparently  a documentary series following couples as they seek the help of psychoanalyst Dr. Orna Guralnik  with their troubled relationships. 

62. Grammy winner Baker: ANITA.  Anita Baker (née Anita Denise Baker; Jan. 26, 1958) is known for her soulful ballads.  She has won several Grammys for her work.  [Name # 1.]

63. BBC airer, familiarly: TELLY.  Television.

64. Spanish for "to be": SER.  More of today's Spanish lesson.

65. Award for "Hadestown": TONY.  I saw Hadestown a year or so ago.  It's a modern re-telling of the ancient Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice.  Eurydice, a young girl looking for something to eat, goes to work in a hellish industrial version of the Greek underworld to escape poverty and the cold, and her poor singer-songwriter lover Orpheus comes to rescue her.

66. Sign of fire: SMOKE.  Where there's smoke ...

67. Museum pieces: ART.

Down:

1. Spider traps: COBWEBS.

2. Partial floor covering: AREA RUG.

3. Take back, as a statement: RETRACT.

4. Rodent in the Vietnamese zodiac: RAT.  The animals in the Vietnamese zodiac are Tý (Mouse), Sửu (Ox), Dần (Tiger), Mão (Cat), Thìn (Dragon), Tỵ (Snake), Ngọ (Horse), Mùi (Goat), Thân (Monkey), Dậu (Rooster), Tuất (Dog), and Hợi (Pig).

5. Introspective music genre: EMO.  A Crossword staple.

6. Turkish currency: LIRA.

7. Move very slowly: INCH.

8. Joint inheritor: CO-HEIR.

9. Cain, to Adam: SON.  There was another son, but Cain slew Abel.  [Names # 2 and 3, Biblical.]

10. Common label at Whole Foods: ORGANIC.  The store affectionately known as Whole Paycheck.

11. Humbly accepted blame: ATE DIRT.

12. Martial art developed in Okinawa: KARATE.

15. Steamed vegetables, e.g.: SIDE.

18. __ Club: Costco rival: SAM'S.

20. Sound of disapproval: TSK!

24. Humorist Bombeck: ERMA.  Erma Louise Bombeck (née Erma Louise Fiste; Feb. 21, 1927 ~ Apr. 22, 1996) was an American humorist.  In addition to writing several books, she also wrote a syndicated newspaper column about suburban life.  [Name # 4.]

25. Daikon or beet: ROOT.  A Daikon is a white Asian radish.

27. Cries of discovery: AHAs!

29. Understood: GOT.

30. Misspelling, e.g.: ERROR.

35. Dislike intensely: HATE.

36. Tattoo artist's supply: INK.

37. Looped in on an email: CC'ED.  As in Carbon Copied.

38. Enthusiastic: KEEN.

39. Opera diva, usually: SOPRANO.

40. Successfully entices: ROPES IN.

42. "Bridesmaids" actress McCarthy: MELISSA.  Melissa Ann McCarthy (b. Aug. 26, 1970) is a comic actress.  [Name # 5.]

43. Uninvited party guest: CRASHER.

44. Spot for a flash drive: USB PORT.

45. Made no changes: SAT PAT.

46. Ho-hum: BLAH.

47. Desirable traits: ASSETS.

48. "__ Patrol": animated series with dogs in uniform: PAW.  Paw Patrol is a big hit with the toddler set.

50. Ski resort near Snowbird: ALTA.  Alta is a ski resort in Utah.

54. To-do list entry: ITEM.

55. Metric weight: KILO.

58. Trough locale: STY.

59. "I have a dream" monogram: MLK.  As in Martin Luther King, Jr. (Jan 15, 1929 ~ Apr. 4, 1968).  [Name # 6.]

60. Place for winged liner: EYE.  Think of Amy Winehouse (née Amy Jade Winehouse; Sept. 14, 1983 ~ July 23, 2011).  She died 13 years ago today.

Here's the Grid:

It's your turn to PASS on your comments to C.C. and Irish Miss.

חתולה

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