MaryEllen Uthlaut is no stranger to the Corner. Today, she takes us from port to port.
20. Port: AVIATOR'S LEFT. The directions and colors were borrowed from boats.
28. Port: RED DESSERT WINE. Turns out this this is the best way to stain a white tablecloth. Don't ask me how I know.
47. Port: CRUISE STOPOVER. Apologies to cruise fans, but it seems a bit overwhelming when several huge ships descend on a small island.
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| St. Maarten in the Caribbean |
53. Port: COMPUTER SLOT. A port is a place to plug in something external to a COMPUTER, while a SLOT usually means a socket on the motherboard inside that holds various circuit cards.
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| Ports vs SLOTs |
Well, this puzzle started off like a Monday, but ended like a Friday in the south-central area. U-EYS had to change to U-IES, but then I wrote AION instead of PION. There went my Greek poet out the window.
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| Maserati Quattroporte = 4 doors |
No revealer, just four types of ports. The resulting theme answers are all reasonable phrases, which is always appreciated.
Here's the report on the rest:
Across:
1. Cartoon girl whose best friend is Boots the Monkey: DORA.
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| DORA & Boots |
5. Brand of body wash: DIAL.
9. Meant but not said: TACIT.
14. Sigh of woe: ALAS.
15. Slip (past): EDGE.
16. Residence: ABODE.
17. Sharp taste: TANG. Ironically, TANG (the powdered drink) isn't tangy - it's over 90% sugar.
18. Russian blues, e.g.: CATS. A cat breed from northern Russian that is blue because it's so cold there. Or maybe it's just because of their thick silver/blue coat.
19. Foldable bed: FUTON.
20. [theme]
23. Kept on teasing: RODE.
24. Isl. with four provinces: IRE. Ireland is traditionally divided into four provinces - Connacht, Leinster, Munster, and Ulster.
25. Basic nutrient: FAT. FAT is a macronutrient, like proteins, carbohydrates and water. Needed in lesser amounts are the micronutrients vitamins and minerals.
28. [theme]
32. Wetland ecosystem: FEN. A FEN is a type of peat-accumulating wetland fed by mineral-rich ground or surface water. It is one of the four main types of wetlands, alongside marshes, swamps and bogs.
33. __ poker: DRAW. You can also paint poker.
34. Holy people: SAINTS.
35. Adapter letters: AC/DC. It converts Alternating Current to Direct Current.
37. "Okey-dokey": YEP. My cousin, who has the voice of an angel, hosts a singing and DJ service called Okey-Dokey Karaoke.
39. Breathing organ: GILL.
40. Moved with haste: RUSHED.
43. Formerly, quaintly: ERST.
46. Leaves in hot water?: TEA. Fun clue.
47. [theme]
50. Telepathic ability: ESP. ExtraSensory Perception is commonly known as a sixth sense, and is uncommonly known as cryptaesthesia. That just came to me.
51. Part of a pod cast?: PEA. Perhaps the trickiest clue. I had PEE for a while as it's the first letter of pod.
52. Whodunit game: CLUE. In this case, CLUE is the answer! Just ask Professor Plum.
53. [theme]
58. "Until we meet again, mon ami": ADIEU. "FAREWELL, my friend," in French.
61. Unstable subatomic particle: PION. I wrote AION, which made for an unstable answer.
62. "__ might say ... ": SOME.
63. Cough drop brand: HALLS.
64. Group driven to stay together?: HERD. Unless, of course, they're cats.
65. Neck and neck: EVEN.
66. Talus locale: ANKLE.
67. Mount of Greek myth: OSSA. Twin giants Otus and Ephialtes tried to pile Mount Pelion on top of Mount OSSA to scale Olympus! I couldn't find a photo of either giant.
68. Give temporarily: LEND.
Down:
1. Facts and figures: DATA.
2. Royal figure in Norwegian history: OLAV.
3. Royal figure in Indian history: RANI. They're the ones who performed the RANI Dance. Sort of. Indians do dance in the rain to celebrate the return of the monsoons which supply three-quarters of the water the country needs.
4. Home of Odin and Thor: ASGARD. It's the Mount Olympus of Norse mythology. No Viking twins, though.
5. Reader of secret messages: DECODER.
6. "Seems to me ... ": I DARE SAY.
7. Business reps: AGTS. Agents can be business representatives.
8. Nielsen of "Airplane!": LESLIE. There's a fine between movies that are a successful FARCE and ones that are simply inane. LESLIE Nielsen played it straight and made Airplane! a classic.
9. Stiff fabric: TAFFETA. I always thought that TAFFETA was delicate. But then again, most of my knowledge comes from FARCEs. Here's a touching (?) scene from Young Frankenstein.
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| "Taffeta, darling. The dress is taffeta. It wrinkles so easily." |
10. Be against: ABUT.
11. Foldable bed: COT.
12. Promising words: I DO.
13. Oscar count for 1961's "West Side Story": TEN. This feat was only bested by three movies that won 11 awards:
21. "Hello It's Me" singer-songwriter Rundgren: TODD. The Rock and Roll Hall of Famer is considered a pioneer of electronic music, music videos, computer software, and Internet music delivery.
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| Todd playing "The Fool" - a 1964 Gibson SG he got from Eric Clapton |
22. Flubs: ERRS.
25. Having measurable limits: FINITE.
26. Buck topper: ANTLER.
27. Electrical pioneer Nikola: TESLA. Nikola invented the TESLA coil, an electrical transformer that produces artificial lighting. It's mostly used by mad scientists.
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| Another scene from Young Frankenstein |
28. Comes up again: RECURS.
29. Turns out to be: ENDS UP.
30. "Awesome!": SWEET.
31. Barrister's head covering: WIG. Horsehair WIGs are traditionally worn as a symbol of authority, and as way to soften individual identity in the courtroom.
32. Absurd situation: FARCE. See Airplane! and Young Frankenstein.
36. Letter between phi and psi: CHI. The Greek letter CHI looks like an English "X". Because it starts the Greek word for Christ, "X" is commonly used as an abbreviation for Christ, such as in "Xmas." Which reminds me, there are only 64 shopping days until Christmas - so I only have 63 days left to think about it.
38. "Time's up" callers: PROCTORS. PROCTORS are persons who supervise or monitor students and test-takers during an examination to ensure rules are followed and to prevent cheating.
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| Mr. Bean takes an exam in another FARCE. |
41. Embrace, as a cause: ESPOUSE.
42. Judge to be: DEEM.
44. Sugar substitute with sucralose: SPLENDA. There are recipes to make TANG at home using SPLENDA, but the sugar-free variety in stores uses aspartame.
45. Series of gigs: TOUR.
48. Lyric poet of Lesbos: SAPPHO. SAPPHO was an ancient Greek poet from the island of Lesbos. She is known for her lyric poetry, written to be sung while accompanied by music. Once again, it's hard to find a photos of ancient Greeks for some reason. Maybe they need new AGTS.
49. Frigate, for one: VESSEL. In a modern navy, a frigate is a medium-sized war VESSEL primarily used to protect fleets, hunt submarines, and patrol waters.
53. Spreadsheet unit: CELL.
54. Informal reversals: UIES. I had UEYS at first, but made a U-turn and corrected it.
55. Emotion expressed with heart hands, perhaps: LOVE.
56. Gathering clouds, say: OMEN.
57. Lean (toward): TEND.
58. Triumphant cry: AHA. Much better than OHO. Thanks, MaryEllen!
59. Auerbach of the Black Keys: DAN. The Black Keys are an indie rock band from Akron, Ohio. DAN is noted for playing eccentric, budget-priced, and obscure vintage pawnshop guitars.
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| Dan with his |
60. Sort: ILK.
"May the FARCE be with you."
Be good. RB
