Music of the Spheres
I really liked this puzzle. Today's constructors, Brent Sverdloff and Katie Hale, remind us that music is literally a universal language, a "force of eternity", recognized and appreciated not only here on Earth, but all over the Universe. They demonstrate this with three theme clues filled with songs from different genres, each ending with the name of an extra-terrestrial body ...
16. *Frank Sinatra song: FLY ME TO THE MOON. A jazz standard written in 1954 by Bart Howard ...
29. *Beatles song: HERE COMES THE SUN. A classic rock song written by Beatle George Harrison ...
49. *Bing Crosby song: SWINGING ON A STAR. An American pop standard with music composed by Jimmy Van Heusen and lyrics by Johnny Burke. It was introduced by Bing Crosby in the 1944 film Going My Way, winning an Academy Award for Best Original Song that year.
Our constructors bring it all together with their reveal ...
61. Heavenly sounds, and what the answers to the starred clues could be called: CELESTIAL MUSIC.
... this is also a particularly apt description of the music by the Medieval mystic Hildegard von Bingen that introduced this review.
Here's the grid ...
Across:
1. Bypasses: OMITS.
6. Out of alignment: BENT.
10. Pilot's fig.: ALT. ALTITUDE.
13. One of 70 on a radiant-cut diamond: FACET.
 |
| Radiant-cut Diamond |
14. Actor Sy of "Lupin": OMAR. Lupin is a French mystery thriller television series about professional thief Assane Diop, the only son of an immigrant from Senegal who had come to France to seek a better life for himself and his child. Assane's father is framed for the theft of an expensive diamond necklace by his employer and dies in his prison cell, leaving the fourteen-year-old Assane to fend for himself on the streets of Paris. Twenty-five years later, inspired by a book about gentleman thief Arsène Lupin his father had given him on his birthday, Assane sets out to get revenge on the Pellegrini family ...
15. Class before chem, often: BIO.
16. [Theme clue]
19. Kitten's call: MEW.
20. Nursery sch.: PRE K. PRE Kindergarten.
21. Brickmaker's need: KILN. I filled CLAY first. In researching this clue I stumbled upon this interesting short video about the history of brickmaking in Baltimore (interesting to Baltimorons anyway 😀) ... 22. Many a North African: ARAB.
24. Like a ghost story: EERIE. Like a really spooky lake?
27. Loaded, in Lima: RICO. Today's Spanish lesson: RICH.
29. [Theme clue]
32. Paragon: IDEAL.
33. Florence or Sydney: CITY. Iconic cities ...
34. "The Penguin" network: HBO. The Penguin is an American crime drama television miniseries developed by Lauren LeFranc. Based on the DC Comics character of the same name, it is a sequel spin-off from The Batman, a 2022 film. The series follows Oz Cobb's rise to power in Gotham City's criminal underworld. Definitely not a family series. Here's the first season trailer
35. Nothing: NADA. More Spanish: NADA = "Nothing".
38. Bath bubbles: SUDS.
40. Sci-fi invaders: ETS. They've been in the news since July 8, 1947 (two days after I was born😯) and are still in the news today -- here and here.
43. "Peter Pan" pooch: NANA. NANA appears in the story's opening scene. She is the Darling children's nursemaid ...
49. [Theme clue]
53. Bellagio's lake: COMO. Lake Como is a lake of glacial origin in Lombardy, Italy. It has an area of 146 square kilometres (56 sq mi), making it the third-largest lake in Italy, after Lake Garda and Lake Maggiore. At over 400 metres (1,300 ft) deep, it is the fifth-deepest lake in Europe and the deepest outside Norway; the bottom of the lake is 227 metres (745 ft) below sea level. One notable characteristic is its distinctive "Y" shape ...
54. Colander cousin: SIEVE.
55. Supergirl, for one: HERO. Supergirl is the name of several fictional superheroines appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The original, current, and most well known Supergirl is Kara Zor-El, the cousin of superhero Superman. Here's a preview of coming attractions for one of the upcoming spinoffs starring Australian actress Milly Alcock. ...
42. "Fit as a fiddle" and "free as a bird": SIMILES. A simile is a figure of speech that directly compares two things using words such as "like a", "as a". Similes are often confused with metaphors which are rhetorical comparisons of two things without any connectors. They may provide (or obscure) clarity or identify hidden similarities between two different ideas.
44. "It used to be that ... ": AGES AGO. LONG AGO fit, but didn't perp.
46. Was taken down quite a few notches: ATE DIRT. An evocative metaphor ...
47. Birthplace of Simón Bolívar: CARACAS. Simón José Antonio de la Santísima Trinidad Bolívar Palacios Ponte y Blanco (his friends just called him Sy 😀) was a Venezuelan statesman and military officer who led what are currently the countries of Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, Panama, and Bolivia to independence from the Spanish Empire. He is known colloquially as El Libertador, or the Liberator of America.
48. Former quarterback Aikman: TROY. Troy Kenneth Aikman (born November 21, 1966) is an American former professional football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 12 seasons with the Dallas Cowboys. Aikman was inducted to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2006 and the College Football Hall of Fame in 2008.
15. Class before chem, often: BIO.
16. [Theme clue]
19. Kitten's call: MEW.
 |
| Kitten mewing |
21. Brickmaker's need: KILN. I filled CLAY first. In researching this clue I stumbled upon this interesting short video about the history of brickmaking in Baltimore (interesting to Baltimorons anyway 😀) ... 22. Many a North African: ARAB.
24. Like a ghost story: EERIE. Like a really spooky lake?
27. Loaded, in Lima: RICO. Today's Spanish lesson: RICH.
29. [Theme clue]
32. Paragon: IDEAL.
33. Florence or Sydney: CITY. Iconic cities ...
 |
| The Florence Cathedral |
 |
| The Sydney Opera House |
34. "The Penguin" network: HBO. The Penguin is an American crime drama television miniseries developed by Lauren LeFranc. Based on the DC Comics character of the same name, it is a sequel spin-off from The Batman, a 2022 film. The series follows Oz Cobb's rise to power in Gotham City's criminal underworld. Definitely not a family series. Here's the first season trailer
35. Nothing: NADA. More Spanish: NADA = "Nothing".
38. Bath bubbles: SUDS.
40. Sci-fi invaders: ETS. They've been in the news since July 8, 1947 (two days after I was born😯) and are still in the news today -- here and here.
43. "Peter Pan" pooch: NANA. NANA appears in the story's opening scene. She is the Darling children's nursemaid ...
45. Do a double take, say: REACT.
53. Bellagio's lake: COMO. Lake Como is a lake of glacial origin in Lombardy, Italy. It has an area of 146 square kilometres (56 sq mi), making it the third-largest lake in Italy, after Lake Garda and Lake Maggiore. At over 400 metres (1,300 ft) deep, it is the fifth-deepest lake in Europe and the deepest outside Norway; the bottom of the lake is 227 metres (745 ft) below sea level. One notable characteristic is its distinctive "Y" shape ...
 |
| Lake Como |
55. Supergirl, for one: HERO. Supergirl is the name of several fictional superheroines appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The original, current, and most well known Supergirl is Kara Zor-El, the cousin of superhero Superman. Here's a preview of coming attractions for one of the upcoming spinoffs starring Australian actress Milly Alcock. ...
56. "Pick one" hand position: FIST.
58. Lumber mill array: SAWS. Lumber mills do indeed have arrays of SAWS, but in researching this clue I encountered many more arrays of lumber mills.
60. Planner page: DAY.
61. [Theme reveal]
65. Red state: IRE. The red states are not in a red state these days. 😀
66. Hong __: KONG. My son, new grandson, and I ate lunch in Hong Kong during a one hour stopover from China to bring my grandson home.
67. "Peter Grimes," for one: OPERA. Peter Grimes is a tragic opera in 3 acts written by English composer Benjamin Britten in 1945. It is a dark, brooding story, set in a small fishing village on the East coast of England. Peter Grimes is a fisherman, a loner, estranged from the villagers and is accused of the deaths of his two young apprentices. The ending is ambiguous and we never really know if the accusations are true. In the last scene Grimes rows out to sea and drowns himself by scuttling his boat. It's not an opera I would recommend to those unacquainted with the genre.
The overall mood of the work is perhaps best expressed by a haunting, standalone instrumental work which is often performed as a concert piece -- The Four Sea Interludes that separate the acts. Here Finnish conductor Sakari Oramo leads the orchestra ...68. Donkey: ASS.
69. No great shakes: SO SO.
70. "We have the __!": Arby's slogan: MEATS.
Down:
58. Lumber mill array: SAWS. Lumber mills do indeed have arrays of SAWS, but in researching this clue I encountered many more arrays of lumber mills.
60. Planner page: DAY.
61. [Theme reveal]
65. Red state: IRE. The red states are not in a red state these days. 😀
66. Hong __: KONG. My son, new grandson, and I ate lunch in Hong Kong during a one hour stopover from China to bring my grandson home.
67. "Peter Grimes," for one: OPERA. Peter Grimes is a tragic opera in 3 acts written by English composer Benjamin Britten in 1945. It is a dark, brooding story, set in a small fishing village on the East coast of England. Peter Grimes is a fisherman, a loner, estranged from the villagers and is accused of the deaths of his two young apprentices. The ending is ambiguous and we never really know if the accusations are true. In the last scene Grimes rows out to sea and drowns himself by scuttling his boat. It's not an opera I would recommend to those unacquainted with the genre.
The overall mood of the work is perhaps best expressed by a haunting, standalone instrumental work which is often performed as a concert piece -- The Four Sea Interludes that separate the acts. Here Finnish conductor Sakari Oramo leads the orchestra ...68. Donkey: ASS.
69. No great shakes: SO SO.
70. "We have the __!": Arby's slogan: MEATS.
Down:
1. Put up for sale: OFFERED.
2. Risk of spreading spam: MALWARE. Malware (a portmanteau of malicious software) is any software intentionally designed to cause disruption to a computer, server, client, or computer network, leak private information, gain unauthorized access to information or systems, deprive access to information, or which unknowingly interferes with the user's computer security and privacy.
3. Like a hostile greeting: ICY.
4. Office part-timer: TEMP.
5. Start to type?: STEREO.
6. Goodreads suggestion, briefly: BOOK REC. Helping you decide what to read next ...
7. CPR expert: EMT. An Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) is an expert in Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). The first step in helping someone who has had a heart attack and who has no pulse (their heart has stopped) is to call 911. Leave your phone on for instructions from the dispatcher and begin CPR immediately ...
8. Casual pass: NAH. "Not interested".
9. Long journey: TREK.
10. Put an end to: ABOLISH.
11. Simba, when lifted up by Rafiki: LION CUB. Rafiki is a baboon who knows a secret about Simba's father ...
12. Two thousand pounds: TON.
17. Abound (with): TEEM.
18. Mucky spot: MIRE.
19. Hawaiian catch, on menus: MAHI. Here's a recipe for pan fried MAHI-MAHI ...
23. Kidney __: BEAN.
25. Egyptian goddess of healing: ISIS. Isis was a major goddess in ancient Egyptian religion whose worship spread throughout the Greco-Roman world. Her maternal aid was invoked in healing spells to benefit ordinary people. She was usually portrayed in art as a human woman wearing a throne-like hieroglyph on her head.
26. Shakespearean rebuke: ET TU. Today's Latin lesson: "AND YOU ... (Brutus!)".
28. Artist Yoko: ONO. Yoko Ono (born February 18, 1933) is a Japanese multimedia artist, singer, songwriter, and peace activist. Her work also encompasses performance art and filmmaking.
30. "The Trolley Song" sound: CLANG. The Trolley Song is a song written by Ralph Blane and Hugh Martin and made famous by Judy Garland in the 1944 film Meet Me in St. Louis ...
31. Many-headed mythical monster: HYDRA. The Hydra was a serpentine lake monster with 9 heads in Greek and Roman mythology. Its lair was the lake of Lerna, reputed to be an entrance to the Underworld. In the canonical Hydra myth, the monster is killed by Heracles (Hercules) as the second of his Twelve Labors.
36. Keynote's spot: DAIS.
37. MMXXIII, MMXXIV, etc.: ANNI. Today's Latin lesson: "Years".
39. Informal gathering: SESH.
40. Key hit in panic: ESC.
41. Groupon deals, perhaps: TWO FERS. Groupon, Inc. is an American global e-commerce marketplace connecting subscribers with local merchants by offering discounted activities, travel, goods and services in 13 countries. Groupon was launched in November 2008, its name being a portmanteau of "group" and "coupon". Groupon's first deal was a two-pizzas-for-the-price-of-one offer at the Motel Bar, a restaurant on the first floor of the company's building in Chicago. By the end of March 2015, Groupon served more than 500 cities worldwide, nearly 48.1 million active customers and featured more than 425,000 active deals globally in 48 countries.
2. Risk of spreading spam: MALWARE. Malware (a portmanteau of malicious software) is any software intentionally designed to cause disruption to a computer, server, client, or computer network, leak private information, gain unauthorized access to information or systems, deprive access to information, or which unknowingly interferes with the user's computer security and privacy.
3. Like a hostile greeting: ICY.
4. Office part-timer: TEMP.
5. Start to type?: STEREO.
6. Goodreads suggestion, briefly: BOOK REC. Helping you decide what to read next ...
7. CPR expert: EMT. An Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) is an expert in Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). The first step in helping someone who has had a heart attack and who has no pulse (their heart has stopped) is to call 911. Leave your phone on for instructions from the dispatcher and begin CPR immediately ...
8. Casual pass: NAH. "Not interested".
9. Long journey: TREK.
10. Put an end to: ABOLISH.
11. Simba, when lifted up by Rafiki: LION CUB. Rafiki is a baboon who knows a secret about Simba's father ...
12. Two thousand pounds: TON.
17. Abound (with): TEEM.
18. Mucky spot: MIRE.
19. Hawaiian catch, on menus: MAHI. Here's a recipe for pan fried MAHI-MAHI ...
 |
| Mahi-Mahi |
25. Egyptian goddess of healing: ISIS. Isis was a major goddess in ancient Egyptian religion whose worship spread throughout the Greco-Roman world. Her maternal aid was invoked in healing spells to benefit ordinary people. She was usually portrayed in art as a human woman wearing a throne-like hieroglyph on her head.
 |
| Isis |
26. Shakespearean rebuke: ET TU. Today's Latin lesson: "AND YOU ... (Brutus!)".
28. Artist Yoko: ONO. Yoko Ono (born February 18, 1933) is a Japanese multimedia artist, singer, songwriter, and peace activist. Her work also encompasses performance art and filmmaking.
 |
| Yoko and John Lennon when they married in 1969 |
31. Many-headed mythical monster: HYDRA. The Hydra was a serpentine lake monster with 9 heads in Greek and Roman mythology. Its lair was the lake of Lerna, reputed to be an entrance to the Underworld. In the canonical Hydra myth, the monster is killed by Heracles (Hercules) as the second of his Twelve Labors.
 |
| Heracles battling the Hydra |
37. MMXXIII, MMXXIV, etc.: ANNI. Today's Latin lesson: "Years".
39. Informal gathering: SESH.
40. Key hit in panic: ESC.
41. Groupon deals, perhaps: TWO FERS. Groupon, Inc. is an American global e-commerce marketplace connecting subscribers with local merchants by offering discounted activities, travel, goods and services in 13 countries. Groupon was launched in November 2008, its name being a portmanteau of "group" and "coupon". Groupon's first deal was a two-pizzas-for-the-price-of-one offer at the Motel Bar, a restaurant on the first floor of the company's building in Chicago. By the end of March 2015, Groupon served more than 500 cities worldwide, nearly 48.1 million active customers and featured more than 425,000 active deals globally in 48 countries.
42. "Fit as a fiddle" and "free as a bird": SIMILES. A simile is a figure of speech that directly compares two things using words such as "like a", "as a". Similes are often confused with metaphors which are rhetorical comparisons of two things without any connectors. They may provide (or obscure) clarity or identify hidden similarities between two different ideas.
44. "It used to be that ... ": AGES AGO. LONG AGO fit, but didn't perp.
46. Was taken down quite a few notches: ATE DIRT. An evocative metaphor ...
 |
| Simón Bolívar 24 July 1783 – 17 December 1830 |
 |
| Troy Aikman |
50. Snout: NOSE.
51. Track shape: OVAL.
52. One taking maternity leave: NEW MOM.
57. Disapproving sounds: TSKS.
59. Tenant's contact, briefly: SUPE. Superintendent. I've heard "super" before, but never "supe".
.
61. Org. in "Argo": CIA. Argo is a 2012 American biographical historical drama thriller film based on real events, directed, produced by, and starring Ben Affleck. The screenplay was adapted from the 1999 memoir The Master of Disguise by U.S. C.I.A. operative Tony Mendez and the 2007 Wired article The Great Escape: How the CIA Used a Fake Sci-Fi Flick to Rescue Americans from Tehran. Here's a trailer ...
62. Moreover: TOO.
63. Helpful connections: INS.
64. Dog or wolf preceder: SEA. There were many references for both Sea Dog and Sea Wolf, but here are two I found interesting ...
The Sea Dogs were a group of English privateers and explorers authorized by Queen Elizabeth I to raid England's enemies, whether they were formally at war with them or not. Active from 1560 until Elizabeth's death in 1603, the Sea Dogs primarily attacked Spanish targets both on land and at sea, particularly during the Anglo-Spanish War. Probably the most famous of these was Sir Francis Drake, who lead the British navy in their defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588. The defeat is commemorated in a poem called Drake's Drum by Sir Henry Newbolt and set to music by Sir Charles Villiers Stanford. My favorite recording of Drake's Drum is a stirring rendition by Sir John Shirley-Quirk, which sadly is no longer available on Youtube. Here is an MP3 file of Sir John singing Drake's Drum, copied from one of my old CD's:
51. Track shape: OVAL.
52. One taking maternity leave: NEW MOM.
57. Disapproving sounds: TSKS.
59. Tenant's contact, briefly: SUPE. Superintendent. I've heard "super" before, but never "supe".
.
61. Org. in "Argo": CIA. Argo is a 2012 American biographical historical drama thriller film based on real events, directed, produced by, and starring Ben Affleck. The screenplay was adapted from the 1999 memoir The Master of Disguise by U.S. C.I.A. operative Tony Mendez and the 2007 Wired article The Great Escape: How the CIA Used a Fake Sci-Fi Flick to Rescue Americans from Tehran. Here's a trailer ...
62. Moreover: TOO.
63. Helpful connections: INS.
64. Dog or wolf preceder: SEA. There were many references for both Sea Dog and Sea Wolf, but here are two I found interesting ...
The Sea Dogs were a group of English privateers and explorers authorized by Queen Elizabeth I to raid England's enemies, whether they were formally at war with them or not. Active from 1560 until Elizabeth's death in 1603, the Sea Dogs primarily attacked Spanish targets both on land and at sea, particularly during the Anglo-Spanish War. Probably the most famous of these was Sir Francis Drake, who lead the British navy in their defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588. The defeat is commemorated in a poem called Drake's Drum by Sir Henry Newbolt and set to music by Sir Charles Villiers Stanford. My favorite recording of Drake's Drum is a stirring rendition by Sir John Shirley-Quirk, which sadly is no longer available on Youtube. Here is an MP3 file of Sir John singing Drake's Drum, copied from one of my old CD's:
The Sea-Wolf is a 1941 film starring Edward G. Robinson, Ida Lupino, and John Garfield, based on a 1904 novel by Jack London, It begins when fiction writer Humphrey Van Weyden and escaped convict Ruth Webster are rescued when a ferry they are traveling on collides with another vessel and sinks. They are rescued from drowning by the Ghost, a seal-hunting ship. The Ghost's captain is Wolf Larsen, who delights in abusing his crew ...
Bill
And as always, thanks to Teri for proof reading and for her constructive criticism.
waseeley
4 comments:
Well, I can’t complain about the selection of “songs,” all classics, I would say. And the rest of the puzzle wasn’t all that difficult, either. FIR, so I’m happy.
Good morning and Happy Thanksgiving 🦃!
A solid theme and reveal, good puzzle for a Thursday. FIR in 16 minutes, I knew the top two songs but was unfamiliar with Bing’s, I kept thinking something like “Wish upon a Star”. A pause in the SW where I had to backspace out of “sayings” to key in SIMILIES when nothing perped. DNK the OPERA or OMAR. Noticed NADA over NANA. “Meet Me in St. Louis” is a pretty good old movie, which IIRC, also debuted the song “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” in addition to the Trolley Song. Thanks for the fun solve Brent and Katie, and as always to Bill and Teri for your in-depth, informative review, I always learn a lot on your blog days!
Good morning!
Wow, I recognized all three of the songs. Plus, the Wite-Out got a rest. Perps were necessary in Florida-Georgia (d-o initially guessed that Aikman was a THEO). FACET: I read an interesting article this week about man-made diamonds. They're so good that it takes a microscope to differentiate them from natural diamonds. The lumber mill in our small town manufactured plywood. Still does. Thanx to our qualified quartet, Brent, Katie, waseeley, and Teri. (Baltimorons?)
Happy Turkey Day. I actually noticed the CELESTIAL MUSIC after seeing MOON and SUN. I was expecting a planet, but we got a STAR. After FLY ME TO THE MOON was filled, I filled HERE COMES THE SUN after about half the downs without reading the clue. Ditto for SWINGING ON A STAR.
BOOK REC and Peter Grimes OPERA were filled by perps.
The Roman numeral-2023 and 2024- fill had me stumped until I guessed the unknown NANA and realized those number were years in latin-ANNI.
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