You Can Ring My Bell.
18-Across. Debt security sold to raise funds for World War I: LIBERTY BOND. // Liberty Bell.
23-Across. Unexpected and undeserved fortune: DUMB LUCK. // Dumb Bell.
51-Across. Singer dubbed the "Mother of the Blues": MA RAINEY. / Ma Bell. Ma Bell was the name for the Bell System, a telecommunications monopoly led by AT&T. It provided telephone service in North America for about 100 years. It was the "mother" [Ma] company that provided all telephone services Alexander Graham Bell (Mar. 3, 1847 ~ Aug. 2, 1922) is credited with inventing the telephone, hence, the Bell. The monopoly was ultimately broken up by a federal court antitrust case in 1984.
56-Across. Weekly promotion in some Tex-Mex restaurants: TACO TUESDAY. // Taco Bell.
And the Unifier:
36-Across. Start of the stock exchange trading day, or a feature of 18-, 23-, 51-, and 56-Across: OPENING BELL. Each theme answer Opens with a Bell.
Across:
1. Twosome: DUO.
4. Long-tailed parrot: MACAW. They are beautiful birds.
9. Pitch, as a tent: PUT UP.
14. Mork's planet: ORK. Mork and Mindy was a sit-com from the late 1970s-early 1980s. Mork, an alien from the planet Ork on a mission to Earth to study human behavior. He met up with Mindyr, travels to 1970s Boulder, Colo., where he meets up with Mindy, a young journalism graduate. Mork was portrayed by Robin Williams (July 21, 1951 ~ Aug. 11, 2014) and Mindy was played by Pam Dawber (b. Oct. 18, 1951).
15. "Yay for me!": I RULE!
16. "When the moon hits your eye" condition: AMORE. Today's Latin lesson.
17. Soda can opener: TAB. Also the name of a discontinued soda. Tab was introduced in 1963 and was the Coca-Cola's first diet drink. It was discontinued in 2020.
20. "Orinoco Flow" singer: ENYA. The given name of this Irish singer and composer is Eithne Pádraigín Ní Bhraonáin (b. May 17, 1961). No wonder she goes by Enya.
22. Glacier-forming periods: ICE AGES.
 |
| If you go to hockey games, you will understand this cartoon. |
26. Airport surface: TARMAC. The history of the word Tarmac.
29. Essential login info: USER ID.
30. Ray gun sound: ZAP.
31. iPad program: APP.
32. Perfect place: UTOPIA. Also the title of a 1516 book of fiction and political satire by Sir Thomas More (Feb. 17, 1478 ~ July 6, 1535). The book is a frame narrative primarily depicting a fictional island society and its religious, social and political customs. It was before my time.
35. Earnest entreaty: PLEA.
39. Abundant supply: GLUT.
41. Little house, in Spanish: CASITA. Today's Spanish Lesson
42. "I'd rather __": NOT.
43. Tiny ammo: BBs.
45. Apply a cipher to: ENCODE.
49. Unit of coffee: CUPFUL.
53. Greek goddess of the hunt: ARTEMIS. Artemis is the daughter of Zeus and the twin sister of Apollo. Because she is the huntress, she is often depicted with a bow and arrow, accompanied by hunting dogs. As a virgin goddess, she protects young unmarried women and is also associated with childbirth, forests, wild animals, and archery.
55. Bunco trio: DICE. I am not familiar with this game, but apparently it is played with 3 die.
60. Fla. NBA team: ORL. As in the Orlando Magic.
61. Any ABBA member: SWEDE.
62. Made off with: STOLE.
63. Previously named: NÉE. This French word is becoming a crossword staple.
64. Mexican bucks: PESOS. As of this writing, 1 Mexican Peso is worth 0.054 Dollars. Or another way, $1 is worth 18.47 Pesos.
65. From Nepal, e.g.: ASIAN.
66. The best is __ to come: YET.
Down:
1. End of a school email address: DOT EDU.
2. Planet between Saturn and Neptune: URANUS. William Herschel (né Frederick William Herschel; Nov. 15, 1738 ~ Aug. 25, 1822) discovered the planet in 1781, which he wanted to call Georgium Sidus, which means George's Star in honor of George III, King of England (June 4, 1738 ~ Jan. 29, 1820). Other astronomer, however, had other ideas and they won out. So how did Uranus get its name, which becomes name official in 1850.
3. "I'm fine with that": OK BY ME.
4. The Brewers, in box scores: MIL. As in the Milwaukee Brewers.
5. Former NPR host Shapiro: ARI. Ari Michael Shapiro (b. Sept. 20, 1978) is a radio journalist. He had been one of the hosts of All Things Considered. He left NPR in September of this year.
6. Three-dimensional: CUBIC.
7. Smart __: ALECK.
8. "Now __ talking!": WE'RE.
9. Wage inequality: PAY GAP. Yup, it's real.
10. Natural pigment darker than ocher: UMBER.
11. Like shoes that cause blisters, perhaps: TOO SMALL.
12. Ornate flowerpot: URN.
13. Thin sock worn to try on shoes: PED.
19. The "TT" of TTFN: TATA. Textspeak for TaTa For Now.
21. Sudden: ABRUPT.
24. Low-calorie, in ads: LITE.
25. Japanese soup noodle: UDON. These tasty noodles appear often in the puzzles.
27. Mimic: APE.
28. Tax prep pro: CPA. As in a Certified Public Accountant.
30. Zigs and __: ZAGS.
33. "__ or it didn't happen!": PICS. That used to be true, but now ...
34. Cookbook writer Garten: INA. Ina Rosenberg Garten (b. Feb. 2, 1948) is known as the Barefoot Contessa.
35. Serene: PLACID.
36. Runs faster than: OUTPACES.
37. Order in a German pub: BIER. Today's German lesson.
38. Active Sicilian volcano: ETNA. This Sicilian volcano makes frequent guest appearances in the puzzle.
39. Chain known for health products: GNC. Formerly known as General Nutrition Centers.
40. Bud's bud in comedy: LOU. Abbott and Costello were an American comedy team composed of comedians Bud Abbott (né William Alexander Abbott; Oct. 2, 1895 ~ Apr. 24, 1974) and Lou Costello (né Louis Francis Cristillo; Mar. 6, 1906 ~ Mar. 3, 1959).
43. Narrow flat-topped hills: BUTTES. // And 54-Down. Wide flat-topped hill: MESA.
44. "Sacré __!": BLEU. More of today's French lesson.
46. Like some pungent dips: ONIONY.
47. Official directive: DECREE.
48. Doily loop: EYELET.
50. Hobbit who travels to Mount Doom: FRODO.
51. Waters gently, as a houseplant: MISTS.
52. "Same here," formally: AS DO I.
56. Recipe amt.: TSP. As in a Teaspoon.
57. Feeling of wonder: AWE.
58. __ mode: À LA. More of today's French lesson.
59. Urge: YEN. Also Japanese currency.
Here's the Grid:
חתולה
Happy Thanksgiving Y'all!
Notes from C.C.:
Happy Birthday to Picard (Robert), who visited Splynter last June. Picard and his wife have also met with MM and his girlfriend Valerie a few years ago.
7 comments:
Another simple one,
I would say, although “cubic” gave me a moment’s pause.
Anyway, FIR, so I’m happy.
FIR, but mccaw->MACAW (UNTIE!,) erect, then pitch->PUT UP, i rock->I RULE, and windfall->DUMB LUCK.
My Phoenix office was on UTOPIA drive, across town from Lucina's digs.
I struggled to parse MA from the unknown MARAINEY, which is ironic since I spent most of my working life in telco. BTW, Bell was much more than a telco. At the time it was the largest private company performing pure research. Their efforts were kind of a backdoor way of funding military research without tax money. Long distance calls were more expensive than they would have been otherwise, but resulted in things like practical vacuum tubes, radar, and the transistor (which evolved into microchips that run just about everything these days.)
Thanks to Theresa and Gene for the fun start to Tuesday, and to Ha2la for another fine review. I especially liked the link that explains tarmac. I also liked Planet Doug.
Good morning!
As expected, missed the reveal and didn't notice the theme. Like Jinx, D-o also thought MARAINEY was one word, and wondered how he'd missed her. D'oh. Didn't Sgt. Friday often work in the BUNCO squad...or was that bunko? Dunno. I read this week that German breweries are in trouble; Germans are no longer drinking beer. The problem is so severe that every brewery tent at Oktoberfest served at least one non-alcoholic bier. Sacrilege! Sacre Bleu! Thanx, Theresa, Gene, and Hahtoolah.
Good morning. It was an easy TACO TUESDAY puzzle to FIR and a learning experience today. I've seen socks for trying on shoes available in stores but didn't know they had another name-PED. I wear my own. I always wear thick Thorlo brand socks when I try on any shoe to make sure the shoes are not TOO SMALL.
Like Ha2La, I wasn't familiar with 'Bunco' but DICE came by perps.
MA RAINEY- unknown by me. After filling it by perps, I was thinking MARA INEY. Live and learn.
ICE AGES- the cartoon looks like a wooden Zamboni.
GNC- why not just eat a balanced meal. Just look at all the things advertised that are 'supposed' to do this or that to your body. Get rid of 'toxins'; what a joke. A specific vitamin deficiency is one thing, but all the things being touted are ridiculous. IMHO, all is "snake oil". Uh oh, can't say that. Companies are actually selling real snake oil products.
About a half mile from my house there are three side by side Mexican restaurants. El Paso, Casa de Leon, and TACO BELL. If you are passing by the BELL at midnight, the drive-thru line usually has 6-8 cars lined up.
FIR. How appropriate that one of the long answers is "Taco Tuesday" and today is Tuesday!
Aside from being unfamiliar with that phrase "pics or it didn't happen ", and not knowing Ma Rainey, today's presentation was Monday easy.
Overall an enjoyable puzzle.
Took 5:20 today to close my tab at the BAR.
I'm in the camp that hadn't heard of "Marainey". Speaking of camp, at first I "set up" my tent before I "put up" my tent. Wasn't sure if it was smart alecs or aleck.
Maybe they should move it to Ireland, and call it O'Ktoberfest. I don't imagine they'll quit drinking beer anytime soon.
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