Thursday, March 21 2024, Robin Stears

 

  Upside Down Cakes

Recipe

I found this puzzle a little harder to solve than last week's, but at least the only round things in it are slices of pineapple (see recipe above). 😀  Today constructor Robin Stears, last seen here on February 16th, returns to challenge us with a vertical theme.  These almost always have something to do with the order of the words or letters in the clue, which the reveal tells us ...

10. Desserts flipped after baking, and what can be found in the answers to the starred clues: UPSIDE DOWN CAKES.  Here are the themers, but you'll have to turn your head 90 degrees to the left to see the CAKEs in these fills ...

3D. *Act the mediator: SEEK A COMPROMISE. Today this might be clued -- "Negotiation strategy now out of fashion".

8D. *Illinois alma mater of Ronald Reagan: EUREKA COLLEGE.  It is also the home of the Reagan Museum honoring its most distinguished alumnus.

Eureka College Campus
300 E College Ave, Eureka, IL 61530

17. *"Malcolm in the Middle" actress: JANE KACZMAREK.  Malcolm in the Middle is an American sitcom series that ran for 7 seasons starting in 2000, running for 151 episodes. The series is a dark-humored family comedy that follows the Wilkersons, a dysfunctional lower-middle-class family, and stars Frankie Muniz in the lead role as Malcolm, a child prodigy. The ensemble cast included Jane Kaczmarek and Bryan Cranston as Malcolm's parents, Lois and Hal.  Apparently Lois had some anger management problems ...

You can relax your neck now and see that the CAKES are revealed to be UPSIDE DOWN ...
 

The rest of this stuff is RIGHT SIDE UP (well maybe not all of it) ...

Across:

1. Puzzle (out): SUSS.  It's what we do!

5. Synonymous: SAME.

9. Software glitches: BUGS.  I'm reminded of a few of the "rules" of programming --

"If carpenters built buildings the way programmers build programs, the first woodpecker that came along would destroy civilization".

"Any sufficiently complex program contains at least one BUG". This is the sine qua non for a program to be called complicated..

"If you find one BUG in a program, there are undoubtedly more."

Remember these rules when you read all the hype  about the highly complicated AI programs much in the news these days.  Oh,  and AI's BUGS are the least of its problems.

13. Leg joint: KNEE.

14. Slacks, slangily: TROU. Cutoff TROUSERS?.

15. Fall birthstone: OPAL.  OPAL is a hydrated amorphous form of silica (SiO2·nH2O); its water content may range from 3% to 21% by weight, but is usually between 6% and 10%. Due to its amorphous property, it is classified as a mineraloid, unlike crystalline forms of silica, which are considered minerals. It is deposited at a relatively low temperature and may occur in the fissures of almost any kind of rock, being most commonly found with limonite, sandstone, rhyolite, marl, and basalt.  It's the birthstone of people born in October.

Opal

16. Thing: ITEM.

17. Wag: JOKER. A species commonly seen around the Corner, but I'm not naming any names. 😁

18. Like an unswept hearth: ASHY.

19. Watering hole where servers may wear leis: TIKI BAR.  The term TIKI is the Maori word for the first human. A TIKI BAR is a themed drinking establishment that serves elaborate cocktails, especially rum-based mixed drinks such as the Mai Tai and Zombie cocktails.  These "watering holes" are a part of Tiki culture, an American-originated art, music, and entertainment movement inspired by Oceanian art with influences from Australasia, Melanesia, Micronesia, Polynesia, the Caribbean Islands, and Hawaii.

A typical Tiki mug

21. Animal Planet's "Crikey! It's the Irwins" co-star: TERRI. Terri Raines Irwin AM (née Raines, born July 20, 1964) is an American-Australian conservationist, television personality, author and zookeeper who is the owner of Australia Zoo in Beerwah, Queensland. She is the widow of conservationist Steve Irwin.

23. Dead __ Scrolls: SEA.  The Dead Sea Scrolls, also called the Qumran Caves Scrolls, are a set of ancient Jewish manuscripts from the Second Temple period. They were discovered over a period of 10 years, between 1946 and 1956, at the Qumran Caves near Ein Feshkha in the West Bank, on the northern shore of the Dead Sea, here ...

Dead Sea Scrolls Location

24. "The Memory of Trees" singer: ENYA.  I remember the miles and miles of woods behind my home, where we used to play when we were young.  As a first step toward building the ring road around Baltimore (I 695), those woods were cut down and turned into acres and acres of logs stacked 30' high.  Then we played by climbing up the piles and tunneling thru them for a few months. Then they were hauled away and gone.  I've never heard this piece by ENYA.  Thank you Robin.

26. Youngsters: KIDDOS.

29. Quote: CITE.  Coincidentally here are some quotes by Albert Einstein that I ran across just today.  He has often been CITED, so you may have already heard some of them ...

31. Linguist Chomsky: NOAM.  Avram Noam Chomsky (born December 7, 1928) is an American professor and public intellectual known for his work in linguistics, political activism, and social criticism. Sometimes called "the father of modern linguistics", Chomsky is also a major figure in analytic philosophy and one of the founders of the field of cognitive science.  OTOH, he has his critics.  Perhaps his most famous critic is novelist Tom Wolfe (March 2, 1930 – May 14, 2018) who, while not a linguist, did make over $60 million in his lifetime, so he arguably knew something about words.  In his book The Kingdom of Speech, Wolfe takes to task not only Chomsky, but another cultural icon that I've vaguely referred to in clue 70A below.  While Wolfe got a lot of heat from the intelligentsia for this book, it was rated by readers with a majority of the ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐reviews, including mine. 😀

Noam Chomsky

33. Org. concerned with "forever chemicals": EPA.  They're not the only ones.

34. Language related to Czech: SLOVAK.  Some sources suggest that Czech has 94% of the intelligibility of Slovak meaning that if you have a strong base in Czech, understanding SLOVAK should be doable, but speaking it is another thing entirely.  I've always wondered why the musical opus that put Czech composer Antonin Dvorak on the map is called the Slavonic Dances and now we know.  He wrote 16 altogether and here is No.1, Furiant, C major, conducted by German maestro Wolfgang Sawallisch ...

36. SHO subsidiary: TMC.  The Movie Channel (TMC) is an American premium television network owned by Showtime Networks, a subsidiary of Paramount Global operated through its Paramount Media Networks division. The network's programming mainly features first-run theatrically released and independently produced motion pictures, and during promotional breaks between films, special behind-the-scenes features and movie trivia.

37. Yemeni port: ADEN.  Aden (Arabic: عَدَنْ, romanized: ʿAdan, Old South Arabian: 𐩲𐩵𐩬) is a port city located in Yemen in the southern part of the Arabian peninsula, positioned near the eastern approach to the Red Sea. With its strategic location on the coastline, Aden serves as a gateway between the Red Sea and the Arabian Sea, making it a crucial maritime hub connecting Africa, Asia, and the Middle East.
 

Aden, Yemen
Gulf of Aden

38. Residence: HOME.

39. Pal: AMIGO.  Today's Spanish lesson.

41. F-150 maker: FORD.  Great trucks.  We recently gave ours to our son.  Given the amount we were using it it just didn't justify the insurance costs.  When we need it we just borrow it back from him -- along with a grandson (or granddaughter) to do the heavy lifting. It looked sort of like this (without the view)...

42. Catch: ESPY.  Also the name of a sports award

43. Spy-fi org.: CIA.  AKA "The Company".

44. Breathing room: LEEWAY.

46. Unceasingly, in poetry: EER. 

47. Policy pro: CZAR.

48. Home turf?: LAWN.  Also a type of fabric.

49. President __: PRO TEM.  The president pro tempore of the United States Senate (often shortened to president PRO TEM) is the second-highest-ranking official of the United States Senate, after the vice president. According to Article One, Section Three of the United States Constitution, the vice president of the United States is the president of the Senate (despite not being a senator), and the Senate must choose a president pro tempore to act in the vice president's absence.   The Honorable Patty Murphy of Washington is the incumbent PRO TEM of the Senate.

Senator Patricia Lynn Murray

51. Pedicure targets: TOES.  And a CSO to Lucina.

53. Saturn or Mercury: CAR.  Not a god and not a planet.

56. Asia's __ Peninsula: MALAY.  The MALAY Peninsula is a part of Malaysia, a country of Southeast Asia, lying just north of the Equator, that is composed of two non-contiguous regions: Peninsular Malaysia, also called West Malaysia, which is on the Malay Peninsula, and East Malaysia, which is on the island of Borneo ...

58. Verification tool for online alcohol retailers, e.g.: AGE GATE.  One may have popped up if you tried to open 7D's website.

60. Not that: THIS.

62. Way to go: ROUTE.

64. Furniture retailer that sells FIXA tool kits: IKEA.  Two IKEA drawers in my office are jammed shut.  I don't think they have a kit for that.

65. Remove from power: OUST.  Should OUST be OUSTED from the crosswordese dictionary?

66. Lip: EDGE.

67. Clockwork part: GEAR.

68. __ of life: TREE.  The Tree of Life is a widespread archetype common to many religions, mythologies, and folktales. The tree of life is a common idea in cultures throughout the world. It represents, at times, the source of life, a force that connects all lives, or the cycle of life and death itself. Common features of various myths include supernatural guardians protecting the tree and its fruits that grant those who eat them immortality.

It's also a powerful way to model the evolution of life on Earth from simple to complex creatures and describes the interconnected nature of all life forms.

69. "Clue" actress Madeline: KAHN.  Madeline Gail Kahn (née Wolfson; September 29, 1942 – December 3, 1999 -- her early death from cancer was a big loss to American comedy) was an American actress, comedian, and singer. She is known for comedic roles in films directed by Peter Bogdanovich and Mel Brooks, including What's Up, Doc? (1972), Blazing Saddles (1974), Young Frankenstein (1974), High Anxiety (1977), History of the World, Part I (1981), and her Academy Award–nominated role in Paper Moon (1973).  Here Madeline plays Mrs. White in Clue and we're treated to all her big scenes ...

Here's a bonus clip of Madeline Kahn teaching Grover to sing  -- compliments of Chairman Moe -- it popped up after his Muppets Letter S video last Friday. 

70. Systems of principles: ISMS.  There are many, many ISMS, but I can think of only one that consists simply of the name of a scientist + ISM.  Hand up if you can name a second one?

Down:

1. Funny sketches: SKITS.  Mr. Bean seems to draw a crowd wherever he goes ...

2. Loosen, as a bow: UNTIE.  A CSO to Jinx. 😁

3. [Theme clue]

4. Interstate rig: SEMI.

5. Tale: STORY.

6. Craft for the first couples cruise?: ARK.  Cozy clue. According to the Wiki there were 4 couples on the ARK: 💑💑💑💑..

7. Chandon's partner: MOET.  MOËT & Chandon (or simply MOËT) is a family business dating back to 1743.  Here's their website.

8. [Theme clue]

9. Scrabble surface: BOARD.

10. [Theme reveal]

11. Exasperated cry: GAH.  Exasperation lesson #1.

12. Underhanded: SLY.

17. [Theme clue]

20. __ test: BETA.  See 9A.

22. Lip: RIM.

25. Like the Dada movement: ANTI ART.  From a 2017 exhibit of Dadaist ANTI-ART at the Tate Modern in London ... 

The Art Critic
(1919–20)
Raoul Hausmann

The above image is Copyright: (c) ADAGP, Paris, although why anyone would want to plagiarize it I haven't a clue.

27. Judith Weir composition: OPERA.  Dame Judith Weir DBE HonFRSE* (born 11 May 1954) is a British composer serving as Master of the King's Music. Appointed in 2014 by Queen Elizabeth II, Weir is the first woman to hold this office.  While I was tempted to include one of her operatic works, I decided instead on this lovely setting of the first seven verses of Psalm 42 - Like as the Hart that she composed for the Queen's funeral ...

* Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh.

28. Blondish: SANDY. 

30. Tony winner Judith: IVEY.  Judith Lee Ivey (born September 4, 1951) is an American actress and theatre director. She twice won the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play: for Steaming (1981) and Hurlyburly (1984). She also received Best Actress In A Play nomination for Park Your Car in Harvard Yard (1992) and another Best Featured Actress in a Play nomination for The Heiress.

Judith Ivey

32. Astonished letters: OMG.

34. Subject of a late-night countdown: SHEEP.  🐑🐑🐑

35. Also-ran: LOSER.

37. Three or four: A FEW.

40. Soccer star Hamm: MIA. Mariel Margaret "Mia" Hamm (born March 17, 1972) is an American former professional soccer player, two-time Olympic gold medalist and two-time FIFA Women's World Cup champion. Hailed as a soccer icon, she played as a forward for the United States national team from 1987 to 2004. Hamm was the face of the Women's United Soccer Association (WUSA), the first professional women's soccer league in the United States, where she played for the Washington Freedom from 2001 to 2003. She played college soccer for the North Carolina Tar Heels and helped the team win four NCAA Division I Women's Soccer Championship titles.

Mia Hamm

45. Let (up): EASE.

47. Cartoon frame: CEL.

50. Officiate at a cook-off, say: TASTE.

52. Like some granola: OATEN.

54. First-stringers: A TEAM.

55. Brings up: REARS.

57. Jedi with an unusual speech pattern: YODA.  Nearly finished I think is this review.

59. Supermodel Hadid: GIGI.  Jelena Noura "Gigi" Hadid, born April 23, 1995, is an American fashion model and television personality. In 2016, she was named International Model of the Year by the British Fashion Council.

Jelena Noura Hadid

60. Small fry: TOT.

61. "Ben-__": HUR.  Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ is a novel by Lew Wallace (an American lawyer, Civil War general, governor of New Mexico Territory, politician, diplomat, artist, and author!),  published by Harper and Brothers on November 12, 1880, and considered "the most influential Christian book of the nineteenth century".  It became a best-selling American novel, surpassing Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin (1852) in sales. The book also inspired other novels with biblical settings and was adapted for the stage and motion picture productions.   This first edition can be yours for only $30,000 ...

Wallace's book was the basis for this  award winning film starring Charleston Heston.  Here's the famous chariot race scene ...

63. Exasperated cry: UGH.  Exasperation lesson #2.

Cheers,
Bill

And as always, thanks to Teri for proof reading and for her constructive criticism.

----------------------------------------------

As today is the 339th birthday of my favorite Lutheran saint, I thought it appropriate to end with a little bit of Johann Sebastian Bach for the coming celebration of Easter.  Here's his Sheep May Safely Graze, from the Hunt Cantata, BWV 208, performed at the Toronto Bach Festival (and a CSO to CanadianEh!!)

 

Thursday, August 31, 2023, Jeff Stillman

 

 

 That's Entertainment!

  lyrics

 Today constructor Jeff Stillman steps into the spotlight for his 51st appearance on the Corner, and entertains us with a bit of slight-of-hand.  The rare solver, who will remain anonymous, may be disappointed that Jeff conceals his tricks in (horrors!), circles.  But I think the former's time for today's puzzle would not have been as lightning fast (as I'm sure it was) without them.  The rest us, incapable of solving 3 dimensional crossword puzzles in our heads, would probably have been AT SEA.

Since each of the three themers consist of single letters spread across two consecutive lines and 4 consecutive columns we'll start with the grid ...

And here's Jeff's reveal ...

64A. Hollywood honors since 1995, and what the circled letters are?: SAG AWARDS. 

The honors he is referring two are those of the Screen Actors Guild Awards (also known as SAG Awards),  accolades given by the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA*).  Starting in 1995 SAG awards have been given in the major areas of Film, Film, and Life Achievement in various subcategories.  The statue given to each of the awardees looks like this:

"The Actor"

The bit of legerdemain that I referred to above is the fact that while the letters in the circles spell out awards that SAG on the grid, they are not given by The Screen Actors Guild, but rather by other organizations:

The TONY, formally known as The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in Manhattan. The ceremony is held on the second Sunday of June.  Here are this year's awards.

Tony Medallion

The ESPY Award, short for Excellence in Sports Performance Yearly Award, is an accolade currently presented by the American broadcast television network ABC.  Here are the winners and nominees for 2023.  Here's the statuette awarded to each winner ...

ESPY Statuette

The annual CLIO Awards, established in 1959, are named for the Greek goddess Clio, the mythological Muse known as "the proclaimer, glorifier and celebrator of history, great deeds and accomplishments" in the field of advertising. They are awarded. to recognize innovation and creative excellence in advertising, design, and communication, as judged by an international panel of advertising professionals.  Here are the 2023 winners.  This is what they won ...
 

Clio Award

Here are the rest of the clues ...
 
Across:

1. First word of a Shakespeare title: ALLS.  ALL'S Well That Ends Well was published in the First Folio in 1623, where it is listed among the comedies. The play is considered one of Shakespeare's "problem plays", one that poses complex ethical dilemmas that require more than typically simple solutions.

5. Chorus member: ALTO.  Here "chorus member" Marianne Crebassa adds some exquisite harmonies to this performance of the Flower Duet with Soprano Sabine Devieilhe from Leo Delibes opera Lakmé (lyrics) ...
 

9. Autumn bloom: ASTER.  And here's a beautiful ASTER duet ...

Asters

14. Wobble: REEL.

15. Bellyache: MOAN.

16. Volleyball shot: SPIKE.  Would you believe, there is actually a machine that can help you improve your volleyball SPIKES? ...
 

17. Spot for a TV dinner: TRAY TABLE.  For those who eat dinner in their dens.

19. Realty listings: HOMES.

20. Young fella: SONNY.  A father's song to his SON? ...

21. Large amount: SCAD.  We've seen this fill SCADS of times.

23. Audition: TEST.

24. Unqualified: INEPT.  EPT qualifies as its antonym, at least according to the OED.

26. Yellowish pink: CORAL.  Actually CORALS come in a variety of hues.  Some little-known facts about these underwater ecosystems.

Coral Array

28. "YOLO" philosophy: SEIZE THE DAY.  Just make sure it's not a tiger ...

32. Slower than Mach 1: SUBSONIC.  Speeds faster than Mach 1 are SUPERSONIC.

35. Susan Swain's network: CSPAN.  Susan Swain (born December 23, 1954) is an American journalist, author and the co-CEO of C-SPAN.

Susan Swain

37. Spanish "that": ESO.  Today's Spanish lesson on demonstrative pronouns ...

38. Horse barn sound: SNORT.

41. __-mo: SLO.

42. Scope of influence: AMBIT.  The AMBITIOUS want to increase theirs.

45. Low-alcohol beverage: NEAR BEER.

48. Brownie-making ingredient: COCOA POWDER.  We're still getting lots of zucchini.  If you are, here's last week's recipe again.

51. Ship with staterooms: LINER.

52. Oscar-winning role for Ariana DeBose and Rita Moreno: ANITA.   Sixty years ago, Rita Moreno became the first Latina to win an Oscar, given for the role of ANITA in the 1961 film West Side Story. Recently Ariana DeBose won best supporting actress for the same role in the Steven Spielberg's 2021 reboot, becoming part of an elite club of Oscar-winners who've received the accolade for playing the same character. They're the first pair of women ever to accomplish this. Incidentally, Ariana hosted this years TONY Awards, and of course Rita has a TONY as a part of her EGOT.

And not coincidentally,  Rita played the role of Valentina in the new production, and served as an executive producer.  Here's Spielberg's take on her contributions as a consultant ...

Ironic note: The 1961 film was awarded a total of 10 Oscars, the musical film with the most Academy wins.  The composer of that music, the great Leonard Bernstein, didn't receive one for Best Original Score; in fact he wasn't even nominated. 


55. C __ Charlie: AS IN.

57. Dollars for quarters: RENT.  Also the name of a Broadway musical loosely based on Puccini's La Boheme.  Among several awards it won 3 OBIES, a TONY, and a Pulitzer Prize ...

 60. Piano exercise: ETUDE.  As Annique Göttler demonstrates, 14 years of piano exercises makes a big difference when playing  Chopin's ETUDE Op.10 No.4 (the "Torrent"). ..

62. Photographer Dorothea: LANGE.  Dorothea LANGE (born Dorothea Margaretta Nutzhorn; May 26, 1895 – October 11, 1965) was an American documentary photographer and photojournalist, best known for her Depression-era work for the Farm Security Administration (FSA). Lange's photographs influenced the development of documentary photography and humanized the consequences of the Great Depression.

Dorothea Lange
1936

64 [Theme reveal}

66. Caulking fiber: OAKUM.  OAKUM is a preparation of tarred fibre used to seal gaps. Its main traditional applications were in shipbuilding, for caulking or packing the joints of timbers in wooden vessels and the deck planking of iron and steel ships.

Hemp oakum

67. Nights before special days: EVES.

68. "Yeah, right": I BET.

69. Medicine amts.: TBSPS.

70. Poker player's giveaway: TELL.

71. Plant stem joint: NODE.

Down:

1. Creative pursuits: ARTS.  Here is yet another award for the musical ARTS -- the An Die Musik ("To Music")  Award, presented annually to a classical music enthusiast who has significantly furthered the work and mission of the Schubert Club.  The award is named for the most famous of the over 600 Lieder (songs) written by Franz Schubert.  It is sung here by the great tenor Fritz Wunderlich (lyrics and translation) ...

2. The king of France?: LE ROI.  Today's French lesson.

3. "The Right Kind of Wrong" singer Rimes: LEANN.  Margaret LeAnn Rimes Cibrian (born August 28, 1982) is an American singer, songwriter and actress. She originally rose to success as a country music artist at age 13 with 1996's Blue, by writer Bill Mack (lyrics) ...

4. Craft: SLYNESS.

5. Reddit sesh for fans: AMA.  Ask Me Anything, but you'd better pull up a chair. 😁

6. Deft tennis shots: LOBS.

7. Soft mineral: TALC. Number 2 on MOE's Hardness Scale.

8. Staged without a break: ONE ACT.  Here is probably the most famous of them all and it's still playing!

9. Cigarette end: ASH.

10. Part of a politician's media campaign: SPOT ADS.  The season will soon be upon us ...

11. Like photographs of an eclipse, say: TIME LAPSE.  Here is a time lapse video of the 2018 solar eclipse taken in Casper, WY.  The photographer paused the video for a few seconds at the moment of totality.  Nice touch ...

12. __ out a win: EKES.

13. Musical interval: REST. Sometimes RESTS in music can be as beautiful as the music that surrounds them. This famous passage near the end of the 2nd movement of  Antonin Dvorak 's New World Symphony. has several. I've clipped this to begin after a brief allegretto at 9:21 sec.  After the music dies down to quiet passage in the English Horn, listen for the first REST at 11:18 followed by 3 or more toward the end ...

18. Versatile blood donor: TYPE O.

22. Quote from Homer: DOH. "Why didn't I think of that!?"

25. Cookie containers: TINS.

27. __ center: REC.

29. Cab alternative: ZIN.  As CABernet is abbreviated, so is ZINfandel.

30. Low-cost prefix: ECONO.

31. Handsome Dan's Ivy: YALE.  Here's the latest BDOC ...

Handsome Dan XIX

32. "Wide Sargasso __": Jean Rhys novel: SEA.  Wide Sargasso SEA is a 1966 novel by Dominican-British author Jean Rhys, CBE. The novel serves as a postcolonial and feminist prequel to Charlotte Brontë's novel Jane Eyre (1847), describing the background to Mr. Rochester's marriage from the point-of-view of his wife Antoinette Cosway, a Creole heiress.  There have been several adaptations of the novel, some rated R and at least one rated NC-17.   The most unusual one I found told the story in the lyrics of the song Wide Sargasso Sea by Stevie Nicks from her 2011 album In Your Dreams  (rated PG) ...

33. "Oorah!" org.: USMC.  The United State Marine Corps.  A CSO to our dear departed Wilbur Charles ...

34. Migratory songbirds: BOBOLINKS.  And sing they do ...

36. Negative conjunction: NOR.

39. Button with left-pointing arrows: Abbr.: REW.

40. Unveiling shout: TA DA.  VOILÀ  was too long.

43. Becoming treacherous, as a winter road: ICING UP.

44. Weigh station unit: TON.

46. Extend: RENEW.

47. Great place?: BRITAIN.  I'll drink to that!

49. __ Lingus: AER.  Ireland has some great brews too.

50. Adjusted beforehand: PRESET.

53. Engine booster, for short: TURBO.

54. Supplemented: ADDED.

55. Bushels: A LOT.  Note space between A and LOT.

56. Onetime Volvo rival: SAAB.

58. Cathedral part: NAVE.

59. Neutrogena dandruff shampoo: TGEL.

61. 90° from norte: ESTE.  More Spanish.

63. "Mamma Mia" quartet: EMS.  Oh my, how am I gonna stuff ABBA into a 3 letter fill?  DOH, with a EMeta clue of course! 

65. Communication sys. at Gallaudet: ASL.  One of the most interesting experiences we've had was attending a wedding Mass for a relative of Teri's who had attended Gallaudet University.  Many of the people there were deaf and prior to the service they were chattering away in ASL with one another all across the church.  We couldn't understand a word that they were saying, but we did get some some idea of what it must be like to be deaf in a crowded room.

*As many of you are aware, as of this writing the SAG-AFTRA and the Writers Guild of America (WGA) are still in the midst of a bitter strike against Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers.  At a recent press conference, SAG president Fran Drescher gave a fiery speech rebuffing the AMPT, and showing she has certainly come a long way since her days as a Nanny.

Cheers,
Bill

And as always, thanks to Teri for proof reading and for her constructive criticism.

waseeley