Thursday, January 11, 2024, Shannon Rapp, Will Eisenberg

 

 

 Protein Deficiency

Today's constructors, Shannon Rapp and Will Eisenberg, remind us that proper diet after vigorous exercise is very important  And they point out that protein, one of the key nutrients, will need to be replenished afterwards.  And as AMINO ACIDS, a cruciverbalist's favorite, are the raw material that comprise proteins I've included a very brief video about the extraordinary process by which our cells converts them into this essential nutrient ...

Shannon and Will Eisenberg now proceed to use these 4 themers to teach us a little protein metabolism ...

18A. Forward-looking aesthetic of Janelle Monáe and "Black Panther": AFROFUTURISM.  Afrofuturism is a cultural aesthetic, philosophy of science, and history that explores the intersection of the African diaspora culture with science and technology. It addresses themes and concerns of the African diaspora through techno-culture and speculative fiction, encompassing a range of media and artists with a shared interest in envisioning black futures that stem from Afro-diasporic experiences.  Here's Janelle Monáe's Electric Lady ...

30A. Part of the digestive system: SMALL INTESTINE.  It's not as big as the Large intestine, but it's a lot longer ...

37A. Job requirement for some visa holders: WORK PERMIT.  In order to be able to work in the U.S. individuals from other countries need to seek employment authorization. Put another way, foreign nationals need to obtain permission from the federal government to legally participate in the American economy.  Work authorization refers to a card that authorizes someone who is not a citizen or a green card holder to lawfully hold a job in the United States. This is also known as a WORK PERMIT or an employment authorization document (EAD)

48. Plant-based remedies, e.g.: HERBAL MEDICINE.  Everything you need to know about herbal medicine.

Now I hear you saying "what does that fill have to do with proteins?", but the next clue reveals all ...

64. Post-workout nourishment, and a hint to what can be found in each set of circled letters: PROTEIN SHAKE.  Oh! I forgot to mention the circles (but you probably knew that already 😀).   And when we light them up we see ...

Since a good workout consumes a lot of protein, we need to replenish it.  But we can see that Shannon and Will have SHAKEN the proteins in the circles and so we UN SHAKE them to find ...

TOFU
LENTILS
PORK
LAMB.

Personally I can see TOFU and LENTILS in my shakes, but PORK and LAMB would be a bit too UMAMI for me.  Here's a list of a lot of other protein rich foods.

And here are the rest of the clues ...

Across:

1. Outlook alternative: GMAIL.  Hand up if you don't use GMAIL?

6. Drum that may accompany a sitar: TABLA.  The TABLA is also a solo instrument.  Here tabla virtuoso Bickram Ghosh gives us a brief introduction to this remarkable instrument ...

This video is part of ‘Musical Wonders of India’ in the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.

11. Little taste: SIP.

14. "America's Got Talent" judge Klum: HEIDI.  Heidi Klum (pronounced [ˈhaɪdiː ˈklʊm]; born 1 June 1973) is a German and American model, television host, producer, and businesswoman. She appeared on the cover of the 1998 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue and was the first German model to become a Victoria's Secret Angel.

Heidi Klum

15. Like this answer: ACROSS.  Meta clue.

17. Texter's "Didn't need to hear that": TMI.

18. [Theme clue]

20. Siamang or orangutan: APE.

21. Trivial complaint: NIT.

22. Streetcar: TRAM.

23. Speak while flustered, say: STAMMER.

25. Singer India.__: ARIE.  India Arie Simpson (born October 3, 1975), also known as India Arie (sometimes styled as india.arie), is an American singer and songwriter. Her debut album, Acoustic Soul, was released in 2001, and she has since released six more studio albums. Arie has sold over five million records in the US and ten million worldwide, and has won four Grammy Awards from 23 nominations, including Best R&B Album.  Here's Video from her first album ...

27. Home of the Big 12's Cyclones: AMES.  The Iowa State Cyclones are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Iowa State University, located in AMES. The university is a member of the Big 12 Conference and competes in NCAA Division I, fielding 16 varsity teams (6 men's and 10 women's teams) in 12 sports.

29. Military incursions: RAIDS.

30. [Theme clue]

34. Mega- times mega-: TERA.  A trillion.

35. Passing comment?: YEA.

36. "Illmatic" rapper: NAS.  You can find this album on YouTube.
 
37. [Theme clue]

42. Dashboard prefix with meter: ODO.  Your car's ODOMETER tells you how far you've gone.  It usually sits below the SPEEDOMETER, which tells you you're going to fast ...

44. Repeat role for Keanu Reeves: NEO.  The Matrix franchise.

45. Hair removal brand: NAIR.

48. [Theme clue].

53. Tell time?: CHIME.

54. Big suit?: EXEC.

55. Gets one's hands on: NABS.

57. "Dig in, all!": LETS EAT.

60. Tux rental occasion: PROM.

62. "Anyone can see that": DUH.

63. Righteous Babe Records founder DiFranco: ANI.  Here's ANI's remarkable cover of the John Newton song Amazing Grace ...

64. [Theme reveal]

67. Start to bake?: PRE.

68. Single hair: STRAND.

69. Took down: RAZED.

70. DOS pt.: SYS.  Disk Operating System.

71. Practice room fodder: ETUDE.  Here's Mendelssohn's Etude op. 104b n. 3 played by the great Vladimir Horowitz. 

72. Cider mill fixture: PRESS.

Down:

1. Accra's land: GHANA.  Accra is the Capital of GHANA situated on the Atlantic Coast of West Africa between The Ivory Coast and Togo.

2. "I'll start!": ME FIRST.

3. TV slot: AIR TIME.

4. Sworn statement?: I DO.

5. Use gym weights: LIFT.  Or SING with her friends in the choir.  While it might not surprise you that Stella Zawistowski is a chorister, you probably wouldn't pick her out of a crowd as a weight lifter ...

Stella Zawistowski
and fellow chorister
Stella is the lady on the right

Of course most of us know her as a cracker jack crossword solver and constructor. 

6. Japanese mat: TATAMI.  A tatami (畳) is a type of mat used as a flooring material in traditional Japanese-style rooms. Tatami are made in standard sizes, twice as long as wide, about 0.9 metres (3') by 1.8 metres (6') depending on the region.

Tatami Mats

7. Keen judgment: ACUMEN.

8. "So cold!": BRR.

9. Lane near Kent?: LOIS.  In this clip LOIS outsmarts Kent and finds out who he really is ...

10. Aide, for short: ASST.

11. Energizer Bunny's asset: STAMINA.

12. Gets in the way of: IMPEDES.

13. Yacht spots: PIERS.

16. Dapper: SMART.

19. River dividing Eurasia: URAL.  This map is a bit dated as the ARAL SEA in the Southeast appears only in crossword puzzles these days ...

Ural River

24. Keep up: MAINTAIN.

26. Far-too-memorable songs: EAR WORMS. One way to get rid of an EAR WORM is to listen to anoher one.

28. Ophthalmologist's concern: STYE.  CATARACT wouldn't fit.

31. Part of the Kra-Dai language family: LAO. Three letter fill for a language with no indication of an abbreviation?  Perps.

32. Always, in verse: EER.

33. "Veep" actor Richardson: SAM.  SAM plays Richard in Veep.  Here he gets a promotion ...

38. Molecule preceded by m-, r-, or t-: RNA.  An Easter Egg? - the various  types of RNA involved in the synthesis of proteins described in the splash screen video above - messenger RNA, ribosomal RNA, and transfer RNA are  described in detail. 

39. Kenan's "Good Burger 2" co-star: KEL.  Back by popular demand ...

40. Apple or pear: POME.  A POME is a type of fruit produced by flowering plants in the subtribe Malinae of the family Rosaceae. Pome fruits consist of a central "core" containing multiple small seeds, which is enveloped by a tough membrane and surrounded by an edible layer of flesh.
 

Pome Fruits

41. Close of business?: INC.

42. Candy bar with an exclamation point: OH HENRY!.  I wonder if YAHOO! has ever approached them about becoming a sponsor?

43. Pantheon group: DEITIES.  The word, pantheon, derives from Greek πάνθεον pantheon, literally "(a temple) of all gods", "of or common to all gods" from πᾶν pan- "all" and θεός theos "god".  The Pantheon is also the name of a former temple in Rome, now the Basilica of St. Mary and the Martyrs.
 

Pantheon Front Entrance

 

Pantheon Interior

An interesting feature of the Pantheon is the large hole or oculus in the center of the ceiling for ventilation.

46. Out of it: IN A DAZE.  A CSO to our Monday blogger. 😁

47. Censures: REBUKES.

49. Checkout sounds: BEEPS.

50. Use up: EXPEND.

51. Put down: DERIDE.

52. Tapped pic: ICON.

53. Shows appreciation: CLAPS.

56. Loses, as hair: SHEDS.

58. Museo del Prado contents: ARTE. Today's Spanish lesson:  This is one of the most famous paintings in the El Museo del Prado in Madrid ...

La Maja Vestida
"The Clothed Maja"

Probably even more famous is La Maja Desnuda  ("The Nude Maja").

59. Material for a suit: TORT.  GABARDINE wouldn't fit. 😁

61. "Sticker shock" no.: MSRP.  Manufacturer's Suggested Retail Price.  Nowadays it's not just a suggestion.

65. Letter after sigma: TAU.  The 19th letter in the Greek alphabet ...

66. Laugh syllable: HAR.  Very funny! 😁

Cheers,
Bill

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

waseeley

Saturday, December 23, 2023, Will Eisenberg

 Saturday Themeless by Will Eisenberg

Will has had a lifelong love of language and wordplay. He has recently taken the leap from solving crosswords to constructing them. Professionally he plays and teaches the French horn. He is the current 3rd horn of Orchestra Iowa and a founding member of the Minnesota Horn Quartet. Will has performed extensively at home and abroad from New York to Italy and China including solo performances at Ted Mann Concert Hall in Minneapolis and the Kennedy Center's Millennium Stage in Washington D.C.

I sailed along the top half of the puzzle as PARABOLA and the James Webb SPACE TELESCOPE were gimmes for this math and physics guy! 

Then I hit some speed bumps in the bottom half. My ignorance of puffy bread and hip-hop artists (Currier's partner worked that out) slowed the bottom but eventually it all came together and all was right in my puzzling world. PAN SAUCE and PATTER SONG also took some doing but I enjoyed the exercise and learning.

As you might have suspected with ADZ, LEX, AQUA and JEN, Will's puzzle is a pangram and you can see this in the chart below the grid.

Across:

1. Leather accessory: CHAPS - My first fill of PURSE didn't quite make it!

6. Sandbox game items?: PAILS.

11. Rangers home, familiarly: MSG.

 

14. Cocoon fillers: PUPAE.

15. Actress MacDowell: ANDIE - Name this fun movie that was one of the highest grossing films of 1993 where ANDIE co-starred with Bill Murray. (*answer at bottom)

16. Took a course?: ATE 😀

17. Ancient Greek market: AGORA - A familiar cwd shopping area

18. Fed. security: T-NOTE - This 1891 T-NOTE recently sold for $2.3M

19. MSNBC's "Inside With __ Psaki": JEN - Yesterday's JEN was more obscure. 

20. James Webb, for one: SPACE TELESCOPE.

23. Really feel the heat: BAKE - BOIL and BURN? Not so much...

24. Introduces an MGM film?: ROARS - In 1928, Jackie the Lion provided MGM's mascot Leo's roar.

25. Hosted: HAD OVER and 10. Shows the door: SEES OUT - Hello/Good Bye

28. Arrests: HAULS IN 😀 Ya gotta love the car Steve McQueen used in this movie where he played a bounty hunter.

30. __ Polytechnique: ECOLE - More We see the French word for school quite often.

31. "Severance" actor: SCOTT - Adam is definitely Saturday cluing for SCOTT

33. Source of local produce, for short: CSA.

34. __ regia: gold-dissolving substance: AQUA - Keep your doubloons out of this

35. Puffy deep-fried bread: POORI.

36. Muscles worked in pull-ups and pull-downs: LATS.

37. Spice blend: RUB.

BBQ DRY RUB MIX INGREDIENTS

This barbecue rub goes great on pork, chicken, burgers, and especially pork ribs! The best part is you probably already have all of these ingredients in your cupboard right now!

• Smoked Paprika
• Brown Sugar
• Salt
• Pepper
• Garlic Powder
• Onion Powder
• Dry Mustard

38. "Black Skin, White Masks" writer Frantz: FANON.

39. __ mignon: FILET.

40. Inclined: TILTING.

42. Spelling practice?: SORCERY 😀

44. Receiving line?: HEIRS 😀

45. Layered snack: OREO.

46. Silent nemesis in "Peanuts": KITE EATING TREE 😀 - I loved this after it hit me.

51. Is for many: ARE 😀

52. Smoothie option: GUAVA.

53. Daniel who writes the Gabriel Allon spy novels: SILVA.

55. Luthor in the Legion of Doom: LEX - Through the years. I only know of Gene Hackman's great portrayal (top middle) in the original Superman movie.

56. Row of pawns, e.g.: OCTET 😀 We have recently had 15. The Ivies, e.g.: OCTAD and 19. Tarantula legs, e.g.: OCTAD 

57. Needed Advil, say: ACHED.

58. Superlative suffix: EST.

59. One-named rapper in the hip-hop collective Doomtree: DESSA - I had no chance on this fill but she's on the right.

60. "The Constant Gardener" Oscar winner: WEISZ - Rachel and Ralph Fiennes below

Down:

1. Pro concerned with returns: CPA - I'll bet there's a CPA who participates in CSA and PTA in the USA

2. Brings it in, in a way: HUGS 😀

3. Each: A POP.

4. y=2x² plot, e.g.: PARABOLA - I've taught about them many times. 

5. Coastal formation: SEA CAVE - A famous one we have visited 

6. Gilbert and Sullivan staple: PATTER SONG -The patter song is characterised by a moderately fast to very fast tempo with a rapid succession of rhythmic patterns in which each syllable of text corresponds to one note. You're welcome. Ya Got Trouble from The Music Man is also a very familiar one.

7. Rice, for one: ANNE

8. K-pop star, say: IDOL.

9. Book club?: LITERATI.

11. Pitches delivered in sequence?: MAJOR SCALE 😀

12. Member of a blended family: STEP SISTER - What Marcia was to Greg, Peter and Bobby.

13. Tiny inheritance?: GENE 😀

21. __ out: EKE.

22. Berkeley, familiarly: CAL.

25. "Barracuda" band: HEART - An incredible rock and roll anthem! 

26. Purchases a company to obtain talented employees: ACQUIHIRES - What a great portmanteau! 

27. Follow up too soon, perhaps: DOUBLE TEXT - Guilty (and impatient) as charged!

28. Beethoven composition for brass virtuoso Giovanni Punto: HORN SONATA - I tried for a long time to make this more diffficult.

29. Repugnant: NASTY.

32. Imitate a dove: COO.
 
35. Many a reduction: PAN SAUCE  

A pan sauce—made with just a handful of ingredients and in a matter of minutes—can look and taste nearly as rich as a classic, labor-intensive French sauce. The base of a pan sauce is the fond, or browned bits, clinging to the bottom of the skillet after sautéing or searing meat, poultry, or fish. You're welcome.

36. Good & Plenty flavor: LICORICE - This candy is like M&M's with LICORICE in the middle rather than chocolate.

38. Vulcan or Agni: FIREGOD - No Mr. Spock here

39. Tool for intricate cutting: FRET SAW.

41. Draw: TIE.

43. Part of some email addresses: ORG.

46. Vegetable baked for chips: KALE 

47. Parts of a sleeve: TATS.

48. Lithographer James Merritt: IVES - Partner of Nathaniel Currier

            Sleigh Ride

There's a happy feeling nothing

In the world can buy

As they pass around the coffee

And the pumpkin pie

It'll nearly be like a picture print

By Currier and IVES

These wonderful things are the things

We remember all through our lives

49. Precollege yrs.: ELHI 🤨

50. The before times?: EVES - Tomorrow is an important one.

54. Wood shaper: ADZ.

*Andie and Bill relived Ground Hog Day over and over