Thursday, September 30, 2021, Yoni Glatt & Dani Raymon

Hi kids!  Today we're visited by our old friends Yoni Glatt and Dani Raymon, who conduct a  reveal-less tour of

 The Musical Plant Kingdom

The themers for this tour are all musicians whose last names refer to plants in one way or another.  CAVEAT: I don't like to RAP constructors, but a couple of these numbers may not be your idea of SOUL music.

17A. "Fancy" (2014) singer: IGGY AZALEA.  Amethyst Amelia Kelly (born 7 June 1990), known professionally as Iggy Azalea, is an Australian rapper, singer-songwriter, and model.  As the French say, "a chacun a son goût",  but it's certainly not to my taste. 😞

22A. "November Rain" lead singer: AXL ROSE.  W. Axl Rose (born William Bruce Rose Jr.; born February 6, 1962)^[3] is an American musician, singer, songwriter and record producer.  He is best known for being the lead vocalist and lyricist of the hard rock band Guns N' Roses

37A. "Whole Lotta Love" lead singer: ROBERT PLANT. The closest we get to a reveal.  Robert Anthony Plant CBE (born 20 August 1948) is an English singer and songwriter, best known as the lead singer and lyricist of the English rock band Led Zeppelin for all of its existence from 1968 up until 1980.

53A. "Walk on the Wild Side" singer: LOU REED.   Lewis Allan Reed (March 2, 1942 – October 27, 2013) was an American musician, singer, songwriter and poet. He was the guitarist, singer and principal songwriter for the rock band the Velvet Underground and had a solo career that spanned five decades.  The lyrics to this are a bit OUTRÉ, but at least it's music:

59A. "Johnny B. Goode" singer: CHUCK BERRY.  Charles Edward Anderson Berry (October 18, 1926 – March 18, 2017) was an American singer, songwriter and guitarist, and one of the pioneers of rock and roll music.

And now the Animal and Mineral kingdoms:

Across:

1. Nursery piece: CRIB.

5. Orkin target: ROACH.

10. Cousin of a sari: TOGA.

14. Jay with lots of wheels: LENO.  Jerry Seinfeld and Jay Leno admire a 1958 Porsche 356 A Speedster (12 min):

15. Speed skater Ohno: APOLO.  Apolo Anton Ohno; born May 22, 1982) is an American retired^[6] short track speed skating competitor and an eight-time medalist (two gold, two silver, four bronze) in the Winter Olympics. Ohno is the most decorated American Olympian at the Winter Olympics and was inducted into the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame in 2019.  But he only got a Silver Medal for this one:
 

 16. Like webs: SPUN.  What are spider webs made of?  And how do they spin them?

19. Sent up: APED.   Made fun of.

20. Bro, to sis: FAM.

21. Seminarian's subj.: REL.  The first seminaries were founded by the Catholic Church in the 16th century as a part of its internal reforms, needed to address the many real abuses that had given rise to the Protestant Reformation.  One of these was the need for a uniform way to educate new priests.

24. Back-pocket booze holder: FLASK.

26. One being hunted: PREY.

27. Org. concerned with secrets: NSA.  No Such Agency!

28. Barcelona-born muralist: SERT.  José Maria Sert (December 21, 1874, Barcelona - November 27, 1945, Barcelona) - Catalan muralist, unprecedentedly in demand during his lifetime and almost forgotten after his death.

29. Fiver: ABE. Plastic is making these obsolete, but I'll bet you Lucina sees lots of green and wrinkled ones  every week when she counts her church collections:

31. Show in a theater: SCREEN.

33. "How chic!": OO LA LA.  How chic?  Here's Rod Stewart with the Corrs:

36. Tears: RENDS.

39. Silvery food fish: SMELT.  It can be eaten by humans, or fed to other fish.

41. Most mature: RIPEST.  Constructors often add "est" to an adjective, instead of prefacing it with "most" to indicate a superlative.  RIPEST sounds okay to to me.

42. Handkerchief alternative: TISSUE.

44. Its capital is Sydney: Abbr.: NSW.  New South Wales is on the Southeast coast of Australia.
 

Sydney Opera House

45. End of a classic palindrome: ELBA. Legend has it that "Able was I ere I saw Elba", was attributed to the renowned French leader Napoleon Bonaparte, who was once exiled to the island of Elba.  This claim  first appeared in 1848 credited to someone with the initials "J.T.R" residing in Baltimore, Maryland.  Perhaps coincidentally Napoleon's  grand nephew Charles Bonaparte, who served under Teddy Roosevelt, built an estate in 1896 in Glen Arm, Maryland about 20 miles outside of Baltimore .

49. Very old: Abbr.: ANC.  Ancient?

50. Metallic residue: SLAG.  What's left over when you extract the metal from an ore.  Ground slag has several uses, e.g. as a filler in concrete:
 

Early slag from Denmark, c. 200-500 CE

52. Award-winning '80s-'90s soap opera actress Deborah: ADAIR.  Deborah Adair (born Deborah Adair Miller, May 23, 1952).  She has certainly led an interesting life.

55. Venomous snake: ASP.  Legend has it that Cleopatra used this snake to commit suicide:
 

Asp (Egyptian Cobra)

57. Trendy boot brand: UGG. 

58. Pulitzer-winning author James: AGEE.  James Rufus Agee; November 27, 1909 – May 16, 1955) was an American novelist, journalist, poet, and screenwriter. In the 1940s, he was one of the most influential film critics in the U.S. His autobiographical novel, A Death in the Family (1957), won the author a posthumous 1958 Pulitzer Prize. Here are his lyrics for Samuel Barber's work for voice and orchestra, Knoxville: Summer of 1915.

James Agee

62. Hanks Oscar role: GUMP.  Here's why Hanks got Best Actor in 1995:
 

63. Oscar winner Marisa: TOMEI.  And here's why Marisa got Best Supporting Actress in 1993:
 

64. Jessica of "Hitchcock": BIEL.  Jessica Claire Timberlake (née Biel; born March 3, 1982) is an American actress and model.  Hitchcock, the movie, was about the making of the film Psycho, directed by Sacha Gervasi.  Biel plays the actress Vera Miles.  This is Biel's take on the experience of working with the team of A-List actors, including Anthony Hopkins, Helen Mirren, Scarlett Johansson, and Danny Huston:
 

65. Dates: SEES.

66. Surgery souvenirs: SCARS.

67. George Eliot's "Adam __": BEDE.  Adam Bede was the first novel by Mary Ann Evans (George Eliot), and was published in 1859. It was published pseudonymously, even though Evans was a well-published and highly respected scholar of her time.

Down:
1. Dover attraction: CLIFFS.  The White Cliffs of Dover is the region of English coastline facing the Strait of Dover and France. The cliff face, which reaches a height of 350 feet (110 m), owes its striking appearance to its composition of chalk accented by streaks of black flint.  The National Trust calls the cliffs "an icon of Britain", with "the white chalk face a symbol of home and wartime defense.  There was a popular song about the cliffs during WWII  that my Mother used to sing to us around the supper table.

The White Cliffs of Dover

2. Wine and dine: REGALE.

3. "The Seventh Seal" director Bergman: INGMAR.  Ernst Ingmar Bergman (14 July 1918 – 30 July 2007) was a Swedish film director, screenwriter, producer and playwright. Universally ranked among the most accomplished and influential filmmakers of all time.  In "The Seventh Seal', a knight played by  Max von Sydow, challenges the Devil to a game of chess (view scene on YouTube) .

4. Word before and after "oh": BOY.

5. Totally destroy: RAZE.  You can RAZE a barn, or you can RAISE a barn: two homophones with opposite meanings or ANTONYMIC HOMOPHONES.  Similar and even more interesting are CONTRONYMS, words that are spelled the same, but have opposite meanings.  Constructors love them!

6. Autumn gemstone: 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%. Because of its amorphous character, it is classed as a mineraloid, unlike crystalline forms of silica, which are classed as minerals.

Opal

7. Web pioneer: AOL.  AOL (stylized as Aol., formerly a company known as AOL Inc. and originally known as America Online) is an American web portal and online service provider based in New York City. It is a brand marketed by Yahoo, Inc.

AOL headquarters, 770 Broadway, NYC

8. Golf-friendly forecast: CLEAR. 

9. Counterfeits: HOAXES.

10. Former Russian ruler: TSAR. 

1. an emperor of Russia before 1917.  The last was "Tsar Nicholas II", who along with his family was executed by the Bolsheviks on July 17, 1918.
   
   
2. 
   

   a person appointed by government to advise on and coordinate policy in a particular area.

   "America's new drug czar"

11. Other side: OPPONENT.

12. Didn't know, but got it right: GUESSED.  We do a lot of that on the Corner.

13. Quechua speakers: ANDEAN'S.  The prevalent language of the inhabitants of the Andes, both today and in ancient times.

Quechuan Languages

18. Genesis transport: ARK.  Noah's Ark (Hebrew: תיבת נח‎; Biblical Hebrew: Tevat Noaḥ) is the vessel in the Genesis flood narrative (Genesis chapters 6–9) through which God spares Noah, his family, and examples of all the world's animals from a world-engulfing flood. 

Noah's Ark (1846)
by the American folk painter Edward Hicks.

There was also later vessel, sacred to the Hebrew people, called the Ark of the Covenant, used to hold the tablets of the Ten Commandments.

23. Stretchy fibers: LYCRAS.

25. Your legs may not touch the ground when you're on them: STOOLS. Hand up if you guessed STILTS first.

26. Snowball action: PELTING.

29. Pub brew: ALE.  Ale is a type of beer brewed using a warm fermentation method, resulting in a sweet, full-bodied and fruity taste.  Historically, the term referred to a drink brewed without hops.As with most beers, ale typically has a bittering agent to balance the malt and act as a preservative. Ale was originally bittered with gruit, a mixture of herbs or spices boiled in the wort before fermentation. Later, hops replaced gruit as the bittering agent.

Real Ale from an English Pub

30. Attorney General under Bush, Sr.: BARR.  William Pelham "Bill" Barr (born May 23, 1950) is an American attorney who served as the 77th and 85th United States attorney general in the administrations of Presidents George H. W. Bush and Donald Trump.

32. Chartered: RENTED.

34. Over 90 degrees, in a way: OBTUSE.  Today's math lesson.  Also a metaphor that shows up under lots of different guises.
 
35. Pixel purchases: APPS.

37. 2004-2011 TV series about firefighters: RESCUE ME.  Rescue Me is an American comedy-drama television series that premiered on FX on July 21, 2004, and concluded on September 7, 2011. The series focuses on the professional and personal lives of a group of New York City firefighters, overshadowed by the aftermath of 9/11/2001.
 

38. __ Zealand, Muppet known for fish-throwing: LEW.  Lew Zealand’s act involves boomerang fish. "I throw them away, and they come back to me!" He has appeared in all of the Muppet movies except Kermit's Swamp Years.

Lew Zealand and his boomerang fish

39. WWII prison camps: STALAGS.  Lest we forget.

40. Kylie dubbed "Princess of Pop" by the European press: MINOGUE. Kylie Ann Minogue AO, OBE; born 28 May 1968), also known simply as Kylie, is an Australian singer and actress. Minogue is the highest-selling female Australian artist of all time, having sold over 70 million records worldwide.
 

Kylie Minogue
at the Queens Birthday 2018

43. Gives a seat to: ELECTS.

46. Metcalf of "Lady Bird": LAURIE. Laura Elizabeth Metcalf (born June 16, 1955) is an American actress. Over the course of her four-decade career, she has won three Primetime Emmy Awards, two Tony Awards, and has been nominated for an Academy Award and British Academy Film Award.   Her standout performance in "Lady Bird" opened a lot of doors for her. 
 

Laurie Metcalf

47. Colorful Wrigley product: BIG RED.  It certainly looks big:

48. Footwear design: ARGYLE.  Colorful, patterned socks, much beloved by golfers.  Also a colorful blogger of more than 840 puzzles for the LA Times, and a Santa, much beloved by Cornerites:
 

Argyle
(Feb 20, 1945-April 30, 2018)

51. Committee type: AD HOC. I did my best to avoid committees when I was working  - for reasons why, consider this "basics" of committee work.  SOMEBODY has to do the actual work!

52. Urgent police msg.: APB.  All Points Bulletin.
"
54. Account execs: REPS.  As in REPRESENTATIVES.  Also REPETITIONS of an exercise.  Often accompanied by ABS.

55. Big name in PCs: ACER.

56. Pair on the slopes: SKIS.  A CSO to my partner in crime MalMan.  When he's not frolicking in lagoons, he's often out on the slopes:

60. Actress Thurman: UMA.  Third time for me.  I pass.

61. Decline: EBB.  I think I'll decline this one as well.  All done.

Here's the grid:

waseeley

Cheers,
Bill

And as always, thanks to Teri for proofreading and suggestions.

 

Notes from C.C.:

 

1) Thank you, Teri!

 

2) Happy Birthday to Pat and her husband, who were born in the same day and same year. I don't have a picture of the special couple, but here's a picture of Pat (right in pink T-shirt) and Java Mama at the shelter where they volunteer. They met on our little corner.