A Themeless Tuesday? Where does this LEDE? LEDE: The opening sentence or
paragraph of a news article, summarizing the most important aspects of the
story.
Across:
1. Analyze grammatically: PARSE.
6. Comic Silverman: SARAH.
Sarah Kate Silverman (b. Dec. 1, 1970)
11. Atlanta-to-Miami dir.: SSE. It will take nearly 11 hours
to drive South-SouthEast from Atlanta, Georgia to Miami, Florida.
14. At full speed: AMAIN. This is an archaic usage of the
word.
15. Actress De La Garza: ALANA.
16. "Buffy" airer after The WB: UPN. As in the United Paramount Network.
19. Part of LGBTQ: GAY.
20. Ashtabula's lake: ERIE. Ashtabula is a city in Ohio.
It's the tiny red dot on the map below.
Seeing Erie reminded me of our dear friend Abejo seen here with Madame
DeFarge.
21. Fruity drinks: ADES. Hi, Lemonade!
22. Master, in Swahili: BWANA.
24. Earthquakes: SEISMS.
26. Cold one at a bar: BEER.
33. Split up: END IT.
36. Aired again: RERAN. Hubby has recently been watching
reruns of Raymond Burr's version of Perry Mason.
37. Immigrants' subj.: ESL. As in English as a Second Language.
38. Gunk: GOOP.
39. Helen who sang "I Am Woman": REDDY. Sadly, Helen Reddy
(née Helen Maxine Reddy; Oct. 25, 1941 ~ Sept. 29, 2020) died just a month
ago. Last Sunday would have been her 79th birthday.
40. In good health: WELL.
41. Post-apartheid ruling party: Abbr.: ANC. As in
the African National Congress. It is the ruling party of the Republic of South Africa.
42. With "en," hot, in sports slang: FUEGO. Today's Spanish
lesson.
43. Spoils, with "on": DOTES.
47. __ center: exact middle: DEAD.
48. Unaffiliated film studios: INDIES. As in Independent
films.
52. Artist's flat hat: BERET.
54. Poker Flat chronicler Harte: BRET. Bret Harte (Aug. 25,
1836 ~ May 5, 1902) make frequent guest appearances in the puzzles. He
is known for writing short stories of adventure and the California Gold Rush.
57. __-dieu: kneeler: PRIE.
58. Antipollution org.: EPA. As in the Environmental Protection Agency. The agency was established in 1970. William Ruckelshaus
(July 24, 1932 ~ Nov. 27, 2019) was its first administrator.
62. Ready-fire link: AIM.
63. Correct, as text: EMEND.
64. Like Olympic pools: LANED.
65. __ Victor: record label: RCA.
66. Broad valleys: DALEs. Hi, Lucina!
67. Mike who voiced Shrek: MYERS.
Mike Myers (né Michael John Myers; b. May 25, 1963) is on the left.
9. Oscar winner Lee: ANG. Ang Lee (b. Oct. 23, 1954) just
celebrated his 66th birthday. He has been nominated for 9 Academy Awards
and has won 3 Oscars: Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon for Best
Foreign Language film; Brokeback Mountain and Life of Pi won for Best Director.
10. Washed-up star: HAS BEEN. I have a friend who calls her
ex-husband her Was Been.
11. Sucrose-rich root veggie: SUGAR BEET. Who know there
were so many different kinds of beets?
12. Bridge: SPAN. When it was built in 1969, the Lake
Ponchartrain Causeway, connecting Metairie and Mandeville, Louisiana, was the
longest bridge over water. It spans just under 24 miles.
13. Irish New Ager: ENYA. Her full name is Eithne
Pádraigín Ní Bhraonáin (b. May 17, 1961). No wonder she goes by Enya!
18. Steinbeck's "__ of Eden": EAST. East of Eden is one of
my favorite John Steinbeck (Feb. 27, 1902 ~ Dec. 20, 1968) novels.
Steinbeck was the recipient of the 1962 Nobel Prize in Literature.
23. World Wide __: WEB.
25. Sch. near Harvard: MIT. As in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Many years ago, I worked there.
26. Time for cake with candles, informally: B'DAY.
28. Cornered on a limb: TREED.
29. Flowerpot spot: LEDGE.
30. MD meeting an ambulance: ER DOC. As in the Emergency Room Doctor.
31. "Cast Away" setting: ISLE. I never saw this movie, which
starred Tom Hanks (b. July 9, 1956).
32. Building additions: ELLs.
33. "Good grief!": EGAD!
34. It's forbidden: NO-NO.
35. Semifictional film genre: DOCUDRAMA. Sully, the 2016
movie which also starred Tom Hanks, is an example of a docudrama. It was
about Captain Sully Sullenberg (b. Jan. 23, 1951) as he was forced to make an
emergency landing in the Hudson River.
39. Felt bad about: RUED.
40. 2006 film about crosswords: WORDPLAY. A "must see" for
crossword lovers.
42. Open-bodied truck: FLATBED.
43. Animal house: DEN. // And 52-Down: Den
denizen: BEAR.
45. Buzzing flier: BEE.
46. Friends and neighbors: KITH. According to the Macmillan
Dictionary: "Kith comes from a word of Germanic origin meaning ‘known’.
Kin is also of Germanic origin, from an Indo-European root meaning ‘give
birth to’. Your kith are your friends or acquaintances, while your kin
are all the people you are related to."
49. "Flashdance...What a Feeling" singer Cara: IRENE. This
song won Irene Cara (née Irene Cara Escalera; b. Mar. 18, 1959) an Oscar for
Best Original Song.
50. Down-yielding duck: EIDER.
51. Plants-to-be: SEEDS.
53. "Beowulf," e.g.: EPIC. When I was a kid, I thought this
Old English epic poem was about a wolf.
54. Belgian composer Jacques: BREL. Jacques Romain Georges
Brel (Apr. 8, 1929 ~ Oct. 9, 1978) was also a successful actor. Sadly,
he died at age 49.
55. Hall of Famer Sandberg: RYNE. Ryne Dee Sandberg (b.
Sept. 18, 1959) played for Philadelphia and the Chicago Cubs.
56. Approx. takeoff hours: ETDs. As in Estimated Time of Departures.
60. Actress Thurman: UMA. Uma Karuna Thurman (b. Apr. 29,
1970) and John Joseph Travolta (b. Feb. 18, 1954) in their famous dance scene
from Pulp Fiction.
61. "Slippery" tree: ELM.
~~~~
Ah, there is a theme after all. It just got buried!
17-Across. Breakfast dish that sounds spoiled?: CODDLED EGGS.
27-Across. Snack cake brand named for a four-year-old: LITTLE DEBBIE.
44-Across. Two-level bus: DOUBLE DECKER.
And the Unifier:
59-Across. Postpone an article's essential points ... and a hint to 17-, 27-
and 44-Across: BURY THE LEDE. We have had some discussions recently on the word LEDE.
According to Meriam-Webster, "The spelling of lede is
allegedly so as to not confuse it with lead which referred to the strip of
metal that would separate lines of type. ... In journalism, the lede refers
to the introductory section of a news story that is intended to entice the
reader to read the full story.
Here's the Grid:
Another hurricane is headed my way!
Notes from C.C.:
1) Ah, such a brilliant approach, Susan!
2) Happy 73rd birthday to Boomer, the absolute center of my world.
Boomer goes through each treatment, each pill change, each VA visit with
humor and optimism. He does not complain. He just quietly fights against
pain, discomfort and the other side effects of those toxic cancer drugs
every day. Here's Boomer showing off his 300 plaque.
3) Here's another great picture of our
California Coven: Chickie, Chris and JD. They met up yesterday for coffee outside. Click
here
for more pictures of their meetings in the past.
L to R: Chickie (Leah), Garlic Gal (Chris) and JD (Judy)