20 A. Gathering for February's big game : SUPER BOWL PARTY. A group of friends might get together to watch the game, and there is a certain culinary item, to be identified in good time, which might be consider traditional for the event. It is related to the city of Buffalo, though their team is about as likely to show up there as the Lions. At least the Lions squeaked into the play-offs this year. Fivethirtyeight.com gives them a 29% chance of getting past the Sea Hawks and <1% chance of winning the SUPER BOWL. I love their optimism.
38 A. George Washington never slept there : THE WHITE HOUSE. This has been the presidential residence since John Adams occupied it in 1800. George Washington was the first president after the adoption of the Constitution, serving from 1789 to 1797. The interior of the original structure was destroyed by the British during the war of 1812, but reconstruction began almost immediately. An addition on the western side of the building was completed in 1901. An addition on the east side, now used as the visitor's entrance, was completed in 1942. More on these later.
58 A. Heavenly protectors : GUARDIAN ANGELS. Since antiquity, ANGELS have been believed to be spiritual beings that are superior to humans in power and intelligence. The Christian concept of their hierarchy and duties was largely developed in the 5th century. A GUARDIAN ANGEL is presumed to watch over and guide a specific person, group, or nation. When anthropomorphized in art and literature, they are generally conceived as having certain anatomical features that are not characteristic of human kind. So ---
The WHITE HOUSE east and west WINGS,as mentioned above.
ANGELS are generally pictured with enormous WINGS sprouting from where their shoulder blades ought to be. How they get into those robes is a bit of a mystery.
Hi gang, and happy New Year. JazzBumpa here to take you soaring through Ed's entry. This is pretty much my kind of theme, with a common word displaying a few different meanings. Let's launch into it!
Across
1. "Scrubs" nurse married to Dr. Turk : CARLA. TV show that ran from 2001 to 2010. I only watched it a few times.
6. Suddenly became attentive : SAT UP. And took notice.
11. Letter addition letters : PPS. Post Scripts. I wanted PS'S.
14. They may be gray : AREAS. Found in many regions of thought and philosophy.
15. Make one of many : UNITE.
16. __ polloi : HOI. Ordinary folk . . .
17. Brown bread : TOAST. S/B browned bread.
18. Files in a recycle bin : DELETIONS. Computer files.
22. Exploit : USE.
23. Flooring choice : OAK.
24. Irish lullaby syllables : LOORA.
26. Colombia neighbor : PERU. South American countries.
28. Lead-in for jet or prop : TURBO. Airplane propulsion systems.
32. Gritty genre : NOIR. Crime fiction characterized by fatalism, cynicism and moral ambiguity.
33. Second of three O's : TAC. In the game of noughts and crosses, aka tic-tac-toe, played on a hash tag grid.
35. Job rights agcy. : EEOC. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
37. Adobe file format : PDF. Portable Data File
42. Singer Carly __ Jepsen : RAE. Canadian singer/song writer who has won many awards.
43. Sainted fifth-century pope : LEO I. Pope from 440 t0 461. An Italian aristocrat who persuaded Attila the Hun to not attack Rome in 452.
44. Novelist Deighton : LEN. Acclaimed spy novelist, military historian, cookery writer and graphic artist.
45. Publication sales fig. : CIRCulation.
47. 1983 60-Down winner Tom : SNEVA. Also known for his several crashes, holding the record for the most crashes during the Indianapolis 500 race. The most notable was in 1977, when his car got ripped in half.
49. Siouan tribe : OTOE. A semi-nomadic people who lived along the Missouri River, farming and hunting buffalo. With or without the terminal E they populate far more crossword puzzles than do the Iroquois.
53. Big aluminum producer : ALCOA. Foiled again!
55. Yale Blue wearer : ELI. The nickname for the Yale student.
57. Took cover : HID.
63. Fleeting affair : DALLIANCE. A fling.
64. "The Maltese Falcon" actor Peter : LORRE. Speaking of film NOIR - this 1941 adaptation of Dashiell Hammett's 1929 novel stars Humphrey Bogart as detective Sam Spade and Mary Astor as his femme fatal client.
65. French season : ETE. Summer.
66. Pianist Watts : ANDRE.
A short excerpt
67. Bubbling hot : ABOIL. A dreaded A- word. Dreaded because they are almost never used in actual conversation, thus not really in the language, except perhaps at the fringe.
68. Director Anderson : WES. Known for The Royal Tenenbaums, Moonrise Kingdom, The Grand Budapest Hotel, and several others.
69. Seven-__ cake : LAYER. Rich desert. Have a narrow slice.
Down
1. Takeout packet : CATSUP. Side vegetable to go with your happy meal.
Down
1. Takeout packet : CATSUP. Side vegetable to go with your happy meal.
2. Stir to action : AROUSE. Excite or incite.
3. One with a sickle : REAPER. He can be grim.
4. Operate using a beam : LASE. Using a LASER in a surgical or commercial operation.
5. Houston pro : ASTRO. Baseball - many long and dreary months away.
6. Daily paper logic puzzle : SUDOKU. Numbers in a box.
7. From the beginning : ANEW. All over again. Devja vu, anyone?
8. Dough drawer : TILL. Cash register drawer; dough, as in bread, so to speak.
9. Sch. near the Rio Grande : University of Texas at El Paso.
10. Iris part : PETAL. Flower, not a portion of the uvea. Anyway, I went into a blind ally with sepal.
11. Occasions that usually elicit big smiles : PHOTO-OPS. Chances for publicity pics. Say cheesy.
12. Fair activity for kids : PONY RIDE. Activity at the fair, not necessarily in a fair way, which would involve golf. This is getting rough.
13. One of the fam : SIS. I have one. No bro, though.
19. Waffle maker : IRON. Batter up!
21. Baker's units : BATCHES. As, frex, of cookies, from my SIS.
25. "Walk me!" : ARF. Dog speak.
27. 4 x 4, briefly : UTE. Sports Utility Vehicle.
29. Tighten, as laces : RETIE. Shoe business.
30. Nectar eater : BEE.
31. French "Wowza!" : OOH LA LA.
34. Leather punch : AWL. Small pointed tool used to pierce holes.
36. Miler Sebastian : COE. British inner of 4 Olympic gold metals in 1980 and '84, who went on to be a member of parliament from 1992-97. Now he is a chancellor at Loughborough University and chairman of the British Olympic Association.
38. Follow too closely : TAILGATE. Alternatively, a pre-game outdoor party that might involve WINGS.
39. Mythical hero with a labor force? : HERCULES. He was forced to perform 12 labors, involving a great deal of murder, theft and mayhem. Sneaky clue.
40. Electrified particle : ION. An atom or molecule either having or lacking one or more electrons from its neutral state.
41. Colorful card game : UNO.
42. LG rival : RCA.
46. Early steam engine fuel : COAL.
48. Facade : VENEER. This is a stretch. A VENEER is a thin layer of fine wood applied over a not so fine wood, while a facade is the front of a building. Either might also indicate an outward appearance designed to conceal something that is probably dishonest or unpleasant.
50. Charlize of "Monster" : THERON. A movie about that rare aberration - a female serial killer. Quite a transformation for this role.
51. Coastal fuel extractor : OIL RIG. We won't talk about the spills.
52. 1950s disasters : EDSELS. This classic car a disaster?!? Oh, come now.
54. Easy-to-read font : ARIAL. Like this.
56. Marriage acquisition : IN-LAW. Relatively speaking.
59. Perfumery that created Tabu : DANA. House of DANA perfumery was established in Barcelona, Spain in 1932. the headquarters moved to Paris, then to the U.S. during WW II
60. 200-lap race, briefly : INDY. The Indianapolis 500.
61. 43,560 square feet : ACRE. Or, 1/640 Sq. Mi.
62. Asian desert : GOBI. Spanning northwestern China and southern Mongolia.
63. Grass coating : DEW. Droplets of condensed water.
As you have probably guessed by now, I usually just WING it on these write-ups. Hope this one didn't ruffle your feathers.
Cool regards!
JzB
