Firm Beliefs
18. "This Kiss" country singer: FAITH HILL
26. Swindler's swindle: CONFIDENCE GAME
47. Important percentage to a prosecutor: CONVICTION RATE
61. Heir's financial security: TRUST FUND
"Faith, Confidence, Conviction and Trust." How beautiful is that ? It just sounds nice as it rolls off the tongue. Each of those four words is synonymous with having firm belief.
ACROSS:
1. Stick a toothpick in: SPEAR
6. Former auto financing co.: GMAC. GMAC became Ally Financial. The auto financing arm of GM is now GM Financial.
10. Get smart with: SASS. As the kid who was stopped for speeding rolled down his window, the police office said 'I've been waiting for you all day.' The kid replied, 'Yeah, well I got here as fast as I could.'
14. "The Chew" co-host Hall: CARLA. "With love, Carla Hall"
15. Dinghy steering tools: OARS
16. Award coveted on "Mad Men": CLIO. Advertising award. "... annual award program that recognizes innovation and creative excellence in advertising, design and communication."
17. In the sky: ALOFT
20. City near Scottsdale: MESA. Zoom in, zoom out.
21. Cookbook maven Rombauer: IRMA. Joy of Cooking fame.
22. Childish retort: AM TOO. Am not. Am too. Am not. Am too. Am not. Am too.
23. Freeway division: LANE
25. Go quickly, quaintly: HIE
33. Pain-relieving drug: OPIATE
34. Sailor: TAR Here's Popeye the Sailor starring in an oater, "Tar With A Star"
35. "__ Tide!": Alabama cheer: ROLL ESPN "Roll Tide" Commercial
37. Derby-wearing Addams cousin: ITT.
41. "Argo" spy gp.: CIA
42. Blaze: FIRE
44. Braying beast: ASS
45. Nautical measure: FATHOM. As a noun, a unit of measure, equal to 6 feet.
50. Animation still: CEL
51. First Nations tribe: CREE. First Nations refers to the indigenous peoples of Canada, south of the Arctic Circle. Cree Indians are a First Nations tribe. Today, there are over 135 bands (James Bay Cree, Woodland Cree, Plain Cree Indians, etc.) in Canada alone, and over 200,000 Cree Indians in North America. Source: Indians.Org and Wikipedia.
52. Hawke of "Training Day": ETHAN
55. RR station posting: SKED. Personally noticing this more often as an abbreviation for schedule.
57. Save, with "away": SOCK
63. Scrabble 10-pointer: Z TILE. The Q tile is another 10-pointer. QI is the single most played word in Scrabble tournaments according to Merriam-Webster. We see it as CHI in crossword puzzles.
64. PetSmart purchase: CAGE
65. Environs: AREA
66. Metallic mixture: ALLOY
67. Gps. requiring copays: HMOs. That clue and answer almost ran rife with abbreviations.
68. Abound (with): TEEM
69. Younger siblings, at times: PESTS
DOWN:
1. Bogus offer: SCAM. Like a swindler's swindle.
2. Light in color: PALE. Ashy
3. Arrow shooter of myth: EROS
4. "Our Gang" kid with spiky hair: ALFALFA
5. Chinese zodiac animal: RAT. The first in the 12-year cycle of the Chinese zodiac. We are currently in the year of the Dog.
6. Be released: GO FREE
7. Respectful address: MAAM. Ma'am.
8. Song often sung in Italian: ARIA
9. Ill. clock setting: CST. We are currently using CDT.
10. Bagel spread: SCHMEAR
11. Touched down: ALIT
12. Where feed can be stored: SILO. In a different sense, these can be empirical structures that often hinder organizational growth and business objectives in mid and large-sized corporations. We called the people that created these de facto silos "Empire builders."
13. Unaided: SOLO
19. Reagan's first secretary of state: HAIG. Alexander M. Haig. He was also the Chief of Staff for both Nixon and Ford.
21. With all the fine points: IN DETAIL
24. River isles: AITs.
25. British cattle breed: HEREFORD. 10 native British cattle breeds and how to recognize them
26. Salon do: COIF
27. __ nerve: OPTIC
28. Explosive liquid, briefly: NITRO
29. Modern mil. treaty violation: N-TEST. Nuclear testing
30. Keep from going higher: CAP. A golfing buddy sold electrical supplies to commercial and residential contractors. He worked untiringly for his customers. Their success meant his success. It could become annoying on the golf course when he took calls, but his customers and work came first. He left the distributor after the owners capped his "going-forward" commission rate following a string of very successful sales years. In short time, so did many on his customers. The small business learned that when you sell products that are considered commodities, the difference between failure and success often boils down to the people you hire, the relationships and goodwill developed with customers, and the levels of service provided.
31. Starbucks flavor: MOCHA
32. "Adam Bede" novelist George: ELIOT
36. Like a weak excuse: LAME
39. Changed-my-mind key: ESCape.
40. Great __: big dog: DANE. Very large lap dogs. Irish Miss, Misty and Pat are fellow dog lovers.
43. Crates up: ENCASES
46. Railroad bridge framework: TRESTLE
48. Opening for air: VENT
49. Winter river blockage: ICE DAM.
52. Make a fine impression?: ETCH
53. Monorail transport: TRAM
54. Award for Isaac Asimov: HUGO. Literary awards "...given annually for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year." Way back when, I read Asimov, Pohl, Clarke, Heinlein and others. A brother and sister were avid readers of Sci-fi, and I got hooked for a few years. Do you remember the vivid cover art on the paperbacks ?
55. "By all means!": SURE
56. Replaceable joint: KNEE
58. Masseur's supply: OILS
59. Coagulate: CLOT
60. Door openers: KEYS
62. Liposuction target: FAT
63. Heat in a microwave: ZAP
I have Faith, Confidence, Conviction and Trust that Argyle will return to the Corner as soon as he is able.
See all y'all later n'at !
