I'm
excited to let you know that Susan (Hahtoolah) has agreed to blog for us
once a month. Hahtoolah has been with us since 2009. She always comes
to the blog with observant crossword comments and great quotes related
to some grid entries. Hahtoolah loves reading and traveling. She's been
everywhere, including China. She officially retired in January this
year.
Division of Labor
Oh, the dreaded circle puzzle! In today's puzzle, though the circles "divide" a particular job, or type of labor. It's actually quite clever. The jobs are all 6-letter. How cool is that? So what jobs are divided here? Read the professions in the circles:
22-A. Picnic side with Parmesan dressing: CAESAR COLESLAW, and 24-A. Seuss' turtle king: YERTLE. LAWYER. My profession.
29-A. Monopoly maker: HASBRO, and 32-A. "Bein' Green" singer: KERMIT THE FROG. BROKER.
57-A. Post production?: RAISIN BRAN, and 59-A. Logo modeled for five-month-old Ann Turner Cook [b. Nov. 20, 1926]: GERBER BABY. RANGER.
Ann Turner Cook - Then and now:
80-A. Actress' first film: MOVIE DEBUT, and 83-A. Jim Croce title guy: LEROY BROWN. BUTLER.
105-A. Successor to Canada's Stephen Harper: JUSTIN TRUDEAU, and 109-A. Bike trail hazards: THORNS. AUTHOR.
115-A. Weather map line: ISOBAR, and 117-A. Tea-flavoring citrus fruit: BERGAMOT ORANGE. BARBER.
Across:
1. Numbers on letters: ZIP CODE. It stands for Zoning Improvement Plan
8. Pester constantly: BADGER. I really wanted Bother.
14. Range: SCOPE.
19. Facetious local subject in many articles in "The Onion": AREA MAN. I have never read The Onion.
20. Classified stat: AD RATE.
21. Got misty-eyed, with "up": TEARED. What happens to you when you read The Onion, maybe.
25. Place to check for prints: ART SALE.
26. Heart charts, for short: ECGS. As in the ElectroCardioGrams, sometimes called EKGs. It's a diagnostic tool for assessing the electrical and muscular function of the heart.
28. Chick magnet?: HEN.
37. Jewish Community Center component gp.: YMHA. As in the Young Men's Hebrew Association, not the Youngstown Metropolitan Housing Authority. Not all Jewish Community Centers, however, have a YMHA.
38. "Back in the __": USSR. The Beatles!
40. Place for a stud: EAR. I wasn't fooled by this clue. We've seen it in the puzzles before.
41. Lake near the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: ERIE. Hi, Abejo!
42. Symbol of simplicity: PIE. This puzzle was As Easy As Pie.
43. Canonized Mlle.: STE. Today's French lesson, abbreviation for Saint.
44. Tehran-based carrier: IRAN AIR. I took a wild guess that the airline would include the name of the country.
47. ''Finished!'': THERE!
51. Long-necked wader: EGRET. Lots of EGRETS in my neighborhood. I live near a lake.
53. Samurai lacking a master: RONIN. No idea, but apparently RONIN is also the name of a movie starring Robert DeNiro.
55. Actress Joanne: DRU. Joanne DRU (née Joan Letitia LaCock; Jan. 31, 1922 - Sept. 10, 1996) was the older sister of Peter Marshall, the gameshow host. I had heard of him, but not her.
56. Stratford's river: AVON. Ding-Dong!
62. Thread holder: SPOOL.
63. Bus. school test: GMAT. As in the Graduate Management Admission Test.
65. Brief street sign: SLO.
66. Org. in "Traffic": DEA. As in the Drug Enforcement Administration, a federal law enforcement agency housed within the United States Department of Justice.
67. Tent entrances: FLAPS.
69. It burns in December: YULE LOG.
72. Blew away: WOWED.
74. Oktoberfest drink: ALE.
75. "Ben-Hur" novelist Wallace: LEW. Lew Wallace (Apr. 10, 1827- Feb. 15, 1905) was a Union General in the American Civil War and author. Ben Hur follows the life of Judah Ben-Hur, a Jewish prince who was enslaved by the Romans at the beginning of the first century. He later became a charioteer and converted to Christianity.
77. Alien-seeking gp.: SETI. As in Search for ExtraTerrestial Intelligence. I learned about SETI from its frequent appearances in the crossword puzzles.
78. First president with a Twitter account: OBAMA. No politics, although Trump is the same number of letters.
88. Get ready: PREP.
89. Berne's river: AAR.
90. Sch. health course: SEX ED. Is one Sexed in Sex Ed?
91. Schoolyard comeback: AM TOO!
92. Place to make waves: SALON. A good misdirection.
94. Like many family-owned companies: NEPOTIC.
96. RNs' workplaces: ERs. Registered Nurses might work in Emergency Rooms.
98. Med. care provider: HMO. As in a Health Maintenance Organization.
99. Mazar of "Entourage": DEBI. I never saw Entourage, but have seen DEBI Mazar (b. Aug. 13, 1964) in other shows.
101. MLB's steroid __: ERA. According to ESPN, apparently the Steroid ERA ran from the late 1980s through the 2000s.
102. __-da: pretentious: LA-DI. Makes me think of Annie Hall.
104. Deck furniture wood: TEAK.
111. "Swell!": FAB.
112. Full of energy: GO GO. Meh!
113. CVS rival: RITE AID. All the RITE AID stores in my area have been either closed or converted to Walgreens.
124. Lassie, for one: COLLIE.
125. Pass, as time: ELAPSE.
126. Formal address: ORATION.
127. Composer Bruckner: ANTON. I am not familiar with ANTON Bruckner (Sept. 4, 1824 - Oct. 11, 1896). Apparently he was an Austrian composer. (Thanks, Jason!)
128. Fluctuated wildly: YO-YO'ED.
129. Handle holder: NAME TAG. Cute clue
Down:
1. Efron of "Baywatch" (2017): ZAC. ZAC Efron (b. Oct. 18, 1987) was also the lead in the High School Musical, which I never saw but it certainly had a lot of publicity.
2. Tax-deferred acct.: IRA. As in Individual Retirement Account.
3. __ Wee Reese: PEE. PEE Wee Reese (né Harold Peter Henry Reese, July 23, 1918 - Aug. 14, 1999), was a professional baseball player. He played shortstop for the Brooklyn Dodgers and the Los Angeles Dodgers from 1940 to 1958.
4. Winter melon: CASABA. Yum.
5. Sydney of astrology: OMARR. No idea. Sydney OMARR (né Sidney Kimmelman, Aug. 5, 1926 - Jan. 2, 2003) was, apparently an astrologer to the rich and famous. Since I am neither rich nor famous, I guess that explains why I never heard of him.
6. Dash from hiding: DART OUT.
7. Env. add-ins: ENCS. As Enclosures to letters in Envelopes.
8. One really on her toes: BALLERINA.
9. "Doe, __ ... ": A DEER, a female deer ...
10. "House" figs.: DRs. House was a television drama about doctors. The patient always had some life-threatening disease, that only after lots of consultations, only Dr. House could properly diagnose.
11. Hoedown honey: GAL.
12. Uber approx.: ETA. As in Estimated Time of Arrival, I suppose.
13. Drop more Visine in, say: RE-WET. Visine is a brand of eye drops.
14. Deems appropriate: SEES FIT.
15. Jaguar, e.g.: CAR not to be confused with 103-D Jaguar, e.g.: AUTO. Wait a minute! Both clues refer to motor vehicles.
16. Bug B Gon maker: ORTHO.
17. Pequod co-owner: PELEG. A reference to the book Moby Dick.
18. Home of the first family: EDEN. Cute clue.
21. "Burning bright" poem critter: TYGER. A poem by William Blake (Nov. 28, 1757 - Aug. 12, 1827), the first line of which reads as follows:
Tyger Tyger, burning bright,
In the forests of the night;
What immortal hand or eye,
Could frame thy fearful symmetry?
23. State trees of six U.S. states: OAKs. I really wanted this to be Pine, but more than 6 states have their state tree as a variation of a pine tree. The Bald Cypress is the state tree of Louisiana. What is your state tree?
27. Rosy-cheeked angels: CHERUBS.
29. Overly energetic: HYPER.
30. Felipe's female friend: AMIGA. Today's Spanish lesson.
31. Sci-fi author __ S. Tepper: SHERI. Sci-fi is not my genre, so I am not familiar with the works of SHERI S. Tepper (née Shirley Stewart Douglas, July 16, 1929 - Oct. 22, 2016)
33. Vicious: MEAN.
34. Actor McKellen: IAN. That's Sir Ian (b. May 25, 1939) to you!
35. Exchange (a player) with: TRADE TO.
36. P.T. program: RE-HAB. As in Rehabilitation.
39. __-Croatian language: SERBO.
43. Paint with dots: STIPPLE. A learning moment.
45. Curly lock: RINGLET.
46. Discount tag abbr.: IRR. As in Irregular. No wonder this shirt is so cheap - there is only one arm hole.
48. Sidestep: EVADE. I initially tried Avoid.
49. Like trial judges: ROBED. Supreme Court Justices, too.
50. Singer from County Donegal: ENYA. Her given name is Eithne Pádraigín Ní Bhraonáin (b. May 17, 1961). No wonder she goes by ENYA.
52. She, in Sicily: ESSA. Today's Italian lesson.
54. Air France hub: ORLY. The Charles DeGaulle is the primary international airport in France, but ORLY is a close second.
58. Word with hard or red: NOSED. As in Hard-Nosed or Rudolph the Red-Nosed.
59. Name on Pisa's airport: GALILEI. Italy's airport named in honor of Galileo Galilei (Feb. 15, 1564 - Jan. 8, 1642).
60. Hall of Fame Bronco: ELWAY. As in quarterback John Albert Elway, Jr. (b. June 28, 1960).
61. Floor-cleaning robots: ROOMBAS. I was sure these things were called Zoombas, but I knew Gerbez Baby made no sense.
64. Shook hands with, perhaps: MET.
67. Regional plant life: FLORA. The regional animal life is the Fauna.
68. Be straight (with): LEVEL.
70. Power grabber: USURPER.
71. Horror film feature, often: GORE.
73. Friendly: WARM.
74. Concert array: AMPs. As in the Amplifiers.
76. Gradually withdrawing (from): WEANING.
79. Portended: BODED.
81. Devices with earbuds: iPODS. I love my iPod. I listen to all sorts of podcasts.
82. Main squeeze, slangily: BAE. I am not familiar with this term. I have heard a main squeeze as being referred to a Boo, however.
84. Cried out: EXCLAIMED.
85. Significant person?: OTHER.
86. Many a NOW co-founder: WOMAN. As in the National Organization for Women.
87. Secluded places: NOOKS.
90. Dutch burg: STAD. Today's Dutch lesson.
93. Margin at the bottom: NET GAIN.
95. Tulsa sch. with a Prayer Tower: ORU. As in Oral Roberts University, a Christian liberal arts school.
97. "R.I.P." singer: RITA ORA. I am not familiar with either the song or the singer. RITA ORA (née Rita Sahatçiu Ora, b. Nov. 26, 1990).
100. Deep Pore Charcoal Cleanser brand: BIORE.
104. Until now: TO DATE.
105. Alexander of "Seinfeld": JASON. Jason Alexander (né Jay Scott Greenspan, b. Sept. 23, 1959) was great as George in Seinfeld.
106. Letter-shaped fastener: U-BOLT.
107. Actor Maguire: TOBEY. TOBEY Maguire (né Tobias Vincent Maguire, June 27, 1975) was in The Cider House Rules.
108. Remove all traces of: ERASE.
110. Walker on a bottle: HIRAM. My first thought was Johnnie, but that is too many letters. Hiram Walker (July 4, 1816 - Jan. 12, 1899) founded Canadian Club whisky.
111. Pay stub abbr.: FICA. As in the Federal Insurance Contributions Act.
114. Eddie Redmayne's alma mater: ETON. Eddie Redmayne (b. Jan. 6, 1982) and Prince William (b. June 21, 1982) were classmates at ETON.
116. Rain-__ bubble gum: BLO.
118. "Strange Magic" band: ELO. As in the Electric Light Orchestra.
119. Beam of light: RAY.
120. Mailing ctr.: GPO.
121. Minor gripe: NIT.
122. __ long way: GO A.
123. Coll. major: ENG. As in English. Would you like Fries with That?
I hope you enjoyed my initial foray into being a blog WRIT ER.
I will leave you with today's QOD: I can’t take a well-tanned person seriously. ~ Cleveland Amory (Sept. 2, 1917 ~ Oct. 14, 1998)
