Saturday, July 20, 2019, Paolo Pasco, Erik Agard

Themeless Saturday Puzzle by Paolo Pasco and Erik Agard

Karma or not, this NASA educator is proud to be able to blog on this auspicious golden anniversary of Neil Armstrong's "small step/giant leap". Fifty years ago today I baled hay in  for my father-in-law and then watched one of the most historic events in world history that evening along with billions of other earthlings.

          Buzz Aldrin                                      My 7/21/69 Omaha World Herald

The irony of the picture above is that it is of Buzz Aldrin as are all other posed pictures of either of the two first two humans on the Moon. Neil Armstrong took the picture and you can see his reflection and the Eagle Lunar Module in Buzz's 24K gold face mask. 18. Lead-in for time or point: AT NO time did the geniuses at NASA think to tell Neil to give the camera to Buzz so they could get a picture of him. 

Speaking of geniuses (genii?), today's wonderful exercise was created by these two. 

Paolo Pasco                                                 Erik Agard

An article in the Harvard Magazine about Paolo.

A C.C. interview with Erik (before he was on Jeopardy)

I got through in good time as most of the long fills, except for 1 Across, were very gettable.

Now let's take one small step  for learning and one giant leap for entertainment with Paolo and Erik (and me in my NASA presentation outfit)

Across:

1. Title toon toy-fixer with a magic stethoscope: DOC MCSTUFFINS - No idea

14. Short-distance fliers: PAPER AIRPLANES.

15. Philosophical consoling words: WIN SOME LOSE SOME and some get rained out

16. __ hall: REC(reation)

17. Tony-winning 2017 play about international diplomacy: OSLO  A preview/trailer

19. Diamonds, in slang: ICE.

20. Texas art patron __ Hogg: IMA - She signed her first name as illegibly as possible but made big marks in the arts and in the area of mental health

21. C or P, on a diamond: POS - The Pitcher POSITION is 1 in a baseball scorebook and the Catcher is 2

23. Lab workers: TECHS.

25. It means nothing in Paris: RIEN - Il ne coûte RIEN d'être civil ici (It costs nothing to be civil here)


27. Jolie 2010 title role: SALT - Meh...

39. "Little Miss Sunshine" Oscar winner: ARKIN - On the other hand... 

31. Pakistani prime minister __ Khan: IMRAN - Here ya go

32. Lock expert?: WRESTLER - Usually a headlock

34. "Cool beans!": NEATO.

35. Prefix with grace: DIS.

36. Valletta's island: MALTA - About a hour-and-a-half flight from Rome

37. Journals: GAZETTES - Founded in 1845, this is said to be America's first pop-culture publication

40. Runner on runners: SLED.

41. Jewish youth org.: YMHA - Young Men's Hebrew Association 

43. Monopoly figures: RENTS.

44. __ hug: BRO.

45. Letters associated with a lion: MGM.

47. German grandpa: OPA - Ich bin ein OPA von fünf tollen Leuten ( I am a grandpa to five great people)

48. Lose focus, with "out": ZONE.

51. Rested: LAIN - Take this online quiz on lie and lay (click on Take)

53. Female in WWII: WAC.

54. Track star?: RECORDING ARTIST - My 1962 Roy Orbison album had six tracks on the front and six tracks on the back 59. Audio feedback?: I LOVE THIS SONG - Track number 1, Crying, was my favorite where Roy unleashes his operatic voice


58. Action movie cry: BATTLE STATIONS.


Down:

1. Moves in for a short time?: DANCE CRAZE - Okay, Paolo and Erik, who came up with this fabulous clue? The Macarena "Moves" were "in for a short time"

2. Special __: OPS.

3. One on top of an org chart: CEO.

4. 1983 comedy about a stay-at-home dad: MR. MOM - 57% or not, I liked it

5. Salad choice: CAESAR.

6. Flower pot holder: SILL.

7. State enforcement group: TROOPERS - State TROOPERS seldom get passed on the interstate

8. Prosperous times: UPS - Every life has its UPS and Downs

9. Lab annoyances: FLEAS - This Lab is a dog not a room

10. Securely: FAST.

11. Advised of: IN ON.

12. Friend of Dory: NEMO - Dory's advice (:28) that meant 29. "That's not worth getting riled up over": LET IT PASS.

13. Abbr. aptly found in "compasses": SSE - A heading of 157.5 degrees on a ship's compass

14. Done in fragments: PIECEMEAL as opposed to 22. Not in fragments: ONE - Marijuana laws

15. Penned works: WRITINGS.

20. "Wrong!": IS NOT - How white-haired Buzz Aldrin reacted when confronted by an idiot man who said the Moon landing was a hoax

24. Not at all popular: HATED.

26. "In a perfect world ... ": I WISH.

27. Long look: STARE - STARE at the black dot in the middle of this flag for 30 seconds without blinking and then look at the blank space at the right (blink to enhance the image)

28. Omniscient: ALL KNOWING.

30. Carry on, as business: TRANSACT.

33. Unction: SMARM - From dictionary.com 

1    UNCTION

a manner of expression arising or apparently arising from deep emotion, especially as intended to flatter.

"he spoke the last two words with exaggerated unction"

SMARM

ingratiating behavior.

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"it takes a combination of smarm and confidence to persuade them"

35. Reduce to bits: DEMOLISH.

38. Norse war god: TYR - All you'd ever want to know

42. Granada gal pals: AMIGAS.

44. Uncle Miltie of early TV: BERLE - Vaudeville on the small screen

46. Annoyances in clouds: GNATS - Yikes!

48. Ardor: ZEAL.

49. Quadri- doubled: OCTO.

50. Grounding rule, perhaps: NO TV - or cell phone, computer, game boy, etc

52. Inclined to fight: ANTI.

54. Homer stat: RBI - Some now say, "She has 47 RBI" instead of "RBI's" because the R stands for Runs

55. Many a "Brooklyn Nine-Nine" character: Abbr.: DET - I wonder if fans of that show know of Holmes, Hammer, Marple or Poirot

56. River in Mexico: RIO.

57. Long or short unit: TON  - A long TON is 20 hundredweight (cwt), each of which is 8 stone (1 stone = 14 pounds). Thus a long ton is 20 × 8 × 14 lb = 2,240 lb. A short TON is of course just 2,000 lb.

After you comment, please raise a glass to Neil, Buzz and Michael.