This is the seventh Saturday themeless puzzle constructed by Dr. Dolan that I have had the pleasure of blogging. It was a real challenge but eventually became a smooth solve.
Last month Kyle was in Rapid City, S.D. for a tech conference and witnessed Britain's precision flying team, The Red Arrows, pass overhead. Kyle was quoted as saying, “The flypast of Mt. Rushmore was the piece de resistance of the Red Arrows appearances at numerous American landmarks,” said Kyle Dolan, Head of Science & Innovation at the British Consulate-General in Chicago. “The Red Arrows’ visit celebrated the close links between the United Kingdom, the United States and Canada, particularly our economic, defense, and science and technology relationships.”
In my communication with Kyle, he told me that the U.K. mini-theme I saw [Dickens, Macbeth, ADELE, BRIT, TWEE, Long TON, The Crown" star Foy: CLAIRE, Loch NESS,TAM and BEELZEBUB (John Milton] was not his intent and it happened by either by accident or by Rich's editing hand. He further told me that though he works at the British Consulate he was born in Boston but has lived in Chicago for quite a while now. Here you can peruse Kyle's impressive resumé
Now let's do a flyby of Kyle's puzzle
Across:
1. Farm call: BAA.
4. Picnic game: BOCCE - BOCCE in its current form dates back to at least Rome in 264 A.D. where soldiers played it during the Punic Wars
9. Informed as a courtesy, perhaps: CC'ED - The physical Carbon Copy part of this is now mostly a remnant of another time and technology
13. Tote: LUG.
14. Dickens' "The Pickwick Papers," originally: SERIAL - A first edition of Dickens' Posthumous Papers Of The Pickwick Club can be had for $2,50015. QB-turned-commentator Tony: ROMO.
16. "... __ the set of sun": "Macbeth": ERE - I imagine Wyatt Earp told the bad guys to "git outta town before sunset" and not "Depart ERE the set of the Sun"
17. Picks up: LEARNS - A good solver LEARNS a lot in doing these puzzles
18. Bonobos, e.g.: APES - They are a very close relative to humans19. Have no weaknesses: DO IT ALL - Great baseball players are said to be a "five-tool player" - Able to hit for average, hit with power, field, throw and run
21. U.S. border river: NIAGARA.
23. Fake: ERSATZ - "Captain ERSATZ" is a phrase denoting a blatant copy that uses a slightly different name and/or image24. Web streaming service: FEED https://striv.tv/channel/arlington/ is a streaming site that streams many events of the small school where I sub
25. A mechanic usually keeps one handy: RAG.
26. Innocent: LAMB.
27. Its 1948 inaugural flight began in Geneva: EL AL - A fascinating story
29. "Skyfall" singer: ADELE.
31. "The Vanishing Hitchhiker" subject: URBAN LEGEND - Here 'ya go
34. Misty tropical ecosystem: CLOUD FOREST - Monteverde CLOUD FOREST in Costa Rica
35. Edge: BEAT BY A NOSE.
36. Catcher in the World Series' only perfect game: BERRA - Yogi caught Don Larsen's gem in 1956
37. U.S. : Grammy :: U.K. : __: BRIT.
38. Daughter of Uranus: RHEA -If you must know
42. Uranus, e.g.: ORB - A mythical and a now a real Uranus
43. Excessively precious, to a Brit: TWEE - We had treacle yesterday from Dr. Ed Sessa
45. Six-time NBA All-Star Kyrie: IRVING - Kyrie won a World Championship with LeBron James at Cleveland but got tired of being the second banana Now they are friends again but on different teams
47. Indignant lead-in: SEE HERE.
49. __ fair: SCIENCE - I can't count how many I've judged
50. Movie plantation: TARA - It's a 26 min drive down I-75 from Atlanta to the newly refurbished Stately Oaks Mansion which was used for TARA in Gone With The Wind
51. In addition: AT THAT - She became a teacher and was a good one AT THAT
53. It may be short or long: TON - If you must know
54. Egg cell: OVUM.
55. "The Crown" star Foy: CLAIRE - A very enjoyable Netflix series
 |
| Claire Elizabeth II |
56. Stick in: ADD.
57. Urquhart Castle's loch: NESS - My neighbor just got back from two weeks in Scotland and while she was in Inverness next to Loch NESS, she was assured there was no monster but she did see this shop. She brought me a golf divot tool from St. Andrews and thankfully not a 52. Part of Highlands regalia: TAM.
58. Neat: KEMPT - Sheveled?
59. It may be iced: TEA.
Down:
1. Alexis of "The Handmaid's Tale": BLEDEL - Her IMDB
2. Creator of a colorful atmosphere: AURORA - While fishing at 55N latitude, the AURORA Borealis (Northern Lights) we saw were spectacular
3. What unconscious bias training may deal with: AGEISM - Most young clerks look right through those of us, uh, more seasoned customers
4. "Paradise Lost" fallen angel: BEELZEBUB - I finally remembered how it was spelled
5. __ surgeon: ORAL.
6. Columbus in NYC, e.g.: CIR(cle)
7. Cylindrical pasta: CANNELLONI - Spinach and ricotta in CANNELLONI pasta
8. Dinsmore of kid lit: ELSIE - Here is a group of 22 Martha Finley Dodd's ELSIE Dinsmore books for sale online
9. Climbing challenge: CRAG.
10. Share rearing duties: CO-PARENT
11. Colombia is this gem's largest producer: EMERALD - The EMERALD in Romancing The Stone, set in Columbia, was called El Corazon (The Heart)
12. Amount in a shot: DOSAGE - I doubt if medical people use a shot glass to measure DOSAGE
14. Bed board: SLAT.
20. Like spreadsheets: TABULAR - I used Excel spreadsheets and had TABS at the bottom to access a sheet for each class
22. Saws: ADAGES.
24. Majestic greeting: FANFARE.
28. Natural enemy of aphids: LADY BEETLE - We call them ladybugs and here's one eating the aforementioned aphid
30. Merit: DESERVE.
32. Have angular velocity: ROTATE - Skaters tuck in their arms to increase angular velocity
33. Some Ernst works: EROTIC ART - Google at will
34. Multi-headed dog that guards Hades, in Greek myth: CERBERUS - Nice doggy, nice doggy...
35. Deprive (of): BEREAVE - Too many of my friends have become BEREAVED lately
36. Commonwealth Avenue city: BOSTON - If you lived at the Windsor Place Condominium on Commonwealth Avenue, you'd only have a four-minute drive to Fenway Park
39. Refer to subtly: HINT AT - You might as well just go ahead and ask for the money!
40. Disguise, in a way: ENCODE - He helped decipher ENCODED Japanese messages before Midway
41. Chair's document: AGENDA - The one who presides over that AGENDA can be called a Chairman, Chairwoman or simply the Chair.
44. Ruin partner: WRACK - Origin of the phrase
46. Bat mitzvah, e.g.: RITE.
48. Carved dishes: HAMS - Spiral sliced HAMS replaces much of the carving
49. Hold holder: SHIP - How did Carl Denham get King Kong into the hold of the SHIP S.S. Venture in 1933?
How about some comments about the good doctor's efforts today? I invited him to drop by and see what his our good citizens here had to say and I hope he does.
