Hi Gary,
The weather has been nice here, but other than going for walks in my neighborhood, we are staying at home.
My clue for APRIL was Month for pranksters. I wrote this puzzle in May of 2019, so it's been a while! MINIMOON was one of my seed entries for the puzzle, inspired by my daughter and her husband who went on one after their wedding. Some entries I like are BOOTCAMP and ZIPLINES, as well as the area down south with TELENOVELA and ENCHILADAS. I see that TANEHISI might be tough, but hope people will be up for the challenge.
I have heard interviews with Ta-Nehisi Coates, and I'm in a book group where his name and books have come up, but I haven't read any of his books. It is an unusual name though, and it must have stuck in my head.
ESTES - I don't know how Rich ended up cluing it. I had it clued as ___ Park, Colorado , which maybe Rich thought was too easy? If the clue is about an opera singer - I have no idea! Never heard of him.
Stay well,
Debbie
Off we go:
Across:
1. It's happening now: APRIL - Since only Rich knows when puzzles are going to be published, he did change Debbie's initial cluing as you read in her note
6. Controversial reading: PALM - Not OP-ED but the lines of your hand
10. Circumstance partner: POMP - Not going to be heard this spring
14. Brain center associated with speech: BROCA'S AREA - Frontal lobe usually on the left side
16. '60s pop singer Sands: EVIE - Johnny Cash loved her voice and marveled at how she played her guitar upside down with her left hand
18. First name in jazz: LENA - LENA Horn gets the job and Ella and Etta do not today
19. Abbr. on an invoice: AMT.
20. Tech boss: CIO - Tech in the clue hints at Chief Information Officer
21. Relating to the arrangement of atoms in space: STERIC - Space taken up by molecules
23. Mealtime alert: SOUP'S ON Is it 43. Soup sometimes served with banh mi: PHO (banh mi is Vietnamese for bread)
26. Magic competition?: NBA GAME - The Orlando Magic are one of four NBA teams with a singular name. The others play in Oklahoma City, Miami and Utah.
27. Give rise to: SPAWN - A pair of bettas SPAWNING by releasing sperm and eggs into the water
28. Rap's "Puffy" Combs: SEAN - Can't quote
29. Head of Parliament?: LOO - A naval toilet to clue a toilet in the British home of Government
30. '40s-'50s paranoia: RED SCARE - This also gave HUAC the center stage
33. Judge in stripes: ZEBRA - Slang for a referee wearing stripes
36. Anago or unagi: EEL - Names we see here for this fish
37. "__ that been done?": HASN'T - What Rich has to ask before he okays a daily puzzle gimmick
39. 2019 Uber landmark, briefly: IPO - Uber and Lyft's stock price after Initial Public Offering. Two days ago Uber was selling for $27.99
40. Brought under control: REINED IN - The goal for COVID-19
44. Eastern brew: SAKE - Wines such as Riesling, Grüner Veltliner and Sauvignon Blanc are suggested to drink with PHO. SAKE is not.
45. Bass-baritone Simon: ESTES - A very interesting man who was a grandson of a slave and born in Centerville, Iowa. Here he is being honored at Iowa State University. As you read, Debbie originally had ____ Park in Colorado
50. Co-star of Cox and Kudrow: ANISTON.
52. "No worries": I'M COOL.
53. Behave: ACT.
54. Co-star of Ethan in "Gattaca": UMA - Trailer
55. Without rocks: NEAT - A shoutout to our "iceless" Tinman
56. Mexican fare: ENCHILADAS.
60. "Never go to a doctor whose office plants have died" writer Bombeck: ERMA.
61. Latin American fare: TELENOVELA - A portmanteau of TELE (television) and NOVLEA (novel) produced primarily in Latin America
62. Enervates: SAPS.
63. Certain farm, or one of its residents: STUD - Brian Paquin's puzzle last Saturday talked of being PUT OUT TO PASTURE. Now Debbie, on the other hand...
64. Pesto ingredient: BASIL.
Down:
1. Arafat's successor: ABBAS - Mahmoud, head of the PLO
2. Ads, e.g.: PROMOS - $500M worth of them did him no good
3. Pull from the ground, in Plymouth: ROOT UP - On this side of the Atlantic we might UPROOT
4. Disgusted remark: ICK.
5. Much of "Deck the Halls": LAS - Paired with FAS
6. "The Python Years" diarist: PALIN - Michael tells of his time with Monty Python
8. Casual brand: LEE.
9. Milky Way cousin: MARS BAR.
10. Crony of Captain Bildad, in "Moby-Dick": PELEG - The principal owners of the Pequod who hired Ishmael
 |
| From the Moby Dick Card Game |
12. Quick getaway for newlyweds: MINIMOON - A seed entry for Debbie as she explained in her note
13. Hipster's "Later": PEACE OUT.
15. Vote to support: SECOND.
22. "Between the World and Me" National Book Award winner Coates: TA-NEHISI - Info on TAH-nuh-HAH-see
24. Henry VIII's sixth: PARR - Catherine kept her head and outlived him
25. Affirms: SWEARS TO.
26. Author Zora __ Hurston: NEALE - Another author unknown to me. Her writings of blacks in the 1700's of America
28. Director's unit: SCENE.
31. Quartz watch innovator: SEIKO.
33. Rainforest explorers' aids: ZIP LINES - I'd love to make this trip in Costa Rico
34. Transient things: EPHEMERA.
38. Red stingers: ANTS.
41. Bald babies?: EAGLETS - Last week, cute Akitas. This week...
42. Most of a tooth: DENTIN.
46. Liszt's "Paganini __": ETUDES - This is #6. You gotta have some real chops to play this exercise!
47. Mogadishu native: SOMALI.
49. Little bits: IOTAS.
50. Needed a massage: ACHED.
51. Like "m" or "n," phonetically: NASAL - A lowered velum (soft palate) gives a NASAL sound
53. Org. co-founded by Helen Keller: ACLU - I'll take Amazing Women for $1,000, Alex
57. Surfer's setting: NET - I know Debbie lives in LA and so I thought a surfer's setting might be PDT. Nope, it's the interNET
58. Alley-oop pass: LOB.
59. Actress Gardner: AVA - Also Mrs. Frank Sinatra, Mrs. Artie Shaw and Mrs. Mickey Rooney
