Saturday, July 4, 2020, Julian Lim

Themeless Saturday by Julian Lim

Another fine puzzle from our Singapore professor Julian Lim. As I look at his specialties at Duke University - University of Singapore I can find many traits of mine that could use remediation

Here is Professor Lim's tweet about a recent investigation of his: We did a non-inferiority analysis comparing group training via videoconferencing during the Covid-19 pandemic with similar content delivered in-person this year and last year. Abstract

After you digest that, here is an analysis of Julian's puzzle on the 244th birthday of our country.

Across:

1. Reward for giving, perhaps: TOTE BAG - How do I get this one?

8. Usually not eligible for tenure, as a professor: ADJUNCT - I was an ADJUNCT prof once and the dean came in to see why my adult students were laughing. He had never heard laughter from that room before

15. In sum: OVERALL.

16. Heedless of the consequences: BRASHLY.

17. Dug: WAS INTO

18. "The Meyerowitz Stories" co-star: SANDLER - I can easily recognize four of this group of five from the show. 

19. Xenomorphs, e.g.: ETS - Sigourney Weaver's antagonists in the Alien movies. Here under happier conditions.

20. Switch positions often: JOB HOP - Me? Not so much as I taught for 42 years and have subbed for 8.

22. Razor handle: ATRA - ATRA is the name, or handle, for this Gillette product  which has also has, uh, a handle and we see here often

23. Uses for snoozes: LIES ON - Lily LIES ON about anything in our house

25. Not lots: A FEW.

27. German article: EIN - This speech still gives me chills (irrespective of how some translate it)

28. Out of __: SORTS.

29. Range makeup: Abbr.: MTS - A range of MounTainS 

30. Make official: ENACT.

32. Tandoori bread: NAN - NAN bread being cooked in clay cylindrical oven called a tandoor 

33. "Looks to be the case": SO IT SEEMS

35. Safari, say: IPHONE APP - Safari is also the browser I use on my MacBook

37. Au naturel: UNCLOTHED - Reminiscent of yesterday's discussion about nudists and face masks

39. Racing Unsers: ALS - You'd have to blow up this image to see AL senior in the second generation and AL junior in the third generation 

42. Lectured: SPOKE.

43. Mate: PAL.

44. Flabbergast: FLOOR.

46. Sch. with a Phoenix campus: ASU - 13 minute drive between these the Phoenix and Tempe campuses 

47. "Ashes" (2018) singer: DION - The voice of an angel How old am I? The first DION singer for me is DION and the Belmonts

49. Shaky start?: SEISMO - The latest earthquakes in the USA as determined by SEISMOeters

50. Things to pick: NITS - We can have quite a crop here on certain days

52. Like some dramatic refueling: MIDAIR - Could you clean the windshield too?

54. Some tech sch. grads: EE'S - Electrical Engineers. Don't we have some Double E majors here?

55. Hip: CLUED IN.

57. 2010s TV series that explores hacktivism: MR. ROBOT.

59. More than vex: TORMENT.

60. Opposite of a scenic route: BEE LINE - From Orlando International, we took the BEE LINE west toward Disney or east toward KSC (corrected - hg)

61. Frames on a diamond: INNINGS.

62. Whole number: INTEGER.

Down:

1. Drying agents: TOWELS.

2. Standing acclaim, at times: OVATION - One that's hard to earn

3. Mosaic piece: TESSERA - An 800-yr-old Byzantine example of TESSERAS beautifully arranged despite wear

4. "__ tu": Verdi aria: ERI. "ERI tu che macchiavi quell'anima" (It was you who sullied that soul)

5. Pete Seeger wrote a book on how to play five-string ones: BANJOS.

6. Brown in the kitchen: ALTON - Not sauté it appears

7. Jell-O serving, say: GLOB - How many GLOBS in a cup?

8. Strong core components: ABS OF STEEL.

9. Fall loosely: DRAPE - An example on our deck

10. 1, at times: Abbr.: JANuary

11. Food and Nutrition Service org.: USDA - USDA inspectors who wear this badge have coveted jobs in this meatpacking town

12. Minnesota Wild, for one: NHL TEAM.

13. Mullahs or ministers: CLERICS.

14. Very tough boss: TYRANT - Who was worse than Ebenezer Scrooge?

21. Deferentially: HAT IN HAND - "Make your words sweet as you may have to eat them someday"

24. Dancer's boss, informally: ST NICK - Rudolph's too

26. Cry: WEEP 

29. Irrelevancies: MOOT POINTS - Your plane has already left, so why you missed the plane is a MOOT POINT.

31. Katmandu native: NEPALI.

33. "The Chi" airer, briefly: SHO - (the shy) chronicles life on the south side of Chicago

34. Blue: SAD.

36. Beseeched: PLED - A fun song from Godspell (hg)

37. 20th Greek letter: UPSILON - Can you name the two other 7-letter Greek letters?

38. Sign with a crossed-out horseshoe-shaped arrow: NO U TURN 

40. Take a licking: LOSE BIG.

41. "__ Like You": Adele hit: SOMEONE - Video in black and white

42. __ Spíritus: Cuban city meaning "Holy Spirit": SANCTI - This city of 465,00 is at least a four-hour drive from Havana

44. Polecat relative commonly kept as a pet: FERRET - I only had to let one kid bring his to class before I realize they have an unpleasant odor too.

45. Team listing: ROSTER - 1961 Yankee ROSTER. 

48. Using WhatsApp, say: IMING - My Apple IMING (Instant Messaging) works fine

49. Fire engine feature: SIREN - My hometown used a SIREN to summon volunteer firemen and also tell us when it was 7, 12 and 6 o'clock

51. Highway behemoth: SEMI.

53. Both ways at the start?: AMBI - Zach Galifianakas as an AMBIdextrous flute player on SNL

56. Man cave, for some: DEN.

58. World Cup "Way to go!": OLE.

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