I reckon' that George Jasper has been ramblin' thru these parts at least
since July 10, 2017 (blogged by our beloved Argyle) and today George treats us
to a word scramble about Western drifters.
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Tumbling Tumbleweed By The Sons of the Pioneers |
We'll start with the reveal ...
58. Drifters in some Western scenes ... and a hint to what's hidden in the
three other longest puzzle answers:
TUMBLEWEEDS. And here are the scrambled answers
17. Wrongly-named winner
in a 1948 headline: THOMAS DEWEY.
I remember it well - I was 17 months old at the time. And the real winner was
HARRY S TRUMAN, and as we all know, the S doesn't stand for anything:
28. To the point:
SHORT AND SWEET. For example
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Scottish Shortbread |
44. Teamwork-inspiring motto: UNITED WE STAND. This timely phrase has been used by countless statesmen and leaders throughout US history. It originally dates back to AESOP's fable of the The Four Oxen and the Lion.
Across:
1. Yanks' NL counterparts, on scoreboards: NYM. The New York Mets play in Citi Field:
4. Looks at phone pics, say: SCROLLS. Technology has appropriated this term from the period dating back to Biblical times. Its most iconic usage was in the scrolls used to record the PENTATEUCH, the Jewish Old Testament. But it is much more than that.
11. Stew ingredient: PEA.
14. Remote battery size: AAA. This is the rest of them ...
15. Pedicure focus: TOENAIL. Commonly thought of as a purely cosmetic procedure, but they are also an important aspect of healthy foot care. They even rate their own entry in WebMd.
16. Burning: LIT.
19. MD treating canals: ENT. Ear Nose and Throat. A clecho with 35D.
20. Rival of ancient Athens: CORINTH. The city dates back to the Neolithic era and has been a center of East-West trade since the historical era. St. Paul taught there, and the city was invaded by the Turks in 1715, an event depicted in Rossini's tragic opera, The Siege of Corinth. Here's the overture led by Georg Solti (10 min):
21. Remove from its box: UNCASE. Not exactly common usage.
23. Use a block and tackle on: HOIST. My first ceramic studio was on the back porch on the 3rd story of a big frame house. I used one of these to haul several tons of clay and supplies up to it:
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Block and tackle |
24. Egg head?: OVI. Plural of eggs? I don't get it. A CSO to someone who does.
27. Bridge positions: EASTS. Hands up from those who had HANDS first.
31. "That's __-brainer!": A NO.
32. "Exodus" novelist: URIS. This the modern EXODUS of Holocaust survivors to found the modern state of Israel. But it has obvious parallels to the 2nd Book of the PENTATEUCH (see 4A).
33. Common game piece: DIE. Plural DICE:
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Snake Eyes! |
34. Floppy: LIMP. Remember these?
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Floppy Disks (8", 5.25", 3.5" |
37. Felt under the weather: AILED.
39. Spy in "Spectre" (2015): BOND. Daniel Craig and co-star Léa Seydoux.
40. "Skylanding" artist: ONO. Yoko installed this sculpture in Jackson Park, Chicago in 2016 to promote World Peace and US-Japanese relations:
41. Record concern: BLOT.
42. Pique condition?: IRE.
48. Plant anew: RESOW. While this won't work for all vegetables, early spring crops like lettuce, spinach, and radishes can be RESOWN in the Fall. All of this depends on the vegetable and what US "hardiness zone" you're in. For those interested, I have Word file with an extensive chart of veggies with Spring/Fall planting dates for Maryland (zones 5b-8a) plus lots of other info from Mel Bartholomew's Square Foot Gardening. If you'd like a copy, send me an email to the address in my profile.
49. Fleet VIP: ADM.
50. Cutlass model: CIERA.
53. Stella __: Belgian brew: ARTOIS. I would have taken you to their website, but under-aged Cornerites would not be admitted.
55. College member: ELECTOR. Nice misdirection. George is talking about this college, much in the news the past year.
57. Minute: WEE. WEE was the clue for SMA (Scots' slang) in the last puzzle I blogged.
61. PC linkup: LAN. Local Area Network. Used for PC communications confined to a "local area", e.g. a single building. They use either ETHERNET (connected via wires) or WIFI (connected via "radio waves"). The former is faster and more reliable, but the latter is much more flexible and easier to set up.
62. Zagreb's country: CROATIA. Croatia is just across the Adriatic from Italy:
63. Musk of Tesla, e.g.: CEO. A visionary and one of the richest
men in the world. However IMHO he has far too much unchecked
power. For example the world-wide STARLINK data network he is
building using fast moving low-level satellites is
ruining the night sky for astronomers; and his plan to "terraform" Mars to make it suitable for colonization is
pure
science fiction fantasy. I'd welcome it if he goes on the first trip!
64. Yearbook sect.: SRS.
65. It's usually inadmissible: HEARSAY.
66. Truck weight unit: TON.
Down:
1. "You betcha!": NATCH. Naturally!
2. Google rival: YAHOO. The creators of this site
were apparently unaware that the term was originally the name of
'the crude, dirty “brutes” of the land of the Houyhnhnms' ('win ims') in
Gulliver's Travels, by JONATHAN SWIFT: "The YAHOOS are irrational people and
represent the worst side of humanity. By contrast, the wise and gentle
Houyhnhnms, their masters, are rational horses and represent humanity at its
best."
3. New Zealand natives: MAORIS.
Polynesian settlers to New Zealand
in the first half of the 14th Century.
4. Two-time NL home run leader Giancarlo: STANTON. Formerly known
as Mike Stanton,
here's Giancarlo in action.
5. Damage, so to speak: COST.
6. On a big streak: RED HOT.
7. Capital __: ONE.
8. Saul's field in "Better Call Saul": LAW.
9. Stead: LIEU. All those luscious vowels!
10. Cunning: SLYNESS. The legendary slyness of the fox goes all the way back to several fables of AESOP (see 22D below). My favorite treatment of the wily fox is a fairy tale opera by Leoš Janáček about a fox named "Sharp-Ears" in The Cunning Little Vixen. We saw a CGI enhanced performance of this in Cleveland a few years back and it was absolutely stunning:
11. "Be my guest!": PLEASE DO.
12. Relatively famous physicist?: EINSTEIN. Nice misdirection.
13. Bore witness: ATTESTED.
18. Minor accident: MISHAP.
22. Cornfield cry: CAW. One of them must have dropped her cheese:
26. Legal memo opener: IN RE.
29. "Fantastic Mr. Fox" author Dahl: ROALD. A children's story, made into a stop motion animated feature film with an all star cast (George Clooney, Merrill Streep, etc.), directed by Wes Anderson in 2009.
30. "Ta-da!": DID IT.
34. "Love Is a Hurtin' Thing" crooner: LOU RAWLS. (December 1, 1933 – January 6, 2006) was an American record producer, singer, composer and actor. The song was released in 1966 on the album, The Legendary Lou Rawls:
36. Bastes, as turkey: MOISTENS.
38. Original site of golf's John Deere Classic: IOWA. The John Deere Classic is a professional golf tournament on the PGA Tour. It is now played annually in July, the week before the British Open, at TPC Deere Run in the Quad Cities community of Silvis, Illinois.
41. Cast a spell on: BEWITCH.
43. IndyCar venue: RACEWAY.
45. In addition: TOO.
46. Silvery food fish: SMELTS. A tiny fish which is reportedly good eating:
47. Learn about: DETECT.
51. "Not my first __!": RODEO. Surprisingly this meme allegedly originated in the 1981 bio-pic "Mommie Dearest" about the life of Joan Crawford, starring Faye Dunaway. The scene actually takes place in a Pepsi-cola board room meeting, where Crawford has replaced her recently deceased husband. The Board is trying to remove Crawford, who is proving difficult, but she stands her ground in a profanity laced rant that ends with "This ain’t my first time at the rodeo!". This scene is likely fictional, but the meme stuck and later became the basis for a CW song by Vern Godin:
52. Burning desire?: ARSON.
54. "Fine with me": SURE.
56. "Star Wars" princess: LEIA. I think this is the one that started it all: a hologram projected by the Droid R2D2. As this is a family blog I couldn't use a lot of the newer ones.
59. Extinct emu-like bird: MOA. The inclusion of this clue must have been intentional, as these birds became extinct within a few hundred years of the arrival of the first MAORI settlers in New Zealand (see 3D above). Prior to their arrival, the MOA's only natural enemy was the HAASTS EAGLE, shown here attacking a pair of the birds:
60. Stout server: BAR. They really know how to serve it here:
Here's the grid:
waseeley
Cheers,
Bill
