Thursday, July 8, 2021 Mark McClain

Regular contributor Mark McClain is back and he's found a way to predict the future using just these themers:

 17A. Leaping grab of a would-be homer, say: CIRCUS CATCH.  Alright sports fans,  this panoply of plays will keep you busy for quite a while, so don't forget to come back for the rest of the puzzle:

29A. Christian house of worship in Egypt: COPTIC CHURCH.  The Egyptian Copts founded Christian churches as early as 50 AD.  The Ethiopian Copts may have founded their Churches even earlier as described in the encounter between St. Phillip and the Ethiopian Eunuch in The Acts of the Apostles 8:26-40.  I had the privilege of meeting two Ethiopian Copts at a conference a few years back.  Sadly, they were there to witness to the widespread persecution of Coptic Christians in their country.

46A. Northern glacial formation: ARCTIC ICECAP.  "Polar ice caps are melting as global warming causes climate change. We lose Arctic sea ice at a rate of almost 13% per decade, and over the past 30 years, the oldest and thickest ice in the Arctic has declined by a stunning 95%."  While it is a matter of dispute as to whether global warming is anthropocentric in origin or due to natural causes, there is no disputing its impact.

62A. Souvenir of a Black Forest vacation: CUCKOO CLOCK.  Some of these can get pretty intricate, so be sure to "mouse over" the image in this ad to see the details of the clock.  And they can be pretty pricey, so don't forget to take your checkbook. Or just skip the vacation and buy the clock over the net.

And in case you still can't see how Mark does it, here's the reveal:

37A. Anticipates ... or, phonetically, what's found in puzzle answers of more than 10 letters: FORESEES.  It's all in the grid:
 

That's nothing.  We can 4C all the answers with just two C's:  C.C. Bournikel!  And here's some stuff you haven't seen (excepting of course the usual TLA's and Crosswordese):

Across:

1. California's __ Verdes Peninsula: PALOS.

6. Historic shrine: ALAMO.  I'm sure anyone who has visited this shrine will tell you, it's not as big as it looks.  How the defenders held out as long as they did against the odds they faced is astonishing.

11. Cleaning crew item: RAG.

14. Beautify: ADORN.

15. Antique photo color: SEPIA.  This article describes the basic components of the toner.  Nowadays I guess it's just a setting on your phone's camera.

A sepia-toned photograph
taken in England in 1895

16. Youngest March sister: AMY.  That is, the littlest of the Little Women by Louisa Mae Alcott.

19. Sleep study letters: REM.  Everything you might want to know about sleep studies.  And why one might be a good idea if you're of a certain age.

20. Based on sound reasoning: TENABLE.

21. "Fantastic!": SUPER.  We saw the The Fantasticks off Broadway years ago and it was really SUPER.  I believe it still holds the record (42 years) for the longest running off Broadway show.  In recent years it ran into some controversy for its use of an archaic term in one of its songs, whose connotations have changed in recent years, as explained in this article.  However there is nothing controversial about this classic:

23. Go after, in a way: SUE.  And here's another classic, the story of the man that SUE went after ...

24. Division word: INTO.

27. Hardly at all: A BIT.  Well is it or isn't it?  (1) Yes or (0) No?

33. Word with place or door: MAT.  Add a T and you get a MATT glaze:

34. Legal suspension: STAY.

35. __ de Cologne: EAU.  Today's French Lesson
 
36. Many tax software users: EFILERS.

40. Deal with: ADDRESS.

42. Barge unit: TON.

43. Hitchcock's "__ Window": REAR.  This film got mixed reviews when it was released in 1954.  Critics said it lacked that NOIR feel and the pervasive air of DREAD typical of many of Hitchcock's earlier films.  DW and I decided to watch it to see for ourselves and we're really glad we did.  It's worth watching for many reasons: for its humor; its early 50's edginess; for the chemistry between the stars, James Stewart and Grace Kelly; and for Franz Waxman's score and his peppering of the soundtrack with popular tunes of the day heard coming from the courtyard below Stewart's REAR WINDOW.  And Hitchcock does manage to compress plenty of NOIR and ANGST into the last quarter or so of the film.  Here's a good summary of the reasons to watch this masterpiece.

45. Cabbage option: RED.

50. Villainous look: LEER.

51. "The Burning Giraffe" artist: DALI.  Dali painted this in 1937 after the beginning of the Spanish Civil War.  This article will clarify much of the painting's symbolism, but it refers to Dali simply as a "surrealist".  But as war approached in Europe, specifically in Spain, Dalí clashed with members of the Surrealist movement. In a "trial" held in 1934, he was expelled from the group.  Dali left Spain for America in 1940 and he subsequently abandoned many of the iconic surrealist features of his earlier work and his paintings began to dramatically increase in size  (as compared to the diminutive scale of "The Burning Giraffe").  To gain a better idea of his the totality of his life's work I recommend a visit to the Dali Museum in St. Petersburg the next time you are in Florida.  Or visit it virtually.

The Burning Giraffe
Basel Kunstmuseum
13 3/4" x 10 1/2"

52. "__ no surprise": ITS.

55. Press down: SMUSH.

58. Standard salary: BASE PAY.

61. Contest involving letter placement: BEE.  Spelling bees are something we start rehearsing for in elementary school, but only a few make it to the big time.  Please correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm almost certain that they don't have spelling bees in Germany, Italy, and Spain.  France maybe.   I wonder why?

65. Thumbs-up vote: YEA.

66. Authorize: ALLOW.

67. SiriusXM channel 5 tune, say: OLDIE.  My Mother used to sing this OLDIE when she was growing up in WWII England.  She brought it to America and we'd all sing it around the dinner table after supper:

68. Contractor's no.: EST.

69. Grace word: BLESS.  Bless us oh Lord, and these thy gifts ...

70. Lab activities: TESTS.  My Labs didn't do any testing, but they sure did a lot of licking and scratching.

Down:

1. Treaties: PACTS.

2. Parting word in Paris: ADIEU.

3. Michaels of "SNL": LORNE.  Cruciverbalists owe this guy big time.  Not only has he been producing SNL since 1975, but he is credited with the production of nearly 70 films and TV shows.  The amount of CW FILL he has created boggles the mind.  In fact I'm almost certain there is some more besides this in this very puzzle!

4. Marine predator: ORCA.  Alias KILLER WHALE. The pic below shows how big they are compared to a human.  However there are no recorded killings of humans by Orcas in the wild.  But there are some rare instances of human deaths due to Orcas in captivity.  They are LARGE animals and they have BIG TEEF!  They have been known to kill sea mammals as large as Sperm Whales ...
 

5. Cold shoulder: SNUB.  My Mom always applied Vicks VapoRub to my snubbed shoulders:

6. Climber's endeavor: ASCENT.  Since ALPS are such a CW mainstay and Richard Strauss' "Eine Alpensinfonie" (An Alpine Symphony) was the answer to a clue last week, I thought we'd listen to just a bit of it. It's not really a classical 4 movement symphony, but rather a 1 1/2 hr tone poem in 22 episodes.  Here's a 7 min. clip of the first 3 episodes with Herbert Von Karajan conducting the Berlin Philharmonic: NIGHT, SUNRISE and ASCENT:

7. Meadow: LEA.

8. On topic: APT.

9. Lapel attachments: MICS.  Always remember to remember whether they're ON or OFF.

10. Locale of the surfing mecca Sunset Beach: OAHU.

11. Hard-to-find group: RARE BREED.  Here's a RARE BREED and a CSO to our Spitzboov:
 

12. __ Cup: AMERICAS.  Here's the history of the America's Cup Race.  New Zealand won it this year.

13. Y amenity: GYM.

18. Minor error: SLIP.

22. Six-time NBA All-Star __ Gasol: PAU.  This will give you hoopsters some stats to chew on.

25. Carol contraction: TIS.

26. Numeric prefix: OCTA.

28. In this way: THUS.

29. So__: CAL.  A CSO to all you SOCAL Cornerites.

30. Cheri of "SNL": OTERI.  I told ya so.

31. Uncouth fellow: CAD.

32. Many-headed monster: HYDRA.   Hercules slaying the HYDRA.  The second of his 12 labors; and it was all uphill from there.

33. Chopped pie filling: MINCE MEAT.   My Mother loved to make MINCE MEAT pies at Christmas, but I never really cared for them as a kid.  I do eat them now, but they're not my first choice for pastries.  Here's everything you might want to know about Mince Meat pies from the makers of Scottish Shortbread (which I do care for).

36. Bibliography abbr.: ET AL.  Short for ET ALIA ("and other") or ET ALII ("and others")

38. __ room: REC.

39. Came out with: SAID.

41. Agent: REP.

44. Color TV pioneer: RCA.  A brief history of color television.

47. __TV: Turner channel: TRU.   Hand up if you use this channel.

48. Some pipe joints: ELBOWS.

49. Parma parting: CIAO.  Italian CLECHO of 2D.

52. Touch and others: IPODS.  I have two IPOD Nanos, both tuned to WBJC 91.5 FM (also streamable at www.wbjc.com).  They're really nice to listen to while gardening.

53. Unspoken: TACIT.

54. Guitarist John who played with Thin Lizzy and Whitesnake: SYKES.  Here's Thin Lizzy's "The Boys Are Back in Town" with lead vocalist Philip Lynott and John Sykes on guitar and backup vocals:

56. Wound cover: SCAB. It absolutely amazes me that the body knows how to do all this:

57. Seed covering: HULL.

59. Tony Blair, by birth: SCOT.

60. Fashion magazine since 1945: ELLE.  As luck would have it, this was the only cover I could find that was suitable for Corner viewing and it featured the accomplished actress Emma Stone.  She was  named world's highest paid actress in 2017 and named by Time as one of the "100 most influential people in the world".  And to top it all off, she HAS had "her picture on the cover of the Rolling Stone".  Unfortunately I think that one might not be suitable for Corner viewing!

61. Parting, or half of one: BYE.  I'll save the other half until the next two clues bid us ADIEU.

63. NFL's Browns, on sports crawls: CLE.

64. Decks, briefly: KOS.  That about KNOCKS it OUT.

waseeley

BYE,
Bill