Clue: Excellent, risk-taking crossword constructor?
Answer: "RADVENTUROUS"
"Puzzling thoughts":
First off, I FIR and don't recall having to cheat or look up any answers. Most of the grid came together by either knowledge or perps. The "theme", OTOH, was something I scratched my "hairless head" about (yes, I am quite bald on top), but I think I got it
I could see, and definitely sussed the added "R" to four puzzle answers:
16 Across. Appreciation for Jay-Z's music?: RAPPLAUSE. RAP = Jay-Z's music genre; APPLAUSE is how many give appreciation
24 Across. Compilation of angry blog posts?: RANTHOLOGY. RANT = carrying on, angrily; ANTHOLOGY = collection of literary works, usually published. A compilation
34 Across. Jamaican drink garnish?: RUMBRELLA. My favorite of Pamela's R-words today! RUM = a drink staple in Jamaica; UMBRELLA = the little plastic garnish for many RUM drinks (see image below)
50 Across. Deckhand unable to raise the sails?: RIGNORAMUS. RIG = as an action verb, the making ready of a sailboat (raising the sails; adjusting the ropes/cables/shrouds/stays/halyards, et al); IGNORAMOUS = an ignorant person. Not a very pleasant word; a word that's rarely used or heard anymore, although Oxford Languages Dictionary indicates that its usage is on the rise
And the reveal:
60 Across. "In Rainbows" rockers, and a hint to what changes four puzzle answers: RADIOHEAD.
OK, just for the record (no pun intended), I was never a fan of the band RADIOHEAD. As I prepared for this recap, I googled the band, read the Wikipedia page, checked out the album "In Rainbows", selected the hit single "Nude", as it was supposedly one of their bigger hits.
Note to self: be careful when you do a google search using the word "Nude" and "YouTube" ...
I even sent an email to C.C. to see if I was missing something here. I tried reaching Pam via FaceBook Messenger, but it went unanswered; so unless she visits the blog today, we may never know if the RADIOHEAD reveal meant anything more than each of the four answers having an "R" at its "HEAD". And to a degree, all of the four entries created a punny portmanteau. But regardless, this puzzle was quite RADVENTUROUS
Here is the grid, and then off to the rest of the fill:
Across:
1. Colorful chatterbox: MACAW. Our regular Crossword Corner contributor, desper-otto, has said that he likes to have an easy-to-solve "1 Across". MACAW was not the first colorful chatterbox to come to my mind, but perps helped
6. Needing a refill: LOW. One thing that this sommelier never lets happen:
9. Either of two "Monday, Monday" singers: MAMA. MAMA Cass Elliot and MAMA Michelle Phillips. They sang background; PAPA Denny Doherty was the "lead" singer, and songwriter PAPA John Phillips added vocal harmony as well
Fun Fact: "Monday, Monday" was the group's only #1 hit on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, and the first time in history, a song by a mixed gender group reached the top of the charts. This, according to Wikipedia. I would've included a YouTube video of this song, but I know that most of you are already humming the tune
13. Ohno in the Olympics: APOLO. Per wiki: APOLO Anton Ohno is an American retired short track speed skating competitor and an eight-time medalist in the Winter Olympics. Ohno is the most decorated American Olympian at the Winter Olympics and was inducted into the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame in 2019. Today begins many of the events of the Beijing 2022 Winter Games. Viktor Ahn of Russia is perhaps the current, best speed skater
14. Mahershala of "House of Cards": ALI. According to Britannica, Mahershala ALI, original name Mahershalalhashbaz Gilmore, (born February 16, 1974, Oakland, California, U.S.), is an American actor who rose to prominence in the 2010s and won an Academy Award for his moving and nuanced performance as the fatherly drug dealer Juan in the film Moonlight (2016)
15. '50s vaccine pioneer: SABIN. SALK didn't fit, so it must be SABIN. But given some info I found on-line, I found these "fun facts": The polio vaccine comes in two types: the Salk vaccine, made with a killed virus and the SABIN vaccine, made with a live but weakened, or attenuated, virus
Another Fun Fact, which might disprove today's cluing of SABIN: Which came first Salk or Sabin? Jonas Salk (1914–1995) became a national hero when he allayed the fear of the dreaded disease with his polio vaccine, approved in 1955. Although it was the first polio vaccine, it was not to be the last; Albert Bruce Sabin (1906–1993) introduced an oral vaccine in the United States in the 1960s that replaced Salk's ... hmm?
18. Big name in Civil War fiction: O'HARA. Scarlett O'HARA. Rhett Butler. "I don't give a damn". Airport in Chicago
19. A play may have just one: ACT. Here are a few to peruse
20. Terminates: FIRES. Not a pleasant experience for either the FIRE'er or the FIRE'ee
21. Sanctioned by Islamic law: HALAL. This one filled with perps. "HALAL is an Arabic word that simply means lawful or permitted, but generally refers to what's allowed under Islamic law. It's the opposite of haram, which means unlawful or prohibited. ... That's largely because meat can be either halal or haram depending on how the animal was slaughtered." - according to Fine Dining Lovers dot com. Hmm, doesn't sound kosher to me ... or is it??
22. Kitchen address: CHEF. As in calling the cook by his/her title: "Hey, CHEF!" A good friend of mine was a basketball official for years. His court address? "Hey, REF!"
26. Fizz up: AERATE. To make bubbly
28. Rights wrongs: ATONES. Cute clue
29. Much of E. Europe, once: SSRS. I work with a crossword puzzle editor who absolutely refuses to use SSR or SSRS in his puzzles. Other "crossword-ese" he won't allow: AGEE, ALOU, ANIL, APSE, ASTA, EDO, ELO, ELY, ENO, ENOL, ERNE, NAE, OBIE, OLEO, OLIO, ORR, OTOE, OTT, RALE, RIA, ROUE, SDI, SERE, SLA, SSR, STEN, TSAR, or ULEE
Not saying that using these words are "bad", but it does make one think harder to come up with fresh fill
30. Squeal: TELL. The informal verb form of squeal = TELL or inform; usually by someone wanting to call out a wrong doer
33. Feb. NC hours: EST. Despite its length in miles (503 from east to west), the state of North Carolina resides totally within the Eastern Time Zone. During February, the state observes Eastern Standard Time (EST), or GMT -5
38-Across. With 15-Down, brow-wiping comment
15-Down. See 38-Across. Put these together and you get: "IT'S SO HOT". Really? In February in N America? Not too many places fit that description! But here are a couple of videos that might bring a grin when they ask, "How hot is it?" IT'S SO HOT ...
41. Crew pair: OARS. SOCKS was too long of an answer to fit
42. Disney bigwig: IGER. Robert A. IGER is an American businessman who was executive chairman, chairman of the board, and chief executive officer of The Walt Disney Company
45. Exchange: SWITCH. Or, as we used to see all the time, bait and SWITCH:
48. Blue hues: AZURES. I'll take their word for it. As I kid I grew up with just 8 crayons in a box. These are the colors I know: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, violet, brown, and black
54. Moderate: EASE. I found a new website to explain this clue and fill
55. Bug: ANNOY. If you go back to the link in 54-Across and enter the words: BUG and ANNOY in the search window, you can see the WikiDiff between them
56. One following a point: TENTH. As in decimal point. The number to the right of it is called a TENTH. As in 98.6 degrees. The "6". Also can be 6/10; and that can be restated as 3/5. RRRGH!
58. Penn in NYC, e.g.: STN. Why is it that I always use STA to abbr. the word "station"? In crossword speak, it's STN
59. Online cash-back deal: EBATE. Moe-ku:
I've been wondering,
Is an on-line cash-back scam
Called: "E-BATE and SWITCH"?
62. Cubist Fernand: LEGER. All perps. Britannica dot com says: "Fernand Léger, (born February 4, 1881, Argentan, France—died August 17, 1955, Gif-sur-Yvette), French painter who was deeply influenced by modern industrial technology and Cubism. Today marks the anniversary of his birth. Coincidence?? LEGER developed “machine art,” a style characterized by monumental mechanistic forms rendered in bold colours. This one below is called: "Mechanical Forms"
63. Lager alternative: ALE. I did a double-take, and saw the word LEGER (see 62-across) alternative. Which made me think of this guy. But of course, it was "lager" - or a type of beer. IPA was my second guess - after Fau (see link) - and ALE finally showed after 51 through 53-down were solved
64. Tee choice: LARGE. I was thinking golf, and was trying to choose between "back", "middle", "senior", and "front"; or the corresponding colors: black, blue, white/green, or red. I left this blank until the perps solved it for me
65. March time: IDES. March 15, to be exact
66. Aleppo's home: Abbr.: SYR. Aleppo is a city in SYRia, which serves as the capital of the Aleppo Governorate, the most populous Syrian governorate. with an official population of 4.6 million in 2010. Aleppo is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world; it may have been inhabited since the sixth millennium BC. Wikipedia. Of course our upstate New York contingent may have preferred to see a clue such as: "Upstate NY airport code"
67. Fourth circle of hell inhabitant, in Dante: MISER. Study dot com says: "The Fourth Circle of Hell is for those specifically guilty of avarice, who either spend or hoard too much money. This circle of hell is divided in half between the spenders and hoarders, who are constantly brawling with each other". A MISER is another name for a hoarder
Down:
1. Half a percussion pair: MARACA. A CSO to Lucinda, perhaps?? Fun Fact: What Are the Origins of MARACAs? Rattles similar to maracas have existed for millennia in Africa, the Pacific Islands, and the Americas. The Araucanian people, who live in what is now central Chile, may have been the first to use the word maraca to describe a gourd rattle around 500 BC. But the image below might belie that fact ...
2. Boeing 3-Down: APACHES 3-Down. See 2-Down: COPTERS. The Boeing AH-64 APACHE is an American twin-turboshaft attack heliCOPTER with a tailwheel-type landing gear arrangement and a tandem cockpit for a crew of two. It features a nose-mounted sensor suite for target acquisition and night vision systems. First flown in 1975. Are there any of our veterans out there who are familiar with this, or have flown on one?
Fun Fact: Chairman Moe has never been on a heliCOPTER
4. Lofty peak: ALP. I think I had one similar to this a few weeks back. Jeffrey Wechsler was more specific and used MATTERHORN; a Swiss ALP. But today's image is that of the Zugspitze, Germany's highest peak in the Bavarian ALPs. Moe visited there in 1980 ...
5. Scarf (down): WOLF.
6. Michelle's White House predecessor: LAURA. LAURA Lane Welch Bush is an American teacher, librarian, memoirist and author who was the first lady of the United States from 2001 to 2009. Bush previously served as the first lady of Texas from 1995 to 2000. She is the wife of former President George W. Bush. Wikipedia
Born: November 4, 1946 (age 75 years), Midland, TX
7. Worker with Lane and Kent: OLSEN. James Bartholomew (Jimmy) OLSEN is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Olsen is most often portrayed as a young photojournalist working for the Daily Planet. He is close friends with Lois Lane and Superman (Clark Kent), and has a good working relationship with his boss Perry White. Wikipedia
8. "Let Them All Talk" actress Dianne: WIEST. Dianne WIEST is a wonderful actor. I thought one of her better roles was as the "matron", Joan Short, on the TV series "Life in Pieces" on CBS. She co-stars with Meryl Streep and Candice Bergen on "Let Them All Talk"
I was not familiar with the movie from today's clue; here's why: "Let Them All Talk" is streaming exclusively on HBO Max. Right now, the only way to watch "Let Them All Talk" online is with a subscription to HBO Max.
Well, I have no HBO Max subscription, nor do I want one. So I guess I have to be "teased" by the trailer
9. Island thanks: MAHALO. How do you respond to MAHALO? Mahalo is the Hawaiian word for “thanks”. If you don't want to respond in English, you can always use the Hawaiian phrase for “you're welcome” which could be either of the following: ʻAʻole pilikia (No problem), pronounced ah-o-lay pee-lee-kee-ah. Noʻu ka hauʻoli (The pleasure is mine), pronounced no-ooh-kah-how-oh-lee. And now you know
10. Sea otter prey: ABALONE. Is ABALONE related to an oyster? Abalone might be flesh inside of a shell, quite like an oyster, but it reportedly doesn't taste anything like one. Allegedly, abalone tastes like something between squid and a scallop, with a salty and buttery taste. It's remarkably delicious and has a very distinct flavor. And is quite expensive; a pound of it goes for about $125
11. They're not real: MIRAGES.
12. Handwriting __: ANALYST. What does your handwriting say about you??
17. Concession ending: AIRE. Or a dog breed beginning; AIREdale. Much different meanings as a suffix or prefix. -AIRE: a suffix that forms nouns denoting a person characterized by or occupied with that named by the stem, occurring in loanwords from French; concessionAIRE. AIRE-: a prefix referring to the River Valley (Aire) in Yorkshire, England
23. Klinger on "M*A*S*H": FARR. Jamie FARR (born Jameel Joseph Farah; July 1, 1934) is an American television and film comedian and theatre actor. He is best known for playing the cross-dressing corporal Maxwell Q. Klinger in the CBS television sitcom M*A*S*H. Wikipedia. FARR was born and raised in Toledo, OH. He made several references to his home town on M*A*S*H*, including this well-known hot dog place. Make sure you play the short video
25. Room access: HALL. As in HALLway. Two of our spare bedrooms in our house share a HALL. Now, when I saw the word "HALL", I immediately thought of Monty HALL, the erstwhile game show host on 'Let's Make a Deal'. If you recall, one of that game show's features was a contestant choosing among three closed doors or curtains. One of the three usually had a high-value item; the others not. The selection "process" even stumped many mathematicians which spawned a discussion about conditional probability and reasoning. Please click on the short video in this link
27. Volunteer State sch.: TSU. An HBCU. Tennessee State University (TSU) is a public historically black land-grant university in Nashville, Tennessee. Founded in 1912, it is the only state-funded historically black university in Tennessee. It is a member-school of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund. Wikipedia
30. Placeholder abbr.: TBA. According to Collins Dictionary dot com: TBA is sometimes written in announcements to indicate that something such as the place where something will happen or the people who will take part is not yet known and will be announced at a later date. TBA is an abbreviation for 'to be announced'
31. Goof: ERR. Crossword Corner Quiz: Who wrote: "To ERR is human; to forgive, divine"? Do you know the answer without looking it up? I didn't
32. Survivalist Stroud: LES. A CSO to our cruciverbalist north of the border, Canadian, Eh! LES Stroud is a Canadian survival expert, filmmaker and musician best known as the creator, writer, producer, director, cameraman and host of the television series Survivorman. Stroud was named Chief Scout by Scouts Canada on November 22, 2021. Wikipedia
35. Jay of "Last Comic Standing": MOHR. A 2:00 clip of one of his comedy bits
36. Lemon on "30 Rock": LIZ. Let's keep the comedy coming!!
37. Feverish feeling: AGUE. I'll probably jinx myself, but I have not suffered with AGUE since well before the pandemic. You? My last serious cold/flu/AGUE was in the late fall of 2018
38. Haifa native: ISRAELI. Haifa is a northern ISRAELI port city built in tiers extending from the Mediterranean up the north slope of Mount Carmel. The city’s most iconic sites are the immaculately landscaped terraces of the Bahá'í Gardens and, at their heart, the gold-domed Shrine of the Báb. At the foot of the gardens lies the German Colony, with shops, galleries and restaurants in 19th-century buildings. ― Google. It's also Israel's third largest city in population, behind Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. I've been to all three of these cities; was there in 2007 and 2008 on a business trip
39. Hotel option: TWIN BED. Wow! How old is THIS clue?? Or should I ask, when was the last time you saw a TWIN BED in a hotel room?? FTR, a TWIN mattress is typically 38 inches wide by 75 inches long, and usually fits small BED frames, daybeds, and bunk beds. A FULL BED is 54 inches wide by 75 inches long; a QUEEN BED is 60 inches by 80 inches, and a KING BED is 76 inches by 80 inches
Crossword Corner Quiz: Back in the early days of television, especially on sit-coms, whenever there was a scene of a married couple's bedroom, it showed TWIN BEDS. Question: Who is the first married couple (on TV) to be shown sleeping in a FULL or QUEEN size bed?
40. Turnpike reading: SIGNAGE. Well, this clue was a bit obscure at first - for me, anyway. I was thinking, Arizona Highways, AAA Triptik, On The Road?? Oh, not THAT reading! What you might read alongside the turnpike, or overhead. Having lived in several areas where turnpikes exist, I'm quite familiar ...
43. They remove bad marks: ERASERS. Well, in some cases. Whenever I received a bad mark in school my teacher wrote it in pen - usually, a red-ink pen. There was no ERASER that could remove those bad marks
44. Bring back to Broadway: RESTAGE.
46. U.S. IOUs: T-NOTES. Could this have also been T-BILLS? Or T-BONDS?
Fun Fact: What is the difference between T-bills, T-bonds and T-NOTES? The major difference among them is the time you need to wait to collect your principal: Treasury bills have maturities of a year or less. Treasury notes are issued with maturities from two to ten years. Treasury bonds are long-term investments that have maturities of 10 to 30 years from their issue date - Google
47. More evasive: COYER. Whenever I hear or see the word "COY", I'm reminded of this tune. Third stanza, I believe; "Don't need to be COY, Roy"
48. Wine region near Cuneo: ASTI. Hey! A correct clue for this word for a change! Granted, Cuneo is not the most well-known city in the Piedmont
49. One might get a return: SENDER. Any Elvis fans? If so, listen and enjoy
51. Razor choices: ATRAS. Can any person (male or female) who visits this blog ever recall using an ATRA razor?? Not I. But based on the number of times the word ATRA (or today, ATRAS) appears in crossword puzzles, you'd think it was the brand to beat all brands ...
52. Devious: MEALY. I can see devious as a synonym for MEALY-mouthed; so can Dictionary dot com: "avoiding the use of direct and plain language, as from timidity, excessive delicacy, or hypocrisy; inclined to mince words; insincere, devious, or compromising". But just for MEALY? Hmmm
53. Ready for the operation: UNDER. As in UNDER sedation. So as not to feel the incisions made during a surgical operation. Something that DID happen to me during one. Fortunately more anaesthesia was given to me, "stat"
57. Ian of "The Hobbit": HOLM. Bilbo Baggins character in the LOTR trilogy. Sir Ian Holm Cuthbert CBE, known as Ian HOLM, was an English actor. His death in 2020 at age 88 was attributed to an illness related to Parkinson’s disease
61. "Bali __": HA'I. Is Bali HA'I a real place? "Bali Ha'i" was based on the real island of Ambae (formerly Aoba Island). Ambae is located in Vanuatu (known as New Hebrides at the time the song was written). ... However, the scene was filmed on the north shore of Kauaʻi; Mount Makana was used as Bali Hai and is still known as Bali Hai today.
Not sure why Chairman Moe is all about songs and show tunes today, but we'll end today's blog with this rendition from the play "South Pacific"
