An Ice Breaker:
17-Across. * Another thing altogether: WHOLE NEW BALLGAME. Whole Truth
30-Across. * William S. Burroughs novel: NAKED LUNCH. Naked Truth
49-Across. * Background sound that may be a sleep aid: WHITE NOISE. White Lie
And the unifier:
65-Across. Ice-breaker activity involving three claims, or what the starts of the answers to the starred clues literally are: TWO TRUTHS AND A LIE. Two Truths and a Lie is a simple ice-breaker game that is designed to get to know others in a group. Each individual shares three statements about themselves: 2 of the statements are true, and one is false. The rest of the group tries to guess which statement is the lie by asking questions.
Across:
1. "How tragic": SO SAD!
6. Cent: PENNY.
11. Gender-neutral German article: DAS. // And 5-Down.
Feminine German article: DIE. The masculine German article,
DER is missing from today's German lesson.
14. Food safety concern: E. COLI. The full name of this
bacterium is Escherichia coli. Most strains of E. coli are actually harmless.
It is often used in microbiology teaching labs.
15. Infer: EDUCE.
16. Foot part: ARCH.
20. Annual presidential speech, for short: SOTU. As
in State Of The Union.
21. Maker of Simply Radishing and Can't Be Beet! nail polish: OPI.
This brand is becoming a crossword staple.
22. Sunburn soother: ALOE GEL.
23. Chain reaction component: DOMINO.
26. Restroom, to a Brit: LOO.
27. Rock and Roll Hall of Fame architect: I.M. PEI. I.M. Pei
(né Ieoh Ming Pei; Apr. 26, 1917 ~ May 16, 2019) was a Chinese-American
architect. He was quite a visionary and designed many unique looking
buildings. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is designed to look like a record player.[Name # 1.]
35. Pad thai strand: NOODLE. Yummers!
37. One-line rave on movie posters: A MUST SEE!
38. __ Angeles Kings: LOS. The professional hockey team.
39. Medium for many homemade cards: CRAYON. If you are
lucky, you have 64 color choices.
42. Chapped, maybe: DRY.
43. Remains calm: ACTS COOL.
46. Interstate through Chicago: NINETY. Interstate-90 runs
from Boston, Massachusetts to Seattle, Washington.
52. High-IQ group: MENSA.
53. "__ Lasso": TED. Ted Lasso is a fictional character
portrayed by Jason Sudeikis. [Name Adjacent.]
54. Doodads: GIZMOS.
56. Pseudonym: PEN NAME. // And 18-Down. __ de
plume: NOM. Theodor Seuss Geisel (Mar. 2, 1904 ~ Sept. 24,
1991) used Dr. Seuss as his pen name.
60. Org. headed by Michael S. Regan: EPA. Michael Stanley
Regan (b. Aug. 6, 1976) is the current Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency. [Name # 2.]
61. Wooden barrel: CASK.
68. Hardens: SETS.
69. Sports data: STATS.
70. "Assuming there is one": IF ANY.
71. "Black-ish" role: DRE. Actor Anthony Anderson (b. Aug.
15, 1970) portrays Dre Johnson on the television
sit-com Black-ish. [Name adjacent]
72. Generational tales: SAGAS. I can get lost in a good
saga. I have read several on this list. Ken Follett also writes wonderful historical sagas.
73. Trait carriers: GENES.
Down:
1. Wraps (up): SEWS.
2. Cuatro x dos: OCHO. Spanish math. Hi, Lucina!
3. Flue residue: SOOT.
4. Slyly referred (to): ALLUDED.
6. Peek through shutters, say: PEEP IN.
7. Holly's "Raising Arizona" role: EDWINA. Raising Arizona was a 1987 movie that starred Holly Hunter (b. Mar. 20, 1958) and
Nicholas Cage (b. Jan. 7, 1964). Holly hunter portrayed Edwina
McDunnough. [Name Adjacent]
8. Much-used pencil: NUB.
9. March Madness gp.: NCAA. As in the National Collegiate Athletic Association.
10. Holler: YELL.
11. International reality show that inspired "Shark Tank": DRAGONS' DEN. I am not familiar with Dragon's Den.
12. Pinnacle: ACME.
13. Writer Silverstein: SHEL. Shel Silverstein (né Sheldon
Allan Silverstein; Sept. 25, 1930 ~ May 11, 1999) was a poet, cartoonist and
songwriter. Did you know that he wrote A Boy Named Sue? [Name # 3.]
16. Get too old: AGE OUT.
19. Lounges around: LOLLS.
24. Cruet contents: OIL.
25. Just so-so: OKAY.
27. Spouse's kin: IN-LAW.
28. Scrounging sort: MOOCH.
29. Sticky reminder: POST-IT NOTE.
31. Genre associated with black eyeliner: EMO.
32. Country duo Brooks & __: DUNN. [Names # 4.]
33. "Two mints in one" mint: CERTS.
34. 2003 Outkast hit: HEY YA!
36. Business maj.: ECON. As in Economics.
40. Milne joey: ROO. A reference to Winnie-the-Pooh's
reference.
41. Sacha Baron Cohen persona: ALI G. Ali G is a satirical
character played by Sasha Baron Cohen (b. Oct. 13, 1971). [Name # 5.]
44. Artery inserts: STENTS.
45. Fragrant wood: CEDAR. Everything you wanted to
know about Cedar wood, but didn't know to ask.
47. "If u ask me ... ": IMO. Textspeak for In My Opinion.
48. Brand that had instant success?: NESCAFÉ. The brand that
makes instant coffee.
50. Afternoon nap: SIESTA.
51. Toll-paying convenience: E-ZPASS. I live in a state that
doesn't use an electronic pass. We did have to get a toll-tag for Texas,
however.
55. "Wow": MAN! Meh?
56. Survivor's struggle, briefly: PTSD. As in Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.
57. Carafe kin: EWER.
58. No __, no fuss: MUSS.
59. Jazz legend James: ETTA. Etta James (née Jamesetta
Hawkins; Jan. 25, 1938 ~ Jan. 20, 2012) makes frequent guest appearances in
the crossword puzzles. [Name # 6.]
62. Actor Rickman: ALAN. Alan Rickman (né Alan Sidney
Patrick Rickman; Feb 21, 1946 ~ Jan. 14, 2016) was such a talented actor.
[Name # 7.]
63. __ wave: SINE.
64. Types (in): KEYS.
66. Folklore crone: HAG.
67. Use a trowel: DIG.
Here's the Grid:
חתולה
L'Shana Tova to all who celebrate. This is the second day of the
holiday.
