Domestic Flights of Fancy
Hi All!Today Jon offers us four U.S. carriers as part of common things. Let's take a look:
17. Sadness that sets in after missing a flight?: DELTA BLUES. Blues from the Mississippi Delta; Delta is an airline based in ATL.
23. Countries listed on a flight board?: UNITED NATIONS. Headquartered in New York, the UN tries to keep the world more or less civilized. United Airlines is HQ'd in Chicago.
47. Rural areas serviced by just one airline?: FRONTIER TOWNS. A township founded by the settlers. Frontier Airlines is based in Denver, CO.
57. Flight that lasts seven days?: SPIRIT WEEK. The week before the big homecoming game #RahRahRah. SPIRIT airlines - the butt of late-night jokes.
Pretty straight forward theme that doesn't require much from me so let's just move on to the fill.
Across:
1. Maze runners: MICE.
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| "I solved the maze in fifty-three seconds, but it was a Monday level." |
5. Formal decrees: DICTA. Puts the DIC in dictator.
10. Help the chef: PREP. Sous in the kitchen.
14. Driver of Hollywood: ADAM. Listening to an interview, I learned he's a Marine Corps vet.
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| Adam Driver |
15. "American Fiction" actress Tracee __ Ross: ELLIS. She's an actress and Diana Ross's daughter.
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| Tracee Ellis Ross |
16. Stray: ROVE. I almost went with roam.
17. [See: theme]
19. Jon Arbuckle's dog: ODIE. Garfield comic.
20. F1 neighbor: ESC.
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| Standard Keyboard |
21. Friction reducer: LUBE.
22. Paint, toddler-style: SMEAR.
23. [See: theme]
27. Minimally: AT LEAST.
29. Spring bloom: IRIS. Blue Iris used to frequent The Corner.
30. Grilled sausages, for short: BRATS.
31. Out in the open: AL FRESCO. When DW & I were in Italy, we ate only one meal indoors. //I had the anchovy pasta.
35. Fun, as a party: LIT.
36. Jewelry retailer: ZALES.
38. Paddle kin: OAR.
39. Hit the gym: EXERCISE.
42. Church donation: TITHE. 10% is literally what it means and suggested by the church.
44. Tennis Court __: French Revolution event: OATH. The OATH that established the National Assembly in the Real Tennis room of Versailles.
45. Some patches: IRON-ONS.
47. [See: theme]
51. Filmmaker George who won five Hugo Awards for Best Dramatic Presentation: LUCAS. Hugos are for Science Fiction / Fantasy. George's are for Star Wars (1978), Empire Strikes Back (1981), Raiders of the Lost Ark (1982), Return of the Jedi (1984), and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1990).
52. __-Free: contact lens solution: OPTI.
53. Honor society letter: PHI. As in PHI Beta Kappa.
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| National Honor Society |
56. Second son: ABEL. Cain killed him.
57. [See: theme]
60. Covered: CLAD.
61. Eagle claw: TALON.
62. Fabled napper: HARE. Aesop reference.
63. Numbers game: KENO.
64. Mantegna's "Criminal Minds" role: ROSSI. Didn't know his name but I know the face. Good Italian boy, him.
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| Joe Mantegna [WikiP] as Rossi. |
65. Pod in Creole cuisine: OKRA.
Down:
1. Took home: MADE. Net. After taxes.
2. Midmonth time: IDES. Beware the IDES of April. #Taxes
3. Do the math: CALCULATE. Take line 47 and subtract from... Ha!, No., just give the Gov't all that's left over and move on.
4. CPR expert: EMT. Needed after taxes :-)
5. Opens: DEBUTS.
6. "Suuure": I'LL BET.
7. Like crosswords: CLUED. Cute. I find clueing is the easiest part; gridding takes C.C..
8. Twist-__: TIE.
9. Saddlebag carrier: ASS.
10. Potential: PROMISE. As in, "-T had a lot of promise | potential..." that I'd get on report cards.
11. Wyoming's state sport: RODEO. Also Texas' state sport. Houston's Rodeo is 27 February through 17 March this year.
12. S.Pellegrino rival: EVIAN. Bottled spring waters. I associate S.Pellegrino with carbonated and Evian with still (though they (Evian) make sparkling now).
13. Coevals: PEERS. Coevals are contemporaries.
18. Misleading handle: ALIAS. Fake name used for mischief.
22. To-do: STIR. A row.
24. Clear: NET.
25. African river to the Mediterranean: NILE. Our Egypt offices are moving from Maadi to New Cairo City in June(ish).
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| I tried to highlight the Nile in red. |
26. Pound sounds: ARFS.
27. Qualified: ABLE.
28. Lucky Charms shelfmate: TRIX. There's an Eddie Murphy bit in this.
Eddie Murphy on Carson
31. Pour choice: ALE. Ha!
32. Figuratively: SO TO SPEAK.
33. Four-time Oscar-winning lyricist Sammy: CAHN. Samuel Cohen (June 18, 1913 – January 15, 1993), known professionally as Sammy Cahn, was an American lyricist, songwriter, and musician. [WikiP]
34. Smelter input: ORES.
36. Tubular pasta: ZITI. Among Rigatoni, Penne, Fileja, Cannelloni, Ditalini, Manicotti, and Macaroni. #KnowYourTubePastas
37. Tennis great Arthur: ASHE.
40. Portuguese soccer great who now plays in Saudi Arabia: RONALDO. Cristiano Ronaldo's WikiP.
41. Musical based on Eliot poems: CATS. Andrew Lloyd Webber's Cats is based on T.S. Eliot's Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats.
42. Specifically: TO WIT.
43. Overnight stop: INN.
45. PC problem solvers: IT PROS.
46. Corkscrew pasta: ROTINI. Great for pasta salads.
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| Recipe |
47. "Killing Me Softly With His Song" singer: FLACK.
Roberta Flack
48. Moscow money: RUBLE. DW had some left over from her Russia trip that we added to our international monies collection.
49. __ Spray: OCEAN. Cranberry Cooperative.
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| WikiP |
50. Foments: ROILS.
54. Munster mister: HERR. Today's German lesson.
55. KALLAX shelf seller: IKEA.
57. Viola's sect.: STR. A buddy of mine in HS was First STRing offensive line and First STRing Viola in the STRing SECTion.
58. Kung __ shrimp: PAO.
59. Seuss villager: WHO. As in Horton Hears 'em or The Grinch tries to steal their Christmas.
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| Whos in Whoville. (The one on the left (in blue) is The Dr. :-)) |
The Grid:
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| The Grid |
After I completed the grid I noticed ATL (Delta's hub) in AT LEAST and went hunting for the other airlines' hubs. There's United's ORD (O'Hare), Frontier's DENver, and I think Spirit is HQ'd in MIAmi. I don't think Jon intended this level of silliness but there you are :-)
WOs: Sous -> PREP, ROam -> ROVE
ESPs: ELLIS, ROSSI
Fav: 42d CLUED as "Specifically" is nicer parsing than the slight (at me) "What to do when the Alfa doesn't work." :-)
Cheers, -T
