Four clechos on the
fourth planet from the Sun
Darryl Gonzales presents us with a simple theme: 4 entries clued with MARS, each filled with a different meaning for the word.
34. MARS: CANDY COMPANY. Mars Inc. is an American multinational manufacturer most famous for the confectionery items that it manufactures, such as Mars bars, 3 Musketeers, Milky Way bars, M&Ms, Skittles, Snickers, Twix, and Bounty ...
Here's the grid ...
Across:
1. Places to retire: BEDS.
5. Passage on a floor plan: HALL.
9. "Yellowstone" actor Hauser: COLE. Thank you perps. Cole Kenneth Hauser (born March 22, 1975) is an American actor. He currently stars as Rip Wheeler on the Paramount Network western drama series Yellowstone.
 |
| Cole Hauser |
14. Medicinal succulents: ALOES.
16. Grape shape: OVAL.
17. Pietà spot: APSE. I filled ROME for this at first, as ST. PETER'S is too long. The statue is in an APSE, the Chapel of the Pietà, one of the first things you see when you enter the Cathedral thru the right doors.
 |
| Pietà Michelangelo Buonarroti 6 March 1475 – 18 February 1564 |
18. Gloria's "Sunset Boulevard" role: NORMA. Sunset Boulevard is a 1950 American black comedy starring William Holden as Joe Gillis, a struggling screenwriter, and Gloria Swanson as Norma Desmond, a former silent-film star who draws him into her deranged fantasy world, where she dreams of making a triumphant return to the screen ...19. Card collection: DECK.
20. [Theme clue].
23. Many prime time offerings: DRAMAS.
24. Recent beginning: NEO.
25. Banana Boat letters: SPF. Sun Protection Factor. The clue is also a hit song by Harry Belafonte ...
28. Stall kin: STY.
29. Mary Oliver work: POEM. Mary Jane Oliver (September 10, 1935 – January 17, 2019) was an American poet who won the National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize. She found inspiration for her work in nature and had a lifelong habit of solitary walks in the wild. Her poetry is characterized by wonderment at the natural environment, vivid imagery, and unadorned language. Here she reads her poem Wild Geese ...
32. Fail suddenly and spectacularly: CRATER. This was a toughie.
34. [Theme clue].
36. Poker buy-in: ANTE.
39. In the style of: ALA.
40. "Auld Lang __": SYNE.
41. [Theme clue].
46. Gamer's virtual persona: AVATAR. This word originated in Sanskrit and has several other meanings beside the one in gaming -- but this one is a god who likes to play games ...
 |
| Krishna The Divine Playful Boy |
48. Merit badge org.: BSA. Boy Scouts of America.
51. Thanksgiving side: YAM.
52. Part of FWIW: IT'S. For What IT'S Worth.
54. __ bar: OMELET. Here's a recipe.
 |
| Omelet |
60. Timeline units: ERAS.
62. Corleone brother: SONNY. Santino "Sonny" Corleone is a fictional character in Mario Puzo's 1969 novel The Godfather and its 1972 film adaptation.
 |
| Sonny Corleone played by James Caan |
64. Suffix for a scandal: GATE. Originated from the 1972 Watergate scandal, but has long since gone pandemic.
65. Incan carving: TOTEM. On Peru’s central coast, an ornately carved totem was venerated across centuries of upheaval and conquest.
 |
| The Idol of the Painted Temple |
67. Is in debt: OWES. In danger of a REPO?
68. Brings along for the ride: TOWS. Or the result of REPOS.
69. Those in favor: AYES.
Down:
1. Consequences of lengthening shadows: BEARDS. Clever!
2. Ship out: EXPORT.
3. Appall: DISMAY.
4. Iron output: STEAM.
5. Doesn't let go: HANGS ON.
6. __ gobi: vegetarian dish: ALOO. Potatoes, cauliflower, and spices. Here's a recipe.
 |
| Aloo Gobi |
8. Piccata need: LEMON. Piccata sauce is made using pan drippings; lemon juice and white wine or chicken stock are added and reduced. Chopped parsley and often capers are added; sometimes also shallots or garlic. After reduction, butter is stirred in to finish the sauce. It is often garnished with slices of lemon. Here's a recipe for white fish piccata.
9. 2021 Marlee Matlin film that won Best Picture: CODA. Children of Deaf Adults. Here's the trailer ...
10. Wear out one's welcome: OVERSTAY.
11. Fond du __, Wisconsin: LAC. Today's French Lesson: "At the bottom of the lake", so named because of its location at the bottom (south end) of Lake Winnebago.
12. Yellowstone buglers: ELK. Here's 50 seconds of an Elk brass section (IMHO they sound more like woodwinds😀) ...
15. Seattle-based insurance giant: SAFECO. Safeco Insurance is an American insurance company based in Seattle. A subsidiary of Liberty Mutual, Safeco provides auto insurance, homeowners insurance, and liability insurance. The company name is an acronym for Selective Auto and Fire Ensurance Company of America, or SAFECO (i.e., S.A.F.E. Co.)
21. Auto parts chain that's also a NASCAR sponsor: NAPA. The National Automotive Parts Association (NAPA), also known as NAPA Auto Parts, founded in 1925, is an American retailers' cooperative distributing automotive replacement parts, accessories, and service items throughout North America.
22. Fish dinner?: WORM. Eat or be eaten? 😀
26. The Quakers of the Ivies: PENN. The University of Pennsylvania (commonly known as PENN) is a private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. The association with the Quakers derives from the founder of the original colony, the influential Quaker William Penn.
27. Leather boot brand: FRYE. Thank you perps.
30. Answer to the riddle "What cheese is made backward?": EDAM. A cute meta clue. 😀
31. Shiny balloon material: MYLAR. MYLAR is one of several trade names for BoPET (biaxially oriented polyethylene terephthalate) is a polyester film made from stretched polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and is used for its high tensile strength, chemical stability, dimensional stability, transparency, reflectivity, and electrical insulation. These balloons go for about a buck a pop on Amazon ...
33. Lhasa __: APSO. I always used to think that these creatures were just furry lizards with a ganglion. But it turns out that Lhasa Apsos are a lavishly coated, thousand-year-old breed who served as sentinels at palaces and monasteries isolated high in the Himalayas. Smart, confident, and complex, Lhasas are family comedians but regally aloof with strangers.
34. "__ magnifique!": CEST. Today's French lesson: "It's beautiful!"
35. Pet store enclosure: CAGE. Also the name of a musician: John Cage. Here's a performance of his most famous composition 4'33". Here it's played on the piano, but it can be played on any instrument or combination of instruments. It is a unique work in a unique genre -- what might be called "non-performance art". You could call it soundless, but if you listen really carefully you can hear the blood coursing through your brain 😀...
36. Robert Newton Peck's "__ No Pigs Would Die": A DAY. A Day No Pigs Would Die is a semi-autobiographical novel by Robert Newton Peck about Rob Peck, a boy coming of age in rural Vermont on an impoverished farm. Originally published in 1972, it is one of the first books to be categorized as young adult fiction, in addition to being Peck's first novel.
37. __ Scotia: NOVA.
38. Dugout sharer: TEAM MATE.
42. Speaker's platform: DAIS.
43. Top drawer?: ARTIST. We've been watching the Ken Burns' PBS documentary on Leonardo da Vinci and he is quite simply the TDOAT ("Top Drawer Of All Time). Don't miss it! ...
44. Watt and Ohm, e.g.: EPONYMS. An EPONYM is a person, place, or thing that something else is named after. Watts (symbol: W) are a measure of power -- how fast work is done or energy is given from one thing to another, e.g. the conversion of electricity to light in a light bulb. Watts are named in honor of James Watt, who developed another unit of energy transfer called horsepower -- 1 HP = 745.7 WATTS.
An Ohm is a unit of electrical resistance to current flow, as defined by Ohm's Law. The unit is named for German physicist Georg Simon Ohm who first defined it.
 |
| White fish piccata |
9. 2021 Marlee Matlin film that won Best Picture: CODA. Children of Deaf Adults. Here's the trailer ...
10. Wear out one's welcome: OVERSTAY.
11. Fond du __, Wisconsin: LAC. Today's French Lesson: "At the bottom of the lake", so named because of its location at the bottom (south end) of Lake Winnebago.
12. Yellowstone buglers: ELK. Here's 50 seconds of an Elk brass section (IMHO they sound more like woodwinds😀) ...
15. Seattle-based insurance giant: SAFECO. Safeco Insurance is an American insurance company based in Seattle. A subsidiary of Liberty Mutual, Safeco provides auto insurance, homeowners insurance, and liability insurance. The company name is an acronym for Selective Auto and Fire Ensurance Company of America, or SAFECO (i.e., S.A.F.E. Co.)
21. Auto parts chain that's also a NASCAR sponsor: NAPA. The National Automotive Parts Association (NAPA), also known as NAPA Auto Parts, founded in 1925, is an American retailers' cooperative distributing automotive replacement parts, accessories, and service items throughout North America.
22. Fish dinner?: WORM. Eat or be eaten? 😀
26. The Quakers of the Ivies: PENN. The University of Pennsylvania (commonly known as PENN) is a private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. The association with the Quakers derives from the founder of the original colony, the influential Quaker William Penn.
 |
Read Without Vain Manners |
27. Leather boot brand: FRYE. Thank you perps.
30. Answer to the riddle "What cheese is made backward?": EDAM. A cute meta clue. 😀
31. Shiny balloon material: MYLAR. MYLAR is one of several trade names for BoPET (biaxially oriented polyethylene terephthalate) is a polyester film made from stretched polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and is used for its high tensile strength, chemical stability, dimensional stability, transparency, reflectivity, and electrical insulation. These balloons go for about a buck a pop on Amazon ...
 |
| Mylar Balloons |
 |
| Lhasa Apso |
35. Pet store enclosure: CAGE. Also the name of a musician: John Cage. Here's a performance of his most famous composition 4'33". Here it's played on the piano, but it can be played on any instrument or combination of instruments. It is a unique work in a unique genre -- what might be called "non-performance art". You could call it soundless, but if you listen really carefully you can hear the blood coursing through your brain 😀...
36. Robert Newton Peck's "__ No Pigs Would Die": A DAY. A Day No Pigs Would Die is a semi-autobiographical novel by Robert Newton Peck about Rob Peck, a boy coming of age in rural Vermont on an impoverished farm. Originally published in 1972, it is one of the first books to be categorized as young adult fiction, in addition to being Peck's first novel.
38. Dugout sharer: TEAM MATE.
42. Speaker's platform: DAIS.
43. Top drawer?: ARTIST. We've been watching the Ken Burns' PBS documentary on Leonardo da Vinci and he is quite simply the TDOAT ("Top Drawer Of All Time). Don't miss it! ...
44. Watt and Ohm, e.g.: EPONYMS. An EPONYM is a person, place, or thing that something else is named after. Watts (symbol: W) are a measure of power -- how fast work is done or energy is given from one thing to another, e.g. the conversion of electricity to light in a light bulb. Watts are named in honor of James Watt, who developed another unit of energy transfer called horsepower -- 1 HP = 745.7 WATTS.
 |
| James Watt 30 January 1736 – 25 August 1819 Carl Frederik von Breda |
An Ohm is a unit of electrical resistance to current flow, as defined by Ohm's Law. The unit is named for German physicist Georg Simon Ohm who first defined it.
.jpg) |
| Georg Simon Ohm 16 March 1789 – 6 July 1854 |
 |
| Panorama of the valley, looking north |
48. Video format: BLU-RAY. Blu-ray is a digital optical disc data storage format designed to supersede the DVD format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released worldwide on June 20, 2006, capable of storing several hours of high-definition video (HDTV 720p and 1080p).
53. "Get!": SCOOT.
55. Writer Jong: ERICA. The author of the controversial 1973 novel Fear of Flying.
 |
| 50th Anniversary Edition |
58. Passionate about: INTO. A lot of Cornerites are really INTO crosswords.
59. Fresh: ANEW.
60. Sense of self: EGO. Today's Latin lesson: "I".
61. Like carpaccio: RAW. The carnivore's sushi.
Cheers,
Bill
And as always, thanks to Teri for proof reading and for her constructive criticism.
waseeley
