Saturday Themeless by Matthew Stock and Caitlin Reed
Matthew gave me a jolt of déjà vu when he informed me he has taken a step back from teaching 8th grade math in Gainesville, FL and is going to pursue a degree in counseling. I kept teaching but did get a Masters degree in counseling after teaching math a few dozen years ago! He said he reached out to Caitlin, who lives in Santa Ana, CA, online and they have collaborated on several puzzles. Matthew said she is a joy to work with.
I had a pleasant journey around Matthew's and Caitlin's puzzle and finished up in the NW corner where UPDO (not chic), SLOW LORIS (such a common adjective), LIKE SO (wrong demonstration idea by me) and PLAICE (??) just wouldn't come to me. We were at a concert and I had a picture of the grid on my phone and UPDO hit me out of nowhere while waiting for the curtain. I rushed home afterwards and obtained a satisfying "got 'er done!"
Across:
1. High fashion?: UPDO.
5. Gramps alternative: PAPA - My proudest alias!
9. Scratches, e.g.: FLAWS - Claws works as a verb but this called for a noun
14. Large-eyed primate with a toxic bite: SLOW LORIS.
16. Medium for delivering course corrections: RED INK - Some want to banish RED INK for grading because it is threatening and intimidating.
18. Look: FACIAL EXPRESSION.
20. Phrase heard during a demonstration: LIKE SO.
21. Frozen drinks: ICEES.
22. Hip-hop pioneer Kool __ Dee: MOE.
23. Tops: ACES.
24. Quite a lot: HEAPS.
25. "The thing with feathers," per Dickinson: HOPE.
26. Come into: GET.
27. Ready to play: CUED - Dr. Johnny Fever getting a song CUED up on a turntable on WKRP
29. Percocet, codeine, etc.: OPIATES.
31. Cry for attention?: TEN-HUT.
33. "That wasn't exactly honest": I LIED.
34. Working capital, in a way: TRADE SECRETS
36. Get new life out of: REUSE.
37. Tarator ingredient: TAHINI.
38. Clouseau player: SELLERS - Ya gotta love this clip!
40. Hudson of "Glass Onion": KATE - Lower left in the big hat. 92% at Rotten Tomatoes
41. Kitty: POT 😀 Two names for money that has been bet
44. Like some holiday sweaters: UGLY.
45. Pocket protector?: MISER 😀
47. Rebecca in the Basketball Hall of Fame: LOBO.
48. Furrow: RUT - RUTS from the Oregon Trail in western Nebraska
49. Could or could not: MIGHT.
50. Goes around in circles: TWIRLS.
52. Snack with which one could be caught red-handed?: FLAMIN' HOT CHEETOS.
55. __ solution: SALINE.
56. Happy place: CLOUD NINE.
57. Show again: RE-AIR - I love the RE-AIRINGs of this show. It is like a time capsule.
58. Spare __: KEYS - Ours are hidden where no one can find them. 😙
59. Yields to gravity: SAGS.
Down:
1. Symbol on a space suit, for short: US FLAG - These 12 wore that symbol on the Moon.
2. "The carp play the harp / The __ play the bass": "Under the Sea" lyrics: PLAICE - I have never heard of this fish but it is pronounced "plays" which rhymes with bass and so...
3. List for a trial period?: DOCKET 😀
4. Baby bumps?: OWIES 😀
5. Sport that's a lot of horsing around: POLO 😀
6. Is for two: ARE.
7. Part of a fictional flight plan: PIXIE DUST.
8. Rescue org.: ASPCA.
9. Nonconformist: FREE SPIRIT - As a student, they can be a delight or a nightmare for a teacher
10. Not so much: LESS.
11. Subway car decor: ADS.
12. Handheld Nintendo devices: WIIMOTES - I laughed out loud when I said this out loud and finally saw the pun for a WII remote!!
13. Did some digging: SNOOPED.
15. "__ Mañanitas": Mexican birthday song: LAS.
17. Strike zone bottom: KNEES.
19. Credit report blot: REPO.
24. "lol": HE HE.
25. Tortuga's country: HAITI.
27. Cut off: CEASE.
28. "The Incredibles" villain likely inspired by Marvel Comics' Mole Man: UNDERMINER - A clever name.
30. "The Handmaid's Tale" executive producer Chaiken: ILENE - Her IMDB entry
31. White Claw rival: TRULY.
32. Whistler on the range: TEA KETTLE 😀
34. Clear sign: TELLTALE - When Aaron Rodgers had to be carted off the field after the third play of the game this year, it was a TELLTALE sign he was severely injured.
35. Arctic __: CHAR.
36. Frequent patron: REGULAR - Yeah, I thought of him too!
38. Goes over board?: SURFS 😀 Two words for over board indicates someone who is over a board and not overboard.
39. Eye roll accompanier, maybe: SIGH.
41. "The Merchant of Venice" heroine: PORTIA - The traditional PORTIA and an updated one set in Las Vegas
I know that many of you who comment here are not in favor of circles in a puzzle. However, today's would've been quite difficult to "see the theme" if they weren't there. All three of the theme entries used the circled letters to complete the reveal, as you'll see in the highlighted grid. The circles spelled out the name of a member of the cat family - COUGAR, PUMA, and LION. There didn't seem to be any continuity as to how the circled cats came into view. In other words, one cat - the COUGAR - went above and counterclockwise; the LION went up and counterclockwise, too; the PUMA, though, decided to appear in a downward, clockwise pattern. Not a nit; and perhaps this was done to further support the fact that like domestic cats, the "wild varieties" are also difficult to herd
Entry #1 actually uses the singer's name (20-across. Big name in 1980s heartland rock: JOHN C MELLENCAMP) although most audiophiles refer to this singer by his full name - John COUGAR Mellencamp - as opposed to using just his middle initial
Entry #2 is a bit trickier, as (32-across. Some suede kicks: P SNEAKERS) the PUMA was mostly separate from the SNEAKERS part. What are suede-like PUMA SNEAKERS you ask? Here:
Entry #3 might have been the trickiest of all. The grid revealed (45-across. "If I Were King of the Forest" singer: COWARDLY L), which looked odd to me; but when I saw the LION appear in the circles, it made sense
Overall, it was a good puzzle; not great. Many words and phrases are not ones we would use daily, but as someone who's constructed puzzles, I know how difficult this must've been to create
This puzzle took me over 20 minutes to solve (on-line), and I give it a 7.1 on the MOE'S hardness scale. You might notice from the grid image that I had a couple of mistakes ... did you, too?
Let's throw in the grid; follow the circles as I've explained to see how the CATS became "herded":
Across:
1. Chow down: EAT. Easy start; three-letter beginners need to be easy IMO
4. Military bigwigs: BRASS. Named for their "BRASS" colored medals denoting rank, perhaps?
9. Bar codes?: LAWS. A slight bit of misdirection as "bar" refers to the test that lawyers take (and must pass) to practice LAW
13. Injure severely: MAIM. Kind of a harsh word, but OK as clued
15. "This __ to be good": OUGHT. What I hope you folks say when you're about to read a Chairman Moe blog!
16. Hemoglobin mineral: IRON.
17. College chem course, informally: ORGO. [vanderbilt.edu] "What does ORGO mean? Simply put, orgo is the study of organic chemical reactions, mainly involving the elements carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen. A typical reaction may look something like this: You essentially need to know the mechanism of how the reaction works and be able to predict the product and reactant". Learning moment, and the first of the words I would not use on a daily basis
18. Basketry willow: OSIER. If it weren't for crossword puzzles, I would not know the word OSIER
19. Actress Garr: TERI.
23. Opening words: INTRO.
24. "Pomp and Circumstance" composer: ELGAR.
25. Leslie __ Jr. of "Hamilton": ODOM. I knew this, but when I first inserted it I made a correction because I thought that (26-down. Allowed: OKD) was LET
28. Not much: A BIT OF. Meh
37. One who may be shorthanded at work?: STENO. Good clue but easy to solve. Do STENOs even exist anymore?
38. Wish undone: RUE. Moe-ku #1:
Ms. McClanahan Wishes folks knew her first name Was Eddi. Rue, RUEd
39. Flag: DROOP. The verb version - "sag", as a clue, would've been TOO easy
41. "Baby Cobra" comedian Wong: ALI. Not Mohammed or Laila
42. Hub city for Royal Jordanian Airlines: AMMAN. Geography
54. Shot-putter?: NURSE. Shot-sipper would also fit as a clue here if they used the verb. But in this case, the NURSE was the one "giving the shot". Cute
63. Brainstorm: IDEA.
64. Established beliefs: DOGMA. My error here was thinking too far ahead ... I placed an "S" in the fifth position before looking at the crossing words
65. Tall birds: EMUS. Just how tall is an EMU, you ask? [Smithsonian] "The EMU is the second largest living bird and the largest bird found in Australia. Its height averages 5.7 feet (1.75 meters). Males weigh 110 to 121 pounds (50 to 55 kilograms), and females weigh about 11 pounds (5 kilograms) more than males. Emus live only in Australia, where they are widespread". And now you know
66. Is appropriate: FITS. GIBES or AGREES do not "fit" here
67. Get 100% on the test: ACE IT.
68. Movie theater drink: SODA. If you can afford it
69. Quartet for Jennifer Hudson, for short: EGOT. This word is quickly becoming part of crossword-ese
70. Question type: YES/NO. TRUE/FALSE was too big for the five spaces here
71. BOS rivals: NYY. A posthumous CSO to Wilbur Charles who was a big Red Sox fan. Sadly for the fans of the Beantown baseball team, the Yankees lead the overall series, 1,259–1,052
Down:
1. Japanese term whose similarity to "emotion" is coincidental: EMOJI. Want to see how to create an EMOJI? Let's see if it works ... if I did it correctly there should be an EMOJU of Husker Gary swinging a golf club below ...
🏌️♀️
2. Crooner Neville: AARON. Hmm ... AARON not clued as: ___ Burr; or Hank ___; or Exodus Biblical character ... today it's clued as a crooner. Neville. I was trying to think, is it Neville AARON or AARON Neville? Guess I'll just have to insert one of his croonings ... and FTR, this is one of my favorite AARON Neville songs ... I was in 9th grade when this released ... and I remember it as being one of the more popular "slow dance" songs ...
3. Snug: TIGHT. Unfortunately, I've gained about 12 pounds since COVID began and can't lose it. Everything I wear is pretty TIGHT these days
4. Market upswing: BOOM. Better than a BUST, which is when the stock market swing is coming down
5. Scheme: RUSE. Moe-ku #2:
Ms. McClanahan Thought that Sara's a schemer. Yes, Rue rued Rue's RUSE
6. Spry: AGILE.
7. Narrow racing boat: SHELL. Here are a slew of SHELLs during a race ...
8. "__ Nona": Tomie dePaola picture book: STREGA. #2 of the words not usually mentioned daily. I had "no clue" but googled the word to learn more. Good old [wikipedia] says, "STREGA Nona is a children's picture book written and illustrated by Tomie dePaola. If considered as a folktale, the story is Aarne-Thompson type 565, the Magic Mill. It concerns Strega Nona and her helper, Big Anthony. With only a single "n", the title actually means "Ninth Witch" in Italian". Another website says that the book has been banned in the US for promoting magic and witchcraft ...
9. English major's course, informally: LIT CRIT. #3 of the words/phrases not usually mentioned daily. Short for LITerary CRITicism. Margaret tells me that this subject is the informed analysis and evaluation of literature. And now I know ... 😀
10. Geometry calculation: AREA. Length times width, e.g.
11. Wriggly bait: WORM. Every kid who's ever gone fishing knows that it takes a few tries to get the wriggly WORM onto the hook. For those who need a brief tutorial:
12. Clean up loose ends, in a way: SNIP. I think this works on split ends, too
14. Basketball Hall of Famer Earl "The Pearl" __: MONROE. Laura and Katherine went old school on us twice today with their clues on proper names ... AARON Neville was a crooner in the 1960's, whilst Earl (The Pearl) MONROE was a hoopster during the same decade. He started his career with the Baltimore Bullets and retired with the New York Knicks
21. Symphonic finale: CODA. [Brittania dot com] "CODA, (Italian: “tail”) in musical composition, a concluding section (typically at the end of a sonata movement) that is based, as a general rule, on extensions or reelaborations of thematic material previously heard" ... basically, a fancy word for "repeat"
22. Snags: NABS. GRABS and TRAPS were too big; NETS fit, but then it didn't
29. Dark greenish blue: TEAL. My crayon box contained just the basic 8 colors; yours? I thought TEAL was a duck?
30. Part of YOLO: ONLY. As in YOU ONLY LIVE ONCE ... unless of course, you're James Bond
31. Wrap that shouldn't be microwaved: FOIL. [Reuters] "The FDA reiterates that food completely covered in aluminum FOIL should not be put in the microwave here . The electric fields in microwaves cause charges to flow through metal. Thin pieces of metal like aluminum foil are overwhelmed by these currents, causing them to heat up so quickly that they can ignite"
32. Brit twit: PRAT. #4 of the less likely-to-be-used-everyday words in today's puzzle
33. Sport that's big in Japan: SUMO. Moe-ku #3:
Japanese wrestler Named Maurice was served. Someone Wanted to SUMO.
34. Sought-after fish: NEMO. Moe-ku #4:
Chairman got too fresh, And the only defense was For her to NEMO
35. Hundred Acre Wood kid: ROO. TIGGER, EEYORE, and POOH didn't fit
36. Females with pig tails: SOWS. GIRLS didn't fit
40. Bud: PAL. Nice to see another "old time" word used - PAL, not BRO for a change
43. No less than: AT LEAST. Most of my blogs contain AT LEAST 3 Moe-kus
44. Ark-itect?: NOAH. Ha Ha!! 🤣
46. Step up: RUNG. As a step up on a ladder or stairs, I guess
47. Low pair: DEUCES. They still beat ACE-high in poker
49. Not now: ONE DAY. Ralph Cramden used to say, "ONE of these DAYs ..."
52. "Time in a Bottle" singer: CROCE. [wikipedia] "James Joseph CROCE was an American folk and rock singer-songwriter. Between 1966 and 1973, he released five studio albums and numerous singles. During this period, Croce took a series of odd jobs to pay bills while he continued to write, record, and perform concerts. On the night of Thursday, September 20, 1973, during Croce's Life and Times tour and the day before his ABC single "I Got a Name" was released, Croce and five others were killed when their chartered Beechcraft E18S crashed into a tree during takeoff from the Natchitoches Regional Airport in Natchitoches, Louisiana
53. Margins: EDGES. Something you always had to stay within when you wrote a paper in school, IIRC
55. "Will Trent" star Rodríguez: RAMON.
56. Den: STUDY.
57. Many an assignment in 9-Down: ESSAY.
58. Board game with car-shaped tokens: LIFE. It's actually called: "The Game of LIFE"
59. "Capisce!": I DIG.
60. Atkins variant: KETO. Diets haven't worked too well for me over the years ...
61. "Sign me up!": I'M IN. Or as some poker players (and Jeopardy! contestants) say, "I'M all IN"
Constructor Jason Reich shared a few grains of truth in his
first appearance on the Corner this past January. Today he sends us some mixed messagesthat life might not be
so simple after all. Modern society is constantly bombarding us with
messages, and at times it becomes difficult to tell them from the noise,
especially if the former are encrypted (scrambled) in someway, like these 4
themers ...
17A. "Devilishly delicious" hard cider brand: ORIGINAL SIN.
It's what got Adam and Eve kicked out of the Garden, but where
would we cruciverbalists be without EDEN? This one can get you
kicked out if you drink too much of it. I think all the Cornerites are
old enough to
get into this site.
Original Sin Ciders
24A. One performing a service, maybe: CHORAL SINGER. Here's
Musicality's choral cover of Never Enough from the 2017 musical filmThe Greatest Showman, based on the life of P.T. Barnum ...
I watched several renditions of this song, including this solo by
Loren Allred
from the original soundtrack. It's not a choral number, but
IT'S INCREDIBLE ...
38A. Classic sitcom that began with the wreck of the S.S. Minnow:
GILLIGAN'S ISLAND. Hand up if you've seen this ...
50A. Result of appreciation: CAPITAL GAINS. Something that all investors
appreciate,
except at tax time.
As Jason reveals here, his encryption algorithm is pretty simple
-- he just TURNS anagrams for the word SIGNAL into fragments
inserted in his theme fill ...
60A. Blinkers, and a hint to filling
in 17-, 24-, 38-, and 50-Across?:
TURN SIGNALS.
ORIGINAL SIN CHORAL SINGER GILLIGAN'S ISLAND CAPITAL GAINS
I was going to give Jason a demerit for not spanning the two words in
the third themer, but maybe it was intentional, as Gilligan and company
couldn't get a SIGNAL off of the
ISLAND.
Here's the grid ...
Here's the rest ... Across:
1. Here, there, or everywhere: ADVERB. Swap "or" for an
"and" and you've got a song ...
7. Weigh station rig: SEMI.
11. 12-mo. spans: YRS.
14. Bit of baby babble: GOO GOO. While babies play with
DOLLS, the GOO GOO DOLLS play rock and roll ...
15. Cornfield array: EARS. It's that time of year!
We're eating Eastern Shore
Silver Queen sweet corn most evenings.
16. Permit: LET.
17 [Theme clue].
19. "Blonde" Oscar nominee de Armas: ANA.
ANA Celia de Armas Caso
(born 30 April 1988) is a Cuban and Spanish actress. She began her career in
Cuba with a leading role in the romantic drama
Una rosa de Francia (2006). At the age of 18, she moved to Madrid,
Spain, and starred in the popular drama El Internado for six seasons
from 2007 to 2010. She starred in Blonde, the 2022 bio-pic
about
Norma Jeane Mortenson
(June 1, 1926 – August 4, 1962) ...
20. Josh of "Frozen": GAD.
Joshua Ilan GAD
(born February 23, 1981) is an American actor, comedian and singer. He is
known for voicing Olaf in the Frozen franchise, playing
Elder Arnold Cunningham in the Broadway musical
The Book of Mormon, and playing Le Fou in the live-action
adaptation of Disney's
Beauty and the Beast.
21. Viral GIF, e.g.: MEME.
22. Copier need: TONER.
24 [Theme clue].
27. Give, as a passport: ISSUE TO.
30. Wee: ITSY. I'm reminded of a song ...
31. Many a Maldives formation: ATOLL.
The Maldives, officially the Republic of Maldives is an archipelagic state and
country in South Asia, situated in the Indian Ocean. It lies southwest
of Sri Lanka and India, about 750 kilometres (470 miles; 400
nautical miles) from the Asian continent's mainland. The Maldives' chain of
26 ATOLLS stretches across the equator from
Ihavandhippolhu Atoll in the north to Addu Atoll in the
south. Here is the Malosmadulu Atoll seen from space ...
Malosmadulu Atoll Republic of Maldives
32. Endure: BEAR.
35. Young chap: LAD.
38 [Theme clue].
42. __ pro nobis: ORA. Today's Latin lesson - "Pray for us" --
Lord knows we need it!
43. Texter's "But ... ": OTOH. What we'd all do for a one handed
politician! 😀
44. Hexa- minus one: PENTA. Today's Greek math lesson.
45. Promising: ROSY. A CSO to RosE, who I assume pronounces it the same way.
48. Causing acute embarrassment: CRINGEY. The feeling most people
get when they listen to opera. 😁
50. [Theme clue].
54. Florida city known for thoroughbred farms: OCALA. OCALA in Marion County was the first thoroughbred horse farm in Florida and was developed in 1943 by Carl G. Rose.
Ocala is one of only five cities (four in the US and one in France)
permitted under Chamber of Commerce guidelines to use the title, "Horse
Capital of the World", based on annual revenue produced by the horse
industry. 44,000 jobs are sustained by breeding, training, and related
support of the equine industry, which generates over $2.2 billion in
annual revenue. In 1978, Affirmed, who was bred and trained in Marion County, won the Triple Crown:
Affirmed Spendthrift Farm in 1981
55. Desires: YENS.
56. Racing circuit: LAP.
59. Part of some German names: VON. German for "from". For example, Field Marshal Paul VON Hindenburg was President of Germany from 1925 until
his death in 1934. He will be forever remembered for the eponymous air
ship the Hindenburg,
which crashed while attempting to land at
Lakehurst Naval Air Station
in Manchester Township in New Jersey on May 6, 1937 ...
60. [Theme reveal].
64. Before, poetically: ERE.
65. "All clear now": I SEE.
66. Blue alien played by Karen Gillan in Marvel films:
NEBULA. I'm more familiar with Karen as Amy Pond in Dr. Who, but here she is as NEBULA in Guardians of the Galaxy ...
Nebula
67. Bowen Yang's show, for short: SNL. Three letter show? Let's see -- what could that be?
68. Throw out a line: CAST.
69. Motown great Knight: GLADYS. GLADYS Maria Knight
(born May 28, 1944), known as the "Empress of Soul", is an American
singer, songwriter, actress and businesswoman. A seven-time Grammy
Award-winner, Knight recorded hits through the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s
with her family group Gladys Knight & the Pips, which included her brother Merald "Bubba" Knight and cousins William Guest and Edward Patten. Here's their cover of Jim Weatherly's Midnight Train to Georgia ... Down:
1. Dumbfounded: AGOG.
2. Animated explorer: DORA. Here's DORA's Night Light Adventure ... 3. Null and __: VOID.
4. Urge (on): EGG.
5. French king: ROI. Today's French lesson.
6. Laugh line?: BON MOT. More French -- literally "Good word". Around here they're called "Punch lines".
7. David Oyelowo film set in Alabama: SELMA.
SELMA
is a 2014 historical drama film directed by Ava DuVernay and written by
Paul Webb. It is based on the 1965 Selma to Montgomery voting rights
marches led by Martin Luther King Jr., Hosea Williams,
and John Lewis. The film stars actors David Oyelowo as King,
Tom Wilkinson as President Lyndon B. Johnson, Tim Roth as
George Wallace, and Carmen Ejogo as
Coretta Scott King ...
8. Atelier tripod: EASEL.
9. Orthopedist's scan, briefly: MRI.
10. "Wouldn't you agree?": ISNT IT.
11. Tropical flower used in aromatherapy products: YLANG YLANG.
Ylang Ylang flower -
uses, side effects, and more. It's also called the "Queen of Perfumes" ...
12. "Girls5eva" co-star __ Elise Goldsberry: RENEE.
RENÉEElise Goldsberry
(born January 2, 1971) is an American actress and singer known for originating
the role of Angelica Schuyler in the Broadway musical Hamilton,
for which she won the 2016 Tony Award for
Best Featured Actress in a Musical. Her name is also a CSO to our
Monday sherpa.
Girls5eva is a 2021 mini-series about a one-hit-wonder girl group from the
1990s that get thrust back into the limelight 20 years later. Its members
reunite to give their pop star dreams one more shot -- this time while
balancing spouses, kids, jobs, debt, ageing parents, and shoulder pain ...
13. Drummer Ringo: STARR. Also a singer ...
18. Stunt pilot: AEROBAT. Here is a team of 7 Italian
AEROBATS performing in Dubai on August 20, 2021
23. Add-__: ONS.
24. Winnow: CULL.
25. Prefix with pad: HELI. This is a Google Earth shot of the
HELIPAD on the top of the
University of Maryland Shock Trauma Center. One of my nieces is a
nurse who used to go out on these flights to give emergency medical treatments
to trauma victims ...
Helipad University of Maryland
Shock Trauma Center
26. Tireless, unpaid assistant: SIRI.
27. "It is the green-eyed monster ... " speaker: IAGO.
In Shakespeare's Othello, Act 3, Scene 3IAGO tries to
manipulate Othello by suggesting that his wife,
Desdemona, is having an affair. Iago plants the seeds of jealousy in
Othello’s mind by saying:
“O beware, my lord, of jealousy; It is the green-eyed monster which
doth mock the meat it feeds on.”
And the seeds sprout.
28. Step in a cocktail recipe: STIR.
29. Green thing on a roof: SOLAR PANEL.
33. Musician Brian who calls himself a "nonmusician": ENO.
Brian Peter George St. John le Baptiste de la Salle ENO
(born May 15, 1948, Woodbridge, Suffolk, England), British producer,
composer, keyboardist, and singer who helped define and reinvent the sound of
some of the most popular bands of the 1980s and ’90s and who created the genre
of ambient music. One those bands was U2 ...
37. Make-or-break time: D DAY. The D-Day invasion that
helped change the course of World War II was unprecedented in scale and
audacity.
This past June 6th was the 79th anniversary of the landings. The 2001 HBO Mini-series Band of Brothers was one many attempts to
bring that event home to those who weren't there ...
39. Spanish painter Francisco: GOYA.
Francisco José de GOYA y Lucientes
(30 March 1746 – 16 April 1828) was a Spanish romantic painter and print
maker. He is considered the most important Spanish artist of the late 18th and
early 19th centuries. His paintings, drawings, and engravings reflected
contemporary historical upheavals and influenced important 19th- and
20th-century painters. Goya is often referred to as the last of the Old
Masters and the first of the moderns.
Francisco Goya
40. Washer cycle: SPIN.
41. Eye part: LENS.
46. Frequent medium for 39-Down: OIL. For example:
The Third of May 1808, which Goya completed in 1814. In the work, Goya commemorates Spanish
resistance to Napoleon's armies during the occupation of 1808 in the
Peninsular War ...
The Third of May 1808 Museo del Prado, Madrid
47. __ cling: STATIC.
49. On the way up: RISING.
50. Sheltered inlets: COVES.
51. Squirrel morsel: ACORN. Also the name of a
British personal computer company
established in Cambridge, England, in 1978. The company produced a number of
computers which were especially popular in the UK, including the
ACORN Electron and the ACORN Archimedes. They are credited
with the development of reduced instruction set computing (RISC) personal
computers. They ceased operations in 1999.
Acorn Electron
As near as I could determine, the company had no relation to the popular
British streaming service of the same name. I think the Brits have a
thing about OAKS.
52. Early strings: LYRES.
LYRES are still around (at least in France)...
53. Absurdist playwright Jean: GENET.
Jean GENET
(19 December 1910 – 15 April 1986) was a French novelist, playwright, poet,
essayist, and political activist. In his early life he was a vagabond and
petty criminal, but he later became a writer and playwright. His major works
include the novels The Thief's Journal and
Our Lady of the Flowers and the plays The Balcony, The Maids and
The Screens.
Jean Genet Illustration by Edward Kinsella.
56. Praise: LAUD. LAUDS is the Latin name for the
Office of Morning Prayer from the
Liturgy of the Hours, which starts each day by praising God.
57. Side (with): ALLY.
58. Free TV spots: PSAS.
61. Can. neighbor: USA. A left-handed CSO to
CanadianEh! ...
62. Shaving option: GEL.
63. Org. with Kings and Cavaliers: NBA. The aristocracy of
B BALL?
Cheers, Bill
And as always, thanks to Teri for proof reading and for her constructive criticism.
16. Injury sustained while making guacamole: AVOCADO HAND. Never heard of this but a quick Google says it's like bagel-hand -- you slice the *explicate* out of your hand while cutting your food.
29. Person aggressively opposed to progress: MOSSBACK. Another never heard of. I kept trying to fit Luddite but perps said no. Google says: MOSSBACK - An old-fashioned or extremely conservative person.
34. First track on Fleetwood Mac's "Mystery to Me" album: EMERALD EYES. Yet another I didn't know.
40. Nitwit: PEA-BRAIN. I've heard of this one - usually directed at me.
54. Marvel Comics supervillain, or a creature made up of 16-, 29-, 34-, and 40-Across?: GREEN GOBLIN. Finally, my mispent youth pays off!
There you have it - different shades of green for different body parts of the
The Green Goblin
Across:
1. Poaching targets: EGGS. Is this a Dr. Seuss bonus themer?
5. Afghanistan's capital: KABUL. My little (Army) Bro spent a tour there.
9. Some Best Buy buys, briefly: LED TVS. My old TV (that was in my study (it was the living room TV until it got funky)) died. I found two TVs we gave to the Girls when they were little. One was so old it couldn't decode over the air HD signals. The other has a HD tuner and is the only DVD player in the house.
10. "Absolutely not": HARD PASS. I kept thinking "HARD NO."
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