Saturday Themeless by Daniel Okulitch and Doug Peterson
Doug Peterson
On Saturday, June 23 I blogged a Saturday themeless puzzle made by veteran constructor Matt Sewell and opera singer Christopher Bolduc. Today is a repeat of that type of combination with veteran Doug Peterson in tandem with Canadian baritone opera singer Daniel Okultich.
I had great fun doing this puzzle and finished in good order. The bottom third had some red herring options but I did manage to winnow out the chaff (How's that for a mixed metaphor?) while enjoying the cleverness.
Across:
1. Wolf: SCARF - Interesting opening with wolf and scarf as verbs
6. Magical country introduced in a 1900 children's novel: LAND OF OZ - OZ was my first thought but the rest took a while. It is now a modern day amusement park too.
14. Paying guest: ROOMER - Of course gossip about this guest would be a...
15. Steak source: ALBACORE - Not the first thought of this guy from the Beef State
Two ALBACORE tuna steaks
16. Adrenaline, e.g.: HORMONE.
17. Enterprise vehicle?: STAR TREK - A LEGO version
18. Result of an acid test?: ALTERED STATE 😀 Oh, that acid!
20. Navigator's dir.: SSE.
21. General from Alderaan: LEIA - Seen here with Han Solo
22. Released: OUT and 66. Getting away: ESCAPING - Andy definitely got OUT but he had to do it by ESCAPING.
23. "Ars longa, __ brevis": VITA - Art can far outlive its creators
A drawing of a pig that is at least 45,000 yrs old
25. Tswana for "fly": TSETSE - Pretty logical from the clue
28. School of tomorrow: ROE 😀 I really enjoyed this once it dawned on me. These ROE will never form a school of salmon.
30. Vegetable pod in some callaloo recipes: OKRA - Callaloo is widely known throughout the Caribbean and has a distinctively Caribbean origin, utilising indigenous (Xanthosoma) plants and modified with African influences, such as OKRA. You're welcome.
33. Faithful practice: MONOGAMY.
36. Elevated for driving: TEED 😀 Fore!
37. Sense strengthened by playing peek-a-boo: OBJECT PERMANENCE - understanding that items and people still exist even when you can't see or hear them.
41. Check mate?: STUB 😀
42. Motown trio in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame: SUPREMES - I immediately filled in this wonderful group and it turned out to be right. 60's rock and roll always makes for a nice interlude
43. Spy-fi side, often: USSR and 46. Part of 43-Across: SOVIET - Them dern Ruskies always make for good villains
49. Jettison: TOSS - The Solid Rocket Boosters of the Space Shuttle were jettisoned at a height of about 30 miles above Earth.
52. Subj. of the 2010 Nobel Prize in Medicine: IVF.
54. "The Handmaid's Tale" Emmy winner Ann: DOWD.
55. Sports __: BRA.
57. Relatively far?: TWICE REMOVED.
61. Some deli slices: PASTRAMI
63. Obsolete piano pieces?: IVORIES - Also...
64. "SNL" character who sang in "Italian": OPERA MAN.
65. Sand dollar habitat: SEA BED
67. Surrealist Max: ERNST.
Down:
1. Company outing?: SORTIE.
2. "Bring it on!": COME AT ME BRO.
3. Don Juan's love: AMOR.
4. French comic book writer/editor Goscinny: RENE - That's about as obscure of a RENE we could get. RENE included himself in the bottom right. Granddaughter says the sense of this is that the chef is offering to prepare parrot in cream if they get hungry. The parrot is, uh, declining.
5. Middle Corleone brother: FREDO - A warning from his younger brother Michael.
6. Ultimate dinner guest?: LAST TO ARRIVE - As opposed to being the penultimate arriver
7. Utah ski resort: ALTA.
8. Outlet with court coverage: NBA-TV.
9. "Is it too risky?": DARE I.
10. Fall Classic mo.: OCT - World Series games of my yute were day games with the long shadows of OCTOBER on b/w TV.
11. Left behind: FORSAKEN.
12. Rush discoveries: ORES.
13. Quarterback Bratkowski in the Packers Hall of Fame: ZEKE - Any NFL fan will know that ZEKE (#12) was a vital backup for oft-injured Bart Starr in the Packer glory years.
14. Bacon bits?: ROLES - 😀 Uh, not Sir Francis Bacon but Kevin Bacon. Kevin's 10 best ROLES. Yeah, I'm partial to him as Jack Swigart in Apollo 13.
16. Stop: HALT. 19. Revenue management strategy: SURGE PRICING - occurs when a company raises the price of its product or service if there is an increase in demand. Uber fares going up when there are more potential fares than cars is an example.
24. So dang cute: TOTES ADORBS - Slang for totally adorable. Way too "cutesy" for me.
26. Humanities maj.: SOC.
27. Battle of Isengard fighters: ENTS - Some who did know of Zeke Bratkowski might be more acquainted with the Lord Of The Rings.
29. One-named supermodel: EMME.
31. TV remote button that's usually red: REC.
32. Stand buy: ADE 😀 - You have to have some miles on your tires to know who is pictured in this LEMONADE stand. I know the names of four of the characters.
34. Cataloged work: OPUS - Beethoven's very familiar Piano Sonata No.14 in C-sharp minor is "OPUS 27, No.2",
35. Southern roots: YAMS.
37. Buckeye State sch.: OSU.
38. "Butter" K-pop band: BTS.
39. "Be right there!": JUST A SEC.
40. Book before Esth.: NEH.
47. Fabric associated with the Isle of Harris in the Hebrides: TWEED.
48. Contributes: ADDS.
50. Narrow band: STRAP.
51. Hindu sage: SWAMI - Hmmm...
53. Bichon __: FRISE - Translates to curly haired small dog. From Agnes (Irish Miss): "This is an almost replica of my beloved Bichon Frisé, Fluffy, still missed after over 20 years." Husker: I was as pleased as I could be to post the picture from our good friend.
55. Fraternal org.: BPOE - Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks
The Grand Lodge In Chicago
56. Many Drake songs: RAPS - Drake is a Canadian rapper
Zachary David Levy is our constructor today, and in keeping with the Friday puzzles this year, wordplay is in full force. Each of the three theme entries use the letters "ge" to form a "zhuzh" sound, and that also fits the reveal: 61-across. Added panache, as was done three times in this puzzle?: ZHUZHED IT UP.
A "farmer's tan" is the image you see in this link. The "wordplay" farmer's tan focuses on the color beige, as in the color of some PIGS
Next, there is 30-across. Battle hymn?: SIEGE SHANTY. As is the case with BEIGE OF PIGS, SIEGE SHANTY wordplays off the common "SEA SHANTY" with the SIEGE part being the "battle" reference in the clue. Not sure that this tune would have the same meaning if it were called "The Siege Shanty of the Republic"
And last, we have 49-across. Don rose-colored glasses?: ROUGE THE DAY. Some say the phrase, "RUE THE DAY" has its roots with Shakespeare; as the link indicates, Shakespeare never used those exact words in any of his plays, but the use of "rue the day" eventually led to its meaning of when you bitterly regret a moment
ROUGE THE DAY, on the other hand, might look like this
So where in the world did Zachary David Levy come up with the word "zhuzh"? According to several sources [found after Googling] "the earliest records of the word "zhuzh" show that it is part of Polari, an argot used in Britain since perhaps the eighteenth century primarily among gay theatrical and circus performers. The claims that the word was borrowed from Yiddish or Romani are not supportable"
Blogger's note: For some reason I was unable to load images from my computer to the blog; hence, all of the links today. Not sure what happened but I hope you all will still enjoy the recap ... C-Moe
Across:
1. Representative: AGENT. Still a 10-percenter, I believe
19. Ill. neighbor: IND. Illinois has five neighboring states; only one of which is usually abbreviated with three letters (INDiana). The other four? WISConsin, IowA, MissOuri, and KentuckY
20. Save for later: STASH. Does anyone here have a secret, special "STASH" they want to reveal and/or confess to?
24. Buzz: HYPE. I had a bit of a Natick going in this section of the puzzle, due to my wanting (26-down. Green gp.: PGA, to be EPA. (28-across) "I __ HATE to say it, but I think the clue should have been written: Green gp.? Why? Because the PGA would use the plural, "greens", instead. A bit of a nit, but this should have indicated a misdirection
29. Org. with complex schedules: IRS.
33. "u crack me up": ROTFL. Text speak; Roll On The Floor Laughing. Or this emoji: 🤣
35. Purple Heart recipients: WAR HEROES. Fun fact: There were over 1 million Purple Heart medals awarded over the five years of WWII alone. Open this link to see the entire list of Purple Heart recipients since 1782
36. Copa locale: RIO. Sorry to disappoint you but there is no way the Chairman is going to post a video of Barry Manilow singing "At the Copa"!! 🤣
38. Shaggy ox: YAK. Barry Manilow, no; The Coasters? Yes!!
39. One handing out cigars in a waiting room, perhaps: PROUD PAPA. Here is a throw-back clue. So give a guess; when did maternity wards first allow PROUD PAPAs to be involved in the delivery room? I will link something at the end of the blog.* As a "personal" Fun Fact, I have two 40-something kids, and was in the delivery room for both of their births. I was "allowed/encouraged" by the OB/GYN to cut the umbillical cord for my younger child. As for the handing out of cigars, it most certainly happened, but not in the waiting room ...
45. Winner's gesture: V-SIGN. Same two fingers as the peace-sign; but the V-SIGN is made with your knuckles facing out. In lieu of an image, just close your eyes and imagine it ...
51. Pinch: NAB. Sounds like a reference to catching a criminal or perpetrator
52. Beyoncé's "Cadillac Records" role: ETTA. "At Last", we have some crossword-ese!! 😉
53. High-and-mighty sort: SNOB. At one time in my adult life I was a true Wine SNOB. Fortunately, that passed once I got into the business (proprietor, sales rep, sommelier) as I came to appreciate the vast variety of palates wine drinkers had. And just because the wine comes in a box instead of a bottle, or is called "White Zinfandel", I realized that folks drank this and liked it
On the other hand, I am DEFINITELY a BEER and COFFEE SNOB. I'd rather drink water than Coors Light, e.g.; and Folger's? Puh-leeze ... same goes for Starbucks. The best thing that happened to the BEER and COFFEE industry was the growth of craft brewers/craft roasters
And its clecho: (3-down. High-and-mighty sort: ELITIST
54. Aquarium growth: ALGA. I have this vague memory of my elementary school days when I brought a tadpole to our classroom for "show and tell". It was in a small "aquarium" and our teacher thought it would be interesting to watch it develop into a frog ... ALGA (or maybe it was SCUM) was a constant presence
58. Rapper Kendrick who won a Pulitzer Prize in 2018: LAMAR. I know most of my rappers from doing crossword puzzles. I can now add LAMAR to that list
60. JFK-to-Tokyo carrier: ANA. All Nippon Airways. Fun Fact: ANA was awarded the 2023 SKYTRAX Top Winner for Airport Services, Cleanliness and Airline Staff in Asia, and ranked 3rd in Airline of the Year (behind Singapore Airlines and Qatar Airlines). It has won these individual awards multiple times:
World's Best Airport Services (10-time recipient) World's Cleanest Airline (5-time recipient) Best Airline Staff Service in Asia (8-time recipient)
66. Some NIH grant recipients: MDS. The National Institute of Health issues grants to Medical DoctorS
67. Seized items: REPOS.
68. Acrobatic: AGILE. Is there anyone more AGILE than she?
69. Make a fast stop?: EAT. Got it! When you stop "fasting" you? EAT
70. "Is that my cue?": AM I ON?. Surprised to find that this phrase is a "debut entry". AM I UP also appears to be unused in published crossword puzzles
Down:
1. PD advisory: APB. All-Points Bulletin; according to [Wikipedia], "An all-points bulletin is an electronic information broadcast sent from one sender to a group of recipients, to rapidly communicate an important message. The technology used to send this broadcast has varied throughout time, and includes teletype, radio, computerized bulletin board systems, and the Internet"
2. Joins the big leagues: GOES PRO. Moe-ku #2:
When the naysayer Was convinced of the truth, he Yielded, and GOES PRO
4. Worry: NAG AT. I guess that when something NAGs AT you, you tend to worry ... a longer clue could have been: What a spouse might do to you if you procrastinate too much
5. Square root of nueve: TRES. Spanglish
6. Askew: OFF. Moe-ku #3:
VP Spiro cheats On taxes; the headline read: "Agnew is ASKEW"
7. Disheveled do: MOP. I don't know why, but when I saw this I thought of Opie Taylor
8. "Boola Boola" collegian: ELI. "The authorship of Yale's iconic fight song “Boola Boola” has traditionally been ascribed to Allan M. Hirsh, Class of 1901. In October 2000, Hirsh's grandson, Philip Hirsh '60, published an essay in this magazine that appeared to be the definitive account of his grandfather's writing of the song
9. At hand: NIGH. Anyone else have the word "NEAR" in this spot?
10. Only fair: SO SO. Moe-ku #4:
Chicago slugger Hit fewer homers one year; Was Sammy SOSO
11. Orser's rival in the "Battle of the Brians" at the 1988 Winter Olympics: BOITANO. You can find the damndest things on the Internet when you Google!! Two versions; the second is the original
12. Actress Bening: ANNETTE. [Wikipedia] "Annette Carol Bening (Born: May 29, 1958) is an American actress. In a career spanning over four decades, she has received various accolades, including a BAFTA Award and two Golden Globes as well as nominations for a Primetime Emmy Award, two Tony Awards, and four Academy Awards"
13. Collages of songs: MEDLEYS.
18. "Well, hey there!": "OH, HI!".
22. Mavens: SHARKS. Another one of the "Friday-level" synonyms used today. [Vocabulary dot com]: "Definition of maven: someone who is dazzlingly skilled in any field". Synonyms (include): ace, adept, champion, genius, hotshot, mavin, sensation, star, superhero, superstar, virtuoso, whiz, whizz, wiz, and wizard. SHARKs fit, too; as in Pool SHARKs
23. Title for Andy Murray: SIR. Brits
25. Common name of Taxus baccata: YEW. (Genus; Species) for a tree known for its use in making archery bows
27. Poetic adverb: E'ER. Have you EVER seen this in x-word puzzles??
30. Go downhill: SLIDE. Had SLIDE first; then tried GLIDE when I was wrestling with that center portion of the puzzle. The S in SIEGE solidified the SLIDE
31. Not bold: SHY. Not sure I would E'ER be called "SHY". A better Friday-level clue might have been: "Lacking"
Penny-pinching chick Made a very unique sound: Not "cheep", but FRUGAL
37. Bow (out): OPT. Bow (wow): ARF
39. Warmup time: PRE-GAME. The PRE-GAME show at the Super Bowl lasts most of the day
40. Domed hall: ROTUNDA. Building feature; think the U.S. Capitol. Last time I visited there was when I was in 6th grade
41. Stay longer than: OUTLAST. Appropriate part of the three-word motto (OUTWIT, OUTPLAY, OUTLAST) for the TV Reality Show Survivor, which is now airing its 45th episode/season. One more and the show will have as many seasons as the U.S. has had Presidents
42. Relaxed sounds: AHS. Where you hear these sounds, usually, are at a SPA
43. Stock room?: PEN. Nice misdirectional clue. "Live"stock (includes pigs, too) are sometimes kept in a PEN
44. Big bother: ADO.
46. Like many state mottoes: IN LATIN. Here in AZ, our state motto is: DITAT DEUS, which is Latin for: "God Enriches"
47. Regulation that restricts discussion: GAG RULE.
48. Org. with Thunder and Heat: NBA. Oklahoma City (OKC) Thunder and Miami Heat
50. Up to the task: ABLE. I am more than ABLE to recap and post to our blog; I am willing, too! 🤪
54. "¡Mi hombre!": AMIGO. Spanglish
56. Alt-rock band Better Than __: EZRA. This was all perps, with the "Z" coming last because, well, it just did. I won't admit that this one may have been a Google look up, 'cause I certainly didn't know the word "ZHUZH" before today
57. Not us: THEM. If a group of people who didn't identify as HE's or SHE's, would they be THEM?
59. Scott of "Severance": ADAM. Only on a Friday (well, maybe on Saturday) would the word ADAM not be linked with Eve, Cain, Abel, the Book of Genesis, the Garden of Eden, ...
62. Initials in the news: UPI. AP was too short. [Wikipedia]: United Press International is an American international news agency whose newswires, photo, news film, and audio services provided news material to thousands of newspapers, magazines, radio and television stations for most of the 20th century. At its peak, it had more than 6,000 media subscribers"
63. Menagerie: ZOO. I put in ZOO early in my attempt to solve the puzzle; and then scratched my head as I tried to figure out "ZHUZHED"
Sorry again for the absence of images without having to link them. I hope to have my computer figured out in two weeks when I next return ... please add your comments below
Our constructor today is Dr. Matthew Luter, an Upper School English teacher at the St. Andrew's Episcopal School in Jackson, Mississippi. While he is new to the Corner, he is definitely not new to crosswords, both as a solver and a constructor. His latter efforts as an indie constructor are posted on his website, along with others by constructors whom I'm sure you'll recognize.
Today he invites us to to navigate these 4 themers without the aid of asterisks, circles, or a reveal. All you have to do is WATCH YOUR STEPS ...
24A. Activity with
steps: BALLROOM DANCING. From the BBC's Strictly Come Dancing, 2020, and a CSO to YellowRocks ...
46A. Structure with steps: SPIRAL STAIRCASE. One of the most famous (and mysterious) SPIRAL STAIRCASES is the one in the Loretto Chapel in Santa Fe, New Mexico, United States, a former Roman Catholic church that is now used as a museum and a wedding chapel ...
Spiral Staircase Loretto Chapel Santa Fe, New Mexico
8. Britcom starring Jennifer Saunders, to fans: AB FAB. Jennifer discovers the Spice Girls ... 13. Meredith Grey's mother: ELLIS. Here they begin to confront their mortality ... 15. NYY rival: BOS.
16. Crack, in a sense: SOLVE. It's what we do, fellow crackers (and -T gets paid for it!)
17. Ludicrous: LAUGHABLE.
19. Utter nonsense: HOOEY.
20 [Theme clue]
22. Biblical craft of gopher wood: ARK. Gopher wood
or gopherwood is a term used once in the Bible for the material used to
construct Noah's ark. Genesis 6:14 states that Noah was instructed to
build the Ark of gofer (גֹפֶר), commonly transliterated as gopher wood,
a word not otherwise used in the Bible or the Hebrew language in
general.
Noah's Ark
23. Funds for later yrs.: IRAS.
24. [Theme clue]
32. Written tribute: ODE.
33. Cosmonaut Gagarin: YURI. He's been landing here a lot lately (must be all those vowels).
Yuri Gagarin
34. __ Hawkins dance: SADIE. What is a Sadie Hawkins Dance and where did it come from? [and why did I find that in Y!sports?].
35. Fusses: ADOS.
37. Garb in sword-and-sandal pictures: TOGAS.
40. El __: climate pattern: NINO.
41. Adjusts for pitch: TUNES. Bobby Nunes of the National Youth Orchestra shows us how it's done ...
43. Rub elbows (with): HANG.
45. Composer Rorem: NED.
NED Miller Rorem
(October 23, 1923 – November 18, 2022) was an American composer of
contemporary classical music and a writer. Best known for his art songs, which
number over 500, Rorem was considered the leading American of his time writing
in that genre. Frequently described as a Neo-romantic composer, he showed
limited interest in the emerging modernist aesthetic of his lifetime.
Here's his song Early in the Morning sung by soprano
Susan Graham (lyrics) ...
46. [Theme clue]
50. Basic weightlifting lesson: GRIP. Today's weightlifting lesson is a CSO to our good friend and crossword constructor Stella Zawistowski. In addition to GRIP, as an alto in the Oratorio Society of New York Stella could tell us a lot about staying in TUNE.
51. Paving gunk: TAR.
52. [Theme clue]
59. Record of the year?: ANNAL.
60. Minnesota home to the Mayo Clinic: ROCHESTER. A CSO to C.C. -- she's less than 2 hours away from the Mayo Clinic. One of my nieces is a psychiatrist there.
61. Tearoom nibble: SCONE. Here's a recipe. I think they'd be good with 64A too.
Scones
62. "Or something like that": ISH.
63. Maker of iComfort mattresses: SERTA.
64. Foamy coffee shop order: LATTE. Today's Italian lesson: MILK
65. Yin-yang principle: TAO. Taoism is an ancient Chinese philosophy and religion
that instructs believers on how to exist in harmony with the universe.
One of the main ideas of Taoism is the belief in balancing forces, or yin and yang. These ideas represent matching pairs, such as light and dark, hot and cold, action and inaction, which work together toward a universal whole. Yin and yang show that everything in the universe is connected and that nothing makes sense by itself. This metaphysical principle has become popular with some physicists, such as the great Niels Bohr, one of the founders of quantum mechanics. He was so intrigued with this idea that he incorporated it into his family crest.
The insignia Contraria Sunt Complementa is Latin for Opposites are complementary.
2. Jai __: ALAI. Rules of JAI ALAI explained ... 3. Oversupply: GLUT.
4. Lighthouse output: SIGNAL. Before the advent of Geo-positioning systems, the SIGNALS from lighthouses kept boats from foundering on rocky shores. The vagaries of the Chesapeake Bay shoreline required many of these beacons. Here's tour of Maryland lighthouses.
Concord Point Lighthouse
5. Flows back: EBBS.
6. Drop down?: MOLT. Favorite clue.
7. Password partner: USERID.
8. Waste receptacles near fireplaces: ASHCANS. Also Navy slang for the depth charges used in submarine warfare.
Mk VII depth charges
9. Data provider for retailers such as Barnes & Noble:
BOOKSCAN. BookScan is a data provider for the book publishing industry that compiles point of sale data for book sales,
10. Ice sheet: FLOE.
11. Assert firmly: AVER. ,,
12. "Queen __": pop music icon with a "hive" of fans: BEY.
Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter
(born September 4, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, and businesswoman.
Known as "Queen Bey", she has been recognized for her boundary-pushing
artistry, vocals, and performances. Named one of the greatest singers of all
time by Rolling Stone, her contributions to music and visual media and
her concert performances have led her to become a prominent cultural icon of
the 21st century. That said I'm not that familiar with her music, and I
was surprised when this song popped up on YouTube. I guess they're all
in alphabetical order ...
14. Port kin: SHERRY.
18. Try to see: ASK OUT.
21. Legendary coach Parseghian: ARA. Ara Raoul Parseghian (May 21, 1923 – August 2, 2017) was an American football player and coach who guided the University of Notre Dame to national championships in 1966 and 1973. He is noted for bringing Notre Dame's Fighting Irish football program back from years of futility into national prominence in 1964 and is widely regarded alongside Knute Rockne and Frank Leahy as a part of the "Holy Trinity" of Notre Dame head coaches.
Ara Parseghian
24. Crafts: BOATS. If you like BOATS you might try
the PBS series Annika, starring award winning actress
Nicola Walker. She plays the Detective Inspector of the
Marine Homicide Unit in Scotland and is on the water a
lot. Here's the cinematographer discussion of just how hard it is to film
in that environment ...
25. Fit the facts: ADD UP.
26. Téa of "Madam Secretary": LEONI. Madam Secretary (titled Madam President for its sixth and final season) is an American political drama television series created by Barbara Hall with Morgan Freeman and Lori McCreary
as executive producers. It stars Téa Leoni as Elizabeth McCord, a
former CIA analyst and political science professor who becomes the
United States Secretary of State. Here's the first season trailer ...
27. Spanish gold: ORO.
28. Brute force: MIGHT.
29. Menzel who was named a Disney Legend in 2022: IDINA. Idina Kim Menzel
(born May 30, 1971) is an American actress and singer. Particularly
recognized for her work in musicals on Broadway, she has been nicknamed
the "Queen of Broadway" for her commanding stage presence, powerful
mezzo-soprano, and reputation as one of the most influential stage
actors of her generation. Here she is Defying Gravity from the musical Wicked. 30. Baseball rosters: NINES.
31. Crystalline stone: GEODE.
Amethyst/Calcite Geode Brazil, South America Smithsonian Natural History
Museum
48. Budget airline with yellow planes: SPIRIT. Spirit Airlines, Inc. (stylized as SPIRIT)
is a major United States ultra-low cost airline headquartered in
Miramar, Florida, in the Miami metropolitan area. Spirit operates
scheduled flights throughout the United States, the Caribbean and Latin
America. Spirit was the seventh largest passenger carrier in North
America as of 2023, as well as the largest ultra-low-cost carrier in
North America.
49. High-stress situations: CRISES.
52. Historic Peruvian: INCA.
53. Gordian __: mythological conundrum: KNOT. The cutting of the Gordian KNOT is an Ancient Greek legend associated with Alexander the Great in Gordium in Phrygia,
regarding a complex knot that tied an oxcart. Reputedly, whoever could
untie it would be destined to rule all of Asia. In 333 BC Alexander was
challenged to untie the knot. Instead of untangling it laboriously as
expected, he dramatically cut through it with his sword, thus exercising
another form of mental genius. It is thus used as a metaphor for a
seemingly intractable problem which is solved by exercising an
unexpectedly direct, novel, rule-bending, decisive, and simple approach
that removes the perceived constraints This story has inspired many
works of art, including an opera by the English Baroque composer Henry Purcell. Here is the Chaconne from his Gordian Knot Untied ... 54. First name in civil rights history: ROSA. ROSA Louise McCauley Parks
(February 4, 1913 – October 24, 2005) was an American activist in the
civil rights movement best known for her pivotal role in the Montgomery
bus boycott. It all started here ...
Rosa Parks
55. Lingering effect: ECHO. Not the Danish shoe brand.
56. De __ manera: otherwise, in Spanish: OTRA. "Other": OTRA. Lección de español número 1.
57. Earns after taxes: NETS.
58. Mmes., across the Pyrenees: SRAS. SENORAS. Lección de español número 2.
59. Communication method in "A Quiet Place," briefly: ASL. American Sign Language.A Quiet Place is a story about sightless aliens with sharp hearing and impenetrable armor plating who have taken over the planet and killed most of the human population. The Abbott family – mother Evelyn, father Lee, deaf daughter Regan, and sons Marcus and Beau
– live on their isolated farm in the middle of a forest in upstate New
York, and have survived by taking precautions such as laying sand paths
to avoid stepping on crunching leaves and using ASL when communicating. Rated S for SCARY ...
Cheers,
Bill
And as always, thanks to Teri for proof reading and for her constructive criticism.
waseeley
Epilogue
I sometimes wonder whether all of the people on the Corner
are just figments of my imagination, or perhaps they live in one of
those crazy computer simulations that physicists are so fond of these
days. You may recall that I said we would be on the road last Thursday. Well we had actually arranged to meet a Cornerite IRL in Washington, D.C. Her name is NINA (rhymes with CAROLINA) but you may know her better as inanehiker. She is very real, and a delight to be with! Here are a few highlights of our get together ...
As we knew that this Picasso painting (The Lovers)
would be appearing in the review that very day, we arranged to have our
picture taken in front of it (as Nina put it, "very meta") ...
Bill, Nina, and Teri photo by Priscilla
The Lovers is in the East Wing, which is devoted to Modern Art. One of the docents there urged us to ascend the East Wing Tower to a walled patio overlooking D.C. to see this sculpture ...
The Hahn/Cock with Teri and Nina
The Hahn/Cock is a sculpture of a giant blue cockerel created by the German artist Katharina Fritsch. It was originally installed in London's Trafalgar Square on 25 July 2013 [imagine that!]. The fibreglass work stands 15.5 ft high and was subsequently acquired by Glenstone, a private museum in Potomac, MD, and was exhibited at the National Gallery following its 2016 reopening.
In March 2021, Glenstone permanently donated the piece to the National
Gallery, "in honor of the resilience of the American people during the
COVID-19 pandemic."
Here are two other memorable works of art that we saw in the West Wing ...
IMHO Salvador Dali
was the greatest artist of the 20th Century. The only work by Dali in
the National Gallery is the monumental painting (105 in × 65.6 in) The Sacrament of the Last Supper.
Completed in 1955, after nine months of work, it remains one of his
most popular compositions. Since its arrival at the National Gallery of
Art in Washington, D.C. in 1955, it replaced Renoir's A Girl with a Watering Can as the most popular piece in the museum ...
The Sacrament of the Last Supper
The Dali Museum
in St. Petersburg, Florida, has over 2,400 of his works and is the
largest in the world. I'd urge anyone visiting Florida to reserve a day
to visit it.
....of
the world - quaintly contained in the continental United States; care to carry on~? I
know of at least two others - Berlin, CT, which we drive through on our
way south via I-91, and Rome, New York - my buddy Matt D. from high school got his
first 'gig' as a TV weatherman in that city - he is now the 'main man' in
Richmond, VA....Anyway, this may be Catherine's debut, at least for the LA Times, and a fairly smooth solve for yours truly, with a
bit of a slow-down around say, Oregon. Two Across theme answers, and two
Down theme answers - messed up my 'solve the downs first' method. I
also count five proper names in the grid, and a mini-theme of automotive
references, too....
3. Texter's "I'm no expert, but ... ": IMHO - In My Humble Opinion....
4. Formerly named: NÉE
5. Big headache: HASSLE
6. Have no reception?: ELOPE - har-har
7. Satisfied sighs: AAHs - the dreaded two "A"s or two "H"s conundrum
8. "OMG, stop sharing!": TMI - Too Much Information
9. Cager: HOOPSTER - B-Baller was too short; it's all basketball slang
11. One inundated with fan mail: IDOL
12. Partly: SEMI
13. Green card co.: AMEX - oh, THAT green card....
Mr. Frost needs to cancel this card ASAP
18. None too worldly: NAÏVE - umlaut~!
23. Adopt: USE
25. Seeps: OOZES
27. Subpar car: LEMON - auto theme #4
28. Subpar car: CRATE - auto theme #5
29. "Fork it over!": PAY UP~! - see 51D.
30. Two-door vehicle: COUPE - auto theme #6
31. Alpine song: YODEL
33. Flavor of much children's medicine: GRAPE
35. Spruce (up): TIDY
37. Group of orcas, e.g.: WHALE POD
41. Superlatively bad: WORST
43. Means-tested govt. assistance program: SSI - this stumped me; never heard of this; Supplemental Security Income
46. Museum employee: GUIDE
48. Interview-style exam: ORAL
49. "__ we forget": LEST
50. One who may keep a spare tyre in a boot: BRIT - both my parents were born and raised in England
and auto theme #7
51. Parking garage sign: EXIT - we worked on a pipe organ at the Riverside Church
in NYC last week; here's a pic I took of the scale model in the
elevator lobby, and one of the ornate bench carvings; our hotel was in Times
Square, and we parked in a garage there, too - $73 overnight
52. Golf date ruiner: RAIN - it's not the rain, it's the lightning....
53. Bhutan's continent: ASIA
56. Splitting tool: AXE - I now own the 29A version....
57. Morn's opposite: EVE - and to all, a good night~!
_-_Restoration.jpg)
