Cruciverbalist: Jacob Stulberg
Editor: Will Shortz
Solving time: 21:44
Puzzle uniqueness:
DONTTAKETHEBAIT - Is on one side of puzzle going down, right side 14 "I''s going down with a "J" at the bottom representing a line and hook. Fish are mixed in the across answers throughout the middle.
Words I hadn't known until now: 0
Trivia I didn't know:
BASS - "The Mikado in 'The Mikado,' e.g."
LABRADOR - "Neighbor of Quebec"
PARMA - "Italian city known for its prosciutto and cheese"
Junk Answers:
MOOING - "Farmyard noise"
TOI - "You, to Yvette"
TSO - "Name on Chinese restaurant menus"
Clever clues:
TRALALA - "Refrain from singing?"
Obscure (i.e., really reaching) words:
DISCI - "Things hurled at the Olympics" (Really, have you ever heard anyone use this word?)
Cruciverbalist: Neville Fogarty
Editor: Will Shortz
Solving time: 8:21
Puzzle uniqueness:
GREYMATTER - Grey squares inside long answers in which the grey squares denote first names ending with "Grey." (Example: LIPZZANER - Zane within to represent Zane Grey)
Words I hadn't known until now:
GORETEX - "Waterproof fabric" Trivia I didn't know:
IVAN - "Boxer Drago of 'Rocky IV'"
Junk Answers:
AANDE - "'Storage Wars' network"
ATAB - "Open ____ (start at the bar, maybe)"
ARECIPRFORDISASTER gotten to via "Stir," Mix," Beat," Pour," "Cut" and Serve" downbeat phrases. (Example: BEATADEADHORSE)
Words I hadn't known until now:
BONOBO - "Chimpanzee variety"
Trivia I didn't know:
COSECANT - "Reciprocal in trigonometry"
ALTA - "Resort in the Wasatch Mountains"
URBANII - "Pope who initiated the First Crusade"
Junk Answers:
CTS - "Numbers after a decimal point: Abbr."
XTRA - 'More, in ads"
WOP - "Doo-___"
SIMS - "Family in a computer game"
DIDO - 'Character with the aria 'When I am laid in earth'"
ISAW - "'Vidi'"
PSAS - "Ad Council output, for short"
DLIST - "Like minor celebrities"
RAES - "Pulitzer winner Armantrout and others"
Clever clues:
VANE - "Pointer for a weather person?"
SIR - "One who's been tapped on the shoulder"
UMPED - "Made some calls"
Cruciverbalist: Damon Gulczynski
Editor: Will Shortz
Solving time: 33:47
Puzzle uniqueness: 0
Words I hadn't known until now:
COLPORTEUR - "Peddler of religious literature" (WTF?!?)
Trivia I didn't know:
ALDA - "'The Aviator' actor, 2004"
LEON - "Province of NW Spain"
COPA - "'At the ____' (subtitle of a 1978 hit)"
AZTEC - "Language related to Hopi"
HAVISHAM - "Dickens character 'with a dead lull about her'"
FLORIDATECH - "University in Melbourne"
BOER - "Great Trek figure of the 1830s"
ABBOTT - "Jim ______, one-handed Yankee who pitched a no-hitter in 1993"
EGAN - "Pulitzer-winning novelist Jennifer"
HANNAH - "'Girls' girl played by Lena Dunham"
Junk Answers:
DUH - "'Well, yeah!'"
ATNO - "Md or Rn fig."
RKO - "Company behind Hitchcock's 'Notorius'"
IATE - "'____ it up and spit it out' ('My Way' lyric)"
SEPT - "9/"
Clever clues:
CHARY - "Word that's its own synonym when its first two letters are replaced with 'w'"
BOAT - "One making bank-to-bank transfers?"
Obscure (i.e., really reaching) words:
COLPORTEUR - (See above)
ANTENATAL - "During pregnancy" ("Prenatal" is more common by a lot)
Cruciverbalist: Robyn Weintraub
Editor: Will Shortz
Solving time: 19:09
Puzzle uniqueness: 0
Words I hadn't known until now: 0 Trivia I didn't know: DEO - "To God, in a hymn"
LEDA - "Mother of Helen of Troy"
TANEY - "Chief justice in the Dred Scott verdict"
CONAN - "Talk show hosted by a Harvard grad"
LATKE - "Hanukkah serving"
ELGIN - "The _____ Marbles (British Museum holding)"
Junk Answers:
MFA - "Writer's degree"
ONT - "Neighbor of N.Y."
SRTA - ""Dora the Explorer, for one: Abbr."
STD - "Part of E.S.T.: Abbr."
ACS - "They're often installed in the spring, for short"
JCT - "Highway sign abbr."
STA - "Victoria, e.g.: Abbr."
ENGS - "Some Caltech alums: Abbr."
Clever clues:
CABS - "They're hailed on Broadway"
OVERSLEPT - "Stayed out when you shouldn't have?"
SMITE - "Bible belt?"
MONIES - "They're tender"(Friday)
ILLGOFIRST: Second word of phrase puts "I" within word in the front of the word to make a silly phrase (Example: FRENCHIGUANA)
Words I hadn't known until now:
FANART - "Some derivative drawings"
Trivia I didn't know:
EURO - "Symbol gotten by typing Ctrl+Alt+E, in Microsoft Word"
MCA - "___ Nashville (major country label)"
Junk Answers:
SPF - "Letters on a bottle at the beach"
MDI - "Year that Michelangelo started 'David'"
FWD - "Start of many a chain mail"
ENDO - "Prefix meaning 'internal'"
RCA - "Record label for Usher, Pitbull and Pink"
MLB - "Org. with Card Games"
PAS - "Faux ___"
I saw Alien: Covenant yesterday. I liked it, but not as much as I'd hoped.
I'm an Alien franchise fan, and Aliens is one of my all-time favorite action pictures. I've stated in the past that I really love action films, especially the rock 'em sock 'em kind.
While there is fun action in this film, director Ridley Scott and four writers (two "story by" and two "screenplay by") are more into philosophical issues than I care to delve into.
Aliens, for me, was a perfect action film. Some minor themes such as motherhood were touched upon, but they didn't intrude on the great action.
Here, we have two androids (Scott really seems to like androids) discussing moral issues and themes that just didn't interest me. I'm sure there are those fans who want to get into creationism, master/slave ideas, but not me.
I also have problems with a couple of decisions the crew in the film made, though they had to be made to further the plot. I won't get into specifics to preserve this opinion piece as spoiler free.
This film is supposed to occur 10 years after Prometheus and a few years before Alien, but for the life of me I can't figure out how this is going to lead into the first film of the franchise. Scott has expressed interest in making two more Alien movies, so we'll see where it goes.
The bottom line is the action sequences are really excellent, and that's why I do like this film more than not. I will be seeing it again (several times, I think). I get the feeling that this film will grow on me in the coming years.
Cruciverbalist: Zhouqin Burnikel
Editor: Will Shortz
Solving time: 12:58
Puzzle uniqueness:
PAIRS - Four Across/Down words that are identical and in the plural form constitute pairs (Example: TONG: Interconnecting both across and down = A pair of tongs)
Words I hadn't known until now: 0 Trivia I didn't know:
TONGAN - "Friendly Islands native"
Junk Answers:
NONPC - "Potentially offensive"
EOE - "Fair-hiring letters"
EME - "Suffix with morph-"
AIWA - "Onetime giant in consumer electronics"
KAL - "Penn of 'Harold & Kumar' films"
NEUT - "Neither fem. nor masc."
RWY - "Train system: Abbr."
OHOK - "'Well, alright then'"
MAA - "Nanny goat's cry"
TOI - "You, in tours"
Making puns out of famous scripture lines (Example: "ANAYEFORANAYE"
Words I hadn't known until now: 0
Trivia I didn't know:
STE - "___-Foy, Que."
HOAD - "Two-time Wimbledon winner Lew"
NYACK - "New York town on the Hudson"
ASE - "'Peer Gynt' character"
THETA - "Symbol in trigonometry"
VOGEL - "Political writer Kenneth"
NIN - "'Children of the Albatross' author"
YVETTE - "Mrs. Michael Jordan"
Junk Answers: Many...here are a few
STK - "Purchase via Charles Schwab: Abbr."
TRA - "Part of a chorus line?"
LII - "Number of weeks per annum?"
NFLER - "Buc or Bronco"
LDL - "Blood work report abbr."
ILIE -"Would ____?"
ADDA - "Start of many recipe steps"
ESL - "Night school subj." (English as a Second Language)
FGS - "OT enders, sometimes"
SAFARIED - "Went on an African hunting expedition"
KEYOFE - "Setting for spring in Vivaldi's 'The Four Seasons'"
SOFTA - "Vowel sound in 'hard' and 'start'"
NYACK - (See above)
UNU - "Burma's first P.M."
Cruciverbalist: Paolo Pasco and David Steinberg
Editor: Will Shortz
Solving time: 31:45
Puzzle uniqueness: 0
Words I hadn't known until now:
DAB - "Celebratory move popularized by Cam Newton"
SAZERAC - "New Orleans cocktail"
CAD - "Player, perhaps"
FACESWAP - "Snapchat feature that alters one's features"
Trivia I didn't know:
RYE - "Marble ___"
AZIZ - "Actor Ansari"
BAHIA - "Brazil's fourth-largest state by population"
SULU - "The Philippines' ___ Archipelago"
ALICEWALKER - "'Meridian' and 'The Temple of My Familiar' novelist"
SOREL - "Political cartoonist Edward"
STOWE - "Ski town near Mount Mansfield"
RATBERT - "Gullible rodent in a Scott Adams comic"
Junk Answers:
VJS - "Onetime MTV figures"
ERG - "Bit of work"
ILS - "French pronoun"
Cruciverbalist: Matthew Sewell
Editor: Will Shortz
Solving time: 16:12
Puzzle uniqueness: 0
Words I hadn't known until now:
SAMOSA - "Savory Indian appetizer"
NOL - "___ pros. (lawsuit abbr.)"
ALCAZAR - "Moorish castle" Trivia I didn't know:
NELLIE - "Bratty girl on 'Little House on the Prairie'"
Junk Answers:
ARR - "Sheet music abbr."
ETO - "Large W.W. II area: Abbr."
IMO - "Qualifier in 46-Across" (TEXTS)
STS - "Some patrons: Abbr."
WAC - "W.W. II service member"
DMVS - "Photo ID issuers"
Clever clues:
AGENT - "86 or 99"
TEENY - "Size zero, say"
AVON - "What makes consumers blush?"
KISSCAM - "What motivates people to get to first base during a game?"
USURPED - "Wrongly assumed"
ENGAGEMENTPARTY - "Its honorees plan to become one"
Today, SiriusXM debuted an all Beatles channel at 6:09 PDT. I don't subscribe to Sirius; however, the company is allowing free listening until May 30.
Upon learning about the freebie, I immediately downloaded the Sirius app on my smartphone. For the next two hours, I listened to the channel. Nice treat! They intersperse Beatles music with anecdotal blurbs from The Beatles themselves and various celebrities. They will be playing covers as well. During the two hours I listened, they only played one, that being You've Got To Hide Your Love Away by Oasis.
In 1964, I was living in El Paso, Texas, and I still vividly remember seeing The Beatles' debut on The Ed Sullivan Show. I was 13 at the time, and I really wasn't into that particular pop music scene. My father had raised me on the classics in addition to forties and fifties Sinatra-type pop music.
First off, I sneered at the name. I distinctly recall saying, "Next there will be a group called The Trashmen." Turns out I was right, though they had been around since 1962.
I was particularly astounded by the screaming girls in the audience. I had never seen anything like that before. It hadn't occurred to me yet that people can have such extremely emotional responses to a celebrity.
Of course, not being into rock music at that moment, I didn't really have a positive response to the debut. Thought it was an oddity. The music was rather grating to that 13-year-old.
My conversion to rock and roll occurred later that year after I had moved to Los Angeles, California. The San Fernando Valley, specifically. I was with my best friend motoring our way to the beach when suddenly, on the radio, the song that converted me started playing. You won't believe this, but it was The Swim by Bobby Freeman.
"Come on, everybody...come on in...Bobby's gonna to show you how to do the swim!"
I was thunderstruck! That was a GREAT song in my mind. From that point on, I was a convert.
And that led me to the appreciation of The Beatles. I've been a Beatles fan ever since. What I appreciated about them was that whenever a new song came out, I was ok with it at that time, but a few months would go by, I would hear it again and suddenly realize how great the song actually was. They were constantly ahead of me. Amazing.
So, for now, I'll listen to Sirius' Beatles channel until the end of the month, then decide whether to subscribe.
A postscript: My love for rock/pop music died with the advent of Disco. Oh, I've kept my eye on the pop music scene for the last forty years, but never to the extent and passion I had during the late 60s and early 70s.
Cruciverbalist: Jacob Stulberg
Editor: Will Shortz
Solving time: 32:28
Puzzle uniqueness:
Four squares that has "chicken" and "road" as a rebus (Multiple letters in one square). Ugh!
Words I hadn't known until now:
SEPTA - "BART : San Francisco :: _____ : Philadelphia"
ESL - "Subj. for a diplomat, maybe"
LINE - "'y = 2x,' e.g." (I don't even know WTF this means) Trivia I didn't know:
ONES - "'Madness in great ____ must not unwatch'd go': 'Hamlet'"
NASSAU - "Island capital named for a European royal house"
ESTATE - "Subject of Chekov's 'The Cherry Orchard'"
DOR - "'Le Coq ___'"
URANIA - "Muse invoked in 'Paradise Lost'"
Junk Answers:
EST - "It's often rough: Abbr."
SNL - "Show with a record 200+ Emmy noms"
MSGS - "What blinks on a telephone may signify: Abbr,"
ESL - (See above)
Clever clues:
BALE - "Assemble in a field, say"
RENT - "Studio figure"
WHY - "Question raised by four squares in this puzzle?" (SEE "Puzzle uniqueness")
UNTUNED - "A bit sharp, maybe"
BAREXAM - "Legal hurdle?"
State names plus one letter to scramble into two-word answers.
Words I hadn't known until now:
CAPSID - "Outer protein shell of a virus"
Trivia I didn't know:
AMIS - "Martin who wrote 'London Fields'"
ALEC - "Evelyn Waugh's writer brother"
THEO - "'Divergent' actor James"
NAN - "A Bobbsey twin"
Junk Answers:
ORS - "Option words"
BAS - "___ -relief"
SSN - "Phishing target: Abbr."
ARG - "S. Amer. home of the tango"
PAS - "Ballet step"
ITT - "Big inits. in the aerospace industry"
Clever clues: 0
Obscure (i.e., really reaching) words:
CAPSID - (See above)
SENTUP - "Parodied"
SCHUSS - "Straight downhill run on skis"
Circled answers have to include a first word geographically depending on the location of the answer within the puzzle. (Examples: (Top BANANAS; Left BEHIND; etc.)
Words I hadn't known until now:
SAUK - "Fox neighbor" (Apparently, these are Indian tribes)
CHASSE - "Gliding step, in ballet" Trivia I didn't know:
SKA - "Prince Buster's genre" (Never heard of him)
GIL - "___ Gunderson, sad sack on 'The Simpsons'"
ODAY - "Singer/reality TV personality Aubrey" (I HATE reality TV!)
ALDA - "Vinick's portrayer on 'The West Wing'"
EDINA - "Suburb of Minneapolis"
ALIBABA - "Fictional woodcutter"
DRAKE - "Rapper with the 4x platinum album 'Views"
TRISTE - "Sibelius's 'Valse ______'"
ANDREI - "Russian film director Tarkovsky"
Junk Answers:
NEER - "Contraction lacking just a 'v'"
ITIS- "Sinus suffix"
ONEL - "First-year law student"
CDV - "405, to Flavius"
Clever clues:
NEEDLE - "You might find one under a Christmas tree"
BALDSPOT - "It lacks locks"
FENCE - "Theft preventer ... or theft encourager"
GASMAIN - "Line to a pilot?"
Obscure (i.e., really reaching) words:
PLANER - "Power machine in woodworking"
OLMECS - "Colossal head sculptors"
SPITED - "Treated with malice"
PUPATE - "Transform, as larvae"
ASHINE - "Glowing"
PRIDING - "Indulging (oneself) in self-satisfaction"
Words I hadn't known until now: 0 Trivia I didn't know:
OPIUMDENS - "Places frequented by Dorian Gray" (Never read it)
IBELIEVEICANFLY - "Grammy-winning R. Kelly hit of 1996"
SRI - "___ Yantra (sacred Hindu diagram formed by nine interlocking triangles)" (Puh-leeze!)
ANNEHECHE - "'Wag the Dog' co-star, 1997"
RABIN - "1994 Peace Prize sharer"
BOOBOISIE - "Ignorant middle class, per H.L. Mencken"
RENI - "Baroque artist Guido"
SELMA - "'The Simpsons' aunt" (Never really followed the show)
Junk Answers:
NOOB - "Pro's opposite, in slang"
TRI - "Ironman race, briefly"
INESSE - "Existing"
ISTO - "What ':' can mean"
ING - "Fortune Global 500 bank"
ALA - "After"
TMI - "'Eww, stop!'"
Cruciverbalist: Bill Clinton and Victor Fleming
Editor: Will Shortz
Solving time: 13:33
Puzzle uniqueness:
Another 75th anniversary puzzle having a famous person co-construct the puzzle; this time the former president. This played very easy for me. Lots of answers in my wheelhouse. Three horizontal answers were a line from Don't Stop by Fleewood Mac, a "fight" song for the Clinton campaign. (DONTSTOP; THINKINGABOUT; TOMORROW)
Words I hadn't known until now:
TERR - "Apt. amenity, perhaps"
BOHEME - "Unconventional sort, en francais" (I've heard of "La Boheme," so that helped)
CANTABS - "Residents of Cambridge, England" (This corner added to my solving time) Trivia I didn't know:
SHEP - "Record producer Pettibone"
SEOUL - "Capital on the Han River" (Didn't know it was on a river)
Junk Answers:
HUR - "Ben-___"
COS - "I.R.S. Form 1120 filers: Abbr."
TERR - (See above)
AER - "What the Irish breathe" ("Aer Lingus" got me this one)
DRAWEE - "Bank from which a check is paid" (Rarely used word)
Clever clues:
ANEMIA - "Heavy metal shortage?
USMINT - "A real moneymaker"
MRI - "Inside look?"
ADULTS - "They're never minor"
Three answers that are phonetic commands to another three answers. Example: VEGETABLEGARDEN; HOMEY
Words I hadn't known until now: 0 Trivia I didn't know:
NAOMI - "Biblical wife of Elimelech" (WHO????)
SONYA "Raskolnikov's lover in 'Crime and Punishment'"
Junk Answers:
ICK - "That tastes awful!"
Clever clues:
SCAM - "Rook or gull"
AXEL - "Spin out on the ice?"
PAR - "Something to shoot for"
CAMEO - "It might be just a line or two"
ROSS - "Sewer of note"
ALPHA - "Leading man?"
ESTATETAX - "Dead reckoning?"
BADMINTONNET down the center with "birdie" answers left and right (back and forth) down the puzzle, four answers on top and bottom referencing the game of badminton.
Words I hadn't known until now:
NISI - "Unless, in law"
RISD - "Providence art inst." Trivia I didn't know:
TIMEINC - "Publisher of People"
UVA - "Sch. founded by Thomas Jefferson"
Junk Answers:
PES - "Foot, in anatomy"
UVA - (See above)
RISD - (See above)
CTA - "'L' train overseer"
ONA - "Lead-in to lark or dare"
OSE - "Suffix for sugars"
LBO - "Certain Wall St. takeover" (This was an unknown to me just a couple of days ago)
REN - "'Footloose' hero ___ McCormack"
ODED - "Took too much, briefly"
Cruciverbalist: Peter A. Collins
Editor: Will Shortz
Solving time: 12:05
Puzzle uniqueness: Six three-word rhyming phrases with "a" in the middle (Sneak a peak, etc.).
Words I hadn't known until now:
HARRIS - "______ tweed"
Trivia I didn't know:
OCALA - "City between Gainesville and Orlando"
TESH - "Radio host John" (Didn't know he had a radio show)
AEROS - "Nestle bars filled with tiny bubbles" (Huh?)
ETA - "Letter between zeta and theta" (Have no idea the progression of the Greek alphabet)
Junk Answers:
ISU - ""Terra Haute sch."
NHS - "Org. for top-notch H.S. students"
SSTAR - "Relatively cool red giant"
SYST - "The second "S" of MS-DOS: Abbr." (Microsoft - Disk Operating System)
Cruciverbalist: Zhouqin Burnikel
Editor: Will Shortz
Solving time: 7:45
Puzzle uniqueness: Five two-word answers in which the first words are the homophones of "L," "G," "B," "T," and "Q"
Words I hadn't known until now:
BEEBALM - "Flower that attracts pollinating insects"
Trivia I didn't know:
MALIK - "Pop singer Zayn formerly of One Direction"
Junk Answers:
INST - "Caltech, e.g.: Abbr."
QTS - "There are four in a gallon: Abbr."
BYS - "Fly-___ (Blue Angel maneuvers"
HST - "President before DDE"
GOL - "Futbol score"
Cruciverbalist: Natan Last, Finn Vigeland and the J.A.S.A. Crossword Class
Editor: Will Shortz
Solving time: 24:06
Puzzle uniqueness: "Duality Quality"
Two words in each theme answer that are spelled the same except for the first letter and each word is pronounced differently like the them title. (J.A.S.A. is the Jewish Association Serving the Aging)
Words I hadn't known until now:
LBOS - "Some Wall St. deals" (Leverage Buy Outs)
MOOC - "Acronym for a class taught over the Internet" (Massive Open Online Courses)
GHEE - "Butter in South Asian cuisines" Trivia I didn't know:
BORN - "Lady Gaga's '____ This Way'"
LUX - "'___ et veritas'"
ANSEL - "Actor Elgort of 'The Fault in Our Stars'"
OTRO - "'Al ____ Lado del Rio' (2004 Oscar-winning song)"
ODES - "____ of Solomon"
ALIX - "'The Adventures of ___' (European comics series)"
IBIS - "Animal avatar of Thoth"
XIAN - "Chinese city known for its terra-cotta warriors" Junk clues:
LBOS - (See Above)
MOOC - (See above) Clever clues: 0
Almost gave up on this one. About half way through, I hit a wall and just couldn't get a firm grip. Fortunately everything started falling in place one little piece at a time, and I finished it.
Words I hadn't known until now: 0
Trivia I didn't know:
BUSONI - "'Doktor Faust' composer" (I've never heard of the guy)
IRA - "'___ Sleeps Over' (classic children's book)" (Never heard of it)
BIGS - "With 51-Across (THE), two steps away from AA, informally"
ENDO - "Prefix with -genous" ("Endogenous"? What the heck is that?)
KAY - "Eloise creator Thompson"
ALBERTA - "1988 Olympics locale"
LILKIM - "Rapper with the debut album 'Hard Core'"
GAZASTRIP - "Intifada locale"
RCADOME - "Former home of the Colts"
Junk clues:
EDT - "Setting for Red Sox games: Abbr."
BEL - "Acoustics unit"
ENDO - (See above)
EROO - "Old switch ending" Clever clues:
ACNE - "Breakout of a sort"
LAP - "It disappears after rising"
DOE - "John in a suit?"
SOLI - "They're not complex numbers"
CRANKCALLER - "One asking for Ahmed Adoudi, say" (If you don't get it, try saying it out loud)
Patrick Berry is always a thorn in my side. I find it difficult to solve his puzzles. This is one that I solved. Feels great!
Words I hadn't known until now:
DORAG - "Crown cover"
PITAS - "Scoopers for taramasalata" (Have no idea what "taramasalata" is)
UGG - "___ boots" (Sorta know 'Ugg," but didn't know they were boots, per se)
Trivia I didn't know:
OSOLEMIO - "Song whose opening lyric translates to 'What a beautiful thing is a sunny day'"
URAL - "River bisecting Orsk"
POUNDSTERLING - "World's oldest currency still in use"
NATURE - "'She understands her business better than we do,' per Montaigne"
RESIN - "Substance used in Egyptian mummification"
PINES - "Seven ___ (Civil War battle site)"
ALI - "Who said 'I'm so mean I make medicine sick'"
Junk clues:
SGT - "Squad cmdr." Clever clues:
TIRES - "Golf cart foursome"
HOUSETRAINING - "Instructions on where to go?"
HEELS - "Grate catches?"
LIB - "End of a cause?"
ICECAP - "Pole topper"
OVERALLS - "Agricultural outfit"
SOUNDBITE - "Conversation piece?"
MARS - "Opportunity's on it"
DEMOTAPES - "Things mailed without a label?"
MEASURING - "Ruler's role"
ECOLI - "Things that take guts?"
BANGBANG - "Reports of gunfire?"
Saw Men in Black yesterday at the theater. What a pleasant way to spend the afternoon. Another movie that still holds up after twenty years. The exception, of course, are the pop culture references. I do believe that decades down the road those jokes just won't fly. I'm talking about Anthony Robbins, Dennis Rodman, Al Roker, etc. But that's a minor quibble. Though the Elvis quote in the title of this post will certainly stand the test of time!
The many different aliens are still well appreciated. We can thank Rick Baker for that. He's definitely a grand master when it comes to makeup.
I had forgotten the Vincent D'Onofrio played the Bug Man. He was terrific! And, of course, an unknown Tony Shalhoub was also great as the alien who got his head blown off only to be grown back. I love K's departing line, "...or I'll shoot something that won't grow back!" Funny stuff!
Spoiler alert! If you haven't seen the movie and are intending to, don't read any further.
For the past few months for some reason, I've been contemplating the vast expanse of the universe. It is mind bogging just how big it is. Then there's the thought that if there is an end to the universe, what's on the other side of the ending? On the other hand, how can it be infinite? What about multiverses?
The point of my thoughts is the ending of MiB shows that all the galaxies in our universe are just part of a marble in another universe. Director Barry Sonnenberg has a nice ending camera pull-away from a medium shot of our intrepid heroes, whizzing through our galaxies, to outside the marble being shot by an alien three-fingered hand, then finally deposited into a bag of marbles (Other universes!). Nicely done!
Cruciverbalist: Loren Muse Smith and Tracy Gray
Editor: Will Shortz
Solving time: 20:02
Puzzle uniqueness:
Four black squares utilized as the word "ICE" to connect words on either side of the squares.
Words I hadn't known until now:
HOLLA - "Shouted casual greeting"
ESSA - "She, in Italian"
CATARACT - "Waterfall"
AIWA - "Audio equipment brand"
Trivia I didn't know:
NEGEV - "Beersheba's region"
OREO - "Jell-O pudding flavor"
LENA - "Russian river to the Arctic Ocean"
LILABNER - "Comics character who was perpetually 19" (Didn't know that was his actual age!)
JOAN - "'Mad Men' femme fatal" (Never seen the show)
Junk Answers:
HOLLA - (See above)
SNO - "___-Caps (Nestle brand)"
YSHAPE - "What a dowsing rod or a slingshot has"
Puzzle uniqueness: Six two-word answers in which the first word is the one-word title of a Best Musical award.
Words I hadn't known until now:
LAPROBES - "Blankets for open-air travelers"
Trivia I didn't know:
HAMILTONBERMUDA - "Capital city with only about 1,000 residents (2016)"
NALDI - "Nita of silent films" (This is really reaching)
BIGME - "1996 Foo Fighters hit"
Junk Answers:
ATA - "___ crossroads"
EPI - "Prefix with center"
TRA - "___-la-la"abbr."
SSR - "70-Across, e.g., formerly" (ESTONIA)
ECO - "Prefix with tourism"
