(Almost) Wordless Wednesday

The 2014 baseball season set to begin next week with a game between the Dodgers and the Diamondbacks in Sydney. The regular season in North America starts on March 30. This brings us to today's puzzle by Charles Slack called "Here's the Pitch." Since it it's "Wordless Wednesday" in the Blogsphere, I'm going to try to add as many visuals as I can.

17A: Invite lots of friends over (THROW A PARTY). The first thing that comes to mind is that classic video by the Beastie Boys. RIP, Adam Yauch (aka MCA).

Here is a video from 1950 on throwing the perfect party. These "educational" videos were so bad, they were funny.

10D: Express relief (HEAVE A SIGH). Two words: Charlie Brown

29A: Mix greens and dressing (TOSS A SALAD). I eat lots of salads these days and like to top them with Walden Farms dressing. No calories, no fat, no sugar, you think it would have no taste. It is surprisingly good.

65A: Dampen future events (CAST A SHADOW). My DH and son experienced an unfortunate turn of events tonight. They were supposed to see Elvis Costello and the Roots at the Capitol Theater in Port Chester. This morning, there was a building explosion in East Harlem right near the tracks. Three were killed, several were hurt, and many are missing. As a result, there were no trains most of the day. Even though service has been restored, there are still hour delays. 

Today's cryptoquote is by John Churton Collins (1848-1908), an English literary critic who became a professor at Birmingham University. I couldn't find much about Mr. Collins, but his quote speaks the truth:

Always mistrust a subordinate who never finds fault with his superiors.

I Googled the quote and some the Web sites attributed this quote to a William Collins. That is a very common name, so I am unsure who actually said this quote.

JUMBLE TIME: Picture of a typical sleazy salesperson trying to sell a tent to anxious parent.

The campers were interested in a new tent, so he gave them a ______.

Word list:

PORAN = APRON

TECIW = TWICE

SOLNES = LESSON

CUHPIC = HICCUP

Scrambled answer: APTEDESSHIC

The answer: SALES PITCH

I ran into technical difficulty trying to download today's grid. Please accept my apologies for any inconvenience caused.

Well, the temporary thaw is over. The temperature has already dropped 10 degrees and is expected to go into the 20s tomorrow. Going to need that extra blanket tonight.

Till tomorrow. . . . 

Signing off,

The Puzzlechick