Down and Out

It's another cold late-March day here in the city. However, things are looking up and the temperature appears to be warmer for the next few days. 

Clive Probert is another constructor about whom I know very little. He is the contributor for today's puzzle called "Downsize." The larger answers are below:

Sigmund Freud

5D: Freud, for one (PSYCHOLOGIST). There is too much to write about the man who was responsible for creating psychoanalysis. However, his terms EGO, PSYCHE, and NEUROSES frequently show up in crossword puzzles. Also, the name of his daughter (ANNA) makes for nice crossword filler as well. For further information, the Library of Congress carries an extensive archive of Freud's works.

8D: Without inspection (SIGHT UNSEEN)

10D: It may lead to a trip (BANANA PEEL). Not kidding. You can get seriously injured falling on one, like Staten Islander Manuel Cordiz can attest. This incident at the Bowling Green station last December. 

25D: Hackers' offensive (CYBER ATTACK). This has been happening too much lately. Apparently, Target didn't act quickly enough when thousands of its store credit cards were hacked by a 17-year-old. I don't shop much there anymore, not since they got rid of the Isaac Mizrahi line.

30D: Demonstrated (MANIFESTED)

33D: Marinade base (CIDER VINEGAR). Besides marinades, here are many other uses for cider vinegar--salad dressings, chutneys, food preservatives, and  more. It supposedly also helps with weight loss, but I wouldn't try it.

Alphabet soup:

6A: Cold War principal (USSR). We might as well be back at square one with the current Putin regime. 

19A: Endeavour launcher (NASA)

31A: Food safety grp. (USDA)

40A: Paramedics' org (EMS)

38D: The Big Board, for short (NYSE)

Debbie Downer strikes again:

22A: Dismissive comment (WHO CARES?)

47A: Sinister look (EVIL EYE)

53A: Perturbed (IN A STATE)

The cryptoquote for today is much more upbeat:

Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.

Incidentally, HARMONY is also an answer in the puzzle (27A: Choir's concern).

The author of the quote is Mahatma Ghandi (1869-1948), who led India to independence and inspired the civil rights movement in the country. He was married at 14(!); arranged marriage is still a custom in India. Ghandi became a lawyer and went to work in South Africa, where he faced discrimination for his race. He assisted Indians in South Africa with voting rights and other forms of nonviolent resistance. When he returned to India in 1915, he took leadership of its Congress and began resistance against the British Raj. India became an independent state in 1947, and Ghandi was assassinated just a year later. His legacy lives on via the Ghandi Heritage Portal. 

Today's JUMBLE was sort of cute. The picture is of a man and a woman talking at a marathon race. I'm sure this happens at the NYC marathon. The caption reads "He knew he'd fallen in love at first sight at the marathon when his _____.

Word list:

CHIDT = DITCH

RIREV = RIVER

LACAAP = ALAPACA

TAYREE = EATERY

Scrambled solution: DHREACATER

Solution: HEART RACED

I must dowload the new x-word game Bonza in my iPad. It's been getting rave reviews. 

That's all for today. I hope to get to the gym tonight. I couldn't do so last night because it was sooooo windy. 

Till tomorrow. . . .

Signing off,

The Puzzlechick