Get Your Irish On

Top o' the Mornin' and Happy St. Patrick's Day for those who are celebrating! This is one of my least favorite days to be at work. The NYC St. Patrick's Day parade is the oldest of its kind in the country. Since when did it become a rule that one can get drunk and obnoxious? I am not even going to the gym tonight because there are at least three or four watering holes in my neighborhood. I don't need to see puke on the ground during my walk home.

There are some good things that came out of Ireland, however: Joyce, Swift, Wilde, Yeats, Day Lewis, Branagh, Enya, Bono, and Irish sodabread. This is just a small sampling, but all of today's puzzles are Irish-themed as well.

Green foods are the theme of Gail Grabowski's crossword. Food is one of my favorite topics of conversation, and green food is also assiciated with healthy eating. I have become much better about eating my greens over the years (although I still don't like string beans and peas). Here are today's theme answers:

21A: Green pasta topping (BASIL PESTO). In the "Seinfeld" episode titled "The Busboy," where the gang is eating at an Italian restaurant, and George rants about pesto:

GEORGE: Why do I get pesto? Why do I think I'll like it? I keep trying to like it, like I have to like it.

JERRY: Who said you have to like it?

GEORGE: Everybody likes pesto. You walk into a restaurant, that's all you hear - pesto, pesto, pesto.

JERRY: I don't like pesto.

GEORGE: Where was pesto 10 years ago? Is there anything else ChaCha can answer for you?

39A: Green cabbage-like vegetable (BRUSSELS SPROUTS). Brussels sprouts have a bad rep because of its color and odor, but they are an acquired taste.  I liked the way my Aunt Barbara roasted them for Thanksgiving. In many old movies and old TV sitcoms, the scene-stealing child actor usually complains or feeds the Brussels sprouts to the dog under the table. Just watch this classic episode of "Leave It to Beaver" and you'll see what I mean.



52A: Green party bowlful (AVOCADO DIP). I know avocados are considered "Good Fats", but I've never really enjoyed eating them. You can have the dip with just about everything: chips, pita bread, veggies, etc.
A Google search turned up literally hundreds of recipes.

Alphabet soup:

15A: Offhand greeting (OHHI)
1D: Corporate VIPs (CEOs)
7D: Many professors' degrees (PhDs)
45A: Newspaper essay, for short (OPED)

Today's JUMBLE shows a picture of the Irish Sweepstakes (I think), the oldest scam in the book. The quote reads "The St. Patrick's Day Scam Artist was attempting a _____.

Word list:

RULBT = BLURT
CHERP = PERCH
VONCIE = NOVICE
THOLCB = BLOTCH

Scrambled word = LRPENEOC
Solution "LEPER-CON"  (a very bad pun if you ask me).

The cryptoquote for today is an Irish Blessing:

May your blessings outnumber the shamrocks that grow and my trouble avoid you whereever you go.

Nowhere do any of the puzzles mention corned beef and cabbage. My nice, Jewish husband loves the stuff. Oh well.

Cheers!

Till tomorrow. . . .

Singing off,
The Puzzlechick