Life According to Homer Simpson

TGIF! We are ending the work week with some great puzzles. First up is Stanley Newman's crossword for today called "Homeric Wit," where the solver has to reveal words of wisdom by that great cartoon icon, Homer Simpson:

18A: Start of a Homer Simpson quote (FACTS ARE)

22A: Part 2 of the quote (MEANINGLESS)

36A: Part 3 of the quote (THEY CAN BE)

54A: Part 4 of the quote (USED TO PROVE)

59A: End of quote (ANYTHING)

I love Homer. Yes, he's overweight, slow-witted, lazy, quick-tempered, and borderline drunk. He is ruled by his impulses. For example, he would gladly sell his soul to the devil for a doughnut, lol. At times, he also seems to neglect his family However, Homer is also a very complex person and I think he truly cares about Marge and the kids. His buffoonish charm is what has kept this show running for over 20 years. 

Word of the day: 15A: Glasses without temples (PINCE-NEZ). I think these were popular in the 19th and early 20th century. Thank G-d glasses are more comfortable these days.

Alphabet soup:

1D: Interest meas. (PCT)

7D: UV-Blocking stat (SPF)

8D: World Factbook producer (CIA)

9A: Small-business mag (INC)

34A: Schedule placeholder (TBA)

52A: Big wheel, briefly (CEO)

65D: Night-school subj. (ESL)

The name game:

1A: Lisa on Friends (PHOEBE)

22D: Voice of Bugs and Daffy (MEL)

27D: 007 before Roger (SEAN)

I'll drink to that:

4D: Resort on Lake Geneva (AVIAN)

41D: Circles around moons (CORONAS)

66D: Edible grass (RYE)

Our writing theme continues in the daily cryptoquote. Today's quote is by Terry Pratchett (b. 1948):

There's no such thing as writer's block. That was invented by people in California who couldn't write.

Discworld

Ouch! Is that a little dig on our screenwriters? Anyway, I had to look up Terry Pratchett to see who he is. He is an author of mainly fantasy novels, and I'm not a big fan of that genre. Pratchett is best known for the Discworld comic novel series, which often parodies the styles of writers such as Tolkien, Shakespeare, Lovecraft. In Discworld, Pratchett also satirizes social, cultural, political, and scientific issues. 

Today's JUMBLE was a tough one. The caption shows two zookeepers with a pachyderm. The caption reads "Whether or not the zoo's new pachyderm was from Africa or Asia was _____.

Word list:

UDELL = ELUDE

REMHY = RHYME

FENTIC = INFECT

PLURBA = BURLAP

I had trouble with the last two words.

Scrambled solution: ELERHINTRAP

Solution: IRRELEPHANT

Not a bad pun for today. My favorite ima ge of a pachyderm was the elephant vacuum cleaner used on "The Flintstones."

Wilma Flintstone

That's all for today. Tribeca FF continues tomorrow with a movie about the Knicks' golden years of the '70s, along with a series of shorts on Sunday.

Till tomorrow. . . .

Signing off,

The Puzzlechick