The Future's So Bright, I Gotta Wear Shades

Good morning . . . this is my 170th post!

Today's Newsday Crossword by David W. Cromer is called "Bright Idea." To correspond with today's theme,  I've dug through the You Tube archives to pull up the video "The Future's So Bright" by the group Timbuk 3. This group was a one-hit wonder, but this was such a mid-1980s anthem. It was a symbol of prosperity and good times of the decade.

The theme answers are below:

18A: Sun's sudden energy release (SOLAR FLARE)
27A: Camera accessory (DIGITAL FLASH)
43A: It's carried every two years (OLYMPIC TORCH). I didn't watch one minute of the Sochi Olympics because of Russia's stance on gay rights. It's a shame, because I usually love watching the opening ceremonies and seeing the lighting of the torch.
55A: Go-ahead (GREEN LIGHT). Remember the childhood game called "Statutes?" The person who's it would shout "Red Light, Green Light, 1-2-3" the others would run toward that person. If the person who's it yells "Red Light," the others must freeze. If they move, then they are out.

The Name Game:

23D: Mystery writer's award (EDGAR)
44D: Stalin Foe Trotsky (LEON)
50A: South Park kid (IKE) (my favorite!)
52D: Designer Ricci (NINA)
54D: Ascended (ROSE)

Alphabet soup (not too much today):

25A: Air-quality monitor (EPA)
37A: Elevations, for short (HTS)
41D: Gov. Cuomo's purview (NYS)

My favorite clue was 10D: Belly-flop byproduct (SPLASH)

Today's cryptoquote by William Zinsser (b. 1922) continues with the "keep it short" theme.

Your basic premises of writing: clarity, brevity, simplicity, and humanity.

Zinsser is best known for the book On Writing Well, the classic guide to nonfiction writing. At age 92, he still runs an column on writing, arts, music, and politics in the periodical The American Scholar. He can no longer see, so he coaches aspiring writers by listening to their works.

The Boston Marathon was on Monday, and it went off without any incident this year. In today's JUMBLE, we have a picture of marathon runners. The caption reads: "After his heart surgery, the marathon runner was happy to once again be a _____."

Word list:

CIRPE = PRICE
KILYM = MILKY
WARIYA = AIRWAY
REELVC = CLEVER

Scrambled solution: PCEMKAAER
Solution: PACE-MAKER

This is one where I got the answer before I unscrambled the words.

I've learned that another movie theater in my neighborhood is closing to make way for medical offices. So sad.

I have been working on more puzzles for my Etsy shop and will begin listing them very soon.

Till tomorrow. . . .

Signing off,
The Puzzlechick