Silence is Golden

TGIF!

I'm going to start with today's cryptoquote first because it's more interesting than the crossword puzzle. This one is by that jack of all trades and author of many quotes, Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790):

As we must account for every idle word, so must we account for every idle silence.

Simply, Franklin is saying that if we have nothing nice to say, don't say it at all. When we have gripes, there are ways of going about resolving them without putting people down.

Ben Franklin was also an inventor, a journalist, a politician, a scientist, and an activist, among many other things. There is not enough space to list all his accomplishments. I found the best online guide to his works by a history professor named Richard Jenson.

Today's crossword by Randall J. Hartman was trickier than yesterday's but the theme answers weren't as much fun. The puzzle is entitled "Crackpots", and I don't quite get the connection between the title and theme answers. Anyway, these are the theme answers:

17A: Electricity source: POWER PLANT. I have just three words: Three Mile Island. Remember the 1979 accident? A meltdown occurred as a result of equipment malfunctions, faulty design, and human error. Lung cancer and infant mortality increased as a result for the next two years. The movie China Syndrome had been released just 12 days before the accident and became a blockbuster hit. Interested in pictures of the 100 largest power plants in the world? I have them right here.

40A: Organization's procedural guide: POLICY STATEMENT. You want to learn how to write one? Just follow these simple instructions.

50A: '50s fashion: POODLE SKIRT. Let's turn back to more innocent and easier times. A poodle skirt was a wide skirt made out of felt with the simple applique of a poodle. Paired with saddle shoes, it became very popular at school dances and sock hops. My mom (who graduated high school in 1958) told me she had a poodle jumper, which she had to pay with her own money. I never saw a picture of her in it. The poodle skirt remains a very popular Halloween costume today.

63A: Justin Bieber gig: POP CONCERT. Will Demi Moore pursue Justin next? Just kidding! Personally, I never attended a concert by the teen idols of my day (David Cassidy, Donny Osmond, Bobby Sherman, etc.). I guess I developed a distaste for their music once I reached my teens. However, I would have lived to see the Beatles and the Stones during the 60s. Matthew got to see the Fab Four at Shea when he was just 6 years old! That was a perk of attending the World's Fair every single day.

Everyone in New York has one thing on their minds this weekend: Super Bowl Sunday. Is there a place where I can disappear while the game is on? I HATE football!

I'll be back tomorrow with the Saturday Stumper.

Signing off,
The Puzzlechick