Saturday Stumper, 2/4/12

Super Bowl XLVI is on. There is nowhere I can disappear since we have only one TV. I'm looking for something to watch on the computer. Anyway, I'm behind on reporting yesterday's Saturday Stumper. As always, there were lots of hard clues. Here is a list of some of my favorite clues:

6A: Conclusive procedures (ACID TESTS)

 16A: "10-4" (ROGER THAT). Here is a classic scene from the movie "Airplane" (1980):

18A: Longfellow lover (MINNEHAHA). Native-American woman documented in Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's epic poem The Song of Hiawatha. Lots of places are named for her, including a park and a town. As most of us know, the poem begins with these famous lines:

By the shores of Gitche Gumee,

By the shining Big-Sea-Water,

Stood the wigwam of Nokomis,

Daughter of the Moon, Nokomis.

Dark behind it rose the forest,

Rose the black and gloomy pine-trees,

Rose the firs with cones upon them;

Bright before it beat the water,

Beat the clear and sunny water,

Beat the shining Big-Sea-Water.

54A: Source of fast-acting carbs (ENERGY BAR). There is a company in Chicago called Element Bars, where you can create your own energy bar. You choose your own fruit, nuts, sweets, and boosts (such as soy protein). They also suggest recipes. I think this is really cool.

There were some giveaways in this puzzle too:

5D: Jeremy Irons in The Lion King (SCAR). Would you believe I never saw this film in its entirety? When I was down in Disney World in '93, they were working on the animation.

27A: Beloved Hollywood nickname (THE DUKE). Otherwise known as Marion Morrison, a/k/a John Wayne. One of the greatest Western performers of all time, his achievements are too numerous to mention. He just missed getting into Annapolis, so he went to USC on a football scholarship instead. Not too shabby. John Wayne did not win an Oscar until 1969, for his role as Rooster Cogburn in True Grit.

56A: 2007 Best Director Oscar Winner (ETHAN COEN). Ethan and his brother Joshua won the Oscar for No Country for Old Men. It was just the type of movie the Academy liked, and it won Best Picture as well.

28D: Mel Brooks' Robin Hood (ELWES--As in Carey). Hey, he's the same age as me!

Yesterday's crytoquote is by Christian Nestell Bovee (1820-1904):

Living with a saint is more grueling than being one. 

I couldn't find too much on Bovee, but he is best known for his work Thoughts, Feelings, and Fancies (1857).

I scored some good end-of-season sales over the weekend. I bought a pair of camel pants from The Gap and a nice shirt with sequins from Macy's. Today, I had whole-wheat pizza for the first time. It was really good!

Back to the shrimp platter.

Till tomorrow. . . .

Signing off,
The Puzzlechick