Strong as an Ox

Raw oxtail 

Interesting puzzle title for today. . . . It's "Oxtail Stew" by Gail Grabowski. I've never eaten oxtail stew, which is the fancy name for cattle's tail. Here's what raw oxtail looks like. The meat is popular in Jamaica, South America, and Asia. You can say they're similar to short ribs and there are some very inexpensive recipes out there.

All of the theme answers end in "ox":

20A: Brunch offering (BAGELS AND LOX). I think I'm one of the few Jews who doesn't like the combination of bagels, lox, and cream cheese. Not to mention this traditional Jewish dish is loaded with calories. However, I do like tuna salad, chicken salad, and shrimp salad on a bagel. Since there are so many calories and sugar in the bagel alone, I have them only occasionally.

38A: Windy City Baseball Team (CHICAGO WHITE SOX). Who hasn't seen "Field of Dreams". In the movie, Kinsella (played by Kevin Costner) encounters "Shoeless" Joe Jackson and the other players involved in the 1919 Black Sox Scandal. To make a long story short, eight members of the White Sox intentionally threw games to the Cincinnati Reds. Supposedly, the series was fixed with thousands of bettors wagering on the Reds. Led by first baseman Arnold "Chick" Gandil, he and seven other players implemented the fix to get revenge on owner Charles Comiskey, who was a notorious tightwad. The eight players were banned from baseball for life.

50A: Gift carton (CARDBOARD BOX). What does a child love more than a new toy? The box that it came in! A cardboard box can do wonders for a child's imagination and creativity! A box becomes an airplane, a hospital, or a house. It was even added to the National Toy Hall of Fame in 2005!

It's a calm Tuesday, but winter is supposed to return with a vengeance tomorrow. 

In puzzle news, I see there was a tournament at Skidmore College over the weekend. 

And I found an article about Michael Sharp, an English professor at Boston University who masquerades as "Rex Parker, King of the Crossword World." Maybe he'll move up from his 31st-place ranking at this year's ACPT.

Till tomorrow. . . .

Signing off,

The Puzzlechick