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| Newsday x-word 5-5-14 |
Good morning and happy Cinco de Mayo!
For those who are celebrating, please be safe and drink sensibly!
Speaking of
celebrations, today's crossword by Gail Grabowski is
called "On Occasions":
20A: Cake-with-candles
occasion (BIRTHDAY PARTY)
37A: Pre-wedding meal (REHEARSAL DINNER)
48A: Gathering of the
clan (FAMILY REUNION)
See also 6A: "____ Lang Syne." (AULD).
To be honest, I've never been one for parties. I didn't get invited to many birthday parties as a child. In fourth grade,I tried to weasel my way to a classmate's slumber party but it backfired. At the parties and receptions that I attended during my teenage, college, and adult years, I just felt very self-conscious. There were even a few times where I got drunk and made a fool of myself. In addition, I find parties too noisy and crowded for me. However, I do attend my company's annual party as both a networking opportunity, and for the free food and booze (one of the few times they give anything for free).
In my religion, the
rehearsal dinner isn't a big deal, so I was grateful that I didn't have to have
one. We just had the "rehearsal" and photo-ops the day of the
occasion. The night before my wedding, I had a hamburger and salad and was
relegated to the couch in my parents' den. As far as a family reunion is
concerned, my mom did have family get-togethers at
the house, but they were just BBQs on
Sunday afternoons. Many "formal" family reunions involve games and
activities over an extended weekend. All members of the extended family then
get to wear a tacky T-SHIRT (see 25A: Casual top) and pose for a
group picture. Definitely not for me.
Alphabet soup:
1D: Many ozs. (LBS)
50D: Community swimming
center (for short) (YMCA)
44A: Grade-school
support groups (PTAS)
46A: Maine clock
setting: Abbr. (EST)
60A: Sgts. and cpls.
(NCOS)
The cryptoquote for today is
by François-Marie Arouet (better known as Voltaire):
God gave us the gift of
life; it is up to us to give ourselves the gift of living well.
This means eating right,
exercising, and getting a good night’s sleep!
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| Voltaire |
Voltaire (1694-1778) was a French writer,
historian, and philosopher who was famous for his attacks on the Catholic Church,
as well as his advocacy of freedom of speech and religion. He also believed in
the separation of church and state. Voltaire wrote more than 20,000 letters,
along with 2,000 books and pamphlets. Interesting fact: he was also an early
advocate for coffee and was known to have drunk more than 50 cups daily! He
must have had a terrible case of insomnia.
Today's JUMBLE is
reminiscent of what is happening in retail America: the big-box discount store
overtaking the old-time mom-and-pop stores. The picture shows people arriving
at a new store called Lots O' Boxes (take off on Target or Walmart?). The caption reads "The new
discount store was ______."
Word list (these were
very easy):
LEYID = YIELD
SOGBU = BOGUS
COLUNK = UNLOCK
GLEEDP = PLEDGE
Scrambled solution = YBUSOCLE
Solution = CLOSE
"BUY"
"Mad Men"
mini-recap: SC&P gets a
new addition, the IBM 360, a step into the future of corporate
America. The creative room is literally a casualty of that acquisitions. Don
Draper returns to work and is assugned under
Peggy on the Burger Chef account. FYI, we did not have
Burger Chef in the NYC/LI area. Don throws a typewriter through the window,
gets rip-roaring drunk, and
attends a Met game with Freddie Rumsen,
of all people. Freddie, if your remember, got fired for peeing in his pants
during a presentation. And it's Freddie who talks sense into Don at the end.
Roger's daughter has
joined a cult (or commune) as I and many fans predicted. He and his ex-wife
Margaret go up to retrieve their son-in-law, who is in jail for a bar room
brawl. Margaret is now "Marigold" and seems happy and peaceful. Margaret refuses to have anything to do
with it and drives away in a huff. Roger, who has already experimented with LSD
and free love, joins in at first. The following morning, however, Roger is back
to his old self and tells "Marigold" to go home and be a mother to
her son, Ellery. She wants nothing to do with that life anymore, so Roger
leaves by himself.
Song at the end: "On
a Carousel" by the Hollies. This is supposed to be up beat, but life on a
carousel also has its ups and downs. Could this be the beginning of the end for
our hero?
After Friday's
derailment on the F line, the subways in Queens are back up and running, albeit
very slowly.
I haven't yet finished
with my Saturday post, so I hope to update it either tonight or tomorrow. So
sorry for the delay.
Till tomorrow. . . .
Signing off,
The Puzzlechick
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