Joint Commission

Newsday X-word 5-7-14

Good morning . . . allergies are making me miserable.

Today's crossword by Carolyn Stewart is called "Joint Effort" and the theme answers consist of common body parts:

Joan Collins in "Dynasty"

20A: Football protective item (SHOULDER PAD). I could've used some shoulder pads a few months ago when I pulled my shoulder at the gym. For two weeks, I used the heating pads and popped Advils twice a day. Eventually, I went back to work out, but still stayed away from the weights. I'm OK now. For football, shoulder pads first appeared in the early 20th century. What did players do without them? Also refers to '80s fashion faux pas (see "Dynasty").

37A: Space to maneuver (ELBOW ROOM). Who remembers Schoolhouse Rock? It was one of my favorite Saturday-morning staples. There was a song called "Elbow Room," which was about territorial expansion beyond the 13 colonies.

44A: Old-fashioned boy's trousers (KNEE PANTS). On women, the knickers fad of the early '80s, as well as a few years back, looked really cool. However, on young boys (see picture on right), they looked sort of ridiculous. I'm glad to see that boys can wear regular shorts and pants now.

59A: Tricky pitch (KNUCKLE BALL)  Although the origins of this type of pitch are unclear, it's said to have been invented by Eddie Cicotte of the Chicago White Socks back in 1908. In fact, his nickname was "Knuckles."

Very interesting: 17A: Two of a kind (PAIR) crosses with 3D: Three of a kind (TRIO).

Alphabet soup:

26A: Societ spy org. (KGB)
35A: Wendy's competitor (IHOP)
39D: Film rating org. (MPAA)
38D: Ship's petty officer (BOSN). This is really "Bos'n", which is short for Boatswain.

Yogi Berra in 1956

Speaking of baseball, today's cryptoquote is by the Yankee great Yogi Berra (b. 1925). He is known for his mangled quotes, know as Yogiisms (e.g.., "It ain't over 'til it's over," "90% of the game is half mental," You can observe a lot by watching'). Here's another (today's solution):

In theory there is no difference between theory and practice. In practice there is.

Aww, Yogi and his wife Carmen (who just passed away in March) were married for over 65 years. Of course, there is no sense to rehash his career because so many great sports writers have done so.

Finally, we have another groaner in today's JUMBLE. This one is really bad. The picture is of a couple at a dude ranch, who looking for the rest rooms. The caption reads "The sign on the ladies' room at the horse ranch said ______."

Word List:

REWAA = AWARE
UNMIS = MINUS
DOWASH = SHADOW
CAPEUT = TEACUP

Scrambled solution: WMNHOEA
Solution: "WHOA-MEN"

A dude ranch is one place where I would never vacation, but to those who wish to, enjoy the experience!

Tonight, we are going to see Joy Behar try out some new material. She'll be at a theater called The Triad on the Upper West Side.

That's all for today. Till tomorrow. . . .

Signing off,
The Puzzlechick