The Art of the Deal

Good afternoon! I'm still recovering from last night's amazing performance by Andrea Bocelli and the NY Philharmonic. All the special guests (Bryn Terfel, Celine Dion, Tony Bennett and Ana María Martínez) were wonderful. It was a rainy, chilly night, but it didn't matter to the crowd of nearly 60,000. We heard all the opera standards, along with some Italian pop songs, and even a sentimental rendition of "Home on the Range!." The only thing that put a damper on our evening (besides the rain) were a couple of tourists who were hovering over our food. Also, we had to walk a looooong way (from 63rd St!) to get to the Great Lawn. 


Today's crossword (by Bruce Venzke) is called "Sales Rep's Steps." The theme consisted of three steps of completing a successful deal:


17A: Sales rep step #1 (HAS ONE'S WORD ON IT)
28A: Sales rep step #2 (SHAKES ON THE DEAL)
60A: Sales rep step #3 (GETS IT IN WRITING)


I hate selling. I can't sell my way out of a paper bag. I remember the annual Girl Scout cookie sale, where my mom forced my sister and I to go door to door and try to solicit sales. I managed to sell only about 15-20 boxes of cookies. That would be major chump change these days, with Girl Scouts having "pop-up" sites. Times have changed, and mommies don't want to send their kids out in the big, cruel world. Even I'm guilty of doing it. I used to bring in the sales brochure for Alex's school candy sale to work, and I would rack up about $200 in sales. I did the same for his Passover candy sale for Hebrew school.


The following video is called "The Art of the Deal" and it features a conversation between Donald Chump (oops, I meant Trump!) and Robert Kiyosaki. I'm amazed to hear how his kids actually like working for him. At lease Ivanka has a good head on her shoulders. I think Don Jr. (aka "Doofus") is used on "The Apprentice" as comic relief. Eric seems to take after Ivana in the looks department (Thank G-d). And I hear Tiffany (his child with Marla Maples) has been left out in the cold. I see 5-year-old Barron on "The Apprentice" next year.

And now on to the cryptoquote:


"Learn to dance otherwise the angels in heaven won't know what to do with you."--St. Augustine


St. Augustine (354-430) was the bishop of what is now Annaba, Algeria. There is so much information on him that I don't have room on this blog to record it all. Go to this link to read about his life and works.


TGIF!! It should be a fun-filled Saturday at the eye doctor tomorrow. On Sunday, Matthew and I are going to the Brooklyn Book Festival. Last year, it was very cold and rainy, so we vowed we wouldn't go this year if it was like that. They're predicting a beautiful day.


I hope to be back tomorrow with the Saturday Stumper.


Signing off,
The Puzzlechick

Working Stiffs

I'm anxiously hoping that the weather holds up for tonight's Andrea Bocelli concert in Central Park. It was raining about an hour ago, but I just heard the sun is shining now. We got a "laundry list" the other day of things you can bring and can't bring. Basically, you can breathe and that's about it. We're just going to pack a couple of sandwiches in a small backpack and buy drinks there.

The theme of today's crossword, by David W. Cromer, is a typical(?) day at work:

10 a.m. (gossiping): COFFEE BREAK. I eat breakfast at around 6:30. By 9:30, I'm hungry again, so I have my mid-morning 100-calorie snack. They have pretty good coffee in the office, so I can't complain. If I run into someone I know, I will stay and talk to them for a few minutes.

26A: Noon (networking): POWER LUNCH. I hate this term and prefer business lunch. In fact, I would prefer to have breakfast if trying to negotiate a deal. I'm more alert in the morning and I think the other party would be too.

46A: 3 p.m. (video gaming): ANGRY BIRDS. By 3:00 (unless I have a major project), my brain is fried and I'm done for the day. . . . At the bookstore, I saw a couple of plush Angry Birds. They're actually kind of cute. My tech-savvy son had to explain to me that it was an app for the iPhone and it's quite challenging. I guess you can call it the Mario Bros. of the 2010s.

58A: 4:30 p.m. (early day): HEAD FOR HOME. That's when I leave every day!!!

Nelson Mandela is the supplier of today's cryptoquote answer:

"A good head and a good heart are always a formidable combination."

As we all know, Nelson Mandela served 27 years in prison. He was then President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999. Can you believe he's 93??? He's been married three times; Winnie is the most well known of his spouses. He has six children and 20 grandchildren. Did you know that in South Africa prisoners were classified by race? Mandela said that as a black man, he received the fewest privileges. For example, he was allowed only one visitor and one letter every six months. Do you remember the song "Free Nelson Mandela" by the Specials? Here's the video:

I haven't finished the NYT puzzle yet, so I'm going to try and finish that up before I leave.

Till tomorrow.

Signing off,
The Puzzlechick