On Cloud Nine

Good morning! I would like to wish all those who observe the holiday a very Happy Passover! I would now like to start off with a video this week's #1 hit, since it pertains to today's crossword puzzle.

To go along with today's spring weather, this is a "Very happy" puzzle by Billie Truitt called "Seventh Heaven." Here are the theme answers, all with the above clue:

20A: ECSTATIC
31A: DELIGHTED
45A: OVERJOYED
52A: EUPHORIC

In keeping with today's theme, I would now like to turn back the clock for another upbeat song by the Dave Clark 5

Alphabet soup:

1A: Kindergarten basics (ABCs)
44A: "No seats left" sign (SRO)
53D: Sci-fi saucers (UFOS)
58D: Nest-egg initials (IRA)

Food, glorious food:

37A: Vegetarian's no-no (MEAT)
41A: Greek cheese (FETA)
57A: Takes the bait (BITES)
65A: Delicious (TASTY)

Nelson Mandela continues to be popular with our cryptoquotes:

Courageous people do not fear forgiving, for the sake of peace.

Mandela never let his darkest days (all those years in prison) get in the way of his agenda or the decisions that he made while in office. G-d bless him!

The Boston Marathon is next Monday, and we all remember the tragedy that occurred a year ago. Rolling Stone preceded to put the Boston Bomber on its cover, dressed up like a rock star. I hope he will receive his sentence very soon.

Anyway, today's JUMBLE shows a marathon winner who now owns a sneaker store. The caption reads "The marathon winner's favorite part of owning his own store was _____.

Word list:

GETRI = TIGER
LNUGC = CLUNG
RUNBEM = NUMBER
NIEGUS = GENIUS

Scrambled solution: TIUNGNRNI
Solution: RUNNING IT

Season 7 of "Mad Men" opened with its lowest ratings since season 2. However, it was a great episode and we caught up with all the characters except for Betty and Sally. Neither made an appearance last night. Don Draper's style now looks outdated compared the colorful polyester clothes and the long hair that graced the style landscape. Even Pete Campbell has sideburns. Everyone except Joan seems to be falling apart, too. I can't wait until next week.

Till tomorrow. . . .

Signing off,
The Puzzlechick

Saturday Stumper--March 30, 2014

It is a cold and yucky rainy day here in the city, a perfect day to do crossword puzzles. I've finished the Sunday NYT puzzle, along with the Saturday Stumper. I still need to get through today's NYT puzzles.

Brad Wilber is a prolific contributor to the NYT puzzles and is known for his tough, themeless puzzles. I thought today's puzzle was a bit easier than last week's, and there were lots of great clues, too. 

8A: Blitz initiator (PR MAN). Interesting fact: before Kurt Vonnegut became a best-selling author, he was a publicist for GE.

15A: Crumb (SLEAZO): "He's at the top of my crumb list! Matter o' fact, he's at the bottom of my crumb list and every crumb in between!"--Greg Brady, when he finds out that Marcia has scored a date with the jerk who beat him out for the first-string basketball team.  

18A: El-Al no show? (BLT): El-Al serves only Kosher food, therefore, no bacon. Then again, you're lucky if you get a bag of pretzels on flights these days, let alone a BLT. However, El-Al has the best security of any airline in the world.

31A: What a ghost might be responsible for (MEMOIR). Some ghostwriters are better than others. If you want a quality memoir, expect to cough up anywhere from $8-$12K. Not a cheap undertaking.

33A: Turns, as a corner (DOG EARS). Personally, I prefer to use a real bookmark or post-it. I feel the dog ear does damage to a page.

41A: Cello bottom (END PIN). So that's what it's called. 

62A: Rule often disobeyed by foreigners (I BEFORE E) . . .  "except after c, or when sounded as an "a" as in neighbor and weigh."

3D: Heat, for example (NBA TEAM). This is one clue I got right away. 

6D: Uncommon GPS recommendation (U-TURN). Since I don't own a car, I have no idea how a GPS works. I'll have to remember this if we ever buy one. 

39D: Not especially edgy (VANILLA). Also referred to as plain, conventional, and boring. Maybe that's why I've always preferred ice cream flavors with a little something (rocky road, chocolate chip cookie dough, chocolate fudge brown) over vanilla.

The cryptoquote for today is by the late, great Nelson Mandela:

There is no passion to be found playing small -- in settling for a life that is less than the one you are capable of living.

Following our passions can be scary and they can also change. I have cultivated many hobbies over the years (scrapbooking, making origami cards, collecting ephemera). The problem has always been I'm not willing to put in the long hours it takes to turn my hobbies into passions. They all are exciting at first, but they became too time-consuming for me.

The JUMBLE was unusually easy today. I solved it before I got all the words in the list. The picture shows a truck driver asking how much it will cost to change his tire. The caption reads "The tire repairman charged a ______."

Word list:

CLEET = ELECT
KALEN = ANKLE
FOCEFE = COFFEE
TOIWUT = OUTWIT

Scrambled solution: EEALFFT
Solution: FLAT FEE

That's all for today, my friends. Looks like we are going to end March on a soggy note.

Till Monday. . . .

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