Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

Good evening! Sitting at home on a cold Wednesday night. I decided not to venture to the gym since it's started flurrying. Besides, Sandra's 7:30 Zumba class is so crowded that I feel like I'm in a can of sardines. Also, the room gets very hot, even with all the fans. I'll do Tricia's class tomorrow night, along with kickboxing. I'm not crazy about the kickboxing instructor who is temping for Aleigah, but I'll live with it. Aleigah is tough but at least she motivates people.

Today's puzzle, by Billie Truitt, is called "Recycling Day." You guessed it, it's about things that we have to put in separate bags and bring them to their proper places:

20A: Student project (RESEARCH PAPER). Do you remember the days when you were assigned a paper or report, made an outline, pored over books at the library and took notes, wrote a draft, and wrote the final paper? With all the concentration on test prep, it seems that students these days are lacking that skill. Thankfully, my son gets assigned many research papers at the online school where he is enrolled. If you're stuck on a topic, see the Web site Best Essays.

38A: Fine-print enlarger (MAGNIFYING GLASS). Fortunately, my eyes are in pretty good shape, save for the progressive lenses and multifocal contacts I wear for reading. Some things under a magnifying glass are pretty scary! However, I remember having so much fun playing with them when we were young.

58A: Gardening device (SPRINKLING CAN). I do not have a garden, so I have no use for this. Pictured on the right is the basic watering can that every mom (including mine) in my Long Island neighborhood owned. We used them for other purposes, like water fights.

Today's cryptoquote is by Francois de la Rochefoucauld (Pictured on the left. I think his name is longer than the actual quote):

There is nothing men are so generous of as advice.

Wow, Mr. de la Rouchefoucuald goes way back (1630-1680). Born to a wealthy noble family, he spent much of his life in the military. He was best known for his writings Maximes and Memoirs.

And my advice to you is to start drinking heavily! (John "Bluto" Blutarski in Animal House).

Have a good night!

Signing off,

The Puzzlechick

Zola and Hitchcock

Emile Zola (1840-1902) is the author of today's cryptoquote:

"If you ask me what I came into this life to do, I will tell you that I came to live out loud."

Émile Zola was a prolific French writer and one of the most important figures in the naturalism literary movement. He was also known for his involvement in the Dreyfus Affair of the late 1890s. This political scandal began when a French agent stole a letter to a German military officer. The commanders of the French army decided that Captain Alfred Dreyfus, a Jewish soldier, is a spy within the French top army staff. He is imprisoned and awaits many years for trial. It is discovered that another soldier is actually the spy, but he gets sent to a distant post instead. Dreyfus's wife pleaded with Zola to take up this cause. Zola publishes a letter in a newspaper with the heading J'Accuse (I Accuse). He is brought to trial for libel and is imprisoned for a year. A new army administration finally admits that Dreyfus is innocent, but Zola dies of carbon monoxide poisoning the day before Dreyfus is exonerated. For a complete list of Zola's works, see http://openlibrary.org/authors/OL32772A/%C3%89mile_Zola.


Today's puzzle (by Norma Steinberg) is called "I Got Your Back." The theme answers:

20A: Minimal uncertainty (SHADOW OF A DOUBT). This is also the name of 1943 Hitchcock thriller. In this classic film starring Theresa Wright and Joseph Cotten, a teenager named Charlotte "Charlie" Newton is visited by her favorite uncle. However, "Uncle Charlie" is not the man he appears to be and has some very dark secrets. No spoilers!

40A: Child's Game (FOLLOW THE LEADER). This morning, the "Today" show featured 2,000 Zumba instructors led by their guru, Beto Perez. One of my favorite Zumba songs happens to be "Follow the Leader" by the Soca Boyz. Here are the boys in a live performance:

55A: Be behind, with 30 minutes of football left (TRAIL IN THE HALF). I don't think we will be seeing football for a while. They're on strike. Good riddance!

Jessica Alba appears on the September Lucky. She looks fabulous!

Bought skinny cargo pants from Loehmann's today. Next up, trying to find a hot pink sweater to go with my new black-and-white dress. There's always turquoise.

Till tomorrow. . . .

Signing off,
The Puzzlechick

Filling a Hole

It's still freakin' hot on the streets of New York City!

Today's crossword puzzle theme is called "The Hole Thing" (by David W. Cromer). The theme answers are below:

17A: Specialty retailers: NICHE MARKETS. I've always loved this term and it's everywhere. This is especially true with media. I've never seen so many publications focusing on smaller niche markets. Also, audiences have more control over what they watch on TV. The result is niches--such as food, DYI, youth, women's issues--that cater to smaller demographics and audiences. The same can be said with the Internet.

The Challenger crew
(courtesy of Wikipedia)

27A: Atlantis or Endeavor: SPACE SHUTTLE. The space shuttle will be retired next month and its parts will be donated to various museums. The program has had much controversy in its 30-year history. . . . I remember the Challenger disaster of January 28,1986 vividly. I was at work that day. Christa McAuliffe was the first member of the Teacher in Space Program; as a result many school children watched it live. The shuttle exploded 73 seconds into flight, as a result of failure in the O-Ring. I was shocked when my co-worker told us.

48A: Gridiron offense's first shot: OPENING DRIVE. I can't stand watching football, so I'm not even going to touch on this one!

64A: Casino Feature: SLOT MACHINE. Now that's more like it! Atlantic city has tons of penny and nickel slot machines, so we stick to those when we go down there. I feel slot machines are purely by luck. You have a better chance of winning at the poker machines if you know how to play.

The cryptoquote of the day is by Jim Rohn (1930-2009) and it's a simple but effective one: "Either you run the day or the day runs you." Rohn was born on a farm in Washington and became rich by selling nutritional supplements with a company called AbundaVita. He started give motivational talks all over the country about his rags-to-riches story. You can buy resources through his Web site: http://www.jimrohn.com/.

The pressure is um, mounting, for Weiner to resign. It's been revealed that his wife is pregnant. Also, another woman came forward, along with more racy photos. . . . Weiner's always had a reputation as a playboy. Why that is, I don't know. He's not all that good-looking, but women are attracted to power.

"South Park" was so sad last night. (Spoiler alert!). I don't know what was sadder, seeing Cartman and Kyle become friends or Stan's parents breaking up. I would say the latter. This definitely looks like a cliffhanger for a possible final season.

More torture at the gym tonight--kickboxing and Zumba. The kickboxing instructor was a former drill sergeant and she incorporates that mentality in her classes. Still, it's fun.