Joseph Knecht

  Veggie Tales Today is Grant Borough 's 5th visit to the Corner, fresh from an appearance at the NYT .   He takes us on a visit to the County Fair to see the winners of the BVOAT contest ( Best Vegetables of All Time ), exhibiting 4 common veggies, all sliced short to sound like a common phrase ... 17A. Proud proclamation at the county fair produce contest?: THAT'S MY CU CUMBER .  Our CUCUMBERS are coming in faster than we can eat them, so tomorrow I'm making pickles. Sliced cucumbers 26A. Praises a prizewinner at the county fair produce contest?: HAILS A CAB BAGE .  These require an early start and we didn't. 45A. Cause of a frantic search at the county fair produce contest?: LOST ART ICHOKE .  They don't grow in these parts, at least I haven't found any ... Arthur C. Clarke said that "any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic".  The same could be said for LOST ARTS .  The skills necessary to build another Chartres C

  What's It All About? Corner favorite Jeffrey Wechsler tries to stump us with a real POSER today.  Since all three theme clues punt to the reveal we'll start with that ...  55A. Profound philosophical subject, as defined by the answers to 21-, 32-, and 42-Across?: THE MEANING OF LIFE .  As you might imagine illustrating this was a real toughie, causing me to ponder several alternatives ... Naturally the Monty Python film of the same name came to mind, but even the trailer was rated R .  I then considered the "The Secret of Life" (the structure of DNA was published 70 years ago this past April 25) and the "The Theory of Everything" (physicists are still working on it), but rejected both as a bit too arcane. I finally stumbled upon the incredible correspondence between the number for Jeffrey's third theme clue and this classic  revelation of  THE MEANING OF LIFE announced by the supercomputer Deep Thought in this trailer

  Love is a Many Splendored Thing This will be Matthew Stock's 10th outing, both solo and co-constructed.  For a brief bio see Husker's review of his Saturday, June 25, 2022 themeless.  Today Matthew tackles one of life's greatest mysteries, cleverly hidden in the answers to these three theme clues ... 18A. Specialty concerned with player experience: GAME DESIGN .  From Adele's album 30 ... 29A. Leadership styles that encourage transparency: OPEN DOOR POLICIES .  From Frozen ... 48A. John Travolta film that won nine Razzies, including Worst Picture of the Decade: BATTLEFIELD EARTH .  Nine Razzies?  Worst Picture of the Decade?   (it won't take you long to find out why).   Here's a bit about Pat Benatar who sings this song ... The songs above are (not the only) answers to the following question  (e.g. see line 1 of this review): 64A. 1993 dance hit, and a musical question answered by the starts of 18-, 29-, and 48-Acros