Thursday, August 3, 2023, Grant Boroughs

 

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 CUCUMBER.  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 CABBAGE.  These require an early start and we didn't.

45A. Cause of a frantic search at the county fair produce contest?: LOST ARTICHOKE.  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 Cathedral disappeared long ago in the dusts of time ...

60A. Squashes a rival's entry at the county fair produce contest?: GOES TOE TO TOMATO.  I think Grant stubbed his toe on this a bit.  We're getting lots of cherry TOMATOES, but the big ones don't start coming in until early August.

Mortgage Lifter Tomato

There was no explicit reveal that I could find, but I'm open to any suggestions for interpreting the theme differently.

Across:

1. Respiratory organ: LUNG.

5. Lake-maker: DAM.  BEAVER was too long.

8. "The Bonfire of the Vanities" novelist Tom: WOLFE.  Thomas Kennerly WOLFE Jr. (March 2, 1930 – May 14, 2018) was an American author and journalist widely known for his association with New Journalism. The Bonfire of the Vanities is a 1987 novel by Tom Wolfe. The story is a drama about ambition, racism, social class, politics, and greed in 1980s New York City later made into a movie with Tom Hanks, Bruce Willis, and Melanie Griffith  ... 

Wolfe also wrote a lot of great non-fiction.  One of my favorites is his iconoclastic The Kingdom of Speech (scroll past all the reviewer bios to start the review proper at "The Kingdom of Speech")

13. Among buoys: ASEA.

14. Came down to earth: ALIT.

16. Catherine of "Schitt's Creek": O'HARA.  Schitt's Creek is a Canadian television sitcom created by Dan Levy and his father, Eugene Levy, that aired on CBC Television from 2015 to 2020. It follows the trials and tribulations of the formerly wealthy Rose family, who now suddenly destitute, find themselves up the proverbial creek without a paddle.  Catherine plays Moira, the family matriarch ...

17. [Theme clue].

20. Legalese adverb: HERE TO.

21. Some intelligence workers: ANALYSTS.  A CSO to you know who.

22. "To __ is human ... ": ERR.

23. King topper: ACE.

25. Neither Dem. nor Rep.: IND.  INDependent. 

26. [Theme clue]

33. Wander, in a way: DAYDREAM.

35. "Black-ish" star Tracee __ Ross: ELLIS.  Tracee Joy Silberstein (born October 29, 1972), known professionally as Tracee ELLIS Ross, is an American actress. She is known for her lead roles in the television series Girlfriends (2000–2008) and Black-ish (2014–2022).

Tracee Ellis Ross
2014 NAACP Image Awards

36. Writer Bombeck: ERMA.  Erma Louise Bombeck (née Fiste; February 21, 1927 – April 22, 1996) was an American humorist who achieved great popularity for her newspaper humor column describing suburban home life, syndicated from 1965 to 1996. She also published 15 books, most of which became bestsellers.  She was a mistress of the bon mot.

Erma Bombeck

37. Debonair: SUAVE.

40. Actor Idris: ELBA.  Among his many accomplishments, he is also the last word in the world's most famous palindrome.

Idris Elba, OBE

41. First Hebrew letter: ALEPH.  ALEPH (or alef or alif, transliterated ʾ) is the first letter of the Semitic abjads, including Phoenician ʾālep 𐤀, Hebrew ʾālef א, Aramaic ʾālap 𐡀, Syriac ʾālap̄ ܐ, and Arabic ʾalif ا ...

Aleph

43. Data in IRS tables: TAX RATES.

45. [Theme clue].

48. Novel: NEW.

49. Lawn layer: SOD.  Also a noun in British slang, which can be used as a verb, as in SOD OFF!

50. Slugger's stat: RBI.  Here are some others beside RBI and ERA.

53. Transfer recipient: ASSIGNEE.

58. Parent, e.g.: REARER. 

60. [Theme clue].

62. One-named "Easy on Me" singer: ADELE. Blue eyed soul ...

63. Ready to serve: DONE.

64. Deportment: MIEN.

65. Noodle option: RAMEN.

66. Actor Beatty: NED.  NED Thomas Beatty (July 6, 1937 – June 13, 2021) was an American actor. In a career that spanned five decades, he appeared in more than 160 films. Throughout his career, Beatty gained a reputation for being "the busiest actor in Hollywood.

Ned Beatty
at the 1990 Annual Emmy Awards

67. Sole: ONLY.

Down:

1. Shaping machine: LATHE.  What's the difference between a LATHE and a SHAPER?

2. Theater director?: USHER.  Here's a film about someone you don't want to be directed by ...  based on a short story by Edgar Alan Poe (buried in my hometown 😱)

3D. Queen and regime, e.g.: NEAR RHYMES.  We are getting lots of Silver Queen corn from the Eastern Shore, delivered daily by the Misty Valley Farms regime, known for their fresh locally grown veggies.  That's a NEAR as I can get.

4. Part of a pen: GATE.  Not the kind you write with, the kind you pen animals with.

5. Sword of __: impending disaster: DAMOCLES.  Based on an ancient Greek fable ...

6. Gymnast Raisman with three Olympic gold medals: ALY.  Alexandra Rose Raisman (born May 25, 1994) is a retired American artistic gymnast and two-time Olympian. She was captain of both the 2012 "Fierce Five" and 2016 "Final Five" U.S. women's Olympic gymnastics teams, which won their respective team competitions.

Aly Raisman

7. Mineral used in pearlescent paint: MICA.  DNK this usage. Pearlescent pigments are coated MICA platelets that provide color and exciting visual effects to various coatings, plastics, and printing ink. They are widely used in the production of automobile paints and by DIY hobbyists and cosmeticians. I found lots of claims that they posed no hazards to the latter two groups but I was unable to find any info on what colorants are used to coat them, nor could I find any FDA material safety data sheets for them.

This is the variety of MICA commonly used to make them ...

Muscovite mica

8. Aspiring: WOULD BE.

9. "Gracious!": OH MY.

10. Research centers: LABS.  Many use a lot of 53D.

11. Worry: FRET.

12. "Were your __ burning?": EARS.

15. Long, loose top: TUNIC.  The history of the tunic ...
 

Roman worker dressed in a tunic

18. Help in getting to the next level?: STAIR.

19. Water-to-wine village: CANA.  Here's the scene from the series The Chosen where Jesus performs his first miracle (John 2:1-11).  One of the things I like about this series is that it often repurposes an anonymous figure in the Gospels, e.g. the "wine steward" in the wedding at Cana, and identifies him with someone famous: in this case the Apostle Thomas.   Even though Thomas has seen Jesus miraculously change water to wine, he is still a doubter even after Christ's resurrection ...

24. Son of Isaac and Rebecca: ESAU.  As we know ESAU was a twin, so I'm still waiting for a constructor to fill this clue with his brother JACOB, who is subsequently much more famous in the Hebrew Bible.

27. Roll with the punches: ADAPT.

28. Vintage violin: AMATI. AMATI  is the last name of a family of Italian violin makers who lived at Cremona from about 1538 to 1740.  Today, violins created by Nicolò Amati are valued at around $600,000. Because of their age and rarity, Amati instruments are mostly kept in museums or in private collections and are seldom played in public.   Here is the Adagio from Sonata No. 1 in G minor by J. S. Bach (1685--1750), performed on an AMATI violin by Sean Avram Carpenter ...

 The violin he is playing is in the collection of the Metropolitan Art Museum in NY.  For more information and selections see this link.

29. Gloomy: BLEAK.

30. Like some rugged vehicles: ALL TERRAIN.

31. Cutting remark: GIBE.

32. Those, in Spanish: ESAS.

33. Deliver cards: DEAL.

34. Folk singer Guthrie: ARLO.  Here's ARLO with Pete Seeger playing a song by Arlo's Dad ...

38. Carpet cleaners, for short: VACS.

39. Beseeched: EXHORTED.

42. Brand known for surfing gear: HANG TEN.  A name derived from the prehensile feet of surfers.

44. Barrel racing milieu: RODEO.  Here are some barrel races from the Houston RODEO (and CSO to -T).  Pretty exciting ...

46. Carson City neighbor: RENO.

47. Coarse fabric: TWEED.

51. Stimulant-yielding Asian leaf: BETEL.  I'd heard of BETEL, but always thought it was a NUT.  It turns out that the leaf (aka "paan") is always chewed in conjunction with the Areca nut, the fruit of the Areca palm. The chewing of these two plants together is widespread in Southeast Asia, despite the fact that The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) and the World Health Organization (WHO) who have determined that chewing betel with areca nut is carcinogenic to humans.  OTOH, this article in the Indian e-zine netmed.com claims that there are Amazing Benefits Of Betel Leaves Nobody Told You, a veritable "paanacea" ...

Betel leaves
for sale in a local market

52. Wry twist: IRONY.

53. Seaweed gelatin used as a thickener: AGAR.  The word AGAR comes from agar-agar, the Malay name for red algae (Gigartina, Eucheuma, Gracilaria) from which the jelly is produced.  The substance is not only used in cooking, but also in scientific applications, e.g. as a culture medium in microbiology (see 10D).

 Petri dishes containing AGAR gel for bacterial culture

54. Fountain drink: SODA.  Also known in some parts of the country as POP.

55. Appear to be: SEEM.

56. Land in the water: ISLE.

57. School founded by Henry VI: ETON.  ETON College is a public* school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI under the name Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore, making it the 18th-oldest school in the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference (HMC). Originally intended as a sister institution to King's College, Cambridge, Eton is particularly well known for its history, wealth, and notable alumni (Old Etonians).

* Public school is Britspeak for private school.

59. Points to make in an argument, figuratively: AMMO.  Sadly, not all of it is used figuratively.

61. Lowest score on some scales: ONE.  On a piano score the lowest on the scale is A.  Here's why.

Cheers,
Bill

And as always, thanks to Teri for proof reading and for her constructive criticism.

waseeley  

Here are the CUCUMBERS Teri picked when I started writing this review:

Here are the first twelve jars of pickles we canned yesterday.  All twelve popped!
 

Postscript:

Today marks the 79th anniversary of the death of Teri's uncle Vincent Deterkavage, who was killed in action in Normandy during WWII. 

Teri and I have twice visited his grave site in the American Cemetery in St. James, Brittany in France, and today our family is taking the flag that was awarded to the family after his death to Fort McHenry in Baltimore to have it flown there beside Old Glory.