Thursday, October 1, 2020, MaryEllen Uthlat

 On Tuesday, WikWak said..."I have seldom known as giving and selfless a person. RIP, Bradley."

What follows was written prior to Abejo's passing.  It is not meant to add anything to aid in coming to grips with the sadness.  At best, a brief diversion.

Salutations, cruciverbalists.  Another Thor's Day has dawned.  Today, in lieu of the roar of thunder courtesy of the son of Odin, our constructor, MaryEllen Uthlaut, has provided the sonic effects.

THEME:  Did You Hear Something Go Pop Pop Pop?

There are many, many ways that we use the word POP in our language.  Pop (contemporary) Culture, Pop (surprise) Quiz, Pop (ask) The Question, Pop (go) Into The Store, Pop (open) The Cork, It Just Popped (came) Into My Head, Five Bucks A Pop (each), I Just Heard My Knee Pop (noise), etc.  MaryEllen has chosen to integrate four other ways that POPS is used into this entertaining puzzle.

17. Pops:  BOSTON ORCHESTRA.  The Boston POPs Orchestra was founded in 1885.  It's stated mission was, and remains, to perform light classical music as well as the popular music of the day.  Arthur Fiedler led the Boston Pops for fifty years.

Arthur Fiedler

33. Pops:  ICE CREAM BARS.  ICE CREAM BARS, aka an Ice Cream POPS, are frozen desserts on a stick often with coatings of chocolate to prevent melting and dripping of the ice cream.

42. Pops:  DAD'S NICKNAME.  Let's see, there's POP, Father, Pa, Pater, Papa, Daddy, Poppa, Pappy and, of course, "So's yer Old Man!"

63. Pops:  CARBONATED SODAS.  The term POP is used to mean soda in various parts of the country.  According to one source, historically the correct term is actually 'phosphate' which was defined by soda jerks as being a flavored syrup mixed with carbonated water.  Sodas were what we call, today, 'floats'.  POP is actually a shortening of 'phosphate' (as they say in some crossword puzzles: letters one, three and five).

Across:

1. Old storyteller:  BARD.  William Shakespeare is often referred to as the BARD of Avon.

5. __ value:  FACE.  To take something at "FACE Value" means to accept something as presented without delving more deeply into an analysis of the matter or item.

9. Worthless stuff:  DROSS.  DROSS is something that is base, trivial or worthless.  The scum that forms on the surface of molten metal is also called DROSS.

Aluminum Dross

14. Eager:  AVID.

15. Muslim community leader:  IMAM.  An IMAM leads Muslim worshipers in prayer.

16. Time of one's life:  YOUTH.  A bit of misdirection here.  To Have The Time Of One's Life, when used idiomatically, means to have a wonderfully enjoyable  experience.  Here we need to answer with a time, or phase, of one's         life. 

20. Female bighorn:  EWE.  From 1974 until 2016, the Los Angeles/St. Louis Rams football team cheerleading squad was known as The Embraceable EWEs .  For some reason or another, that bit of misjudgment makes me think of Tom Lehrer's comment about Dr. Samuel Gall, inventor of the Gallbladder.  Of the late Dr. Gall Mr. Lehrer once said, "His educational career began, interestingly enough, in agricultural school where he majored in Animal Husbandry....until they caught him at it one day."

21. Ensign __ Crusher, Wil Wheaton's "Star Trek: TNG" role:  WESLEY.  Picard, please correct me if I am wrong, but I believe that Wil Wheaton began playing the role of WESLEY Crusher in 1987 when Wheaton was just fourteen or fifteen years old.

22. Tasteless gruel:  SLOP.  

Feeding Slop to the Pigs

23. Trio from Don Giovanni?:  ENS.  Here we go again.  It is one of those clues meant to be taken extremely literally.  There are three ENS in Don Giovanni.

24. Flow slowly:  SEEP.  Below are two High Resolution Photographs showing possible water SEEPage on Mars.  Some slopes on Mars darken during the Martian summer but return to a lighter color by the following spring.

26. Manage, with "out":  EKE.  A Top Twenty entry in the Crosswordese dictionary.

27. Parachute attachment:  HARNESS.  It is a very good idea to keep one's parachute HARNESSED to oneself.

31. Like "it," grammatically:  NEUTER.  As an adjective, it means that a word  is neither feminine nor masculine.  As a transitive, verb NEUTER is substantially more disturbing.  No living creature would like it.

36. Note from the office:  MEMO.  Can secretaries really write MEMO's with both their left and right hands at the same time?  Or is that stereotyping?

37. Buddy:  PAL.

38. Mild Dutch cheese:  EDAM.

       Why is EDAM such a unique cheese?

       Because it's made backwards.

47. Hardened:  STEELY. 

 

Steely Dan

50. Replace on the schedule:  PREEMPT.

51. Poetic contraction:  'TIS.  It is a contraction for it is. 

52. Christmas pudding fruit:  PLUM.

       Did you hear the PLUM joke?

       It was pitiful.

55. Take in the groceries?:  EAT.

56. Seal-hunting swimmer:  ORCA.  ORCAs can often be found in crossword puzzles.  Sometimes, the clues are similar to those used for OREOs, with black and white as the key words.   Today, this marine mammal is honoring that marine mammal with black and white images (also apropos of Oreos and crossword puzzles).

58. Protective charm:  AMULET.

60. 46-Down work:  ODE.  An ODE is a lyric poem in the form of an address to a particular subject.  Another Top-Twenty entry on the list of Crosswordese vocabulary.

66. Mound:  KNOLL.  A KNOLL  is a small hill.  JFK was not shot from the Grassy Knoll in Dallas, TX but some conspiracy theorists believe differently.

The Grassy Knoll - Dealey Plaza

67. Great start?:  MEGA.  The constructor threw in the question mark to let us know that she was being a bit sneaky with this clue.  MEGA can be used as both an adjective and as an adverb.

68. Ceremonial grandeur:  POMP.  Under some circumstances, POMP means a splendid display.

69. Changed course, nautically:  YAWED.  YAWED is the past tense of YAW which means to twist about a vertical axis.  Occasionally, in an airplane or on a boat, I am emphatically reminded of the difference between Pitch, Roll and Yaw.

70. Worshipped image:  IDOL.  Originally, an IDOL was the physical representation of a god.  Some of the Israelites created a false idol, the Golden Calf, to worship in a moment of doubt when Moses ascended Mt. Sinai.  In today's POP Culture, IDOL means a greatly admired or loved person.  Plus ca change plus c'est le meme chose.

71. Long shot, in hoops lingo:  TREY.  Slang for a three-point shot.  The distance varies a bit (pro, college, men, women) but it is generally more than twenty feet.  TREY used this way likely has its origins in card player lingo for the card one higher than the deuce and that is, of course, the three.

Down:

1. Sheep herder in a 1995 Best Picture nominee:  BABE.  "That'll do, pig, that'll do."

2. Swear:  AVOW.  I usually cannot remember the difference between AVOW and AVER, especially as clued in puzzles.  However, the first two letters are the same, the balance is going to be either an O and a W or an E and an R, and the perps take care of that.

3. Come to the surface:  RISE.   Or, to go above the surface.

4. EPA-banned insecticide:  DDT.  Dichloro-Diphenyl-Trichloroethane was developed in the 1940's and was used to combat insect-borne human diseases.  Its use was banned in 1972.

5. Skillful handling:  FINESSE.

6. 8th-century B.C. Hebrew prophet:  AMOS.   Amos was one of the so called twelve minor prophets.  So, just how famous was AMOS ?

Wally "Famous" Amos

7. Western burger franchise __ Jr.:  CARL'S.  CARL'S Jr  is a fast food restaurant chain founded by Carl Karcher.  Several of their burgers have the word Western in their titles regardless of on which continent the particular restaurant is located.  For example, the Junior Western Burger or, if you are hungrier, The Triple Spicy Western Bacon Cheese Burger.

8. Bob Hope, often, for the Oscars ceremony:  EMCEE.  EMCEE is the spelled-out version of M.C. or Master of Ceremonies.

9. Turn red, say:  DYE.  An half-hearted attempt at misdirection but, clearly, neither Embarrass nor Ripen was going to fit in the allotted squares.

10. Supreme singer?:  ROSS.  Diana Ross was the lead singer of the vocal group The Supremes.  The group had a record-setting twelve number one hit singles.

Diana Ross 

11. Current source:  OUTLET.  First, we needed to disabuse ourselves of the notion that the reference was, for example, to a current source of income.  As for the required answer, I tend to think of the source of an electric current as being at the point at which it is generated.  See 39 Down, below.

 

12.  One of four on a par-4:  STROKE.  In golf, a STROKE is any swing forward of a golf club by a golfer who is trying to strike the golf ball.  Just because the hole is rated a "par-4" does not mean that a single STROKE will turn out to be one of four.  It could be one of fewer, or one of many more, STROKEs.

Ben Hogan's Famous One-iron Shot

13. Metal-cutting machine:  SHAPER.

18. Proprietor:  OWNER.  Apu is the PROPRIETOR of the Springfield KWIK-E MART.

Apu Nahasapeemapetilon 

19. Nocturnal scavenger:  HYENA.   In addition to being scavengers, HYENAs are skilled hunters.  Sometimes called "Lauging Hyenas", they make loud barking noises that sound like cackling laughter.

A Laughing Hyena

23. Represent in cipher:  ENCODE.

25. Part of rpm:  PER.  Revolutions PER Minute.

27. "That's the guy!":  HIM.

28. First-rate player:  ACE.  The best baseball pitcher on any given team is called that team's ACE.  In the 1960's, Sandy Koufax was the ACE of the Los Angeles Dodgers pitching staff.

Sandy Koufax

29. Sleep cycle:  REM.  Rapid Eye Movement.  REM sleep typically accounts for 20 - 25 percent of an adult's sleep cycle.  Most dreams occur during REM sleep.

 

Ted

 
30. Drains of power:  SAPS.

32. Early online forum:  USENET.  There are several folks here who can explain USENET far better than I can.  Basically, USENET, established in 1980, is a bulletin board system and was the precursor to internet forums. 

34. Fellow:  MAN.

The Ascent of Man

35. Spot on a screen:  BLIP.  Radar is used to determine the location of an object by measuring the time it takes for a radio wave to reach and return from the object.  The determined points are shown on a screen and are called BLIPs.

39. Hydroelectric power source:  DAM.

Hoover (nee Boulder) Dam

40. Sound system equipment:  AMP.

41. Came upon:  MET.  We have MET Mr. Met numerous times in crossword puzzles.

Mr.Met

43. Mountain in the Tour de France route:  ALP.

44. Subject of the biopic "I'm Not There":  DYLAN.  Robert Allen Zimmerman was born in Duluth, Minnesota in 1941.  In 1962, he legally changed his name to Bob DYLAN.  His net worth is estimated at $200 Million and, in 2016, he was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature.  His mother would be so proud.

Bob Dylan

45. Guided by a statement of faith:  CREEDAL.  I looked it up and, surprisingly, it actually is a word.  CREEDAL, as the clue implies, is an adjective used when referring to a statement of a religious belief or "creed".

46. "The Poetry of earth is never dead" poet:  KEATS.

47. Short and solid:  STOCKY.

48. Albania's capital:  TIRANA.  TRIANA is the largest Albanian city both in terms of population and area.  Often, constructors mess with us and the "capital" they refer to is the local currency.  In this case that would be the LEK which appears frequently in puzzles.

49. Mortgage provision:  ESCROW.  Under the terms of some mortgages, money for property taxes and insurance is paid monthly into an ESCROW account by the borrower where the funds are held in order to pay the bills when they become due.

53. Taste sensation:  UMAMI.  There are five recognized basic tastes.  In addition to UMAMI they are salty, bitter, sweet and sour.  Of these, UMAMI is, perhaps, the most difficult to define.  Words often used to try to do so are meaty, broth-like and savory.

54. Subtle, as a shade:  MUTED.   MUTED can also refer to sound, as on the computer, tablet or cell phone that you are now using.

57. Willing partner:  ABLE.  Ready, Willing and ABLE.

59. Toy company with theme parks:  LEGO.

60. Reminder to take out the trash?:  ODOR.  I first tried to make MOTHER, and then EX-WIFE, work.

61. British title:  DAME.

Dame Edna

62. Best Game, e.g.:  ESPY.  In this case, ESPY  is the name of a sports award given by ABC Television and named for the sports channel ESPN.  Both ESPN and ABC are owned by The Walt Disney Company.  As with so many current-day acronyms, first they decide on what they want the acronym to be and then they "force feed" the words for which the acronym stands.  In this case that's Excellence In Sports Performance Yearly Award or ESPY.

64. Passé:  OLD.  I'll let this one pass.

65. Get off the fence:  OPT.  To OPT means to make a choice.  We could OPT not to solve crossword puzzles but that would be sub-optimal.

That wraps up the puzzle today.  As I gain more experience with "blogging" on the Corner, my admiration for all of those who create these puzzle "explorations" grows.  It is a challenge, I have discovered, to strike a balance between expository writing, entertainment, and humor.  I lean toward the humorous but I know that the primary purpose here is to try to explain the clues and answers.  On another note, after "shooting" in black and white this week, next time I'll put the color film back in the camera.

MM Out

______________________________

Thursday, September 24, 2020, Debbie Ellerin

Good morning, once again, cruciverbalists.  Apparently,  this mephitic marine mammal did not stink things up too badly on the first go around.  As a result, he has been invited back.  As it is physically impossible for a Manatee to "phone it in" and as the Little Ben clock says a quarter to eight, he had best go now and take his shift at the mine.  A little background music, please, Jerry.

THEME:  RAPID FISSION / SLOW FUSION

First, synonyms for FAST (as in swift) are split apart by the constructor.  Then, the two sequential answers on the same row are smashed into each other by the solvers.  Where they fuse can be found the reconstituted synonym for FAST that was "BREAK-ed" before being put together.

17 Across  Ado:  KERFUFFLE and 19 Across:  Hunt in "Mission: Impossible" films:  ETHAN form FLEET.

KERFUFFLEETHAN

25 Across  Unit in an improvisational parlor game:  MAD LIB and 27 Across:  Word in a con man's pitch:  RISK FREE form BRISK.

MADLIBRISKFREE

37 Across:  Former Postal Service mascot: MR ZIP and 38 Across:  Ones drawn to flames, briefly: PYROS form ZIPPY.

MRZIPPYROS

Zippy is the snide nickname that Conchata Ferrell's character uses for Jon Cryer's character in Two and a Half Men.  See also Zippy the Pinhead.

48.  Across Dryer component: LINT TRAP and  50 Across:  Brainstorm: IDEATE form RAPID.

LINTTRAPIDEATE

58 Across.  The Reveal.  Basketball tactic ... and a hint to four puzzle rows: FAST BREAK.  In a FAST BREAK a team attempts to quickly move the ball up the court before the defensive team has a chance to get into position. In this puzzle, I did not figure out the theme prior to the reveal.  Even after that, I had to first hunt for the proper rows and then spend some time looking for what it was that I was supposed to be seeing.  For this solver, it was something of a slow process. 

And now, it's either time for BREAKFAST or it's time to take a look at the rest of the puzzle.

 Across:

1.  Espionage name: MATA.  MATA Hari was the stage name of Margaretha MacLeod.  She was a Dutch-born exotic dancer and, some would say, courtesan who was convicted of spying for the Germans during World War One.  On October 15, 1917 she was executed by a French Army firing squad.  The 1931 movie, Mata Hari starring Greta Garbo, made her even more (in)famous.

5.  Not at all rainy: ARID.  Sometimes the answer to clues similar to this one is SERE.

9.  Old Faithful output: STEAM.  Words would be superfluous.

14.  Got down: ALIT.

15.  Virologist Yvonne who worked with Epstein: BARR.  The eponymic Epstein BARR virus causes mononucleosis.

16.  Serving tool: LADLE.  Does it end in E L or L E?  I forget.

20.  H, to Hercules: ETA.  In the Greek alphabet the letter ETA is drawn in the same manner as we would write our letter H.

21.  NE player, to fans:  PAT   The New England Patriots.  From 1959 through 1970 the team was known as the Boston Patriots.

Larry Eisenhauer played for the Boston Patriots from 1961 - 1969.  Once, in Kansas City, he took to a snow-covered football field wearing only his helmet and a jockstrap.

22.  Very start?: VEE.  There must be a name for this type of extremely literal         clue.  If there is, I am unaware of it.  Often, a "gotcha" moment after wasting time on what should have been a quick response.

24.  Trial fig.: ATT.  Oh, an attorney.  Not the phone company.

29.  Foil alternative: EPEE.  In this instance FOIL refers to a fencing weapon and fencing refers to the dueling sport and not to what you might install on your property line.  Besides, Waxed Paper would not fit.  EPEE is definitely in the Crosswordese dictionary. 

30.  Goofy images?: CELS.   In the days before CGI, animation had to be hand drawn a single frame at a time.  The drawings were done on transparent         celluloid and came to be referred to as CELS.  Each cel would show a slight bit of movement and it took roughly 500 cels for each minute of animation.  This topic leads us to the deep philosophical inquiry:  If Pluto is a dog then what is Goofy?

31.  Fig or olive: TREE.  Fortunately, FRUIT has five letters so no time was lost heading down that particular dead end.

32.  Subtle vibes: AURAS.  Sometimes the plural turns out to be AURAS and sometimes it's AURAE.  I prefer the original Latin as in alga and algae.

35.  Cookbook instruction: ADDIN.  ADD IN  As opposed, I suppose, to STIR IN, MIX IN, FOLD IN, CUT IN, etc.  

39.  Indira's son: RAJIV.   RAJIV Gandhi took over the office of Prime Minister of India after the assassination of his mother Indira.

40.  Thought about it: MUSED.  In this case, the clue is the definition.

41.  British general at the Battle of Bunker Hill: GAGE.  General Gage, along with General Meade, General Omar Bradley and Field Marshall Ney make frequent visits to our puzzles.

42.  Obi-Wan portrayer: EWAN.  EWAN McGregor.  A Stars Wars reference.   

44.  "Get a __!": GRIP.   "Get a GRIP" is a phrase most often used idiomatically rather than literally.  Alternatively, you could actually get a (new) grip.

52.  "Double Fantasy" artist: ONO.  Another frequent visitor to crossword puzzles, Yoko ONO's controversial relationship with John Lenon, and with The Beatles, has been well chronicled.

53.  Klutz: OAF.

54.  California's Santa __ River: ANA.  Humans have lived along the Santa ANA River for at least 9,000 years.  ANA is more often clued in reference to the Santa Ana winds.   

55.  PreCheck org.: TSA.  Transportation Security Administration

        Why was the vulture stopped by TSA?

        Because carrion wasn't allowed on the plane.

56.  More adept: ABLER.

61.  Works hard: TOILS.

62.  Dieter's buzzword: LITE.  What started out as a marketing gimmick has, apparently, (d)evolved into being the modern, phonetic way to spell LIGHT when referring to foods that are low in fat and/or sugar and/or alcohol.

63.  Beat by a nose: EDGE.  

64.  Hindu sage: SWAMI.  A male Hindu religious teacher.  If Wikipedia is correct, a woman would be called a Swamini.

65.  First Best Actor Jannings: EMIL   In 1929, Theodor Friedrich Emil Janenz, stage name EMIL Jannings, was awarded the very first Best Actor Oscar.  I know of EMIL only from solving crossword puzzles.

66.  More than coax: PROD.

Down:

1.  "You and what army?!": MAKEME.  "MAKE ME" is, apparently, also the title of a Britney Spears song.  I would not recognize it.  Or her.

2.  Bartender's device: ALETAP.  I have never heard the words ALE TAP employed as used here.  Perhaps I need to drink more.

3.  Rant: TIRADE.

4.  DOJ branch: ATF.  The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco. Firearms and Explosives.  The ATF traces its roots back to when Congress established a tax on imported spirits to help pay for the Revolutionary War.

5.  BBC sitcom: ABFAB.  Short for Absolutely Fabulous, ABFAB was a British sitcom that also aired on American television.  It was very popular.

6.  River transport: RAFT.    

7.  Offline, briefly: IRL.  In Real Life.   It is a shorthand term used when people want to distinguish reality from something that happens, for example, on TV,  online in social media, or in games.  I do realize that the lines of demarcation are blurring but having to point out this distinction seems a bit odd to me.  Or, maybe not.

8.  Austin Powers' nemesis: DREVIL.  DR EVIL is a parody of the villains found in the James Bond novels and motion pictures.

9.  Aerodynamic: SLEEK.  In 2019, Jessi Combs was killed while trying to set a new land speed record in her SLEEK, jet-powered car.

10.  Skin pic: TAT.  TAT, short for tattoo, is a staple not only of Crosswordese but IRL as well.

11.  "Pollock" star: EDHARRIS.  ED HARRIS  Although I do know who Jackson Pollock was I was barely aware of, and never saw, the movie.  I would not recognize Mr. Harris if I bumped into him on the street.  Perps to the rescue.

12.  Adolescent support group: ALATEEN.  A sub group within the Al-Anon (Alcoholics Anonymous) family that focuses on teenagers. 

13.  Protégé: MENTEE.  A MENTEE is a person who is advised, not by a Manatee but, rather, by a Mentor.

18.  News initials: UPI.  United Press International is an international news agency formed in 1907 by combining three other then-existing news agencies.

23.  Bacon products: ESSAYS.  This bit of cluing was similar to last Thursday's "More Work" clue.  This time the misdirection is designed to lead us away from Francis Bacon (credited with popularizing the scientific method) who is the actual gist of the clue.  Once again, I was briefly fooled and at first thought about something cured, smoked and pan fried.

26.  VIP travel option: LEARJET.   LEAR JET 

27.  Legal thing: RES.  In law, RES is a thing, as opposed to a person, that is the object of rights.

28.  IA city on U.S. 20: FTDODGE.  FORT DODGE, Iowa.  Situated on the Des Moines River, Fort Dodge is the county seat of Webster County.

30.  Limit: CAP.  

33.  Action film weapon: UZI.  The first UZI was designed by Uziel Gal in the late 1940s.  He gave the production rights to the Israli Ministry of Defense.  It is now manufactured by IWI (Israeli Weapons Industries).  In another context, UZI can mean Upheaval-Zombie Infestation.  Quick, grab the Uzi!

34.  Only unanimous Baseball Hall of Fame electee: RIVERA.  George Will, the political pundit and student of baseball, was once asked what his reaction would be if, during an extra-inning Allstar Game where all other available pitchers had already been used, Mariano RIVERA of the New York Yankees were to be injured due to his having to pitch four or five innings.  Without missing a beat, Will replied, "I would say, Go O's !"

36.  Dr. of rap: DRE.

37.  Official flower of two Southern states: MAGNOLIA.

38.  "Cherry Garcia" is one: PUN.  The PUN, here, is on Jerry Garcia the lead guitarist for The Grateful Dead.  Oddly, I had put the "Cumberland Blues" music link, above, in the initial draft of this post before I'd even had a look at the puzzle.  Serendipity.

39.  Path to the gold, so they say: RAINBOW.  An old saying has it that there is a pot of gold at the end of the RAINBOW.

40.  Waze feature: MAP.  After years of using GPS devices made by Garmin and TomTom it took a while to get used to WAZE.   WAZE turns out to be very good for navigating within cities. . . . if you do not mind occasionally being directed to cross eight lanes of rush hour traffic at an uncontrolled intersection. 

41.  Wins in an ugly way?: GLOATS.

43.  Equivocate: WAFFLE.  In the Doonesbury comic strip, Gary Trudeau  used a WAFFLE to portray then-president Clinton.

45.  Not for kids: RATEDR.  RATED R  We never know, do we, if it going to turn out to be RATED R or R RATED?

46.  "Let's do this": ITSAGO.  IT'S A GO  When a constructor uses quotation marks in the clue, to indicate that the answer is something that someone might say,  then the answer can be almost anything.

47.  Reached a max: PEAKED.

49.  Upper bodies: TORSI.  A correct plural of TORSO.  Has anyone actually used the word?

50.  Recon mission goal: INTEL.  Short for INTELligence.  Also,  the name of a major producer of computer chips.  Is there anyone who has not seen their logo?

51.  Put gently (on): DAB.

54.  Vino venue: ASTI.  Ah, another wine-related clue and answer.  ASTI is a commune (township) in the Piedmont region of Italy.  Most Americans know the name only from Asti-Spumante which is a sparkling white wine.

57.  Street in a horror series: ELM.  There have been several Nightmare on Elm Street movies.  They have, so far, grossed over $750 million.

59.  Archer's skill: AIM.  AIM was also an answer in my last (first) write-up so I had to  find a different graphic.

60.  Gym unit: REP.  REP is short for repetition.  Your trainer might tell you to do three sets of ten REPs each of a given exercise.

___________________________________

_________________________________

In parting today, a story:

A team of archaeologists were working in Jerusalem a few years ago when they unearthed a slab of rock into which five images had been carved.

                                    

It was taken back to the university where a team of archaeologists intensely studied the petroglyph and interpreted it.  Eventually, the leader of the team took the stone and went on a lecture tour. In his lecture, the archaeologist  explained that the carvings were several thousands of years old and that they revealed a lot about the people of that time.  The woman, having been placed first in the line of figures, he said, indicated that women were held in very high esteem.  The society that produced the petroglyph was most likely a matriarchy.  The donkey, he further explained, indicated they used domesticated animals.  The shovel revealed that they were highly intelligent and knew how to make tools.  The fish indicated that they knew enough to augment the crops they raised by also reaping sustenance from the sea.  The Star of David, of course, showed they were a very religious group of people.

After trying to interrupt the presentation for quite a few minutes, a little old Jewish man in the front row finally got the attention of the speaker.   When acknowledged, he rose and said "Idiot.  You were reading it left to right.  In Hebrew we read from right to left.  That way, it reads 'Holy Mackerel Dig The Ass On That Chick!' "

I promise to atone for that one in just a few days.  For now, a belated Happy New Year One and All !  That's a wrap for today.  Thank you all for your kind comments after the maiden voyage.