Saturday, October 7, 2017

My time: 18:42, just twelve seconds shy of my record.

--

If I had put in the correct "1970 hit with a spelled-out title," LOLA, and not my too-confident (actually released in 1978) *YMCA, then the NW corner would have fallen into place quicker.  But then, them's the breaks.

I sort-of remembered IDA LUPINO from the September 26 clue, but I wrote about The Hitch-Hiker, and not The Bigamist. 

So, "weapon swung by a gaucho."  First off a gaucho is a South American cowboy.  Also, a Steely Dan album, but I knew that.  I am aware of the cowboy meaning, but something I read or misread in my youthful past, possibly a Tintin album, makes me always question that.  But it's a cowboy.  So the South American cowboy's weapon is BOLA.  But I initially had *BOLO, which, among many many other meanings, is actually a Filipino knife.  So in short, this clue messed me up.

An OSTERIA is an Italian bistro.  It is less formal than a trattoria.

NAN Britton was Warren Harding's mistress!  Wikipedia:

Following Harding's death, Britton wrote what is considered to be the first kiss-and-tell book. In The President's Daughter, published in 1927, she claimed she had been Harding's mistress all during his presidency, naming him as the father of her daughter, Elizabeth Ann. One famous passage told of their having sex in a coat closet in the executive office of the White House.  

The best part is that when he met her, Harding was already having an affair with some other lady.  The old goat!

ODEON is clued as "literally, singing place" but etymology online has it "building for musical performance."

I can never see the 2005 film BEE SEASON, because it has Richard Gere, and I made a vow never to see his movies.

EPEEIST?  Come on.

A SWAY BAR reduces roll on a vehicle and so is part of the suspension.  The clue "stabilizer in solutions" made me think of chemistry for the longest time.  Luckily, I know nothing about chemistry, so I couldn't put in any wrong answers!

"OSLO" is a 2017 play about the Oslo Peace Accords.

Jesus' grandmother is Saint ANNE, mother of Mary.  We don't even know who Joseph's father is!

Clever clues: "Give takes" is OPINE; "unslurred speech?" is PC LANGUAGE; "line of clothing" is INSEAM; "offering to an idol" is ADULATION (I was trying to fit *LIBATION in there); "candy ass?" is PINATA; "a host" is GOBS (I got stuck thinking of emcees); and my personal favorite, "dish transmitters" is GOSSIPS.