I-Dio Synchricity

Both The New York Times and The Los Angeles Times Crossword Puzzles provide a welcome diversion and important tools in honing memory skills and heightening awareness of current events and pop culture. Doing the daily crosswords was just a habit I fell into as a hedge against the time spent commuting in the City. Rarely did I ever take them personally.

Over the past year or two some of the puzzles worked out to hold clues or answers that were related to things you would expect to find at A Page In The Life that are a far cry from what would be considered mainstream, and I simply shrugged this off to Synchronicity. Sometimes the synchronicity justification was difficult to swallow, but the alternative explanation could only be paranoia.

I did a good job convincing myself as much until this last Sunday's LA Times Crossword Puzzle (January 31, 2010), that seemed to have so many tie-ins with A Page... that it fell out of the range of random chance and I could no longer ignore the correspondence--it just hit on all cylinders!

The Puzzle, Clues, and Answers are reproduced from Crossword Confidential with impressions in gray and related links to the UFO-Human Link...
Kindergarten Crime Spree Part 2 (January 31, 2010)
By Merl Reagle




From Crossword Confidential

Clues and Theme answers:
21A: I narrowed it down to two suspects. Naturally, they both LOOKED INNOCENT. Mom & Dad?26A: Let's call them... DICK AND JANE. Okay, Dick and Jane or Adam and Eve or Jack and Jill...as you like it.35A: I could tell right away that she was... HOOKED ON PHONICS. This Blog does prattle on about Phonics...49A:And he—well, let's just say that he was... IN A CLASS BY HIMSELF. Yes, He is!64A: I laid out the evidence; they could see that I'd done... MY HOMEWORK. If someOne out there is doing their Homework why don't I get a copy since I assigned it--unless this counts as such?66A: But neither would talk. So I said, "I'm going to... COUNT TO TEN." My 'friend' GiGi counts to ten after printing loci/foci...82A: And that did it—they immediately started crying. I said, "Well, I hope you've... LEARNED YOUR LESSON." Mom may have taught them something afterall.93A: "Maybe you'll both be let out early... FOR GOOD BEHAVIOR." ...but Time Out is Phun with Phonix!106A: "But only if you... SHOW AND TELL ...me exactly what happened." Not much of a Poker player since I play with all my cards on the Table, but there is no need for a Show and Tell since just Hearing about it was Enough for Him!
113A: They agreed. And that's when the FINGERPOINTING / FINGERPRINTING / FINGERPAINTING began. All three Finger Things are mentioned at A Page In The Life.

(Hint: Because of a single variable letter, this clue has three different appropriate answers. Write in whichever one(s) you like. See 116 Down.) Note: This Hint parallels having mentioned the interchangeablity of several words for the word 'distinction' depending on what the occassion warrants.
116D: Start of a crime novel by Sue Grafton, whose titles are particularly apt for this puzzle. (This clue has three possible answers. See 113 Across, the Hint and corresponding Note) (O / R / A IS). 'A Is for Alibi' (Advanced Information Systems); 'O Is For Outlaw' (Office of Information Systems); 'R Is For Ricochet' (Readiness Information System/Request for Information Services).

January 31 Puzzle / Everything Else —

1A: Pioneering cartoonist (NAST); People, Communities, Oblivion and Waves all to do with Nas, and some can be quite nas-t!

5A: Prep for a trip (PACK); Read about a higher dimension Cadet's packing for a little trip to 3D Earth.

9A: Cry of recognition (AHA); There is an 'aha moment' here.

12A: Stumblebums (CLODS); And these characters may also be found on 3D Earth.

17A: Job safety org. (OSHA); Maxie Time mentions what an abysmal failure OSHA can be when it comes to Job Safety since it is bogged down by a Hitler Power (SCIF).

18A: Present opening? (OMNI-); Omnipresent, One of The 99 Most Beautiful Names.

19A: Job opening (SLOT); Spline keys fit in chambers or slots.
20A: Jewelers' lenses (LOUPES); Prismatic loupes afford the highest magnification.
24A: Manifesto co-author (ENGELS); Engels is German for Angels, and Engels related to Engels Expansion (for pi=1,1,1,8,8, 1991...) and pertains to group theory, too.

25A: Takes in or lets out (ALTERS); Anything can be altered except God's Words.

28A: Untrue (NOT SO); Which part is not true so We can go back and make it so? Or is it nothing to do with Special Orthogonal (mathematics: group theory); consider orthogonal matrix at Area 51 and Group Theory?
29A: Earthquake origins (FOCI); Earthquakes are the subject of a few blog posts.

32A: Promising letters (IOU); Promise to pay is okay, but how long is one expected to just be holding paper?
33A: Org. of cadets (ROTC); In addition to the one cadet mentioned earlier, there had been others including the armed forces and Little Annie Fannie, a Space Cadet in Gordon Egan's book.

41A: Old college cry (RAH); Right Ascension (units in Hours) T=0, but discussed and given in degrees elsewhere on this site.
42A: Capital on the Aare (BERN); Biological and Environmental Research Nanotechnology or No Action Taken;; Interesting reference to Aare-- Accumulator Aircraft Reactor Equipment. The Aare river rises and ends totally within Switzerland, a country also associated with money and chocolate.

44A: Pianist Gilels (EMIL) ; Gilels pedagogical geneology traces back to Frederick Chopin, for the association to this blog one would have had to have read the book.

45A: Sculler's prop (OAR); Office of Air Resources; Oceanic Atmospheric Research...

46A: Words before "merry" (AND BE); B, Be, Bee--they all sound the same to me.
48A: Chinese principle (TAO); Buddha quote and related to Tao Ruspoli, film-maker/photographer.

54A: Goes ballistic (ERUPTS); Establish Responsible Use Policy Terms Of Service (no way I am ever going to sign off on this--it is unsafe at any level!)
56A: Hydrox finish (-IDE); Hydroxide here and there.

57A: Before you know it (SOON); Solar Optical Observation Network + H alpha filters/images when making astronomical observations.
58A: Be in a different form? (ARE); Air Resource Engineer, or just think different.

59A: Pool problem (ALGAE); The math may be mystical but the science is not too rough; I did blog about seaweed and iodine.
60A: Golf great (SNEAD); The golf legend Sam Snead was known to play golf barefoot from time to time.
62A: "Convoy" star's first name (KRIS); like Readiness Information System or Receiving the Islamic Spirit
72A: At a snail's pace (SLOW); ...or glacial pace...

73A: Takes shape (FORMS); Images, Forms, Depictions...someOne seems to be reading carefully.
74A: Chocolate shop lure (AROMA); Acknowledge Receipt Omni Mane (every morning)...of the crossword puzzle?; Altimeter Reading at Outer Marker or ATS Reporting Office at Outer Marker.

75A: Reagan's "Star Wars" prog. (SDI); It's good to be prepared, did you ever think you would need to use it, or that it would work?!
78A: Lingerie items (BRAS); What snaps in Maxie Time and what's currently on the line--clothes line, that is; where a bra is ‹A= [A1 A2 A3]
80A: Cloud chamber bit (ION); Iodide ions seeding clouds forming over seaweed beds.
81A: Toyota rival (NISSAN); What's in the driveway; or Surah 4 Nissa'.
87A: "Twitch," minus every other letter (TIC); toxic industrial chemical; thermal imaging camera; tentatively identified compound
88A: Arm bones (ULNAS); Ulnas are long arm bones, prismatic in form.

89A: Seattle-to-Vegas dir. (SSE); SATCOM System Expert; Subspace Emissary like the Emissaries sent to assess dishonest dealings.

90A: GM's electric car (VOLT); How many Volts exactly?
91A: Island near Java (BALI); Bridge Architect Lawful Interception (...still think it's kidnapping); a battery where Lithium is the alkali metal and Barium is the alkaline earth metal.
92A: Saints' org. (NFC); Near Field Communication.

99A: Sugar-free, perhaps (DIET); It's always a good idea to watch one's diet.

101A: Extinct 12-footer (MOA); Ordinarily there is more to a Memorandum of Agreement than $1.99 sweetener.
102A: In ___ (lined up) (A ROW); Those ranged by rank or lined up in order are in 'a row,' are mentioned at least a couple of times, one having to do with beings and another to do with 'cushions'.
103A: Terra follower (COTTA); community outreach through the arts; Completely Off Topic To Above is non-sequitur.

111A: Last two words in the title of an epic 1962 western (WAS WON); 'Jinn, I Win!' because I visited there. And I guess 'overseas' from California is west or The West Was Won?
112A: Actress Stone (SHARON); STructured and OpeN Environment; or things etched in stone, or simply stating the obvious no escape
117A: "Fighting" NCAA team (ILLINI); Thessalonians I reference is found and suddenly I don't feel as though I am just talking to myself or broadcasting into the void.
118A: Swan lover of myth (LEDA); Commemorated in a Sonnet by Yeats, a precise sort of poetry, but I prefer Shakespeare to Yeats, and Poe to Shakespeare, yet still Quran trumps what passes for poetry around these parts; no Swans around here, just California Scrub Jays.

119A: Colorful eye part (IRIS); something about eyes

120A: Words to a traitor (ET TU); Emerging Technology Tango Unit (inoperational); Extra Terrestrial Thank You.
121A: One way to choose (BY LOT); The post at this link was all about Lot and his community.

122A: 2001 and 2010, for ex. (YRS.) ; Mind reeling in the years...whiling away the time..
123A: "Darn it" preceder (GOSH); Geometrics of Self Healing , or why am I not surprised at more Ogee jokes.
124A: Greek letters (RHOS); Right Hand Opponent (in Bridge, aka the Devil himself!); or Rho (rho meson), Rho (rho factor RNA protein involved in trascription, termination), Rho (population damping ratio), Rho (measure of correlation)--whatever floats your boat.

1D: Ace of diamonds Ryan (NOLAN); no local area network

2D: Embark on ___ career (A SOLO); Solar and Heliospheric Observatory and other observations to do with the Sun.

3D: Noticeably filled (with) (SHOT THROUGH); Synonymous with Interwoven, intermixed...like Space...

4D: Goes up against (TAKES ON); Fighting and the Rules of Engagement.
5D: Okra features (PODS); One Multiverse (science) theory posits that PODs are occurring all the time, with an infinite variety of possible outcomes that each creates a universe, this having been used as a premise to the television series Sliders. Speculative fiction is full of universes based loosely on the concept of multiple universes, including many fantasy milieus. (definition from www.acronymfinder.com)
6D: Pal, to Pascal (AMI); Ami=Friend just one of the many names He goes by or is it a question; Am I...?
7D: Wolf's home? (CNN); CNN is one source of some topics and links on this Blog.

8D: Relations (KIN); the arabic letter k..'akin' to

9D: Actor with actor brothers (ALEC); Authorized Linux Education Center possibly having to do with the Kernel or the GNU
10D: Flying wedge sound (HONK); No goose by any stretch of the imagination, a sound the auto-marin-airing vehicle might make--or not.

11D: Reach (ATTAIN); ATTENTION: The Answer Is No! Is that the final answer to 'Love You' or 'Get someOne else,' or 'Anyone more Holy than my own mother around here?'

12D: Nor, for one: abbr. (CONJ.); Conjunction, what's even more rare is the word syzygy appearing in each of the crosswords a week or so ago.

13D: Long-time Indiana senator (LUGAR); She says: 'I Love You, can you pick someOne else?' He says; 'Love You, Get A Room!'
14D: Market action that remains in effect until filled or canceled (OPEN ORDER); What more is there to say?
15D: Easily trashed, e.g. (DELETABLE); Diffusion-Enhanced Luminescence Energy Transfer Airborne Laser Experiment probably referring to a Sky Movie..
16D: Air-leak sound (SSS); An s by any other name.
19D: "Nova" subj. (SCI.); Science is a topic found at the UFO-Human Link...

20D: Nobel decliner ___ Tho (LE DUC); Language Equivalent Data Utilization Center

22D: Switch ending (-EROO); There is the famous switcheroo mentioned in 70:41 and a friend whose been known to throw a switch or two.

23D: Frigg's husband (ODIN); Observe, Detect, Identify, Neutralize; Ocean Data Intelligent Network; Occupational Disease Intelligence Network or simply the arabic word Din for Religion or Moral Law.
27D: "___ insist!" (NO I); Common expression, but also straight out of Maxie Time the day of the Science/Book Faire...

29D: Katrina aftermath org. (FEMA); either F=MA or iron mass acceleration.

30D: Like poems of praise (ODIC); Poe's 'Evening Star' is an Ode to the Shining One, or the Bright Star Sirius.
31D: Coal miner (COLLIER); coal mining recalling the mention of mining by mountain top removal
34D: Food Network figure (CHEF); Certainly not the best cook, but no one ever walks away from the Table unsatisfied.
36D: Berry and Burns (KENS); arab. "كنز" meaning 'treasure trove' as in 'A Man's Wife is His Treasure Trove,' a little old school, but somehow appropriate.

37D: Struck a stance (POSED); To offer something for consideration, thus, or to assume a posture for artistic reasons or to mislead someone, like pretending to be a doctor when not.
38D: Partakes of (HAS); There are plenty of ha.ha.has...

39D: Space balls (ORBS); Here we talk about the Blue and Orange balls or Orbs...if there are any other flavors out there we haven't come across any reliable first-hand reports.

40D: See 60 Across (SAM); Surface To Air Missile /Aegis program .

42D: Second-string squad (B TEAM); When Plan A is shunted, you get the B Team.
43D: Premature (EARLY); The real question is now that I know I arrived early and have learned to like my own bad cooking, what is there left to do?
47D: Ultrasecret org. (NSA); National Security Agency but also Nuclear Science Abstracts .

49D: List details (ITEMS); Inventory is an items list.
50D: It's an Aleutian (ADAK); add a K to aleutian and get kaleution==collusion==conspiracy

51D: Dogpatch name (YOKUM); Standard units of measurement for Y (Luminance) are candela per square metre (cd/m2); either asking or inferring its Ok to use micrometers (u-m)? This connection was the least obvious and I still wonder if it has more to do with Mammy and Pappy Yokum of Dogpatch comic fame.
52D: Brassy group (HORNS); In addition to Strings we also have horns here.

53D: ___ to win it (IN IT); A passing lament at not having won the California Lottery, its slogan, 'You gotta be In It To Win It,' but I for one am ever so tired of being played to Lose.

55D: Kung ___ chicken (PAO); physical aggression toward others; postulated abnormal occurrence; phased array optics
60D: "Kill Bill" weapon (SWORD); Swords are mentioned at this link and other places on this site including 'Swords, Bows and Triangel UFOs'.

61D: "Dream on!" ("NO WAY!"); There are a few posts at A Page I The Life about Dreams.

63D: Coffee-spill result (STAIN); as in a stain on the brain or when growing a culture in a petri dish...
65D: Hamburg's river (ELBE); The Elbe River boasts the World's Largest Water Bridge.

66D: "Sounds great" ("COOL"); The Artwork caption is 'Sound Check'.

67D: "It's Now ___" (OR NEVER); Song by Elvis Presley, which counts as yet another Elvis citing.
68D: Surgery sites, briefly (ORS); O-Ring Seal

69D: "For openers ..." (TO START WITH); Two good segues into conversation but not as interesting as talking about the weather.

70D: BlackBerry delivery (EMAIL); Not the traditional form of email, but e-messages nevertheless.
71D: Folk singer Griffith (NANCI); North American Numbering Council; non-noradrenergic, non-cholinergic transmitter--a possible reference to GIRK channels having been mentioned.
73D: Pulled the trigger (FIRED); Linus gets 'fired' from school, and those setting others on fire become fuel for the fire themselves.

75D: How misers act (SELFISHLY); Have You ever Known me to be Shellfish or Sell Fish? Jonah and the Fish as well as Moses and a Fish were mentioned.
76D: Glenn Miller milieu (DANCE HALL); The euphamistic 'Dance of the Seven Veils' and someone didn't like the scantilly dressed robot dancer.

77D: Roth follower (IRA); Interim Remedial Action ‘piss on it’ see Ozone; Intelligence Related Activity; Independent Regualtory Agency

79D: Lackluster (SO-SO); Lackluster describes a quality of the 'God Particle' and sublusterous needle point women in Flatland, or the answer might just mean Shut Out Source of Orgasm and S0-S0 orthogonal matrices some more.
81D: Punishment for some kids (NO TV); Can the kids play Video Games instead?
82D: "Casablanca" role, Ilsa ___ (LUND); French Puffin (asthmatics puff) as do the Chargers; in Swedish means Copse or Grove, having to do with gardens and trees.
83D: Research-funding org. (NSF); national science foundation

84D: "Camp show" org. (USO); USOs as 'operating platforms like banners in the sea/ocean' are first mentioned here.

85D: London district (SOHO); Soho is mentioned as the New York neighborhood where I first saw Escher's Metamorphosis.

86D: KFC side dish (S.LAW); Not bearing the burden of the Law makes sss of those wielding it.

91D: Rocket stage (BOOSTER); The point being...?

94D: Saudi neighbor (OMANI); O, Man! as in Sign 84:6 or Are you saying You The Man?

95D: Democrat Dellums (RON); Reality Or Nothing; Ready Or Not...or stick with NURD GURU.96D: One who may bug you (GADFLY); A passing reference to Sign 22:73 (Quran), and only important if the walls at work have ears and heard me volleying isms back and forth to one of my friends there.
97D: Barn bundle (BALE); Bay Area Linux Event (California); Biolinguistics: Acquisition and Language Evolution
98D: Able one's assertion (I CAN); I See Atomic Number or American nightmare; intracranial aireal network; I See Author’s Note.
100D: Hope-Crosby flick, "Road ___" (TO RIO); ionium radical; restricted illuminati online; isomerized olefin radical; respectfully idiot operator;
104D: Famed sidekick (TONTO); to.n.to the number 2, duality, primes
105D: Burger beef (ANGUS); Acoustically Navigated Geophysical Underwater System; Air National Guard of the United States
107D: "I ___ tell" (WON'T); You won't tell me who is your favorite artist? Either you don't have one or you can't choose among many.

108D: Arena level (TIER); Tiers, Layers, Levels, and Tay-al-Ard are all a Matter of the MultiVerse.

109D: Some linemen (ENDS); Enhanced Nuclear Detonation Safety; but more than likely an allusion to the often misunderstood Machiavellian quote, '...the Ends justfiy the Means...' Oh, yeah? Then go ahead and have the Universe collapse in your brain, that of your wife and your child's and see how justified that feels to you. But don't do it to an unwitting young pregnant working mother and someone else's daughter and other man's wife scraping by on $36k per year, 'cause that's just Stupid.
110D: NYC airport, on tickets (LGA); The Flying Fish Frieze on New York's La Guardia Airport is mentioned.

111D: Genie's gift (WISH); Jinn are discussed throughout as part of the Creation...

112D: Sis or bro (SIB); Many appropriate acronyms apply having to do with Systems Information/Intelligence/Investigation, but one in particular 'Swelling Itching Brain' (song by Devo).
114D: Fix dishonestly (RIG); The Maxie Time protagonist realizes that the system is rigged...and that's why she fails...some readers didn't like the ending...so much for Realism.

115D: Con's opposite (PRO). Another word for Con is Crook, a word that appears in the post Books, Crooks, and..