Wednesday, October 13, 2021, Brianne McManis

Today's theme, revealed by the multi-part answer SEE EYE TOEYE, is four full names that begin and end with the letter I. 

INDIRA GHANDI (First and only female prime minister of India)

ISAMU NOGUCHI ("Red Cube" sculptor with an eponymous museum in New York)

ICHIRO SUZUKI (First M.L.B. player to enter the Meikyukai (a Japanese baseball hall of fame)

ISAAC MIZRAHI (Fashion designer and judge on "Project Runway All Stars")

Today I learned that TONNEAU, can mean many different things in English - the seating area of a car, the bed of a truck, or, as clued, the "Cover for the bed of a pickup truck." In French, it means barrel.

I like STEALTH (Sneakiness) and CLINCHES (Sure things), and the lovely word SCHIST (Crystalline rock) will always remind me of the retirement party for my father. He taught geology and geography for many years, and one of his former students (I think) got my dad - whom I have never heard utter a swear, except when quoting the Captain of the Pinafore - a TSHIRT that read "Geologists have their SCHIST together."

I enjoyed the clue "One who loves to shred some gnar pow" for SKIBUM. Our car, incidentally, is named "Fluffy Pow-Pow." And speaking of names - while it may be true that many people don't use LASTNAMES with pets, it's much funnier if they do. I think, specifically, of a certain dog named Oliver Wigglesworth, Esq.

It's a theme, and there are some good non-theme entries. No HARM done. And now we look forward to The Turn!

- Horace