TIL Q Lazzarus, singer of Goodbye Horses, was unknown when the song appeared in Silence of the Lambs. Labels had rejected her due to her dreads, so she drove a cab. Once, she picked up "Lambs" director Jonathan Demme, and played him her demo. He responded "Oh my God, what is this and who are you?"

randomly happened upon a crossword from 2003, and look who showed up

TIL of Derinkuyu, an ancient underground city in Turkey. 18 stories deep, it housed 20,000 people, protecting them from attacks for months. It had stables, schools & wineries, and was used for millennia til the 20s. It was found by a man whose chickens kept going in a crevasse & never coming back

Shrieker/Warden warning level displayed on screen? [java]

COTD: Most serious person found in the cemetery(10)

COTD: Hair product developed by Pavlov? (11)

COTD: Humiliate Romanian Prime Minister (5)

COTD: "To hell with Musk!" -- Trump, for one (5)

QUICK: Solve by replacing two letters in the word below

Cryptic help needed!

Discussion: Lesser-known or completely obscure (but legitimate) wordplay indicators

Three gray plastic elliptical things with foam pads on one side, about 1.5" x 7/8" (3.8 x 2.2 cm). They are identical

TIL despite Vatican City being the least populated country, it's only the 4th-least-populated capital (of an independent nation). It has 764 people, while Yaren, Nauru has 747; Alofi, Niue has 597; and Ngerulmud, Palau has 0.

Bullish fashion designer Tom attends university (6)

Koala Ramone

Rant about "Film" = E.T. (With bonus clues that may be impossible)

TIL while on safari, Hemingway survived 2 plane crashes one day apart. The 2nd caught fire & he had to smash open the door with his head, causing extensive burns & skeletal injuries. He was presumed dead until he walked out of the jungle "in high spirits", carrying bananas and a bottle of gin.

TIL legendary session bassist Leland Sklar put a switch on his bass that does nothing. He calls it the "producer switch" — when a producer asks for a different sound, he flips the switch (making sure the producer can see), and carries on. He says this placebo has saved him a lot of grief.

COTD: Paper.io deleted content for days. (6)

TIL in South Korea, only blind people can get a masseur's license. This law was established in 1912, to help visually impaired people earn a living. It was upheld by their Constitutional Court in 2008.

Explain this cryptic solution to me?

Why are some of the stars on the Tuvalu flag inverted? I know they depict the country's islands, but can't find why some are upside down.

I painted this G'Kar bust for my stepdad :)

New Statesman "Concise by Simon" - what's going on?

TIL in 2023, the Iowa Pork Producers Assn. launched an ad campaign featuring the Iowa State College football players Myles Purchase, Tyler Moore, Tommy Hamann, and Caleb Bacon. The four men have their backs to the camera, so their jerseys read: "PURCHASE MOORE HAMANN BACON"