EDIBLE IDIOMS
It's something of little importance or value, like, say, legumes in a heap
a hill of beans
Fans of the film version may be surprised when the "always be closing" monologue is absent from this David Mamet play on stage
Glengarry Glen Ross
On your shoe: this flap of material that keeps the laces from rubbing you the wrong way
the tongue
To hear something with thoughtful attention & making no sound
listen & silent
There's an Oscar for this, the art of camera work in filmmaking
cinematography
In a 1785 poem William Cowper referred to this as "the very spice of life"; spoken like a man who's never tried sriracha
variety
This whodunit play that opened in London in 1952 & still runs there today begins with the offstage murder of Maureen Lyon
the Mousetrap
Along the side of the road: this area less pleasantly known as the breakdown lane
the shoulder
In the buff & a crescent-shaped sand mound
nude & dune
It's a catalogue of recordings by a particular performer or composer
discography
At the dinner table, it can be a tempting item, perhaps twice baked--or a subject best avoided
a hot potato
A play by Branden Jacobs Jenkins shares this title word with a 19th century drama about a girl who's one-eighth Black
octoroon
On the high seas, this part of a sail that swells out when it's filled with wind
the belly
A glowing streak in the sky & an adjective meaning distant
meteor & remote
You have to know your codes & ciphers to be an expert in this
cryptography
TV's "MythBusters" once tested whether "taking" this is "as easy" as the idiom suggests--conclusion: nope
take candy from a baby
The title fowl lives in the attic of the Ekdal family's apartment in his 1884 play "The Wild Duck"
Ibsen
Inside your umbrella, these flexible rods providing structure & shape
ribs
The main enemy of a novel's hero & a situation of no economic growth
antagonist & stagnation
Currier & Ives specialized in this printing process from Greek for "stone"
lithography
This 3-word term once referred to a vessel for boiling the catch at river picnics; today, "fine" or not, it means a hot mess
kettle of fish
This contemporary who outlived Shakespeare coined the term "playwright", though he meant it as a pejorative term
Ben Jonson
Up on the roof, these sharp inclined edges where two sloping sides meet
the hips
One bead of fluid from the lacrimal gland & an animal that attacks other animals
teardrop & predator
This art of taking shorthand still flourishes in court reporting
stenography