Word: blanded
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
Lomeiko's denial was a standard Soviet ploy, aimed at buttressing the Kremlin's image of monolithic authority. Veteran observers in Moscow quickly decided that Chernenko's purported answers were probably the work of Leonid Zamyatin, head of the Central Committee's international information department. But Lomeiko's bland suggestion concerning Chernenko's whereabouts was eerily similar to the explanations given out about Chernenko's predecessor, Yuri Andropov, who died last February after being out of public view for six months. Just a few weeks before his death, Andropov was said to be recuperating from a slight ailment. A similar...
...profits and slick-talking his way past a judicial system as indulgent as his parents. Soon, the renegade idealist and the venture capitalist joined forces to foul up the system by selling U.S. spy satellite codes to Soviet emissaries , in Mexico City. What delicious revenge on America's bland malevolence and institutional incompetence! What an entrepreneurial scam--the ultimate frat- house prank...
...First Lady supposed to do? In the late 20th century the very phrase has an anachronistic scent, musty and perfumed like Great Grandmother's sachet. Yet Presidents' wives still face criticism for fiddling with the affairs of state, for doing anything much more than looking well groomed and making bland statements on behalf of unexceptionable philanthropies. The day- to-day duties of the job are no snap. Nancy Reagan plans and presides over some 20 big White House dinners each year, and makes an official appearance just about every day of the week...
Such great control. His bland face and laid-back manner rarely reveal his inner feelings. Those who know him well say Ueberroth is a fascinating paradox, an idealist with a salting of cleverness, a man of high principle who is willing to go right to the edge of scruple to reach his goals. He once described himself as both shy and ruthless. Over the years he has perfected a calculating public modesty, down-playing himself about, say, his mediocre college grades. But behind the self-deprecation is a huge ego and a steely inner toughness. Everything Ueberroth does...
...theater that informs Sendak's illustrations for E.T.A. Hoffmann's Nutcracker (Crown; $19.95). This is not the customary sugarplum rendition. As the artist points out in his introduction, the Christmastime ballet was based on a version of the tale by Alexandre Dumas, "smoothed out, bland and utterly devoid of the weird, dark qualities that make it something of a masterpiece." With characteristic wit and technical wizardry, Sendak has restored those qualities. Marie, journeying from childhood to the altar, old Drosselmeier the taleteller and Nutcracker himself are no longer marzipan creations. In Ralph Manheim's vigorous new translation...