Wed., 2/11 Peter A. Collins

[magus]

THEME:   first and last famous names end in Y
   
GOOD ONES:    
Biblical trio, and homophonic {theme}    WISEMEN ["wise" sounds like "Y's"]   
Words before and after "is still" in "As Time Goes By"   A KISS [had to sing the song to myself to remember --- thanks for the memory, Peter]   
Place for matches   ARENA [but not an airplane!]   
   
BTW:   
BITTE is a bitter pill in one of the better puzzles.   
   
Abbr. in ancient dates   BCE [for my comments on this and other irksome terms go to http://www.anthonymagarello.com/shortsights/Short%20Sights.pdf (page 10).]   
   
   
RATING:    
Three grins = Loved it; Two grins = Enjoyed it; One grin = A bit bland for my taste; One teardrop = Not much fun   

[Thomps2525]

The Bible says that the Wise Men brought three gifts to the Christ child. We don't know the number of Wise Men. There were at least two. Some Eastern religions claim that there were as many as nine. I've mentioned this before so I don't need to mention it again. Oops...I just did. But the "Y's men" theme was a clever one. It reminded me of a quatrain I learned as a child:

YYUR
YYUB
ICUR
YY4Me

In other words:

Too wise you are
Too wise you be
I see you are
Too wise for me

I forgot most of what I learned in elementary school but I still remember that poem.