Sunday July 6, 2025 Gary Larson & Katie Hale

Theme: "Make a Long Story Short" - The last letter of each movie title is cut.  

23. Proposed network television schedule?: AIRPLANE.

25. Title for a tell-all about Cinderella's early social life?: OF MICE AND MEN.

39. Wise men bearing gifts of formula, onesies, and diapers?: PRACTICAL MAGIC.

71. "That guy prefers more formal greetings"?: HE'S JUST NOT THAT INTO YOU.

103. Horse-drawn carriages delivering Christmas trees?: CHARIOTS OF FIRE.

119. Norm for the dinosaur era?: JURASSIC PARK.

123. Edited version seen in theaters, and what six long answers in this puzzle need to match their clues?: FINAL CUT.

Super tight set. All well-known movies with the last letters deleted. Love the title.

I think this is first Sunday collab between Gary and Katie. Or maybe the very first between them. I've shown Gary's photo before. Below is a picture of Katie from Xword Info. She's based in London. 

Across:

1. Parking spot: LOT.

4. Curved paths: ARCS.

8. Visual multiplication tool: ARRAY.

13. Finishing touches on a letter?: SERIFS. The alphabet character. Not your sign-off.

19. Be in arrears: OWE.

20. Biblical sister of Rachel: LEAH.

21. Pinkish-purple: MAUVE. So many shades of mauve. We also have 111. Brownish-purple: PUCE.

22. Sweet liqueurs: CREMES.

27. Moore of "The Substance": DEMI.

28. Actor Michael: CERA.

30. Taj __: MAHAL.

31. Strong attraction, with "the": HOTS.

32. Wetland layer: PEAT.

34. Not so good in: POOR AT.

37. Genghis Khan follower: TATAR. Genghis Khan and the Mongol Empire are romanticized in this popular TV series.  

43. "Something To Talk About" singer: RAITT.

45. Want: HOPE FOR.

46. Align properly: EVEN UP.

48. Beach, in Portuguese: PRAIA. I only know PLAYA.

50. Project ending?: ILE. Projectile. 

51. Hershey rival: NESTLE.

54. Gaggle members: GEESE.

56. Filmmaker Spike: LEE.

57. Some nobles: LORDS.

60. Blunted blade: EPEE.

61. RR connection: STA.

62. Skirt that shows off ankle boots: MIDI.

63. Draft choice: IPA.

65. Monkeyshines: ANTICS.

69. Dish made with Arborio rice: RISOTTO. Creamy seafood risotto. 

76. Ships abroad: EXPORTS.

77. Hit the hay: RETIRE.

78. Office no.: TEL.

79. Front or spot: LOAN. Verb "Front".

80. Estadio "Rah!": OLE.

82. Lass: MISS.

84. Argentine prairie: PAMPA.

88. Succinct "I could go on": ETC.

89. Saw logs: SNORE.

91. Chaste: VESTAL. Learning moment for me.

93. Bit of static buildup: ION.

94. Sister's daughter: NIECE. And 117. Grandma's daughter: AUNT.

96. Gave faithfully?: TITHED. From the faithful.

98. Oil used in some hair products: COCONUT. And 109. Like butter ready for whipping: SOFT.

101. Actor Haim: COREY.

106. Metamorphosis stage: PUPAL.

108. More ridiculous: INANER.

110. Impersonates: APES.

112. River near Roswell: PECOS. 

114. Agitate: RILE.

116. Inserts for some noisy toys: AAAS.

125. National park in Maine: ACADIA. We have Voyageurs National Park. We also have 64 state parks.

126. Madeline Miller novel featuring Odysseus: CIRCE. 

127. Member of the onion family: LEEK.

128. Artist Yoko: ONO.

129. Begrudge: RESENT.

130. Custard apple kin: PAPAW. The big seeds have medicinal benefits.

131. Icelandic epic: EDDA.

132. Racing initials: STP.

Down:

1. Cargo: LOAD.

2. Toddler's scrape: OWIE.

3. Major essay: TERM PAPER.

4. __ in a day's work: ALL.

5. Spit take, e.g.: REACTION.

6. Riddler accessory: CANE.

7. Tenzing Norgay, for one: SHERPA. For Edmund Hillary. Sherpa Tenzing was born in Tibet.

8. Latin lover's verb: AMO.

9. WWII fliers: RAF.

10. Search haphazardly (through): RUMMAGE.

11. Taking to the skies: AVIATING.

12. "Blech": YECH.

13. Graduated, in math: SCALAR. Not SCALED. 

14. Directional ending: ERN.

15. Poison Ivy feature: RED HAIR. Capitalized Ivy. DC Comics character.

16. Vampire's power: IMMORTALITY. How can you kill it with a stake then?

17. Stocking stuffers: FEET.

18. Tax form IDs: SSNS.

24. Jigsaw unit: PIECE.

26. "Mangia!": EAT.

29. Letters in "You've Got Mail": AOL.

33. DOJ branch: ATF.

35. Brunch staple: OMELETTE. And 85. Bite-size Tex-Mex snacks: MINI TACOS.

36. Party with glow sticks: RAVE.

38. Gift wrapper's need: TAPE.

39. Punxsutawney weather forecaster: PHIL.

40. Foil-wrapped candy: ROLO.

41. Manitoba people: CREE.

42. Prompts to act now?: CUES. On a stage.

44. Connected with: TIED TO.

47. __ dish: PETRI.

49. Vowel quintet: A E I O U.

52. Attention __: SPAN.

53. Gist: TENOR.

55. Goody-goody: SAINT.

58. Pastrami on rye spread, perhaps: DIJON.

59. Goad: SPUR.

62. Simoleons: MOOLA.

64. __ Martin: British automaker: ASTON.

66. Wednesday's kin: ITT. Wednesday Addams. 

67. Added one's two cents: CHIMED IN.

68. Attire at Hindi weddings: SARIS.

70. Dance instruction: STEP.

71. Honorary Oscar winner Keller: HELEN. Didn't known this. Google shows that Helen Keller was given an honorary Oscar as inspiration for the movie "Helen Keller in Her Story",  a documentary about her life.

72. "The Best __ Marigold Hotel": EXOTIC.

73. Films like "Star Wars": SPACE OPERAS.

74. Letter-shaped track: T SLOT.

75. __ drive: TEST.

81. Actor Stonestreet: ERIC.

83. Biodegradable egg containers: SACS.

86. Do a sommelier's job: POUR.

87. Upfront stake: ANTE.

89. Ooze: SEEP.

90. Horn of Africa nation: ETHIOPIA.

91. Aloe __: VERA.

92. Turned left, maybe: LOOSENED. Love the clue. 

95. Tireless campaign: CRUSADE.

97. Dada pioneer: HANS ARP.

99. Fiscal VIP: CFO.

100. Ingredient in some raw dog food: OFFAL.

102. Tries to intimidate, as a Chihuahua might: YAPS AT.

104. Poetic preposition: O'ER.

105. Rum-soaked British dessert: TRIFLE.

107. Lahaina loop: LEI. Maui town. 

110. Open a bit: AJAR.

113. USSR, in Russia: CCCP. 

115. Committed perjury: LIED.

118. "Halt!": STOP.

120. __ bin: penalty box: SIN.

121. Classic TV brand: RCA.

122. London's __ Gardens: KEW.

124. Letters between names: AKA.

Happy 78th birthday to dear waseeley (Bill), our faithful Thursday Sherpa for many years.  So happy to see both him and Lemonade on the blog these days. 

 

 

 

Thank you for the sweet birthday messages and cards. I had a lovely day. I've been making progress. The swollen right ankle continues to bother me though. Will see the doctor in 2 weeks. Hope there's a solution to it.  

C.C.

Saturday, July 5, 2025, David P. Williams

 Saturday Themeless by David P. Williams

This is my fourth puzzle from Dave and it was very entertaining, eventually. I've got to learn that PEAL, not peel, is the sound of a ringing bell! 

Across:

1. Gets in over one's head?: SCUBAS.

       

7. Italian sports cars, colloquially: LAMBOS - Lamborghini prices range from $200,00 - $600,000

13. Vancouver team: CANUCKS.

15. Globe direction?: EXEUNT- Nope, Dave, you didn't get me on this one! I thought of the Globe Theater right away. EXEUNT is a stage direction where a group leaves the stage together and EXEUNT Omnes means everyone leaves the stage.

This iteration of The Globe Theater 
was reconstructed in 1997 
and is near the original 1599 site  
in London's West End 

16. Hand in the kitchen: OVEN MITT 😀

18. Flip (between): TOGGLE.

19. Duane __: NYC drugstore chain: READE.

20. Dynasty: REIGN.

22. Comb builder: BEE.

23. Jet stream heading: EAST.

24. Gambling swindle: BUNCO The radio dramatization of Joe Friday working BUNCO (29:00)

25. Ring: PEAL.

26. Dump: STY.

27. Word on some diplomas: MAGNA - MAGNA Cum Laude 

28. Bob and __: WEAVE - Nobody did it better

29. "Don't give up!": HANG IN THERE.

31. Means of improving airflow: NASAL STRIPS - They didn't work for me. The next step was a CPAP machine

32. Professional writing?: LOVE LETTERS 😀 One who professes love might certainly write professional LOVE LETTERS. It was an easy fill but parsing it took me some time. 

I wrote to Dave asking for help and he then confirmed what I thought was right:

Hi Gary,

The clue is a play on the phrase “to profess (one’s) love” — a ? was probably warranted to indicate the stretch.

Thanks for solving,

DW

33. Part of a skin care regimen: TONER and 40. Target of a skin care regimen: PORE.

34. Displays obvious pride: BEAMS.

35. Global revolution?: DAY 😀 Oops, a nitpicky science teacher would say a DAY on Earth is because of a global rotation. A revolution is a year.

38. "Bonanza" brother: HOSS - I'll bet you can name all four of these members of the Cartwright family. If you can't, I have the names at the bottom of the write-up. *

39. Tremble: QUAKE - Hmmm... with_ _ A K E something else came to my mind.

41. Guitar kin, informally: UKE. 

42. Caller ID?: IT'S ME - Much better than the recent IT ME.

43. Espagnole, for one: SAUCE - Espagnole is French for Spanish but this is a French SAUCE. Explanation of the name.

44. Words before a French kiss?: MON AMI 😀 - A French person might say MON AMI (my friend) to  another French person before any kind of a kiss including an, uh, "French kiss". 

My friend, my lover,
my soulmate

46. "Wait a sec": SIT TIGHT.

48. Double over laughing: BUST UP 😀

49. Hard nut to crack: TOUGHIE  and 35. Like undercooked pizza: DOUGHY - These two fills have "G's" that pronounce as an /f/near each other.

50. Gets in hot water?: STEEPS.

51. Toed the line: OBEYED.

Down:

1. Makes a good point: SCORES.

2. Warning: CAVEAT.

3. Worried: UNEASY.

4. Trademarked pan: BUNDT.

5. Maker of jet-propelled transport: ACME.

6. Carving implement: SKI.

7. "Drop it!": LET GO.

8. Nerve fiber: AXON.

9. Gig part: MEG - There are 1,024 MEGabytes in a GIGabyte

10. Pet peeves: BUG BEARS ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

11. Fresh off the boat, perhaps: ON LEAVE - Honolulu had thousands of sailors ON LEAVE in the 1940's while just days away from combat.

12. Wrestler George "The Animal" __: STEELE.

14. Bumpy ride, metaphorically: STRUGGLE BUS.

17. Couples in love?: TENNIS TEAMS 😀 - All tennis matches start at love - love (0 - 0)

21. "This is killing me!": I CAN'T TAKE IT - If you haven't seen the movie Network, you need to find it!

24. Tired: BANAL - A teacher's meeting at 4 pm after teaching all day.

25. Buds: PEEPS.

27. Atomic clock part: MASER - Wanna know more?

28. Sounds from fans: WHIRS.

29. Moneyed ones: HAVES.

30. Area adjacent to the French Quarter: TREME.

31. Baloney: NONSENSE.

32. One in the watch business: LOOKOUT  - The result of a bad 1912 LOOKOUT job (2:49)

33. Digits on scales, maybe: THUMBS - Nobody did it better than Norman Rockwell

36. "Riverdale" redhead: ARCHIE - Here he is proudly wearing his Riverdale letter sweater

37. Tossed, slangily: YEETED.

39. Ear pieces?: Q-TIPS.

40. Wade Trophy winner Bueckers on the Dallas Wings: PAIGE - She won the trophy for being the best collegiate women's basketball player at U Conn and now plays pro ball in Dallas

 

42. Morning mumble: I'M UP.

43. Toe-tap?: STUB - Oh the language it generates...

45. Chowed down or chewed up: ATE.

47. Extra: TOO.

* The Cartwrights are Adam, Little Joe, Ben and HOSS