Saturday Themeless by Jess Rucks
Jess is our former U.S. Air Force Urdu translator who has another fun offering today. Her husband is in the U.S. Space Force and they live in Colorado Springs. This is a lovely picture of Jess and her son, with husband lurking in the background on a recent vacation in Minnesota.
Across:
1. Some fancy foot work: PEDIS 😀
6. Stylish confidence: SWAG
10. Ocean spray: MIST.
14. Villainous superpower: EVIL EMPIRE.
16. Laptop brand: ACER.
17. Foam toy that can be repurposed for childproofing corners and doors: POOL NOODLE.
18. Lion-tailed macaque feature: MANE.
19. Meh: SO SO.
20. "I love the white stuff, baby / In the middle of an __": "Weird Al" lyric: OREO - A parody of You've Got The Right Stuff by New Kids on the Block
20. "I love the white stuff, baby / In the middle of an __": "Weird Al" lyric: OREO - A parody of You've Got The Right Stuff by New Kids on the Block
21. Cause of insomnia or euphoria: MANIA.
22. Some fountain drinks: MALTS.
24. Mocking bird: PARROT.
25. Ant-Man's partner: THE WASP ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
27. More loyal: TRUER.
28. Ring: PHONE - In the U.K. you might ring up someone
29. Leadership: BRASS.
31. On: LIT.
33. 1975 thriller based on a Peter Benchley novel: JAWS - Benchley was paid a mere $250,00o for the movie rights but got a per cent of the enormous profits which made him a multimillionaire.
34. Poet Jones who wrote the memoir "How We Fight for Our Lives": SAEED.
35. Mousse kin: PATE.
 |
| Mousse |
 |
| Pate |
36. Some Main lines on maps?: Abbr.: STS - There are over 10,000 Main Streets in America.
37. "The Subtle Power of the Red Carpet __": Vogue headline: DURAG ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
37. "The Subtle Power of the Red Carpet __": Vogue headline: DURAG ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
38. __ patootie: CUTIE 😀
39. Trouble spot: STAIN.
41. Cracks, in a way: DECODES - The most famous of these was done in Hut 8 in Bletchley Park in WWII led by Alan Turing
43. Pressures: FORCES.
44. Lost color: PALED.
45. Sign into law: ENACT.
46. Window shopper's purchase: PANE 😀
47. [Bor-r-ring!]: YAWN.
51. Actress Daly: TYNE.
52. Piece of art that's cut short: BONSAI TREE 😀
54. Nonchewing teeth: COGS 😀
55. Groups of world travelers?: ALIEN RACES.
56. Paint sample strip blocks: HUES.
57. Mineral in some homemade soap: MICA.
58. Cease and desist?: STOPS - Two synonyms not a single phrase
Down:
1. __ up: PEPS.
2. Dressing acronym: EVOO.
3. "Vaya con __": DIOS - Go with God in Spanish. Also a big hit for Les and Mary.
4. Warning signs: ILL OMENS.
5. Ottawa NHL pro: SEN.
6. Place for a draft pick: SPORTS BAR 😀
7. Jam band that holds the record for sold-out shows at Red Rocks Amphitheatre: WIDE SPREAD PANIC - This is one of Jess's favorite groups and she offered Patti this clue and "Mass hysteria" as options and she was pleased which one was picked.
8. First name in folk: ARLO.
9. "Golly!": GEE.
10. "Drag Race" matriarch, affectionately: MAMA RU - Jess is also a Ru Paul fan
11. "Tell me about it!": I CAN RELATE.
12. Affliction similar to spring fever: SENIORITIS.
13. Reward: TREAT.
15. Scratch: MOOLA - So many euphemisms for money
21. Planet entirely inhabited by robots: MARS - I loved this one!
23. Start for some?: AWE 😀
24. EMDR target: PTSD - Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
25. Fault line?: THAT'S ON YOU.
26. "Hmm, odd": HOW STRANGE.
28. Jammies: PJS.
30. Body of water said to be named for a king of Athens: AEGEAN SEA.
32. Lift for a drive: TEE 😀 Fore!
34. Home team at PHX Arena: SUNS.
35. Looney Tunes toon: PUDDY TAT.
37. Bamboo, for a panda: DIET.
38. Cedar Rapids college: COE.
40. Get into: ACCESS - Remembering passwords to ACCESS sites is sometimes difficult
42. Kid-friendly: CLEAN.
43. Sell for: FETCH - Louis Vuitton expects this purse to FETCH $4,200
46. __-sci: POLI.
48. West Coast gas brand: ARCO.
49. React to a sad ending: WEEP.
50. Sad ending?: NESS.
52. "That's what I'm talkin' about!": BAM - Emeril's catchphrase
53. Tax org.: IRS.
7 comments:
Sorry, but there was no
way I was going to get “Saeed” without turning on the red letters. Other mistakes I made were clearer in retrospect. So I FIRWH (finished it right with help). And I’m still happy, though suitably abashed. That’s the story.
Good morning!
This one looked possible...and it was. Those stacked tens in the SW and NE were nice, as were the nines straddling that vertical grid spanner. Nice one, Jess. Enjoyed the expo, Husker. (How was the birthday?)
FIR. Saturday. Me. Must have been a very easy Saturday puzzle. But swim noodle->POOL NOODLE, hot->LIT, cotie->CUTIE, faded->PALED, and one->AWE.
RVers also use POOL NOODLES to cushion the edges of their slide-out rooms. I don't, and have the scars on my head to prove it.
TYNE will always be Mary Beth Lacey to me.
I always thought "patootie" meant rear end, as in "I don't give a rat's patootie what you would do if you were me." OTOH, I guess I do admire a CUTIE patootie even in that context.
Do you have ILL OMENS? What are their diagnosis and prognosis?
I remember when an official transcript of a Jimmy Carter exchange with reporters had Carter referring to the "GNC." Reporters were baffled, running around trying to find out about this new agency. Turns out Carter actually said "AEGEAN SEA."
Before I learned that COE is a school, I knew it as Corps of Engineers and Central Office Engineering.
CSO to our prose laureate at MISTy.
Thanks to Jess for letting me play with the smart kids today. And thanks to H.Gary for another fun review.
FIR. Phew, what a workout. Several WAG's to ger through. And so many unknowns, too many to mention.
I went through so many changes of answers as I went through this puzzle. Like having originally porky pig before puddy tat. And I've never heard of Widespread Panic. Another use of an obscure name in a crossword. Meh!
Overall a so-so puzzle.
Had I ever seen DoRAG spelled with. “U” I might’ve gotten SUNS for the natick
Maybe a little easier than a typical Saturday as it only took me 22:58 to work out a FIR w/out help. It did take some thought and some benevolent perps to get the likes of unknown MAMA RU, SAEED, and DURAG. I had the P and the Y correctly located but Porky Pig gave way to PUDDY TAT. Never heard of WIDE SPREAD PANIC the band. I thought if mousse was related to PATE it must be a distant cousin, as I equate mousse with sweet, but I LIU after and learned that mousse can also be savory, ala made with meat. And I thought SENIORITIS was…..um, I can’t remember. Thanks Jess for the fun challenge and to HG for your fine write-up.
Good Morning:
On first pass, my thought was no way I was going to conquer this challenge. However, through much P and P and some WAGs, I did just that, albeit in much longer time than the usual Saturday. Ma Muru, Widespread Panic, Saeed, Alien Races, Ill Omens, Bonsai Tree, etc., were all either unknown or difficult to come up with. But, chipping away here and there finally paid off with the well-earned Tada. The cluing was mostly acceptably clever and tricky, with a few exceptions bordering on too much so. Kudos, though, for the outstanding and lively fill.
Thanks, Jess, and thanks, HG, for the usual sparkling visuals and well-balanced commentary.
Anyone watch the first episode of Task on HBOMax? Looks very promising as a series, starring the very talented, IMO, Mark Ruffalo.
Have a great day.
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