Saturday, December 13, 2025, Stella Zawistowski

 Saturday Themeless by Stella Zawistowski

This puzzle made me feel like Stanley Kowalski yelling at Stella in Streetcar Named Desire. I had to check a few words in Across Lite as Stella's take was not the same as mine. Couple that with two impossible long fills, and I struggled in several places. I think I may have worn out my ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ symbol

Stella is posing as an angel on the right side of this picture from her CrossFit Gym in South Brooklyn, NY.

Across:

1. Crunk kin: TRAP ¯\_(ツ)_/¯  Don't know either one, except they are both full of lyrics that can't be published here. Google if you must.

5. Throw again: REROLL 😀 If the throw of the dice in craps is judged to be unfair or illegal, a REROLL must be done

11. Omaha prize: POT - There is no real connection to the city 20 miles from me

14. Supportive of: WITH.

15. Target of some copyright infringement lawsuits: OPENAI - Hard to tell what is original and what is not

16. Hardwood: ASH - The source for many Louisville Sluggers

17. Dad, in Korean: APPA ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

18. Jarring tonal shifts: DISSONANCE - I supervised JH lunch rooms for 23 years 😳

20. Two-part bet: PERFECTA - In a PERFECTA bet, a winner has to name the winner and second-place finisher in that exact order. This ticket below would only win if the #2 horse won and the #6 horse finished second

22. Union station?: ALTAR 😀

23. __ Drafthouse Cinema: movie chain based in Austin: ALAMO.

24. Believe: HOLD - "We HOLD these truths to be self-evident,..."

26. Generational wisdom: LORE.

27. Unsatisfactory explanation: BECAUSE REASONS - ¯\_(ツ)_/¯  

"Because reasons" is a colloquial, often dismissive, phrase used to indicate that no further explanation for a decision or situation will be given. 

Example: 

If someone asks why you are wearing a silly hat, you could reply, "Because reasons," instead of explaining that it was a gift from your grandmother.

30. "Oh my stars!": I DECLARE.

31. Change places: MOVE.

32. Year of the Four Emperors emperor: OTHO ¯\_(ツ)_/¯  It was the year 69 A.D. More

33. Miami-__ County: DADE.

34. Only city in Samoa: APIA 

 Togafu'afu'a Rd Corner Vaea St, 
Apia, Upolu Samoa

35. Seen: REGARDED.

39. Self-awareness?: PROPRIOCEPTION ¯\_(ツ)_/¯  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯  Yikes! Proprioception is your body's ability to sense its own position and movements. It's a complex automatic process that you can also fine-tune.

41. Alison Bechdel's "Fun __: A Family Tragicomic": HOME -  A discussion and a sample page

42. Condiment made with pickled mango: AMBA ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ A middle eastern condiment

43. "Lilo & Stitch" theme: OHANA.

44. Shinto shrine gateway: TORII - This red TORII gate in the background is in Omaha's beautiful Lauritzen Gardens. It was a present from Omaha's sister city of Shizuku, Japan.

46. "Day by Day" musical: GODSPELL - One of my fav musicals

48. Make no progress: TREAD WATER - A skill needed in water polo

50. Work hard: MOIL ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

52. Can. leaders: PMS - Members of Parliament

53. Thin layer: LAMINA - Our laminated countertops have all been replaced by granite.

54. "Black Beauty" novelist Sewell: ANNA.

55. Ten chin-ups, say: SET.

56. Throws up: ERECTS 😀 - Some new, small houses are being thrown up near us but still start at $300,000.

57. Minimal noise: PEEP.

Down:

1. Name on a JFK hotel designed by Eero Saarinen: TWA - You can see TWA on the hotel in the middle of the background at JFK

2. Had far-reaching effects: RIPPLED.

3. Chill: AT PEACE - Chill as an adjective. "He is really chill."

4. Reference in a doctor's office: PHARMACOPOEIA ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ ¯\_(ツ)_/¯  The 2019 edition 

5. Teased relentlessly: RODE.

6. Literary figure who embodies the values of a civilization: EPIC HERO - Homer from ancient Greece

7. Make whole again: RESTORE.

8. Less, in a way: ON SALE.

9. Language known as Isan in northeastern Thailand: LAO - A crossword friend dressed in Saturday cluing 

10. First Asian player inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame: LINA ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ My first thought was of Michael Chang.

11. Color of the Year company: PANTONE ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I got this but thought of Crayola first

12. Accolades for "Flow" and "The Shape of Water": OSCARS.

13. "Et voilà!": THERE.

19. Full of jarring tonal shifts: ALL OVER THE MAP - Jarring is in two clues today

21. Third strike, at times: FOUL TIP - If the catcher catches it in his glove, it is a strikeout. 

23. Singer Carter who won "American Idol" in 2024: ABI ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

25. Price, informally: DAMAGE.- 😀

28. Region whose name means "desert": SAHARA - The great desert of northern Africa, 1610s, from Arabic çahra "desert" (plural çahara),

29. Moxie, e.g.: SODA POP.

33. Lavish and then some: DECADENT.

34. Subject of some air battles?: ARM REST 😀 

35. Without emotion: ROBOTIC.

36. Start to make a call, perhaps: DIAL ONE.

37. Celeb news site: E-ONLINE.

38. "The Double Helix" subject: DNA.

39. Pitiful cry: POOR ME.

40. "Sign me up!": I'M GAME.

41. Letters signifying encryption: HTTPS - Our website: https://crosswordcorner.blogspot.com/. where the S stands for secure.

45. Not serious: IDLE - IDLE threats are not good strategies for teachers 

47. Sp. titles: SRAS.

49. "This means __!": WAR.

51. Spot for a toy: LAP 😀