Saturday, December 14, 2024, Adrian Johnson, Victor Sloan

Themeless Saturday by Adrian Johnson and Victor Sloan 

I had to fight through a blizzard of white cells to start, even though the clues seemed to be very reasonable. Eventually solving the "gettable" long fills became very helpful and I earned a "got 'er  done!'.

 

Across:

1. __ dance: STEP - Here is some STEP dancing for you.

       

5. Low digits: TOES 😀

9. __ bar: TAPAS.

14. Delivery option: HOME BIRTH - The Pros and Cons

16. Carne __: ASADA - Spanish for roast meat. Those pesky Spanish speakers put the adjective second. 

17. Snowball effect caused by lowered standards: RACE TO THE BOTTOM.

19. Untainted spots: EDENS.

20. Frequent Bosch subject: HELL - This is his most famous painting The Garden Of Earthly Delights. The left panel depicts heaven (previous clue/fill), the middle panel shows earthly delights and the right hand panel shows hell, where humanity is punished for succumbing to those earthly delights.

21. Info on a political rival: OPPO - "Research" on an OPPOnent can be very unfair and using this tactic would cease if it did not work. Facts can be stretched or manufactured like this one.

Ad that ran in Nebraska's 
Second District race this fall

22. Mauveine, for one: DYE - Another name for mauve.

23. Western Greek island: CORFU.

24. Deserters: RATS.

25. Ruckus: ADO - A list I found rated this word as #10 on the most used crossword answers. Oreo came in at #39.

27. Paul who's the only inductee of both the Rock & Roll and National Inventors halls of fame: LES - Musician, inventor and song writer LES Paul examines one of his Gibson LES Paul models with another pretty famous musician and song writer.

29. Actor Stephen from 51-Across: REA and 51. Stormont locale: NORTHERN IRELAND - Stormont is the building in REA's hometown of Belfast that houses the unicameral government of NORTHERN IRELAND

 

30. Bit of redundancy in a Yogi Berra quip: WRONG MISTAKES - Yogi also said, "I really didn't say all the things I said"

34. William, since 2022: PRINCE OF WALES.

35. Dismissive comment after a hot take: SAID NO ONE EVER.

36. Finesse: ART.

37. Positive course feedback?: YUM 😀

38. Some, in Somme: DES - Je veux DES pommes (I want some apples)

39. Chorus part: LA LA - A great 60's song with lots of LA LA's. What's not to like?

41. Knot again: RETIE - Not for me anymore

44. __ Louise Huxtable, winner of the first Pulitzer Prize for Criticism: ADA - From The New Yorker Magazine about architecture critic ADA.

ADA Louis Huxtable already
doesn't like it.

47. Apple with multiple cores: IMAC 😀 This Apple guy was not fooled for a minute. 

48. Instant Pot dish: STEW - This would have fit right in on our 12/4/24 puzzle on fast foods

49. Inflexible: RIGID - Penny? No. Sheldon? Yup.

54. Maintain: ARGUE.

55. "Just fate, I guess": IT'S KISMET -  A hypothetical force or power that determines the course of future event. It was KISMET that I found this site. 😀

56. Percolates: SEEPS.

57. Pacific salmon: COHO.

58. Candy bar with a bubbly texture: AERO.

Down:

1. Unit of decency?: SHRED.

2. Suck-up: TOADY.

3. One making introductions: EMCEE.

4. Hammer part: PEEN.

Hammer with a claw
Hammer with a PEEN

5. Bruno of "Encanto," for one: TIO  - ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

6. GroundClear and WeedClear maker: ORTHO.

7. Bitcoin alternative, familiarly: ETHER - ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Here ya go

8. Last time: SHELF LIFE 😀

9. Yin-yang principle: TAO.

10. "The Great Lie" Oscar winner Mary: ASTOR - Can you find Mary in the credits?

11. "Movement in Black" poet: PAT PARKER ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

12. Some rescues: ADOPTEES - I'd want to take them all

13. Turnovers served with chutney: SAMOSAS.

15. Band also known as the Bangtan Boys: BTS - Wow, we are seeing these boys a lot here!

18. "Hooked on a Feeling" hitmakers: BLUE SWEDE - I was singing this all through but could not fit BJ Thomas in the cells. This group had a hit covering BJ's hit.

23. Open space: CONCOURSE 😀

25. Like xeric landscapes: ARID - ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

26. Osmond who won Season 9 of "Dancing With the Stars": DONNY.

28. Hold (off): STAVE.

30. Clear to see: WRIT LARGE.

31. Plane-related, say: GEOMETRIC  😀 Plane geometry!

32. Ethnic group in Myanmar: MON ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

33. Hoppy pours: ALES.

34. "This Is Why" Best Rock Album Grammy winners: PARAMORE ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

35. Monterey town known as the "Salad Bowl of the World": SALINAS, California

40. Advocacy gp. co-founded by Larry Kramer: ACT UP.

42. Near the hour: TEN TO 😀

43. "It'd be a dream come true!": I WISH.

44. Top form: A-GAME.

45. Hash house: DINER - Our town has a good one with comfort food at reasonable prices

46. Lengthen, as a lead: ADD TO.

49. L.L. Bean rival: REI.

50. "Casablanca" role: ILSA.

52. Father and son: HES.

53. Studio taken over by Howard Hughes: RKO - I'll bet you know which one is Howard Hughes

Saturday, September 14, 2024, Adrian Johnson

 Saturday Themeless by Adrian Johnson 

                

Our Wyoming native who went to college in Minnesota is now doing great work for a startup group called BetterFi, a nonprofit working to end predatory lending in Tennessee. 

Across:

1. Car whose interior "looks like Darth Vader's bathroom," per Michael Knight: KITT - KITT was the car and The Hoff played Michael Knight 

 

5. "Figure it out": DO THE MATH - They could and did.

       

14. Shine: GLEAM.

16. Hugh Grant film based on a Nick Hornby novel: ABOUT A BOY  - Nick probably has some credit in the small print 

17. Lively presence in Hollywood?: BLAKE.

18. Bends and stretches: LIMBERS UP.

19. Georgia O'Keeffe's "Jimson __/White Flower No. 1": WEED - Saturday cluing for a common word. I have heard of Jimson WEED but had no clue about Ms. O'Keefe's painting.

It sold for $44M

20. Otherworldly visitors: ETS.

21. "Ghosts" actress McIver: ROSE - Saturday cluing for a common word.

A cable TV series from Paramount+

22. Sandwiches since 1967: BIG MACS - I'm embarrassed/ashamed I remember all these lyrics about the burger Ray Kroc said was the answer to The Whopper

24. Film stock: STILLS.

26. Boxing trainer Dundee: ANGELO - The trainer for Cassius Clay/Muhammad Ali is obscure to some, well known to me

 

27. Make sense for: BEHOOVE.

29. Common source of revenue for podcasts: ADS.

30. Spiced coffeehouse order: CHAI LATTE.

32. Inflatable swan, e.g.: POOL FLOAT.

33. 2023 Pink album: TRUSTFALL and a funny one

  
     

34. Metric speed meas.: KPH.

37. Basic shelters: LEAN-TO'S - On the primitive side

38. Land between the Atlantic and the Pyrenees: IBERIA.

40. Shows confidence in, in a way: ELECTS 😀

41. Trapper's task: SNARING.

42. Try to make angry: BAIT.

43. Comm. system in the film "CODA": ASL - 94% at Rotten Tomatoes

45. Passable, at best: SO SO.

46. Follower of an aperitivo: ANTIPASTO 

49. Hunt of "Mission: Impossible": ETHAN - Played by this guy

51. Cereal mascot once voiced by Mel Blanc: TOUCAN SAM - One of so many in Mel's repertoire 

52. Lacks buoyancy: SINKS.

53. Language whose name translates to "one who hopes": ESPERANTO.

54. Residencia: CASA.

Down:

1. Security org. dismantled in 1991: KGB.

2. Bringer of misfortune, so they say: ILL WIND. 

Falstaff. What wind blew you hither, Pistol?

Pistol. Not the ILL WIND which blows no man to good.

Shakespeare: 2 Henry IV. act v. sc. 3.

3. Chinese snacks with a marbled pattern: TEA EGGS  - Tea egg is a typical Chinese savory food commonly sold as a snack, in which a boiled egg is cracked slightly and then boiled again in tea, and sauce or spices. It is also known as marble egg because cracks in the egg shell create darkened lines with marble-like patterns. You're welcome.

4. "I want to go too!": TAKE ME.

5. Low areas: DALES - Over hill, over DALE...

6. Late notice?: OBIT 😀

7. Accessories company with a "one for one" business model: TOMS.

8. Nerve center: HUB.

9. French summer: ETE.

10. The Ritz-Carlton owner: MARRIOTT.

11. Pardon: ABSOLVE.

12. Dishevel: TOUSLE.

13. Builds up: HYPES.

15. Olympic chart: MEDAL COUNT.

22. What do ewe say?: BAA 😀

23. Party leaders?: CO-HOSTS.

24. Historic Buddhist monastery in the Songshan mountains: SHAOLIN - The birthplace of Kung Fu.

25. Career number for sluggers: TOTAL BASES and 44. 25-Down, for one: STAT - Leaders for active players

27. Slugs: BIFFS.

28. Spanish pronoun: ELLA.

31. El __: second-largest city in Bolivia: ALTO - El ALTO has a population of nearly a million and is the highest major city in the world with an average elevation of 13,000'.

32. Drill: PRACTICE.

33. "Let's go for a drive!": TEE IT UP 😀

34. God celebrated on Janmashtami: KRISHNA - More

35. Ornamental trees with acorns: PIN OAKS - They get very yellow (chlorotic) in our town but are lovely in Lincoln.

36. Evil Queen's disguise in "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs": HAG.

37. Peruvian prairies: LLANOS - My diligent search showed LLANOS mostly in these countries 

39. Hot: EROTIC.

40. Online discount: E-BATE.

41. Sportscast tech: SLO MO - This device can do that or even freeze the frame

43. WNBA pt.: ASSN - All sports peeps know what caused this

47. Norm: PAR - For my golf game, it's a goal, not a norm. 😀

48. Tennis star Ivanovic: ANA.

50. DOD arm: NSA - The NSA doesn't take credit or blame for their activities