Saturday, December 28, 2024, Annemarie Brethauer, Katie Hale

 Themeless Saturday by Annemarie Brethauer and Katie Hale

Annemarie worked for twenty years at a local government access channel as a writer/director/producer and was also used to being strictly behind the camera (Documentaries like "Know Your Zoning Code."). She is now retired and freelancing as a puzzle creator. 

Katie Hale, originally from Houston, is now a stay-at-home mom in London and Patti's assistant editor for the LA Times puzzles. We have seen her in a collaborative role quite often. In fact, this is my fourth Saturday Themeless collaboration with these two constructors.

After a run of very difficult solves, this one proved to be much easier and fun to do although some of the cluing...

Across:

1. Skip-the-line status: TSA PRE - No hint of abbreviation 

7. Ambulatory access: APSE - New use of ambulatory for me. It can be a noun denoting the passageway used to access an APSE

11. Out of sorts: OFF.

14. Wartime partners: ALLIES - In 1945, I doubt my dad and uncles would ever have perceived that Germany and Japan would become our ALLIES and Russia would not

15. "Golda" subject: MEIR.

16. Links target: PAR.

17. Heckles: BOOS AT.

18. Taylor Swift hit that begins, "I have this thing where I get older, but just never wiser": ANTI HERO.

20. Take revenge: SETTLE OLD SCORES - Do politicians really do this? 🤔

22. Base runner's assertion: I'M SAFE - Shohei Ohtani pleads his case

23. Whac-A-Mole move: BASH.

24. First name in boxing: LAILA.

27. Penalty area in rugby, familiarly: SIN BIN.

30. Mantra sounds: OMS.

31. Sleeve element, for short: TAT - Howard and Raj got fake, slip-on TATS on Big Bang Theory to attract goth girls 

33. Mexican-inspired casserole: TACO PIE - or a Frito Pie

 

37. Tusked pinniped: WALRUS.

39. Full-bodied: ROBUST.

40. "Ta-ta!": CHEERIO.

42. Disco guy on "The Simpsons": STU.

43. Univ. that sends acceptances on Pi Day: MIT  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ but interesting

44. Turn down: REFUSE - Henry turned down a famous role that went to John

46. Tibet's capital: LHASA - McDonalds took its business to new heights at this restaurant in LHASA at an elevation of 12,123'

48. Title fellow in a 1922 Broadway hit: ABIE.

51. Spanish store: TIENDA.

                      "I want a bag    "What color?"

53. Competition for queens: RUPAUL'S DRAG RACE.

59. Wade Wilson's alter ego: DEADPOOL ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

60. "Shaun of the Dead" genre: ZOM COM - ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ A zombie comedy

61. Terminate: END.

62. Hill partner: DALE - Before the U.S. Army used the phrase...

63. "Take a chill pill!": COOL IT - 

64. Figs.: NOS.

65. FanDuel list: ODDS - Here's how FanDuel sees the betting on today's Pinstripe Bowl. The Huskers are a 2.5 pt. favorite. On the Moneyline, you have to bet $132 straight up to win $100.

66. Makes invalid: ANNULS - Carmen Electra and Dennis Rodman had their Las Vegas post-partying marriage ANNULLED nine days later

Down:

1. Window openings: TABS 😀 I always have too many open

2. Blackthorn: SLOE.

3. Lazy answer to "How many stars are in the sky?": A LOT.

4. Ovary plus stigma plus style: PISTIL.

5. Response to a puerile joke: REAL MATURE.

6. Newbery Medal winner Eleanor: ESTES ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

7. Coastal town at the foot of Monte Cerreto: AMALFI.

8. Suspended: PENDENT.

9. Gets ready to drive: SITS.

10. NFL Hall of Fame running back Dickerson: ERIC.

$550

11. Work traditionally performed without microphones: OPERA 😊

12. Uber passengers: FARES.

13. Ninth grader: FROSH.

19. Mix (with): HOBNOB.

21. Brewery kiln: OAST.

24. Note played by covering every hole on a recorder: LOW C - We called them tonettes when I was in school

25. Eastern nanny: AMAH.

26. __ of Man: ISLE.

28. Syst. that connects to Caltrain: BART - Bay Area Rapid Transit connects at Millbrae, CA.

29. "Do you need more reasons?": I COULD GO ON.

32. "Please.": AS IF.

34. Big cat: PUMA.

35. Goddess of the Pyramid Texts: ISIS - Four letter goddess and pyramids, hmmm...

36. "Don't Go to Strangers" singer Jones: ETTA.

38. Go over again: REREAD.

41. Won an ad war, perhaps: OUTSOLD.

42. Fortuneteller: SEER.

45. Crab-walks: SIDLES.

47. "NCIS: Origins" narrator Mark: HARMON.

48. Elizabeth of cosmetics: ARDEN.

49. "¡Qué __!": BUENO - How nice! In Español 

50. Procreate devices: I-PADS -  😀 For amateurs too!

52. South American culture known for geoglyphs: NAZCA - 2,000-yr-old lines that have to be seen from the air to be comprehended 

54. Beehive, e.g.: UPDO.

55. Freight weight: LOAD.

56. Rights org.: ACLU.

57. Kinky curl shape: COIL.

58. Some FD employees: EMTS.

Wednesday, Aug 7th, 2024, Annemarie Brethauer

EGGS BENEDICT

 Yeah, that guy....Hi there, and welcome again to the Corner, where we'll discuss today's puzzle from Annemarie Brethauer, who is a free-lance constructor and has had several grids for the LA Times.  Today we don't have "theme" answers, per se, but instead the dreaded circles that "turn" the word COAT - and very cleverly done, I might add, such that the letters rotate to a distinct quadrant of the square with each version.  This does lead to a few "meh" fills and dreaded proper names, but a mere twenty TLWs.  I could recreate the boxes with the associated fill, but methinks it would just be simpler to post the solution up top, and mention the long fills in the Across that relate to the circles;

18. "Ha! April Fools!": "AH, I GOTCHA~!" - this feels a little forced, IMHO, esp. with the "Ha" and "AH" in the clue/answer

20. Rile up: ANTAGONIZE - but then we get this sparkling fill

62. Starbucks order: VENTI LATTE - this fill has some crossword history; it is NOT "ventilate"

65. Made-up: FICTIONAL - A fictional Time Machine

Back To The Future,1985

And back in time for some history of the grid-centered reveal . . . .

39. Traitors, and an apt title for this puzzle: TURNCOATS - believed to be coined during the English Civil Wars, when soldiers turned their coats inside out to match the opposing side's colors

 And "Back to the Future~!" We Go


ACROSS:

1. Food grinder: MOLAR - AH, one's back teeth, not a kitchen appliance; see 5D.

6. Mischievous rascal: IMP - I was being an intentional mischievous rascal last week

9. Bee-related: APIAN

14. Puccini composition: OPERA

15. In-like-a-lion mo.: MARch - goes out like a lamb, sometimes

16. Impressions: DENTS - someone left an "impression" on my car's bumper - and I have no idea when it happened; I just noticed it last week when I walked up on the back of my Prius; I do know it was a white car . . . .

17. Intel mission: RECONnaissance

22. Early ISP: AOL - America OnLine

23. Went bad: SOURED - AH, not ROTTED

24. Pack it in: EAT

26. Blokes: MEN

28. __ La Table: kitchenware shop: SUR - filled via perps; their website

29. California sch. near the Mexican border: SDSU - San Diego State University; had the "S"s from perps, so . . . .

32. Meet, as a challenge: RISE TO

34. Capital of Thailand?: TEE - I know some Cornerites don't care for this kind of clue, but I don't mind; the "T" that is the capital letter of T-hailand

36. Quite a long time: EONS

38. Surgical tool: LASER

42. "Trust the __ touch": longtime slogan of a car repair chain: MIDAS

Commercial from 1985

45. Duds: GARB - dress, finery, apparel, clothing

It's a Zoot Suit riot

46. QVC alternative: HSN - Home Shopping Network

49. Brunch order: OMELET - AH, not having Eggs Benedict~?

51. Vegetables in a "mushy" dish: PEAS - AH; my parents may have been British, but I never had this growing up - I went looking for some recipe info

53. __ & Perrins steak sauce: LEA

55. Nonstick spray brand: PAM - I use this - very convenient in a spray

56. Canine command: SIT~! - whenever I hear a distant dog barking, I say "sit~!", because it reminds me of this movie, and this scene

Fletch, also from 1985 - @1:42

58. Lawn party cover: CANOPY  - I am pondering the purchase as a place to park my tractor

60. State in southwest India: GOA - name

67. Nerve center: LOCUS - meh, but it is the first definition of the word - I am used to the math definition

68. Took apart: UNDID - meh

69. Finale: END

70. Muscat citizen: OMANI - name

71. Musical silences: RESTS

72. 2022 film starring Cate Blanchett as a conductor: TÁR - name; the IMDb 

73. Electrician, at times: WIRER - one who WIRES outlets, switches, etc.


DOWN:

1. Convoluted situation: MORASS - good fill; the NW and SE corners were tough for Wednesday

2. Unfurl: OPEN OUT - Sigh.  Yes, this is true . . . .

3. Good talking-to: LECTURE - AH.  I got the email "lecture" from C.C. last week as well 😜

4. Very loud: AROAR - we had this last Saturday

5. Appliances that may have pilot lights: RANGES - AH - I had STOVES to start

6. Vellani who plays Kamala Khan/Ms. Marvel: IMAN - name, no clue -the IMDb

7. Fish often grilled for tacos, informally: MAHI - formally, mahi-mahi

8. Booker or Pulitzer: PRIZE - name(s) - I know about the Pulitzer, here's the Booker

9. "And now, without further __ ... ": ADO

10. Anti-65-Down org.: PETA - AND - 65D. Pelt: FUR

A FAUX coat, not a TURN coat

11. Earnings: INCOMES - meh; I don't care for the pluralized version

12. Typical Wheaties box portrait: ATHLETE

Little Chocolate Donuts for breakfast - and the cigarette

I love Belushi's facial expressions in this skit

13. Code-cracking org.: NSA - a WAG; National Security Agency

19. One of four-on-the-floor: GEAR - the only "four-on-the-floor" I owned was my Subaru Brat

Also 1985 - huh.

It had "O-tops", as there was a frame over the door, so not quite "T-tops"

21. Harder to explain: ODDER - meh.

25. Pinball faux pas: TILT

27. Negative conjunction: NOR

30. "Yesterday" or "Tomorrow": SONG - clever clue

31. Remove the lid: UNCAP

33. Scout uniform accessory: SASH

Russell, from "UP" - love this movie

35. "Plus some other writers" abbr.: ET. AL.

37. Really mad: SORE

40. Takes advantage of: USES

41. Beaded counters: ABACI

Technically, a beaded counter(top)

42. Floor-washing tool: MOP - a looong way to go for a TLW

43. Envision: IMAGINE

44. Garage band output, once: DEMO CDs - AH.  Meh.  I know, I know; I'm stuck in 1985 - this is also the name of the Apple software expressly for the purpose of producing one's own music, but TAPES just seem more "sincere"

47. Toy racer: SLOTCAR

48. Farthest planet from the sun: NEPTUNE - PLUTO~!  Stuck in 1985

50. DVR option: TiVO

52. Sickly looking: SALLOW

54. Response to Captain Kirk: AYE, SIR

Star Trek 4: The Voyage Home - OK, so this is actually 1986

57. Guiding principle: TENET

59. Watts of "The Painted Veil": NAOMI - name, filled via perps - the IMDb

61. Plugging away: AT IT

63. "Peter Pan" dog: NANA - name I did not know; it occurs to me I have not seen this animated classic

64. Abbr. with a synopsis: TL;DR - Too Long; Didn't Read - the modern world of zero attention span

66. Wallet cards: IDs

Splynter