Saturday, August 16, 2025, August Miller

 Saturday Themeless by August Miller

Here is a wonderful interview of this former physics Ph.D. candidate turned farmer who lives in Berkshire County, MA: https://dailycrosswordlinks.com/2025/03/29/constructor-spotlight-august-miller/

 Across:

1. "Totally had you there!": PSYCH.

6. "Odelay" musician: BECK ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

10. Pricing words: A POP.

14. Terence Blanchard work: OPERA ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

15. Boba tea additive: ALOE.

16. Igloo shape: DOME.

17. Modern farm technology: SOLAR ARRAY.

19. Rollover subj.: IRAS.

20. One who went gray gracefully: SILVER FOX.

21. Way around D.C.: METRO - My granddaughter used this on every school day at American University in D.C.

22. "Or __ what?": ELSE.

23. __ out: TRY - Not: Far, Pig, Cry, Pan, Opt, Eke, Way, etc.

24. Part of a college visit: TOUR.

25. "American Hustle" org.: FBI - Based on FBI Abscam Sting scandal of late 70's

26. Orbiter until 2001: MIR - A space station launched and operated by Russia (nee Soviet Union 😀)

27. Clerical tunic: ALB.

30. Line at a reunion: IT'S GOOD TO SEE YOU - First of three grid spanners. The top two were helpful but the name took a lot of help.

36. Springtime side: ASPARAGUS SPEARS.

37. "The Substance" Golden Globe nominee: MARGARET QUALLEY ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

38. Natori Feathers garment: BRA.

39. QB stats: YDS.

40. Rte. 180?: UEY - We said, "Flip a UEY"

41. First name in couture: YVES - We often see his initials in crosswords

43. Tip for a writer?: NIB.

44. Simple sammies: PBJ'S - I love PB&J's and BLT's

48. Gross-smelling: FETID - A lyric from the play 1776 sung by William Daniels as John Adams as he bemoans the tedious drafting of the Declaration in the hot summer of 1776.

50. "Get some rest": GO TO SLEEP.

52. Very little: A DAB.

53. Gathering where everyone gets shots?: BOTOX PARTY.

54. Niche mag: ZINE - In slang, "zine" is a shortened term for fanzine, which is a small-circulation, self-published magazine or booklet, often focusing on a a specific niche interest. 

55. Injury kissed by a parent: OWIE.

56. __-Norman French: ANGLO.

57. Outlet for crafty types: ETSY.

58. Six-legged farm animals: ANTS.

59. Ingredient in some printing ink: RESIN.

Down:

1. Crew: POSSE - Originally a group formed by a lawman in the old west to pursue outlaws. These days it can be any group with a common purpose.

2. Turn: SPOIL.

3. Uses one's outside voice: YELLS.

4. Fancy and then some: CRAVE.

5. Fabled napper: HARE.

6. Spots to grab a few beers: BAR FRIDGES 😀

7. Orbit City boy: ELROY - George Jetson's son

8. Cajole: COAX.

9. Essential: KEY.

10. Parting mot: ADIEU 😀

11. Representation: PORTRAYAL - Hmmm... Burt Lancaster as an Apache warrior in the 1954 movie Apache

12. Actor Sy of the Netflix series "Lupin": OMAR ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

13. 100 centavos: PESO.

18. Multimedia surfaces: ART BOARDS.

21. Union's demand: MORE PAY.

24. Container that can be repurposed as a biodegradable planter for seedlings: TISSUE BOX - EGG CARTON was a first confident entry for this solver.

25. Made inroads: FORAYED - Yup, you can make any noun into a verb

26. Summer cloud: MOSQUITOES - We have hardly any at all for several summers but with all the rain we have had this year...

28. Stories of the past: LORE.

29. Not free: BUSY.

30. "For one," for one: IAMB - "For one" is one IAMB

31. Ruler until 1917: TSAR.

32. Some faux coats: SPRAY TANS - A lot of Nebraska girls get a "fake bake" for Spring Prom

33. __ gift: GAG.

34. Sound of disapproval: TUT.

35. Serpentine creature: EEL.

42. Evoking good feelings, in slang: VIBEY  - "Vibey" is an informal term, generally meaning lively and brand, often used to describe a place, atmosphere, or even a piece of music. 

43. Cry in the playground: NOT IT - I remember these words preceding a spirited round of hide-and-go-seek.

44. American way?: PLANE. 😀

45. Features of icy breakups: BERGS.

46. Actor who played the Emperor of China in 2020's "Mulan": JET LI.

47. Watch from the bushes, say: SPY ON.

48. Get to: FAZE.

49. Exchange words?: EDIT. 😀

50. Vera Wang design: GOWN.

51. Exchange words: SPAR - Before fists fly, these sessions are used to increase the gate 

53. Serpentine creature: BOA.

Notes from C.C.:

Happy 75th birthday to our punny and witty Friday  Sherpa MM. Here is a picture of him at Chiang Rai in 2017. 

Chiang Rai, 2017

Monday June 9, 2025 August Miller

  

Happy Monday, everyone! sumdaze here with a delivery from August Miller. August is more of a Wed.-Sat. kind of constructor. This is his first Monday LAT puzzle -- a 61-A. RARE TREAT for us solvers.

Theme:                    CSO to D-Otto!

Our very own desper-otto is a dedicated MEALS ON WHEELS volunteer. 

He even brings snacks for the dogs on his route. (T)His community is lucky to have him!

First, the themed clues and answers:

20 Across. Cozy spot for a morning repast: BREAKFAST NOOK.  This is a small space, often adjacent to the kitchen, used for casual dining. It generally fits a small table and comfortable seating.

Get it?  "NOOK & cranny" Haha!

34 Across. Not in the office, perhaps: OUT TO LUNCH.  

42 Across. Evening ringer: DINNER BELL.  

Snoopy improvises

55 Across. Nonprofit that delivers food to the elderly, or what can be found three times in this puzzle?: MEALS ON WHEELS.  Their mission is "to empower local community programs to improve the health and quality of life of the seniors they serve so that no one is left hungry or isolated."  How to Become a MEALS ON WHEELS Volunteer  

Also, three MEALS (BREAKFAST, LUNCH, and DINNER) appear to be placed ON WHEELS (actually letter O's). Notice that the WHEELS are consistently placed under the second and the second-to-last letters of each MEAL. I liked this purposeful use of circles!

Alternating the placement of the meal words (first, last, first)
helps the WHEELS to stand out.

Rolling along now....

Across:

1. Current locale of NASA's Perseverance rover: MARS.  NASA's Perseverance website

Perseverance has 6 WHEELS;
but, alas, delivered no MEALS to a hungry 38-A.

5. The Great Pyramid, for one: TOMB.  The Great Pyramid was a TOMB for Pharoah Khufu. It is the oldest and tallest of the three pyramids towering over Giza. It was constructed around 2551-2528 BCE and its height would compare to a 45-story building. There is surprisingly little 'open space' inside.

9. Feet and inches: UNITS.     and     9 Down. Forks and knives: UTENSILS.

I put these together because of the symmetry in the construction of the two clues, plus UNITS can be spelled with the letters in UTENSILS.

14. Cultivated: GREW.

15. "Search Party" star Shawkat: ALIA.  Although I have seen this actress in previous puzzles and I do remember her from Arrested Development, I spelled her name wrong today for a one-box FIW. I had ALeA crossing 7-D Nicki MeNAJ. Yes, Nicki MINAJ is an international star but I thought she spelled her name with an E. That is on me. However, I will say that this is the reason many solvers do not like to see crossing names in a grid. There is an abundance of flexibility in how people spell their names. Fortunately for me, this type of FIW does not really bother me. Perhaps if it did, I would try harder to remember the spellings for next time.

Funny note:  While proof reading this blog I saw that I had been misspelling "Nicki" as "Nikki". Good grief!

16. Domesticates: TAMES.  

A good pun can only take you so far.

17. Set a date, say: MADE PLANS.

19. __ Allen furniture: ETHAN.  One source said there are 169 Ethan Allen stores in the U.S.

22. Chooses: OPTS.

23. Delights: JOYS.  It turns out that both words can be either nouns or verbs.

24. Budget exec: CFO.  executive and Chief Financial Officer

26. Abbr. after a list: ETC.

28. Huffy state: PIQUE.  Def.:  (noun) a transient feeling of wounded vanity; resentment.  

PIQUE is also a fabric.

32. Part of a barn: LOFT.  

38. Sci-fi visitor: ALIEN.  

40. P-shaped Greek letter: RHO.  

41. "You and me both!": SO DO I.  I am still thinking about that ME, THREE answer from last Monday.

45. XPS laptop maker: DELL.  Translate:  It's a four-letter computer name.

46. Rising, as a ballerina: ON TOE.

47. Jar topper: LID.

49. Where Katie Ledecky won four Olympic golds: RIO.  

She also won a silver!

50. In-game hint providers, for short: NPCS.  Non-player Characters. These are characters in a game that are not controlled by a human video game player.

53. Drink holders: CUPS.  ...but CUP holders are not drinks.

60. "My Ántonia" novelist Cather: WILLA.  [1873-1947]  This 1918 novel is about immigrant life in Nebraska.  goodreads link

61. Unexpected pleasure: RARE TREAT.  See ¶ #1.

63. Band's release: ALBUM.  Streaming has changed how music is released. If you are feeling a bit lost when it comes to music nowadays, perhaps this guide will help:  Types of Music Releases

64. Similar (to): AKIN.

65. See 35-Down: MENU.     and     35-Down. With 65-Across, 2022 black comedy film set in a restaurant: THE. 

This is the trailer for this 2022 film. Creepy alert! Also, Anya Taylor-Joy stars in it. We frequently see her crossword-friendly name. 

66. Stay in a heated yurt, perhaps: GLAMP.  We have become portmanteau obsessed. Glamour + Camp = GLAMP

67. "I'm down!": LET'S.

68. Casual eyewear: SPEX.  Casual means a slangy term for eyewear -- not eyewear to go with a casual look. SPEX is short for spectacles.  

Down:

1. Studio with a roaring mascot: MGM.  

2. Like a Bedouin: ARAB.  

The Distribution of Bedouins over Arabic Countries

3. Motel 6 competitor: RED ROOF INN.  Both are considered cheap hotels.

4. Gather dust, maybe: SWEEP.  Fun clue! Gather dust usually means you let the dust settle on you.

5. Chats with: TALKS TO.

6. Frozen "Frozen" character: OLAF.  I liked this clue, too.

Olaf is the snowman.

7. Rapper Nicki: MINAJ.  See 15-Across.

8. Low opera voice: BASSO.

10. Gp. whose newest member is Sweden: NATO. Sweden formally joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organization on March 7, 2024. There are 32 countries in the group.  

11. Short and modest "I think ... ": IMHO.  In My Humble Opinion  

12. Tropical wood: TEAK.  TEAK is a durable hardwood often used to make patio furniture since it is water resistant.

13. Fig. on Form W-2: SSN.  

18. Meaty spread: PÂTÉ.  Def. :(noun) a spread of finely chopped or pureed seasoned meat.

21. Featrue of this clue: TYPO.  Feature has a typing mistake in it.

24. Clothed (in): CLAD.     

This woman is CLAD in a Glad garbage bag and ready for her date with Vlad.
I wonder, does it comes in plaid?

25. First __: Shakespeare collection: FOLIO.  The First Folio is the first published collection of Shakespeare's plays. It was produced seven years after his death. Its title is Mr. William Shakespeare's Comedies, Histories & Tragedies.

27. Where the sidewalk ends: CURB.  This was my favorite clue today. Did anyone else think of this book?  

29. The "Q" of QED: QUOD.  Quod erat demonstrandum is a Latin phrase which means "I showed you what I told you I was going to show you."

30. Not get enough rest: UNDERSLEEP.  I had the U so I quickly filled UP ALL NIGHT then patted myself on the back for sussing that one so easily.

31. Food safety concern: ECOLI.

33. Outdoor wedding rental: TENT.  Ahh, that's why we GLAMPed in a yurt instead of a TENT for 66-Across.

36. Per-axle fee: TOLL.  

37. City on the Big Island: HILO.  I used to go to Hilo a lot for work. It is so lush and green -- very different from the Kona side.

39. Many an orange-red indicator light: NEON LAMP.  According to M-W and Wiki this really is a thing so I must be wincing from the glare of a legitimate light.

43. House lawmakers, briefly: REPS.  Think "Civics class".

44. Organisms that are like tiny ecosystems: LICHENS.  I LICHENed this 1:22 min. video a lot.

48. Piano piece for four hands: DUET.  Splynter gave us this very funny piano DUET skit last Wednesday. I'm adding it here in case you missed it.  

51. With 52-Down, reptile with red, yellow, and black bands: CORAL.     and 🠟

52. See 51-Down: SNAKE.  

Red touches yellow, kill a fellow.
Red touches black, safe for Jack.

54. Curly hairdos: PERMS.  Remember this 43 sec. scene from That '70s Show?  

Kelso:  So that's permanent?

55. Pepper grinder: MILL.  Not a sandwich!  😉

56. Idris of "Luther": ELBA.  Lucina is another Cornerite who generously volunteers her time every Monday at her church. This one's for her:  

57. Reunion attendee: ALUM.  This SNL skit with Jack Black about old friends getting together to reunite but digress to one-upping is 64-A AKIN to a class reunion.  

58. Court order: WRIT.  A writ is a formal, legal document that orders a person or entity to perform or to cease performing a specific action or deed. Writs are drafted by courts or other entities with jurisdictional or legal power. Warrants and subpoenas are two common types of writs.

59. Sensible: SANE.

60. Tail motion: WAG.  

62. Prom rental: TUX.  

Too Cool for School

Time to roll....,

sumdaze