Saturday, October 12 2024, Bettina Elias Siegel, Dan Elias

 Saturday Themeless by Bettina Elias Siegel & Dan Elias

This is a puzzle where I had to struggle. The cluing was too clever by half in some places but I persevered. I use Across Lite to solve these puzzles in advance and in this one I used the Check Word function a lot and every time, it said the word or partial word was correct and so I soldiered on. 

I got SIDE HUSTLES right away and I fought CAREER COACH's cluing and was told AMUSE BOUCHE ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ was right as I slowly filled in the crossers there.  ECHOLESS and SHE GOAT were, uh, "out there"! I'll point some out some other head scratchers as we progress through the grid. The pinwheel 11-letter triple stacks are very impressive. 

Across:

1. Extra work: SIDE HUSTLES - Like most other starting teachers, I had several of these - Bricklayer, landscaper, retail salesperson, train brakeman and anything else I could do to bring in some cash.

12. Historic period: AGE - Erasing ERA and starting over opened up this entire corner. 

15. Path finder: CAREER COACH.

16. Aloha nui __: affectionate Hawaiian phrase: LOA - "All my love:\"

17. Special bite: AMUSE BOUCHE - An AMUSE BOUCHE (amuses the mouth in French) is a single, bite-sized hors d'œuvre. Once again ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

18. D.C. United's org.: MLS.

19. Enhancer of soups or venue for hoops: MSG 😀

 

   


20. Bar fly-er?: DART - Saturday cluing!

21. Gail of "NYPD Blue": O'GRADY ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

23. Eat: DINE.

24. 19th century women's rights advocate Amelia: BLOOMER - Yup, that's where that item of apparel originated.

25. Much-feared natural disaster: BIG ONE.

28. Wildflower once thought to repel pests: FLEABANE - Those words make sense

29. Strip, as a ship: UNRIG - DERIG had the same sense but didn't work

30. Super time: BLAST.

31. Singing syllable: TRA.

32. John Swinney, for one: SCOT.

33. Nudges: PRODS.

34. Enduring dispute: FEUD - Joan and Betty had a famous one

35. Go off course: YAW - I have said many times in the forum that a plane can YAW (crab) and stay on course. 

36. Verse inverse: PROSE.

37. "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" writer/illustrator: CARLE - The "C" at CARLE/CASSAT ws my last fill.

38. Kelp and nori: SEAWEEDS.

40. One who may be sacked: PASSER 😀 Even Patrick Mahomes 

41. Diplomatic mission: EMBASSY.

42. Old book collection?: DUST 😀

43. Tops: APEXES.

44. Cooks (up): GINS Etymology  I am always amused at excuses kids can GIN UP to explain whey they don't have an assignment done. 

45. Wit: WAG.

48. "Chandelier" singer: SIA - Entertainers are always looking for a way to stand out from the crowd.

49. Adapt quickly: TURN ON A DIME.

52. "Catch-22" pilot played by Bob Balaban: ORR - Bob played ORR in the 1970 movie but I better remember him for playing NBC executive Russell Dalrymple in Seinfeld 19 years later

     
 

53. Pay-to-play need: ARCADE TOKEN.

54. Connecticut governor Lamont: NED.

55. Spine-opening yoga pose: SEATED TWIST.

Down:

1. Phishing hook: SCAM - My "grandson" has called me three times for cash bail money. Uh, I was born at night, but not last night!

2. Animal nutritionist who founded a pet food company in 1946: IAMS - Paul IAMS invented his dog food in 1950 and called it 999.

3. Pharmacopeia entry: DRUG.

An 1868 edition

4. Some MIT grads: EES.

5. Following: HEEDING - I know who I need to be HEEDING in this house 😀

6. Suave: URBANE.

7. Williams work: SCORE - Nobody does it better than John

8. Promote: TOUT.

9. Switzerland's __ Léman: LAC.

10. Still waiting for a callback?: ECHOLESS- 😀 Okay...

11. Picasso sculpture subject: SHE GOAT - 70-yr-old Pablo made this in 1950, the same year Paul Iams made his dog food. 

12. School songs: ALMA MATERS - A touching scene from Grey's Anatomy as college kids gather and sing their ALMA MATER outside the hospital after a mass shooting at their school.

13. Words to live by: GOLDEN RULE.

14. Beginner's book: EASY READER - Did anyone else read about Dick, Jane and Spot?

My EASY READER

22. Comedian Delaney: ROB.

23. "Yes!": DO IT.

24. Propeller part: BLADE.

25. Summer on Cape Cod, e.g.: BUSY SEASON.

26. South American domain name: INCA EMPIRE.

27. Election advice from young Grace Bedell to Mr. Lincoln: GROW A BEARD - On his way to his inauguration, Abe stopped in Grace's hometown of Westfield to thank her personally. A statue is there now to commemorate that meeting.

28. Fairy __: cotton candy, in Australia: FLOSS.

30. "The Pianist" Oscar winner: BRODY.

33. Word with blood or water: PRESSURE 😀

34. Firmly fixed: FAST.

36. Pre-euro Spanish coins: PESETAS.

37. Impressionist painter born in Allegheny, Pennsylvania: CASSATT.

39. Surfer's need: WAX - We're WAXIN' down our surf boards, Can't wait 'til June...

40. Was fully groan?: PUNNED 😀

42. Electronics component: DIODE - When I got my physics training, solid state DIODES was starting to replace vacuum tubes.

44. Swarming pest: GNAT.

45. Site that may host an edit war: WIKI.

46. Iowa college town: AMES.

47. Chap: GENT.

50. TV pioneer: RCA.

51. DJIA part: DOW.

Saturday, March 11, 2023, Bettina Elias Siegel and Dan Elias

 Saturday Themeless by Bettina Elias Siegel and Dan Elias 

Bettina and Dan give us a lot of wide-open spaces with only 22 blocks and 99 open squares.

I had a lovely 20-minute tiptoe through these tulips.

Across:

1. Stress-relieving gifts: SPA PACKAGES.

12. Title in an order: FRA - A title for an Italian monk or friar in a religious order

15. Feature of the Bush and Johnson White Houses: TEXAS ACCENT.

16. Court call: LET.

17. Fox on TV: AGENT MULDER.

18. Prelude to a kiss?: I DO.

19. Podcast feed letters: RSS - Really Simple Syndication

20. Zelle and Venmo: APPS - I have podcast APPS that keep me entertained

21. Editor's tool: RED PEN.

23. Any of 12 popes: PIUS - Where our granddaughter attends in Lincoln, NE

24. Run: OVERSEE - OPERATE worked until it didn't 

25. Some highlands musicians: PIPERS.

28. Salt Lake Bees and Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp: AAA TEAMS.

29. "Who's better than me?!": I RULE.

30. Drops in the air: MISTS.

31. Red choice: CAB - Often found on our crossword wine list

32. Tips for a writer: NIBS.

33. 2020 Isabel Wilkerson bestseller subtitled "The Origins of Our Discontents": CASTE.

34. Stud locale: LOBE - It was not in a wall or a horse farm but in an ear

35. Night sch. class: ESL.

36. Gals, in dated slang: MOLLS - Clyde Barrow's MOLL, Bonnie Parker, leapt to my mind

37. Winds: COILS.

38. Member of a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame girl group: SHIRELLE - C'mon, ya gotta love 60's rock and roll. SHIRley Ross and three classmates for Passaic, NJ were the first black, girl group to have a #1 hit with this memorable song.

40. Polarizing figure?: MAGNET.

41. Agreements: ACCORDS

42. "Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are __!": 1978 album: DEVO.

43. Opening night invitee: CRITIC.

44. Untimely?: LATE.

45. Evil computer who says, "I'm sorry, Dave. I'm afraid I can't do that": HAL - A forerunner of AI?

48. Bulls and bucks: HE'S - Males

49. Tailor's device: TAPE MEASURE.

52. "Dig in!": EAT.

53. Actor who played Tony Rodriguez on "NYPD Blue": ESAI MORALES - We have seen his vowel-rich first name here quite often

54. Some corporate IP: TMS - Corporate TradeMarkS ™ are Intellectual Property

55. Display that may have rotating shelves: DESSERT CASE.

Down:

1. Nicola Yoon's "The Sun Is Also a __": STAR.

2. Cribbage pieces: PEGS.

3. x, y and z, in math: AXES and in space flight

4. All-Clad product: PAN.

5. "Steps in Time" memoirist: ASTAIRE - An autographed copy can be had for $375.00

6. Intellectual property?: CAMPUS - Where I got my first degree, Wayne State College

7. Keurig pods: K-CUPS.

8. Concerns for some orthopedic surgeons, initially: ACLS.

9. HS proficiency test: GED.

10. Sap: ENERVATE.

11. Doja Cat hit with the lyric "Send your location, come through": STREETS.

12. Ensures that change is in the air?: FLIPS A COIN - If you flip a coin (piece of change), it will go in the air. 😀

13. Scrooge, ultimately: REDEEMABLE - All it took was three ghosts

14. In top form: AT ONE'S BEST.

22. One of the "Black-ish" parents: DRE - Anthony Anderson plays Andre (DRE) Johnson in this show

23. NOLA cagers: PELS.

24. Brewery equipment: OASTS.

25. Pouch with a woodsy scent: PINE SACHET.

26. Mudslide element: IRISH CREAM.

27. Attention getters: PUBLICISTS - There's no such thing as bad publicity 

28. Target section: AISLE - The AISLE is in a Target™ Store 

30. Shop keepers?: MALLS - Omaha had three huge MALLS and two are now shut and the other one soon will be

33. Focus of many a true crime podcast: COLD CASE - Who killed JonBenet Ramsey?

34. Letterhead feature, often: LOGO.

36. Just: MERITED.

37. The Lascaux bulls, e.g.: CAVE ART - One of 600+ such images in this network of caves in SW France

39. Rubbish: ROT.

40. Shower element: METEOR - An event that occurs when Earth's orbit crosses the path of a group of meteors that burn up in our atmosphere.

42. Actor Jean-Claude Van __: DAMME - "The Muscles from Brussels"

44. Fragrant neckwear: LEIS and 45. Dance with a kahiko style: HULA.

46. Trojan War god: ARES.

47. __-majestÈ: LESE - Disrespect or a crime against a Royal head of state. Example: Article 112 of Thailand's criminal code says anyone who "defames, insults or threatens the king, the queen, the heir-apparent or the regent" will be punished with a jail term between three and 15 years.

50. Pops: PAS - They are/were usually married to MAS 

51. Pollen holder: SAC.