Saturday, June 21, 2025, Alan Massengill, Doug Peterson

 Themeless Saturday by Alan Massengill & Doug Peterson

Today is the first full day of Summer as the Solstice occurred at 9;42 pm (CDT) last night when the sun was directly over the Tropic of Cancer. We will have the greatest amount of daylight and, as you see at the left, this is where you will see the sunrise on this day at Stonehenge. For us here in Nebraska, the grackles will soon be moving on from our feeders and will not be missed.

Today's puzzle by Alan (left below) and Doug has a nice wide-open grid with only 27 blocks and 102 open squares. The long grid-spanners were very "gettable" and clever fill added to the fun. Hanging on to LEGIT too long was a speed bump. My potential Natick was at _AVI/_ONCE and for some reason, NONCE made some sense for one-off and the Congratulations window came up.

 

Across:

1. Ocean spray?: SEA SALT.

8. Sings the blues: ACTS SAD - I chose Buck's version over Ringo's.

15. Flurry: HUSTLE AND BUSTLE.

17. Particulars from behind closed doors: INTIMATE DETAILS - She should know.

18. Capital of Cambodia: RIELS - A Big Mac in Phnom Penh, the uh, capital of Cambodia,  costs 23,938 REILS

19. States: AVERS 20. __ service: LIP - He AVERS that he will back me up but it turned out to be LIP service when I needed him.

21. Space that may be kind of a lot: ACRE 😀

22. Signs: OMENS - Get to the basement!

23. Numbers game: KENO.

24. Really chill: ZEN.

25. Highlands estate owner: LAIRD.

26. One duo and two trios: OCTET 😀 (1 x 2) + (2 x 3) = 2 + 6 = 8

27. Works from home?: BATS 😀

28. Command performances?: SALUTES - What a private has to do to a general or...

QEII and the lads
after a command performance

30. Nancy, to Fritzi Ritz: NIECE - 1944 edition

32. Surveyor's support: BIPOD.

33. Game for pick-y people: LOTTERY.

35. CLE team: CAVS.

36. Final challenge, perhaps: ESSAY 😀 I always liked multiple choices better but knew there would probably be an ESSAY question near the end

37. Spark joy in: ELATE.

39. NL players since 2022: DH'S - The National League finally started using it 49 years later.

42. Groks: GETS - We solvers grok and suss

43. No-hit performance?: B-SIDE 😀 - Hanging onto LEGIT too long and not knowing BRITE left me starting at _ S E D E for a while. Richie Valens' La Bamba was once a B-SIDE.

44. Drink choice: NEAT - We veterans here remember Tinbeni who refused to have ice in his scotch 

45. "How To Triumph Like a Girl" poet Limón: ADA ¯\_(ツ)_/¯  The poem

46. New York minute: TRICE.

47. One-off: NONCE 

48. "It came back to me so easily!": LIKE RIDING A BIKE.

51. "Let me worry about that": I'VE GOT IT COVERED.

52. Signified: DENOTED.

53. Text-style workers: EDITORS - A fun play on the word textile

Down:

1. Red selection: SHIRAZ - I picked up on the clue for red wine but this wine naif needed a lot of help for this variety 

2. Carol Burnett character: EUNICE - Eunice and her Mama had issues

3. Toward a paddle wheel: ASTERN.

4. Steps over a wall: STILE.

5. Element of the Third Pillar of Islam: ALMS.

6. Green span: LEA.

7. Tea ceremony surfaces: TATAMIS.

The mat is called a TATAMI

8. Plus ones?: ADDENDS - This math teacher deserves a time out for trying to see this as someone who is taken as date to an event instead of...

9. Many semi pros: CBERS - I quickly saw semi as a tractor/trailer combo, good buddy!

10. Sounds of contempt: TUTS.

11. Retirement income org.: SSA.

12. Lift provider on a runway: STILETTO - I'll admit my first thought was of supportive underwear.

Can be hazardous

13. Only Top 40 hit for actor/singer Jack Wagner: ALL I NEED - It reached #2 behind Madonna's Like A Virgin

14. Tyrants: DESPOTS.

16. "Give up?" comeback: NEVER - General McAuliffe had a different way to respond to a German demand to give up in 1944.

22. Western: OATER.

23. Trademarked pods: K CUPS - I use them everyday but can't find any strong enough  

25. Chabert of "Mean Girls": LACEY - She's on the left below. I did not know her name but her face was instantly familiar as my lovely bride is a big fan of her much different persona as Hallmark's Queen Of Christmas.

 

26. Fruit in caponata: OLIVE - Yeah, I guess it is a fruit but I usually don't thionk of it as one.

Caponata 

27. Almost-ready versions: BETAS.

29. Ease up: ABATE.

30. Plummet: NOSEDIVE.

31. "Don't sit there": IT'S TAKEN - Not a pleasant chore

33. Passport, for one: LEGAL ID.

34. "Guilty as charged": YES I DID - Saying "Guilty as charged" can defuse a tense situation

35. Rhythmic flow: CADENCE - A fun way to keep it.

38. Permissible: LICIT - As I said, I had LEGAL here for way too long.

39. "Taxi Driver" Oscar nominee: DENIRO - His famous line from that movie

40. Cyberwarrior, sometimes: HACKER.

41. Lipizzans, e.g.: STEEDS - Horse lover General George Patton was instrumental in saving a large number of Lipizzans from the advancing Russians in 1945.

43. "Rainbow __": classic cartoon that inspired collectible dolls: BRITE ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

44. "Check": NO BET - The player can either say "Check" or tap the table

46. Turkey __: TROT - A jerky dance of the 20's is now a name used for Thanksgiving Day fun races like this one in our town.

47. Blue species native to Pandora: NAVI - I have never seen the movie Avatar

49. Comedian Nwodim: EGO - I'm getting used to her name

50. Ragnarok figure: GOD ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

Tuesday, May 27, 2025 Alan Massengill and Doug Peterson

A Friendly Word of Advice.  Each of the theme answers is in the Down position to create a Column of Advice.

4-Down. "Things are going well, so avoid sudden changes": DON'T ROCK THE BOAT.

8-Down. "If you rush, you won't do it right": HASTE MAKES WASTE.

17-Down. "Relax and take things as they come": ONE DAY AT A TIME.

And the unifier: 

9-Down. "Dear Abby," "Ask Amy," et al., and an apt description of 4-, 8-, and 17-Down: ADVICE COLUMNS.

In The Graduate, the advice Dustin Hoffman was given was Plastics.  My advice to you is AirTags.  We were just vacationing and were flying from one tiny island to another.  Our luggage was inadvertently taken by another guest's cab driver to the ferry station.  We were heading to the airport.  Fortunately, the AirTags in allowed us to locate our luggage, which we were able to retrieve before it headed off to a location unknown.

Here's the Grid so you can more easily find the Advice Columns.

What other advice does today's puzzle give us?

Across:

1. Basic bed: COT.

4. Vader's title: DARTH.  A Star Wars reference.

9. Tablet downloads: APPS.

13. Language similar to Thai: LAO.  //  And 5-Down. Like 13-Across: ASIAN.

14. Tennis champion Naomi: OSAKA.  Naomi Osaka (b. Oct. 16, 1997) is a Japanese professional tennis player and has been ranked as the world's number 1 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association.

15. Self-improvement icon Carnegie: DALE.  Dale Carnegie taught courses in self-improvement and is probably best known for being the author of How to Win Friends and Influence People.  I don't believe he wrote advice columns, however.

16. "The Simpsons" bus driver: OTTO.

18. Yucatán boys: NIÑOS.  Today's Spanish lesson.  It's a short flight from New Orleans to the Yucatán.

19. Scenic sight: VIEW.

20. "Game" of missed connections: PHONE TAG.

22. Classic Fords: T-BIRDS.

24. Acquire with effort: EARN.

25. Former Ford div.: MERC.  Mercury was a division of Ford Motor Company until 2011, when Ford phased out the brand.

26. "No choice, sorry": I HAD TO.

29. In a melancholy way: SOMBERLY.

33. Astronauts org.: NASA.

34. Brownie ingredient: COCOA.

36. Farewell accompanied by an air kiss: CIAO.  Today's Italian lesson.

37. DVD holder: TRAY.  It took me a minute to figure out this clue.  We haven't used DVDs in centuries!

38. Rap: KNOCK.

39. The Grand Ole __: OPRY.

40. Div. of Labor: OSHA.

41. Church donation: TITHE.  A Tithe is traditionally considered one tenth of annual produce or earnings for the support of the Church.

42. Italian lake: LAGO.  I confidently wrote in Como, until the perps let me to realize that we were looking for a more generic Italian lake.  This is a continuation of today's Italian lesson.

43. Impassioned to the extreme: WHITE HOT.

45. Lightly fries in oil: SAUTÉS.

47. Prayer ending: AMEN.

48. Did the first stage of a triathlon: SWAM.  The three stages of a triathlon are: swimming, cycling, and running, all in sequence.

49. Spot for a therapeutic cold plunge: ICE TUB.

52. Colorful reef dweller: SEA SNAKE.

56. Full-length skirt: MAXI.

57. Hockey Hall of Famer Adam: OATES.  Adam Robert Oates (b. Aug. 27, 1962) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player.  He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2012.

59. Iditarod vehicle: SLED.  This Alaskan race has an interesting history.

60. British baby carriage: PRAM.

61. Change with the times: ADAPT.

62. Wooden pin: PEG.

63. Equivalent: SAME.

64. Succinct: TERSE.

65. Foxy: SLY.

Down:

1. Hoofbeat sound: CLOP.

2. Pledge in court: OATH.

3. Dorothy Gale's pup: TOTO.

6. Called up: RANG.

7. MMA decision: TKO.  As in Mixed Martial Arts and a Technical KnockOut.

10. Connect via Bluetooth, say: PAIR.  What, exactly, is Bluetooth?  Bluetooth technology is named after Danish and Norwegian King Harald “Bluetooth” Gormsson.  He was known for uniting (pairing) Norway and Denmark in 958.  

11. Swore: PLED.

12. Stitches (up): SEWS.

21. Consume: EAT.

23. Texter's "Gimme a sec": BRB.  Textspeak for Be Right Back.

25. Freeloading sort: MOOCH.

26. Following behind: IN TOW.

27. Like an arctic winter: HARSH.

28. Beer with sushi, maybe: ASAHI.

29. "The Great Gatsby" novelist F. __ Fitzgerald: SCOTT.  The Great Gatsby, which was published in 1925, focuses millionaire Jay Gatsby and his pursuit of love for the beautiful Daisy Buchanan.  The novel is narrated by Nick Carraway, a young man who becomes acquainted with Gatsby and witnesses his extravagant life and the tragic consequences of his desire.  The novel has been adapted into many movie versions.  The Great Gatsby is arguably the best known novel by Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald (Sept. 24, 1896 ~ Dec. 21, 1940).

30. Open eagerly, as a present: RIP AT.

31. Not quite jumbo: LARGE.

32. Up-and-down toys: YOYOs.

35. Pungent bulb: ONION.

44. Bird on the Australian coat of arms: EMU.  The Australian shield is held up by the native Australian animals the kangaroo and the emu, which were chosen to symbolize a nation moving forward, based on the fact that neither animal can move backwards easily.

46. Small batteries: AAs.

48. Oozes: SEEPS.

49. Real troublemakers: IMPS.

50. Chanel model Delevingne: CARA.  Cara Jocelyn Delevingne (b. Aug. 12, 1992) is an English model and actress.

51. Academic hurdle: EXAM.

52. Betelgeuse, for one: STAR.  Betelgeuse is a red supergiant star located in the constellation Orion.  The name Betelguese is derived from the Arabic term bat al-jawzāʾ, which means “the giant's shoulder."

53. Mont Blanc's range: ALPS.  Also the name of an expensive pen.

54. On an even __: stable: KEEL.

55. With just a bit of spice: EDGY.

58. Citrus drink suffix: -ADE.  And a shout-out to our friend Lemonade.

~~~~~~
Many thanks to Rusty Brain for taking the Tuesday spot while I was away.

See you next week!

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