Saturday, April 13, 2024, Enrique Henestroza Anguiano

Saturday Themeless by Enrique Henestroza Anguiano

This is my fourth LA Saturday themeless with Enrique who has a background in computational linguistics.The puzzle gave me fits as some of the cluing was, to borrow a crossword we have seen here

         

Yes, Enrique has a lot of white real estate in his construction with 98 open squares (squares that don't touch a border or a block). The stack of three grid spanners is impressive! 

As usual, I skated around and enjoyed most of the puzzle, however, I had one Natick at 27 Down/Across and could not come up with a Japanese breaded cutlet or a 3-letter name for an actor named Penn. I'll take my one bad cell and try to face tomorrow! 

This just in: Yeah, I know we had KATSU in Tuesday's puzzle but I did Enrique's puzzle before Zachary's Tuesday construction. The consolation is that I did get KATSU on Tuesday. 😊

Across:

1. Way to play music that's a hit?: SLAP BASS 😀 - Yup, he's hitting or SLAPPING that BASS

9. Words after a deep breath: I'M CALM.

15. Where the action is?: MOVIE SET 😀

16. The __ Brothers: "Black Water" band: DOOBIE - A fun listen

17. Egg option: OVER EASY.

18. Position: ORIENT - A recent activity of mine

19. Mulligans: REDOS - In a friendly game of golf you can request a mulligan or to REDO a shot. Our group allows one on the front 9 and one on the back. Some guys never take one. It can also be used if you say or do anything you wish you had not, "I'd like to take a mulligan on that!"

20. Lavender brew: HERBAL TEA.

22. Jacob's twin: ESAU.

23. Unagi roll fish: EELS.

24. "Food's getting cold!": EAT.

27. "The Namesake" actor Penn: KAL - When I looked him up, he was more familiar to me as Kumar of Harold and Kumar but I still would not have had to guess at the first letter of his name.

28. Big Mac rivals?: PCS 🤨 - Enrique, I have never called my Mac computer big! Yeah, I know, it's a big rival not a Big Mac. 

31. Four-part cooking series starring Samin Nosrat: SALT FAT ACID HEAT.

37. "How's about this instead!?": I GOT A BETTER IDEA - I had to swap out ANOTHER for A BETTER. 

38. Election system that gets the press involved?: PAPERLESS VOTING - 😀 Yes, you press a button or icon and do not put a mark on a piece of paper.

39. Alums-to-be: SRS - The SRS where I teach are handing out grad party invites this time of year.

40. Big bird: EMU.

41. Shortish releases: EPS - Back when vinyl ruled the world, Extended PlayS held more music than a 45 but less than an album. This group made one with four songs, not two, you can get this EP record on eBay for $150.

42. Instrument once plucked with a quill: LUTE.

44. "Who's this under?": NAME 😀 Uh, Mr. and Mrs. John Smith...

48. Hot pockets?: EMPANADAS.

53. Sunny?: SOLAR 😀 - Some crops flourish under solar panels as their rotation following the sun gives just the right amount of sun and shade.

54. Friendly gesture: HAT TIP.

55. Ulaanbaatar's country: MONGOLIA.

VW96+R47 Unnamed Road, 
Ulaanbaatar 17025, Mongolia

57. "You're making me blush!": OH STOP.

58. Oktoberfest snacks: PRETZELS.

59. Pushes boundaries?: WIDENS.

60. Be reasonable: SEE SENSE.

Down:

1. Food contraction that omits "ome": S'MORE - Short for SOME MORE. A word invented in a 1938 summer camping manual

2. Melts for: LOVES - See picture above for melting everyone LOVES

3. Estée Lauder subsidiary: AVEDA.

4. Spin on a classic ballet performance?: PIROUETTE.

5. Some queens: BEES 😀

6. "Hugo" actor Butterfield: ASA - The Hindi version

7. Brief meeting?: SESH - Short for session and seen in cwds more and more frequently

8. Eye annoyance: STYE.

9. "We Shall Overcome" phrase: I DO BELIEVE.

10. Principled: MORAL.

11. Tesla stock?: COILS - Nikolai Tesla sat inside his invention for publicity. I had a smaller Tesla Coil in my classroom.

12. Help with a heist: ABET - Michael J. Pollard, on the right, played C.W. Moss who drove the getaway car for the 1967 movie Bonnie and Clyde. 

13. "I forgot what to say!": LINE - What an actor says when he is lost and needs a prompt 

14. Threads owner: META.

21. Posts a GIF, perhaps: REACTS - I do that often. A picture is worth a thousand words!                                               

25. Miles away: AFAR.

26. Some Apple Design Award winners: TABLET APPS.

27. Breaded cutlet dish: KATSU - Who knew (before last Tuesday)?

28. Mani-__: PEDI.

29. William the Conqueror's burial place: CAEN - 32 miles from Omaha Beach

30. Single party election?: STAG - These guys elected to have no women at this party

31. Small suctions on cups?: SIPS 😀

32. Vegan gelatin substitute: AGAR.

33. Cuts (off): LOPS.

34. Overflowed: TEEMED.

35. Release: DROP - A British airman in WWI gets ready to DROP a bomb from the gondola of an airship

36. Prepare to go out again?: 😀 HIT SNOOZE - This took me awhile.

42. Chai __: LATTE.

43. Labor group: UNION.

45. "It's Not Me, It's You" singer Lily: ALLEN.

46. Sends flying, perhaps: MAILS 

47. Rub off: ERASE.

48. Site with step-by-step guides: E-HOW.

49. Fish tacos choice, on menus: MAHI - Enrique, no hint on the double name in the clue? C'mon! 😀 Half fish taco choice...

50. Condition that may respond to CBT or LSD: PTSD - A thoughtful article

51. Boomers at a concert?: AMPS.

The Grateful Dead's Wall Of Sound

52. Sensitive: SORE.

53. NCOs who know the drill: SGTS.

56. Jennifer Affleck, __ Lopez: NEE - Yes, she changed her name.

Saturday, December 9, 2023, Enrique Henestorza Anquiano

 Themeless Saturday by Enrique Henestroza Anquiano

I’m a data scientist from Oakland, CA, with a background in computational linguistics. I fully dove into crosswords as a daily solver and then constructor in 2019, and I love that both sides have allowed me to continually engage with everything I love about language, wordplay, and even coding. I also appreciate the friends I’ve made so far through this great community. 

As a forever Simpson's fan, here's a photo of me noshing on "The Homer" from Voodoo donuts in Portland.

This is my third Saturday themeless puzzle of Enrique's I have blogged and I have been able to solve them in great time while being entertained. This one took some time for me to break loose but it all came together. The three horizontal and one vertical grid spanners were very helpful. 

Across:

1. All over the place: GLOBAL.

7. Period: TERM - When I got my BS, our TERM was 15 weeks (trimesters) and not 18.

11. Chilled: COOLED IT - (2:43)

13. Absorb: SOP UP and 15. Need after spilling the tea?: MOP - Crosswords recently taught me that "spilling the tea" can also be gossiping which might require other actions.

14. Features of "Step by Step" and "Sister, Sister": BLENDED FAMILIES - I don't have any idea why Enrique didn't use the Brady Bunch 🤔

 

16. Gets rid of: LOSES - This sense is conciously getting rid of something as opposed to misplacing it.

17. Chips away at: ERODES - Living with a seaside view is a two-edged sword

18. Fertility clinic cells: OVA.

19. Made shorter: SNIPPED OFF - Yeah, I thought of that too...

23. "Save it for the honeymoon!": GET A ROOM - Too much PDA for Rodney!

26. Vietnamese garment: AO DAI - The  ÁO DÀI dress.

27. Small bucks and does: RABBITS 😀

30. Play a proper noun in Scrabble, say: ERR - I'm pretty sure ASMRIST (from two weeks ago) won't work either.

31. Declaration after a trial?: FOR REAL THIS TIME - Do you suppose Mickey Rooney said that for all eight of his marriages? 

36. Honor for David Oyelowo: Abbr.: OBE - Order of the British Empire. He played MLK in the movie Selma.

37. Astonished cry: DEAR GOD.

38. "But to no __": AVAIL.

41. Does as ordered?: TENDS BAR 😀 Some of you will recognize this man who TENDS BAR and the iconic TV show where he appeared. (*answer at bottom)

45. Craft goods that might be barrel-aged: MICRO BREWS - The difference between Craft Beer and MICRO BREWS

48. Classified letters: OBO - Or Best Offer

49. Resident of Number One Observatory Circle since 2021: HARRIS - The traditional home of the Vice-President

50. Enviable trait: ASSET.

52. "You really don't want to go there": AVOID AT ALL COSTS - That can mean a location or a topic of discussion

56. No-goodnik: LOUSE.

57. Paper clips?: ARTICLES 😀

58. Precursor to a deal: ANTE - Pay to play

59. Like some pop-up clinics: TENTED - Here's one for Covid shots that was just outside Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo.

Down:

1. Tackles: GOES AT.

2. Single: LONE and 51. Single: SOLE.Was Oswald the LONE or SOLE shooter?

3. "Grey Girl" poet Sharon: OLDS - The text of Grey Girl. Crossword car guy Ransom Eli Olds gets Saturday off.

4. Bumbling sort?: BEE 😀

5. Sum things up: ADD.

6. Anti-mimetic position held by Oscar Wilde: LIFE IMITATES ART - Mimetic means miming behavior you see in others. Oscar Wilde was a famous iconoclast who definitely went his own way.

7. Largest Ohio city that doesn't start with "C": TOLEDO.

8. Film with a boy named Anakin, familiarly: EPISODE I 

9. "You'll __ the day!": RUE.

10. House of Commons reps: MPS - Members Of Parliament

11. Garam masala ingredient: CLOVE.

12. Grounds crew's roll: TARP and 34. Grounds crew's roll: SOD. 😀

13. Hit home?: SIDE A - This took a while to see SIDE A is the home of the hit side of a record as opposed to the SIDE B. Here's the Top 5 A-Side/B-Side hits of all time and highest ranking obtained:

  1.  DON'T BE CRUEL / HOUND DOG - Elvis Presley  (1956)  

        RCA Records 47-6604   (Peaks:  A-Side -  1 / B-Side -  1)

   2.  COME TOGETHER / SOMETHING - The Beatles  (1969)

         Apple Records 2654  (Peaks:  A-Side - 1 / B-Side - 2)

   3.  TRAVELIN' MAN / HELLO, MARY LOU - Rick Nelson  (1961)

         Imperial Records 5741  (Peaks:  A-Side - 1 / B-Side - 9)

   4.  DOWN ON THE CORNER / FORTUNATE SON - Creedence Clearwater Revival  (1969)

         Fantasy Records 634   (Peakes:  A-Side - 3 / B-Side - 6)

   5.  HEY JUDE / REVOLUTION - The Beatles  (1968)

         Apple Records 2276   (Peaks:  A-Side - 1 / B-Side - 11)

14. WordPress.com offering: BLOG - Not what we use here.

19. Just wretched: SO BAD.

20. To the manor born: NOBLE.

21. Amass goods repetitively, in video games: FARM - The process of going through the same set of tasks to accumulate some specific set of resources or wealth in a video game. You're welcome.

22. Dumpster __: FIRE - Also a euphemism for a hopeless person or situation. Husker football comes to mind.

24. Talk Like a Pirate Day sound: ARR.

25. "Hair Love" voice actress: RAE.

Issa RAE.         

28. Organized: THREW - The Royal family THREW an impressive coronation for King Charles

This is a slideshow

29. Traces: SIGNS - Parks don't want you to leave any

31. __ roller: FOAM.

32. Curt "Duh": OBVIously

33. Try to touch or get in touch: REACH OUT - Today one does not call or write, they REACH OUT to someone 

35. Reasons for WRs to dance: TDS or...

39. Aggressive response to a bluff: I RAISE.

40. "Solar Power" singer-songwriter: LORDE - From 11/28/23 puzzle: "14. Poet/activist Lorde: AUDRE."

42. Ordered: BOSSED.

43. Plans a nice getaway?: ABETS - 😀 That makes you as guilty as the perpetrators

44. Turns: ROTS.

46. Cosabella product: BRA - Google all the images you want

47. Moreno in two "West Side Story" films: RITA.

1961                         2021

50. No. on a bank statement: ACCT.

52. __ provençale: ALA - Of, relating to, or characteristic of Provence or the people of Provence or Provençale: cooked with garlic, onion, mushrooms, tomato, olive oil, and herbs.

53. Artist Dutch whose name became a fashion brand: VON.

54. Cell service letters: LTE - On my iPhone the four bars show the strength of my LTE (Long Term Evolution) signal. The next symbol shows I am using WiFI and not cell towers.

55. Former NBAer Jeremy: LIN - He was the first NBA player of Taiwanese descent, a Harvard grad and the hottest thing in basketball in 2012.

*That bartender was Sam Noonan (played by George Strange) who tended bar for Miss Kitty at the Long Branch Saloon on the show Gunsmoke 

 

Notes from C.C.:

Happy birthday to our caring and sharp-witted Tuesday Sherpa Hahtoolah (Susan), who's vacationing at the moment. Splynter will guide us for the next few weeks.