Saturday, February 19, 2022, Evan Kalish

 Themeless Saturday by Evan Kalish

I had to walk away several times to get this one to unfold corner by corner. I'll tell you where I struggled as I go through the write-up. Here are Evan's generous comments:

Hey Gary, 

When I first developed this puzzle in May 2020 I thought this grid was a great for developing interesting—and intersecting—stacks. The seed was the final across entry (clued as: [A masterpiece!]), which was a fairly novel entry at the time and, in my mind, perfectly placed. I always try to incorporate as many unique answers as possible in my themeless grids without sacrificing fill quality. While this 66-word grid meant I couldn’t include as many novel entries from my personal word list as I might like, I was pleased by XWord Info's Freshness Factor analysis of the grid!Clue-wise I was pleased that my proposals for COMING OUT, MOUNT SINAI, and EMPTY NESTS made the cut. Re: the latter, while I’m not a parent I’ve found that I often try to incorporate some aspect of the parenting experience into my cluing. I was a bit sad that a couple of my other angles didn’t make the cut, but that comes with the territory. Rejected clues included:

— Figures considered nobility in “Flatland” (OCTAGONS)

— Sources of unattended towels, to some hotel "souvenir” seekers (POOL AREAS)

— Occasions for some high-profile appearances? (BAD HAIR DAYS)

Finally, I liked the mirroring clues of BLEH and ICK, as well as the reference to “Arrival” for ETs.

Thank you for all for solving. I hope you enjoyed the puzzle!

Evan

As many of you will remember, Evan's hobby is collecting photos of post office around the country and he has visited over 10,000 of them. Here's his website: Postlandia. 

CBS recently did a CBS Morning piece of disappearing post offices which included a lovely interview with Evan.

Answer

Across:

1. Store sign words suggesting longevity: OPEN SINCE - This clothing store in our town just closed last December after having been OPEN SINCE 1925.

10. Confess: OWN UP.

15. Ellen Morgan's revelation in a 1997 episode of "Ellen," e.g.: COMING OUT - Hilariously!

16. Awesome relative: NEATO - NEATO seems a little less emotional and more dated than the much-overused Awesome

17. The blue ribbon: TOP HONORS - Not always

18. Activation key: ENTER.

19. Genre qualifier: ALT - My dad and his brothers loved Country Music growing up. ALTernate Country of today would not work for them

20. New __: drink that made a comeback in 2019: COKE - It was reintroduced in limited quantities to support its use in the Netflix series Stranger Things

21. Chem class measuring technique: PH TEST - New Coke has a pH of approximately 2.5

22. New Orleans' Cafe Lafitte in Exile is one of the oldest of these still operating: GAY BARS.

24. Fiddler, for one: CRAB.

25. Baroque: ORNATE - GILDED? Nope.

26. Aleichem who created Tevye: SHOLEM - Aleichem SHOLEM's stories of Tevye And His Daughters formed the basis for the very successful play and film Fiddler On The Roof. More background

28. Obligations: NEEDS.

29. Surpass by skipping: LEAP FROG 

31. Badge holder: SASH.

He has all 135 Merit Badges

32. Sheds: MOLTS.

33. Bottom lines, often: SUMS - The SUM for our 55th anniversary dinner Thursday night was $91 with no appetizers and a free dessert

35. Big parks: STADIUMS.

37. Apt rhyme for "cents": PENCE - A British PENCE = $0.0138

38. Time out: SIESTA.

39. Role played by a sufferer, maybe: MARTYR.

40. "Phooey!": RATS

41. Adds to the cost of: MARKS UP.

42. Hardly lasting: SHODDY - A SHODDY Nebraska soddy. 

45. Paycheck signer: BOSS.

46. #34, familiarly: IKE - Between HST and JFK

47. Notes featuring Atatürk: LIRAS - This drove me crazy until it dawned on me.

200 Turkish LIRA is about $14.80

48. Threaten to isolate: CLOSE IN ON.

50. Terse farewell: OK BYE 

51. Drying agent: DESICCANT.

52. Thompson of "Westworld": TESSA.

53. Satisfied cook's gesture: CHEF'S KISS 

Taylor must have really
liked something

Down:

1. Stop signs, usually: OCTAGONS.

Even in Montreal
and Paris

2. Places where you might see butterflies: POOL AREAS - Oh, that butterfly!

3. Sources of some college-years woes: EMPTY NESTS - Oh, from the parent's point of view. 

4. Bethesda research org.: NIH and 48. Org. in much recent news: CDC are searching for a 8. Solution: CURE for Covid

5. Arctic travelers: SNOCATS.

6. Mute, say: IGNORE - Find it

7. Secluded spots: NOOKS.

9. Arrivals in "Arrival" (2016): ETS - Can Professor Louise Banks communicate with the ETS and save the world?

10. Fair share, at times: ONE HALF.

11. Wigged out: WENT BERSERK.

12. "Mom" actor Corddry: NATE - His IMDB

13. Colorado tribe: UTES - Were they all underage?

14. Left on a liner: PORT - Not starboard

21. Respect, in slang: PROPS - Proper respect

23. Personal management problems: BAD HAIR DAYS 

24. Text exchanges, say: CHATS 

26. Film that ends with a King's speech: SELMA.

27. Big name in tablets?: MOUNT SINAI - Oh, those tablets! No electronics or pills.

29. Big lugs: LOUTS.

30. Chevy Tahoe counterparts: GMC YUKONS - They're both huge

32. Like eyes betraying nostalgia: MISTY.

34. Caduceus pair: SERPENTS - Hawkeye hardly ever wore his

36. Israeli border lake: DEAD SEA.

37. Interstellar measures: PARSECS - What is a PARSEC?

39. Mountain formation: MASSIF - What is a MASSIF?

41. Bullwinkle J. __: MOOSE - Best friend of Rocket J. Squirrel

42. __ car: toy racer: SLOT - A SLOT for every car and every car in its SLOT

43. Raise: HIKE 

44. Travelers in distant circles: ORBS - We are finding out that some of those distant travelers are Earth-like ORBS going around distant suns. 

45. "Keep that away from me!": BLEH.

49. "Keep that away from me!": ICK.

Saturday, October 3, 2020, Evan Kalish

Saturday Themeless by Evan Kalish

Today's constructor is our much-travelled "10-K post office" aficionado Evan Kalish (he has visited and photographed over 10,000 post offices). Here is Evan's reflections on this puzzle

Hi Gary,

This puzzle took shape at 4 a.m. one night in July 2018, though I would revise the SW corner a few months later (during daylight hours). My goal was to start off the puzzle with a bang: three modern spoken / colloquial phrases, and the grid flowed from there.

I was glad that Rich kept some of my favorite clues: AURORA (12-D); INUIT (16-A, a place I’d always thought would be fun to visit); and AMPS (49-A). It is also worth noting that the clue for 44-A—YALELAW: Alma mater of about half the Supreme Court, is in need of an update; it is presently exactly half the Supreme Court. Your memory is a blessing, Justice Ginsburg.

Oddly enough I’d considered visiting both 30-A (the DAKOTAs) and 50-D (American SAMOA) this year before, well, 2020 "happened.” American Samoa is home to the only U.S. Post Office south of the Equator! At the end of January I visited my 10,000th post office: the 1940 Century Station post office in Culver City, California. This photo was taken at that time, a.k.a. five years ago.

Since March I, like many others, have spent a lot of time constructing crosswords. This velvety boy was kind enough to lend me some inspiration a couple of months back.

Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night will stay me from the swift completion of my appointed blog:

Across:

1. Handle the roasting: TAKE A JOKE - The good natured Dean Martin roasts devolved into the mean-spirited and profane Comedy Central Roasts 

10. Large amounts: LOADS.

15. Words of exasperation: I CAN'T EVEN.

16. Like most residents of Nunavut: INUIT 

17. Ironic lead-in to stating the obvious: NEWSFLASH - Here's a real NEWSFLASH: Husker fans are glad to see football and volleyball are coming back

18. Slowly consume: NURSE unless you say 20. Request while extending a glass: I'LL HAVE SOME 

19. Org. created in 2001: TSA - All-in-all the Transportation Security Agency has done a good job

22. Light-footed: SPRY - She's 91

24. Disney princess voiced by Kristen Bell: ANNA.

25. Genre in a battle, perhaps: RAP - Yes "Battle RAP" is a real thing where contestants compete to see who can say the most vicious and insulting things to the other. What could possibly go wrong? 26. Pandemonium: CHAOS.

28. Flakes in boxes: CEREALS.

30. Territory from 1861 to 1889: DAKOTA 

32. Branches: SECTS - Some SECTS have broken away because of their views on sex

33. Dove headfirst, maybe: SLID.

34. Surreptitious sip source: FLASK - Prohibition was the mother of invention 

36. __ hammer: CLAW.

40. "Quo Vadis" director Mervyn __: LEROY - His IMDB

42. Area of influence: SPHERE.

44. Alma mater of about half the Supreme Court: YALE LAW - Alito, Sotomayor, Thomas and Kavanaugh. (See Evan's note above)

47. On the level: LEGIT.

48. Long beginning?: ERE - George M Cohan lyric: "Give my regards to Old Broadway
And say that I'll be there, ''ERE long"

49. Measures of current events?: AMPS - Electric current 

51. Nepali wrap: SARI.

52. Briskly depart: SCAMPER AWAY 

55. Hogwash: ROT.

58. Nets: MAKES - After deductions 

59. Lecturer's "My bad": I MISSPOKE - It's 64. Obvious: EASY TO SEE I didn't mean that or didn't think it through

61. "Skyfall" singer: ADELE - A James Bond themer

62. "Dang!": CONSARN IT.

63. Ones who rarely skip class: NERDS.


Down:

1. Add some contrast to: TINT.

2. High pair: ACES - In Texas Hold 'Em they're called pocket rockets 

3. Jet Ski maker: KAWASAKI.

4. Two for dinner?: ENS - diNNer 

5. Before digging deeper: AT FIRST - Constructing crosswords seems easy AT FIRST glance

6. Kids' sandwich ingredient: JELLY - Hey, this kid's 74 and loves a PB&J

7. Like zeroes: OVAL - Sometimes a zero is written Ø to eliminate any confusion

8. "Die Young" singer: KESHA - Google her sexual anthem at will

9. Increases in desirability: ENHANCES - If ENHANCING something makes you feel better, go for it

10. Illustrations without shades and hues: LINE ART.

11. Heavy weight: ONUS.

12. Highlights?: AURORA - The Kirknese Snowhotel in Norway offers beautiful access to the AURORA Borealis

13. Really bad: DISMAL - My poor KC Royals have become DISMAL after a World Series win in 2015. They couldn't afford to keep everyone. 

14. Soaks: STEEPS - STEEP times

21. Tee choices: V-NECKS.

23. Toy with curly hair: POODLE - Ah, our toy dogs reappear

26. Media with narrow tracks: CDS - About 1.6 microns or .0000016 meter

27. Movie villain that reads lips: HAL.

29. "Relativity" artist: ESCHER.

31. Slopeside sight: A-FRAME.

32. "... to name one": SAY - "SAY I give you a raise in your allowance, what will you do?"

35. Ad come-on: LOW PRICE.

37. "Cool Hand Luke" restraints: LEG IRONS.

38. Chase Field team, on scoreboards: ARI - Phoenix Diamondbacks 

39. __ paint: WET.

41. Goes by: ELAPSES - Get all six before time ELAPSES and you win big bucks. Here's the first category:

43. Doesn't do seriously: PLAYS AT.

44. Boss-pleasing guy: YES MAN.

45. "The Suburbs" Grammy-winning indie rock band __ Fire: ARCADE - Here ya go

46. Secret source: LEAKER - Watergate's was called Deep Throat 

50. American __: SAMOA - It is about 76 miles from Apia, the capital of Samoa, and Pago Pago, the capital of American SAMOA. (We had Apia, Samoa in Jeff Stillman's Wednesday puzzle)

51. Showing 'tude: SASSY.

53. Merge: MELD - Nebraska Volleyball has been able to MELD girls from Nebraska and all over the county into national championship teams.

54. Standings column: WINS - Those MELDED Husker Volleyballers have more WINS than any other Division I team

56. Arkansan's neighbor: OKIE - Arky Vaughn was a Hall-Of-Fame baseball player mostly for the Pirates and was born in Clifty, Arkansas. 

57. Nice place for a cap?: TETE - Ceci est une casquette portée sur votre TETE de Nice, France (This is a cap worn on your head in Nice, France)

60. Behind: PRO - Not Anti 

Does Evan's puzzle get your stamp of approval? Comment below.