Saturday December 31, 2022, Evan Mulvihill

 Saturday Themeless by Evan Mulvihil

This is Evan's first solo Saturday puzzle for me. He and Adam Simpson co-authored one on November 5 of this year. I told Evan we must be of similar minds because I got this one done in 17 minutes and had fun in the process!

Evan told me, "I am a­ clinical pharmacist at Zuckerberg, San Francisco General, a crossword constructor and lover or all things word-play related."

Across:

1. Accessory that may be paired with a smoking jacket: ASCOT.

6. "Euphoria" network: HBO.

9. Okra or orca unit: POD - Orca/Okra similarity did not get me

12. Like pins and needles: PLURAL.

14. "I cleaned my plate!": ALL DONE.

16. Largest moon of Uranus: TITANIA.

18. Many of the "GoodFellas" main characters: MADE MEN - In the American and Sicilian Mafia, a MADE MAN is a fully initiated member of the Mafia. To become "made", an associate first must be Italian or of Italian descent and sponsored by another made man. An inductee will be required to take the oath of omertà, the Mafia code of silence and code of honor. 

19. Behavioral psychologist's concern: PATTERN.

21. Squash: STEP ON.

22. Account statement?: SWORN TESTIMONY - Your account of what happened while under oath is SWORN TESTIMONY but still...

24. Maureen presented with an Honorary Academy Award in 2014: O'HARA - Presented by Clint Eastwood and Liam Neeson

25. Buff: FAN - I am a Husker buff. 

26. Kermit sipping tea and Keanu playing with puppies: MEMES.

27. Clothing store department: BOYS.

28. Turn in: GO TO BED.

30. Psyche segments: IDS.

31. Border dispute: TURF WAR - The most famous one in the movies was the Sharks vs Jets

32. Corp. execs: VPS.

35. Puzzle that uses every letter: PANGRAM.

36. Athlete who wrote the memoir "My Life and the Beautiful Game": PELE.

37. Drained of color: ASHEN.

40. Poetic dusk: EEN.

41. "Being the Ricardos" role: ARNAZ - The actual 1940 marriage license for Desiderio Alberto ARNAZ and Lucille Desiree Ball

42. Robin DiAngelo book about race relations: WHITE FRAGILITY.

45. "Very funny": HA HA HA.

46. Shut up: KEPT MUM - A requirement of all who worked on The Manhattan Project

47. "Did not expect to survive that": I'M ALIVE.

49. Like some passes: LATERAL - Here is a forward pass and two LATERAL passes (passes that do not travel toward the opponent's goal line)

51. "Hm ... ": LET'S SEE.

52. Have the gumption: DARE TO.

53. Mag wheels?: EDS - EDitorS are big wheels at MAGazines 

54. Archipelago part: Abbr.: ISL - Here in The Marianas Archipelago you will find the ISLand of Tinian from which the Enola Gay took off on August 6, 1945

55. Portends: BODES.

Down:

1. Apropos: APT.

2. Careless: SLIPSHOD.

3. Film flashbacks, essentially: CUTAWAYS - Titanic starts with Rose in modern times with the crew searching for the diamond called The Heart Of The Ocean. The bulk of the movie is a flashback to her time on the doomed ocean liner.

4. Figures of speech: ORATORS.

5. Mystical text in Sanskrit: TANTRA - Here ya go

6. Scenery chewer: HAM - I nominate Jim Carrey 

7. Heck of a party: BLAST.

8. Honoree who might wear a vintage uniform: OLD TIMER - Do you know these old Yankees? (* Answer at the bottom of the write-up)

9. Santa hat feature: POM POM.

10. Impossible NFL score: ONE ONE.

11. Chain with "all day diner deals": DENNYS.

13. Property claim for outstanding debt: LIEN.

15. Held: DEEMED.

17. Master of disguise?: ART FORGER - I'd bet our art curator/puzzle constructor, Jeffrey Wechsler, could spot the work of this person

20. One whose priorities are in order?: NEAT FREAK.

23. Winter figure: SNOW ANGEL.

24. Sash tied with a butterfly knot: OBI.

28. Staple __: GUN.

29. "Just like that!": BAM.

31. "Between the World and Me" writer Coates: TANEHISI.

32. Hazarded, as a guess: VENTURED.

33. Schoolyard friend: PLAYMATE.

34. "__ who?": SEZ - Mike wrote thousands of columns for the Chicago Tribune and always wrote exactly what he thought.

35. Potpourri pieces: PETALS.

36. First, in Spanish: PRIMERO - PRIMERO, segundo y tercero (First, second and third. masc.)

37. For a spell: AWHILE.

38. Brought low: SHAMED.

39. Kit parts with pedals: HIHATS - I'll bet you can pick out this part

41. Window-switching shortcut: ALT TAB.

43. Top picks, slangily: FAVES.

44. Apple TV+ device: IPAD.

48. Unadon fish: EEL.

50. "__ Espookys": 6-Across comedy series: LOS - Variety confirmed that on December 2, HBO canceled Los Espookys, the spookiest, weirdest, and most original comedy on television. Here is the weirdest 2 minute trailer you will ever see.

* Those Old Timer Yankees are Mickey Mantle, Yogi Berra, Whitey Ford, Joe DiMaggio and Casey Stengel. 

Saturday, November 5, 2022, Evan Mulvihill, Adam Simpson

  Saturday Themeless by Evan Mulvihill and Adam Simpson

Across:

1. Tree whose leaves are ground and dried to make filé powder: SASSAFRAS - So that is what Hank Williams was singing about.

10. Set cymbals: HI-HAT.

15. Wind pitched in G: ALTO FLUTE - Here with a curved or straight head

16. Meditative posture: ASANA.

17. Part of a mane event?: LION TAMER - 😋

18. Fine cuts: SLITS.

19. Puff pen: E-CIG.

20. Many a Dickens child: WAIF - Here are some WAIFS in a production of A Christmas Carol

21. Going rates: FARES and 45. Part of a fleet: CAB.

22. Triple __: SEC - An orange-flavored liqueur 

23. "Seasons of Love" musical: RENT - or... Musical based on Puccini's La Boheme 

24. Low noise: RUMBLE.

25. Big name in country music: JUDD - Mom Naomi died on April 30 of this year

26. Japanese title of respect: SAN.

27. Web portal co.: AOL.

28. PC nexus: LAN - Local Area Network does not require the internet.

29. Insurrection: COUP.

31. Nice range: ALPS - Nice doesn't fool crossword vets. 

Nice, France

32. Game room fixture: PING PONG TABLE - BILLIARD fit first after I saw TABLE

35. Victoria, for one: LAKE.

36. Maker of MYDAL bunk beds: IKEA.

37. Judy Woodruff's longtime network: PBS.

38. Verb attachment: OSE - VERBOSE or here's 78 of them

39. Springfield bartender Szyslak: MOE - This Halloween you could have gone as MOE, Homer Simpson's bartender.

40. Perlman of "The Mindy Project": RHEA - Yeah, I know, she'll always be Carla from Cheers

42. Recipe words: STIR IN.

44. Kerfuffles: ADOS.

48. Stuffed shells: TACOS.

49. "This Is What America Looks Like: My Journey From Refugee to Congresswoman" writer: OMAR.

50. Multiparty merger statement?: WE DO.

51. Cut down to size: ABASE.

52. Like some series finales: MIDSEASON - New for me:

What’s a MIDSEASON Finale? 

First, a midseason finale is the last episode of a traditional, weekly-airing television season before it goes on hiatus for a month or more. It may be called a winter finale or even a fall finale, but they all mean the same thing: Your show won’t be back on the air for a while. 

54. Harder to come by: RARER.

55. Handy bookmark for a note-taker: INDEX CARD.

56. Head lock: TRESS - 😋

57. Bear markets?: TOY STORES - 😋

Down:

1. Corporate department: SALES.

2. Chef and farm-to-table pioneer Waters: ALICE.

3. Not easily moved: STOIC.

4. Dance partner?: SONG - Of all the wonderful Mary Tyler Moore scenes, this is one of my very favorites

5. Forward's opposite: AFT - The AFT of the Titanic rose high into the air before sinking

6. Far from perfect: FLAWED.

7. Cuba libre: RUM AND COKE.

8. Had an epic fail: ATE IT - I bought a Beta Max camera and player

9. Feudal laborer: SERF.

10. Lives it up: HAS FUN.

11. Belief of more than 2 billion people: ISLAM.

12. Downside of some self-cleaning: HAIRBALLS - No problem here because Lily gets brushed very frequently

13. Dik-dik or gerenuk: ANTELOPE - A dik -dik      A gerenuk

14. Cornstalk toppers: TASSELS - I made big money hiring hundreds of kids every summer for 23 years to DETASSEL corn to make hybrid seeds. Why it is done.

23. Step up: RUNG - Quickly! 

24. Moonstruck: RAPT.

25. Homicide detective Rizzoli of "Rizzoli & Isles": JANE - The character and her portrayer 

26. Caramel lollipop in a yellow-and-red wrapper: SUGAR DADDY - Memories of my misspent yute 

28. "Whatevs": LIKE I CARE - When did "I could care less" equate to "I couldn't care less"?

30. Number of World Series wins for the Nationals: ONE - World Champions in 2019. Worst record in MLB in 2022.

31. Quartet with the 2021 album "Voyage": ABBA - Forty years after their last concert, ABBA got together again, had themselves digitized, filmed a new concert with 160 cameras, incredible lighting and sound that made for an unbelievable concert! Harbinger of more to come?

32. Where elbows might be on the table?: PASTA BAR.

33. Subatomic particle: PION - Good luck!

34. Parrots: APES - APE/APING/APER are cwd standards for imitating.

35. Skill rarely practiced now: LOST ART -????

39. Tightwads: MISERS.

41. Mounts: HORSES.

43. Blush wines: ROSÉS.

44. __ acid: AMINO.

45. Animal expert Millan: CESAR - Many of his dog training skills work in the classroom!

46. Truly cherish: ADORE.

47. Portfolio option: BONDS.

49. Forget about: OMIT.

50. Baylor University site: WACO.

53. No. after a no.: EXT - How 'bout some Excel code to handle phone extensions