Friday, June 27, 2025, Caroline Hand

Good Morning, Cruciverbalists.  Welcome to the Crossword Corner mixer.  What is a bit out of the ordinary, today, is that, thanks to the imagination of our constructor, Caroline Hand, it is the drinks themselves that are doing the mingling with each other.  Let's start with the reveal:

62 Across:  Cocktails, and what 18-/39-Across and 24-/54-Across literally are?: MIXED DRINKS.  This was a case where the reveal was, indeed, helpful in figuring out what was going on in the grid.  Also, thank you, Caroline, for "pairing up" the drinks.  It certainly made things easier to sort out.  At four places in the puzzle the names of mixed drinks get taken apart and then re-assembled in order to answer the clues:

18 Across:  Innie or outie, in Paris?:  In one regard, a bellybutton reference.  FRENCH NAVEL and 39 Across:  Poor internet service?: FUZZY CONNECTION.  

A Fuzzy Navel and a French Connection get mixed up with each other.

24 Across:  Result of applying bright yellow polish?: LEMON NAIL and 54 Across:  Feature of an old iron roller coaster?: RUSTY DROP.  

A Lemon Drop and a Rusty Nail switch partners.

This is how it all looks in the grid:

... and the rest of the attendees:

Across:

1. Set: PUT.  As in to place something on a table or shelf (or in its place).  See also 13 Down.

4. Very Cherry Twist soda brand: SHASTA.

10. Back up: CLOG.  As in the hairs stuck in the drain are CLOGging up your bathroom sink.

14. Actress de Armas: ANA.

15. Risks: PERILS.  Used as a plural noun.  As in:

16. Robust: HALE.  Free from infirmity or illness.

17. Brief "Blah, blah, blah": ETC.  Yadda, yadda, yadda.

20. Safari roarer: LION.

22. End __ high note: ON A.

23. Viper roll fish: EEL.  This solver had never heard of a Viper Roll but it was easy enough to figure this one out.

27. Garth's co-host: WAYNE.  WAYNE Campbell and Garth Algar.  From the "Saturday Night Live" skit and subsequent films.

Another Bit of A Mash-up

31. Taqueria option: ASADA.  One of today's Spanish lessons.  Grilled.

32. Quaker product: OATMEAL. The clue refers to the cereal company not the religious sect.

34. Type of symmetry: RADIAL.

38. European volcano: ETNA. 

Earlier This Month

44. Samoan capital: APIA.  Four letters three of which are vowels.  A constructor's friend.

45. Good guy: MENSCH.  A bit of Yiddish.  A man of great integrity and honor (a MENSCH)  began earning some extra cash by driving for an app-based ride sharing service. To market his services to people in the community, he made business cards offering rides from the Uber Mensch. He thought that his community was under-served and that he could fill that Nietzsche.

46. Not as warm: STONIER.  A bit of a stretch definition-wise?  COOLER was too short.  

48. Recitations made by students before entering Oxford's Bodleian Library: OATHS.  Unknown to this solver.  Thanks, perps.  From Wiki:  "Before being granted access to the library, new readers are required to agree to a formal declaration. This declaration was traditionally an oral oath, but is now usually made by signing a letter to a similar effect."

53. Picker-upper: TONIC.  Good for what ails ya'.

58. Largest U.S. labor union: NEA.

60. Spanish relative: TIA.  Another of today's Spanish lessons.  Aunt.

61. Like canned olives: OILY.

67. Boxer Laila: ALI.  A frequent visitor as is her father.

68. Lines of praise: ODES.  An Ode To Crosswordese

69. Sweet: DULCET.

70. Alpha preceder: GEN.  As in Gen-x or Gen-z or GEN-alpha which encompasses those born from 2011 - 2024.

71. Rootless plant: MOSS.  As in "A Rolling Stone gathers no MOSS".  See also 25 Down.

Shoulda Kept Rolling

72. Snide looks: SNEERS.

73. Rowing machine, familiarly: ERG.  From Wiki, "The word ERGometer comes from the Greek word ‘ergon’ and ‘metron’. While these might sound more like gladiator names than a way to measure your progress, the word ergon means ‘to work’ and metron means ‘to measure’. So the term ‘ergometer’ means that it measures work."

Down:

1. Dish named for the pan it's cooked in: PAELLA.

2. Lets free: UNTIES.  If 17 Across had been a reference to the Las Vegas Electric Day Carnival (EDC) then this answer would have been UNDIES.

3. Toyota pickup since 1995: TACOMA.

4. Daytime coverage letters: SPF.  Sun Protection Factor.  A sunscreen reference.  We had this one two weeks ago.

5. Wading bird: HERON.  Why does a heron sleep with one leg in the air?  Because if it lifted both legs it would fall over.

6. Big event space: ARENA.

7. Middle East peninsula: SINAI.  Also the name of a famous mountain and a famous hospital.

8. Pampering, for short: TLC.  Tender Loving Care

9. 1970s tennis great: ASHE.  A frequent visitor.

10. Dylan portrayer: CHALAMET.  A more recent visitor.  How does it feel?

11. Head, in Hammersmith: LAV.   British English for toilet.  Hammersmith is a district in West London and a head is what a toilet on a ship is called. 

12. "Viva!" alternative: OLE.  A hearty cheer!

13. Set: GEL.  We also saw this clue and answer combination two Fridays ago.  See also 1 Across.

19. Pond critter: NEWT.  Tiny is a great name for my NEWT - because she is, after all, my NEWT.

21. Show approval: NOD.  In many societies, but not all around the globe.

25. __ a one: NARY.  Nobody.  Not a soul around.

26. Interest-ing offers?: LOANS.  Interesting cluing.  LOANS bear/earn interest.

28. Hairy cryptid: YETI.

29. Second prefix: NANO.  Not second as in the one after the first and before the third.  A measure of time reference.  A NANO-second is equal to one one-billionth of a second.

30. Zip: ELAN.  A bit of a stretch.  Also a bit of misdirection as zip can mean none/nada.

33. Obi-Wan player: ALEC.  In the "Star Wars" movies, ALEC Guinness played Obi-wan Kenobi.

35. Pinnacle: ACME.  We never know if it will be ACME of APEX until we crosscheck.  They, however, know immediately:

36. "Cloud Cuckoo Land" novelist Anthony: DOERR.  New to this solver.

37. Lodge: INN.  The worst hotel I’ve ever stayed at was called The Fiddle.  It was a vile INN.

39. Observe Ramadan: FAST.    FASTing, for an entire month from dawn to sunset requires the abstinence from sex, food, drinking, and smoking.  It occurs roughly around the time of the Vernal Equinox.

40. Doing: UP TO.  As in "What the heck are you UP TO, now?"  No good, probably.

41. Western national park: ZION.

42. Eccentricity: ZANINESS.

43. La __: brand of Asian food products: CHOY.  Jim Henson created their spokesdragon.

47. Summer coffee choice: ICED.

49. Stir: ADO.  Not as in to stir a mixed drink.

50. Emergency room procedure: TRIAGE.  TRIAGE is a process for sorting injured people into groups based on their need for or likely benefit from immediate medical treatment. Triage is used in hospital emergency rooms, on battlefields, and at disaster sites when limited medical resources must be allocated.

51. Whoop: HOLLER.

52. Agent's activity: SPYING.  Not a Hollywood agent.  Not an agent of change.  One of these:

55. Purposeful: UTILE.  Purposeful/UTILE was not the first connection this solver made.

56. Thereafter: SINCE.  RIP, Brian.

57. Giver's counterpart: TAKER.

59. Goes on to say: ADDS.

62. Former sitcom starring Allison Janney and Anna Faris: MOM.

63. Rite answer?: I DO.  Is that the right answer?

64. Tic-tac-toe side: XES.  X's and O's   Is XES is usually spelled this way?

65. Broadcast: RUN.  As in "what year did (fill in your favorite TV show) RUN?  Definitely a "pre streaming" concept.

66. GPS lines: STS. STreetS   Global Positioning System

Well, that will wrap things up for today.  It's time, now, for this marine mammal to navigate his way back to the office.

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Friday June 20, 2025 Jeremy Venook

 

Good morning, campers, it’s RustyBrain. Summer is upon us and Chairman Moe is taking some well-deserved time off.

I couldn’t find much about today’s constructor, Jeremy Venook, except he seems to be a brilliant fellow. He’s published a number of scholarly articles, but this may be his debut puzzle. If so, congrats! Let’s see if this one hits the spot. 

17. Person who's always available to help: JOHNNY ON THE. The first themer is obviously missing SPOT, but instead is followed by a black square, i.e. a blank SPOT. Cool. JOHNNY ON THE SPOT is a man who is there when really needed. “Johnny” (like Jack) being so common a name it stood for “man.” Heeeere's the man:

27. Theater employee who follows the stars closely: LIGHT OPERATOR. This themer started with a black square, so I tagged SPOT onto the beginning of LIGHT OPERATOR. A SPOTLIGHT OPERATOR uses a followspot to keep the “stars” on stage well lit. So far, so good.

44. Portable Wi-Fi source: HOT CONNECTION. The blank SPOT on the last themer is at the end again, so HOT CONNECTION SPOT? No, it’s a HOTSPOT CONNECTION. Turns out the black squares were just red herrings, to me, at least. Commonly known as a HOTSPOT, it’s a physical location or an antenna that people use to access the Internet, typically via Wi-Fi.

59. Comment to a less-than-thorough cleaner, or an apt title for this puzzle?: MISSED A SPOT. 
The revealer is spot on! This is a common idiom, often used jokingly, and fully explains what is happening here. 

I tried to read the tea leaves hidden in the black squares, but to no avail. The SPOT could be anywhere, which is fine. But let’s see what that leaves us. A “LIGHT OPERATOR” is a real job. A “HOT CONNECTION” is a real thing. A “JOHNNY ON THE” is…? I’d like the written part of the answer to be a complete phrase on its own, then be modified by the revealer into something fun. In the end, I guess I was looking for a little more out of a Friday. 

And now, see Spot run:

Across:

1. Recklessly hasty: RASH.

5. Site that calls itself "the heart of the internet": REDDIT. I thought they were "the front page of the internet." In any case, REDDIT is a clever name suggesting "I read it" past tense.

11. Filmmaker Lee: ANG. Crossword's favorite director (don't tell Spike).

14. Fundamentals: ABCS. ABCs are the basic building blocks of many learned skills.

15. Declaration from a sure-handed player?: I RAISE. Also from a bluffer. Poker is the rare game where the best hand doesn't necessarily win.

16. __ shu pork: MOO. I like to roll my own, kinda like a Chinese fajita.

17. [Theme]

19. Total: ADD. If you "total" your car, it will ADD to your insurance premium.

20. Queerplatonic orientation, casually: ARO. ARO is the shortened version of "aromantic," which refers to individuals who experience little to no romantic attraction.

21. Lets up: EASES. 

22. Narratives: TALES. Tall TALES are "yarns".

24. Stone-faced: STOLID.

26. __ and haw: HEM. 

27. [Theme]

34. "The Garden of Earthly Delights" painter Hieronymus: BOSCH. The Dutch painter's macabre imagery is often interpreted as a visual translation of metaphors found in the Bible. I'd love to see the original 7ft x 13ft triptych (3 panels depicting Paradise, The Garden, and Hell) to see all the intricate details. Hard to believe it's over 500 years old!

36. Range between Europe and Asia: URALS.

37. Messenger molecule: RNA. RiboNucleic Acid, in case you want to impress someone at your next party.

38. Missouri River Native: OTOE.

39. Coke or Pepsi: BRAND. And the cola war battles on...

40. Stay out all night: CAMP. My first thought was a rave, an all-night dance event.

41. Hilton-owned hotel chain: TRU. The name came about because they leave Capote novels in the drawers instead of Gideon Bibles. TRU story.

42. Tortuga's country: HAITI. "Tortuga" is Spanish for "turtle." This island, part of HAITI, was named La Tortuga by Christopher Columbus due to its turtle-like shape.

43. Backs (away): SHIES.

44. [Theme]

47. Large deer: ELK. Similar to Moose, they often meet at a watering hole.

48. Defiant confirmation: I DID SO.

51. Lure: DECOY. I was visiting Orlando and saw this duck being attacked by a bird. On a return visit, I noticed the duck was still there. I guess the bird wasn't the only one fooled.

54. Gala, for one: APPLE. It wouldn't be a gala without APPLE bobbing!

57. Sprite: ELF.

58. Mined material: ORE.

59. [Theme]

62. The Brewers, in box scores: MIL. The Milwaukee baseball team, named after "the beer that made Milwaukee famous," sorta. CC knows much more about this than I do (about baseball, not drinking). Anyway, they have a clever logo using their initials to look like a glove.

63. Real __: ESTATE.

64. Browser button: HOME.

65. Long fish with no pelvic fins: EEL. One of many ways to clue this popular x-word fish.

66. Invisible pollution: NOISES. Good clue. Have I mentioned that RightBrain and I hate going to noisy restaurants?

67. Alma mater of many British prime ministers: ETON.

Down:

1. Indian royals: RAJAS.

2. Call off, as a mission: ABORT.

3. Cry at the beginning of summer break: SCHOOL'S OUT. When the kids were young, I cued up the Alice Cooper song and played it when they walked in the door on the last day. We'd dance a silly jig and it became an annual tradition, because that's what cool dads do (or so I'm told).

4. Sales channel: HSN. Home Shopping Network, which I now call "Amazon."

5. Capital of Saudi Arabia: RIYADH. Awesome skyline.

6. Greek matchmaker: EROS.

7. Great __: DANE.

8. Morse taps: DITS. DITS and dahs are dots and dashes. Ta da!

9. "Or so": ISH. ~ (see TILDES below).

10. Wavers: TEETERS.

11. International lawyer Clooney: AMAL. Seen here with her little-known husband.

12. Lymph __: NODE.

13. Deities: GODS.

18. Speak horse-ly: NEIGH. I used to live next to a horse farm. They were noisy NEIGHbors.

23. Tell-all sesh on 5-Across: AMA. Sesh is short for session, so on REDDIT, AMA is short for Ask Me Anything.

25. Targets of insecticidal shampoo: LICE. I have a nit to pick with this one.

26. Contained: HELD.

28. Shrouded locale?: TURIN. This relic, believed by many to be the burial cloth of Jesus, is shrouded in mystery.

29. Speechify: ORATE.

30. Lose one's cool: PANIC.

31. End of the line: TRAIN DEPOT. Actually, a DEPOT can be anywhere along the line, the one at the end is the "terminal." Here's one at local Tradewinds Park that we frequented when the kids were little. The models are one-eighth life-size and the track is over a mile long! Note: this isn't Gulliver's family traveling, it's the trains that are small.

32. "I'm buying": ON ME. My two favorite words (when someone else says them).

33. Performs like Ice Spice: RAPS.

34. Ideal option for the indecisive: BOTH. The eternal question - like Coke vs. Pepsi.

35. Other, in Oaxaca: OTRO. Today's lección de español (Spanish lesson).

39. Rely (on): BANK.

40. "Parasite" star Woo-shik: CHOI. I also saw him in the zombie thriller "Train to Busan." South Korea is producing a lot of popular movies, TV and music these days. 

42. Some saints: HOLY MEN.

43. Record half: SIDE A. Had to wait to see which side we were on.

45. Corp. VIP: CEO. A Chief Executive Officer is a Very Important Person, that's why he/she is worth 1000 times more than everyone else? 

46. Symbols indicating similarity, in geometry: TILDES. In mathematics, TILDES (~) often indicate "approximately" or "about." For example, "~20" would mean "approximately 20".

49. Sportscast tech: SLO-MO. Sloooow Mooootion...

50. Over and over: OFTEN. Not this one again!

51. Common mosque feature: DOME. A DOME, called qubba in Arabic, can improve the acoustics within the mosque, helping the Imam's voice resonate effectively. The onion-shaped ones are especially beautiful. 

52. Shallowest Great Lake: ERIE. Hint: it's the four-letter one.

53. Nucleus holder: CELL. Wanted "atom" at first.

54. Italian bubbly: ASTI.

55. Unpaid TV ads: PSAS. Public Service Announcements.

56. Mets slugger Alonso: PETE. The 6'-3" first baseman is nicknamed "Polar Bear." I'm not sure why.

60. Equi- kin: ISO. An equilateral triangle has three equal length sides, while an ISOsceles triangle has just two.

61. Pronoun option: SHE. 

Out, damned spot! Over and out!

Friday, June 13, 2025, Katherine Simonson

No. No. The Other Way! The Other Way!

Good Morning, Cruciverbalists, and welcome to Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom.  Your host for today will be Marlin Perkins.  Oh, sorry.  Your host, today, is Malodorous Manatee and the program for today is a recap of a Friday puzzle by Katherine Simonson.

Let's start with the reveal:

56 Across:  Annual mass relocation, or a movement that happened four times in this puzzle?: ANIMAL MIGRATION.

At the places where the theme is applied, Katherine takes well-known two-word combinations, each involving an animal of some sort, and reverses the order of the words.  I guess that this could be called "MIGRATION".  While MIGRATION is a form of relocation it does seem to be a little bit of a stretch.  However, because the gimmick is more readily identifiable than in many other puzzles, there is no need to belabor the point.  

Here are the four "times":

17 Across:  Meeting of monarchs?: BUTTERFLY SOCIAL.  A social butterfly is a person who is outgoing, enjoys attending social events, and often moves between different social groups without forming deep connections. They are typically charismatic and thrive on interacting with others. Flip Social Butterfly around and we have a group of Monarch butterflies enjoying each others company. Did anyone first think that kings and/or queens would somehow be involved?

23 Across:  Lingerie for a grizzly?: BEAR TEDDY.  From this:

To this:

34 Across:  Shortage of raptors? HAWK DEFICIT.   Deficit hawk is a political slang term for people who place great emphasis on keeping government budgets under control.  As the federal deficit alone is in excess of $35 trillion there is, apparently,  a shortage of this type of hawk.  Flip Deficit Hawk around and we have a dearth of flying carnivores.

51 Across:  Protest in support of the loser of a fabled race?: HARE MARCH.  The March Hare from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland morphs into:

This is how it all appears in the completed grid:

.... and here are the rest of the clues and answers

Across:

1. Raucous field cry: CAW.  A reference to the noise a crow makes and the first of 21 three-letter answers.

4. Workforce: STAFF.  Does the STAFF at REI or EMS sell staffs?

9. Wounded by a scorpion: STUNG.

14. Suffix with mod or nod: ULE.  ModULE or NodULE

15. Arctic: POLAR.  

16. Break down: PARSE.  Bill Clinton brought PARSE into the broader lexicon with his famous "It depends on what the meaning of is is" and  “Well, I’m just showing the American people what a verb is and what a noun is, would you like me to show them another verb and another noun?"

20. Words of the weary: I'M BEAT.

21. Box: SPAR.  Not a carton.  Pugilism.    

22. Mocking irreverence: SNARK.

28. Sea dog: MARINER.  Both GOB and Tar were too short.

30. Kicks on Route 66?: NISSANS.  Nice mash-up.  The NISSAN Kick is an automobile.  I don't think that the song anticipated that.  We'll let Ray Benson and company explain . . .

31. Moisturizer brand: OLAY.

33. Central Asia's North __ Sea: ARAL.  A place we frequently visit.

39. Half-moon tide: NEAP.

41. Lad of La Mancha: NINO.  Spanish for a young lad.

42. Divide with two cuts: TRISECT.  One might also create four pieces with two cuts (but the cuts would have to intersect each other).

46. Slices of American cheese: SINGLES.

53. Plot: TRACT.  Not the arc of a story.  A parcel of land.

54. Pedestrian: BLAH.  Meh.

55. Contort in pain: WRITHE.

61. Under the __: RADAR.  Idiomatic for intentionally not drawing attention to one's own self.  Look, the Norwegian RADAR operator has reported seeing some birds on the screen!  He's Scandinavian.

62. Entreaties: PLEAS.

63. Not gross: NET.  Not yucky.  A financial reference.

64. Acknowledge: THANK.

65. Had a restful night: SLEPT.

66. Burro: ASS.  A small one.

Down:

1. Avant-garde movement pioneered by Georges Braque: CUBISM.  Per Wikipedia, the CUBISM movement was pioneered in partnership by Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque.

Still Life - Georges Braque

2. Spelman graduate: ALUMNA.  Spelman College is a private, historically black, women's liberal arts college in Atlanta, Georgia, founded in 1881.

3. Suite amenity: WET BAR.  Perhaps.  A hotel room that is not a suite could also have a WET BAR and a suite of multiple rooms could be without one.

Literally

4. "Last chance to object": SPEAK NOW. . .  or forever hold your peace.

5. Lawsuit basis: TORT.  A frequent cause of action in our puzzles.

6. Landon who was governor of Kansas in the 1930s: ALF.  ALF Landon was a Kansas governor and a Republican presidential candidate in 1936. He lost to Franklin D. Roosevelt and was the only Republican governor to win reelection in 1934.

7. Like some starts and returns: FALSE.  The former might result in a disqualification, the latter might result in a heavy fine and jail time.

8. Skillet: FRY PAN.  More often frying pan.

9. Hurling and curling: SPORTS.  Hurling is a contact sport played by men and women with a wooden stick and a ball. It is one of Ireland's native Gaelic games.  Alternatively, see 25 Down.  Curling is somewhat akin to  shuffleboard played on ice.

10. Middle of a winning trio: TAC.

Tic Tac Toe

11. Ocean State sch.: URI.

12. Cryptography org.: NSA.

13. Set: GEL.  Used as a verb as in how Jello firms up or GELs.

18. Polo of "Good Trouble": TERI.

19. Dress for a formal puja, perhaps: SARI.  This solver was not familiar with puja but SARIs are a form of dress frequently worn in crossword puzzles so, with a couple of perps, the answer quickly came to mind.  Once, I accidentally offended an Indian woman by using the wrong word for her clothing.  So I said "SARI."

23. Small nail: BRAD.

24. Morales of "Mission: Impossible" films: ESAI.

25. Feathered projectile: DART.  How does a dart board on the ceiling make you sick?  It causes you to throw up.

26. Forensic sample: DNA.

27. French fashion monogram: YSL.

29. Large ruminant in the Rockies: ELK.

32. Japanese dough: YEN.  Dough as in slang for money.

34. Locks: HAIR.

35. Cathedral feature: APSE.  A place frequented in our puzzles.

36. Amy Tan's "Saving __ From Drowning": FISH.  Tan is perhaps best known for The Joy Luck Club.

37. Pasta suffix: INI.  Bucatini, Ditalini, Capellini, Tagliolini, etc.

38. Distinction: CONTRAST.  As opposed to, say, horizontal hold?

39. Advanced degree?: NTH.  Not an academic reference.  Extremely/as much as possible.

40. Time capsule time: ERA.  A big 'thank you" for not heading down the Swifties road.

43. Board: EMBARK.  Do dogs ever leave?  Of course not.  They EMBARK.

44. Buzz: CALL.  As in "I'll give her a buzz".  No, not that kind of buzz.

45. Wanders (around): TRAMPS.  Like a TRAMP steamer.  ROAMS and ROVES were both too short.

47. Sandpaper measure: GRIT.

48. America Ferrera, for one: LATINA.  Clued this way, for this answer there were hundreds of millions of clues from which to choose.

49. Repeats: ECHOES.

50. Medical tubes: STENTS.  I have a friend who has been feeling really sentimental about a stent she had put in several years ago.  It still holds a special place in her heart.

52. "You need to relax": CHILL.  CHILL, man.  Gee.

55. Cloak: WRAP.  As in a riddle WRAPped up in an enigma.

56. Part of LACMA: ART.

57. Casual refusal: NAH.  Nah.

58. NAACP co-founder __ B. Wells: IDA.  A frequent visitor.

59. "Hoo boy": MAN.  Gee.  Chill, MAN.

60. Bagel center?: GEE.  GEE, man, chill.  Oops, sorry.  Force of habit.  It's actually one of those types of clues (but we're on to this trick).  B A G E L

Well, we've wrapped things up up five- three-letter words in a row so there's not much left to say except "Bye Bye For Now."  I will add, however, that the relative lack of proper nouns was refreshing, indeed.

On a further note, this recap marks the first time that this marine creature has ventured into the realm of AI generated images.  Did you spot them?

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