Saturday, January, 17, 2026, Emily Biegas

 Saturday Themeless by Emily Biegas 

The top half went swimmingly, but then I had to take a big "didn't git 'er done" especially in the SE corner. SEA ROBIN, COPA and PALO SANTO coupled with some cute cluing 😀 did me in. The rest of the puzzle took persistence but fell into place except for some bad typing. Any delusions about 100% completions for 2026 were undone by a few bad cells but I'll get over it. After all, it's a game not a test!

Across:

1. Easily moved?: HOT HEADED 😀

10. Streetcars: TRAMS.

15. Minimum word count?: ONE OR MORE.😀

16. Swiss namesake of an international series of art fairs: BASEL - ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Founded in BASEL, Switzerland in 1970, this one is in Miami

17. Scheduled delivery?: TAX RETURN - Some TAX RETURNS require filing many tax schedules, perhaps with a 46. 17-Across pro: CPA.

18. Editorialize: OPINE.

19. "__ Is Betta Than Evvah!": ETTA.

20. C-section docs: OBS.

21. Kept inside: UNSAID - Advice I should have taken many times in my life

22. Island chain: LEI.

23. Primary fig.: POL.

24. Hosp. gear: PPE.

25. Bit: GAG - A comedy bit can also be called a GAG

26. Actress Hayek Pinault: SALMA - Salma Valgarma Hayek Pinault  is a Mexican and American actress and film producer. We have seen her name as only Salma Hayek in puzzles before.

28. Israeli airline: EL AL.

30. Only: SOLE.

31. "How could you be so insensitive!": READ THE ROOM.

34. Roadside snacks: STREET TACOS - How are they different? BTW, granola bars fit too.

36. Spoiler alerts?: SELL BY DATES 😀

38. Skirt in a Degas painting: TUTU - Duh, a TUTU can be called a skirt!

41. Fictions: LIES.

42. Percolate: LEACH.

44. Supplementary medical benefit: Abbr.: HSA - Health Savings Account

45. Perturb: VEX.

48. Big name in pasta sauce: RAO.

49. Melt down: RENDER - My DW's mother used to render animal byproducts on the farm into lard for cooking. That was the foundation for the  best apple pie ever made anywhere. 

51. Comic Margaret: CHO.

52. Prefix with -core for a style inspired by hiking: GORP ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

53. Optional feature: ADD ON.

54. Spot where sharks gather: POOL TABLE 😀 Bonus points - Name this classic movie about pool sharks. *answer below.

56. Vessel implant: STENT.

57. "My regrets": APOLOGIES.

58. Redfin listings: HOMES.

59. Smudging ceremony tool: PALO SANTO - ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I can see PALO as wood (Palo Alto/high stick) and SANTO as holy. Smudging is simply the practice of lighting these wood pieces on fire and letting smoke and fume cleanse an area.

Down:

1. Lodging options: HOTELS.

2. Going nonstop: ON A TEAR.

3. Leather and lace, e.g.: TEXTILES.

4. "Hava Nagila" dance: HORA.

5. Poetic preposition: ERE.

6. Playground retort: AM TOO or in a TV sitcom

7. Natural structure?: DOUBLE HELIX.

8. Isn't perfect: ERRS.

9. Sofa bed spot: DEN.

10. Chophouse order: T-BONE.

11. Knocks: RAPS.

12. Bagel option: ASIAGO.

13. Low-level: MENIAL.

14. "When a Man Loves a Woman" singer: SLEDGE - Emily throws us boomers a musical bone with the fabulous Percy SLEDGE

21. Transfer, in a way: UPLOAD.

23. "Slam Diego" player: PADRE - This is new to me but was coined when the Padres hit grand slams four days in a row

24. Dubious label from The Princeton Review until 2022: PARTY SCHOOL - 

The "dubious label" from The Princeton Review referring to a "Party School" until around 2022. It was a controversial ranking based on student surveys about alcohol/drug use, criticized by groups like the 

AMA for potentially encouraging risky drinking.

27. __ Islands: archipelago in the East China Sea: MATSU - I remember when these two islands were in the news when I was in junior high.

29. Didn't bother: LET BE.

30. Didst wallop: SMOTE.

32. "Fool Us" co-host: TELLER - A prize is awarded to magicians who can fool these masters.

33. One of three national forests in Florida: OCALA.

35. Bottom-feeding fish also called a gurnard: SEA ROBIN ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

37. Shameful tone?: SCARLET - Clever cluing for the SCARLET letter

38. Type of metal: THRASH.

39. No longer troubled by: USED TO.

40. Single file: TANDEM - My first thought

43. "With any luck": HOPE SO.

45. Air returns: VENTS.

47. 34-Across option: POLLO - Yes, you might have chicken in a street taco. I remember the word from Gus Fring's operation in Better Call Saul.

50. Wrapped: DONE.

51. Fútbol prize: COPA - COPA is Spanish for cup or trophy

52. Pop star Lady __: GAGA.

54. Baby food: PAP.

55. Lean-__: TOS.

* That of course is Jackie Gleason and Paul Newman in a scene from 1961 b/w classic The Hustler

Saturday, December 27, 2025, August Miller

 Saturday Themeless by August Miller

This is my fifth Saturday themeless blog this year for August Miller. He is a former physics Ph.D. candidate turned farmer who lives in Berkshire County, MA.

Here is part of a very nice interview with August: Once upon a time I was going to be a physics PhD. I studied physics in undergrad and tried graduate school (twice), but ultimately that environment just didn’t work for me. And now I come home at night smelling of cows and hay, and it feels so much better.

I was able to make good headway through August's puzzle and enjoyed the trip. Unlike Stella's 12/13/25 puzzle, the long fills were familiar and helpful. My last fill was a stab in the dark at "K" at TAI_A/S_A.

Across:

1. Squirrel away: STOW and 1. Squirrel away: STASH - It was fun to have the same clue in the far NW corner.

5. Barely usable pencils: NUBS.

9. "Kapow!": WHAM.

13. Snaps: TAKES A PIC - What we all can do now on a whim. Now when I was a kid...

15. Banchero who was the 2023 NBA Rookie of the Year: PAOLO ¯\_(ツ)_/¯  I will have taken more time on this comment than I will watching any NBA games this season.

16. Manipulator of one of the four elements, in a classic animated series: AIR BENDER - This guy is in orange below. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

17. Natural styles: AFROS.

18. __ punk: "Tragic Kingdom" genre: SKA and 2. Waititi of "Our Flag Means Death": TAIKA - I knew SKA was some form of music that was foreign to me and I took a flyer on a "K" where it crossed equally unknown TAIKA. Tada!

19. "All My Children" actress Kathleen: NOONE - She was there from 1977 - 1989

 

To the far left

20. "Failing that ... ": IF NOT.

21. Must: HAS TO.

23. Like some waiters: EARLY 😀 - You really want an iPhone 16 so bad you're willing to wait in line.

25. Hesitant sounds: ERS.

27. Mikey Day's show, for short: SNL - If you really care, you'll pick him out, if you don't care, just move on. 😗

28. Guests' guesses: ETAS - You can tell peeps when to arrive but...

31. Some boxing losses: SPLIT DECISIONS - Gane won this match because two judges gave him more points and one did not.

35. "And??": CARE TO ELABORATE.

36. "Who Shot Mr. Burns?," for one: TWO PART EPISODE - Remind you of anything? 😀

37. Glom __: ONTO.

38. Some humanities degs.: MAS.

39. Confession confession: SIN.

40. "The best in pests" company: ORKIN.

42. Attracted to more than one gender, informally: MSPEC - Multisexual Spectrum

46. Peak reward: VISTA - The VISTA from the peak of Everest

48. Stay at a 57-Across, perhaps: GLAMP - Today's portmanteau: GLAMcamPing at Indian Lake, NY which is a 57. Sustainable place to unwind: ECO RESORT.

52. "Hadestown" Tony nominee Noblezada: EVA - I'm guessing August has never heard of the Little EVA song Locomotion.

53. Big name in chips: INTEL - Would you like an Apple with your chips? 

54. Hot bodies?: LAVA LAKES - This one is near the South Pole

56. Close call: SCARE.

58. Good listeners?: EARS - My 79-yr-old models need electronic assistance 

59. __-eyed: DEWY.

60. Code breakers: KEYS.

Down:

3. Mallow family plants with edible seed pods: OKRAS.

                

Okra

 

4. Intricate trap: WEB.

5. Tech startup?: NANO.

6. Top knot, e.g.: UPDO.

7. "Très __!": BIEN and a 14. Miss living in Mexico, say: SENORITA could say Muy BIEN.

8. Safari snap: SCREEN CAP - I made a SCREEN CAPture of the image below on my Safari Browser using this key combination

9. Array at a hotel breakfast bar: WAFFLE IRONS 😀

10. Lizard with defensive spines: HORNY TOAD - A variation of the name HORNED TOAD

11. __ gobi: ALOO - ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ - Aloo gobi, literally "potato cauliflower" in Hindi. 

12. More than some: MOST.

15. Duo: PAIR.

22. Forms of rapid transit: TELEPORTERS - Hallmark makes an ornament of one used on Star Trek.

24. Crime stories?: ALIBIS.

26. Kylie's daughter: STORMI - An addition to the Kardashian clan

27. Tennis great Monica: SELES.

29. Up the __: ANTE.

30. Compass pt.: SSE.

31. Like cut lumber: SAWN.

32. One just starting to shine: PROTOSTAR.

33. Forced a comb through, say: DETANGLED.

34. "Easy-peasy!": SO SIMPLE.

35. Exec who might oversee R&D: CTO - Chief Technology Officer

41. Superfood whose "special power is tasting bad," per Jim Gaffigan: KALE 😀

43. Tea type: PEKOE.

44. Not just some: EVERY.

45. Gives a role: CASTS - This character from Breakfast At Tiffany's may be the worst CASTING decision in movie history. The Boston Globe called the Mr. Yunioshi "an irascible bucktoothed nerd and an offensive ethnic caricature"

46. Bench clamp: VISE.

47. Worshipper of the goddess Pachamama: INCA ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

49. Peignoir trim: LACE.

50. Declare: AVOW.

51. Writer Shelley: MARY.

55. "Why do you __?": ASK.