Saturday, May 18, 2019, Ed Sessa

Themeless Saturday by Ed Sessa

I am very happy to mention any day that celebrates members of the Armed Services. The third Saturday in May is now designated Armed Forces Day and I salute all who have served.

Today's constructor is Ed Sessa M.D., our retired N.Y. pediatrician who is now a resident of Sanibel Island, Florida 

This puzzle was just what the doctor ordered (Hey, you had to see that coming!). I came up dry in the NW but the NE yielded quickly and pretty soon the entire east coast was fully populated and it was Westward Ho! 

Triple horizontal and vertical stacks always impress me 

Now let's see the results of Dr. Sessa's making a house call to our little part of the world:

Across:

1. Noble: ARISTOCRAT and 4. Address for a 1-Across, perhaps: SIR.

11. Tic __: mints: TACS - In a rare moment of comity last week, President Trump offered Speaker Pelosi a TIC TAC and she accepted it


15. Play with unseen players: RADIO DRAMA - Perhaps the most famous RADIO DRAMA performance of all time. Orson Wells doing H.G. Wells 

16. Buck heroine: OLAN - O-LAN is a strong but mostly silent Chinese woman in Pearl Buck's The Good Earth 

17. Certain clinic contributor: SPERM DONOR - Uh, BLOOD DONOR was close but...

18. Hall of Fame quarterback Graham: OTTO - We NFL fans from the 50's remember

19. Significant span: ERA

20. Satirized: SENT UP - A great purveyor of the art:

21. Kind of list: TO DO.

22. Homework shirker's comeuppance: NO TV

24. It may hold broken pottery: RUIN- I'm sure Pompeii's RUINS had lots of broken pottery

25. Hilarious: A HOOT 

26. Frozen beverages: ICEES.

28. Source of blowups: TNT.

29. They're off-limits: NO NOS.

30. Olympic figure skating gold medalist after Kristi: OKSANA - OKSANA Baiul and her doubles partner Victor Petrenko having some fun

32. Makes a lot of progress: GETS FAR.

34. Many an Irish song: LILT.

36. Try for a better hand: DRAW - Even if you DRAW cards, it's going to be tough to make this a good hand

37. Smirks: SIMPERS - Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered has the lyric "I'm a whimpering, SIMPERING child again" and I always thought whimpering and simpering were synonyms

40. Stir to action: AROUSE  and 52. Barbarian horde: HUNS - A WWI call to action

44. Mystical views: AURAE - AURAS didn't cut it

45. Saddle-making tool: AWL - Many holes are required

47. Muesli brand: ALPEN - Swiss style muesli made in Northhampshire, England

48. Constellation points: STARS - These STARS makeup the constellation ORION

49. Musician Lennon: SEAN - son of John and Yoko 

51. Banjo bar: FRET.

53. It includes AAPL and MSFT: THE DOW Jones Average - YTD for Microsoft and Apple

59. Steal, perhaps: DEAL - At Apple's IPO, the stock price was $22/share. Four splits and nearly forty years later it would be worth $11,144/share. What a steal/DEAL!

55. Devoured, with "up": ATE.

56. Thrill from Sills: ARIA - Beverly Sills at La Scala

57. Start: ACTIVATION.

60. Dropped in on: PAID A VISIT.

61. Mrs. Krabappel (Kruh bap' ull) of "The Simpsons": EDNA - The Our Gang Comedies had Mrs. Crabapple as a teacher who spelled her name slightly differently 

62. Giovanni Ribisi title con man: SNEAKY PETE - Here 'ya go


Down:

1. Former late-night talk star, familiarly: ARSENIO - Hall

2. Limp Bizkit genre: RAP ROCK - If you're curious

3. Has a thought: IDEATES - Example from Merriam Webster - "A psychotic would repeatedly IDEATE the act of committing murder" Awkward perhaps, but look at all those compliant letters

5. Farm males: TOMS.

6. More kooky: ODDER.

7. Pastry portmanteau: CRONUT - When a croissant meets a doughnut

8. Sounding off: RANTING.

9. Came (to): AMOUNTED - My birthday meal "came to" $102 and was fabulous

10. One may be rolled out in the park: TARP - Roll it out (cylinder is in left field) and then spread it out

11. "Macbeth" brew ingredient before "Witches' mummy": TOOTH OF WOLF - Do want fries with that?

12. City with a Penn State campus: ALTOONA - Last week we had Penn State Schuykill 

13. Persian passageway: CAT DOOR - This is not a Persian cat but it is a CAT DOOR that only opens when the cat with the right microchip uses it

14. Pompous sorts: SNOOTS.

23. Trattoria entrÈe: VEAL MARSALA.

25. Cochise player of early TV: ANSARA - Syrian born Michael who played Native American Cochise

27. Wading birds with camouflage plumage: SNIPES 

31. Tavern offering: ALE.

33. Refrain opener: TRA.

35. Domicile in front of 123 Sesame Street: TRASH CAN - You'd be grouchy too if you lived there

37. Medically closed up: SUTURED.

38. Khamenei or Khatami: IRANIAN.

39. What often comes before pie: SWEETIE.

41. Hoist: UPRAISE.

42. Take care of business: SEE TO IT.

43. Agreement between states: ENTENTE - One is shown in green below that fought during WWI

44. Barely: A SHADE - Just A SHADE short

46. Uppity: LA DI DA.

50. B.J. of "The Office": NOVAK - He played Ryan Howard on the show and also was a writer and executive producer

53. Light touches: TAPS.

54. Rippled, like chips: WAVY.

58. Point or pointer: TIP - I'll give you a TIP on how to use the TIP of that pointer 

I hope today puts today will remind you to say, "Thank you for your service" to any member of the armed forces you see today.

Saturday, May 11, 2019, Matthew Sewell

Themeless Puzzle by Matthew Sewell


Spring Astronomy Day is observed on the Saturday nearest the 1st quarter moon between Mid April and Mid May. This year that falls on May 11 and I wish I could get to the Northern Virginia Astronomy Club event near Manassas where they have all the wonderful opportunities you see listed on this poster.

Today's constructor is Matthew Sewell, PhD who teaches literature and film at Minnesota State University, Mankato, and has had puzzles published in the The Chronicle of Higher Education, Newsday, The Orange County Register and the Wall Street Journals. Some of Dr. Sewell's classes at UMM

Having these two entries in the NW corner was a real stumbling block for this solver:

17. Modern gamer's headset, briefly: VR GOGGLES - (Virtual Reality GOGGLES) and 1. Nordic cured salmon appetizer: GRAVLAX - (A new word for you too?)

Let's now peer into the wide sky of the crossword universe to see what else Dr. Sewell has for us today.

Across:

1. Annual gown renters: GRADS.

6. Dwelled (on): BROODED.

13. Theatrical potpourri: REVUE - My barber bought this shop 30 years ago but has no idea why the word REVUE is in the business title

14. Got some air, say: TOOK FIVE - Dave Brubeck's famous TAKE FIVE was #5 on Billboard's Hot 100 for three weeks

15. Lit: AFIRE.

16. Multicolored solidarity emblem: PRIDE FLAG - References the rainbow flag of the LGBTQ community

19. Org. concerned with gaps, at times: ADA - David Letterman eschewed their services for his tooth gap

20. Cavalry member: LANCEMAN - The LANCE/Saber equipped calvary members of The Charge of the Light Brigade in 1854. My original HORSEMAN was wrong

21. "Between the World and Me" author Ta-Nehisi __: COATES - More info

24. Latin primer word: AMO 

25. Singer who made Georgia famous: RAY CHARLES - Five of the best minutes you'll spend today

27. TV warrior princess: XENA - Lucy Lawless then and now

29. Classic paper name: HERALD - My puzzles appear on the last page of the sports section of The Omaha World HERALD

30. Restored: MADE WHOLE.

34. San Joaquin Valley wine region: MADERA - There it is just south of Sacramento. _ _ _ _ _ A was not Sonoma

35. Anguished protest: YOWL.

39. Fast-paced highlight video: SIZZLE REEL - A new phrase for me but here are Six examples you can play (I loved the Cracker Jack one)

43. Adjective for Scotty on "Star Trek": WEE - Aye, tis likely for a Scotsman

44. Baker, for one: STREET - A museum is adjacent to the famous 221B Baker STREET address

45. Most delicate: FRAILEST.

47. Cy Young Award stat: ERA - How to calculate an Earned Run Average

48. Two-piece ensembles: PANT SUITS.

49. Sports show hosts, often: RECAPPERS - This guy is also called a RECAPPER

53. Hitchcock antagonist: BATES - Psycho killer Norman BATES shows his "mommy" issues in this very famous scene

54. Had no doubt: FELT SURE.

55. Bizarre: OUTRE - These useful letters are seen here often  pronunciation 

56. Go caving: SPELUNK - Other pictures I found made me claustrophobic just looking at them. These people are 9. Not right: OFF 

57. Perfectly harmonious: AS ONE.


Down:

2. Provide another context for: REFRAME - Tom 11. Gets by: EVADES work by REFRAMING what he is doing (1:30)

3. French city on the Rhone: AVIGNON - The seat of the Papacy from 1309 - 1377

4. Hardy red hog: DUROC - A Nebraska State Fair champion

5. Honoree of Springsteen's 2006 "We Shall Overcome" album: SEEGER.

6. __ de Boulogne: Paris park: BOIS - pronunciation. Woods of Boulogne, a seven minute Uber ride from the Eiffel Tower

7. "Submitted for your approval ... " first name: ROD.

8. Fine, in old slang: OKE - [ohk] - An Americanism dating back to 1920's, apparently the shortening of okay

10. Widened: DILATED - Haven't we all worn anti-DILATION sunglasses after leaving the optometrist? BTW, this word only has three syllables 

12. "Place de la Concorde" artist: DEGAS.

14. Fighting involving excavated shelters: TRENCH WARFARE - Miserable living amidst horrible WWI warfare

16. Word with safe or out: PLAY - If kids PLAY SAFE it will probably PLAY OUT fine. Making a SAFE PLAY often allows you to OUTPLAY your opponent 

18. 1975 ABC debut, initially: GMA - I am not a morning TV watcher 

21. Dear, to Donizetti: CARO - Caro elisir! Sei mio! (Dear elixir! You are mine) from Donizetti's Elixir of Love

22. Dictated: ORAL - 50's TV featured Susie taking dictation from Mr. Sands

23. Urban shortcut: ALLEY 28. Bowl over: AMAZE - Boomer has AMAZED a lot of pins in ALLEYS

26. Devious laugh: HEH.

31. Trimming tool: ADZE - Familiar tool to crossworders

32. Lat neighbor: DELT - Here ya go (first syllables only)

33. "And fly, __ evil intercept thy flight": Milton: ERE - "Get going while the gettin's good" is how I read it

34. Wonder: MIRACLE.

36. Credit as an inspiration: OWE IT TO - Crosswords and this blog have filled a large part of my retirement. I OWE IT all TO C.C. and youse guys!

37. Best __: WESTERN 

38. Chin stroker's words: LET'S SEE - Ahhh, I'll have a Snickers

39. "The Post" co-star: STREEP - She plays Katherine Graham

40. Taloned predators: ERNS - ERNS and EMUS are chief residents in our cwd avaiary 

41. Take off the table?: EAT - Fun!

42. Portugal's capital, locally: LISBOA - You say LISBOA, I say LISBON, Let's call the whole thing off 😉

44. Lowly laborers: SERFS 

46. Hawaiian parties: LUAUS.

48. Exec's private jet, say: PERK - My classmate Glen (Nick Saban on the right) pilots the Bama private recruiting executive jet.

50. Delta hub code: ATL 

51. Sch. with a Schuylkill campus: PSU.

52. Many a Ben & Jerry's flavor: PUN - Is Cherry Garcia their most famous flavor pun?

Please take an opportunity tonight to be amazed by the spring evening sky - especially Leo (backwards question mark for the head)!

Southern Spring Sky From North Of The Equator