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.

Saturday, December 13, 2025, Stella Zawistowski

 Saturday Themeless by Stella Zawistowski

This puzzle made me feel like Stanley Kowalski yelling at Stella in Streetcar Named Desire. I had to check a few words in Across Lite as Stella's take was not the same as mine. Couple that with two impossible long fills, and I struggled in several places. I think I may have worn out my ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ symbol

Stella is posing as an angel on the right side of this picture from her CrossFit Gym in South Brooklyn, NY.

Across:

1. Crunk kin: TRAP ¯\_(ツ)_/¯  Don't know either one, except they are both full of lyrics that can't be published here. Google if you must.

5. Throw again: REROLL 😀 If the throw of the dice in craps is judged to be unfair or illegal, a REROLL must be done

11. Omaha prize: POT - There is no real connection to the city 20 miles from me

14. Supportive of: WITH.

15. Target of some copyright infringement lawsuits: OPENAI - Hard to tell what is original and what is not

16. Hardwood: ASH - The source for many Louisville Sluggers

17. Dad, in Korean: APPA ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

18. Jarring tonal shifts: DISSONANCE - I supervised JH lunch rooms for 23 years 😳

20. Two-part bet: PERFECTA - In a PERFECTA bet, a winner has to name the winner and second-place finisher in that exact order. This ticket below would only win if the #2 horse won and the #6 horse finished second

22. Union station?: ALTAR 😀

23. __ Drafthouse Cinema: movie chain based in Austin: ALAMO.

24. Believe: HOLD - "We HOLD these truths to be self-evident,..."

26. Generational wisdom: LORE.

27. Unsatisfactory explanation: BECAUSE REASONS - ¯\_(ツ)_/¯  

"Because reasons" is a colloquial, often dismissive, phrase used to indicate that no further explanation for a decision or situation will be given. 

Example: 

If someone asks why you are wearing a silly hat, you could reply, "Because reasons," instead of explaining that it was a gift from your grandmother.

30. "Oh my stars!": I DECLARE.

31. Change places: MOVE.

32. Year of the Four Emperors emperor: OTHO ¯\_(ツ)_/¯  It was the year 69 A.D. More

33. Miami-__ County: DADE.

34. Only city in Samoa: APIA 

 Togafu'afu'a Rd Corner Vaea St, 
Apia, Upolu Samoa

35. Seen: REGARDED.

39. Self-awareness?: PROPRIOCEPTION ¯\_(ツ)_/¯  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯  Yikes! Proprioception is your body's ability to sense its own position and movements. It's a complex automatic process that you can also fine-tune.

41. Alison Bechdel's "Fun __: A Family Tragicomic": HOME -  A discussion and a sample page

42. Condiment made with pickled mango: AMBA ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ A middle eastern condiment

43. "Lilo & Stitch" theme: OHANA.

44. Shinto shrine gateway: TORII - This red TORII gate in the background is in Omaha's beautiful Lauritzen Gardens. It was a present from Omaha's sister city of Shizuku, Japan.

46. "Day by Day" musical: GODSPELL - One of my fav musicals

48. Make no progress: TREAD WATER - A skill needed in water polo

50. Work hard: MOIL ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

52. Can. leaders: PMS - Members of Parliament

53. Thin layer: LAMINA - Our laminated countertops have all been replaced by granite.

54. "Black Beauty" novelist Sewell: ANNA.

55. Ten chin-ups, say: SET.

56. Throws up: ERECTS 😀 - Some new, small houses are being thrown up near us but still start at $300,000.

57. Minimal noise: PEEP.

Down:

1. Name on a JFK hotel designed by Eero Saarinen: TWA - You can see TWA on the hotel in the middle of the background at JFK

2. Had far-reaching effects: RIPPLED.

3. Chill: AT PEACE - Chill as an adjective. "He is really chill."

4. Reference in a doctor's office: PHARMACOPOEIA ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ ¯\_(ツ)_/¯  The 2019 edition 

5. Teased relentlessly: RODE.

6. Literary figure who embodies the values of a civilization: EPIC HERO - Homer from ancient Greece

7. Make whole again: RESTORE.

8. Less, in a way: ON SALE.

9. Language known as Isan in northeastern Thailand: LAO - A crossword friend dressed in Saturday cluing 

10. First Asian player inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame: LINA ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ My first thought was of Michael Chang.

11. Color of the Year company: PANTONE ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I got this but thought of Crayola first

12. Accolades for "Flow" and "The Shape of Water": OSCARS.

13. "Et voilà!": THERE.

19. Full of jarring tonal shifts: ALL OVER THE MAP - Jarring is in two clues today

21. Third strike, at times: FOUL TIP - If the catcher catches it in his glove, it is a strikeout. 

23. Singer Carter who won "American Idol" in 2024: ABI ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

25. Price, informally: DAMAGE.- 😀

28. Region whose name means "desert": SAHARA - The great desert of northern Africa, 1610s, from Arabic çahra "desert" (plural çahara),

29. Moxie, e.g.: SODA POP.

33. Lavish and then some: DECADENT.

34. Subject of some air battles?: ARM REST 😀 

35. Without emotion: ROBOTIC.

36. Start to make a call, perhaps: DIAL ONE.

37. Celeb news site: E-ONLINE.

38. "The Double Helix" subject: DNA.

39. Pitiful cry: POOR ME.

40. "Sign me up!": I'M GAME.

41. Letters signifying encryption: HTTPS - Our website: https://crosswordcorner.blogspot.com/. where the S stands for secure.

45. Not serious: IDLE - IDLE threats are not good strategies for teachers 

47. Sp. titles: SRAS.

49. "This means __!": WAR.

51. Spot for a toy: LAP 😀