Saturday, June 20, 2026, Craig Stowe

 Saturday Themeless by Craig Stowe

Here's a nice note from Craig about this fun puzzle:

Hi Gary,

Thanks for reaching out, it's been a while!  I haven't been as constructive as of late mainly because I don't have as much free time these days.  For your Canadian solvers I have a couple of puzzles at thewalrus.ca if anyone is interested in checking them out.  It has a fun (and free) crossword section similar to the LA Times or Universal in terms of difficulty.

As is often the case I was staring at a blank grid wondering how to start when I heard the phrase AS THE KIDS SAY on tv.  I typed it in and let the puzzle reveal itself.  The fun of making themeless grids is solving the puzzle as you go, making changes to the grid when necessary and learning new words - ANNOYWARE, for example, is something most of us have experienced but probably didn't have a name for.  Hopefully the crossing are fair enough that solvers can figure it out without too much difficulty.

 Happy solving!

Craig

p.s. Slight update, I'm still at the hotel but I work in finance now. 

  

Across:

1. Iodine source: KELP - Since Craig is in Canada, he may pronounce this EYE oh deen 

      

5. Kenny Chesney hit about living in the moment: HERE AND NOW 

A lot of people dreamin' 'bout a one day

Somedays waitin' just around the bend

I used to be one, wonderin' when they'd come

But now I'm livin' in (But now I'm livin' in)

Here and now

15. "Toodles": CIAO.

16. Birthstone for many Pisces: AQUAMARINE.

17. Genesis preposition: UNTO.

18. Splurges, in a way: RUNS UP A TAB.

19. Coevals: PEERS - Our school administrator once had us evaluate our colleagues/PEERS and it really did not go well.

21. Quite a stretch: AGES.

22. Bowler's edge: BRIM - Liza wore one well

23. Take third, say: STEAL 😀- Here's my current fav ball player Bobby Witt Jr. doing it

25. Bulb choice: LED - How do you decide?

27. MDW alternative: ORD - O'Hare International Airport in Chicago is an alternative to Midway

28. Comment after using a new expression: AS THE KIDS SAY - Craig's seed entry. Isn't it obvi you just totes adorb the new expressions? 😀

32. For sure: DEFINITE.

33. __ pudding: PEASE - The chant for PEASE porridge (aka pudding) hot, PEASE porridge cold clapping song we all did growing up (picture is a little old!)

 

37. Actor Arkin: ALAN.

38. Queens player: NY MET.

41. Cut: SNIP.

42. "Roots" actress Sinclair: MADGE. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Some of us seniors might remember this MADGE.

44. Splurging: ON A BINGE.

46. Top-notch: SECOND TO NONE.

49. Nerve center: HUB.

52. Fa follower: SOL.

53. Uncool in a cool way: NERDY - My NERDY high school classmate became pretty cool when he became a tech multimillionaire. 

54. French 101 verb: ETRE.

56. Storage structure: SILO - Harveststore is a big name around here

58. Critters that can regenerate limbs: NEWTS.

61. Start again: REACTIVATE.

64. British noble: EARL.

65. "... any time, really": OR WHENEVER.

66. Three, in Kindergarten: DREI 😀 Kindergarten is a German word so...

67. Photography collection subtitled "Mathematicians and Their Chalkboards": DO NOT ERASE. I love the irony of this picture I saw last year while subbing.

68. Throw, 28-Across: YEET - As the kids say...

Down:

1. Coffee option: K-CUP - Part of my daily routine

2. A on a German test?: EINE - The title below is A Little Night Music. Sample as much of this beautiful music as you like

3. This week's TikTok trend, e.g.: LATEST FAD - Some can be very dangerous

4. Oscar-winning film based on an Alasdair Gray novel: POOR THINGS.

5. Chuckle syllable: HAR - Ralph Kramden did it the best!

6. Goal of many civil rights organizations: EQUALITY.

7. Step up or down: RUNG 😀

8. Stands in a studio: EASELS - Stands is used as a noun not a verb

9. Tickles: AMUSES.

10. Quick recharge: NAP - Ten minutes and I'm good to go!

11. Uninspired: DRAB.

12. Coffee option: NITRO - Coffee infused with Nitrogen gas

13. Live in a studio?: ON AIR. 😀

14. Site with health advice: WEB MD - Check it out

20. "I feel __": SEEN.

24. Related: AKIN.

26. Big name in caulk: DAP.

28. Driver in Hollywood: ADAM.

29. "Homesick: A Memoir" writer Ward: SELA.

30. Inner being?: DEMON - We all have 'em

31. "For sure, for sure!": YES INDEEDY.

34. Application with persistent pop-ups: ANNOYWARE - Annoyware is software that continuously shows reminders or pop-up windows to remind users to perform a particular action, such as registering or buying 

35. Ink: SIGN - ink as a verb not a noun

36. Olympic event since 1900: EPEE.

39. Thesis section: END NOTES.

40. London home of many works by Louise Bourgeois: TATE - Her work is displayed in London's TATE museum

43. Some RPI grads: EES - Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

45. "I was __ ready!": BORN.

47. Secant reciprocal: COSINE - COSINE is a common trig function and its inverse is called a secant.

48. "Where Is Love?" musical: OLIVER.

49. Judean king known for ambitious building projects: HEROD.

50. In __: UTERO.

51. Might: BRAWN.

55. Bounce back: ECHO.

57. Mountain flower: LAVA - 😀 A flower is something that flows as well as a plant

59. Fig or olive: TREE.

60. Paper cut: SLIT.

62. Holiday celebrated with banh chung: TET - Hmmm..., a three letter Asian holiday... 

63. "I'll see thee damned __ I call thee coward": "Henry IV, Part 1": ERE - Along with a translation into, uh, English. 😀

Saturday, June 13, 2016 Kyle Dolan

 Saturday Themeless by Kyle Dolan

I liked Dr. Dolan's puzzle and never felt I was not going to solve it. My issue became trying to decipher what Kyle meant by his "off-the-wall"cluing. As has become my custom with Kyle's puzzles, I did have a one-cell problem where you see the red cell in the grid. That high intensity exercise crossing an obscure "legal term" was never going to happen. I always wonder whether terms like that are already known to the constructor or a happy result of a desperate search of a piece of crossword software. Follow me as I embark on blogging my 24th Dolan Saturday themeless.

Across:

1. Sign of puppy love?: TUMMY RUB 😀 Ah, it is an activity by someone who actually loves a puppy.

Uh, are you sure you know what you're doing?

9. Folded dish: OMELET.

15. Evidence that may not be fully reliable: ANECDATA - ¯\_(ツ)_/¯   In casual conversation, business, or media, "anecdata" refers to anecdotal evidence presented as objective fact. The Problem: It relies on a very small sample size (e.g., "My grandfather smoked three packs a day and lived to 100, so smoking isn't harmful"). It ignores biases, coincidence, and statistical anomalies. 

16. Mottled: CALICO.

17. Mud slingers?: BARISTAS - Even in this election year, Kyle is referring to the euphemism for coffee 

18. Shiver: TREMOR. 

19. Deuce follower: AD IN - I held onto TREY but eventually the cows came home. AD IN is simply overtime in tennis after the game ends tied which is called deuce.

20. Level: SHIM.

22. Teatime bite: SCONE.

23. Pacific nation whose national sport is rugby: TONGA - Rugby is also the national sport of SAMOA that are both Pacific nations ending in A, but...

25. Server reset?: LET - Kyle comes in with another tennis term. A LET is called when a serve hits the net but lands in bounds. The reset is that the server gets to serve again with no penalty. To reset the server in my house, I do the "unplug/plug back in" strategy.

27. Pants, informally: TROU.

28. "That's __ from me": A NO - He made a career out of this phrase

29. Couple: TWO and 35. A couple: GOING STEADY 😀 and 41. Couple: DUO.

32. Day on 10-Down: SOL - From the movie The Martian

34. Scamp: IMP.

38. Place that may have a "no phones" rule: DINNER TABLE.

39. Beer and skittles: LIFE OF RILEY - A 50's TV show starring William Bendix. Derivation of the phrase

40. Kick: JAG - Unrestrained activity (bureau/spree): An informal term for a period of excessive indulgence or uncontrolled emotion (e.g., a "crying jag" or "drinking jag"). Something from which you might get a "kick"

42. Org. preceded by the Cipher Bureau: NSA ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ There was a 1939 movie about it.

43. Vane dir.: SSE.

46. Country whose motto was "Workers of the world, unite!": USSR.

48. Best: TOP.

50. Walks down the aisle, casually: USHES - The walk is not casual, the word referring to ushering is.

52. Rafael with a Golden Slam: NADAL - These three men have won the four major tennis championships plus the Olympic gold medal.

54. Clucks: TSKS.

57. Light color: TINT.

58. "Point taken": I GET IT.

60. Nickname for the Southern city whose motto is "Resurgens": HOTLANTA - Resurens is Latin of "rising again".

   

62. Iroquois nation: ONEIDA.

63. "Farewell, mes amis!": A BIENTOT - French for "see you soon" or "bye for now" 

64. Amplify, in a way: REPOST - 😀 Sharing content someone else has posted 

65. "This ends now": WE'RE DONE.

Down:

1. High-intensity exercise method: TABATA - ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ TABATA is a high-intensity interval training (HITT) protocol developed by Japanese scientist Dr. Izum Tabata 

2. Dish whose name means "eel bowl": UNADON.

3. Sheep from Spain: MERINO - I learned this doing crosswords and was able to retrieve this from the deep recesses of my brain

4. Running with a mic, maybe: MCING - 😀 The EMCEE runs the show

5. Some penalty units: Abbr.: YDS.

6. "Phooey!": RATS.

7. Jazz venue: UTAH - This NBA team nickname originated in New Orleans where the name fit like a glove and for some reason they kept it when the team moved to Salt Lake City. The same goes for when the Minneapolis Lakers moved to Los Angeles.

8. Pho herb: BASIL - I know Pho is Vietnamese soup and a five-letter word herb starting with a B leaves few candidates

9. Feast of St. Francis of Assisi mo.: OCT - Omelet at 9 Across starts with an O, so...

10. Destination of NASA's Escapade mission: MARS.

11. Pick: ELECT.

12. Long road trip?: LIMO RIDE - The trip is not long, the vehicle is

13. Coach: ECONOMY - This is where all my airplane seats have been

14. Made unreadable, say: TORE UP.

21. Portable cooker: MESS TIN - I felt pretty good with MESS KIT...

24. Took one's medicine, in a way: ATONED.

26. Arrivals for the summer?: TOTALS - 😀 People who do addition arrive at a total that is also called a sum and so I guess these people could be called a summer.

30. Triumph through adversity: WIN OUT - The Knicks two nights ago

31. Common length of a wooden ruler: ONE FOOT.

33. Defensive coordinator who helped the Steelers win the Super Bowl in 2006 and 2009: LEBEAU.

35. Pic file: GIF - I'm a big fan 

36. Warning sound: GRR.

37. Pop duo __ & AJ: ALY ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

38. Finds an extra gear: DIGS DEEP - What the Knicks did Thursday night 

39. Dish often served "al forno": LASAGNE Al forno (Italian for "from the oven") refers to food that is baked or roasted in an oven.  

40. Subordinate: JUNIOR.

43. Worship of entities known as kami: SHINTO.

44. Forwarded: SENT ON.

45. Coffee grounds?: ESTATE -  Coffee can be grown on one ESTATE or plantation rather than on various small operations which are consolidated

47. Pi, for one: RATIO - The RATIO of a circle's circumference to its diameter.

49. "I don't believe that!": PSHAW.

51. Selling point?: STAND 😀

53. Lens covers?: LIDS.

55. Capital city of Hyogo Prefecture: KOBE.

56. Hubbub: STIR.

59. Parlor piece, informally: TAT 😀

61. Greta of "The Morning Show": LEE - ¯\_(ツ)_/¯  I'm guessing you can pick out Ms. LEE