Saturday, December 28, 2024, Annemarie Brethauer, Katie Hale

 Themeless Saturday by Annemarie Brethauer and Katie Hale

Annemarie worked for twenty years at a local government access channel as a writer/director/producer and was also used to being strictly behind the camera (Documentaries like "Know Your Zoning Code."). She is now retired and freelancing as a puzzle creator. 

Katie Hale, originally from Houston, is now a stay-at-home mom in London and Patti's assistant editor for the LA Times puzzles. We have seen her in a collaborative role quite often. In fact, this is my fourth Saturday Themeless collaboration with these two constructors.

After a run of very difficult solves, this one proved to be much easier and fun to do although some of the cluing...

Across:

1. Skip-the-line status: TSA PRE - No hint of abbreviation 

7. Ambulatory access: APSE - New use of ambulatory for me. It can be a noun denoting the passageway used to access an APSE

11. Out of sorts: OFF.

14. Wartime partners: ALLIES - In 1945, I doubt my dad and uncles would ever have perceived that Germany and Japan would become our ALLIES and Russia would not

15. "Golda" subject: MEIR.

16. Links target: PAR.

17. Heckles: BOOS AT.

18. Taylor Swift hit that begins, "I have this thing where I get older, but just never wiser": ANTI HERO.

20. Take revenge: SETTLE OLD SCORES - Do politicians really do this? 🤔

22. Base runner's assertion: I'M SAFE - Shohei Ohtani pleads his case

23. Whac-A-Mole move: BASH.

24. First name in boxing: LAILA.

27. Penalty area in rugby, familiarly: SIN BIN.

30. Mantra sounds: OMS.

31. Sleeve element, for short: TAT - Howard and Raj got fake, slip-on TATS on Big Bang Theory to attract goth girls 

33. Mexican-inspired casserole: TACO PIE - or a Frito Pie

 

37. Tusked pinniped: WALRUS.

39. Full-bodied: ROBUST.

40. "Ta-ta!": CHEERIO.

42. Disco guy on "The Simpsons": STU.

43. Univ. that sends acceptances on Pi Day: MIT  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ but interesting

44. Turn down: REFUSE - Henry turned down a famous role that went to John

46. Tibet's capital: LHASA - McDonalds took its business to new heights at this restaurant in LHASA at an elevation of 12,123'

48. Title fellow in a 1922 Broadway hit: ABIE.

51. Spanish store: TIENDA.

                      "I want a bag    "What color?"

53. Competition for queens: RUPAUL'S DRAG RACE.

59. Wade Wilson's alter ego: DEADPOOL ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

60. "Shaun of the Dead" genre: ZOM COM - ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ A zombie comedy

61. Terminate: END.

62. Hill partner: DALE - Before the U.S. Army used the phrase...

63. "Take a chill pill!": COOL IT - 

64. Figs.: NOS.

65. FanDuel list: ODDS - Here's how FanDuel sees the betting on today's Pinstripe Bowl. The Huskers are a 2.5 pt. favorite. On the Moneyline, you have to bet $132 straight up to win $100.

66. Makes invalid: ANNULS - Carmen Electra and Dennis Rodman had their Las Vegas post-partying marriage ANNULLED nine days later

Down:

1. Window openings: TABS 😀 I always have too many open

2. Blackthorn: SLOE.

3. Lazy answer to "How many stars are in the sky?": A LOT.

4. Ovary plus stigma plus style: PISTIL.

5. Response to a puerile joke: REAL MATURE.

6. Newbery Medal winner Eleanor: ESTES ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

7. Coastal town at the foot of Monte Cerreto: AMALFI.

8. Suspended: PENDENT.

9. Gets ready to drive: SITS.

10. NFL Hall of Fame running back Dickerson: ERIC.

$550

11. Work traditionally performed without microphones: OPERA 😊

12. Uber passengers: FARES.

13. Ninth grader: FROSH.

19. Mix (with): HOBNOB.

21. Brewery kiln: OAST.

24. Note played by covering every hole on a recorder: LOW C - We called them tonettes when I was in school

25. Eastern nanny: AMAH.

26. __ of Man: ISLE.

28. Syst. that connects to Caltrain: BART - Bay Area Rapid Transit connects at Millbrae, CA.

29. "Do you need more reasons?": I COULD GO ON.

32. "Please.": AS IF.

34. Big cat: PUMA.

35. Goddess of the Pyramid Texts: ISIS - Four letter goddess and pyramids, hmmm...

36. "Don't Go to Strangers" singer Jones: ETTA.

38. Go over again: REREAD.

41. Won an ad war, perhaps: OUTSOLD.

42. Fortuneteller: SEER.

45. Crab-walks: SIDLES.

47. "NCIS: Origins" narrator Mark: HARMON.

48. Elizabeth of cosmetics: ARDEN.

49. "¡Qué __!": BUENO - How nice! In Español 

50. Procreate devices: I-PADS -  😀 For amateurs too!

52. South American culture known for geoglyphs: NAZCA - 2,000-yr-old lines that have to be seen from the air to be comprehended 

54. Beehive, e.g.: UPDO.

55. Freight weight: LOAD.

56. Rights org.: ACLU.

57. Kinky curl shape: COIL.

58. Some FD employees: EMTS.

Saturday, December 21, 2024, Stacey Yaruss McCullough & Matthew Stock

 Saturday by Stacy Yaruss McCullough & Matthew Stock

 

Today is the Winter Solstice which means Nebraska will only get 9 hrs 11 minutes and 47 seconds of daylight. Tomorrow we will add four seconds to that total as we head towards spring. 

This puzzle kept me in the dark most of the way through. What a slog!

On a personal note, this week marks the beginning of my eighth year of blogging Saturday themeless puzzles for C.C. at her wonderful site.

Across:

1. Bad Bunny genre: LATIN TRAP - I found out it is not LATINO RAP. Here is what it is.

10. Maker of Cleansing Melts soap pads: OLAY.

14. "There's a storm brewing": I CAN FEEL IT - As seen from Nebraska Memorial Stadium last spring

16. Traffic sign: CONE 😀

17. Digs at the beach: SAND CASTLE - I got "Digs" as a noun and eventually the rest came

18. New clothes hangers?: TAGS - Minnie Pearl's iconic TAG

19. Yurchenko double __: vault now called the Biles II: PIKE.

20. Stick in the water: POOL NOODLE - BOAT PADDLE worked for a long time! Is this really a stick? 😀

22. Oaf: CLOD.

24. CrossFit moves: BURPEES.

25. Neither early nor late: ON BEAT 😀 Rhythm!

28. Dark: MORBID.

29. Artistic hot spots: KILNS 😀

30. Products of deductive reasoning?: TAXES 😀

31. Study: DEN - Noun not verb

34. Loads: A LOT.

35. Yarns: TALES.

36. Exclamation of approval: VIVA - _ _ V _ turned out to not be RAVE

37. Bow wood: YEW - 

38. Acts like a gobstopper: LASTS - We called them Jaw Breakers in my misspent yute 

39. Unspoken: TACIT.

40. News segment: SPORTS.

42. Grapefruit relative: POMELO.

43. "Do I look like I care?": SPARE ME - 

45. Word with freeze or fry: DEEP.

46. Precursor to getting one's just desserts?: CAKE BATTER 😀

48. "Well, that used to be true ... ": I WAS.

52. Quarreling: AT IT.

53. Lao Gan Ma condiment: CHILI CRISP - ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Lao Gan Ma (old grandmother in English) was invented in a small Chinese town by Tao Huambo. This has become very popular and made her very wealthy. All you'd want to know. From C.C.: This brand is hugely popular in China. [My brother] Andy puts it in everything. Cantonese food is mild. Not much chilis. But Sichuan food is super spicy.

55. Eerie spray: MIST.

56. One of three in the Girl Scouts logo: SILHOUETTE.

57. Bridesmaid's accessory: POSY - Today I learned a POSY is simply flowers joined together by stems or floral wire to make it easier to carry.

58. Entertainment on a carousel, once: SLIDE SHOW - This fabulous scene from Mad Men is great TV writing and would have made for amazing ad copy.

Down:

1. Condition whose therapy may include hissing like a snake: LISP.

2. __ palm: ACAI - A Swiss Army knife of cwds

3. School house?: TANK 😀

4. Overexposed?: INDECENT.

5. George Halas Trophy org.: NFC - The Philadelphia Eagles were champions of the National Football Conference of the NFL but lost to the AFC champion KC Chiefs in the Super Bowl.

6. Vessel at a teddy bear picnic: TEAPOT 😀

7. Task on a postseason to-do list: RESOD - We chose to merely RESEED and it worked out fine

8. High, in Italian: ALTO - L'affitto è molto ALTO. (The rent is very high)

9. Some brimless hats: PILLBOXES - On 11/22/63 Jackie gave this hat to her secretary Mary Gallagher at Parkland Hospital but no one knows what happened to it after that.

10. Deep-ocean mollusks: OCTOPI.

11. Funny bones?: LOADED DICE.

12. Perspective: ANGLE.

13. Party planner's list: YESES.

15. Grants for researchers?: TENURES - Getting that grant can go a long way toward keeping your job

21. Contact juggler's props: ORBS - Contact manipulation is a form of object manipulation that focuses on the movement of objects such as balls in contact with the body.

23. __ Vegas Raiders: LAS - To some of us, they will always be the Oakland Raiders. My dad always referred to the Brooklyn Dodgers not the LA ones.

25. 3 out of 5, say: OKAY.

26. __ Valley sunbird: Middle Eastern species: NILE.

27. Air busses?: BLOWS A KISS 😀

28. Soda shop treats: MALTS.

30. Spoon-fed line: TASTE THIS 😀

32. Profoundly bad: EVIL.

33. Gp. with a compass rose emblem on its flag: NATO.

35. Southwest expanses?: TARMACS 😀

36. Many "What We Do in the Shadows" characters: VAMPIRES.

38. First unsigned artist to record a Billboard No. 1 hit: LOEB.

39. Golf club part: TOE - Not where you want to hit the ball

41. Sort of: PRETTY.

42. Stopping point: PERIOD 😀

43. Rascal: SCAMP.

44. Grillmaster's domain: PATIO.

45. Territory nearly surrounded by Haryana: DELHI - As you can see, DELHI is mostly in the state of Haryana (yellow below) but extends into Uttar Pradesh

47. Contribute to grass roots movements?: TILL - I had seed as the first verb

49. "__ pleasure!": WITH.

50. Regarding: AS TO.

51. Be effusive: SPEW.

54. Prompt: CUE.