L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Husker Gary

Showing posts with label Husker Gary. Show all posts

Oct 10, 2026

Saturday, October 10, 2026, August Miller

Saturday Themeless by August Miller

Our physics student turned farmer from Massachusetts returns. As usual, I'll point out some of his trickery but the key to the whole puzzle was his long fills, particularly the stack of three grid spanners

As you can see below, August had a lot of unique fills which earned him a "freshness factor" of 96%,

Across:

1. "__ Supreme": MARTY ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ The movie Marty I knew started Ernest Borgnine.

6. Hebrew name that means "who is like God": MICAH ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

11. Folks who are often recognized: CELEBS.

12. One who is recognized: HONOREE.

14. Like many John Cage compositions: ATONAL - If you'd really like to hear 2:22 of one of his compositions

15. Piece of crude machinery: OIL DRILL. 😀

16. Less ridiculous: SANER.

17. Drambuie cocktail: RUSTY NAIL - Two ingredients - Scotch Whiskey and Drambuie Liqueur. I don't think I could drink and blog!

18. Whole lot: SLEW.

19. Caresses: PETS.

20. Plum kin: SLOE.

21. Pretend: ACT.

22. Spanish dairy animal: VACA - From VACA to VACCINE

23. Journalist Cabrera: ANA.

25. Smart, in a way: VOICE CONTROLLED - It helps when my fat fingers can't get the job done.

31. Ankylosaurus, for one: ARMORED DINOSAUR.

32. "That's not so outrageous": SEEMS REASONABLE.

33. "Au revoir, __ amis": MES - Even I can see it that this is French for "Goodbye my friends"

34. Farm unit that may be round or square: BALE - The old square (really rectangular) were very labor intensive and involved made for a hot, unpleasant job. The new modern round balers are a one man operation.

35. Sigur __: ethereal Icelandic band: ROS - ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

36. Zoë of "The Afterparty": CHAO ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

39. Need for some pan sauces: FOND - ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ The word FOND is a French term that refers to the browned bits of food in a pan after food has been sautéed or roasted.

40. Grand piano trio: LEGS 😀

41. Starts to look really cold: TURNS BLUE.

44. Hasbro toy that tests reaction speed: BOP IT.

45. Looping: ON REPEAT.

46. Traditional Chinese dumplings: JIAOZI - ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

47. Giving nightmares, maybe: SCARING.

48. Spotless?: AD FREE 😀

49. "Be more here" hotel chain: HYATT.

50. Licks: BESTS.

Down:

1. Hybrid genre: METAL CORE - ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ A combination of heavy metal and hard core punk.

2. Chance to recharge one's social battery: ALONE TIME - I love mine!

3. Commit to another year, say: RENEW.

4. Lift option: T-BAR.

5. Couture initials: YSL.

6. Drop down?: MOLT 😀 - Down is a noun: When a bird MOLTS, it drops down!

7. Fedora-sporting hero, familiarly: INDY - Ah yes, back when a movie actually made me want to go to the theater. The streaming services I already pay for want $3.99 more to see this many other entertaining movies.

8. Mix with kernels: CORN SALSA.

9. No-frills type: ARIAL - Our regular font. Arial font.

10. Trope starter: HELIO ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Turns out it is not a tired plot device but is a flower. We astronomy buffs know of another HELIO word

11. Plants used to make tapioca: CASSAVAS.

12. Sibilant warning: HISS - That snake doesn't have to warn me twice!

13. Vogue rival: ELLE.

15. Not home: OUT AND ABOUT.

17. Deal with bugs, say: RECODE 😀

19. Some harness horses: PACERS.

22. Frost bit?: VERSE.

23. "Frog and Toad" series writer Lobel: ARNOLD.

24. "... said __ ever": NO ONE.

26. Modern dating phrase: COMMON ERA.

27. Herbal infusion: TISANE - Colonel Hastings did not care for Poirot's TISANE

28. Solution pages?: LAB REPORT 😀

29. Shares passing thoughts?: EULOGIZES.

30. Ascot alternative: DRESS TIE.

36. Some A.I. execs: CTOS - Chief Technical Officer

37. Suspicion: HUNCH.

38. Assortment: ARRAY.

39. Icon in a World Cup score: FLAG.

40. Doesn't work: LOAFS.

42. One taking turns cooking?: SPIT 😀

43. Kinked: BENT - The "water fountain" of my misspent yute.

44. __ one's time: BIDE.

46. Vaccination, to a Brit: JAB - Prime Minister Boris Johnson gets a JAB

Oct 3, 2026

Saturday, October 3, 2026, Tom Pepper

Themeless Saturday by Tom Pepper

Today, C.C.'s good friend and occasional co-constructor, Tom Pepper, has provided us with a very nice Saturday puzzle. Tom is the retired finance director for Eagan, MN. and spent time with C.C. and Boomer. He also was a great source of comfort for her after Boomer's passing.

In this picture you can see Tom's wife Terri, Boomer, Tom and C.C. C.C. told me that Tom could probably beat me at golf, which really wouldn't be all that hard. 😀

I am very grateful that Tom was nice enough to include a very informative note about his construction of this puzzle:

Hi Gary,

Nice to hear from you again!

I don't always start themeless puzzles with a specific grid pattern, but I did with this one. It was a grid shape that Rex Parker had said he liked in someone else's puzzle because it was conducive to that whoosh-whoosh feeling you get when a couple gettable long entries lead to gettable long crosses. So when I made this puzzle, I placed the four longest entries (13s and 14s) in first, and filled around them. From the start, I had hoped to get both GRAMMAR POLICE and ROOKIE MISTAKE into the puzzle, and it worked out.

When the puzzle was accepted, the editors let me know they were going to make a couple small changes to improve the short fill in the middle section of the puzzle. They even wrote the new clues for me!

Take care,

Tom

Across:

1. Item dropped in the drink: STRAW 😀

6. Chiromancer's target: PALM - Yes, chiromancer is another name for a palm reader.

10. Overwhelm: SLAM - I once SLAMMED a cafe with two buses with 60 kids. We sponsors took orders, served the food, took the money and bussed the tables for them. It turned out great and they were so grateful.

14. Hair extension: WEAVE.

15. Cookies and cream treat: OREO SHAKE.

17. Baseball's all-time RBI leader: AARON.

18. Rescuers on the run?: SKI PATROL 😀

19. Bases for busts: PLINTHS - A PLINTH is a stand or base that can hold a bust. You've got a few miles on your tires if you remember this bust of Voltaire in the office of 50's/60's Perry Mason TV show. You've got a heck of a memory if you remember his secretary Della Street played by the lovely Barbara Hale.

21. Not accidental: MEANT - The hear kids today use the phrase "on accident" instead of "by accident". Did that happen at the same time "could care less" replaced "couldn't care less"?

22. Oft-redacted fig.: SSN.

23. Many an adoptee: HOUSE PET - I can't go into an animal shelter. I'd want to take all of them home.

27. Ones correcting they're gaffes, perhaps?: GRAMMAR POLICE - My favorite clue/fill. This was so clever because the clue had the grammatical gaffe of they're instead of their.

32. French "deadly": FATALE - Mata Hari is said to be the most famous Femme FATALE (deadly woman) of all time.

34. Christmas song: NOEL.

35. "Pass": NAH.

36. Tough to form a bond with: ALOOF - This science guy first thought of INERT

37. Media that led to record losses: CDS.

38. "What she said": DITTO.

40. WoW, for one: RPG - My last fill. This "R" was nearly a natick with FARR crossing RPG but Role Playing Game made sense to me and so I earned a "got 'er done".

41. Visit a souk: SHOP - Souks are common to North Africa. This is one is in Morocco.

43. Steer clear of: ESCHEW.

44. Product of green energy?: ROOKIE MISTAKE 😀 - It can be said that a ROOKIE can be green and apt to make a MISTAKE. My first blogs had them but C.C. was encouraging.

47. Relatively helpful business practice?: NEPOTISM 😀 If your relative is hiring, "it couldn't hurt!"

48. Hip-hop figures: MCS.

51. Groundwork: BASIS.

54. Neighborhood blot: EYESORE.

56. Open: ALL-COMERS - Technically anyone can try but...

60. "Enough's enough": OK NOW.

61. "Truth!": YOU KNOW IT.

62. "Gigi" composer: LOEWE - Can you find him on the poster?

63. Chocolate brand owned by Berkshire Hathaway: SEES - A favorite confection of Warren Buffet

64. Ginormous: MEGA.

65. Samsung appliance: DRYER - You'll have to look close to see the manufacturer

Down:

1. Pulls a switch: SWAPS.

2. Birds for whom a color is named: TEALS.

3. More than ready: RARING TO GO.

4. Bath water: AVON - I learned AVON is a word meaning river in the U.K. Here is the city of Bath on AVON in England.

5. Split evenly, informally: WENT HALFSIES ON - WENT FIFTY FIFTY fit very nicely also

6. Play __: POSSUM.

7. Ararat lander: ARK - Could this shape on Mt. Ararat be the resting place of Noah's ARK?

8. Island ring: LEI.

9. Messy locks: MOP.

10. "Yentl" setting: SHTETL - A SHTETL is a Yiddish word meaning "little town" that refers to small market towns in pre–World War II Eastern Europe with a large, Yiddish-speaking Jewish population.

11. Spencer of "Good Morning America": LARA.

12. "Don't Matter" singer: AKON ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

13. Move to another state?: MELT 😀 Very amusing for this physics teacher who is also a fan of classic movies.

16. "Nothing new under the sun": SAME OLD SAME OLD.

20. Heart's location?: HOME 😊

24. Long jumper's destination: SAND PIT - Bob Beamon shocked the world in the 1968 Mexico City Olympics by beating the old record by almost two feet!

25. Olympic archer?: EROS.

26. Safety gear for ER workers: PPE - We all got familiar with Personal Protection Equipment during covid

28. "The White Tiger" actor Rajkummar: RAO ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

29. On easy street: IN THE MONEY.

30. Sandra's "Ocean's 8" co-star: CATE.

31. DIY help site: EHOW.

32. "Fire Country" actress Diane: FARR ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

33. Chewy brand: ALPO - Our kitty Lily gets her food from Chewy.com

37. Lombardy birthplace of Pliny the Elder and Pliny the Younger: COMO - Looks like a nice place for the Pliny's