Saturday, October 13, 2018, Craig Stowe

Themeless Saturday Puzzle By Craig Stowe

Today marks the anniversary of the birth of the U.S. Navy! We here salute all who served  in this vital part of our national defense especially our stalwarts 2nd Class Petty Officer Tom Uttormark (Desper-Otto) and Commander Al Hollmer (Spitzboov).

Today's constructor is Craig Stowe who also had the HIGH CHAIR puzzle ten days ago so ably blogged by Hahtoolah.  I last blogged one of Craig's puzzles on July 28 - The National Day Of The Cowboy. Craig is a kitchen porter in a rather large hotel in Toronto. 

 Today his puzzle arrives on a day that celebrates life and duty on the high seas, so let's shove off into the literary waters aboard the C.S.S. Crossword and see what Craig has laded aboard

Across:

1. N.A. boundary river: ST LAWRENCE - Ah, an aquatic beginning on this Navy day. This river is part of the ST LAWRENCE Seaway that runs from Lake Erie to Montreal. The ST LAWRENCE River continues out to the Atlantic

11. Pompano kin: SCAD  - Neither are in my restaurant's fish tank

POMPANO                                 SCAD

15. "I agree": WHAT HE SAID 

16. Weight allowance: TARE - Can you find the TARE knob on this balance? It is used to reset the pointer to zero with an empty beaker on the pan so its weight is not included. Yeah, I know, this balance measures mass not weight but still... 

17. Emergency transportation method: AIR LIFTING - Our hospital has a helicopter that costs $25,000 per trip

18. Auricular: OTIC - Using Zymox OTIC Enzymatic Solution 

19. Originated: BEGAN - Our Navy BEGAN 243 years ago

20. Fragrant garland: LEI - Our cheapo Hawaii luau gave us each a LEI, took a picture and took them back for the next couple

21. Two-time Tony-winning playwright Yasmina __: REZA - Some of her work

22. Word with rain or pine: FOREST.

25. Dodo: NIMROD - In Genesis he was  a grandson of Noah and a brave hunter. Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck sarcastically called hunter Elmer Fudd that name and it became a pejorative part of the culture 

27. "The Quiet American" novelist: GRAHAM GREENE  - A 1955 book that correctly predicted the result of American intervention in Vietnam

30. __ noir: CAFE - Je ne bois que du CAFE noir (I only drink black coffee)

33. Angela Lansbury role: MAME - I think most would think of Jessica Fletcher from Murder She Wrote

34. Cookbook direction: ADD IN

35. You can tie one on: OBI 

36. Court figure: WITNESS

38. Sea-__ Airport: TAC - Once the plane sets down at SEA-TAC, it's a 23-minute drive to a Seattle Seahawk Game

39. Like Loki: NORSE - Loki is a god in NORSE mythology. Loki is the son of Fárbauti and Laufey, and the brother of Helblindi and Býleistr. Oh... 

41. Include "[sic]," perhaps: CITE - Suppose any copywriter did this to Duke Ellington:  It Don't [sic] Mean A Thing If It Ain't [sic] Got That Swing.

42. Skye of "Say Anything...": IONE - Some of her work

43. "For what it's worth": JUST A THOUGHT.

46. Says: UTTERS.

50. WTO predecessor: GATT - General Agreement on Tarriffs and Trade signed in 1947

51. Recede: EBB.

54. Odorless gas: RADON.

56. Insignificantly: A BIT.

57. Bouncer's milieu: TRAMPOLINE - Not a nightclub it turns out

60. Ponderous pages: TOME.

61. Salt and pepper: SEASONINGS 

62. "Dizzy-_ fury and great rage of heart": Shak.: EYED - The first part of Henry VI, Act 4, Scene 7. I read the entire passage and am still not certain what it means 😟

63. Part of a Kipling poem opening: EAST IS EAST - Also the start of a song where Frasier can't remember the lyrics and has awkward 47. Breaks: PAUSES.

Down:

1. Salt: SWAB - Our two sailors in my intro said this is not usually a term that is warmly received by members of the Navy

2. Doberman pincher?: THIEF - A Pinscher pincher

3. Key __: LARGO - Bertie Higgins' rendition of Key Largo was voted #75 by VH1 on list of best hits by one-hit-wonders 
Listen if you like

4. On the run: AT LARGE - This must be at least the 4th time I've used this

5. Crybaby: WHINER.

6. Call on the field: REF - Guys with the striped shirt are said to REF the game

7. "Errare humanum __": EST - "To Err Is Human." Latin puts the words in a very different order

8. Do perfectly: NAIL - Some students NAIL every test

9. Theater: CINE.

10. Trim: EDGING.

11. Left angrily, with "out": STORMED - Delegates take turns STORMING out of U.N. speeches as we see Nikki Haley do here.

12. Humored: CATERED TO.

13. Cesar Chavez, by birth: ARIZONIAN - I had no idea where he was born or that the second "I" was necessary

14. Debauchery: DECADENCE - Some Roman Emperors come to mind

23. Arctic natives: SAMI.

24. Rustic roofing: THATCH.

26. Destinations for some PR deductions: IRAS.

28. Prenatal procedure, briefly: AMNIO - AMNIOcentesis can detect issues with a baby in the womb

29. Connect (with): MEET UP - Oops... 

30. Do a tense recitation?: CONJUGATE - Today I blog, last Saturday I blogged, next Saturday I will blog...

31. Nick Hornby novel: ABOUT A BOY - As a movie... 

32. There's one for everything: FIRST TIME - Don't ask C.C. about the FIRST TIME I blogged

36. Become tedious: WEAR - Teacher meetings used to really WEAR on me

37. Sonic Dash publisher: SEGA  - My video game experience seriously waned after Pac Man

40. Decided to keep: STETTED - Undid an edit. Ah, tell Duke we're gonna leave "don't" and "ain't" just as they were

42. "No way!": IT'S A LIE.

44. Trypanosome carrier: TSE TSE - As I've said before, this is the most dangerous animal in Africa 

45. Wyandot people: HURONS - Roosevelt High School is in Wyandotte, MI at the foot of Lake HURON

48. Ritzy Twin Cities suburb: EDINA.

49. Many are hits: SONGS - Ask me to name today's Top Ten... 

52. Spanish for "tar": BREA - We've had the debate here about LA BREA Tar Pits being redundant 

53. Meadow plaints: BAAS - The Whiffenpoof song contains, "We're poor little sheep who have lost our way, BAA, BAA, BAA"

55. Queen's domain: NEST  - Here's the queen in the middle of a hornet's nest 

58. Calgary winter hrs.: MST - Canadian time zones sorta follow U.S. zones

59. Islands staple: POI - "Like Grits in the American South, POI is a bland Hawaiian side dish that you serve plain and let people season with salt or pepper"

Anchors aweigh and let's hear your comments!

DA GRID

Saturday, Gareth Bain, October 6, 2018

Themeless Saturday Puzzle by Gareth Bain

Ach du lieber! Today we celebrate National German-American Day which is very noteworthy in Arlington, NE where I was born and now sub. Arlington was settled by many families from Germany who started many farms and the St. Paul's Church which was a true cultural force for generations.  This very strict Missouri Synod group forbid kids to dance, drink or smoke and girls were not allowed to play athletics. Needless to say this became a losing battle as the years rolled on - shades of the movie Footloose. My dad said that St. Paul members made great beer during prohibition!

Today's constructor is South African veterinarian Gareth Bain. In a very nice email from him, he has told me, " I am a shelter medicine veterinarian currently working in Gordon's Bay just outside of Cape Town and previously worked in East London". I sailed through Gareth's lovely offering in just over 20 minutes but the computer said I had a bad cell. A thorough search got me to finally change KASA/SO DUH to KANA/NO DUH

As a proud parent of a rescue animal, I am glad to blog Gareth's fun puzzle: 

Across:

1. Soap-drop indicator: PLOP - NASA shows the fizz you get when you PLOP an Alka-Seltzer tablet into a water sphere in weightlessness

5. Prepared for pie, in a way: CORED  - Here's what we use

10. Trunk extension: LIMB - Bartering tools

14. Buddhist priest: LAMA - Tibetan for high priest or chief  

15. The "A" in the Tokyo studio AIC: ANIME.

16. Stargazing subject?: IDOL - My stargazing involves astronomy 

17. Rural stopovers: INNS - This plaque proudly announces that George Washington slept in this Georgia INN belonging to Stephen Calfrey Pearce in 1791

18. Retro filter choice: SEPIA - My SEPIA wife and I at a famous venue

19. Importunate solicitor: TOUT  - Persistent salesman

20. Spin-off with a bluesy theme song by John Lee Hooker: NCIS NEW ORLEANS - Spinoff

23. 2000s political slogan: YES WE CAN - President Obama's catch phrase

24. Initial payments: ANTES  - Otherwise you want get any cards! ♥ ♦ ♣ ♠

26. European hub: ORLY  - Once your flight lands at ORLY, it's a 21 min trip to the Eiffel Tower

27. Industrious type: BUSY BEE - I married one

29. Nut: WEIRDO.

32. Ritual heap: PYRE - "Try now we can only lose, and our love become a funeral PYRE"

33. Rapper will.__: I.AM - Okay

34. Half a piano duo?: HAND - A beautiful four-minute video about playing piano with one HAND and dealing with a handicap

35. Chaparral plant: SHRUB - Here's some east of Colorado Springs

37. Longfellow's "The Bell of __": ATRI.

38. Iwo Jima flag-raiser Hayes: IRA - This first flag raised on Iwo Jimo was done by SSgt. Harold Schrier. Later the iconic Joe Rosenthal photo with Ira Hayes was staged

39. Half a classic cowboy nickname: KEMO.

40. Top of the order?: ABBESS - She's the CEO of the Abbey

42. DNA units: STRANDS  - Watson and Crick won the 1962 Nobel prize for discovering this structure of DNA

44. 1990s game console release, initially: SNES.

45. Strong feeling: THROE  - Many things are done in "the THROES of passion"

46. '60s-'70s singer born Ellen Cohen: MAMA CASS - John Phillips thought Mama Cass did not fit the image of the other Mamas and Papas who were string beans but he relented

50. Catcall?: HERE KITTY KITTY - What does a 500 lb canary say? 

53. Circumstances, idiomatically: BOAT.

54. Hilarious: A RIOT - Not usually a teacher's favorite student

55. Look for: SEEK.


56. Certain something: AURA - Captured with Auric or Kirilian Photography

57. "Obviously!": NO DUH - Rude!

58. Put away: SAVE - The ant put away food for the winter while the grasshopper frittered away his summer

59. Highland language: ERSE - Inniu Dé Sathairn (Today is Saturday)

60. Irritations found in clouds: GNATS

61. Iowa Department of Transportation city: AMES - Straight down I-35 from  C.C. in Minneapolis


Down:

1. "Naturalis Historia" author: PLINY - The largest surviving publication from the Roman Empire 79 A.D.

2. Poker for knights?: LANCE - On March 10, 1524 Henry VIII was knocked from his horse by a LANCE in a joust

3. Old Dodges: OMNIS  - Along with the Plymouth Horizon, Chrysler's first front-wheel drive vehicle

4. It often looks like gibberish: PASSWORD - Programs generate these until you can put in something intelligible 

5. "No more discussion": CASE CLOSED.

6. Like turnpike ramps: ONE WAY - NO DUH!

7. Wisconsin college: RIPON - Their alumni include Harrison Ford, Al Jarreau and Spencer Tracy

8. Abu Dhabi bigwig: EMIR - Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan

9. Shaking event: DEAL - A recent historic one

10. Prolonged list, as of complaints: LITANY.

11. "It's safe to sit next to me": I DON'T BITE.

12. Onetime accessory for Britney Spears and Keri Russell: MOUSE EARS - Britney during and after

13. Nonkosher sandwich, usually: BLT - A 2015 Pew Poll showed 57% of Jews eat pork

21. Techie stereotype: NERD.

22. "Hakuna Matata" lifestyle: EASE - For your listening pleasure 

25. Ones in it for the long haul: SEMIS - Need a job,? They're all hiring!

27. Mitt Romney's alma mater: Abbr.: BYU.

28. Modern folklore: URBAN MYTHS - Some thought this curse dogged the Red Sox until they won the World Series in 2004 against the Yankees

29. Card game played by Phileas Fogg: WHIST - An illustration done for a printing of the Jules Verne classic

30. Annual observance celebrating commitment to the planet: EARTH HOUR - A world-wide event where lights and appliances are turned off for one hour at 8:30pm local time. The next one is 3/30/19

31. Behind: IN ARREARS

32. __ tem: PRO - PRO tem(pore) presides over the U.S. Senate when the V.P. is not in the building. John Tyler is the only one who ever became president

36. Darwin's __ Beagle: HMS - His work while traveling on that boat changed the world

37. Graph point's x-coordinate: ABSCISSA - A bit of arcana for us math peeps

39. Low joint: KNEE - A joint whose injury ends may athletic careers

41. Turtle's mouth: BEAK - Having this BEAK look back at you on the 9th hole on my golf course is scary

43. Vital vessels: AORTAE - Okay, okay ERSE showed me AORTAS is wrong

44. Didn't play: SAT OUT which is usually not done by the 47. Top squad: A TEAM.

46. Crete's highest elev.: MT IDA - Here's a hiking map in the local language

48. Martin or Miller: STEVE.

49. "I'ma Be Me" stand-up comic Wanda: SYKES - Yes, female comics can be profane also

51. Kodos' alien cohort on "The Simpsons": KANG - Okay, just not interested enough to look it up

52. It can be pumped: IRON - or...

53. Honey, in slang: BAE - a meh diminutive of Baby I guess

DA GRID: