Saturday, September 29, 2018, Gail Grabowski

Saturday Themeless Puzzle by Gail Grabowski

Today is a big holiday for us addicts, uh, aficionados of a certain brew. My daughter has had a heart issue and so is restricted to de-caf and I have cut my consumption to one and only one cup per day, but boy do I enjoy it while savoring my LA Times puzzle!

Kids where I sub come in with cups of "coffee" from some frou-frou emporiums that are so loaded with milk, sugar and various other ingredients that I just think, "What's the point?" However they all think of themselves as hard core consumers of the beverage.

Me? I'll take mine straight up and if there is a "too strong" variety, I have yet to encounter it!

I blogged Gail's last Saturday puzzle on March 3. I thought her grid today was very striking in appearance and added to the dance.

Now let's see what our prodigious constructor has for us today:

Across:

1. Garden lure: SPIDER WEB  - Eh, never mind, we'll trick or treat down the street. 

10. Prefix meaning "coil": SPIRO - I'll bet even SPIRO Agnew had a SPIROGRAPH

15. It straddles the border of two western states: LAKE TAHOE  - The site of Fredo's last fishing expedition in The Godfather 

16. Brass, for one: ALLOY  - The €1 coin has an outer ring of the alloy nickel brass - 75% Copper, 20% Zinc and 5% Nickel

17. Closing question: ARE WE DONE? - Sometimes an ill-advised question to your spouse during a disagreement 

18. Subjects for reviewers: FILMS  - Rotten Tomatoes is a pretty good site for a compilation of reviewers

19. Kind of gravel: PEA - Used a lot at our house where flora is not desired

20. What some glasses lack: RIMS.



21. Observed visiting: SEEN AT - When I was growing up, teachers  and coaches knew they were not to be SEEN AT local bars

22. Break off loudly: SNAP - Good celery test

23. Write the wrong number on, perhaps: MISDATE - "What? I put September 31 on that check?"

24. Legal option: APPEAL - If you've got enough money... 

27. Warning after using an iron: FORE - A funky clue that is yelled even by Tiger

28. A.L. East squad: TOR - TORonto Blue Jays

29. __ space: CRAWL - Not for people with claustrophobia

30. Glove material: LATEX - Not welcome in some places

31. Speech interruptions: UMS - Um, I, um, don't know, um, what to, um, say about, um this

32. Work to get: EARN.

33. Support on the way up: PITON - a carbiner with a rope will soon be attached to the PITON he is pounding into the cliff crack 

34. Cookout choice: BRATwurst

35. Modicum: BIT - Liza's Doolittle's dad sang "with a little BIT of luck" someone else will do the blinkin' work

36. One of a nursery rhyme trio: BAKER - Rub-a-dub-dub, I'll bet you know the other two passengers in the tub

37. Most successful African-American PGA golfer before Woods: PEETE - Lee Elder leapt to my mind

38. Custom finish?: ARY - What's reasonable and CUSTOMARY in Nebraska may not be so in your neck of the woods

39. Made it up: LIED - Oh yeah, elections are coming up...

40. Follow: SHADOW  - An alternate meaning to a film noir activity

41. Armadas on the road: NISSANS - That's three Saturdays in a row (and ISUZU on Thursday) where the constructor has used car names for misleading cluing. I reluctantly had to give up on CONVOYS

43. Turnovers, e.g.: STAT - Here's a turnover caused by good linebacker play

44. Take out: DELETE.

45. Shot in the dark: STAB.

46. Clicking sound?: AHA - When  a clue clicks with me, I might utter an AHA

49. "Battlestar Galactica" commander: ADAMA  - William ADAMA is played by Edward James Olmos in the show 

50. One who's no fun to play with: POOR LOSER - Here's two minutes worth of one of the worst who was/is also 12. Sulky: ILL-NATURED

52. Showed up: GOT IN - My daughters GOT IN before midnight at our house even while they were in college or... 

53. Bicycle tire feature: VALVE STEM -  This biker carries a pressurized air tank to service the VALVE STEM you see in the back ground 

54. Discharge: EGEST - A polite word for a necessary/disgusting body function 

55. Tiny arboreal amphibians: TREE TOADS.

Down:

1. Indication of an offense: SLAP.

2. Take a little off: PARE.

3. Many of its products are named for Scandinavian places: IKEA - You mean like the Dagstorp couch?

4. Mountain __: DEW - I prefer my caffeine delivered without sugar or fizz

5. Hardly transitory: ETERNAL.

6. Like much flower symmetry: RADIAL.

7. Defeat decisively: WHOMP - I suppose 

8. Quite a stretch: EONS.

9. One who does a waggle dance: BEE - I learned in an ethology class that the waggling BEE is telling the distance, direction and quality of available food

10. Sensitive health class subject: SAFE SEX  

11. Practiced diligently: PLIED - I have PLIED my trade for 50 years

13. It's often used to make paste: ROMA TOMATO 

14. Traditional Christmas Eve dish for some: OYSTER STEW - That and potato soup were staples of our Christmas Eve

21. Traffic stopper, at times: SIREN - Not always 

22. Tailored: SEWN.

23. Power source: MOTOR - Football players that play with a lot of energy are said to have a great MOTOR

24. Elastic wrap brand: ACE BANDAGE - This self-adhereing version is easier to use than the version having to use metal clips

25. Herbivore named for its habitat: PRAIRIE DOG

26. List on a ticket: PARTY SLATE - This facilitates things on this Michigan ballot

27. In the cards: FATED.

30. Takes an interest in: LIKES - Facebook admiration 

33. Revolutionary pamphleteer: PAINE - "These are the times that try men's souls"

34. Top: BEAT - As of this afternoon, the Huskers have failed to top/BEAT any team

36. Far from subtle: BLATANT.

37. High-tech communications portmanteau: PHABLET.

40. Feel a strong need (for): STARVE.

42. Rest area array: SEMIS - The yellow tubes connected to the window openings of these SEMIS provide heat/ac/wifi/TV, etc

43. Made off with: STOLE.

45. Use an updraft, say: SOAR.

46. Old movie dog: ASTA - Nick and Nora's pooch

47. Be mindful of: HEED - Or not...

48. Administrative branches: ARMS.

50. Low mil. rank: PVT.

51. Granada bear: OSO - La cama del OSO papá era demasiado dura (The papa bear's bed was too hard)

DA GRID:

Saturday, September 22, 2018, Brian E. Paquin

Themeless Saturday by Brian Paquin

At 8:54 CDT today, the Sun's rays will be shining straight down on the equator and the solar energy will be evenly distributed north and south of the equator and is called the autumnal equinox as we head toward fall. Our New Zealand friends are having their vernal equinox as they enter spring

So on this day let me be the first (only?) person to wish you a Happy Equinox. It's too late catch this very unusual tour. Maybe you can get to the spring equinox there. 

Our constructor today is Brian E. Paquin whose puzzle I blogged on June 30 of this year which gave us 19. 120 dozen?: TENS for a clue/fill and generated a lot of discussion at this outpost. Brian looks remarkably like my good friend and former colleague Ed. Maybe Ed, who married a lovely Vietnamese lady and now lives in Ho Chi Minh City, also constructs crosswords under the name Brian Paquin. 

Across:

1. Pickup artist?: NEAT FREAK - C'mon you thought of Felix and Oscar didn't you?

10. Holy, in Le Havre: SACRE  -SACRE Bleu (Sacred blue) is a familiar French expression of surprise. Bleu sounds like Dieu which means God but is forbidden to be said by the 10 Commandments. Gosh darn it?

15. Like one with greasy palms?: ON THE TAKE - Congratulations! That zoning change has been made!

16. Added on: HIRED - The school where I sub has HIRED a deputy sheriff as a security officer

17. Thrill seeker: DAREDEVIL - Evel makes our puzzle quite often

18. 2011 Atlantic hurricane: IRENE - Anyone get caught in this 2011 storm?

19. Tied accessories: OBIS - Watashi no OBI o musunde kudasai 私の帯を結んでください  (Please tie my OBI)

20. Speak further about: ENLARGE ON - "Please tell me more about your hernia operation" said no one ever!

22. Spoken with ease: FLUENT - Most of our Hispanic students are FLUENT in two languages 

25. Become unusable, as airplane wings: ICE UP - Deicing a plane wing

26. Like La Niña, e.g.: Abbr.: FEM - Mas/FEM - Niña/Niño, Amiga/Amigo, Tia/Tio

27. Motor-assisted two-wheelers: EBIKES - True EBIKES are pedal-assist units not electric bicycles

30. Poker pot items, maybe: IOUS - Also called markers

33. Luxury fashion giant: PRADA - $270 for a tie?

34. Backside: TUSH  - One of many euphemisms

35. Like a home-cooked meal: MADE FROM SCRATCH  would be a good reason that people 58. Had a home-cooked meal: ATE IN

41. Mouse target: ICON - Mouse targets on my desktop

42. Early number?: ETHER - A crossword gimmick where pre-anesthetic ETHER numbs, hence it is a number!

43. TV heroine with a weapon called a chakram: XENA - Her lethal "frisbees" 

44. Checked at the airport: WANDED.

46. Tavern need: Abbr.: LIC - A nude bar in Omaha doesn't need a liquor LICense because it doesn't sell liquor 

49. Sign up, in Sussex: ENROL - "How to ENROL" found on the website for Sussex Coast College, U.K.

51. Pax __: ROMANA - The ROMANS ran a pretty tight ship for centuries 

53. Getting burned, in a way: REDDENING.

57. Basics: ABCS.

59. Metaphorical self-help aid: BOOTSTRAP - The University of Nebraska at Omaha has a BOOTSTRAP program for mainly SAC personnel to get a degree whereby they can "lift yourself themselves by their BOOTSTRAPS".

62. Position to take: STAND and 63. Jumpy: ILL AT EASE  - If you take a STAND and look around the room to see you are the only one standing, you can feel ILL AT EASE. Been there, done that!

64. Unwieldy ships: HULKS - Former seagoing vessels frequently used as prison ships like this HULK on the River Thames

65. Plow, e.g.: SODBUSTER - Some Nebraska groups are trying to undo SOD BUSTING and return tracts of land to native prairie  grass


Down:

1. Catch a few z's: NOD OFF - Some teachers, preachers or other speakers either can't see this phenomenon or don't feel it is a problem

2. Facilitate: ENABLE - One way to look at it

3. Heart part: ATRIUM - Atrial fibrillation 

4. "__ Eyes": 1969 Guess Who hit: THESE.

5. Sustained: FED.

6. It may start with "I": RTE - I-80 changed traffic patterns in our state

7. Roof edge: EAVE.

8. Cut from the same cloth: AKIN.

9. Country singer Pickler: KELLIE  - Her heartwarming backstory, American Idol audition and emotional reaction (5 min)

10. __-reeve: early name for a sheriff: SHIRE

11. Stringless strings?: AIR GUITAR - Hugo Chavez at the U.N. getting in a few riffs

12. Make very afraid: CREEP OUT.

13. Vegas rival: RENO - Self-proclaimed as "The biggest little city in the world"

14. Churchill successor: EDEN - An interesting recounting of their relationship

21. Some window units: ACS.

23. Foam-based brand: NERF.

24. Way up: T-BAR - Saddle up!

28. Enthusiastic response: I DO.

29. Segway PT inventor Dean: KAMEN.

31. George Lucas' alma mater: Abbr.: USC.

32. Library order: SHH.

33. Artist's drawing choice: PEN AND INK.

35. Stir: MIX.

36. It makes a rally irrelevant: ACE - A rally occurs when players hit the ball back and forth over the net. An ACE serve like this one by Andy Roddick negates that phase of a point

37. There's no going back on it: DONE DEAL.

38. Normal: Abbr.: STD.

39. "Moonstruck" star: CHER - She won an Oscar for her role

40. Second effort: REDO - Many kids who fail an exam immediately want a REDO after giving many 45. Excuses: ALIBIS.

44. Became the champ: WON.

46. Maze runner: LAB RAT - Where is that cheese?

47. As a backup: IN CASE.

48. Deceased toon?: CASPER  - Gotta love this clue

50. Tears: RENDS.

52. Some game winners: MATES - What piece does white move for a game-ending checkMATE?

53. Foolhardy: RASH.

54. Classic accusation: ET TU - "Oh man, Brutus, not you too"

55. Brief court plea: NOLO

56. Neil Young's "Heart of __": GOLD.

60. Longtime Coke product: TAB 

61. Beatles' bassist before Paul: STU - Stu Sutcliffe was their first bass player and died in 1960, well before Beatlemania. His picture is included on this famous album cover montage

Make the best of these fall days as winter can not be far behind for those of us north of the Mason Dixon Line. To start, let's see your comment:

DA GRID: