Tuesday, May 23, 2023 Juliana Tringali Golden

You are SO RIGHT.  Today's theme seems a bit off to me and really had me scratching my head.  Notice that each of the theme answers ends in the letters "SO".  The letters "SO" are to the RIGHT of the answer's other letters or words.  So what is the connection of the word "Good" in the theme clue?  Well, "Good" and "Right" can be synonymous.  I know ~ it's a stretch.  Notice, too, that the first and last theme answers are two words, while the middle three theme answers are only one word.  If you see a deeper meaning in today's theme, please share.

17-Across. Good dog?: LHASA APSO.

25-Across. Good shot?: ESPRESSO.

37-Across. Good condition?: PROVISO.

Provisos in the cat world.

40. Good measures?: CALYPSO.  Ok, class.  Who remembers that Harry Belafonte (Mar. 1, 1927 ~ Apr. 25, 2023), the King of Calypso, appeared in last Tuesday's puzzle?  Calypso certainly has a good beat.

48. Good character?: TED LASSO.  Ted Lasso is a television show about an American football coach hired to manage a British soccer team.  Hilarity ensues.  I have never seen Ted Lasso, so I don't know if he is a good character or not.

And the unifier of sorts:

60. For good reason, and a hint to five answers in this puzzle: RIGHTLY SO.

Across:

1. Disaster relief org.: FEMA.  As in the Federal Emergency Management Agency.  

5. Kimchi containers: JARS.  //  And 40-Down. Tuna holder: CAN.  Kimchi is a traditional staple in Korean cuisine.  It is made of salted, fermented vegetables, usually cabbage.  I tried some for the first time a few weeks ago, and was pleasantly surprised that it was so good.

9. Out in the sticks: RURAL.

14. Finishes a cake, say: ICES.

It looks good enough to eat, but it's actually made of felt.

15. Grades K thru 6: ELEM.  Elementary school.

16. Año Nuevo month: ENERO.  Today's Spanish lesson.  January is the first month of the year.

19. Temporary stay: VISIT.

20. Up-to-date: MODERN.

Modern, but uncomfortable, furniture.

21. Prepare to be photographed: POSE.

23. Skin pic: TAT.

24. Low-__: indistinct, as computer graphics: RES.  As in Resolution.

27. Terra-__ tiles: COTTA.  Many buildings on the LSU campus have terra-cotta tile roofs.

30. Rift: SCHISM.  The Great Schism is probably one of the most well known.  It was the separation of the Catholic church of the West from the Orthodox churches of the East. This schism took place in 1054 and was caused by disagreements between Western and Eastern church leaders on several issues, including Papal authority.

31. "Aw, not again!": UGH!

32. Little one: TOT.

Tater Tot

33. "Ask and you shall receive!": NAME IT.

41. Calm and collected: SERENE.

42. Buddy: PAL.

43. "Xanadu" band, for short: ELO.  The band's full name is Electric Light Orchestra.  [Name # 1.]

44. One after another: IN TURN.

46. Bit of luck: BREAK.  

51. Cheer at a fútbol match: OLÉ.  More of today's Spanish lesson.

52. Logger's tool: AXE.  Paul Bunyan carried a big AXE.

53. Abound (with): TEEM.

54. Monopoly token worn by Mr. Monopoly: TOP HAT.

58. Rhythm of daily life?: PULSE.  Great clue.

62. Ibuprofen brand: ADVIL.  Everything you wanted to known about Ibuprofen but didn't know to ask.

63. "That makes sense": I SEE.

64. Orangutans, e.g.: APES.  Did you know that Orangutan means "person of the forest" in the Indonesian and Malaysian languages?

65. Far from posh: SEEDY.

66. Unwelcome garden grazers: DEER.

67. Congressional assents: YEAS.

Down:

1. Movie: FILM.

2. Canyon phenomenon: ECHO.

3. Honey-based beverage: MEAD.  Also the name of a lake on the Nevada-Arizona border named after Elwood Mead (Jan. 16, 1858 ~ Jan. 26, 1936).  It is actually a reservoir formed by the Hoover Dam.  It is the largest reservoir in the United States in terms of water capacity.  It has been in news recently.

4. State as fact: ASSERT.

5. Dungarees: JEANS.  Last Saturday May 20, 2023 marked an historic day for blue jeans: it was 150th anniversary of the blue jean. On May 20, 1873 Levi Strauss (Feb. 26, 1829 ~ Sept. 26, 1902) and Jacob Davis (1831 ~ 1908) obtained a U.S. patent on the process of putting rivets in men's work pants for the very first time.

6. Many a mountain whose name ends in "horn": ALP.  The most well know is the Matterhorn.

7. Word spelled out in an Aretha Franklin hit: R-E-S-P-E-C-T.  Time for a musical interlude.

8. Mash down: SMOOSH.

9. Changeabout: REVERSAL.

10. Sea urchin, at a sushi bar: UNI.  Everything you wanted to know about UNI but didn't know ask.

11. Takes a breather: RESTS.

12. La Scala solos: ARIAS.  One of my favorite arias is from Carmen.

13. Mega Millions, e.g.: LOTTO.  A Mega Millions clue appeared in last Tuesday's puzzle, too.

States and Territories that have the Mega Millions lottery.

18. Cabinetmaker's calculation: AREA.

22. "This Is __ Tap": SPINAL.  This mockumentary movie came out nearly 40 years ago.  I remember it as being really funny.  I wonder how it has held up after these years.

26. "Abbott Elementary" award: EMMY.  Another mockumentary.  Abbott Elementary is current television series about teachers in a poorly funded public school (aren't they all).  The focus is a young, idealistic second grade teacher trying to do her best in a school that is also terribly mismanaged.

27. Starbucks stack: CUPS.

28. Monster in a magic forest: OGRE.

29. "Ragnarok" superhero: THOR.

30. Phillipa of "Hamilton": SOO.  Phillipa Ann Soo (b. May 31, 1990) landed the role of Eliza Hamilton in the musical Hamilton.  [Name # 2.] 

32. Dangerous tropical fly: TSETSE.  Everything you wanted to know about Tsetse but didn't know to ask.

34. Sword for an Olympian: ÉPÉE.  A crossword staple.

35. __ Mujeres, Mexico: ISLA.  The Isla Mujeres is off the Yucatan peninsula near Cancun.

36. Nabbed: TOOK.

38. Wedding accessory: VEIL.

39. By nature: INNATELY.

42. "Pinkie swear?": PROMISE.

45. Password preceder: USER ID.

46. Inky image: BLOT.

47. Sportscast's second look: REPLAY.

48. Spanish dishes that are good for sharing: TAPAS.  Yummers!  More of today's Spanish lesson.

49. Give off, as a vibe: EXUDE.

50. Dig deeply (into): DELVE.

51. "None of the above" category: OTHER.

55. Excessive publicity: HYPE.

56. Riding the waves: ASEA.

57. Horseshoes turn: TOSS.  I just learned that President Bush was a big Horseshoe player.

59. "Toy Story" kid who is terrible to his toys: SID.  [Name # 3.]

61. "Isn't that something": GEE!  Isn't is something that we've finished the puzzle!

חתולה

 

Saturday, December 24, 2022, Juliana Tringali Golden and Kate Chin Park

 Saturday Themeless by Juliana Tringali Golden and Kate Chin Park

Juliana is an editor and mom in Oakland, California. Her puzzles have appeared in the New York Times, the Atlantic, AVCX, the Inkubator, and elsewhere, and she writes a puzzle every Tuesday for Vox.com. You can find her on Twitter @julianatringali. Juliana told me, I actually met Kate when I reached out to her about a puzzle. It was something she'd posted on her site, and Will Nediger called it out on one of his best-of lists. I asked her if she'd like to collaborate sometime, and our work on this themeless began! Since we both live in Oakland, we did manage to meet up with other local constructors this spring. Hopefully we'll do it again soon!

Kate Chin Park has had puzzles in most major newspapers, indie venues such as the Incubator and AVCX, the Boswords and Lollapuzzoola tournaments. She published east midi-sized puzzles one a week at CrosswordClub.com. She lives in Oakland California, with her partner and their "hostile-to-everyone-else cat" (see picture at the bottom of the write-up.) In previous write-ups, we also learned that Kate builds amazing furniture

 

A fun Christmas Eve puzzle by two talented constructors. I hope all of you have been nice and not naughty. This fire looks mighty nice out here on the frozen plains!

Across:

1. Confines, theatrically: TYPECASTS - George Reeve suffered that.

10. Tech site with a "track prices" browser plug-in: CNET.

14. Rank and file: HOI POLLOI - 58 synonyms

15. Give up: WAIVE.

16. "I'm sunk!": ALL IS LOST and 36. Back on board: AFT - The AFT went down last @2:19 below

17. Snoring cause: APNEA.

18. Misery: WOE.

19. Both parents, in some families: MOMS - My neighbor's grandson has two lovely MOMS

20. Heist series title word: OCEANS - The one with "The Rat Pack" started it all

21. "Let me have it": DO YOUR WORST.

23. Plot: PLAN - 26. Father: SIRE - Both sets could be nouns or verbs

25. "A plateau is the highest form of flattery," e.g.: PUN.

28. Chess player Krush who is the only American woman Grandmaster: IRINA.

29. Enviable trait: ASSET.

31. "Wipe your paws" spot: MAT.

32. Turn to: CONSULT.

34. Stands to take a picture?: TRIPODS - Stands is a noun not a verb here. Even for my iPhone:

37. Meryl's "Mary Poppins Returns" role: TOPSY - Emily Blunt plays Mary Poppins and Meryl Streep plays a minor role as Mary's cousin TOPSY.

39. State capital?: MONEY - In Italy it used to be LIRA but now it's Euros 

40. Old Italian 39-Across: LIRA - This 500,000 LIRE note would convert to about 276 Euros 

42. Trojan leader?: TAU -  A Trojan (citizen of Troy) is Τρωός in Greek with TAU being the first (leading) letter

43. Scrapes (by): EKES.

44. Doll featured in many unboxing videos on YouTube: LOL SURPRISE - Open it up and see what you've got. New to me!

48. "We're dying to know!": TELL US.

49. Grandly appointed: POSH.

50. Zoom appt.: MTG - I saved $3,200 on my new hearing aids and talked to a nice guy named Bob via a Zoom MTG and he adjusted them for me online.

53. "Perfect!": A-PLUS.

54. Eucalyptus lover, familiarly: KOALA BEAR.

56. Stadium strata: TIERS.

57. Tragic dancer of French literature: ESMERALDA.

58. One could be a lot: ACRE - Oh, a building lot.

59. Film starring Himesh Patel as the only person in the world who remembers the Beatles: YESTERDAY - A lovely movie with a wonderful premise and the music, hey, it's the Beatles 

Down:

1. Soften: THAW.

2. "No regrets" initialism: YOLO - I didn't ride a big roller coaster until I was 53 and You Only Live Once.

3. Nap on a carpet, e.g.: PILE.

4. Prefix with -phenomenalism: EPI - Here ya go

5. Explorer trained at the Gagarin Center in Star City: COSMONAUT - It's named for COSMONAUT Yuri Gagarin, the Russian who was the first man in space. Yeah, it was a gimme for this NASA guy.

6. Metallic mixture: ALLOY.

7. Replay tech: SLO-MO - The SLO-MO shows the Tennessee player fumbled before the ball crossed the goal line.

8. Tough calls: TOSS UPS.

9. Go unused: SIT.

10. Piccata need: CAPERS  - Capers are the immature, unripened, green flower buds of the caperbush

11. Singer who said, "Sometimes I sound like gravel, and sometimes I sound like coffee and cream": NINA SIMONE - A sample

12. Foundation of a barter system: EVEN TRADES 

13. Oolong and pu-erh: TEAS - The former was easy, the latter, huh? All you want to know about pu-reh tea

A Pu-erh TEA cake

15. Home of the Baylor Bears: WACO - The Air Force played Baylor in WACO on Thursday night and it was 11⁰F. Yikes

20. Title holder: OWNER.

21. Ranks in judo: DANS - Everything you want to know

22. Out of shape: RUSTY.

23. Social image?: PROFILE PIC - Mine

24. Grooming aid that might gather dust: LINT ROLLER.

27. Site with artisan shops: ETSY - A frequent cwd visitor

28. Onetime macOS scheduling app: I-CAL.

29. Stock phrase: AT PAR - Here ya go

30. Home for the holidays?: TIMESHARE - or...

33. Flower sacred in Buddhism and Hinduism: LOTUS.

35. Dish whose name means "to slice" in Hawaiian: POKE.

38. Take as a given: SUPPOSE.

41. Draw: ALLURE - We had it yesterday as "21. Seductive quality" 

45. Root (out): SUSS - We crossworders do this all the time

46. Wanders: ROAMS.

47. Dot on a map: ISLET - The ISLET of Mauritius (way to the right (east) on this map) recently hosted a big golf tournament on one of its nine golf courses. 

48. "Cheerio!": TA TA - Do Brits even say Cheerio and TA TA any more?

50. Canasta play: MELD.

51. "See what I did there?": TADA.

52. Overcast: GRAY.

54. Solution: KEY - Here's how I made my own

55. Setting for many a joke: BAR - A physics example and 23 more

 

Speaking of kitties:

This is Ludo.
Kate's beautiful kitty.