Sunday March 10, 2024 Brian Thomas & Kate Chin Park

 

Theme: "Con Test" - Each common phrase is rephrased as if it's con (convention)-related.

22. Con current?: AIR OF EXCITEMENT.

33. Con tour?: MEET AND GREET.

37. Con quest?: AUTOGRAPH.

54. Con sorts?: COSPLAYERS.

68. Con note?: I LOVE YOUR WORK.

86. Con text?: FAN FICTION.

101. Con figure?: MOVIE STAR.

103. Con script?: GROUP READING.

119. Con form?: CARDBOARD CUTOUT.

Just a perfect title. Also love that all the theme entries are in-the-language phrases. Not easy for this type of theme where the answers have to match the second parts of the con words and have to work within the convention contest.

You can find more of Brian puzzles at his site Puzzles That Need a Home. More of Kate's puzzle at her site Crosswords Schmosswords

Across:

1. Handy smartphone app for a tourist: GPS.

4. Most pancakes: DISKS.

9. Ijeoma Oluo's "So You Want To Talk About __": RACE. OLUO is very crossword-friendly.

13. Lumps in a stack of folded sweatshirts: HOODS.

18. Make a big fuss: RAISE CAIN.

20. Auburn, to Alabama: RIVAL.

21. Skerry, e.g.: ISLET. I did not know the meaning of skerry. Wikipedia info: small rocky island, or islet, usually too small for human habitation.

24. Bradbury genre: SCI-FI.

25. Brotherly sort: FRIAR.

26. Blackpink genre: KPOP. Very popular girl group in Asia.

27. December quaff: NOG.

29. River near Shakespeare's birthplace: AVON.

30. Argentine grassland: PAMPA.

41. Hardly any: A DAB.

42. Squeaky toy?: POM. Ha. Squeaky.

43. With 52-Across, some midriff-baring attire: CROP. 52. See 43-Across: TOPS.

44. "Star Trek: TNG" counselor Deanna: TROI.

45. Leg bone: TIBIA.

47. System connecting OAK and SFO: BART.

50. Patella spots: KNEES.

57. Plays chords, in a way: STRUMS.

59. Aristotle's teacher: PLATO.

61. Fictional Amelia who, when asked to remove spots from a dress, cut out all the polka dots: BEDELIA.

62. Maui's Road to __: HANA.

63. Iranian money: RIAL.

64. Chart-topper: HIT.

65. "Shucks!": RATS.

66. "Black-ish" dad: DRE.

73. Tic-tac-toe side: XES.

74. Slitherers in the sea: EELS.

76. Freedom Rider's ride: BUS.

77. Scuffle: FRAY.

78. As concerns: IN RE.

80. Code names: ALIASES.

82. "See what I did there?": GET IT.

84. Drives too fast: SPEEDS.

88. Half of quatorze: SEPT. French for 7.

90. Spousal term of endearment: WIFEY.

92. Toss, slangily: YEET.

93. Performed miserably: STUNK.

95. Put pen to paper: DREW.

97. "Aida" river: NILE.

98. Classic film about a football-kicking mule: GUS.

100. Swing about: SLUE.

108. False move: FEINT.

109. Capital of Italia: ROMA.

110. Lacking freshness: OLD.

111. " ... __ I thought": OR SO.

113. Saint-Saëns's "__ Macabre": DANSE.

117. Conscious: AWARE.

124. Seeds, weeds, and feeds: TENDS. 128. Nave-y bases?: PEWS. Fun clues.

125. Asteroids publisher: ATARI.

126. "Wait, what happened?": I MISSED IT.

127. Come up: ARISE.

129. "Divine Comedy" poet: DANTE.

130. Greek vowel: ETA.

Down:

1. Tennis great Steffi: GRAF.

2. Skating team: PAIR.

3. iPhone speaker: SIRI.

4. Reorganize a hard drive, familiarly: DE-FRAG.

5. Cocktail sphere: ICE.

6. "Yakety __": horn-heavy novelty hit: SAX.

7. Algonquian-speaking people: KICKAPOO. Learning moment for me. We have Ojibwe here.

8. Manicure sound: SNIP.

9. Salt garnish locale: RIM.

10. Letters after Madison or before Maria: AVE.

11. Source of hemp: CANNABIS. Sure hope you don't ever encounter the smell issue.

12. John who completed an EGOT in 2024: ELTON.

13. That fella's: HIS.

14. Name on a Wienermobile: OSCAR MAYER.

15. Tapenade fruit: OLIVE.

16. Crusoe's creator: DEFOE (Daniel)

17. Stay: STINT.

19. Major drama: SOAP OPERA.

20. Two bars and two dots, on a staff: REPEAT.

23. Actor Hardy: TOM.

28. Macroeconomics abbr.: GDP.

31. Actor born Laurence Tureaud: MR T.

32. Components: PARTS.

34. Proclamation: EDICT.

35. Hasbro's "game of unspeakable fun": TABOO.

36. Turn: GO BAD. (Thanks, D-Otto!)

37. "Cathy" cry: ACK.

38. Vessels in a pharaoh's tomb: URNS. Fresh clue angle.

39. Follow the rules: TOE THE LINE. 48. Dadcore jeans specification: RELAXED FIT. Two more great fill.

40. 1960s nonconformist: HIPPIE.

46. HS exam with a cellular energetics section: AP BIO.

49. Lacking freshness: TRITE.

51. Olympic gold medalist Lee: SUNI. She grew up in St. Paul.  

53. Tear it up: SLAY.

55. Unleash: LET RIP.

56. Spunk: SASS.

58. Many an Argentine red: MALBEC.

60. Up in the air: ALOFT.

63. Campground sights, briefly: RVS.

64. Rte. 66, e.g.: HWY.

66. The "D" of CODA: DEAF.

67. Baton-passing event: RELAY.

69. Boots: OUSTS.

70. Novelist Leon: URIS. He wrote "Exodus".

71. Like the Resident Evil games: RATED M.

72. Had more than an inkling: KNEW.

75. Rails against failure?: SAFEGUARDS. Love this clue also.

79. Put back: REINSTATE.

81. Crunch cousin: SIT UP.

82. Actor Elliott: GOULD. He was once married to Barbra Streisand.

83. Jaded feeling: ENNUI.

84. Big name in Apple history: STEVE. Jobs.

85. Ward of "Gone Girl": SELA.

87. "See you then!": IT'S A DATE.

89. As per routine: PRO FORMA. Hey, a PRO word in this Con puzzle.

91. "__ outta here!": YER.

94. Skywalker mentor: KENOBI.

96. GameCube successor: WII.

99. Cheap ticket spec: SRO.

102. Final application: END USE.

103. Persona non __: GRATA.

104. Scull mover: ROWER.

105. Bahla Fort visitor, perhaps: OMANI. On the UNESCO World Heritage List.

106. Yosemite peak free soloed in "Free Solo," informally: EL CAP.

107. Miracle-__: GRO.

112. Came out with: SAID.

114. Vertex, in graph theory: NODE.

115. Clubs, but not cabarets: SUIT.

116. Jazz singer Jones: ETTA.

118. Kampala-to-Nairobi dir.: ESE.

120. Unedited, as footage: RAW.

121. OBs, e.g.: DRS.

122. Racket: DIN.

123. Chicago winter hrs.: CST.

OK, an update on my freestyle. What do you think, Wendy? My hand entry is much better, but I need to hold my glide a bit longer.

Here is my backstroke. I'm still mostly pulling with straight arms. Will work on high elbow next.
 

Saturday, May 20. 2023 , Kate Chin Park

 Saturday Themeless by Kate Chin Park

Kate is a custom furniture maker who is a proud non-whiz when it 

comes to solving and wordplay. 

Originally from Spokane, she has lived in San Diego, Brooklyn, London, and Brooklyn again before settling down in Oakland. She began solving crosswords in 2019 and making them in 2021, and credits mentorship both formal and informal for her growth as a constructor. When not awash in words or sawdust, Kate loves to read, eat the food her partner cooks, snuggle with her hostile-to-everyone-else cat, and watch the Golden State Warriors. Here is her website 

This puzzle was a fun exercise where I ended up where I started, the NE. Kate's grid is eye-catching with 108 open squares.

Across:

1. Staying safe, in a way: MASKING UP.

10. Best effort: A-GAME - I don't know about you but these Saturday puzzles take my A-GAME

15. Request for multifactor authentication?: ASK ANYONE 😀

16. Gurira who plays Okoye in the MCU: DANAI - 0 for 3. I did not know DANAI, Gurira or what MCU (Marvel Comic Universe) stood for. DANAI filled herself.

17. Collective noun?: PHILATELY 😀- Stamp collection finally hit me and then I stumbled through the spelling.

18. Choose to join: OPT IN - Philately is not a hobby to which I would OPT IN

19. Hook, in journalism lingo: LEDE - Don't bury the LEDE! 12/7/41 "Visibility will be very limited today as you look out over Pearl Harbor."

20. Quench: SATE.

22. Deadly septet: SINS.

23. Chicane shape, on some racetracks: ESS - A tight sequence of corners in alternate directions.  Usually inserted into a circuit to slow the cars, often just before what had been a high-speed corner. We all know of chicanery but I was happy to learn this form of that root word.

24. "Well played": GOOD ONE.

27. Violent figure of Egyptian mythology: SET - Talk about yer Saturday cluing!

28. Explorer's code, hopefully: LEAVE NO TRACE.

30. Twisted: WRITHED.

32. Birthplace and subject of writer Vu Trong Phung: HANOI - This was pretty obvious after a letter or two

33. "Mais oui": BIEN SÛR: Granddaughter, who minored in French and  just finished her first year of grad school in D.C., told me this means, OF COURSE.

34. Seneca Falls Convention figure: STANTON - Elizabeth Cady STANTON was a big part of this convention supporting women's suffrage. 

36. Alpaca habitat: ANDES - Recently I told you of my former student who now lives in Colorado and makes hats of of the fleece of these animals that live mostly in the ANDES. This is Debbie's website: https://shoutoutcolorado.com/meet-deb-larsen-culig-from-design-marketing-advertising-executive-to-custom-hatter/

37. Tutsi or Hutu: RWANDAN - I once showed Hotel RWANDA as a substitute and I really learned of the barbarity between these two tribes.

38. Childish taunt: NEENER NEENER - Sheldon gets one from Stephen Hawking. Our lovely Lucina is polite enough to NOT send this to me in winter while I am freezing and she is luxuriating in the warmth of the desert.

41. Chats privately, briefly: DMS - Direct Message rather than a reply on social media.

42. Like some yoga socks: TOELESS.

43. FD employee: EMT - My friends son Grant, just became a fully certified EMT for the Bennington (NE) Fire Department, following in his dad's footsteps.

46. "Fortunately, the Milk" writer Gaiman: NEIL - Simon, deGrasse Tyson, Sedaka and the first man on the Moon did not make the Saturday cut.

48. Permafrost concern: MELT - Parts of the permafrost are melting under the AlCan highway which breaks up the roadway. Therefore some repair sections are getting insulation underneath to keep the ground colder and less susceptible to melting.

49. BBQ side: SLAW.

50. Scottish cattle: ANGUS - Some have made their way to this part of the world and fetch big money when sold at auction. 

52. Immeasurable regions of the universe: DEEP SPACE - Voyager 1 left Earth in 1977 and it took 35 years for it to leave our solar system and enter interstellar space in 2012 even traveling at ~ten miles/second. Real time Voyager data after nearly 46 years in space.

55. Nosh: MUNCH.

56. Hall addition: ENSHRINEE and 21. Brian who said ambient music "must be as ignorable as it is interesting": ENO. Brian was an ENSHRINEE in the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame as a part of Roxy Music in 2019.

57. Composition: ESSAY.

58. Waiting periods?: DOT DOT DOT ...  - 8. Took off: UNLADED - We often see LADE as fill for filling up, so took off...

Down:

1. Tall, sappy type: MAPLE 😀 

2. Clambake debris: ASHES.

3. Starts to slip: SKIDS.

4. Curly cruciferous commodity: KALE - Today I learned "chicane" and "cruciferous". The names have vanished already.

5. Garten of earthly delights: INA 😀 - Garten is chef INA's last name

6. "She Said" paper, briefly: NYT - The trailer for the movie based on two New York Times reporters who investigated Harvey Weinstein.

7. Runs past: GOES OVER.

9. "Doogie Kamealoha, M.D." star __ Elizabeth Lee: PEYTON films on 25. Island with a state capital: OAHU.  Peyton Manning and Peyton Place? Not so much on Saturday 

10. Stir: ADO.

11. Breaks: GAPS - The famous Watergate tapes had an 18-minute GAP

12. Evil Christmas figure such as Krampus: ANTI-SANTA - I guess...

13. State cat in New England: MAINE COON.

14. "On the Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies" author: EINSTEIN - Oh, I see 😳

24. Prepares: GETS SET.

26. Some fracking byproducts: ETHANES - I suppose...

28. Summer material: LINEN.

29. Chilling episode?: R AND R - Rest and Relaxation 

30. Vintage collections: WINE MENUS 😀

31. Logo overhauls, e.g.: REDESIGNS.

33. Label for some musicians?:  😀 BAND NAME.

34. Most satisfying, as a victory: SWEETEST - The Huskers beat the Iowa Hawkeyes last year after losing to them 7 games in a row. They were still 4 - 8 but still...

35. They may be fake: TANS - Yeah, I know...

37. Chile __: stuffed dish: RELLENO.

39. Bucharest's nat.: ROM - Irishman Bram Stoker based his Dracula character on ROMANIAN prince Vlad the Impaler

40. Cried out for: NEEDED.

43. Runner in ancient African cave art: ELAND - It's just a week after Mother's Day, so...

44. Funk saxophonist Parker: MACEO - My grandson Parker is named after jazz great Charlie "The Birdman" Parker not this gentleman.

45. Chirp: TWEET.

47. 2021 Pixar film that premiered at the Aquarium of Genoa: LUCA.

49. Rotisserie part: SPIT.

51. Protected by an icy exterior, perhaps: SHY.

53. Degree of difficulty?: 😀 PHD.

54. B'way sign: SRO.

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.