Saturday, November 19, 2022, Kate Chin Park, Brooke Husic

 Saturday Themeless by Kate Chin Park and Brooke Husic

Let's start on this fun puzzle with 23 Down - 23. Column crossers: ROWS 

Across:

1. Certain pronouncement?: THAT'S FACTS - "That's a fact, Jack!" The actual fill is also a title to a rap song with "explicit" lyrics

11. Some scanners: HP'S - I'm sure Hewlett Packard makes nice scanners but this is what I do:

14. Pity parties?: SORE LOSERS - The NHL is the only North American sports league that makes players shake hands after a game 

15. Tender in Tehran: RIAL - $1.00 = ﷼42,484

16. "Don't I know it": ALL TOO TRUE. 

17. Survey opción: OTRO

         ¿Comida rápida favorita? 

     A) McDonalds 

     B) Burger King 

     C) OTRO

18. Brazilian city: RIO - Extreme poverty exists very close to extreme wealth in RIO de Janeiro 

19. Ballet bends: PLIES - You can find them working out in the gym or watching The Nutcracker 

20. Act big, so to speak: EMOTE.

21. Mud: JOE and 34. Noggin: BEAN. - Slang names for coffee and head respectively 

22. Like wrap heels: STRAPPY - It appears that she 24. Tolerates: STANDS the pain

27. Neither partner: NOR.

28. Rx overseer: FDA and 58. Rx items: MEDS.

30. See-__: THRU - The Glass Frog of Ecuador. 

 
31. Some high-occupancy vehicles: CLOWN CARS.

35. Greek city that's one of the oldest in Europe: ARGOS - Evidence of a settlement going back 7,000 years has been found at the foot of Aspida Hill in ARGOS shown here.

36. Mid-month day: IDES - The passage from Julius Caesar

37. Resident of the highest-altitude U.S. capital: SANTAFEAN- Yeah, I'm the only one who thought of Denverite

39. Assessment: TEST.

40. "Arthur" network: PBS.

41. Heated state: IRE.

42. Way out: EGRESS - At the top of Launch Pad 39 A & 39 B, NASA has what they call an "Emergency EGRESS System" that is a basket on a wire that can carry the astronauts to safety in the event of a malfunction at the top of the pad

45. Opposite of coy: UPFRONT.

48. Swift album with "All Too Well": RED.

49. One with a clipped ear, perhaps: STRAY - Cat fight souvenir 

50. Talking point: TOPIC.

52. Swiatek who won the French Open in 2020 and 2022: IGA - Our familiar grocery store chain cluing gives way to Polish tennis champion IGA Natalia Świątek

55. Busy, busy, busy: AT IT.

56. One doing spit takes?: WINE TASTER - This allows the TASTER to remain sober and better sample the wine. Not this.

59. Technology swiped by millions: SMART PHONE - 😀 No intellectual property thievery, just the motion we use for cellular navigation.

60. "__ we good?": ARE.

61. Retro footwear made from PVC: JELLY SHOES.

Down:

1. Pre-revolution ruler: TSAR - It did not end well for the Romanovs 

2. Spring celebration with colored powder: HOLI - I was happy to learn that Holi (pronounced how-lee) is a Hindi festival  that celebrates the end of winter and the arrival of spring. 

3. "Collapsed in Sunbeams" singer Parks: ARLO - Here ya go. Arlo Guthrie joins the IGA Grocery chain on the Saturday crossword bench.

4. New Year celebrated with thit kho trung: TET - Vietnamese caramelized braised pork ribs with eggs. Speaking of Saturday cluing for familiar crossword fill...

5. Apply generously: SLOP ON.

6. Got: FOOLED - Gotcha!

7. Bubbly locale: ASTI - The producers dropped the name Spumante when they reformulated the wine in 1993 to differentiate it from being called "the poor man's champagne".

8. Demeter's Roman counterpart: CERES - Goddesses of agriculture

9. Advice for a plant: TRUST NO ONE - This plant is an undercover agent placed in the enemy's camp 😀

10. Dir. from Beverly Hills to Long Beach: SSE - It appears to be a 38 minute 21. Day trip, maybe: JAUNT on the 405. I wonder if our California posters think that is a realistic time.

11. Some flat caps?: HI TOP FADES.

12. Eye-catching number: PARTY DRESS.

13. Gin berry: SLOE.

15. Frolic: ROMP.

20. Get well?: EARN - Obtain legitimately? 😀

24. Ingredient in many L'Occitane creams: SHEA BUTTER - The Butyrospermum ParkII (Shea Butter) is listed as the fourth ingredient.

25. Movement celebrated with a blue, pink, and white flag: TRANSPRIDE - These participants at a TRANS PRIDE event in Las Vegas wore shirts instead of carrying flags.

26. Hours limited by parents: SCREEN TIME - It is possible to set a passcode-protected SCREEN TIME limit on your child's phone.

29. PDA part: Abbr.: ASST - The Personal Data ASSisatanT has been largely supplanted by cell phones

30. Largest of a certain kitchen set, for short: TBSP.

32. NYC hub: LGA - The cost of a one-way flight from OMAha to LaGuardiA today

33. Gave credit: CITED.

35. Hairstyle for Misty Knight: AFRO - A Marvel Comics character

38. Open, in a way: AIRY.

43. Philadelphia Flyers mascot: GRITTY - Gritty makes an entrance

44. Short accounts: RECAPS.

46. Domino's starter?: FATS - ANNO did not work because I read Domoni instead of DOMINO.

47. Like many Asian languages: TONAL - We English speakers have some of this like when we say, "Dude". However this is a lesson about Mandarin Chines and TONAL language. 

49. "For __": Oscar-nominated documentary set in Aleppo: SAMA.

51. Programming language named for a gem: PERL.

52. "Am __ late?": I TOO.

53. Hand-me-down piece?: GENE 😀

54. Truculent god: ARES.

56. Financial daily, initially: WSJ.

57. Silent bid?: SHH.

Saturday, July 30, 2022, 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 

Some of Kate's work

Across 

1. Spa service: MUD BATH - Yeah, I know, MASSAGE fits too.

8. Rosebush pest: APHID.

13. Acrobatic Brazilian martial art: CAPOEIRA - This came letter by crossing letter.

14. Sleeping spots for some dogs: CRATES.

16. Firm hold: IRON GRIP.

17. Decorative threads: TINSEL.

18. Dispatched: SENT - Robert E. Lee greatly regretted he SENT Pickett on that charge 

19. Stands out: POPS.

21. Either parent, for some kids: MOMMY - Our neighbor's grandson Peter in Minneapolis has two wonderful mommies

22. [I'm a ghost!]: BOO.

24. Many a "Thirty something" character: YUPPIE.

26. Be imminent: IMPEND.

29. Many modern diets: FADS.

30. "Bright Dead Things" poet Limón: ADA.

33. Running early?: FALSE START - A FALSE START and a face plant

35. Neutrogena product: T/GEL.

36. Some journal entries: IDEAS.

37. Clinch: ICE - Clinch and ICE both infer that the other team can not now possibly win even though the game is not officially over yet.

38. "Love Actually" actor: GRANT - Hugh is in the top middle and had a 39. Main role: LEAD.

40. "Good gravy!": JEEZ LOUISE - My last fill was changing the the G to a J

42. Head for Vegas?: LAS.

43. Achy: SORE.

44. __ Awards: high honors for comic books: EISNER - Named for Will Eisner

45. Regard: ESTEEM.

47. Looney Tunes explosive: TNT.

48. Unforced __: ERROR - Hitting the ball into the net is one

50. Pointillism elements: DOTS. Just such a painting of a 56. Late gathering: SOIREE by Edmond Cross

52. They might be game: FOWL - A good friend skipped my daughter's wedding for the first day of pheasant season.

58. Not much at all: JUST A BIT.

60. Person to split a bill with: COSTAR - The playbill not the restaurant check

61. Age line?: I FEEL OLD.

62. Home and away, e.g.: TEAMS.

63. Braced: STEELED - We've all STEELED ourselves for possible bad news

Down:

1. Zebra mother: MARE - As it is for all equines 

2. After: UPON - UPON further thought...

3. "I also have good news, though!": DON'T BE SAD.

4. Beseech: BEG.

5. MagSafe Charging Case inserts: AIR PODS.

6. Goals in a hat trick, e.g.: TRIO - A hat trick is accomplished when one player scores three goals in one game. Huh?

7. Features of some positive messaging: HAPPY FACE EMOJIS  or...

8. Make a scene?: ACT.

9. Takes one's time at the mirror: PRIMPS 

10. Capital west of Ha Long Bay: HANOI - About 2hrs west by car

11. Message during phone tag: IT'S ME AGAIN - Cell phones have helped with this issue 

12. Believe: DEEM.

13. Opposite of trans: CIS - Short for CISGENDER - "Denoting or relating to a person whose sense of personal identity and gender corresponds with their birth sex." CIS is from the Latin for "on this side" as opposed to trans which means "on the other side" 

15. Underhanded: SLY.

20. Family name on "Ugly Betty": SUAREZ.

23. Singles: ONES.

25. Hrs. at T-Mobile Park: PDT - Here we see the roof at this Seattle park closing and opening.

26. Journalist Gwen honored on a U.S. postage stamp in 2020: IFILL.

 

27. Tyler Perry persona: MADEA.

28. Standing order?: PLEASE RISE - "Here come da judge!"

31. Packed: DENSE.

32. Change one's skirt?: ALTER.

34. Like a pagoda: TIERED.

35. Hands-on experience, hopefully: TRUST FALL - No! Fall backward!

38. Enter: GO IN.

40. __ Bruin: UCLA mascot: JOE - Joe and Josephine

41. "Decisions, decisions ... ": LET'S SEE and 46. "Yes and no": SORTA as sung by our cwd friend Ella Fitzgerald:

First, you say, you do

And then you don't

And then you say, you will

And then you won't

You're undecided now

So what are you gonna do?

43. Twitch __: STREAM - Make your own STREAMing channel

48. F1 neighbor: ESC.

49. Daikon, e.g.: ROOT - Radish

51. Hairy bunch: TUFT - A combover challenge?

53. Thin reed: OBOE - It is a beautiful addition to the chorus of this song

54. Stormy: WILD.

55. Pt. of LLC: LTD - What they are and 8 examples if you're interested 

57. Critical-care ctrs.: ERS.

59. Workout wear: TEE - TEE shirts are not allowed on many golf courses.