Saturday, January 3, 2026, Dr. Kyle Dolan

  Saturday Themeless by Dr. Kyle Dolan

This is the 21st themeless Saturday puzzle by Dr. Dolan I have blogged. As per my usual M.O. for Saturday puzzles I struggled with some small fills until the very gettable long entries shouted, "C'mon, Gary, you know this." This reduced Kyle's puzzle to manageable  proportions.

Across:

1. 2013 memoir that was followed in 2025 by "Finding My Way": I AM MALALA - The true story of Malala Yousafzai, the girl who survived an assassination attempt after standing up to the Taliban over education. More on this heroic woman.

10. Passing muster?: AWOL - Muster is when troops are assembled and if someone has 38. Left: GONE, he's AWOL. 

14. Interns, at times: FREE LABOR.

15. Birds whose collective noun is chime: WRENS - A group of wrens is called a chime. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

16. Shared pleasantries: SMALL TALK - Confidently filling in GREETINGS was my first, but not the last, misstep in Kyle's puzzle.

17. Sank, in a way: HOLED - Success in golf in when the ball is HOLED. In pool, it's when the  ball is pocketed. 

18. Olive often found with spinach: OYL 😀 This toon usually featured Olive being saved by her boyfriend Popeye who has "hulked out" on Spinach.

19. Word on a green helmet: JETS - The entire helmet was not green when the JETS won their only Super Bowl.

                                 

                        1969

 

2025

 

20. Without restraint: MADLY.

21. Essential: CORE.

22. Destiny: LOT.

23. Brio: PEP.

25. Haterade: FLAK - Haterade is a pseudo-word (a play on Gatorade) for what is said by mean people who give others FLAK

27. Two pieces?: DUETS - Hey, I loved the Everly Brothers but this is magic

29. Thai's neighbor: LAO.

30. Physical location: CLINIC 😀 The physical location of where you get a, uh, physical 

32. Drops from above: RAIN 😀

33. Fine print, e.g.: ART.

34. Question asked by a fan?: HOT ENOUGH FOR YOU? 😀 A fine example of anthropomorphism

37. Wonder: AWE.

39. Prepares (oneself): STEELS.

40. Big mo. for florists: FEB.

41. Top-tier: A-LIST.

43. Rundgren in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame: TODD - He's now 77 years old.

44. Be wrong: ERR.

45. First perfect number: SIX - The next two are 28 and 496

46. Olympic archer?: EROS.

48. Pop by: VISIT.

50. Giveaway: TELL - Dr. Winchester of M*A*S*H got cleaned out because he starting whistling every time he had nothing.

51. "Fancy!": OOH.

54. Saw: DATED. 😀

55. Scenario just before a board takeover?: MATE IN TWO - The solution is at the bottom of the write-up. 

57. Volunteer's offer: USE ME.

58. Sharp kicks?: ICE SKATES - 😀 Kicks are slang for footwear and skates are sharp so...

59. From South Asia, perhaps: DESI - ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Originating from the Sanskrit word desa, meaning "land" or "country," desi historically meant "local" or "indigenous". 

60. Namesakes of some days in English: NORSE GODS - Not so for Saturday

Down:

1. "In that case ... ": IF SO.

2. Theater group?: ARMY - Several divisions of the U.S. ARMY fought in WWII's European Theater of Operations.

3. Series of courses: MEAL 😀 

4. Former "The Great British Baking Show" co-host Giedroyc: MEL ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Mr. Ott sits the bench today

5. "Seriously ... ": ALL JOKING ASIDE.

6. Down the road: LATER.

7. Let up: ABATED.

8. Chuckles at a gif, say: LOLS.

9. Sanctuary: ARK.

10. Nickname of the slugger who holds the MLB record for most career grand slams: A-ROD - I thought this was a very interesting chart

11. "Clever": WELL PLAYED.

12. No longer a foal: ONE YEAR OLD.

13. Drug needed for some trips: LSD 

15. Rhetorical expression of approval: WHAT'S NOT TO LIKE - A lovely puzzle by Kyle

20. Characteristic patterns: MOTIFS.

21. Support staff?: CANE 😀

22. "Queen of Creole Cuisine" Chase: LEAH. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

24. C in C: POTUS - This filled in automatically and then I eventually saw Commander in Chief

25. Spot for getting one's buds together?: FLOWER VASE.

26. Classic toys with colorful pegs: LITE BRITES - I spent many an hour with our girls playing with this

28. Pushes: URGES. Goads, dares, prods

30. Rub the wrong way?: CHAFE 😀

31. "Simmer down!": COOL IT.

35. Early operating system: UNIX.

36. Some vintage cars: REOS.

42. Rock: TEETER.

47. Like May through August: R-LESS - This is not necessarily so these days.

49. 50% up front?: SEMI - 😀 I guess that presumes the other 50% is behind

50. Birria order: TACO.

51. "The Simpsons" character whose surname is Mann: OTTO.

 
52. Due: OWED.

53. Informal ride: HOSS - Also Ben Cartwright's son 

54. Lemon: DUD.

55. Hr. division: MIN.

56. Hound: NAG - Persistent reminding?

* White queen to F5

* Black pawn to H5 is black's only move

* White queen takes pawn at H5 and it is checkmate

Saturday, October 18, 2025, Kyle Dolan

 Saturday Themeless by Kyle Dolan

 This is the 20th themeless Saturday puzzle by Dr. Dolan I have blogged. My first one was on May 26, 2018 and every one of his constructions has been a delight. This one was kind of an enjoyable slog until the long fills helped out. 

I'll point out the rough spots below that slowed my progress to a well-earned "got 'er done".

Across:

1. Sign of aging: PATINA - A very famous example: 

7. Leave a black mark on, say: SCORCH - The Apollo Command Modules returned to Earth from the Moon at 25,000 mph.  Entering Earth's atmosphere slowed them down enough to parachute safely into the ocean but the bottom heat shield got up to 5,000℉ which left SCORCH marks.

13. Withdrawal aid: ATM CARD 😀 What a fun clue (eventually)!

15. Sweet-talk: CAJOLE.

16. __ effect: phenomenon of attraction in fluid mechanics, familiarly: CHEERIOS - Cheerios in the middle of the bowl tend to clump together and on the edge of the bowl they cling to the side of the bowl. More...

18. Didn't work: RESTED.

19. French "his": SES - Il a besoin de SES chaussures (He needs his shoes)

20. Sure to fail: CAN'T WIN.

22. "Hansel and Gretel" figure: HAG - A word that is now considered to be sexist and ageist.

23. Hertz, for one: UNIT - Hertz are cycles/second. My hearing stops at around 8,000 hertz (vps) while my students could go up to over 20,000 hertz

25. __ steak: STRIP - I've eaten may a good NY STRIP Steak

26. Sloggy terrain: MIRE.

27. Twangy-voiced: NASAL - Bob Dylan leaped to my mind

29. __ canto: BEL - Italian for "Beautiful Singing" More...

30. "Derry __": sitcom set in Northern Ireland: GIRLS - I thought it might be something clever like Derry Ayers 😀

31. Home of "Whistler's Mother": MUSÉE D'ORSAY - Here Whistler's Mother, or Arrangement in Black and Gray No. 1, is being hung in the Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena, CA as part of an exchange program with the Musée d'Orsay in Paris.

34. Shooting stars?: SAGITTARIUS 😀 I loved this (eventually). This astronomy teacher should have parsed the reference to the zodiacal constellation of SAGITTARIUS The Archer.

35. Fallible ones: MERE MORTALS.

36. Prime minister between Theresa and Liz: BORIS - UK PM'S

Theresa May    Boris Johnson         Liz Truss

37. "Bad idea": NAH.

38. Clear a way for: LET BY - What linemen try to create for running backs.

42. Port northeast of Djibouti: ADEN - It's a 45 minute flight or an 84 hour drive (bad roads and armed conflict also make this a bad choice).

43. Cuts finely: DICES.

45. Elisabeth of "Cobra Kai": SHUE - Elizabeth Shue was 20 years old when she played Ali Mills in 1984's Karate Kid. She reprised that role at 61 years old in Netflix's Cobra Kai.

46. Former Japanese coin: SEN - Due to inflation, the SEN (.001 of a Yen) was demonetized after WWII and Japan now uses the Yen.

47. Has more than: OUT EATS.

49. "The Hurting Kind" poet Limón: ADA.

50. Bamboozle: TRIP UP.

52. Features of many Best Picture winners: R-RATINGS - The MPAA says: An R-rated movie contains content such as strong language, intense or persistent violence, sexually oriented nudity or drug abuse that is deemed unsuitable for viewers under 17. 

54. Call for: ENTAIL.

55. Plastic souvenir, e.g.: TRINKET.

56. Declares: SAYS SO.

57. Like a good sidekick: TRUSTY or maybe not...

Down:

1. California surf culture apparel brand: PACSUN.

2. Goddess who is a judge in "The Eumenides": ATHENA - I had no idea that this was a play by Aeschylus but ATHENA seemed like a pretty good guess for a Godess.

3. Construction such as the term "un-freaking-believable": TMESIS ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

4. Sew up: ICE - Many NFL games are ICED (won) by game-ending field goals.

5. Snitch (on): NARC.

6. Dramatic solos: ARIAS.

7. Cheese substitute?: SCRIP - 😀 Both are synonyms for money

8. Bay Area columnist who coined the word "beatnik": CAEN.

The first use of the word

9. Citrus drinks, for short: OJS.

10. Shelters named for a senator: ROTH IRAS - William Roth was a Republican senator from Delaware. 

11. "No kidding": CLEARLY.

12. Equivocates: HEDGES.

14. "I'd have a backup plan": DON'T BET ON IT.

17. Many a "Fast & Furious" character: STREET RACER.

21. Free-spirited: WILD AT HEART.

24. Amazon primate: TAMARIN - Here's a Golden TAMARIN

26. Malapropisms, e.g.: MISUSES - He made a good living with them. Listen to as much of this 7:41 video as you like

28. Winter racers: LUGES.

30. Spot for a brat: GRILL - Uh, not for unruly children 

32. Calling card?: SIM.

33. "The Masked Singer" judge Rita: ORA.

34. Calm: SERENITY - Frank Costanza's mantra.

35. Biotech firm known for vaccines: MODERNA - It's the one we got

36. Juices up?: BASTES 😀

39. "Much obliged": THANKS.

40. Affordable: BUDGET - Having Dom Pérignon tastes on a Budweiser BUDGET could be disastrous

41. Like a brewery: YEASTY.

43. Lego brand for little hands: DUPLO - DUPLO is double in Danish

44. Flinch: START - Was this a part of anyone else's childhood?

47. Nice words of agreement: OUIS - When I see Nice, my mind immediately goes to French like in this song which charted at #2 in 1918.

48. To-do: STIR.

51. Some medical providers, for short: PAS - Our neighbor's daughter is an M.D. married to a Physician's Assistant (P.A.) in central Nebraska.

53. Shiba __: INU ¯\_(ツ)_/¯