Saturday, June 13, Kyle Dolan

 Saturday Themeless by Kyle Dolan

I liked Dr. Dolan's puzzle and never felt I was not going to solve it. My issue became trying to decipher what Kyle meant by his "off-the-wall"cluing. As has become my custom with Kyle's puzzles, I did have a one-cell problem where you see the red cell in the grid. That high intensity exercise crossing an obscure "legal term" was never going to happen. I always wonder whether terms like that are already known to the constructor or a happy result of a desperate search of a piece of crossword software. Follow me as I embark on blogging my 24th Dolan Saturday themeless.

Across:

1. Sign of puppy love?: TUMMY RUB 😀 Ah, it is an activity by someone who actually loves a puppy.

Uh, are you sure you know what you're doing?

9. Folded dish: OMELET.

15. Evidence that may not be fully reliable: ANECDATA - ¯\_(ツ)_/¯   In casual conversation, business, or media, "anecdata" refers to anecdotal evidence presented as objective fact. The Problem: It relies on a very small sample size (e.g., "My grandfather smoked three packs a day and lived to 100, so smoking isn't harmful"). It ignores biases, coincidence, and statistical anomalies. 

16. Mottled: CALICO.

17. Mud slingers?: BARISTAS - Even in this election year, Kyle is referring to the euphemism for coffee 

18. Shiver: TREMOR. 

19. Deuce follower: AD IN - I held onto TREY but eventually the cows came home. AD IN is simply overtime in tennis after the game ends tied which is called deuce.

20. Level: SHIM.

22. Teatime bite: SCONE.

23. Pacific nation whose national sport is rugby: TONGA - Rugby is also the national sport of SAMOA that are both Pacific nations ending in A, but...

25. Server reset?: LET - Kyle comes in with another tennis term. A LET is called when a serve hits the net but lands in bounds. The reset is that the server gets to serve again with no penalty. To reset the server in my house, I do the "unplug/plug back in" strategy.

27. Pants, informally: TROU.

28. "That's __ from me": A NO - He made a career out of this phrase

29. Couple: TWO and 35. A couple: GOING STEADY 😀 and 41. Couple: DUO.

32. Day on 10-Down: SOL - From the movie The Martian

34. Scamp: IMP.

38. Place that may have a "no phones" rule: DINNER TABLE.

39. Beer and skittles: LIFE OF RILEY - A 50's TV show starring William Bendix. Derivation of the phrase

40. Kick: JAG - Unrestrained activity (bureau/spree): An informal term for a period of excessive indulgence or uncontrolled emotion (e.g., a "crying jag" or "drinking jag"). Something from which you might get a "kick"

42. Org. preceded by the Cipher Bureau: NSA ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ There was a 1939 movie about it.

43. Vane dir.: SSE.

46. Country whose motto was "Workers of the world, unite!": USSR.

48. Best: TOP.

50. Walks down the aisle, casually: USHES - The walk is not casual, the word referring to ushering is.

52. Rafael with a Golden Slam: NADAL - These three men have won the four major tennis championships plus the Olympic gold medal.

54. Clucks: TSKS.

57. Light color: TINT.

58. "Point taken": I GET IT.

60. Nickname for the Southern city whose motto is "Resurgens": HOTLANTA - Resurens is Latin of "rising again".

   

62. Iroquois nation: ONEIDA.

63. "Farewell, mes amis!": A BIENTOT - French for "see you soon" or "bye for now" 

64. Amplify, in a way: REPOST - 😀 Sharing content someone else has posted 

65. "This ends now": WE'RE DONE.

Down:

1. High-intensity exercise method: TABATA - ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ TABATA is a high-intensity interval training (HITT) protocol developed by Japanese scientist Dr. Izum Tabata 

2. Dish whose name means "eel bowl": UNADON.

3. Sheep from Spain: MERINO - I learned this doing crosswords and was able to retrieve this from the deep recesses of my brain

4. Running with a mic, maybe: MCING - 😀 The EMCEE runs the show

5. Some penalty units: Abbr.: YDS.

6. "Phooey!": RATS.

7. Jazz venue: UTAH - This NBA team nickname originated in New Orleans where the name fit like a glove and for some reason they kept it when the team moved to Salt Lake City. The same goes for when the Minneapolis Lakers moved to Los Angeles.

8. Pho herb: BASIL - I know Pho is Vietnamese soup and a five-letter word herb starting with a B leaves few candidates

9. Feast of St. Francis of Assisi mo.: OCT - Omelet at 9 Across starts with an O, so...

10. Destination of NASA's Escapade mission: MARS.

11. Pick: ELECT.

12. Long road trip?: LIMO RIDE - The trip is not long, the vehicle is

13. Coach: ECONOMY - This is where all my airplane seats have been

14. Made unreadable, say: TORE UP.

21. Portable cooker: MESS TIN - I felt pretty good with MESS KIT...

24. Took one's medicine, in a way: ATONED.

26. Arrivals for the summer?: TOTALS - 😀 People who do addition arrive at a total that is also called a sum and so I guess these people could be called a summer.

30. Triumph through adversity: WIN OUT - The Knicks two nights ago

31. Common length of a wooden ruler: ONE FOOT.

33. Defensive coordinator who helped the Steelers win the Super Bowl in 2006 and 2009: LEBEAU.

35. Pic file: GIF - I'm a big fan 

36. Warning sound: GRR.

37. Pop duo __ & AJ: ALY ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

38. Finds an extra gear: DIGS DEEP - What the Knicks did Thursday night 

39. Dish often served "al forno": LASAGNE Al forno (Italian for "from the oven") refers to food that is baked or roasted in an oven.  

40. Subordinate: JUNIOR.

43. Worship of entities known as kami: SHINTO.

44. Forwarded: SENT ON.

45. Coffee grounds?: ESTATE -  Coffee can be grown on one ESTATE or plantation rather than on various small operations which are consolidated

47. Pi, for one: RATIO - The RATIO of a circle's circumference to its diameter.

49. "I don't believe that!": PSHAW.

51. Selling point?: STAND 😀

53. Lens covers?: LIDS.

55. Capital city of Hyogo Prefecture: KOBE.

56. Hubbub: STIR.

59. Parlor piece, informally: TAT 😀

61. Greta of "The Morning Show": LEE - ¯\_(ツ)_/¯  I'm guessing you can pick out Ms. LEE

Friday, Apr 3rd, 2026 ~ Kyle Dolan

 GO TEAM

"Run Away~!" "Take off~!" "Beat It~!"

Crossword constructor Kyle Dolan frequently appears on Saturday; based on my research, this is his first Friday for the LA Times - all he needs now is a Thursday puzzle, and he gets the "EGOT" of grid making - yay~! ( see 36D. ).  I have mixed feelings about today's offering; the theme is quite fresh and felt Friday-level, five phrases redefined as 'names' for a "collection" of other similar-use phrases, but was dismayed with a triple Natick in the vicinty of Minnesota ( but not Cedar Rapids ); two names dropping off an answer with a semi-vague clue; can't win 'em all, I guess.  Standard grid, no circles, just 11 3LWs, two handfuls of names, two Wines, two Whiskeys.  The themers;  

17. "Pay attention," "Listen up," and "Eyes on the prize": FOCUS GROUP - "Focus~!" group of phrases

24. "Unbelievable!," "That's crazy!," and "What a coincidence!": WILD BUNCH - "Wild~!" bunch of synonymous words/phrases

38. "Gee whiz!," "Golly!," and "Holy cow!": BOY BAND - "Boy~!" band of words/phrases

49. "Sleep tight," "Sweet dreams," and "Don't let the bedbugs bite": NIGHT CREW - "(g)'night." crew of phrases

61. "Check this out," "I'll demonstrate," and "Eyes on me": WATCH PARTY - "Watch~!" party - the only one that I was not familiar with; the standard definition of "watch party" is 'friends who get together' to view, say, the Super Bowl

Don't "Hit the Road", There's More~!

ACROSS:

1. Have a sudden inspiration?: [ GASP ] - , the "inhale" meaning of inspire, plus sudden = sharply

5. Less cockamamie: SANER - Meh.  TAMER, SAFER~? - this is the "structure" of most of the words I have ever missed solving the Wordle - the "_ vowel _ E - R" type, where I simply run out of guesses; there are hundreds of words that fit.  If my first five-letter guess doesn't give me anything, I immediately fill in "_ vowel _ E - R" for the maximum # of attempts

10. Hydropower sources: DAMS

14. "__, sing America": Hughes: "I TOO" - "I had" no poetic clue, filled via perps; name #1

15. Scent: AROMA

16. Rapper who plays Fin on "Law & Order: SVU": ICE-T - short for Odafin, name #2

19. Whiskey mixer: SODA - whiskey #1 - could have been CoLa - SODA was a good WAG on my part, as cola was the go-to choice ( usually diet ) for the Happy Hour crew when I worked at the night club/band bar Casanova's in Cincinnati, OH

20. Place for post-debate interviews: SPIN ROOM - makes sense after it filled, via perps, but then I went looking for some info, and realized it could be this kind of "Spin" room

21. Bug experts, for short: IT PROS - Information Technology professionals, e.g., "Geek Squad"

23. Work in a cast: ACT - work in a cast . . .

26. Implore: PLEAD

28. "That a fact?": "IS IT~?"

29. Tampa Bay team, familiarly: BUCS - the Buccaneers of the NFL - or the cost of corn these days . . .

30. Like folk tales: ORAL

33. Settle, as a debt: REPAY

37. Hospital dept.: ICU - Intensive Care Unit

40. Modeled on: À LA

41. Down source: GEESE - Geese "Up" is when they "take off"

43. Art __: DECO - I like Art Deco

44. Former quarterback Aikman: TROY - announcer with Joe Buck on NFL MNF games - name #3

24 seasons together

45. Winery purchase: CASE - Wine clue #1, you lush . . . then again, I bought beer in case quantity, so I will take that back

47. Pettiness: SPITE

54. Dusk, poetically: E'EN

55. Catch: ENMESH

56. Low-cal drink: LITE BEER - I do the Downs first; otherwise, this could have been DIET COLA

60. Singer Lambert: ADAM - filled via perps, don't know this artist  - name #4

63. Ceremonial event: RITE

64. Responded to an alarm: AWOKE

65. Viking character: RUNE - ah.  Not, say, "ERIK" - from this show - but . . . 

66. Lip: SASS - a "lip" synonym on the edge again

67. Detect: SENSE

68. Getaway spots: SPAs

DOWN:

1. Motion pictures?: GIFs - good one; took me a minute, plus the "G" when I sussed "GASP"

A Graphic Interchange Format moving picture of "Run Away~!"

MP & the Holy Grail

2. Sitting on: ATOP

3. Nonverbal signal: SOCIAL CUE - I was thinking "HAND SIGN", but "sign/signal" was too close for a crossword clue/answer, and it didn't fit, anyway; not familiar with this phrase

4. Mimics a cat, perhaps: POUNCES - Friday vague

5. Starchy palm product: SAGO - one of the triple Natick that got me - not TARO

6. One-way symbol: ARROW

7. Swedish actress Rapace who plays Lisbeth Salander: NOOMI - I did not know who this was until I went to IMDb - she played Elizabeth Shaw in the 'Alien' franchise movie "Prometheus" - name #5

She did not look like this in that movie . . . 

8. Bird in the bush: EMU - "Bush" being the quaint nickname for the hinterlands of  Australia

9. Word after Grand and Cedar, in city names: RAPIDS - Grand in MI, Cedar in IA and MN

10. Row: DISPUTE - rOW, not rOE

11. Part of a squirrel's diet: ACORN

12. French red wine: MÈDOC - Wine clue #2, more here for the lushes connoisseurs

13. Hoard: STASH - the noun, not the verb - I tried AMASS - another good 'edge' word

18. Sp. miss: SRTA - Español abbr

22. Classic car, informally: T-BIRD

25. Light purple: LILAC - followed by . . . 

26. Dark purple: PUCE

Tough to find on one palette - and that's a dark lilac

27. Scooby-__: DOO - name #6

29. Well-known: BIG - one of the bands that frequented Casanova's was "Big In Iowa", a sort of self-deprecating name drawn from a quote here - I was friends with Rick House, one of the guitarists; he, founder Bob Burns, and bassist/WEBN radio host Ken Glidewell have since passed away . . . sheesh

31. Winona of "Stranger Things": RYDER - name #7

32. Actor Vigoda: ABE - name #8

34. Work together: PARTNER UP - a unique fill

35. Skin soother: ALOE - very much NOT a unique fill

36. Happy cry: "YAY~!" - "yay, I finally got my ta-DA~!" when I filled in the correct word at 5A.

38. Heart throbs: BEATS

39. Figs.: NOs - abbr, figures & numbers

42. Plots: SCHEMES - nailed it

44. Haberdashery accessories: TIE BARS - There's two kinds - I wanted TIE TACkS - more here

The concrete rebar/epoxy connections on the left

46. Both sides of America?: SCHWAS - very clever - the phoneme, /ə/, when saying /ə/-MEH-rik-/ə/; it's the most common sound in the English language - more here

48. Tiny sound: PEEP

49. Gets warmer?: NEARS - think the guessing game, where someone is getting closer or further from some hidden item, and the other person says "colder, cold, warm, warmer, hot, HOT~!"

50. Birthplace of novelist Kiran Desai: INDIA - Sheesh.  Friday.  Half WAG on my part; name #9

51. Exams for future MBAs: GMATS - not LSATs, not MCATs, this test is for getting into schools for the acquisition of a Master of Business Adminstration degree

52. John with an EGOT: ELTON - I always get fooled by "John" being his last name, #10

53. Threads in tea lights: WICKS - Friday clue, but clever

57. You, once: THEE - Dah~!  I tried THOU

58. Peak near Catania: ETNA - yada yada, I threw this volcano name in, and "ding~!"

59. Whiskeys that are typically more dry than bourbons: RYES  - Whiskey #2, the basis for the drink called a Manhattan, which reminds me of the only time I ever tasted this liquor.  Growing up, we had watered down iced tea; a treat was a can of full-sugar soda; the adults would have a "Manhattan" at holidays; I figured it must be even better than soda, the "nectar of the gods" - until I tasted it - blech~!

62. Speechless feeling: AWE - not knowing "why" the adults really drank Manhattans certainly left me speechless regarding its taste & lack of sweetness

Splynter

Grid Flow 29.2

Saturday, March 21, 2026, Kyle Dolan

 Saturday Themeless by Kyle Dolan

I liked Dr. Dolan's puzzle and never felt I was not going to solve it. My issue became trying to decipher what Kyle meant by his "off-the-wall"cluing. My experience was the frequent recitation of 48. Exasperated cry: DOH! once I saw what he intended, the fill was fun to enter and also unlocked big sections of the puzzle. Today's exercise had only 28 blocks which gave us 103 open squares and only six three-letter words. I'll share with you some of the circuitous thinking that I used to cut through Dr. Dolan's obfuscations. :-)  As has become my custom, I did have a one-cell problem where you see the red cell in the grid, but I'll get over it. I thought ARE WE OK/ALAIK worked.

Across:

1. Shell station?: PASTA BAR - Just when I thought of every shell I could...

                  

9. Yet: IN TIME.

15. The 24 Hours of Le Mans, e.g.: AUTO RACE - This great movie is about personal rivalries and corporate machinations but the climax is The 24 Hours Of Le Mans.

16. Networking aid: ROUTER - If we need a generator after a power loss, the order for plugging in would be fridge/freezers and then the modem and ROUTER. 😀

17. Exams with answers provided by parents: DNA TESTS 😀

18. World capital named for a river: OTTAWA - fun to learn

19. Headgear that sparked a riot in 1922 New York City: STRAW HAT - Really? Talk about your fashion police.

20. Christmas delivery?: NOEL 😀

21. Floral gifts for some graduates: LEIS - Three-letter (plural) floral gift? Ya gotta go Hawaiian! 

22. American painter James __ Whistler: MCNEILL - Of course his famous work below was entitled Arrangement In Gray And Black No. 1 which we all know by its more famous name. A fascinating bio

25. Chef's coat?: TEFLON 😀 Well actually, Kyle, the coat is on the pan.

28. Is revealing: TELLS ALL.

29. Harlem Renaissance writer Locke: ALAIN. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

30. Waiter's annoyance: DELAY - I never even thought it might be about a food server. The DELAY waiting in the line at Space Mountain was always very long and annoying.

31. Bucket brigade?: NBA Groan. A made basket in basketball is also called a bucket.

32. Flooring option: TILE - My first two floor coverings  were

C

A

R U G S

P

E

T

33. Unbroken?: FIXED - Now that's funny!

34. "Estoy __": Spanish "I'm doing all right": BIEN. 

35. Joint-stabilizing band, for short: ACL.

36. Gold __: PLATE - Sometimes all that glitters is not gold, it's gold PLATED

37. Tree cultivated for its seeds more than 5,000 years ago: CACAO.

38. Magic City residents: MIAMIANS - Not Orlandoans 😀

40. Grows darker: LATENS - If spellcheck is all right with this, so am I

41. Offer to treat: IT'S ON ME - A phrase a friend of mine never uttered

42. "The Leavers" novelist Ko: LISA. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

43. Marvel hero Cage: LUKE  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

44. Lines from the heart: LOVE NOTE - Ketty Lester had a beautiful 1962 song with this theme

48. Exhausts: DOES IN 

50. Basis of some ratings: AGE LEVEL.

51. "Nearly there": ONE SEC - A familiar phrase I heard waiting for three women in the car

52. Reef denizen: MORAY EEL - Yikes!

53. "Knock on wood": HOPE SO.

54. "I won't ask again!": ANSWER ME.

Down:

1. Exaggerates, in a way: PADS - I had an expense account once that may have not been all that accurate 😁

2. Family member: AUNT.

3. Outstanding: STAR.

4. Blatant fabrication: TOTAL LIE - This is one of the worst.

5. Confirmation question: ARE WE ON.

6. Open, as a piñata: BASH IN.

7. Represent: ACT AS.

8. Musical pause: REST.

9. Battleship precursor: IRONCLAD - The Civil Wr featured the battle of the IRONCLADS, the Monitor and the Merrimac.

10. More than: NOT ONLY.

11. Contracted pupils, perhaps: TUTEES - Wow! I suppose a tutor would have a contract with TUTEES who are also pupils. No eyes involved!

12. Granita kin: ITALIAN ICE.

A Sicilian treat

13. Bit of Persian language?: MEW 😀

14. Young fig.: ERA - The winner of MLB's Cy Young Award usually has a low Earned Run Average.

22. Rumble: MELEE.

23. Outfitter with signature boots: L.L. BEAN.

24. Grassy plains: LLANOS - Pampas or LLANOS coin flip

25. Flooring option: TATAMI.

26. Bring out: ELICIT.

27. Go out: FALL ASLEEP 😀

28. Scholarship materials: TEXTS - As a teacher since 1968 I can tell you just seeing a student with a TEXT does not guarantee any scholarship is going on.

30. Designer von Furstenberg: DIANE.

33. Spanish steps?: FLAMENCO 😀

34. React: BAT AN EYE.

36. Small digits: PINKIES.

37. Guide for future rulings: CASE LAW - Not the actual law or statute but a compilation of how different jurisdictions have applied laws.

39. Do stuff?: MOUSSE - Oh, that kind of "do".

40. Natural detox centers: LIVERS.

42. Access, in a way: LOG ON - Remembering User Names and Passwords can be a real chore

44. Eastern priest: LAMA.

45. Simple wager choice: OVER  - The OVER/Under for the recent Super Bowl was 45.5 points. The final score was 29 - 13 which adds up to 42 and that means you'd be a loser if you bet the OVER.

46. Swarm (with): TEEM.

49. Chef Jiro of the documentary "Jiro Dreams of Sushi": ONO - ¯\_(ツ)_/¯  Jiro ONO is in the middle below