Saturday, November 24, 2018, Kyle Dolan

Themeless Saturday Puzzle By Kyle Dolan

On this first Saturday after Thanksgiving and subsequent Black Friday, Small Business Saturday is observed. Our town is very aggressive in promoting its downtown small businesses and some of these enterprises are still flourishing with second and third generation owners.

November 24 also marks Evolution Day, the anniversary of the 1859 publication of Darwin's On The Origin Of Species. Mixing the two thoughts together might give rise to contemplating the evolution of shopping in recent years and where it might be headed in the future.

It is my pleasure to blog my third Saturday Themeless by Dr. Kyle Dolan on this day. I avoided being held up to OBLOQUY (learning moment por moi) by realizing GOAT YOGA was an actual thing and my arcade bonus EXTRA was BALL, not TIME nor LIFE.

Clever, fair Saturday cluing also made for a tough but  fun excursion for this solver.


Now let's see what the good doctor has for us before we head out to Mom and Pop's store.

Across:

1. Fitness trend that involves kids?: GOAT YOGA - A pretty obscure jumping off point but it is a real activity as you can see at the Denver County Fair in Colorado where the "kids" are two and four-legged.

9. "... but we're not done yet": SO FAR

14. Arcade bonus: EXTRA BALL - I remember getting five pinballs for a nickel as a yute and an extra game at 300 points.

16. Old market for olive oil: AGORA - Speaking of shopping, Trajan's Market was a huge AGORA in ancient Rome where I'd bet you could get some olive oil. Our guide called it the world's first shopping mall.

17. Setting for Dante's "Divine Comedy": AFTER LIFE 

18. "Impractical Jokers" network: TRUTV - truTV

19. Something to try out for: ROLE - Tom Selleck did audition for the ROLE of Indiana Jones but Magnum PI came up... 

20. Shelved, for now: ON ICE.

22. "What __?": ELSE - California has had about every tragedy possible this year. This is a question they could be asking themselves 

23. Drei, in the Apennines: TRE - What famous song/movie would be called TRE monete nella fontana in Italy and DREI münzen im brunnen north of the Alps in Germany? *Answer at bottom


24. Cries from sties: SQUEALS - What they are SQUEALING for in the sty

26. Mate: PAL - Sunday solvers will remember C.C.'s wonderful Bro Hug puzzle from last weekend which had: 23A. Corporate criminal's undoing: PAPER TRAIL. PAL  and  Oh yeah, she also had 39A. Sparty's school: MICHIGAN STATE. MATE.

27. Neruda wrote one about the sea: ODE - Pablo Neruda wrote, "I need the sea because it teaches me"

28. Frequent adoptee: PUP 

29. Dirty digs: RAT HOLE

31. Local politician's goal, perhaps: MAYOR - Our town's MAYOR has been instrumental in getting a $400M chicken plant and massive new low cost housing developments here in our little town of 26,000. Approval is far from unanimous. 

34. Bit of bedroom decor: SHAM - Pillow covers at our house

36. When tripled, "Yum!": NOM - We went with NUM, NUM, NUM with our kids

38. Dates: SEES.

39. Cover stories?: BLURBS - The start of a BLURB from our crossword friend TRU 

41. Some lab workers: TECHS  - Here's a kitty wearing a Lab Coat

43. Perform energetically: ROCK OUT.

45. "__ & Him": Zooey Deschanel duo: SHE - A seasonal offering from Her and Him

46. Prefix with gender: CIS.

49. Polly's call: AWK - or Salty's and 5. Pirate's cry: YAR - Although Popeye is not a pirate and the parrot is not Polly, still...

50. Bound: TRUSSED - A treatment your turkey may have had two days ago

52. Elect: OPT.

53. Ziggy Stardust genre: GLAM - A character created by David Bowie

55. Pitch-lowering symbols: FLATS - Down a musical half step 

56. Jaunty greeting: HI HO - Which of these used the greeting, "HI HO, Steverino!" 

57. Country on the Gulf of Guinea: GABON - If you know where it is, you're a better man than I am, Charlie Brown. The answer

59. "That makes much more sense!": I GET IT NOW - Yeah, I do, but I still won't be able to pick out Gabon in a few days

61. Summer month in Santiago: ENERO - On the chart below, ENERO is JANuary and the height of Chile's summer 

62. Italian bread often served at Christmastime: PANETTONE - Last Saturday was National Homemade Bread Day

63. Particulars, informally: DEETS - I guess the "Dev is in the DEETS". Yuck!

64. Wanting: STRAPPED - STRAPPED for cash leaps to mind


Down:

1. Customize for: GEAR TO - As an educator, you are obligated to GEAR your lessons TO your kids

2. 3-Down's alma mater: OXFORD - and 3. Churchill's 1945 successor: ATTLEE. Clement ATTLEE was in the class of 1904 where he graduated as a Bachelor of Arts with second-class honours in modern history.

4. Family shower: TREE - Not the questionable context you first thought. The Family TREE shows your ancestry

6. Public humiliation: OBLOQUY - A new word for me

7. Start to overtake: GAIN UPON.

8. 2004 remake starring Jude Law: ALFIE - What's It All About, ALFIE?

9. Posed: SAT - FDR SAT for this portrait in April of 1945 in Warm Springs, GA but it went unfinished as he died while the water color was in progress

10. Brutish one: OGRE.

11. Ball field marker: FOUL POLE - This famous Carlton Fisk homer hit the FOUL POLE (FAIR POLE?) to win Game 6 of the 1975 World Series.

33. Got exactly right: NAILED - The Red Sox renamed that the Fisk Pole to honor the man who NAILED it 43 years ago

12. Gallery news: ART SALES.

13. Disentangled: RAVELED - RAVELED : Unraveled = Furled : Unfurled

15. '70s-'80s Rabbit competitor: LE CAR - VW's Rabbit vs Renault's LE CAR

21. Panache: ELAN.

24. One may be foiled by a captcha: SPAMBOT - This "Captcha" program asks you to type in the distorted screen characters to prove you are not a robot/SPAMBOT which could then send SPAM email to as many addresses as it can harvest

25. Put away: STASHED.

30. Makes haste: HIES - HIE, thou art an olde word

31. Euro forerunner: MARK - Not LIRA it turns out, 32. Tommy add-on: ROT - Not GUN it turns out and 44. Spring bloom: TULIP- Not LILAC it turns out

34. Provision for trucks: SLOW LANE.

35. Two-time Republican presidential candidate: HUCKABEE - and his daughter 

37. Camp gathering place: MESS TENT - A famous one

39. Talked big: BRAGGED.

40. Waves: SURF.

42. Grover's predecessor: CHESTER - CHESTER A. Arthur became president when President James Garfield was assassinated. Since there was no mechanism to name a new VP, he served his four years without one.

46. Like classic gumball machines: COIN OP - In my misspent yute, it was the answer to the burning question, "What can you buy for a penny""

47. Apple's X, e.g.: IPHONE - My 6S is doing great but the battery might be heading south

48. Put under a seat, say: STOWED.

51. Elaborate tales: SAGAS - An excellent list of movie SAGAS

54. Cartoonist Walker: MORT - A mashup of his two most famous strips 

56. Letters in an internet bar: HTTP - The HyperTextTransfer Protocol address of this blog: https://crosswordcorner.blogspot.com


58. Opposed words: NOS- The number of NOS cast can change greatly when a secret ballot is used

60. Spanish diminutive ending: ITA - Chica - Girl. ChiquITA - Little Girl affectionately in Spanish. Also a chance to post a song from one of my favorite groups 

Now before you go out and skip the Big Box Stores to shop, how 'bout a comment:

*That song would be Three Coins In The Fountain

Saturday, July 7, 2018, Kyle Dolan

Themeless Saturday by Kyle Dolan

Today celebrates a dessert favorite of my wife of 51 years - The Strawberry Sundae. I think my lovely bride should buy stock in The Driscoll Strawberry Company of Watsonville, California as their products are in our fridge in perpetuity. 

The worst job I ever had in my misspent youth was one my dad got for me without asking - picking strawberries in the hot sun for a dime a pint.

I last had one of Dr. Dolan's themeless wonders in May and this one was just as challenging and fun as that one. Doing puzzles on the computer early in order to get a blog ready lends itself to small errors and I had to correct a cell that would have been okay if I had been using paper and pencil. 

Now let's see what innovative fill Kyle has for us that reflects his job description above.

Across:

1. Shiloh's parents, familiarly: BRANGELINA - Shiloh Pitt-Jolie is the eldest biological child of Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie whose portmanteau is BRANGELINA; which ranks right up there with ELHI for me

11. With 15-Across, kind of vehicle: OFF and 15. See 11-Across: ROAD - Hmmm, there's a reason to stay ON ROAD!

14. Regional charm: LOCAL COLOR - We attended a wedding in a vineyard near Venice, Italy where we got a lot of LOCAL COLOR and plenty of a clear liquor that resembled ouzo. 

17. 2005 Cusack/Thornton thriller/comedy, with "The": ICE HARVEST - Rotten Tomatoes says, "Meh"

18. Caramel-filled candy: ROLO

19. Puckish group?: Abbr.: NHL - A wonderful puckish story

20. The Righteous Brothers' "Ebb Tide" wasn't one: DUET - Bobby Hatfield blew the doors off that song alone! It's worth a YouTube visit and so is 34. "Smooth Operator" singer: SADE - Sha DAY and so is 8. Ellington's "__ Song Go Out of My Heart": I LET A.

23. Demise: DEATH - The actual quote and 21. "Really?": IS IT SO? Uh, no, IT was not SO.

25. English house symbolized by a red rose: LANCASTER and 50. Any of the 25-Across kings: HENRY - they ruled for 60 years with Henry IV, V and VI

27. Julia of film: RAUL - RAUL is his first name. He took a turn as Gomez Addams in The Addams Family movie

29. The Jungfrau, e.g.: ALP.

30. Cocktail salt site: RIM - Hey a soldier can just make so many sacrifices 

31. Not abundant: SCANT - Civility in today's political discourse on both sides

33. Put away: ATE - If you ATE one of these 28" pepperoni pizzas in less than an hour, you won $100 and a $100 gift certificate to LW Pizza in Long Beach, CA. Oh yeah, the big pizza would also be free.

35. Great reception: STANDING OVATION 

38. Besmirches: TARS 

39. Asian language: LAO - ສະ​ບາຍ​ດີ​, ເຈົ້າ​ສະ​ບາຍ​ດີ​ບໍ່​ sa bai di chao sa bai di bo (Hello, how are you?)

40. As a whole: IN ALL.

41. Type of port: USB - Reading left to right on my MacBook Pro you have a charging port, two thunderbolt ports, a USB port and a port for headphones

42. Thrust producer: FIN - Here's a good caudal fin

43. Some code taps: DITS - Go to this Morse Code Translator site, type in your name in the input section, hit the play button to the right of the Translate box. You'll get visual and audio version of your name in DITS and DOTS!

44. Shell-shaped dessert brand: CHOCO TACO and 48. Ice cream alternative, familiarly: FROYO both look good this time of year

47. A bit less than a quart: FIFTH 

51. Stoolie: CANARY - Not all of them are feathered but can still "sing like a CANARY"

52. Ancient Cuzco resident: INCA.

54. Sushi topper: ROE.

55. Shel Silverstein poem "Hug __": O'WAR - A lovely sentiment 

56. Ball attire: DINNER GOWN.

59. Bob Dylan's musical tribute to his wife: SARA - Okay

60. Company with Wienermobiles: OSCAR MAYER 

62. Chilling account: GHOST STORY- The prefect atmosphere 

Down:

1. Obligatory poker bet: BLIND  - In "flop style" poker, the obligatory BLINDS move around the table with The Button from hand to hand

2. Tamiflu manufacturer: ROCHE.

3. Boston-D.C. service: ACELA  - High speed rail

4. "Sorry": NAH - Sorry is in quotes indicating sarcasm 

5. Feigned enthusiastic greeting: GLAD HAND  - Also called "pressing the flesh" or "working the rope line"

6. Brown family shade: ECRU.

7. Apollo 13 astronaut: LOVELL - In the final scene of the movie Apollo 13, Tom Hanks plays Jim LOVELL and Jim LOVELL as seen here is playing the part of an admiral welcoming the astronauts aboard the U.S.S. Iwo Jima

Jim Lovell and Tom Hanks in Apollo XIII

9. Crossword clue features: Abbr.: NOS - This one is NO. 9 Down

10. Constitution's ratification section: ARTICLE VII.

11. Root in perfumery: ORRIS  - Into each puzzle, a little learning must fall. This root is used in some perfumes, incense and gin

12. Track through the woods: FOOT TRAIL - This FOOT TRAIL in Yosemite includes this bridge over Kings River

13. Its worship is often forbidden: FALSE IDOL - A FALSE IDOL is in the zealotry of the worshipper

16. Uniformed greeters: DOORMEN - I don't know if you should be proud or ashamed that you remember the TV series that featured Carlton the DOORMAN

22. Easy mark: SAP.

24. Prefix with gender: TRANS.

26. 29-member org.: NATO.

28. Dalmatian, say, to a Brit: UTILITY DOG - Here is a Dalmatian serving a UTILITARIAN role in a famous venue

31. Store safely: STASH AWAY  - I did STASH AWAY my 1950's baseball cards but when mom and dad moved... 

32. Rich pasta dish: CARBONARA - How 'bout some shrimp CARBONARA? 61. "Woo-hoo!": YAY.

33. Long __: AGO.

34. GDR spy group: STASI - The former headquarters of this brutal and repressive organization is now a museum in Berlin

35. Applies plaster to: STUCCOS.

36. Darling pooch: NANA - A picture of NANA the dog with the Darling children in an illustration by an unknown artist for Scottish author J.M. Barrie's Peter Pan

37. Formicaria: ANT FARMS  - ...and the learning just keeps on happening

42. Supporting: FOR.

43. Prima __: DONNAS - (Prima Doggies)

45. Longtime name in baseball broadcasting: CARAY  - A truly iconic, if not always accurate (or some say sober), broadcaster who was famous for this musical interlude

46. Half of diez: CINCO - La mitad de las diez es CINCO (1/2 of ten is five)

49. Lookout position: TOWER - Testing what can be seen from the guard towers

53. Dead __: very likely thing, to a Brit: CERT - Couldn't find it in here:

57. Sorta relative: ISH.

58. Noir weapon: GAT - Pistol also Rod, Roscoe or Heater

Make a  comment and then get out the ice cream, strawberries, whipped cream (Cool Whip at our house) and a cherry 


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