Saturday, October 22, 2022, Mary Lou Guizzo and Brooke Husic

 Themeless Saturday by Mary Lou Guizzo and Brooke Husic

Mary Lou and her retired  science teacher husband met at The University of Dayton and now live in Oakwood, OH which is a suburb of Dayton. Last time she told us: 

Mary Lou and Grandson

I am a retired medical technologist with a Specialty in Blood Banking (SBB). I’ve worked in hospitals, private labs and the Community Blood Center for many years. She further said she knew of C.C. and knows our moderator is a "rockstar constructor!" 

She told me how her collaboration with Brooke came about: I think I contacted Brooke via FB Messenger to let her know how much I enjoyed the Saturday, December 12, 2020 NYT puzzle she and Sid Sivakumar constructed. We chatted with each other and she asked if I’d like to co-construct a puzzle with her. She has exploded onto the cruciverbalist scene and is bursting with good ideas for constructing. She is a great person to collaborate with. I was honored that she asked me to work with her. Jim Horne wrote a nice piece about her here: https://www.xwordinfo.com/Crossword?date=6/18/2022.

Brooke Husic is from Glastonbury, CT and is currently doing post doc work in Berlin in computational chemistry and machine learning work on molecular kinetics. I previously blogged a collaborative puzzle she made with Michael Lieberman last month. 

Across:

1. Address to a fella: BRO and 29. Address to a fella: GUV.

4. Lone star group?: PANS - Fun wording. A collection of restaurants or movies that were PANNED by getting only one star would be a group of PANS.

8. Green fruit: LIMES.

13. Marshmallow bird: PEEP - My teeth hurt just looking at them.

14. "Let Me Down Slowly" singer-songwriter Benjamin: ALEC - He has a very distinctive high voice

15. NAACP __ Awards: IMAGE - Marsai Martin won three this year

16. One hanging out along the wall?: EAVE - Did anyone else think of wallflowers at a dance

17. [Not again!]: SIGH

18. Colorful bulb: TULIP - The Tulip Festival in Pella, IA is worth the trip.

19. Achebe novel whose title comes from a Yeats poem: THINGS FALL APART.

The beginning four lines of the Yeats poem The Second Coming are referred to as a preface of the novel by this Nigerian author:

“Turning and turning in the widening gyre

The falcon cannot hear the falconer;

Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;

Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,”

The centre is having trouble holding these days as it was in 1919 when Yeats wrote this poem.

22. Part of an opening line?: SESAME.

23. Rat tail?: TEE - raT

24. Sportswear brand: FILA.

25. Ain't equivalent?: AREN'T - You AREN'T Nothin' But A Hound Dog? That just ain't right!

26. Cosmetic invented for the movie industry in 1930: LIP GLOSS - The inventor Max Factor applies it below

28. Sondheim's "Sweeney __": TODD - The Demon Barber Of Fleet Street who seeks revenge for a terrible injustice.

30. Suffix with gazillion: AIRE - MillionAIRE, billionAIRE and then...

31. Masala chai, e.g.: SPICED TEA - What is masala?

34. __ Rub: anti-chafing product: CHUB.

35. Jazz intro?: NEO - A sample of NEO Jazz

36. Procedural that spun off from "JAG": NCIS - Two Saturdays in a row for NCIS

40. Mollusk considered a living fossil: NAUTILUS.

42. Comedian Cenac: WYATT.

43. Feature of a fitted blouse: DART.

 

44. On the __: LAM.

45. Cupcakes-to-be: BATTER.

46. Stadium cry: ICE COLD BEER HERE.

49. Dirty sort of person: CHEAT.

50. Himalayan cryptid: YETI - Disney's animatronic version of the YETI prowls the Expedition Everest ride at Animal Kingdom.

51. Vehicles that may roll over: IRAS.

52. Trunks: TORSI - Torso plural

53. __ queen: DRAG.

54. Makes: NETS - Can you find the NET pay on this stub?

55. Jennies, e.g.: ASSES - A Jenny and her foal

56. Dot on a map: ISLE.

57. Hurdle for a future Ph.D.: GRE - I took the Graduate Record Exam when LBJ was president

Down:

1. Come to the rescue: BE A HERO.

2. Amended: REVISED.

3. Court coup: OPEN AND SHUT CASE - We have the empty porridge bowl, the broken chair and she is still in one of our beds.

4. Not retro yet: PASSE - That outfit is so 2020 but at least it's not 1990

5. First letter of the Urdu alphabet: ALIF  - Since Urdu is read right to left, ALIF is in the top row on the right.

6. Figures whose squares are positive: NEGATIVE NUMBERS.

7. Haul: SCHLEP.

8. Ford whose debut album was "Out for Blood": LITA.

9. "No, really, you decide!": I'M UP FOR ANYTHING.

10. Lassitude: MALAISE.

11. Some zoomers with an emo aesthetic: EGIRLS - What are they?

12. Commuter syst. that crosses the Delaware: SEPTA - Southeastern Pennsylvania Transit Authority 

13. Tended a lab?: PET SAT - DOG SAT clogged up this corner for a while

20. BBC clock setting: GMT.

21. Staccato opposite: LEGATO.

26. "Star Trek" captain Jean-__ Picard: LUC - We have one here as well at our site

27. Tell tales: LIE.

29. Benefits act of 1944: GI-BILL provided 34. Vocations: CAREERS for WWII soldiers

                  

  

32. Place: PUT.

33. Some French?: DES - Je vais acheter DES pommes (I'm going to buy some apples).

37. Hospitality professional: CATERER - A service used in fancier H.S. graduation parties.

38. Go over again: ITERATE 39. Go over again, say: STRESS.

40. Ballpark snack served in a helmet: NACHOS.

41. The People's Princess: LADY DI - A lovely person who got caught up in a loveless royal marriage which is shown so well on Netflix's The Crown

42. "All the Light We Cannot See" backdrop: WAR.

43. Judge-y remarks?: DICTA.

dictum noun

dic·​tum ˈdik-təm 

plural dicta ˈdik-tə  also dictums

1

: a noteworthy statement: such as

a

: a formal pronouncement of a principle, proposition, or opinion

awaiting the king's dictum

45. Neutral tone: BEIGE.

47. Redding who wrote "Respect": OTIS - This is a version of the song sung by OTIS that he wrote but playfully says, "A girl stole from him". I'm pretty sure we all know who that girl was.

48. Abbreviation for a name dropper?: ET AL  - Fun cluing for when you don't want to list all the names and merely say "and others".

Tuesday, July 26, 2022 / Mary Lou Guizzo and Jeff Chen

Game Night.  The END word of each theme answer is a board GAME.

16-Across. *   "Now you see what I deal with every day": WELCOME TO MY LIFE.

26-Across. *   "Our goose is cooked": WE'RE IN TROUBLE.

40-Across. *   Tools that may make one say, "Damn you, autocorrect!": SPELL CHECKERS.

54-Across. *   "No idea": I HAVEN'T GOT A CLUE.

And the unifier:

62-Across. Last stage of a chess match, and what each answer to a starred clue literally has: ENDGAME. Everything you wanted to know about the Endgame, but didn't know to ask.

Across:

1. Rental for some exercise classes: YOGA MAT.  Yuck!  Sorry, but I would never rent a Yoga Mat.

8. Vice President Harris: KAMALA.

Kamala Devi Harris (b. Oct. 20, 1964)

14. Make move, as a cartoon: ANIMATE.

15. Grapefruit kin: POMELOS.  The Pomelo is native to Southeast Asia.

18. Clandestine org.: NSA.  As in the National Security Agency.

19. Shortfin shark: MAKO.

20. Facts and figures: DATA.  Hi, Picard!

21. EMT's skill: CPR.  The Emergency Medical Technician better know how to perform CardioPulmonary Resuscitation.

24. More than fix up: REDO.

32. Color selection tools: PALETTES.  One of Van Gogh's palettes as seen in the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam.

33. Defeat badly: TROMP.

35. Extended a performance, in a way: ENCORED.

36. "The Good Doctor" actress Thomas: ANTONIA.  I have never seen The Good Doctor, so was not familiar with Antonia Thomas (née Antonia Laura Thomas; b. Nov. 3, 1986).

38. "Their Eyes Were Watching God" novelist Zora __ Hurston: NEALE.  Zora Neale Hurston (Jan. 7, 1891 ~ Jan. 28, 1960) makes frequent guest appearances in the puzzles.

39. Stereo components: SPEAKERS.

43. Fly high: SOAR.

44. "Jeopardy!" co-host Jennings: KEN.  Ken Jennings (né Kenneth Wayne Jennings, III; b. May 23, 1974) has made a pretty good living with his trivia knowledge.  Not only was Jeopardy! good to him, both as a contestant and a host, but he has appeared on other trivia game shows, such as Masterminds and The Chase.

45. Regarding: AS TO.

49. Heavy burden: ONUS.

51. Cake mix need: EGG.

59. Desert illusions: MIRAGES.

60. Source of pint-sized beverages?: MINI-BAR.

61. Use: EMPLOY.

Down:

1. Show sleepiness: YAWN.

2. Tip jar bills: ONES.

3. __ monster: lizard: GILA.  //  And 8-Diwn. __ dragon: lizard: KOMODO.  What is the difference between a Gila Monster and a Komodo Dragon?

4. Theater chain initials: AMC.  As in American Multi-Cinema.

5. Chairman who led China's Cultural Revolution: MAO.

6. Bank drive-thru device: ATM.  The Automated Teller Machine is a crossword staple.

7. Swarm (with): TEEM.

9. "Vice" Oscar nominee Adams: AMY.  Amy Lou Adams (b. Aug. 20, 1974) portrayed Lynne Chaney in the movie Vice.

10. Blend: MELD.

11. "Search Party" actress Shawkat: ALIA.  Alia Martine Shawkat (b. Apr. 18, 1989) also portrayed Maeby Fünke on Arrested Development.

12. Hay storage area: LOFT.

13. Drifting aimlessly: ASEA.

15. "__ Face": Lady Gaga hit: POKER.

17. Small fruit pastries: TARTS.

21. New Orleans cuisine: CREOLE.  Creole versus Cajun cuisine.

22. Seabirds that often follow ships: PETRELS.  Everything you wanted to know about Petrels, but didn't know to ask.

23. Solemn ceremony: RITE.

25. Scene not meant to be seen: OUTTAKE.

26. Decreases in strength: WANES.

27. Yosemite peak, familiarly: EL CAP.  El Capitan, affectionally known as El Cap, is more than just a big rock.

28. "The Simpsons" neighbor Flanders: NED.

29. Kaput: BROKEN.

30. Solitary sort: LONER.

31. Kuwaiti rulers: EMIRS.

32. Ballpoint, e.g.: PEN.   A brief history of the Ballpoint Pen.

34. Faux __: PAS.  Today's French lesson.

36. Tailless primate: APE.

37. Bottle part: NECK.

39. "So what" shoulder gesture: SHRUG.

41. __ Tunes: LOONEY.

42. Leans to one side: CANTS.  Probably the most famous CANTer in the world ...

45. Je t'__: French "I love you": AIME.  More of today's French lesson.

46. Leveling device: SHIM.

47. Canvas cover: TARP.

Blue tarps after a hurricane

48. Avocado shape: OVAL.

50. A few: SOME.

51. Idris of "Luther": ELBA.  Idris Elba (né Idrissa Akuna  Elba;b. Sept. 6, 1972) also played Stringer Bell on The Wire.

52. "Where America's Day Begins": GUAM.  According to this article, Guam is not technically where America's Day Begins.

53. "Chicago" star Richard: GERE.  Richard Tiffany Gere (b. Aug. 31, 1949) starred in many, many movies.

55. Sense of self: EGO.

56. Metal container: TIN.

57. Plus: AND.

58. Smoke, briefly: CIG.

Here's the Grid:

חתולה

Today would have been my mother's 92nd birthday.  Sadly, it is also the day that I lost my grandmother, who died 20 years ago today, just 1 week shy of her 96th birthday.