Tuesday, June 22, 2021 Mary Lou Guizzo and Jeff Chen

Vowels on Parade.

17-Across. Arrest: TAKE INTO CUSTODY.

33-Across. Kind of in jest, kind of not: HALF SERIOUSLY.

39-Across. Vintage Burger King slogan: HAVE IT YOUR WAY.

60-Across. Mixed drink recipe directive: SHAKE VIGOROUSLY.

and the unifier:

45-Down. Sextet featured in order in this puzzle's theme answers: A E I O U Y.  I like the idea of Y being an honorary vowel.

Across:

1. Sunbather's goal: TAN.

4. Beach dwelling support: STILT.  Many houses in Grand Isle, Louisiana are built up on stilts.  Appropriate for today's puzzle since Tropical Storm Claudette just swept through the area.

9. Move in the breeze: SWAY.

13. Somber notice: OBIT.  This is not the kind of obituary you want.

15. "War and Peace" and "Gone with the Wind": SAGAS.  Guess which of one of these sagas I have read.

16. It has a same-named river on its southern border: OHIO.

20. Squirrel morsel: ACORN.

21. "__ you special!": AREN'T.

22. GM's Mary Barra, e.g.: CEO.  Mary Barra (née Mary Teresa Makes; b. Dec. 24, 1961) has been the Chief Executive Officer of General Motors since 2014.

23. Type of equation: LINEAR.  Easy, right?

25. WWII conference site: YALTA.  It is also known as the Crimea Conference.  The meeting of Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin took place in February 1945 near the end of WWII.

27. "Soft embalmer of the still midnight": Keats: SLEEP.  A poem by John Keats (Oct. 31, 1795 ~ Feb. 23, 1821).

30. Bully: MEANIE.  Was George Meany (Aug. 16, 1894 ~ Jan. 10, 1980) a Meanie?

35. Comic Margaret: CHO.

Margaret Moran Cho (b. Dec. 5,  1968)

37. __ shop: golf course store: PRO.

38. Brown bar order: ALE.

46. Show one's face: EMERGE.

47. Dwelling that sounds like two letters: TEPEE.  TP has other meanings, too.

48. Ship deck guards: RAILS.

Not the intended use for ship rails.

50. Nonliteral language features: IDIOMS.

54. "The __ of the moral universe ... bends toward justice": MLK Jr.: ARC.

56. Parking employee: VALET.

59. Temple text: TORAH.

Torah scrolls at my shul.

63. "This is for you": HERE.

64. PR pro's concern: IMAGE.

65. "Carpe diem" acronym: YOLO.  You Only Live Once.  //  Not to be confused with 12-Down. Toy similar to a spool: YO-YO.  National Yo-Yo Day was Sunday, June 6, 2021.

66. Like a one-star sudoku: EASY.  I would still find a one-star sudoku a challenge.

67. May 8, 1945, briefly: V-E DAY.  Also known as Victory in Europe Day.

68. Fed. research org.: NSF.  Non-Sufficient Funds for some research projects funded through the National Science Foundation.

Down:

1. Utter: TOTAL.  This clue and answer will rile some people up.  Think of:  That is an Utter mess and That is a Total mess.

2. Beaded calculators: ABACI.

3. Coolpix digital camera maker: NIKON.

4. Fig. whose last four digits are often requested: SSN.  As in the ubiquitous Social Security Number.

5. "See ya!": TA-TA!

6. Horror film aide: IGOR.

7. Cagney's TV partner: LACEY.  Cagney and Lacey was a television show that ran in the 1980s.

8. Word from the Japanese for "harbor wave": TSUNAMI.  Also the name of a sushi restaurant in southern Louisiana.

9. Inebriate: SOT.

10. "Your guess is as good as mine": WHO CAN SAY?

11. West Wing worker: AIDE.  As in an Aide in the White House's West Wing.

14. Mother with a Nobel Prize: TERESA.  As in Mother Teresa (née Anjezë Gonxhe Bojaxhiu; Aug. 26, 1910 ~ Sept. 5, 1997).  She was born in what is present-day Madeconia, but is best known for her work in India.  She was made a Saint in the Catholic Church in 2016 and is now known as Saint Teresa of Calcutta.

18. Collectively: IN ALL.

19. Canonized fifth-cen. pope: ST. LEO.  Pope Leo I, also known as Leo the Great, was Pope from September 440 until his death in 461.

24. Game official: REF.  As in a Referee.

26. Upsilon preceder: TAU.  It's Greek to me.

28. Notice: ESPY.

29. 1995 Reform Party founder: PEROT.  H. Ross Perot (né Henry Ross Perot; June 27, 1930 ~ July 9, 2019) was a billionaire businessman who ran as an independent presidential campaign in 1992 and a 3rd party candidate in the 1996 presidential race.

31. Unwell: ILL.

32. Pupil's place: EYE.

33. Futuristic sci-fi vehicles: HOVER CARS.

34. Bounder: ROUÉ.

35. "Evita" narrator: CHE.  Che Guevara (né Ernesto Guevara; June 14, 1928 ~ Oct. 9, 1967) was a physician who turned Marxist Revolutionary.

36. Easter entrée: HAM.  Here is one theory of why Ham is eaten on Easter.

40. Memorable period: ERA.

41. "Enough already!": I GIVE!

42. City that merged with Jaffa in 1950: TEL AVIV.  Jaffa is sometimes written as Yafo.

43. Troy, N.Y., campus: RPI.  As in the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.  Some in our crossword family are graduates of this institute of higher learning.

44. Joined with: WED TO.

49. Gooey gunk: SLIME.

51. Welles of "War of the Worlds": ORSON.  Orson Wells (né George Orson Wells; May 6, 1915 ~ Oct. 10, 1985) was an American film director, but also a radio host.  In 1938, he narrated a radio adaption of H.G Wells' novel The War of the Worlds about an alien invasion.  Many people believed that the Earth was being invaded by extraterrestrials.  Interesting to have two Wells (different spellings) involved in this tale.

52. Shopping meccas: MALLS.

53. Just __: almost: SHY OF.

54. Tennis legend Arthur: ASHE.  Arthur Robert Ashe, Jr. (July 10, 1943 ~ Feb. 6, 1993) makes frequent guest appearances in the crossword puzzles.

55. Ostrich kin: RHEA.  Everything you wanted to know about Ostriches vs Rheas but didn't know to ask.

57. "Zounds!": EGAD.

58. Roman garb: TOGA.

61. Critical: KEY.

62. "Star Wars" heroine: REY.  Rey Skywalker appeared in some of the more recent movies of the Star Wars Series.

Here's the Grid:

חתולה

'Tis the season

Saturday, March 13, 2021, Mary Lou Guizzo

Saturday Themeless by Mary Lou Guizzo

Today our constructor is Mary Lou Guizzo. She and her retired  science teacher husband met at Dayton University and now live in Oakwood, OH which is a suburb of Dayton. Last time she told us: 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!" Here's what she told me about this puzzle:

Mary Lou and Grandson

Thanks for your kind words Gary. Glad to hear you enjoy the photography as well as the puzzles (Husker: I see her pix on FaceBook). They both make me look at the world in a different way and serve as good diversions. A shout out to my husband who helps me in both these endeavors.

I was happy to feature two strong women in this puzzle, GRETA THUNBERG and the NOTORIOUS RBG aka Ruth Bader Ginsburg. It's not easy to pave the way in perilous circumstances and times, but they have both done that well and with such grace. 

To answer your question about the clues, roughly 20% are different, with 80% being the same or very similar to my submitted clues.  I hope the solvers have enjoyed the puzzle and it has brought them some respite during these trying times.

Best,

Mary Lou

Husker Gary Addendum: When I saw the clue/fill 21. Impish: ELFIN - I asked Mary Lou if she would mind if I referred to her as ELFIN. She got a big laugh out of that and said "Go ahead!"

Across:

1. Wrap up: SWATHE - Changing a noun SWATH to a verb by adding an "E" like cloth and clothe. Here's a Corflex universal sling has also been SWATHED

7. Game-watching, maybe: ON SAFARI.

15. "Y Is for Yesterday" sleuth Millhone: KINSEY - Our frequent cwd author and her female sleuth

16. One skilled at spelling: SORCERER - or his apprentice

17. __ of: address words: IN CARE.

18. Rocky time?: STONE AGE - MOUNTAIN (standard time) didn't cut it

19. Slow-witted Bergen puppet: SNERD.

20. 8-Down, e.g.: BIO and 8. 2015 best-selling 20-Across: NOTORIOUS RBG - A clever play on rapper NOTORIOUS B.I.G.

22. Boo follower: HISS - The Harbor Playhouse Melodramas will cue you in

23. Key contraction: OER - "O'ER the land of the free..." Renee Fleming nailing the last  word of this Francis Scott Key phrase at Super Bowl XLVIII

24. "Likewise": SAME.

25. Elect: OPT - What did you OPT for at 4. Nicholas II et al.: TSARS or CZARS?

26. Attributive term: ALA - Today's puzzle is ALA Guizzo! 

28. One presented for payment: IOU.

31. Driver's aid: TEE.

32. Legal show for 40 years, with "The": PEOPLE'S COURT - It's biggest fan!

36. Youngest-ever "Time" Person of the Year: GRETA THUNBERG.

39. Formal seizure: CONFISCATION - I confiscated some interesting items as a teacher over the years

41. Tyke: TOT.

44. Early Beatle Sutcliffe: STU - STU quit the band to go study art. The Beatles put him on the cover of the Sgt. Pepper album. He is to the extreme left peeking over a blue hat.

45. "The Last Jedi" villain Kylo: REN - Here ya go!

46. Sticky substance: GOO - Yeah, I'm the only one who put TAR

47. Pique: WHET - "The design of the restaurant did PIQUE my curiosity and the aromas deWHETTED my appetite."

49. Tennis strategy: LOB - How 'bout a between-the-legs LOB shot?

51. Brits' luxury cars: JAGS - In Britain, the full name has three syllables

52. Singer who founded a sewing company: ISAAC - He didn't invent them

54. Seasonal drink: NOG.

55. "Romeo Must Die" star: JET LI.

56. Riviera resort, briefly: ST TROPEZ - French major granddaughter says the two T's kind of blend together into SANTROPAY

58. President, at times: VETOER - FDR leads the league with over 600 VETOES

59. "__ Wins By a Hare": Bugs Bunny cartoon: TORTOISE.

60. Dog on a bun: WEENIE - Guy Fieri swears there's a WEENIE under there

61. Throw that anticipates the receiver's timely arrival: SPOT PASS - QB, "I'm throwing this PASS to that SPOT, so be ready!

62. Puck: SPRITE - I'll bet you recognize this 14-yr-old who played Puck in the 1935 production of A Midsummer's Night Dream without looking at his name at  the bottom of the picture

Down:

1. Business concerned with going downhill: SKI SHOP.

2. Jets' home: WINNIPEG - NHL not NFL

3. Great-grandmother, say: ANCESTOR 

5. Round up: HERD.

6. Word with chart or color: EYE - Here's a CHART on EYE COLOR

7. Actor Davis: OSSIE - OSSIE and wife Ruby Dee

9. Full house sign: SRO - Not so much these days

10. Bad marks: ACNE

11. Touches: FEELS.

12. Co-Nobelist with Rabin and Peres: ARAFAT.

13. Ruling period: REGIME.

14. The "I" in "E.I. du Pont": IRENEE - Éleuthère IRÉNÉE du Pont

20. Hot air: BOASTFULNESS - My speed bump! B _ A S T F U _ N _ _ _ sure looked like BLAST FURNACE to me.

26. Some saxes: ALTOS.

27. Listed in Liverpool?: LEANT - I wrote to Mary Lou to make sure I had this right and she agreed that Listed is the past tense of List (usually heard as a listing or leaning boat) and LEANT is a British past tense for LEAN, hence the Liverpool reference. Very cool clue!

29. Cup fraction: OUNCE - My science lab never strayed into the labyrinth of English measures. How many milliliters are there in a liter is infinitely easier than how many ounces are in a cup.

30. NFL coach Meyer: URBAN - URBAN has not coached in the NFL yet but will this year. He leaves a very successful but checkered past in the college coaching ranks. 38. Modern-day checking suggestion: GOOGLE IT if you must

33. Chest muscle, briefly: PEC and 34. Phi follower: CHI and 35. Vietnamese festival: TET - Familiar cwd puzzle veterans.

37. Pasta order: RIGATONI.

40. "Nuh-uh!": NO SIREE 

41. Citrus garnishes: TWISTS - I had TWISTS and ZESTS in Saturday puzzles very recently 

42. "C'mon, I'm not that good!": OH STOP.

43. Italian playhouse: TEATRO - A 1778 playbill from the very first production in a very famous TEATRO 

48. Pulitzer-winning "The Goldfinch" novelist Donna: TARTT - Here ya go! Not to be confused with Goldfinches in our backyard.

50. Inches: OOZES.

51. Yankee whose #2 was retired in 2017: JETER - Derek was a class act!

53. Fowl area: COOP.

55. Cherokee on wheels: JEEP and 58. Golfs on wheels, briefly: VWS

57. __ mater: PIA - The innermost layer enveloping the brain