Saturday, September 23, 2023 by Matthew Stock and Caitlin Reid

 Saturday Themeless by Matthew Stock and Caitlin Reed

Matthew gave me a jolt of déjà vu when he informed me he has taken a step back from teaching 8th grade math in Gainesville, FL and is going to pursue a degree in counseling. I kept teaching but did get a Masters degree in counseling after teaching math a few dozen years ago! He said he reached out to Caitlin, who lives in Santa Ana, CA, online and they have collaborated on several puzzles. Matthew said she is a joy to work with.

I had a pleasant journey around Matthew's and Caitlin's puzzle and finished up in the NW corner where UPDO (not chic), SLOW LORIS (such a common adjective), LIKE SO (wrong demonstration idea by me) and PLAICE (??) just wouldn't come to me. We were at a concert and I had a picture of the grid on my phone and UPDO hit me out of nowhere while waiting for the curtain. I rushed home afterwards and obtained a satisfying "got 'er done!"

Across:

1. High fashion?: UPDO.

5. Gramps alternative: PAPA - My proudest alias!

9. Scratches, e.g.: FLAWS - Claws works as a verb but this called for a noun

14. Large-eyed primate with a toxic bite: SLOW LORIS.

16. Medium for delivering course corrections: RED INK - Some want to banish RED INK for grading because it is threatening and intimidating. 

18. Look: FACIAL EXPRESSION.

20. Phrase heard during a demonstration: LIKE SO.

21. Frozen drinks: ICEES.

22. Hip-hop pioneer Kool __ Dee: MOE.

23. Tops: ACES.

24. Quite a lot: HEAPS.

25. "The thing with feathers," per Dickinson: HOPE.

26. Come into: GET.

27. Ready to play: CUED - Dr. Johnny Fever getting a song CUED up on a turntable on WKRP

29. Percocet, codeine, etc.: OPIATES.

31. Cry for attention?: TEN-HUT.

33. "That wasn't exactly honest": I LIED.

34. Working capital, in a way: TRADE SECRETS 

                     

 

36. Get new life out of: REUSE.

37. Tarator ingredient: TAHINI.

38. Clouseau player: SELLERS - Ya gotta love this clip! 

40. Hudson of "Glass Onion": KATE - Lower left in the big hat. 92% at Rotten Tomatoes

41. Kitty: POT 😀 Two names for money that has been bet

44. Like some holiday sweaters: UGLY.

45. Pocket protector?: MISER 😀

47. Rebecca in the Basketball Hall of Fame: LOBO.

48. Furrow: RUT - RUTS from the Oregon Trail in western Nebraska

49. Could or could not: MIGHT.

50. Goes around in circles: TWIRLS.

52. Snack with which one could be caught red-handed?: FLAMIN' HOT CHEETOS.

55. __ solution: SALINE.

56. Happy place: CLOUD NINE.

57. Show again: RE-AIR - I love the RE-AIRINGs of this show. It is like a time capsule.

58. Spare __: KEYS - Ours are hidden where no one can find them. 😙

59. Yields to gravity: SAGS.

Down:

1. Symbol on a space suit, for short: US FLAG - These 12 wore that symbol on the Moon.

2. "The carp play the harp / The __ play the bass": "Under the Sea" lyrics: PLAICE - I have never heard of this fish but it is pronounced "plays" which rhymes with bass and so...

3. List for a trial period?: DOCKET 😀

4. Baby bumps?: OWIES 😀

5. Sport that's a lot of horsing around: POLO 😀

6. Is for two: ARE.

7. Part of a fictional flight plan: PIXIE DUST.

8. Rescue org.: ASPCA.

9. Nonconformist: FREE SPIRIT - As a student, they can be a delight or a nightmare for a teacher

10. Not so much: LESS.

11. Subway car decor: ADS.

12. Handheld Nintendo devices: WIIMOTES - I laughed out loud when I said this out loud and finally saw the pun for a WII remote!!

13. Did some digging: SNOOPED.

15. "__ Mañanitas": Mexican birthday song: LAS.

17. Strike zone bottom: KNEES.

19. Credit report blot: REPO.

24. "lol": HE HE.

25. Tortuga's country: HAITI.

27. Cut off: CEASE.

28. "The Incredibles" villain likely inspired by Marvel Comics' Mole Man: UNDERMINER - A clever name.

30. "The Handmaid's Tale" executive producer Chaiken: ILENE - Her IMDB entry

31. White Claw rival: TRULY.

32. Whistler on the range: TEA KETTLE 😀

34. Clear sign: TELLTALE - When Aaron Rodgers had to be carted off the field after the third play of the game this year, it was a TELLTALE sign he was severely injured.

35. Arctic __: CHAR.

36. Frequent patron: REGULAR - Yeah, I thought of him too!

38. Goes over board?: SURFS 😀 Two words for over board indicates someone who is over a board and not overboard. 

39. Eye roll accompanier, maybe: SIGH.

41. "The Merchant of Venice" heroine: PORTIA - The traditional PORTIA and an updated one set in Las Vegas

42. Like most mozzarella sticks: OBLONG.

43. Flings: TOSSES.

46. Flabbergast: SHOCK.

47. Bank claims: LIENS.

49. __ fridge: MINI.

50. Q.E.D.: THUS.

51. Unite beneath a chuppah, e.g.: WED.

53. Emma's "La La Land" role: MIA - Ms. Stone

54. Demure: COY.

Saturday, September 2, 2023, Jimmy Peniston and Matthew Stock

  Saturday Themeless by Jimmy Peniston and Matthew Stock

                        

Across:

1. Rescue, perhaps: ADOPT - Our kitty Lily ADOPTED us in 2014

6. Work well together: MESH.

10. Blackberry, e.g.: PDA - They are no longer supported 

13. Satellite navigation device?: LUNAR ROVER - Navigation here means a device used to actually move around a surface that is a satellite of Earth not a device used for assistance in  planning a route on the planet Earth.

15. Fizzles: DIES.

16. Work that's subject to inflation: BALLOON ART 😀 - Wow!

17. River ride: RAFT - The Popeye & Bluto's Bilge-Rat Barges ride at Universal Florida SOAKS you!

18. Foxy?: SLY.

19. Mise en __: French culinary term: PLACE - Mise en place (MEEZ ahn plahs) literally means "put in place" is a French term for having all your ingredients measured, cut, peeled, sliced, grated, etc. before you start cooking.

20. College declaration: MINOR.

21. Enmity: BILE.

22. Silhouette on some jerseys: NBA LOGO - Modeled on Jerry West

24. Hard to come by: SCARCE.

27. Member of a TikTok subculture: E GIRL.

28. Spanish hand: MANO.

29. Concern in the Premier League: RELEGATION - The lowest teams are relegated to the lower division for the championship round.

34. [Eye roll]: UM OK.

35. Dahi-based condiment of Indian cuisine: RAITA - An Indian yogurt-based condiment

36. One might run around the house: EAVE 😀

37. Message from a cast party?: GONE FISHIN 😀 Oh, casting fishing nets!

39. Many moons: AGES.

40. African language group: BANTU

41. "Paranormal Activity" creatures: DEMONS.

43. Spice in taktouka and shakshouka: PAPRIKA - I first encountered the egg dish shakshouka in a Stella Zawistowski puzzle three years ago.

Shakshouka

46. Class action gps.?: PTAS.

47. Stick in a backpack: RULER 😀

48. Renewable energy option: SOLAR - The daily energy output for my town's large solar farm for last month. We got lovely rains in early August! 

50. Pretend: ACT.

53. Impression: IDEA.

54. Gem clip?: VIRAL VIDEO - Any event that is interesting or controversial can be shared across the web in a heartbeat and if it attracts a lot of views, it is said to have gone VIRAL.

56. Heed: MIND.

57. Comfortable existence: EASY LIVING - Nobody expresses it better than our crossword favorite

58. Pod unit: PEA.

59. Genesis grandson: ENOS - ENOS can be a biblical character, a baseball player or, lately, an American actress 

60. "Nifty!": NEATO.

Down:

1. Some ankle-length attire: ALBS.

2. Paired: DUAL.

3. Just: ONLY.

4. Amigo: PAL.

5. Hot water line?: TROPIC  😀 - The TROPICS of Cancer and Capricorn generally denote where water heats up on a map. (I emailed Matthew to make sure I wasn't missing something here.)

6. "The Age of Pleasure" singer Janelle: MONAE - Janelle recently played New Orleans

7. Brief getaway?: EVAC - I also emailed Matthew to make sure this wasn't some E-"xxx" slang. (BTW, Matthew is a great guy!)

8. National park that's home to more than 3,000 lions: SERENGETI.

9. Menopause treatment option: Abbr.: HRT.

10. Instrument played by Don Shirley in "Green Book": PIANO - Was "Sam's instrument in Casablanca" not "Saturday" enough? 😀

11. Clear up, in a way: DEFOG.

12. Minute Maid Park athlete: ASTRO.

14. Derby locale: ROLLER RINK - It's been around a long time.

15. Squads with precision dance routines: DRILL TEAMS - The Kilgore, TX Rangerettes DRILL TEAM were a staple of football halftimes in my yute.

20. "Matilda" star Wilson: MARA - MARA now and then as the girl in Mrs. Doubtfire 

21. Dined together: BROKE BREAD.

23. On the plus side: BIG AND TALL.

24. Holier-than-thou: SMUG.

25. Print found in the woods: CAMO 😀 (Matthew said he was really happy with this clue/fill)

26. Forthwith: ANON - Forthwith:  immediately; without delay. ANON: (archaic) soon; shortly

27. Yale founder Yale: ELIHU - A crossword staple that was very helpful early on

30. Japanese or Javanese: EAST ASIAN.

31. "Aladdin" character who calls Jafar "Your Rottenness": IAGO.

32. Brownie point?: OVEN 😀 At some point, I guess that is where brownies go

33. Hard or soft finish?: NESS.

38. Many a venue visited on "Carnival Eats": FAIR - Have you ever had a deep-fried Snickers? 

42. Magic man?: EARVIN - He posted a lovely note the night that Husker VB set the world's record for attendance at a women's sporting event.

                  

43. Perfect a part, perhaps: PRIMP 😀 I could never PRIMP any of my parts to perfection!

44. Cornish of CNN: AUDIE.

45. Legislative assemblies: PLENA - . 

 (Latin for full) A fully attended meeting or assembly, esp. of a legislative body

46. Takes the field: PLAYS.

49. Roundabouts: OR SO 😀 Both are estimates. OTOH, I have to negotiate four roundabouts to get from my house to the Platte River Bridge on the way to Lincoln.

50. Barnes of college basketball: ADIA - Coach Barnes

51. Small price to pay: CENT. 😀 A long, long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away...

52. Benin neighbor: TOGO - All right, here is the map of Africa, do you know where these two countries are? How did you do?

54. Vegas opener?: VEE - Yeah, I made the same mistake at first too! 😊

55. "__ got it!": IVE - Uh, if you called it, you gotta catch it.