Saturday, February, 29, Michael Wiesenberg

Saturday Themeless Puzzle by Michael Wiesenberg


Our professional poker player/author and crossword constructor from Calgary gives us a very doable Saturday themeless puzzle.

Advice on gaming can be found in his book Ready, Bet, Go 

Odds are always good that Michael will deal us a fun puzzle and he has done so on this Leap Day:

Across:

1. Baseball warm-up word: SHAG - In 2012, Mariano Rivera tore his ACL while SHAGGING fly balls before a game in Kansas City. What's SHAGGING in baseball, Gary?

5. Brazilian music genre word meaning "trend": BOSSA - In 1963 Eydie Gorme sang Blame It On The Bossa Nova (New Trend) or in Spanish:

10. Secured: ICED and 15. Nailing, in a way: ACING - Steph Curry NAILED this three-point shot to ICE the game

14. Ebb: WANE.

16. Weather __: VANE.

17. Kitchen fixture: OVEN.

18. Mountain slope debris: SCREE - SCREE skiing in Austria - Yikes!

19. Welder's output: ARCS - Not quite the same 

20. Home improvement team: REMODELERS.

22. One of two sts. admitted to the Union 11/2/1889: N DAK - The map the year before:

23. Elder of an '80s-'90s country duo: NAOMI JUDD (corrected picture)

24. Metaphorical casino loss: SHIRT - A prescient clue that hints that if I study Daniel's book maybe I won't lose my SHIRT

25. Formed by solidified magma: IGNEOUS - Uh, I'd try to keep my car out of the path of magma before it solidifies into that IGNEOUS rock

26. Is __: imminently will: SOON TO.

27. Turndowns: NOES.

28. Perceived Cold War weapons disparity: MISSILE GAP.

31. Propelled, as a raft: POLED - In Sweden you can sign up for a five-day "Huckleberry Finn" adventure to POLE down the Klarälven River 

32. Words preceding an important reminder: PLEASE NOTE - PLEASE NOTE: today would be Leap-Day-Baby Dinah Shore's 26th birthday as she was born on this day in 1916.

37. Power eponym: WATT - James

41. Antagonism: RANCOR.

42. Amazon, notably: E-TAILER - I tried to shop local but getting a taillight on Amazon saved me $500 

44. Singer for whom Bernie wrote lyrics: ELTON - This movie told the story of ELTON John and his longtime lyricist Bernie Taupin 

45. Remit, nowadays: PAY ON LINE - My wife/bookkeeper of 53 years insists on checks, stamps and envelopes 

47. "Contact" author Sagan: CARL - I loved the first half of this movie and then it fell apart. 

48. Comes to terms: MAKES A DEAL - this 1963 pilot is like a time capsule with pre-costume contestants, very small prizes and modestly dressed models

49. "I'll do it": OKAY - The last line in this hilarious Seinfeld scene is spoken by Marlee Matlin

50. Formal "Who's there?" response: IT IS I - A grammatically correct but perhaps slightly pretentious reply

51. Letter-bottom abbr.: ENCLosure

52. Bit of progress: DENT - Beetle Bailey is often shown trying make a DENT in the pile of potatoes 

53. Atlantic food fish: SCROD - On a Boston picnic, one might eat SCROD in someone's yahd after pahking the cah 

54. Pak of the LPGA: SE RI - One of many fabulous Asian players on the tour

55. Artist's pseudonym formed from the French pronunciation of his initials: ERTE - Romain de Tirtoff a Russian-born French artist and designer known by the pseudonym Erté, from the French pronunciation of his initials (pronounced [ɛʁ.te], AIR TAY)

56. 1953 Ladd classic: SHANE.

57. Casual wear: TEES.


Down:

1. Like court witnesses: SWORN IN - Putting your hand on a Bible is not required these days and the witness can AFFIRM and not SWEAR to tell the truth

2. Try it: HAVE A GO.

3. Buttercup family member: ANEMONE - Buttercup seems like a apt name to me

4. Biological mapping subjects: GENOMES - Here ya go!

5. Parachutist using low-altitude starting points: BASE JUMPER - BASE stands for jumping from Building, Antenna, Span, or Earth (cliff). Here's an Earth  jumper shown in stop motion photography

6. Blockage: OCCLUSION - The repair of two coronary OCCLUSIONS

7. Brought into being: SIRED.

8. Dummy Mortimer: SNERD - I never thought Bergen was a very good ventriloquist and perhaps Mortimer would not be accepted today

9. Quite a while: AGES.

10. Rowena's lover: IVANHOE - All you wanna know

11. Bouncer's job: CARDING - Hand up if you had a fake ID!

12. Early Wikipedia competitor: ENCARTA - 1993 - 2009

13. Icon locale: DESKTOP - The one on my MacBook Pro is very cluttered

21. Giovanni's god: DIO  - The Italian song DIO, come ti amo  means "God How I Love You"

24. Roman sun god: SOL - One of many in the deity array

26. Like a pendulum's movement: SIDE TO SIDE - Galileo used his pulse to time how long it took for the side-to-side swings of a pendulum (chandelier) in a Pisa Cathedral

29. __-mo: SLO.

30. Saw: SET EYES ON - Doing this with Lady Liberty is a highlight for many entering N.Y. Harbor

32. Like Hollywood films before censorship guidelines were introduced: PRE-CODE - Ten PRE-CODE movies that pushed the envelope

33. LeBron, since Jul. 2018: LA LAKER - Cavalier, Heat, Cavalier, Laker

34. One in a 1K, say: ENTRANT - That 1-Kilometer ENTRANT would have to run/walk about  .62 miles

35. Follower: ACOLYTE - Usually young people who help in religious services 

36. Certain youngster's nickname: SON - Something I can't call anyone

37. Least civilized: WILDEST.

38. Property recipient, in law: ALIENEE - Here ya go

39. Like a good-sized farm: TEN ACRE - C'mon, TEN ACRES? Around here that's barely a good-sized sweet corn patch

40. Plant support: TRELLIS - In the background you can see my wife's Clematis starting to bloom on its TRELLIS

43. Santa follower: ANA.

45. Cabbage site: PATCH.

46. "Ran" director Kurosawa: AKIRA - His IMDB

48. Wish were here: MISS - My wife would write that to our kitty 

Feel free to ante up an opinion. 

Saturday, June 1, 2019, Michael Wiesenberg

Themeless Saturday by Michael Wiesenberg

Today is National Flip A Coin Day. For those of us who work crosswords this can be a decision making aid. For instance - AVER/AVOW, AYE/YEA, DNA/RNA, etc.  This is what crossing answers and erasers are for.

Today's constructor is our former professional poker player from Calgary, Michael Wiesenberg. I suspect that at Michael's skill level, he did not have to resort to many coin flips to decide his strategy on a particular hand.



Michael's great puzzle today has four vertical and horizontal stacks of ten that yields only 28 blocks with 99 open squares

Sit in for a hand as we explore what Michael has dealt us today:

Across:

1. Luxurious ease: BED OF ROSES - Did anyone else also think of a Kevin Spacey movie?

11. Slangily admit, with "to": COP - Some will COP to a lesser crime rather than go to trial

14. See 3-Down: YOU WOULDN'T and 3. With 14-Across, "Bro, no!": DUDE - DUDE, YOU WOULDN'T... 

15. What you see hear?: TYPO - "What you see hear (here)" has a TYPO

16. Plays the nice guy?: ENDS UP LAST - Leo's motto and book title

17. Fins: ABES - $5 bill slang

18. Mariner's hdg.: SSE - Mariners on the Edmund Fitzgerald had a SSE heading on its final leg toward Whitefish Point on that fateful day in 1975 when  it sank in a horrible storm

19. Security issue: LEAK.

20. Eponymous diplomat Lord St __, friend of explorer George Vancouver: HELENS - His eponymous mountain blew its top in 1980

22. Peters out: DIES - DIES/EBBS was a "Flip A Coin" moment

23. Treading water, so to speak: NO WORSE - Not getting "aheader or behinder"

24. Quakers in forests?: ASPENS - Cottonwoods on the plains also make that sound



27. Harlequin output: ROMANCES.

28. '90s Rather co-anchor: CHUNG - They lasted three years together 

29. Caribbean native: CUBAN.

30. Univ. mentors: RA'S - Another coin flip with TA'S

31. Chloé fragrance maker: COTY.

32. Angel in Venezuela?: FALLS.

33. Soup made with stock called dashi: MISO - Making MISO soup with dashi stock

34. Pollution monitoring gp.: EPA.



35. Blender button: PUREE - One of many verb options on this old Oster

36. Thing that's spread: RUMOR.

37. Dressed for the beach, perhaps: SANDALED - and 36. Least prudent: RASHEST. Any port in a word storm

39. Symbols seen in pairs, briefly: PARENS  

40. How condemnation is expressed: SHARPLY - Even when tempered, "I respectfully submit that my friend from across the aisle is lying through his teeth!"

41. __ job: DESK - Technically, teaching is a DESK job but I rarely used mine

42. Set upon: COME AT - Google Mike Tyson

43. Jive: JOSH.

44. Show with a Miami spin-off: CSI - CSI, CSI Miami, CSI New York and CSI Cyber. 792 episodes of this franchise have aired. 

47. Designer Cassini: OLEG.

48. Response to a con: I'VE BEEN HAD - I almost said that in a CraigsList 11. Phishing, e.g.: CYBER CRIME last month. 

51. Morse sounds: DITS - My name in Morse Code is --. .- .-. -.-- or in PARENS - (dah dah DIT, DIT dah, DIT dah DIT, dah DIT dah dah)

52. Choose not to continue: LET IT SLIDE - I know Uncle Bob wants to debate politics but...  

53. Prefix with conscious: ECO.

54. Close talks: TETE A TETES - Furniture so-named for those "head to head" talks

Down:

1. Passes at a tournament: BYES - Washington got a BYE because it had a better record 

2. Long, long time: EONS - EONS/AGES coin flip

4. Cries of pain: OWS.

5. It may result in free throws: FOULING - In a past, rougher era, the Detroit Pistons got away with a lot of FOULING

6. Nepalese money: RUPEES - An ad for the KFC in Kathmandu, Nepal with prices in RUPEES

7. Widemouthed stewpots: OLLAS - Spanish, from Latin olla, aulla pot; akin to Sanskrit ukhā pot and probably to Goth auhns oven

8. Badlands Natl. Park's state: S DAK - It's about the only interesting thing between Rapid City and Sioux Falls.

9. Navy lt.'s subordinate: ENS - Did you think of ENSIGN Pulver too?

10. Charlotte Amalie's island: ST THOMAS - Charlotte Amalie (named in 1691 for wife of Danish King Christian V) is on ST THOMAS and is the capital of The American Virgin Islands

12. Time to hunt: OPEN SEASON 

13. Owners: POSSESSORS.

15. Hawk's claw: TALON.

21. Obi-Wan portrayer: EWAN - Coin flip - My first fill of ALEC (Guinness) played Obi-Wan Kenobi in the original Star Wars. EWAN McGregor played a younger version of him in the prequels

22. Repudiate: DENY.

23. __ gas: NOBLE - NOBLE/Inert coin flip


24. It'll get you in: ACCESS CODE - We find it very convenient to have one on this doorknob

25. Mall portmanteau: SHOPAHOLIC.

26. Label, as feelings: PUT A NAME TO - It's hard PUT A NAME TO the feeling I have when a former student says something very nice about me (or something bad too)

27. Dominated: RULED.

29. 1990 Best New Artist Grammy winner: CAREY - Mariah's IMDB

32. At high speed: FULL TILT - Great running backs get to FULL TILT quickly

33. Gloom: MURK 

35. __ John's Pizza: PAPA - Last year Peyton Manning sold his interest in 31 PAPA John's franchises just days before PAPA John withdrew as the NFL's official pizza

38. Settled matter: DREGS - Part of a lovely, poignant Sinatra lyric that has more meaning as birthdays pile up

39. Former Spanish coin: PESETA - Now on the Euro

41. Guard dog originally bred in Germany, familiarly: DOBIE - DOBERMANS were named for dog breeder Ludwig DOBERMAN in 1890 who was a tax collector and took this dog on his route for protection

43. Singer with The Blackhearts: JETT - My favorite 

44. Gambler's marker: CHIT.

45. Marquis de __: SADE - When the word SADISTIC is derived from your last name... 

46. June 13, e.g.: IDES -  In the ancient Roman calendar, the fifteenth day of March, May, July, or October, and the thirteenth day of the other months.

49. Migration flight pattern: VEE.

50. Marlins' MLB div.: NLE - You'll find the National League East Marlins at the bottom of this attendance list

No need to flip a coin, we'd love to hear your comments.

Saturday, Aug 15th, 2015, Michael Wiesenberg

Theme: None

Words: 66 (missing B,H,J,Q,W,X,Z)

Blocks: 36

I think this might be my fastest Saturday solve, ever.  I have blogged only one puzzle from Michael, and prior to that, his Sat LAT offering was a "no E" grid.  Today's, offering, however, seemed to be a much easier, although visually interesting, construction.  Triple 10's in the Down paired to two 15-letter climbers, with almost triple 10's in the Across, and another pair of 11-letter climbers;

4. One of an orange trio : TENNESSEE AVENUE - brilliant - Monopoly, the board game

10. Source of flashes : ELECTRICAL STORM

 

8. Didn't compute : MADE NO SENSE

23. Trading principle : RECIPROCITY

En Avant~!

ACROSS:

1. Stay __ Marshmallow Man: "Ghostbusters" icon : PUFT - Gotta love starting with a clue about one of my favorite movies - I have dressed as a Ghostbuster for Halloween

5. Mild cheese : EDAM

9. It may be found in sheets : METAL

14. Put __ in: test : A TOE

15. Dancer who appeared in "Golden Boy" after being discovered by Sammy Davis Jr. : LOLA FALANA

17. Stagger : STUN

18. Leads astray : MISDIRECTS

19. Shore bird : TERN - by now, I was wondering if I might have solved the wrong puzzle

20. Modern traveler's purchase : eTICKET

21. Heraldic band : ORLE - oops, not HALO; more here

22. O. Henry, for one : IRONIST

25. Their nos. might appear on shields : RTEs - like this one, found in my neck of the woods - I don't have an I-495 shield, but I do have a RTE 97 sign - not stolen, mind you, but given to me by a state worker

26. Diamond words after two or three : MEN ON - ah, baseball for C.C. - but makes me think of this song

Lyric @2:50

27. Stand : RISE

31. Fine things : ARTS

32. Experts : ACES

33. "__ corny ... ": song lyric : I'M AS - ah.  song from the musical South Pacific - before my time

34. Word for a loser? : LITE - not DIET; 75% correct-ish

35. "Yow!" : YIPES - I had yiKes, and that was close enough

37. Mil. ranks : CPLs - not SGTs

38. Sport for people in suits : ÉPÉE - I put this in, but I thought it was the sword, not the sport

39. Gasp : PANT

40. "L'amour est un oiseau rebelle," for one : ARIA - sounds Frawnche - OMG, people, lighten UP~!  It's a joke~!  I don't give a rat's a** if there's more French, Spanish, Italian or German in a puzzle; in fact, I've been saying "Frawnche" for so long, I couldn't recall that it's from a clip in 30-year old movie

41. Medical supplies : SERA - oops, put an "S" in at the end - Bzzzt~!

42. Pension law acronym : ERISA - Employee Retirement Income Security Act

43. Tax : LEVY

44. Like caps : VISORED

46. Style for jazzman Crothers : SCAT

47. Indictment feature? : SILENT C - indYTEment; learned watching Law & Order

50. Thames museum : TATE

51. Show no hesitation about starting : PLUNGE INTO - speaking of "plunge", see 52d.

55. Lex's henchman in "Superman" films : OTIS - I remember Ned Beatty playing the role in 1978

56. Sell shares : ISSUE STOCK

57. Torn : RENT

58. Spud : TATER

59. Versatile tubers : YAMS

60. Texts: Abbr. : MSGs

DOWN:   

1. Bucolic musical pieces : PASTORALES

2. Bosh : UTTER TRIPE

3. Offensive, perhaps : FOUR-LETTER - like, say, epee and orle  :7))

5. Common street name : ELM

6. "Moi?" : "DO I~?" - and more Franwche

7. Gore and more : ALs

9. Yankee whose #9 was retired in 1984 : MARIS - more baseball for C.C.

11. Sailor's maneuver : TACK

12. Get in the game : ANTE

13. Not flag : LAST - ah, the verb "to flag"

16. Blend : FIT IN

22. "Could happen" : "I MAY"

24. Hold 'em holding : ONE PAIR - Texas style poker.  Just to show how much I love the French, I'm giving you an image of "one pair" of their pantyhose

28. Curses : IMPRECATES - new word for me, from the Latin "to pray"

29. Showing anticipation, in a way : SALIVATING - see 52d.

30. Some finals : ESSAY TESTS

36. Dutch village : STAD

42. Colorado's __ Park : ESTES

45. Actress Stevens : INGER

47. Turner in cooking : SPIT - like Ike or Tina, in music (Turn-er.)

48. To whom Rick said, "The Germans wore gray, you wore blue" : ILSA

49. Relish : LUST - se7en, the movie, was on this week - another one of my favorites

52. Tishby of "The Island" : NOA - how have I never seen this woman~?...hamuna-hamuna

53. Old films channel : TCM

54. Approvals : OKs - 52d gets my approval

Splynter