Friday, Jul 10th, 2026 ~ Mike Peluso

HEavy MEtal, the song from Blue Öyster Cult

This is my first puzzle from Mike Peluso - he has been contributing crosswords since before the Corner, I would guess; his last construction for the LA Times was here, in 2023, on a sumdaze Monday. A simple add-in of the symbol for the element Iron, 'Fe', from the Latin "ferrum".  The cluing was solid Friday-level, with just a hiccup for me at the crossing of two name-ish answers - that's YOU, square #5~!  Standard grid, no circles, less than ten names, no Twurds, and eight "elemental" songs.  The themers & reveal, which is what got me through the themers;

16. Slogan on a very thorough pet sitter's business card?: I WALK THE FELINE - The base phrase is from the Johnny Cash song "I Walk the Line" -  I walked canine Cooper, but not the "feline" cats . . . 

28. Upgrade one's cookie supply?: TRADE WAFERS - Trade Wars - no song for you~! - but think the outer layers of, say, 32A., an Oreo cookie . . .

48. Newest resident of the Land of Enchantment?: SANTA FE BABY - A Christmas Classic, the song "Santa Baby", tho I did not know that the "Land of Enchantment" was New Mexico - I DO know my ex-wife is down there, so it can't be that enchanted . . . 

62. Treatment for anemia, or a treatment given to 16-, 28-, and 48-Across?: IRON SUPPLEMENT - the periodic chart square for Iron, "Fe"

Thanks Bill Nye, Science Guy~!


ACROSS:

1. Places to feel kneaded?: SPAs - I could go for a massage . . .

5. Peter or Paul, but not Mary: TSAR - I do the Downs clues first, and this was my last fill; I had _S_R, yet it took a minute - ah, Russian rulers . . . I solved this one before Moe's Wednesday dupe; name(ish)

9. Vocal quality: TONE - plenty in today's write-up

13. Part of some forests: KELP

This image's website

14. Land parcel: ACRE

15. On the road: AWAY

19. "Exodus" Oscar nominee Sal: MINEO - crossword staple, name #1

20. Anger: INCENSE

22. Snap: PHOTO - Friday vague cluing

24. Carson successor: LENO - Johnny & Jay, the Tonight Show, name #2

26. iPhone platform: iOS

27. Checkers side: RED

The Red and the Black, an "Fe" Maiden song, almost 14mins long
- and - Blue Öyster Cult song #2

32. Sweet sandwich: OREO - the cookies part of OREOs can blended into my ice cream - see 3D.

34. Word on a bottle of Château Margaux: CRU - from the Frawnche for "growth"; more here

35. El Prado, por ejemplo: MUSEO - 'for example, museum', Español #1

36. Cause of statistical misrepresentation: BIAS - that's ALOT of clue for a four-letter answer . . .

38. Colon units: DOTS - Oh, that colon [:] . . . never mind . . .

40. Ordered from DoorDash, perhaps: ATE IN

43. Flight status abbr.: ARRivals

44. Part of many a lunch special: SOUP

"NO soup for YOU~!"

52. Mex. neighbor: USA - there's always that half second of hesitation when I think, "I don't know all those countries in Central America~!"

53. Green around the gills: ILL

54. From the top: ANEW

55. Late bloomer: ASTER

57. Toots and the Maytals, for one: SKA BAND - no clue, but I had perps; more here

Funky Kingston - not really my thing, but I can 'dig' it

60. Aptly named hybrids: UGLIs

66. Four-award acronym: EGOT - Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony - somewhere last week I read that Steven Spielberg was a winner - so I wondered what he got his Grammy for; it's a bit of a stretch, but OK . . . the Wiki

Raiders March, Raiders of the Lost Ark

67. Plum kin: SLOE

68. Major disappointment: BLOW

69. Gym reps: SETS - For me, training at the gym is three times a week, two SETS of three exercises, and within those, somewhere between 8-16 "REPetitions"; not quite the same thing, IMHO

70. Actress Daly: TYNE - name #3

71. Bajo opposite: ALTO - 'low & high', Español #2

DOWN:

1. Word with lift or lodge: SKI - ski lift, ski lodge

2. Political research center: PEW - never heard of this; named after the Pew family - the Wiki

3. Dessert option: À LA MODE - look, I made protein ice cream - my trainer got me excited to buy and try the Ninja Ice Creami

The chocolate chips are an added indulgence 😁

4. Share, in a way: SPLIT - but not a banana split - bananas upset my stomach, and I don't know why . . .

5. "Doctor Who" actress Catherine: TATE - I know nothing about the series; it looks like she guest-starred in just three episodes; that's Friday vague - name #4

6. Think tank members, often: SCHOLARS - SCIENTISTS didn't fit

7. Modern art?: ARE - Shakespeare; "Where for art thou~?" - 21st century; "Where're you at~?"

8. Purify: REFINE

9. Softest mineral on the Mohs scale: TALC - This puzzle gets 4-1/2 of 5 ⭐ on the "other" Moe's Scale

10. Tot's scrape: OWIE

11. Childcare providers: NANNIES - There will be NO owies on this nanny's watch~!

12. Unsightly sight: EYESORE - Sightly sight - eye SURE~!

Spectacular view - and the city is pretty as well . . . 🙄

17. Celtic artwork feature: KNOT - Dah~! Not RUNE

This website

18. Sufficient, once: ENOW - ye olde sfelling of ENOUGH

21. Name on some Canadian pumps: ESSO - far right crossword-friendly letters, name(ish)

22. For: PRO

23. Pronoun option: HER - as last week, so again; YOU, OUR, SHE, HIS or HIM~?

25. College domain: EDU. - internet add-on for education

29. Sony record label: RCA - Eartha Kitt, "Santa Baby" was an RCA artist, and so are these girls

The Pointer Sisters, Neutron Dance - seems appropriate for an atomic theme . . .

30. Invoice no.: AMT - I charged $700 to build these custom maple pantry doors to fit an opening the previous contractor framed at 42"- 😖- too small for sliding doors, too big for bi-folds . . . and I always forget to take "before" pictures, and in this instance, would have been worth a laugh

Had to reconfigure the wood floor, too, as the other contractor's

wider opening left two wall-sized "gaps" in the T&G strips . . .🙄

31. Kerfuffle: FUSS

33. Passing thoughts?: OBITuary - Friday clever cluing

37. Food Network host Garten: INA - INA or UTA~?  I always get "her" wrong; name #5

38. Tap: DRAW UPON - Spigot and Faucet were all wet in this instance

39. Bard's sphere: ORB

40. Used car caveat: "AS IS"

41. Hollywood innovation of the 1920s: TALKIES - Ah.  Right.

42. Swell: ENLARGE - nailed it

43. Actor Vigoda: ABE - name #6

45. Generate more revenue than: OUTSELL

46. Tap: USE - Tap: Spinal . . . the "other" umlaut band name . . .

These guys still go to Eleven . . . Rock N Roll Creation

47. Target score at Augusta: PAR - Augusta being the PGA Tour's premier event in Georgia

49. Some coolers: FANS - I'm the "other" fan of PGA Augusta 2026 winner Rory McIlroy

50. Pledge rival: ENDUST - Pledge being the go-to cleaner for Consuela from Family Guy

No, no use Endust . . .

51. Second-oldest Ivy: YALE - There are only eight, and the list has only one four-letter entry . . . alright, maybe it could be PENN 😑

56. "The Lion King" lion: SIMBA - name #7, but I knew this one

58. Rolls-Royce trunk: BOOT - Brit-speak

59. Hill dwellers: ANTS - or POL(iticians)S~?  I picked the correct one this time

61. Joy: GLEE

63. Practice, as a trade: PLY

64. "__ on my watch!": "NOT . . ."

65. Cube root of eight: TWO - ∛8 = 2; geez, now we gotta do math on Fridays~?

Splynter

Grid Flow 19.6, low again

Monday May 29, 2023 Mike Peluso

 

Hello Cornerites and Happy Memorial Day!  

On Memorial Day we remember and honor the men and women
who died while serving in the U.S. military.
It is a day of both celebration and grief.

Today's theme:          A Cool Water Puzzle!

The Sons of the Pioneers recorded Cool Water in 1941.

(Dan is his burro.)

Constructor Mike Peluso gives us four 2-word phrases, each ending with a word that can also be found in FRONT of the word WATER for a different type of WATER.

The 4 themers are:

18 Across. Blended condiment: GARLIC SALT.  SALT WATER

23 Across. Fictional band that uses an umlaut on the "n" in its name: SPINAL TAP.  TAP WATER

We recently saw this Christopher Guest mockumentary in last Tuesday's puzzle. The joke is that umlauts over consonants are rare, but the bandmembers are not bright enough to match their own artistic airs. Here is a fun article on the American fad for gratuitous umlauts.

49 Across. Like recently harvested produce: FARM FRESH.  FRESH WATER

57 Across. Leavening agent that's also a cleaning product: BAKING SODA.  SODA WATER

The unifier is a grid-spanner on row 8:

39 Across. Oscar-winning Marlon Brando film, or where the last words of 18-, 23-, 49-, and 57-Across can literally be found: ON THE WATERFRONT.  

 "I coulda been a contender".

Rod Steiger and Marlon Brando in On The Waterfront (1954).

The film received 12 Academy Award nominations and won 8, including Best Actor.

If you missed the theme, there is no need to turn on the waterworks. This puzzle has plenty of delightful fill. Let's dive in.

Across:
1. Meghan Trainor's "All About That __": BASS.  

Stand-up BASS player, Esperanza Spalding has won 5 Grammy Awards.

Here, she performs Overjoyed in 2009.

5. Catholic service: MASS.

9. Tossed: THREW.  I hope you did not TITT!

14. West Coast gas brand with ampm convenience stores: ARCO.  Not every ARCO has an ampm, but over 1,100 do. You can find them in CA, OR, WA, NV, AZ, OH, IL, GA, and FL.

The first ampm location opened in Southern California in 1978.
I wonder if that is the station where, one Sunday afternoon, I learned my bank put a hold on my credit card because I was using it while driving from Colorado to California and I had not notified them to expect travel. #LessonsLearned

15. Fatherly nickname: PAPA.

16. Grocery section: AISLE.  

17. Fibber: LIAR.  

This one is for my fellow math geeks.

20. Pinochle plays: MELDS.  MELDS are combinations of cards that add up to different point values. How to Play Pinochle

22. Snowball pile, say: AMMO.  

26. "Rats": DRAT.

30. Portuguese lady: DONA.  

DONA Maria 1, Queen of Portugal
18th century oil, artist unknown
She was the first queen of Portugal, married her uncle, and eventually went mad.
a brief history

31. Honker in a gaggle: GOOSE.  We have many new goslings in our area now. DH took this pic last week at the reflecting pool.

#SwimmingLesson

32. Local source of 49-Across produce, for short: CSA.  Community Supported Agriculture

It is unusual to see self-referential clues pointing at one of the themed clues.

35. Twin of Romulus: REMUS.  The legend of Romulus and REMUS was the inspiration for this (IMHO disturbing) sculpture.  

This Capitoline Wolf replica is in Rome.

38. Tiny bits: IOTAS.

42. Word before pointer or printer: LASER.  I like clues like this one!  

43. Letter embellishment, in typography: SERIF.  

44. Comedian Romano: RAY.  Parade did a cover story on him last month.

45. Neighborhoods: AREAS.

46. Airborne mysteries: UFOS.  

48. Open-handed hit: SLAP.  If you watched How I Met Your Mother, you know about the SLAP bet.

54. Unremarkable: SO SO.  Teen slang:  mid

55. Trial versions of software, e.g.: DEMOS.

In 1979, Weird Al Yankovic recorded his DEMO of My Bologna in a bathroom across the hall from the Cal Poly radio station because he liked the acoustics...and it was free. It was his first official hit.  

This is the teaser trailer for Weird: The Al Yankovic Story (2022).

Yep, that's Daniel Radcliffe from Harry Potter.

63. Locale: SITE.

64. Regional flora and fauna: BIOTA.  the animal and plant life of a particular region, habitat, or geological period (rhymes with the root of 38A)

65. Give off: EMIT.

66. Smart __: ALEC.  The term came to us from police slang for a criminal who was too smart for his own good, or whose cockiness led to his arrest.

67. Refreshingly cool: CRISP.  Anyone else suddenly craving lettuce?

68. Actress Daly: TYNE.  IMDb page

69. Result of a sting, maybe: WELT.  a ridge or lump raised on the body (as by a blow or allergic reaction)

Down:
1. Salve: BALM.  You can make one out of aloe to put on a welt.

2. Zodiac sign also called the Ram: ARIES.  birthdates Mar. 21 - Apr. 19

3. Spot for implants: SCALP.  Oh, that type of implants!

4. Filthy: SORDID.  SOileD also fit...for a while.

5. Car sticker stat: MPG.  Miles Per Gallon

6. Roadside aid org.: AAA.  

7. Jack who could eat no fat: SPRAT.  

8. "Frida" star Hayek Pinault: SALMA.  

Frida (2002) Official Trailer

9. Food truck snack: TACO.

10. That dude's: HIS.  

11. Cape Town's country: Abbr.: RSA.

12. Right-angled bracket shape: ELL.  

L-Bracket

13. Damp: WET.  an Easter egg???

someone who is not enjoying the bathWATER

19. Little pest: IMP.

21. Noisy sleepers: SNORERS.

24. Once again: ANEW.

25. Tibetan spiritual leaders: LAMAS.

26. Cuckoo clock part: DOOR.  Also, I learned from Good Job, Brain! that a book written in 1930 by American writer Mary Roberts Reinhart called The DOOR is generally credited with introducing the trope, “The butler did it.”

27. Windmill part: ROTOR.

28. Yoga pose: ASANA.  Poses are but one of the 8 Limbs of Ashtanga Yoga.  

29. Short-tempered: TESTY.  Perhaps practicing yoga will help.

31. Kathie Lee of morning talk: GIFFORD.

32. Some soft drinks: COLAS.

33. Entangle: SNARL.  to cause to become knotted and intertwined; to make excessively complicated

I took this photo in Ayutthaya, Thailand.
The head of a stone Buddha has become embraced by a SNARL of a bodhi tree's roots.

34. On a cruise: AT SEA.

36. Sport-__: off-road vehicle: UTE.   UTility vehicle

37. Skin rejuvenator: SERUM. If the bottle is small, you know it must be worth the high price.

40. Messy mound: HEAP.  

41. Repeated jazz phrase: RIFF.

for example, Wes Montgomery's Road Song (1968)

47. Two-person playground fixture: SEE-SAW.    The name might have come to us from the French ci-ça, meaning literally, this-that; seemingly attributable to the back-and-forth motion for which a see-saw is known.

49. Weather condition common around the Golden Gate Bridge: FOG.  

San Francisco averages 108 foggy days per year. (I would have guessed more.)
Look for your city here.

50. Profit-and-loss figure: ASSET.  Hmmm... ASSETs generally go on the Balance Sheet but you might find small ASSETs on a P&L Statement.

51. Spacious: ROOMY.

52. Grin: SMILE.  OK  😀

53. Suite spot: HOTEL.  fun clue!

54. Round closer on an infant's onesie: SNAP.

56. Offshoot group: SECT.

57. "Doctor Who" TV network: BBC.  In looking for a pattern to the clueing of British shows and 3-letter fills, my guess is that if it says "airer", we go with PBS; but if it says "network", we go with BBC.

58. Beach ball filler: AIR.

59. Colorful carp: KOI.  Because they swim against the current and overcome great obstacles, KOI, in Japanese culture, symbolize strength, courage, and success through perseverance.

KOI flags are flown to celebrate Children's Day.

60. "__ about time!": IT'S.  Not quite. Two clues remain.

61. Clamor: DIN.

62. Downed: ATE.  as in, "He downed 4 hot dogs, 2 pretzels, and a beer."

Here is today's grid:  

Have a sparkling day, everyone. I look forward to reading your comments!  

Thursday, April 15, 2021 Mike Peluso

Today we have a return engagement by Mike Peluso.  Old timers will remember that Mike has published here many times over the years.  He has visited at least 5 times in the past year, the most recent being December 27, 2020.   This is a WORKING PERSON's puzzle, but even the retirees on the corner have to solve it.  The reveal best describes the TASK at hand:

36. Comment about routine work ... and hint to the ends of the answers to starred clues: IT'S A JOB.  That is the last word is a "type" of JOB.

And here are the themers:

17. *Closest to the rail, at Churchill Downs: ON THE INSIDE. e.g. INSIDE JOB is a documentary on the 2008 financial crisis, still available for streaming from Amazon Prime.  Haven't seen it, but I think they name names.

53. *It may be used with a grunt or two: ELBOW GREASE.  e.g. I did a GREASE JOB on my tiller the other day using WD40.  Did a spritz or two, but not much grunting (other than to drag the beast out of the shed).

11. *Suzanne Somers' "Three's Company" role: CHRISSY  SNOW. e.g. Oxford Languages defines a SNOW JOB  as "deception or concealment of one's real motive in an attempt to flatter or persuade".  I've never seen "Three's Company"  and as a legally blonde male, I much prefer dumb brunette jokes, but HERE'S CHRISSY ...

25. *Barely triumphs: WINS BY A NOSE.  e.g. a NOSE JOB never occurred to Cyrano de Bergerac but he won anyway.  My favorite movie version of this story is titled with the object of his affections, ROXANNE, and stars  Daryl Hannah and Steve Martin:
 

Hey, the work's just getting started:

Across:

1. Mail in: REMIT.  Not a themer, but often a metaphor for minimal effort on a JOB.  Same with "phone in".

6. Hair-raising experiences?: PERMS.

11. Bare-bones sleeper: COT.

14. Egypt's Mubarak: HOSNI.  an Egyptian military and political leader who served as the fourth president of Egypt from 1981 to 2011.

15. Font that's a homophone for a mermaid: ARIAL.  The font is rather dull, so here's Ariel.  She is the first non-human Disney princess, and even has her own wiki.
 

16. Color: HUE.  There are varying ways to define HUES, one of the most common being as factions of  RED, GREEN, and BLUE. "RGB" is a digital standard for this approach.

19. Mitch McConnell's org.: RNC.  The Republican National Committee, the titular governing board of the Republican Party.

20. Balance sheet category: ASSETS  versus LIABILITIES.

21. "Love Story" author Segal: ERICH.

23. The Big Easy, locally: NAWLINS.  A CSO to our very own Big Easy!

26. Works: OPUSES.  But there's really only one OPUS:
 

27. Get one's bearings: ORIENT.

28. Refines, as ore: SMELTS.  Also a small silvery fish resembling a sardine.  I've always thought of them as food for larger fish, but apparently they are good eating if you know how to prepare them.   I'll be interested in what CC or Boomer have to say about them.  This fish is a tiny fraction of the size of the Ling cod in 44D.
 

Smelt

30. Loads: TONS.

31. "Dandy for your teeth" old toothpaste: IPANA.   And here's Bucky!
 

32. Guffaw: YUK.   I don't see anything funny about this at all:
 

Mr Yuk

35. Ambulance letters: EMS.

38. Wee, in Dundee: SMA.  New to me.

39. Apply gently: DAB.

40. Novgorod nos: NYETS.  No, NOT the New York Mets!

41. Financial news channel: CNBC.

42. Judge of baseball, for one: YANKEE.  UMPIRE didn't perp, so I had to use perps to get this.  As I'm not a YANKEE fan so I hadn't heard of Aaron Judge.  AL Rookie of the Year for 2017:
 

44. Pakistani metropolis: LAHORE.

46. Jolson classic: SWANEE.  Jolson is best known for his appearance in the "Jazz Singer", the first "talking picture".  But he performed in many Broadway musicals prior to this, including the hit Sinbad in 1918.  At some point he included George Gershwin's Swanee in the song list.  It was a smash hit and helped launch Gershwin's career.

48. Dispensed (with): DID AWAY.

49. Privilege of playing first, in golf: HONOR.  All of you golfers may know this term, but this lefthander certainly didn't.  This explains it.  I do find it very relaxing to watch.  All those greens, and an occasional patch of brown.

50. Kid's retort: ARE NOT.  ARE TOO!

52. Latin 101 verb: AMO.  Okay, let's not get too personal here.
 
58. Network soliciting donors: PBS.  Use to donate.  Now I just sponge off of people with JOBS.

59. Spry: AGILE.

60. Stubborn: BALKY.  This was a stubborn clue, especially crossing the NATICK ADORBS (see 45D).

61. Atlanta-to-Charleston dir.: ESE.

62. Evaluated: RATED.  This review is RATED PG.

63. Everly Brothers song sleepyhead: SUSIE. "Wake Up Little Susie" is a popular song written by Felice and Boudleaux Bryant and published in 1957.   The Everly Brothers' cover of it came out in September of that year and quickly went to the top of the charts.  Alright everybody, hands up if you found yourself in a similar situation years and years ago:
 

Down:
1. Pi follower: RHO.  Don't get 'em too close though.  You might start a FIRE.

2. Ages and ages: EON.

3. Casper winter hrs.: MST.

4. Consumes eagerly: INHALES.  Unlike some politicians of a certain age who didn't ...

5. Connects logically: TIES IN.  Personally I think everything TIES IN.

6. See-through sheets: PANES.  I have some friends like that, but I can't see thru 'em.

7. Once, old-style: ERST.

8. Social reformer Jacob: RIIS.  And a gluey one at that.

9. Magazine with "The Lighter Side of..." features: MAD.  [considered inserting a cover, but didn't want to blow my PG RATING.]

10. Where apnea might be diagnosed: SLEEP LAB.  I can speak from personal experience, I predict that the person who invents a low-cost, paste on, disposable, blue-tooth EKG sensor will become a BRAZILIANAIRE.  Those of you who've been there know what I mean.  There's a CSO for ya' Anon-T (and I want a finder's fee)! 

12. Prevention unit: OUNCE. Always a good investment.

13. Many Microsoft employees: TECHS.  And a lot of them have nothing better to do than lard on useless new features to the next release of Windows.

18. "It __ fair!": ISN'T.  IS TOO!

22. Tire track: RUT.

23. Famous: NOTED.

24. Bakery draw: AROMA.  This is starting to make me hungry.

26. Napa prefix: OENO.  OENOLOGY is the science and study of wine and wine making. This is distinct from viticulture, the agricultural endeavor of vine-growing, and the agricultural endeavor of grape-harvesting. The English word oenology derives from the word oinos, "wine" and the suffix –logia, "study of" from the Ancient Greek language.  - Wikipedia.
 
28. Overflow: SPATE.

29. Some mil. brass: MAJS.

31. "Understood": I SEE.  Most of the time I really don't though.

33. Eclipse shadow: UMBRA.  What is an UMBRA?

34. Country singer Musgraves with six Grammys: KACEY.  New to me, but I was glad to make her acquaintance.  Here's Merry-go-Round from her breakthrough album, Same Trailer Different Park released in 2013:

36. Cochlea site: INNER EAR.  Here's your inner ear explained.   And here's a 'pitcher', and "they have BIG EARS" (as my Dad often said to Mom when I was in the room).  The COCHLEA is the part that looks like a conch shell on the right:
 

37. Child: TYKE.

41. Loire Valley sight: CHATEAU.  In addition to a CASTLE, also an Appellation Contrôlée, an official designation for French wines, certifying that the grapes in a vintage were grown, pressed, barrelled, and bottled on the CHATEAU estate. This is the highest standard.  The next highest I believe are COMMUNITY appellations, where the grapes are all from the same community in a REGION. Here is a map of the wine communities in the LOIRE VALLEY REGION (C MOE for more on appellations):
 

43. 2021, por ejemplo: ANO.  Today's leccion de Español.

44. __ cod: Pacific Coast catch: LING.   I'd not heard of this fish, and it's not really a cod, but those in the know consider it a delicacy ...
 

Lingcod

45. "Totes __!": really cute: ADORBS.  New to me. "Totes adorbs" is a slang abbreviation of "totally adorable" that's evolved among the 20 and under age group here in the States", per the Cambridge English Dictionary.

46. Fitness magazine: SHAPE.

47. Development sites: WOMBS.  More often UTERI, but it didn't perp.

48. Like morning grass: DEWED. Wet morning grass always brings to my mind this song, the lyrics by Eleanor Farjeon (13 February 1881 –5 June 1965), set to an old Scottish tune called "Bunessan", and sung by Cat Stevens:
 

50. Somewhat: A BIT. A humble but very versatile word.  With just a series of the values "0" or "1", they can be used to create vast universes,  or little ones like the Corner.

51. Part: ROLE.

54. JFK alternative: LGA.  A remarkable story began here on January 15th, 2009.   If you haven't seen the movie SULLY, I highly recommend it.
 

Miracle on the Hudson

55. Pacino and Capone: ALS.

56. Water __: SKI.

57. Hurricane center: EYE.  Hurricane Andrew (1995) had a "pinhole" eye, the most destructive type.  A CSO to Spitz or any other Cornerites with tales to tell about these storms.
 

Hurricane Andrew

 Here's the grid:
 

  

To get some insight into Mike Peluso's background, inspiration, and theme preferences here's C.C.'s interview with him from the early days (2009).

waseeley

Cheers,
Bill