Tuesday, February 25, 2025 Nate Cardin

I'm Bored.  Each two work theme answer can be paired with the word Board to give us two new concepts.

19-Across. Bit of sidewalk art: CHALK DRAWING.  Chalk Board and Drawing Board.

25-Across. Checking account problem: OVER DRAFT.  Overboard and Draft Board.

30-Across. Make one's way to a previous location: HEAD BACK.  Head Board and Backboard.

48-Across. Shower gel: BODY WASH.  Body Board and Washboard.

56-Across. Ballpark buy that may come with a free pencil: SCORE CARD.  Score Board and Cardboard.

And the unifier:  

64-Across. High-level get-together, or an apt description of the pairing found in 19-, 25-, 30-, 48-, or 56-Across?: BOARD MEETING.

Across:

1. Insta upload: PIC.

4. Rod on a cello's base: ENDPIN.  An "endpin" on a cello is spoke on the bottom of the cello that supports the cello's weight and keeps it from moving around while being played.

10. Mop target: SPILL.

15. "__ minute now": ANY.

16. "Gran __": Clint Eastwood film featuring a 1972 Ford: TORINO.  Gran Torino was a 2008 film about a retired auto worker and Korean War vet portrayed by Clint Eastwood (b. May 31, 1930).  He is a bitter old man who spends his time drinking beer and despising the many Asian, Latino and black families in his neighborhood.  Eastwood also directed the film.

17. "America's Got Talent" judge Mandel: HOWIE.  Howie Mandel (b. Sept. 29, 1955) is a Canadian comedian and actor.  He was one of the many actors who portrayed doctors and medical personnel on the 1980s television drama St. Elsewhere.

Then and now.

18. Special pampering, for short: TLC.  As in Tender Loving Care.

21. Caramel candy: ROLO.  Yummers!  This candy appears with some frequency in the puzzles.

23. Actress Thurman: UMA.  Uma Karuna Thurman (b. Apr. 29, 1970) has appeared numerous films, but is probably best known for her role as Mia Wallace in Pulp Fiction.

24. Tranquil: SERENE.

28. Apiece: PER.

29. Book that a bookkeeper keeps: LEDGER.

35. "Cozy" literary genre: MYSTERY.  A cozy mystery is a lighthearted crime novel that features an amateur detective, a small community, and a crime without graphic violence.  Books by Agatha Christie (Sept. 15, 1890 ~ Jan 12, 1976) are considered Cozy Mysteries.

38. After-sun balm ingredient: ALOE.

39. Partridges, turtledoves, and French hens: BIRDS.  All these birds are found in the song The Twelve Days of Christmas.

43. Fat-heavy diet: KETO.

44. "Let's Make a Deal" host Wayne: BRADY.  Before hosting Let's Make a Deal, Wayne Brady (né Wayne Alphonso Brady; b. June 2, 1972) was on the improv show Whose Line Is It Anyway? 

45. Creative spark: IDEA.

46. Paloma of fashion: PICASSO.  Paloma Picasso (né Anne Paloma Ruiz-Picasso y Gilot; b. Apr. 19, 1949) is a French jewelry designer.  She designed a lot of jewelry for Tiffany.  She is also known for her line of perfumes.  She is the daughter of Pablo Picasso (Oct. 25, 1881 ~ Apr. 8, 1973) and Françoise Gilot (Nov. 26, 1921 ~ June 6, 2023).

50. Starbucks size: TRENTA.

55. Pt. of many long weekends: MON.  I guess the "Pt." here means "part", thus, Monday sometimes constitutes a part of a long weekend.  Just last week, Presidents' Day, which fell on a Monday, constituted a part of a long weekend for many workers.

59. Sacred Egyptian beetle: SCARAB.  In ancient Egypt, the Scarab Beetle was a highly significant symbolic representation of the divine manifestation of the morning sun.  The Egyptian god Khepri was believed to roll the sun across the sky each day at daybreak.  A scarab is also known as a dung beetle.

62. Bitter beer, briefly: IPA.  As in India Pale Ale.

63. Egg cell: OVUM.

67. "Is that true about me?": AM I?

68. Urge forward: IMPEL.  Ever wonder about the difference between Impel and Compel?  Me, either.

69. Get even for: AVENGE.  Ever wonder about the difference between Avenge and Revenge?

70. Startle: JAR.

71. "Silly" honkers: GEESE.

72. Turn in for money: REDEEM.

73. Gender-neutral pronoun: ONE.

Down:

1. Walk a beat: PATROL.

2. Smitten (with): IN LOVE.

3. Rode a Peloton, say: CYCLED.  Peloton is a French word that means "ball," but it is most often used with the meaning "group." The word is frequently used in the bicycling context, but it may refer to a group in a marathon or other sporting event.  It's also the name brand of a very expensive exercise bike.

4. List-ending abbr.: ETC.

5. "Take your time!": NO HURRY.

6. Costume __: DRAMA.  A costume drama is also known as a period piece in which the actors are dressed in costumes to represent a particular historical period.  Downton Abbey is an example of a Costume Drama.

7. Rice side: PILAF.  Yummers!

8. Tats: INK.

9. Agrees quietly: NODS.

10. Communal: SHARED.

11. Maker of ProteinPlus snacks: POWER BAR.

12. Triumphant shout: I WIN!

13. Queue: LINE.  Ever wonder how Queue entered the English language?

14. Race segment: LEG.

20. Make good on a loan: REPAY.

22. Assn.: ORG.  Association and Organization.

26. Blue state pols: DEMS.  As in Democrats.

27. Eighth Greek letter: THETA.

31. Greek Cupid: EROS.

32. Pie __ mode: À LA.  More of French lesson.

33. Fish sticks fish: COD.  Yummers!

34. Lock unlocker: KEY.

36. Gear for Gus Kenworthy: SKIS.  Hand up if you knew Gus Kenworthy (né Augustus Richard Kenworthy; b. Oct. 1, 1991).  He is a British-American former freestyle skier.  He competed in men's slopestyle at the 2014 Winter Olympics and won the silver medal.  Slopestyle skiing is where skiers perform tricks on a course with obstacles like rails and jumps.

37. Help desk pros: TECHS.

39. Overalls part: BIB.

40. Groom's utterance: I DO.

41. Like Ronald McDonald's shoes: RED.  //  And 64-Down. Like Ronald McDonald's shoes: BIG.

42. Frightening visions: DAYMARES.  A Daymare is vivid, disturbing mental image or fantasy that happens while you are awake.

44. Dullard: BORE.  Add the letter D to the end of the word, and we get Bored, which fits well with today's theme.

46. Old TWA rival: PAN AM.  My first trip on an airplane was on Pan Am, which is short for Pan American World Airways.  It was the first airline to fly around the world.  I wasn't on that flight, though.

47. Curious: STRANGE.

49. Digital game with yellow and green hints: WORDLE.  I bet a lot of us here also play wordle on a daily basis.

51. Green prefix: ECO-.

52. Language spoken in Arizona: NAVAJO.  Navajo, is also known as Diné Bizaad.  It is a language spoken by the Navajo people of Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah.

53. "In Cold Blood" writer Capote: TRUMAN.  In Cold Blood is a non-fiction novel that details the murder of the Clutter family.  The murder took place in 1959 in a Kansas farming community.  The murderers were capture within weeks of committing the crime.  In the course of writing the book, Truman Capote (né Truman Streckfus Persons; September 30, 1924 ~ August 25, 1984) met with the murderers and their story is a major component of the book, which was published in 1965.

54. Think highly of: ADMIRE.

57. Quoted: CITED.

58. Offer one's view: OPINE.

59. Not all, but not none: SOME.

60. Flowing garment: CAPE.

61. Grizzly animal: BEAR.

65. Night before: EVE.

66. Beaut: GEM.

חתולה

Saturday, June 29, 2024, Matthew Stock and Nate Cardin

 Saturday Themeless by Nate Cardin and Matthew Stock and Nate Cardin

Matthew

Nate

Matthew is a teacher from Gainesville, FL who has taken time out to work on his Masters.

Nate is a chemistry teacher in L.A.

    

What a struggle! Some of cluing was fiendish and my ignorance of a fictional soccer team made the middle a muddle. I could get AMERICA at the first and ICELAND in the partial fill at the end but alas neither were correct.

                                      

Across:

1. Make-up artist's talent: ADLIB - Nothing came to mind about applying make-up and so was thinking about a liar but no, it was more subtle than that.

6. __ store: DIME - Make that The Dollar Store today

10. Posts: JOBS.

14. Celine's "Beauty and the Beast" counterpart: PEABO.

15. "It's too much": I CAN'T EVEN.

17. Dining option: PATIO -  Alfresco 

18. The best of times: GOLDEN ERA - They don't make 'em like this any more and the box office decline shows it.

19. Star clusters: A-LISTS.  These people usually bring their 32. Height of one's ability: A-GAME 

21. "I like it": NICE.

22. Brief downtime: R 'N R.

23. 2016 Presidential Medal of Freedom awardee Maya: LIN - She won the competition for designing the Vietnam Memorial. 

 

24. HBO's "__ Espookys": LOS.

26. Wailing figure of folklore: BANSHEE Irish Folklore

28. Relaxed: LOOSENED UP.

31. Hall __: PASS - You sure you have to go?

33. Employ: HIRE.

34. Fictional soccer club playable in FIFA 23: AFC RICHMOND - Ted Lasso's imaginary team was completely unknown to this solver and left a big hole in my early solving.

37. Colored outside the lines: BLED 😀

38. Animal whose name comes from the Dharug word for "no water": KOALA.

39. Derivative work, for short?: CALC 😀

40. "Fingers crossed!": WISH ME LUCK.

45. Postelection figure: ALSO RAN - I saw the L first and ELECTOR fit right in.

47. 2022 NBA Slam Dunk Contest champion __ Toppin: OBI - An old Japanese crossword regular gets bumped by an obscure athlete 

48. Symbol for magnetic flux: PHI.

49. Little tater: TOT.

50. "Wolf Like Me" actress Fisher: ISLA.

52. Molé peppers: ANCHOS - Ghost Peppers too.

54. Social media account?: SNAP STORY - A compilation of Snapchat pictures (we say pictures and not photos around here)

57. Snacks with limited-edition flavors: OREOS.

58. Personal gripes: PET PEEVES.

59. Like the sacred tree Yggdrasil: NORSE - The NORSE tree of life

60. Votes of affirmation: AYES.

61. Wax figure: SEAL.

62. Pointers for a fight choreographer?: EPEES 😀 The pointers were the fencing weapons not instructions

Down:

1. Floor: APPALL.

2. "What's the __?": DEALIO.

3. Like some winners of a Pura Belpré Award: LATINO.

4. Bird associated with the Egyptian god Thoth: IBIS.

5. Criminal record?: BOOTLEG CD.

6. Be into: DIG.

7. Menu image: ICON.

8. Topanga neighbor: MALIBU.

9. Sight before walking down the aisle: ENDCAP 😀 Gotta love it!

10. Podcaster/comedian Kirkman: JEN.

11. Scrambled alternative: OVER HARD.

12. __ mountain dog: BERNESE - They do grow into those paws

13. Toms' neighbors: SNARES 😀

16. __ Vogue: TEEN - This older edition autographed by a very young Taylor Swift can be had for $2,000

20. Help in finding subs: SONAR 😀

25. Prefix with permeable: SEMI.

27. __ fluid: SPINAL.

29. Mariners' realm, once: SAFECO 😀 - The Seattle Mariners played in SAFECO Field for about 20 years and then T-Mobile bought the naming rights and it is now T-Mobile Park. I saw the baseball connection right away but needed letters to help with SAFECO.

30. Starship Enterprise levels: DECKS.

33. Ace of clubs?: HOLE IN ONE 😀 I've had three of these. The first two had human witnesses and the third one only squirrels and barn swallows.

34. Progressive rival: ALL STATE - They all accuse the other insurance companies of overcharging. 

35. Hostess offering: HO HO.

36. Cobra kin: MAMBA.

37. "Horsefeathers!": BALONEY.

39. Siberian resort?: CAT SPA 😀

40. Runs through: WASTES - The amount of money our government runs through/WASTES is mind boggling!

41. One way to fall: IN LOVE 🥰

42. Message from on high?: UP HERE 😀 UP HERE, Stanley!

43. Go for: CHOOSE.

44. Pays lip service to?: KISSES 💋

46. Climb: RISE.

51. Sod buyer's calculation: AREA.

53. Take sides?: CROP - Here are some of our bird feeders on the left and the star of the show in the CROPPED version as he is eating Welch's Grape Jelly

55. Letter writer's addendum: PPS.

56. Couture initials: YSL - Our crossword couture 

Notes from C.C.:

Happy 58th birthday to Barry G, who was very active posting in the early days of our blog. Still with the same company, Barry? How's Joshua?