Saturday, November 15, 2025, Rebecca Goldstein, Rafael Musa

 Saturday Themeless by Rebecca Goldstein and Rafael Musa

I had a mostly pleasant slog through Rebecca and Rafel's puzzle. The right side went quickly but the rest took some real mental gymnastics. Getting one decent fill in an area seemed to unlock large portions around it. I finished at the middle of the left side where a lot unknowns, ambiguities and oh so clever fills resided. 

Here is lovely interview of Rebecca and Rafael. You can choose as much or as little as you would like of this 37 min video that is full of a lot of great cwd constructing info (skip the chatty 3-minute opening by the interviewer).

Use hot link in the paragraph
above for interview video

Across:

1. Game that involves drawing: LOTTO - I thought of a drawing game like Pictionary or draw poker but no, it is the state-sponsored regressive tax.

6. VGK org.: NHL - It had to be but ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Saturday cluing for NHL

9. Network airing 6-Across games: ESPN - We stream YouTube TV and until they and Disney negotiate a settlement we will be without ESPN and ABC which is are Disney properties. 

13. City known as the Rubber Capital of the World: AKRON.

14. Roll-call call: HERE or Yo!

15. Eagle sport: GOLF.

16. Common threads?: GROUP TEXTS - Our family finds these very useful

18. Part of a dark cloud: GNAT.

19. Piece of holiday party attire: SANTA HAT 🎅

20. Check all the boxes, say: OPT IN.

22. Light rain: SPIT - _ _ _ T seemed to call for MIST instead of this unpleasant metaphor

23. Floor beneath the roof: ATTIC 😀

24. Local greens org.: CSA - ¯\_(ツ)_/¯  Jefferson Davis' 1861 group was not clued here.

27. Environment that reinforces existing biases: ECHO CHAMBER.

A nifty slogan that
did not work in 1964

31. On-site: AT WORK.

33. Near miss: CLOSE ONE.

34. "Veep" actor __ Scott: REID ¯\_(ツ)_/¯  Seen below with star Julia Louis-Dreyfus 

35. Sounds of sympathy: AHS - OHS/AHS coin flip

36. Korma side: ROTI - I've never eaten ROTI or naan but they are served frequently in cwds. A korma is a rich, aromatic curry originating from the Mughal empire in Indian and Pakistan, know for it mild creamy, gravy made with your, cream and ground nuts like cashews or almonds. You're welcome.

37. Cake, for one: BAND NAME - I encountered this a few Saturdays where the bands Cream, which I knew, and Cake, which I did not, were featured in a clue for BANDS. So I get two brownie points for remembering the latter one.

40. Dudes whose gender identity aligns with their sex assigned at birth: CIS MEN.

42. It may be full of baloney: SLICED BREAD - I got BREAD quickly and then struggled to make the adjective fit with the other clues in this area. Getting SLICED helped a lot in this part of the puzzle.

44. Commencement attendees, for short: SRS.

45. "Ditto": SO AM I - Having ME TOO first was, uh, not helpful

46. Release: DROP - A famous one

48. Nobel-winning physicist Wolfgang: PAULI - I'd tell you why he got the prize but I don't have a real grasp of it either.

49. Double-breasted outerwear: PEA COATS.

53. Stare, to a Brit: GAWP - GAPE, GAWK and GAWP? The last one sounded the most British.

54. Record holders?: TURNTABLES 😀 - Grampa, what are records and TURNTABLES?

56. Not good at all: EVIL.

57. Goddess depicted with an ankh: ISIS - Two cwd friends

58. Like Mars and Jupiter: ROMAN.

59. "The Real Housewives of Atlanta" star Leakes: NENE ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

60. Tariff, e.g.: TAX.

61. Fact checks?: EXAMS - Rote learning can serve as fact checks but not necessarily concept checks

Down:

1. Wrinkles in time: LAGS - When I want to listen to the Omaha radio based broadcast of a Husker game on TV, there is always a LAG between that narration and the network video.

2. Bhindi masala pod: OKRA - Okra is technically a seed pod, and in Indian cuisine (where it is called bhindi), the entire pod is the primary ingredient in the popular dish Bhindi Masala. The dish name translates literally to "okra with spices" You're welcome.

3. Beta follower?: TRON - Seriously, you want to know more?

4. Talks up: TOUTS - A fun song from Guys And Dolls about TOUTS. Ya gotta love Stubby Kaye! 

5. Theoretically: ON PAPER - It looked good ON PAPER, but, uh, it didn't quite work out. C'mon, Cracker Barrel 39. "Be honest!": ADMIT IT- It was a big mistake.

 

6. Line line: NEXT 😀

7. Perimenopause Rx, for some: HRT Perimenopause

8. Country surrounded by South Africa: LESOTHO.

9. They may wind up in the kitchen: EGG TIMERS 😀

10. High-speed crashes?: SONIC BOOMS 😀

11. "What's the __?": PLAN.

12. Crypto asset, for short: NFT - Non-fungible token ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

14. Desolate landscape: HEATH.

17. Foggy, in a way: THICK 😀 THICK headed or a THICK fog?

21. Fundraising gps.: PTAS.

23. Tissues commonly examined by MRIs: ACLS - Athletic careers have been slowed or ended by injuries to Anterior Cruciate LigamentS 

24. Energy-providing macros: CARBS.

25. Take second, say: STEAL 😀 - In 2024, Shohei Ohtani became the first MLB player to both hit at least 50 home runs and steal at least 50 bases. When coupled with his outstanding pitching record, some think he may be the best to have ever played the game

26. Victory speech?: A WIN IS A WIN - Usually said when a win is an ugly one

28. Earth tone: OCHER.

These are all variations
of OCHER

29. "Door's open!": ENTER.

30. Metaphor for control: REINS.

32. Strange bedfellows?: ODD COUPLE 😀

35. Both, at first: AMBI.

From Australia

38. YouTube CEO Mohan: NEAL ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

40. Unit equivalent to 200 mg: CARAT - A one carat diamond weighs exactly 200 mg.

41. "Really, this matters to me!": I DO CARE.

43. Utopias: EDENS.

47. Numbered dest.: PO BOX - In my small hometown, our PO BOX number was 24

48. Smooth (over): PAVE.

49. __ fixe: PRIX - The price is fixed

50. Latin for "nourishing": ALMA - ALMA MATER - Nourishing Mother

51. Lorde's second Top 10 hit: TEAM ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

52. U.S. IDs: SSNS.

53. __ X: GEN.

55. Letters on Sha'Carri Richardson's top: USA.

Saturday, October 11, 2025, Rafael Musa

 Saturday Themeless by Rafael Musa

From Brazil, Musa moved to the Bay Area a decade ago to attend Stanford, where he earned his B.A. and master's degrees in computer science. He has called San Francisco home since graduating in 2018, which is the same year he started solving crosswords. Musa now solves up to six a day. He is a software engineer at Airbnb.

I made very good time in this puzzle but there was no way I was going to get the red cell you see below. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

Across:

1. Warning on some sauce: ATOMIC.

          

7. __ Darya river: AMU - ¯\_(ツ)_/¯  It is mostly a DaRYa River now and it "flows" into the southern remnants of the Aral Lake.

10. Solidarity leader Walesa: LECH - A true Polish living legend whose courage foreshadowed the fall of the Soviet Union. 

14. Place to take a break from the hustle and bustle: URBAN OASIS.

16. Part that helps the wheels on the bus go round and round: AXLE 😀

17. Words before a gavel banging: GOING TWICE 😀 

18. Fuss: STIR.

19. Doing: UP TO.

20. [Jazz hands]: TADA.

21. "David Copperfield" villain: HEEP.

22. Caldo de __: Mexican beef soup: RES.

23. "Was that not enough?": MORE?

24. Plow creation or brow formation: FURROW 😀

26. Cake or Bread: BAND - I only knew one of them. You?

 

27. Asset in cornhole: AIM.

28. Dallas-to-Plano dir.: NNE.

29. "Shake it off": HATERS GONNA HATE.

34. "No complaining!": I DON'T WANT ANY LIP.

35. Events that only get some coverage?: PARTIAL ECLIPSES 😀

36. Big primate: APE.

37. 50-Down org.: NBA and 50. Cleveland pro: CAV.

38. Aware of: ONTO.

39. Pitfall! consoles: ATARIS.

41. Be overly maudlin: CLOY - His bleak and jaded worldview is tempered by an unflagging, never cloying faith in love and its ability to transcend the muck and vile.
— Carlos Valladares, SFChronicle.com, 4 Nov. 2019
42. "Golly!": BOY.

45. Work: OPUS.

46. One may thicken over time: PLOT 😀

47. Like the oxygen in a hyperbaric chamber: PURE - They are believed to promote faster healing by using PURE oxygen under increased pressure.

48. "A Visit From the Goon Squad" novelist: EGAN and 30. Substance in herbal medicine: ADAPTOGEN. - The G where these two intersected was an impossibility for me as you saw in the grid. 😔

49. Seeing things that aren't natural?: BIONIC EYES - These can restore sight to blind people

51. "Mistakes __ made": WERE.

52. Break in?: STAYCATION - Take a break but stay in town

53. Otorhinolaryngologists, for short: ENTS.

54. Not assume, say: ASK.

55. "Regardless ... ": EVEN SO.

Down:

1. Herald: AUGUR - These clouds in central Nebraska AUGUR some extreme weather

2. Enemies to lovers, e.g.: TROPE - A familiar plot device in TV shows and movies. This fun movie leapt to my mind.

3. Dying words?: OBITS.

4. Hand for a mariachi band?: MANO - ... or any hand in Spanish 

5. English equivalent to the French -ant: ING - Crosswords are amusing (Les mots croisés sont amusants)

6. Test kit items: COTTON SWABS.

7. Tangent: ASIDE.

8. Ground mineral in joint compound: MICA - The second ingredient listed

 

9. Capitalize on: USE.

10. Surgical tool: LASER.

11. Appearances: EXTERNALS - Front and back of the Hill Valley Courthouse from Back To The Future

 

12. Hassle-free accessory: CLIP ON TIE.

13. "I Can't Breathe" singer-songwriter: HER.

H.E.R.

15. Occasion to celebrate achievements: AWARD GALA.

21. Habitat for __: HUMANITY - Two famous workers

23. Gin cocktails: MARTINIS.

24. Recourse before pursuing legal action, maybe: FINAL NOTICE.

25. Responds with great emotion: WEEPS.

26. Predisposition: BENT - I have always been a man with a math and science BENT

27. Carpenters' union?: ANT COLONY 😀 🐜

29. Abbr. on some medical forms: HIPAA.

31. Criticized harshly: TORE APART.

32. Half and half: ONE 😀

33. Shot provider: HYPO 😀

40. Old Norse characters: RUNES.

41. Conceal: CLOAK.

42. Poker fee: BUY IN - Ya gotta pay to play

43. Treat with vanilla creme: OREOS - How do I clue thee, Let me count the ways

44. Binary, in a way: YES NO - If this makes no sense to you, ask a math peep.

46. Centers of drupes: PITS.

47. Mets slugger Alonso: PETE.

48. Manchego source: EWE - ¯\_(ツ)_/¯  Manchego is traditionally made from the milk of Manchega ewesthat graze in Spain's La Mancha region. For a cheese to be authentic Manchego, it must be made from 100% sheep's milk from this specific breed and region, following strict Denominación de Origen (DO) rules. You're welcome.

49. Org. now known as Scouting America: BSA.