Saturday, June 7, 2025, Rafael Musa & Rebecca Goldstein

 Saturday Themeless by Rafael Musa & Rebecca Goldstein

I skated around with gradual success and then I wound up with one empty cell which you can see

in red at the right. I wrestled with what letter would work in that cell that began two unkown-to-me words and correctly guessed the L. I was so pleasantly surprised to get the congratulations message. I'll take a "got 'er done!"

These puzzles make me abandon my concrete ideas about language and force me to interchange nouns for verbs or vice versa.We solvers also have to access less common definitions for words. That is part of the frustration fun!!

Across:

1. Option for keeping travel plans on track?: TRAIN - Plan B leapt to my mind before "track" made the correct fill obvious

6. Band: GANG and 13. Band: POSSE.

10. Influential lobbying org.: AARP.

14. Goat rodeo: HULLABALOO - A goat rodeo is a slang term for something going totally, unbelievably, disastrously wrong, and there's nothing left to do but to sit back and watch the trainwreck.

16. "See ya!": CIAO.

17. "Seems legit": I BELIEVE IT.

18. Dip targets, for short: TRIS - His TRICEPS are pretty easy to see!

19. __ ed: SEX.

20. Dens: LAIRS.

21. Stop and yield: SIGNS - Usual verbs become nouns

22. Scary stories?: HAUNTED HOUSE - This one has three stories 😀

24. Amusement park ride: GO KART.

27. Téa of "Madam Secretary": LEONI.

28. __-garde: AVANT - On clearance at Kohl's 😀

29. Try something new: SHAKE IT UP.

33. Get the band back together?: WELD - If your band is broken...

34. Luxury fashion house founded in Madrid: LOEWE - The eponymous shirt below goes for $990!

35. Starchy element in some bubble tea: TARO.

36. Season openers: PREMIERES - That last E was a speed bump.

38. At a loss for words?: TERSE.

39. Wassail ingredient: CIDER.

40. First sentence of a book written with only 50 distinct words: I AM SAM.

41. Chicken: SCAREDY PANTS.

45. Features of some loyalty programs: TIERS.

46. Inapt rhyme for "first": WORST 😀 The Royals first World Series win was in 1985 after many years of being usually WORST 

47. "Hilarious": HAH and 30. Part of a giggle: HEE.

50. Further: ALSO.

51. When many abandon ship: SHORE LEAVE 😀 - In Honolulu just before heading out to fight the Japanese during WWII

53. Exclamation from someone refusing to buy something: LIAR 

54. Move that can plump accent pillows: KARATE CHOP 😀

55. Feature of some Disney headgear: EARS - Some other EARS can be found in Disney's famous Hidden Mickeys around the properties.

56. Minute: ITSY - Yeah, I put TINY first.

57. "The Goldfinch" novelist Tartt: DONNA ¯\_(ツ)_/¯  

Down:

1. That isn't it: THIS 😀

2. Goldberg who won a Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Cartooning: RUBE.

 

3. "Call Her Daddy" podcaster Cooper: ALEX - She signed a contract with Spotify for $60M

4. Not 100%: ILL.

5. Some digital displays: NAIL ART - Oh, those digits!

6. First name in California politics: GAVIN.

7. At the ready: ALERT.

8. Public hearing guidelines?: NOISE LAWS - For Arlington, VA

9. "A Song of Ice and Fire" show, colloquially: GOT.

10. Meeting points?: ACTION ITEMS - AGENDA ITEMS? Not so much.

11. Imaginary instruments: AIR GUITARS 😀

12. Causes delays, perhaps: RAINS.

15. Stunner: BEAUT.

21. Something dropped in an idiom about inevitability: SHOE 😀

22. Portable self-checkout devices?: HAND MIRRORS 😀

23. Wild maneuver?: DEKE - Now this is a wild DEKE!

24. Stare stupidly, to a Brit: GAWP 

gawp

/ɡôp/

verb

INFORMAL•BRITISH

1. stare openly in a stupid or rude manner.

   "what are you gawping at ?"

   
   

25. Completed: OVER.

26. Salad whose main ingredient may be massaged: KALE CAESAR - The massage helps break down the tougher parts of the raw KALE

 

29. "Excuse me!?": SORRY WHAT.

31. Astronomical bear: URSA.

32. Sapphic work: POEM - Sappho was an influential ancient Greek poet from the island of Lesbos whose passionate, emotional lyric poetry about intimacy between women led to the term “sapphic” and the island itself becoming associated with female homoeroticism. More about this

34. Green building cert.: LEED - Leadership in Energy and Enviromental Design ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

37. Portentous day: IDES.

38. Told a grown-up, say: TATTLED.

40. Like Alaska, often: INSET.

41. Left out overnight, maybe: STALE.

42. Fine hairs: CILIA.

43. Standard partner?: POORS.

44. Data structure in computer science: ARRAY - ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ In computer science, an array is a data structure consisting of a collection of elements (values or variables), of same memory size, each identified by at least one array index or key, a collection of which may be a tuple, known as an index tuple.  Yeah, I knew that! 😀

47. "Agatha All Along" star Kathryn: HAHN - ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

48. River associated with Shakespeare: AVON.

49. __ filter: HEPA.

51. Common sight at oversized baggage pickup areas: SKI.

52. Prefix with hotel or tourist: ECO - Ion Adventure Hotel, Iceland. Taking up residence in an abandoned building of the nearby geothermal power plant, the hotel was sustainable from inception and continues to be today. With sinks made from old tyres and furniture from recycled wood, it repurposes materials in an eco-friendly way.

Tuesday May 13, 2025 Rebecca Goldstein

RustyBrain here, pinch-hitting for Hahtoolah. This is my first time at bat. Many thanks to C.C. for calling me up from the minors to be on the best team in the sport!

Today, Rebecca Goldstein's grid features on-deck circles. Some people don't like circles on the playing field, but I don't mind them. Let's see how the game goes:

17A. "That was a great day": I REMEMBER IT WELL. On the day my first son was born, I watched the Winter Olympics in the waiting room (I don't know what was keeping my wife, RightBrain) as the Jamaican bobsled team came barreling down the track. The boy has always been tickled that they made a movie about his birthday. Circled letters are IRL = In Real Life.

22A. Wearable that can detect heart rate: SMARTWATCH. From science fiction to reality. Who'd a thunk? Circles spell SMH = Shaking My Head.

35A. Numbered element in a drawing: LOTTO BALL. Tricky! I like to paint outside the lines. Circled is LOL = Laugh Out Loud.

49A. Morsel in Hansel and Gretel's trail: BREADCRUMB. Something tells me that these two leave more than a trail of BREADCRUMBs behind them. Circles spell BRB = Be Right Back.

55A. Like someone who spends too much time on the internet, and like this puzzle's circled letters?: EXTREMELY ONLINE. EXTREMELY ONLINE usually refers to people who can't tear themselves away from the computer screen while surfing the internet. But in this case, it's because the circled textspeak is split to the EXTREMELY far ends ON the same LINE. Ta da! Pretty good although the circles made it easy to find the extremes, but that's Tuesday for you.

And here comes the first pitch:

Across:

1. Low-pH solution: ACID. Low-pH water can corrode your pipes. It's not great in your body, either.

5. Drastic haircut: CHOP. I think "crew" would be more drastic.

9. Bit of a stink?: WHIFF. "What's that lovely stench you're wearing?" SLAP!

14. Tortoise racer: HARE. Because "The Turtle and the Rabbit" doesn't have the same ring to it.

15. E-tron carmaker: AUDI. E-tron is a family of electric and hybrid cars by AUDI. The four rings of their logo each represent one of the car companies that formed Auto Union, the racing juggernaut of the 1930s. It later would be bought by Volkswagen and rebranded as AUDI, one of the original four brands.

16. Ancient Greek region: IONIA. Cruise destination for ancient Greeks on vacation.

17. [Theme]

20. Former student: ALUM.

21. Says loud and proud: ASSERTS.

22. [Theme]

26. Comfy top: TEE. This one is pretty soft. They get harder as the week goes on.

28. Skewered dish: SATAY. A staple of Thai cuisine, it's usually marinated chicken served with peanut sauce. Delish!

29. Muslim monarch: EMIR. Our crossword friendly ruler, right up there with "tsar."

31. Actor and advocate for science communication Alan: ALDA. Another crossword fav.

33. [Not my error]: SIC. I never make misteaks [sic].

34. Princess from the planet Alderaan: LEIA. I think Han Solo liked her buns.

 
35. [Theme]

38. Book that's hardly light reading: TOME. Fun clue.

39. Chest muscle, for short: PEC.

40. "RuPaul's __ Race": DRAG.

44. Bellicose god: ARES. The son of Zeus and Hera was the black sheep of the family. He lived in a humble abode atop Mount Olympus when not on vacay in IONIA.
 

45. References in a research paper: CITES.

47. "Yo," in Rio: OLA. Portuguese for "Hi." In Spanish (since we didn't have a lesson today) it's "Hola."

48. Galaxy brain?: CPU. Central Processing Unit. No relation to me.

49. [Theme]

51. Leftover schmutz: RESIDUE.

54. Self starter?: AUTO. A life story written by you about yourself is an AUTObiography.

55. [Theme]

60. "The Leftovers" producer Lindelof: DAMON. Aha! The something new I learn every day doing crosswords. I guess I don't watch enough TV.

61. Hang on to: KEEP.

62. Comes to a close: ENDS.

63. Signs of what's to come: OMENS. Also, a scary movie franchise.

64. Attempts or assists: STAT. Sport STATistics. Not, "Get down the court STAT! I'm attempting to make an assist!"

65. Relax: REST. Always nice to end the puzzle with a REST.

Down:

1. Sushi-grade tuna: AHI. AHI is the Hawaiian term for bigeye or yellowfin tuna. Yum!

2. Sweet sundae sauce: CARAMEL. Yum again! This is turning into a food blog!

3. Home country of novelist Sally Rooney: IRELAND. The acclaimed Irish author was named by Time as one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2022. Quite a feat as she was only 31 at the time.

4. Raise objections: DEMUR.

5. Pic taker: CAM. Small PICtures require small CAMeras.

6. Networking center: HUB.

7. "__ to Neptune": Phillis Wheatley poem: ODE. Phillis Wheatley was the first African American to publish a book of poetry, unimaginable given that she was a slave. Her popular works help to dispel notions Black inferiority.

8. "Our Flag Means Death" subject: PIRACY. I thought this meant the Jolly Roger, but turns out it's a popular TV show about pirates. Arrrr!

9. Clever folks: WITS. RightBrain says I'm quite a wit! Well, half of one at least...

10. Gordie known as "Mr. Hockey": HOWE.

11. Lethargy: INERTIA. I first thought of the physics definition of INERTIA and couldn't see how it fit, so I was going to look it up. Then lethargy struck...

12. Coffee maker insert: FILTER. Which FILTER is better? Bleached or unbleached?

13. Not true: FALSE. That can't be true!

18. Ambulance staff: Abbr.: EMTS. Emergency Medical Technicians

19. "Or so": ISH. Kinda, sorta.

22. Restorative space: SPA. Ahhh...

23. Squander: WASTE.

24. Working hard: AT IT.

25. Tex-Mex-inspired casserole: TACO PIE. Not to be confused with Frito Pie, where chili is poured directly into a single serving bag of corn chips for a meal on the go! It's better than it sounds.

29. Unagi fish: EEL.

30. Not so hot: MILD. I've got some in a drawer if you need any.

32. Soothing salve: ALOE. Another old x-word friend.

34. Tied, as a corset: LACED.

36. Meditative mantras: OMS. This takes me back to one of my favorite progressive rock bands, the Moody Blues and their song "Om."

37. Testing phase: BETA. My high school English teacher made us memorize the Greek alphabet. I never knew why, but it's come in very handy over the years, even in crosswords oddly enough.

38. "Have I ever steered you wrong?": TRUST ME. "Should we ask for directions?"

41. Gymnast's floor performance: ROUTINE. It's a bird! It's a plane! It's amazing that they can do this!

42. Nuts with a high water footprint: ALMONDS. Growing ALMONDS accounts for approximately 15% of the total water usage in California. That's nuts! But they are nutritious and tasty, so I'm torn.

43. Chitchat: GAB. Is GAB a gift?

44. Test for coll. credit: AP EXAM. A good score in high school on an Advanced Placement EXAM may earn the student college credit.

45. Small streams: CREEKS. Now, where's my paddle?

46. Multifunction printer function: SCAN. "That's nice, but do you have one in a smaller size?"

48. Operating principle: CREDO.

49. Word after beach or ski: BUM.

50. One may be a foot long: RULER. I always carry a RULER with me when I go to lunch because you never know...

52. On board device?: IRON. Stumped me for a second, then I realized "on board" almost sounds like ironing board.

53. Rooms for movie night: DENS.

56. Allow: LET. Also, a LET in tennis (the ball touches the net but still goes in) "allows" you to take another serve.

57. Vote for: YEA. Make a choice.

58. Make a choice: OPT. Vote for.

59. No. from a contractor: EST. One thing I never hear from a contractor is "No." But his ESTimate number keeps growing.

Well, folks, it's bottom of the ninth and our constructor swings for the fences. It's going...going...gone! RB knocks it outta the park! 

 

Notes from C.C.:

 

I'm so happy that the witty RustyBrain has agreed to join our team. He'll be pinch-hitting for a while. 

 

Here he is at the Truman Little White House in Key West a few years ago.