Saturday, June 28, 2025, Ricky Sirois

Saturday Themeless by Ricky Sirois

Across:

1. Like Oscar winner Troy Kotsur: DEAF - I was thinking about a nationality for a while but it soon showed it was a characteristic. 

          

5. "Lasers" rapper __ Fiasco: LUPE ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

9. Security concerns?: SAFES 😀 Hacks first came to my mind

14. Symbol of British divine right: EXCALIBUR - This is the mythical sword King Arthur either pulled from the stone or received from the Lady Of The Lake to show his divine right to rule Britain. 

16. Whitlock Jr. of "The Wire": ISIAH ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

17. Governed by fate: MEANT TO BE.

18. Drag one's feet: TARRY.

Reminds me of 
"The Little Red Hen"

19. Sum up: ADD.

20. Sweetheart __: DEAL.

21. Turning point in a DIY project?: SCREW 😀 "Screw up" better describes what I might do

22. French holiday: NOEL.

24. Cause trouble: STIR THE POT - Don't we all know people who like doing this?

27. "The Man in the Iron Mask" novelist: DUMAS The Story

29. Disney villain: SCAR.

30. Morass: MIRE.

31. Hamper: STYMIE.

33. Wrestling promoter Maivia whose grandson is Dwayne Johnson: LIA.

34. Online "I can relate": IT ME - Social media meme.

35. Like some steakhouses: BRAZILIAN - This one is in Omaha

38. Zenith: ACME.

41. McElhenney who co-owns Wrexham A.F.C.: ROB ¯\_(ツ)_/¯  On the left below

42. "Forget it": NO DICE.

46. "Paint the Town Red" singer __ Cat: DOJA ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

47. On the fence: TORN.

49. Food brand with a Westie mascot: CESAR.

50. "Case closed": ENOUGH SAID.

53. Novelist Jaffe: RONA ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

54. Cast iron, e.g.: ALLOY.

55. Aft: REAR - Titanic's AFT sank last

57. Quaint "True": TIS.

58. Only U.S. vice president born in Maryland: AGNEW.

59. Hit that's hardly felt: MICRODOSE - Research continues to see if a MICRODOSE hit of hallucinogenics like LSD can be helpful without big side effects

61. May of Queen: BRIAN - On the right with Freddie Mercury

62. Royal guard?: BEEKEEPER - Royal BEEKEEPER John Chappell on the right below was given the task of telling the bees that their Queen had died.

63. Grouses: CARPS - These two words become synonymous as verbs and not animals

64. Petrol name: ESSO.

65. Signs of victory: VEES - Cue Beethoven's 5th 

Down:

1. Exacts: DEMANDS.

2. Struck through: EXED OUT.

3. West Point, e.g.: ACADEMY.

4. Whiff: FAN - I know which one below that C.C. would have chosen

Whiff™ Ceiling FAN

In baseball, a batter who has struck out
is said to have whiffed or fanned

5. Some brews: LITES.

6. WWII fleet: U-BOATS.

7. Institutions "full of sunk treasure," per Virginia Woolf: PUBLIC LIBRARIES.

8. Poetic conjunction: ERE.

9. Circumstance, slangily: SITCH -When Kim Possible absolutely does not have enough time to say situation.

10. "In case you forgot ... ": AS A REMINDER - iCalendar allows me to set an alert for an event. I usually set it for an hour before a tee time.

11. Campsite warmer: FIRE PIT.

12. Tune that really catches on: EARWORM - Here are 50 of them. My Barbara Ann did not make the list. 

13. Shrinking: SHY.

15. Close of business, briefly?: LTD - Limited: It means a company has separated its personal assets from the business assets.

21. Filter: STRAIN.

23. Touchdown celebration in Green Bay: LAMBEAU LEAP.

25. Stability aid: RAIL.

26. Shirt tail?: TEE - The last (tail) letter in shirt is a TEE

28. Dame analogue: SIR - Dame Helen Mirren and SIR Ian McKellen

32. Like some reds: EARTHY.

36. Circuses: ZOOS.

37. NYC rep from the Bronx: AOC - The oft-photographed U.S Representative

38. Beverage suffix: ADE.

39. Food processing giant that began as a grain enterprise in Nebraska: CONAGRA - This giant company with many products acquired Swanson's who are famous for inventing the TV Dinner in Omaha.

40. Thor's hammer: MJOLNIR ¯\_(ツ)_/¯  I can't spell or pronounce it. I suspect Ricky built around this word in his puzzle and did not just discover it to fill an area.

43. Variant in a lab: ISOTOPE - This huge plant in Oakridge, TN was built to process fissionable ISOTOPE U235 from U238 for the Manhattan Project. America recently attempted to prevent Iran from doing that.

44. Curious request: CAN I SEE.

45. Takeoff gear?: ERASERS 😀

48. Some siblings, to their parents' siblings: NIECES.

51. Red carpet garb: GOWNS - As I am typing this I am wearing Under Armor

52. Gyllenhaal title role: DARKO ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Jake was the protagonist in this movie that featured a very odd looking rabbit.

56. Toast Skagen garnish: ROE - ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Toast Skagen är en populär Svensk förrätt (Toast Skagen is a popular Swedish appetizer) 

58. Disney channel?: ABC.

59. U.K. honor: MBE - Member of the Order of the British Empire 

Ed Sheeran with his medal

60. "Monkey Man" actor/director Patel: DEV ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

Saturday May 3, 2025, Ricky Sirois

Themeless Saturday by Ricky Sirois

Ricky had a generous portion of proper names but they all succumbed to adequate help.

Across:

1. Shillelagh cousin: MACE - Shillelagh would knock me out of any spelling bee I would enter!

 

5. Hooey: GIBBERISH.

14. B in chemistry: BORON 😀 It can be found on the 25. Primo who wrote "The Periodic Table": LEVI ¯\_(ツ)_/¯  Review of Levi's book that is only peripherally about chemistry 

15. Suddenly: ALL AT ONCE - 95% on Rotten Tomatoes

16. Elite: A LIST.

17. Gradually: PIECEMEAL.

18. Friction: STATIC - A great demo in my physics classes

20. Pose: ASK.

21. Locks in place?: PERM - Locks of hair will stay in place after a PERManent which, of course, is only temporary. 

22. Hidden assets: HOLE CARDS.

24. Only native of Great Britain to be named "Doctor of the Church": BEDE - Somehow I knew this. No, really!

26. Research Triangle city: DURHAM.

28. Moving violation?: FALSE START - Ya gotta wait for the gun!

32. Ovine mother: EWE.

33. Jason's ship: ARGO.

34. Thought-provoking: MEATY.

35. Surveyor's map: PLAT.

36. German article: DER.

37. Spitting image: CARBON COPY - Digital version 😀

39. Escalate: DEEPEN. 

41. Close: NEAR.

42. Color for a San Jose Shark: TEAL.

43. Card that opens doors for journalists: PRESS PASS - Everyone here can tell what Super Bowl required this pass for reporters.

48. Crust: CHAR.

49. Level with Space Cowboys and Storm Chasers: AAA - We've seen many baseball games in Omaha where the AAA Storm Chasers play. FWIW, real storm chasers around Omaha have been very busy this spring.

50. Patronize: SHOP AT.

51. Bloody Mary, e.g.: URBAN MYTH - Here ya go!

54. One-named singer who played Nettie in the 2023 remake of "The Color Purple": CIARA ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

55. "See?": TOLD YOU SO.

56. Isaac of "Dune": OSCAR ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Isaac seems to be his surname.

57. Really good point: SWEET SPOT.

58. Rock band whose founding members adopted the names Gene and Dean: WEEN ¯\_(ツ)_/

Down:

1. Very, musically: MOLTO - Allegro Non Molto means lively but not too lively

2. Default font in Google Docs: ARIAL.

3. Elvis, for one: COSTELLO  - One too many blanks for the King

4. Beguiles: ENTICES.

5. __ year: GAP - Our daughter had a wealthy friend who took a GAP year to "find himself". Our daughters found themselves in the University of Nebraska.

6. Source material for "Troilus and Cressida": ILIAD - Shakespeare's "Troilus and Cressida" draws inspiration from Homer's "Iliad"for its setting, characters, and themes, but it also incorporates elements from Chaucer's "Troilus and Criseyde". ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

7. Favor: BLESS.

8. Support: BACK.

9. Saison chaude: ETE - In France, the hot (chaude) season (saison) is summer (ETE)

10. One-piece garment: ROMPER.

11. Words admitting vulnerability: I NEED HELP.

12. Run off: SCARE AWAY.

13. Leadership position: HELM.

14. Pan: BASH.

19. Common character in "The Far Side": CAVEMAN.

23. Help for a choir that wants to sing higher: RISER 😀

24. Save: BUT - Not much is known of Little Richard's childhood SAVE that he was a music prodigy. This use of SAVE is a long way down the list in Merriam-Webster Dictionary.

26. Winter affliction, perhaps: DRYNESS.

27. "Have we __?": MET.

28. Unblockable shot: FREE THROW 😀

29. Pleasant: AGREEABLE.

30. Aid in learning to play guitar: TAB.

31. Compensate (for): ATONE.

33. Put in: ADD.

35. Sea creature that uses echolocation: PORPOISE.

37. "Scooby-Doo" souvenir, maybe: CEL - This original Hanna Barbera CEL can be yours for $5,250.

38. Income stream: CASH COW - Providing daycare services has become a CASH COW for many churches 

40. Show off: PARADE.

43. "Fork it over": PAY UP.

44. Dustin Hoffman role: RATSO - Dustin ad libbed this line from Midnight Cowboy on the spot.

45. Full steam ahead: APACE.

46. Glad rival: SARAN - Cling Wrap has completely replaced Saran Wrap at our house

47. Michelin award: STAR.

48. Stages of an audition process: CUTS - The same is true in athletics. Making CUTS is a hard thing to do.

49. Pioneering football coach __ Alonzo Stagg: AMOS.

52. "The 1619 Project" publisher, for short: NYT.

53. Sexy: HOT.