Tuesday, June 10, 2025 Emily Biegas and Sala Wanetick

A Menagerie in the House.  One word in each two-word theme answer is a Sound a Pet might make.

17-Across. American government official accused of Soviet espionage in the McCarthy era: ALGER HISS.  //  Snake (or a Cat).  Alger Hiss (Nov. 11, 1904 ~ Nov. 15, 1996) was and remains a controversial figure.  He was accused of spying for the Soviet Union, but was never convicted on these charges.  Instead, he was convicted of perjury. Whether or not he actually committed espionage remains unresolved.

25-Across. Arts and entertainment company known for large-scale interactive installations: MEOW WOLF.  //  Cat.  I was not familiar with Meow Wolf.

34-Across. Traditional canoe material: BIRCH BARK.  //  Dog.  A brief history of the Birch Bark Canoe.

48-Across. Kaleidoscope opening: PEEP HOLE.  //  Chick.

And the unifier:

57-Across. Beach Boys album that's No. 2 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, and what can be found in 17-, 25-, 34-, and 48-Across: PET SOUNDS.

Across:

1. Chatted privately online, for short: DM'ED.  As in Direct Message(ed)

5. Smack: SLAP.

9. College mil. unit: ROTC.  As in Reserve Officers' Training Corps.

13. Meaty red sauce: RAGU.  Ragu a sauce typically made with ground meat, onions, tomato puree, and red wine, and served with pasta.  It is also the name of a commercially prepared pasta sauce.

14. Musical finale: CODA.

15. Belgian bills: EUROS.  The euro (€) is the official currency of 20 out of 27 European Union member countries.  The following countries use the euro:  Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Spain.

19. Curry who was the NBA MVP in 2015 and 2016: STEPH.  Steph Curry (né Wardell Stephen Curry II; b. Mar. 14, 1988) professional basketball player and is currently a point guard for the Golden State Warriors.

20. Subgroup: FACTION.

21. Golf peg: TEE.

23. Soccer star Hamm: MIA.  Mia Hamm (née Mariel Margaret Hamm; b. Mar. 17, 1972) is an American retired professional soccer player, two-time Olympic gold medalist (1996 and 2004) and two-time FIFA Women's World Cup champion (2001 and 2002).

24. Connects with: TIES TO.

27. Class for some immigrants: Abbr.: ESL.  As in English as a Second Language.  It's a crossword staple.

28. Anaheim MLB team: ANGELS.

30. Heaps: ALOT.

31. Oscar winner Benicio __ Toro: DEL.  His full name is Benicio Monserrate Rafael del Toro Sánchez (b. Feb. 19, 1967).  He won an Oscar for his portrayal of a conflicted Mexican detective in the 2000 crime thriller Traffic. 

32. Pre-Easter period: LENT.

33. Plans secretly: PLOTS.

37. Colorado spot for hitting the slopes: ASPEN.

40. Daytime TV host Kelly: RIPA.  Kelly Maria Ripa (b. Oct. 2, 1970) has been co-hosting the Daytime show Live! since 2001.  She has had a number of co-hosts including: Regis Philbin, Michael Strahan, and Ryan Seacrest.  Her current co-host is her husband, Mark Consuelos (né Mark Andrew Consuelos; b. Mar. 30, 1971).

41. Indy 500 sponsor: STP.  Did you know that STP stands for Science, Technology, Performance?

44. Ballet class bend: PLIÉ.

45. Verse: POETRY.

47. Cartoon frame: CEL.

50. Break free: ESCAPE.  On May 16, 10 inmates escaped from a jail in New Orleans.  As of yesterday, 8 of the 10 had been recaptured.

52. Suffix with puppet: -EER.  As in a puppeteer.

53. Total: ADD.

54. Latvia's northern neighbor: ESTONIA.

55. Declares publicly: AVOWS.  A crossword staple.

59. Genuine, casually: LEGIT.

60. Wild and crazy: AMOK.

61. Brazilian soccer legend: PELÉ.  Pelé (né Edson Arantes do Nascimento; Oct. 23, 1940 ~ Dec. 29, 2022), was a Brazilian professional soccer player and is generally regarded as one of the greatest players of all time.

62. One-__-fits-all: SIZE.

63. Comedian Love: LONI.  I am not familiar with Loni Love (b. July 12, 1971).  Before turning to show biz, she earned a degree as an electrical engineer and worked in that field until the early 2000s.

64. Ice cream brand: EDYS.

Down:

1. Chosen for the NFL, maybe: DRAFTED.

2. Coming-down-with-a-cold feeling: MALAISE.

3. Ovum: EGG CELL.

4. Songs for two: DUETS.

5. Fore-and-aft-rigged sailboat: SCHOONER.  What exactly is a Schooner, besides being a fore-and-aft-rigged sailboat?

6. Pork cut: LOIN.

7. App pop-ups: ADS.

8. Gentle shade: PASTEL.

9. Stitch again: RESEW.

10. Not fashionable: OUT.

11. Vibrating effect, in music: TREMOLO.

12. Cockpit partner: COPILOT.

16. Elevator passages: SHAFTS.

18. ADHD medication: RITALIN.

22. Lip balm brand: EOS.

25. "I'm in too!": ME THREE!

26. Stroll: WALK.

29. "Live Well" supplements retailer: GNC.  As in General Nutrition Center.

33. Connects with, as a higher power: PRAYS TO.

34. Microwave alert: BEEP.

35. Smidgen: BIT.

36. Relaxing time after hitting the slopes: APRÉS SKI.

37. Curb __: APPEAL.

38. Coffee cup insulators: SLEEVES.  Because Zarf was too short.

39. Polish dumplings: PIEROGI.  Yummers!

41. Read a barcode: SCANNED.

42. With little gusto: TEPIDLY.

43. Satisfies: PLEASES.

45. Pea holder: POD.

46. Bud from way back: OLD PAL.  I say, Old Pal!

49. Speed: HASTE.

51. Sporty car: COUPE.

54. British boarding school: ETON.  Eddie Redmayne and Prince William were classmates at Eton.

56. "Black and Yellow" rapper __ Khalifa: WIZ.  I am not familiar with Wiz Khalifa (né Cameron Jibril Thomaz; b. Sept. 8, 1987).

58. Moody genre: EMO.

חתולה

June 1 marked the beginning of Hurricane Season.

Wednesday, Mar 5th, 2025 ~ Sala Wanetick & Emily Biegas

  COVER GIRLS

Emily and Sala - more here

Today's puzzle, from veteran constructors Sala and Emily, ( they appeared just last month as a duo as well ), failed to hit the mark for me this time.  The theme is kinda weak, and the 20-something names, including a crossing where I had no choice but to do an alphabet run, just sucked the life out of this one.  We have two 8-letter themers, and yet two Down answers are longer; a whopping 28 4LWs, and yet only 9 TLWs.  On top of that, the one musical entry that I can relate to is the first - the others are just not my thing; sorry 'bout that.  On a positive note, 17A., 40A., and the theme answer are unique fills, so there's that.  The themers;

17. Fleetwood Mac hit with the lyric "I'll settle for one day to believe in you": LITTLE LIES - a LIE can cover the truth . . .?

26. Taylor Swift hit that features a sweater metaphor: CARDIGAN - usually covers a shirt/blouse . . .?

40. Elvis Presley hit about someone who only looks like an angel: DEVIL IN DISGUISE - disguise as a cover up . . .?

50. Rihanna hit about friends who stick together rain or shine: UMBRELLA - under cover from the rain . . .~?

63. Musical remakes, and what 17-, 26-, 40-, and 50-Across all are, in a way: COVER SONGS - "songs" that have something that covers; I guess.  As for an actual cover song, if it's a "tribute" band, then all you do is cover songs.  I feel that if an artist is going to cover someone else's song, then it should have some variation on the original, i.e., Run-DMC covering Aerosmith as a rap song - I couldn't narrow it down to one great choice, but here's an example;

Flamenco Led Zeppelin - Rodrigo Y Gabriela

And Away We Go~!

ACROSS:

1. Update a historic home, say: REHAB - I am in the business of updating "historic", and we would never refer to it as a 'rehab' - rehab is where I spent six weeks after detox.  'nuf said.

6. Quick look: PEEP

10. "Dream on": "AS IF."

14. Enlighten: EDIFY

15. Crooner Paul: ANKA - I know him, but name #1

16. Novela introduction?: TELE - Telenovela, a serialized drama in Latin American TV

19. Jai __: ALAI - this used to appear in lots of puzzles "back in the day" - it's only popped up once or twice in a long, long time

20. Pro vote: YEA - My yeS had to change to yeA

21. Ingrid's "Casablanca" role: ILSA - Oops, I thought it was ELSA - that's the "Frozen" girl - name #2

22. Strenuous: TIRING - Crosswords like this are not enjoyable, just TIRING

24. Prefix with tech: NANO - nanotech

28. Milwaukee team: BREWERS - Great logo - I like it when the letters/name is cleverly embedded in the image - here's another great logo

The m and b in the glove~?  That to me is a well-designed logo

31. "The Daily" podcast producer, briefly: NYT - no clue, but I had _YT already; name(ish)

32. Special glow: AURA

33. Paul of "The Batman": DANO - name #3 - I looked it up; he played the Riddler.  I did not see the movie

35. Venomous snake: ADDER

43. Be of __: help: USE TO

44. __ Point, California: DANA - DANO, DANA - Sheesh - name #4

45. Summer getaway: CAMP - I was never 'enrolled' camp, but from what I hear and read, it was not all that fun for many - SEND away, now that's more like it 

46. Govt. intel org.: NSA - I could explain the abbr., but then I'd have to....

48. Gets to giggle: TICKLES - tickles my fancy

55. For fear that: LEST

57. Quite bright: NEON

59. Alley-__: OOP

62. Actor Alda: ALAN - crossword staple, name #5

66. Rare rocks: GEMS

67. Sinister: EVIL

68. Verdi work: OPERA - name(ish)

69. "Gotcha": "I SEE."

Dr. Venkman, @ 0:50

70. "The Voice" host Carson: DALY - name #6

71. Elevates: RISES - meh.  rAises is a better match, e.g. stress from crossword solving RISES blood pressure~? 

DOWN:

1. Depend (on): RELY

2. Actress Falco: EDIE - name #7

3. Touched on something touchy: HIT A NERVE - let me count the (names) ways . . . .9LW

4. Back of the boat: AFT

5. Author credit: BYLINE

6. Buds: PALS

7. Pioneering computer: ENIAC - I had ATARI until that showed up three answers later; name(ish)

8. Scrape (by): EKE

9. Danish, e.g.: PASTRY

10. Pong platform: ATARI

11. Former baseball commissioner Bud: SELIG - I could not recall this name, # 8

12. Glazer of "Broad City": ILANA - name #9

13. Pretend: FEIGN - I think this "crossname" is pretending to be a crossword

18. "Euphoria" actor Jacob: ELORDI - name # 10, 3 of the 4 previous clues - tho a unique fill

23. Pet collar attachment: ID TAG

25. Stand by for: AWAIT

27. Designate as a successor: ANOINT - meh.  aPPoint fits better.  Anoint to me is religious ceremony

28. Grammy winner Erykah: BADU - even if I DO know this one, ugh; name #11

29. Feels remorse: RUES - he rues the day he said he'd blog Wednesdays . . . . 😜

30. Flip-flop, e.g.: SANDAL

34. Confidentiality contract, for short: NDA - Non-Disclosure Agreement - I am seriously considering spending the money to get my board games produced - I need a patent lawyer - anyone at the Corner who can recommend one~?

36. Dodges: DUCKS - these DODGES are not  DUCKS or ADDERS - they're VIPERS

37. Landline sounds: DIAL TONES - the other 9LW, 'longer than theme' fill

38. "Twilight" vampire Cullen: ESME - name #12

39. Gym count: REPS - now this is a good one - the singular count clue and the plural reps answer

41. Not a people person, say: LONER - I am definitely NOT a "people person"

42. Mariner: SAILOR

47. Prepared to serve, as pie: SLICED

49. Black out: CENSOR

50. With 56-Across, grilled eel dish: UNAGI - AND - 56. See 50-Down: NIGIRI - no clue, and when the clues are circumreferential* like this, it's even worse - and name(ish)

51. Odometer units: MILES - my car allows me to track gas prices when I fill up, but every now and then, the same buttons I use to adjust the price end up changing my MPH to KPH; I look down and I am doing "58" in a 30 - Yikes~!

52. Not one's best effort: B-GAME

53. Flush: RINSE

54. Blacksmith's block: ANVIL

58. Wriggly: EELY

60. Fantasy monster: OGRE

61. Unpaid ads: PSAs - Public Service Announcements

64. Egg cells: OVA

65. Maker of Lincoln Park After Dark nail polish: OPI - I've learned that the answer regarding makeup, etc., is either OPI or EOS these days - and name(ish)

* I made this word up, but you get my meaning, yes~?

Splynter