Saturday, November 23, 2024, Jeanne Breen, John Lieb

 Themeless Saturday by Jeanne Green & John Lieb

Jeanne and John served up a tough pre-Thanksgiving event for me. The fun fill of I'M HERE ALL WEEK was a big speed bump but after hunting and pecking around the edges, I earned a big DOH! when I finally figured it out. As you can see by the graphic, the red cells show the unique fill for this puzzle.

 

John shared this picture of him as Elvis in an outfit he wore for a special day at his school a few years ago when I did his first LA Puzzle.

 

Across:

1. Vittles: CHOW.

5. Schools that don't play in bowl games: IVIES - Columbia pulled a huge upset in 1934 Rose Bowl but the IVIES, who give no athletic scholarships and have high academic standards, quit going to bowls in 1945.

10. Blown away: AWED.

14. Bring on: HIRE - Schools are always looking to HIRE more substitute teachers 

15. Classic infomercial brand: GINSU.

16. "That's ... really off the mark": UH NO.

17. Team that went to the NBA Finals with Durant, Harden, and Westbrook, familiarly: OKC THUNDER.

Durant      Westbrook               Hardin

19. Part of some cleansing rituals: SAGE.

20. Naval garb: PEACOATS.

21. Further: FOSTER - C.C. worked with me years ago to FOSTER my blogging skills

23. Attraction north of Syracuse: ETNA.

24. Category on a spa menu: FACIALS.

25. Product with Ground Ball Grape and Wild Pitch Watermelon flavors: BIG LEAGUE CHEW - So young kids could emulate MLB players who used to be able to "dip"

29. Key chain?: ATOLL.

30. Hit makers?: EPEES 😀

31. Backing: AID - Candidates require a lot of backing or AID to run

34. "¡__ mío!": DIOS - Add "Oh" and you have the Spanish version of OMG

35. Take to task: SCOLD.

36. Petrol choice: ESSO - This Canadian petrol costs $1.62/litre 

37. Cap. of America: USD 1 U.S. Dollar is $1.39 in Canada

38. Goes over: SPANS - The Royal Gorge bridge that SPANS the Arkansas River in Colorado is the scariest structure I have ever walked on

39. Aromatic hydrocarbon: ESTER.

40. Alternative to a rim shot: I'M HERE ALL WEEK - What a comedian might hear or say if a joke goes over big

 

43. Taxonomy rank: SPECIES.

45. Bye line: TATA.

46. Source of pain for some runners, familiarly: IT BAND - Iliotibial band

47. "Right ... hadn't thought of that": AH GOTCHA.

51. Athlete also known as "Fräulein Forehand": GRAF.

52. Placed: RECOGNIZED - I have trouble placing or recognizing most of my 14,000 former students.

54. Wizard: MAGE - We are more accustomed to them in plural form

55. "I'm free to help": USE ME.

56. Scruff of the neck: NAPE.

57. Architectural area whose name comes from the Greek for "vault": APSE - from the Latin apsis, "arch or vault," and the Greek root hapsis, "arch or loop." ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

58. Inquired (into): NOSED.

59. Shiraz locale: IRAN.

Down:

1. Baltimore __: infield hit with a high bounce: CHOP.

2. State park activity: HIKE.

3. One may catch some rays: ORCA - I suppose Shamu might have a ray over for lunch

4. Electrochemistry devices: WET CELLS - When I started teaching, the science store room only had these horrible Bell System dry cells that hadn't been used in many years.

5. Williams title reptile: IGUANA - If you look closely you can see Tennessee Williams' name on this poster.

6. Some collectibles from the Roaring Twenties: VINTAGE CARS.

7. Some voters, briefly: IND'S - Teddy Roosevelt got the most electoral votes running as an INDependent (Progressive) candidate in the 1912 presidential election.

8. -speak: ESE - We speak crosswordESE here

9. Arose: SURFACED.

10. Oz dweller: AUSSIE - Australia is sometimes called "Oz" because the first three letters of  when pronounced make a hissing sound like OZ.

11. Cry over spilled milk?: WHAT A WASTE.

12. Georgia of "The Mary Tyler Moore Show": ENGEL - I think you all know the cast below

13. People of action: DOERS.

18. Suite spot: HOTEL 😀

22. Folk singer Phil: OCHS - I remember the folk music era so well. My favorite song of Phil's was There But For Fortune - There But For Fortune

24. Is completely comfortable: FEELS AT HOME - Our Lily

25. Singer Erykah: BADU - ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

26. "Really?": IT IS.

27. Signs that the party's over?: GOODIE BAGS.

28. Clinging to a lead: UP ONE.

32. "Clearly": I SEE.

33. Diary writer in a Rachel Renée Russell series: DORK ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

35. Gamer's mad dash to complete a level: SPEED RUN - Speedrunning is the act of playing a video game, or section of a video game, with the goal of completing it as fast as possible. We have solvers here that do the same with our puzzles.

36. Africa's last absolute monarchy: ESWATINI - ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Changed from Swaziland in 2018.

38. Area guarded in many sports: SHIN.

39. John with an EGOT: ELTON.

41. Computer security brand: MCAFEE.

42. Fell behind: LAGGED.

43. Scylla's head?: SIGMA - Σκύλλα A meta gimmick but done in Greek this time

44. Plumbing piece: P-TRAP 

47. Fab: ACES.

48. House of Fabergé patron: CZAR - Nicholas III commissioned the House of Fabergé to make an Easter egg as a gift for his wife in 1885

49. __ filter: HEPA.

50. "Rectify" star Young: ADEN ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

53. Spanish "that": ESO - Paul Anka always saves me for this cluing

Saturday, November 16, 2024, Zhouqin Burnikel

 Saturday Themeless by C.C. Burnikel

Our friend C.C. gave us a fun puzzle for today but left me flummoxed at the bottom right as you see here where my two empty cells were. I made the right guess for someone named NASIM but had no shot at the  name for the nesting Russian figurines. I knew of their existence but could not come up with the correct vowel. I also had no shot at the tofu dish. I'll take one bad cell and soldier on. 

I had a very nice lunch with inanehiker [see picture at bottom of write-up] on Wednesday and showed her this SE corner and she laughed at seeing that trouble spot early.

 Across:

1. Sweet drink with a velvety texture: MANGO LASSI.

           

11. Go-to docs: PCPS - My Primary Care Physician is a former student who referred me to another former student for my surgery.

15. "Seems unlikely": I DOUBT THAT.

16. Smoothie option: ALOE - Colorful drinks today

17. Walk of Style locale: RODEO DRIVE.

1 

18. One on Charon's ferry: SOUL 

19. Remove all traces of: ERASE.

20. Hostile territory: ENEMY TURF - In Westside Story, if the Sharks or Jets invaded ENEMY TURF,  they either danced or had a fight

22. Groups of reps: SETS.

23. Long-running CBS drama: CSI - Crime Scene Investigation

24. Growing needs: SEEDS - Burpee SEEDS are a sure sign of spring

25. Doctor: ALTER - My lovely bride always doctors up a "boughten" pizza

27. Banks at Wrigley Field: ERNIE - ERNIE did it all but never got to play in a World Series

29. Sound cranky: WHINE.

32. Versailles figure: ROI.

The Dream Of A King

34. Evening, in promos: NITE.

35. Jules who pioneered the art of trapeze: LEOTARD - A puzzle I recently blogged had "bloomers" that were named for Amelia Bloomer.

37. Language close to Portugués: ESPAÑOL - Welp, Spain and Portugal do share the Iberian Peninsula so...

39. Liberal follower: ARTS.

40. Brewery vessel: KEG.

42. Draw a parallel: LIKEN.

43. Canyonlands formations: MESAS.

45. Country with a red dragon on its flag: WALES.

47. Salk contemporary: SABIN.

49. Guitar legend Paul: LES - This is the LES Paul #1 he built in 1952.

50. Diplomatic achievement: PACT.

54. Souvenirs caught by fans: FOUL BALLS - An unbelievable one in this year's World Series

56. Actress Ringwald: MOLLY - MOLLY traced her roots to a small house in Arlington, NE which is my hometown and where I sub. When she and a film crew showed up, these kid recognized her and had a picture taken. 

57. Mammal on the Vancouver Canucks logo: ORCA.

58. Mollusk native to the northwest Atlantic: SEA SCALLOP.

60. Mount Olympus figure: ARES.

61. Spiritual calm: INNER PEACE.

62. Video game whose fifth and final sequel was End of Ages: MYST ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

63. Nesting Russian figurine: MATRYOSHKA - muh tree OWSH kuh) As I said, I knew of the nesting dolls but the name of this set  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Down:

1. Gets good and stuck: MIRES - I got MIRED down in the SE corner but I still love C.C.! 💗

2. Treasure: ADORE.

3. Signal to: NOD AT.

4. Wild thing?: GUESS 😀 Also an occasional crossword strategy.

5. Woodwind with a Viennese variety: OBOE.

6. Old Ford: LTD.

7. Phrase in Newton's first law: AT REST - I have done this demo, and had kids do it, hundreds of times. Object AT REST want to remain AT REST.

8. More polished: SHINIER.

9. File menu choice: SAVE.

10. Agenda bullets: ITEMS.

11. "Doctor Zhivago" author: PASTERNAK.

12. Seventh heaven: CLOUD NINE.

13. Spares no effort: POURS IT ON - In sports, this is can be known as running up the score

14. __-care: SELF.

21. "Way Up" host Angela: YEE ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

23. Court figure: CLERK.

25. Gasteyer of "Mean Girls": ANA - ANA was one of several SNL alums to be in this movie where she played Lindsay Lohan's mother.

 ANA            Lindsay

26. Eggs on top of toast Skagen: ROE - Common fill with an exotic clue.

28. Fish in unagi musubi: EEL - This musubi has both EEL and Spam. See comment above.

29. "Please forgive us": WE'RE SORRY.

30. What might really put a fire in one's belly?: HOT SAUCES.

31. Part of a rave review: IT'S A BLAST.

33. Key chains?: ISLES 😀

35. On the __: LAM.

36. Drops in the yard: DEW 😀

38. Film noir figures, briefly: PI'S - Bogie as Sam Spade leaped to my mind

41. Chivalrous: GALLANT - GAL ent or archaic Guh LAHNT

44. Part of the fam: SIB.

46. Not as important: LESSER.

48. "Chad" star Pedrad: NASIM ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

50. Ends of the earth: POLES 😀

51. The Almighty, to most Uyghurs: ALLAH.

52. Second place?: CLOCK 😀 - Also minutes and hours

53. Strong personality: TYPE-A.

54. Head: FOAM.

55. Headey of "White House Plumbers": LENA ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

56. __ tofu: spicy Sichuan dish: MAPO ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

59. Noise on a baby monitor: CRY.

This is picture of inanehiker (Dr. Nina Kiekhaefer - nee Miller 😊), her friend Marla and me having lunch at The Venue in Lincoln on Wednesday. My grandfather emigrated to America from Switzerland with his sister named Nina (NY nuh) and he and grandma named their firstborn Nina. I wondered if our Nina pronounced her name that way or as NEE nuh. She uses my great aunt's pronunciation said she tells people to think of eight-uh, nine-uh, ten-uh. Very cool 😀 

Nina is a lovely person and we had a great visit on personal and crossword topics! BTW, I really enjoyed my turkey ciabatta. 

Nina        Me          Marla
I'm the thorn midst two roses.