Saturday, April 27, 2024, Evans Clinchy

Saturday Themeless by Evans Clinchy

Evans is a master scrabble player who lives in Tacoma Washington. Obviously he is also a great crossword constructor as you can see by his first LA Times entry we get today. I moved right along in my solve but had a natick at the jumping off point of 1 Across/1 Down. I do not know any New Orleans neighborhoods, old or new, and joining that with uber obscurely clued T-RAP made for some very unsettling final minutes for me. 😖 I guessed at a "K" but I had other equally bad/desperate options. Boo!

Across:

1. One of the oldest neighborhoods in New Orleans: TREME - Excuse my ignorance Big E!

6. Into footwear?: SHOD - A well SHOD unit

10. Included, in a way: CCED.

14. Settle down: RELAX - Aaron said this in 2014 when the Packers started 1 - 2. They then made the playoffs and massed making it to the Super Bowl by 6 points.

15. Come down: POUR - N.W. Ayers and Son ad agency came up with this slogan in 1914 for Nebraskan Joy Morton's salt company.

16. Barcelona's Fundació Joan __: MIRO - Joan MIRO's foundation has the biggest display of MIRO's works and supports many new artists in Barcelona. More info

17. Homes.com units: APARTMENTS - Our granddaughter is very familiar with this site in her job in D.C.

19. Like a kumquat: OVAL.

20. Fair activities for kids: PONY RIDES.

21. Carrot family plant: ANISE 

22. Academic domain: EDU.

23. Took a spill: TUMBLED - The source of Wide World Of Sports' "The Thrill Of Victory, The Agony Of Defeat"

25. Nightie nights?: PAJAMA PARTIES 😀

30. Young egg cells: OVULES.

31. "It's not you, it's me," maybe: LIE.

32. Web-footed divers: AUKS.

35. Struggles with sigmatism: LISPS.

36. Nurse: SIP 😀 Make that drink last!

37. Resolve: SPINE.

38. Swear words: OATH.

39. State on the Arabian Sea known for beautiful beaches: GOA - West coast of India 

 

40. Vandyke kin: GOATEE.

41. World Chess Champion from 2013 to 2023: MAGNUS CARLSEN - Norwegian Sven Magnus Øen Carlsen

44. "Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman" star: SEYMOUR.

46. Waze suggestion: Abbr.: RTE.

47. Facility for tech-savvy HS kids: AV LAB - Every student in America these days is pretty tech-savvy and goes to an AV LAB. 

48. Election map figure: BLUE STATE - Here is the 2020 election by county

54. Long-handled hammer: MAUL - I split a lot of wood with my splitting MAUL

55. Fan attribute: TEAM SPIRIT.

56. Part of YOLO: ONCE.

57. Belgrade native: SERB.

58. Possible warning signs: OMENS.

59. Uses Siri, maybe: ASKS.

60. Holy chests: ARKS - Opening the Lost ARK was not a good decision

61. Cantankerous: TESTY.

Down:

1. Genre of Ariana Grande's "7 Rings": T-RAP - I threw a flag on this play where this ludicrous cluing with TREME seemed unfair for a common word! In case you're interested: "7 Rings" is a trap-pop song with elements of hip hop and R&B that runs for 3 minutes, with Grande rapping the hook and final verse."

2. Used car, perhaps: REPO.

3. Great exuberance: ELAN.

4. Barra of General Motors: MARY.

5. Highs and lows: EXTREMES - For April 27, Nebraska's EXTREMES are 95°F in 1989 and 24°F in 1950.

6. Got the lead out: SPED UP.

7. Give an edge: HONE.

8. Surpass: OUTSTRIP.

9. MRI orderers: DRS.

10. "Help me out here": C'MON BE A PAL.

11. Means of settling some disputes: CIVIL SUITS - OJ was found not guilty (not innocent) in his criminal trial but was found guilty in the CIVIL SUIT charging he caused wrongful death.

12. Take marks off: ERASE - There was a time...

 

13. Gave out: DOLED.

18. Touchy one?: MIDAS 😀

21. "__ wrong?": AM I.

24. SLC athlete: UTE - In Salt Lake City

25. Game that may be played on horses, bicycles, or elephants: POLO.

26. Brand of slip resistant shoes: AVIA.

27. "Short straw again": JUST MY LUCK.

28. Figures in a dominance hierarchy: ALPHA MALES.

29. Protective cover?: ALIAS.

33. __ sock: KNEE.

34. Spotted: SEEN.

36. Gose or lambic: SOUR BEER  - "Sour beer is beer which has an intentionally acidic, tart, or sour taste. Sour beer styles include Belgian lambics and Flanders red ale and German Gose and Berliner Weisse."

37. Subject worth avoiding: SORE SPOT.

39. Masai Mara mammal: GNU - The great migration in the Masai Mara (Kenya) in Kenya and Tanzania 

 

40. Airport listings: GATES - Hartsfield/Jackson Airport in Atlanta has more GATES than any airport in the world - 195

42. Lump: GOB.

43. Remnants: CRUMBS.

44. American __: SAMOA - You deserve a break today in Pago Pago, Samoa

45. "Captain America" star: EVANS.

49. Willa Cather's "The Song of the __": LARK.

 D.C.'s Statuary Hall

50. Life partner?: TIME - Speaking of people from Nebraska

51. Mars counterpart: ARES - Gods of war

52. Windshield treatment: TINT.

% of light allowed in

53. Artisan's platform: ETSY.

55. Org. that conducts lots of searches: TSA.

Really, you thought you'd get this
stuff through? 

Saturday, April 20, 2024, Rich Feely

 Saturday Themeless by Rich Feely

This appears to be an LA Times debut for Rich. For some reason I had got a good jumping off place on the East side as ITALIAN ICE and SO LAST YEAR surrendered quite easily. I had a few bumps in the road, particularly with 24. NY and LA: STS. which I will address later.

Across:

1. Turn two fives into a ten?: ADD - A hilarious turn on this process

         

4. Key letter: PHI - Mine must have gotten lost in the mail 😊

7. Language spoken in the Gaeltacht: IRISH - Where IRISH/Gaelic is spoken.

 

12. Outstanding job: LOOSE END - The second definition is relative here.

15. Copycat's cry: ME TOO.

16. Best Original Song Oscar nominee with the lyric "Anywhere else, I'd be a ten": I'M JUST KEN - When Barbenheimer came out last year, I paid to see the latter and not the former.

18. Commandment word: SHALT.

19. Broadcast: GO ON THE AIR - BE and IS were replaced by GO

21. "Welp," quaintly: ALAS.

22. Act: DEED - On a corner of UNL's Memorial Stadium

23. Kir liqueur: CASSIS.

 

25. __ good: amazing: SCARY - Caitlin Clark

27. "Stop the negativity": DON'T HATE.

29. Polar formations: FLOES - Icebergs are large chunks of freshwater ice and compressed snow that break off glaciers and float southward on the Labrador Current. Ice FLOES, on the other hand, are chunks of frozen salt-water, also called pack-ice.

Penguins jumping between ice FLOES

30. Shakes up: JOLTS.

31. Chloé Zhao's alma mater: Abbr.: NYU - Chloé is a Chinese-American film maker. She won an Oscar for directing Nomadland

32. Frames: RIMS - ...or RIMLESS

33. Hermosillo houses: CASAS - Hermosillo is a city of nearly 700,000 in Mexico.

34. Level: TIER.

35. Urgent call, briefly: APB - All Points Bulletin has been replaced by BOLO - Be On the Look Out for

36. Flowing locks: MANES 😀

37. Chocolate source: CACAO.

38. Sealed: UNOPENED.

40. Spud: TATER - Billionaire J.R. Simplot of Boise Idaho made a "handshake" agreement with Ray Kroc in 1965 to grow potatoes for McDonalds French Fries. His company remains a big supplier of spuds for the company.

41. Seemed friendly: SMILED.

42. Many a rescue dog: MUTT.

43. Designer Cassini: OLEG - Well known as the designer for Jackie during the Camelot days

44. Photovoltaic devices: SOLAR CELLS - Our city's phase II of SOLAR CELLS a quarter mile south of me

49. Deli roll: BIALY.

51. Dawn of the moon exploration program?: EARTH RISE - During the Apollo 8 mission, Bill Anders took this picture of an EARTH RISE after they had passed behind the far side of the Moon and emerged on the other side.  

52. Didn't work: IDLED.

53. Epic: COLOSSAL.

54. Dips a toe in: TESTS.

55. Mint: NEW - This mint condition 2024 silver dollar is already worth $55.

56. Southern capital: Abbr.: ATL.

Down:

1. Former HBO persona: ALI G.

2. "__ arigato": DOMO.

3. "Cobra Kai" setting: DOJO - Moviedom's most famous karate studio is now up for rent

4. Bugs: PESTERS.

5. Pronoun choice: HE THEY - A person choosing these preferences would accept, "He solved the puzzle" or "They solved the puzzle."

6. Tattoo culture magazine: INKED.

7. Online convos: IMS -  Immediate Messaging

8. Discuss ad nauseam: REHASH - My first faculty had to REHASH the "gum chewing" issue for years because it was a pet peeve of the principal.

9. Treat in a little white cup: ITALIAN ICE.

10. Way passe: SO LAST YEAR.

11. Red __: HOTS - How they looked in my misspent yute.

13. Treats in tall tulip glasses: SUNDAES - See above

1950's picture

14. "Snowfall" org.: DEA.

17. Patron saint of children: NICOLAS - Ho, Ho, Ho.

20. Bloviates: RANTS - The political season is coming up

24. NY and LA: STS - 😫 I took the bait for two cities. After way too much time I saw there were no periods for abbreviations and that NY and LA stand for the STateS of New York and Louisiana. 

25. Toy for bodysurfing on land: SLIP 'N SLIDE.

26. Drive-through options: COMBO MEALS - 1,600 Calories

27. Shot in the arm, say: DOSED 😀

28. Capital of 20 countries: EURO.

29. German woman: FRAU.

30. Alias in court: JANE DOE.

33. Carolina team, informally: CANES.

34. Ribbons: TATTERS.

36. Allen known as the "Voice of the Yankees": MEL.

37. Purina brand: CAT CHOW - Our kitty doesn't do dry food

39. Milne character in a green striped romper: PIGLET - Every picture of PIGLET I saw had him in a pink striped romper. I found this one in an embroidery kit

40. Reptile on a green container of car wax: TURTLE.

42. Podcaster/comedian Marc: MARON.

43. "In memoriam" piece: OBIT.

45. Supérieur, par exemple: LAC.

46. Vanderpump of "Vanderpump Rules": LISA.

47. Trial for an aspiring atty.?: LSAT.

48. Persuade: SELL.

50. Passing stat: YDS - Tom Brady's passing YDS convert to over 48 miles