Saturday, July 14, 2018, Andrew J. Ries

A Themeless Saturday Puzzle by Andrew J. Ries 

On the Fourth Of July we Americans celebrate our declaration of independence. Ten days later our French friends celebrate Quatorze Juillet or, The Fourteenth of July which they also refer to as Bastille Day. That day celebrates the storming of the infamous prison and the beginning of The French Revolution. "Liberté, égalité and fraternité!"

I blogged another Saturday puzzle of Andrew Ries's last April 28 on Super Heroes Day. Below is a picture of David Hanson, Victor Borocas (who authored last Sunday's AAA puzzle), our own C.C. and Andrew (not Andy). Next to them is one of Andrew's published books of puzzles that is so apropos for his home state.

Andrew had a double major in film studies and history from St. Cloud State, which he calls a "hockey school", an hour NW of Minneapolis. He got hooked on puzzles by his grandmother and his passion has led to his now being a full-time constructor (as you can see by one of his books above). Andrew says it is not really work when you are doing what you love. He estimates he will do close to a hundred puzzles this year as his trade requires being prolific. I had a great exchange with Andrew via gmail and I hope we get to see a lot more of him in the future

I was also fascinated by the very clever logo for his website which incorporates Andrew's name and a familiar zodiacal fill we see here. C'mon, ya gotta love it!

I managed a 14-minute tour through today's puzzle as I seemed to be on Andrew's frequency beginning with a NASA gimme for me. 

Now let's storm the barriers and see what else A RIES has for us today:


Across:

1. Critical measurements in "Apollo 13": AMPS  - This NASA educator, who has seen Apollo 13 countless times and remembered how the ground crew in Houston figured out how to mete out the meager 20 AMPS the command module would have available to return to Earth.

5. "Yada yada yada" letters: ETC.

8. They may be wrapped at restaurants: FORKS - Pitas and sushi stayed in the kitchen

13. China neighbor: LAOS  - This will connect Kunming, China with Bangkok, Thailand through LAOS

14. Common pace for a slugger: TROT  - The most famous home run TROT in baseball history

16. "__ you special": AREN'T - Sarcasm d'jour 

17. In a big stack: PILED HIGH - How do you even attack this $22 Carnegie Deli sandwich?

19. Assessor's decision: VALUE - Oh look, my the house tax levy went down! Oops, never mind, the VALUATION on my house went up

20. Kind: ILK - Aren't we an ILK here at the corner and each of us a vital 7. Tooth not examined by a dentist: COG.

21. Car wash option: WAX - Is it worth it?

22. Serious reading?: RIOT ACT - King George I issued this decree in 1714 saying goups of 12 or more could be shot or impreisoned when assembling. He wrote it in German as he never learned to speak English and German survived in Buckingham Palace until WWI when they also abandoned their German family name and adopted the name Windsor.

24. B-complex vitamin: NIACIN


26. Old fad items packed in boxes with breathing holes: PET ROCKS - There truly is one born every minute

27. Conclude with: END ON - Some rude people don't heed the rule that fireworks were to END ON July 4th. 

28. Achieves: DOES

29. New job requirement, perhaps: RELO - Real estate agent speak for RELOCATION

30. "That makes sense": GOOD REASON

33. Convertible's spot: DEN - I assume Andrew did not mean someone ran into the house with their car

34. Help for ones seeing stars?: TELESCOPES - Galileo changed the world with his telescope by looking at the Moon, Jupiter, Venus and Saturn. His findings got him accused of heresy and kept him under house arrest until his death

36. Macabre rock genre: DEATH METAL - Google if you're more interested than I am

38. Where odds are posted: Abbr.: OTB  - Here are what the OTB odds were for the final leg of the Triple Crown this year

41. Modern capture?: SCREEN GRAB  - The picture above was a SCREEN SHOT (GRAB) from a website using Command + Shift + 4 on my MacBook Pro computer

43. Negri of silents: POLA - I'll bet you all know the "little tramp" with whom she had an affair (circa. 1922)

45. Starter starter?: HORS  - What HORS D'OEUVRE(S) (literally outside the work or outside the meal) are appropriate for a Bastille Day party?

46. "Nattering nabobs" veep: AGNEW - Spiro of Maryland - Nixon's VP and lightning rod

48. Track runners: TROLLEYS  - Omaha once had a trolley system that was second in size to only Boston

50. Many a head shop garment: TIE DYE.

51. Don't forget about: INCLUDE.

52. Have in hand: OWN.

53. Reddit VIP: MOD  - They are MODERATORS on the Reddit site with which I have no experience

54. One you usually don't want to meet: MAKER  -Rooster Cogburn once warned, "Prepare to meet your MAKER!"

55. Makeshift branch hanger: ROPE SWING  - The internet has a bottomless supply of "fails" on ROPE SWINGS. You can't fool gravity, inertia and centripetal force.

58. "Hello" balladeer: ADELE and 42. First artist whose first six albums debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200: BEYONCE - I'm sure they are fine artists but they are not on my iPhone playlist

59. Miss a syllable or two, say: SLUR  - Foster Brooks (correction) used this verbal device to make a good living

60. Formerly: ONCE.

61. Rich veins: LODES  - Gee, I wonder where they got the name of the TV Show with the man and his three sons in Nevada

62. Medium skill: ESP - I've told the joke here at least twice about the the crooked fortune teller who was running from the law - Headline - Small Medium At Large. Ah, you can't go wrong with good material!

63. Invader from below: WEED.


Down:

1. __ skiing: ALPINE - Sliding down a mountain using "fixed-heel" ski bindings

2. Sending out: MAILING - I can't remember the last time I got a significant communication via Snail MAIL

3. Round fabric pattern element: POLKA DOT

4. Compass dir.: SSE - This plane is heading SSE which is 160˚to the nearest 10 degrees on a compass and the 0 is dropped from the runway marking

5. Hunt in "Mission: Impossible" films: ETHAN - A Tom Cruise film franchise

6. Brand with a leporine mascot: TRIX  - Silly Rabbit, TRIX are for kids!

8. Solid, in a request: FAVOR  - "Hey, brother, would you do me a solid (FAVOR)?

9. Speaker: ORATOR - On November 19, 1863, famed ORATOR Edward Everett spoke for two hours but President Lincoln only spoke for two minutes at a cemetery dedication

10. Fastened anew, as a corset: RELACED seems to fit with 47. Squeezed (in): WEDGED.

11. Sandwich component?: KNUCKLE - "How'd ya like a KNUCKLE sandwich?"

12. "Boss of the Plains" apparel brand: STETSON - Mexicans claimed their tan galán (very gallant) hats were superior to Texan's plain STETSON hats. For those Texans, tan galán became...

15. Golfing groups: THREESOMES - A THREESOME playing winter golf on the Great Plains

18. Gradually goes down: DWINDLES - Jimmy Durante wistfully singing the September Song, "Oh the days DWINDLE down to a precious few"

23. "Come on in!": IT'S OPEN.

25. Whispered sweet nothings: COOED - Often paired with BILLED and I suppose I could look up why but...

26. They take things the wrong way: POACHERS - Killing those animals is contemptible 

28. Smallest Battleship pieces: DESTROYERS - Can you pick it out?

31. Connected with: REACHED.

32. Bottom-line positives: NET GAINS - Could be in dollars or yards

35. Looie's underling: SARGE - This second Looie never could get the respect of those under him

37. Metaphor for a potential crisis: LANDMINE - Do you know where they lie at family gatherings?

38. Best-case: OPTIMAL.

39. "The Wizard of Oz" plot twist--literally: TORNADO - Dorothy leaves b/w Kansas and winds up in Technicolor Oz

40. Denied access, on social media: BLOCKED - My niece's incessant politics and profanity made me BLOCK her

44. Genetic variant: ALLELE.

49. Casting array: LURES  - Where do you start?

50. Annoying sort: TWERP.

52. Numbered work: OPUS - The most popular "On Hold" music in the world is this OPUS Number One written for CISCO by Tim Carleton and Derrick Deel. 15 seconds is enough for me.

56. __ Miss: OLE  - How 'bout those Rebels?

57. "I. Am. Speechless.": WOW - Now how about some comments for Andrew and ce misérable (this miserable) that will Leave. Us. Speechless. 

p.s. I hope our Madam Defarge is knitting today in observance of Bastille Day! 

DA GRID

Saturday, July 7, 2018, Kyle Dolan

Themeless Saturday by Kyle Dolan

Today celebrates a dessert favorite of my wife of 51 years - The Strawberry Sundae. I think my lovely bride should buy stock in The Driscoll Strawberry Company of Watsonville, California as their products are in our fridge in perpetuity. 

The worst job I ever had in my misspent youth was one my dad got for me without asking - picking strawberries in the hot sun for a dime a pint.

I last had one of Dr. Dolan's themeless wonders in May and this one was just as challenging and fun as that one. Doing puzzles on the computer early in order to get a blog ready lends itself to small errors and I had to correct a cell that would have been okay if I had been using paper and pencil. 

Now let's see what innovative fill Kyle has for us that reflects his job description above.

Across:

1. Shiloh's parents, familiarly: BRANGELINA - Shiloh Pitt-Jolie is the eldest biological child of Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie whose portmanteau is BRANGELINA; which ranks right up there with ELHI for me

11. With 15-Across, kind of vehicle: OFF and 15. See 11-Across: ROAD - Hmmm, there's a reason to stay ON ROAD!

14. Regional charm: LOCAL COLOR - We attended a wedding in a vineyard near Venice, Italy where we got a lot of LOCAL COLOR and plenty of a clear liquor that resembled ouzo. 

17. 2005 Cusack/Thornton thriller/comedy, with "The": ICE HARVEST - Rotten Tomatoes says, "Meh"

18. Caramel-filled candy: ROLO

19. Puckish group?: Abbr.: NHL - A wonderful puckish story

20. The Righteous Brothers' "Ebb Tide" wasn't one: DUET - Bobby Hatfield blew the doors off that song alone! It's worth a YouTube visit and so is 34. "Smooth Operator" singer: SADE - Sha DAY and so is 8. Ellington's "__ Song Go Out of My Heart": I LET A.

23. Demise: DEATH - The actual quote and 21. "Really?": IS IT SO? Uh, no, IT was not SO.

25. English house symbolized by a red rose: LANCASTER and 50. Any of the 25-Across kings: HENRY - they ruled for 60 years with Henry IV, V and VI

27. Julia of film: RAUL - RAUL is his first name. He took a turn as Gomez Addams in The Addams Family movie

29. The Jungfrau, e.g.: ALP.

30. Cocktail salt site: RIM - Hey a soldier can just make so many sacrifices 

31. Not abundant: SCANT - Civility in today's political discourse on both sides

33. Put away: ATE - If you ATE one of these 28" pepperoni pizzas in less than an hour, you won $100 and a $100 gift certificate to LW Pizza in Long Beach, CA. Oh yeah, the big pizza would also be free.

35. Great reception: STANDING OVATION 

38. Besmirches: TARS 

39. Asian language: LAO - ສະ​ບາຍ​ດີ​, ເຈົ້າ​ສະ​ບາຍ​ດີ​ບໍ່​ sa bai di chao sa bai di bo (Hello, how are you?)

40. As a whole: IN ALL.

41. Type of port: USB - Reading left to right on my MacBook Pro you have a charging port, two thunderbolt ports, a USB port and a port for headphones

42. Thrust producer: FIN - Here's a good caudal fin

43. Some code taps: DITS - Go to this Morse Code Translator site, type in your name in the input section, hit the play button to the right of the Translate box. You'll get visual and audio version of your name in DITS and DOTS!

44. Shell-shaped dessert brand: CHOCO TACO and 48. Ice cream alternative, familiarly: FROYO both look good this time of year

47. A bit less than a quart: FIFTH 

51. Stoolie: CANARY - Not all of them are feathered but can still "sing like a CANARY"

52. Ancient Cuzco resident: INCA.

54. Sushi topper: ROE.

55. Shel Silverstein poem "Hug __": O'WAR - A lovely sentiment 

56. Ball attire: DINNER GOWN.

59. Bob Dylan's musical tribute to his wife: SARA - Okay

60. Company with Wienermobiles: OSCAR MAYER 

62. Chilling account: GHOST STORY- The prefect atmosphere 

Down:

1. Obligatory poker bet: BLIND  - In "flop style" poker, the obligatory BLINDS move around the table with The Button from hand to hand

2. Tamiflu manufacturer: ROCHE.

3. Boston-D.C. service: ACELA  - High speed rail

4. "Sorry": NAH - Sorry is in quotes indicating sarcasm 

5. Feigned enthusiastic greeting: GLAD HAND  - Also called "pressing the flesh" or "working the rope line"

6. Brown family shade: ECRU.

7. Apollo 13 astronaut: LOVELL - In the final scene of the movie Apollo 13, Tom Hanks plays Jim LOVELL and Jim LOVELL as seen here is playing the part of an admiral welcoming the astronauts aboard the U.S.S. Iwo Jima

Jim Lovell and Tom Hanks in Apollo XIII

9. Crossword clue features: Abbr.: NOS - This one is NO. 9 Down

10. Constitution's ratification section: ARTICLE VII.

11. Root in perfumery: ORRIS  - Into each puzzle, a little learning must fall. This root is used in some perfumes, incense and gin

12. Track through the woods: FOOT TRAIL - This FOOT TRAIL in Yosemite includes this bridge over Kings River

13. Its worship is often forbidden: FALSE IDOL - A FALSE IDOL is in the zealotry of the worshipper

16. Uniformed greeters: DOORMEN - I don't know if you should be proud or ashamed that you remember the TV series that featured Carlton the DOORMAN

22. Easy mark: SAP.

24. Prefix with gender: TRANS.

26. 29-member org.: NATO.

28. Dalmatian, say, to a Brit: UTILITY DOG - Here is a Dalmatian serving a UTILITARIAN role in a famous venue

31. Store safely: STASH AWAY  - I did STASH AWAY my 1950's baseball cards but when mom and dad moved... 

32. Rich pasta dish: CARBONARA - How 'bout some shrimp CARBONARA? 61. "Woo-hoo!": YAY.

33. Long __: AGO.

34. GDR spy group: STASI - The former headquarters of this brutal and repressive organization is now a museum in Berlin

35. Applies plaster to: STUCCOS.

36. Darling pooch: NANA - A picture of NANA the dog with the Darling children in an illustration by an unknown artist for Scottish author J.M. Barrie's Peter Pan

37. Formicaria: ANT FARMS  - ...and the learning just keeps on happening

42. Supporting: FOR.

43. Prima __: DONNAS - (Prima Doggies)

45. Longtime name in baseball broadcasting: CARAY  - A truly iconic, if not always accurate (or some say sober), broadcaster who was famous for this musical interlude

46. Half of diez: CINCO - La mitad de las diez es CINCO (1/2 of ten is five)

49. Lookout position: TOWER - Testing what can be seen from the guard towers

53. Dead __: very likely thing, to a Brit: CERT - Couldn't find it in here:

57. Sorta relative: ISH.

58. Noir weapon: GAT - Pistol also Rod, Roscoe or Heater

Make a  comment and then get out the ice cream, strawberries, whipped cream (Cool Whip at our house) and a cherry 


DA GRID: