L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Saturday

Showing posts with label Saturday. Show all posts

Jun 28, 2025

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)_/¯

Jun 21, 2025

Saturday, June 21, 2025, Alan Massengill, Doug Peterson

Themeless Saturday by Alan Massengill & Doug Peterson

Today is the first full day of Summer as the Solstice occurred at 9;42 pm (CDT) last night when the sun was directly over the Tropic of Cancer. We will have the greatest amount of daylight and, as you see at the left, this is where you will see the sunrise on this day at Stonehenge. For us here in Nebraska, the grackles will soon be moving on from our feeders and will not be missed.

Today's puzzle by Alan (left below) and Doug has a nice wide-open grid with only 27 blocks and 102 open squares. The long grid-spanners were very "gettable" and clever fill added to the fun. Hanging on to LEGIT too long was a speed bump. My potential Natick was at _AVI/_ONCE and for some reason, NONCE made some sense for one-off and the Congratulations window came up.

Across:

1. Ocean spray?: SEA SALT.

8. Sings the blues: ACTS SAD - I chose Buck's version over Ringo's.

15. Flurry: HUSTLE AND BUSTLE.

17. Particulars from behind closed doors: INTIMATE DETAILS - She should know.

18. Capital of Cambodia: RIELS - A Big Mac in Phnom Penh, the uh, capital of Cambodia, costs 23,938 REILS

19. States: AVERS 20. __ service: LIP - He AVERS that he will back me up but it turned out to be LIP service when I needed him.

21. Space that may be kind of a lot: ACRE 😀

22. Signs: OMENS - Get to the basement!

23. Numbers game: KENO.

24. Really chill: ZEN.

25. Highlands estate owner: LAIRD.

26. One duo and two trios: OCTET 😀 (1 x 2) + (2 x 3) = 2 + 6 = 8

27. Works from home?: BATS 😀

28. Command performances?: SALUTES - What a private has to do to a general or...

QEII and the lads
after a command performance

30. Nancy, to Fritzi Ritz: NIECE - 1944 edition

32. Surveyor's support: BIPOD.

33. Game for pick-y people: LOTTERY.

35. CLE team: CAVS.

36. Final challenge, perhaps: ESSAY 😀 I always liked multiple choices better but knew there would probably be an ESSAY question near the end

37. Spark joy in: ELATE.

39. NL players since 2022: DH'S - The National League finally started using it 49 years later.

42. Groks: GETS - We solvers grok and suss

43. No-hit performance?: B-SIDE 😀 - Hanging onto LEGIT too long and not knowing BRITE left me starting at _ S E D E for a while. Richie Valens' La Bamba was once a B-SIDE.

44. Drink choice: NEAT - We veterans here remember Tinbeni who refused to have ice in his scotch

45. "How To Triumph Like a Girl" poet Limón: ADA ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ The poem

46. New York minute: TRICE.

47. One-off: NONCE

48. "It came back to me so easily!": LIKE RIDING A BIKE.

51. "Let me worry about that": I'VE GOT IT COVERED.

52. Signified: DENOTED.

53. Text-style workers: EDITORS - A fun play on the word textile

Down:

1. Red selection: SHIRAZ - I picked up on the clue for red wine but this wine naif needed a lot of help for this variety

2. Carol Burnett character: EUNICE - Eunice and her Mama had issues

3. Toward a paddle wheel: ASTERN.

4. Steps over a wall: STILE.

5. Element of the Third Pillar of Islam: ALMS.

6. Green span: LEA.

7. Tea ceremony surfaces: TATAMIS.

The mat is called a TATAMI

8. Plus ones?: ADDENDS - This math teacher deserves a time out for trying to see this as someone who is taken as date to an event instead of...

9. Many semi pros: CBERS - I quickly saw semi as a tractor/trailer combo, good buddy!

10. Sounds of contempt: TUTS.

11. Retirement income org.: SSA.

12. Lift provider on a runway: STILETTO - I'll admit my first thought was of supportive underwear.

Can be hazardous

13. Only Top 40 hit for actor/singer Jack Wagner: ALL I NEED - It reached #2 behind Madonna's Like A Virgin

14. Tyrants: DESPOTS.

16. "Give up?" comeback: NEVER - General McAuliffe had a different way to respond to a German demand to give up in 1944.

22. Western: OATER.

23. Trademarked pods: K CUPS - I use them everyday but can't find any strong enough

25. Chabert of "Mean Girls": LACEY - She's on the left below. I did not know her name but her face was instantly familiar as my lovely bride is a big fan of her much different persona as Hallmark's Queen Of Christmas.

26. Fruit in caponata: OLIVE - Yeah, I guess it is a fruit but I usually don't thionk of it as one.

Caponata

27. Almost-ready versions: BETAS.

29. Ease up: ABATE.

30. Plummet: NOSEDIVE.

31. "Don't sit there": IT'S TAKEN - Not a pleasant chore

33. Passport, for one: LEGAL ID.

34. "Guilty as charged": YES I DID - Saying "Guilty as charged" can defuse a tense situation

35. Rhythmic flow: CADENCE - A fun way to keep it.

38. Permissible: LICIT - As I said, I had LEGAL here for way too long.

39. "Taxi Driver" Oscar nominee: DENIRO - His famous line from that movie

40. Cyberwarrior, sometimes: HACKER.

41. Lipizzans, e.g.: STEEDS - Horse lover General George Patton was instrumental in saving a large number of Lipizzans from the advancing Russians in 1945.