Saturday, December 6, 2025, Emily Biegas

Saturday Themeless by Emily Biegas

Emily               Sala

Emily and her friend Sala Wanetick have had several LA Puzzles published, and this appears to be Emily's first solo effort. The picture on the left is of Sala and Emily after they had one of their puzzles accepted in the NYT.

I had a fun time with Emily's solo effort that even included two math terms.

Across:

1. __ curtains: CAFE.

5. __ operandi: MODUS - Usually seen as M.O. or method of operation.

10. Depop's parent company: ETSY.

14. Libation made with skin-contact grapes: ORANGE WINE - ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Unlike traditional white wines, where the juice is immediately separated from the skins after pressing, orange wine ferments with the skins for a period that can range from a few days to many months. You're welcome.

16. Geodesic structure: DOME - The Desert DOME at Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo is amazing.

17. Main, often: STREET NAME.

18. Subj. of some food labeling laws: GMOS - Geneitecally Modified Foods

19. Currency exchanged for GBP, perhaps: EUR.

20. Singer __ Marie: TEENA ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

21. Bird feeder?: BEAK 😀

22. Angry: CROSS.

24. Spreadsheet specification: RANGE - =SUM(B13:B17) will add up the numbers in the RANGE from cell B13 to cell B17.

26. Quirk: TIC.

28. Record holders: LOGS.

30. Half-baked, say: NOT DONE 😀

32. A-one: PRIMO.

34. Educated: LETTERED.

35. American, for one: PROCESSED CHEESE - I know Velvet is a PROCESSED CHEESE product, but it's great for a toasted cheese sandwich to accompany tomato soup... 

   

37. Home of the Glastonbury Festival: SOMERSET - It is held in Pilton, which is a town near Glastonbury in the county of SOMERSET in SW England.

38. Grazing groups: HERDS.

39. "Whew, that was close!": I MADE IT - Name the movie with this scene (* answer at bottom)

40. Unadorned: BARE.

41. Trig ratio: SIN - Opposite/hypotenuse = SIN

42. "__ me!": SPARE.

44. Digression: ASIDE.

48. Editorial override: STET.

50. "Mangia!": DIG IN - An Italian invitation to chow down

52. Small inlet: RIA.

53. Common pendant on a graduate's tassel: YEAR.

54. Talisman: MAGIC CHARM.

56. "I __ sorry": AM SO.

57. Enigmatic rock group: STONEHENGE 😀 15 days from now, on the winter solstice, this is what the sunrise will look like at STONEHENGE. 

58. Jangling set: KEYS - Tools for every custodian

59. Laconic: TERSE.

60. Brick oven output: PIES.

Down:

1. Trig ratio: COSEC.

2. Fischer who invented the plastic drywall anchor: ARTUR - I've used them a lot but as for the inventor ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

3. Grain bowl ingredient with a nutty flavor: FARRO ¯\_(ツ)_/¯  An ancient wheat grain

4. GPS heading: ENE.

5. Dole (out): METE.

6. Possessive types: OWNERS.

7. Kristen's "Spencer" role: DIANA.

8. Part of UAV: UNMANNED - UNMANNED Aerial Vehicle 

9. "What'd I tell you?": SEE.

10. Browser with a blue-and-green wave logo: EDGE.

11. Natural shade produced by lycopene: TOMATO RED.

12. Mezcal quality: SMOKINESS.

13. Celebratory cry: YES.

15. "You should take a break": GET SOME REST.

21. Put all of one's eggs in one basket: BET THE RANCH.

23. Like some packaged produce: SLICED.

25. "Copy": GOTCHA or...

27. Give up: CEDE.

29. Buzz: GOSSIP.

31. Some riding mowers: DEERES.

32. "Pinky swear!": PROMISE ME.

33. Genre for novelists Sarah J. Maas and Rebecca Yarros: ROMANTASY - I filled this in and then it took a while to see the portmanteau: ROMANCE and FANTASY.

34. Court call: LET - Tennis court

35. Trident-shaped letters: PSIS.

36. Make plans to tie the knot: SET A DATE.

40. Sets off: BEGINS.

43. Fastidiousness: RIGOR.

45. From Tehran: IRANI 

46. Requiem: DIRGE.

47. Big name in midcentury modern design: EAMES.

49. Archer in Greek mythology: EROS.

51. Brand that once had a licensing deal with 7-Eleven: ICEE - They now call them Slurpees

53. __ butter: YAK - The source 

54. DEN airport zone: MST.

55. Like a cool cat: HEP.

*Whew! That scene was of Gordie and Vern escaping the train in the wonderful "coming of age" movie Stand By Me.

 

Notes from C.C.:

Happy 88th birthday to dear Lucina, who visited Minnesota in 2012. Here's a picture of me, Lucina and her three sisters at Mall of America.   

C.C., Lucina, Marge, Yoli & Juanita 

Saturday, November 29, 2025, Joe Marangell

Saturday Themeless by Joe Marangell

Joe Marangell is the social studies instructional leader for East Haven Public Schools in East Haven, Connecticut, where he has worked since 2001 focused on inquiry-based learning, literacy, and student engagement. He has an EdD in Curriculum and Instruction and is a Crossword puzzle constructor!

I made what I think is an intelligent mistake at 64. Across. I thought Melodramatic movie scenes might have LENTO MUSIC and MOIRA ROLE (no idea) and TANS (they end at cuffs and sleeves sometimes), but not so much. Couple that with some "new to me" fill, and it made for some skating around to finish.

Joe was nice enough to tell me this: My name is pronounced with a soft g, like Mare-an-jell. My favorite entries in the puzzle were VIBE CODING and MOIRA ROSE. I was in a meeting about artificial intelligence at school, and the tech director told us about vibe coding, which I had never heard of before at that point. I made a note of the phrase since I thought it was an interesting-sounding one. Moira Rose is the hilarious character portrayed by Catherine O'Hara on the TV show Schitt's Creek, so when I saw that fit in the grid, I had to keep it.

My favorite clues were [Cave man?] for Plato and [Pop of vibrant color?] for ORANGE SODA. (The clues in the actual puzzle may have been changed from these since that happens with some of them during the editing process.) Also, I completely agree with Malaika Handa's advice of "It's a game not a test!"! I look up things all the time when I do crosswords, and I have no shame in doing that!

Across:

1. "Cav/Pag" opera combination, notably: DOUBLE BILL - What a start! 

"Cav/Pag" is the common pairing of two Italian

 operas: Mascagni's Cavallerie Rusticana and Leoncavallo's Pagliacci, presented together as a "double bill". The tradition began in 1893 at the Metropolitan Opera and continues today because the two operas, despite being by different composers, share a similar style of intense, realistic, and often violent, stories about common people. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Going to one opera would be hard enough for me, so two, I don't think so but I did suss this out.

11. Electrical carriers: IONS.

15. Indignant denial: IT'S ALL A LIE.

16. Surface crack: CHAP - Like on your lips

17. App development using A.I. and natural language: VIBE CODING ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

18. New Age singer from Donegal: ENYA - A hit song by an Irish girl that has a South American River in the title. Enjoy:

19. Braying animal: ASS.

20. Cave man?: PLATO - Explanation

21. Designer Hugo: BOSS.

22. Cookie with 90 ridges per wafer: OREO.

24. Title for a fictional rabbit: BRER.

26. Limited offer: PROMO.

29. Way of checking lines after they're cast?: TABLE READ - The cast of Seinfeld goes through a TABLE READ for the next script

34. Two-wheel carriage: HANSOM.

36. Sporting phrase: GOOD GAME.

good game, good game, good game
good game, good game, good game...

37. Loving poem: ODE.

38. Taylor Swift, typically: SOLO ACT - She is a SOLO ACT, but it takes a huge crew and a convoy of semis to set her up.

40. [Error in original]: SIC.

41. Comparatively cozy: TOASTIER.

43. Seijin-shiki garment: KIMONO - Seijin-shiki is a "coming of age" ceremony in Japan

45. Traveling: ON THE ROAD - Didn't you think of this?

47. Generous one: DONOR.

48. Atmosphere: AURA - Not VIBE this time 

49. Steve of "Peacemaker": AGEE ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

51. Power unit: WATT.

53. Expression of probability: RATIO.

56. __ name: PET.

59. Drama honor: OBIE - This is what our frequent cwd award visitor looks like

60. Pop of vibrant color?: ORANGE SODA - My fav drink 70 years ago

63. "Ratatouille" culinary genius: REMY.

64. Like melodramatic movie scenes: SET TO MUSIC.

65. "Twittering Machine" artist: KLEE.

66. "Annie" song that's a counterpoint to "It's the Hard-Knock Life": EASY STREET.

Down:

1. Demanding star: DIVA.

2. Los Angeles Times co-founder Eliza Ann __: OTIS. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

3. Some PC ports: USB'S.

4. Boo: BAE - Not a fan of either term of endearment 

5. Business letters: LLC.

6. Participate in a secret exchange: ELOPE 😀 - I learned that this is the term nursing homes use for residents leaving without permission.

7. Scoundrel: BAD LOT - 

"He's a bad lot" means he is a bad, untrustworthy or unpleasant person. 

The phrase is often used in British English and is considered old-fashioned. It describes someone who is morally bad, a troublemaker, or unreliable. You're Welcome. 

8. Pelvic bones: ILIA.

9. __ roller: LINT - We cat owners have a supply!

10. Construction piece: LEGO BLOCK 😀

11. Wedge salad base: ICEBERG - A crunchy offering made with ICEBERG lettuce

12. "Just curious": OH NO REASON - Yeah, right!

13. Votes against: NAYS.

14. Restorative sites: SPAS.

22. Chanting syllables: OMS.

23. Low-tech alarm: ROOSTER 😀

25. Harmful algal bloom: RED TIDE.

26. Common ID component: PHOTO.

27. Element considered in a home inspection: RADON.

28. Admonishment to waiters: ONE AT A TIME - For people waiting in line

30. Ancient assembly space: AGORA.

31. Drag strip?: BOA 😀

32. __ acids: AMINO.

33. Home magazine topic: DECOR.

35. "Schitt's Creek" character who tells her son to "stop acting like a disgruntled pelican": MOIRA ROSE. We had her in the 11/21/25 puzzle by Emet Ozar. There's even merch! 

39. Summer sign: LEO - Astrology: Leo is a summer sign. Astronomy: Leo is a winter constellation. Guess which one I give the most credence?

42. Rest: SHUT EYE.

44. Springfield barkeep: MOE - Another member of the Simpson cast.

46. Delicate: DAINTY.

50. "Our Lips Are Sealed" band: GOGOS - A hit from 44 years ago.

51. Succeed: WORK.

52. Second son of Adam and Eve: ABEL.

54. Field of study: AREA.

55. Some sleeves and cuffs: TATS - These are $13.95 online

56. Put forward: POSE.

57. Actress/model Sedgwick: EDIE. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

58. Conflict resolution skill: TACT.

61. Defib expert: EMT - Here an EMT is training to use an Automated External Defibrillator

62. Begin to charge?: SUR - Some businesses assess a SURCHARGE for paying by credit card.