Saturday, February 22, 2025, Zhouqin Burnikel

 Themeless Saturday by Zhouqin Burnikel

C.C. has a very challenging and mouth watering-entry for us with her 400th puzzle. I kept coming up to culinary clues and fill that were foreign to me but they all worked themselves out and I got a very satisfying "got 'er done!" As you can see by the graphic at the left, she had some very unique or 1 other long fill.

Across:

1. Seated asana?: CHAIR POSE 

         

10. Also: TOO.

13. Some transparent covers: GLASS DOMES.

14. Dove bars?: COOS.

15. Clearly embarrassed: RED AS A BEET.

16. Concert lineup: AMPS.

17. Skin care company with a Sanskrit name: AVEDA - From Ayurveda which is Sanskrit for "knowledge of life".

18. Smart Fiesta kit brand: OLD EL PASO.

20. Hill with no peak: MESA 😀

21. Bread like limppu: RYE - ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Finnish RYE bread

22. Track records: BETS.

23. Noodles: PASTA.

25. Brought up the rear?: STOOD 😀

27. Hymn associated with King David: PSALM.

30. Sound for silence: SHH 😀

32. The Grand Ole __: OPRY - We went to see the new Grand Ole Opry in Nashville but it was flooded out so we went to where the show originated - Ryman Auditorium in downtown Nashville to sit in the original pews.

33. Ticks away: ELAPSES.

35. Start without a key: HOT WIRE.

37. Juicy bits?: PULP.

38. Masked drama whose name means "skill": NOH.

40. Food that never decays: HONEY.

41. Not great at all: SMALL 😀

43. Real head-turner: BEAUT.

45. Rainbow eucalyptus, for one: TREE - Native to the Philippines 

46. Liquor in a dark 'n' stormy: RUM.

47. Run: TROT.

51. Play things for kids: TOY PIANOS - A vintage Schoenhut model over 100 years old

54. See-through fabric: GAUZE.

55. Whale that preys on seals: ORCA.

56. Total variety: RAISIN BRAN.

58. Go nowhere: STAY.

59. Frank Stella pieces: MINIMAL ART.

60. With it, once: HEP - Hip or Hep? My last fill was the ending vowel in 27. Rich fruit cake: PLUM TORTE.

61. Travel at night, maybe: SLEEP WALK 😀 Here's Dick Clark introducing the great old 50's instrumental with this title. 

Down:

1. AIDS Memorial Quilt designer Jones: CLEVE.

           

2. Dead zone?: HADES 😀

3. Taqueria option: ASADA - Grilled meat  in English

4. Emmy nominee Rae: ISSA.

5. Vitamin fig.: RDA.

6. New Orleans heros: PO'BOYS.

7. Gyeran-mari and tamagoyaki: OMELETS.

8. Acorn, for one: SEED 😀

9. One of the Haim sisters: ESTE - She is on the right

10. Red hot pizza: TOMATO PIE.

11. "My bad!": OOPS, SORRY.

12. Bone, in Italian: OSSO - Mi sono rotto un OSSO del braccio (I broke a bone in my arm)

13. Approximate weight of some large butterflies: GRAM.

14. City with views of Table Mountain: CAPETOWN.

19. Scale divs.: LBS.

21. Noodle dish with a tonkotsu variety: RAMEN - Tonkotsu is a Japanese word that refers to both a ramen broth made from pork bones and a fried pork cutlet dish. You're welcome.

23. "Thx" counterpart: PLS.

24. Patient sound?: AHH.

26. Turn blue, perhaps: DYE 😀

28. Top sports figure?: SALARY CAP - When you pay your QB a huge salary, it's hard to get good players for other positions and stay under the SALARY CAP.

29. Google Wallet alternative: APPLE PAY.

31. Lackluster: HO HUM.

33. Short records: EPS - Extended Play recordS play a little longer than a 45 rpm record and far less than a 33 1/3 rpm LP

34. Have a good cry: SOB.

36. Fry alternative: TOT 😀 - Tater TOTS are a good alternative to French fries.

39. Mulan, for one: HEROINE.

42. Ring around the collar: LEI.

44. Down Under one: AUSSIE - A nickname for Australia is OZ because it's pronunciation is close to its first syllable.

47. Sitar accompaniment: TABLA.

48. Like much of Maine: RURAL.

49. Netflix show set in Missouri: OZARK.

50. Farmer's market structure: TENT.

51. Peter of the Wailers: TOSH ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

52. Quintet for most starfish: ARMS - Creepy

53. Place for cuticle oil: NAIL.

54. Chew like a mouse: GNAW.

57. Naughty child: IMP.

 

Saturday, February 15, 2025, Enrique Henestroza Anguiano

 Themeless by Enrique Henestroza Anguiano

I’m a data scientist from Oakland, CA, with a background in computational linguistics. In this picture I am eating a Voodoo Donut in Portland, OR.

Here is what Enrique told me about this puzzle: I built this puzzle around A STRANGE LOOP, which is a musical I had recently seen on tour in San Francisco. I laughed, I cried, and I was moved by its perspective on the black gay experience and on an artist's creative process. Otherwise, something I got early feedback on with this puzzle is that it only has eight answers of 8+ length. I don't see that as a problem: I think answers of every length can be interesting and combine to create a fun overall experience, and not every themeless puzzle needs to try to tick the same boxes. I love the flow of this grid and how it came together with a low word count of 70. I hope you enjoy it too. :)

I've had some quick solves in the past few weeks, uh, this wasn't one of them. I had sporadic success in the upper part of the puzzle and only got a good foothold in the SW corner where that fill came quickly and then so did BREAST STROKE (C.C. is featured in this fill). It was upward and onward from there and I got a well-earned "got 'er done". A little humility is good for us all!

Across:

1. Trap: YAP - My first thought was NET but we've seen trap as a form of rap lately but this just turned out to be slang for mouth.

4. DOMS symptoms: ACHES ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I had no idea but I suspect this is a problem with New Year's resolutions about working out more often or at all.

9. Icy __: STARE.

14. Address on a business card: URL.

15. Go toe-to-toe: CLASH - Bragging about what you'll do to Mike Tyson can all go away when you're toe-to-toe with him

16. Engage in a numbers game?: HIT ON - I was thinking of gambling and trying to HIT ON a number but was not all that happy with that idea. So, I asked Enrique and he said his intent was HITTING ON someone and trying to get a phone number. 😀

17. Spy-fi org.: CIA.

18. Low member of a quartet: CELLO - The O in SHOULD gave me _ _ _ _ O and I went for a singing BASSO first.

19. Out: ALIBI.

20. Frying medium: CANOLA and 31. Frying medium: PALM OIL.

22. Like art with hazy provenance, perhaps: UNDATED.

24. Pulitzer- and Tony-winning musical whose cast consists of Usher and his Thoughts: A STRANGE LOOP - A seed entry for Enrique: An usher is the main character and has nothing to do with the singer. This usher is an aspiring black queer musical theater writer.

27. Tactic that fails to deliver the goods: BAIT AND SWITCH.

32. "Huzzah!": YAHOO.

33. Ultra hi-__: RESolution

34. Flair: KNACK. 

37. "How cute!": AWW or

38. Home __: BREWS.

41. Soundproofing aids: CARPETS - BAFFLES filled in like a dream at _ A _ _ _ _ S but...

44. "Does this sound like a joke to you?": I'M DEAD SERIOUS.

47. Slowest competitive swimming style: BREASTSTROKE - C.C. was kind enough to share this video of her doing this stroke in October of 2023 when she was learning to swim.

50. Strike for an umpire?: BAD CALL - Angel Hernandez has consistently been rated as the worst umpire in MLB.

53. Gadgets in Yondr pouches: PHONES - ¯\_(ツ)_/¯  Yondr pouches are lockable bags that keep phones and other devices out of sight and out of reach. They are used in schools and at events to create phone-free spaces. 

54. Basic font: ARIAL - This is ARIAL font

55. HS class for aspiring premeds, perhaps: AP BIO.

58. "That can be arranged": YES - Be careful what you ask for.

59. "I wanna try!": LEMME.

60. Mushroom variety: MOREL.

61. Polish brand: OPI - Yes, it is available in Poland! 😀

62. En __: MASSE.

63. Mate's response?: I LOSE.

64. Capitalize on: USE.

Down:

1. Joshua tree, e.g.: YUCCA.

2. Artistic displays at the Met: ARIAS - Opera singing is definitely an art

3. Like a diet rich in phytonutrients: PLANT BASED - Photo is the Greek word for plant

4. Applaud: ACCLAIM.

5. Social media hashtag for nourishing one's inner neatnik: CLEAN TOK - ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

TikTok videos with the hashtag #CleanTok have more than 150 billion views, with influencers broadcasting themselves scrubbing their sinks, descaling their dishwashers, and using increasingly bizarre and extreme methods to make their homes shine.

6. Sparks of "Queer as Folk": HAL ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

HAL is in the
middle row on the left

7. Subj. for some refugees: ESL.

8. "Auld Lang Syne" opener: SHOULD.

9. Mysterious: SHADOWY.

10. Warmwater fish: TILAPIA.

11. Working hard: AT IT.

12. Wrap after a spa treatment: ROBE.

13. "Wednesday" werewolf: ENID ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

21. Voiced: ORAL.

23. Refusals: NOS.

25. Result of crunch time?: GAIN - I told Enrique that I thought that meant a GAIN of muscle from doing ab crunches and Enrique said I was right. He thought it was funny when I told him that might cause some Delayed Onset Muscle Aches (4. Across)

26. Interweaves: ENLACES.

28. "Don't even try to pin the blame elsewhere": THAT'S ON YOU.

29. Female whales: COWS.

30. Know-__: HOW.

31. Do for a while?: PERM - They call it a permanent even though it is temporary. 😀

33. Softball stat: RBI.

35. Roller on a golf course: CART 😀

36. Word in some crunchy cereal names: KRISPIES - Packaging over 90 years

39. Vlogging equipment: WEBCAMS.

40. Maker of Perfect Pairings pies: SARA LEE.

42. Cause of a bumpy ride: POTHOLE.

43. Nice bit of cash?: EURO - A crossword device using Nice as a city on the French Riviera 

45. Drag queen Bianca __ Rio: DEL - We've had this name before

46. Charcuterie slice: SALAMI.

48. Doesn't spoil: KEEPS - Clarence Birdseye saw Inuit people quickly freeze fish they caught to preserve them and brought this flash freezing idea to America so food could KEEP much longer.

49. Polish brand: ESSIE - I can't find if it is available in Poland. 😀

50. Emollient: BALM.

51. Gray __: AREA.

52. Turns down: DIMS.

56. Capitol fig.: POL.

57. Amigo: BRO - Cross-cultural slang.