Saturday, November 22, 2025, Dr. Ed Sessa

 Saturday Themeless by Ed Sessa

Seeing Dr. Sessa's byline made me feel confident that I would have a pleasant and engaging solve and that proved to be true for my 13th Sessa puzzle blog. Anything that was new or unusual had plenty of escape avenues and after a lovely 17 minute excursion I earned a "got 'er done".

Across:

1. Farmer's dozen: FRESH EGGS.

10. Brightly colored Arita ware: IMARI - IMARI porcelain is made in the town of Arita in Japan,  though it is named after the port of Imari where the wares were historically shipped.

  

15. Bubble Wrap alternative: AIR PILLOW.

16. Violet shade: LILAC.

17. Memorabilia from the Great White North: CANADIANA - We have Americana and Canada has Canadiana, a term used to describe things (e.g., books, historical documents, works of art, music and artifacts), ideas, or activities that concern or are distinctive of Canada, its peoples, and/or its culture, especially works of literature and other cultural products.

18. Guitar legend Van Halen: EDDIE.

19. Jolly pair?: ELS - Meta cluing, Jolly has two "L's"

20. "Mad Men" types: AD REPS.

22. Fuse with heat: WELD.

23. Popeye's __'Pea: SWEE - The original characters

24. Lawn machines: MOWERS.

26. Bouquets: AROMAS.

29. Some military caps: KEPIS - I always think of this guy

30. Pass on: RELAY - Sometimes it comes back to you

31. Near-perfect ballgame: ONE HITTER - In 1995 Paul Menhart of the Toronto Blue Jays pitched a ONE-HITTER but lost the game 1- 0 as the only hit was a home run by Oriole Harold Baines.

35. Day of March madness: IDES.

36. Russian refusals: NYETS.

37. Sine qua non: NEED.

38. Shelties' shelters: DOG HOUSES.

40. One-named singer dubbed the "First Lady of Crunk & B": CIARA ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

41. __ in: intrudes: BUTTS.

42. Software shortcuts: MACROS.

43. Figure in the knight time?: SQUIRE 😀

45. Give credit to: CITE.

46. Figure on many a flag: STAR - Of course Texas features a lone star

47. Leafy spots: ARBORS - An ARBOR at the home of J. Sterling Morton, the founder of ARBOR Day,  in Nebraska City, NE.

49. Tallahassee inst.: FSU.

52. Argentine dance: TANGO.

54. Folks who are rotten to the core: BAD APPLES.

56. Tribal leader: ELDER.

57. Rare blood type: A-NEGATIVE.

58. Oft-poached fruit: PEARS.

59. Floral additive to Turkish delight and gulab jamun: ROSE WATER.

  

 

Down:

1. Portrait subject: FACE - Legend has it that this FACE belonged to Mona (my lady) Lisa (del Giocondo)

2. Capital of Oman: RIAL - $2.60 

3. Gray sea eagles: ERNS.

4. Massage center: SPA.

5. Secreted: HID AWAY.

6. Says "coulda, woulda, shoulda," say: ELIDES 😀

7. Intimidating look: GLARE.

8. Used up: GONE.

9. Free trade zones?: SWAP MEETS 😀

10. __-de-France: ILE - Literally, the name "Island of France" for the territory of Paris. It was derived from its being bordered by the rivers Seine, Oise and Marne (tributaries of the Seine) and Beuvronne (a tributary of the Marne), which surround it like an island.

11. Stereotype associated with a region of the United States: MIDWEST NICE - We tend to be that way

12. Tree with catkins: ALDER.

13. Small wading birds: RAILS - Miraculously, I recalled RAILS which kept me out of the possible natick at IMARI/RAILS. Hmmm... I wonder how many RIALS RAILS cost? 😀

14. Frosted: ICED.

21. Former frosh: SOPHS.

23. Order that requires a superhot griddle: SMASH BURGER - It starts as a round ball and then...

25. Nintendo game console: WII - WII golf in a nursing home

26. Saharan: ARID.

27. Let result, in tennis: REDO - If a serve hits but gets over the net in VB play continues and there is no REDO.

28. Cassini of fashion: OLEG - OLEG was Jackie's official designer but this suit she wore 62 years ago today was by Chanel. This famous pink dress is stored in the National Archives and will not be on display until 2103. Her pillbox hat has been lost.

29. End of a lap: KNEES 😀

31. Spot to order Kumamotos: OYSTER BAR - At 10 o'clock below

32. Rend: TEAR.

33. Architect Saarinen: EERO - Some of his many designs 

34. Iron reqs., e.g.: RDAS.

36. Dietary product prefix: NUTRA - 

"Nutra" is a common abbreviation for nutraceuticals

, which are products derived from food sources that provide extra health benefits, including the prevention and treatment of disease

39. "Okay by moi": OUI.

40. Dupe: CATS PAW - A fable where a monkey tricks the CAT into using his PAW to retrieve chestnuts from the fire while he eats them as they come out.

42. Sleight of land?: MIRAGE 😀 A nice play on words land/hand 

43. Like many bad jokes: STALE.

44. Post-lecture sesh: Q AND A - A Q AND A session with 7th graders will yield many hands. With seniors, not so much.

45. Programs: CODES - We have many CODERS in our merry little cwd bunch.

46. March part: STEP.

48. Baja bath: BAÑO - Sometimes you don't really need a bath...

49. Move like a monarch: FLIT 😀

50. Golf legend Ballesteros: SEVE - Seve Ballesteros est un golfeur professionnel espagnol.

51. One logging on: USER.

53. Scrubs ctrs.: ORS.

55. School org.: PTA.

Saturday, November 15, 2025, Rebecca Goldstein, Rafael Musa

 Saturday Themeless by Rebecca Goldstein and Rafael Musa

I had a mostly pleasant slog through Rebecca and Rafel's puzzle. The right side went quickly but the rest took some real mental gymnastics. Getting one decent fill in an area seemed to unlock large portions around it. I finished at the middle of the left side where a lot unknowns, ambiguities and oh so clever fills resided. 

Here is lovely interview of Rebecca and Rafael. You can choose as much or as little as you would like of this 37 min video that is full of a lot of great cwd constructing info (skip the chatty 3-minute opening by the interviewer).

Use hot link in the paragraph
above for interview video

Across:

1. Game that involves drawing: LOTTO - I thought of a drawing game like Pictionary or draw poker but no, it is the state-sponsored regressive tax.

6. VGK org.: NHL - It had to be but ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Saturday cluing for NHL

9. Network airing 6-Across games: ESPN - We stream YouTube TV and until they and Disney negotiate a settlement we will be without ESPN and ABC which is are Disney properties. 

13. City known as the Rubber Capital of the World: AKRON.

14. Roll-call call: HERE or Yo!

15. Eagle sport: GOLF.

16. Common threads?: GROUP TEXTS - Our family finds these very useful

18. Part of a dark cloud: GNAT.

19. Piece of holiday party attire: SANTA HAT 🎅

20. Check all the boxes, say: OPT IN.

22. Light rain: SPIT - _ _ _ T seemed to call for MIST instead of this unpleasant metaphor

23. Floor beneath the roof: ATTIC 😀

24. Local greens org.: CSA - ¯\_(ツ)_/¯  Jefferson Davis' 1861 group was not clued here.

27. Environment that reinforces existing biases: ECHO CHAMBER.

A nifty slogan that
did not work in 1964

31. On-site: AT WORK.

33. Near miss: CLOSE ONE.

34. "Veep" actor __ Scott: REID ¯\_(ツ)_/¯  Seen below with star Julia Louis-Dreyfus 

35. Sounds of sympathy: AHS - OHS/AHS coin flip

36. Korma side: ROTI - I've never eaten ROTI or naan but they are served frequently in cwds. A korma is a rich, aromatic curry originating from the Mughal empire in Indian and Pakistan, know for it mild creamy, gravy made with your, cream and ground nuts like cashews or almonds. You're welcome.

37. Cake, for one: BAND NAME - I encountered this a few Saturdays where the bands Cream, which I knew, and Cake, which I did not, were featured in a clue for BANDS. So I get two brownie points for remembering the latter one.

40. Dudes whose gender identity aligns with their sex assigned at birth: CIS MEN.

42. It may be full of baloney: SLICED BREAD - I got BREAD quickly and then struggled to make the adjective fit with the other clues in this area. Getting SLICED helped a lot in this part of the puzzle.

44. Commencement attendees, for short: SRS.

45. "Ditto": SO AM I - Having ME TOO first was, uh, not helpful

46. Release: DROP - A famous one

48. Nobel-winning physicist Wolfgang: PAULI - I'd tell you why he got the prize but I don't have a real grasp of it either.

49. Double-breasted outerwear: PEA COATS.

53. Stare, to a Brit: GAWP - GAPE, GAWK and GAWP? The last one sounded the most British.

54. Record holders?: TURNTABLES 😀 - Grampa, what are records and TURNTABLES?

56. Not good at all: EVIL.

57. Goddess depicted with an ankh: ISIS - Two cwd friends

58. Like Mars and Jupiter: ROMAN.

59. "The Real Housewives of Atlanta" star Leakes: NENE ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

60. Tariff, e.g.: TAX.

61. Fact checks?: EXAMS - Rote learning can serve as fact checks but not necessarily concept checks

Down:

1. Wrinkles in time: LAGS - When I want to listen to the Omaha radio based broadcast of a Husker game on TV, there is always a LAG between that narration and the network video.

2. Bhindi masala pod: OKRA - Okra is technically a seed pod, and in Indian cuisine (where it is called bhindi), the entire pod is the primary ingredient in the popular dish Bhindi Masala. The dish name translates literally to "okra with spices" You're welcome.

3. Beta follower?: TRON - Seriously, you want to know more?

4. Talks up: TOUTS - A fun song from Guys And Dolls about TOUTS. Ya gotta love Stubby Kaye! 

5. Theoretically: ON PAPER - It looked good ON PAPER, but, uh, it didn't quite work out. C'mon, Cracker Barrel 39. "Be honest!": ADMIT IT- It was a big mistake.

 

6. Line line: NEXT 😀

7. Perimenopause Rx, for some: HRT Perimenopause

8. Country surrounded by South Africa: LESOTHO.

9. They may wind up in the kitchen: EGG TIMERS 😀

10. High-speed crashes?: SONIC BOOMS 😀

11. "What's the __?": PLAN.

12. Crypto asset, for short: NFT - Non-fungible token ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

14. Desolate landscape: HEATH.

17. Foggy, in a way: THICK 😀 THICK headed or a THICK fog?

21. Fundraising gps.: PTAS.

23. Tissues commonly examined by MRIs: ACLS - Athletic careers have been slowed or ended by injuries to Anterior Cruciate LigamentS 

24. Energy-providing macros: CARBS.

25. Take second, say: STEAL 😀 - In 2024, Shohei Ohtani became the first MLB player to both hit at least 50 home runs and steal at least 50 bases. When coupled with his outstanding pitching record, some think he may be the best to have ever played the game

26. Victory speech?: A WIN IS A WIN - Usually said when a win is an ugly one

28. Earth tone: OCHER.

These are all variations
of OCHER

29. "Door's open!": ENTER.

30. Metaphor for control: REINS.

32. Strange bedfellows?: ODD COUPLE 😀

35. Both, at first: AMBI.

From Australia

38. YouTube CEO Mohan: NEAL ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

40. Unit equivalent to 200 mg: CARAT - A one carat diamond weighs exactly 200 mg.

41. "Really, this matters to me!": I DO CARE.

43. Utopias: EDENS.

47. Numbered dest.: PO BOX - In my small hometown, our PO BOX number was 24

48. Smooth (over): PAVE.

49. __ fixe: PRIX - The price is fixed

50. Latin for "nourishing": ALMA - ALMA MATER - Nourishing Mother

51. Lorde's second Top 10 hit: TEAM ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

52. U.S. IDs: SSNS.

53. __ X: GEN.

55. Letters on Sha'Carri Richardson's top: USA.