Saturday, July 12, 2025 Kyle Dolan

  Saturday Themeless by Kyle Dolan

This is the 19th Saturday puzzle by Dr. Dolan I have blogged. My first one was on May 26, 2018 and every one of his constructions has been a delight. This one was no exception as even Thimmamma  Marrimanu in Anantapur was only a minor annoyance. 😀

As you can tell by the colorful graphic, Kyle had a great many unique or nearly unique fills!

Across:

1. "Hold on to that one": IT'S A KEEPER - This occurred to me right off the bat and I was so 16. Confident: SURE I immediately put it in.

11. Periods: ERAS.

15. Have a heart-to-heart exchange?: FALL IN LOVE - Awww...❤️

17. Healthy dessert option: FRUIT SALAD.

18. "Whatcha waitin' for?": CMON.

19. Purple __: YAM.

20. Magnate: TITAN.

21. Rodeo circuit?: LASSO 😀

22. Second-largest landlocked country in Africa: NIGER - Yup, Chad is the largest

23. Jay-Z or Cardi B: RAPPER.

24. Glossy fabric: SATEEN.

27. German car, informally: BEEMER.

29. Hybrid since 1997: PRIUS.

30. Sense of achievement: SELF PRIDE.

33. Slangy contraction: AIN'T - Top 11 songs with AIN'T in the title. Bill Wither's song is my fav.

34. Dockers fabric: KHAKI.

35. "Can do!": ON IT.

36. Weak six-packs?: NEAR BEERS - LITE BEERS fit first.

38. Forum garb: TOGAS.

39. Line dance movement: TOE TAP - We all did it, didn't we?

40. Numerous: SO MANY.

41. Verbal shrug: I DUNNO.

43. Secret spots: LAIRS.

45. Ancient seafaring people: NORSE - Seeing them on the horizon did not usually engender joy!

46. Zest: GUSTO.

47. Closest one, briefly: BFF.

50. Family member: AUNT - I had four AUNTS I never got to meet.

51. Thimmamma Marrimanu in Anantapur, notably: BANYAN TREE ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

- Thimmamma Marrimanu is a BANYAN TREE in Anantapur, India. I filled it in and then looked it up.

53. Subject of a deal, say: PLEA.

54. Ad hoc groups of specialists: TIGER TEAMS - ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ A tiger team is a specialized, cross-functional team brought together to solve or investigate a specific problem or critical issue.

55. Catherine who outlived Henry VIII: PARR.

56. Some ranch dressing: STETSON HAT 😀 Yes, I suppose someone dressing in ranch attire might wear a STETSON HAT.

Down:

1. Touch and go: IFFY.

2. Hill of __: historical site associated with the High Kings of Ireland: TARA More

3. Neglected area: SLUM.

4. Arabic name that means "elevated": ALI.

5. Pools: KITTIES - Every teacher's lounge I've ever been in has a game like this where you pay for a square and the money goes into the pool or KITTY. Winners below are determined by where the last number in the Colts score crosses the last number in the Bear's score.

6. Naval rank: ENSIGN.

7. Fill with joy: ELATE.

8. One way to break the ice?: POLAR BEAR PLUNGE - When a blizzard knocked out our power for three days in March, I couldn't even take a cold shower! 🥶

9. __ Rachel Wood of "Mildred Pierce": EVAN ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

10. Color of diamonds: RED - I overthought this for a while

11. Activities that require exit strategies?: ESCAPE ROOMS.

12. Amish rite of passage: RUMSPRINGA - Rumspringa is a rite of passage in some Amish communities where teenagers, typically around 16, experience a period of relative freedom from traditional Amish restrictions before committing to that life as an adult. 

13. Got up: AROSE.

14. Caballero title: SENOR.

21. Prize in "A Christmas Story": LAMP.

22. Supernova remnant: NEUTRON STAR.

23. APR adjustment: REFI - REFInancing a loan.

24. Go over: SPAN - After you...

25. Racer Luyendyk known as "The Flying Dutchman": ARIE.

26. Aunty Entity player in "Mad Max 3": TINA TURNER - TINA was 45 when she did this film in 1985.

28. Edmonton CFL team: ELKS.

30. __ butter: SHEA.

31. Primatologist Fossey: DIAN.

32. Creative outlet?: ETSY.

34. Atkins variant: KETO.

37. Nota __: BENE - or N.B. which means "note well"

38. City founded as York in 1793: TORONTO - Look closely and you can see York which has been incorporated into the greater TORONTO municipality

40. Instruments that date to the Mughal Empire: SITARS - The empire ran from 1525 - 1857.

41. Like some purchases made on a phone: IN APP.

42. Help for a new mother: DOULA - New to me

44. Still: AS YET.

46. Run, e.g.: GAIT.

47. "My guy!": BRAH.

48. Storm recovery org.: FEMA.

49. Big do: FEST.

51. J-Hope's K-pop band: BTS.

52. Carl Lewis's Olympic medal count: TEN.

Saturday, July 5, 2025, David P. Williams

 Saturday Themeless by David P. Williams

This is my fourth puzzle from Dave and it was very entertaining, eventually. I've got to learn that PEAL, not peel, is the sound of a ringing bell! 

Across:

1. Gets in over one's head?: SCUBAS.

       

7. Italian sports cars, colloquially: LAMBOS - Lamborghini prices range from $200,00 - $600,000

13. Vancouver team: CANUCKS.

15. Globe direction?: EXEUNT- Nope, Dave, you didn't get me on this one! I thought of the Globe Theater right away. EXEUNT is a stage direction where a group leaves the stage together and EXEUNT Omnes means everyone leaves the stage.

This iteration of The Globe Theater 
was reconstructed in 1997 
and is near the original 1599 site  
in London's West End 

16. Hand in the kitchen: OVEN MITT 😀

18. Flip (between): TOGGLE.

19. Duane __: NYC drugstore chain: READE.

20. Dynasty: REIGN.

22. Comb builder: BEE.

23. Jet stream heading: EAST.

24. Gambling swindle: BUNCO The radio dramatization of Joe Friday working BUNCO (29:00)

25. Ring: PEAL.

26. Dump: STY.

27. Word on some diplomas: MAGNA - MAGNA Cum Laude 

28. Bob and __: WEAVE - Nobody did it better

29. "Don't give up!": HANG IN THERE.

31. Means of improving airflow: NASAL STRIPS - They didn't work for me. The next step was a CPAP machine

32. Professional writing?: LOVE LETTERS 😀 One who professes love might certainly write professional LOVE LETTERS. It was an easy fill but parsing it took me some time. 

I wrote to Dave asking for help and he then confirmed what I thought was right:

Hi Gary,

The clue is a play on the phrase “to profess (one’s) love” — a ? was probably warranted to indicate the stretch.

Thanks for solving,

DW

33. Part of a skin care regimen: TONER and 40. Target of a skin care regimen: PORE.

34. Displays obvious pride: BEAMS.

35. Global revolution?: DAY 😀 Oops, a nitpicky science teacher would say a DAY on Earth is because of a global rotation. A revolution is a year.

38. "Bonanza" brother: HOSS - I'll bet you can name all four of these members of the Cartwright family. If you can't, I have the names at the bottom of the write-up. *

39. Tremble: QUAKE - Hmmm... with_ _ A K E something else came to my mind.

41. Guitar kin, informally: UKE. 

42. Caller ID?: IT'S ME - Much better than the recent IT ME.

43. Espagnole, for one: SAUCE - Espagnole is French for Spanish but this is a French SAUCE. Explanation of the name.

44. Words before a French kiss?: MON AMI 😀 - A French person might say MON AMI (my friend) to  another French person before any kind of a kiss including an, uh, "French kiss". 

My friend, my lover,
my soulmate

46. "Wait a sec": SIT TIGHT.

48. Double over laughing: BUST UP 😀

49. Hard nut to crack: TOUGHIE  and 35. Like undercooked pizza: DOUGHY - These two fills have "G's" that pronounce as an /f/near each other.

50. Gets in hot water?: STEEPS.

51. Toed the line: OBEYED.

Down:

1. Makes a good point: SCORES.

2. Warning: CAVEAT.

3. Worried: UNEASY.

4. Trademarked pan: BUNDT.

5. Maker of jet-propelled transport: ACME.

6. Carving implement: SKI.

7. "Drop it!": LET GO.

8. Nerve fiber: AXON.

9. Gig part: MEG - There are 1,024 MEGabytes in a GIGabyte

10. Pet peeves: BUG BEARS ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

11. Fresh off the boat, perhaps: ON LEAVE - Honolulu had thousands of sailors ON LEAVE in the 1940's while just days away from combat.

12. Wrestler George "The Animal" __: STEELE.

14. Bumpy ride, metaphorically: STRUGGLE BUS.

17. Couples in love?: TENNIS TEAMS 😀 - All tennis matches start at love - love (0 - 0)

21. "This is killing me!": I CAN'T TAKE IT - If you haven't seen the movie Network, you need to find it!

24. Tired: BANAL - A teacher's meeting at 4 pm after teaching all day.

25. Buds: PEEPS.

27. Atomic clock part: MASER - Wanna know more?

28. Sounds from fans: WHIRS.

29. Moneyed ones: HAVES.

30. Area adjacent to the French Quarter: TREME.

31. Baloney: NONSENSE.

32. One in the watch business: LOOKOUT  - The result of a bad 1912 LOOKOUT job (2:49)

33. Digits on scales, maybe: THUMBS - Nobody did it better than Norman Rockwell

36. "Riverdale" redhead: ARCHIE - Here he is proudly wearing his Riverdale letter sweater

37. Tossed, slangily: YEETED.

39. Ear pieces?: Q-TIPS.

40. Wade Trophy winner Bueckers on the Dallas Wings: PAIGE - She won the trophy for being the best collegiate women's basketball player at U Conn and now plays pro ball in Dallas

 

42. Morning mumble: I'M UP.

43. Toe-tap?: STUB - Oh the language it generates...

45. Chowed down or chewed up: ATE.

47. Extra: TOO.

* The Cartwrights are Adam, Little Joe, Ben and HOSS