Saturday, December 20, 2025, Rafael Musa

 Saturday Themeless by Rafael Musa

Rafael is a frequent constructor from Patti's coterie (how 'bout that word?) and is often seen paired with Rebecca Goldstein who had a nice Thursday puzzle this week. Rafa is a software engineer for Airbnb in San Francisco.

I could stare at that red cell below until the proverbial cows come home and would never get it, so I'll take one bad cell and, as Taylor Swift would sing, Shake It Off.

Across:

1. Florentine political dynasty: MEDICI - The MEDICI family were the main patrons of Galileo and supported much of his work.

7. Posters that are usually ignored: SPAMBOTS.

15. Transfer: IRON ON - Mom IRONED ON a big Superman IRON transfer for 10-yr-old me and it was my favorite shirt for many years.

16. Music genre that originated in 1930s Shanghai: MANDO POP - ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ A mix of Mandarin and Western music.  Origin and an example of it today.

17. Confection: BONBON.

18. Cold look: ICY STARE.

19. Put away: STOW.

20. Bajo opposite: ALTO - I always think of Baj(a) California (lower california) and Palo ALTO (tall stick), CA.

21. Meathead: CLOD.

22. Federal holiday since 2021: JUNETEENTH.

25. Secondary account, informally: FINSTA ¯\_(ツ)_/¯  You might create a FINSTA (fake instagram account) along with your RINSTA (real instagram account) to share more freely with a small group of friends. It's a way to post silly memes, inside jokes, and unfiltered thoughts without worrying about your public image. 

26. Revolutionary outcomes, often: NEW ERAS - Mao's Cultural Revolution brought a NEW ERA to China and he tried hard to eliminate Mandopop and other "Western cultural trash". BTW, Taylor Swift has a huge following in China today.

30. Stick around the TSA line: WAND 😀

31. Meddle: PRY.

33. In profile: SIDE ON - You might have some miles on your tires to recognize this famous profile. (*answer at bottom of write-up). BTW, I don't anyone who knew FINSTA would get this famous profile.

34. Cancel: NIX.

35. Vegan baking ingredient made with ground seeds: CHIA EGG ¯\_(ツ)_/¯  Egg substitutes 

37. __ Jayawardenepura Kotte: urban area near Colombo: SRI - This suburb of Colombo, Sri Lanka is usually just referred to as Kotte. Be sure to get a tee shirt at the gift shop.

                                           

38. Scrub Daddy competitor: BRILLO.

40. Greeting often followed by "Como vai?": OLA - "How are you?" and "Hello" in Portugese 

41. Smith of "House of the Dragon": MATT - I wonder if Rafa even knows the name Gunsmoke's MATT Dillon

42. Flabbergast: ASTOUND.

44. Tame __: "The Slow Rush" band: IMPALA ¯\_(ツ)_/¯  but it just kept filling itself in

46. Find peace: FEEL AT EASE.

48. Abbr. in some titles: ASST.

51. Workers' residence: HIVE 😀

52. Crash site org.: NTSB - The National Transportation Safety Board examines a damaged aircraft in Philadelphia

54. Like some hair products: TWO IN ONE.

56. Amused sound: TEE HEE.

58. Thing that's handled badly: MISNOMER - A handle can be called a name for something so a misnomer could be Koala Bear (is a marsupial not a bear), a peanut is a legume (not a nut), lead pencils (they use graphite), etc.

59. Wading birds with powder down: HERONS - Not EGRETS this time

60. Exhaustive analysis?: SMOG TEST.

61. New money?: CRYPTO - 😀 What I know about CRYPTO could be put in here

Down:

1. Sci-fi franchise starring Will Smith: MIB - Men In Black

2. Cherubic deity: EROS.

3. "You'll bring us bad luck!": DONT JINX IT.

4. Like some rush-hour traffic: INBOUND.

5. Shares responsibility, in a way: COOWNS.

6. Stonewall __: INN - The site of a 1969 riot that launched the gay rights movement 

7. Katy Perry album with the single "Cry About It Later": SMILE.

8. Old name of a gp. that now has two members: PAC TEN - All the schools left and only lOregon State and Washington State remained

9. Impossible to call: ANYONE'S GAME - Tie score in the ninth inning...

10. Physical performers, for short: MDS 😀

11. Made a mess of: BOTCHED.

12. Gem for a Libra: OPAL - Ruby is the only other 4-letter birthstone

13. Sushi bar cut: TORO.

14. Tore: SPED.

20. Game company that released a 50th anniversary bundle in 2022: ATARI.

23. Classic movie line uttered while pointing out the window: ET PHONE HOME.

24. Bit of kindling: TWIG.

25. The Big E et al.: FAIRS ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

27. Old stock market: RESALE SHOP.

28. Left ventricle outlet: AORTA.

29. Foul mood: SNIT.

30. Dream realm?: WNBA.

32. Former Rocket Ming: YAO - His wife is 6' 3" but he is 7' 6"

35. Fingerprint, maybe: CLUE.

36. Select few: ELITE.

39. Hitting up: LOFTING - That'll get them away from the net

41. Proficiency: MASTERY.

43. Tackling groups, for short: D-LINES - a famous one played in Pittsburgh in the 70's

45. Saag __: spinach dish with cheese: PANEER ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I'll bet you can get this in Jayawardenepura Kotte

47. Stave off: AVERT.

48. PIN-points: ATMS.

49. Make waves, say: SWIM.

50. Shrugworthy: SO SO.

53. Dog-eared, say: BENT - Don't let the librarian catch you 😊

55. "__ cool!": NOT.

56. Compound in some edibles: THC - The hilarious day everyone in Grey's Anatomy ate cookies that were laced wtih marijuana (active ingreint is  (Tetra Hydro Cannabinol) (5:58)

57. Spanish pronoun: ESO -  Paul Anka's ESO Besso (Ooo That Kiss) always saves me. here.

*That famous SIDE ON profile is of Alfred Hitchcock and was used at the start of his 60's TV show

Jess Rucks, a crossword constructor, whose puzzles I have blogged many times, contacted me via FaceBook to meet in Lincoln for dinner on Friday night as she was driving from Colorado Springs to her hometown in Minnesota. We met at Lazlo’s Restaurant and had a very pleasant evening. Here is a picture of me and Jess. As you might imagine from the picture, she played D1 volleyball at New Mexico but not so obviously she later served as an Urdu translator for the Air Force. Besides being brilliant, she also has a wonderful sense of humor!

  

Saturday, December 13, 2025, Stella Zawistowski

 Saturday Themeless by Stella Zawistowski

This puzzle made me feel like Stanley Kowalski yelling at Stella in Streetcar Named Desire. I had to check a few words in Across Lite as Stella's take was not the same as mine. Couple that with two impossible long fills, and I struggled in several places. I think I may have worn out my ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ symbol

Stella is posing as an angel on the right side of this picture from her CrossFit Gym in South Brooklyn, NY.

Across:

1. Crunk kin: TRAP ¯\_(ツ)_/¯  Don't know either one, except they are both full of lyrics that can't be published here. Google if you must.

5. Throw again: REROLL 😀 If the throw of the dice in craps is judged to be unfair or illegal, a REROLL must be done

11. Omaha prize: POT - There is no real connection to the city 20 miles from me

14. Supportive of: WITH.

15. Target of some copyright infringement lawsuits: OPENAI - Hard to tell what is original and what is not

16. Hardwood: ASH - The source for many Louisville Sluggers

17. Dad, in Korean: APPA ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

18. Jarring tonal shifts: DISSONANCE - I supervised JH lunch rooms for 23 years 😳

20. Two-part bet: PERFECTA - In a PERFECTA bet, a winner has to name the winner and second-place finisher in that exact order. This ticket below would only win if the #2 horse won and the #6 horse finished second

22. Union station?: ALTAR 😀

23. __ Drafthouse Cinema: movie chain based in Austin: ALAMO.

24. Believe: HOLD - "We HOLD these truths to be self-evident,..."

26. Generational wisdom: LORE.

27. Unsatisfactory explanation: BECAUSE REASONS - ¯\_(ツ)_/¯  

"Because reasons" is a colloquial, often dismissive, phrase used to indicate that no further explanation for a decision or situation will be given. 

Example: 

If someone asks why you are wearing a silly hat, you could reply, "Because reasons," instead of explaining that it was a gift from your grandmother.

30. "Oh my stars!": I DECLARE.

31. Change places: MOVE.

32. Year of the Four Emperors emperor: OTHO ¯\_(ツ)_/¯  It was the year 69 A.D. More

33. Miami-__ County: DADE.

34. Only city in Samoa: APIA 

 Togafu'afu'a Rd Corner Vaea St, 
Apia, Upolu Samoa

35. Seen: REGARDED.

39. Self-awareness?: PROPRIOCEPTION ¯\_(ツ)_/¯  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯  Yikes! Proprioception is your body's ability to sense its own position and movements. It's a complex automatic process that you can also fine-tune.

41. Alison Bechdel's "Fun __: A Family Tragicomic": HOME -  A discussion and a sample page

42. Condiment made with pickled mango: AMBA ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ A middle eastern condiment

43. "Lilo & Stitch" theme: OHANA.

44. Shinto shrine gateway: TORII - This red TORII gate in the background is in Omaha's beautiful Lauritzen Gardens. It was a present from Omaha's sister city of Shizuku, Japan.

46. "Day by Day" musical: GODSPELL - One of my fav musicals

48. Make no progress: TREAD WATER - A skill needed in water polo

50. Work hard: MOIL ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

52. Can. leaders: PMS - Members of Parliament

53. Thin layer: LAMINA - Our laminated countertops have all been replaced by granite.

54. "Black Beauty" novelist Sewell: ANNA.

55. Ten chin-ups, say: SET.

56. Throws up: ERECTS 😀 - Some new, small houses are being thrown up near us but still start at $300,000.

57. Minimal noise: PEEP.

Down:

1. Name on a JFK hotel designed by Eero Saarinen: TWA - You can see TWA on the hotel in the middle of the background at JFK

2. Had far-reaching effects: RIPPLED.

3. Chill: AT PEACE - Chill as an adjective. "He is really chill."

4. Reference in a doctor's office: PHARMACOPOEIA ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ ¯\_(ツ)_/¯  The 2019 edition 

5. Teased relentlessly: RODE.

6. Literary figure who embodies the values of a civilization: EPIC HERO - Homer from ancient Greece

7. Make whole again: RESTORE.

8. Less, in a way: ON SALE.

9. Language known as Isan in northeastern Thailand: LAO - A crossword friend dressed in Saturday cluing 

10. First Asian player inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame: LINA ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ My first thought was of Michael Chang.

11. Color of the Year company: PANTONE ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I got this but thought of Crayola first

12. Accolades for "Flow" and "The Shape of Water": OSCARS.

13. "Et voilà!": THERE.

19. Full of jarring tonal shifts: ALL OVER THE MAP - Jarring is in two clues today

21. Third strike, at times: FOUL TIP - If the catcher catches it in his glove, it is a strikeout. 

23. Singer Carter who won "American Idol" in 2024: ABI ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

25. Price, informally: DAMAGE.- 😀

28. Region whose name means "desert": SAHARA - The great desert of northern Africa, 1610s, from Arabic çahra "desert" (plural çahara),

29. Moxie, e.g.: SODA POP.

33. Lavish and then some: DECADENT.

34. Subject of some air battles?: ARM REST 😀 

35. Without emotion: ROBOTIC.

36. Start to make a call, perhaps: DIAL ONE.

37. Celeb news site: E-ONLINE.

38. "The Double Helix" subject: DNA.

39. Pitiful cry: POOR ME.

40. "Sign me up!": I'M GAME.

41. Letters signifying encryption: HTTPS - Our website: https://crosswordcorner.blogspot.com/. where the S stands for secure.

45. Not serious: IDLE - IDLE threats are not good strategies for teachers 

47. Sp. titles: SRAS.

49. "This means __!": WAR.

51. Spot for a toy: LAP 😀