Saturday, January 13, 2018, Alan DerKazarian

THEMELESS SATURDAY

In a Tuesday puzzle of nearly a year ago (1/17/17), Alan posted how he liked reading comments on his puzzles and added, "Armenians get to put a "Der" in front of their names if there's been a significant religious person in their family's history, like a bishop. In my case it was my grandfather's father, who was an important religious figure in Eastern Turkey in the late 1800s."

Alan's puzzle provided entertainment and provided new learning for this cowboy (marked in RED below)! Here are some of his gettable long fills that proved to be useful in solving:

20. '60s counterculture slogan : MAKE LOVE NOT WAR - This iconic Bernie Boston picture for the Washington Star is what always leaps to my mind for this sentiment 

25. Cry of dominance : WHO'S YOUR DADDY - Yankee fans having a good time at Pedro Martinez's expense

45. 20-mile annual Boston-area fundraiser sponsored by Project Bread : WALK FOR HUNGER - The Marathon and this are big in Boston

51. Excuse for rowdy behavior : BOYS WILL BE BOYS - A lame excuse that has definitely fallen out of favor

Now let's see what else Alan has for us:Across  
1. Video file format : MPEG - Moving Pictures Experts Group. Lots of internet videos use this format

5. Offenbach opera "Daphnis et __" : CHLOE - One interpretation of the story of the romance between two shepherd girls on the Isle of Lesbos written 1,800 years ago

10. Jerk's concern : SODA - The jerk is so called for this action of "jerking" the handle to get carbonated water

14. Former Sony brand : AIWA - I once had an AIWA boom box 

15. Aggressive corporate tactics : RAIDS - He played a corporate RAIDER and she played a, uh, Lady of the 24. Poetic night : EEN

16. Fast-food legend : KROC -  Ray Kroc did not invent McDonalds. He took (read stole) the McDonald brothers system and made it huge as seen in the 2016 movie The Founder

17. Presently : ANON 

18. Mail-order outlet for outdoorsy types : ORVIS and 19. Harpsichordist Kipnis : IGOR. A Vermont based outdoor company and a musician I did not know but that's why we have perpendicular fill.

23. Math ratios : SINES - Ah, back to stuff I know, opposite/hypotenuse 

30. "The Yankee Doodle Boy" composer : COHAN - Seeing Jimmy Cagney as Cohan singing Yankee Doodle Boy from the movie of the same name should be part of becoming a citizen! 😁

32. Big letters in toys : FAO - I recently posted the picture of Tom Hanks dancing on the  FAO Schwarz floor piano in Big


33. CBS Sports NFL analyst Tony : ROMO - His body finally said, "That's enough" and he's now in the broadcast booth

34. Map abbr. : RTE - In my part of the world we say "rout" and in other parts they say "root". You?

35. Loosed : SET FREE - Julia Ward Howe wrote, "He has LOOSED the fateful lightning of his terrible swift sword"

39. Neat ending? : NIK - Felix not Oscar

40. After-lunch sandwich : OREO - Haven't we had this word before? 😜

42. Word with big or house : CAT - My loving wife with our BIG HOUSE CAT 

43. Together : AS ONE - When the Huskers do their tunnel walk, the fans rise AS ONE

49. "Macbeth" character : HAG - Shakespeare's non-PC designation 


50. Gay leader? : ENOLA - This plate tells you where my Mom worked during WWII and where this particular B-29 that became the ENOLA GAY was assembled

57. Defeat soundly : DRUB

58. Serve : AVAIL

59. Per : A POP - $2 A POP for bottled water makes it way more expensive than gasoline. Talk about marketing!

60. "No prob!" : EASY

61. Merci, across the border : DANKE - DANKE Schön worked for Wayne Newton and Ferris Bueller 

62. Nigerian pop star : SADE - Born in Ibadan, Nigeria

63. Cry of glee : WHEE

64. Orson Scott Card protagonist __ Wiggin : ENDER - Andrew ENDER Wiggin

65. Side for a dog : SLAW - KFC has wonderful cole SLAW



Down

1. Hat-tipper's word : MAAM - Can you tip a ball cap that is on backwards?

2. Fruit in un cóctel : PINA -Pineapple es "piña" en español (Pineapple is piña in Spanish)

3. Fuzzy Endor resident : EWOK - A Star Wars cast member

4. Hindu god with the head of an elephant : GANESHA 

5. Sings smoothly : CROONS - Harry Connick Jr., Michael Buble'...

6. "Family Feud" host since 2010 : Steve HARVEY 

7. Exists simply : LIVES OFF THE LAND 

8. Valhalla VIP : ODIN - ODIN rules over Valhalla - "The house of the slain"

9. ExxonMobil trade name : ESSO

10. Garb for schussing : SKI WEAR - Not much use here for us flatlanders

11. Transplant figure : ORGAN DONOR - This shows 1) I take a lousy picture, 2) my hair is gray and 3) I am a an ORGAN DONOR

12. Way out : DOOR

13. Spanning: Abbr. : ACR - The Royal Gorge Bridge near Canon City, CO spans ACRoss the Arkansas river at 1,000 ft up but all you can do is cross it and turn right around and come back

21. Only NFC team that hasn't played in a Super Bowl : LIONS

22. Talks acronym : TED - Thought provoking online talks about Technology, Entertainment and Design. See more at ted.com 

25. Area of expertise : WHEELHOUSE - Give me the microphone to talk about space and I'm good to go!

26. Nasser's org. : UAR - In last Saturday's puzzle it was 15. Group formed in Cairo in 1945 : ARAB LEAGUE 

27. Caviar : ROE

28. Key of Beethoven's Ninth: Abbr. : D MIN - This choral part still makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up!

29. Tie on the farm : YOKE 

30. Talk big : CROW - Peter Pan's self aggrandizing anthem 

31. Not esta or esa : OTRA - Not esta (this) or esa (that) but OTRA (another)

36. "Foucault's Pendulum" author : ECO - Umberto ECO's satirical novel

37. Crew member : TAR - Or gob, swab, swabbie, salt, sea dog...


38. Apollo 11 lander : EAGLE - "Houston, Tranquility Base here, the EAGLE has landed"

41. "See ya later" : OKAY BYE 

44. Fish market offering : SEA BASS

46. NFL threes : FGS - The behemoths play for 59 minutes and then the smallest guy on the squad comes in to decide the game with his kicking

47. Facebook reversal : UNLIKE - I had to "UNFRIEND" several people in 2016 because I got tired of them 56. Expel strongly : SPEWing their political opinions whether I agreed or not. There's a time and place

48. Word in Hamlet's "To be or not to be" soliloquy : NOBLER - Sometimes it is NOBLER to "suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune" than to "take arms against a sea of trouble." Hill worth dying on?

51. "My man!" : BRAH - Brother -> Bro -> BRAH

52. Cross a stream, perhaps : WADE

53. English : John :: Slavic : __ : IVAN In Spanish, it would be Juan and 约翰 in Chinese

54. Girasol, e.g. : OPAL - Yeah, I didn't know either. Also called Moon Opal

55. Sci-fi character voiced by Frank Oz : YODA - Oh, that's how it's done!

57. Green moisture : DEW - Early golfers are called "DEW Sweepers"

Time now for your pertinent or impertinent remarks:

DA GRID

Saturday, January 6, 2018, Daniel Nierenberg

THEMELESS SATURDAY

Daniel has offered a real challenge on this first Saturday in '18. I needed a fill to unlock each corner with the NE being the last to fill. This clue immediately below was not in the vocabulary for this science/space guy but... 

13. Plot devices for sci-fi travelers : TIME SLIPS - Spontaneous instances of time travel that Marty McFly discovered at 88 mph

Across

1. Vaudeville show, e.g. : VARIETY ACT - Old vaudevillians who brought their VARIETY ACTS to TV are given credit for selling thousands of sets. 10 point penalty if you don't know these two!

11. Cuban pronoun : ESTA

15. Group formed in Cairo in 1945 : ARAB LEAGUE - The original group of 7 now numbers 22

16. Make muddy : ROIL - A frequent political trick if they do not want to answer the question 


17. Reactionary '60s genre : MINIMAL ART - This piece sold for over $100M





18. Unfeeling : NUMB - Have you seen the weather around the country this week?

19. Identifies : PEGS

20. Just : MERE

21. Great canines? : DANES - My favorite DANE is Victor Borge 

22. Tart fruits : SLOES -And their famous product

24. Is bothered : MINDS - People that mind don't COUNT and people who count don't mind!

25. More or less, informally : SORTA - just about, nearly, kinda... 


29. Brightly plumed songbird : ORIOLE - All of these have graced our yard and the ORIOLE certainly stands out

31. Banned chem. contaminant : PCB

34. Most lascivious : LEWDEST - This is a hard description to obtain these days

36. Mess with : KID

37. Super Bowl MVP after Peyton : ELI - One of Eli's Super Bowl wins was greatly aided by David Tyree's (#85) famous catch that he pinned to the top of his helmet 

38. Final hour? : EXAM DAY - Teachers today soon learn that they had better be teaching to the EXAM

39. Galoot : APE

40. Big automotive initials : REO - Isn't this REO Speedwagon a beauty?

41. Like some observant Jews : HASIDIC - They'd stand out in my 'hood

42. Designing initials : YSL - Yves St. Laurent 

43. Place for porcelain, possibly : MANTEL - Here's a beautiful porcelain MANTEL clock 

45. Stuffed fare : TACOS

47. Zero, to Nero : NIHIL - Latin for nothing and the root for NIHILISM

48. Opposite : POLAR - My loving wife and I are POLAR opposites on some issues but not anything really important to us

52. Come to pass : OCCUR

53. Cryotherapy offerers : SPAS - Exposure to -200F air for a couple minutes is supposed to be a great treatment for pain

57. Give significance to, in a way : NAME - CITI paid $400M over 20 years to NAME this stadium home of the NY Mets

58. Travel in no particular direction : ROAM

59. Trial records : STENO NOTES - I'll bet she did!

61. Niggle : CARP - Niggle seems like a fun little word

62. Collectible, maybe : OUT OF PRINT - A Gutenberg Bible might be a tough find 

63. Charity : ALMS

64. Double helix pair : DNA STRANDS - We share 96% of our DNA with chimps.


Down

1. Improvises : VAMPS - Keep VAMPING, we're trying to get the show headliner sober!

2. King Triton's daughter : ARIEL

3. 2011 title cowboy chameleon : RANGO - RANGO and his "voicer" Johnny Depp

4. Sacred birds : IBISES

5. Stately street adornment : ELM 

6. __ spirit : TEAM 

7. School named for a Welsh merchant : YALE - Some of that merchandise he traded in was slaves but the movement to change the college name is going nowhere 

8. Ingredient in the Japanese jellied dessert yokan : AGAR - AGAR is the "gelatinizing" agent in this lovely dessert

9. Means of correction : CURE

10. Some action in "Full Metal Jacket" took place on it : TET - I  learned the abandoned Beckton Gasworks in East London was where the battle scenes were filmed.

11. 1844 Verdi opera : ERNANI - ERNANI was a bandit in this opera by Giuseppe Verdi (Joe Green according to Victor Borge)

12. Seem reasonable : SOUND OKAY - "Let's attack the center of the line on cemetery ridge at Gettysburg and split the Yankees!"

14. Liturgical dress : ALBS

21. Surprise bad guy : DIRTY COP

23. One who gets it all : SOLE HEIR - She was his SOLE HEIR upon his death

24. Assembled artwork : MOSAIC - We saw fabulous MOSAICS in the Vatican

26. Longtime pharmacy chain : REXALL - The REXALL of my misspent yute kept Playboys and condoms under the counter out of sight

27. Christmas poem opener : TWAS - A great holiday tradition. Now where is my sleep cap?

28. Let in : ADMIT

30. Pulitzer-winning biographer Leon : EDEL - If I feel interested enough, I'll post a picture of him...

31. Wave generator? : PERM - Getting one in 1935 with the Gallia Machine

32. Controversial technology involving carbon capture and storage : CLEAN COAL - It purports to extract CO2 from burning coal exhaust gases and store it securely underground

33. Part of a fictional six-million-dollar repair : BIONIC ARM 

35. Ancient Icelandic text : EDDA

46. Chihuahua neighbor : SONORA - Just south of Tucson 

49. Ipso facto, e.g. : LATIN

50. Fix : AMEND

51. Breaks in scores : RESTS

52. Killer whale : ORCA - I'm sure  54. Org. promoting veganism : PETA is not in favor of having ORCAS do this but might have felt the animal got some measure of justice at the end of this sequence as he 53. Surprise big-time : STUNNED the trainer as he 44. Hits hard : THUMPS her

55. Years in Granada : ANOS - Me? Tengo 71 años de edad

56. __ light : SOFT

59. Land development aid : SOD

60. "On Point" syndicating org. : NPR

A tough but eminently fair test to me. You?

DA GRID:

Saturday, December 30, 2017, C.C. Burnikel

THEMELESS SATURDAY

Husker Gary here to review a puzzle submitted by our "Swiss Army Knife" leader C.C. She runs this blog, blogs Sunday puzzles, mediates contentious issues, partners with many of us on constructing and produces puzzles for every day of the week at all levels of difficulty! Wow!

Let's see what our mistress has for us on this day before the last day of 2017 and our final Saturday of the year:


Across


1. On-the-go frozen breakfast : EGGO BITES - Just another good reason to enjoy syrup!

10. "Love, all alike, no season knows, nor __": Donne : CLIME - DONNE did "Git 'er done" would have two homophones

15. Sinatra's wife after Ava Gardner : MIA FARROW - Ava on Mia - "I always knew Frank would wind up in bed with a boy"

16. "Breaking Bad" toxin : RICIN - Chemistry teacher Walt cooked meth but used this deadly product of the castor bean to kill a rival

17. Exercise for the lower leg : CALF RAISE - This is called a Donkey CALF RAISE

18. In the presence of : AMONG

19. Creator of the album "Reflection," which consists of one 54-minute track : ENO

20. Tijuana pronoun : ESA - Me gusta ESA música ENO (I like that ENO music)

21. Gulf of Finland republic : ESTONIA

23. 2001 bankruptcy headliner : ENRON - Their bankruptcy cost my uncle his retirement and dignity and here is their CEO Ken Lay doing one of his 34. Controversial police procedure practices : PERP WALKS

25. Shaper in a shop : LATHE and 64. "My bad" : OOPS SORRY

27. Minor player : COG - That describes me here

28. Tuscany city : SIENA - We walked in SIENA where bareback horse races around the town square have been run twice a year for hundreds of years

29. Kind of butter used in skin care : SHEA - Is that why the Mets are "butter fingered"? Yeah, I'll keep my day job!

30. Pop, in Paris : PERE

31. __ jump : SKI -  Remember the show where the tagline for this mishap was, "The agony of defeat"?

33. To a large degree : IN SPADES - Highest Rank suit in Contract Bridge

35. Most likely : APTEST

38. Car system : STEREO

39. Homemade crystal products : AM RADIOS - I first listened to Husker football on an AM CRYSTAL RADIO over 60 years ago

41. "Entourage" agent Gold : ARI - Played by Jeremy Pivens who I really like


42. Driving force? : UBER - Worked well for us. The app shows you the nearest UBER driver and displays her progress as she drives toward you

43. Twin Cities daily, familiarly : TRIB - Our constructors hometown paper

45. Historic times : PASTS

49. Address-ending word : NET 

50. Overplay : EMOTE


51. Tabbouleh grain : WHEAT - A Levantine (from the Levant) grain and herb salad

52. Walked-over : TRODDEN

54. Energy Star co-mgr. : EPA - Environmental Protection Agency

56. Modern art? : ARE - How Great Thou ART! vs. How Great You ARE!

57. Decluttering maven Kondo : MARIE - MARIE, thy name ART a mystery to me!

58. Branch : AFFILIATE

61. Strange : ALIEN

62. Wasted call? : DRUNK DIAL - The call isn't wasted, the caller is!

63. Literature Nobelist who served in the Irish Senate : YEATS - and now a  tourist attraction

Down

1. Runs the show : EMCEES - Remember Bert Parks and his famous song?

2. Designer Versace : GIANNI - His murder in his Miami mansion will lead off FX's America's Crime Story next month

 3. See 33-Across : GALORE - Did anyone else think of a Bond Girl?

4. Inaccurate : OFF 

5. Completely uncovered : BARE NAKED - I only know of the group called BARE NAKED LADIES because they wrote and recorded the theme song to this fabulously successful TV show

6. Nest egg accts. : IRAS

7. Court affairs : TRIALS

8. Sister of Helios : EOS - We usually see her and her friendly letters as the goddess of dawn

9. Improves, as an offer : SWEETENS

10. Box : CRATE

11. Long ride? : LIMO

12. "You win" : I CONCEDE - Rhoda says "I give up!"

13. Cookie in Snak Saks : MINI OREO - There's no where to hide from OREOS of any size in crossword puzzles

14. Keeps occupied : ENGAGES - A teacher who ENGAGES an angry student in an argument can't win

22. View from Yreka : SHASTA - A Cascade Range Mountain as seen from Yreka, CA

24. GM security system : ONSTAR - We have it at no cost for 3 years with our car but have never used it

26. Often-grilled tuna : AHI

30. Outcast : PARIAH - Can you say Harvey Weinstein?

32. "Am I off-base here?" : IS IT ME - "Yeah, it's you Harvey! You're a creep!"

35. Light-brown brew : AMBER ALE

36. Seat of South Africa's executive branch : PRETORIA

37. Olds luxury car : TORONADO - Also the name of Zorro's horse

39. Peter Parker's adoptive mother : AUNT MAY - Some Spiderman purists thought Marisa Tomei was "too hot" to play this role compared to her predecessors Rosemary Harris and Sally Field.

40. Parking order? : SIT - "Park It!"

44. Strengthen : BEEF UP

46. Oceanside home asset : SEA AIR

47. Fried shrimp sauce : TARTAR

48. Unwavering : STEELY - Calling someone this is very high praise in NASA parlance

50. Wonderlands : EDENS

53. Losing effort : DIET - What is the world's record for getting off of these after New Year's Day?

55. Flagsticks, to many golfers : PINS

59. To and __ : FRO

60. Veiled reply, perhaps : I DO

Rail away about this Saturday puzzle:

DA GRID: