Saturday, April 6, 2019, Brian E. Paquin

Themeless Saturday by Brian E. Paquin

Today we celebrate National Birding Day. If you ever have an opportunity to be in my part of the country this time of year, you should make an effort to see the annual migration of Sandhill Cranes as they rest in the Platte River on their way north. This picture on the front page of the Omaha World Herald last Saturday shows over 600,000 cranes as they roosted last week in central Nebraska. I personally dislike the overuse of the word awesome, but I will tell you the incredible sight and deafening sound of these majestic birds is awesome and will make a lasting impression on you.

Brian Paquin

Today's constructor is Brian E. Paquin. I have blogged three of his previous Saturday themeless puzzles and always find them to be challenge. 


Let's take wing and see what Brian has for us today.

Across:

1. Risk evaluation: ODDS - So don't risk too many $$ on that Mega Millions  Jackpot

5. High points on a European itinerary: ALPS.

9. Tennis stroke: LOB - A beautiful LOB against an aggressive opponent 

12. The Platters' genre: DOO WOP - Their best?

15. "Don't tell anyone!": NOT A SOUL 

17. Creator of the language Newspeak: ORWELL - Don't say taxes, say revenue enhancements

18. Act sycophantically with: KISS UP TO - On the first episode of Grey's Anatomy, Dr. Bailey said, "Don't bother sucking up to me, I hate you already!"

19. Psychological attempts at one-upmanship: MIND GAMES.

21. Chicago critic: EBERT - He called The Da Vinci Code book preposterous and the movie preposterously entertaining. 

22. Sailor's bit of obedience: AYE AYE - Do Hispanic sailors say this?

23. JFK but not LAX: PRES - This airport became JFK International 15 years later

24. Internet initialism: IMO - "Reporters" often omit that this is In My Opinion

26. Head of Britain?: LOO - Can't fool a cwd veteran

28. Part of a flooring metaphor: PEDAL TO THE METAL - CB lingo also includes "Put the hammer down"


37. Good way to wrap things up: ON A POSITIVE NOTE - For our just past winter

38. Reasons for Word getting around?: SOFTWARE PIRATES - Microsoft Word has seen more pirates than the Barbary Coast or Penzance 

39. Belief system: ISM.

40. Sch. paper: RPT - Reading/grading 8th grade RePorTs can be agonizing

41. Naval post: MAST - I had to get off the HELM first

44. Stands for meetings: EASELS - Many have been replaced by screens that display Power Point Presentations. Pirated versions of PPT?

49. Opposite of mouthed: ALOUD.


51. "Six Feet Under" occupation: MORTICIAN - An HBO series

54. #80 on AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movie Quotes: YO ADRIAN

56. Make possible: ENABLE -

57. With a #2, say: IN PENCIL - Last Saturday was National Pencil Day!

58. "Feel So High" R&B artist: DES'REE - Here 'ya go

59. Classic two-seated roadsters: MGS.

60. "That's a surprise!": OH MY - His famous catch phrase

61. Dost own: HAST - Thou shalt not, but if thou already HAST, we forgiveth you


Down:

1. Tony winner Leslie __ Jr.: ODOM - Here 'ya go

2. Andrea __: ill-fated vessel: DORIA.

3. Snuggle competitor: DOWNY.

4. Nobel, for one: SWEDE 

5. Huber of tennis: ANKE  - Here 'ya go

6. Perry's ambitious reporter: LOIS - Even I'm too young to remember these 1948 Superman movie serials featuring Perry White, Clark Kent/Superman, LOIS Lane and Jimmy Olson. Noel Neil who played LOIS here would reprise that role on the TV Superman series

7. Scoring nos.: PTS- Wilt Chamberlain is the only NBA player to score 100 PTS in one game

8. Mailer in a mailer, briefly: SASE - You can facilitate an RSVP by enclosing an SASE

9. Graceful runner: LOPER - The University Of Nebraska at Kearney shortened its Antelope mascot to get this

10. Eccentric: OUTRE.

11. Record spoilers: BLOTS - A single BLOT on their record can doom a politician 

13. Contemporary of Nadia: OLGA - Nadi Comăneci's contemporary OLGA (Korbut) invented the OLGA Flip and it has been outlawed because it is so dangerous

14. Start of #28 on AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movie Quotes: PLAY IT SAM - Our cwd friend Ilsa did say, "PLAY IT ONCE, SAM" but nobody said AGAIN in this phrase

16. Order in the court: SUBPOENA -  A fun one

20. Work involving recall: MEMOIR 

25. Badger relative: OTTER.

26. Rose magically: LEVITATED - The secret to LEVITATED street performers 

27. Seven-week period in Judaism that begins during Passover: OMER - More

28. Terminal type: Abbr.: POS - When jump starting a car, the red cable is usually connected from the POSitive terminal of one battery to the POSitve terminal of the other

29. Antacid brand since the 1800s: ENO - New to me. 

30. Agency under the Secy. of Defense: DAF - Department of the Air Force

31. Talent: APTITUDE 

32. Tough times: LOWS - True love is sticking with each other during these

33. More with it: HIPPER - Dads can fail miserably at trying to be this

34. Deep-fried snack, familiarly: TOT 35. Polished off: ATE - No problem!

36. Argonne article: LES - LES filles sont belles (* translation at the bottom)

41. Actress __ Bialik of "The Big Bang Theory": MAYIM 42. During: ALONG - ALONG with playing a scientist she actually is one

47. Heavenly scales: LIBRA - Now abandoning science...

43. Serial guilty pleasures for many: SOAPS 

45. __ wave: SINE - For us math/science peeps

46. Bitcoin, e.g.: E-CASH - A 2-minute video 

48. Retail draws: SALES 

50. First in a long series of movies: DR NO - The producers cast relatively unknown Sean Connery as James Bond because Cary Grant would not commit to a series of these films

51. Severely injure: MAIM - MAIM and MYIAM in the same puzzle

52. __ child: ONLY

53. Former Nair competitor: NEET - Cwd coin flips 

55. I, in Erfurt: ICH - For some reason, this phrase has stuck with me since I learned it

Before you move on to comment on National Birding Day, I'd love it if you could tell me some way to get rid of grackles that clutter up our feeders from now until July 4th.

* Translation: The girls are beautiful (supplied by my granddaughter who is getting a double major, one of which is in French)

Saturday, March 30, 2019, Pawel Fludzinski

Themeless Saturday by Pawel Fludzinski

On this day in 1858, Hymen Lipman received a patent for attaching an eraser to the end of a pencil. So now we celebrate National Pencil Day on this date.

The recent floods prevented me from getting a newspaper for four days and forced me to do the crosswords online instead of using my trusty #2 Ticonderoga. I did not enjoy the experience. 

Fun fact: John Steinbeck was an obsessive pencil user and used more than 300 to write East Of Eden. You're welcome!

Our constructor today is Pawel Fludzinski Ph.D (Pah' vel   Flu gin' ski). His Ph D is in organic chemistry and he retired to Santa Fe, NM in 2015 after 31 years of working for Eli Lilly in Pharmaceutical R and D. 

Pawel and I had a nice email exchange when I blogged his Feb. 3, 2018 puzzle and also for this one.  He said he wrote the cluing for this puzzle over a year ago and so we had some interesting exchanges about the cluing process as he tried to recall what his thought process was. I told him that he looks like he could be a James Bond super villain and he thought that was pretty funny! 

I told him I would love to have a glass of wine with him someday but he says he more or a single malt scotch man and has OBAN (a single malt scotch brand) in a submission. Suffice it to say he is a very interesting guy.

Pawel's license plate tells you both where he lives and what one of his passions is.

Pawel even managed to work his new home state into the first down clue 1. Alamogordo experiment: A-TEST- The first A-TEST detonation for The Manhattan Project occurred 1 hr and 35 min NNW of Alamogordo, NM

Cue the Goldfinger music as we see what Pawel has for us today.

Across:

1. SALT topic: ABM - SDS didn't cut it

4. Surface collection: DUST - My dad and his siblings talked a lot about the DUST of their childhoods

8. Territory affected by the 1868 Treaty of Fort Laramie: DAKOTA - The Sioux got rights to their sacred land - The Black Hills. And then gold was discovered there and George Armstrong Custer, et al soon followed 

14. Impulsively attack: TEAR INTO.

16. Panacea: ELIXIR - Good for what ails ya!

17. Makes a pig of oneself: ENGORGES.

18. Coquettes: MINXES - Synonyms for flirts 22. Esteem: REPUTE - Some coquettes can be of ill REPUTE and some can be 44. Smokin': HOT.

19. Showroom surprise: STICKER SHOCK.

21. Every other second?: TOCK - My favorite, Pawel.  I proudly sussed TICK but then I had the wrong vowel for 2. Japanese box lunch: BENTO.

23. Keystone figure: KOP.

26. King or queen: BED 

28. "Return of the Jedi" dancer: OOLA - A picture of the character autographed by Femi Taylor who portrayed her

29. Article beginning, in newspaper jargon: LEDE - LEAD/LEDE

30. Like some colors: MUTED.

32. Dish-washing liquid: TAP WATER - TAP WATER safety was a real concern during recent Nebraska flooding but it remained fine in my town

34. Lively ballroom dances: BOLEROS - I've never danced with someone who could touch the ceiling with her foot

36. City named for a Suquamish chief: SEATTLE - Below is the grave site of Chief Noah Sealth. Seattle founders mispronounced the chief's name to arrive at Seattle. Sealth was converted to Christianity by French missionaries

37. Interminably: AT LENGTH - Fidel Castro could talk for muchas horas 

39. Expand: SWELL.

40. Young follower?: STER - Voila! An description becomes a person

41. College bookstore, perhaps: COOP - This one probably has a lot of books that I would not understand

43. Sylvie's soul: AME - Sylvie a une belle ÂME (Sylvie has a beautiful soul)

45. Surveyor's equipment: TRIPOD - Today that TRIPOD is likely to support a surveying  laser

47. U.K. honors: OBES - Here Stella McCartney, Paul and Linda's daughter, receives the Order of the British Empire

50. Fix things?: STACK THE DECK - Nepotism can "STACK THE DECK" against you for getting a job

52. Not the usual merchandise amount: ODD LOT - One sleeve is 2" shorter?

55. French actress Adjani with a record five César Awards: ISABELLE - Her Internet Media Data Base page

56. Words of despair: NO HOPE - An ominous doormat "Abandon HOPE all ye who enter here" 

57. Smear protection?: LIBEL LAW - Can you sue for LIBEL if it's true? 

58. Excessively focus (on): OBSESS - Emerson's take on this

59. Ruhr refusal: NEIN.

60. D and C in D.C.: STS - Here they are just north of the Capitol. Very clever Pawel!

Down:

3. Panacea: MAGIC BULLET - A famous/infamous one

4. __ Nowitzki, 21-season NBAer: DIRK - A great German-born seven footer

5. Neat freak of film and TV: UNGER - Tony Randall was my favorite Odd Couple Felix

6. Sound purchase: STEREO

7. Pink elephant sighter: TOSS POT - A Britsh insult - Beer or ale was customarily served in ceramic pots, so a tosspot was a person who copiously 'tossed back' such pots of beer.

8. Rock samples?: DEMO TAPES - What musicians submit in hopes of getting recorded or published

9. "You're nothing but a pack of cards!" speaker: ALICE.

10. Flaw: KINK - We've all used this as a verb to get a drink from a hose

11. Losing game line: OXX - Top line here

12. Nil-nil, e.g.: TIE - Zero to zero on this side of the ocean

13. Razor edges?: ARS - Yes, R's start and end the word RAZOR

15. Gagarin or Glenn: ROCKETEER - I'm calling a foul, Pawel! Astronaut also has 9 letters. 😏

20. Island dances: HULAS

23. Exercise equipment sometimes swung: KETTLE BELLS 

24. New York Giants' star __ Beckham Jr.: O'DELL - Just this month, this flashy receiver became a Cleveland Brown

25. Famille member: PERE -  Mon PÉRE, était pompier volontaire (My Dad was a volunteer firefighter)

27. "Nebraska" Oscar nominee: DERN - A wistful look at aging and small town life - Trailer

29. Part of a getaway car description, maybe: LATE MODEL - Thieves can't drive old clunkers?

30. Words often framed: MOTTO.

31. Pet shop buys: DOG CRATES - They were temporary homes during our recent floods

33. Toddler's drink: WAWA - I better remember Gildna Radner's Bawbwa WAWA

34. Disparage: BASH - Ah, next year is an election year so let the BASHING begin

35. Unflappable: STOIC.

38. Brewer's drier: HOP KILN - Along with our cwd friend OAST

42. Friend of Richie, Ralph and the Fonz: POTSIE - Warren "POTSIE" Weber (Anson Williams)

45. 'Vette options: T-TOPS - '68 was the first 

46. Abu __: DHABI - Ferrari Abu DHABI is a motor themed amusement park and the world's largest space frame structure 

48. Panache: ECLAT  and 50. Gin flavor: SLOE and 52. "The world's most famous unknown artist": Lennon: ONO - Three old cwd friends

53. Passport nos.: DOB - Speaking of John and Yoko, John had his middle name changed from Winston to ONO. His passport shows both middle names along with his Date Of Birth

49. Unfairly presents: SKEWS - Good luck finding a news source that doesn't 

51. __ Upton, co-founder of the U.K.'s Raspberry Pi Foundation: EBEN - Here ya go!

54. They don't play the field: Abbr.: DHS - The American League still uses the Designated Hitter and The National League does not.

All right class, pencils down! It's time to electronically comment on this puzzle from the Dr. Fludzinski in the highest (7,000') state capital in America

Psst! When I can't find my #2 Ticonderoga, I use these because they have a great eraser and cost less than a dollar each!