Saturday, April, 20, 2019, Kyle Dolan

Saturday Themeless by Kyle Dolan

Today is Chinese Language Day where we celebrate the most spoken language in the world. Of course C.C. is fluent but I know some of our other contributors here are as well.

Learning English is mandatory in Chinese schools and, depending on where they live, most start learning English at 3rd or 4th grade. C.C. told me she started learning English at 13 yrs old. I daresay her mastery of English is amazing!

Our Saturday regular Kyle Dolan has supplied us with yet another of his fine Saturday puzzles.

I stared at the blank cell you see below at 4 Down for a long time but to no avail. 

I knew Japanese Airlines JAL and thought about Nippon National Airlines NNA but had no clue on 4. Japanese carrier: ANA - All Nippon Airways. As for  1. Minuet-like dances: SARABANDS - Not a chance! If you must see it...

让 (Let) 我们 (us) 开始 (begin) 吧 (common Chinese ending) (translation from C.C.)

Across:

10. Deaden, as a musical string: DAMP - A one-minute lesson

14. Bon Jovi genre: ARENA ROCK - Trans Siberia Orchestra takes it to the max

15. Bathymetry tool: SONAR -Swath Bathymetry is the study of underwater depth of lake or ocean floors

16. Bamboozled: LED ASTRAY hard to do if you're 20. Not ignorant of: WISE TO what's going on

17. Memorable Ford: HENRY 

18. Toon that debuted in "Devil May Hare," briefly: TAZ.

19. The Cyclones of the Big 12: Abbr.: ISU - Their former BB coach just got big dollars to coach the Huskers 

21. Make smooth, perhaps: ERODE - This ERODING of Hwy 30 shown here is the reason my 8 minute commute is now 28 minutes

23. Sentry's no-no: SLEEP - Lincoln's bodyguard/sentry John Parker was not ASLEEP; he was down in a saloon drinking that fateful night in April of 1865

26. Sass: LIP 

27. Coastal feature: DUNE - The ones on the Oregon coast are spectacular

28. Eighth of 24: THETA - Yup, there it is

29. Cosecant's reciprocal: SINE - If the SINE = .5 (1/2), the cosecant is 2 (2/1)

30. One of its ads involves Marco Polo playing Marco Polo: GEICO - One of many clever clever GEICO ads that can soon become annoying

32. Prepared to leave the casino: CASHED IN - especially if you go 34. Binge: GO ON A TEAR and hit it big

36. Brand endorsed at prorodeo.com: WRANGLER.

39. City that gives its name to a dog breed: LHASA - LHASA is a 7-day drive or a 2 1/2 hr flight around Mt Everest to Katmandu. 

42. Dutch portraitist Frans: HALS - Here 'ya go

43. Bangalore wraps: SARIS.

45. Don Everly's brother: PHIL - I need very little impetus to play their wonderful music. Phil's on the left 

47. Athena's attendant: OWL - Her link to the OWL is lost in history

48. "I don't give a darn what they do!": LET 'EM.

49. Facebook action: SHARE 

50. Defensive denial: I DO NOT.

52. One way to stand: PAT - Stick with TR!

54. Intelligence org. formed under Truman: NSA.

55. Backs up: SAVES.

56. Converted, in a way: BORN AGAIN.

59. Express line sign word: ITEMS - The debate rages about less or fewer. I'm in the latter camp

60. Lake Superior mining region: IRON RANGE - The Edmund Fitzgerald was full of IRON ORE (taconite) when it sank in Lake Superior in 1975

61. Root for a luau: TARO.

62. Reunion entertainment group, maybe: COVER BAND - The British Pavilion at EPCOT always has a wonderful Beatles COVER BAND

Down:

1. Cured, in a way: SALTED - This will do the job

2. Decorator's accent, perhaps: AREA RUG

3. Area 20 yards or less from the opponent's goal line, in football: RED ZONE - This shows New England has scored 23 TD's and 19 FG's when it was in the RED ZONE

5. Count on a piano: BASIE.

6. Language __: ARTS.

7. "It's not critical": NO RUSH 

8. Reagan Airport, on tickets: DCA - From this D.C. airport, it is a $12 Uber ride to Ford's Theater 

9. Unlimited limit?: SKY

10. Forest females: DOES 

11. Ringed worm: ANNELID - Earthworms are in the segmented ANNELID family and they help aerate soil and catch fish

12. "The elixir of quietude": E.B. White: MARTINI - The author of Charlotte's Web and Stuart Little loved his elixir

13. Use a crowbar on: PRY OPEN 

15. Send in a carton: SHIP.

20. Cunning types: WEASELS - Euphemisms for Hollywood agents and others

22. Condescends: DEIGNS - Our cat would never DEIGN to come when called

24. Spy novel pen name: LECARRE.

25. Nouveau-Mexique, par exemple: ETAT - "New Mexico, for example: STATE" (French)

28. Craftsman offering: TOOL SET - Craftsman is a proper noun here

29. Six-winged being, in Isaiah: SERAPH - The hymn Salve Regina sings of Cherubim and SERAPHIM (plural)

31. __ railway: COG - Ascending Pike's Peak

33. "Yeah, right!": HAH.

35. Pinlike?: NEAT - If your stuff is 38. Scattered: ALL OVER, you're not as NEAT as a pin

36. Response to a knock: WHO IS IT 

37. Lab notebook entries: RAW DATA - A graph making sense of RAW DATA

40. Doo-woppers with an eponymous '70s-'80s TV variety show: SHANANA Doo Wop heaven!

41. Aquarius, for one: AIR SIGN - If you must know

44. Unpredictable comedy style: IMPROV.

46. Listed at sea: LEANED.

48. Red number: LOSS - Our country has been in the red for decades

49. Whitewater VIP: STARR - Ken, the Robert Mueller of the Clinton Administration 

51. Verne captain: NEMO - Jules' captain of the Nautilus 

53. Keller companion Sullivan: ANNE - The Miracle Worker for Helen Keller

56. Lighter name: BIC.

57. Yield from una mina: ORO - Yeah, you might get gold (ORO) from that mine (una mina)

58. Chew the fat: GAB - A disinclined tweet from Bill

Your comments are now welcome (欢迎您的意见)

Saturday, April 13, 2019, C.C. Burnikel

Themeless Saturday Puzzle By C.C. Burnikel

Other than National Crossword Day, what day could be more apropos here than National Scrabble Day? I am certain we have some expert players that reside here who would clean my clock at this game.

Generally I am very patient in doing crosswords and can stare at partially filled cells without frustration. However, I don't enjoy staring at a rack of impossible Scrabble tiles. 

I always seem to have an 26. Plentiful: AMPLE supply of consonants on my tile rack.

As usual, C.C.'s puzzle was a delight to work. As you can see below, she did not include any 8 or 10 point letters in her puzzle and had only one 5 pointer but still produced a very pleasing exercise!

Now lets's see what our Minneapolis mentor has for us today:

Across:

1. Bikini-ready physique, informally: BEACH BOD - Google at your pleasure. I'll wait until you're back

9. Missed an easy one: BLEW IT - Seattle coach Pete Carroll BLEW IT in Super Bowl XLIX when he called for a pass from the one-yard line that got intercepted and subsequently cost the Seahawks a Super Bowl win

15. One who finesses the tab, facetiously: EL CHEAPO - This San Diego locksmith claims it charges low rates. The ad also says El CHEAPO speaks Spanish for people who aren't offended by his lame business name.

16. Yale sobriquet: OLD ELI

17. Admits: ALLOWS IN

18. Compound in much tea: TANNIN - This compound in tea is said to promote calmness. In wines, several sites says it promotes bitterness and astringency.  

19. Pol. site: EUR - Yeah, Pol(and) is in EURope

20. Cyclotron bits: IONS - If you're interested 

22. Sacred musical work: MOTET - Usually unaccompanied sacred music 

23. Lascaux cave paintings, e.g.: ANCIENT ART - A series of paintings in SW France thought to be around 20,000 years old

29. Attraction: DRAW - Love him or hate him, he is a big DRAW

30. Trash: TOSS.

33. Postal motto conjunction: NOR - "Neither snow NOR rain..." However in Nebraska this spring...

34. Keeps in the email loop: CCS - C.C. sometimes CC's me into emails 

36. Fictional boxer Joe: PALOOKA - Ah, the Sunday comics of my yute

38. Prepare to spring: CROUCH 

40. Like some ice cream: NON FAT.

41. Relief for aching muscles: HOT SOAK - Getting there might be chilly

43. DOJ honchos: AGS - Attorneys General vs AG'S

44. Finished a dish: ATE.

45. Stadium vendor's stack: ONES.

46. Word to a service station attendant: FILL - Or...

48. Missed the note, say: ERRED.

50. Dejected words: I'M A FAILURE - A Beatles variation

53. "Hidden Figures" actress Janelle __: MONAE - Her IMDB info

55. Cinematographer Nykvist: SVEN - ...and Sven's too

64. __ Agron, Quinn portrayer on "Glee": DIANNA - ,,,and DIANNA's

56. Fried rice additive: MSG.

59. Spheres of influence: AMBITS - _ _ B I T S? This NASA guy put in ORBITS immediately!

61. Sandwich spread: EGG SALAD.

65. "The Big Bang Theory" main male characters, notably: TREKKIES - In one episode they were forced to hitchhike in TREKKIE costumes

66. Emulate YouTube: STREAM.

67. Zinfandel, for one: VARIETAL.

Down:

1. Arthur with Lead Actress Emmys for two different sitcoms: BEA - Along with her Golden Girls. She also won for Maude

2. Glamour rival: ELLE - Magazine whose name comes from French pronoun for "She"

3. Org. involved in many Supreme Court cases: ACLU 

4. Like some gospel music: CHORAL - Oh, Happy Day!!

5. Chop down: HEW.

6. Elementary: BASIC.

7. Modern crisis subject: OPIOIDS - It is now thought doctors 12. Overdid it: WENT TOO FAR in prescribing these powerful pain meds

8. Sierra Nevada's __ Pass: DONNER - The Donner party had each other over for dinner

9. Many a Tweeter: BOT - Need to know more?

10. Alpaca relative: LLAMA - Andean beasts of burden

11. Ralph Kramden's pal: ED NORTON - This golfer's favorite bit

13. Nastase of tennis: ILIE.

14. Window shade?: TINT.

21. Lose it: SNAP.

24. Longtime Clark Bar maker: NECCO.

25. Bluegrass sound: TWANG.

26. Dried chili pepper: ANCHO - The smaller pepper the hotter it is (higher on the Scoville Scale below)

27. No-brainer?: MORON.

28. Bodybuilder's snack: PROTEIN BAR

31. Stingray cousin: SKATE.

32. Gratified and then some: SATED.

35. Banter: CHAFF - Kind of down the list for definition especially here in farm country

37. Many a gambler: LOSER.

39. 1898 Havana Harbor sinker: USS MAINE - Hearst's yellow journalism helped spark what Secretary of State John Hay called "The splendid little war" against Spain

42. Rio and Soul: KIAS.

43. Pollen season drug brand: ALLEGRA 

47. Sportscast, usually: LIVE TV - The first baseball sportscast was Columbia vs Princeton that was broadcast to the 400 or so sets capable of receiving the signal in 1939

49. 2006's "Casino Royale," for example: REMAKE - David Niven replaced Sean Connery in 1967.  Well at least they kept Ursula Andress! In 2006, Daniel Craig became 007

51. Blue Cross alternative: AETNA.

52. Fussy Felix: UNGER.

53. Satirical issues since 1952: MADS - Vol. 1 Edition 1 can be yours for $3,000

54. Skip over: OMIT.

57. Skirt feature: SLIT.

58. Greek Mother Earth: GAEA 

60. Frodo's sidekick: SAM - No idea but here they are

62. Deal with moguls: SKI - Of course these moguls are ski bumps not CEO's

63. Broadband option, for short: DSL - We got DSL once but the phone company blamed our bad internet connection on our long distance from its downtown offices. Uh, not very effective. 

Now use the tiles below to figure out what you can leave for the rest of us on National Scrabble Day!