Saturday, February, 29, Michael Wiesenberg

Saturday Themeless Puzzle by Michael Wiesenberg


Our professional poker player/author and crossword constructor from Calgary gives us a very doable Saturday themeless puzzle.

Advice on gaming can be found in his book Ready, Bet, Go 

Odds are always good that Michael will deal us a fun puzzle and he has done so on this Leap Day:

Across:

1. Baseball warm-up word: SHAG - In 2012, Mariano Rivera tore his ACL while SHAGGING fly balls before a game in Kansas City. What's SHAGGING in baseball, Gary?

5. Brazilian music genre word meaning "trend": BOSSA - In 1963 Eydie Gorme sang Blame It On The Bossa Nova (New Trend) or in Spanish:

10. Secured: ICED and 15. Nailing, in a way: ACING - Steph Curry NAILED this three-point shot to ICE the game

14. Ebb: WANE.

16. Weather __: VANE.

17. Kitchen fixture: OVEN.

18. Mountain slope debris: SCREE - SCREE skiing in Austria - Yikes!

19. Welder's output: ARCS - Not quite the same 

20. Home improvement team: REMODELERS.

22. One of two sts. admitted to the Union 11/2/1889: N DAK - The map the year before:

23. Elder of an '80s-'90s country duo: NAOMI JUDD (corrected picture)

24. Metaphorical casino loss: SHIRT - A prescient clue that hints that if I study Daniel's book maybe I won't lose my SHIRT

25. Formed by solidified magma: IGNEOUS - Uh, I'd try to keep my car out of the path of magma before it solidifies into that IGNEOUS rock

26. Is __: imminently will: SOON TO.

27. Turndowns: NOES.

28. Perceived Cold War weapons disparity: MISSILE GAP.

31. Propelled, as a raft: POLED - In Sweden you can sign up for a five-day "Huckleberry Finn" adventure to POLE down the Klarälven River 

32. Words preceding an important reminder: PLEASE NOTE - PLEASE NOTE: today would be Leap-Day-Baby Dinah Shore's 26th birthday as she was born on this day in 1916.

37. Power eponym: WATT - James

41. Antagonism: RANCOR.

42. Amazon, notably: E-TAILER - I tried to shop local but getting a taillight on Amazon saved me $500 

44. Singer for whom Bernie wrote lyrics: ELTON - This movie told the story of ELTON John and his longtime lyricist Bernie Taupin 

45. Remit, nowadays: PAY ON LINE - My wife/bookkeeper of 53 years insists on checks, stamps and envelopes 

47. "Contact" author Sagan: CARL - I loved the first half of this movie and then it fell apart. 

48. Comes to terms: MAKES A DEAL - this 1963 pilot is like a time capsule with pre-costume contestants, very small prizes and modestly dressed models

49. "I'll do it": OKAY - The last line in this hilarious Seinfeld scene is spoken by Marlee Matlin

50. Formal "Who's there?" response: IT IS I - A grammatically correct but perhaps slightly pretentious reply

51. Letter-bottom abbr.: ENCLosure

52. Bit of progress: DENT - Beetle Bailey is often shown trying make a DENT in the pile of potatoes 

53. Atlantic food fish: SCROD - On a Boston picnic, one might eat SCROD in someone's yahd after pahking the cah 

54. Pak of the LPGA: SE RI - One of many fabulous Asian players on the tour

55. Artist's pseudonym formed from the French pronunciation of his initials: ERTE - Romain de Tirtoff a Russian-born French artist and designer known by the pseudonym Erté, from the French pronunciation of his initials (pronounced [ɛʁ.te], AIR TAY)

56. 1953 Ladd classic: SHANE.

57. Casual wear: TEES.


Down:

1. Like court witnesses: SWORN IN - Putting your hand on a Bible is not required these days and the witness can AFFIRM and not SWEAR to tell the truth

2. Try it: HAVE A GO.

3. Buttercup family member: ANEMONE - Buttercup seems like a apt name to me

4. Biological mapping subjects: GENOMES - Here ya go!

5. Parachutist using low-altitude starting points: BASE JUMPER - BASE stands for jumping from Building, Antenna, Span, or Earth (cliff). Here's an Earth  jumper shown in stop motion photography

6. Blockage: OCCLUSION - The repair of two coronary OCCLUSIONS

7. Brought into being: SIRED.

8. Dummy Mortimer: SNERD - I never thought Bergen was a very good ventriloquist and perhaps Mortimer would not be accepted today

9. Quite a while: AGES.

10. Rowena's lover: IVANHOE - All you wanna know

11. Bouncer's job: CARDING - Hand up if you had a fake ID!

12. Early Wikipedia competitor: ENCARTA - 1993 - 2009

13. Icon locale: DESKTOP - The one on my MacBook Pro is very cluttered

21. Giovanni's god: DIO  - The Italian song DIO, come ti amo  means "God How I Love You"

24. Roman sun god: SOL - One of many in the deity array

26. Like a pendulum's movement: SIDE TO SIDE - Galileo used his pulse to time how long it took for the side-to-side swings of a pendulum (chandelier) in a Pisa Cathedral

29. __-mo: SLO.

30. Saw: SET EYES ON - Doing this with Lady Liberty is a highlight for many entering N.Y. Harbor

32. Like Hollywood films before censorship guidelines were introduced: PRE-CODE - Ten PRE-CODE movies that pushed the envelope

33. LeBron, since Jul. 2018: LA LAKER - Cavalier, Heat, Cavalier, Laker

34. One in a 1K, say: ENTRANT - That 1-Kilometer ENTRANT would have to run/walk about  .62 miles

35. Follower: ACOLYTE - Usually young people who help in religious services 

36. Certain youngster's nickname: SON - Something I can't call anyone

37. Least civilized: WILDEST.

38. Property recipient, in law: ALIENEE - Here ya go

39. Like a good-sized farm: TEN ACRE - C'mon, TEN ACRES? Around here that's barely a good-sized sweet corn patch

40. Plant support: TRELLIS - In the background you can see my wife's Clematis starting to bloom on its TRELLIS

43. Santa follower: ANA.

45. Cabbage site: PATCH.

46. "Ran" director Kurosawa: AKIRA - His IMDB

48. Wish were here: MISS - My wife would write that to our kitty 

Feel free to ante up an opinion. 

Saturday, February 22, 2020, C.C. Burnikel

Saturday Themeless Puzzle by C.C. Burnikel

Today we get a very nice themeless effort from our resident den mother C.C. Here you can see her with yours truly when Joann and I visited with her and Boomer in our hotel lobby in Minneapolis while we were there for a wedding. I'm not sure how often she wears that Husker shirt but I it gave me a lot of pleasure to give it to her.

She and this website has been an invaluable addition to my life after retirement. We have collaborated on a few puzzles but I really value our exchanges about themes, fill and titles plus events in our private lives.

C.C. also has served as a portal for me to make contact with the wonderful 35. Buddies, in slang: PEEPS who frequent this site. I am honored she has trusted me to take over the Saturday blogging. You can not imagine how patient she was with me when I started. She had more faith in my abilities than I did.

When I asked her about this puzzle and its seemingly random long fill, she replied, "I don't have any note for the puzzle. Sorry. The long fill for themeless are always random, unless there's a mini theme where two entries are placed symmetrically. The goal is just to get the smoothest fill possible."

Let's  see what Zhouqin has for us today:

Across:

1. Rubber-stamped item?: INK PAD.

7. Rose's record 14,053: AT BATS - Every major league dugout has Rule 21, which you see below, posted in it. Among other things Rule 21 forbids betting on games. Pete walked past it on his way to every one of the AT BATS but he not only bet on games, he lied about it for years and so The Hall Of Fame continues to deny him entrance.

13. Dessert for one, maybe: MINI PIE.

15. Cotton farm threat: WEEVIL - Brook Benton's distinctive voice gives us a song about the Boll WEEVIL

16. Handlers for a mixologist: ICE TONGS - We tend to use our hands here at home

18. Joey of *NSYNC: FATONE - Any real fan would know which one he is. Uh, I don't, but will identify him at the bottom * if you're interested

19. Liquid meas.: GAL.

20. Mythical mount that flies: PEGASUS - A real find on American Pickers features this mythical mount

22. '90s sitcom "__ and Stacey": NED - It ran for a year and a half

23. Maintained: HELD - Some views pols HELD years ago have come back to haunt them

25. Invalid: NULL and void


26. Steep projection: CRAG - Would you walk out on a CRAG like this?

27. Shocker on a cop's belt: TASER.

29. High words: ODE - Words of high praise

30. "All done!": THERE.

31. Light lunch choices: VEGGIE WRAPS 

34. Pinkish nail polish shade: CORAL - Redux from last Saturday

36. "That could work": NOT A BAD IDEA - 59. Sent revealing messages: SEXTED - Not so much!

38. Sheets, e.g.: LINEN and 45. One might be fit for a king: SHEET - Ah yes, we honor presidents with SHEET and LINEN sales in February

39. Score half: TEN - Honest Abe is the only reason we know that a "score" is 20.

40. Stadium souvenirs: STUBS - The average cost of Super Bowl ticket STUBS over the years

44. Some are random and kind: ACTS.

45. Alone, in a way: STAG - Going STAG is pretty rare for me now

46. Maui, for one: ISLE - I'd better take along a Snickers Bar

47. "Told ya!": SEE.



48. Hillary aides: SHERPAS - Five days after New Zealander Sir Edmund Hillary and his SHERPA Tenzig Norgay reached the crown of Mt. Everest in 1953, another crown was in the UK news

51. Springfield small business owner: MOE - Moe's Bar and not Apu's convenience store

52. Taste test need: TONGUE - that middle area sees playing time in our puzzles

54. Sun spot?: SOLARIUM 8. Hot spots?: TEAS - I suspect C.C. might have a spot of TEA daily in a Sun Spot SOLARIUM

56. Major course: ENTREE - My birthday ENTREE is a filet at Brother Sebastians in Omaha

57. Team on a football field: DEFENSE - "Push 'em back! Push 'em back! Waaay back!"


58. About 25% of California: DESERT.


Down:

1. "Maybe": I MIGHT.

2. City for which a creed is named: NICAEA - Constantine got Christian leaders together in 325 A.D. and they mostly agreed on the Nicene Creed. Dissenters were exiled.

3. Solemn sounds: KNELLS - Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard - The curfew tolls the KNELL of parting day," Thomas Gray

4. Date center: PIT - Same for a peach, apricot, et al

5. Each: A POP - The Michelin tires I bought last week were around $200 A POP

6. It goes with wine: DINE - I have never been wined and dined. I got a Big Mac once...

7. Really bad: AWFUL.

9. Get in the pool: BET - Pools like this were very common in our teacher's lounge 

10. Sellers of some beauty products: AVON REPS 

11. Problems for ones making notes?: TIN EARS - An observation from our crossword friend Ari I've used before

12. Heavy hitter: SLEDGE.

14. Starbucks holiday drink: EGGNOG LATTE - Yikes!

17. Many an Arab News reader: SAUDI.

21. Capsule for a nap: SLEEPING POD - Students at the British Columbia Institute of Technology can catch a safe and secure nap between classes in these PODS. I'll bet last week's constructor Julian Lim has studied the effectiveness of this practice 

24. Allocates: DEVOTES.


26. Flatbread similar to naan: CHAPATI - CHAPATI and Keema curry

28. Showed over: RERAN - When Sienfeld episodes are RERAN, Jerry and Larry David make millions

30. According to the poet's oldest son, it was written "by a window looking down a wooded hill": TREES - Alfred Joyce Kilmer's poem

32. Shoot the breeze: GAB.

33. Unite: WED - An "L" can be inserted and the clue would still work 

34. What's inside: CONTENTS - Do you really want that Hungry Man Breakfast? 

36. "Impressive!": NICE ONE.

37. Sweeties: DEARS.

38. Went the distance: LASTED.

41. Where a lot of money is made: U.S. MINT - Will/should they quit minting pennies?

42. Top: BLOUSE 43. Appeared: SEEMED - It SEEMED Jerry agreed to wear this Pirate BLOUSE when he couldn't hear the "low talker" who asked him to

48. Litigant: SUER.

49. Bass and such: ALES - A 1953 vintage ad for Bass

50. Call at a base: SAFE - Some umpires maintain there is no such thing as "Tie goes to the runner". You're either SAFE or out

53. Hurdle for srs.: GRE - The Graduate Record Exam shows up here with the LSAT, PSAT, ACT, et al

55. Dog in the Reagan White House: REX - Cavalier King Charles Spaniel REX, takes first couple for a walk

Any comments for our Minneapolis sister?

*Joey is the second from the right on Justin Timberlake's right side

Saturday, February 15, 2020, Julian Lim

Saturday Themeless by Julian Lim

Another fine puzzle from our Singapore professor Julian Lim. As I look at his specialties at Duke University - University of Singapore I can find many traits of mine that could use remediation

As an educator, I am very interested into seeing the results of his research on mental fatigue and fluctuations in cognitive ability. Taking the SAT or other big tests in one setting may not be a good thing to do. Julian?

I struggled most in the NW corner with ENOKI, EKCO and TYGA

Across:

1. Toys with tails: KITES 

6. Mineral used in roofing: MICA - Hey, a portmanteau! 

10. Short answer?: RSVP.

14. Sukiyaki ingredient: ENOKI.

15. Disney theme park designer: IMAGINEER - Hey, another portmanteau!

17. Bounce: EJECT- Not evict it turns out

18. 55-Down warranty brand: APPLE CARE - I've always bought it for my Apple products 

19. Publish: PUT OUT - Rich has to PUT OUT a puzzle per day

21. Salmon or coral: RED.

22. Pathetic start?: SYM - Okay... 

23. George's musical sibling: IRA - The Gershwin Brothers got a little help from Dorothy and DuBose Hayward on this fabulous song.  It was written in 29. Key with no sharps or flats: A-MINOR.

24. One may be turned or earned: PROFIT 

27. Convergence points: FOCI - Our Sun is at one of the two FOCI of Halley's Comet's orbit which will next be seen from Earth in 2062

28. Feline rapper?: TYGA - I suppose, a TIGER is a feline and TYGA and a rap device is changing an "ER" ending to an "A" ending as in GANGSTER/GANGSTA

30. The Rams of the Atlantic 10 Conf.: URI = Go RAMS!

31. Only Nobelist besides Marie to win the prize in two fields: LINUS - Pauling - 1954 prize for Chemistry and 1962 for Peace as he opposed weapons of mass destruction 

32. Convert wrongly: MISTRANSLATE - Khrushchev later claimed he did not say 
"мы похороним тебя" ("We will bury you") but rather "Мы вас похороним"  ("Your working class will bury you"). Oh... 

36. Game with a pecking order?: SPIN THE BOTTLE - There are G and R rated versions of what is ostensibly a kissing (pecking) game

38. OkCupid alternative with an oceanic name: PLENTY OF FISH - The former is an American-based dating app and the latter is Canadian-based. How does a man who was born in and works in Singapore know this? 😏

39. Droid's "surname": DETOO - Last phonetic half of R2D2 phonetically

40. Fellow: LAD.

41. Swerves at sea: YAWS - The boat can point in a different direction (YAW) than the boat is actually moving.  

45. Boobird's output: JEER.

46. It unfolds before you retire: DAY BED - Sleeper, DAY BED or Futon?

49. Mortal Kombat's __ Kang: LIU - Google at will

50. 30-day mo.: APR.

51. Column angle: Abbr.: POV - Point Of View is pretty easy to see on these two networks 

54. Botch: MISMANAGE - You say our country is $20T in debt?

58. Sight sharpener: LASIK.

59. Webinars, e.g.: E-LEARNING - Some smaller Nebraska schools offer upper level courses like 52. Pre-coll. class: AP CALC by using E-LEARNING from teachers miles away

60. Classic TV nerd: URKEL - Jaleel White on type-casting

61. Match: SYNC - Our cable company can't SYNC the TV picture with the live radio feed for Husker Football. The TV picture is at least 10 seconds behind

62. Brand with a Chop House variety: ALPO - PETA says the owners shouldn't call this lovely dog a "pet"

63. Kind of tire: SPARE - Getting at and lowering your SPARE is much more complicated than grabbing it out of the trunk

Down:

1. Generous words: KEEP IT - Words wait staff and taxi drivers love to hear 

2. Tear, perhaps: INJURY - The verb INJURE works too

3. Item seen in the "Six Feet Under" title sequence: TOE TAG - Pretty easy to suss out for a show I've never seen

4. Corningware sister brand: EKCO 

5. Bit of middle management?: SIT UP - Oh, that middle is your tummy

6. "Crimson Peak" co-star Wasikowska: MIA  - Her IMDB

7. Prankster: IMP.

8. __ pants: CAPRI - Also clam diggers and pedal pushers?

9. Tip that prevents fraying: AGLET - From the Old French aguillette for needle. This shoelace tip can be wielded in a variety of ways

10. Org. chaired by Ronna Romney McDaniel: RNC - Mitt Romney's niece 

11. Available periodically: SEASONAL - Those good home-grown T's for BLT's aren't available until July

12. "Aww!": VERY CUTE.

13. Basic part of a TV sa pitch: PREMISE - A very funny PREMISE (:30)

16. Guerrilla combat weapon: Abbr.: IED - Improvised Explosive Device

20. Steed modifier: TRUSTY - Dudley Do-Right's TRUSTY steed was named, uh, Horse

25. Right at the start?: ORTHO a combining form occurring in loanwords from Greek, where it meant “straight,” “upright,” “right,” “correct” (orthodox) and on this model used in the formation of compound words (orthopedic).

26. Night light source: FIREFLY - We put ours in a mason jar and poked holes in the lid

27. __ rich: FILTHY - The two presidential adversaries this November?

31. WWII craft: LSTS - LST-134 loading casualties in Normandy, France on D-Day +6

33. Digging a lot: INTO.

34. Saunders/French Britcom: ABFAB - Title for this show that forms another portmanteau

35. "Wish I knew": NO IDEA.

36. Tired way to talk: SLEEPILY.

37. William who plays Grissom on "CSI": PETERSEN - His IMDB

38. "A Taste for Death" author: PD JAMES - Phyllis Dorothy James, Baroness James of Holland Park, OBE, FRSA, FRSL (3 August 1920 – 27 November 2014), known professionally as P. D. James, was an English crime writer. 

42. Kenai Fjords National Park site: ALASKA - Could be a slog for me to get there!

43. More cagy: WILIER.

44. Nurse: SUCKLE.

46. Summer of disco: DONNA - Get down with DONNA Summer!

47. Use: AVAIL.

48. Report card blemish: D-PLUS.

51. Scorecard number: PAR.

53. Koi, e.g.: CARP - Koi is just a CARP who knows someone!

55. Tech brand since 1998: MAC - July 1998 

56. Economic stat: GNP - Difference between GDP and GNP

57. Certain maniac's focus: EGO - A ten question quiz to determine if you are an EGOMANIAC. I got a 34%

Any comments for Professor Lim?