Saturday, February, 10, 2024, Rafael Musa

 Saturday Themeless by Rafael Musa 

After exactly 364 days, I got another Rafael Musa themeless puzzle to blog. This one was a delightful slog as little pieces of it came together to earn me a "got 'er done". I felt like I was in QUITE A PICKLE for a while as I struggled with his clever cluing and other reasonable, though wrong, options. A prime example of the latter is entering SITS for Poses at 1 Down.

Rafael did not litter his puzzle with obscure names that are the bane of my solving existence. Like Sisyphus, I just kept moving the boulder up, the hill, slid back and eventually I ran out of blank cells. AMATEUR was my last fill, I got the Congratulations icon and felt relieved. 

Across:

1. The worst: AWFUL.

6. Clicking sounds?: AHAS.

                

10. "Um, sure": OH, OK.

14. Excelled: SHONE.

15. Firm message?: MEMO 😀

16. First woman to serve as attorney general: RENO - Janet RENO was appointed after two other women withdrew because of issues with gov't regs over nannies they hired. Ms. RENO immediately was confronted with the horrible standoff with David Koresh and his followers in Waco, TX.

17. Kangaroo Island critter: KOALA - As you might expect in the land down under. It is 11 hrs WNW from Melbourne by car and ferry.

18. __ argument: ORAL.
 
19. Something to draw before bedtime: BATH - 😀 Oh, that use of the word draw.

20. Basis of some bonuses: SALES QUOTA.

22. FedEx rival: DHL.

23. Startling revelation: STUNNER and 41. Startling revelation: EYE OPENER.

They didn't fit!

24. 'Tis in the past: TWAS 😀 

                Jabberwocky

• 
• 
• 
• 

                                  Lewis Carroll

1832 – 

1898

                                 ’TWAS brillig, and the slithy toves
                                  Did gyre and gimble in the wabe;
                                  All mimsy were the borogoves,
                                  And the mome raths outgrabe.

25. Chiding clicks: TSKS.

28. Aid in avoiding viruses: IT SUPPORT - I quickly got off the medical idea and finally the correct answer appeared.

30. AP competitor: UPI.

31. Decisive periods, briefly: OTS - Unlike the regular season, during the NFL playoffs  and tomorrow's Super Bowl, play will be continued until someone wins in OverTime.

32. On the move: ROLLING.

34. Scientific journal that published the initial sequencing of the human genome: NATURE.

36. Name on the business school at the University of Arkansas: WALTON and 50. Back: FUND. The family of Wal~Mart founder Sam Walton donated fifty million dollars to the University's business school and henceforth it was named The Sam M. WALTON school of business.

37. Mopes: ACTS SAD.

39. Lead-in to X, Y, and Z: GEN - Am I the only one who tried UVW (correction-hg)? 😗

40. Uber stat: ETA.

43. All hands on deck: CREW - The CREW of the U.S.S. Arizona in 1928.

44. Nonhumans that quickly buy up concert tickets: BOTS -  Ticketmaster et al. use BOTS to get so many tickets to resell at their markup, it makes it very hard and/or very expensive to get tickets.

45. Some flavored drinks: ICE TEAS.

47. Earth Day mo.: APR.

48. Gets carried away at a concert?: CROWD SURFS.

52. Consider: DEEM.

54. Flat-topped hat: KEPI - Captain Renault is wearing his KEPI in this famous scene near the end of Casablanca 

55. Keep busy: TIE UP - Brave soldiers of the French First Army kept the Germans TIED UP until over 300,000 men were evacuated at "The Miracle Of Dunkirk".

56. __ school: GRAD - Most of my drives to The University Of Omaha to get my GRAD degree could have been eliminated today by doing most of the work online. 

57. Cask sediment: LEES.

58. Rock memoir with the chapters "Nut Bush" and "River Deep": I TINA - BTW, she was born in Nut Bush, TN

59. "Good __": Alton Brown series: EATS.

60. Ciudad del __: Paraguay's second-largest city: ESTE.

61. Splits: RENDS.

Down:

1. Poses: ASKS.

2. "Stop right there": WHOA and 49. Means of control: REIN.

3. Stable baby: FOAL - Not colt

4. "What if ... ": UNLESS - "UNLESS we work together, we are doomed." "What if we cooperate?"

5. LCD component?: LEAST - We all learned in grade school that to add 1/2 + 1/3 we have to use the Least Common Denominator which is 6; thus 3/6 + 2/6 = 5/6.

6. Comes (to): AMOUNTS.

7. Bitterns, e.g.: HERONS.

8. "You clearly have no idea what you're doing": AMATEUR 😀

9. Light run?: SOLAR POWERED - These huge SOLAR cells POWER the International Space Station

10. __-weaver spider: ORB.

11. Lead role in a TV show: HEAD WRITER: Dick Van Dyke played the lead role in The Dick Van Dyke Show where he played the HEAD WRITER Rob Petrie.

12. Transition phrase: ON THAT NOTE.

13. Retailer that began as a grocery store in Milwaukee: KOHL'S.

21. Spot of bother: QUITE A PICKLE.

24. Congestion pricing charge: TOLL.

25. Product auctioned at Tokyo's historic Tsukiji Market: TUNA.

26. Sci-fi subgenre: SPACE OPERA.

27. Burmese food?: KITTY TREAT - Not as difficult as I feared. Here's a cute Burmese KITTY having a TREAT!

29. "What's the __?": PLAN.

31. Ish: OR SO - I am seventyish 

33. Nibble: GNAW.

35. Finds a place for: USES.

38. Pronounces: DECREES.

39. Mouth off: GET WISE - Sometimes you should GET WISE not to GET WISE

42. Virtual companion: NEO PET.

43. Executive level: C-SUITE.

44. Access card: BADGE

46. Buzzing: ASTIR.

51. Spring break destinations?: SPAS - Uh, not bars?

53. Anatomy experts, briefly: MDS.

Saturday, February 3, 2024, Grace and Greg Warrington

  Saturday Themeless by Grace and Greg Warrington

What a lovely Saturday puzzle by high school student Grace Warrington and her  University of Vermont math professor father Greg. I zoomed through this one and really enjoyed the clever cluing and the very helpful long and "gettable" fills. Here is a very nice article about Grace, her dad and getting their first puzzles published.

Across:

1. Tells: BLABS.

6. Randall Munroe webcomic: XKCD  - I had no idea but this looks really fun! XKID made more sense to me at first.   

 

10. In a tizzy: AGOG.

14. Instant success?: RAMEN - I don't remember these being popular when I was a struggling college student.

15. Move, informally: RELO.

16. Athletic brand that makes Scoot Zeros: PUMA.

17. "So ... you're not saying no ... ?": IS THAT A YES?

19. Conditionally give: LEND.

20. "My mistake": OH SORRY - Not always sincere...

21. Contamination process: OSMOSIS.

23. Drab shade: OLIVE 

25. Pet brand since 1946: IAMS.

26. "Rock'n Me" group: STEVE MILLER BAND - A very worthy musical interlude. Rock on!

32. Worked on the road: PAVED or tarred like they did in Cool Hand Luke

33. "Good thinking!": SMART.

34. Congressional auditing org.: GAO - Their charge is to monitor and limit government spending. No, really!

35. Squeezes (out): EKES.

36. Devout: PIOUS.

37. Some recyclables: CANS.

38. __ Lingus: AER - There appears to be a dominant color inside and out

39. For company: ALONG.

40. Actress Tazel of "Justified": ERICA.

41. Correct: RIGHT ON THE MONEY - It had to do with surveyors placing a shiny coin on top of a time aged marker to help them view their target. When the coin was centered in their sights, they knew they were on target - or “right on the money”. You're welcome.

44. Thé addition: LAIT - Thé indicates the French word for tea, LAIT is French for milk and so we get tea with milk. (correction - hg)

45. Singer who never toured outside North America: ELVIS - "Colonel" Tom Parker was the reason Elvis never toured

46. Spots for fireside chats: HEARTHS.

49. "You must let me": I INSIST - The initial two "I's" took some parsing

53. Actor who hosted "Scientific American Frontiers" from 1993 to 2005: ALDA.

54. Editorial piece, perhaps: OPEN LETTER.

56. Side hustle option: UBER.

57. Peignoir frill: LACE.

58. __ wafers: NILLA.

59. Hit with an intense beam: LASE - Name 

Bond: Do you expect me to talk?
Goldfinger: No, Mr. Bond, I expect you to die!

60. First asteroid landed on by a NASA craft: EROS - NASA's NEAR Shoemaker vehicle traveled the 160 million miles to EROS and landed within three feet of its target. It has remained there in the dark and cold for over twenty years.

61. Wimbledon set?: TELLY - British television. I did not bite on the red herring of Wimbledon tennis. 

Down:

1. Con __: with vigor, in music: BRIO - Allegro also means cheerfully

2. Word in some mascara names: LASH.

3. Receipt figs.: AMTS.

4. Is incumbent upon: BEHOOVES.

5. Congested, in a way: SNARLED.

6. Penetrating gaze?: X-RAY VISION - A PSA for the man from Krypton

7. Escape room find: KEY - Here's such a game room in NYC

8. Jazz singer Laine: CLEO - Name the 1940 Disney cartoon that had a character named CLEO (*answer below)

9. Files: DOSSIERS.

10. Grace under pressure: APLOMB.

11. "Still wrong": GUESS AGAIN.

12. Hotel chain headquartered in Dallas: OMNI - A pretty good guess for a 4-letter hotel chain

13. __ about: GADS - What my wife says I do at parties

18. Short cut: TRIM.

22. Outlet: MART.

24. San Gabriel Valley city north of Whittier: EL MONTE  - It's about a 23 minute drive from EL MONTE to Pasadena for the Rose Parade

26. Pike, e.g.: SPEAR - Standard issue to the Vatican's Swiss Guard

27. "Oh Myyy! There Goes the Internet" memoirist: TAKEI - Mr. Sulu's catchphrase 

28. Largest subtropical wilderness reserve in North America: EVERGLADES.

29. Wrinkles in time?: LAUGH LINES - Getting rid of them

30. Actor Jack who often collaborated with David Lynch: NANCE.

Lynch (director) NANCE (actor)

31. "If I __ so myself": DO SAY.

36. Glitch in "The Matrix," maybe?: PLOT HOLE.

37. Rail yard piece: CROSS TIE - Replacing without moving the rails

39. Busy, busy, busy: AT IT.

40. Celebrated: EMINENT - It is not necessarily imminent that you will become EMINENT

42. Capital of Zimbabwe: HARARE - A 19-hr flight from NYC

43. Pernicious: EVIL.

46. Spoils: HAUL.

47. Heimdall player in Marvel's "Thor" films: ELBA.

Idris ELBA

48. Box: SPAR.

50. "__ come to me ... ": IT'LL - Wait a minute, IT'LL come to me.

51. Pitch well?: SELL 😀

52. Buffet surface: TRAY.

55. Prefix with footprint: ECO.

*Cleo was Gepetto's goldfish in 1940's Pinocchio