Saturday, March 30, 2024, Jacob McDermott

 Saturday Themeless by Jacob McDermott

This a debut LA puzzle for Jacob and I was able to get through his 68-word construction in a very good time.

There were a few sticking points but, as usually happens on Saturdays, the long fills became obvious and allowed me to roll on to a satisfying conclusion. Even his very contemporary references fell with relative ease.

Across:

1. Game that's somewhat pointless?: SHUTOUT - Don Larsen's 1956 World Series perfect game SHUT OUT against the Dodgers is probably the most famous one of all. Other than that game he was only a journeyman pitcher at best but he did have his day in the sun.

8. Spanish language apps: TAPAS - Appetizers

13. Casserole nugget: TATER TOT.

15. Brightness: SMARTS 😀

17. Self-made person?: ALTER EGO - $4,500 will buy you a first edition of the most famous one in literature. 

18. Like some barbecue: KOREAN - This one is in Houston.

19. Dale: GLEN.

20. Competed like Kobayashi: ATE - At a July 4th eating competition. 

22. Dealt with: SAW TO.

23. Colorful wrap: SERAPE - Clint bought this himself and took it with him where he made the American western trilogy in Spain with an Italian director.

26. "The Hurting Kind" poet Limón: ADA.

28. Couple of bucks: DEER and 1. Couple of bucks: STAGS.

29. Loaded: ROLLING IN IT 😀

32. "No joke!": HONEST TO GOD.

33. Drain: SAP.

34. Texter's "Success!": FTW - Where I learned the phrase,  "I'll take Totie Fields For The Win." These days it's more likely to be said after the victory.

35. Pro certified in BLS: EMT - An EMT can give CPR as a part of BLS

36. Really bad situation: DIRE STRAITS.

39. Home of Fangorn Forest and the Misty Mountains: MIDDLE EARTH - From Lord Of The Rings

40. "__ plaisir!": AVEC - With pleasure in Français

41. First name in rational egoism: AYN - Wanna know more?

42. Lineup at a charging station: TESLAS.

47. Where workers cut the mustard?: DELIS 😀

49. Shakshouka ingredient: EGG - I first saw shakshouka in a Stella Zawistowski puzzle I blogged four years ago.

51. Storm antecedent, perhaps: CALM.

52. Tolerates: ABIDES - I have trouble ABIDING obscure names crossing each other in a puzzle, but I soldier on.

54. Teen drama starring Zendaya: EUPHORIA.

57. 1977 Travolta role: MANERO - John lost 20 lbs to play Tony MANERO

58. Home inspection concern: RADON GAS - Here ya go

59. Showed again: RERAN - This is show is credited with being first to do this during the time Lucy was pregnant.

60. "Feel me?": CAPEESH - The Americanization of the Italian phrase.

Down:

2. "Ungodly Hour" R&B duo Chloe x __: HALLE - More info on this sister act

3. Unqualified: UTTER.

4. Singer __ Marie: TEENA.

5. Bobby in an iconic Stanley Cup Final photo: ORR - that led to this statue in Boston 

6. Four Corners Native: UTE.

7. Pilate's wear: TOGA - Not what you wear to a pilate's class. 😀

Pilate, "Ecce Homo"

8. Verbal headshake: TSK.

9. Famous name in cookies: AMOS.

10. Models: PARADIGMS - I have seen many PARADIGM shifts in education over my many decades of teaching. Some were useful and some were failures.

11. "Right?": ARE WE NOT- ARE WE NOT crossword fans?

12. Card handed to a TSA agent: STATE ID.

14. Rando: TOTAL STRANGER - Jay Leno's hilarious encounters with rando(m) strangers.

16. Quick drink: SNORT.
 
21. Wikipedia tussle: EDIT WAR.

24. Set in motion: PROPEL.

25. Unit of time often used hyperbolically: EON.

27. Pangolin snack: ANT - Two pangolins at a buffet

30. T-Boz and Chilli bandmate: LEFT EYE - If you're a fan, you know who's who

31. "Faust" dramatist: GOETHE - A first edition for $7,500

32. Apple press release?: HARD CIDER 😀

33. Bench: SIDELINE - Some players can be SIDELINED by an injury which will put them on the bench

36. Source of cheap shots?: DIVE BAR - Happy Bottom Riding Club was a DIVE BAR near Edwards Air Force Base where lots of early test pilots, including Chuck Yeager, hung out. It was featured in the movie The Right Stuff

37. Irish __: SEA - Most say this "pie in the sky" bridge will never be built for financial, geographical and political reasons.

38. Wednesday's cousin: ITT - Halloween costumes

39. Formal address: MADAM.

43. Rock cake kin: SCONE.

44. Cup size: LARGE.

45. Protective cover?: ALIAS - George Costanza's favorite

46. Big hit: SMASH.

48. Transfusion fluids: SERA - SERA vs Plasma

50. Avo dip: GUACamole 

53. "Bye, __": farewell from a buffalo's dad, in a classic joke: SON.

55. Shared intimacy, briefly: PDA - Public Display of Affection 

56. Brewer's unit: HOP - Not a measure just an ingredient. 

HOPS is a, uh, growing crop in Nebraska

Saturday, March 23, 2024, Nate Cardin

 Themeless Saturday by Nate Cardin

Nate is a chemistry teacher. PhD. in L.A. He is a crossword constructor, waffle iron enthusiast (as you will soon see when you watch him on Wheel Of Fortune below). Survivor obsessive. Anti-racist. Feminist.

Below is Nate's appearance on Wheel Of Fortune in September of 2022. You'll see why he is a fan of waffles.

Across:

1. Part of the fam: SIS.

4. Caldecott Medal winner __ Jack Keats: EZRA.

8. Tree crowns, collectively: CANOPY.

14. "We come to this place ... " theater chain: AMC.

15. __ point: MOOT - A MOOT point: The Titanic should have had more lifeboats.

16. Pea family plant: CLOVER.

Cover Crops

17. Flaunts: SHOWS OFF - Uma Thurman does just that in The Producers 

19. Asks for more Money: RENEWS - Money is capitalized.

20. Pueblo people: HOPI.

21. Pickens of "Blazing Saddles": SLIM - I better remember him riding riding a nuclear bomb in Dr. Strangelove 

23. Retro hip beer, for short: PBR.

1950's Ad

24. Fix: AMEND.

26. Common retirement vehicles: ROTH IRAS 😀

30. Like some questions: YES NO - Didja ever?

31. YouTube genre that may cause tingles, for short: ASMR - I think I finally have this: Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response (ASMR) is a previously unstudied sensory phenomenon, in which individuals experience a tingling, static-like sensation across the scalp, back of the neck and at times further areas in response to specific triggering audio and visual stimuli. Here's ASMR music to "easily defeat insomnia" or use as background while solving Nate's puzzle.

32. In the flesh?: NUDE 😀

33. Note of recognition?: I GET THAT A LOT.

"You look like that girl on NCIS."

36. Tribeca Film Festival co-founder: DENIRO.

38. Crushes on: ADORES 😀 - A modern version of having a crush on someone

39. Electric vehicle driver's apprehension: RANGE ANXIETY.

41. Raisins, in an after-school snack: ANTS.

42. Forward thinker?: SEER.

43. Me in C minor: E FLAT - Do Re Me

47. __ Spy apples: NORTHERN - We had these apples just a few weeks ago

49. Goo in some 31-Across videos: SLIME - An ASMR video with "soothing" goo for a visual

50. What "will be" will be: ARE 😀 We will be and now we ARE.

51. Cut: SNIP.

54. Abbr. in quote books: ANON.

55. Point in the right direction: ORIENT.

58. Numbers like 3 and 14, but not 3.14: INTEGERS - Whole numbers

60. Loosen, as skates: UNLACE.

61. Not much: A TAD.

62. Fujairah fed.: UAE - It's a three-hour drive NW from Muscat along the Gulf Of Oman if that's any help.

   

 

63. Charged (with): TASKED - C.C. has TASKED me to blog every Saturday puzzle

64. Setback: LOSS.

65. "i'm begging u": PLS 😒

Down:

1. Apt rhyme of slay and runway: SASHAY - Slay is an adjective for a drag queen who performs well in a drag performance and that might involve a SAHAY on a runway.

2. Return address?: I'M HOME 😀

3. Teacher defended by Darrow in 1925: SCOPES - Substitute biology teacher John Scopes skipped the evolution section in the text but agreed to be indicted for teaching it because he believed in it. He was found guilty but the verdict was overturned.

4. Modem terminals?: EMS - Modem has an "M" on each end

5. Menageries: ZOOS - Among the best in the world.

6. "u slay me": ROFL - A different slay meaning: Rolling On the Floor Laughing

7. Initially: AT FIRST.

8. Roots rock band that started as the Blue Velvets, for short: CCR - It was hard to pick a favorite here

9. Hebrew leader?: ALEPH - The first letter in the Hebrew alphabet

10. Pride banner with yellow, white, purple, and black stripes: NONBINARY FLAG.

11. Veto: OVERRULE.

12. The __ Charitable Trusts: NGO with a think tank: PEW.

13. Brief closing: YRS - Short for Yours Truly at the end of a letter.

18. Hot spell?: WINNING STREAK.

22. Bob that may be a solution for post-pregnancy thinning: MOM HAIR.

25. Prairie wanderer: DOGIE - A motherless calf

27. Swap: TRADE.

28. Hubbubs: ADOS.

29. Fixed: SET - MLB clubs will soon have a SET pitching rotation selected from their 44. Roster: LINEUP.

31. Make-up artists?: ATONERS 😀

34. Wipe: ERASE.

35. "Obvi!": TOTES - Totally obvious

36. Paul of "The Fabelmans": DANO - The Fablemans is the film about Steven Spielberg and how his childhood shaped his love of movies. Paul plays Sammy Fabelman's (Spielberg's) father Burt Fabelman. Did anyone think of this?

37. Inner workings?: ENTRAILS - Ewwww...

39. Scrambled: RAN - What trapped QB's do

40. Generational portmanteau: XENNIAL.

45. Ethically unconcerned: AMORAL.

46. Prepares for impact, say: TENSES.

48. Thus: HENCE.

52. Loving: INTO.

53. School gps.: PTAS - Founded by these ladies in 1897 in Washington D.C.. 

55. Openly queer: OUT.

56. Component of some vaccines: RNA - Here ya go

57. Conference acronym: TED - Technology, Entertainment, Design

59. Mag staff: EDS.