Wednesday, Apr 2th, 2025 ~ Stella Zawistowski

CONTENTS MAY HAVE SETTLED

AFTER PACKAGING

Van Halen, Dead or Alive, Lyric at 1:15

I struggled with this one - while Stella masterfully gives us four theme fills that are all unique crossword entries, and none of the usual Wednesday construction attributes we usually see - bigger grids, circles, a plethora of names - I stumbled in the west, had to do an alphabet run to get the "red square" you see in the completed puzzle grid at the end of the blog, and the effort was not rewarding, IMHO - a bit of a let down, rather than a clever or funny theme.  Sigh.  The themers;  

20. Leg day exercises performed while holding dumbbells: SUITCASE LUNGES

A selfie - NOT

28. Rectangle-shaped football formation: BOX DEFENSE

46. Stephen King novel about a graveyard curse: BAG OF BONES - I did not read this book

54. Therapist's statement, or what can be said about the first parts of 20-, 28-, and 46-Across?: 

LET'S UNPACK THAT - I've heard the phrase, but I must be getting "brittle" as I age because I don't care for this "euphemism", as it were - nor do I care for 21st century-speak buzzords like "circle back" and the rest on this list - when one steps back from them, they do have a cringe factor

And Away We Go~!

ACROSS:

1. Cloth that protects waves: DURAG - A "do" rag - this thing - that is more likely to be seen on a rapper's head than a "permanent wave"

6. Jazz pattern: RIFF - the master of the heavy metal riff - Tony Iommi

How the Black Sabbath ( and Heavy metal ) sound was born

10. Future atty.'s exam: LSAT - crossword staple

14. Native people of Missouri: OSAGE

15. Campaign for Smart Justice org.: ACLU

16. Córdoba coin: EURO - Dah~! I always think "PESO", and even that's not right - peseta is better

17. Sired, biblically: BEGAT - there was a LOT of "begatting" in the Bible

18. "You __ me?": "FEEL~?"

19. Marching insects: ANTS

23. "Uh-uh": NAH

24. "¿__ te llamas?": "COMO~?" - I am IRON MAN~!

25. Pipe material, for short: PVC - actually stumped me - but then again, I don't work with "those" pipes any more . . . . PolyVinyl Chloride - the Wiki

33. "So cool!": "OOH~!"

34. Marvel's God of Mischief: LOKI - learned by doing crosswords, not from the movies

35. Breakfast or brunch: MEAL - I had breakfast with my brother on Saturday, which means I got to visit with my buddy Cooper again~!  I'm still looking for my four-legged friend 😞

Cooper~!

37. Close shave: SCARE

39. This __ up: END

41. Natural fence: HEDGE - if there's a bustle in your hedgerow....

42. Seize: TAKE

43. Not here anymore: GONE

45. In the style of: À LA

50. Homer's wholesome neighbor: NED 

PFFFT - Flanders

51. "In my opinion ... ": "I SAY..." - meh.

52. Not trans: CIS

61. Skip over: OMIT

62. __ bean: FAVA - Dah~!  not LIMA

63. Nest on a cliff: AERIE - crossword word - AND - 32. 63-Across nester: EAGLE

65. Santa Monica landmark: PIER - filled via perps

66. "That true?": "IS IT~?

67. Itty-bitty: TEENY

68. Site with handmade stock: ETSY

69. Crop-sharing orgs.: CSAs - also a unique crossword fill, but I had no clue; Community Supported Agriculture - the USDA website

70. Wipe data from: ERASE


DOWN:

1. Passport info, briefly: DOB - I do not have a passport, so I went with SSN - bzzzt~!

2. Avails oneself of: USES - the verb, not the noun

3. Rao's rival: RAGU - stumped; it was only after I had R A G _ that I WAGed the "U"

4. Excited toddler's cry: "AGAIN~!"

5. Not beyond one's solving skills: GETTABLE - I found a few clues "non-gettable" for Wed.

6. Nadal's nickname: RAFA - I thought it was "RAFI", so that didn't help ( I blogged Sunday, before the Monday puzzle and write-up posted )

7. Coats with frosting: ICES - I started typing "RIMES", but it's not THAT frosting

I actually made a cake like this - simple, really - here's the website

8. Warm jacket lining: FLEECE

9. Stuffed with: FULL OF - e.g., BEANS

10. "When you're not strong" song: LEAN ON ME - a song that was #1 twice from two different artists - the Wiki

11. Like operas and oratorios: SUNG

12. Opere e oratori: ARTE - I did like the redundant, albeit foreign, cluing

13. Chuck: TOSS - the verb, not the Texas Ranger

21. Shoe designer Jimmy: CHOO - an internet connection (and a minimum of $750) will get you here

Get it~?

22. Japanese plum: UME - no clue, filled via perps - pickled

25. Drop in the mail: POST - not SEND, so this slowed me down in the west

26. Language learner's topic, for short: VOCAB - yeah, but meh

27. R&B singer Khan: CHAKA - now this I did know; name # - oh wait, never mind . . . 😜

29. Classic Jaguar model: XKE - the official model name of the "E-Type"

Gorgeous - the Wiki

30. Wild dog of the Australian Outback: DINGO

31. Car rental option: SEDAN

36. Head up: LEAD

38. Wedding couple's wish list: REGISTRY - my brother & fiancée have set the date - July 12th

40. Get into: DON - Dah~!  Not DIG - this is the actual get into, as in clothing . . . .

41. Pause before deciding: HESITATE - PONDER was too short

44. Violin or guitar section: NECK - section~?  Meh; PART, more better-er.  I'm starting a Black Sabbath cover band

My latest acquisition - a Gibson SG - I'm a lefty, like Tony Iommi 

47. Columbus sch.: OSU - I distracted myself thinking of the school in NYC - that's Columbia

48. Genre with unofficial sequels, familiarly: FANFIC - Ugh.  Meh.  Period.  The Wiki

49. Skip over: BYPASS

53. See-through: SHEER

They're for "bloggers"

54. Easy running pace: LOPE

55. Give off: EMIT

56. Draw scores: TIES

57. Nike rival: AVIA

58. Sphynx and Siamese: CATS

59. Carpeting measurement: AREA

60. Sardine containers: TINS

64. Organ with a retina: EYE - a long way to go for a 3LW

Splynter

Monday September 23, 2024 Stella Zawistowski

  

Happy Monday, everyone! sumdaze here, poised to walk with you down the red carpet. 

Theme:          Crossword Style

Diane von Furstenberg dress ($558 at Nordstrom) 

Let's buckle down, roll up our sleeves, and get to work at solving today's clues. First, the three themers:

20 Across. Pricey booze at a bar: TOP SHELF LIQUOR.  TOP SHELF is not a brand name of LIQUOR nor is it a category of LIQUOR. Instead, it refers to the common practice of arranging LIQUOR bottles behind the bar so that the most expensive brands are on the TOP shelves, medium-priced brands are in the middle, and lower-priced brands are on the bottom shelves.  

33 Across. Power tool for smoothing wood: BELT SANDER.

I thought this video about the New England BELT SANDER Racing Association was fun. (3:29 min.)  

40 Across. Beef often used for carne asada: SKIRT STEAK.  

The SKIRT STEAK is a cut of beef that comes from the plate (below the animal's ribs). It is not very tender so it is usually prepared by running it through a tenderizer machine and/or soaking it in a marinade.

The images on this SKIRT are STEAKs with the words "Well done!".

Then the reveal:

49 Across. On the cutting edge of style, or what 20-, 33-, and 40-Across can be said to be?: FASHION FORWARD.

Something that is FASHION FORWARD is characterized by the latest trends in fashion.

Also, TOPs, BELTs, and SKIRTs are all clothing items (FASHION) at the front (FORWARD) of the themed answers. 

I tip my hat to Stella for her fun theme and excellent variety in the meanings of TOP, BELT, and SKIRT . Let's see what else she has ready for us to try on:

Across:
1. Covertly included on an email: BCC'D.  This means the email was also sent to someone whose name is not visible in the primary address box.  

5. Female pigs: SOWS.

9. Enjoy a novel: READ.  

13. Bedside clock feature: ALARM.

15. Declare with assurance: AVOW.  It has been a while since I looked up the difference between AVOW and aver. To aver is to verify and to avow is to say it publicly. They overlap when we want to state the truth (aver) so that the whole world can hear (avow).

16. __ of Wight: ISLE.  a brief history of England's largest island

(Click to enlarge.)

17. "Aquaman" star Jason: MOMOA.  He has waded through a few previous grids.

18. Mighty wind: GALE.  

19. Fill until full: SATE.

23. Chimney buildup: SOOT.  Here is Dick Van Dyke singing Chim Chim Cher-ee in the movie Mary Poppins (1964).

24. Greek letter after sigma: TAU.  

25. Climb: ASCEND.

28. Periodic table components: ELEMENTS.  I love this idea for a shower!  

35. Horror filmmaker Aster: ARI. I have not seen any of his movies. You can find a list on his IMDb page.

36. Vietnam neighbor: LAOS.  

37. Ore-__ Tater Tots: IDA.  I have always liked those videos that show the production process. Apparently my high school Ag Science teacher did, too, because we watched a lot of them...or maybe he just was not into lesson planning. 🤔 Here is one about Ore-Ida French fries. (3:45 min.)  

38. "Frozen" character with antlers: SVEN.  Sven is a reindeer who lives with his buddy, Kristoff. Spoiler alert:  Kristoff proposes to Anna at the end of Frozen 2.  

39. Shade tree: ELM.

43. Witty banter: REPARTEE.  Fun word! When it comes to witty banter in a TV show, it is hard to beat The West Wing (1999-2006). (3:24 min.)   

46. Pops, as a bubble: BURSTS.  

47. Nat __ Wild: GEO.  National Geographic Wild is a global pay television network owned by National Geographic Partners, a joint venture between The Walt Disney Company and the National Geographic Society. The channel primarily focuses on wildlife and natural history non-fiction programming.

48. Naive one: BABE.  For example, the noun phrase BABE in the woods is used to describe someone who is innocent or who lacks experience.

56. Pixar film set on the Italian Riviera: LUCA.  Here is the trailer for this 2021 film (1:26 min.). Luca 2 is scheduled to be released in 2027. 

57. Buddhist teacher: GURU.  

58. Love, in Italian: AMORE.  

That's Amore   ~   Dean Martin   ~   1953

60. Flight sked nos.: ETAS.  "Schedule" and "numbers" are abbreviated, so is "Estimated Times of Arrival".

61. Perfect place: EDEN.  

62. Oman neighbor: YEMEN.  

63. "__ count on it!": DON'T.  

64. Tournament rank: SEED.

65. Andy who coaches the Chiefs: REID.  Today we had READ and REID. The latter does not follow the "i before e except after c" rule.

Down:

1. Impact sound: BAM.

2. Coagulate: CLOT.

3. Inconspicuous gear, for short: CAMO.  

Can you see the CAMOuflaged owl?

4. Bodybuilding sequences that reduce weights incrementally: DROP SETS.  Here's the gouge.

5. Bob of "Full House": SAGET.  (1956-2022)

6. Shape of some platters: OVAL.

7. "The Three Little Pigs" canine: WOLF.  

You'll get this one if you are familiar with Angry Birds.

8. Suffer in the heat: SWELTER.

9. NSFW, perhaps: RISQUE.  Not Safe For Work usually applies to a meme you would not want on your monitor should your boss walk in the door behind you.

10. Biblical twin of Jacob: ESAU.

11. The "A" of the choir shorthand SATB: ALTO.  Soprano, ALTO, Tenor, and Bass

12. Forest dweller: DEER.  Apparently they like the ocean, too. This video of DEER playing on Pebble Beach in CA went viral last year. (1:40 min.)  

14. Stoneworkers: MASONS.  difference between a mason and a bricklayer

21. Kotb of "Today": HODA.  Like Issa Rae, both Hoda's first and last names make for good crossword fill.

22. Possible answer to "Who's ready?": I AM.

25. Better trained: ABLER.

26. Bobby of the Black Panthers: SEALE.  Born Robert George Seale in 1936 in Liberty, TX, he co-founded the Black Panther Party with Huey P. Newton in 1966.

27. Apt rhyme for "stomp": CLOMP.  To CLOMP is to walk with heavy, loud steps.

28. Oscar winner Redmayne: EDDIE.  Born Edward John David Redmayne in London, England in 1982, Eddie won an Oscar in 2015 for portraying Stephen Hawking in The Theory of Everything. He was also nominated the following year for The Danish Girl.

29. King who banished Cordelia: LEAR.  In Shakespeare's King Lear, Cordelia is one of King Lear's three daughters. Basically she is banished because she has more integrity than her shallow sisters. Yes, her father later regrets his actions.

30. Places for pews: NAVES.  A NAVE is a section of a church.  

31. Good dog's reward: TREAT.  

Snuffles is a Hanna-Barbera character from Quick Draw McGraw.

32. Goes below the surface: SINKS.  The Archimedes Principle explains whether or not something should sink in a liquid. When you drop ravioli into a pot of boiling water, they sink because they are denser than water. As they cook, they expand and their density decreases. When their density becomes less than water, they float. Eureka!

34. Maker of Vomero and Air Max sneakers: NIKE.  Both are styles of shoes made by Nike.

38. Gamer going live on Twitch, say: STREAMER.  Twitch is an internet platform where people can share "in real life" streams. For example, it is a popular place to share your screen while you play a video game. It was founded in 2011 and is a subsidiary of Amazon. Now that you know that, it is easy to break down the clue:  Gamer (someone playing a video game) going live (streaming) on Twitch (website).  more about Twitch  

40. Classic slapstick trio: STOOGES.  CSO to Chairman Moe!

41. Chairlift predecessor, at some ski resorts: T-BAR.

42. Rapid transit option: SUBWAY.

44. Shocked and appalled: AGHAST.

45. Outdoor gear giant: REI.  I am a member of this co-op and have made a pilgrimage to the 'mothership' store in Seattle.

48. __ for greatness: BOUND.  

49. Skipped town: FLED.  

Mac Davis   ~   Texas in my Review Mirror   ~   1974

50. Wheels: AUTO.  I wanted this to be "ride" because that would be a slang answer matched to a slang clue.

51. Look over quickly: SCAN.  I love my ScanSnap scanner. If you do a lot of scanning, that is your tool.

52. Spanx shade: NUDE.  Spanx is a brand of shapewear (tight-fitting underwear intended to control and shape one's figure). No one says "girdle" anymore.

53. Unoccupied: FREE.  This could be said of an empty chair, conference room, or perhaps an empty port-a-john.

54. City that surrounds Vatican City: ROME.

55. German three: DREI.  

59. Conclusion: END.  Bonus points for this proper ENDing!

Here's the grid, all dressed up:

Before I go, I want to extend happy birthday wishes to waseeley's DW and blogging assistant, Teri!  🎂 We appreciate your contributions every week!

Saturday, March 2, 2024, Stella Zawistowski

Themeless Saturday by Stella Zawistowski

The look the face of our weightlifting constructor Stella reflects some of the anguish I felt as I worked my way through the latest of her always always challenging puzzles. After bobbing and weaving through the grid, I had enough letters to start to make sense of her ten-letter fills and finish up. Her top two ten-letter fills were fun to learn. 

As you can see in the grid, I did have one cell where my coin flip failed. My lack of knowledge of three-string Japanese instruments and Rhianna's music was my undoing.

Across:

1. Unplanned adoption: FOSTER FAIL - FAILING at being a FOSTER parent for a pet and then falling in love with and adopting that pet hardly seems like a FAILING to me. 😀

11. Adoption org.: SPCA.

15. Intended to prevent a torrent, perhaps: ANTI-PIRACY - As usual, Stella has a term I have never encountered that fell into place: Torrenting is a term used for distributing and downloading unusually large files like those for movies using the BitTorrent protocol. More

16. Name on the highest-grossing concert film in history: ERAS - It has grossed over $250M in gross sales against a $15M budget

17. Certain Central American: SALVADORAN - The lovely custodian at our school is COSTA RICAN and that name went in first.

18. Natural traps: WEBS.

19. Olympic badminton team, e.g.: DUO.

20. Victor Hugo's world: MONDE - MONDE is French for world

22. Sea bream, in a sushi bar: TAI - ... and my culinary education continues

23. Sushi bar list: SAKES - As long as we're at the sushi bar...

25. Snooty creatures?: ANTEATERS. 😀

27. Divine: PREDICT - Carnac's gift was to be able to divine the answers without first seeing the questions.

29. "Awesome!": SWEET  and 30. "Awesome!": YES.

31. Cheer (up): BUOY.

33. Working days?: STINTS.

34. Practitioner of traditional medicine: HERBALIST.

36. Burlesque: SATIRE - A BURLESQUE is a literary, dramatic or musical work intended to cause laughter by caricaturing the manner or spirit of serious works, or by ludicrous treatment of their subjects.

39. Smallest ratite: KIWI - Ratite: A bird having a flat breastbone without a keel, and so unable to fly.

40. Elle King's "Ex's & __": OHS - A Top Ten album

43. Subject of the 2014 documentary "Game Over": ATARI.

44. Jam: BAD SPOT.

46. Get rich: MAKE A PILE.

50. Melancholy work: ELEGY - I wasn't all that melancholy when dirge didn't work 😀

51. Salt target: ICE.😀

52. Levi's Stadium player: NINER.

53. Word with Days and Holiday: INN. 😀 Motels 

54. Well-thought-out: SANE.

56. "Hubba hubba!": VA VA VA VOOM - We had this recently with only two VA's but I remember it better with three

60. Let out: EMIT.

61. Feature of non-eco-friendly containers: ONE TIME USE - Why our landfills get full

62. Syllables in Rihanna's "What's My Name?": NANA If you need some raunchy lyrics

63. Moved mindfully?: TELEPORTED - Star Trek did this a lot. Kirk never actually said, "Beam me up Scotty." Teleporting by mind

Down:

1. Scale tones: FAS - Do, Re, Me, FA, So, La, Ti, Do

2. Rashly: ON A DARE.

3. Name on some church-run hospitals: ST LUKES.

4. Saved to watch later: TIVOED.

5. Org. that regulates HFCs: EPA.

6. Free (of): RID.

7. Step one: FROM A TO B. 😀

8. Noted New York Judge: AARON - Judge is capitalized so...

9. "It's all too much": I CAN'T.

10. Paul of "Hollywood Squares": LYNDE - One of his many zingers: Peter Marshall: According to Tony Randall, “Every woman I’ve been intimate with in my life has been…” What?

Paul Lynde: Bitterly disappointed.

11. Compete on "Project Runway," say: SEW.

12. Many a fan of "The Baby-Sitters Club": PRE-TEEN.

13. "Willkommen" musical: CABARET.

14. Sue Bird's WNBA record 3,234: ASSISTS.

21. Home of New York's Museum Mile: EAST SIDE.

23. Northern __ apples: SPY - Here ya go

24. Like the Chukchi people of Russia: SIBERIAN.

26. Fool: TWIT.

28. Fix: CURE.

32. Yona of "My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic," for one: YAK - No idea.

33. Media personality JoJo: SIWA - No idea.

34. Bring on: HIRE.

35. Let out: LIBERATE.

36. Instrument played with a bachi: SAMISEN - A one minute sample

37. Region of Chile used by NASA to test equipment for Mars missions: ATACAMA.

38. Fooled: TAKEN IN.

40. Expand, in a way: OPEN OUT.

41. Upturned feature of some snakes: HOG NOSE.

42. Pen: STY.

45. Shard: SLIVER.

47. Pirouette, essentially: PIVOT.

48. Unworthy of consideration: INANE.

49. Tool box item: LEVEL.

55. Text to someone who's late: ETA.

57. Velvet rope crosser: VIP.

58. "O Deus ego __ te": Catholic hymn: AMO - My God, I love Thee, 

59. Scrip spec: MED.

BTW, our newspaper carries the LA puzzle and a second puzzle they call The Daily (Commuter) Crossword that is much easier. For years this puzzle has had Jacqueline Mathews listed as the constructor. Ms. Mathews of Spokane has retired and now the daily constructor has been Stella Zawistowski for several weeks (see "Created by" under the puzzle). Looks like Stella has a steady gig.