Saturday, December 14, 2024, Adrian Johnson, Victor Sloan

Themeless Saturday by Adrian Johnson and Victor Sloan 

I had to fight through a blizzard of white cells to start, even though the clues seemed to be very reasonable. Eventually solving the "gettable" long fills became very helpful and I earned a "got 'er  done!'.

 

Across:

1. __ dance: STEP - Here is some STEP dancing for you.

       

5. Low digits: TOES 😀

9. __ bar: TAPAS.

14. Delivery option: HOME BIRTH - The Pros and Cons

16. Carne __: ASADA - Spanish for roast meat. Those pesky Spanish speakers put the adjective second. 

17. Snowball effect caused by lowered standards: RACE TO THE BOTTOM.

19. Untainted spots: EDENS.

20. Frequent Bosch subject: HELL - This is his most famous painting The Garden Of Earthly Delights. The left panel depicts heaven (previous clue/fill), the middle panel shows earthly delights and the right hand panel shows hell, where humanity is punished for succumbing to those earthly delights.

21. Info on a political rival: OPPO - "Research" on an OPPOnent can be very unfair and using this tactic would cease if it did not work. Facts can be stretched or manufactured like this one.

Ad that ran in Nebraska's 
Second District race this fall

22. Mauveine, for one: DYE - Another name for mauve.

23. Western Greek island: CORFU.

24. Deserters: RATS.

25. Ruckus: ADO - A list I found rated this word as #10 on the most used crossword answers. Oreo came in at #39.

27. Paul who's the only inductee of both the Rock & Roll and National Inventors halls of fame: LES - Musician, inventor and song writer LES Paul examines one of his Gibson LES Paul models with another pretty famous musician and song writer.

29. Actor Stephen from 51-Across: REA and 51. Stormont locale: NORTHERN IRELAND - Stormont is the building in REA's hometown of Belfast that houses the unicameral government of NORTHERN IRELAND

 

30. Bit of redundancy in a Yogi Berra quip: WRONG MISTAKES - Yogi also said, "I really didn't say all the things I said"

34. William, since 2022: PRINCE OF WALES.

35. Dismissive comment after a hot take: SAID NO ONE EVER.

36. Finesse: ART.

37. Positive course feedback?: YUM 😀

38. Some, in Somme: DES - Je veux DES pommes (I want some apples)

39. Chorus part: LA LA - A great 60's song with lots of LA LA's. What's not to like?

41. Knot again: RETIE - Not for me anymore

44. __ Louise Huxtable, winner of the first Pulitzer Prize for Criticism: ADA - From The New Yorker Magazine about architecture critic ADA.

ADA Louis Huxtable already
doesn't like it.

47. Apple with multiple cores: IMAC 😀 This Apple guy was not fooled for a minute. 

48. Instant Pot dish: STEW - This would have fit right in on our 12/4/24 puzzle on fast foods

49. Inflexible: RIGID - Penny? No. Sheldon? Yup.

54. Maintain: ARGUE.

55. "Just fate, I guess": IT'S KISMET -  A hypothetical force or power that determines the course of future event. It was KISMET that I found this site. 😀

56. Percolates: SEEPS.

57. Pacific salmon: COHO.

58. Candy bar with a bubbly texture: AERO.

Down:

1. Unit of decency?: SHRED.

2. Suck-up: TOADY.

3. One making introductions: EMCEE.

4. Hammer part: PEEN.

Hammer with a claw
Hammer with a PEEN

5. Bruno of "Encanto," for one: TIO  - ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

6. GroundClear and WeedClear maker: ORTHO.

7. Bitcoin alternative, familiarly: ETHER - ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Here ya go

8. Last time: SHELF LIFE 😀

9. Yin-yang principle: TAO.

10. "The Great Lie" Oscar winner Mary: ASTOR - Can you find Mary in the credits?

11. "Movement in Black" poet: PAT PARKER ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

12. Some rescues: ADOPTEES - I'd want to take them all

13. Turnovers served with chutney: SAMOSAS.

15. Band also known as the Bangtan Boys: BTS - Wow, we are seeing these boys a lot here!

18. "Hooked on a Feeling" hitmakers: BLUE SWEDE - I was singing this all through but could not fit BJ Thomas in the cells. This group had a hit covering BJ's hit.

23. Open space: CONCOURSE 😀

25. Like xeric landscapes: ARID - ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

26. Osmond who won Season 9 of "Dancing With the Stars": DONNY.

28. Hold (off): STAVE.

30. Clear to see: WRIT LARGE.

31. Plane-related, say: GEOMETRIC  😀 Plane geometry!

32. Ethnic group in Myanmar: MON ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

33. Hoppy pours: ALES.

34. "This Is Why" Best Rock Album Grammy winners: PARAMORE ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

35. Monterey town known as the "Salad Bowl of the World": SALINAS, California

40. Advocacy gp. co-founded by Larry Kramer: ACT UP.

42. Near the hour: TEN TO 😀

43. "It'd be a dream come true!": I WISH.

44. Top form: A-GAME.

45. Hash house: DINER - Our town has a good one with comfort food at reasonable prices

46. Lengthen, as a lead: ADD TO.

49. L.L. Bean rival: REI.

50. "Casablanca" role: ILSA.

52. Father and son: HES.

53. Studio taken over by Howard Hughes: RKO - I'll bet you know which one is Howard Hughes