Saturday, August 2, 2025, Adrian Johnson and Will Nediger

Saturday August 2, 2025 by Adrian Johnson & Will Nediger

 

Adrian

Will

I had a collaborative puzzle from these two constructors back in February. As you can see by the colorful grid, there was a lot of "Unique" fill in this one! I had to work around some alternate fills that I love to do and, of course, the long horizontal and vertical fills were the real key. This was about a 40-minute excursion to get to an unassisted "got 'er done" 

Across:

1. Strategic chess move, casually: SAC - SACrificing a piece so that you can gain an advantage

4. Vegetable in Nigerian cuisine: TARO.

8. 41-Across developer: SALK and 41. Major medical breakthrough of the 1950s: POLIO 

VACCINE - Some of us stood in lines just like this

12. Thin reed: OBOE.

14. Each: A POP.

15. Home of the Nubian Pyramids: SUDAN.

16. Handy navigational aids: ARROW KEYS 😀

18. Came to the surface: AROSE.

19. Chap with chaps, perhaps: RANCHER 😀 - RODEOER? seemed right to me in this part of the world. Yeah, spell checker didn't think much of it either.

20. "Let's meet up then": I'M FREE.

21. Cold draft in the winter, say: SEASONAL BEER.

24. Not altogether in the altogether: SCANTILY CLAD 😀 Not quite naked!

26. Least sanguine: PALEST.

27. Niger neighbor: CHAD - It's a 26-hr drive between their capital cities 

28. Opposite of fore: AFT.

31. Org. that accepts returns: IRS 😀 - Amazon does a good job too.

32. Ballpark souvenir: CAP - When we were in D.C. this hat was $29.95 at the Pentagon Mall. I got it for $9.95 from a kiosk across the street from Ford's Theater.

34. Spanish pronoun: ESA - ESA pista para el número 19 fue inteligente (That clue for 19 Across was clever)

35. Opposing vote: NAY.

36. Brew that might have ice or spice in it: TEA.

37. "Glad and big" protagonist of an e.e. cummings poem: OLAF.

Sunday Sermon: "i sing of Olaf, glad and big"

XXX (by E.E. Cummings)

i sing of OLAF glad and big

whose warmest heart recoiled at war:

a conscientious object-or

39. Tie: KNOT UP - If your team is behind 1 - 0 but then hits a solo home run, that will KNOT UP the score.

43. Places for puffers: SMOKING AREAS - Here's one at Terminal 3 at Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv. I can't imagine...

45. Shell casing?: PIE TIN 😀

46. Tidbits: MORSELS.

49. City west of the Wasatch Mountains: OGDEN.

50. Salvadoran eatery: PUPUSERIA - I had my first PUPUSA in a great El Salvadoran restaurant here in town. PUPUSARIA made sense to me at first.

52. Area of expertise, casually: THING.

53. Brownie point?: OVEN.

54. Home of many a steppe family: YURT 😀 - Home, home on the steppe

55. Fantasy football datum: STAT - Top 10 Fantasy Football Points for running backs for 2024

56. "Charlie's Angels" star Cheryl: LADD.

57. Astronaut Jemison: MAE.

Down:

1. Reach great heights: SOAR.

2. Pokémon that ultimately evolves into Alakazam: ABRA ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

3. Summery dip: CORN SALSA.

4. Savors the moment: TAKES IT ALL IN.

5. Liqueur similar to Campari: APEROL ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

6. Dodgers legend Campanella: ROY - A man discovered this decades old program in his basement. It was signed by Branch Rickey, Jackie Robinson and Roy Campanella. Branch made Jackie and ROY the first and sixth black men to play MLB baseball in 1948.

7. Covert __: OPS.

8. Enjoyed the motion of the ocean: SURFED.

9. Crush on: ADORE - Modern slang for "have a crush on"

10. Element of a security grid in many an action film: LASER.

11. Arthroscopy target: KNEE - I have many friends who have gotten relief with this procedure 

13. Epoch that produced the earliest primate fossils: EOCENE.

15. Carnival performers: SAMBA DANCERS - I felt so comfortable with GANDY DANCERS but I needed to think of Rio de Janeiro!

17. "Something smells good in here!": WHAT'S COOKING.

20. "Someone in my circle probably knows the answer": I'LL ASK AROUND.

22. Loc. of an annual November marathon: NYC 

23. Need kneading, maybe: ACHE 😀

24. Bar tended to at a cookout: SPIT.

25. __ package: CARE. They were a vital operation just after WWII. It is what we used to call "stuff" we sent to our girls when they were in college.

28. Source of immunity: ANTISERUM.

29. Satyr kin: FAUN.

30. "Just My __: A Book About Fonts": TYPE 😀

33. Annoyance: PAIN.

38. Concert stage effect: FOG or other occasions 

40. "Juno and the Paycock" playwright: O'CASEY - Set in the 1922 Irish Civil War. Juno is the wife of Captain Boyle who she calls a paycock (Irish for peacock) because he struts around all day.

41. Heady: POTENT - The early 1970's and middle 1990's were heady days for Husker FB

42. Took off at a jazz club: VAMPED - Herbie Hancock's piece to use an intro or to fill time (left, then right and then both hands)

43. Spectacle: SIGHT.

44. __ fast: MEDIA - I could not give up all my media for 21 days.

45. Kitchen stack: POTS.

47. Source of some Turkish delight?: LIRA.

48. Fully appease: SATE.

50. D.C. insider: POL.

51. Cavaliers sch.: UVA.

Notes from C. C.:

 

Today we celebrate the 71st Birthday of Subgenius (Darryl), who is often the very first to post on the blog each morning. Wishing you a beautiful day, Darryl!

Saturday, February 1, 2025, Adrian Johnson, Will Nediger

 Saturday February 1, 2025 by Adrian Johnson & Will Nediger 

Adrian

Will

I had a nice 14-minute trip through Adrian and Will's puzzle. I wrote to Adrian about this puzzle he co-authored with Will and this was his gracious reply.

Hi Gary,

Great to hear from you. Will and I are good friends that have collaborated a few times on puzzles, most recently co-organizing a charity pack to support humanitarian relief efforts in Palestine (https://www.puzzlesforpalestine.com/) that we hope you’ll check out. Some wildly creative work from the best people in the business, 22 puzzles and no minimum donation—whatever you can spare to support rebuilding and humanitarian efforts.

This puzzle was a stunt of sorts to see how many 12-letter entries we could fix into a 15x grid. I sent Will the layout last year, he helped lock much of the center into place, I polished off the corners, and we were off! Thanks as always for the work you do.

Cheers,

Adrian

Across:

1. Attach: TIE ON.

6. Pickle: SCRAPE - Origin of the phrase

12. "You're getting ahead of yourself": DON'T BE SO HASTY.

14. "I'll meet you halfway": LET'S COMPROMISE.

15. Vaudeville singer Smith: MAMIE ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

16. __ bran: OAT - Love this variety

17. Break stuff?: ADS 😀

18. Like: AKIN TO.

20. Car mirror's view: REAR - Not what you want to see

23. "__ Masters": reality show with building contests: LEGO.

24. When all's been said and done, to a Brit: AFTERWARDS.

30. Gifts that might be made with kukui: LEIS - A LEI made with Ti leaves and kukui nuts

31. Udder part: TEAT.

32. Joplin's "Treemonisha," e.g.: OPERA.

33. Zig instead of zag, perhaps: ERR.

34. Newspaper that covers Congress: THE HILL.

36. __ canto: BEL - Bel canto, Italian for beautiful singing is both a style of singing and a style of opera. 

37. "Julia" star Swinton: TILDA.

39. TV explorer Márquez: DORA The Explorer

40. School house, informally?: FRAT 😀

41. One might be on a roll: SESAME SEED - Yes, I'm embarrassed I can still sing this song from memory!

43. Freddie portrayer in "Bohemian Rhapsody": RAMI.

RAMI                                Freddie

44. Audition dismissal: NEXT.

45. Basil who designed England's Coventry Cathedral: SPENCE.

 

47. "That's the spot": AAH.

50. Question for a magician: HOW.

52. Planet-mapping tool: RADAR - An artist's concept of NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter mapping the red planet.

53. Highly stressful situation: PRESSURE COOKER - If they pay you millions...

58. "You've been up too long": IT'S TIME FOR BED.

59. Promise: ASSURE.

60. Coarse cloth: TWEED - I'll bet you know who this prof in a TWEED coat is. (* answer at bottom.)

Down:

1. Big name in pizza rolls: TOTINOS.

2. Like some jewels: INSET

3. "There's more," briefly: ETC.

4. Letters with a negotiable price: OBO - Or Best Offer - A cool name for a thrift shop in Spokane, Wa 

5. Nautilus captain: NEMO - James Mason played the good captain in this Disney movie. BTW, 20,000 leagues is approximately 60,000 miles. Jules Vernes' book referred to how far the Nautilus travelled while under the sea not how deep the sea was. You're welcome.

6. Recycling-plant worker: SORTER.

7. Margaret of "Fire Island": CHO.

8. Zodiac mammal: RAM.

9. Home of most of Turkey: ASIA.

10. Condition that may be treated with EMDR therapy: PTSD - A very interesting 3-minute video about Eye Movement and Desensitization and Reoricessubg therapy for treating Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

11. Socket sets: EYES 😀

12. People who partially identify as female: DEMIGIRLS.

13. Blowout remedy: SPARE TIRE - Where it was in my Uncle Virgil's pickup

14. Endpoint of the Detroit River: LAKE ERIE - I was pleased to learn that Lake Huron flows into a Lake St. Claire and then the Detroit River takes that water down to LAKE ERIE.

15. Marimba strikers: MALLETS - Lionel Hampton used those MALLETS on xylophones, vibraphones and marimbas.

19. Promise: OATH.

21. Rotten to the Corps, perhaps: AWOL 😀

22. Genre for Flo Milli and Flau'jae: RAP - Not familiar with either of them but RAP made sense

25. Business offering stock options?: FEED STORE.

26. Sugar Bowl home: TAHOE - Yeah, I tried every variation for New Orleans I could but...

27. Handled better?: REBRANDED.

28. Ideal wheels: DREAM CAR - I'll take a '57 red and white Vette convertible! 

29. More coarse, in a way: SALTIER not 34. Not at all ferocious: TAME.

35. Boyos: LADS - A Welsh term

38. Dojo level: DAN.

40. Flipped out: FREAKED.

42. Dig up: EXHUME.

46. Europa Clipper, for one: PROBE - Surveying the surface of the Jupiter moon of Europa.

47. Capital of Samoa: APIA - 5hr 35min flight SSW of Honolulu 

48. Poetry, weaving, et al.: ARTS.

49. Pianist Myra: HESS ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

51. Warp counterpart: WEFT.

54. Stampede Wrestling co-founder Hart: STU.

55. Military title: SIR.

56. Interrupting animal in a classic knock-knock joke: COW - I laughed really hard the first time I heard this joke.

57. City-building resource in Catan: ORE ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I don't play.

*That of course is Dr. Henry (aka Indiana) Jones