Tuesday April Fool's Day 2025 Zhouqin Burnikel

Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire.  The first word of each theme answer (Baloney, Bunk, Crock, Rot) is synonym for nonsense or foolishness.

17-Across. *  Simple lunch box meal: BALONEY SANDWICH.

27-Across. *  Dude ranch quarters: BUNK HOUSE.

32-Down. *  Slow cookers: CROCK POTS.

35-Down. *  Suffer forever: ROT IN HELL.

62. With 68-Across, sprinter's infraction, or what the answer to each starred clue has: FALSE.  //  And 68-Across.  68. See 62-Across: START.  And together these answers give us a False Start.

Today's puzzle was crafted by C.C., our blog host.  A nice puzzle to start off the new month.

Across:

1. Corn or sugarcane: CROP.  There are a lot of sugarcane fields in Louisiana.

5. Best possible: IDEAL.

10. Seethe with anger: FUME.

14. Shout: YELL.

15. Monte __: Monaco resort: CARLO.  Monte Carlo is where the Monte Carlo Casino is located.  Monaco is one of 5 European "micro-States" and Monte-Carlo is a district of Monaco.

16. "Already handling this": ON IT!

20. Newsroom worker: EDITOR.

21. In abundance: GALORE.

22. Manhattan liquor: RYE.  While you are reading this, I am in Manhattan, although if you are doing the puzzle in the morning, I am probably not drinking one.  A Manhattan is a cocktail traditionally made with rye, sweet vermouth and bitters.

23. "About me" blurb: BIO.  As in Biography.

25. "I'll return in a sec," in texts: BRB.  Textspeak for Be Right Back.

26. Negative link: NOR.  Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night will keep the mail carrier from delivering your mail.  That was then.  Today, my mail carrier never makes it to my house before it's quitting time.

30. Folded street food: TACO.  //  Not to be confused with 41-Across. Art colony near Santa Fe: TAOS.  Although you can probably eat a Taco in Taos.

33. Nabe with some signs in Hangul: K-TOWN.  Short for Koreatown / 코리아타운 .  Hand up if you knew that Hangul is the writing system of the Korean language. 

34. Very dry, as champagne: BRUT.  "Brut" champagne, meaning "dry" in French, is generally considered high-quality style of champagne.

38. Work hard for: EARN.

39. Spicy: HOT.

40. Trickle slowly: OOZE.

42. Unenthusiastic: TEPID.

44. Chiwere speakers: OTOE.  Chiwere is a Siouan language.  The Otoe are a Native American tribe of the Midwestern United States.

45. Board game with hexagonal tiles: CATAN.  I am not familiar with this game.

47. Asian mushroom: ENOKI.  Enoki mushrooms are long, thin, and white mushrooms with a mild,  flavor and a crunchy texture.  I have eaten them in Chinese Hot Pot.

49. More dawdling: POKIER.  The Poky Little Puppy was one of my favorite books when I was a kid.  It is still popular today.

51. "Oh, dang!": AW, SNAP!

54. "How ya doin'?": 'SUP.

55. Argument: DISPUTE.

59. Color gradation: HUE.

60. Tiny bit of matter: ATOM.

63. Big Pharma products: MEDS.

64. __-Brite: LITE.

65. Heads for the hills: FLEES.

66. Dart like a dragonfly: FLIT.  Such beautiful creatures.

67. Sports jersey material: MESH.

69. Silicon Valley city Palo __: ALTO.

Down:

1. Prefix with crime or security: CYBER.

2. Fully prepared: READY.

3. Snowboarding jump: OLLIE.

4. Scheme: PLOT.

5. Skater's hangout: ICE RINK.

6. Calendar unit: DAY.

7. Hosp. triage spots: ERs.  As in Emergency Rooms.

8. Arroz __ cubana: rice dish with a fried egg: A LA.  Arroz a la Cubana a rice dish made with white rice,  fried egg, and tomato sauce.  Other, non-meat, ingredients may also be added.

9. Extended time period: LONG RUN.

10. Turkeys, e.g.: FOWL.

11. Workers' group: UNION.

12. Prefix meaning "tiny": MICRO-.  The Federated States of Micronesia is made up of over 600 tiny islands in the South Pacific Ocean.

13. Vanish into the __: ETHER.

18. Fusion chain with a signature miso-glazed black cod dish: NOBU.  This restaurant appeared in a recent puzzle.  I ate at the Nobu in Vegas last summer with 4 others.  It's not cheap to eat there.

19. Applies lightly: DABS.

24. "Moving right along ... ": OK, THEN ...

25. Pasta shape made with a pinch: BOW TIE.  //  And 53-Down. Basil-based sauce: PESTO.  You might use Pesto Sauce on Bow Tie Pasta.

27. Art of growing miniature trees: BONSAI.

28. Free throw target: HOOP.

29. Novels read on screens: E-BOOKS.  Although I have some ebooks, I much prefer reading a paper book.

30. Lunar festival in Da Nang: Tết.  Tết is short for Tết Nguyên Đán.  Tết is the most important celebration in Vietnamese culture. The festival celebrates the arrival of spring based on the Vietnamese calendar and usually falls on January or February in the Gregorian calendar.  The next celebration will be on February 16, 2026.

31. Battery size for some mice: AAA.

36. Aduba of "Mrs. America": UZO.  Mrs. America was a television miniseries about the attempt to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment.  Uzo Abuba (née Uzoamaka Nwanneka Aduba; b. Feb. 10, 1981) portrayed Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm (Nov. 30, 1924 ~ Jan. 1, 2005) in the series.

Uzo Abuba and Shirley Chisholm

37. Casual shirt: TEE.

42. Taxes on imports: TARIFFS.  Tariffs have been in the news in recent days.

43. Procedure that can determine ancestry: DNA TEST.

46. "Chopped" host Allen: TED.  I never watched Chopped, so was unfamiliar with Ted Allen (né Edward Reese Allen; b. May 20, 1965).

48. Be in debt: OWE.

49. Sacred hymn: PSALM.

50. Belly button that protrudes: OUTIE.

52. Financial review: AUDIT.

56. Seasoning in shrimp paste: SALT.  Shrimp paste is a fermented condiment used in Southeast Asian and Coastal Chinese cuisines. It is primarily made from finely crushed shrimp mixed with salt, and then fermented for several weeks. 

57. Earnest request: PLEA.

58. Software customer: USER.

61. "I've seen better": MEH!

63. Drama prof's degree: MFA.  As in a Master of Fine Arts.

Here's the Grid:

חתולה

Notes from C.C.:    

I made a puzzle to celebrate the 70th birthday of Tom Pepper, my brilliant collaborator, cherished friend, and hands-down the nicest Minnesotan you'll ever meet. Happy Birthday, dear Tom! Hope this puzzle is just a small part of the joy coming your way today.

You can also solve the puzzle here, slightly different setup. Let me know how the solve goes for you. You don't need to know Tom to solve this puzzle. 

 

Constructed by Zhouqin (C.C.). Burnikel using the free crossword puzzle maker from Amuse Labs

Saturday, March 15, 2025, Zhouqin Burnikel

 Saturday Themeless by Zhouqin Burnikel 

 ...and the beat goes on. Quite soon after we celebrated the publication of her 400th LATimes Puzzle, C.C.  supplies us with yet        another lovely exercise. Her trademark clever cluing provided a lot of entertainment and "DOH!" moments! Obscure names were mere speed bumps.

  

Across:

1. Waldorf salad morsel: GRAPE.

6. Hardly qualified: UNFIT - My first fill was INEPT in more ways than one

11. Disney Jr. rating: TVG.

14. Fired up again: RELIT - The service module engine you see firing in the picture below had to be fired, turned off and fired up again several times to get the Apollo command module to the Moon and back to Earth. It was what blew up on the Apollo 13 mission and made NASA go to Plan B to get the astronauts back home, but that's another story. 

15. Like some vintage T-shirts: RETRO COOL - Will my double knit bell bottoms ever be cool again? 😀

17. "Healthier happens together" insurance company: AETNA.

18. Grill spot: BACK PATIO.

19. Voting coalition: BLOC - It's what our Congress has become

20. Wasn't in the game: SAT.

21. Athenian lawmaker remembered for severity: DRACO.

22. "Count on me": SURE, NO PROBLEM.

26. Ethically indifferent: AMORAL.

28. Hauls: LUGS - An occupation for Sherpas

29. Badly misinformed: FULL OF BEANS - An frequent comment make by my dad

32. Pvt. trainer: SGT.

35. Some Kias: RIOS - An alternative to "Spanish rivers", I guess 

36. Chaps: GENTS.

37. Kallax seller: IKEA.

38. Surgery ctrs.: ORS.

39. Activity that raises spirits?: WINE TASTING 😀

41. Verb in flour-y language: SIFT 😀

42. Drives a team: MUSHES 😀 Where the most famous ones compete and is won by the 10. Big kahunas: TOP DOGS. Current standings

43. Reptile that can weigh 650 pounds: GIANT TORTOISE - Here is a "creep" of them in the Galápagos Islands

48. Home to the University of Jordan: AMMAN.

49. Arctic diving bird: AUK - There are no penguins in the Arctic but...

50. Lump of clay: CLOD - William Blake's poem tells of the CLOD of clay that can be molded but not the pebble which is rigid and unchanging.

53. Close the deal: SHAKE ON IT.

56. Florida city where Jane Castor is mayor: TAMPA.

57. Barely shows up in a painting?: POSES NUDE 😀

58. Gel alternative: CREAM.

59. GPS figs.: STS - My STreet is Skylark

60. Suspect: SENSE.

61. Tales of Greek gods, e.g.: MYTHS.


Down:

1. Take hold of: GRAB.

2. Go for a spin?: REEL.

3. "Memory" and "I Dreamed a Dream": ALTO SOLOS - Both show stoppers!

4. Hair that may be clipped: PIN CURLS.

6. __ renewal: URBAN - Sometimes it is called gentrification.

7. "Fantabulous!": NEATO.

8. Agcy. that investigates telemarketing fraud: FTC - The Federal Trade Commission and Securities and Exchange Commission didn't think much of the Wolf Of Wall Street

9. Drive up the wall: IRK.

11. The bottom line: TOTAL.

12. __ prompt: VOICE - For _____ press ___, For _____ press ___, For _____ press ___, For _____ press ___, ad anauseum

13. Bad outlook: GLOOM.

16. Keto concerns: CARBS.

20. Treat that's not meant to be shared: SELF GIFT 😀 Last year I just decided that I am 78 and I want a red car. So I traded my perfectly good white car for this.

23. Dileep of the "Avatar" films: RAO ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

24. "Dear Evan Hansen" Tony winner: PLATT ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

25. Goes wild: RUNS AMOK.

26. __-Cuban jazz: AFRO.

27. "20/20" co-anchor: MUIR.

30. Box that might contain tamagoyaki and tonkatsu: BENTO - I knew the word for the crossword fill but had no idea what the fill in the box was. 😀

31. Toronto-to-Montreal dir.: ENE - If you leave at noon, your ETA is 5:30 pm

32. Peak protection: SKI HELMET 😀

33. Unit that might be edited: GENE 😀

34. Makes out, in a way: TAGS 😀 This took me awhile but I shoulda knowed C.C. would get baseball in the puzzle! This fielder has made the runner out.

37. Admission of fear: IT'S SCARY.

39. Court reporter?: WITNESS 😀

40. Fashion designer Anna: SUI ¯\_(ツ)_/¯  Some of Anna's, uh, creations

41. Reptile not found in Iceland or Ireland: SNAKE - Despite the fact that it is St. Patty's day in two days, St. Patrick did not drive snakes out of Ireland. The last Ice Age drove them out and it remained too cold for them to come back.

43. Has a sudden inspiration: GASPS.

44. "Can we turn on the AC?": I'M HOT - Around here we "turn on" the a/c and do not "put it on"

45. Build up: AMASS.

46. Crashes a Twitch stream: RAIDS - ¯\_(ツ)_/¯  Here ya go: A "raid" on Twitch is a feature where a streamer sends their entire chat to another streamer's channel at the end of their stream, which can sometimes cause the receiving streamer's chat to "crash" if a large number of viewers suddenly join, overwhelming the system and potentially causing temporary glitches or lag.

47. One in a class by herself: TUTEE.

51. Moonfish or sunfish: OPAH - An OPAH can grow to be big!

52. Hydropower sources: DAMS.

54. Unified: ONE.

55. Mother figure: NUN.

56. Network that airs many RKO films: TCM - These RKO classics can be seen on Turner Classic Movies.