Saturday Themeless by Rafael Musa and Brooke Husic
Rafael and Brooke provided us a real Saturday challenge and I have highlighted my one bad cell here. I had no chance at SAZERACS and I felt SIA would not be correct since Singapore was in the clue. Over the past year or so, I have come to know SIA as a singer with distinctive hair styles but Patti did not use her here.
The long fill was very gettable but did take some finaggling to get the letters lined up correctly. As usual, Brooke, et. al's diabolical cluing was fun after it was frustrating. Even the arcane internet fill went quietly, eventually.
Across:
1. Copywriter?: SCRIBE - If you have ever taken the ride through Spaceship Earth, you have seen this sleeping SCRIBE in one of the tableaus
7. New Orleans cocktails: SAZERACS - Sorry, Big Easy, I had no idea. The classic Sazerac recipe expertly balances whiskey with sugar, bitters and absinthe.
15. Browned, maybe: COOKED.
16. "That was great!": I LOVED IT.
17. Compliment-fisher's question: AREN'T I? - "I'm a good person, AREN'T I?"
18. __ dollar: ALMIGHTY - "When in doubt, follow the money"
19. Osso buco accompaniment: RISOTTO.
21. "Watch this space" letters: TBA.
22. Social reformer Dorothea: DIX.
23. Academy near the Culinary Institute in New York: WEST POINT - I kept fighting WEST POINT because it seemed too easy
26. Winter Palace ruler: TSAR.
28. Mouth part: ROOF.
29. Guys: HES.
32. 24-hour extension period?: LEAP YEAR - ๐. It took a little cogitating!
34. Conceive: IDEATE - Crossword learning
37. Happy characters: SMILEYS - Oh, like these ๐๐๐?
38. Easy way to get a six-pack: BEER RUN - Smokey And The Bandit was about a Coors BEER RUN
39. Like someone glued to a screen for hours, maybe: UP LATE.
40. Timely blessings: GODSENDS - I married mine 56 years ago
41. F1 neighbor: ESC.
42. __ Club: SAM'S.
44. Assist, often: PASS - ๐ I loved this clue (eventually)
45. __ college: ELECTORAL.
48. Irrelevant stat for an EV: MPG - Miles Per Kilowatt?
51. Bird in the bush: EMU - The bush country of Australia ๐
52. Finish with a bang?: MIC DROP - That's all there is to say!
4. Remark from someone with the perfect spot in mind: I KNOW A PLACE.
5. "Actually, it might be more fun if ... ": BETTER YET.
6. Exchanges words?: EDITS ๐
7. Singapore Airlines, for short: SIA - Not the singer Patti has had in a quite a few recent puzzles
8. Exceedingly: ALL TOO.
9. Like someone glued to a screen for hours, jocularly: ZOMBIFIED.
10. "Water the way nature intended" water: EVIAN.
11. Short rule?: REG - Short for REGulation
12. "Driven to Distraction" condition: Abbr.: ADHD.
13. Big Four bank name: CITI.
14. River down under?: STYX - The mythical river between Earth and the Underworld
20. "Others," in Spanish: OTRAS - Puedes inviter a OTRAS personas. (You can invite other people).
24. __ ejemplo: POR - ¿Cuรกl es, POR ejemplo, su soluciรณn? (What, for example, is your solution?)
25. Genuine: THE REAL DEAL.
26. Mesa neighbor: TEMPE - TEMPE hosts the Angels in spring training and Mesa hosts the Cubs
27. Goes where the wind blows: SAILS.
30. Brings home: EARNS.
31. Hunks: STUDS.
32. Sch. that's home to the Golden Band from Tigerland: LSU.
33. Texter's "I need to hear the drama!": EYES EMOJI.
35. Reggaeton megahit whose title means "slowly": DESPACITO
36. Nav. rank: ENS.
38. Bust: BOSOM.
40. BBC clock setting: GMT - No matter where the International Space Station is, the astronauts go by Greenwich Mean Time (zero degrees longitude)
43. Legends, e.g.: ACURAS.
46. "So what if they do?": LET 'EM.
47. Chamillionaire song that starts "They see me rollin'": RIDIN'
48. Certain gender presentation, briefly: MASC.
49. Member of a rap trio with Spinderella: PEPA.
50. Family nickname: GRAN.
53. Play thing: ROLE - Al Pacino was offered the ROLE of Han Solo but turned it down
54. Non-opposing remarks?: OUIS - ๐ Non is the French word for NO and so...
55. Fundraising orgs.: PTAS.
57. Play thing: ACT.
58. Texting letters: SMS - The blue message below indicates it is using the Apple iMessage system and the green message indicates the Short Message System
Take a moment to listen to this great oldie from Smokey Robinson and the Miracles ... in the second and third stanza, the lyrics read:
Mistakes, I know I've made a few
But I'm only human
You've made mistakes too, I'm crying . . .
Ooo, baby baby
Ooo, baby baby
I'm just about at the end of my rope
But I can't stop trying, I can't give up hope
That was kind of how today's puzzle hit me. Mistakes? I made MORE than a few ... but yes, I am only human ... did you make mistakes, too??
Crying? There's no crying @ the Crossword Corner!
I WAS just about at the end of my rope ... but I never stopped trying, nor gave up hope ...
"So when did you get the 'AHA' Moe-ment on this puzzle, Chairman?" [you might ask]
After I looked more closely at the circles ... ARRGGHH. Circles. But without the circles, would YOU have figured out the reveal?
55-across. Tiny units of progress depicted four times in this puzzle?: BABY STEPS.
Let's examine the grid first, and then crawl around in the 15x15 square "play pen" of words and circles ...
One BABY STEP at a time will solve this ...
Step #1: 23-across. Fritterlike side with fried catfish: HUSH PUPPY
But, but, but Moe, the entry for 23-across is only five letters? HUSH P is all that I see. Well, if you have circles in your grid, take a couple of BABY STEPS above and to the right, and the PUPPY crawls onto your lap
Step #2: 27. "La La Land" Oscar nominee: RYAN GOSLING. Again, follow the circled letters which take BABY STEPS up and to the right of RYAN G, and the GOSLING waddles into view
Step #3: 45-across. Blue Apron offering: MEAL KIT. The smallest of BABY STEPS belongs to the KIT, as it takes just two circled squares to complete its birth (that foxy lady)
Step #4: 54-across. Roomba target: DUST BUNNY. Easter Sunday is just a couple days away, so what better BABY to greet us than the BUNNY, which hops along four circled squares on its trail
Four "BABIES" (a PUPPY, a GOSLING, a KIT, and a BUNNY), all taking little STEPS to form their names. Out-effin-standing, Ms. Dershowitz!
Across:
1. Home of the College World Series: OMAHA. A CSO to our Saturday blogger, Husker Gary
6. Many Chrome runners: PCS. [according to Microsoft dot com] "... Microsoft Edge is more secure than Google Chrome for your business on Windows. It has powerful, built-in defenses against phishing and malware and natively supports hardware isolation on Windows—there's no additional software required to achieve this secure baseline" [according to Google] "With Google apps like Gmail, Google Pay, and Google Assistant, Chrome can help you stay productive and get more out of your browser"
9. Dog breed of Tokyo's Hachiko statues: AKITA. [wikipedia dot com says]: "A statue of the AKITA dog Hachikล, remembered for his unwavering loyalty to his deceased owner, is installed outside Tokyo's Shibuya Station, in Japan"
14. Cars sold at auction: REPOS. And the guys who bring them there, perhaps? 1984 original trailer
15. Barrel wood: OAK. Ella must love this word; she used it recently, in 62-down with a different clue - which I explained in depth to Wilbur Charles
16. Western Wyoming county: TETON. Grand TETON National Park is on my bucket list of National Parks to visit
17. Giddy: SLAP HAPPY. Moe-ku:
Snow White felt depressed; But can get giddy when she Starts to SLAP HAPPY
19. Urban Dictionary content: SLANG. This. They always have a SLANG du jour on their website
20. "Big __" Delaney: "Sons of Anarchy" character: OTTO. Learing MOE-ment: [fandom dot com] "“Big Otto” Delaney was a member of SAMCRO of the FX original series Sons of Anarchy. Played by American actor and show creator Kurt Sutter, Otto makes his debut on the episode "Giving Back" in the series' first season"
21. Common toothbrush holder: CUP. I hang mine on the wall on its recharging base ... I use a Braun (now known as Oral B) electric toothbrush
22. Pop music's __ Vanilli: MILLI. This could also be clued: "Start for 'meter' or 'second'"
25. Emblems: LOGOS. The one that I saw on my business card for 2-1/2 decades
26. "Ditto": ME, TOO. Last Friday's puzzle had ME, FOUR
28. __ milk: OAT. SOY also fits
29. Recruit with arm-twisting: ROPE IN.
31. Butter used in saag paneer: GHEE. Do I need to clarify this for you?
35. Haggler's concern: PRICE. "Never pay retail"
37. Cupcake: HON. Not sure how this one got by Patti ... perhaps because Ella identifies as a she/her? HON seems a bit non-PC ... too bad this wasn't a four-letter entry ... could've used BABE for this puzzle, no??!! ;^)
38. Past potentates: TSARS. EMIRS fits, too
39. Qdoba snack: TACO. Qdoba serves these on days other than Tuesday
40. Con artist?: FORGER. The world's most famous FORGER??
42. On: LIT. Interesting clue ... "on" as in something that is LIT up?
43. In the running: VYING.
47. Indiana state flower: PEONY.
48. "Stayin' Alive" genre: DISCO. Bee Gees song
49. Any "Gilmore Girls" episode, now: RERUN.
50. Cartoon still: CEL.
51. Silly fool: TWIT.
57. Mid-pirouette, say: ON TOE. Ballerina position
58. Blue-__: pain relief brand: EMU. Johnny Bench was the spokesman
59. Fine-tune: TWEAK. Something I usually do to this blog several days before it goes live
61. Freelancer's job: GIG. Musician's term, usually
62. Swimming holes: PONDS. I wonder how many kids of the current generation actually go swimming in a POND?
Down:
2. Cheesy diner fare: MELT. A Friday clue, for sure; as in, a cheese MELT
3. Not engaged: APATHETIC. Not "SINGLE" [the word I was looking for]
4. "We're here!": HOP OUT. A BUNNY term?
5. Cigar end: ASH. I know all about this as I always enjoy a cigar with a bit of Scotch, Bourbon, Rum, Gin, Wine, or _____. Many times, a portion of the ASH will fall off unexpectedly ... haven't burned anything yet, but have come close
6. __ shop: POP UP. Many of these appear in October, in advance of (32-down. Time for a costume from a boo-tique?:) HALLOWEEN
7. Photographer Kristin: CAPP. I can relate to this CAPP, but not the other
8. Pie in the __: SKY.
9. Part of an online tag: AT SIGN. As in, @ChairmanMoe, for example (not my Twitter name)
10. Breakfast brand: KELLOGG'S. A 1960's jingle: "K-E Double L! O Double Good! Kellogg's Best to YOU!!!"
11. Emphatic letters, for short: ITALS. A CSO to Ray-O-Sunshine!
12. Singer Braxton: TONI.
13. Filmmaker Lee: ANG. Crossword-ese
18. Allergy season sound: ACHOO. "God bless you!"
22. Complain: MOAN. CARP also fits
24. Feeling yesterday's yoga class, perhaps: SORE. ACHY also fits
25. Full of beans: LYING. And its clecho: (30-down. Full of beans:) PHONY. Good ones
26. Name before Wilson or after Rooney: MARA. Lots of proper names in today's puzzle; go figure ...
27. Corp. shake-up: REORG. 3M never went through a REORG that I can recall ...
28. Go (for): OPT.
33. "Black Panther" villain Killmonger: ERIK. A "Marvel"-ous clue
34. Contractor's fig.: EST. With another clecho (of sorts): (1-down. Guesstimate phrase:) OR SO.
36. Spy mission: COVERT OP. Would another clue for this be: "The highest surface of a blanket?" Think about it for a second or two ... BTW, this is a first time use of this word entry in the major crossword publications ... either as COVERT OP or COVER TOP
38. Cinco menos dos: TRES. And yet, another Friday CSO to Lucinda!!
40. Wolfhard of "Stranger Things": FINN. I don't know this guy. Am I your huckleberry today?!
41. "Revenge" star VanCamp: EMILY. Would ___ Dickinson be too easy?? (44-down. "No doubt about it!":) YOU BET.
46. What many modern plays lack: ACT TWO.
47. Annoying: PESTY. Moe-ku 2:
A basil-laced sauce That rubs you the wrong way, is A PESTY pesto
48. Correct coding errors, say: DEBUG. I'll leave this quip for Ray-O-Sunshine! ;^)
49. Ladder part: RUNG. STEP also fits
50. Tank: CAMI. Moe-ku 3:
Military brat Wore an appropriate top: A camo CAMI
52. Streaming device: IPAD. KINDLE didn't fit
53. Judgy syllables: TSKS. I hope that none of you used a TSK TSK whilst reading my blog ;^)
54. Generic surname: DOE. John or Jane are their first names
55. "I __ to differ": BEG.
56. Indy brand: STP.
And there you have it! Another successful puzzle and blog! Please add your comments below ...
Today's puzzle is courtesy of Trent H. Evans, a veteran of 9 NYT puzzles and two LAT
puzzles, the first reviewed by Husker on May 2, 2020. Trent is a clinical psychologist, has his own puzzle site cleverly titled Grid Therapy, and as it happens lives in Catonsville, MD, about 7 miles down the Baltimore Beltway from our home.
I
must confess that I've been reviewing so many simple "scrambled word
puzzles" lately, that I was initially stumped by Trent's theme. I
actually considered popping down I 695 to his office for a little "grid therapy", but then realized that Medicare probably doesn't cover that rare syndrome "Puzzled by theme analysis".
But
in response to my SOS to the Blogging team I promptly received the
correct diagnosis for my cruciverbal confusion. It resulted from a
failure to read the reveal fill correctly, which should be parsed as COME ON DOWN and not COME ON DOWN. Just like the question "Really?" used for all three theme clues, the idiomatic phrase COME ON (or perhaps better C'MON) can be substituted for the fill as an expression of surprise or skepticism ...
3D. *"Really?": GET SERIOUS or "COME ON"
9D. *"Really?": ARE YOU JOKING? or "COME ON?"
20D. *"Really?": GIVE ME A BREAK or "COME ON"
... and as they are all DOWN fills we get this reveal:
30D. "The Price Is Right" signature phrase, and an apt description of the answers to the starred clues: COME ON DOWN. The Price Is Right
has aired over 9,000 episodes since its debut. It is the
longest-running game show in the United States and is one of the
longest-running network series in television history. The 50th season
premiered September 13, 2021. Contestants compete by guessing the
prices of merchandise to win cash and prizes. Contestants are selected
from the studio audience as announcer Drew Carey calls their names and invokes the show's famous catchphrase, "Come on down!"
6. "The Good Place" Emmy nominee Rudolph: MAYA. Maya Rudolph got her Emmy nomination for the role of Gen, the judge who rules on interdimensional matters between the Good Place and the Bad Place
(which we won't talk about here). Rudolph is an American actress,
comedian, and singer. In 2000, she became a cast member on the NBC
sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live (SNL), and during her tenure on the show, she also played supporting roles in the films 50 First Dates (2004), A Prairie Home Companion (2006), and Idiocracy (2006).
15. Library of Congress collection: AMERICANA. The Library of Congress' AMERICANA collection of Marian Sadtler Carson (1905-2004) spans the
years 1656-1995 with the bulk of the material dating from 1700 to 1876.
The collection includes more than 10,000 historical letters and
manuscripts, broadsides, photographs, prints and drawings, books and
pamphlets, maps, and printed ephemera from the colonial era through the
1876 centennial of the United States.
Sellers and Pennock, Philadelphia purveyors of fine fire fighting equipment
17. One who takes the fall: PATSY. Another DOWNER ๐ How about some more AMERICANA ... 18. Takes a fall: NOSE DIVES. We're COMING ONDOWN.
19. Not to mention: ALSO.
20. USO audience: GIS.
21. Sings some high notes?: YODELS. We usually associate YODELERS with mountainous regions like the ALPS, but it was also an art form practiced by cowboys.
22. Office chore: EMAIL.
24. Early ISP: AOL.
25. Sully: MAR.
27. Spacewalk initials: EVA. Extra Vehicular Activity - "Going Outside" and a CSO to Husker ...
28. Informal "No reason": JUST CUZ. This raises a timely question - should we do something JUST CUZ we have the technical capabilities to do it? In 1976 the visionary computer scientist, Joseph Weizenbaum, one of pioneers of Artificial Intelligence, wrote a seminal book called Computer Power and Human Reason: From Judgment to Calculation. In it he expressed his ambivalence towards computer technology and made the case that while artificial intelligence
may be possible, we should never allow computers to make important
decisions (e.g. replacing our legal system with an AI) because computers will always lack human qualities such as compassion and wisdom. IIRC Weizenbaum said in his book that computers can never be truly human because they are incapable of feeling fear or facing death.
Joseph Weizenbaum (8 January 1923 - 5 March 2008)
33. Asylum seeker, perhaps: EMIGRE.
35. __ Mahal: TAJ. Trent didn't give us a hint as to whether this was the tomb or the blues singer. As we visited AGRA just last Sunday, I'm going with Taj Mahal's Queen Bee from the Bloody Sunday sessions (lyrics):
36. U2 lead singer: BONO. Paul David Hewson (born 10 May 1960), known by his stage name BONO
(/หbษnoส/), is an Irish singer-songwriter, activist, and
philanthropist. He is the lead vocalist and primary lyricist of the
rock band U2. Here's his I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For (lyrics) released in 1987. I wonder if he's still looking ...
38. 2013 Literature Nobelist Alice: MUNRO. Alice Munro, nรฉe Alice Ann Laidlaw,
(born July 10, 1931, Wingham, Ontario, Canada), Canadian short-story
writer who gained international recognition with her exquisitely drawn
narratives. The Swedish Academy dubbed her a “master of the contemporary
short story” when it awarded her the Nobel Prize for Literature in
2013. Another CSO to CanadianEh!
Alice Munro
40. Paintballs, e.g.: AMMO.
41. Request after eating too many jalapeรฑos: AGUA. Some like it hot, and some not. Today's Spanish lesson #1.
42. Defib expert: EMT.
43. Hall of Famer Abdul-Jabbar: KAREEM. KAREEM Abdul-Jabbar;
(born Ferdinand Lewis Alcindor Jr.; April 16, 1947) is an American
former professional basketball player who played 20 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for the Milwaukee Bucks and the Los Angeles Lakers. During his career as a center, Abdul-Jabbar was a record six-time NBA Most Valuable Player. He was a 19-time NBA All-Star—tied for the most ever—a 15-time All-NBA Team member, and an 11-time NBA All-Defensive Team selection. He was a member of six NBA championship teams as a player and two more as an assistant coach, and was twice voted the NBA Finals MVP.
He was named to three NBA anniversary teams (35th, 50th, and 75th).
Widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time, he was
called the greatest basketball player of all time by Pat Riley, Isiah
Thomas, and Julius Erving. Abdul-Jabbar was the NBA's career scoring
leader from 1984 to 2023. He was enshrined in the Hall of Fame in 1995.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
45. NASCAR climax: LAST LAP. This is a CSO to my friend Jeff, a NASCAR fan and 3-A-DAY crossword puzzle solver. 47. Taste: SIP.
48. Extra qtrs.: OTS. Quarters is abbreviated, so Overtimes has to be too.
49. Sit-up targets: ABS.
50. "The Smartest Guys in the Room" company: ENRON. ENRON: The Smartest Guys in the Room is a 2005 American documentary film based on the best-selling 2003 book of the same name by Fortune reporters Bethany McLean and Peter Elkind. In the end these guys didn't turn out to be as smart as they thought they were ...
52. Like "Marriage Story" but not "Toy Story": RATED R.
56. Trough guy: PIG.
57. 4K display, e.g.: HDTV.
60. "Lay it on me": IM ALL EARS. I think that might be LBJ and Lady Bird off camera ...
I'm All Ears
62. Greek gathering place: AGORA. The AGORA, meaning "market" in Modern Greek,
was a central public space in ancient Greek city-states. It is the best
representation of a city-state's response to accommodate the social and
political order of the polis.
The literal meaning of the word "agora" is "gathering place" or
"assembly". The agora was the center of the athletic, artistic,
business, social, spiritual, and political life in the city. The Ancient Agora of Athens is the best-known example:
63. Fightin' words: LEMME AT EM. Sorry, all the clips were RATED V.
64. Victorious cry: WE WON.
65. Petrol brand: ESSO.
66. "Girl on Fire" singer Alicia: KEYS. Alicia Augello Cook
(born January 25, 1981) known professionally as Alicia Keys, is an
American singer, songwriter. A classically trained pianist, Keys started
composing songs when she was 12 and was signed at age 15 years by
Columbia Records. Here's the title track from her 2012 album Girl on Fire (lyrics). Oh and guys, you may want to keep a fire extinguisher by your computer ...
67. Allows to use for a bit: LENDS.
Down:
1. Dada: PAPA. ARP didn't quite fill the space.
2. Rapidly drying Asian sea: ARAL.
3. [Theme clue]
4. __ salts: EPSOM. EPSOM salts are the compound Magnesium Sulfate (MgSO4), which have various medicinal uses, and were named for the town of Epsom, England where they are found in the natural springs there. Epsom is famous for the Epsom Downs Racecourse, which dates back to 1661 and hosts Epson Derby each year.
6. Capital city on Luzon: MANILA. MANILA is the capital of the Philippines and its second-most populous city. Manila is located on the eastern shore of Manila Bay on the island of Luzon. It is highly urbanized and as of 2019, was the world's most densely populated city proper. The second most populous city is Quezon City, which is larger and thus not as densely populated as Manila.
Manila, Philippines
7. John of "Roots" and "The West Wing": AMOS. John Allen Amos Jr. (born December 27, 1939) is an American actor known for his role as James Evans Sr. on the CBS television series Good Times. Amos's other television work includes The Mary Tyler Moore Show, a recurring role as Admiral Percy Fitzwallace on The West Wing, and the role of Washington, DC Mayor Ethan Baker in the series The District. Amos starred in the TV Miniseries Roots, as the adult Kunta Kinte, based
on the book and real life family history of author Alex Haley. Amos has appeared on Broadway and in numerous films in his five-decade career. He has been nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award and an NAACP Image Award.
John Amos
8. "Hallelujah!": YES. This affirmation is the Hebrew word for "Praise the Lord". As this week we celebrate both Passover and Easter, what better way to affirm them than with this joyful chorus from Handel's great oratorio, Messiah (lyrics): 9. [Theme clue]
10. Prilosec target: ACID. In my experience drinking lots of AGUA is the best antidote for indigestion.
11. Greet silently: WAVE.
12. Scott Turow book: ONEL. ONE L tells author Scott Turow's experience as a first-year Harvard Law School student. First years, or One-L's
as they are often called, all face similar issues their initial year of
law school. Harvard, known for its reputation as one of the best law
schools in the country, takes only about 12% of applicants. Turow
recounts his time there, the professors, and the classes that helped
mold him into the lawyer and writer that he became.
13. Gal: LASS.
16. Megastars: IDOLS. Here's Rudolfo, played by one of my favorite IDOLS, introducing himself to Mimi in the Act I aria Che gelida manina of Giacomo Puccini's La Boheme, followed by Mimi telling him her story in Mi chiamano Mimi ... 20. [Theme clue]
23. __ Lingus: AER. In our experience they treat their coach passengers like First Class.
47. Quakes: SEISMS. The people of Turkey and Syria can tell you that improving our capabilities for timely predictions of impending large SEISMS is a matter of life and death. Over the last 20 years or so the QuakeFinder project, described in the video that follows, has made important strides in reliably predicting earthquakes DAYS in advance instead of within MINUTES or YEARS,
which are too short and too long respectively. The Corner is
privileged to have in our community a very talented engineer named John Doering, known to most of us as jayce, who designed the magnetometer sensor stations
(shown in the splash screen below) that provide the data that enable
these more precise predictions . To find out about the current status
of the project see quakefinders.com. For a brief discussion of John's magnetometer sensor station see this October 6, 2022 EOS Newsletter.
51. "Gosh!": OH GEE.
52. Irritate but good: RILE.
53. Iowa State city: AMES. AMES is a city in Story County, Iowa, United States, located approximately 30 miles (48 km) north of Des Moines in central Iowa. It is best known as the home of Iowa State University (ISU),
with leading agriculture, design, engineering, and veterinary medicine
colleges. A United States Department of Energy national laboratory, Ames
Laboratory, is located on the ISU campus.
54. Highlands hats: TAMS.A TAM o' shanter (in the British military often abbreviated to ToS) or "tammie" is a name given to the traditional Scottish bonnet worn by men. The name derives from Tam o' Shanter, the eponymous hero of the 1790 Robert Burns poem. You can buy one of these from Amazon for only $17.99, but as they don't know how to spell O' Shanter they may be of questionable quality:
Scottish TAM
55. Monster who's in his own world: ELMO. I guess because he always refers to himself in the third person ...
56. Salmon, to bears: PREY. COME ON UP!
58. Stepped: TROD.
59. "Off the Wall" sneakers brand: VANS. My son brought along a pair of VANS sneakers to China for my 3 year old grandson to wear home.
And let's sign off with one of VAN'S greatest hits ... 61. Did lunch: ATE.
62. Leatherwork tool: AWL.
Cheers, Bill
As always, thanks to Teri for proof
reading, for her constructive criticism.
19. Hat that sounds right for an eco-conscious poet?: SOLAR BOWLER. The BOWLER hat was originally created by the London hat-makers Thomas and William Bowler in 1849.
31. Hat that sounds right for a futuristic cartoon poet?: JETSON STETSON. John Batterson STETSON is the the inventor of the cowboy hat. Near the end of his life, STETSON began donating almost all of his money to charitable organizations. He built grammar and high schools and helped build colleges, helped establish the YMCA in Philadelphia, co-founded Sunday Breakfast Rescue Mission, and a homeless shelter and soup kitchen, in 1878. Here's a favorite version of St. James Infirmary, covered by Arlo Guthrie, where he croons about being buried in a STETSON hat (@5:10).
42. Hat that sounds right for a poet's annual party?: BIRTHDAY BERET.
56. Hat that sounds right for a poet on Election Day?: VOTER BOATER.
Melissa here. Pretty straightforward theme here, rhyming phrases for hats that "sound right" for certain occasions. I'm guessing the seed phrase was either SOLAR BOWLER or VOTER BOATER.
Across:
1. Hair-covering garments: HIJABS. Not a hat, but a kind of head covering.
7. __ oil: CASTOR. No thanks.
13. Together at the movies, say: ON A DATE.
15. Army swimmer?: OCTOPUS. Get it? 8 arms?
17. Equestrian loop: STIRRUP. Loop for a foot.
18. "Success at last!": I MADE IT.
21. Opposite of SSW: NNE.
22. Thompson who plays Bianca in the "Creed" films: TESSA.
23. Foil alternative: EPEE.
24. Bend at a 5-Down: PLIE. Ballet.
27. Some chats, briefly: IMS. Instant messages.
30. Cheryl of "Charlie's Angels": LADD. She joined the show after Season One when Farrah Fawcett left the show, playing Kris Munroe, Jill's younger sister.
36. Eur. carrier: SAS. Scandinavian Airlines.
37. Carnival city: RIO. The Carnival in Rio de Janeiro is a festival held every year before Lent; it is considered the biggest carnival in the world, with two million people per day on the streets. The first Carnival festival in Rio occurred in 1723.
38. Concept in East Asian philosophy: TAO. Chinese word signifying way, path, route, road or, sometimes more loosely, doctrine.
39. Scheduling abbr.: TBA. To be announced.
46. 2% alternative: SKIM. Milk.
48. Phillipa of "Hamilton": SOO. She played Eliza Hamilton.
49. "Auld Lang __": SYNE. "The good old times."
50. Tea brand with an Iced Citrus Jasmine variety: TAZO. Starbucks sold the Tazo Tea brand to Unilever.
51. Letter-shaped fastener: T-BOLT. T-bolts are a type of threaded fastener that is used to secure two or more objects together. They consist of a head with two wings on either side, which allows them to be tightened securely when inserted into a pre-drilled hole.
55. Notable period: ERA.
62. Backdrop for some History Channel programming: WARTIME.
64. Flyer making short hops: AIR TAXI. A small commercial airplane used for short flights between localities not served by scheduled airlines.
65. Tries hard: STRIVES.
66. Joint Chiefs member: GENERAL. General Mark A. Milley is the 20th Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the nation’s highest-ranking military officer, and the principal military advisor to the President, Secretary of Defense, and National Security Council.
67. Trigonometry function: SECANT. I was told there would be no math. For those who like math ... here's more about it.
68. __ seed: SESAME. People suffering from gout and Wilson's disease should avoid sesame seeds as they are rich in copper. Sesame seeds might lower blood sugar levels, thus making the ingredient unsafe for people on blood sugar medication.
Down:
1. "Bonanza" brother: HOSS. Played by Dan Blocker.
2. Engrossed by: INTO.
3. Monopoly corner: JAIL. The board game.
4. Classified info?: AD RATES.
5. Supporter of dance troupes: BARRE. The horizontal handrail, usually wooden, that is fixed to the walls of a ballet studio approximately 3.5 feet (1 m) from the floor.
6. Short Wikipedia entries: STUBS. A stub is an article deemed too short and incomplete to provide encyclopedic coverage of a subject.
7. Slinky, for one: COIL.
8. Top: ACME.
9. "There was a __ danced, and under that was I born": "Much Ado About Nothing": STAR. What does it mean?
10. "Dracula" director Browning: TOD. The films of Tod Browning.
11. Kitchen storage option: OPEN PANTRY. 16 Ideas How to Make Your Open Pantry Look Good.
12. Beyond repair: RUINED.
14. Thematic set of poems: EPOS. A group of poems, transmitted orally, concerned with parts of a common epic theme.
16. Fine mount: STEED. A very old-fashioned way to say "horse." In Middle English, a steed was distinguished as "a great horse," as opposed to a palfrey, an ordinary, everyday horse. So a steed was typically a war horse that carried warriors into battle.
20. "Don't go!": WAIT.
23. Jeff Lynne's band: ELO. Wikipedia: The Electric Light Orchestra are an English rock band formed in Birmingham in 1970 by songwriters and multi-instrumentalists Jeff Lynne and Roy Wood with drummer Bev Bevan. Their music is characterized by a fusion of pop and classical arrangements with futuristic iconography.
24. Short nightwear?: PJS. Short for pajamas.
25. "Mulan" singer Salonga: LEA. Renown across the world for her powerful voice and perfect pitch. She is best known for her Tony Award winning role in Miss Saigon.
26. "I've never seen anything so weird!": IT'S BIZARRE. That did not come easy.
28. Facebook parent company: META. The rebranding is part of the global company's big plan to develop a virtual world but critics say its an attempt to shift focus from recent controversies.
29. "Don't go!": STAY.
32. NHL great Bobby: ORR. Robert Gordon Orr OC is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player, widely acknowledged as one of the greatest of all time.
33. Minor complaints: NITS.
34. Nabe in lower Manhattan: SOHO. Nabe being short for neighborhood. SoHo is short for “south of Houston Street.” Today, the neighborhood is famous for its upscale boutiques, artists, and cast-iron architecture. But in the mid-1900s, SoHo was known for its factories and industries, earning it the nickname “Hell’s Hundred Acres.” What To Do in SoHo: Art, Food and Elegance in New York City.
35. __ story: SOB.
40. 2016 World Series MVP Zobrist: BEN. He played in Major League Baseball for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays/Rays, Oakland Athletics, Kansas City Royals, and Chicago Cubs.
41. Broke bread: ATE.
43. Tweeter's "I think": IMO. In my opinion.
44. Pour on the TLC: DOTE.
45. Some country homes: ESTATES.
46. Instant Pot dishes: STEWS. So many recipes these days are either for the Instant Pot or the air fryer.
47. Gold standards: KARATS.
52. Crow: BRAG. Seeing this as cow didn't help.
53. Stage awards: OBIES. Notable achievement in plays performed off-Broadway.
54. TV producer Michaels: LORNE. Best known for creating and producing Saturday Night Live and producing the Late Night series, The Kids in the Hall and The Tonight Show.
56. Bounty alternative: VIVA. Paper towel brands.
57. Harbinger: OMEN. Rain, hail and snow still here - but the harbingers of Spring have appeared - ants!
58. Skills assessment: TEST.
59. Skating commentator Lipinski: TARA.
Happy birthday to dear Agnes (Irish Miss), who helped me so much during the last few years of Boomer's life. I can't imagine the mistakes I would have made without her always prompt and practical advice. Thank you so much for the love and care you've been so generously giving to me, Agnes!
From Agnes:
The flowers are from a Words With Friend opponent whom
I’ve been playing steadily for more than 8 Years. We have never met or
spoken on the phone, but have become friends through chatting
via the game, texts, and emails. His wife’s maiden name is McGrath, as
is mine, and that coincidence started our friendship. He never forgets
my birthday and I never forget his as it’s on St. Patrick’s Day and,
fittingly, his name is Patrick!
