THEMELESS SATUDAY PUZZLE BY GREG JOHNSON ON NATIONAL DOG MOM'S DAY
Greg Johnson has a very nice puzzle for us on this holiday that is celebrated on the day before, well, you know...
Hoping that you remembered to get a card (or at least a treat) for your four-footed mom in the house, let's see what Greg has given us on this "anything but a dog" exercise.
Across:
1. Bubbly stuff: FOAM - SOAP and WINE - not so much!
5. Skiing venue: LAKE - A Husker Gary blog without a kitty? Never happenin'!
15. Very top: APEX - Also can mean high
16. Babysitter, maybe: NIECE
17. Mtn. stats: ALTS - HGTS and ELEV were candidates
18. Superstitious warning: DON'T JINX IT 9. "Got it, man!": I'M HIP
20. Quick: SPEEDY - A 1951 character produced by the Wade Ad Agency in 1951
22. Word in Montana's motto: ORO - ORO y Plata (Gold and Silver)
23. Pre-Columbian stoneworker: INCA
24. Apollo's place: HARLEM - This NASA guy wanted Apollo on the Moon but of course Greg was referencing this HARLEM institution
25. Word with window or rum: BAY - This BAY Rum is clearly labeled "For External Use Only" but during prohibition, its 58% grain alcohol content made this Rexall product popular for other reasons
26. Beach bird: GULL - At the beach you might see a GULL on a buoy
27. One with secrets to tell: SPY - A Mad Magazine staple for years. Each seems to have a secret
28. Some judicial officials: MAGISTRATES - In Mayberry, Andy Taylor performed this function under the title of Justice Of The Peace
31. Want-ad letters: EEO - As opposed to this Want-Ad
32. Get one's signals crossed, say: ERR - Last week I found out what happens when you ERR and forget to put a cup under the spout
34. Assurance of honesty: TRUST ME and 50. Sneak: WEASEL.
36. "That's a little better": IT HELPS.
40. Forced-air system output: HEAT - Did your schoolroom from ages past have radiators instead forced-air? I can still smell the drying mittens
41. Phi-psi link: CHI - Phi precedes these last three letters of the Greek alphabet
42. Astounded reaction: OOH.
43. Workplace dispute negotiator: LABOR LAWYER - During my teaching career, our LABOR LAWYERS negotiated with the school board's LABOR LAWYERS
47. When repeated, a football chant: OLE.
48. Cry of dismay: ALAS - The correct quote is "ALAS, poor Yorick! I knew him,
49. What candles may represent: AGE- My youngest granddaughter Elise has just joined the ranks of teenagers last week (our daughter is on the left) and 54. Most unusual: ODDEST - Granddaughter requested a llama cake
52. Phnom __: PENH.
53. Single dose?: DAT - I want DAT one and some of DOSE too
55. Bush 43, for one: EX-GOVERNOR - Guess where four of seven EX-GOVERNORS of Illinois wound up
58. Kitchen addition?: ETTE - This is all ya need!
59. Spaghetti Western director Sergio: LEONE - These were a star vehicle for Clint Eastwood after Henry Fonda and Charles Bronson turned down the role 60. Cry out loud: BAWL.
61. An earring may be shaped like one: PEAR
62. Vicks brand: SINEX
63. Page with views: OPED - Newspaper page OPposite the EDitorial page
64. Sailing group: TARS.
Down:
1. Undesirably rapid hardening of concrete: FLASH SET - Sulphates are added to cement to prevent this phenomenon. See last ingredient for cement below. New to me after eight summers puddling concrete
2. Specialized painting surface: OIL PAPER - "It features a powerful, efficient oil barrier that absorbs water, solvents and binders evenly while allowing the paint and pigment to remain on the surface"
3. Words spoken with a gentle hand gesture: AFTER YOU - Are women offended by this offer by a man these days?
4. German wine valley: MOSEL - It would appear you'd have to be a mountain goat to harvest these grapes in the beautiful MOSEL Valley
5. Billboard #1 song in 1975 and 2001: LADY MARMALADE - I missed it both times. Correction, I didn't hear it either time
6. Mil. address: APO - Army Post Office
7. Vader enemy: KENOBI - Here is Darth Vader squaring off with Obi-Wan KENOBI
8. Loaded with heat: EXTRA SPICY - No thanks!
9. Pasta ending: INI
10. Lesser component of "The Legend of Zelda," say: MINI GAME - Inside the larger Zelda game, their are various smaller MINI GAMES one can/must play while on a quest, I read. I'm not likely to push that button.
11. Six-sided fastener: HEX NUT.
12. Winter hangover?: ICICLE.
13. Flower girl's tossings: PETALS - Or not...
19. "Let every heart prepare him room" song: JOY TO THE WORLD - Greg could have gone for "Jeremiah was a bull frog..."
21. Greek goddess of the harvest: DEMETER - For some reason I knew this
30. Brought back to work: REHIRED - George Steinbrenner famously fired and REHIRED Billy Martin many times
35. Tribe that sold horses to Lewis and Clark: SHOSHONE - The SHOSHONE had the horses that the expedition needed to get over the mountains and as luck would have it, Sacajawea was the long, lost sister of chief Cameahwait (He who never walks)
37. Leaves in a chest: LOOSE TEA.
38. Nocturnal travel guide: POLE STAR - It is the one point in the northern sky that never moves 39. Stray protection: SHELTERS - This is where we got our kitty
43. Places for pins: LAPELS.
44. Former Soviet premier Kosygin: ALEXEI - A familiar apparatchik name to this child of the 60's
45. Hit hard: BANG ON.
46. Hand-wiping item: WETNAP.51. Well-rehearsed: ADEPT.
56. Bug: VEX.
57. Be behind: OWE.
Just so you know, Joann is getting a lovely card from her third daughter tomorrow!
DA GRID:
