Saturday, September 1, 2018, Greg Johnson

Themeless Saturday Puzzle by Greg Johnson

Today literally kicks off a big time of year for my Huskers as it is the first football game with a new coach, Scott Frost, who is a Nebraska native and was the QB for the last Husker National Champion team.
This first Saturday in September also marks National Tailgating Day across the country as college football finally gets going. As you can see in this picture in Lincoln, tailgating has progressed mightily from setting refreshments on the tailgate of a pickup to tents and motor homes lining the streets outside memorial stadium and across the country with full buffets.

Husker fans are famous for spotting opposition fans and inviting them in to have a bite. Today, some Akron Zip supporters will dine alfresco with Nebraska Cornhusker fans who make the stadium the third largest city in the state for that day and where games have been complete sellouts for well over 50 years.

GO BIG RED!

Constructing for us today is Greg Johnson and this is my third Saturday puzzle of his I have blogged. I used my search and destroy method of solving and had one bad cell. For some reason, I knew SHASTI was a perfectly fine Hindu word and ON GO made some sense but it turns out SHAKTI/OK GO was the correct path. Now you can do your Don Adams rendition of Maxwell Smart saying his famous catch phrase.

Let's see what else Greg has for us today:

Across:

1. Reality show whose Dutch version was called "Now or Neverland": FEAR FACTOR - No pictures here as many of their stunts involved snakes, spiders and other fauna in some very close encounters

11. Conceal: MASK - Some meds just MASK the pain

15. "Now, look ... ": LISTEN HERE.

16. "Hairspray" mom: EDNA  - A conversion that took five hours every day of filming

17. Ballpark figure: ATTENDANCE - Teams list number of tickets sold, not how many seats actually had occupants

18. Film noir crime fighters: T-MEN - Treasury officers

19. Calendar abbr.: THU.

20. "__: Cyber": CSI - A CBS spinoff series that was cancelled in 2016

21. Fluctuates: VARIES.

23. Marsh growth: SEDGE - European Meadow Sedge used in a landscape

European Meadow SEDGE

25. Dinette piece with cupboards: CREDENZA - I've always associated CREDENZAS with formal dining room sets but I don't get out much

27. City on the Oka: OREL.

28. Org. in "This Film Is Not Yet Rated": MPAA - A documentary about how ratings are determined

30. Starts to slip and slide?: ESSES - Slip and Slide

31. Collection area: DONATION BOX - Some churches have a POOR BOX near the exit that try to tap into your aura of holiness as you leave

34. Chrysler Building style: ART DECO - This beautiful building was the world's tallest for a year

35. Source of suds: BREW PUB - BREW PUBS feature beers made on-site such as this one in Toronto

40. Label on some foreign goods: MADE IN CHINA - Hmmm...

42. Colorful almanac pg.: US MAP - I wonder if this map we had for our kids was MADE IN CHINA

46. For calorie counters: LITE.

47. Enjoying the Smithsonian, briefly: IN DC - We had breakfast with our friend and U.S. Senator Ben Sasse when we were IN D.C.

48. Pirates rival: PHILLIES - MLB

50. Fire starter: SPARK - If you teach/taught science, I'll bet you've done this

51. Drama set in '60s Manhattan: MAD MEN - A fabulous 4 min scene about MAD MEN and renaming Kodak's "Wheel." 22. 51-Across bigwig: AD EXEC Don Draper shows the art of advertising at its highest level.

52. Music genre: POP - MOP, BOP, RAP, nope

54. Spare a friend's feelings, maybe: FIB  - "Does this dress make me look fat?"

55. "Your turn": OK GO.

56. One level higher than: A STEP ABOVE - See preceding picture

60. British weapon acronym: STEN  - A submachine gun made by Reginald Sheperd and Harold Turpin at The Royal Small Arms Factory at ENfield

61. Source of shade: WOODED AREA.

62. Like apron strings: TIED

63. Temptation: ENTICEMENT.


Down:

1. Result of a gas shortage?: FLAT SODA - Dr. Wife's secret weapon

2. Must-choose situation: EITHER OR.

3. Top performer: A-STUDENT - Sam Cooke sang Now, I don't claim to be an A-STUDENT, But I'm trying to be. For maybe by being an A-STUDENT, baby, I can win your love for me. Name that tune! 

4. Cal.'s 101, e.g.: RTE - We took this Pacific Coast Highway tour a few years ago

5. Thrust and parry: FENCE - With your epee, perhaps

6. Words between partners?: ANDS - A partnership whose lyrics are quoted often here

7. Starbucks tea: CHAI - CHAI is the Hindi word for tea from cha the Chinese word for tea

8. Common base: TEN - An outgrowth of our number of fingers by most accounts

9. Mordor menace: ORC - For $70 this ORC costume, from Lord Of The Rings,  is yours for Halloween

10. "The Canterbury Tales" estate manager: REEVE  - Here it is a sample of how Chaucer wrote of OSEWOLD the REVE and how it is translated

11. Liverpool lengths: METRES.

12. Online forum VIPs: ADMINS - Ours head ADMIN. here is a lovely lady named C.C.

13. Eyes-closed event: SNEEZE

14. "The Wizard of Oz" setting: KANSAS.

24. Rags or bags lead-in: GLAD  - I'll bet you know the song that starts "Put your glad RAGS on and join me hon"

25. Fire: CAN - I've been lots of things but never FIRED/CANNED

26. Multiplication symbol?: RABBIT.

28. Mineral in thin sheets: MICA.

29. Smart dog: POODLE - I don't know if Greg was  going for something like this or being fashionable. Of course I chose the lowbrow option. 😬

32. Mayan structure: TEMPLE.

33. Landlocked Normandy department: ORNE - Departments (départements) in France are administrative levels below the national level. ORNE is Department #61 below in the southern Normandy area.

36. Light and fluffy dessert: WHIP  - We use Cool WHIP

37. Garment in a Gilbert and Sullivan title: PINAFORE - I don't know any show-stoppers from this comic opera

38. Like a car in storage: UNDRIVEN  - MIL drives her '92 Olds every two weeks or so and I bought a charger to "jump" her car when necessary

39. Syncopated rhythmic element: BACKBEAT - A quick tutorial on BACKBEATS in drumming and playing bass

41. Frozen Wasser: EIS - Unser Freund Andy mag EIS in seinen Getränken nicht (Our friend Andy does not like ice in his drinks)

42. Loftiest: UPMOST - synonym for UPPERMOST

43. Cosmic energy, in Hinduism: SHAKTI - Shakti – Astitva Ke Ehsaas Ki (lit.: Strength of feeling of existence) is a Hindi Soap Opera

44. Tiny Tootsie Roll: MIDGEE.

45. __ butter: ALMOND.

49. Amazed: IN AWE  - Skeptical Simon was IN AWE of Susan Boyle after she started singing

50. One of four ... and of thirteen: SPADE - So simple now...

52. Service with painted nails: PEDI - PEDI? Maybe. Paint? Never!

53. Gp. with many barrels: OPEC - I think most of us remember the OPEC oil embargo of the 70's

58. Youngster: TOT.

59. Loud sound: BAM - Half the name of Barney and Betty's 57. Youngster's address: SON.

Go ahead and comment if you have finished watching your favorite college football game today. If my Huskers do not clobber the Akron Zips today, I am in for a long autumn!

DA GRID: