Themeless Saturday by Greg Johnson
Today marks the celebration that is well appreciated by a man who has always had a cat in his household and has taught and traveled with adolescents for over 40 years - National Cat Herders Day!
One story credits the genesis of this phrase to IT expert Dave Platt who remarked, "Managing senior programmers is like herding cats." The site Wellcat took the phrase and declared it a national day.
Our constructor today is Greg Johnson and I can only find this [insert adjective] picture of him from my last write-up of his work and no other info
Let's see what Greg has conjured up to herd us cats here at our word sandbox:
1. Brakes: SLOWS UP - To SLOW UP from 17,000 mph the shuttle had to fire retro rockets ahead, enter the atmosphere whose friction made the bottom 3,000˚F, make big sweeping turns and then finally deploy drag chutes. The process began over Australia to land at KSC
8. Do a sauce preparation job: DEGLAZE - Adding wine or stock to particles in the bottom of the pan (called fond) after searing or cooking.
15. Wedding employee: LIMOUSINE DRIVER
17. One always looking up: ETERNAL OPTIMIST - Mitzi Gaynor as Nellie Forebush declared I'm A Cockeyed Optimist
18. Meander: WEND.
19. 42nd's second: GORE is closely associated with 31. Global warming concern: ICE CAPs
20. Food buyer's consideration: TASTE and 27. Pizza party purchase: SODA - Do all SODAS TASTE the same?
21. Polish removers: ACETONES - We used Windex and elbow grease to get polish out of our carpet
24. One of 20 in many books: MATCH- For our striking friends
28. Stress-free locale, ideally: SPA.
33. Private dining area: MESS TENT - Can you find this famous one?
38. Cooling-off period: DETENTE - America's DETENTE with the U.S.S.R. has ebbed and flowed since the 60's
39. A, often: FRONT ROW - A hilarious Bob Uecker commercial
41. Hemsley's role on the sitcom "Amen": DEACON - Maybe so, but this is the role Sherman played that helped change TV and the world
42. Hill climber: ANT.
43. What happy concertgoers want: MORE.
45. Perfect places: EDENS.
46. Deeply saddens ... or delights: MAKES CRY
48. Parting sentiment: PEACE - The first Today Show host Dave Garroway's signature was saying PEACE with his hand upheld
52. Little, playfully: ITTY.
53. First name in late-night talk: DAVE and 61. First name in late-night talk: ARSENIO - Letterman and Hall worked the other side of the clock Garroway had worked
57. Bar association concern: AMBULANCE CHASER - Walter Matthau played AMBULANCE CHASER "Whiplash Willie" in this fun movie
60. Top dog?: PICK OF THE LITTER - How in the world could you pick from (let alone herd) this litter?
62. Shower components: METEORS
Down:
1. Host: SLEW - There's a SLEW of meteors shooting through the atmosphere above
2. For calorie counters: LITE.
3. Predictor, sometimes: OMEN.
4. Conduct may have it on either end: WORD ACCENT - With the WORD ACCENT up front - CON DUCT is how one behaves. With the WORD ACCENT at the back - CON DUCT is how electric wires behave.
5. Bright star: SUN - The answer to an old bar bet, "What star is closest to the Earth?"
6. Data plan number: USAGE - Verizon has told me how many GB/month I can use without paying more but I can't remember the number
7. American workers: PILOTS - American was the first airline to fly the DC-3 which made it able to make a profit by only carrying passengers while others 8. Counted (on): DEPENDED on carrying mail and freight
9. August hrs. in Augusta: EDT.
10. Breakfast food mentioned in court in "My Cousin Vinny": GRITS - A very funny minute of video
11. Green bean: LIMA.
12. "It's Your Space" sloganeer: AVIS - Remember when it was, "We're #2, we try harder"
13. Cocktail garnish: ZEST - Here's a pile of lemon ZEST
14. Art Deco designer: ERTE - Great for crosswords not so much for Scrabble®
16. Space observation: NO ROOM - A great observation about the space in the Sistine Chapel
22. Pie __: CHART - Speaking of cell phone usage
23. Left carefully, with "out": EASED.
24. Tick off: MIFF.
25. Luxury auto: ACURA - I put my first guess of LEXUS back in the word garage
26. Carpentry joint component: TENON - We had TENON Saw last Friday
28. Bae or boo, to former generations: STEADY DATE - Saccharine pet names
29. Pound parts: PENCE - A British pound equals 100 PENCE (1p) or 50 TUPPENCE (2p)
30. Playwright Chekhov: ANTON - Cultural idiot me is not familiar with ANTON's plays but I do know who Yogi Berra's backup catcher was (* see at bottom :-)
32. Prosciutto di __: PARMA - Very thinly sliced cured ham whose superior taste is obtained by the wonderful air in Parma, Italy and 46. Fruit served with prosciutto: MELON
34. Direct: STEER.
35. Some bills: TENS - If you have this 1863 TEN, you should 37. Investigate: LOOK INTO how much it is worth
40. "Amazing Grace" figure: WRETCH - John Newton, a former captain of a slave ship, wrote the poem in 1779 but never heard the melody which was applied to it 50 yrs later. It can be played using only the black keys.
44. Highly regard: ESTEEM.
47. Spin, say: CYCLE.
48. Storied bear: PAPA - A name I treasure
49. 2018 White House visitor from Qatar: EMIR - Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani is the current EMIR of Qatar
50. Kids' curriculum: ABC'S
51. Garden veggie: CUKE - Our garden ranneth over!
54. Regarding: AS TO.
55. Suddenly turn: VEER - In the VEER FB offense, either the QB or one of the HB's will try to VEER through the defense
56. Messes up: ERRS
58. "100 Years...100 Movies" org.: AFI - American Film Institute
59. Battleship success: HIT - How 'bout Battleship Beer Pong for the pool?
Now I'll try and herd all of you cats to the comment page:
* Yogi's backup had very few stats as Yogi hardly ever took time off.
