Saturday, March 2, 2019, Andrew J. Ries

Themeless Saturday by Andrew J. Ries

If you follow my blogging at all you know I have a very soft spot in my heart for cats and today we celebrate International Cat Rescue Day.

We got our Siamese Lily at the Capital Humane Society in Lincoln, NE over four years ago (picture to follow). She has become an essential part of our household and has added much joy to Joann's and my life.

There are many more pets out there ready for adoption and it might be something to consider.

Today's constructor is Andrew Ries whose web site address you see here. It cleverly incorporates his first initial and surname.  Very cool!

 Here is a link to the last Andrew Ries puzzle I blogged where you can find a bio of Andrew along with a picture of him and C.C.

I won't say Andrew's puzzle was "purrfect" and you can't make me! I started in the NE and made steady clockwise progress until I crossed the finish line at SEX QUIZ.

Let's examine the other entries Andrew has adopted today (just a J and a K short of a pangram); none of which I judged to be catty!

Across:

1. Throws: SLINGS - Here "Slingin'" Sammy Baugh throws one for the Washington Redskins. Check out his signature.

7. Some confrontations: SCENES - "Don't make a SCENE"

13. Good-for-nothin': NO COUNT or NO ACCOUNT

15. Decide: CHOOSE.

16. Abroad: OVERSEAS

18. "Ben-Hur" Oscar winner: HESTON - I'm not sure I was ready for the violence when my friend's mom took us to see Ben-Hur in 1959

19. "Webspace" was added to it in Jun. 2017: OED - Oxford English Dictionary

20. Hot BuzzFeed feature?: SEX QUIZ - If Your Sex Life Was A Disney Character, What Would It Be?

22. "When we know, you'll know": Abbr.: TBA - You can announce the answer to the quiz above when you're ready

23. Substitute: PROXY - My lovely bride is her 96-yr-old mother's PROXY for everything in her life

25. "Tequila mockingbird" and "absinthe of malice," for two: PUNS - Fun!

26. Maverick on TV: BRET - If you believe gamblers in the old west looked and dressed like James Garner

27. Big __: SUR - The Pacific Coast Highway, that runs through this lovely place, suffered what The California Road Department called the "biggest mudslide in California history" in 2017

28. Development home: TRACT HOUSE - Pete Seeger satirized them

30. "The History of the Standard Oil Company" author: TARBELL - Ida was a muckraker of the early 20th century

32. Dunked discs: OREOS - How shall I clue thee? Let me count the ways.

33. Respectful assent: YES PLEASE 

35. Hardened, maybe: STALE - The rolls we had in Germany were not STALE but, oh my, were they ever hard. However, I loved to 53. Down: EAT them

38. Creamy sauce: ALFREDO.

40. Written argument: LEGAL BRIEF - Boomer might say, "Perry Mason's underwear" but I won't. 😙

42. NOW center: Abbr.: ORG - Betty Friedan is said to have come up with the acronym on a napkin during a meeting in her hotel room with her group of burgeoning feminists

44. Many a Baghdad dad: ARAB.

45. It helps you focus: LENS - I want this LENS for my iPhone

46. Part of some salesmen's deliveries: SMARM - I'm more accustomed to the adjectival form - SMARMY. How 'bout dat? I used adjective in its adjectival form!

48. Dietitian's calc.: BMI - Calculate your Body Mass Indicator

49. '70s Robert Blake cop show: BARETTA - Another TV trope - A maverick cop

51. Pillow talk murmur: COO - As in "Bill and COO". Name for two birds @ 46 Across?

52. Musical ineptitude: TIN EAR

54. Reference to a note: SEE BELOW - As promised, a picture of our Lily on Cat Rescue day

Our Rescued Lily!

56. Going for less: ON SALE - SETTLE didn't cut it

57. Come out of the bullpen: RELIEVE - The ultimate trip out of the bullpen  (two "f-bombs")

58. Like a date without a heart?: PITTED - Clever Andrew!

59. Picked up: SENSED.


Down:

1. Private eye: SNOOP 

2. They may put their initials on trunks: LOVERS - For me and my lovely bride

3. Wearing expensive jewelry, in modern slang: ICED OUT - Ice is slang for diamonds

4. 1994 Olympics host: Abbr.: NOR - The lingering image of those olympics in NORWAY is below. Tonya claimed 10. "Lies!": NOT TRUE but later admitted she knew "something was up"

5. Dress (up): GUSSY - A school marm might gussy herself up and sashay into town

6. Bygone blade: SNEE and 9. Dawn goddess: EOS - Two regulars on the cwd bench


7. Crystalline rock: SCHIST - From the Greek word for split (Schism from last Tuesday also comes to mind)

8. "In the home of," literally: CHEZ - You might eat at CHEZ Henri or more commonly say "S'il te plaît, viens CHEZ moi" (Please come to my house)

11. 1962 hit with the line "the samba's the quickest way to make amor": ESO BESO - ESO sometimes appears alone clued as "Spanish article" but here, of course ESO BESO means "That Kiss" a hit song for Paul Anka

12. Legal bodies: SENATES.

14. Return specialist: TAX PREPARER - I do my own with Turbo Tax

17. Fronts of cold fronts: SQUALL LINES it might be time to pick up your 50. Drivers' elevators: TEES and head for the clubhouse

21. Addams who can generate electricity: UNCLE FESTER.

Jackie Coogan playing UNCLE FESTER
in The Addams Family

24. Where doctors may catch a break?: X-RAY LAB - Gotta love this clue, after you hated it!

26. Yawning cause: BOREDOM - Director John Hughes told Ben Stein, who had a degree in economics, to just ad lib a horrendous lecture

28. "Angie Tribeca" airer: TBS - Here 'ya go

29. Gardening aid: HOSE and 31. 29-Down storage device: REEL - We've got three of these on our house

34. Sound from a purse, possibly: ARF - A clever clue but seems like a cruel practice

35. Thick table surface: SLAB TOP 

36. Ends: TERMINI - Literally the ends of the line. Plural for terminus

37. Playing on the field: AGAINST - Cornhuskers AGAINST the Sooners used to be a big FB deal

39. Wall Street whizzes, say: ORACLES.

41. Played loudly: BLARED - Because Kennedy Space Center is on Merritt Island, which is an animal sanctuary, NASA couldn't harm the woodpeckers tearing up insulated fuel tanks. Therefore they BLARED Metallica at them and the birds left.

43. It's good to be in one: GROOVE - We had this last Saturday where I mentioned Boomer having been in many of these while bowling

46. Pricey fur: SABLE - The habitat of this furry little carnivore

47. Did yard work: MOWED.

49. Block on a farm: BALE - Today they are much more likely to be this shape which is much less labor intensive

55. A, in German class: EIN - The indefinite article not the letter.  Dies ist EIN Kreuzworträtsel (This is a crossword puzzle)

After you comment, you might want to call/visit your local shelter to rescue a pet!