Saturday, September 14, 2019, Greg Johnson

Saturday Themeless Puzzle by Greg Johnson 

Today we celebrate an item that goes by many different names depending on where you live. Around here we call this a sub sandwich but I know it is also called a hoagie, grinder, poor boy, hero or what have you. I really like them but when I get one for my lovely bride and I to split, I can only have black olives put on my end.

Today's constructor is our old Saturday friend Greg Johnson. I include his grid at the top of the write-up because two triple-stack grid spanners looks pretty cool to me! Those ninety cells filled in pretty quickly and gave me a fast finish time when coupled with what seemed to be a lot of familiar fill for this solver.

O.K. let's see what Greg, like Jimmy Johns, has delivered for us today:

Across:

1. Suggestion for stress relief: TAKE SOME TIME OFF - Coupled with the next clue



16. Enjoying a solo walk in the woods: AT ONE WITH NATURE - I never felt this more than in the Oregon Redwoods, some of which have been growing for thousands of years

17. It makes a good point: PENCIL SHARPENER - One Redwood can make 50,000,000 pencils to be sharpened

18. Big boat: ARK - The bible said Noah used gopherwood not redwood

19. Needs to remit: OWES - Thus endeth the redwood references 

20. Trick: CON.

21. Yellowy insides: YOLKS.

24. Farm structures: PENS - My wife lived on a farm where the pigs' quarters were call a PEN, never a sty

25. Enters unnoticed: SLIPS IN.

28. Paratha roti ingredient: GHEE (highly clarified butter) - What is the difference between a roti, naan, paratha and chapati?

31. Showed joy, ironically: WEPT - An emotional response either way

32. Tricky hoops move that's often an assist: NO LOOK PASS - More commonly seen in basketball (hoops) but Patrick Mahommes uses this in football. 58. Super Bowl IV MVP Dawson: LEN - Was not as exciting as Patrick but started for the 1969 Super Bowl Champs in K.C. and was the MVP of that game.

37. In the past: AGO.

38. Supporters: RETINUE - He always had a lovely one

39. Summary usually including a photo: BIO.

40. Treatment for dry skin: BODY BUTTER - There doesn't seem to be any in my medicine cabinet

42. It's just above street level: CURB - I just loved this clue

43. Road game: I SPY - with my little eye...

44. Ancient French region: ALSATIA (old name for Alsace) - For more than 300 years, from the Thirty Years' War to World War II, the political status of Alsace was heavily contested between France and various German states in wars and diplomatic conferences.

46. Summer hire: TEMP - I hired over 300 "TEMPS" in the summer to work in the cornfields for 23 years

49. Check for fit: TRY ON.

50. Chemical suffix: IDE.

51. Vegas hotel with an operatic name: ARIA - I had A _ _ _  and AIDA neither worked for fill nor existed as a hotel

54. Hosp. tubes: IVS.

56. Pasta for vegetarians: MEATLESS LASAGNA 

62. "Pass": I'M NOT INTERESTED - At one time I had several "friends" try to get me into Amway

63. Scopes Trial site: DAYTON TENNESSEE - Like me, John Scopes was a substitute teacher and he wasn't sure he even taught evolution but agreed to be a test case for the ACLU. He was prosecuted by Nebraska's most famous politician William Jennings Bryan, was found guilty and fined $100 (which was later reversed on a technicality).

Restored Court Room In DAYTON, TENNESSEE
Now A Tourist Attraction

Down:

1. Dancing suitable for radio: TAP - Cool clue! I can at least hear the rhythm which I lack.

2. Put away: ATE.

3. Hawaiian coffee district: KONA - This part of the Big Island has many coffee growing areas that offer tours and tastings not far from our cwd friend Mauna Loa.

4. Protect from theft, in a way: ENCRYPT - If somebody wants to break your code badly enough...

5. High-end watches: SEIKOS.

6. Barn __: OWL - A woman put on a show from a raptor recovery program and told my kids, "A raptor can never be your friend!"

7. Appropriate prefix for an embezzler?: MIS - MISappropriation is a fancy euphemism for what Bernie Madoff did.

8. Guiding beliefs: ETHOS.

9. Spring harbinger: THAW 

10. Memo opener: IN RE - The "IN" is omitted but the sentiment is real below

11. Guides with scales: MAPS - If you look carefully below, you can see the scale for how far it is from Xi'an where C.C. was born to Guangzhou where she worked before coming to America

12. Tanning time on the Riviera: ETE - Knowing the French word for summer is de rigueur  in Crosswordland

13. Smidgen: OUNCE - A smidgen of prevention is worth a lot of cure

14. Trademarked refrigerant: FREON - The EPA has mandated that the manufacture of FREON must be halted by 2020

15. Decorative greenery: FERNS.

22. Pregame managerial decision: LINEUP - This 1961 LINEUP was powerful. Can you name the Yankees pictured here with the number of HR's they hit that year? (*Answer at bottom of write-up)

23. Complicated: KNOTTY - Along with being Dr. Seuss, Theodore Geisel was also a political cartoonist as seen in this 1942 example

24. Cheerleader's asset: PEP.

25. Makeup-applying aid: SWAB.

26. Toy brand with a Taj Mahal set: LEGO - $370 at Amazon

27. 2001 Apple debut: I POD - I still have mine but don't 28. Approach: GO NEAR it anymore 

29. Like most labor rates: HOURLY.

30. Squeak (out): EKE.

33. Short stories?: LIT.

34. Border on: ABUT.

35. "Hey" assistant: SIRI - I could say this into my iPhone, "Hey, SIRI, what's the name for a four-letter Japanese noodle?" She would probably suggest UDON or SOBA

36. Polite-to-slurp Japanese noodle: SOBA - All you need to know

38. NFL ball carriers: RBS - Besides Running Backs, the NFL has QBs, FBs, HBs, DBs and CBs (Pluralizing acronyms)

41. Pup squeak: YIP.

42. Solicit support from, as voters: CANVASS - Part of my granddaughter's job

45. "Indeed": SO I SEE.

46. Hardly outgoing: TIMID.

47. Swelling: EDEMA - Is using ice to reduce EDEMA the wrong thing to do?

48. Not-so-nice sort: MEANY.

49. Sample: TASTE - Don Fanucci had a different way of saying he wanted a TASTE of illegal activity 

51. Vocal range: ALTO.

52. Bit strap: REIN 

53. "And __ it ironic": Alanis Morissette lyric: ISN'T - A fun listen!

55. Mil. ranks: SGTS - From the world of fiction: Friday, Bilko, Schultz, Snorkel, Stryker...

57. Day care attendee: TOT - Day care is a cash cow for many churches in our town

59. Valiant's boy: ARN.

60. Formerly named: NEE.

61. Drink suffix with Power: ADE.

Order a sub to be delivered and then comment on Greg's puzzle. 

*Yankee LINEUP (l to r) was Roger Maris, Yogi Berra, Mickey Mantle, Elston Howard, Moose Skowren, and Johnny Blanchard.