Saturday, October 26, 2019, Debbie Ellerin

Themeless Saturday by Debbie Ellerin

Debbie is a "longtime puzzle solver" who caught the constructing bug in 2014. She has been published in the NYT, the LA Times and the WSJ. She is a former computer programmer who splits her time between LA and Boston. She spends her free time reading, watching MSNBC and traveling to visit her two children.

 Debbie has said she was proud to introduce the fill of NOTORIOUS RBG (Ruth Bader Ginsburg) in a recent NYT puzzle. Jeffrey Wechsler used that fill at this venue recently.

I seemed to move along very nicely and appreciated the clever cluing.

Across

1. Tablets that shouldn't be used with water: I PADS - Oops!

6. Mandela's org.: ANC.

9. Actress Andersson of "The Seventh Seal": BIBI - Her IMBD site

13. Officers-to-be: CADETS.

15. "Just asking": NO REASON 

17. Put on the throne: ENSEAT - Neither me nor any of my online dictionaries recognized this word

18. Israeli self-defense system: KRAV MAGA - Combat contact in Hebrew. The bemused look on this confident young lady's face should tell you she knows how to employ KRAV MAGA as you can see in this Video

19. Longest note?: SOL - Three letters but I'll bet you've seen it as SO occasionally or even SEW - a needle pulling thread.

20. What some goggles may enhance: NIGHT VISION.

22. Notre Dame legend: ROCKNE 

24. Sci-fi antagonist: HAL - In 2001: A Space Odyssey, HAL even reads lips and turns the tables on his human "masters" who were going to disable him

25. Had a bite: ATE.

26. Palm tree starch: SAGO - The start of the process of making SAGO in Tonga

27. Piece of advice: TIP.

29. Original Monopoly token still in use: TOP HAT.

31. Microsoft line: I'M A PC 3. 31-Across, e.g.: AD SLOGAN - and then...

33. Tormentor's retort: SAYS ME - The playground response to "SAYS WHO?"

35. Language group that includes Swahili: BANTU.

36. Poet's preposition: ERE.

37. Beethoven's "Bagatelle in A Minor" honoree: ELISE - Granddaughter's name and the first real piece she learned on the piano

41. "Good enough": IT'LL DO - Understated golf partner says "IT'LL DO" when someone compliments his good shot.

43. Acknowledge quietly: NOD AT.

44. Jerry or Cherry: GARCIA.

47. Meditative sounds: OMS.

49. Poses: SITS.

50. Corrida support: OLE.

51. H, to Hercules: ETA - Ηρακλής (ETA, rho, alpha, kappa, lambda, eta, zeta). Hercules in Greek

53. Expects: AWAITS.

55. "Hold that thought": PUT A PIN IN IT - From WWII meaning to put the pin back in the hand grenade. Maybe that is what this soldier should have done

58. Blackjack need: ACE.

60. Spokane and Omaha: AMERINDS.

61. Christie creation: POIROT - Who's your favorite Hercule? I've named mine is at the bottom of this write-up*

63. Faux elixir: SNAKE OIL - Origin of the phrase

64. First name on the original "Get Shorty" movie poster: ELMORE - You may have to blow up the image a lot to see credit given to the author of this novel whose first name is ELMORE (Leonard)

65. Uses roofing material, say: TARS.

66. Get it: SEE.

67. Valuable veins: LODES.


Down:

1. Finishes in the bakery: ICES.

2. Wide view: PANORAMA - An iPhone in the process

4. It's barely passable: DEE - JFK's 8th grade Average of 77.00 would have gotten him a DEE on my grading scale

5. Got booed, maybe: STANK.

6. Egyptian life symbol: ANKH 23. Like some Egyptian churches: COPTIC - The COPTIC church founded by Saint Mark when Egypt was under the reign of Nero retained the ANKH from their pagan religion as a link to the after world

7. True __: NORTH - The variation between true NORTH and magnetic NORTH is called declination

8. Fancy neckwear: CRAVATS - The forerunner of today's neckties

9. Mah-jongg suit, familiarly: BAMS - Short for BAMBOOS

10. "Swords into plowshares" source: ISAIAH - A lovely sentiment 

11. El Museo del Oro city: BOGOTA - The Museum of Gold in Columbia contains this display

12. Caught, perhaps: IN A NET.

14. Tour of duty: STINT.

16. It's a bad sign: EVIL OMEN.

21. Theodor whose middle name was Seuss: GEISEL.

26. Member of the fam: SIB.

28. Longtime "SNL" announcer: PARDO - Those of us with some more mileage on our tires remember Don PARDO working with Art Fleming on Jeopardy

Don PARDO       Art Fleming

30. House speaker after Ryan: PELOSI.

32. Toots: CUTIE PIE.

34. Royal attendant: YEOMAN - An interesting read

38. Annual Alaskan sporting event: IDITAROD - The route map contains one of our old cwd friends - an INSET

39. 1600 is a perfect one: SAT SCORE - Ah, the old bell curve

40. UFO personnel, it's said: ET'S.

42. Some Spanish speakers: LATINOS.

44. Overshoot: GO PAST - The Eagle Lunar Module did overshoot its landing site by four miles but Neil turned off the computers and brought the craft down safely 

45. Smith grad: ALUMNA - Alumna, Alumnae, Alumnus, Alumni

46. Injure again, as a ligament: RETEAR.

48. Run through a reader: SWIPE - Oops!

52. Actress MacDowell: ANDIE - I remember her in one of my favorite movies

54. Coral Sea sight: ATOLL 

56. Bulky boats: ARKS - This bulky boat built in Kentucky as a tourist attraction  is both an ARK replica and a lemon as it is losing money every year

57. Canaries component: ISLE - The canary shown below on one of the Canary ISLES is named for the islands not the other way around. These volcanic ISLES were originally named canariae insulae ("islands of dogs") for the large dogs that residents kept there

59. Saint-Tropez seasons: ETES.

62. Texter's qualifier: IMO.

So, waddya think of Debbie's puzzle? IMO, it made for a nice Saturday exercise

*My favorite Hercule Poirot portrayer is David Suchet who is the bottom left of the gallery