This is my fifth Saturday with a Debbie Ellerin puzzle. Debbie was nice enough to answer my email that I sent to her via an address she had completely forgotten. I reminded her that in her previous Saturday puzzle she used HEN COOP as fill and that that phrase had generated some discussion in this forum (Chicken Coop and Hen House? Ok, but...). Debbie said she was going to revisit that clue/fill and read the comments. She's a great sport!
Debbie is a retired computer programmer who has made stops at The University of Michigan, Boston for 30 years and, after tiring of winter weather, now lives in Los Angeles. She wrote to me that she likes constructing themeless puzzles and of this one she wrote: I wrote this puzzle back in April of 2019 so my memory is a bit hazy on how it came to be. Pretty sure that JACUZZI was my seed entry because of the collection of interesting letters. I then got the center area to work and from there worked on each corner. I like the entries BIGASK, ZENSTATE, and ROBOCALL (although not receiving them!)
Let's see what the former Michigan Wolverine has for us today:
Across:
1. Hardly a routine favor: BIG ASK - Are you more likely to make a BIG ASK or receive a BIG ASK
7. Rubs out: BUMPS OFF - Think mobster not marker board
15. Project that led to the first moonwalk: APOLLO - If you need a presentation about this, email me!
16. "And how!": IS IT EVER
17. Rounds of shots: SALVOS - A painting of one battleship firing SALVOS onto Iwo Jima before the 1945 invasion
19. Money in music: EDDIE - Here 'ya go
20. "__: a Dog": 1962 film based on a 1919 novel: LAD - Wanna read it online for free?
22. Fathers and sons: MEN and 26. Fathers and sons, say: KIN.
23. Portable Asian dwellings: YURTS - Jane Fonda helped finance the building of YURTS near Canon Ball, North Dakota where the Standing Rock Sioux are protesting an oil pipeline
25. "Live at Red Rocks" musician John: TESH - A sample
27. Tiny resistance unit: MICROHM - A portmanteau for MICRO-OHM (a millionth of an OHM)
36. Galleria degli Uffizi city: FIRENZE - We visited that museum in Florence, Italy. Besides FIRENZE we also went to Roma, Venezia and Napoli and others
37. Range in which 7 is neutral: PH SCALE - Didn't we all have this in H.S. Chem? If not...
38. "Swords into plowshares" prophet: ISAIAH - 27 versions of this passage
39. Had difficulty: HIT A SNAG - What the 2020 run for the presidential candidacy did for most of the original Democrats
40. Maker of many jets: JACUZZI - This looks very pleasant.
43. __ entry: DATA.
47. Plant that has become invasive in much of the Eastern U.S.: KUDZU - When we took a tour of the south, the guides pointed out the KUDZU invasion
49. "Swan Lake" maiden: ODILE - Ballet's bad girl. Hmmm... I wonder which one she is in this picture?
52. Marathoners' sources of energy: CARBS.
54. Telemarketing tactic: ROBO CALL - My lovely bride has given to some charities online and now... "No good deed goes unpunished"
56. "Scream" scream: SHRIEK.
57. Rule that keeps you from spelling weirdly?: I BEFORE E - Hmmm...Read the print on this mug
58. With great intensity: KEENLY.
59. Colonists: SETTLERS.
60. Dr. Scholl's product: INSOLE - Took care of my plantar fasciitis
Down:
1. Stalwart political group: BASE- Pols can't win without theirs.
2. Apples since 2012: IPAD MINIS - Now it supports the Apple Pencil
3. The best of times: GOLDEN ERA - Health-wise for me it was when I was young. Intellectually it is now (hard as that is to believe)
4. Harmonica-playing chipmunk: ALVIN - David Seville got the Chipmunk voices by recording at half-speed and then playing back at normal speed. He did this first when he sang OO-EE-OO-AH-AH for his song Witch Doctor
5. Gin flavoring: SLOE.
6. Ring decisions: KO'S.
7. Off-the-wall: BIZARRE - Cross Eyed Dave's, uh, unique links!
8. No longer fazed by: USED TO
9. Time meas.: MIN.
10. VA concern: PTSD.
12. Kiwi-shaped: OVATE - Some tomatoes as well
14. Just baked, say: FRESH.
20. Riches: LUCRE - Biblical use
23. 1994 co-Nobelist with Yasser and Shimon: YITZHAK.
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| Yasser Arafat Shimon Peres YITZHAK Rabin |
27. "Anaconda" rapper Nicki: MINAJ - If you think female rappers can't also have filthy lyrics, Google her
28. Kenyan tribe: MASAI - Cody Willnerd from the University of Nebraska (note the N on the hat) interviewing members of the MASAI tribe in front of one of their homes (boma)
32. Game show VIPs: MC'S - We here are all thinking of Alex Trebek
33. Enclave in Italy: SAN MARINO - It takes over 4 hours to drive between Italy's two sovereign countries within its borders
35. High-tech capacity units: MEGS.
37. Pie sometimes topped with pineapple: PIZZA - An acquired taste?
39. Gatherings before snaps: HUDDLES - Players now wear wristbands like this to make calling plays in the HUDDLE easier
43. Day of films: DORIS - America's sweetheart at 20 and 90
45. High land: TIBET - The route from Lhasa, TIBET to Everest Base Camp
48. Long-eared critters: HARES.
52. "Big Brother" host Julie __ Moonves: CHEN - The wife of former CBS president Les Moonves and host of a show that holds no interest for me
53. Terrier breed from Scotland: SKYE.
56. Go downhill fast: SKI - The record is 158 mph!
Now, how about some comments for Debbie:
