Saturday, September 30, 2023, Jess Rucks

 Saturday Themeless. by Jess Rucks

Carly            Jess

Despite my attempts to make Jess's fun puzzle difficult, I did mange to finish in a nice time for a Saturday and had a pleasant experience along the way.

I loved this picture of Jess and our circus trainer/constructor Carly Schuna when their paths crossed in Madison, WI. recently, Be sure to see the picture at the bottom of the write-up where Carly is showing Jess how to manipulate the Giant German Wheel.

Jess is originally from Minnesota but now lives in Colorado Springs where her husband is in the Space Force. Jess has held several interesting jobs including serving as an Urdu linguist for the Air Force. She now is a counselor and loves working with and advocating for kids.

"I hope you enjoyed Jess's puzzle" or in Urdu:

مجھے امید ہے کہ آپ نے جیس کی پہیلی کا لطف اٹھایا ہوگا۔

 

Across: 

1. Red aperitif: CAMPARI - I have no idea why this leapt to my mind very quickly.

8. Defib experts: EMTS.

An EMT with an external
defibrillation device

12. Really clean up: MAKE A MINT - Bit coin, pet rocks, etc.

14. Love or life follower: BOAT - It wasn't the Love BOAT but the Titanic only had enough Life BOATS for half the passengers.

15. "Let me try again ... ": I MEAN TO SAY.

17. Morsel: BITE.

18. Old Irish: CELTS - Kelts or Selts? It can go either way but most say it is Kelts unless you're referring to sports teams in Boston, MA or Glasgow, Scotland  

19. Mireille of "Big Love": ENOS - I know nothing about Ms. ENOS but I have caught on to the fact that she has displaced a biblical character and an old MLB baseball player in this venue. Her IMDB

21. Street cred: REP(utation) - Richie doesn't have any (3:48)

22. Crush a 23-Across performance, perhaps: SLAY and 23. Nothing to fret about?: 😀 AIR GUITAR.

26. Expand: ADD TO.

27. Up from Spain?: NORTE - España está al NORTE de Marruecos (Spain is north of Morocco) 

29. Hero with a weak spot: ACHILLES.

33. Inuk of film whose real name was Allakariallak: NANOOK - I knew nothing about Inuk or Allakariallak but those names reminded me of NANOOK which was in the deep recesses of my memory.

34. Breezy farewell: TOODLES.

35. Try again?: RETASTE - Editorial comment: "Nope, that's liver and it still tastes horrible!" 😝

36. Proceed unsteadily: TOTTER.

37. Intrepid: FEARLESS.

38. Promising spot?: ALTAR 😀

39. Crown: TIARA.

40. Ones to "watch out for," per an Amazon Prime reality series: BIG GRRRLS - A seed entry for Jess.

42. Nearly all: MOST.

46. Jiff: SEC.

47. Throw away in disgust, slangily: YEET - Every teenager I asked knew this.

48. 13-Down, for one: DANCE and 13. Habanera kin: TANGO. As soon as I realized the habanera was a dance and not a pepper (habanero) I did a lot of research. Habanero and the Tango. Since it is both a dance and a type of music, this famous habanera will give you the rhythm.

49. Wakeboarding spot: LAKE.

51. Cantina rounds: MARGARITAS.

54. 100 sawbucks: ONE G - A sawbuck is ten dollar bill and 100 of them makes ONE-G (one grand or one thousand)

55. Minor celebrities?: TEEN IDOLS - I'll balance the Bizet opera above with this 60's rock and roll song.

56. Spanish pronoun: ESTO - ¡ESTO es divertido! (This is fun!)

57. Ticked by: ELAPSED - Hitters and pitchers now have time constraints and it greatly improves my viewing experience. 

Down:

1. Animal with three sets of eyelids and two sets of eyelashes: CAMEL.

2. Wolf voiced by Giancarlo Esposito in "The Jungle Book": AKELA - I remember him as the ruthless Gus Fring in Breaking Bad.

3. Like Bolognese: MEATY - Bolognese sauce is a meat-based sauce in Italian cuisine, typical of the city of Bologna.

Gnocchi Bolognese

4. Chef's collection: PANS.

5. Receipt fig.: AMT.

6. Code name on "Money Heist": RIO.

7. Paper fatteners: INSERTS - Our paper has almost abandoned all of them in favor or online ads.

8. Go out on the beach?: EBB 😀

9. "Schitt's Creek" character who says, "What you did was impulsive, capricious, and melodramatic, but it was also wrong": MOIRA ROSE.

10. Hot-dish topping: TATER TOTS - They make anything better!

11. Blended family prefix: STEP.

12. Feedback providers?: MICS 😀

16. Second person: YOU - In counseling training, we were told to avoid "YOU" sentences in favor of "I" sentences. "YOU are" vs. "I feel". 

20. "Sugar Town" singer: SINATRA.

23. "Inferiority complex" coiner: ADLER - Austrian psychologist Alfred ADLER

24. "Et tu" day: IDES 😀

25. Having a key: TONAL - TONAL vs ATONAL

26. Hypersensitivity: ALLERGY.

28. Squeaks (by): EKES.

29. Chapati flour: ATTA - Frequently found in our crossword pantry

30. "Neat!": COOL BEANS - Derivation

31. All the rage and hard to come by: HOT TICKET - To get one of these, requires either incredible good luck, big bucks or being named Travis Kelce. 😚

32. Entry need, maybe: ID TAG.

33. Comes close: NEARS.

35. Word in many Spanish team names: REAL.

37. Figure on the Oregon license plate: FIR TREE - That is true but check out the basketball court used by Oregon University.

39. Word that may make a dog sit up: TREAT.

41. "Everybody Hurts" band: REM.

42. Part of the inn crowd: MAIDS - MAIDS : Housekeepers :: Stewardesses : Flight Attendants 

43. With heels up: ON TOE 😀

44. Get into hot water?: SCALD.

45. "The Last of Us" survivor played by Anna Torv: TESS - I would have known Melanie Griffith's role in Working Girl or Julia Roberts' role in Ocean's 11.

46. Plum kin: SLOE - Last Saturday, we had SLOW LORIS

48. French press alternative: DRIP.

50. __ surf: EGO - I did an EGO surf on google for me and I came up with this picture taken during my last day at one of my old schools.

52. Long-lasting polish: GEL.

53. Actress Ortiz: ANA - Her IMDB

Jess on the giant wheel 
being tutored by Carly