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Nov 4, 2023

Saturday, November 4, 2023, Daniel Okulitch & Doug Peterson

  Saturday Themeless by Daniel Okulitch and Doug Peterson

Doug Peterson
On Saturday, June 23 I blogged a Saturday themeless puzzle made by veteran constructor Matt Sewell and opera singer Christopher Bolduc. Today is a repeat of that type of combination with veteran Doug Peterson in tandem with Canadian baritone opera singer Daniel Okultich. 

I had great fun doing this puzzle and finished in good order. The bottom third had some red herring options but I did manage to winnow out the chaff (How's that for a mixed metaphor?) while enjoying the cleverness.    


Across:

1. Wolf: SCARF - Interesting opening with wolf and scarf as verbs


6. Magical country introduced in a 1900 children's novel: LAND OF OZ - OZ was my first thought but the rest took a while. It is now a modern day amusement park too.


14. Paying guest: ROOMER - Of course gossip about this guest would be a...

15. Steak source: ALBACORE - Not the first thought of this guy from the Beef State

Two ALBACORE tuna steaks

16. Adrenaline, e.g.: HORMONE.

17. Enterprise vehicle?: STAR TREK - A LEGO version


18. Result of an acid test?: ALTERED STATE 😀 Oh, that acid!


20. Navigator's dir.: SSE.

21. General from Alderaan: LEIA - Seen here with Han Solo


22. Released: OUT and 66. Getting away: ESCAPING - Andy definitely got OUT but he had to do it by ESCAPING. 


23. "Ars longa, __ brevis": VITA - Art can far outlive its creators 


A drawing of a pig that is at least 45,000 yrs old

25. Tswana for "fly": TSETSE - Pretty logical from the clue

28. School of tomorrow: ROE 😀 I really enjoyed this once it dawned on me. These ROE will never form a school of salmon.


30. Vegetable pod in some callaloo recipes: OKRA Callaloo is widely known throughout the Caribbean and has a distinctively Caribbean origin, utilising indigenous (Xanthosoma) plants and modified with African influences, such as OKRA. You're welcome.


33. Faithful practice: MONOGAMY.

36. Elevated for driving: TEED 😀 Fore!

37. Sense strengthened by playing peek-a-boo: OBJECT PERMANENCE 
understanding that items and people still exist even when you can't see or hear them

41. Check mate?: STUB 😀 


42. Motown trio in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame: SUPREMES - I immediately filled in this wonderful group and it turned out to be right. 60's rock and roll always makes for a nice interlude


43. Spy-fi side, often: USSR and 
46. Part of 43-Across: SOVIET - Them dern Ruskies always make for good villains

44. Sanskrit honorific: SRI.

45. __ daisy: SHASTA - Lovely blooms in our flower beds

49. Jettison: TOSS - The Solid Rocket Boosters of the Space Shuttle were jettisoned at a height of about 30 miles above Earth.


52. Subj. of the 2010 Nobel Prize in Medicine: IVF.


54. "The Handmaid's Tale" Emmy winner Ann: DOWD.


55. Sports __: BRA.

57. Relatively far?: TWICE REMOVED.


61. Some deli slices: PASTRAMI 

63. Obsolete piano pieces?: IVORIES - Also...


64. "SNL" character who sang in "Italian": OPERA MAN.


65. Sand dollar habitat: SEA BED


67. Surrealist Max: ERNST.



Down:

1. Company outing?: 
SORTIE.


2. "Bring it on!": COME AT ME BRO.


3. Don Juan's love: AMOR. 

4. French comic book writer/editor Goscinny: RENE - That's about as obscure of a RENE we could get. RENE included himself in the bottom right. Granddaughter says the sense of this is that the chef is offering to prepare parrot in cream if they get hungry. The parrot is, uh, declining.


5. Middle Corleone brother: FREDO - A warning from his younger brother Michael.


6. Ultimate dinner guest?: LAST TO ARRIVE - As opposed to being the penultimate arriver 

7. Utah ski resort: ALTA.

8. Outlet with court coverage: NBA-TV.

9. "Is it too risky?": DARE I.

10. Fall Classic mo.: OCT - World Series games of my yute were day games with the long shadows of OCTOBER on b/w TV.


11. Left behind: FORSAKEN.

12. Rush discoveries: ORES.


13. Quarterback Bratkowski in the Packers Hall of Fame: ZEKE - Any NFL fan will know that ZEKE (#12) was a vital backup for oft-injured Bart Starr in the Packer glory years.


14. Bacon bits?: ROLES - 😀 Uh, not Sir Francis Bacon but Kevin Bacon. Kevin's 10 best ROLES. Yeah, I'm partial to him as Jack Swigart in Apollo 13.

16. Stop: HALT.

19. Revenue management strategy: SURGE PRICING occurs when a company raises the price of its product or service if there is an increase in demand. Uber fares going up when there are more potential fares than cars is an example.

24. So dang cute: TOTES ADORBS - Slang for totally adorable. Way too "cutesy" for me.

26. Humanities maj.: SOC.

27. Battle of Isengard fighters: ENTS - Some who did know of Zeke Bratkowski might be more acquainted with the Lord Of The Rings.


29. One-named supermodel: EMME.

31. TV remote button that's usually red: REC.

32. Stand buy: ADE 😀 - You have to have some miles on your tires to know who is pictured in this LEMONADE stand. I know the names of four of the characters. 


34. Cataloged work: OPUS - Beethoven's very familiar Piano Sonata No. 14 in C-sharp minor is "OPUS 27, No. 2"


35. Southern roots: YAMS.

37. Buckeye State sch.: OSU.

38. "Butter" K-pop band: BTS.


39. "Be right there!": JUST A SEC.

40. Book before Esth.: NEH.

47. Fabric associated with the Isle of Harris in the Hebrides: TWEED.


48. Contributes: ADDS.

50. Narrow band: STRAP.

51. Hindu sage: SWAMI - Hmmm...


53. Bichon __: FRISE - Translates to curly haired small dog. From Agnes (Irish Miss): "
This is an almost replica of my beloved Bichon Frisé, Fluffy, still missed after over 20 years." Husker: I was as pleased as I could be to post the picture from our good friend. 


55. Fraternal org.: BPOE - Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks

The Grand Lodge In Chicago

56. Many Drake songs: RAPS - Drake is a Canadian rapper

58. "The Marvels" star Vellani: IMAN.


59. At any point: EVER.


60. Gripe: MOAN.

62. Bit in a chorus line: TRA 😀