Saturday, December 9, 2023, Enrique Henestorza Anquiano

 Themeless Saturday by Enrique Henestroza Anquiano

I’m a data scientist from Oakland, CA, with a background in computational linguistics. I fully dove into crosswords as a daily solver and then constructor in 2019, and I love that both sides have allowed me to continually engage with everything I love about language, wordplay, and even coding. I also appreciate the friends I’ve made so far through this great community. 

As a forever Simpson's fan, here's a photo of me noshing on "The Homer" from Voodoo donuts in Portland.

This is my third Saturday themeless puzzle of Enrique's I have blogged and I have been able to solve them in great time while being entertained. This one took some time for me to break loose but it all came together. The three horizontal and one vertical grid spanners were very helpful. 

Across:

1. All over the place: GLOBAL.

7. Period: TERM - When I got my BS, our TERM was 15 weeks (trimesters) and not 18.

11. Chilled: COOLED IT - (2:43)

13. Absorb: SOP UP and 15. Need after spilling the tea?: MOP - Crosswords recently taught me that "spilling the tea" can also be gossiping which might require other actions.

14. Features of "Step by Step" and "Sister, Sister": BLENDED FAMILIES - I don't have any idea why Enrique didn't use the Brady Bunch 🤔

 

16. Gets rid of: LOSES - This sense is conciously getting rid of something as opposed to misplacing it.

17. Chips away at: ERODES - Living with a seaside view is a two-edged sword

18. Fertility clinic cells: OVA.

19. Made shorter: SNIPPED OFF - Yeah, I thought of that too...

23. "Save it for the honeymoon!": GET A ROOM - Too much PDA for Rodney!

26. Vietnamese garment: AO DAI - The  ÁO DÀI dress.

27. Small bucks and does: RABBITS 😀

30. Play a proper noun in Scrabble, say: ERR - I'm pretty sure ASMRIST (from two weeks ago) won't work either.

31. Declaration after a trial?: FOR REAL THIS TIME - Do you suppose Mickey Rooney said that for all eight of his marriages? 

36. Honor for David Oyelowo: Abbr.: OBE - Order of the British Empire. He played MLK in the movie Selma.

37. Astonished cry: DEAR GOD.

38. "But to no __": AVAIL.

41. Does as ordered?: TENDS BAR 😀 Some of you will recognize this man who TENDS BAR and the iconic TV show where he appeared. (*answer at bottom)

45. Craft goods that might be barrel-aged: MICRO BREWS - The difference between Craft Beer and MICRO BREWS

48. Classified letters: OBO - Or Best Offer

49. Resident of Number One Observatory Circle since 2021: HARRIS - The traditional home of the Vice-President

50. Enviable trait: ASSET.

52. "You really don't want to go there": AVOID AT ALL COSTS - That can mean a location or a topic of discussion

56. No-goodnik: LOUSE.

57. Paper clips?: ARTICLES 😀

58. Precursor to a deal: ANTE - Pay to play

59. Like some pop-up clinics: TENTED - Here's one for Covid shots that was just outside Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo.

Down:

1. Tackles: GOES AT.

2. Single: LONE and 51. Single: SOLE.Was Oswald the LONE or SOLE shooter?

3. "Grey Girl" poet Sharon: OLDS - The text of Grey Girl. Crossword car guy Ransom Eli Olds gets Saturday off.

4. Bumbling sort?: BEE 😀

5. Sum things up: ADD.

6. Anti-mimetic position held by Oscar Wilde: LIFE IMITATES ART - Mimetic means miming behavior you see in others. Oscar Wilde was a famous iconoclast who definitely went his own way.

7. Largest Ohio city that doesn't start with "C": TOLEDO.

8. Film with a boy named Anakin, familiarly: EPISODE I 

9. "You'll __ the day!": RUE.

10. House of Commons reps: MPS - Members Of Parliament

11. Garam masala ingredient: CLOVE.

12. Grounds crew's roll: TARP and 34. Grounds crew's roll: SOD. 😀

13. Hit home?: SIDE A - This took a while to see SIDE A is the home of the hit side of a record as opposed to the SIDE B. Here's the Top 5 A-Side/B-Side hits of all time and highest ranking obtained:

  1.  DON'T BE CRUEL / HOUND DOG - Elvis Presley  (1956)  

        RCA Records 47-6604   (Peaks:  A-Side -  1 / B-Side -  1)

   2.  COME TOGETHER / SOMETHING - The Beatles  (1969)

         Apple Records 2654  (Peaks:  A-Side - 1 / B-Side - 2)

   3.  TRAVELIN' MAN / HELLO, MARY LOU - Rick Nelson  (1961)

         Imperial Records 5741  (Peaks:  A-Side - 1 / B-Side - 9)

   4.  DOWN ON THE CORNER / FORTUNATE SON - Creedence Clearwater Revival  (1969)

         Fantasy Records 634   (Peakes:  A-Side - 3 / B-Side - 6)

   5.  HEY JUDE / REVOLUTION - The Beatles  (1968)

         Apple Records 2276   (Peaks:  A-Side - 1 / B-Side - 11)

14. WordPress.com offering: BLOG - Not what we use here.

19. Just wretched: SO BAD.

20. To the manor born: NOBLE.

21. Amass goods repetitively, in video games: FARM - The process of going through the same set of tasks to accumulate some specific set of resources or wealth in a video game. You're welcome.

22. Dumpster __: FIRE - Also a euphemism for a hopeless person or situation. Husker football comes to mind.

24. Talk Like a Pirate Day sound: ARR.

25. "Hair Love" voice actress: RAE.

Issa RAE.         

28. Organized: THREW - The Royal family THREW an impressive coronation for King Charles

This is a slideshow

29. Traces: SIGNS - Parks don't want you to leave any

31. __ roller: FOAM.

32. Curt "Duh": OBVIously

33. Try to touch or get in touch: REACH OUT - Today one does not call or write, they REACH OUT to someone 

35. Reasons for WRs to dance: TDS or...

39. Aggressive response to a bluff: I RAISE.

40. "Solar Power" singer-songwriter: LORDE - From 11/28/23 puzzle: "14. Poet/activist Lorde: AUDRE."

42. Ordered: BOSSED.

43. Plans a nice getaway?: ABETS - 😀 That makes you as guilty as the perpetrators

44. Turns: ROTS.

46. Cosabella product: BRA - Google all the images you want

47. Moreno in two "West Side Story" films: RITA.

1961                         2021

50. No. on a bank statement: ACCT.

52. __ provençale: ALA - Of, relating to, or characteristic of Provence or the people of Provence or Provençale: cooked with garlic, onion, mushrooms, tomato, olive oil, and herbs.

53. Artist Dutch whose name became a fashion brand: VON.

54. Cell service letters: LTE - On my iPhone the four bars show the strength of my LTE (Long Term Evolution) signal. The next symbol shows I am using WiFI and not cell towers.

55. Former NBAer Jeremy: LIN - He was the first NBA player of Taiwanese descent, a Harvard grad and the hottest thing in basketball in 2012.

*That bartender was Sam Noonan (played by George Strange) who tended bar for Miss Kitty at the Long Branch Saloon on the show Gunsmoke 

 

Notes from C.C.:

Happy birthday to our caring and sharp-witted Tuesday Sherpa Hahtoolah (Susan), who's vacationing at the moment. Splynter will guide us for the next few weeks.