Saturday, July 6, 2024, Carolyn Davies Lynch

 Saturday Themeless by Carolyn Davies Lynch

I had a nice tour through Carolyn's construction but worked from the bottom up. Carolyn's 100 open squares and only six 3-letter words made for a very engaging grid. I was alert  to a lot of her cluing tricks such as how REF yoose was a noun and not a verb  I didn't get the double meaning of Booties until the very last cell and that was a "palm slap" moment!  

                        

Carolyn is a mother of four and a former CEO of Rocketship Public Schools and lives in San Carlos, CA.

Across:

1. Warby Parker array: FRAMES. You can go to their web site and Click on Home Try-On to try on their lenses virtually as they take your picture and let you see the frames on your face. 

Waddaya think? 

7. Shipping inquiry: TRACER.

13. Wine gadget: AERATOR - What they do

        

15. Flow swiftly: COURSE - Blood COURSING through your veins (and arteries)

16. Like many Basquiat works: UNTITLED.

18. Swahili for "trouble": MATATA - Another palm slap after a few letters!

19. Baby gear that allows safe snuggling: CO-SLEEPER.

21. Booking.com option: MOTEL - Old MOTELS not near an interstate are being torn down like this one on Route 66 not I-44.

22. Some farm ruminants: EWES.

23. Takes steps?: PACES.

25. "In order to be, never try to __": Camus: SEEM - To me it says, "You Do You"

26. Bang-up stuff: TNT.

27. Product with a leprechaun mascot: LUCKY CHARMS - A nice easy fill in the middle of the puzzle.

29. Puts on the spot?: PARKS 😀

30. Privileged ones: HAVES.

31. Booties: RUMPS 😀 - The baby footwear was locked into my brain and I laughed out loud when I got the joke. Crossing RAMAYANA was no help!

32. Did a cobbler's job: SOLED - Shoed? Not so much.

33. Figure on Sweden's 100-krona note ($9.42): GARBO - Greta eventually made sense. Other Swedish icons on their currency

34. Chastise: SCOLD.

35. Refuse to help in the garden?: COMPOST PILE  😀- "REF yooss" not "ree FYOOZ"!

37. Soak (up): SOP.

40. Make sound: HEAL - Sound is used as an adjective here

Faith healer?

41. Water choice: EVIAN.

42. "Wipeout" host John: CENA.

43. So far: AS YET.

45. Great heights: ALTITUDES - The highest ALTITUDES on Everest have an ominous name

47. Brought down the house: SLAYED - A comedian's "tongue-in-cheek" goal

Rodney Dangerfield "slaying"
Johnny Carson

49. Least likely to pop open: TIGHTEST.

50. French endearment: MON AMI - Close enough...

51. "Toodles": CHEERIO - This British farewell predates the American cereal by many years

52. Boggy: SWAMPY.

53. Less likely to ramble: TERSER - The other speaker at Gettysburg was orator Edward Everett and he said of Lincoln's speech, "I should be glad, if I could flatter myself that I came as near to the central idea of the occasion, in two hours, as you did in two minutes."

Down:

1. Moen product: FAUCET.

2. Celebrity: RENOWN.

3. Creative gift: ART SET - I was content with my box of Crayola Crayons

4. Posts: MAILS - One posts a letter in England

5. Extension that makes something smaller?: ETTE.

6. Raison d'être: SOLE PURPOSE.

7. Old film channel: TCM - Turner Classic Movies recaptures Hollywood's Golden Era

8. Freedom to __: rights of public access: ROAM 

9. Routinely insured against a crash: AUTO SAVED 😀 A computer crash not a financial one.

10. Collapsed dramatically: CRATERED.

11. Prizes: ESTEEMS - The verb not the noun

12. Domains: REALMS.

14. Prepares to go home: REPACKS - On the last January night of our field trip in Orlando, 100+ kids had to do this to go back home to winter in Nebraska.

17. Sets of slides: DECKS - A slide is a single page of a presentation. Collectively, a group of slides may be known as a slide deck.

20. "Video Games" singer Lana Del __: REY.

24. Time to enforce bedtime: SCHOOL NIGHT.

27. Italian ride, casually: LAMBO.

28. "The Little Mermaid" star Bailey: HALLE - Not HALLE Berry 

29. Dessert ingredient also called ube: PURPLE YAM.

31. One of the two major Sanskrit epics in Hinduism: RAMAYANA - 🤔

32. __ nerve: SCIATIC - Starts up near your rump/bootie

33. Is underhanded: GOES LOW.

34. All over the lino, perhaps: SPILT

35. Deep fissures: CHASMS.

36. FDR power project: TVA - Harry Truman dedicates the huge TVA Kentucky Dam in 1944. He said “It is common sense hitched up to modern science and good management. And that’s about all there is to it.” TERSER than most politicians. 

37. Meals that tell a story of liberation: SEDERS - The SEDER plate

38. Bodysuit: ONESIE.

39. Tacos al __: PASTOR - "Shepherd style"

42. More likely to win the annual Gerber Photo Search, perhaps: CUTER.

The original Gerber baby
Ann Turner Smith
in 1928 and 90 years later

44. Forecast no.: TEMP - Daily high TEMPS for Omaha in 1936, the heart of the "dirty 30's"

46. You, once: THEE - I'm betting there is a large number of peeps in our  group who can recite most or all of this lovely poem.

48. Like some reno projects: DIY - Hmmm...

Notes from C.C.:

Happy 77th birthday to dear waseeley (Bill), our faithful and caring Sherpa on Thursdays. Hope you and Teri are having a great time in Ohio, Bill.