Themeless Saturday by Zhouqin (C.C. ) Burnikel
C.C.'s lovely construction was a treat to work and her stacks took up 108 of the 225 cells in the grid. Her wit and wisdom are everywhere. C.C. was good enough to share these pictures with us.
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| Tom Pepper, C.C., Daniel Bodily and Andrea Carla Michaels |
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Andrea and Daniel had authored the NYT puzzle on that day and so Andrea invited some local constructors to stroll around Lake Harriet. |
C.C.'s puzzle contains obscure names or familiar names with obscure cluing that she may or may not have authored and culinary items I'm pretty sure she did. I'll take a "got 'er done".
Across
1. Price-less event: RED TAG SALE 😀 The items are priced-less but not priceless!
11. [You did what?]: GASP -
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| Someone upset Dr. Bailey! |
15. Square deals: EVEN TRADES - The most uneven "trade" in baseball history is said to be the Yankees getting Babe Ruth from the Boston Red Sox for $100,000. Some felt it "cursed" the Red Sox to not win a World Series for 80 years.
16. Actress Shawkat: ALIA.
17. Surprise party request: DON'T BE LATE 😀
18. Lasses: GALS.
19. Two in a million?: ELS - Meta reference to the two "L's" in million
20. Peak performance: A-GAME.
21. Bags: SACKS - We call them sacks around here
22. Tennis great who won 18 Grand Slam singles championships: EVERT.
24. "Queen Sugar" role for Bianca Lawson: DARLA. I remember DARLA from The Little Rascals but have never heard of this one
26. Parabola piece: ARC - Questions on how to find the length of that ARC? 🤔
27. No more than: MERE - Ralph Kramden often told Alice, "It's a MERE bag of shells" when she thought something was too expensive.
28. Blues and bluegrass: GENRES.
29. Quintana __, Mexico: ROO - If you vacation in Cancún at the tip of the Yucatan peninsula, you are in the Mexican state of Quintana ROO. It was named for Andrès Quintana ROO recognizing his efforts in the Mexican War for Independence 1810- 1821.
30. Tool for making eyelet holes: AWL.
32. Some reunión familiar attendees: TIAS - The accented letter indicates Spanish and I correctly chose TIAS over TIOS
33. Trifling amount: TAD.
34. Big play ground: STADIUM. 😀
38. Lead up to: PRECEDE.
40. Many a "Derry Girls" teacher: NUN.
41. Lacking a date: STAG.
43. Casual dating letters: NSA - No Strings Attached. This is how one might apply this idea in the digital world.
44. "Twisted Love" author Huang: ANA.
45. Inside looks: DECORS.
47. Connected notes: SLUR - Sinatra famously slid between notes
51. Super gp.?: PAC - When the National Education Association became a very active Political Action Committee, it lost some members. Our state association passed a law saying you had to join all three, local (FEA), state (NSEA) and national (NEA) or none.
52. Japanese city known as The Nation's Kitchen: OSAKA - Explanation
53. Social media action: SHARE.
54. Tourney format: PRO-AM - These three famous guys were AMateurs who played in a Winter Bob Hope Classic with PROS in his PRO-AM event
58. Free spot: PSA - How about this Public Service Announcement from the 50's?
59. Eternities: EONS.
60. Elote en vaso: CORN IN A CUP - Our foodie moderator continues with her mini theme. It's pretty easy to translate this Mexican dish.
62. Emmy winner who hosts the "Clear+Vivid" podcast: ALDA.
63. Story that gets lost in time: UNTOLD TALE - How'd they build those pyramids?
64. Smack: SLAP.
65. Brenda Song, once: DISNEY STAR - Speaking of the 50's above, Annette would have worked better for me.
Down:
1. Offset, in a way: REDEEM - A FB player who fumbles hopes to REDEEM himself later in the game
2. Change over time: EVOLVE. If you are 8. Not moving: ADAMANT, your opinions do not EVOLVE.
3. More compact: DENSER.
4. Explosive letters: TNT.
5. Ready to swing: AT BAT 😀
6. "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" kid: GREG.
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| Greg Heffley |
9. "Don't hold back!": LET 'ER RIP.
11. Totally smitten: GAGA.
12. Separately: ALA CARTE - I just want the sandwich, no fries and no drink.
13. Route that facilitated the spread of Buddhism: SILK ROAD.
14. Face scan alternative: PASS CODE - Do you use any of these most common codes?
21. Gets smart: SASSES - SUSSES? Not so much.
23. Scan: READ - TLDR option.
25. Picks up: LEARNS - The longer we solve the more we pick up.
28. Squat muscles: GLUTES.
31. Sagacity: WISDOM.
34. Chikuzenni vegetables: SNAP PEAS - Chikuzenni or Nishime is a classic Japanese dish of simmered root vegetables and chicken
35. Tekkamaki: TUNA ROLL - Our constructor/foodie continues
36. Amazon predator: ANACONDA.
37. Kraft supply: MACARONI.
39. "Songwriter" country singer: CASH.
42. Small racers: GO KARTS 😀
46. Spoil, as a barbecue: RAIN ON - Barbara Streisand sang "Don't bring around a cloud to RAIN ON my, uh, barbecue" 😀
48. Purr-fect companion: LAP CAT - Lily surprised my son-in-law.
49. "The Little Mermaid" villain: URSULA.
50. Harvesting machine: REAPER - McCormick made the original mechanical one
53. Like used beach towels: SANDY.
55. Urgent letters: ASAP.
57. Rummikub piece: TILE.
60. Ruminant's mouthful: CUD.
61. Mentions on X: ATS - Applicant Tracking System
Today would have been my late brother's 77th birthday. My sibling's birthdays are engrained in my memory.
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Jimmy, Linda and Gary 8/24 10/4 9/11 |
