Saturday, December 6, 2025, Emily Biegas

Saturday Themeless by Emily Biegas

Emily               Sala

Emily and her friend Sala Wanetick have had several LA Puzzles published, and this appears to be Emily's first solo effort. The picture on the left is of Sala and Emily after they had one of their puzzles accepted in the NYT.

I had a fun time with Emily's solo effort that even included two math terms.

Across:

1. __ curtains: CAFE.

5. __ operandi: MODUS - Usually seen as M.O. or method of operation.

10. Depop's parent company: ETSY.

14. Libation made with skin-contact grapes: ORANGE WINE - ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Unlike traditional white wines, where the juice is immediately separated from the skins after pressing, orange wine ferments with the skins for a period that can range from a few days to many months. You're welcome.

16. Geodesic structure: DOME - The Desert DOME at Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo is amazing.

17. Main, often: STREET NAME.

18. Subj. of some food labeling laws: GMOS - Geneitecally Modified Foods

19. Currency exchanged for GBP, perhaps: EUR.

20. Singer __ Marie: TEENA ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

21. Bird feeder?: BEAK 😀

22. Angry: CROSS.

24. Spreadsheet specification: RANGE - =SUM(B13:B17) will add up the numbers in the RANGE from cell B13 to cell B17.

26. Quirk: TIC.

28. Record holders: LOGS.

30. Half-baked, say: NOT DONE 😀

32. A-one: PRIMO.

34. Educated: LETTERED.

35. American, for one: PROCESSED CHEESE - I know Velvet is a PROCESSED CHEESE product, but it's great for a toasted cheese sandwich to accompany tomato soup... 

   

37. Home of the Glastonbury Festival: SOMERSET - It is held in Pilton, which is a town near Glastonbury in the county of SOMERSET in SW England.

38. Grazing groups: HERDS.

39. "Whew, that was close!": I MADE IT - Name the movie with this scene (* answer at bottom)

40. Unadorned: BARE.

41. Trig ratio: SIN - Opposite/hypotenuse = SIN

42. "__ me!": SPARE.

44. Digression: ASIDE.

48. Editorial override: STET.

50. "Mangia!": DIG IN - An Italian invitation to chow down

52. Small inlet: RIA.

53. Common pendant on a graduate's tassel: YEAR.

54. Talisman: MAGIC CHARM.

56. "I __ sorry": AM SO.

57. Enigmatic rock group: STONEHENGE 😀 15 days from now, on the winter solstice, this is what the sunrise will look like at STONEHENGE. 

58. Jangling set: KEYS - Tools for every custodian

59. Laconic: TERSE.

60. Brick oven output: PIES.

Down:

1. Trig ratio: COSEC.

2. Fischer who invented the plastic drywall anchor: ARTUR - I've used them a lot but as for the inventor ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

3. Grain bowl ingredient with a nutty flavor: FARRO ¯\_(ツ)_/¯  An ancient wheat grain

4. GPS heading: ENE.

5. Dole (out): METE.

6. Possessive types: OWNERS.

7. Kristen's "Spencer" role: DIANA.

8. Part of UAV: UNMANNED - UNMANNED Aerial Vehicle 

9. "What'd I tell you?": SEE.

10. Browser with a blue-and-green wave logo: EDGE.

11. Natural shade produced by lycopene: TOMATO RED.

12. Mezcal quality: SMOKINESS.

13. Celebratory cry: YES.

15. "You should take a break": GET SOME REST.

21. Put all of one's eggs in one basket: BET THE RANCH.

23. Like some packaged produce: SLICED.

25. "Copy": GOTCHA or...

27. Give up: CEDE.

29. Buzz: GOSSIP.

31. Some riding mowers: DEERES.

32. "Pinky swear!": PROMISE ME.

33. Genre for novelists Sarah J. Maas and Rebecca Yarros: ROMANTASY - I filled this in and then it took a while to see the portmanteau: ROMANCE and FANTASY.

34. Court call: LET - Tennis court

35. Trident-shaped letters: PSIS.

36. Make plans to tie the knot: SET A DATE.

40. Sets off: BEGINS.

43. Fastidiousness: RIGOR.

45. From Tehran: IRANI 

46. Requiem: DIRGE.

47. Big name in midcentury modern design: EAMES.

49. Archer in Greek mythology: EROS.

51. Brand that once had a licensing deal with 7-Eleven: ICEE - They now call them Slurpees

53. __ butter: YAK - The source 

54. DEN airport zone: MST.

55. Like a cool cat: HEP.

*Whew! That scene was of Gordie and Vern escaping the train in the wonderful "coming of age" movie Stand By Me.

 

Notes from C.C.:

Happy 88th birthday to dear Lucina, who visited Minnesota in 2012. Here's a picture of me, Lucina and her three sisters at Mall of America.   

C.C., Lucina, Marge, Yoli & Juanita