Sunday, April 11, 2021 Paul Coulter

Theme: "Four of a Kind" - The first and last four letters of each theme entries are anagrams of each other.

23. Law firm standout: LEGAL EAGLE.

25. Stay afloat, in a way: TREAD WATER.

42. Near-perfect bridge feat: SMALL SLAM.

46. South American shocker: ELECTRIC EEL.

68. Future educator's goal: TEACHING CERTIFICATE.

90. Vietnam War defoliant: AGENT ORANGE.

113. Did a flower garden task: DEAD-HEADED.

Reveal:

116. Tennis umpire's order after odd-numbered games ... and a hint to the two sets of circled letters in each of eight answers: CHANGE ENDS.

This themes looks simple, but it's not. Try it yourself. Let's see how many entries you can come up with.

Did you write an app for this, Paul? How did you manage to settle down on these seven entries? What were the others you discarded?

Across:

1. Light songs: LILTS.

6. "East of Eden" director Kazan: ELIA. Ages ago I piked up this book at the flea market for a dime. Elia Kazan was good friends with Hepburn.

10. Commercials: ADS.

13. Surrounded by: AMIDST.

19. Ancient Greek theater: ODEON. We also have 72. Ancient colonnade: STOA.

20. Like marathons: LONG.

21. Japanese drama: NOH. All performers are men, I think.

22. It's against the motion: NO-VOTE.

27. "Dream on!": AS IF.

28. Rabbit predators: STOATS.

30. Clerical vestments: ALBS. Boomer is now back to the church.

31. Warm, in a game: NEAR.

32. Acts disrespectfully toward: SASSES.

34. Obtain by trickery: WANGLE.

36. Like Joel Goodson's business, in a 1983 film: RISKY. The film is "Risky Business".

37. Respectful greeting: SALUTE.

39. Egg cells: OVA.

40. Fits to __: A TEE.

52. Affect: GET TO.

53. Live for evil, say?: ANAGRAM. Live & evil are anagrams.

55. Back: ENDORSE.

56. Half a fly: TSE.

57. Daisylike bloom: ASTER. Also 89. Flower named for its color and shape: BLUEBELL.

58. __ school: MED.

60. Dialogue-stopping button?: MUTE.

61. "All That Jazz" director: FOSSE (Bob)

63. Fire remnant: EMBER.

66. Piano's soft pedal, for one: DAMPER.

72. Wrap in a bandage: SWATHE.

73. Tennis star Osaka: NAOMI. She was born in Osaka, Japan.

74. Brings (out): TROTS.

75. Bakery buy: TART.

76. Hang (around), as with a friend: PAL.

77. City on the Po: TURIN.

79. Likely: APT.

82. Out with permission, maybe: ON LEAVE.

85. Put on a jury: EMPANEL. As Lizza mentioned, our local TV stations have been covering the George Floyd trial non-stop. Boomer was looking forward to Aaron Rodgers' turn at "Jeopardy!"

88. Actress Cornish of "Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri": ABBIE.

92. Bonneville racing venue: SALT FLATS. See more here. Bonneville Salt Flats. Utah.

94. Einstein's "m": MASS.

95. B&O and Reading: RRS.

97. Places to hang: HAUNTS.

98. Office alerts: MEMOS.

102. Beginning: OUTSET.

104. Got the point?: SCORED. Great clue.

106. "Your turn": OVER.

107. Part of A.D.: ANNO.

108. Liquid transfer device: SIPHON.

110. More than simmer: BOIL.

118. Ingratiate: ENDEAR.

119. Holiday that marks the end of Ramadan: EID. May 13 this year. I saw medjool dates.

120. Highland wear: KILT.

121. Cold shower?: SLEET. Another great clue.

122. Catering supply: STERNO.

123. Some "ER" roles: RNS.

124. Toy with runners: SLED.

125. Father-and-son actors: ALDAS.

Down:

1. "Copacabana" showgirl: LOLA. Her name was Lola, she was a showgirl.

2. Bad day for Caesar: IDES.

3. Lay down the law: LEGISLATE.

4. Excessively: TO A FAULT.

5. NBC weekend fixture, briefly: SNL. I like Collin Jost.

6. Carry away: ELATE.

7. Corporate symbols: LOGOS.

8. Attending USC, e.g.: IN LA.

9. Terrible time?: AGE TWO.

10. Probably not a good sign at a picnic: ANT.

11. Tight headgear: DORAG. Or durag.

12. Trounce: SHELLAC.

13. Words in some pop group names: ANDS. And 48. Symbols in some pop group names: COMMAS.

14. Do a yard job: MOW.

15. 14th-century Russian ruler: IVAN I. Google says he was known as "The Moneybag"

16. Heaps affection (on): DOTES.

17. Swordfish __: STEAK. I remember Aldi used to sell swordfish.

18. Absorbent fabric: TERRY.

24. Word containing three of itself: ESSES.

26. Helped plan a job, maybe: ABETTED.

29. Penny attachment: SAVER.

33. D-Day French city: ST LO.

35. "The Lion King" lion: NALA.

36. "Criminal Minds" agent played by Matthew Gray Gubler: REID. Spencer Reid.

37. Marines NCO: SSGT.

38. Double agent Aldrich: AMES.

41. Coastal flier: ERN.

43. Delhi dairy drink: LASSI. Yogurt drink.

 44. Feeler: ANTENNA.

45. Author Rita __ Brown: MAE.

47. Irish nationalist Robert: EMMET. Unfamiliar to me.

49. Blow: ERUPT.

50. Perfume name: ESTEE.

51. Bad look: LEER.

54. Artist El __: GRECO.

57. "A Hard Road to Glory" author: ASHE.

59. Asmara is its capital: ERITREA.

61. Make stout: FATTEN.

62. Perth protest: OCH. I only know Perth Australasia. Here it refers to a city in Scotland.

64. Dues payer: Abbr.: MEM.

65. Big name in water filters: BRITA. Do you all use water filters?

66. "My Heart Will Go On" singer: DION.

67. Appear: ACT.

68. Country music sound: TWANG. And  69. Country rocker Steve: EARLE.

70. Ancient Greek medical researcher: GALEN. Also unknown to me.

71. Luxury: FRILL.

76. Author's assumed character: PERSONA.

78. Young __: UNS.

79. Left, as a sinking ship: ABANDONED.

80. Big East team: PITT.

81. Nickname for Esther: TESS.

83. 24-hr. conveniences: ATMS.

84. U.S. govt. broadcaster: VOA. You can hear Voice of America in China. In Chinese.

86. Ballpark figs.: MGRS.

87. 1994 Peace co-Nobelist: PERES. Shimon Peres. Co-Nobelist with Rabin and Arafat.

88. Way off: AFAR.

91. In pieces: ASUNDER.

93. Flip-flop: THONG.

96. Proverbial bone breakers: STICKS.

98. Manners: MODES.

99. Olympics segment: EVENT.

100. Maryland's Fort __: MEADE.

101. Court command: ORDER.

103. Wheel alignment: TOE IN.

104. __ oil: SHALE.

105. Page-bottom abbr.: CONT'D.

107. Sleek, for short: AERO. Aerodynamic.

109. PGA rival of Tiger: PHIL. They're good friends now.

111. Brainstorm: IDEA.

112. D-Day craft: LSTS.

114. Chewie's pal: HAN.

115. Drill wielder: Abbr.: DDS.

117. Spanish "that": ESA.

C.C.

 

Saturday, April 10, 2021, Stella Zawistowski

 Themeless Saturday by Stella Zawistowski 

Our renaissance woman from Brooklyn returns! Stella is a copywriter, a power-lifter and an alto in the Oratorical Society of New York. Talk about a woman for all seasons!

I told Stella that I must be catching on to her delightful style as I made very good time and did not find any real heavy lifting. Here is Stella's fun and gracious note about this puzzle:

Don't judge me, anyone: Phil Collins is BY FAR my favorite pop artist. I love him by himself, I love him with Genesis, I even watched that terrible Disney movie "Brother Bear" because he wrote songs for it. So when I noticed that probably his most famous song of all, IN THE AIR TONIGHT, was a 15, I absolutely had to build a puzzle around it. Rich wasn't 100% sold on the first grid I sent, but he also loves the song and encouraged me to try 

again fixing an area with less-than-great fill. I did not seed anything else in the puzzle before getting started filling; this was really about my love for Phil and nothing else! 

My first published themeless as a solo artist, Inkubator's themeless #3 from June 2019, also included a Phil song as a seed: TAKE ME HOME, which I thought was appropriate for a final Across entry. Neither of these is my absolute favorite of his, his duet with Philip Bailey, EASY LOVER. That is a 9 made of lots of easy-to-work-with letters, so I'm sure you can expect that from me soon enough.

Across:

1. Calendario square: DIA 

4. SAT prep topic: VOCAB - Wanna try a sample?

9. George Harrison played one in "Norwegian Wood": SITAR - Nice to listen to as you read

14. Point B, usually: END if Point A is Phoenix and Point B is47. Baja resort: CABO, it can involve three different modes of transportation

15. Warren Buffett's birth city: OMAHA - The house where he was born is at 4224 Barker Street in OMAHA

16. Stunned: IN AWE.

17. Makeup of some facial masks: MUD.

18. Big wheels?: LIMOS.

19. Breads sometimes served with meze: PITAS - Meze (both singular and plural) is a selection of small dishes served as appetizers sometimes on PITAS in parts of the Middle East, the Balkans, Greece, and North Africa. 

20. Middle of dinner?: ENS = diNNer 

21. Impolite look: STARE.

22. Weapon for Buffy: STAKE - Standard tool for your local, neighborhood vampire slayer

23. Put down: DISS - Street lingo for disrespect and an invitation to a confrontation 

25. Competitive event: RACE.

27. Some anti-mob agents: T-MEN - T(reasury)-MEN got Capone

28. Argument-ending words: I SAID SO - When parental reasoning fails...

31. Relevant: ON POINT - "How did we wind up talking about that? Stay ON POINT!"

33. Fluffy herder: COLLIE - Anyone remember Rudd Weatherwax?

34. Kind of bird Blu is in the 2011 movie "Rio": MACAW - Wanna draw Blu?

35. 1981 hit known for its drum break: IN THE AIR TONIGHT - Drum break by Stella's fav starts at about 3:35

40. 10th-century Holy Roman emperor: OTTO I 

41. "The Bathers" artist: RENOIR - As long as I'm making lists: He painted Bather With A Griffin Dog, Blonde Bather, The Large Bathers, Bathers Playing With A Crab, Seated Bather Drying Her Leg, Women Bathers, Bathers and The Bathers. Google at will.

42. Mate-related: SPOUSAL.

45. Carlisle of the Go-Go's: BELINDA - If you're a big fan, you probably know which one she is. I'm not and I don't but I liked We Got The Beat.

46. Waffle __: CONE - I've told the story before about how a waffle maker at the St. Louis World's Fair turned a waffle into a cone when an ice cream vendor next door ran out of dishes, so I won't repeat it.

49. Many a Snapchat user: TEEN - Snapchat is supposed to delete any image a TEEN sends right after it is viewed. Hmmm...what could go wrong with that?

50. Autumn colors: RUSTS - A beautiful view of a New Hampshire scenic drive from a drone

52. Current moment: NONCE - A redux from Joe Deeney's 3/31/21 puzzle

55. Is in the past?: WAS - The longer it is the better I WAS!

56. Ready to blow: IRATE - When I discovered I was so close to being scammed this week!

57. Like Romantic music: TONAL - TONAL, Atonal and Modal Music

58. Watson's co.: IBM - How about a nice game of chess?

59. No-holds-barred happening: MELEE.

60. Nocturnal carnivore: HYENA.

61. Aromatic neckwear: LEI.

62. Deltoid-working exercise: PRESS - Stella would know!

63. Gone from the table: EATEN.

64. "Silent Spring" subj.: DDT - Rachel Carson's seminal work 

Down:

1. Lorenzo who sponsored Michelangelo: DE MEDICI - The Lorenzo DE MEDICI tomb with sculptures by Michelangelo 

2. How Gregorian chants are sung: IN UNISON - I told Stella that I confidently put in A CAPELLA first and then ATONALLY

3. Seasons, in a way: ADDS SALT.

4. Bks. in a set: VOLS - A 1973 set of Funk and Wagnalls Encyclopedia - 27 VOLS

5. Drop: OMIT.

6. Muscly Chevy: CAMARO - There are countless pictures but I chose this "over-the-top" image

7. This minute, in Tijuana: AHORA - Quiero jugar golf AHORA (I want to play golf NOW)

8. Manicure layer: BASE COAT.

9. Tentative tastes: SIPS.

10. Bent on victory: IN IT TO WIN IT 

11. Teahouse floor covering: TATAMI.

12. Come to: AWAKEN.

13. Begrudge: RESENT.

24. Many profile portraits: SILHOUETTES - Are you humming the theme?

26. Response to huge applause, maybe: ENCORE.

29. Plans for losers?: DIETS - Always fun cluing

30. It's about 950 miles north of LAX: SEATAC.

32. Comic-Con event: PANEL.

34. Sports doc's pic: MRI.

36. Gilbert and Sullivan operetta that satirizes Parliament: IOLANTHE.

37. Out of control: GONE WILD.

38. Pull-out furniture item: HIDE-A-BED - I always felt that metal bar in my back

39. Convey: TRANSMIT - John Logie Baird invented television. Here he is shown with his "televisor" that he used to TRANSMIT the first TV signal across the Atlantic in 1928

42. Act stingily: SCRIMP

43. Sommelier, at times: POURER - I don't know why the POURER stops like this

44. More affordable, perhaps: ON SALE.

45. Brit's car hood: BONNET 

48. "Go, me!": BOOYA - Made known to me on ESPN's Sports Center by Stuart Scott (1965 - 2015)

51. Spots: SEES.

53. Sugar source: CANE.

54. Panache: ELAN - An elegant adjective that frequents crosswords