Saturday, August 12, 2023, Rich Norris

Saturday Themeless by Rich Norris

 

Our former editor returns with a very doable Saturday exercise. He also gives a very nice shoutout to C.C.

Across:

1. Draft pick?: OXEN 😀 OXEN are draft animals

5. Bentley of "Yellowstone": WES - Second from left

8. __ Canarias: ISLAS - Canary Islands was obvious but I had to work to get ISLAS 

13. Backs: SIDES WITH 

16. Use, in a way, with "off": MOOCH and 37. Used, in a way, with "off": SPONGED.

17. Texas Revolution figure: SANTA ANNA.

18. Ask: PUT TO - I PUT TO you this question, does your chewing gum lose its flavor on the bedpost over night?

19. Hot: ON A STREAK.

20. Like some accents: ACUTE.    

21. Uniform item, often: CAP - At the Pentagon Mall store - $29. At a street kiosk by Ford's Theater - $9

22. Best Original Song Oscar winner for "No Time to Die": EILISH - Billie won with her brother Finneas for this Bond theme

24. March honoree, familiarly: ST. PAT.

27. 21st century explorer: DORA.

28. Job listing ltrs.: EEO.

30. Golf shot: CHIP - Tiger's on #16 at Augusta is probably the most famous

31. 2002 AFI Life Achievement Award honoree: HANKS - At 46, he was the youngest to get it

32. Pandora or Spotify: APP.

33. Demolish: RAZE - My childhood home finally got RAZED two years ago, twenty years later than it should have been.

 

34. Rest stop visitors: SEMIS.

35. Take the lead: STAR - Henry Winkler declined to STAR as Danny Zuko in Grease

36. Snack brand since 1921: UTZ - Not familiar in my town

37. Cocky gait: STRUT.

38. Olympian queen: HERA - A wife of Zeus

39. Org. honored with a commemorative stamp for its 50th anniversary in 1960: BSA.

40. Assistant's job, often: PREP.

41. Deserving of: WORTH.

42. "Criminal Minds" actress: AJ COOK.

44. Cut (off): LOP.

45. Runners at the corners, say: TWO ON - That means a baseball team has runners at 1st and 3rd base.

46. Request to be heard: INDULGE ME.

52. Garden hose gasket: O-RING - Of course this NASA guy immediately thought of the O-RING on the Space Shuttle Booster that failed on that cold January day and caused the Challenger to blow up.

53. TV series that teamed a conspiracy theorist with a doctor: THE X-FILES - Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) was the conspiracy theorist and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) was the doctor turned FBI agent.

54. Poet whose work helped establish modern Italian: DANTE.

The Inferno - Canto I 

The Dark Forest. The Hill of Difficulty. The Panther, the Lion, and the Wolf. Virgil. 

Nel mezzo del cammin di nostra vita mi ritrovai per una selva oscura, ché la diritta via era smarrita. Ahi quanto a dir qual era è cosa dura esta selva selvaggia e aspra e forte che nel pensier rinova la paura!

Midway upon the journey of our life I found myself within a forest dark, For the straightforward pathway had been lost. Ah me! how hard a thing it is to say What was this forest savage, rough, and stern, Which in the very thought renews the fear.

55. Critters with discs on their extremities: TREE FROGS.

56. Wasn't indecisive: OPTED.

57. Kennel sound: YAP.

58. "Fuller House" actress Ashley: LIAO - In the middle below

Down:

1. __ buco: OSSO - Italian for "bone with a hole"

2. Capital of Shaanxi Province: XIAN - This is the hometown of our gracious hostess, C.C.. Here is a beautiful picture of her in her old XIAN "hood" where her brother Andy still lives.

3. "The Incredibles" designer Mode: EDNA - It is commonly believed that multi Oscar-winner Edith Head was the inspiration for this cartoon character.

4. Loser to Explorer in the first browser war: NETSCAPE - This was my first browser and I remember how thrilled I was to use it via my dialup modem.

5. __ Country: WINE.

6. Volcano where Zeus trapped Typhon, in some myths: ETNA - Zeus, volcano, c'mon...

7. Agree: SHAKE ON IT.

8. Chevys retired in 2020: IMPALAS - I didn't know that

9. Sans __: carefree: SOUCI - French: Sans (without) SOUCI (worry)

10. Odyssey dreamer: LOTUS EATER - Speaking of sans souci...

11. Behave as required: ACT THE PART.

12. Brake __: SHOE.

14. Occupied, in a way: SAT AT - The famous 1960 lunch counter SIT IN in at a Woolworth's Lunch Counter in Greensboro, N.C.

15. Distort: WARP - Did'ja ever...

23. Bugs: IRKS.

24. Really clean: SCRUB - My idea of "clean the deck" is using a garden hose for ten minutes. Joann's is two hours with a power washer attached to a 2,700psi compressor.

25. Closing words: THAT'S A WRAP - In some movies, "THAT'S A WRAP" is heard after the first scene is filmed way out of sequence.

26. Pie seller, casually: PIZZA JOINT - This is a one where we got a great pie on top of the Island of Capri which is called Anacapri.

27. Block: DAM UP.

29. Media mogul born in Mississippi: OPRAH.

In Kosciusko, MS

31. Summons whose last word is often repeated: HERE KITTY - Repetition does not seem to help with our kitty.

34. Minute Maid Park player, to fans: STRO.

35. Meg Ryan's screen name in "You've Got Mail": SHOPGIRL.

41. Mezzo-soprano Beverly: WOLFF - Two famous Beverly sopranos with five-letter last names.

SILLS.            WOLFF

43. Italian noble title below marchese: CONTE.

Nobility

• Imperatore (Emperor) / Imperatrice (Empress)
• Re (King) / Regina (Queen)
• Principe (Prince) / Principessa (Princess)
• Duca (Duke) / Duchessa (Duchess)
• Marchese (Marquis) / Marchesa (Marchioness)
• Conte (Count or Earl) / Contessa (Countess)
• Visconte (Viscount) / Viscontessa (Viscountess)

44. Opulent: LUXE.

luxe

adjective

ˈlu̇ks  ˈləks  ˈlüks 

Synonyms of luxe

: LUXURIOUS, SUMPTUOUS

45. Well attachment?: TO DO - Well TO DO peeps demand LUXE accommodations 

47. Drag org.: NHRA - National Hot Rod Association

48. Word with freeze or fry: DEEP - McDonald's great fries are DEEP frozen before they are DEEP fried

49. H.G. Wells race: ELOI - Rod Taylor greets the passive ELOI in the 1965 iteration of The Time Machine 

50. Colossal: MEGA.

51. Petrol brand: ESSO - This Ontario station was charging 116.5 cents/liter

 

Friday, August 11, 2023, Landon Horton

Theme: "DELete "DLE"

Puzzling thoughts: So, after a two-month absence from blogging, my initial thought about today's crossword was what our constructor (Mr. Horton) offered at 41-across: ("Give me your best shot!":) BRING IT! And "bring it" he did, as this took me about 20 minutes to solve using my Across Lite software. As I alluded to a couple weeks ago, my solving skills may have atrophied a bit while I was hiatusing; but I have never been speedy when solving puzzles on-line. My typing skills are much worse than my solving skills, which slows me down considerably. Anyway, I finally got 'er done ...

This appears to be Landon's DEBUT at LAT; when I googled his name with a "crossword" reference, this is what came up. Congratulations Landon on your published puzzle(s); I'm sure we'll be seeing more from you in the future ...

So, if my "theme title" didn't give this away, the basic tie-in to all four entries is the addition of the letters "DLE" to common items. This added syllable gave the items a clever and punny twist. For example:

20-across. Table-tennis implement that lacks a partner?: BACHELOR PADDLE. I had a BACHELOR PAD for several years but don't miss it. Although, if it looked like this one ...

33-across. Combo deal of frankfurters, ketchup, mustard, relish, etc.?: HOT DOG BUNDLE. More truth than fiction in this entry ... remove the ketchup, make sure the mustard is either dark or spicy, make sure the relish is "dill", add some chopped red onions and sauerkraut, and you have the Chairman's perfect HOT DOG BUNDLE. The ones at Costco are pretty tasty, and contain some of the condiments that Moe likes

40-across. Sketch of a crime-fighting canine?: SCOOBY DOODLE. Probably my favorite of the four

And last, but not least ... 54-across. Gift for someone who loves the smell of potato chips?: PRINGLES CANDLE. It looks like someone else had this idea:

This kind of wordplay is right up the Chairman's alley ... and prompted me to come up with a Moe-ku. Perhaps Landon had this as a backup entry for today's puzzle?? Clue and answer in haiku format:

Recipient of
Deceased man's e-book reader?
His NEXT OF KINDLE

{groan}

Here is the grid:

Across:
1. Treat with supreme care: BABY. Desper-otto: did you get this one straight away? I didn't

5. Not messy: NEAT. Or how I like my Whisky/Whiskey pours ... sorry, Irish Miss! A CSO to a former Crossword Corner regular, Tinbeni

9. Piracy, e.g.: THEFT.

14. Prefix with futurism: AFRO. Friday clue

15. Wile E. Coyote's preferred supplier: ACME. Landon appears - from his LinkedIn account photo - to be a Gen X'er, so he was probably familiar with this from watching cartoons as a lad. Goes with 17-across. (Warner __:) BROS. The studio that produced this cartoon

35-across. (Tuscan waterway:) ARNO. Goes with 16-across. (35-Across, for one:) RIVER. We've had this one before

18. Couple: ITEM. PAIR also fit and that was what I inserted first

19. Cohesion: UNITY.

23. Impediments to inbox zero: E-MAILS. Once I got the perps, this filled in itself

24. Former NFLer Michael portrayed in "The Blind Side": OHER. Goes with 45-across. (Actress Bullock:) SANDRA, who played Michael's adopted mom; as well as 17-across (it's a Warner BROS production). Great story; decent film

25. "__ Misérables": LES.

26. Seder, e.g.: MEAL. I had "RITE" as my first guess; was I correct in saying that the SEDER is a RITE?

29. Once-common glove box item: AAA MAP. Not just any MAP ... a AAA map. They (AAA) always included one or two mistakes on their maps to ensure that no one infringed on their copyright(s)

38. "The Last of Us" cable network: HBO. WAG filled by perps

39. Hair __: CLIP. Moe is pretty much "sans" hair ... CLIP was not my first thought

46. Nimble: SPRY.

47. Tax org.: IRS.

50. Annex: WING.

52. Childish denial: ARE NOT. AM TOO was too short

58. Singapore __: SLING. Wow! Hadn't heard of this cocktail in a long, long time. Here is the recipe

59. Honolulu's island: OAHU.

60. Level: TIER.

61. Rapper Minaj: NICKI. Moe-ku 2:

When rapper NICKI
Hooked up with roommates, it's called:
A Minaj à trois

62. Like some coffee tables: OVAL. Ours is rectangular

63. Harold's "Ghostbusters" role: EGON. Who you gonna call??

64. Bare minimum: LEAST.

65. Jumbo: MEGA.

66. Blush wine: ROSE. Believe it or not, most rosé wine is not sweet. The wine is derived primarily from red grape varietals, and very little skin contact is seen during the crushing of the grapes and/or the fermentation process. Great for summer meals; we drink it all year long in Arizona

Down:
1. Duolingo alternative: BABBEL. 1-across and 1-down almost made this puzzle unsolvable for me. Quite obviously, I didn't know what Duolingo was (I do recall hearing the word, though), and I sure didn't know any familiar six-letter words that ended in BEL. I perped and WAG'd my way through this NW corner; it was my last section to fill

2. Triangular abode: A FRAME. TEEPEE was my first guess

3. __ area: brain region linked to speech: BROCAS. After guessing this word, I looked it up to confirm

4. Super Mario World dinosaur: YOSHI. Another WAG that seemed correct when I placed it into this space. I thought at first that SOSHI was its name, but once BABY was perped ...

5. Tool tapped by a hammer: NAILSET. This word hasn't appeared in a major crossword puzzle in awhile

6. Opposite of endo-: ECTO.

7. USA part: Abbr.: AMER.

8. Pace: TEMPO.

9. Canadian prime minister: TRUDEAU. CSO to CanadianEh!, but the recent big news about Pierre is that he and his wife of 18 years are getting a divorce ... any more "dirt" you can spread on this, C-Eh!?

10. Obstacle: HINDRANCE. Another lesser used crossword

11. Pernicious: EVIL. Friday clue

12. Swanky party: FETE.

13. Give it a whirl: TRY. Hmmm ... I recently submitted a puzzle that had "GIVE IT A WHIRL" as the reveal ... the puzzle wasn't accepted ... but now this clue shows up ... coincidence?

21. Red Muppet who visits Grouchland: ELMO. You had me at "Red Muppet"

22. Literary captain whose last words are "Thus, I give up the spear!": AHAB. Easily filled

27. Ritalin target, for short: ADHD.

28. Chicano rock band Los __: LOBOS. Most know this group for their song "La Bamba". Here is one that also popped up in a Google search

30. 16th century date: MDL. For as clever as this puzzle was, I'm OK with this; most editor's frown on using roman numerals unless absolutely necessary

31. Oscar winner Mahershala: ALI. Total WAG/perp; hadn't seen his movies or TV programs ... it happens!

32. Gusto: PEP. This word makes me think of the PEP Boys ... Manny, Moe, and Jack

33. Bamboozles: HOODWINKS. Moe-ku 3:

Clever bamboozler
Fashioned a new sweatshirt by
Adding some HOOD WINKS

34. "The __ Lab": Netflix docuseries hosted by Gwyneth Paltrow: GOOP. GOOP has become an oft-used word recently in x-word puzzles; probably because of this docuseries' popularity

35. Donkey: ASS.

36. Classic TV brand: RCA.

37. __ sequitur: NON.

42. Andrew who founded the Forward Party in 2021: YANG. Rumors are that he might run for Prez in 2024

43. Bram Stoker horror novel: DRACULA.

44. "His Dark Materials" heroine: LYRA. Margaret was familiar with her; not I

47. Rainbow hue: INDIGO. ROY G BIV (acronym for remembering): RED, ORANGE, YELLOW, GREEN, BLUE, INDIGO, and VIOLET. The seven colors of the rainbow

48. Birling contests: ROLEOS. This crossword entry hasn't been used in quite awhile, either. Having perped the "L" I knew it wasn't RODEOS

49. "Tristram Shandy" author: STERNE. Has someone been keeping track of the proper names today? In case anyone wondered: [according to Wikipedia] "The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman, also known as Tristram Shandy, is a novel by Laurence STERNE, inspired by Don Quixote. It was published in nine volumes, the first two appearing in 1759, and seven others following over the next seven years (vols. 3 and 4, 1761; vols. 5 and 6, 1762"

51. Low spirits: GLOOM. Interpreting this clue a different way ... the "low spirits" in my liquor cabinet include vodka, gin and rum - are mostly the ones used for mixers ... the top spirits (top shelf) are closer at hand! ;^)

53. Input: ENTER.

54. Ballet bend: PLIE.

55. Costa __: RICA.

56. Spot for Christmas lights: EAVE. Although TREE works, too

57. Carpet choice: SHAG. This almost fits with one of the theme entries (SCOOBY DOODLE) as SHAGgy was one of the human characters in the cartoon series

58. Weekly NBC show, for short: SNL.

Well, here we are at the conclusion of today's recap. I hope you'll offer YOUR comments below. In keeping with my new puzzle rating score (MOES scale), this one came in at a solid 5 point 6 ... See y'uns in a couple weeks ...

Thursday, August 10, 2023, Christina Iverson

 

Christina Iverson was Patti's assistant when the latter took over editing duties from Rich Norris.  Here's Husker's bio for Jeff Chen and Christina's Saturday themeless on May 21, 2022.  This will be her 20th solo or collaborative appearance on the Corner.

Before we start the review here is a related public service announcement [TL;DW] on

Toxic Cookware

[Too long; Don't Watch]

Christina's theme today concerns some not quite so toxic types of COOKWARE as in the above PSA, but they barely registered on the YELP* scale ...

18A. "Two stars! My spaghetti always sticks to the sides!": PASTA COOKER.  Maybe Christina should have given this a look instead -- an Oster Sangerfield Stainless Steel Cookware 5-Quart Pasta Pot w/Steamer & Strainer Lid -- 4.5 stars from 17,972 reviewers ...

Pasta Cooker

27A. "Half a star! The ceramic is flaking off the cast iron!": DUTCH OVEN.  Or how about this one? -- Lodge 6 Quart Enameled Cast Iron Dutch Oven with Lid – oven safe up to 500° F or on stove top - use to marinate, cook, bake, refrigerate and serve -- 4.8 stars from 30,583 reviewers ...

Dutch Oven

37A. "One star! Chocolate gets clumpy, and sauces always separate!": DOUBLE BOILER.   -- or this ExcelSteel 3 Piece Boiler, 2.5 quart, Stainless Steel --  4.5 stars from 3,855 reviewers.

Double Boiler

51A. "Zero stars! It spits hot oil everywhere!": DEEP FRYER. -- or go deep with this Presto 05420 FryDaddy Electric Deep Fryer, Black -- 4.7 stars from 24,366 reviewers ...

Deep Fryer

And as we might have expected, Christina finally reveals that each of those themers were PANS for POTS ...

61A. Kitchen array, or an apt title for this puzzle?: POTS AND PANS.  (I think that Christina is a great crossword constructor, but I wonder if she might need the help of a personal shopper? 😉)

Here's the grid ...

Here's the rest ...

Across:

1. Rain's counterpart: SHINE.

6. Bottomless pit: ABYSS.

11. Scoundrels: CADS.  The greatest CAD in opera was Don Giovanni.  Here's his servant Leporello, reading the catalogue of all the women his boss has seduced ...

15. Quartet voice: TENOR.  They say that Enrico Caruso's voice was like gold and Swedish TENOR Jussi Björling's was like silver.  Here is Björling as Rudolfo singing Che gelida manina  to Mimi, sung by SOPRANO Victoria de los Angeles, in the greatest recording of La Boheme ever made, conducted by Sir Thomas Beecham (lyrics) ...

Three other famous voices in this recording are BARITONE Robert Merrill as Marcello and BASS Giorgio Tozzi as Colline.  There was no ALTO -- SOPRANO Lucina Amara sang the coquettish Musetta.

16. Quality: TRAIT.

17. Fly-fishing need: LURE.  The fish taste better if you tie your own flies.

Les Korcala tying flies

18. [Theme clue]

20. North __ Sea: Kazakh lake: ARAL.  So it's been downsized to a lake?  Here are the latest satellite photos ...

Pretty soon, despite its high vowel content, it might disappear entirely from crosswords.

21. Son of Hera: ARES.  Not the kinda' guy you'd wanna' run into on a cloudy night ...

Ares

22. Actress Ortiz: ANA.  ANA Ortiz (born January 25, 1971) is an American actress and singer. Having pursued a career in ballet and singing from a young age, she eventually attended University of the Arts. Ortiz began her acting career in theatre, in early 2000s.  Ortiz garnered widespread attention for her role as Hilda Suarez in the ABC comedy-drama series Ugly Betty from 2006 to 2010.

Ana Ortiz

23. Part of SCOTUS: SUPREME.  We don't generally discuss politics on the Corner, so how about this instead ...

25. Magnate: TYCOON.

27. [Theme clue]

29. Established: SET.

30. The Falcons, on scoreboards: ATL.

32. Munro pen name: SAKI.  Hector Hugh Munro (Dec 18, 1870 - Nov 14, 1916) was a witty British author who published under the pen name SAKI or H.H. Munro. The inspiration for the pen name "Saki" is unknown, it may be based upon a character in a poem or on a South American monkey.  As a writer, Munro (Saki) was a master of the short story form and is often compared to O. Henry and Dorothy Parker. E.F. Benson shares his sardonic style.

H. H. Munro

33. Poem of homage: ODE.

34. Poolside piece: CHAISE.  Comme ça ...

chaise longue

36. Kit letters: DIY.

37. [Theme clue].

41. Not cool: OUT.

42. Planet Fitness payment: GYM FEE.

43. Conclusion: END.

44. SoCal school: SDSU.  San Diego State University, home of the Aztecs ...
 

47. Tanqueray, for one: GIN.

48. Behave: ACT.

51. [Theme clue]

54. Words mouthed while holding an imaginary phone to one's ear: CALL ME.

56. Like a colorful garden: IN BLOOM.  Here's Teri at Sherwood Gardens on a beautiful Spring day in Baltimore ...

57. "Now I see!": AHA.

59. One-named "Locked Up" singer: AKON.  AKA Aliaune Damala Bouga Time Puru Nacka Lu Lu Lu Badara Akon Thiam (born April 16, 1973), known mononymously as Akon (/ˈeɪkɒn/).  I guess that's why he just goes by AKON.  Akon is an American singer, record producer, and entrepreneur. He rose to prominence in 2004 following the release of Locked Up (featuring Styles P), the first single from his debut album Trouble (2004), followed by the second single Lonely. 

Akon

60. Spelling of "BH90210": TORI.  Nice misdirection.  For a minute I thought it might be in EBCDIC, but that alphabet stops with F.  It's actually a reality series about the reunion of the cast members of the original 1990 teen drama Beverly Hills 90210.  Here's a trailer for the reboot ...

61. [Theme reveal].

64. School near Windsor: ETON.  See last Thursday.

65. Useless: INEPT.

66. Bowen of "Modern Family": JULIE.  JULIE Bowen Luetkemeyer is an American actress. She is best known for starring as Claire Dunphy in the ABC sitcom Modern Family, for which she received critical acclaim and six nominations for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series, winning in 2011 and 2012.  Another Baltimore success story.

Julie Bowen

67. Office fixture: DESK.

68. Razz: TEASE.

69. Some dance elements: SPINS.

Down:

1. Day when everyone's a little Irish, familiarly: ST PATS.  Faith and begorrah -- this clue brought this air to mind ...

2. Town crier's cry: HEAR YE.  A history of the Town crier.

3. Walking stick, e.g.: INSECT.  The Phasmatodea AKA "walking sticks" are an order of  INSECTS, who through a long series of accidental mutations have developed the perfect camouflage, making them virtually indistinguishable from the tree limbs they inhabit ...

Walking Stick
pretending to be a skinny little sloth

4. False: NOT SO.

5. Memorable span: ERA.  Here's a very memorable span ...

6. Buckets: A TON.

7. Wide: BROAD.

8. Source of Tibetan butter: YAK.  Yak butter is butter made from the milk of the domestic yak . Many herder communities in China, India, Mongolia, Nepal, Gilgit-Baltistan Pakistan and Tibet produce and consume dairy products made from yak's milk, including butter. Whole yak's milk has about twice the fat content of whole cow's milk, producing a butter with a texture closer to cheese.

Domestic Yak

9. Afternoon rest: SIESTA.  Today's Spanish lesson and a reminder that it's time for my nap.  I'll be back in an hour.

10. Occurred to: STRUCK.

11. Mild cigar: CLARO.  CLARO is Spanish for "clear" or "light" and refers to the color of the leaf used to wrap the cigar. For those of you who are cigar aficionados, here are the meanings for some common cigar terms.

Claro

A pale-green to light-brown wrapper,
usually shade-grown.

12. French farewell: AU REVOIR.  One of several actually -- today's French lesson.

13. Genre portmanteau: DRAMEDY.   DRAMA/COMEDIES are the stock-in-trade of many British mysteries, e.g. Midsomer Murders, The Queens of Mystery, The Brokenwood Mysteries, and Agatha Raisin -- here's the trailer for episode 1 of Agatha's The Quiche of Death ...

14. Greek moon goddess: SELENE.  In ancient Greek mythology and religion, SELENE (/sɪˈliːniː/; Greek: Σελήνη pronounced [selɛ̌ːnɛː], meaning "Moon" is the goddess and personification of the Moon. Also known as Mene, she is traditionally the daughter of the Titans Hyperion and Theia, and sister of the sun god Helios and the dawn goddess Eos.  She also fell in love ...

19. Soda opener: CAN TAB.  AKA POP TOP, the BANE of Jimmy Buffett in Margaritaville -- for all the parrot heads and guitar geeks on the Corner ...

24. Chi preceder: PHI.

26. "The Gathering Place" island: OAHU.  The nickname for the largest Hawaiian island.  Here are some others.

Oahu Island

28. Date line?: USE BY.

31. Tiny, made tinier: LIL. E.g. a lot of tiny RAP singers.

34. Barracks bed: COT.

35. Transition: SEGUE.

36. Kaitlin's "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" role: DEE.  Also the 4th letter in the alphabet.  The 16 season comedy series has been described as "like Seinfeld on crack".  You're welcome. 

37. Disparaging term for some frat guys: DUDE BROS.  Hand up if you were a frat guy?  Did any uncool dudes ever call you DUDE BRO?

38. "Holy wow!": OMG.

39. Not exactly promising words: IF I CAN.

40. Actress Headey: LENA.  Lena Kathren Headey (born 3 October 1973) is a British actress. She gained international recognition and acclaim for her portrayal of Cersei Lannister on the HBO epic fantasy drama series Game of Thrones (2011–2019), for which she received five Primetime Emmy Award nominations and a Golden Globe Award nomination.

Lena Headey

41. Flat, in a way: ONE NOTE.  Well it's certainly not going anywhere ...

43. Improved, hopefully: EDITED. Teri EDITS these reviews, and almost always improves them.

44. NorCal airport: SFO.  San Francisco International Airport in Northern California.

San Francisco International Airport

45. "You need to let this go": DROP IT.

46. 2021 winner of "RuPaul's Drag Race": SYMONE.  I guess she was the fastest runner in the posse.

48. Acid neutralizer: ALKALI. 

49. Informal invitation at the door: C'MON IN.

50. Stiffens: TENSES.

52. Toy piano sound: PLINK.  Even grown up pianos can go PLINK ...

53. Carpentry files: RASPS.  BASTARDS was too long.

55. Drink like a kitten: LAP UP.

58. "Stop the __": protest sign: HATE.  Start the LOVE instead!

62. Oolong or rooibos: TEA.  Today's Chinese and Afrikaans lessons.  For the latter see last Friday.

63. Club VIPs: DJS.

A related topic ...

We do a lot of cooking and have a small kitchen.  We really don't have the cupboard space for all of our cookware, but have found the  DIY POTS and PANS organizer shown below to be very useful. It hangs over the kitchen sink and consists of a open box attached to the ceiling, with a metal rack held in place by dowel inserts, and metal hooks to hang the pots from.   The dishwasher is to right below the sink counter and as soon as the pots are dried they can be quickly hung in their proper places ...

Pots and Pans Organizer

Cheers,
Bill

And as always, thanks to Teri for proof reading and for her constructive criticism.

waseeley  


 

Wednesday, August 9th, 2023, Jon Pennington

Theme: 

 

Dearly beloved,
We are gathered here today,
To get through this thing called life.

20. Orange-yellow hue in 1970s kitchens: HARVEST GOLD.

30. Place to purchase Pixel phones: GOOGLE STORE.

46. Make drowsy with a lullaby: SING TO SLEEP.

55. First track on Prince's "Purple Rain," and a hint to each set of circled letters: LET'S GO CRAZY.

CRAZY is a clue that the circled letters are anagrams of LET'S GO.

Story Behind The Song: Prince’s religious appeal, ‘Let’s Go Crazy!’

Across:

1. Caterer's coffee servers: URNS.

5. Golden Rule preposition: UNTO. Do unto others ...

9. Green pasta sauce: PESTO. Recipe.

14. Hammer or sickle: TOOL.

15. Amphibian that can regrow an appendage: NEWT. They can regenerate parts of their tails, jaws, ears, hearts, spines, eyes and brains.

16. Was sore: ACHED.

17. Much of an atlas: ASIA. Nice clue.

18. Way out: EXIT.

19. Unceasingly: NO END.

23. Aliens, for short: ETS. Extra Terrestrials. life which may occur outside Earth and which did not originate on Earth.

24. [Error in original text]: SIC. Adverb. Used in brackets after a copied or quoted word that appears odd or erroneous to show that the word is quoted exactly as it stands in the original, as in a story must hold a child's interest and “enrich his [sic] life” or a hero of antient [sic] Rome.

25. Mapmaker's right: EAST.

 27. Crockpot topper: LID.

36. People of Pennsylvania's Lancaster County: AMISH.

38. Taxing trip: TREK.

39. Way off: AFAR.

40. Come-from-behind victory, perhaps: UPSET.

41. Coastal inlet: RIA. A ria is a coastal inlet formed by the partial submergence of an unglaciated river valley. It is a drowned river valley that remains open to the sea. 

42. Curly-tailed watchdog: AKITA.

43. Venison: DEER.

44. Chums: PALS.

45. Splinter groups: SECTS.

49. Bull's-__: EYE.

50. Many a techie: GEEK.

51. Karaoke aid: MIC.

53. "I've got it!": AHA.

62. Kingly: REGAL.

64. Pound or kilogram: UNIT.

65. Flute's orchestral neighbor: OBOE. See flute and oboe in the third row from the top?

66. French pancake: CREPE.

67. Church area with pews: NAVE.

68. Underhanded plan: PLOT.

69. Feast with bitter herbs: SEDER.

70. Got older: AGED.

71. Cargo hauler: SEMI.

Down:

1. Home of the Bonneville Salt Flats: UTAH. The famous salt flats stretch for over 30,000 acres and are found just west of Great Salt Lake. They are are a remnant of Lake Bonneville, which covered over one-third of Utah from 10,000 to 32,000 years ago.

2. Civil rights icon Parks: ROSA.

3. Pinot __: NOIR.

4. Some Balkans: SLAVS.

5. World Heritage Site gp.: UNESCO. Wikipedia: The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture.

6. On deck: NEXT.

7. Snappable stick: TWIG.

8. "Homeland" actress Miranda: OTTO. Also known for Éowyn in The Lord of the Rings.

9. Stuffed critters given to some medal winners at the Beijing Olympics: PANDAS.

10. Writer Umberto: ECO. Umberto Eco considered himself an academic scholar first and a novelist later. He said he considers himself a university professor who writes novels on Sundays. He wrote many novels that are considered classics today, including The Name of the Rose, Foucault’s Pendulum, and Baudolino.

11. Floe, e.g.: SHEET OF ICE.

12. Pup shelter?: TENT.  A pup tent is so named because it is smaller in size than a standard tent, similar to how a puppy is smaller than an adult dog. The name “pup tent” likely originated from military use, where smaller tents were used for individual soldiers or a small group.

13. __ and ends: ODDS.

21. Cube root of 512: EIGHT.

22. Potato and __ soup: LEEK.

26. Anti-vampire weapon: STAKE. Vampire stakes.

27. Exalts: LAUDS.

28. Louvre Pyramid architect: IMPEI. 10 Things you did not know about Louvre Pyramid by I.M. Pei

29. Tuned out: DISENGAGED.

31. Others, in Spanish: OTRAS.

32. Cook over coals: GRILL. It's that time of year! 50 Best Grilling Recipes for Summer

33. Renter's contract: LEASE.

34. Shabby: RATTY.

35. Totally remove: ERASE.

37. Twilled fabric: SERGE. Serge is a type of twill fabric that has diagonal lines or ridges on both inner and outer surfaces via a two-up, two-down weave. The worsted variety is used in making military uniforms, suits, greatcoats, and trench coats. Its counterpart, silk serge, is used for linings. French serge is a softer, finer variety.

42. Gelatinous tomato dish: ASPIC. I usually see ASPIC made with beef stock, rather tha=- tomato.

44. Hawaiian dish of diced raw fish: POKE. Yum.

47. Penn's silent partner: TELLER.

48. Was melodramatic: EMOTED.

52. Farmer's concerns: CROPS.

53. Rainbow shapes: ARCS.

54. "Present!": HERE.

56. Traditional fish in 44-Down: TUNA.

57. Cardigan problem: SNAG.

58. Donate: GIVE.

59. Start of a classic palindrome: ABLE. “Able was I ere I saw Elba.” Contrary to popular believe, Napoleon did not say this. Hhere are some cool Napoleonic anagrams and puns here though.

60. Videoconferencing platform: ZOOM.

61. Creature of Sherpa folklore: YETI.

63. Donkey Kong, e.g.: APE.

 

 

Note from Melissa bee: Thanks everyone for the birthday wishes, and a belated happy birthday to you, Waseely - I don't get to the blog as often as I'd like to stay caught up. Sixty has been looming so large in my head I actually rushed things and told several people that I turned 60 last week. A dear friend (who was born the same year as I) corrected me, and now I feel like I have a free year!