Saturday Themeless by Kyle Dolan and Jennifer Marra
Today, Kyle, a regular Saturday constructor and sometime collaborator from Chicago, teams up with Jennifer Marra to present us with a real challenge. I worked this one from the SE up to the NW and earned a nice "got 'er done!"
Jennifer lives in Connecticut with her husband following the defection of their grown children. She worked as an electrical engineer wrangling numbers and retired early to take on words. When she’s not writing fiction, she can be found constructing crosswords. Jennifer met Kyle through a Facebook puzzle site after stalking him through his numerous publications and this is here initial entry at the LA Times and says he is a great teacher and won’t let a puzzle leave the safety of his computer until it’s ready for the world.
Across:
1. Long-distance relationship?: STAR SYSTEM. This one took this amateur astronomer awhile but it simply refers to a star and all the heavenly bodies that orbit about it.
11. "bfn" alternative: TTYL - Bye For Now and Talk To You Later. There are hundreds of these.
15. Overwhelmed by mosquitoes: EATEN ALIVE - This swarm is in Arctic Alaska
16. "Easy now": WHOA.
17. Landmark whose address is 768 Fifth Avenue in New York City: PLAZA HOTEL 😳
18. Flooring trees: OAKS.
19. Character: TENOR - The TENOR of many political debates these days is very unpleasant
20. __ favor: POR - and 34. "Don't mention it," in Spanish: DE NADA. "POR favor, tráeme una bebida". "¡Gracias!" "DE NADA." (Please get me a drink. Thank you. You're welcome.)
21. Foundation options: TONES - Oh that foundation
22. MLB playoff round: NLCS - We followed our cousin and my former student Alec Bohm in the National League Championship Series last year.
24. "Is that how you see it?": THINK SO.
26. Saltimbocca herb: SAGE.
29. Made oneself scarce: HID.
31. "Ocean to Ocean" singer Tori: AMOS.
32. Equal: ARE 😀
33. Palme d'Or field: CINE - French for cinematography
37. Chill: SIT BACK AND RELAX.
40. Desert of the Maghreb: SAHARA.
41. Gifts that may be made from pupu shells: LEIS.
42. Number of players needed to play Klondike: ONE - Hence the name Solitaire
43. Monopoly token until 2013: IRON.
A vintage set
44. Paragraph opener: TAB.
45. Vintage Pontiacs: GTOS - I'll let Ronny And The Daytona tell you all about them!
46. Isn't really hot?: ACTS MAD 😀
49. Old autocrat: TSAR.
51. Some fundraisers: RACES.
52. Lithium-__ battery: ION.
54. "I Just Can't Wait To Be King" singer: SIMBA.
58. Whistleblower-protecting org.: OSHA.
59. Comprehensively defeated: TAKEN APART - Sports slang here:
61. Heated contest?: MEET - Some track MEETS have preliminary races called heats that determine the final contestants.
62. Local number, at times: ANESTHESIA - 😀 This number rhymes with summer and numbs you for a medical procedure. My dentist uses a local and I just can't talk for a few hours afterward.
63. Makes sense, with "up": ADDS.
64. Practiced but did not compete: REDSHIRTED - A common procedure in college athletics. Here ya go.
Down:
1. National Teddy Bear Day mo.: SEPT - Okay
2. Narrative: TALE - Morgan Freeman does a great job doing the narration in this wonderful movie.
3. __ end: AT AN - 100F days are AT AN end here.
4. Go to commercial, say: REZONE 😀 You might not like it if land next to you gets REZONED from residential to commercial.
5. Jam: SNARL.
6. "Boo-__!": YAH.
7. Janitorial closet feature: SLOP SINK.
8. Big name in "handmade" vodka: TITO.
9. Navratilova rival: EVERT
Martina Crissy
10. Allen who was the first host of "This Week in Baseball": MEL.
11. Athletic advantage: TWO ON ONE
12. "Some help you are": THANKS A LOT - You pretty much need the eye roll too!
13. Makes the team?: YOKES - 😀 Usually oxen
14. Sudeikis role: LASSO.
21. Kitchen counters?: TIMERS 😀
23. American who may have a quinceañera: CHICANA - A CHICANA is an American woman or girl of Mexican descent
25. Held a claim: HAD DIBS - Bonus points if you know the name of this movie and on what morbid thing they HAD DIBS. (*answer below)
26. Lip: SASS.
27. Cantata component: ARIA - Okay
28. Wed: GET HITCHED.
30. Delivered: DEALT 😀
33. Rebounds: CAROMS.
35. "Wildlife" writer/director: DANO.
36. Plot lines: AXES.
38. High chairs?: BAR SEATS.
39. Asset for some writing contests: NEATNESS.
45. Beef source: GRIPER - Biff appears to have a beef with Marty in Back To The Future
46. Musk: AROMA.
47. Like some sausages: CASED.
48. Title woman in a "little ditty" of 1982: DIANE - Earworm alert
50. Beer with sushi, maybe: ASAHI.
53. Approved: OKED.
55. Halyard pole: MAST - The halyard is the rope used to raise the sail up the mast
56. Larson who plays Captain Marvel: BRIE - No cheese in a Saturday puzzle
57. Barely: A TAD.
59. 2022 Todd Field film about a conductor: TAR - Cate Blanchett plays a fictional, world renowned conductor named Lydia TÁR. Rotten Tomatoes review
60. Ultimate: NTH.
*The movie was Stand By Me and the boys HAD DIBS on the dead body of Ray Browers.
Doug Peterson is a veteran constructor who, when not in the LAT, I oft spot in Southwest Airline's Spirit magazine. No matter where I find him, his puzzles are always a treat. Today, he teases me with something I've never been accused of... Let's see what I mean:
17. *Refrain from walking on the lawn?: SKIRT GRASS. "It takes six feet of dirt to grow that grass and two feet to kill it. And those two feet are yours, private!" -Drill Sgt.
Grass Skirt
22. *Doesn't pay enough in island taxes?: SHORTS BERMUDA. Isn't that where you headquarter to short Uncle Sam on taxes?
Extra pockets added later ;-)
46. *Gives the third degree to the decorator?: PUMPS DESIGNER.
Not A Torture Device(?)
52. *Put a limit on wash time?: CAP BATHING. Oy, the girls in my house will empty the water heater and timer soaking it up.
Retro!
34. With 37-Across, up on the latest trends, and a fitting description of the answers to the starred clues?: FASHION.
37. See 34-Across: FORWARD.
FASHION FORWARD -- conforming to, attuned to, or characterized by the latest trends in fashion or, in this puzzle, putting the clothes before the style.
Much to DW's chagrin, I put function & comfort over form. I did read Cargo Shorts are back - so, I'm hep again ;-)
Across:
1. __ Griffin Way: street in Beverly Hills: MERV. Named for MERV Griffin - the creator of Wheel of Fortune & Jeopardy.
5. "Superfudge" writer: BLUME. Judy Blume wrote Y-A (Young-Adult) literature before there really was such a category. Are You There God? It's Me Margret is Blume's book I most remember.
10. Completely level: RAZE. //Story:
I was 9yrs old on the roof of the 5 story Trifty Drug Building at 5th & Monroe with Pop and Gramps (who were sippin' beers) to watch the Hotel Abrahham Lincoln get RAZEd (hope that Facebook link works). The State-Journal Register carried the story (and I carried their paper).
14. Lip balm additive: ALOE.
15. AL and NL divisions: EASTS. American League and National League both have an East, Central, and West divisions. #Baseball.
16. In history: EVER. Well, I nEVER!
17. [See: Theme]
19. Recital highlight: SOLO. Only if it's your kid singing.
20. Unassuming: MEEK. They will inherit the Earth.
21. Some invisible inks: ACIDS. I'm assuming etching and not secret messages that burn through the paper. //though, um, lemon juice makes good invisible ink and it is an acid.
22. [See: Theme]
27. Traffic jams: TIE UPS. Loop 610 between I-69 and I-10 is among the worst in Texas and is part of my daily commute.
Entry ramp to 610S & I-69 (nee US59).
28. Hacienda material: ADOBE.
Adobe Abode
29. Single section: UNIT. The Hacienda above looks like a single UNIT.
30. Nimble: AGILE.
31. Alternative to OAK: SFO. Oakland, CA and San Francisco, CA are nearby airports with respective FAA codes.
34. [See: Theme]
37. [See: Theme]
39. __ for tat: TIT. You know the limerick...
40. Dapper: NATTY. An Easter Egg bonus. NATTY: current in style in both dress and manners.
Dapper - See: Poirot.
David Suchet played it best, Oui?
42. Creme-filled snack: OREO.
43. Less risky: SAFER.
44. Business news: MERGER.
46. [See: Theme].
49. "Start the music!": HIT IT.
50. Bunches: ALOT.
51. __ interview: EXIT.
52. [See: Theme]
58. Many an Olympic event: RACE.
59. One-fourth of a 45-Down: AWARD.
60. Result of cogitating: IDEA.
61. ThirdLove garments: BRAS. ThirdLove is a lingerie company that somehow I knew about.
62. Circuit device: RELAY. Also, a song by The Who.
The Who - Relay [5m]
63. Shows drowsiness: NODS. Hopefully not you, dear reader, at this point.
Down:
1. More, in Mexico: MAS. Is that Spain-Spanish too? I ask for Youngest who will spend next semester in Madrid but learned Spanish in Texas, er, Tejas.
2. Caribou kin: ELK.
3. Financial performance measure, for short: ROI. Return On Investment.
4. Martini ingredient: VERMOUTH. I like wet-martinis (2:1 gin:vermouth); MIL likes 'em dry - "Just pass the cork over the glass," she says.
5. Fathers: BEGETS. Present tense of begat. Pop says most every DIY project turns into the "begat system." Go to fix a pipe and find the valve doesn't work begets replacing the valve which begets going to hardware store to buy a curb-key to cutoff water to the house. True story.
Curb-Key
6. Merry escapades: LARKS. Sprees didn't fit.
7. NATO member: USA. United States of America is a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
31. Noncom nickname: SARGE. Non-Commissioned Officer; E-5 and above.
That Tracks
32. Less restricted: FREER. Meh - it's a word but I don't have to like it.
33. Baking soda target: ODOR.
35. Poorly chosen: INAPT.
36. Clods: OAFS.
38. Grown less appealing: WORN THIN.
41. Uno e due: TRE. Italian math: I + II = III.
43. Strikes down: SMITES. Old Testament God seemed to smite aplenty.
44. Word said with a curtsy: MILADY.
45. Impressive entertainment acronym: EGOT. Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, Tony but not HDTV ;-). All, save my first thought, are performance AWARDS as per 59a.
46. "Soul" studio: PIXAR.
Soul Trailer
47. City near Rome: UTICA.
48. Hummus brand: SABRA.
If you don't have time to make your own - not bad.
49. Kitchen garden plant: HERB. My herbs are out in the garden and I use all my garden plants in the kitchen. //Oh, except the flower-garden plants -- now I get it.
52. Electric __: CAR.
53. Bowl over: AWE.
54. Playmate: PAL.
55. Phrase preceding "By the power vested in me ...": I DO. One more I DO and then kissing before begetting ;-)
56. Evangelical character on "The Simpsons": NED.
Hi Diddly Ho!
57. Island purchase: GAS. Kitchen-island gas range or petrol-station pump islands? We should be told.
The Grid:
The Grid
The TL;DR:
WOs: escapE -> RESCUE which begat coda->SOLO. BEGaT-> BEGET, Siani -> SINAI #untie!
ESP: ZELDA Fav: Learning what NATTY means.
There you have it. Doug HIT IT out of the park again. That's it from me. Y'all have a great weekend!
Cheers, -T
Anybody who has worked in IT will tell you that if a program exhibits a new bug the
first question you ask is "What changed?". And if constructor Catherine
Cetta's theme for this puzzle bugged you, you need to do the same thing -- or as
she puts it in her reveal fill you need to find the ...
58A. Modern innovator, and what can be found in the answers to the starred
clues: CHANGE AGENT.
Each of the themers contains a word that causes change. In
some cases it's more than one word ...
16A. *Period of connectivity that began in the 1990s:
INTERNET AGE. We all know that AGE
changes us, but even more than that it could certainly be argued that the INTERNET AGE
is the most powerful change agent in recent times, beginning in 1965 and accelerating today at an ever increasing pace
...
The Internet
36. *"Let me stop you right there":
DON'T GET ANY IDEAS. IDEAS are among the most
powerful change agents and are the basis for many of humanity's innovations,
including the sciences, technologies such as the Internet, philosophy, religion,
and the arts. Here are some thinkers having IDEAS ...
The Thinkers Baltimore Museum of Art
22A. *Place for navel gazers?:ORANGE TREE.
I suppose these mostly just maintain the status quo, but as we saw last
Thursday, they help supply us with the oxygen we need to keep going,
and their roots change each another.
47A`. *Power source for some superheroes?:
MUTANT GENE. One of the most common causes of GENEMUTATIONS are called frame shift errors, where the enzymes reading a DNA sequence for a particular gene lose count of the DNA triplets that code for one of amino acids that comprise the protein being synthesized.
A
similar error can occur with humans when they miss the frame of
reference for a comment made by someone else. My favorite example of
this is in the 2009 film FRAMED, where the curator of the London Art Museum (played by Trevor Eve) interprets a comment by a young Welsh lad who is referring to DONATELLO (one of the Teenage MUTANT Ninja Turtles) not DONATELLO
(the Renaissance artist!). I've posted this before, but I'm posting
it again for the benefit of any of you who haven't seen this delightful
film ...*
* After you click on the video link here you should be able to watch it on your TV via the YouTube streaming service. Or just search YouTube for "Framed Trevor Eve".
13. Southeast Asian capital: HANOI. HANOI is the capital and second-most populous city of Vietnam. It is located within the Red River Delta of Northern Vietnam. I think its Opera House showed up on the Corner not long ago ...
Hanoi Opera House
14. One-over-par score: BOGEY. I'm sure none of the duffers on the Corner ever get one of those, but this duffer doesn't get this girl in the end ... 15. Sargasso Sea spawner: EEL. I always thought this was a myth. . 16. [Theme clue]
18. Maven: PRO.
19. Paper cutters: SCISSORS. But ROCKS break them. But PAPER covers rocks.
20. Send via UPS or USPS: SHIP.
21. Billie Eilish's "All the Good Girls Go to __": HELL.
22. [Theme clue]
26. Actress Jessica who co-founded The Honest Company:
ALBA.
Jessica ALBA
was inspired by the 2008 birth of her first child and her own history of
childhood illnesses to create
The Honest Company, a an enterprise that provides an alternative to baby products with
ingredients such as petrochemicals and synthetic fragrances. The company was
launched in 2012 with 17 products and in 2021 it had revenues of 318.6
million.
Jessica Alba
28. Average booster: EASY A.
29. Sprang up: AROSE.
32. Firm: Abbr.: CORP.
33. __ Lanka: SRI. The actual filming locale for the great series the Good Karma Hospital, which was set in India. Sadly this show has has ended its run, but you can still stream it. 36. [Theme clue]
40. Dead __ Scrolls: SEA. This unabridged video (19 min.) is for all the kids on the Corner who haven't yet discovered the Dead Sea Scrolls (Hebrew w/English subtitles) ...
41. Iraq neighbor: IRAN. IRANIAN activist Narges Mohammadi, who is currently serving a 10 year prison sentence protesting injustices in her country, was recently awarded the 2023 Nobel Peace Prize “for her fight against the oppression of women in Iran and her fight to promote human rights and freedom for all".
Narges Mohammadi 2023 Peace PrizeNobelist
42. Down-yielding duck: EIDER.
43. "McSorley's Bar" painter: SLOAN. Apparently
John Sloan
spent a lot of time in this bar between 1912 and 1930 as
he did a total five paintings of the place during that time. McSorley's Old Ale House, located in the
East Village, Manhattan, opened in 1854 and you can still have a drink
there today ...
McSorley's Bar John Sloan, 1912
45. Fed. food stamper: USDA. U. S. Department of Agriculture
47. [Theme clue]
50. Helen of Troy's mother: LEDA. Here's their story, the origin of a series of events that led to the Trojan War ... 54. The Grand Ole __: OPRY. Musical opportunities in this puzzle
are pretty slim picking, so I thought a little pickin' by the
Hillbilly Thomists,
live at the Grand Ole OPRY, might be nice. Here they are sippin', pickin', and preachin' about Bourbon, Bluegrass and the Bible ...
55. Places for hoops and studs: EAR LOBES. No, not places for
tall men.
65. Avant-garde: ARTY. Websters defines ARTY as "showily or
pretentiously artistic". "Avant-garde" may be an adjective for"cutting
edge" or a noun describing change agents, especially in the arts --
people like
Salvador Dali,
Igor Stravinsky, or
T. S. Eliot. But eventually they are accepted and pave way for the
next generation.
4. Brings up the rear: GOES LAST. The "derriere-garde", who protect
the rear flank.
5. Knight titles: SIRS.
6. Mucho: LOTSA.
7. Three-time French Open winner Swiatek: IGA. IGA Natalia Świątek
(born 31 May 2001) is a Polish professional tennis player. She has been
ranked as high as world No. 1 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis
Association (WTA), having held the position for 75 weeks. Świątek is a
four-time major singles champion, having won the French Open in 2020,
2022, and 2023 and the US Open in 2022. She is the first player
representing Poland to win a major singles title. She has won a total of
15 WTA Tour-level titles.
Iga Świątek 2019 French Open
8. Barrel of beer: KEG.
9. Word with wash or wear: EYE.
10. Said another way: REPHRASED.
11. Like a haunted house: EERIE. It's only 19 days until All Hallows Eve! -- make some Spooky Halloween Brownies for the trick-or-treaters (see 10A)
12. Get to "I do" without the ado: ELOPE.
14. Utterer of "Yogi-isms": BERRA. Lawrence Peter "Yogi" BERRA
(May 12, 1925 – September 22, 2015) was an American professional
baseball catcher who later took on the roles of manager and coach. He
played 19 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) (1946–1963, 1965), all
but the last for the New York Yankees.While Yogi Berra’s role in the
history of baseball is immeasurable, his ongoing legacy rests also on his enormous contributions to the American language.
His so-called Yogi-isms – the unique and witty observations he became
famous for – made him a major contributor to the national repository of
wisdom, a source cited more often than Shakespeare (in the US at least) ...
Here's YOGI practicing some of his verbal ASANAS
17. Gaming novice: NOOB.
20. Messy room: STY.
23. Glowing gas: NEON. For years this neon sign dominated the skyline of
the Baltimore Harbor.
But things change.
24. "The Far Side" cartoonist Larson: GARY. GARY Larson (born August 14, 1950) is an American cartoonist who created The Far Side,
a single-panel cartoon series that was syndicated internationally to
more than 1,900 newspapers for fifteen years. The series ended with
Larson's retirement on January 1, 1995. Here are 15 of the funniest The Far Side comics that will never get old.
Gary Larson
25. Spotted: ESPIED.
27. American __: veterans' group: LEGION. The American Legion, commonly known as the Legion, is a non-profit organization of U.S. war veterans headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana.
It comprises state, U.S. territory, and overseas departments, in turn,
made up of local posts. The organization was formed on March 15, 1919,
in Paris, France, by a thousand officers and men of the American
Expeditionary Forces and it was chartered on September 16, 1919, by the United States Congress. Veterans Day this year will be Saturday, Nov 11.
34. "Insecure" actress Issa: RAE. She got over her insecurities and eventually became President ... 35. Leb. neighbor: ISR.
37. Q.E.D. part: ERAT.
38. Sharp flavor: TANG. TANG is also the name of a Chinese Dynasty
that ruled from 618 to 907, with an interregnum between 690 and 705.
Historians generally regard the Tang as a high point in Chinese
civilization, and a golden age of cosmopolitan culture. The period is
especially noted for its ceramics and for the invention of vitrified
porcelain. Below is an inexpensive reproduction of an iconic Tang Dynasty horse
that I purchased when my son and I visited China to adopt our
grandson. A premium pair of originals sold at Sotheby's in 2013 for
almost $4.2 million. I spotted this one on a shelf up near the
ceiling in a dusty little shop in
Guangzhou and when I beckoned to the clerk to get it down for me he said
somewhat nervously "You know it's not an original right?". I
assured him that I
did!
Tang Dynasty horse
39. Lines of communication?: DIALOGUE.
44. __ of the land: LAY.
45. Dragon roll ingredient: UNAGI. If you don't like raw fish you can always try UNAGI, which is a type of sushi made with cooked EEL.
46. Desertlike: SERE. I doubt that the Atacama Desert has become any less SERE since last Thursday.
47. Bucks: MOOLA.
48. Beehives and some buns: UPDOS. If you're considering tying the
knot, here are 11 UPDOS for doing it ...
UPDOS
49. Like the itsy-bitsy spider: EENSY. He certainly is persistent
...
51. Film critic Roger: EBERT. Roger Joseph EBERT
( June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American film critic, film
historian, journalist, essayist, screenwriter, and author. He was a film
critic for the Chicago Sun-Times from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert became the first film critic to win the Pulitzer Prize for Criticism. This site has reviews of the movies that led he and his buddy Gene Siskel to get into the review business and this site has Roger's Top 10 Movies of All Time. Both of them get my 👍👍.
Roger Ebert
52. Slow on the uptake: DENSE.
53. Starlike flower: ASTER.
56. Arrive at the airport safely: LAND. The feeling you get when you LAND safely (sorry, I couldn't resist) ...
58. IRS form expert: CPA. 1040 Good Buddy!
59. She/__ pronouns: HER.
60. Fitting: APT. I think this is an APT point to end this review ...
Cheers, Bill And as always, thanks to Teri for proof reading and for her constructive criticism.
Theme - The opposite of hanging by a thread. To explain, let's start with the unifier.
10 D. Remain uncertain until the very end, and what the answers to the starred clues do?:GO DOWN TO THEWIRE. As explained by the clue, there's some question how things may turn out. This term comes from horseracing, where it was long the practice to stretch a wire across and above the track at the finish line. It was extended to figurative use about 1900. A wire is a flexible strand of metal. Let's see how that is relevant to the other clues. The theme entries are all vertical, so the use of "DOWN" in the unifier clue is key.
3 D. *"You should be ashamed!": THATS DESPICABLE. Said to someone who did something beyond the pale. Real life incidents of this sort are plentiful. There are different types of CABLES, but some types are wires used as electrical or communications connections. So we can see that the vertical fill does, indeed, go down to the WIRE. Pretty clever, eh!
5 D. *Ability to show restraint: SELF DISCIPLINE. This is the ability to regulate one's emotions, thoughts, and behavior in the face of temptations and impulses. As an executive function, it is a cognitive process that is necessary for regulating one's behavior in order to achieve specific goals. A LINE is a length of cord, rope, wire, or other material serving a particular purpose.
15 D. *Recent entry in Guinness, say: NEW WORLD RECORD. This is the best global and most important performance that is ever recorded and officially verified in a specific skill, sport, or other kind of activity. A CORD is a thin, flexible string or rope made from several twisted strands.
Hi Gang - JazzBumpa here to unravel the skein. Each theme fill ends in a synonym or near synonym for a WIRE. This is an extremely clever hidden word them, and a nut I had to get some help to crack. So thanks to my fellow blogger for the assistance.
Let's get down to it and see what other paths we will be led down.
Across:
1. Address letters: HTTP. Hyper Text Transfer Protocol - The beginning of an Internet web address.
5. Skyrocket: SOAR. Here, "skyrocket" is a verb meaning to fly high.
9. Old-timey "OMG!": EGAD. This is a softened oath, dating from the late 1600's, probably derived from "Oh, GOD!"
13. "Fancy seeing you here!": OH - HI. One of my long ago work colleagues told the story of his brother who was walking through a shopping mall holding hands with his girl friend, when his wife came walking in the other direction. This is what he said.
14. Disgraced energy firm: ENRON. The corporation, founded in 1985, engaged in massive fraud, and got away with it for years. This house of cards came tumbling down from 2000 to 2001. You can read all about it here.
16. Zigzagged: WOVE. Moved in a side to side forward motion.
17. Ring loudly: PEAL. As a bell.
18. Do not disturb: LET BE. Leave it alone.
19. Barbara who played a TV genie: EDEN. Barbara Eden (born Barbara Jean Morehead; August 23, 1931) is an American actress best known for her starring role as Jeannie in the sitcom I Dream of Jeannie (1965–1970). IIRC, Jeannie's belly button was always covered.
20. Trip, as an alarm: SET OFF. Actuate.
22. Cry of pain: YOWL. Owie!
24. Goblin kin: ORC. Tolkien monters. Here is more info, if you're that kind of nerd. [Full disclosure - I am.]
25. Simple earrings: STUDS. A stud earring features a gemstone or other ornament mounted on a narrow post that passes through a piercing in the ear or earlobe, and is held in place by a fixture on the other side.
31. Problems picky people pick: NITS. Little issues of little import.
33. Outstanding: OWING. As an unpaid debt.
35. Word after film and before cut: CREW. A film CREW is a group of people working off camera to make a motion picture, such as the producer, camera operators, stage managers, etc. A CREW cut is a type of haircut in which the upright hair on the top of the head is cut relatively short, graduated in length from the longest hair that forms a short pomp (pompadour) at the front hairline to the shortest at the back of the crown so that in side profile the outline of the top hair approaches the horizontal.
37. Energy option involving roof panels: SOLAR. Solar power works by converting energy from the sun into power. There are two forms of energy generated from the sun for our use – electricity and heat. Both are generated through the use of solar panels, which range in size from residential rooftops to 'solar farms' stretching over acres of rural land.
39. Branch out (from): STEM. To derive from some origin.
41. Steep-walled formation: MESA. Also known and table land. Mesa is the Spanish word for table.
42. Move at a snail's pace: CRAWL. Literally, move forward on the hands and knees or by dragging the body close to the ground. Figuratively, move forward or make progress very slowly.
43. Personal charisma: MOJO. Literally, a magic charm, talisman, or spell. Figuratively, a powerful personality.
44. "College GameDay" network: ESPN. Originally, in 1979, the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, shortened to ESPN in 1985.
Alternatively
45. "That makes my blood boil!": I'M MAD. Expression of anger.
46. Word to opt out of a text subscription: STOP. Unless it's ignored.
47. Ab-crunching exercise: SIT UP. The last time this came up in a puzzle I blogged, I pointed out that it is a worthless, and potentially harmful exercise. I got some push back. I guess anything can be a controversy. Anyway, here it is again.
49. Many a retired racehorse: SIRE. Used to produce the next generation of horses from a valuable blood line.
51. Snicker syllable: HEE. Along with TEE. Comic book laughter.
52. PC panic key: ESC. On computer keyboards, the Esc key (named Escape key in the international standard series ISO/IEC 9995) is a key used to generate the escape character (which can be represented as ASCII code 27 in decimal, Unicode U+001B, or Ctrl+[). The escape character, when sent from the keyboard to a computer, often is interpreted by software as "stop"
53. Org. for Twins: MLB. The Minnesota Twins team of Major League Baseball.
55. Poke fun at: TEASE. Have fun at someone's expense. Often not nice.
57. "I knew it!": AHA. Syllable of recognition or enlightenment.
58. Spot to fish from: PIER. A platform supported on pillars or girders leading out from the shore into a body of water, used as a landing stage for boats.
60. Stands too close to: CROWDS. Violates one's personal space.
63. Cries noisily: SOBS. Nobody looks good doing it.
65. "Super cool!": NEATO. That's rad, man!
67. Quite urgent: DIRE. Extremely serious or urgent, possibly dangerous.
68. App with crowdsourced reviews: YELP. Yelp Inc. is an American company that develops the Yelp.com website and the Yelp mobile app, which publishes crowd-sourced reviews about businesses. It also operates Yelp Guest Manager, a table reservation service. It is headquartered in San Francisco,
69. Diamond flaw?: ERROR. Not a mar in a gemstone, but a misplay on a baseball field - usually misplaying a batted or thrown ball or throwing inaccurately.
70. Neck of the woods: AREA. Nearby region.
71. Cruising, say: ASEA. On a ship. Our oldest granddaughter is wrapping up her third gig entertaining on a Disney Cruise Ship. This time she got to dance on the main stage.
72. __ money: startup funds: SEED. Money allocated to initiate a project.
73. Stitched together: SEWN. Attached by using thread and needle.
Down:
1. Short flights: HOPS. Boing!
2. "Beautiful Mistakes" rapper Megan __ Stallion: THEE. Megan Jovon Ruth Pete [b. 1995] known professionally as Megan Thee Stallion, is an American rapper. Originally from Houston, Texas, she first garnered attention when videos of her freestyling became popular on social media platforms such as Instagram.
4. Flight school graduate: PILOT. One in control of an aircraft.
6. Undivided: ONE. Unified.
7. Pseudo-sophisticated: ARTY. Making a strong, affected, or pretentious display of being artistic or interested in the arts.
8. High-tech worker: ROBOT. A machine that does a job formerly done by a person.
9. Farm female: EWE. Lady sheep.
11. Everyman: AVERAGE JOE. Typical guy, man on the street.
12. Judi who plays Queen Victoria in "Mrs Brown" and "Victoria & Abdul": DENCH. Dame Judith Olivia Dench [b. 1934] is an English actress. Widely considered one of Britain's greatest actresses, she is noted for her versatile work in various films and television programmes encompassing several genres, as well as for her numerous roles on the stage. Inexplicably, she also wound up in this thing.
26. Seattle's WNBA team: STORM. The Seattle Storm is an American professional basketball team based in Seattle. The Storm competes in the Women's National Basketball Association as a member club of the league's Western Conference. The team was founded by Ginger Ackerley and her husband Barry ahead of the 2000 season.
29. Highest point: ACME. Apex.
30. Formal footwear: DRESS SHOES.
32. Shuts with a bang: SLAMS. A forceful exit, perhaps.
36. Have a yen for: WANT. Desire something. Alternatively - I thought about going to Japan, but didn't have the yen to travel.
38. Look for: AWAIT. Anticipate.
40. Have the blues: MOPE. Be blue or low.
48. Ballpark figure?: UMP. Not a statistic. Short for umpire - a person with no clear idea of where the strike zone is located.
50. Musician's gift: EAR. Melodic ability.
52. GPA booster: EASY A. A class that is not challenging.
54. Stout and porter: BEERS. Beer varieties.
56. Cola and ginger ale: SODAS. Carbonated soft drinks.
59. Red in the center: RARE. As cooked beef.
61. Did some doodling: DREW. Made random sketches.
62. Actor Gunn who plays Kraglin in the MCU: SEAN. Sean Gunn [b. 1974] is an American actor. He is known for his roles as Kirk Gleason on The WB series Gilmore Girls, and Kraglin Obfonteri in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
64. Hot tub: SPA. A large tub filled with hot aerated water used for recreation or physical therapy.
66. Stubbing victim: TOE. Any of the five digits at the end of the human foot. They exist to locate furniture in dark rooms.
A lot of puzzles have their ups and downs. This one was mostly down - in a good way. It didn't let us down, and I'm down with that.
Today, Kyle, a regular Saturday constructor and sometime collaborator from Chicago, teams up with Jennifer Marra to present us with a real challenge. I worked this one from the SE up to the NW and earned a nice "got 'er done!"
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