Monday March 25, 2024 Amy Johnson

  

Happy Monday, everyone! sumdaze here. My calendar is telling me today is a XWD favorite holiday -- Holi. Best wishes to all who celebrate!

Veteran constructor Amy Johnson recently collaborated with Katie Hale on this Sunday puzzle. Today she is back with a solo contribution I am calling: 

Wishful Thinking

All is explained at the reveal:

56 Across. Words said over a lit birthday cake, and upon the start of 17-, 26-, or 42-Across: MAKE A WISH.  

Isn't she fun to watch?!

17 Across. Box office attraction: STAR POWER.  Jiminy Cricket sang about this in Pinocchio (1940).  

(Watch at 1:19 min. there are side-by-side pictures of crooner Cliff Edwards 

next to his animated alter ego.)

26 Across. Ancient vintner's quaff: DANDELION WINE.  

Why People Wish on Dandelions

42 Across. Makeup bag contraption: EYELASH CURLER.  If you see an eyelash on your friend's face, you can put it on the tip of your finger and tell your friend to make a wish then blow it away.

If you didn't know, this is an EYELASH CURLER.
No wonder eyelashes want to flee after being caught in one of these contraptions!  

The three themers give us three things upon which we can make a wish:  STAR, DANDELION, EYELASH. Amy did a fine job of crafting her idea into a 9-13-13-9 pattern grid. Let's see what else she included:

Across:
1. "The __ of the Furious": film sequel also known as "F8": FATE.  Hand up for filling this with FAST then later looking at 1-Down and thinking, "Huh?"

How did I miss the F+8=FATE ? I obviously went too fast. 

5. Orange juice bits: PULP.

9. Former Speaker of the House Pelosi: NANCY.  Nancy Patricia Pelosi (b. March 26, 1940) served as the 52nd Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives from 2007-2011 and 2019-2023.

14. Atmospheric glow: AURA.

15. Teri's "Young Frankenstein" role: INGA.  Here is Teri Garr reminiscing about making the 1974 film with director Mel Brooks and co-stars Gene Wilder, Marty Feldman, and Madeline Kahn.

16. Honolulu hello: ALOHA.  

19. Like an area with many farms: RURAL.

20. Tee or cami: TOP.

21. Suffix with oct-: -ANE.  so much more info.

22. Letters sent by plane: AIRMAIL.  

24. Scott Turow work: ONE L.  

25. Timely blessing: BOON.

31. __ and pestle: MORTAR.  Mine gets a lot of use grinding flax seeds to add to the bread I bake. My tip is to add whatever salt a recipe calls for to the MORTAR at the same time.  

32. Dr. Jekyll creator's monogram: RLS.  Robert Louis Stevenson was born in Edinburgh on November 13, 1850 and died 9,460 miles away in Samoa on December 3, 1894.  

33. Celestial sphere: ORB.

35. Belgium money: EUROS.

36. Heaven knows where, for short: MIA.  Missing In Action  

37. Subway in Washington, D.C.: METRO.  

I rode the Orange line to the Farragut West station for three years.

39. Flight safety org.: TSA.  

40. Casual hellos: HIs.

41. Lox fish: SALMON.  Lox is a fillet (or strip) of brined SALMON. Brining means to cure food with salt.  lox-a more about lox

46. Part of speech: NOUN.

47. Classic TV role for Ron Howard: OPIE.  Ron talks in depth about this period of his life in his book The Boys: A Memoir of Hollywood and Family (2021).

48. Millennium Falcon pilot: HAN SOLO.  Anyone with an iota of Star Wars background knew this one.

Harrison Ford, back in the day
BTW, Harrison Ford and Ron Howard acted together in American Graffiti,
a 1973 George Lucas film about cruising in Modesto, CA.

51. Surgery ctrs.: ORS.  Operating Rooms

52. Gain a lap: SIT.  This was my FAV clue today!  Not a lap on the track!

55. Renowned baseball family: ALOUS.  Here is the story of how three brothers from the Dominican Republic made MLB history by forming the first all-brother outfield back in 1963.  

59. Word after dime or dollar: STORE.

60. Early school yrs.: ELEM.  "Years" is abbrevieated, so is "ELEMentary".

61. __ and hearty: HALE.

62. Game piece: TOKEN.  

63. County fair attraction: RIDE.

64. Sign of the future: OMEN.

Down:

1. "The __ and the Furious": action film franchise: FAST.

2. Car: AUTO.  

AUTOs in The Fast and Furious  (2001)

3. U-shaped part of a drainpipe: TRAP.  

4. Spot for an AirPod: EAR.

5. Trailblazer: PIONEER.

6. Not feeling up to par: UNWELL.

7. Size up from med.: LGE.

8. Curve in algebra class: PARABOLA.  

This diagram shows why we say a PARABOLA is a conic section 
(the curve you get when a plane intersects a cone's surface).

9. Not wide: NARROW.

10. School reunion attendees: ALUMNI.

11. "Julie & Julia" writer/director Ephron: NORA.  

12. Spiced tea brewed in milk: CHAI.

13. Southern collective pronoun: Y'ALL.  I hope Y'ALL got this one correct today.

18. Bamboo-eating bears: PANDAS.  

23. Atomic particles that carry charges: IONS.

24. Hardly fooled by: ONTO.  ONTO is a preposition that can mean on top of or fully aware of.  

26. Drench: DOUSE.  This is that disgusting MAYO video we were talking about last week.  WVU coach gets DOUSEd in MAYO after bowl win

27. Wide variety: ARRAY.

28. From Donegal: IRISH.  CSO to our lovely IM☘

29. "Get anyone else": NOT ME.

30. Infielder's blunder: ERROR.

31. "Have we __?": MET.  

34. "__ voyage!": BON.

36. Inappropriate handle: MISNOMER.  The slang definition of "handle" is a person's name or nickname. We all use one on The Corner.

37. Oscar winner Tomei: MARISA.  She won for My Cousin Vinny in 1993.  

Love this styling!!

38. French feminine pronoun: ELLE.

40. Heist booty: HAUL.

41. Highest in rank: SUPREME.  

Stop! In the Name of Love

The Supremes (1965)

43. Big name in nutritional shakes: ENSURE.  

44. Undo a bit, as a tie: LOOSEN.

45. Not raw: COOKED.

48. Biblical verb: HAST.  archaic second person singular present of "have"

49. Voice range for some boys: ALTO.

50. Cozy reading spot: NOOK.  31 Dreamy Reading Nook Ideas to Curl up with a Book in 2024

52. Thailand, once: SIAM.  CSO to Lily, Husker Gary's SIAMese cat.  

53. Cruise ship stop: ISLE.

54. Back in the day: THEN.

57. "Sting like a bee" boxer: ALI.

58. "Doctor __": BBC series starring Ncuti Gatwa: WHO.  Ncuti was born on October 15, 1992 in Rwanda. He is the 15th incarnation of the Doctor. Here he is with the latest sonic screwdriver.  

Here's today's completed grid:

Thanks in advance for your comments! I'll be off-line this week but I'll see you next Monday. I wish you a good day!

Sunday March 24, 2024 Kyle Dolan & Dylan Schiff

Theme: "In Tune" - Each theme clue is a song. The synonym of the first word in each song is hidden inside each theme entry, which defines the remaining part of each theme clue. 

23. Friends in Low Places?: DEEP SEA TRENCHES. Dears.

38. Dust in the Wind?: SOPRANO CLARINET. Soot.

54. Party in the U.S.A.?: THE LAND OF OPPORTUNITY. Do.

77. Dancing in the Street?: SANTA MONICA BOULEVARD. Samba.

91. Crazy in Love?: ABSOLUTELY ADORE. Outre.

110. Down in the Boondocks?: MIDDLE OF NOWHERE. Low.

Just in awe of this theme. So many layers. So much work involved finding workable theme entries. 77A is amazing. 

Our blog tags show that this is the Kyle and Dylan's second collaboration. The first one is this themeless Gary blogged last year. Kyle is known for his clean and sparkly themeless grids.

Across:

1. Capital known as "The City of Trees": BOISE. And 19. Capital known as "The City of Stairs": AMMAN.

6. HS course for a future poli-sci major: AP GOV. Also 61. Capitol Hill fig.: POL.

11. "How silly of me!": DOH.

14. Cook brisket, perhaps: SMOKE.

20. Quinceañera accessory: TIARA. So pretty, everything.

21. Singer profiled in the 2022 Netflix documentary "Halftime," familiarly: J. LO. And 85. "__ Kai": Netflix series: COBRA.

22. Ancient manuscript: CODEX.

26. Outkast rapper __ 3000: ANDRE.

27. Org. whose logo features crossed clubs: PGA.

28. Oct. 24 observance: UN DAY.

29. Chemical in bagel-making: LYE.

30. Cream-filled pastries: ECLAIRS.

32. Way off: RANCID.

34. Some truffle hunters: BOARS.

36. Colorado State's sports team: RAMS.

37. Jellicle Ball attendee: CAT. The musical "Cats".

44. Love, in Verona: AMORE.

46. Walking tall: PROUD.

47. Half-inning trio: OUTS.

48. Can opener: TAB.

49. Pixar swimmer: NEMO.

50. Lacking proper punctuation, perhaps: RUN-ON.

51. Delight: AMUSE.

53. School member: FISH.

58. "Am __ blame?": I TO.

59. Presto, musically: FAST.

60. 20s dispensers: ATMS.

62. Amsterdam waterway: CANAL.

64. "Just watch me!": CAN SO.

66. [Crying emoji]: I'M SAD. When I pushed off the wall, I just could not submerge low enough to do the underwater dolphin kicks. Life is hard when you can't sink low.

70. Video art pioneer __ June Paik: NAM. Unknown to me. Wikipedia says he's "considered to be the founder of video art".

72. Licensed transport: TAXI.

73. Train, as a boxer: SPAR.

76. Hilton-owned hotel chain: TRU.

83. Basic ballet move: PLIE.

84. Antibiotic units: DOSES.

86. Central Plains tribe: OTOE.

87. Organ with a hammer: EAR.

88. Foie __: GRAS.

89. Ticket prices?: FINES. Parking ticket.

90. Tons and tons: SLEWS.

95. DOJ agency: ATF.

96. Bench press targets, for short: TRIS.

97. College administrators: DEANS.

98. High-end hair dryers: DYSONS. Very pricey.

101. Flatbread served with dal: PARATHA. And 118. Less spicy, in a way: TAMER. Indian food are a bit spicy for me.

104. Projectile's path: ARC.

105. Beach balls?: LUAUS. 114. Play place?: STAGE. 121. Oyster cracker?: OTTER. 82. Power base?: VOLTS. Fun clues.

108. Noisy fight: ROW.

109. Vessel implant: STENT.

115. To's opposite: FRO.

116. Model/actress Kate: UPTON. She's married to Justin Verlander.

117. "__ mañana": HASTA.

119. Bros: MEN.

120. __ profundo: low voice: BASSO.

Down:

1. Unflattering media coverage, briefly: BAD PR.

2. Rolex competitor: OMEGA.

3. "Seriously!?": I MEAN COME ON. 16. "Weird, right?": ODD ISN'T IT. I love these two long fill.

4. Maple syrup base: SAP.

5. Like a hotel bathroom, often: EN SUITE.

6. Teeny bit: A TAD.

7. Gyro wrapper: PITA.

8. "Slow Horses" actor Oldman: GARY. My favorite Gary. Gosh, 10 years already. 

9. Deposit for processing: ORE.

10. Unit for soccer practice carpool, say: VAN LOAD.

11. Video game with a turntable-shaped controller: DJ HERO.

12. Copa América cry: OLE.

13. Slip 'N Slide need: HOSE.

14. Quantities such as mass and time: SCALARS. Opposite vectors.

15. Address for Hercule Poirot: MON AMI.

17. Steve with nine NBA titles as a player and coach: KERR.

18. Old flames: EXES.

24. Finish: END.

25. The "C" of the CMYK color model: CYAN.

31. Prepare to move, as artwork: CRATE UP.

33. Christmas tune: CAROL.

34. Pop star Mars: BRUNO. Loved his "Just the Way You Are".

35. Scrubs: SCOURS.

38. Root veggies: SPUDS.

39. " ... then again, we could try something else": OR NOT.

40. [It's gone!]: POOF.

41. Ardent desire: LUST.

42. "No sweat!": EASY.

43. "Truthfully," in a text: TBH. To be honest.

44. Shenanigan: ANTIC.

45. Conductor Zubin: MEHTA.

50. Genetic letters: RNA.

51. Many NYC addresses: APTS.

52. Tibetan dumpling: MOMO. Similiar to xiaolongbao.

53. Festival entry: FILM.

55. Major key of Chopin's "Heroic" Polonaise: A FLAT.

56. Spreading fear: PANIC.

57. Bête __: NOIRE.

63. "The Favourite" queen: ANNE.

64. Candy __: CANE.

65. Graph line: AXIS.

67. Minnesota's Paul Bunyan, for one: STATE FOREST. Maybe I should explore the trails there someday. 

68. Item in a quiver: ARROW.

69. Bros: DUDES.

71. Wild hurry: MAD RUSH.

72. Threw out: TOSSED.

73. Serious: SOBER.

74. Coach purchase, perhaps: PURSE. Coach bags.

75. __ plancha: Spanish cooking method: A LA.

77. Concrete piece: SLAB.

78. Classic travel trailer: AIR STREAM.

79. Castle defense: MOAT.

80. Sour compounds: ACIDS.

81. One-named Irish singer: BONO. Not ENYA.

83. Test subject for Gregor Mendel: PEA.

88. Nail polish enhancer: GLITTER.

89. Devotees: FAN CLUB.

90. "Oh, really?": SAYS WHO.

92. Mandarin, e.g.: ORANGE. Mandarin oranges were a must for Boomer's fruit salad.

93. "I'll follow you": LEAD ON.

94. Patio spot: YARD.

98. Green owl in a popular language app: DUO.

99. El __: America, in Mexico: NORTE.

100. Necessitate a bleep: SWEAR.

101. Soft "Over here!": PSST.

102. "__ boy!": ATTA.

103. Radio toggle: AM FM.

105. Oodles: LOTS.

106. Sci-fi craft: UFOS.

107. Latin dating word: ANNO.

111. Anger: IRE.

112. AirNow.gov partner: EPA.

113. Prominent part of a beefeater's uniform: HAT.

 C.C.

Saturday, March 23, 2024, Nate Cardin

 Themeless Saturday by Nate Cardin

Nate is a chemistry teacher. PhD. in L.A. He is a crossword constructor, waffle iron enthusiast (as you will soon see when you watch him on Wheel Of Fortune below). Survivor obsessive. Anti-racist. Feminist.

Below is Nate's appearance on Wheel Of Fortune in September of 2022. You'll see why he is a fan of waffles.

Across:

1. Part of the fam: SIS.

4. Caldecott Medal winner __ Jack Keats: EZRA.

8. Tree crowns, collectively: CANOPY.

14. "We come to this place ... " theater chain: AMC.

15. __ point: MOOT - A MOOT point: The Titanic should have had more lifeboats.

16. Pea family plant: CLOVER.

Cover Crops

17. Flaunts: SHOWS OFF - Uma Thurman does just that in The Producers 

19. Asks for more Money: RENEWS - Money is capitalized.

20. Pueblo people: HOPI.

21. Pickens of "Blazing Saddles": SLIM - I better remember him riding riding a nuclear bomb in Dr. Strangelove 

23. Retro hip beer, for short: PBR.

1950's Ad

24. Fix: AMEND.

26. Common retirement vehicles: ROTH IRAS 😀

30. Like some questions: YES NO - Didja ever?

31. YouTube genre that may cause tingles, for short: ASMR - I think I finally have this: Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response (ASMR) is a previously unstudied sensory phenomenon, in which individuals experience a tingling, static-like sensation across the scalp, back of the neck and at times further areas in response to specific triggering audio and visual stimuli. Here's ASMR music to "easily defeat insomnia" or use as background while solving Nate's puzzle.

32. In the flesh?: NUDE 😀

33. Note of recognition?: I GET THAT A LOT.

"You look like that girl on NCIS."

36. Tribeca Film Festival co-founder: DENIRO.

38. Crushes on: ADORES 😀 - A modern version of having a crush on someone

39. Electric vehicle driver's apprehension: RANGE ANXIETY.

41. Raisins, in an after-school snack: ANTS.

42. Forward thinker?: SEER.

43. Me in C minor: E FLAT - Do Re Me

47. __ Spy apples: NORTHERN - We had these apples just a few weeks ago

49. Goo in some 31-Across videos: SLIME - An ASMR video with "soothing" goo for a visual

50. What "will be" will be: ARE 😀 We will be and now we ARE.

51. Cut: SNIP.

54. Abbr. in quote books: ANON.

55. Point in the right direction: ORIENT.

58. Numbers like 3 and 14, but not 3.14: INTEGERS - Whole numbers

60. Loosen, as skates: UNLACE.

61. Not much: A TAD.

62. Fujairah fed.: UAE - It's a three-hour drive NW from Muscat along the Gulf Of Oman if that's any help.

   

 

63. Charged (with): TASKED - C.C. has TASKED me to blog every Saturday puzzle

64. Setback: LOSS.

65. "i'm begging u": PLS 😒

Down:

1. Apt rhyme of slay and runway: SASHAY - Slay is an adjective for a drag queen who performs well in a drag performance and that might involve a SAHAY on a runway.

2. Return address?: I'M HOME 😀

3. Teacher defended by Darrow in 1925: SCOPES - Substitute biology teacher John Scopes skipped the evolution section in the text but agreed to be indicted for teaching it because he believed in it. He was found guilty but the verdict was overturned.

4. Modem terminals?: EMS - Modem has an "M" on each end

5. Menageries: ZOOS - Among the best in the world.

6. "u slay me": ROFL - A different slay meaning: Rolling On the Floor Laughing

7. Initially: AT FIRST.

8. Roots rock band that started as the Blue Velvets, for short: CCR - It was hard to pick a favorite here

9. Hebrew leader?: ALEPH - The first letter in the Hebrew alphabet

10. Pride banner with yellow, white, purple, and black stripes: NONBINARY FLAG.

11. Veto: OVERRULE.

12. The __ Charitable Trusts: NGO with a think tank: PEW.

13. Brief closing: YRS - Short for Yours Truly at the end of a letter.

18. Hot spell?: WINNING STREAK.

22. Bob that may be a solution for post-pregnancy thinning: MOM HAIR.

25. Prairie wanderer: DOGIE - A motherless calf

27. Swap: TRADE.

28. Hubbubs: ADOS.

29. Fixed: SET - MLB clubs will soon have a SET pitching rotation selected from their 44. Roster: LINEUP.

31. Make-up artists?: ATONERS 😀

34. Wipe: ERASE.

35. "Obvi!": TOTES - Totally obvious

36. Paul of "The Fabelmans": DANO - The Fablemans is the film about Steven Spielberg and how his childhood shaped his love of movies. Paul plays Sammy Fabelman's (Spielberg's) father Burt Fabelman. Did anyone think of this?

37. Inner workings?: ENTRAILS - Ewwww...

39. Scrambled: RAN - What trapped QB's do

40. Generational portmanteau: XENNIAL.

45. Ethically unconcerned: AMORAL.

46. Prepares for impact, say: TENSES.

48. Thus: HENCE.

52. Loving: INTO.

53. School gps.: PTAS - Founded by these ladies in 1897 in Washington D.C.. 

55. Openly queer: OUT.

56. Component of some vaccines: RNA - Here ya go

57. Conference acronym: TED - Technology, Entertainment, Design

59. Mag staff: EDS.