Sunday May 5, 2024 Katy Steinmetz & Rich Katz

Theme:  "Name That Tune" - Each song is rephrased fitting the "what line" in the clue.

23. Power line?: WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS.

33. Life line?: I WILL SURVIVE.

49. Party line?: LET'S GET IT STARTED.

68. Opening line?: I'VE GOT A BLANK SPACE BABY.

91. Time line?: YOU CAN'T HURRY LOVE.

107. Dividing line?: GO YOUR OWN WAY.

119. Shore line?: UNDER THE BOARDWALK.

Not sure about 68A. Is it a song title? I only know it's a line from Taylor Swift's "Blank Space". 

Otherwise, I really like this theme set. We've seen "... line" rephrase theme before, but not with the extra song layer. Congrats on your Sunday debut, Katy and Rich!

Across:

1. "Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet" novelist Jamie: FORD. His debut novel. He's half Chinese.

 

5. Low-end speaker: BASS. And 18. One throwing out the first pitch?: OBOE.

9. Emulate successfully: PASS AS.

15. Cooling units, for short: ACS.

19. __ research: some dirt-digging: OPPO. Opposition research.

20. Baseball level just below the Majors: TRIPLE A. And 22. Hall of Fame slugger Mel: OTT. 86. One of Nolan Ryan's record seven: NO-HIT GAME.

26. Parched: DRY.

27. Two-time Best Female Golfer ESPY winner Ko: LYDIA. Kiwi. She was born in Korea.

28. Leaf wrangler: RAKE.

29. Bewitch: ENTHRALL.

31. Fright: TERROR.

37. Like some candles: SCENTED.

39. Home of many Goyas and El Grecos: PRADO.

40. "Fire" gemstone: OPAL.

41. Unlikely duo?: ELS. The two L's in "Unlikely"

42. "The Boy and the Heron" genre: ANIME.

44. Gifts at some Honolulu hotels: LEIS.

46. The blue in blue cheese, e.g.: MOLD.

54. Follower of up, down, and mid: TOWN.

56. Shake: LOSE.

57. Ireland, to the Irish: EIRE.

58. Like some adoption records: SEALED.

60. "The Matrix" hero: NEO.

61. Train cos.: RRS.

64. Prehistoric: OLD.

66. Data on dashboards: MILEAGES.

75. Yoga asana that requires balance: TREE POSE.

76. MSNBC journalist Cabrera: ANA.

77. Like this clue's number: ODD.

78. "Am __ time?": I ON.

79. Require: ENTAIL.

82. High point of the "Odyssey"?: OSSA. Mount Ossa.

85. Meter or liter: UNIT.

89. Dirty: SOIL.

95. Swap __: MEET.

97. Room in una casa: SALA.

98. HS course covering the facts of life: AP BIO.

99. Curse: HEX.

100. Guides with keys: MAPS.

103. __-panky: HANKY.

105. Writer of pastoral poems: IDYLIST. Spell check does not like this word.

111. Didn't cook, but didn't order in: ATE OUT.

112. Totalitarianism, metaphorically: IRON RULE.

113. Villain's hangout: LAIR.

115. Rims: EDGES.

118. Relieved (of): RID.

124. Female deer: DOE.

125. Spring agricultural machines: SEEDERS.

126. Beauty spot?: ULTA. Mecca of beauty products.

127. "That could work for me": I MAY.

128. "Weekend Update" show, casually: SNL.

129. Restoration poet dubbed "Glorious John": DRYDEN.

130. Headed to overtime: TIED.

131. __ pool: GENE.

Down:

1. Duck or goose: FOWL.

2. Comply: OBEY.

3. Consumer Reports tasks: ROAD TESTS.

4. "Merci" response: DE RIEN.

5. Social media annoyance: BOT.

6. Goddess of love who had five children with the god of war: APHRODITE. One of the kids is Eros.

7. Fishing tool: SPEAR.

8. "__ it to me!": SOCK.

9. Old school crowdfunding org.?: PTA.

10. Branch: ARM.

11. Wee drink: SIP.

12. Pitch: SPIEL.

13. Mets slugger Pete nicknamed "Polar Bear": ALONSO. New York Mets. Patti's team.

14. Mocked: SENT UP.

15. Vietnamese tunic: AODAI. Pretty. China's qipao is pretty too.

16. PC paste shortcut: CTRL V.

17. Flair: STYLE.

21. Place for a spiritual retreat: ASHRAM.

24. Livestock marker: EAR TAG.

25. Successor: HEIR.

30. KOA option: RV LOT.

32. Actress Russo: RENE.

34. Mickey's co-creator: WALT.

35. Brainstorming output: IDEAS.

36. French wine valley: LOIRE.

37. Go like hotcakes: SELL.

38. Egyptian queen, familiarly: CLEO. Cleopatra.

39. Gas, across the pond: PETROL.

43. Nintendo avatar: MII.

45. Snail mail need: STAMP.

47. Piece of cake?: LONG A. The A in "cake".

48. Square peg in a social circle?: DWEEB. Ha.

50. Durable twill fabric: SERGE.

51. Ward with two Emmy Awards: SELA.

52. Director Kazan: ELIA.

53. Big name in car batteries: DELCO.

55. Snoopy: NOSY.

59. Heroic act, say: DEED.

62. Tug of war need: ROPE.

63. Full of rocks: STONY.

65. Genetic letters: DNA.

67. Pop star Paula who was once a Lakers cheerleader: ABDUL. I did not know this.

68. "Can confirm": IT IS.

69. Noise made while playing with a Matchbox car: VROOM.

70. "__ Meenie": 2010 pop single: EENIE.

71. Regarding: AS TO.

72. Quaint baes: BEAUS.

73. Two half hitches, maybe: KNOT.

74. Verb that comes from a corruption of the ballet term "chassé": SASHAY. Another fun trivia.

80. Mogul Carl: ICAHN.

81. Former TV drama about SoCal attorneys: LA LAW.

83. "How's it hangin'?": SUP.

84. Get in the middle of, in a way: ARBITRATE.

87. Currier and __: IVES.

88. Words on a page: TEXT.

90. __ juice: LEMON.

92. Gran: NANA.

93. Log flume, e.g.: RIDE.

94. Went up and down, say: YOYOED.

96. Many a spring birth: TAURUS.

101. Cut back: PRUNED.

102. Machine shop alloy: SOLDER.

104. Six-time NBA All-Star Lowry: KYLE.

106. __ van Beethoven: LUDWIG.

107. Supports: GIRDS.

108. Constellation with a belt: ORION.

109. Sound that comes from on high: YODEL.

110. Like some unkempt gardens: WEEDY.

111. Garlicky sauce: AIOLI. This one seems to have egg yolks.

114. Border: ABUT.

116. Flair: ELAN.

117. Ione of "La Brea": SKYE.

120. __ velvet: RED.

121. Green Day drummer __ Cool: TRE.

122. Channel for bargain hunters: HSN.

123. "Gnarly": RAD.

Saturday, May 4, 2024, Amie Walker

Saturday Themeless by Amie Walker

Amie Walker is an attorney/current stay-at-home parent to three little girls in Chandler, Arizona. When she’s not thinking about puzzles, she loves spending time with her family and singing in her women’s choir. Here is a picture of Amie on Jeopardy on 3/28/22. 

When I did her puzzle in January, I finished the bottom first and the headed back to the top. Today I did just the opposite and you can see by the graphic, the bottom was a struggle for me. Some of the cleverness and 21st century slang gave me a real challenge.

Across:

1. Exclusively: ALONE.

6. Tach readings: RPMS - My car runs so quietly that I have to look at the tach (far left) to see if the engine is still running.

10. Annie Lennox, e.g.: SCOT - Anyone else put ALTO?

14. Spot with spotty reception, perhaps: REMOTE AREA - We got no reception in the Redwoods 😀

16. "Don't start with me": UH UH.

17. Chore that's a bore: MENIAL TASK.

18. __ noire: BETE.

19. "Funny or Die" segment: SKIT.

20. Dishwasher setting: RINSE.

21. Country with the largest number of Quechua speakers: PERU - 4:30 of listening 

22. Time for scare tactics?: SPOOKY SEASON.

25. Sweeney of "Euphoria": SYDNEY - Famous Australian Opera House city is not "Saturday" enough 

28. Deep blush shade: BERRY.

29. Indulge: HUMOR.

30. Gridiron cues: HUTS.

31. Spell: JAG.

34. Moonrise direction: EAST.

35. Signs: OMENS.

37. Caesar dressing?: TOGA 😀

38. __ sample: DNA - #1 and #3, you're free to go. #2, uh, we'd like a word with you.

39. Listen to: OBEY.

40. 1990s TV nerd: URKEL.

41. Cookbook verb: ROAST.

43. Belief systems: CREEDS.

44. Waffle, perhaps: ICE CREAM CONE 😀 An ice cream vendor at the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair ran out of dishes. Turns out the vendor next to him was selling thin waffles. Voila! 

48. Chew toy for a naughty puppy: SHOE.

49. Unsmiling: STERN.

50. AFC East team: PATS 

54. "Dance the Night" singer Dua __: LIPA - After sufficient appearances here, I have learned this name. 

55. Tool for turning over a new leaf?: SALAD TONGS 😀

57. Fairly matched: EVEN.

58. Personal driver?: EGO BOOSTER - Your ego might make you have more personal drive

59. Second place at a math Olympiad?: TENS 😀 Amie!

60. Fed. IDs: SSNS.

61. Bares fruit?: PEELS 😀

Down:

1. Plank supports: ARMS.

2. Allium cultivar: LEEK and 45. Allium cultivar: CHIVE.

The Allium Family

3. High-end hotel chain: OMNI.

4. "Wrong": NO IT'S NOT.

5. "Should we start wo u?": ETA - When r u getting here?

6. Flood with negative replies on social media: RATIO - Learning for me. At the bottom of social media like X (formerly Twitter and other social media) there is a list of the number of comments, retweets and likes. Comments are assumed to be negative and so if the RATIO of comments to retweets plus likes is more than 2:1, it is assumed to be a bad tweet. A poster can be said to have been RATIOED if there are a lot of comments.

Comments = 59K, Retweets = 21K
Likes = 6K. Bad RATIO

7. Jape: PRANK.

8. Casual-chic do: MESSY BUN.

9. Collections that include tokkuri and ochoko: SAKE SETS - More

Serving glasses - ochokos
Flask - tokkuri

10. Disappointing: SUBPAR - Not disappointing in golf at all

11. "You gouda brie kidding me," for one?: CHEESY JOKE 😕

12. Closing bars: OUTRO - a short, distinct closing section at the end of something (such as a piece of music, a performance, or a news report). A complement to INTRO.

13. Country group, briefly?: THE UN 😊

15. Cartoon boy in a Space Cub troop: ELROY - ELROY is at the left in front of his dad George Jetson in this 60-yr-old Jetson's cartoon. Yes, I said 60 years!

23. According to: PER.

24. Some hesitations: ERS.

25. Lose: SHED.

26. 10 jiao: YUAN - It takes 10 jiao to make 1 YUAN. 1 Yuan = $0.13 or about a dime. 

 

A new EV car in China costs about ¥100,000  ($13,912)

27. "Feel free to contact me privately on social": DMS ARE OPEN  - This tells the world that you're available and willing to receive and read direct messages from unknown people is by announcing your "DMs are open". A tactic you'll see used by journalists on Twitter looking for scoops.

30. "Watch it!": HEY.

32. Mellowed, perhaps: AGED.

33. Misses: GALS.

35. Loses sleep (over): OBSESSES.

36. HTML data: META TAGS - How the line above looks in HTML:

35. Loses sleep (over): <b>OBSESSES</b>.<br /><br />

37. Yoga stance also called Vrksasana (Sanskrit: वृक्षासन, romanized: vṛkṣāsana): TREE POSE.

39. One of two in a row: OAR - 😀 This hit me like a ton of cute! An OAR is one of two that are in a row in the boat and they are used to row!

40. Samovar: URN.

42. Lots: OCEANS - The Coasters sang, "It's gonna take an OCEAN, Of calamine lotion..."

43. Airbnb listing: CONDO.

44. Key: ISLET 

Quiet Cove Key, Florida 

46. Galia, for one: MELON.

47. "Deadliest Catch" boatload: CRABS.

51. Fee for a card-carrying member?: ANTE - 😀 He had to ANTE but is only carrying these lousy cards

52. Neutrogena product: TGEL.

53. Much of E. Europe, once: SSRS.

56. Exceed: TOP.