Saturday, June 1, 2024, Lance Enfinger & Bob Weisz

 Saturday Themeless by Lance Enfinger & Bob Weisz

Lance and Bob gave me a really hard earned "got 'er done". It seemed like every corner had a fill that unlocked that section and, armed with my trusty Delete key, I was able to ENTER all the correct fill unaided. 

I was so happy/surprised to see this screen pop up 👉

Lance

Bob

  

Across

1. Duel invitation: SLAP.

5. Advanced: LENT - I always regretted times I LENT (advanced) money to relatives

9. Donnybrook: BRAWL - Etymology

14. Bring (down): TONE.

15. Farm: GROW.

16. Harris of NPR's "Pop Culture Happy Hour": AISHA and 54. Weldon of NPR's "Pop Culture Happy Hour": GLEN. No idea...

17. Target of some orthodontic work: UNDERBITE.

19. Keypad key: ENTER.

20. Taxi driver?: DISPATCHER 😀 The most famous one.

22. Louganis who is the only man to sweep the diving events in consecutive Olympics: GREG.

23. Deux et trois: CINQ - 2 + 3 = 5 in French

24. Burning: IN A BLAZE - Have you ever "Gone out IN A BLAZE of glory?"

26. Operative: AGENT. Bond, James Bond...

28. Ones on a roll: SNAKE EYES 😀 

29. "__ in there": HANG.

30. Part of Reno's nickname: BIGGEST.

31. Brew made with warm fermentation: ALE.

32. Authority on acts of congress: SEXPERT - This less frequent use of congress has a small c

33. Letters with a link, maybe: FYI also FAQ

36. Some banners: HEADERS - Example

37. Satyr kin: FAUN.

38. Propulsion devices: THRUSTERS - The Apollo Lunar Landers had four sets of THRUSTERS to steer their way to the lunar surface. Hey, I'm a NASA guy!

41. Prepares for a break: RACKS. 😀 I loved this, uh, eventually.

42. Tight squeezes: BEAR HUGS. 😀

43. __ sock: TUBE 😀

44. Terse confirmation: IT IS - A little less terse but a fav of mine

45. Public image: PROFILE PIC.

49. Lets: RENTS.

51. Tick off: ENUMERATE - I was starting to get ticked off until I got this clue

52. Flag: DROOP - Flag as a verb

53. Edge (into): EASE - Wanna see two big stars EASE On Down The Road? How 'bout Diana Ross and Michael Jackson?

55. Boyo: SONNY - Irish, English and Australian for boy

56. Really go downhill: SLED.

57. 2021 US Open winner Raducanu: EMMA.

Down:

1. Important element in lath and plaster construction: STUD - As seen from behind

2. "RuPaul's Drag Race" guest judge Love: LONI - Loni Anderson is on the Saturday bench

3. Finish line?: AND SCENE.

4. Leaf __: PEEPING.

5. Letters of orientation: LGBTQ.

6. NHL great Lindros: ERIC.

7. "This isn't about you": NOTHING PERSONAL.

8. Elementary school grads, typically: TWEENAGERS.

9. PDA participant, possibly: BAE. 

10. Curl: RINGLET - Name this woman and her boss. Answer at bottom *

11. Off the mark: ASTRAY.

12. Allergy sound: WHEEZE - Yeah, I put in SNEEZE first too

13. Cup sizes: LARGES.

18. Fulminate: RANT.

21. Ones using yard sticks?: RAKERS 😀

25. Top: BEST.

26. Clicking sound?: AHA 😀 What you might shout when your brain clicks and you get the answer!

27. Actress Gadot: GAL.

28. Parlor game that produces a Bacon number: SIX DEGREES - It rests on the assumption that anyone involved in the Hollywood film industry can be linked through their film roles to Bacon within six steps. The game's name is a reference to "six degrees of separation", a concept that posits that any two people on Earth are six or fewer acquaintance links apart. 

Click to enlarge

30. Pummel: BEATUP.

32. Casual meeting: SESH.

33. "What were they thinking" gesture: FACE PALM.

34. Guffaw: YUK.

35. Connections: INS.

36. Harlem Renaissance figure: HURSTON.

37. Creator of Imperial Easter eggs: FABERGE.

38. Classic Fords: T-BIRDS - My neighbor's dad has this beauty.

39. Straight: HETERO as opposed to homo

40. Spoil, perhaps: RAIN ON - The ladies on the outside have tried to match the gold standard of Barbara Streisand singing Don't RAIN ON My Parade.

41. Rock, in a way: RULE.

43. On the clock: TIMED - A big phrase used during the NFL draft

46. Circuit component: FUSE.

47. Article: ITEM.

48. "Peacemaker" star John: CENA - Here he is as the Peacemaker and in his previous vocation 

50. Notice: SPY - Did you play "I SPY with my little eye" during a car trip?

*That of course is Miss Lemon and Hercule Poirot 

Friday, May 31, 2024, Michele Govier

Good morning, Cruciverbalists.  Malodorous Manatee here with a puzzle that takes us into the wonderful world of our avian friends.  Our puzzle-setter today is Michèle Govier who has previously had crossword puzzles published by both the Los Angeles Times and the NewYork Times.  At four places in the grid, Michèle has conjured up answers that are the names of two species of birds cleverly placed back to back so as to provide an appropriate response to the clue.  Let's start with the unifier:

73 Across:  Double birdie, which can also be found at 17-, 31-, 48-, and 62-Across?: EAGLE.  In golf scoring a birdie is one shot below par (e.g. a three on a par four hole) and an EAGLE is two shots below par so an EAGLE is, in effect, a double birdie.  For our purposes, Double Birdie refers to the two bird names.

Here are the places where the theme has been applied:

17 Across:  Ingest lather while getting one's mouth washed out with soap?: SWALLOW DOVE.                            

A  Swallow                                            A  Dove

To SWALLOW means, well, to swallow and DOVE, of course, is a brand of soap.

31 Across:  Loudly promote trips to Istanbul?: HAWK TURKEY.

A Hawk                                               A Turkey

To HAWK something is slang for avidly promoting something for sale and Istanbul, of course, is the capital city of TURKEY.

48 Across:  Successfully elude director Scorsese?: DUCK MARTIN.

A Duck                                                              A Martin

To DUCK something is to avoid or shirk (as in responsibility) and MARTIN Scorsese is a famous film director.

62 Across:  Say "Holy nightmare, Batman!"?: PARROT ROBIN.

A Parrot                                                              A Robin

To PARROT something is to repeat it verbatim.  ROBIN is Batman's sidekick.

Here are the other clues and answers:

Across:

1. Birthstones for some Scorpios: OPALS.  The most-often seen birthstone in our puzzles.

6. Consumes, in a way: READS.  An appropriately semi-obtuse clue for a Friday.

11. Revenue sources for freemium apps: ADS.  Users of the app get access at no monetary cost but are subjected to ADS.

14. Jubilant cry: WAHOO.  Something someone might say.  YAHOO.  BINGO. WHOOP.  All would have fit the space and the clue but were not what the puzzle demanded this time around.

15. "Dominicana" novelist Cruz: ANGIE.  Thanks, perps.

16. Matcha, e.g.: TEA.  A concentrated form of green TEA.

19. Clever one: WAG.

20. Show the way: LEAD.  Some of us are partial to this advice:

21. Cry at the end of a performance: ENCORE.  More, more!

23. Tourney game: SEMI.

26. French beans?: TETES.  In English, Bean is slang for head.  TETES means heads in French.

  

29. Seed coating: ARIL.  An ARIL, also called an arillus, is a specialized outgrowth from a seed that partly or completely covers the seed

30. TikTok upload: CLIP.  A man went viral after posting a video CLIP on TikTok about how to stay cool in the summer without air conditioning.  He has many fans.

33. Sterling silver, e.g.: ALLOY.  A mixture of metals.

35. Theater boxes: LOGES.  A LOGE is an elevated seating area in a theater that is typically located at the side or rear of the stage. Loges are often reserved for special occasions or VIP guests. They offer a unique vantage point from which to watch a show and provide more privacy than a regular seat.

36. Virtual animal in an early 2000s fad: NEOPET.

38. Insist: DEMAND.  It is what this puzzle required.

43. Luster: SHEEN.  Got that, Martin?

47. Proportion: RATIO.  

53. Sound off: RANT.  It might have been RAVE.  Put in the R and the A and let the perps decide.

54. Sufficient, in texts: ENUF.  Our "old friend" (new friend), textspeak.  Not a fan but maybe it is time to memorize this:  Glossary of Textspeak

  

55. Tiniest amount: TRACE.  An alternative to IOTA.

56. Kerfuffles: ADOS.  Fusses common in crossword puzzles.

57. Late sign: PISCES.  PISCES is the twelfth, and last, sign in the zodiac.  This solver did not previously know that but, then again, his moon is in Fresno.

59. Crossed (out): EXED.  This rest of this answer has been EXED out. (or as close as it was possible to exhibit).

61. Brainpower nos.: IQS.  A friend recently scored a 175 on an IQ test that had just 3 simple questions:  1. His credit card number 2. His social security number 3. Uploading a scan of his birth certificate

68. Pool need: CUE.  Not a swimming reference.  A billiards/pocket billiards reference.

69. Omar of Congress: ILHAN.  Democrat, MN.

70. Accustom (to): INURE.  I've become INUREd to her face.

71. Apple TV+ role for Jason: TED.  Jason Sudeikis  stars in the television show "Ted Lasso".

72. "Jurassic Park" dinosaur, e.g.: CLONE.  What is the best thing to do if you see a T-Rex CLONE?  Hope that it doesn't see you.

Down:

1. Pained cries: OWS.  Onomatopoeia.

2. Print maker: PAW.  Cute clue.  Not a reference to lithography.

3. "I've got it!": AHA.  Moments all of the solvers here have experienced.

4. Sticky treat, in more ways than one: LOLLIPOP.  Of course the sweet is sticky as in adherence.  The pun-y additional way is that the candy is on a (usually paper) stick.  Stick-y.

The Chordettes

5. Only: SOLE.  I’m writing a book about a guy who sells shoe parts to Satan. It’s your basic “Sold my SOLE to the devil” novel.

6. Unfair treatment: RAW DEAL.  Idiomatic.

7. Word with tight or loose: END.  A loose END is something yet unfinished.  A tight END is a position player on a football team.

8. Long __: AGO.

9. Sold off: DIVESTED.  A current buzzword.

10. Observed: SEEN.  Not observed as in a religious holiday.  Viewed.

11. On the job: AT WORK.  As in:

12. Sweetie pie: DEARIE.  Slangy clue.  Slangy answer.

13. With wisdom: SAGELY.

18. Solemn recitation: OATH.

22. Sonata, for one: CAR.  Not a musical reference.  A Hyundai.

23. Create a PDF, perhaps: SCAN.  A computer tech reference that almost everyone knows.

24. "Legally Blonde" blonde: ELLE.  ELLE Woods is the protagonist.  REESE (Witherspoon) would not fit.

25. Actor Ventimiglia: MILO.  Total unknown to this solver.  Thanks perps.   What does twenty miles have to do with this?  Oh, never mind.  Of course, if you watched "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" this was not a problem.

  

27. Number of hearts for a Time Lord: TWO.  A "Dr. Who" reference.

28. ER graph: EKG.  Electrocardiogram.  Wait, wouldn't that be ECG?  Apparently, EKG was adopted as the standard abbreviation to avoid confusion with electroencephalogram.

32. Touchpad toucher: USER.  Remember, only USERs loose drugs.  Oh, a computer user!

34. Reply with an apostrophe: YES'M.  Yes ma'am.

37. "We're done here": THAT'S ALL.  Mel Blanc's epitaph:

39. Argentine soccer legend dubbed "El Pibe de Oro": MARADONA.

40. Not much: A TAD.  My teacher once asked "Name three famous Poles."  I replied, "North, South and TAD."

41. Spanish boy: NINO.

42. ...: DOTS.  Quite literally.  If one misread the . . . then they might have thought POLKA.

44. Goof: ERR.  A mistake frequently encountered in crossword puzzles.

45. Airport info: ETA.  Estimated Time of Arrival

46. "Good going!": NICE ONE.  Something someone might say.  BITCHIN' would have fit.  FAR OUT would not.  See also 58 Down.

48. Portray: DEPICT.

49. Singular: UNIQUE.

50. Used colorful language: CUSSED.  A good place for grawlix.

51. Crispy Colonel sandwich seller: KFC.  Before Kentucky Fried Chicken changed its name to KFC (in 1991)  this writer would have to have typed out Kentucky Fried Chicken.

52. Coming right up: NEXT.

58. Way awesome: EPIC.  NEAT  DOPE  KEEN  PHAT 

60. Buffalo's lake: ERIE.  A place often visited in our puzzles.

63. Density symbol, in physics: RHO.

64. Oversaw: RAN.  As in to have once run a company or an international drug cartel.

65. Flu or fly: BUG.  If you got sick some would say that you caught a BUG.  A fly (the insect not the baseball hit or the trouser zipper) is, well, a BUG (at least in casual English usage if not scientifically).

66. Not online, for short: IRL.  In Real Life

67. Word with a maiden name: NEE.  From the French = born.

The completed grid:

__________________________________________________

The New Riders of the Purple Sage - 1969

Last Lonely Eagle

I did not know that there was an Owsley Stanley Foundation but I do remember reading somewhere that Augustus Owsley Stanley III was an even better mechanic than he was a chemist.