Sunday June 22, 2024 Gary Larson

Theme: "Commercial Free" - AD is removed from each common phrase.

23A. Like a kid wearing a tutu and a superhero cape?: SELF DRESSED. Self-addressed.

47A. Parental agenda that involves claims like, "You never call, you never text ... "?: MISSION OF GUILT. Admission of guilt.

67A. Compose a second draft of a hit song from "Cats"?: REWRITE MEMORY. Read-write memory.

89A. Good title for a reflective book on the life of a rap Dr.?: EXISTENTIAL DRE. Existential dread.

111A. Carnival?: RIO ACTIVITY. Radioactivity.

3D. Flashy accessories for hair curlers?: ROLLER BLING. Rollerblading.

69D. The guilty pleasure of using WebMD to second-guess one's doctor?: MEDICAL VICE. Medical advice.

I like how ADS are removed all over the place. Not just start or end. Sometimes consistency is good, but it also makes themers easier to obtain. 

Across:

1. Solitaire unit: CARAT.

6. Brownish pigment: UMBER.

11. Two-beat gait: TROT.

15. Leg part: SHIN. Not CALF.

19. Go gaga for: ADORE.

20. Baker's tool: SIEVE.

21. Country whose anthem is "Amhrán na bhFiann": EIRE. Google shows it's called "The Soldier's Song" in English.

22. Five-O: POPO. Slang for cops.

25. Like viruses: ACELLULAR. I only know Cellular.

27. Right angle shape: ELL.

28. __ buco: OSSO.

29. "__ we go again": HERE.

31. 2021 role for Kristen Stewart: LADY DI. The film is "Spencer".

32. "Looks that way": SEEMS TO.

35. Zane Grey setting: OLD WEST.

37. Uses the << button on a remote: REWINDS.

40. Former Ford: TORINO.

41. 17-Down array: APPS. 17. Surface alternative: IPAD.

45. Buffalo NHL team: SABRES.

50. Lashes, e.g.: CILIA. Did you know these little bumps under your eyes are called milia?

51. Racket head shape: OVAL.

52. Flow out forcefully: SPEW.

53. Folktronica musician Beth: ORTON.  Wikipedia says "Folktronica mixes elements of folk and electronica". New to me.

54. Missing: OMITTED.

56. Copycat: APE.

58. Raises a glass to: TOASTS.

59. Changeable camera part: LENS.

60. Disapprove, in a way: VOTE NO.

63. Some protagonists: HEROES.

66. B.S., e.g.: DEG.

69. Prefix with life or wife: MID.

72. Looked after: TENDED.

73. Copycats: MIMICS.

74. Transfer to a new city, informally: RELO.

75. Declare to be true: ATTEST.

78. Fleet org.: USN.

79. Fixated (on): HOMED IN.

81. Meat, in Mexico: CARNE. Called Rou in Chinese. My hometown Xi'an is known for its Rou Jia Mo.

82. "Well, __ that precious!": ISN'T.

85. Let up: EASE.

88. Performed by skaters, say: ON ICE.

92. Indigenous Arizona people: APACHE.

93. Coin with olive and oak branches: DIME.

94. Poirot creator Christie: AGATHA.

95. Prom fabric: TAFFETA. I can't tell the differences.

97. Dad's dads: GRAMPAS.

98. In a big, big way: ROYALLY.

101. Get going: PROPEL.

105. Pub glass size: PINT.

106. Rosalind of "Mulan": CHAO.

108. Routing word: VIA.

109. Smaller than small: SUBATOMIC.

115. __ burn romance: SLOW. Like most Chinese romances. The song I danced to last week is very sad Chinese love song. Here's the original version. Sloooow burn.

116. Camp accommodation: BUNK.

117. Puccini work: OPERA.

118. "Attack!": SIC 'EM.

119. College freshman, often: TEEN.

120. Like French toast: EGGY.

121. Gets smaller, as the moon: WANES.

122. Reagan-era attorney general: MEESE. Ed. Still alive.

Down:

1. Suits in court: CASES.

2. "Set Fire to the Rain" singer: ADELE.

4. Sandy's bark: ARF.

5. Actor Danson: TED.

6. Employs against: USES ON.

7. Hit alternative: MISS.

8. "Eso __": Paul Anka hit: BESO.

9. Night before a big 55-Down: EVE. 55. Occasion: EVENT.

10. Spicy cinnamon candies: RED HOTS.

11. Sign of sorrow: TEARDROP.

12. __ vinegar: ingredient in sushi seasoning: RICE WINE. The brand I use.

13. Underground resource: ORE. 68. Went after 13-Down: MINED.

14. Relates a tale about: TELLS OF.

15. NBA great Webb: SPUD. 5'6".

16. "__ cow!": HOLY.

18. Seaweed snack: NORI.

24. Flatbreads served with some curries: ROTIS.

26. Back muscle, for short: LAT.

30. Mumford of "Fifty Shades of Grey": ELOISE. New to me also.

33. Earns: MERITS.

34. Hard work: SWEAT.

36. Sufficient, to Shakespeare: ENOW.

38. ID issuer: DMV.

39. "Unstoppable" singer: SIA. And 46. Pop singer Mann: AIMEE.

41. Ethereal glows: AURAS.

42. Olive discards: PITS.

43. Conspiracy: PLOT.

44. RR stops: STNS.

45. Reprimand: SCOLD.

48. Viewpoint: SLANT.

49. Like hot fudge: GOOEY. Never had fudge, cold or hot.

51. Chris of "The Sapphires": O'DOWD.

57. Ada Limón works: POEMS.

58. Top spot?: TORSO.

61. Half of sei: TRE.

62. __ al-Fitr: EID.

63. Shirt edge: HEM.

64. British recording giant: EMI.

65. Valium maker: ROCHE.

67. Zero out: RESET.

70. Tchaikovsky's middle name: ILICH. No idea.

71. Fundraiser beneficiary: DONEE.

72. Needing kneading: TENSE.

74. Italian soprano Tebaldi: RENATA. Meaning "reborn" in Italian.

75. Got top marks on: ACED.

76. Cab: TAXI.

77. Curtail: TRIM.

78. Moab resident: UTAHAN.

80. Glum: MOPEY.

82. Teri's "Young Frankenstein" role: INGA.

83. Putting one's foot down: STAMPING.

84. Overly critical: NIT-PICKY.

86. Frick collection: ART. In NYC.

87. Brighton attraction: SEA.

90. Spot for a stud or hoop: EARLOBE.

91. Edge of the nosebleed section: LAST ROW.

92. Happening now: AFOOT.

96. Brawl: FRACAS.

97. Figure out: GET.

99. The Chi-__: "Have You Seen Her" group: LITES. Also unknown to me.

100. "I'm so great!": YAY ME.

101. "I need to tell you something secret": PSST.

102. Cardinal __: RULE.

103. Flute neighbor in an orchestra: OBOE.

104. One of 16 in a chess set: PAWN.

106. Filmmaker Joel or Ethan: COEN. They grew up in St. Louis Park, MN.

107. Rabbit lookalike: HARE.

110. Coffee cup: MUG.

112. Craft beer letters: IPA.

113. Belief system suffix: ISM. This poster was in all our classrooms. It says "Long live Marxism-Leninism-Mao Zedong Thought!" We don't use Maoism in China. Just Mao Zedong Thought.

114. Compete (for): VIE.

C.C.

Saturday, June 22, 2024, Wendy L. Brandes, John Lieb

 Saturday Themeless by Wendy L. Brandes and John Lieb

 

Wendy is a lawyer, professor and children’s book author. Her puzzles have appeared in the Inkubator, The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, USA Today, Boswords and Universal Crosswords. When she is not thinking about crosswords, she can be found knitting, engaging in vicious games of Catan, or rooting on the Yankees, Rangers, Giants and Swarthmore Garnet.

John is from Philadelphia but now lives in West Roxbury, MA. where he teaches math at Roxbury Latin School. He attended The Haverford School in Haverford, PA and studied math at Williams College in Williamstown, MA.

His FaceBook page contains personal information and this wonderful picture.  As for the picture, John was kind enough to write:  The story of the outfit is that at my school, the day before Spring Break is a dress down/costume day, and the Elvis costume was my outfit a few years back. Fun to walk around as the King for a day...

I made good time solving Wendy and John's puzzle. I found very little drek and skated around very nicely and I'll point out some of my favs. I think our friend Irish will like the dearth of 3-letter fill: COT EOS SAT SRS SUE TEM TKO

Across:

1. __ board: ABOVE - Here it is and its opposite 

6. Crab organ: GILL.

10. Rumple: MUSS.

14. 24/7, say: RATIO - The RATIO of women to men public school teachers is approximately 3:1

15. One of the Three Rivers Stadium rivers: OHIO - The stadium was named in February 1969 for its location at the confluence of the Allegheny River and Monongahela River, which forms the Ohio River. It has since been torn down.

16. Opposing: ANTI.

17. Like the lines in a Mondrian painting: CRISS CROSS - Piet Mondrian's works have sold for $50M. No, really!!

19. "Sourced from the same material" abbr.: IBID - I loathed typing footnotes and bibliographies. Word makes it easier I'm told.

20. Baseball family name: ALOU.

21. McIntosh product: APPLESAUCE - I filled in APPLESAUCE and then had to see that an "a" was not in the name of the product. 🙄

23. Make potable, as seawater: DESALT - The Carlsbad DESALt plant near San Diego makes 50 millions gallons of water per day.

25. "Buona __": SERA - Good evening in Italian

26. Letters that end a fight: TKO 😀

27. Small holes: EYELETS.

29. Cholesterol drug: STATIN.

31. Spotted: CALICO.

34. Bread in a skillet: PONE - Corn PONE bread

35. Reluctant agreement: YOU'RE NOT WRONG - I'll bet the next word in this dialogue is "but"

39. Sumptuous: LUXE - I've never used it or heard it used

40. Agitate: STIR UP.

41. Actress Milano: ALYSSA.

44. One who may taunt "Mom loves me best": SIBLING - Remember the recent word of nibling?

48. Pro __: TEM- Translation: "For the time being". The Vice President is the president of the Senate but in his or her absence there is a president PRO TEM. The current one is Patty Murray of Washington state.

49. Diamond appraisers?: UMPS 😀

52. Waver: TEETER.

53. "Sesame Street" song that's complete rubbish?: I LOVE TRASH.

56. __ latte: CHAI - We see CHAI so often here that I will stop adding that it is Chinese for tea

57. Added amount: MORE.

58. Threat to global stability: ROGUE STATE.

60. Viola Davis achievement, in brief: EGOT.

61. "Now!": ASAP.

62. Reduces to tiny bits: RICES.

63. Some tax IDs: SSNS.

64. Big name in salad dressing: KEN'S - We like KEN'S but we love Dorothy Lynch Dressing that is made in Columbus, NE

  

65. __ quotes: SCARE - quotation marks used around a word or phrase when they are not required, thereby eliciting attention or doubts.

I'm not sure Dave did
such a great job!

Down:

1. Boardwalk business: ARCADE.

2. Grain used in animal feed: BARLEY.

3. Useless: OTIOSE.

4. Red and green lights, e.g.: VISUAL CUES - Some people don't pay all that much attention to those cues

5. Aurora's counterpart: EOS - Godesses of Dawn

6. Fuel for climbers: GORP  Most recognize gorp to be an acronym for its four main ingredients, "granola, oats, raisins, and peanuts.

7. Places with stacks of silver dollars: I HOPS 😀 - Here's five of them

8. Cotton thread: LISLE.

From the 1920's

9. Second-person plural?: LOSERS 😀 Yes, the second place person is "the first LOSER"

10. Mother of Hermes: MAIA - It (had to) filled itself in

11. Begin to open up?: UNBUTTON.

12. Gecko's specialty: STICKING.

13. Focus of some record keepers?: SIDE ONE - It could be an alternate for A-SIDE and B-SIDE but I like this: 

SIDE ONE is playing below in this two-record set with side two on the top of the upper record. When Side two finishes playing, the two records are flipped over and side three will now play which is on the back of the upper record. Side four is on the back of the lower record. 

18. Source of the Dutton family's wealth on "Yellowstone": CATTLE.

22. Didn't play: SAT.

24. Part of a billionaire's jet set?: LEAR - 10 billionaires with jets more expensive than LEARS

28. Trespasses: SINS - We Congregationalists asked to have our "debts forgiven" while the Methodists across the street were doing the same with their "trespasses".

30. Furious and then some: APOPLECTIC.

32. Help in turning a double into a triple: COT 😀 We used a rollaway.

33. Beverly Cleary's "__ Spofford": OTIS.

35. Treats baked in Swiss roll pans: YULE LOGS.

 

36. Element in "Night of the Living Dead": OXYMORON.

37. Squirm: WRITHE.

38. __ Goldberg machine: RUBE - You figure out what it does. 😀

39. W. Coast daily: LA TIMES.

42. Jane's "Glee" role: SUE - Jane Lynch as the P.E. teacher

43. Sunset Limited operator: AMTRAK.

45. End of a course in Greek literature?: ITHACA - ITHACA is the home and kingdom of Odysseus, and it is the place he most desires to return to. It represents Odysseus' love for his home, family, and an end to his long and arduous journey. Yeah, I knew that. 😗

46. More like a Marie Kondo disciple: NEATER - An organizer guru

47. Quarterback Bob who won two Super Bowls with the Dolphins: GRIESE - Bob led the only team to win a Super Bowl by going undefeated in the 1972 season, 17 - 0. The Dolphins also won the next year going 15 - 2.

50. Essay text: PROSE.

51. Carl who said, "We are made of star-stuff": SAGAN.

54. Checks out: VETS.

55. Takes late courses: SUPS 😀 Uh, that's meal courses. 

59. Sch. team captains, often: SRS.