Sunday May 21, 2023 MaryEllen Uthlaut

Theme: "Performance Reviews" - Each common phrase was humorously rephrased as if it's action fitting the professional in each clue.

23A. The lazy housekeeper ...: LET THE DUST SETTLE.

43A. The disruptive hairstylist ...: MADE WAVES.

72A. The fashionable archaeologist ...: DUG IN HER HEELS.

98A. The overzealous electrician ...: BLEW A FUSE.

123A. The absent-minded dentist ...: LEFT AN IMPRESSION.

16D. The psychic bartender ...: CALLED THE SHOTS.

50D. The fearless trapeze artist ...: GOT THE HANG OF IT.

This puzzle is similar to MaryEllen's "Caution: People Overworking" theme. The mechanic BLEW A GASKET in that puzzle, which is tighter with the "overworking" layer.

Across:

1. Chow __: noodle dish: MEIN. Literally "fried noodles". Chow = Fried. Mein = Noodles. Both Cantonese.

5. Sp. girls: SRTAS.

10. USDA Choice, e.g.: GRADE.

15. Vinegar, chemically: ACID.

19. Peak near Catania: ETNA. Catania is a Sicilian port city.

20. Economical with words: TERSE.

21. Collar extension: LAPEL.

22. Support staff?: CANE.  BEAM is another 4-letter option.

26. Rootless water plant: ALGA.

27. "Lost in transit" inquiry: TRACER.

28. Natural gas component: ETHANE. Sometimes it's ETHENE.

29. Sent through a network: EMAILED.

31. Charm: ENCHANT.

33. Like some inscriptions: UNDATED. Mount Huashan was not that popular when we climbed. "Zhouqin Was Here" was probably gone.

35. WSW reversal: ENE.

36. Police dept. title: DET. Detective. Also 113. Behind, in a way: TAILING.

37. John Bunyan, notably: PURITAN.

41. Await decision: PEND.

42. Dull brown: DUN. New meaning to me. This horse showed up when I googled.

46. Leaning: TILTED.

48. Hoops player: CAGER.

53. First name in Renaissance painting: MONA.

54. Singles: ONES.

56. "Can't help ya": NAH.

57. Breakdown of social norms: ANOMIE. We've had this fill before.

59. Former capital of Japan: KYOTO.

61. Big cat voiced by Angelina Jolie in "Kung Fu Panda": TIGRESS.

65. Domed halls: ROTUNDAS.

68. Nibbled (at): PECKED.

70. Rush-order letters: ASAP.

71. Scrap: ORT.

76. Color gradation: HUE.

77. "The Wizard of Oz" actor: LAHR (Bert)

79. New __, Connecticut: CANAAN.

80. Part of a wedding toast, maybe: ANECDOTE. Boomer and I would have been married for 22 years next Thursday.

82. Summer pest, informally: SKEETER. Also 128. Burrowing bug: BORER.

84. Workbench grips: VISES.

87. Moved suddenly: DARTED.

88. "His Dark Materials" cable network: HBO.

89. Arctic native: SEAL.

91. Math points: LOCI.

94. "One Minute Man" rapper Elliott: MISSY.

95. Salt, say: SEASON.

101. System of connected PCs, for short: LAN. Local Area Network.

102. Fast-food option: TO GO.

104. For all __ and purposes: INTENTS.

106. Air traffic org.: FAA.

109. Unit of energy: ERG.

110. Showed plainly: EVINCED. Also 58. Draw forth: EDUCE.

115. Lumbered: PLODDED.

117. Playing fields: ARENAS.

121. Farm: GRANGE.

122. Vegan protein: TOFU. My favorite: stir-fried tofu.

126. Footnote note: IBID.

127. "100 years of improvement" retailer: LOWE'S. Named after the founder Lowe.

129. Mineral no longer used in baby powder: TALC.

130. Woven fish traps: NETS.

131. Fashion journalist __ Leon Talley: ANDRE. Here with Anna Wintour.

132. FaceTime alternative: SKYPE.

133. Smite, as a dragon: SLAY.

Down:

1. Like cheese in a fondue pot: MELTED.

2. Timeless, poetically: ETERNE.

3. Still together: INTACT.

4. Super casual "Sure!": NATCH. Naturally.

5. Breastbone: STERNUM.

6. Wine choice: RED.

7. Factual: TRUE.

8. Support staff member: Abbr.: ASST.

9. "The Orville" star MacFarlane: SETH.

10. Mercury Seven astronaut John: GLENN.

11. Had status: RATED.

12. Fitting: APT.

13. Take out: DELETE.

14. Periodic-table entry: ELEMENT.

15. Berry native to the Amazon rainforest: ACAI. You can get this puree at Trader Joe's.

17. Unworldly young woman: INGENUE.

18. Maze setback: DEAD END.

24. Messy stack: HEAP.

25. Steam room: SAUNA.

30. Calculating, in a way: ADDING. Not the adjective.

32. Theme park shuttle: TRAM.

34. Sanctuary section: APSE. And 38. Words from a promising couple?: I DO.

39. 6.2 miles, roughly: TEN K.

40. Like the White Sox at Fenway Park: AWAY. Hi there, Bill G, our Steve was at the NBCU box last Tuesday for the Twins vs. Dodgers game. Twins won.

44. Election Day figure: VOTER.

45. Patriarch who "walked with God": ENOCH.

47. Spencer of "Good Morning America": LARA. She used to host "Antiques Roadshow".

48. Holiday songs: CAROLS.

49. Iditarod wear: ANORAK.

51. Bird that can run 30 mph: EMU.

52. Outer layer: RIND. Have you tried sumo oranges? So good.

55. Dutch painter Jan: STEEN.

60. Starts operating, as a store: OPENS.

62. Sat in traffic, e.g.: IDLED.

63. Fries in a little butter: SAUTES.

64. Quick: SPEEDY.

66. Lab gelatins: AGARS. Did not know it's plurable.

67. Wrongdoing: SIN.

69. Hawaii's Mauna __: KEA.

73. __ academy: NAVAL.

74. Selassie of Ethiopia: HAILE.

75. Fast one: SCAM.

78. WNBA stat: REBS. Rebounds.

81. Nike's __-fit fabric: DRI. It draws the sweat from the surface.

83. Honked: TOOTED.

85. Flair: ELAN.

86. Like fluffy towels: SOFT.

90. Deep black: EBON.

92. Prompt: CUE.

93. Stevie Wonder's "__ She Lovely": ISN'T.

95. Skipped an early appointment, maybe: SLEPT IN.

96. Piercing place: EARLOBE.

97. Short work of fiction: NOVELLA.

99. Broaden: WIDEN.

100. Curio stand: ETAGERE.

103. Name seen in many hotels: GIDEON. Bible distributor. 

105. Gentlemen: SIRS.

106. Curtain rod decoration: FINIAL. Learning moment for me.

107. Zambia neighbor: ANGOLA.

108. Bureau: AGENCY.

111. Do lunch?: CATER. Nice clue.

112. Wipe clean: ERASE.

114. Has legs, so to speak: LASTS.

116. Clothing: DUDS.

118. Pen points: NIBS.

119. Every which way: AMOK.

120. Moving with ease: SPRY.

124. Start of some subj. lines: FWD.

125. N.Y.'s AOC, e.g.: REP.

Excited to have received the author's copies of my book: Sip & Solve Easy Mini Crosswords, which will be officially released on May 30, 2023 Tuesday. It's edited by the talented Francis Heaney. 

You can order on Amazon now. Should be delivered to you on June 1.

C.C.

Saturday, May 20. 2023 , Kate Chin Park

 Saturday Themeless by Kate Chin Park

Kate is a custom furniture maker who is a proud non-whiz when it 

comes to solving and wordplay. 

Originally from Spokane, she has lived in San Diego, Brooklyn, London, and Brooklyn again before settling down in Oakland. She began solving crosswords in 2019 and making them in 2021, and credits mentorship both formal and informal for her growth as a constructor. When not awash in words or sawdust, Kate loves to read, eat the food her partner cooks, snuggle with her hostile-to-everyone-else cat, and watch the Golden State Warriors. Here is her website 

This puzzle was a fun exercise where I ended up where I started, the NE. Kate's grid is eye-catching with 108 open squares.

Across:

1. Staying safe, in a way: MASKING UP.

10. Best effort: A-GAME - I don't know about you but these Saturday puzzles take my A-GAME

15. Request for multifactor authentication?: ASK ANYONE 😀

16. Gurira who plays Okoye in the MCU: DANAI - 0 for 3. I did not know DANAI, Gurira or what MCU (Marvel Comic Universe) stood for. DANAI filled herself.

17. Collective noun?: PHILATELY 😀- Stamp collection finally hit me and then I stumbled through the spelling.

18. Choose to join: OPT IN - Philately is not a hobby to which I would OPT IN

19. Hook, in journalism lingo: LEDE - Don't bury the LEDE! 12/7/41 "Visibility will be very limited today as you look out over Pearl Harbor."

20. Quench: SATE.

22. Deadly septet: SINS.

23. Chicane shape, on some racetracks: ESS - A tight sequence of corners in alternate directions.  Usually inserted into a circuit to slow the cars, often just before what had been a high-speed corner. We all know of chicanery but I was happy to learn this form of that root word.

24. "Well played": GOOD ONE.

27. Violent figure of Egyptian mythology: SET - Talk about yer Saturday cluing!

28. Explorer's code, hopefully: LEAVE NO TRACE.

30. Twisted: WRITHED.

32. Birthplace and subject of writer Vu Trong Phung: HANOI - This was pretty obvious after a letter or two

33. "Mais oui": BIEN SÛR: Granddaughter, who minored in French and  just finished her first year of grad school in D.C., told me this means, OF COURSE.

34. Seneca Falls Convention figure: STANTON - Elizabeth Cady STANTON was a big part of this convention supporting women's suffrage. 

36. Alpaca habitat: ANDES - Recently I told you of my former student who now lives in Colorado and makes hats of of the fleece of these animals that live mostly in the ANDES. This is Debbie's website: https://shoutoutcolorado.com/meet-deb-larsen-culig-from-design-marketing-advertising-executive-to-custom-hatter/

37. Tutsi or Hutu: RWANDAN - I once showed Hotel RWANDA as a substitute and I really learned of the barbarity between these two tribes.

38. Childish taunt: NEENER NEENER - Sheldon gets one from Stephen Hawking. Our lovely Lucina is polite enough to NOT send this to me in winter while I am freezing and she is luxuriating in the warmth of the desert.

41. Chats privately, briefly: DMS - Direct Message rather than a reply on social media.

42. Like some yoga socks: TOELESS.

43. FD employee: EMT - My friends son Grant, just became a fully certified EMT for the Bennington (NE) Fire Department, following in his dad's footsteps.

46. "Fortunately, the Milk" writer Gaiman: NEIL - Simon, deGrasse Tyson, Sedaka and the first man on the Moon did not make the Saturday cut.

48. Permafrost concern: MELT - Parts of the permafrost are melting under the AlCan highway which breaks up the roadway. Therefore some repair sections are getting insulation underneath to keep the ground colder and less susceptible to melting.

49. BBQ side: SLAW.

50. Scottish cattle: ANGUS - Some have made their way to this part of the world and fetch big money when sold at auction. 

52. Immeasurable regions of the universe: DEEP SPACE - Voyager 1 left Earth in 1977 and it took 35 years for it to leave our solar system and enter interstellar space in 2012 even traveling at ~ten miles/second. Real time Voyager data after nearly 46 years in space.

55. Nosh: MUNCH.

56. Hall addition: ENSHRINEE and 21. Brian who said ambient music "must be as ignorable as it is interesting": ENO. Brian was an ENSHRINEE in the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame as a part of Roxy Music in 2019.

57. Composition: ESSAY.

58. Waiting periods?: DOT DOT DOT ...  - 8. Took off: UNLADED - We often see LADE as fill for filling up, so took off...

Down:

1. Tall, sappy type: MAPLE 😀 

2. Clambake debris: ASHES.

3. Starts to slip: SKIDS.

4. Curly cruciferous commodity: KALE - Today I learned "chicane" and "cruciferous". The names have vanished already.

5. Garten of earthly delights: INA 😀 - Garten is chef INA's last name

6. "She Said" paper, briefly: NYT - The trailer for the movie based on two New York Times reporters who investigated Harvey Weinstein.

7. Runs past: GOES OVER.

9. "Doogie Kamealoha, M.D." star __ Elizabeth Lee: PEYTON films on 25. Island with a state capital: OAHU.  Peyton Manning and Peyton Place? Not so much on Saturday 

10. Stir: ADO.

11. Breaks: GAPS - The famous Watergate tapes had an 18-minute GAP

12. Evil Christmas figure such as Krampus: ANTI-SANTA - I guess...

13. State cat in New England: MAINE COON.

14. "On the Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies" author: EINSTEIN - Oh, I see 😳

24. Prepares: GETS SET.

26. Some fracking byproducts: ETHANES - I suppose...

28. Summer material: LINEN.

29. Chilling episode?: R AND R - Rest and Relaxation 

30. Vintage collections: WINE MENUS 😀

31. Logo overhauls, e.g.: REDESIGNS.

33. Label for some musicians?:  😀 BAND NAME.

34. Most satisfying, as a victory: SWEETEST - The Huskers beat the Iowa Hawkeyes last year after losing to them 7 games in a row. They were still 4 - 8 but still...

35. They may be fake: TANS - Yeah, I know...

37. Chile __: stuffed dish: RELLENO.

39. Bucharest's nat.: ROM - Irishman Bram Stoker based his Dracula character on ROMANIAN prince Vlad the Impaler

40. Cried out for: NEEDED.

43. Runner in ancient African cave art: ELAND - It's just a week after Mother's Day, so...

44. Funk saxophonist Parker: MACEO - My grandson Parker is named after jazz great Charlie "The Birdman" Parker not this gentleman.

45. Chirp: TWEET.

47. 2021 Pixar film that premiered at the Aquarium of Genoa: LUCA.

49. Rotisserie part: SPIT.

51. Protected by an icy exterior, perhaps: SHY.

53. Degree of difficulty?: 😀 PHD.

54. B'way sign: SRO.