Tuesday, June 17, 2025 Lee Taylor

The Dog Days of Summer.  The first word of each two-word theme answer is a breed of dog.

9-Down. Classmate who helps with a science project: LAB PARTNER.  Everything you wanted to know about the Labrador Retriever. 

11-Down. Post-retirement period: GOLDEN YEARS.  Things you might not know about the Golden Retriever.

25-Down. Briefs alternative: BOXER SHORTS.  Everything you ever wanted to know about a Boxer.

30. Hoarse speaker's feature: HUSKY VOICE.  Things you might not know about a Husky.

And the unifier:

71-Across. Head honcho, and a feature of 9-, 11-, 25-, and 30-Down: TOP DOG.  Note that each theme answer is in the Down position with the breed Dog at the Top of the answer.

Here's the Grid, so you can find all the Top Dogs.

Across:

1. Container on a bar top: TIP JAR.

7. Hay bundle: BALE.

11. Wrigley product: GUM.

14. Fire up: AROUSE.

15. Site whose original name was AuctionWeb: EBAY.

16. __ and only: ONE.

17. Literary realm created by C.S. Lewis: NARNIA.  Usually its the characters from Narnia are we are asked to identify.

18. Piercing spot: LOBE.

19. "The Book of Mormon" org.: LDS.  As in the Latter Day Saints.

20. Winter hat feature: EARFLAP.

22. Big commotions: ADOs.  Much Ado About Nothing.

23. "Dancing Queen" pop quartet: ABBA.  ABBA was a Swedish pop group that was named using the initials of its 4 members: Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson, and Anni-Frid Lyngstad.  In 1974, ABBA was Sweden's first winner of the Eurovision Song Contest with the song Waterloo.

26. Harp constellation: LYRA.  Can't you just see the harp shape??

27. Actress Russo or artist Magritte: RENÉ.  One female, one male.

René with a René.

28. "You Bet Your Life" host Marx: GROUCHO.  His given name was Julius Henry Marx (Oct. 2, 1890 ~ Aug. 19, 1977).  He had two older brothers (Chico and Harpo) and two younger brothers (Gummo and Zeppo).

31. Depleted: DRAINED.

33. Tyrannosaurus __: REX.

34. Throw, as a shot put: HURL.

36. Cafeteria item: TRAY.

37. Fill with wonder: AWE.

38. "Stop asking me!": I SAID NO!

40. Subj. for some citizenship applicants: ESL.  As in English as a Second Language.  This has become a crossword staple.

43. Skating venue: RINK.

45. Regard as: DEEM.

46. __ moment: AHA!

47. Causes consternation: DISMAYS.

50. Off-campus housing area: FRAT ROW.

52. Amazon gadget activated by saying "Alexa": ECHO.

53. Lemming kin: VOLE.  More than you ever wanted to know about Lemmings and Voles.

55. "Full Court Press" network: ESPN.

56. Like some vivid colors: NEON.

57. Wind instrument with an oval body: OCARINA.

60. Sealing goo: TAR.

61. Insta uploads: PICS.

62. Quarterback Joe who was MVP of the 1969 Super Bowl: NAMATH.

66. Writer's rep: AGT.  As in Agent.

67. Gets an A+ on: ACES.

68. Small apartment: STUDIO.

69. "__ Misérables": LES.  This musical was in the news recently.

70. Love, in tennis: ZERO.  Why is Zero called Love in tennis?  Who knows?

Down:

1. Browned by the sun: TAN.

2. Nest egg inits.: IRA.  As in Individual Retirement Account.

3. __ favor: please, in Spanish: POR.  Today's Spanish lesson.

4. Alaska's capital: JUNEAU.  The capital of Alaska is named after Joseph Juneau (May 28, 1836 ~ Mar 1, 1899), a French-Canadian gold miner and prospector.

5. Himalayas continent: ASIA.

6. Caboose: REAR.  //  And 8-Down. On a train: ABOARD.

7. __ laugh: BELLY.

10. Hurricane center: EYE.  We have now entered hurricane season.  Fortunately, there is no activity yet.

12. Incomplete: UNDONE.

13. Botched, with "up": MESSED.

21. Regional plant life: FLORA.

22. Met solo: ARIA.  You knew I was going to include this Aria from Carmen.

23. Taj Mahal city: AGRA.

24. Prepare, as coffee or tea: BREW.

29. Dishes for a special meal: CHINA.

32. Bakery allure: AROMA.

35. To-go cup top: LID.

39. Put off: DEFER.

41. Hunt for bargains: SHOP.

42. Putting green, e.g.: LAWN.

44. "It's showtime!": I'M ON!

47. Insurance type that may complement medical: DENTAL.

48. Global cold spell: ICE AGE.

49. Mia Hamm's sport: SOCCER.  Mia Hamm (née Marial Margaret Hamm; b. Mar. 17, 1972) makes frequent guest appearances in the puzzles.

51. Join forces: TEAM UP.

54. Coach Ted played by Jason Sudeikis: LASSO.

58. Research org.: INST.  As an Institution.

59. Alliance headed by Mark Rutte: Abbr.: NATO.  Mark Rutte (b. Feb. 17, 1967) is s a Dutch politician who has served as the 14th secretary general of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization since October 2024.

61. La __, Bolivia: PAZ.

63. Contribute (to): ADD.

64. Spanish uncle: TIO.  More of today's Spanish lesson.

65. Greedy one: HOG.

חתולה

Monday June 16, 2025 Kathy Lowden

  

Happy Monday, everyone! sumdaze here. If you woke up this morning thinking, "I'm in the mood for some silly rhymes," then today is your lucky day!

Theme:      

Ready, Freddy?

20 Across. "Why should I care if the peasants are starving?," snarled the __: MEAN QUEEN.

26 Across. "Teach your kids some manners! And get better snacks," snapped the __: BITTER SITTER.

43 Across. "Don't try and tell me the route -I've been doing this job for 20 years," growled the __: CRABBY CABBIE.

54 Across. "I need this work done yesterday!," shouted the __: CROSS BOSS.  

No reveal was needed today. Each themer is a two-word phrase where the first word is an adjective describing a cranky attitude and the second word is a human. All the clues are quotes. I liked this tight set! 

Moody Foodie???

Across:

1. Large group of bees: SWARM. SWARM is the collective noun for a large group of bees. My backyard neighbor has bees. They SWARM (verb) every year. It is fascinating to watch!

6. Female deer: DOE.  Some other four-legged mammal whose females are called DOEs are goats, antelopes, and rabbits. But today is Monday so ....

9. Expressed disapproval: TSKED.  

"handy"  haha!

14. Olympic swimmer Ledecky: KATIE.     and     48 Across. Rio automaker: KIA.

Last Monday we had 49. Across. Where Katie Ledecky won four Olympic golds:  RIO.

15. Wane: EBB.

16. Swiftly: APACE.  Def.:  (adverb) at a quick pace; swiftly.

If you read this one too swiftly, you might have thought it said "Swiftie".  

Taylor Swift fans call themselves Swifties.

17. Leaves the motor running: IDLES.  

18. Dove's sound: COO.

19. Come up with, as an idea: HIT ON.  

~  another meaning for HIT ON  ~
DH and I met running. He came up alongside me and said, "How you doin'?"

22. Clickable symbols: ICONS.  

23. Alums-to-be: SRS.  high school seniors  

Zits readers know that Pierce recently confused two types of seniors.

24. Sea urchin, on a sushi menu: UNI.  (rhymes with "Moonie")

Out of the 950 species of sea urchin, only 18 are edible.

I hear college students in The UK love UNI.

25. Consumed: ATE.  Yet when we describe people as consumers, the first thing to come to mind is not eaters.

32. Must: HAVE TO.

35. Rejections: NOs.

36. Went by skateboard: RODE.  

Rad Dog

37. Photographer's request: SMILE.  

Peg   ~   Steely Dan   ~  1977

"So won't you SMILE for the camera." 𝅘𝅥𝅯𝅘𝅥𝅯

38. Little one: TOT.

39. Goes out with: DATES.

40. Second to none: BEST.

41. Feel poorly: AIL.

42. Passionate: ARDENT.

46. Abu Dhabi's fed.: UAE.  federation and United Arab Emirites

47. Substance that may be crushed or cubed: ICE.

51. Heroic tales: EPICS.

57. Puts in order: RANKS.

58. Ray gun sound: ZAP.  Sometimes it is "pew".

59. Tests for doctoral candidates: ORALS.

60. Sock terminus, often: ANKLE.  

ANKLE socks

61. Lennox of R&B: ARI.  [b. Courtney Shanade Salter on March 26, 1991 in Washington, D.C.] I watched two videos and had to pass on both. Perhaps someone reading this is a fan and can suggest their favorite Ari Lennox song.

62. __ mignon: FILET.

63. Eye maladies: STYES.

64. TiVo button: REC.

65. Daring achievements: FEATS.  Ultramarathoners complete FEATS with their feets. 

Down:

1. Reads quickly: SKIMS.

2. Flamingo, for one: WADER.  

3. Book of maps: ATLAS.

4. "Non, je ne regrette __": Edith Piaf song: RIEN.  ESP for me but when I listened to the song, I recognized it. The title translates to, "No, I regret nothing." Edith's version came out in 1960.  

5. Wood used for grilling: MESQUITE.  

They are beautiful trees inhabiting arid and semiarid regions throughout
the southwest U.S., Mexico, South America, northern Africa, and eastern Asia.

6. Web of lies: DECEIT.  

7. Double-reed woodwind: OBOE.

8. Black, to poets: EBON.  EBONy.  "To poets" is a hint that the answer is somehow abbreviated.

9. Setting for many Gauguin paintings: TAHITI.  

Parau Api. What's new?, 1892. by Paul Gauguin

10. Silk Road enterprise: SPICE TRADE.  This link takes you to a 518-word article on the Silk Road. Some of the SPICEs that were TRADEd include cloves, ginger, turmeric, nutmeg, frankincense, black pepper, cinnamon, and saffron.

11. The Green Hornet's aide: KATO. I thought he had a lamp so I first tried that. KATO was his crime-fighting sidekick.

12. Business maj.: ECON.  major and ECONomics

13. Fox holes: DENS.

21. "Do __ others ... ": UNTO.

25. Stubborn animal: ASS.

26. Prize at a rodeo: BELT BUCKLE.  

27. Sherlock's teen sister: ENOLA.

28. Go bad: ROT.

29. Fundraiser freebie: TOTE.  I have so many! I keep a TOTE full of TOTEs in my car.

30. Genesis garden: EDEN.

31. Take a breather: REST.

32. U.K.-based bank founded in Asia: HSBC.  Once known as the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited, HSBC began in Hong Kong in 1865 to finance trade between Europe and Asia. Today they are in 58 countries and territories, including the U.S. and Canada. 

33. U.S. citizen: AMER.  The abbreviation in the clue let us know that AMERican would be shortened.

34. Travel document: VISA.

38. Involuntary twitch: TIC.

39. Uses a towel: DRIES OFF.

41. Favorable vote: AYE.  All those in favor....

42. Basics: ABCS.

44. Voices lower than tenors: BASSES.  Last Monday we had 8-Down. Low opera voice: BASSO.  

There are detailed differences between the two; but, basically, basso is an Italian word and usually refers to opera or classical singing. Also note that this week we were looking for a plural answer because of voices.  

45. Film about a real person, informally: BIOPIC.  The word BIOPIC often makes the list of misles (pronounced with a long /i/). These are words that people often mispronounce in their heads while reading them because they do not match the pronunciation with the spelling. Their name comes from misled which people sometimes misread as MY-zel-ed. In the case of BIOPIC, people often read it as bi-OP-ic (rhyming with myopic). Some other misles are:  awry, colonel, corps, infrared, sword, and Yosemite.

48. Fluffy-eared marsupial: KOALA.  

today's "So cute!" moment

49. Small part of an archipelago: ISLET.  According to NOAA, an archipelago is an area that contains a chain or group of islands scattered in lakes, rivers, or the ocean. The Canadian Arctic Archipelago includes 36,563 islands.

50. Aides: Abbr.: ASSTS.  ASSisTS

51. Historical spans: ERAS.  

52. Huff and puff: PANT.  This common nighthawk is PANTing. Read more about how birds PANT at this U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service page.  

53. Deep black: INKY.

54. Policy honcho: CZAR.

55. Not medium or well: RARE.  Think "meat cooking options".

56. Camembert kin: BRIE.  fromage  

Click to enlarge.

The grid:  

I'll be away when today's blog posts. Fingers crossed everything goes smoothly.

Read you later, alligator!