Saturday, July 26, 2025, Malaika Handa

 Saturday Themeless by Malaika Handa

This is my third themeless puzzle by Brooklyn resident Malaika Handa. Malaika is a software engineer who has been making puzzles for three years. You can see an archive of all her puzzles on her website: https://www.girlbosswords.com/ 

Here is a link to a playful but instructive interview with Malaika that includes this wonderful quote from her: 

Also, when you’re solving, look up entries that you don’t know! It’s a game, not a test.

Across:

1. Healing process: AFTER CARE - My DW is as good as you can get!

10. Wedding traditions that involve rings: HORAS - Ah, rings of people not metal

15. Participated in a group ride: CAR POOLED.

16. Not sneaky: OVERT.

17. Shape that might resemble a hexagon sliced in half: TRAPEZOID - Slicing this hexagon yielded a TRAPEZOID, a parallelogram and a triangle. This math guy loved this idea!

18. Shelf: LEDGE.

19. Goddess believed to be the divine mother of the pharaoh: ISIS.

20. Part of JPY: YEN - You have to look very carefully to see the symbol for the JaPanese YEN ¥ in the picture to the left of the number. Security measures on these notes

       

21. Fund: ENDOW.

22. Zip around a soccer field?: NIL - NIL and zip are euphemisms for zero.

23. Texting tech: SMS - We do a lot of Short Message Service text for personal and professional contacts. Here, my grandson and I set up a golf date.

24. Some characters on the U.K. show "The Thick of It": MPS - Members of Parliament ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

26. "Entertaining Is Fun!" columnist Garten: INA.

27. Not likely to enjoy icebreakers: SHY.

28. Actress Issa: RAE - A regular in our crossword cast

29. Asterisk: STAR.

30. 1960s hit covered by Salt-N-Pepa: TWIST AND SHOUT - I'm sure Salt-N-Pepa did just fine, but c'mon...

33. Gradually losing a connection: DRIFTING APART.

34. Bases for some sandwiches: TOASTED BAGELS.

35. Homey lodgings: INNS.

36. "Star Wars" heroine who inspired an Ali Hazelwood romance novel: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ REY ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

  

37. Bird associated with Athena: OWL.

38. Qt. halves: PTS.

39. __ admin: SYS.

40. Some TVs: LGS - We have several 

41. Key ring attachment: FOB - It took me a while to realize I don't have to insert or remove a key from the ignition to start my car.

44. Dessert brand with the early slogan "Delicate. Delightful. Dainty.": JELLO - From 1873 -  1932

46. Golden ratio symbol: PHI - More

47. Country name that has an accent called a síneadh fada: EIRE.

48. To no __: AVAIL.

49. Sauce made with a molcajete y tejolote: GUACAMOLE - Molcajete y tejolote is Spanish for mortar and pestle. Here is the cooking version made of volcanic rock where grinding ingredients  brings out more of the flavor.

51. Host of HGTV's "Ugliest House in America": RETTA - She's a hoot.

52. Age-old navigation aid: URSA MINOR - The end star of URSA MINOR (tail of the small bear) is the North Star. It is the one point in the sky that is in the same position all night and every night and you can always tell which direction in North. The "pointer" stars in the Ursa Major always point to the North Star.

53. Cynical look: SNEER.

54. HelloFresh options: MEAL PLANS.

Down:

1. Cellular protein in microfilaments: ACTIN ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ More than anyone wants to know

2. Language of the Asghar Farhadi film "The Salesman": FARSI.

                 

3. Lag: TRAIL.

4. Actor Omar: EPPS.

5. Spherical garnish: ROE.

6. Lilian Jackson Braun genre: COZY MYSTERY - These books are known for their lighthearted tone, focus on a small-town setting, and the absence of graphic violence or explicit content

7. Some xeriscaping plants: ALOES - Xeriscaping plants need very little water. Can you see some of our crossword ALOES in this landscape?

8. Pull (in): REIN.

9. "Double D" in a Cartoon Network trio: EDD ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Supposedly the "brains" of this group 

10. Features of many well-loved sweatshirts: HOLES.

11. Pizza place: OVEN.

12. Social media users who celebrate an annual "cake day": REDDITORS ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

 

13. Sailor on Jason's quest: ARGONAUT.

14. "Twilight" star: STEWART.

Robert Pattison.   Kristen STEWART

 
23. Loose dress: SHIFT.

24. Anime source, often: MANGA - MANGA are Japanese comic books from which anime (animated versions) are made.

25. Related to teaching: PEDAGOGICAL - A well-known word to this educator 

27. Like fondue: SWISS.

28. Passed: RAN BY.

29. Formal will: SHALL - SHALL and will are alternate form of a future tense verbs. SHALL is more formal and less used. SHALL is much better in this instance.

30. Decode: TRANSLATE - I think we all know that some of the most important decoding in human history happened in this building in Bletchley Park, England during WWII.

31. Nautical table data: TIDES - When I used to take kids to Cocoa Beach, FL we would arrive around 3:30 pm. If you look at the chart. below, you can see we would be there at a very low TIDE if we were there today at that time. There would be a lot of beach showing and a lot of shells would be taken back to the bus.

32. Shoots out: SPEWS.

33. Stop order?: DON'T EVEN - Back off Cowboy!

34. Change places?: TIP JARS.

39. __ plexus: SOLAR.

40. __ apso: LHASA - For you Irish!

41. "Fetch the Bolt Cutters" singer Apple: FIONA - Lyrically, Apple reaches into her past to confront middle-school bullies and looks into her future for an imaginary lover. Wanna listen to this sad/angry song?

42. Acrylic material: ORLON.

43. Heady stuff?: BEERS 😀

45. Lo-cal: LITE.

46. Name of LaCroix's unflavored sparking water: PURE.

47. Track legend Zátopek: EMIL - A Czech runner who won three gold medals in the 1952 Helsinki Olympics.

 

49. Extra, e.g.: GUM - I chew Mentos sugar-free GUM

50. Concert piece: AMP.

Irish Miss sent me a lovely note asking me to share this with you and of course I am happy to do so.

As RCA appears so often in our puzzles and Nipper is so well known, I thought this article would be of interest to the Cornerites. It has special meaning to me as I worked for RTA (Radio Television Appliance) which was a distributor for RCA appliances for 16 years in this building in Albany . This iconic RCA Records dog is now a symbol of New York's capital city. More information. 

 

Friday, July 25, 2025, Dan Schoenholz

Good Morning, Cruciverbalists.  Malodorous Manatee here with the recap of a Friday puzzle by Dan Schoenholz who's puzzles have previously appeared in the LAT and NYT.  Today, at five places in the puzzle (I hope that the count is correct this time 😁) Dan conjures up homophones of common words by splitting the word into two parts.  The result each time is a punny, two-word answer to the themed clue.  All of these answers end with the sound of "ease".  Cleverly, the sound is created four different ways - EASE, IES, EES, IES (again) and EAS.  If, e.g., EZE could had been employed in lieu of the second IES then the feat would have been, perhaps, even more remarkable.

The gimmick is applied at:

17 Across:  Baseball player who flirts with joining the Kansas City squad?: ROYAL TEASE.  From ROYALTIES.

The Baseball Team

31 Across:  Release vital agricultural workers?: FREE BEES.  From FREEBIES.  Everybody loves free stuff.

37 Across:  Sound of a job seeker who ran hard to get to an appointment on time?: INTERVIEW WHEEZE.  From INTERVIEWEES.

46 Across:  Precaution for absent-minded drivers?: TWIN KEYS.  From TWINKIES.  Have you ever asked yourself "Where did I put my keys"?  While holding them in your hand?

64 Across:  Coast Guard's desire after a hurricane warning?: VACANT SEAS.  From VACANCIES.  Stay in port.

The completed grid looks like this:

. . . the the rest of the clues/answers:

Across:

1. Quarrel: SPAT.  Alternative clue:  Hocked a loogie.

5. Hosting, briefly: M C ING.  Rarely have I heard emcee employed as a gerund.

10. "Love & Basketball" actor Omar: EPPS.  A frequent visitor.

14. Electrolyte components: IONS.

15. Cartoon hunter Fudd: ELMER.

16. Dab: BLOT.   A Little BLOT' ll do Ya?  Meh.

19. __ carotene: BETA.  BETA carotene is a plant pigment that can be converted into vitamin A and has antioxidant properties.

20. Form: SHAPE.  What tree has fruits of all shapes and sizes?  The geometree.

21. Fill in for: ACT AS.

23. Three-in-one vaccine, familiarly: DPT.

24. Laughfest: RIOT.  A real hoot!

26. Cheap smoke: STOGIE.  A not-very-good cigar.  Presumably from stoga + ie, the former of which is derived from Conestoga, Pennsylvania.  The Conestoga Cigar Company (1880s) was one of the first Pennsylvanian cigar factories.

28. Legal action: APPEAL.  My buddy was trying to explain the APPEAL of invisible ink...but I just didn't see it.

33. Meadow: LEA.  Frequently visited.

34. French greeting: ALLO.  Sort of rhymes with Bardot.

Brigitte

36. [Bam!]: POW.

43. Hundred Acre Wood resident: ROO.   An A. A. Milne / Winnie The Pooh reference.  See also 2 Down.

44. Mascara site: LASH.

45. Unagi roll fish: EEL.  A frequent bite to eat.

49. Comes to: AWAKES.

52. Sneak: WEASEL. A WEASEL walks into a bar.  The bartender says “Wow, I’ve never served a weasel before. What can I get you?”  “Pop,” goes the weasel.

53. Attempt: STAB.  Idiomatic.

54. "To __ is human ... ": ERR.  . . . and our puzzles often prove us to be human.

55. Majestic: REGAL.

58. Iranian language: FARSI.

62. Suggestions, for short: RECS. RECommendationS

66. German chancellor who presided over reunification: KOHL.  Helmut KOHL served as chancellor from 1982 to 1998.

67. Kagan of the Supreme Court: ELENA.  A frequent visitor.

68. Bring in: EARN.

69. Vodka brand in blue bottles: SKYY.

70. Mean-spirited: NASTY.

71. Narrow opening: SLIT.

Down:

1. Old-fashioned letter opener: SIRS.  Dear SIRS:  . . .

2. Hundred Acre Wood resident: POOH.  See also 43 Across.

3. Actress Taylor-Joy: ANYA.  Not a name familiar to this solver.  Thanks, perps.

4. Airport express lane, briefly: TSA PRE.

5. With 56-Down, annual NYC fashion event: MET. and 56. See 5-Down: GALA.  The Met Gala, formally called the Costume Institute Benefit, is the annual haute couture fundraising festival held for the benefit of the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute in Manhattan. The Met Gala is popularly regarded as the world's most prestigious and glamorous fashion event.

6. Sports stud?: CLEAT  One definition of CLEAT is "a projecting piece of metal or hard rubber attached to the underside of a shoe to provide traction".   Stud seems to be just a bit of a stretch.

7. Apple on a desk: IMAC.  These days, a clue that is a bit ambiguous.

8. Tree house?: NEST.  A "house" found in a tree.

Jackie, Shadow, Gizmo and Sunny's House.

9. Laundry challenge: GREASE.

10. Recede: EBB.

11. Promising time in public broadcasting?: PLEDGE WEEK.  Time to make a financial promise.  It seems as if it's perpetually PLEDGE WEEK.

12. Marie Callender's purchase: POTPIE.

13. Mexico's 31: STATES.  Would have expected estados.

18. Kylo Ren's mother: LEIA.  A Star Wars reference.

22. NBA superstar Curry: STEPH.  Of the Golden State Warriors basketball team.

25. Patron saint of Norway: OLAV.  This solver often forgets which is OLAV and which is OLAF.

OLAV

OLAF

27. Bassoon kin: OBOE.  A musical instrument frequently heard in our puzzles.

28. Comedian Wong: ALI.  How do I clue thee?  Let me count the ways.  Muhammad, Laila, Mahershala, Wong, MacGraw, Baba  . . .

29. Author: PEN.  Used as a verb.  To write.

30. Male-dominated society: PATRIARCHY.   The longest word in this puzzle.

31. Cat-nippers?: FLEAS.  Cute play on words.  Fleas bite (nip) cats.

Sometimes The Cats Fight Back

32. Uses oars: ROWS.  A couple of Fridays ago ROWS was clued as fights.

35. Easter bloom: LILY.  Puns are blooming all over this write up....Like a cat fight between a dandelion and tiger LILY . . . Oops, a daisy.

 

38. So very long: EONS.  

39. Al of "Today": ROKER.  The weather reporter.

40. "Huh?": WHAT.  You can say that again!

41. Capital of Zimbabwe?: ZEE.  One of those clues.  Did it fool you?

42. Overhead trains: ELS. ELevated TrainS.

46. Shakes one's booty: TWERKS.

47. "Don't worry about us": WERE OK.  Or Not.

48. Nearing noon: ELEVEN.  This solver might have clued it differently.

The Grateful Dead

50. Float, as a scent: WAFT.

51. Belittles: ABASES.

53. Writer's angle: SLANT.  As in bias.  Anyone try to squeeze in ITALIC?

57. Nails: ACES.  As in the idiom "to nail it".

59. Authentic: REAL.

60. South Asian wrap: SARI.  SARI puns would be repetitious.

61. "__ that something?": ISN'T.

63. Sneaky: SLY.

65. Vote against: NAY.  We often have to choose between YEA and AYE for the pro votes but with the anti bloc it's EEZE - ier.

Well, it's now time to ease on down the road.  Have a great weekend, everyone!

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