Saturday, June 21, 2025, Alan Massengill, Doug Peterson

Themeless Saturday by Alan Massengill & Doug Peterson

Today is the first day of Summer as the Solstice occurred last night when the sun was directly over the Tropic of Cancer. We will have the greatest time of daylight and, as you see at the left, you will see the sunrise of this day at Stonehenge. For us here in Nebraska, the grackles will soon be moving on from our feeders and will not be missed.

Today's puzzle by Alan and Doug has a nice wide-open grid with only 27 blocks and also had 102 open squares. The long grid-spanners were very "gettable" and clever fill added to the fun. Hanging on to LEGIT too long was a speed bump. My potential Natick was at _AVI/_ONCE and for some reason, NONCE made some success for one-off and the Congratulations window came up.

 

Across:

1. Ocean spray?: SEA SALT.

8. Sings the blues: ACTS SAD - I chose Buck's version over Ringo's.

15. Flurry: HUSTLE AND BUSTLE.

17. Particulars from behind closed doors: INTIMATE DETAILS - She should know.

18. Capital of Cambodia: RIELS - A Big Mac in Phnom Penh, the uh, capital of Cambodia,  costs 23,938 REILS

19. States: AVERS 20. __ service: LIP - He AVERS that he will back me up but it just turned out to be LIP service when I needed him.

21. Space that may be kind of a lot: ACRE 😀

22. Signs: OMENS - Get to the basement!

23. Numbers game: KENO.

24. Really chill: ZEN.

25. Highlands estate owner: LAIRD.

26. One duo and two trios: OCTET 😀 (1 x 2) + (2 x 3) = 2 + 6 = 8

27. Works from home?: BATS 😀

28. Command performances?: SALUTES.

QEII and and the lads

30. Nancy, to Fritzi Ritz: NIECE - 1944 edition

32. Surveyor's support: BIPOD.

33. Game for pick-y people: LOTTERY.

35. CLE team: CAVS.

36. Final challenge, perhaps: ESSAY 😀 I always liked multiple choice better- 

37. Spark joy in: ELATE.

39. NL players since 2022: DH'S - The National League finally started using it 49 years later.

42. Groks: GETS - We solvers grok and suss

43. No-hit performance?: B-SIDE 😀 - Hanging onto LEGIT too long and not knowing BRITE left me starting at _ S E D E for a while. Richie Valens' La Bamba was once a B-SIDE.

44. Drink choice: NEAT - We veterans here remember Tinbeni who refused to have ice in his scotch 

45. "How To Triumph Like a Girl" poet Limón: ADA ¯\_(ツ)_/¯  The poem

46. New York minute: TRICE.

47. One-off: NONCE ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

48. "It came back to me so easily!": LIKE RIDING A BIKE.

51. "Let me worry about that": IVE GOT IT COVERED.

52. Signified: DENOTED.

53. Text-style workers: EDITORS - A fun play on the word textile

Down:

1. Red selection: SHIRAZ - I pick up on the clue for red wine but this wine naif needed a lot of help for the variety 

2. Carol Burnett character: EUNICE - Eunice and her Mama had issues

3. Toward a paddle wheel: ASTERN.

4. Steps over a wall: STILE.

5. Element of the Third Pillar of Islam: ALMS.

6. Green span: LEA.

7. Tea ceremony surfaces: TATAMIS.

The mat is called a TATAMI

8. Plus ones?: ADDENDS - This math teacher deserves a time out for trying to see this as someone who is taken as date to an event instead of...

9. Many semi pros: CBERS - I saw semi as a truck and not 1/2 

10. Sounds of contempt: TUTS.

11. Retirement income org.: SSA.

12. Lift provider on a runway: STILETTO - I'll admit my first thought was of supportive underwear.

Can be hazardous

13. Only Top 40 hit for actor/singer Jack Wagner: ALL I NEED - It reached #2 behind Madonna's Like A Virgin

14. Tyrants: DESPOTS.

16. "Give up?" comeback: NEVER - General McAuliffe had a different way to respond to a German demand to give up in 1944.

22. Western: OATER.

23. Trademarked pods: K CUPS - I use them everyday but can't find any strong enough  

25. Chabert of "Mean Girls": LACEY - She's on the left below. I did not know her name but her face was instantly familiar as my lovely bride is a big fan of her much different persona as Hallmark's Queen Of Christmas.

 
 

26. Fruit in caponata: OLIVE - Yeah, I guess it is a fruit but I had never thought of it as one.

27. Almost-ready versions: BETAS.

29. Ease up: ABATE.

30. Plummet: NOSEDIVE.

31. "Don't sit there": IT'S TAKEN - Not a pleasant chore

33. Passport, for one: LEGAL ID.

34. "Guilty as charged": YES I DID - I made a harmless decision to not doing what I was told and the principal called me in. I fessed up and simply said, "Guilty as charged" and it was all over.

35. Rhythmic flow: CADENCE.

38. Permissible: LICIT - As I said, I had LEGAL here for way too long.

39. "Taxi Driver" Oscar nominee: DENIRO - His famous line from that movie

40. Cyberwarrior, sometimes: HACKER.

41. Lipizzans, e.g.: STEEDS - Horse lover General George Patton was instrumental in saving a large number of Lipizzans from the advancing Russians in 1945.

43. "Rainbow __": classic cartoon that inspired collectible dolls: BRITE.

44. "Check": NO BET - The player can either say "Check" or tap the table

46. Turkey __: TROT.

47. Blue species native to Pandora: NAVI - I have never seen the movie Avatar

49. Comedian Nwodim: EGO - I'm getting used to her name

50. Ragnarok figure: GOD.

Saturday, October 12 2024, Bettina Elias Siegel, Dan Elias

Saturday Themeless by Bettina Elias Siegel & Dan Elias

This is a puzzle where I had to struggle. The cluing was too clever by half in some places but I persevered. I use Across Lite to solve these puzzles in advance and in this one I used the Check Word function a few times and every time, it said the word or partial word was correct and so I soldiered on. 

I got SIDE HUSTLES right away and I fought CAREER COACH's cluing and was told AMUSE BOUCHE ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ was right as I slowly filled in the crossers there.  ECHOLESS and SHE GOAT were, uh, "out there"! I'll point some out some other head scratchers as we progress through the grid. The pinwheel 11-letter triple stacks are noteworthy. 

Across:

1. Extra work: SIDE HUSTLES - Like most other starting teachers, I had several of these - Bricklayer, landscaper, retail salesperson, train brakeman and anything else I could do to bring in some cash.

12. Historic period: AGE - Erasing ERA and starting over opened up this entire corner. 

15. Path finder: CAREER COACH.

16. Aloha nui __: affectionate Hawaiian phrase: LOA - "All my love:\"

17. Special bite: AMUSE BOUCHE - An AMUSE BOUCHE (amuses the mouth in French) is a single, bite-sized hors d'œuvre. Once again ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

18. D.C. United's org.: MLS.

19. Enhancer of soups or venue for hoops: MSG 😀

 

   


20. Bar fly-er?: DART - Saturday cluing! 

21. Gail of "NYPD Blue": O'GRADY ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

23. Eat: DINE.

24. 19th century women's rights advocate Amelia: BLOOMER - Yup, that's where that item of apparel originated.

25. Much-feared natural disaster: BIG ONE.

28. Wildflower once thought to repel pests: FLEABANE - Those words make sense

29. Strip, as a ship: UNRIG - DERIG had the same sense but didn't work

30. Super time: BLAST.

31. Singing syllable: TRA.

32. John Swinney, for one: SCOT.

33. Nudges: PRODS.

34. Enduring dispute: FEUD - Joan and Betty had a famous one

35. Go off course: YAW - I have said many times in this forum that a plane can YAW (crab) and stay on course. 

36. Verse inverse: PROSE.

37. "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" writer/illustrator: CARLE - The "C" at CARLE/CASSAT ws my last fill.

38. Kelp and nori: SEAWEEDS.

40. One who may be sacked: PASSER 😀 Even Patrick Mahomes 

41. Diplomatic mission: EMBASSY - Here are some of the 177 in D.C.

42. Old book collection?: DUST 😀

43. Tops: APEXES.

44. Cooks (up): GINS Etymology  I was always amused at excuses kids can GIN UP to explain whey they don't have an assignment done. 

45. Wit: WAG.

48. "Chandelier" singer: SIA - Entertainers are always looking for a way to stand out from the crowd.

49. Adapt quickly: TURN ON A DIME - Oh did I say "against"? I meant "for".

52. "Catch-22" pilot played by Bob Balaban: ORR - Bob played ORR in the 1970 movie but is probably better remembered for playing Russell Dalrymple in Seinfeld 19 years later

     
 

53. Pay-to-play need: ARCADE TOKEN.

54. Connecticut governor Lamont: NED.

55. Spine-opening yoga pose: SEATED TWIST.

Down:

1. Phishing hook: SCAM - My "grandson" has called me three times for cash bail money. Uh, I was born at night, but not last night!

2. Animal nutritionist who founded a pet food company in 1946: IAMS - Paul IAMS invented his dog food in 1950 and called it 999.

3. Pharmacopeia entry: DRUG.

An 1868 edition

4. Some MIT grads: EES.

5. Following: HEEDING - I know who I need to be HEEDING in this house 😀

6. Suave: URBANE.

7. Williams work: SCORE - Nobody does it better than John

8. Promote: TOUT.

9. Switzerland's __ Léman: LAC.

10. Still waiting for a callback?: ECHOLESS- 😀 Okay...

11. Picasso sculpture subject: SHE GOAT - 70-yr-old Pablo made this in 1950, the same year Paul Iams made his dog food. 

12. School songs: ALMA MATERS - A touching scene from Grey's Anatomy as college kids gather and sing their ALMA MATER outside the hospital after a mass shooting at their school.

13. Words to live by: GOLDEN RULE.

14. Beginner's book: EASY READER - Did anyone else read about Dick, Jane and Spot?

My EASY READER

22. Comedian Delaney: ROB.

23. "Yes!": DO IT.

24. Propeller part: BLADE.

25. Summer on Cape Cod, e.g.: BUSY SEASON.

26. South American domain name: INCA EMPIRE.

27. Election advice from young Grace Bedell to Mr. Lincoln: GROW A BEARD - On his way to his inauguration, Abe stopped in Grace's hometown of Westfield to thank her personally. A statue is there now to commemorate that meeting.

28. Fairy __: cotton candy, in Australia: FLOSS.

30. "The Pianist" Oscar winner: BRODY.

33. Word with blood or water: PRESSURE 😀

34. Firmly fixed: FAST.

36. Pre-euro Spanish coins: PESETAS.

37. Impressionist painter born in Allegheny, Pennsylvania: CASSATT.

39. Surfer's need: WAX - We're WAXIN' down our surf boards, Can't wait 'til June...

40. Was fully groan?: PUNNED 😀

42. Electronics component: DIODE - When I got my physics training, solid state DIODES were just  starting to replace vacuum tubes.

44. Swarming pest: GNAT.

45. Site that may host an edit war: WIKI.

46. Iowa college town: AMES.

47. Chap: GENT.

50. TV pioneer: RCA.

51. DJIA part: DOW.