Saturday Themeless Puzzle by Greg Johnson
Today we celebrate an item that goes by many different names depending on where you live. Around here we call this a sub sandwich but I know it is also called a hoagie, grinder, poor boy, hero or what have you. I really like them but when I get one for my lovely bride and I to split, I can only have black olives put on my end.
Today's constructor is our old Saturday friend Greg Johnson. I include his grid at the top of the write-up because two triple-stack grid spanners looks pretty cool to me! Those ninety cells filled in pretty quickly and gave me a fast finish time when coupled with what seemed to be a lot of familiar fill for this solver.

16. Enjoying a solo walk in the woods: AT ONE WITH NATURE - I never felt this more than in the Oregon Redwoods, some of which have been growing for thousands of years
17. It makes a good point: PENCIL SHARPENER - One Redwood can make 50,000,000 pencils to be sharpened
18. Big boat: ARK - The bible said Noah used gopherwood not redwood
19. Needs to remit: OWES - Thus endeth the redwood references
20. Trick: CON.
21. Yellowy insides: YOLKS.
24. Farm structures: PENS - My wife lived on a farm where pigs quarters were call a PEN, never a sty
25. Enters unnoticed: SLIPS IN.
28. Paratha roti ingredient: GHEE (highly clarified butter) - What is the difference between a roti, naan, paratha and chapati?
31. Showed joy, ironically: WEPT - An emotional response either way
32. Tricky hoops move that's often an assist: NO LOOK PASS - More commonly seen in basketball (hoops) but Patrick Mahommes uses this in football
37. In the past: AGO.
38. Supporters: RETINUE - He always had a lovely one
39. Summary usually including a photo: BIO.
40. Treatment for dry skin: BODY BUTTER - There doesn't seem to be any in my medicine cabinet
42. It's just above street level: CURB - I just loved this clue
43. Road game: I SPY - with my little eye...

46. Summer hire: TEMP - I hired over 300 "TEMPS" in the summer to work in the cornfields for 23 years
49. Check for fit: TRY ON.
50. Chemical suffix: IDE.

54. Hosp. tubes: IVS.
56. Pasta for vegetarians: MEATLESS LASAGNA
62. "Pass": I'M NOT INTERESTED - At one time I had several "friends" try to get me into Amway
63. Scopes Trial site: DAYTON TENNESSEE - Like me, John Scopes was a substitute teacher and he wasn't sure he even taught evolution but agreed to be a test case for the ACLU. He was prosecuted by Nebraska's most famous politician William Jennings Bryan, was found guilty and fined $100 (which was later reversed on a technicality).
![]() |
Restored Court Room In DAYTON, TENNESSEE Now A Tourist Attraction |
Down:
1. Dancing suitable for radio: TAP - Cool clue! You can hear the rhythm (which I lack).
2. Put away: ATE.
3. Hawaiian coffee district: KONA - This part of the Big Island has many coffee growing areas that offer tours and tastings not far from our cwd friend Mauna Loa.
5. High-end watches: SEIKOS.
6. Barn __: OWL.
7. Appropriate prefix for an embezzler?: MIS - MISappropriation is a fancy euphemism for what Bernie Madoff did.
8. Guiding beliefs: ETHOS.
9. Spring harbinger: THAW - A sudden THAW this past spring was a component in our disastrous spring floods
10. Memo opener: IN RE - The "IN" is omitted but the sentiment is real
12. Tanning time on the Riviera: ETE - Knowing the French word for summer is de rigueur in Crosswordland
13. Smidgen: OUNCE - A smidgen of prevention is worth a lot of cure
14. Trademarked refrigerant: FREON - The EPA has mandated that the manufacture of FREON must be halted by 2020
15. Decorative greenery: FERNS.
22. Pregame managerial decision: LINEUP - This 1961 LINEUP was powerful. Can you name the Yankees pictured here with the number of HR's they hit that year? (*Answer at bottom of write-up)
23. Complicated: KNOTTY - Along with being Dr. Seuss, Theodore Geisel was also a political cartoonist as seen in this 1942 example
24. Cheerleader's asset: PEP.
25. Makeup-applying aid: SWAB.
26. Toy brand with a Taj Mahal set: LEGO - $370 at Amazon
27. 2001 Apple debut: I POD - I still have mine but don't 28. Approach: GO NEAR it anymore
29. Like most labor rates: HOURLY.
30. Squeak (out): EKE.
33. Short stories?: LIT.
34. Border on: ABUT.
35. "Hey" assistant: SIRI - I could say this into my iPhone, "Hey, SIRI, what's the name for a four-letter Japanese noodle?" She would probably suggest UDON or SOBA
36. Polite-to-slurp Japanese noodle: SOBA - All you need to know
38. NFL ball carriers: RBS - Besides Running Backs, the NFL has QBs, FBs, HBs, DBs and CBs (Pluralizing acronyms)
41. Pup squeak: YIP.
42. Solicit support from, as voters: CANVASS - Part of my granddaughter's job
45. "Indeed": SO I SEE.
46. Hardly outgoing: TIMID.
47. Swelling: EDEMA - Is using ice to reduce EDEMA the wrong thing to do?
48. Not-so-nice sort: MEANY.
49. Sample: TASTE - Don Fanucci had a different way of saying he wanted a TASTE of illegal activity
51. Vocal range: ALTO.
52. Bit strap: REIN
53. "And __ it ironic": Alanis Morissette lyric: ISN'T - A fun listen!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jne9t8sHpUc
55. Mil. ranks: SGTS - Friday, Bilko, Schultz, Snorkel, Stryker...
57. Day care attendee: TOT
58. Super Bowl IV MVP Dawson: LEN.
59. Valiant's boy: ARN.
60. Formerly named: NEE.
61. Drink suffix with Power: ADE.
Order a sub to be delivered and then comment on Greg's puzzle.
*Yankee LINEUP (l to r) was Roger Maris, Yogi Berra, Mickey Mantle, Elston Howard, Moose Skowren, and Johnny Blanchard.