Saturday, November 14, 2020, Kyle Dolan

Themeless Puzzle by Kyle Dolan

It seems like it was just yesterday C.C. asked me to be the Saturday blogger and here I am doing my tenth themeless puzzle from Kyle Dolan. Here is his generous and informative reply to my gmail:

Hi Gary!

Hope all is well with you!

The seed entry for this puzzle was HEART EYES. I sometimes seed themeless grids with long bottom-row entries, since these positions tend to be naturally more constrained than their top row counterparts. HEART EYES is a fresh, lively entry that also contains letters frequently found at the ends of words (E,H,R,T,S,Y), allowing much more flexibility to build upward.

The grid you're seeing now is fairly close to my original submission. Rich asked me to revise the central region, where I originally had ARBOL (clued as a kind of pepper) at 28-Down where ARIAL is now. Rich also changed the crossing at 44-Down and 50-Across from my MESCAL/DIS to MEZCAL/DIZ ("mezcal" is admittedly the more common spelling, but I'd hesitated about crossing it with DIZ at the Z).

You asked about clues--in the final version there are 46 clues where Rich used my original version or made only a minor adjustment (out of 72). I'm glad to see my clues for 16-Across, 45-Across, 34-Down and 57-Down all made the cut in some form. I often enjoy using duplicated clues in my puzzles, so when I learned that both OHIO University and UGA (Georgia) are both in towns called Athens, I knew I had to give them twin clues!

Thanks,

Kyle

My lone mistake was what Kyle mentioned in his note. I had a Z for DI_/ME_CAL and it seemed okay to me. As I told Kyle, I knew Gillespie's name and have been to Disney World 40 times and so an S that sounded like a Z seemed okay.

Across:

1. Passage for change: SLOT - These SLOTS saw a lot of my change pass through in my misspent yute

5. Steadfast refusal: NO MEANS NO - Got it?

14. Lakeside rental: CANOE - My first pick was the wrong 5-letter C A _ _ _ lake word in this picture 

16. Morning person's mantra: UP AND AT 'EM - Waking up 120 teenagers everyday on my 23 Central Florida field trips was tough.

17. Bone near a temple: ANVIL - The temporal bone forms the temple and has the auditory canal that leads to the ANVIL (Incus)

18. Sports-based nickname for Green Bay: TITLE TOWN - This celebrates their NFL Championships (most were pre-Super Bowl)

19. Like some online antivirus protection: REAL TIME - 

21. Brad's Drink, nowadays: PEPSI.

22. PC panic key: ESC.

23. Galena, e.g.: ORE - Galena ORE has very little use but it is a very useful, though potentially toxic, source of lead 

24. CPA's column entries: AMTS.

26. Nullify: ABROGATE.

29. Michigan's state wildflower is one: IRIS

33. Influential supporter: PATRON - As a PATRON of the arts, Pope Julius II commissioned Michelangelo to paint a ceiling for him after Raphael turned down the job

35. Word with tie or fly: ROD - One helps steer your car and the other helps you catch fish

36. Spiritual teacher: LAMA - A spiritual leader in Tibetan Buddhism 

37. School in Athens: OHIO and 42. Sch. in Athens: UGA - OHIO University and The University of Georgia. Kyle loved that these schools are both in cities named Athens. 

38. Maguire's "Spider-Man" director: RAIMI - Sam on the set with Toby Maguire and Kirsten Dunst. I ran across his name Monday in the NYT puzzle and so I was prepared.

40. Fights (for): VIES - In last Sunday's great puzzle: 48A. VIE: MOVIE CLIP.
 
41. Fish-eating bird: LOON.

43. What might be made after an argument: AMENDS 

45. Minnesota WNBA team: LYNX - I wonder if C.C. and Boomer follow them

46. NBA team originally from Minnesota: LA LAKERS - Here is LA LAKER Kobe Bryant wearing a "retro" uniform honoring their predecessors the Minneapolis (MPLS) Lakers.

48. Handle user: CBER - I had a Citizen's Band radio in the 1980's and used some of that lingo: "Breaker, breaker one nine for Single Cross. Ya got yer ears on? Come back." Yeah, I know... 

50. Jazz trumpeter's nickname: DIZ.

51. Snicker part: HEE.

54. Japanese soup stock: DASHI - Add this powder to warm water and you have DASHI stock

57. Outdoor cookers: HOT COALS - Marshmallows please!

59. Words after yawning: I NEED A NAP - I love 5 minute power naps in the afternoon

62. Long range: ANDES - The Andes Mountains extend over seven countries: Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela, known as Andean States.

63. Banksy genre: STREET ART - An anonymous British artist

64. Lewis with the 2015 album "I Am": LEONA - Here 'ya go

65. Emoji related to Blowing Kiss: HEART EYES - Kyle's seed entry as seen on yours truly:

66. Influence: SWAY - Candidates try to SWAY voters

Down:

1. Cause to jump, maybe: SCARE.

2. Paths between gutters: LANES - These bumpers were a wonderful invention to keep the ball on the LANES and out of the gutters

3. Away, maybe: ON VACATION - Is anyone you know traveling these days? 

4. Plug away: TOIL

57. Fabulous racer: HARE - Fabulous here means "celebrated in fable" where the tortoise  exemplifies the previous clue/fill - "Plug away - TOIL"

5. Pumpkin pie spice: NUTMEG.

6. TV kid in Miss Crump's class: OPIE - I had no idea on RAIMI but knew Miss Crump instantly. Andy Griffith's affair with Miss Crump (Aneta Corsaut) while he was married was "the worst kept secret on the set"

7. Yoga studio item: MAT.

8. Phot. lab request: ENL - In a 1948 film noir Call Northside 777, Jimmy Stewart's character uses an ENL in this scene to find a date that proves a man's innocence. Watch the entire movie

9. Expert: ADEPT.

10. FiveThirtyEight guru: NATE SILVER - I only know him through his polling work

11. Organ part: STOP - The Mormon Tabernacle Organ has 5 keyboards and 147 STOPS you see on the left and right panels here

12. Breaking __: NEWS.

13. Four Seasons rival: OMNI - This hotel company often appears on our crossword itinerary 

15. Corrida foe: EL TORO - A corrida is a bullfight and... 

20. Despotic regime: IRON RULE - Past and present governments are rife with examples

24. Science word from the Greek for "indivisible": ATOM.

25. Pre-packaged promotional materials: MEDIA KIT - Here's what we want you to know/think about our company/policy

27. Raspberry since the 1920s: BRONX CHEER - It can be accompanied by a raspberry (an interesting derivation)

28. Easy-to-read font: ARIAL - This is the Georgia font I use. This is ARIAL

30. Leeward mountain dry area: RAIN SHADOW - Here you see Mt. Hood as part of the Cascade Range and the RAIN SHADOW that forms when the precipitation can't get over the mountains.

31. Chatted with, briefly: IMED

32. Time-out cause: SASS.

33. Election year staple: POLL - A hard year to predict

34. Stern call?: AHOY - You could yell AHOY in style from the stern of this yacht

39. Food thickener: AGAR.

44. Tequila relative: MEZCAL - “An old Oaxacan proverb goes: "Para todo mal, mezcal, y para todo bien, también." Huh?

47. Embraces: ADOPTS.

49. Common overseas hotel amenity: BIDET.

52. Colleague of Neil and Sonia: ELENA 

53. Didion work: ESSAY - Bio and IMDB

54. Gossip: DISH - DISH the dirt seems like an odd phrase 

55. Pot builder: ANTE - When you say, "Pot's light" it means someone has yet to ANTE

56. "Buona __": Italian greeting: SERA - A silly 1968 movie: Buona SERA (Good Evening) Mrs. Campbell

58. Singles: ONES.

60. Absorbed, as extra expenses: ATE.

61. Anti-passing cry: NAY - On December 8, 1941 Jeanette Rankin of Montana was the only member of either house of Congress to vote NAY on the declaration of war on Japan. Hisses could be heard in the gallery as she cast her vote; several colleagues, including Rep. (later Senator) Everett Dirksen, asked her to change it to make the resolution unanimous—or at very least, to abstain—but she refused. "As a woman I can't go to war," she said, "and I refuse to send anyone else.

This picture shows her in a phone booth later that day calling for protection from people who were very angry with her.

Saturday, October, 17, 2020, Sheryl Bartol

Saturday Themeless by Sheryl Bartol

Today's constructor is Sheryl Bartol from Evanston, IL who learned to construct from her sister Debbie Ellerin whose byline we see here also. This is a very attractive picture of the two sisters.

This was Sheryl's lovely response when I asked her about this puzzle: 

Hi Gary,

Nice to hear from you again.  This puzzle went through a lot of iterations and rework.  In the end, it was quite different from where I started, as I discovered new word combinations along the way.  Here are a few comments on some of the entries:

One of my favorite words is EMOTICON which I often use in my emails ;) 

We play a lot of board games in my house, especially during a pandemic, which inspired my CARTEL clue.  

I am also a big Indian food fan, hence the way I clued LENTIL.

Lastly, I love the change that our dear editors made to my clue for POET, which was not nearly as clever.

I hope everyone enjoys solving it!

Thanks,

Sheryl

Across:

1. They clean up: JANITORS - They are a great asset to any school or business especially these days.

9. Menu category including shells: PASTA - Conchiglia is Italian for conch shell

14. Park, for one: OPEN AREA.

15. Monopoly player?: CARTEL - OPEC used to be one

16. Sign in many restaurant windows: UBER EATS which can lead to this delivery service

17. Emblem on a dollar bill: US SEAL.

18. For or against: SIDE - You might have to 57. Retreat from, as a previous statement: WALK BACK - Wait, that's not what I meant

19. Parisian street food: CREPES - Parfait in French means perfect. Oh, but you already knew that.

21. CPR group: EMS The difference between EMS and EMT

22. "__ Story": TOY.

23. Reasons for sighs: CLOSE CALLS - Put down that cell phone!

25. Female rabbit: DOE.

26. Like "Home Alone": RATED PG.

28. City NNW of Park City: OGDEN.

31. Many glasses are sold as one: PAIR - I got my first PAIR at 15. You? 

33. Queen dowager of Jordan: NOOR - A Jordanian Queen born in Washington D.C.

34. Browning but not cooking: POET - A clue change Sheryl admired for Elizabeth Barrett Browning 

35. Have the ability to: COULD.

36. Ripped: TORE.

37. Barbecue tool feature: TINE.

38. Fireside sight: LOGS.

39. Like some tricks: DIRTY.

40. Showed scorn: SNORTED - Yeah, I'm the only one who first put SNEERED

42. "Erie Canal" mule: SAL - I’ve got an old mule and her name is Sal, Fifteen years on the Erie Canal. She’s a good old worker and a good old pal, Fifteen years on the Erie Canal

43. App update messages, say: PUSH ALERTS - It's up to you whether to get 'em  or not

46. Award show VIPs: MCS.

49. Egg dropper: HEN - I conducted thousands of these over the years sans any HENS

50. Plane, for one: EVENER - After a trip through the PLANER

51. "What can I help you with?" speaker: SIRI.

52. Clear out: VACATE.

54. It often includes a colon: EMOTICON - Sheryl says she really enjoys these like :-) I have found Bitmojis which are pretty cool!

56. Amtrak speedsters: ACELAS.

58. Gives up: CEDES - There are several below

59. Clomps (through), as a puddle: SPLOSHES - Yeah, I'm the only one who put SPLASHES. Even GALOSHES made more sense instead of this word that is foreign to me (and my spellchecker) 

Down:

1. Renaissance faire contest: JOUST.

2. Challenging H.S. science class: AP BIO - A page on Speciation from an Advanced Placement Biology  book

3. Clingy, say: NEEDY.

4. Memo intro: IN RE.

5. Menlo Park, N.J., notable: TAE - Edison and his staff are said to have comprised the first R & D facility 

6. Pythia of the Temple of Apollo, for one: ORACLE - This ORACLE was always a woman and was said to have made her prophecies after inhaling fumes (hallucinogenic?) that rose from cracks in the Earth in the temple at Delphi.

7. Vintage: RETRO - Acme dinettes are still in production 70 years later

8. MS enclosures: SASES - Self Addressed Stamped Envelopes ("en vuh lopes" or "awn vuh lopes?")

9. Volkswagen sedan: PASSAT - In German, PASSAT means "trade wind"

10. MGM motto word: ARS.

11. Safe room barrier: STEEL DOOR - This safe room from the Atlas Company might interest you if you live in Oklahoma's "Tornado Alley"

-

12. Baseball or soccer: TEAM SPORT.

13. Start of a Shakespeare title: ALL'S -Well That Ends Well - "Love all, trust a few. Do wrong to no one." Act I scene i.

15. Its lines have lines: CUE CARD.

20. Hazards: PERILS.

23. Sting: CON - I'd pay to see it again - A 2019 version?

24. Ingredient in the Indian dish dal: LENTIL - Indian LENTIL curry with spinach 

25. Discourages: DETERS.

27. Like a cloudy London day: GREY - How that "colour" is spelled where you might be able to see only a few "metres"

28. Goes (for): OPTS.

29. Gentle parting sentiment: GO IN PEACE.

30. Criticized publicly: DENOUNCED - Election day can't get here fast enough 

31. Charley, in Steinbeck's "Travels With Charley": POODLE.

32. National Mustard Day mo.: AUG.

35. Adheres ... or separates: CLEAVES - A poetic expression of the less common definition

39. "__ Kapital": DAS - Karl Marx's work on the eventual collapse of capitalism 

41. Angle symbols: THETAS.

42. Boardwalk activity: STROLL.

44. Online show offering Hollywood info: E-NEWS.

45. Update after a new survey, maybe: REMAP - After Lewis and Clark's survey

46. Biblical prophet: MICAH

47. "Time in a Bottle" singer: CROCE - The song and scenes tug at my heart

48. Some islands have them: SINKS.

49. Temperature control syst.: HVAC - Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning 

51. They're often rivals: SIBS - I'm sure there was none of that with Sheryl and Debbie!!    

It was their schtick!

53. Ginger __: ALE.

55. Ring decision, briefly: TKO.

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