Saturday, October 14, Kyler Dolan and Jennifer Marra

 Saturday Themeless by Kyle Dolan and Jennifer Marra

 Today, Kyle Deal, a regular Saturday constructor and sometime collaborator from Chicago teams up with Jennifer Marra to present us with a real challenge. I worked this one from the SE up to the NW and earned a nice "got 'er done!"

Jennifer lives in Connecticut with her husband following the defection of their grown children. She worked as an electrical engineer wrangling numbers and retired early to take on words. When she’s not writing fiction, she can be found constructing crosswords. Jennifer met Kyle through a Facebook puzzle site after stalking him through his numerous publications and this is here initial entry at the LA Times.. Kyle is a great teacher and won’t let a puzzle leave the safety of his computer until it’s ready for the world.

Across:

1. Long-distance relationship?: STAR SYSTEM. This one took this amateur astronomer awhile but it simply refers to a star and all the heavenly bodies that orbit about it.

11. "bfn" alternative: TTYL - Bye For Now and Talk To You Later. There are hundreds of these.

15. Overwhelmed by mosquitoes: EATEN ALIVE - This swarm is in Arctic Alaska

16. "Easy now": WHOA.

17. Landmark whose address is 768 Fifth Avenue in New York City: PLAZA HOTEL 😳

18. Flooring trees: OAKS.

19. Character: TENOR - The TENOR of many political debates these days is very unpleasant

20. __ favor: POR - and 34. "Don't mention it," in Spanish: DE NADA. "POR favor, tráeme una bebida". "¡Gracias!" "DE NADA." (Please get me a drink. Thank you. You're welcome.)

21. Foundation options: TONES - Oh that foundation

22. MLB playoff round: NLCS - We followed our cousin Alec Bohm in the National League Championship Series last year. 

24. "Is that how you see it?": THINK SO - Yup!

26. Saltimbocca herb: SAGE.

29. Made oneself scarce: HID.

31. "Ocean to Ocean" singer Tori: AMOS.

32. Equal: ARE 😀

33. Palme d'Or field: CINE.

37. Chill: SIT BACK AND RELAX.

40. Desert of the Maghreb: SAHARA.

41. Gifts that may be made from pupu shells: LEIS.

42. Number of players needed to play Klondike: ONE - Hence the name Solitaire 

43. Monopoly token until 2013: IRON.

A vintage set

44. Paragraph opener: TAB.

45. Vintage Pontiacs: GTOS.

46. Isn't really hot?: ACTS MAD 😀

49. Old autocrat: TSAR.

51. Some fundraisers: RACES.

52. Lithium-__ battery: ION.

54. "I Just Can't Wait To Be King" singer: SIMBA.

58. Whistleblower-protecting org.: OSHA.

59. Comprehensively defeated: TAKEN APART - Sports slang

61. Heated contest?: MEET - Some track MEETS have preliminary races called heats that determine the final contestants. 

62. Local number, at times: ANESTHESIA - 😀 This number rhymes with summer and numbs you for a medical procedure. My dentist uses a local and I just can't talk for a few hours afterward.

63. Makes sense, with "up": ADDS.

64. Practiced but did not compete: REDSHIRTED - A common procedure in college athletics. Here ya go.

Down:

1. National Teddy Bear Day mo.: SEPT - Okay

2. Narrative: TALE - Morgan Freeman does a great job doing the narration in this wonderful movie. 

3. __ end: AT AN - 100F days are AT AN end here. 

4. Go to commercial, say: REZONE 😀 You might not like it if land next to you get REZONED from residential to commercial.

5. Jam: SNARL.

6. "Boo-__!": YAH.

7. Janitorial closet feature: SLOP SINK.

8. Big name in "handmade" vodka: TITO.

9. Navratilova rival: EVERT 

Martina          Crissy

10. Allen who was the first host of "This Week in Baseball": MEL.

11. Athletic advantage: TWO ON ONE 

12. "Some help you are": THANKS A LOT 

13. Makes the team?: YOKES - 😀 Usually oxen 

14. Sudeikis role: LASSO.

21. Kitchen counters?: TIMERS 😀

23. American who may have a quinceañera: CHICANA - A CHICANA is an American woman or girl of Mexican descent 

25. Held a claim: HAD DIBS.

26. Lip: SASS.

27. Cantata component: ARIA - Okay

28. Wed: GET HITCHED.

30. Delivered: DEALT 😀

33. Rebounds: CAROMS.

35. "Wildlife" writer/director: DANO.

36. Plot lines: AXES.

38. High chairs?: BAR SEATS.

39. Asset for some writing contests: NEATNESS.

45. Beef source: GRIPER - Biff appears to have a beef with Marty in Back To The Future 

46. Musk: AROMA.

47. Like some sausages: CASED.

48. Title woman in a "little ditty" of 1982: DIANE - Earworm alert

50. Beer with sushi, maybe: ASAHI.

53. Approved: OKED.

55. Halyard pole: MAST - The halyard is the rope used to raise the sail up the mast

56. Larson who plays Captain Marvel: BRIE - No cheese in a Saturday puzzle

57. Barely: A TAD.

59. 2022 Todd Field film about a conductor: TAR - Rotten Tomatoes review

60. Ultimate: NTH.

Saturday, September 23, 2023 by Matthew Stock and Caitlin Reid

Saturday Themeless by Matthew Stock and Caitlin Reed

Matthew gave me a jolt of déjà vu when he informed me he has taken a step back from teaching 8th grade math in Gainesville, FL and is going to pursue a degree in counseling. I kept teaching but did get a Masters degree in counseling after teaching math a few dozen years ago! He said he reached out to Caitlin, who lives in Santa Ana, CA, online and they have collaborated on several puzzles. Matthew said she is a joy to work with.

I had a pleasant journey around Matthew and Caitlin's puzzle and finished up in the NW corner where UPDO (not chic), SLOW LORIS (such a common adjective), LIKE SO (wrong demonstration idea by me) and PLAICE (??) just wouldn't come to me. We were at a concert and I had a picture of the grid on my phone and UPDO hit me out of nowhere while waiting for the curtain. I rushed home afterwards and got a satisfying "got 'er done!"

Across:

1. High fashion?: UPDO.

5. Gramps alternative: PAPA - My proudest alias!

9. Scratches, e.g.: FLAWS - Claws works as a verb but this called for a noun

14. Large-eyed primate with a toxic bite: SLOW LORIS.

16. Medium for delivering course corrections: RED INK - Some want to banish RED INK for grading because it is threatening and intimidating. 

18. Look: FACIAL EXPRESSION.

20. Phrase heard during a demonstration: LIKE SO.

21. Frozen drinks: ICEES.

22. Hip-hop pioneer Kool __ Dee: MOE.

23. Tops: ACES.

24. Quite a lot: HEAPS.

25. "The thing with feathers," per Dickinson: HOPE.

26. Come into: GET.

27. Ready to play: CUED - Dr. Johnny Fever getting a song CUED up on a turntable on WKRP

29. Percocet, codeine, etc.: OPIATES.

31. Cry for attention?: TEN-HUT.

33. "That wasn't exactly honest": I LIED.

34. Working capital, in a way: TRADE SECRETS 

                     

 

36. Get new life out of: REUSE.

37. Tarator ingredient: TAHINI.

38. Clouseau player: SELLERS - Ya gotta love this clip! 

40. Hudson of "Glass Onion": KATE - Lower left

41. Kitty: POT 😀 Two names for money that has been bet

44. Like some holiday sweaters: UGLY.

45. Pocket protector?: MISER 😀

47. Rebecca in the Basketball Hall of Fame: LOBO.

48. Furrow: RUT - RUTS from the Oregon Trail in western Nebraska

49. Could or could not: MIGHT.

50. Goes around in circles: TWIRLS.

52. Snack with which one could be caught red-handed?: FLAMIN' HOT CHEETOS.

55. __ solution: SALINE.

56. Happy place: CLOUD NINE.

57. Show again: RE-AIR - I love these RE-AIRING of this show. It is like a time capsule.

58. Spare __: KEYS - Ours are hidden where no one can find them. 😙

59. Yields to gravity: SAGS.

Down:

1. Symbol on a space suit, for short: US FLAG - These 12 wore that symbol on the Moon.

2. "The carp play the harp / The __ play the bass": "Under the Sea" lyrics: PLAICE - I have never heard of this fish but it is pronounced "plays" which rhymes with bass and so...

3. List for a trial period?: DOCKET 😀

4. Baby bumps?: OWIES 😀

5. Sport that's a lot of horsing around: POLO 😀

6. Is for two: ARE.

7. Part of a fictional flight plan: PIXIE DUST.

8. Rescue org.: ASPCA.

9. Nonconformist: FREE SPIRIT - As a student, they can be a delight or a nightmare for a teacher

10. Not so much: LESS.

11. Subway car decor: ADS.

12. Handheld Nintendo devices: WIIMOTES - I laughed out loud when I said this out loud and finally saw the pun for a WII remote!!

13. Did some digging: SNOOPED.

15. "__ Mañanitas": Mexican birthday song: LAS.

17. Strike zone bottom: KNEES.

19. Credit report blot: REPO.

24. "lol": HE HE.

25. Tortuga's country: HAITI.

27. Cut off: CEASE.

28. "The Incredibles" villain likely inspired by Marvel Comics' Mole Man: UNDERMINER - A clever name.

30. "The Handmaid's Tale" executive producer Chaiken: ILENE - Her IMDB entry

31. White Claw rival: TRULY.

32. Whistler on the range: TEA KETTLE 😀

34. Clear sign: TELLTALE - When Aaron Rodgers had to be carted off the field after the third play of the game this year, it was a TELLTALE sign he was severely injured.

35. Arctic __: CHAR.

36. Frequent patron: REGULAR.

38. Goes over board?: SURFS 😀 Two words for over board indicates someone who is over a board and not overboard. 

39. Eye roll accompanier, maybe: SIGH.

41. "The Merchant of Venice" heroine: PORTIA - The traditional PORTIA and an updated one set in Las Vegas

42. Like most mozzarella sticks: OBLONG.

43. Flings: TOSSES.

46. Flabbergast: SHOCK.

47. Bank claims: LIENS.

49. __ fridge: MINI.

50. Q.E.D.: THUS - THUS we are done.

51. Unite beneath a chuppah, e.g.: WED.

53. Emma's "La La Land" role: MIA - Ms. Stone

54. Demure: COY.