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, August 25, 2018, Patty Varol and Doug Peterson

Themeless Saturday Puzzle by Patty Varol and Doug Peterson

What could be a better followup to yesterday's ICE CREAM puzzle than a day that celebrates one of the true delights made with it?  Latrobe, PA is famous for being the home of golfing legend Arnold Palmer but in 1904 an apprentice pharmacist in Latrobe, David Strickland, invented a banana triple ice cream sundae that sold for a dime which was twice the price of other sundaes and it was a huge hit. Strickler bought the drug store and although his invention endures, the building was torn down years ago.

Latrobe is celebrating The Great American Banana Split Festival yesterday, today and tomorrow with many events. I wonder if anyone washes down a banana split with an Arnold Palmer? 

On this day celebrating this legendary sweet treat, Patty Varol and Doug Peterson have concocted this lovely puzzle that entertained me greatly but took 23 minutes before I could put the cherry on top! Patty is our esteemed editor Rich's very able assistant as well as being a constructor herself and I have received some great feedback from her and some "thanks, but no thanks" notes as well. I blogged a puzzle Doug constructed with Neville Fogarty this past February.

Patty Varol                    Doug Peterson

Let's see what else Patty and Doug have for us today as this (soda) jerk tries to make sense of it:

Across:

1. Knot remover: NECK RUB 

8. Not pointless?: ON TOPIC - Politicians always steer debate back to their talking points rather than staying ON TOPIC

15. Took too many courses?: OVER ATE - We had Thanksgiving FOOD COMA recently which could include the portmanteau 21. Hybrid roast: TURDUCKEN (a deboned chicken stuffed into a deboned duck stuffed into a turkey)

16. "Marvelous": HOW NICE.

17. Sent along: RELAYED - Norman Rockwell captures Americana as well as anyone

18. One pulling his weight around Christmas: BLITZEN  - But he wouldn't let poor Rudolph join in any reindeer games

19. Caper: ANTIC.

20. Stuff on the deck: STAIN - After 15 years we have given up on STAINING and a 37. House coat: PAINT JOB and so we are installing a synthetic deck

22. Proactiv target: ZIT.

23. European underground nickname: THE TUBE.

25. Forbids: BANS.

26. Flood insurance, once upon a time: ARK - Professor Paul Esperante and others believe this could be the remains of Noah's ARK in Eastern Turkey near Mt. Ararat

29. Copycat's talent: APERY.

30. Alley goop: TAR - I like the play on Alley Oop! 

31. Toasting candidate: RYE BREAD

33. Grizabella the Glamour Cat's solo: MEMORY - The show stopper from Andrew Lloyd Weber's Cats

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-L6rEm0rnY 36. Single from Dylan's "Blood on the Tracks": TANGLED UP IN BLUE - Has never crossed my turntable, CD player or MP3 device

38. Some navels: INNIES.

39. Puerto Rico's __ de Morro: CASTILLO - CASTILLO (San Felipe) de Morro 

40. Hosp. sections: ERS where they are prepared to 58. Do an inside job?: OPERATE.

41. Warehouse supplies: SKIDS.

42. Darn things: SEW.

43. Vince with 18 CMA Awards: GILL - Not familiar with his work that got him those Country Music Awards

45. Lacking versatility: ONE NOTE - Can you decipher this equivalent phrase? (* answer below)

47. Raised eyebrow, e.g.: ARC.

48. Nine Inch Nails founder Reznor: TRENT - No idea

49. Stomach: ABIDE - Do you, like me, no longer ABIDE things you did years ago?

53. Brewery sugar: MALTOSE.

55. Where old records may be kept: JUKEBOX - Five plays for a quarter in my 6. Sporty truck, briefly: UTE (Yeah, I know it's a Utility Vehicle but I couldn't resist)

57. Congo line?: EQUATOR - Here are people in Zaire (Democratic Republic Of Congo) standing on said line

59. Fair rewards: RIBBONS.

60. Small restaurants: BISTROS.


Down:

1. "Brothers & Sisters" matriarch: NORA - NORA is played by...

2. Square: EVEN - The game is all EVEN at 3 runs apiece 

3. Gael, for one: CELT

4. Nocturnal Asian snake: KRAIT - India's deadliest, 10X more poisonous than a cobra

5. Singer ranked #10 on Rolling Stone's list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time: RAY CHARLES - Too many hits to pick a favorite but this one always moves me

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GufSJChOFG8
7. Framework for retiring: BED STEAD - No IRA here

8. "Yowza!": OH BABY - Sounds like a Ray Charles lyric to me

9. "Honestly!": NO LIE - Truman won??

10. Matching: TWIN - The TWINS and their mother - Joyce, Martha and my bride  Joann

11. Toronto's prov.: ONT and 56. Org. with an "Odd News" web page: UPI headline in the Toronto Daily Star

12. Party bites from the toaster oven: PIZZA ROLLS - A fav around here

13. Maroon at a chalet, maybe: ICE IN - A meteorological event not a color scheme 

14. Coppers: CENTS  - A man in England was not allowed to pay a  £800 debt in 166 kg (365 lbs) of these 1 cent coppers

24. Olympic gear: EPEES.

25. Film fawn: BAMBI - Disney refused to let the National Forest Service use BAMBI in their anti fire PDA's and so Smokey the Bear was invented 

26. Basic studio class: ART I - My college class so-named was boring beyond belief because we just took notes

27. "Deadpool" actor Reynolds: RYAN - Deadpool is the highest grossing R-rated movie of all time

28. Group concerned with good breeding: KENNEL CLUB - Mutts not allowed

30. Camper's anchors: TENT STAKES - Not quite enough here. Definitely a 33. Bungle: MISDO.

32. Speakeasy circulator: B-GIRL - Father Mulcahy, "Why Hawkeye, I earned my way through divinity school as a B-GIRL in San Francisco!"

34. Word with home or slide: RULE - I might as well show my math students a buggy whip as much as a slide RULE. Equatorial CONGO gained home RULE from Belgium

35. Stinging response: YEOW.

41. Ugly looks: SNEERS.

43. Xbox devotee: GAMER - How many hours/day is too many?

44. Kirkuk native: IRAQI - McDonalds is not allowed in Northern Iraq so... 

45. Name on "The Magnificent Ambersons" theater poster: ORSON - Mercury Players ORSON Wells, Agnes Morehead, Joseph Cotten, et al moved on to this project after Citizen Kane.

46. Pulitzer-winning film critic: EBERT - Of the above movie, EBERT wrote, "The Magnificent Ambersons" (1942, a masterpiece with its ending hacked to pieces by the studio...)

48. Terry's role in the original "Wizard of Oz": TOTO - Terry/TOTO's memorial at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery (for Agnes)

50. Structural beam: I-BAR - A baby I-BEAM?

51. Inflict on: DO TO - "What did you DO TO your hair?"

52. They're split: EXES - George Strait sings that all his EXES live in Texas while he hangs his hat in Tennessee. 

54. Check for drinks: TAB = Jay Z's bar TAB that included an $11,000 tip. I've never heard of Ace Of Spades Champagne. 

*45 Across deciphered is "One Trick Pony"
If you can't get away to Latrobe, PA for the festivities today, why not leave a comment:

DA GRID: