Saturday, February, 10, 2024, Rafael Musa

Saturday Themeless by Rafael Musa 

After exactly 364 days, I got another Rafael Musa themeless puzzle to blog. This one was a delightful slog as little pieces of it came together to earn me a "got 'er done". I felt like I was in QUITE A PICKLE for a while as I struggled with his clever cluing and other reasonable, though wrong, options. A prime example of the latter is entering SITS for Poses at 1 Down.

Rafael did not litter his puzzle with obscure names that are the bane of my solving existence. Like Sisyphus, I just kept moving the boulder up, the hill, slid back and eventually I ran out of blank cells. AMATEUR was my last fill and I got the Congratulations icon and felt relieved. 

Across:

1. The worst: AWFUL.

6. Clicking sounds?: AHAS.

                

10. "Um, sure": OH OK.

14. Excelled: SHONE.

15. Firm message?: MEMO 😀

16. First woman to serve as attorney general: RENO - Janet RENO was appointed after two other women withdrew because of issues with gov't regs over the nannies they hired. Ms. RENO immediately was confronted with the horrible standoff with David Koresh and his followers in Waco, TX.

17. Kangaroo Island critter: KOALA - As you might expect in the land down under. It is 11 hrs WNW from Melbourne by car and ferry.

18. __ argument: ORAL.
 
19. Something to draw before bedtime: BATH - 😀 Oh, that use of the word draw.

20. Basis of some bonuses: SALES QUOTA.

22. FedEx rival: DHL.

23. Startling revelation: STUNNER and 41. Startling revelation: EYE OPENER.

They didn't fit!

24. 'Tis in the past: TWAS 😀 

                Jabberwocky

• 
• 
• 
• 

                                  Lewis Carroll

1832 – 

1898

                                 ’TWAS brillig, and the slithy toves
                                 Did gyre and gimble in the wabe;
                                 All mimsy were the borogoves,
                                And the mome raths outgrabe.

25. Chiding clicks: TSKS.

28. Aid in avoiding viruses: IT SUPPORT - I quickly got off the medical idea and finally the correct answer appeared.

30. AP competitor: UPI.

31. Decisive periods, briefly: OTS - No OverTimeS: Unlike the regular season, during the NFL playoffs  and tomorrow's Super Bowl play will be continued until someone wins.

32. On the move: ROLLING.

34. Scientific journal that published the initial sequencing of the human genome: NATURE.

36. Name on the business school at the University of Arkansas: WALTON - The family of Wal~Mart founder Sam Walton donated fifty million dollars to the University's business school and henceforth it was named The Sam M. WALTON school of business.

37. Mopes: ACTS SAD.

39. Lead-in to X, Y, and Z: GEN - Am I the only one who tried TUV? 😗

40. Uber stat: ETA.

43. All hands on deck: CREW.

44. Nonhumans that quickly buy up concert tickets: BOTS -  Ticketmaster uses BOTS to get so many tickets to resell at their markup, it makes it very hard and/or very expensive to get tickets.

45. Some flavored drinks: ICE TEAS.

47. Earth Day mo.: APR.

48. Gets carried away at a concert?: CROWD SURFS.

52. Consider: DEEM.

54. Flat-topped hat: KEPI - Captain Renault is wearing his KEPI in this famous scene near the end of Casablanca 

55. Keep busy: TIE UP - Soldiers of the French First Army kept the Germans TIED UP until over 300,000 men were evacuated at "The Miracle Of Dunkirk".

56. __ school: GRAD - All my drives to The University Of Omaha to get my GRAD degree could have been eliminated today by doing most of the work online. 

57. Cask sediment: LEES.

58. Rock memoir with the chapters "Nut Bush" and "River Deep": I TINA - BTW, she was born in Nut Bush, TN

59. "Good __": Alton Brown series: EATS.

60. Ciudad del __: Paraguay's second-largest city: ESTE.

61. Splits: RENDS.

Down:

1. Poses: ASKS.

2. "Stop right there": WHOA and 49. Means of control: REIN.

3. Stable baby: FOAL - Not colt

4. "What if ... ": UNLESS - UNLESS we work together, we are doomed. What if we cooperate? 

5. LCD component?: LEAST - We all learned in grade school that to add 1/2 + 1/3 we have to use the Least Common Denominator or 6, thus 3/6 + 2/6 = 5/6.

6. Comes (to): AMOUNTS.

7. Bitterns, e.g.: HERONS.

8. "You clearly have no idea what you're doing": AMATEUR 😀

9. Light run?: SOLAR POWERED - These huge SOLAR cells POWER the International Space Station

10. __-weaver spider: ORB.

11. Lead role in a TV show: HEAD WRITER - The actors get the credit but it takes smart writing to make a show a hit

12. Transition phrase: ON THAT NOTE.

13. Retailer that began as a grocery store in Milwaukee: KOHL'S.

21. Spot of bother: QUITE A PICKLE.

24. Congestion pricing charge: TOLL.

25. Product auctioned at Tokyo's historic Tsukiji Market: TUNA.

26. Sci-fi subgenre: SPACE OPERA.

27. Burmese food?: KITTY TREAT - Not as bad as feared and even cute!

29. "What's the __?": PLAN.

31. Ish: OR SO - I am seventyish 

33. Nibble: GNAW.

35. Finds a place for: USES.

38. Pronounces: DECREES.

39. Mouth off: GET WISE - Sometimes you should GET WISE not to GET WISE

42. Virtual companion: NEO PET.

43. Executive level: C-SUITE.

44. Access card: BADGE

46. Buzzing: ASTIR.

50. Back: FUND.

51. Spring break destinations?: SPAS - Uh, not bars?

53. Anatomy experts, briefly: MDS.

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.