Saturday, July 13, 2024, Ricky Sirois

Thursday Themeless by Ricky Sirois

This is my second Ricky Sirois  Saturday themeless  (first one was 1/14/23) and I gotta tell you, it was a breezy 20-minute exercise that was a lot of fun. My fav had to be the Brady Bunch misdirection! 😀

Across:

1. Part of the healing process: SCAB.

5. Hiss source: LEAK - If you spray the tire with water, bubbles will tell you the source of the LEAK

9. Network, say: CLAN.

13. Giant automaton of Greek mythology: TALOS.

15. French pronoun: ELLE - ELLE est belle (She is beautiful) 

16. Number two: AIDE - Ulysses S. Grant and his AIDE-de-camp, Orville Babcock.

17. Lingo: ARGOT and 50. Raise: HOIST - The STS-79 orbiter being HOISTED from the ET/SRB stack on the MLP in KSC's  VAB - NASA ARGOT

18. Animal in the creation myth of the Achomawi people of Northern California: SILVER FOX.

20. Hybrid pastries: CRONUTS  A portmanteau: A ring-shaped fried pastry made from croissant dough. 

22. Hazelnut: FILBERT - Two names for the same nut. 

23. Range rovers?: HERD 😀

24. Coastal birds: HERONS.

26. Stable diet: HAY 😀

27. Revelation: EYE OPENER.

29. Sheepherder in a 1995 Oscar-nominated film: BABE 31. 29-Across, for one: PIG.

30. Yak: GAB.

33. Sch. with the second-most NCAA team championships: UCLA.

34. One who spends a lot of time in cabs: LONG HAUL TRUCKER 😀

39. Like a roller derby track: OVAL.

40. Cellular messenger: RNA - A very frequent cwd messenger

41. Letter abbr.: ENC.

42. Shape-shifting prefix: WERE - The prefix "were-" comes from the Old English word for "man".

43. Prevents an actor from getting a breakthrough role, perhaps: TYPECASTS = Speaking of werewolves and typecasting, here's Lon Chaney

48. Demonstrate one's humanity: ERR.

49. Pursued: CHASED.

51. Comedian Trevor: NOAH - His big break

52. Turns the page?: READS ON 😀

54. Result of a successful collaboration: SYNERGY.

56. Conan O'Brien's first talk show: LATE NIGHT.

58. End: CEASE.

59. Avoids injury: IS OK.

60. Gin berry: SLOE.

61. Root used in perfumery: ORRIS - Rootstock of the Iris

     

62. Wicker man, for one: PYRE - More

63. Spree: TEAR - Some athletes who are doing very well at some point can be said to be "on a TEAR".

64. Email folder: SENT.

Down:

1. Soup strainer, informally: STACHE.

2. "Dumb and Dumber" star: CARREY.

3. "An Inconvenient Truth" writer: AL GORE.

4. Wasteful project: BOONDOGGLE - This word's interesting derivation

5. Reduce: LESSEN.

6. Yale student: ELI.

7. Completely on board: ALL FOR IT - Where'd everybody go?

8. Flightless bird in "Up": KEVIN.

9. Low-__ diet: CARB.

10. Shortcut, of sorts: LIFE HACK - They are ubiquitous on the internet

11. Precious: ADORABLE.

12. Foo Fighters power ballad that was the theme song for the NBC sitcom "Ed": NEXT YEAR - It's not the theme from Hawaii 5-0 but it's okay.

14. R-V connection?: STU - Disco STU gets the day off for this alphabet progression

19. Raised trains: ELS.

21. Legal exam, familiarly: THE BAR - Chuck McGill's reaction to his little brother Jimmy (soon to be Saul Goodman) on Better Call Saul 

25. Do-overs: REPLAYS.

28. Tuba sound: PAH.

29. Brady bunch, once: BUCCANEERS 😀 Gotta love this!

32. Like Midas: GREEDY.

34. Labium inferius oris: LOWER LIP - Labium/LIP, Inferius/LOWER

35. Breakfast specification: OVER EASY - Recently I had OVER HARD as a scrambled alternative

36. David Attenborough, for one: NARRATOR - A hilarious AI application 

37. Straighten out: UNTANGLE.

38. Cousin's dad, casually: UNC.

44. Nag: PESTER.

45. 1957 Jimmy Dorsey hit: SO RARE - Dedicated to my Mom

46. Takes over: TAGS IN.

47. Most reserved: SHYEST.

49. "Marrakesh Express" band, for short: CSN - Crosby, Stills and Nash are the 3-letter abbr. group today.

53. Football : juke :: hockey : __: DEKE - DECOY

55. Many a PX shopper: NCO - Every branch of the service has NCO's these are in the U.S. Army

57. Residential community org.: HOA.

Saturday, May 25, 2024, Zhoquin Burnikel

Saturday Themeless by Zhoquin Burnikel 

C.C.'s 380th puzzle is rife with wit, learning and her trademark devious cluing along with two 11-letter stacks! Of all her pictures, this is one of my very favorites! It was taken on 8/16/10 soon after she had become a citizen. Our old friend Spitzboov got her the flag from the Navy.

Across:

1. Signs of recognition: NODS - Around here, this usually accompanies that NOD

5. Goddess symbolized by the peacock: HERA.

9. Folks who are totes inseparable: BFFS - Totes and BFF in the same clue/fill? How hip!

13. Ropeless climbs: FREE SOLOS.

15. Horn blast: BLARE.

16. Drift apart: LOSE TOUCH - Our 60th anniversary of high school graduation is this spring but we have LOST many members and LOST TOUCH with most all others and so no one is left to organize anything.

17. Apt name for an optimist: ROSIE.

18. "The Secret Life of Bees" novelist: KIDD.

19. Nonsense: BLATHER - I try not to but the best laid plans of men and mice...

21. Times Square abundance: ADS - For $40 you can get a 15-second video to run in Times Square 

24. Hides: LIES LOW - Mrs. Thomsen, my sophomore English instructor would be aghast if she knew I put LAYS LOW first! 🤨

26. Cards: IDS - Card and IDS as verbs

27. Bug: NETTLE.

29. Inner ear?: CORN COB 😀 Ya gotta love that one!

31. Starchy roots: TAROS.

32. Element in some textured paint: SAND.

33. Ortiz of "Love, Victor": ANA - Santa ANA winds or Santa ANA, CA were eschewed for a Saturday puzzle.

34. Perfect spot?: EDEN.

35. Hole number?: YARDS 😀

Yikes! 
841 YARDS/Par 6

36. Ferret kin: MINK.

38. "The Marvels" actor Park __-joon: SEO - Two of C.C.'s 11-letter fills helped here.

39. "Allow Me to Retort" writer Mystal: ELIE.

40. Alabama's state nut: PECAN - Your pronunciation: puh KAHN or PEE can?

41. Words of admission: IT WAS ME - Mrs. Thomsen would be aghast yet again seeing ME instead of I after a linking verb! 😀

43. Post in a studio: MALONE - New to me but filled itself. "Danson's Cheer's character" would be better for me. 

44. Club alternative: BLT - Two of my fave sammiches!

45. Inspiring device: SNORKEL 😀 Inspiring here means to breathe in! No one wore one better:

47. "Uh-uh": NAW.

48. Jumps aboard: LEAPS ON - Our school system LEAPT ON the "Open Concept Classroom" and LEAPT OFF soon after. 

50. Somewhat: A TAD.

52. Pained cry: UNCLE - My uncles used to delight in making my brother and me cry UNCLE!

53. Sought-after change: RARE COINS 😀 I loved this one!

58. "To Kill a Mockingbird" narrator: SCOUT - SCOUT and the first line

              

 

59. PEBKAC issue: USER ERROR 😀

60. Gas company known for its toy trucks: HESS - This 50+ year old model is worth $900

61. Sisters with similar habits: NUNS 😀

62. Staff note: MEMO.

Down:

1. Commanders' org.: NFL - To diehards, they'll always be the Redskins

2. Word in Montana's motto: ORO.

Gold and Silver

3. From overseas?: DES - DES is a French word (thus overseas) that is always followed by a plural noun, and can be used as a preposition to mean "of", "from," or "by." 

4. Go after: SEEK.

5. Cozy top: HOODIE.

6. Get by: ELUDE.

7. Skin care brand started in Paris in 1957: ROC - My DW has used their products for years

8. Salon selection: ASH BLONDE 😀

9. Dab dry: BLOT.

10. Style guide?: FASHION ICON - The 20 greatest of all time. FWIW, Princess Diana is listed as #1.

11. Treat similar to tostones: FRIED BANANA - Tostones are fried plantains.

  

12. Forward thinkers?: SEERS 😀

14. Film studio stock: STILLS - I thought I was so smart for putting in B ROLL

15. Beefiness: BRAWN.

20. Ones with very good manors: LORDS 😀

21. Front money: ANTE 😀 Ya gotta pay to play

22. Unsettling stillness: DEAD SILENCE - A comedian's worst enemy

23. Food truck fare: STREET TACOS.

25. More alarming: SCARIER.

28. So far: TO NOW - Up TO NOW, how have you liked this write-up? 🤔

30. Brown hue: CAMEL.

32. Food source for grizzly bears: SALMON RUN.

35. Like some questions: YES NO.

37. Taylor Swift's "I __ You Were Trouble": KNEW.

40. Residence that's fit for a queen: PALACE - QEII having a few people over at Buckingham PALACE

42. Desirable trait: ASSET.

43. Olympic units: METERS - I suspect the Paris Olympics will use METRES 😀

44. Red state: BLUSH.

46. Carpenter with pipes: KAREN - Karen's musical career started as a teenage drummer in her brother's group, The Richard Carpenter Trio. He was on keyboards.

49. Positive sign: PLUS.  😀

51. Quarters near a quad: DORM 😀 A drone's eye view at UNL

54. Sparky the Sun Devil's sch.: ASU.

55. Red state: IRE 😀

56. Adèle ou Céline: NOM - Adèle ou Céline sont des noms. (Adele or Celine are names)

57. Cheap tix option: SRO - Standing Room Only tix at Yankee Stadium are $62.50.