Saturday, August 6, 2022, C.C. Burnikel

Saturday Themeless by C.C. Burnikel 

My favorite honorary
Cornhusker.
Today our wonderful ringmistress steps forward with a lovely Saturday Themeless puzzle. Here are her comments:

This puzzle has quite a bit of clue changes. I'm rusty at making themeless, especially the cluing part. As for the fill, I remember coming up with the upper right stack quickly, then struggling with the connecting Downs to the lower stack.

                  


Across:

1. Includes, briefly: CCS - C'mon, starting a puzzle with your own initials is pretty cool!

4. Bell hooks work whose title comes from a line often attributed to Sojourner Truth: AIN'T I A WOMAN Info on this very interesting woman (including why she uses no capital letters with her name) and 
11. Sojourner Truth forte: ORATION.

 

15. Prune: LOP.

16. Pink flower with a yellow center: PRAIRIE ROSE - The N.D. state flower


17. "Oklahoma!" Tony winner Stroker: ALI - The first wheelchair user to win a Tony. In her speech she dedicated the award to all people who think a disability has to hold you back.

 

18. Mayonnaise-based condiment: TARTAR SAUCE.

19. Jedi on Dagobah: YODA - Oh yeah, there's another Star Wars character that had four letters and ends in an "A"

21. Taskbar lineup: ICONS - Here's the one we bloggers use for our postings


22. Walked: TROD.

23. Negligent: REMISS.

25. Aim: POINT.

27. "Born a __": Trevor Noah memoir: CRIME - The story of his childhood in the twilight of apartheid in South Africa


28. __ pool: STENO.

30. Elements of Byzantine architecture: DOMES - The epitome of this architecture is said to be the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul (Constantinople when it was built in the 6th century).


31. Last-minute participant: LATE ENTRY - The owner of this year's Kentucky Derby Rich Strike  found out 30 seconds before the deadline that his horse would be allowed to run. This filly won with 80-1 odds against her.

Notice Rich Strike is wearing #21
in the 20 horse race.

35. Journalist Tarbell: IDA - This muckraker got Standard Oil declared a monopoly that had to be broken up.

 
36. Award with a Journalistic Integrity category: PEABODY - Judy Woodruff was the 2021 winner

38. Quebec street: RUE - There is a McDonalds is at 760 RUE Bouvier, Québec, QC G2J 1A3, Canada

39. Equal-pay issue: GENDER GAP - Our pay scale was the same for all when I was teaching.

41. Whirlpool subsidiary: AMANA.

43. Strike force?: UNION.

44. Jellyfish's lack: BRAIN - Here ya go!


45. Medicare Advantage program: PART C


47. Hawk: PEDDLE.

48. Self-referential: META - META crossword clues refer to the clue itself such as recent 42. Head for Vegas?: LAS.

49. Best possible: IDEAL.


52. Forgets to charge the phone, say: ERRS.

54. "Okay, you got me": I DON'T DENY IT.

57. NPR host Shapiro: ARI All things considered and...

58. Mail with a North Pole return address: SANTA LETTER.

59. __-de-sac: CUL - 18th century Fr. for "bottom of the sack". Today: dead end street.

60. Multipurpose piece: SLEEPER SOFA - How 'bout sofa/bunk beds


61. Problem that often grows with fame: EGO.


Down:

1. Tandoor material: CLAY - CLAY ovens seen in India and Pakistan


2. System with shades of meaning: COLOR CODE - Here are some colors and the HTML CODE




3. Character who debuted in the 1962 comic book "Amazing Fantasy": SPIDERMAN.


4. Germane: APT.

5. Game challenge: I RAISE - Poker

6. Busters: NARCS.

7. Nickname of vodka-maker Beveridge: TITO - A shortening of founder Bertito Beveridge's name


8. Home country of Oscar-winning filmmaker Asghar Farhadi: IRAN His IMDB

9. Flight number: AIR SPEED.


10. Director Anderson: WES.


12. Grieve: MOURN.

13. Broad tie: ASCOT.

14. Sine qua non: NEED.

20. Brest friend: AMIE - Brest is a city in the far west of France


24. "That did me in": I'M SPENT.

26. Minor gridiron gain: ONE YARD - Seattle needed ONE YARD to win a Super Bowl but stupidly decided to pass and the ball was intercepted and the Super Bowl was lost.


28. Nick who's coached four Heisman winners at Alabama: SABAN - My Class of '64 classmate was the pilot for Nick SABAN'S recruiting plane for years


29. Sporty car roof: T-TOP.

30. Unkind remark: DIG.

31. Vacaciones destination: LAGO.

Lago de Sant Maurici 

(Lleida, Catalonia, Spain)

32. Rugged contest: TRAIL RACE - Not a road race!


33. Hallway accent: RUNNER RUG.


34. House call?: YEA.

37. "Spamalot" co-creator: ERIC IDLE - A member of the Monty Python comedy troupe


40. Vaudeville great: DURANTE - Vaudeville, radio, movies and TV


42. Cooked: MADE.

44. Faith: BELIEF.

45. Use the elliptical: PEDAL.


46. Make reparations: ATONE.

47. Check words: PAY TO.

48. Major in transgender activism: MISS - I had/have no idea but C.C. assured me that this was her clue/fill


50. Bucks in a forest: DEER.

51. Treebeard and friends: ENTS - Frequent visitors here

53. Isolated work group: SILO.
55. Touch a touchscreen: TAP.

56. Part of a chorus line?: TRA - Followed by la la...