Saturday Themeless by Rich Feely
This appears to be an LA Times debut for Rich. For some reason I had got a good jumping off place on the East side as ITALIAN ICE and SO LAST YEAR surrendered quite easily. I had a few bumps in the road, particularly with 24. NY and LA: STS. which I will address later.
1. Turn two fives into a ten?: ADD - A hilarious turn on this process
4. Key letter: PHI - Mine must have gotten lost in the mail 😊
7. Language spoken in the Gaeltacht: IRISH - Where IRISH/Gaelic is spoken.
12. Outstanding job: LOOSE END - The second definition is relative here.
16. Best Original Song Oscar nominee with the lyric "Anywhere else, I'd be a ten": I'M JUST KEN - When Barbenheimer came out last year, I paid to see the latter and not the former.
18. Commandment word: SHALT.
19. Broadcast: GO ON THE AIR - BE and IS were replaced by GO
21. "Welp," quaintly: ALAS.
22. Act: DEED - On a corner of UNL's Memorial Stadium
23. Kir liqueur: CASSIS.
25. __ good: amazing: SCARY - Caitlin Clark
27. "Stop the negativity": DON'T HATE.
29. Polar formations: FLOES - Icebergs are large chunks of freshwater ice and compressed snow that break off glaciers and float southward on the Labrador Current. Ice FLOES, on the other hand, are chunks of frozen salt-water, also called pack-ice.
 |
| Penguins jumping between ice FLOES |
30. Shakes up: JOLTS.
31. Chloé Zhao's alma mater: Abbr.: NYU - Chloé is a Chinese-American film maker. She won an Oscar for directing Nomadland
32. Frames: RIMS - ...or RIMLESS
33. Hermosillo houses: CASAS - Hermosillo is a city of nearly 700,000 in Mexico.
34. Level: TIER.
35. Urgent call, briefly: APB - All Points Bulletin has been replaced by BOLO - Be On the Look Out for
36. Flowing locks: MANES 😀
37. Chocolate source: CACAO.
40. Spud: TATER - Billionaire J.R. Simplot of Boise Idaho made a "handshake" agreement with Ray Kroc in 1965 to grow potatoes for McDonalds French Fries. His company remains a big supplier of spuds for the company.
42. Many a rescue dog: MUTT.
43. Designer Cassini: OLEG - Well known as the designer for Jackie during the Camelot days
44. Photovoltaic devices: SOLAR CELLS - Our city's phase II of SOLAR CELLS a quarter mile south of me
49. Deli roll: BIALY.
51. Dawn of the moon exploration program?: EARTH RISE - During the Apollo 8 mission, Bill Anders took this picture of an EARTH RISE after they had passed behind the far side of the Moon and emerged on the other side.
52. Didn't work: IDLED.
53. Epic: COLOSSAL.
54. Dips a toe in: TESTS.
55. Mint: NEW - This mint condition 2024 silver dollar is already worth $55.
56. Southern capital: Abbr.: ATL.
Down:
1. Former HBO persona: ALI G.
2. "__ arigato": DOMO.
3. "Cobra Kai" setting: DOJO - Moviedom's most famous karate studio is now up for rent
4. Bugs: PESTERS.
5. Pronoun choice: HE THEY - A person choosing these preferences would accept, "He solved the puzzle" or "They solved the puzzle."
6. Tattoo culture magazine: INKED.
7. Online convos: IMS - Immediate Messaging
8. Discuss ad nauseam: REHASH - My first faculty had to REHASH the "gum chewing" issue for years because it was a pet peeve of the principal.
9. Treat in a little white cup: ITALIAN ICE.
10. Way passe: SO LAST YEAR.
11. Red __: HOTS - How they looked in my misspent yute.
13. Treats in tall tulip glasses: SUNDAES - See above
 |
| 1950's picture |
14. "Snowfall" org.: DEA.
17. Patron saint of children: NICOLAS - Ho, Ho, Ho.
20. Bloviates: RANTS - The political season is coming up
24. NY and LA: STS - 😫 I took the bait for two cities. After way too much time I saw there were no periods for abbreviations and that NY and LA stand for the STateS of New York and Louisiana.
25. Toy for bodysurfing on land: SLIP 'N SLIDE.
26. Drive-through options: COMBO MEALS - 1,600 Calories
27. Shot in the arm, say: DOSED 😀
28. Capital of 20 countries: EURO.
29. German woman: FRAU.
30. Alias in court: JANE DOE.
33. Carolina team, informally: CANES.
34. Ribbons: TATTERS.
36. Allen known as the "Voice of the Yankees": MEL.
37. Purina brand: CAT CHOW - Our kitty doesn't do dry food
39. Milne character in a green striped romper: PIGLET - Every picture of PIGLET I saw had him in a pink striped romper. I found this one in an embroidery kit
40. Reptile on a green container of car wax: TURTLE.
43. "In memoriam" piece: OBIT.
45. Supérieur, par exemple: LAC.
46. Vanderpump of "Vanderpump Rules": LISA.
47. Trial for an aspiring atty.?: LSAT.
48. Persuade: SELL.
50. Passing stat: YDS - Tom Brady's passing YDS convert to over 48 miles
32 comments:
Well, I almost made it.
Missed one letter: Nikolas and Kassis instead of Nicolas and Cassis. So, FIW. And while I can’t say I’m particularly happy about that, I can say I’m happy that I came so close to perfection. See you tomorrow!
Took 11:09 today for me to tie up the loose end.
I still don't understand "phi" for key letter.
I nearly failed the pronoun. He/him, I get. I also get just they. But, he/they?
I passed today's Spanish lesson (casas), but had no idea who Chloe is/was nor where she/they went to school.
I also didn't know the Yankee voice. Did he die in 1964, or just stop being the voice of the Yankees then?
I'm having trouble with Google in general, and my "Today is" list in particular. Will post if I can figure it out.
No surprise, but I was successful in the south and faltered in the north. Art imitating life.
I guess I had bYU on my mind, because UK just hired their basketball coach (former UK star player Mark Pope) to replace famed Coach Calipari, who is going to AR. Never heard of Chloe Zhao.
Is it possible that Patti ran with the Carolina CANES today because they begin their Stanley Cup playoffs today against the NY Islanders?
I had the "S" filled in for ________ good. My favorite expression, "Sofa king good," wouldn't fit.
MUTTs tend to be the healthiest dogs because of their broad gene pool.
Seems to be working now. Switched from Firefox to Chrome. Only side effect is that my picture is of my last boat instead of my current greyhound.
Today is:
420 DAY (Little Feat sang Willin / Don’t Bogart that Joint On a related note, one-hit wonders Brewer & Shipley wrote their big hit to relate their story of being One Toke Over the Line when they were trying to write songs after being over-smoked. Lawrence Welk mistakenly thought it was a modern religious song, and had the perky duo on the video cover it. Classic oops.
NATIONAL LOOK ALIKE DAY (I used to look a lot like Jack Nicholson)
NATIONAL RECORD STORE DAY (when is national buggy whip day?)
NATIONAL AUCTIONEERS DAY (this fast talker would make a great auctioneer)
VOLUNTEER RECOGNITION DAY (you have to be lucky to be picked to volunteer at The Masters golf tournament)
NATIONAL LIMA BEAN RESPECT DAY (love ‘em, but respect them?)
NATIONAL CHEDDAR FRIES DAY (oh yeah, and add a little chili and a few jalapenos and ya really got sumthin. On the same day as 420 day. Coincidence?)
NATIONAL PINEAPPLE UPSIDE-DOWN CAKE DAY (on the same day as 420 day. Coincidence?)
Phi Beta Kappa.
FIR. Great day when I can finish a Saturday puzzle in good time.
I'm not sure I like loose end at 11A, and I didn't know Ali G. but I stuck with it and that section, last to fall, finally filled on.
This was a typical Saturday endeavor and quite enjoyable. Just the right degree of difficulty.
It’s a good thing I don’t smoke, because this was close, but no cigar. And clearly the caffeine hadn’t kicked in yet as I was doing this puzzle, because I spent way too much time trying to figure out what “GOON ON THE AIR” meant. Over all a fine, well constructed Saturday crossword.
I enjoyed this one. Thank you, Rich Feely, and thank you, Husker Gary.
Jinx, there's an update pending. In Firefox, go to Help, then select About Firefox. It will check for updates. After the update, press Restart Firefox. You'll be back in business. I had the same thing happen yesterday on one of my PCs.
Two comments about your comments. A really good auctioneer not only has a fast, melodic, and rhythmic call, but suggests a reasonable opening bid, and knows when to move on to the next lot.
On a whim, the daughter of my golfing opponent two events ago volunteered at the Masters a few years ago just before CoVid, thinking she'd get some time to watch the pros. Not. They assigned her to a concession stand. Specifically, drawing beer 2 cups at a time, nonstop for two days. He told me she had to be there at 8 AM and didn't leave until late in the day. I don't recall how many gallons he said she handed out, but it was a huge number. Each beer station had an officer there at all times. I guess to prevent some patrons from having too much of the free beer. She had no desire to volunteer there again.
hethey and anything rhying with it? No need.
Good Morning:
I absolutely loved this puzzle and found it to be a perfect Saturday offering. The difficulty level was spot-on; not head scratching difficult but just challenging enough to put on the thinking cap. The NW corner was the toughest area until I finally figured out Ali G, I'm Just Ken, and Loose End, which with the clue of Outstanding Job was my favorite C/A. The fill was way above average, IMO, with such fresh and sparkling entries as Combo Meals, Slip n Slide, Italian Ice, So Last Year, Earth Rise, Don't Hate, etc. The few unknowns, NYU, Inked, DEA, Earth Rise, were easily perped, as were the corrections for the missteps at Rigs/Frames, Bulky/Bialy, and Cocoa/Cacao. I smiled at the crossing of Irish/IMs and Tater/Tatters, and the warm and fuzzy Piglet, Turtle, and Cat Chow entries. The frosting on this delicious cake was a mere 10 TLWs.
Bravo to Rich on an outstanding (no loose ends!) debut and a truly delightful solve and thanks, HG, for an outstanding review and all the bells and whistles contained therein. Loved the Abbott and Costello routine and the nostalgia Mel Allen evokes. What Yankee fan could ever forget Mel's mellifluous voice. I'm glad you highlighted Chloé Zhao whom I didn't know but I did see her directorial achievement, Nomadland, starring the incomparable Frances McDormand. What a great movie that was. Also loved the quote on UNL's Memorial Stadium. Pity it's so rarely practiced in today's world.
Have a great day.
When I began this CW I had nothing but blanks just a couple of obvious s letters, so I did what I usually do in such a case I dropped down to the very bottom and worked my way up, fairly successfully. I say that because unfortunately I left the long answers in the west blank and others in the SW didn’t materialize.
Some clues I got not knowing what I was doing as for ALAS, ALIG, EARTH RISE, I’M JUST KEN.
I don’t get the HE THEY since that’s two pronouns.
DOJO and DOMO next to each other.
Anyway, I enjoyed the SUNDAES and the ITALIAN ICE, and in spite of not finishing, I had fun.
Fun Saturday crossword! (I don't say that too often...)
A little whack a vowel here and there, but very sussable if you work on it. Just the kind of crossword I enjoy.
Even the names were perpable.
From yest.
I am very excited about reading the Blog in reader mode with no ads. I thought others would be too, so a little surprised to hear only crickets out there... has anyone tried it?
I would love to show you what I see: this is a test.
When you open the above, can you see that " Saturday April 20 Rich Freely" is in black?
Can you click on the aA in the browser and open reader mode?
Can you see what what I am seeing?
My fav use for this has been reading emails from popular science magazine. Their free links to articles is practically unusable due to ads slowing loading down to a crawl. The only downsides I have found is that "some" websites photos are low res, and on the blog, you have to reload the original format to get to the comments.
Anyone out there try this?
When you've never heard of ALIG, DOMO, or DOJO. LOOSE END( as in owing a debt) had no chance of crossing those three and the idiotic HE/THEY. "Cobra Kai" was unknown and after filling I'M JUST KEN, FIJI was my 'setting' for the unknown movie. 1D, 2D, & 3D was blank except IMJ.
The rest took about 20 minutes.
"Welp" and ALAS- all perps for that unknown. I am not dumb enough to watch "Dumb and Dumber"
Ditto for NYU- don't know anything about the school an unknown person attended.
TATER- Simplot not only sold to McDonalds. He was one of founders of MICRON Technologies.
BIALY, INKED, ITALIAN ICE, MARON, LISA- needed perps for those.
CANES was first called Raisin' Canes, named after the founder's dog. Started in Baton Rouge. Lots of money in chicken fingers.
Strangely enough for this blog since I’m generally way behind the minds here, I found this as relatively easy for a Saturday! Not that I didn’t have bumps that took a bit of sussing out! I did not get the Sts states but figured it had to be as the cassis tugged at my memory as correct. No clue who Ali G is, so happy that eventually loose end made sense. And I was moving so fast (for me anyway) that I failed to notice I had thought ‘to go meals’ was the answer to combo as finally saw it didn’t fit and other answers were wrong! Doh! But while I’m not well familiar with all the new pronouns, I’m not so close minded to be unaware they exist.
After a long fight, with tons of P&P, buckets of WiteOut, and a lot of esp, I finally arrived at an FIW at the junction of the key and the pronoun. I must say, however, that I truly enjoyed this puzzle. Clever clues, Aha! moments, and a lack of drek kept my interest to the end. What a pleasant difference from yesterday's stinker. This one was tough, but fun!
Thank you Rich for a Saturday challenge, which by dint of sheer PIGLET headedness and the passage of hours and hours I somehow managed a FIR. And congratulations on your debut. Here's hoping we see you again soon, like on a Monday maybe!
And thank you Husker for another excellent review. It's not enough that you have to write 'em up, you've also got to solve them!
Some favs:
1A ADD. Believe it on not this calculation wasn't immediately obvious to me. Great clip -- what a pair!
4A PHI. Last to fill.
12A LOOSE END. Next to last.
16A I'M JUST KEN. I haven't seen either, but I did read a biography on the physicist.
21A WELP. In Shakespeare's day WHELP was archaic for giving birth. In Act 2, Scene II Caesar's wife suggest that the IDES of March might be a good day to stay home, as there was a report of a "lioness whelping in the streets, which was probably not a good OMEN.
42A MUTT. A CSO to PAT.
51A EARTH RISE. It perped in just enough to fill itself.
10D SO LAST YEAR. There's a whole fashion industry based around this MEME.
25D SLIP N SLIDE. Catholic Family Land in Ohio used to have one of these that went all the way down a steep hillside and ended in a pool -- until the lawyers shut it down!
27D DOSED. BOOST didn't perp.
Cheers,
Bill
FIR -- on paper, no cheats -- and found it more difficult than yesterday's puzzle.
ALI G is a character created and acted by Sacha Baron Cohen, who later created the character Borat, and others. ALI G interviewed public figures on television, who didn't know they were being pranked, and were sometimes cajoled into revealing their disturbing dark sides. Which is basically what Borat does, too.
Ernest Shepard's original color illustrations for Winnie The Pooh had PIGLET in a green striped romper. Disney's rather ugly PIGLET was dressed in pink.
The "pronoun choice" HE/THEY seems wrong to me. Most people choose HE/HIM, SHE/HER, or THEY/THEM pronouns. This was hard to solve because it is nonsensical.
If you are elected to the honor society PHI Beta Kappa, you are given the opportunity to purchase a symbolic key with the Greek letters PHI Beta Kappa on it. And then you put it in a drawer.
DNK DOMO, the movie Cobra Kai, the tattto magazine, the alma mater, the patron saint, the Carolina team, the voice of the Yankees, or podcaster Marc, but didn't let that stop me.
Had to give up mimosas for SUNDAES. Both are good.
Glad H-G explained NY and LA as states. Didn't understand that one!
Many thanks to Rich for an interesting challenge, to Patti for editing (but I think you missed the pronoun problem), and to Husker Gary for making it all much more fun.
Struggled to get a toehold and final.y suceeded in the SE. Worked my way up to the top. Couldn't figure out the key since i had wETHEY. FIW as PwI made no sense. Also missed filling in the "Y" on 50A.
The rest was P&P. Had to wait to see if John or JANEDOE was going to show up. 29A: BergS or FLOES? The German lady decided. Best clue: 51A. Worst clue: 33A.
Look before you jump in the lake, it may be shallow.
WHELP.
It a.so made sense to me as wETHEY. At least they're both plural.
Rich, I hope we see you back again. This was a Saturday puzzle that was constructed the way a Saturday puzzle should be. Difficult, of course, but with the best interests of the solvers in mind, not the constructor, who often seems to be thinking, "Look at me--aren't I cute and clever with these disconcertingly impossible clues?"
I believe the question may have already been answered (by Irish Miss?), but the Yankee Allen is indeed the former great announcer of the Yanks, Mel Allen.
I must thank Rich for two entries that were inadvertent on his part, but they meant a lot to me personally nevertheless. First, I am a NASA veteran, so I appreciated EARTHRISE in the SE. And its perfect symmetrical match in the NW is of course IMJUSTKEN. With that, over and out.
Re the He/They entry, I have seen that and She/They often. I don't presume to fully understand the LGBTQ terms but I believe these are used in a non-binary, gender fluid sense. Perhaps someone more enlightened can explain the precise usage.
CrossEyedDave, Reader View (Mozilla) is standard on a Firefox browser. It is available as an extension on Chrome browsers. Microsoft Edge has a similar function but with more controls called Immersive Reader.
More info:
https://support.apple.com/guide/iphone/hide-ads-and-distractions-iphdc30e3b86/ios
and
https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/firefox-reader-view-clutter-free-web-pages
Hola!
I'm so late to this party but I really enjoyed reading all your lively comments! I'm in the partly easy, partly difficult camp about this puzzle. The entire eastern side filled pretty fast (Hi, Irish Miss) all the way from top to bottom.
CASSIS fell instantly. I was introduced to Kir royale in Paris on a trip with friends, one of whom was celebrating her 50th birthday. When the wait staff learned that, they treated us with those drinks at no charge. That DEED forever sealed my positive opinion of Parisians.
BIALY is another thing entirely. As I recall my first encounter with BIALY was from the movie, The Producers.
Currently I'm re-reading the book INDIAN GIVERS which I believe I've mentioned before in a previous comment. Last night I read an entire chapter on CACAO and how its discovery led to a whole change in the dynamics of trade in that era and in that region of Mexico. It took a while for CACAO to be accepted in Europe but once the wily Swiss added sugar, the rest is history.
I just cannot get used to the use of THEY the singular which I now hear on TV news and read in the newspaper. IMO, it's the worse change to language in our time. Every time I see or hear it, it JOLTS my sense of grammatical correctness. I taught English for too long to be able to adjust.
On that note, I wish you all a good day!
Jayce,
Last night I saw your comment about the SANDOVAL hearing. I've been researching that term and find it intriguing. The only other place where I know SANDOVAL is widely used is in the state of New Mexico where a county and some streets are named SANDOVAL. To me it makes sense since that is where my family originated in the U.S.
Thank you TTP,
A lot of people only view the Blog with what they have, not knowing they have options.
In fact, viewing the blog is usually not a problem, unless you have an old iPad and are stuck with Safari as a browser. The newer Temu ads are just so data hungry, and the Java script so sloppy, that the poor old iPads on Safari crawl to an agonisingly slow loading time. I have Chrome available on my iPad, but I forget to use it as Safari is the default. What blew my mind was that after years of not being able to get reader on safari, I found out a way by accident, and being a puzzle solver I just had to find out how I did it.
viewers, this is how you could be reading the blog!
Who knew that changing the first line of the blog from blue to black would enable the reader!?!.
For the less tech savvy among us out there, here are hot links to TTPs suggestions if you don't know how to cut and paste!
https://support.apple.com/guide/iphone/hide-ads-and-distractions-iphdc30e3b86/ios;
And
https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/firefox-reader-view-clutter-free-web-pages"
CED, I have been reading your comments about the ad proliferation problem you've had re the blog and while I'm not the least bit tech savvy, I use the browser Brave on my iPad and utilize their ad blocker, so ads have never been a blog (or any other site) issue for me.
Good wishes to you all.
CED, you're welcome.
7 am. S’s for plurals and maybe 5 other shortest answers…
Composted the front garden
Showered went out for breakfast
Napped
Took the dog to the groomer
Walked the other dog
Returned to the puzzle.
My brain needed the morning air, the brkfst, the nap, and the sunshine… subconsciously solved it, so the final attempt was easy.
DOMO arigatou to Rich and congratulations on your debut!
FAV: Wham-O SLIP 'N SLIDE
I had a one-box FIW with CoCAO. Thanks to H-Gary for the comparison chart!
Changing SOS to APB and switching out INSECTS for PESTERS were the dealbreakers for me today.
I have little patience for REHASHing old disputes.
I very much enjoyed H-Gary's write up! It sounds like Lily has you well-trained.
= )
19D that clue always stumps me..is it a noun or a verb
Anon @ 4;08 "19D that clue always stumps me..is it a noun or a verb"
I'm stumped too. Did you mean 19A? Or something else?
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