Saturday Themeless by Jess Rucks
It's always a pleasure to see Jess's byline. Here you can see a picture of her and me as we met for a fun supper in Lincoln on a cold February night. Jess's long fills were the key to the solve and helped with some of the cleverness Jess supplied. Her Air Force job was as an Urdu translator and at least she did not use any of those words! 😊
Here's what our friend Jess had to say about this puzzle:
Hi Gary!
Yay, thanks! I don't remember if there was a seed for this one. LOOK MOM, NO HANDS was probably something inspired by my son Sigur! My goal was to keep the fill clean but also include interesting long answers that had the potential for fun cluing angles. To make up for having a few more shorter answers than is typical in a Saturday LAT themeless, I tried to up the difficulty a little bit in the clues!
I asked Jess how she came up with such a unique name for her son and I am quoting her reply because she actually used the word our cwd buddy EDDA in her answer:
We both have strong Scandinavian roots, so we looked to Nordic folklore. Sigurd is a hero in the Poetic EDDA, so we thought that name could be cool, but decided to drop the "d."
1. Aid in scratching an itch: CLAW.
5. Jeans choice: SLIM - Levi, Lees? Nope.
9. "What's wrong with u?": SMH - Get it?
12. Vader offspring: LEIA - Not her brother Luke this time
13. Southwestern casserole: TAMALE PIE.
16. "Same here": SO AM I.
17. "Let's do this!": IT'S GO TIME.
18. Forex benchmark: USD - FOReign currency EXchanges use US dollars for comparison
19. The old you: THEE - Not THOU
21. Like some kitchen herbs: POTTED.
22. Nullifies: NEGATES.
24. Tradition within Swedish coffee culture: FIKA.
25. Like some jobs: CUSHY.
26. Abound (with): TEEM.
27. Shengjian __: pan-fried pork bun: BAO - We seem to be learning a lot of bread products from around the world
30. Setting of Fox's "Best Medicine": MAINE.
31. Milanese dish traditionally served with risotto: OSSO BUCO.
33. With 47-Down, extra lives?: ALTER and 47. See 33-Across: EGOS - Clark Kent, Peter Parker and Bruce Wayne come to mind.
34. Service rep with a lack of humanity: BOT - I keep saying "Representative or pushing O" hoping I will get out of an annoying conversation with a BOT
35. David's "Baywatch" role: MITCH.
36. Eyes angrily: GLARES AT.
38. Takes down: NOTES.
39. Letters from a bygone empire: SSR.
40. Travels cross-country?: SKIS.
41. Wades through: FORDS.
42. Leave out: OMIT.
43. Nullifidian: ATHEIST - I had no idea but it makes sense
45. Cold treat: ICE POP.
48. National Farm Toy Museum locale: IOWA - It's about a 10 minute drive between these two attractions in tiny Dyersville, IOWA.
49. Whiz: ACE.
50. Home brewer's appliance: KEGERATOR.
50. Home brewer's appliance: KEGERATOR.
52. Chute material: NYLON - American parachutes were mostly made from Japanese silk. As you can imagine, Pearl Harbor cut off that supply and DuPont came with a synthetic substitute called NYLON. The first person to test the new material was parachute rigger Adeline Gray. She made her historic jump on June 6, 1942, two years to the day before they were widely used on D-Day.
54. Resolved: IRONED OUT.
55. Exploit: DEED.
56. Court figs.: DA'S.
57. Nueva canción great Mercedes: SOSA - Nueva Canción means "New Song"
58. Singer who has six top 10 studio albums with her namesake band: SADE.
Down:
1. Scary-good moments?: CLOSE CALLS.
2. Role for one who picks the melody?: LEAD GUITAR.
 |
| Bass Drum Lead Rhythm |
3. Asset in a snowball fight: AIM.
4. "You're telling me that's only part of the story?": WAIT THERE'S MORE - Remember pitchman Billy Mays?
4. "You're telling me that's only part of the story?": WAIT THERE'S MORE - Remember pitchman Billy Mays?
5. Spots for muckety-mucks?: STIES 😀
6. Like someone who gets stuck in traffic, perhaps: LATE.
7. Pings online: IMS.
8. Birds that recognize faces and hold grudges: MAGPIES - Now there's a face a MAGPIE can remember.
9. Rotisserie rod: SPIT.
10. Expert in nonverbal communication: MIME - A MIME MEME?
10. Expert in nonverbal communication: MIME - A MIME MEME?
11. Obey: HEED.
14. Cry for attention: LOOK MOM NO HANDS - Jess was thinking of her son when she thought of this.
15. James in the Blues Hall of Fame: ETTA.
20. "Yo!": HEY.
23. Ed of "Up": ASNER
24. End of Oktober?: FEST.
26. __ and the Maytals: TOOTS ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
27. Rang up from down under?: BUTT DIALED - My favorite clue!
28. Opening sequence: ACCESS CODE.
29. Sounds amazed: OOHS.
30. Some off-the-rack purchases, briefly: MAGS - A recurring scene in this movie
32. "Free your pores" brand: BIORE.
37. Bypass online promos: SKIP ADS - I click on 'em every time I can.
41. "Victory!" letters: FTW - I'll take Leslie Uggams For The Win
42. Like a tips-only bar: OPEN - The booze is already paid for so...
43. Place for a stent: AORTA.
44. Point value of "five" in Scrabble: TEN - Find the letters and add 'em up
45. "Only joking": I KID - His material would never work today
46. Michael of "The Running Man": CERA.
48. Chits: IOUS.
53. "About __ big": YEA.
