Theme: None
Words: 70 (missing F,Q,Z)
Blocks: 30
Mr.
Huget is cranking out the Saturday puzzles for the LA Times this year -
today we have #3; number two was last month at Easter. I did not see
the triple stack when I started on this one - and then I saw the
15-letter climber in the DOWN later. With a few crossings, I was able
to fill them in with little trouble, and the net result of a grid with
stacks is a higher small word count, too - which usually helps. Lots of
proper names, but none that didn't "self-solve" through perps; other
answers came to me from doing lots of crosswords. The long fills from
the middle;
32a. Metaphor for high speed : PEDAL TO THE METAL - see 64a., 24d, 26d.
39a. Sacrificed considerably : PAID A STEEP PRICE
40a. Fixers : TROUBLESHOOTERS
39a. Sacrificed considerably : PAID A STEEP PRICE
You can send money to my PayPal account. Thank you.
7d. Awkward moment makeup : ABSOLUTE SILENCE
OnwRRRRd~!
ACROSS:
1. Old man, in Mannheim : ALTE - I vaguely remembered the German word, but filled in ALDE at first.
5. Key with five sharps: Abbr. : B MAJ - oops, put in "E" first; "E" is one of the two non-sharps in the key; the other is "B" - all the black keys of a piano get used
5. Key with five sharps: Abbr. : B MAJ - oops, put in "E" first; "E" is one of the two non-sharps in the key; the other is "B" - all the black keys of a piano get used
9. Mess up : BOTCH
14. Unavoidable : MEANT TO BE- the irony with some of the answers in the puzzle....
16. Oocyte producer : OVARY - my DOWN crossings messed up this corner to start
17. Relaxed to the max : MELLOWEST
18. Name probably derived from scat singing : BEBOP
19. Like Orson, on a '70s-'80s sitcom : ORKAN - along with Mork from Ork
20. Band with a self-named 1978 debut album : TOTO - my personal favorite song from this band;
14. Unavoidable : MEANT TO BE- the irony with some of the answers in the puzzle....
16. Oocyte producer : OVARY - my DOWN crossings messed up this corner to start
17. Relaxed to the max : MELLOWEST
18. Name probably derived from scat singing : BEBOP
19. Like Orson, on a '70s-'80s sitcom : ORKAN - along with Mork from Ork
20. Band with a self-named 1978 debut album : TOTO - my personal favorite song from this band;
188,112,538 views; I think the story presented in the
video is stirring
22. "Lady Jane Grey" playwright : ROWE - filled via perps
23. Queen of Thorns portrayer on TV : RIGG - filled via perps
25. Floaters in a Japanese ceremony : LANTERNS
Cool
27. Turkish title : AGA - got it from doing crosswords
29. Cassowary cousin : EMU
31. Dog in the Reagan White House : REX - the "X" was an educated guess
41. Sign of summer : LEO - astrological sign
42. Leb. neighbor : ISRael - oops, not SYRia
43. Low mark : DEE
44. 1942 Hayworth/Mature musical : MY GAL SAL - I suppose the "G" offered some solvers a Natick with the vague Greek name crossing
48. Neutral shades : TANS - ah, such a lovely shade....
52. Overly precious, in Portsmouth : TWEE - I need to start using this word at UPS; it's hiring season, and most of the people coming in don't last more than two days; I'll have seven years in June, and I am getting the "itch" - especially since the newest ruling from above no longer allows us to listen to music on the job. Really~?
54. It makes everything taste better, they say : BACON - I have to agree
57. Child with dishes : JULIA - clever, but I got it - do you think she likes bacon~?
59. Talus : ANKLEBONE - I pondered BIRD'S FOOT
61. Classic theater : ODEON
62. Glaze causes : ICE STORMS
63. __ Doon, Bay Area community named by a Scotsman : BONNY
64. One may be taken on the road : TEST - I was just reading Road & Track while waiting to get my hair cut, and in this issue they test drove a McLaren along with 9 other 'supercars'; one of the authors crashed it. Ouch. I like the McLaren
65. Sugar source : BEET
DOWN:
1. Clip contents : AMMO
2. Lascivious look : LEER
3. Broadcast genre : TALK RADIO
4. Zhou __ : EN LAI
5. Start of a modern afterthought : BTW - By The Way
6. Chandon's partner : MOËT - champagne
8. Beetle cousin : JETTA - ah, the car, not the insect
9. Short do : BOB - dah~! Not 'FRO
10. Exhaust (oneself), as in a workout : OVEREXERT
11. Drum with a fife : TABOR - Dah~!! Not SNARE
12. Symbol of sovereignty : CROWN - I had this, and took it out because it did not jibe with SNARE
13. Strong pitches : HYPES
15. Grab, as at a smorgasbord : TONG
21. Restricted pending disciplinary action : ON REPORT
24. Takes a turn for the worse? : GETS LOST
26. Pace : TEMPO
27. Cal. entry : APPT.
28. Driver's choice : GEAR - could have been IRON, as in golf, but rarely does one use an iron as a driver; maybe from the tee of a par three....?
30. Speck : MOTE - not IotA, but that's 100% 50% correct
33. Sycophant's specialty : ADULATION - a Kiss A**
34. Record trademark : LABEL
35. Sneaky chortles : HEHs
36. 50-50, say : TIED SCORE - seemed unlikely, but I filled it in, and it stayed
37. Real estate buy : ACRE
38. Suffix with Congo : LESE - Congolese; hey, it's Saturday
44. Teen's source of funds : McJOB
45. "Really?" : "YOU DO~?"
46. Ancient Greek physician : GALEN - the "N" was my last fill
47. Anticipate : AWAIT
49. Help on the job? : ABET
50. Big shot : NABOB
53. Scratches (out) : EKES
55. "Your money's no good here" : ON ME
56. First flight launch site : NEST - I pondered N CAR, for the Wright brothers at Kitty Hawk; nope, just the home of the animals God intended to fly....
58. Partner of all : ANY - any & all
60. D-Day craft : LST - crossword staple
59. Talus : ANKLEBONE - I pondered BIRD'S FOOT
61. Classic theater : ODEON
62. Glaze causes : ICE STORMS
63. __ Doon, Bay Area community named by a Scotsman : BONNY
64. One may be taken on the road : TEST - I was just reading Road & Track while waiting to get my hair cut, and in this issue they test drove a McLaren along with 9 other 'supercars'; one of the authors crashed it. Ouch. I like the McLaren
65. Sugar source : BEET
DOWN:
1. Clip contents : AMMO
2. Lascivious look : LEER
3. Broadcast genre : TALK RADIO
4. Zhou __ : EN LAI
5. Start of a modern afterthought : BTW - By The Way
6. Chandon's partner : MOËT - champagne
8. Beetle cousin : JETTA - ah, the car, not the insect
9. Short do : BOB - dah~! Not 'FRO
10. Exhaust (oneself), as in a workout : OVEREXERT
11. Drum with a fife : TABOR - Dah~!! Not SNARE
12. Symbol of sovereignty : CROWN - I had this, and took it out because it did not jibe with SNARE
13. Strong pitches : HYPES
15. Grab, as at a smorgasbord : TONG
21. Restricted pending disciplinary action : ON REPORT
24. Takes a turn for the worse? : GETS LOST
I couldn't resist
26. Pace : TEMPO
27. Cal. entry : APPT.
28. Driver's choice : GEAR - could have been IRON, as in golf, but rarely does one use an iron as a driver; maybe from the tee of a par three....?
30. Speck : MOTE - not IotA, but that's 100% 50% correct
33. Sycophant's specialty : ADULATION - a Kiss A**
34. Record trademark : LABEL
35. Sneaky chortles : HEHs
36. 50-50, say : TIED SCORE - seemed unlikely, but I filled it in, and it stayed
37. Real estate buy : ACRE
38. Suffix with Congo : LESE - Congolese; hey, it's Saturday
44. Teen's source of funds : McJOB
45. "Really?" : "YOU DO~?"
46. Ancient Greek physician : GALEN - the "N" was my last fill
47. Anticipate : AWAIT
49. Help on the job? : ABET
50. Big shot : NABOB
53. Scratches (out) : EKES
55. "Your money's no good here" : ON ME
56. First flight launch site : NEST - I pondered N CAR, for the Wright brothers at Kitty Hawk; nope, just the home of the animals God intended to fly....
58. Partner of all : ANY - any & all
60. D-Day craft : LST - crossword staple
Splynter
Easy puzzle for a Saturday.
ReplyDeleteHi Y'all! Whew, this was a good workout. Thanks, Roland. Good job, Splynter.
ReplyDeleteThe NW was the last to fill, I worked my way down filling what I could and had a lot of white left showing. I had to fill the bottom and work back up. Took some red-letter runs to get that NW.
I had OVER long before I got EXERT. Tried several things, like "doing". Nope.
TenOR drum before TABOR. Thought of "bongo" but who plays a fife with that? Maybe a flute?
ADorATION before ADULATION.
Didn't know GALEN.
Hand up for N Car before NEST. I've been to Kitty Hawk's Kill Devil Hill.
Splynter: of JULIA, you asked, "Do you think she likes bacon." Answer is, not any more. She died in 2004.
along the same lines, i thought of filling OHIO for the first flight since the brothers wright hailed from dayton...hope everybody has a nice weekend, especially the moms
ReplyDeleteGood morning!
ReplyDeleteWow, that old man is a HERR and the stuff in the clip is HAIR. This one's gonna be a snap! Bzzzzzzt! It all worked out in the end, but Wite-Out was involved. That Volkswagon wasn't a JEDDA. Who knew?
While in Japan back in '69, we witnessed a lantern ceremony, but this one involved lanterns floating on a lake. Very pretty. My photos of it, not so much.
NEST reminds me that those three little guys are getting a lot bigger and a lot more active.
FIR!!! I did NOT think I was going to do it! I guess it was MEANT TO BE! Very few words filled in on the first pass, a very few more the next, and the next, and the next, and so on.
ReplyDeleteI see some newbie named William Clinton did today's NYT, and it's his second puzzle there. First a con in prison and now this guy. No standards whatsoever!
OwenKL, that was yesterday's NYT.
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteGood morning all. Thank you Roland and Splynter.
Too tough for me today. Got most of it.
I knew ALTE was old, but did not know that as a noun form it also means old man. As an aside, I was stationed in Mannheim (Sandhofen) and Mannheim-Vogelstang for about my first sixteen months in Germany. Then on to Karlsruhe for the duration. Great times in Germany.
Got my wooden shoe and old marching drum mixed up. At least the middle three letters were the same.
GETS LOST - great clue. As was awkward makeup moment.
Pretty sure Congo suffix was going to be LESE, but had LEUM waiting on the bench.
Not too bad today. A few writeovers, typical for me on Saturdays.
ReplyDeleteI had a slow start and fast finish today; I guess it was MEANT TO BE. B MAJ and ORKAN were the only fills in the north on my first pass. The south had LST and that was about it. I made matters worse by filling HERR and SNARE for the old man and drum before ALTE and TABOR got the ball rolling
ReplyDeleteI didn't read the clues to the three long fills on the first pass and should have; they were easy. That opened up everything. I wish my newspaper would use a different font. The clues for 23A & 58D looked like 'Queen on Thoms' and 'Partnier of all' insteat od Thorns and Partner.
BONNY, TWEE, RIGG, MY GAL SAL-unknowns filled by perps. First flight launch site- I wanted NCAR but there was no abbr.
ADULATION- Kiss A**- How do you think someone gets a 'brown nose'?
Good Morning:
ReplyDeleteWell, no sitting in the corner wearing a dunce hat today! Like last Saturday, I was on the constructor's wave length right from the get-go. Any hiccups were soon remedied by perps and the long answers sort of filled in by themselves. Personally, I like a Saturday to be more of a challenge; mind you, not a hair-puller, teeth-gnasher, but a "I'm not giving up until I finish this" challenge. (I'm talking to you, Barry Silk!)
Thanks, Roland, for an enjoyable solve and thanks, Splynter, for your breezy write-up.
Whenever I see "nabob" I think of Spiro Agnew's "nattering nabobs of negativism" penned by William Safire. Mr. Safire had an enviable way with words.
Have a great day.
Saturday glee as I finished this challenge from Roland Huget but no joy as I had two errors. Like the rest of you, my first pass left mostly white but a little at a time, with patience and some out of the box thinking, I finished it.
ReplyDeleteSince I don't watch Game of Thrones, RIGG was unknown to me in that role, and I had SWEE instead of TWEE. But the long fill was easily sussed once a few letters emerged. Like PK I also think of Spiro Agnew at NABOB.
Thank you, Roland and Splynter! Today is a busy day; I'm hosting a party for my daughter's 40th birthday so there is lots to do.
I hope fermatprime is all right. She usually posts first and very early. Thinking of you, !
Have a sensational day, everyone!
Oh, I'm sorry, that was Irish Miss thinking of Spiro.
ReplyDeleteMusings
ReplyDelete-My wrong guesses would fill a tome and my Mt. Natick was tabOr/rOwe but I summited that too
-I recently watched this great movie about PAYING A STEEP PRICE
-ABSOULTE SILENCE is hard for me to tolerate when I’m with someone
-I still see the lovely Emma Peel because I’ve never watched Game Of Thrones
-Those flying lanterns are illegal in Nebraska and 28 other states
-EMU unlocked a big section for me
-Here’s my list of foods BACON would not make better - ______, ________, _______, _______, etc
-I remember ODEON from the second line of this 1950 song (3:20)
-When does a look become a LEER?
-TONG as a verb, I can learn
-At our school, the sycophant always got the better assignments
-These first flights(:23) will soon occur outside my window
"Puzzling Thoughts":
ReplyDeleteThanks Roland for the engaging puzzle, and Splynter for the excellent recap.
WLS (what Lucina said), I too am not a Thrones watcher so RIGG was a lookup; also had SWEE > TWEE in 52a. Not sure I "get" that one, and Splynter's comments didn't make it any clearer! Oh well ...
Other BOTCHes: SNARE > TABOR; REST > TEST; IDOLATION > ADULATION; IOTA > MOTE. Other cheats: MY GAL SAL (used Google).
JETTA clue was quite clever.
Had a late breakfast today, and was eating a slice of 54a while doing the puzzle.
Moe-Ku:
Chai Tea at Starbucks:
$4.25 for Grande.
You PAID A "STEEP" PRICE
Owen:
There's a cop that I'd like you to meet
Who's a remedy for his sore feet:
The solution, of course,
Is to stomp in cold Borscht.
Refers to it as "walking a BEET"
I have at least 3 tiny squirrels chasing each other around the big maples in my yard. I'm not sure how many there are because they dart around so fast and are hidden by the tree trunks and bushes. The abundance of winged maple seeds in the yard make good eating for them. They hold the wing part and gnaw on the seed end like a lollipop. Too cute.
ReplyDeleteMy son and grandson are coming soon to take me to lunch for early Mother's Day. I'm glad he was able to work me in between mowing the lawn and taking his 11-yr.-old boy to play baseball at 3:00. Wish I could do bleachers so I could watch the boy play. Oh, the agony of de feet!
Gary, I was (am?) a big fan of Mrs. Peel. I found some Avengers reruns on an oldies cable station. Patrick Macnee was fun too but still...
ReplyDeleteHello everyone.
ReplyDeleteToughie, but got most of it unaided. Many well-worded mis-directing clues. Had adoration before ADULATION, too. Favorite clue was that for NEST.
I won't bore you again by recounting my 4 days of circumnavigating Catalina Island while training on
the USS Greer County (LST-799) in the summer of '58.
TWEE - TWO in Dutch and L. German. (The W is pronounced. The EE sounds like A in LATE.)
Well, as I expected, my glorious speed run through all five puzzles this week ended this morning with a Roland Huget toughie. I had to start cheating pretty early on, but then things did start to fill in and I enjoyed many of the clues and found it fun. So, many thanks, Roland (I almost wrote Rowland, my sweet late husband's name), and you too, Splynter, for a fun write-up.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite clue was "Child with dishes"--I can still picture Julia Child on TV. I was sure that "First flight launch site" had something to do with NASA and had to laugh when NEST fell into place. Speaking of that, your "agony of de feet" cracked me up, PK.
We have a lovely sunny day today, and I wish everyone a Happy Mother's Day tomorrow (I miss my Mutti--Austrian for Mom).
Ok, the pros have finished early and posted. When I finally got the NE I spotted some leftover blanks in the SW and filled MCJOB. Cute. I do a lot of xwording there with my unsweetened iced tea. Known as "The Usual".
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, I don't know a lot of bands is _ O _ O could only mean BONO. I actually considered JETTA - Duh.
And my cheat was asking Phil about ___SILENCE. One quick look and he says "What does AB sound like? AAARRRGGHHH!!!
So great xword Roland per usual. I was sure I had a disaster but wouldn't give up. Those V8 cans hurt. And did.
Splynter, great write-up also per usual.
BTW(Do I get a QOD for that one) I got some heavy METAL Wednesday with XXXVIIII inscribed.
Happy mother's day to our lovely femmes with the exception of Hungry Mother.
JETTA!!! I had a Passat not so long ago.
WC
Oops, I meant Apres Wilbur here come the amateurs. Including moi.
Ps2. Moe, very clever stuff today.
How'd I become anonymous? As if it wasn't obvious from the gitgo.
ReplyDeleteMisty, I thought of you whilst in the heavy slogging that the honeymoon was over.
BTW, I recognized ALTE from the esteemed Der ALTE. Adenauer the West German head of state.
WC
Wow, lots of white space after the first pass, then Just Like That, I'm on the wavelength.
ReplyDeleteI did have NCAR before NEST, EVENscore before TIED - and that was it.
Doggone good puzzle.
ReplyDeleteWilbur, I too thought of Adenauer with that first answer of Der ALTE.
ReplyDeleteHoneymoon?
Good day to all!
ReplyDeleteA Saturday puzzle I could complete without help. Yea! Lotsa fun! ROWE and RIGG arrived via perps. Didn't know the Reagans had a dog, but the "X" made sense after getting RE_, like Splynter pointed out. Thanks for the expo, Splynter. No music on the job? What's the rationale behind that.
Enjoy the day!
Hi again~!
ReplyDeleteWC - is that 3-9 or 3-8~? It looked like four "I"s at the end.
Way to go. ODaaT
Splynter
Misty, I meant all the tadas you achieved this week with no cheats. I refuse to Google, well almost, but will use Betsy and Phil.
ReplyDeleteBut as someone said earlier, the long acrosses were gettable which eased the pain somewhat.
And strange to say, I knew GALEN and ODEON but not TOTO.
WC
Thank you, Wilbur!
ReplyDeleteGalen is very popular as a fictional character:
ReplyDeleteGalen (Babylon 5), a technomage in the Babylon 5 universe
Galen DeMarco, a character in the world of Judge Dredd
Gal'en Kord, a character in the Transformers universe
Galen Tyrol, a character in the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica TV series
Galen Doc Adams, a character of the lead cast of Gunsmoke, a long running radio and subsequent TV series.
Galen, the assistant of Dr. Zaius in the 1968 film Planet of the Apes and subsequent TV series
Professor Richard Galen, a character in the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "The Chase"
Galen Marek, a character in the Star Wars: The Force Unleashed project
Galen, a character in the TV Series "Roar"
Dr. Galén, a character in a play The White Disease by Karel Čapek and in its movie adaptation Skeleton on Horseback
Dr. Galen Erso, a character in the movie Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.
Prince Galan, son of Prince Valiant, was , I believe, named after GALEN. Ill-adept at the pastimes of a warrior, Val's bookish son, Galan, seeks instead the life of a scholar.
ReplyDeleteThis one took several sieges before it went down. I think this was because I had to fit it into an unusually busy Saturday schedule rather than for its own complexity. The cluing was awfully cute at times. "Child with dishes" was rather TWEE, as was "First flight launch site." Both combined misdirection with charm in the clue or answer.
ReplyDeleteThe several grid-length challenges had it looking harder than it was, but all in all Mr. Huget led me a merry chase, right up to my Ta-DA!. I'm grateful for the pleasant workout.
I'm a big Prince Valiant fan too.
ReplyDeleteYes 39, 5/9/1978. Ironically, we had a river in Karthoum the same day my group discussed deNILE.
And...no sports gimmes today. I could have used a chestnut like
Eponymous St Louis Brown hitter
HEH HEH. Only Hondo would get that one.
I'll come back later. Btw,. I mean BTW, his first name was Matt
WC
One of my favorite baseball names was Matt Batts a catcher from 1947-58. He played for a bunch of teams. I mentioned STL Browns to date him.
ReplyDeleteRock groups like TOTO are as obscure to me as sports names would be for many. Dorothy's little dog was clued awhile back. I'm not sure if the Admiral ever made it.
Of course when Mr H uses Max in a clue and you have the root and can't come up with the superlative then ... Well IM's dunce cap is in the mail.
WC in the gloaming
Downloaded today's puzzle and saved it to work on the plane (MDW-MHT). Finished it somewhere over New York, but only by doing a red letter run in the SW. This was a tough one for me.
ReplyDeleteHand up for DER ALTE and EMMA PEEL.
So long from New Hampshire's White Mountains. Beautiful!
My daughter's birthday party was a lot of work but worth it. Everyone enjoyed it and most spent the afternoon at the pool as it was a nice, warm 98 degrees.
ReplyDeleteDitto on recalling der Alte Adenauer.
Crossing of TONG and ORKAN was the last fill for me. Hand up for never hearing TONG as a verb. I did not own a TV during the Mork and Mindy time and would not have known who Orson was.
ReplyDeleteHand up for knowing Diana RIGG as the luscious and daring Avenger. I know she has done other roles since, but that is how I always want to remember her! I bought the whole series on DVDs and am introducing my DW to them!
JULIA Child used to live here in Santa Barbara, but I don't think I ever actually saw her. Have never seen Oprah here, either. Some people like Jeff Bridges, John Cleese and John Travolta are out and about often. Others seem to hide!
Good Tuesday morning, folks. Thank you, Roland Huget, for a fine puzzle. Thank you, Splynter, for a fine review.
ReplyDeleteThis puzzle was easier to me than most Saturdays. Getting the three long ones in the middle early on helped.
Tried SNARE for 11D. Soon became obvious that that was wrong. Slowly got TABOR, then I remembered it.
Tried LORNA for 63A. BONNY won that battle.
GALEN did not come easily.
Tried REST for 64A. TEST became the answer.
Totally messed up the North. Did not know MOET or TOTO. Missed on JETTA due to the first unknowns. Came here to get straightened out.
Have to run. Three newsletters to write, one lawn to cut, and 30 letters to stuff and mail. Then I head to Waukegan for a meeting.
Abejo
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