Saturday Themeless by Kyle Dolan
Hi Gary,
Thanks for your note. I'm glad to hear you enjoyed the puzzle!
Rich accepted this grid as-is, and adjusted several of the clues. I'm happy to see that my clues for HERE YOU GO and AIR GUITAR made the cut. From a construction standpoint, there's little to say--I recall this one coming together pretty easily during filling, helped in part by the grid design, which keeps the four corners largely independent of one another, and limits the largest area of white space to 4x5 (NW and SE corners).
Best, Kyle
I really doubt anyone says this in Kyle's British office, but I will send you on to the write-up by bidding you
1. Feat rarely but only accomplished from home: GRAND SLAM - GRAND SLAM home runs are rare and so is any home run hit by a pitcher, but Atlanta BravedHuascar Ynoa did both.
10. Divisive element: WEDGE - Politics is full of WEDGE issues that candidates must skillfully manage.
15. Passing comment?: HERE YOU GO - Oh so clever! We have abandoned this practice and use buffet style
16. Ancient public space: AGORA - How 'bout a LEGO version?
17. Uniform tone: OLIVE DRAB.
18. "Gotcha": ROGER - Can't post this enough: Kareem Abdul Jabbar plays ROGER Murdock and hilarity ensues
19. Assent in Asturias: SI SI - Englebert, et al sang: "Please say, SI SI. Say you and your Spanish Eyes will wait for me."
20. Ape: SIMIAN - relating to, resembling, or affecting apes or monkeys.
22. Shooting technique: PAN - This PAN shot nearly took my breath away!
23. Immune system agent: T CELL - Here ya go
25. Low spot: DELL - There's this farmer who lives there...
26. "I __ a traveller ... ": Shelley's "Ozymandias": MET - One poem that really rocked my 17-yr-old perspective
27. Equivalent of some crying emojis: LOL - A tad overused these days
29. Cold front sites?: IGLOOS - I suspect when they are done, all the sides will be cold. I read that a 57. Wet blanket: SNOW makes a longer lasting IGLOO than dry powdery snow
31. Claim: ALLEGE - I ALLEGE Colonel Mustard killed him in the Conservatory with a Wrench.
34. Low on cash, say: STRAPPED - Derivation
36. Penn of "Harold & Kumar" films: KAL - Along with his costar John Cho.
37. Like basset hounds: SADEYED.
42. Eisenhower Era bombs?: EDSELS - No nukes here, just an expensive Ford mistake.
44. He collaborated with Rihanna in "Love the Way You Lie": EMINEM - A mix of her ballad and his rap. Google this violent video if you must.
45. Called before: NEE - When my colleague's wife died I went to the mortuary online site I knew they would use for the obit. I did not know she had kept her maiden name.
47. Anjou relative: BOSC.
50. Jump, maybe: REACT.
54. Big name in luxury cars: BMW - Let's see, how old was I when I learned the B stood for Bavarian and not British?
55. Flower flow: NECTAR - My cwd radar went up to see "flower" as a noun for something that "flows" but, no, it was simple than that.
58. Remoulade cousin: AIOLI.
60. In quick succession: RAPID FIRE - Nobody does it better
63. Imaginary axe: AIR GUITAR - FWIW, axe is a euphemism for guitar
65. Shade on a field: TRASH TALK.
Down:
1. Suddenly stop returning texts, say: GHOST.
2. Car phone, for one: RELIC.
3. Come up: ARISE.
4. Renowned English conductor Sir __ Marriner: NEVILLE - Here ya go
5. Vat contents: DYE.
6. Rolls out the green carpet on?: SODS.
7. Sensational: LURID - Sex sells
8. Best effort: A GAME.
9. Upward __: MOBILITY.
10. Bark or bite: WARN.
11. __ massage: EGO.
12. Lab lovers, e.g.: DOG PEOPLE.
13. Image on a dollar bill: GREAT SEAL.
13. Image on a dollar bill: GREAT SEAL.
14. Bring in: EARN.
21. Soul singer inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1995: AL GREEN - How 'bout a mellow break?
24. Uses a password: LOGS IN.
26. Cleaning tool: MOP.
28. Do not disturb: LEAVE BE.
30. Roofer's need: LADDER - In a list of 35. How-to list heading: DO'S and Don't's, this would fall in the latter (get it, latter/ladder) category.
31. Wanted letters: AKA.
32. Logitech products: LASER MICE.
33. Material for Quechua weavers: LLAMA WOOL.
34. One out of 100: Abbr.: SEN - It's 50/50 these days.
38. Among presidents, Jackson was the first: DEMOCRAT - Old Hickory
41. Boodles or Booth's: GIN.
43. Deems proper: SEES FIT.
48. Help in getting to the next level?: STAIR - Our kitty is getting up in years
49. "It Happened One Night" director: CAPRA - His name is featured prominently in this poster
51. Indian novelist Desai: ANITA - Her autograph in a first edition
52. Reddish pink: CORAL.
53. Dance provocatively: TWERK - "If you can't sing..."
54. Big party: BASH.
55. Pedants' pickings: NITS - Some are harvested here
56. Some convoys have big ones: RIGS.
61. [Facepalm]: DUH.
41 comments:
Good morning!
Got 'er done in good time, so life is good. No Wite-Out required. HERE YOU GO and AIR GUITAR both took some time (and an alphabet run) before appearing. Well done, Kyle. Enjoyed your expo, Husker.
LASER MICE: Mine is a Logitech Roller Ball. Mouse sits in one spot and your thumb moves the cursor around the screen.
EDSEL: The Ford Skyliner was of that same vintage. It was a coupe with a retractable hard-top roof. The hard-top stored itself where the trunk ought to be. The trunk...well, there wasn't any. Maybe that's why it was never a big seller.
This took my A Game, but got it finished in 12:15. Good Saturday puzzle: tricky, without being devious; diverse topics; and, novel clueing.
I didn't know Neville or Anita. I liked that "ape" didn't refer to copy/mimic.
Like anon at 7:37 I did not know NEVILLE or ANITA but it did not matter as they were filled by the perps. Our IGLOO was back in its common form and overall a very nice Saturday, but...
Lao is not a Thai language. It is a TAI LANGUAGE . It is not spoken by people in Thailand. If you want to know the distinction, read the information in the link.
The timing is sad as my cousin's Lao wife died this week after a long illness.
Thank you Gary and Kyle.
A fun Saturday puzzle, Kyle. Thank you for stopping by and giving us some insight to your masterful construction. Husker, you cleared up some of the vestiges of cob web surrounding this puzzler. Much appreciated.
How many of you grew up with the forever STRAPPED Wimpy?
AIR GUITAR and OLIVE DRAB were my two favorite AHA moments.
Enjoy your Saturday, All
I was about to throw in the towel on Kyle's Saturday toughie with very few gimmes in place- MOBILITY, BOCS, DEMOCRAT, AGORA, & SODS. As luck would have it I use both a Logitech keyboard and LASER MOUSE (MICE) and that opened up the SW. The mouse is wireless but I never thought of it as 'laser', just wireless mouse and keyboard. EMINEM, KAL, & GIN were unknown WAGS.
The NW fell last after guessing GRAND SLAM after only ARISE, NODS, & MOBILITY were filled. I thought NEVILLE (unknown) sounded like a good British name so I threw it in and it stuck-whew. The only other unknowns were Boodles or Booth's GIN and ANITA Desai. I had to back out of a few blind alleys today.
LAMBS WOOL/LLAMA WOOL
H-TESTS/EDSELS
CAB/LOP
HOT TAR/LADDER
ICE___/IGLOOS
OLIVE DRAB- anybody else notice that is one of the new car colors.
Well that's enough septuagenarian TRASH TALK for today.
In baseball, yes. Other GRAND SLAMs can be made while playing bridge at a card table anywhere, or at breakfast at Denny's. A GS wasn't enough for the Rays last night.
Had to correct hEDGE for WEDGE, DNK the GINs.
Thank you Dr. Kyle for a challenging, but ultimately FIRable Saturday puzzle. Both the fill and the cluing were delightful and the paucity of NATICK inducing P&P's was welcome.
And thank you Husker for another stellar review. How you always bring your A GAME and manage a GRAND SLAM week after week is remarkable. BTW my Brit Mother always said goodbye with "Cheerio", but then she was old school. She said her last goodbye at age 95 less than a year ago.
Favs:
15A This was a double-whammy for me, as I started out with "Here I come (I'm about to pass you)". It took a vat of DYE to straighten me out.
My family still sticks to tradition at Thanksgiving with everyone sitting around the table. But it takes about 15 minutes between the Grace and the first mouthful of food. And it was here that I learned the phrase "short stopping" from my Father, who would intercept passes between the others.
63A Just learned earlier this month that AXE was slang for GUITAR. Amazing the useful stuff you can pick up on the Corner.
4D I once attended a concert at the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, but NEVILLE wasn't conducting that day.
6D SODS It's remarkable how the mind plays tricks on us. I initially saw the clue with a "RED CARPET".
12D Teri and I were definitely LAB PEOPLE. Raised two of the perennial 2 year olds to the ripe old ages of 15 and 15.
51D ANITA the only unknown, but easily perpable.
Cheers (a toast to this remarkable community!)
Bills
ps Lemony @7:51 AM Thanks for the TAI LANGUAGE link.
Good morning everyone.
Started off slowly, and then gained the SW NE center. GRAND SLAM and OLIVE DRAB closed the NW. In the SE, AIR GUITAR seemed to want to perp as did TRASH TALK, yielding TWERK, a new learning. (Only added to Merriam Webster since 2015.). Evaded lookups by my chinny chin chin, and FIR. Mostly liked the 9-letter stacks and column doubles. EDSELS was elusive until LADDER fell and then perped in easily. DU'H
I've seen the GREAT SEAL located in the State Dept.
Thanks HG for opening the curtains to today's challenge.
"Ozymandias" is a poem, or more properly, a pair of poems, with a history behind them. With that in mind, I add my own cotribution, 303 years later.
"Ozymandias"
By Owen Laurion
I read a poet from an antique time
Whose words were printed in a book.
He wrote of a king in Saharan clime
Whose magnificence he sorely mistook.
For he had built a city so sublime
And at his every word, the people shook!
His statue gazed upon his realm divine.
That now was desert, so said the book.
I raised my eyes, and looked about
The library where I sat. Book cases
Eight feet tall, and end to end redoubt,
A fortress of text of times and places.
Of such a legacy, I have no doubt
That ancient king would see as basis
For Ozymandias, King of Kings, to despair,
For poets outlive kings in history's lair.
A lot of clever clues today. I liked relic for car phone and trash talk for shade on a field. I had a few white out moments but not bad for a Saturday outing. Thanks Kyle and Gary.
Well, I surprised myself when I finished this with no look ups and only three write overs. Dye for Ale, Ran for Led, and Logs in instead of on. I haven't had much success with any of the puzzles this week, so this was very pleasing.
My last name is a gerund. Balding. And my dad was!
Becky
Displaying my ignorance, or unwokeness, can someone ‘splain shade on a field being TRASH TALK? I really struggled with this puzzle.
"an abundance of cleverness and the clue/fill: Passing comment: HERE YOU GO was fabulous." Perfect.
I too fell for his tricks inc Wet blanket: Boor/SNOW
You think a pitcher hitting a grandslam is rare
Tony Cloninger hit two in one game 65 years ago.
BMW, CSO* to Wilbur whose alternator blew in Gainesville. Aarrggghhh. BMW gave me a loaner. Plus… Our conure was in the vet hospital. Silver lining: The loaner has Sirius
Aha, that kind of mouse(MICE)
STAIR not STAge which confirmed RIGS. How about Dis for BASH**.
I see BigE doesn't drink either re. Boodle's GIN
Waseeley, outside UFVet hospital a fellow related sad story of his dog swallowing a tennis ball. Operation only $4000("Worth every penny")
I've said enough. Gary, A+ on write-up and sane for Kyle
WC
* Not to speak of OLIVE DRAB
** New Sox ownership considered Manny Ramirez contract a poison pill. After firing GM they hired a sports talk guy to BASH Manny constantly
Wendy, "Shade" is the talk which occurs in sports. all time great TT'er: Larry Bird
BTW, a most rewarding FIR
OwenKL @10:26 AM
{A+,A+}
FIR, but as is Wendybird, I am a bit unsure about SHADE and TRASH TALK. I guess that SHADE is slang for same. Also, did not know ANITA but after a few perps it seemed to be a logical guess. The gin reference was also perp'd. . . now, if it had been a Scotch whisky reference . . . Fortunately, I did know NEVILLE Mariner from some recordings I have of The Academy of St. Martin in the Fields.
Wilbur Charles @12:04 PM The Dog Star?
MalMan @12:19 PM Gen Z talk: "Throwing shade" = "Trash Talk".
Thank you Dr. Dolan, for a Very Challenging puzzle. I had a very tough time, but eventually I completed it. I am impressed with the British Foreign Service, that they can afford to have a Ph. D., as a diplomat in their consulate offices ... and so talented. ;-o)
Thank you HGary for the explanations, some of which I desperately needed to understand. Like, why an Axe was an Air Guitar. Idioms, euphemisms and slang argot always confuse me because I guess I'm not totally connected with the outside world .... mentally, atleast.
Thank you Lemonade, for the link to TAI languages. I made a guess at the clue, but I did not know Thai and Lao were related. I lived in Thailand when I was 5 to 9 yrs old, and learnt Thai in less than a month, thanks to our landlady's 3 young, pretty daughters .... ( who quickly put me in my place...) Although I did not know Sanskrit, at the time ( I still dont ) , I found Thai very easy to understand and speak. Maybe it was my youth, ... and that quality which makes younger kids better at learning, as say, computers and computer apps ...
I was flabbergasted at the absolute politeness of the Thai peoples ... and was shocked when I came back to India, to face the relative uncouthness of indians. Politeness is a part and parcel of the thai dna, and I see it even today, in my thai niece-in-law, and her american born children.
I had not heard of ANITA Desai , even among indian writers, but that is maybe, because her writing is not in my common reading genre. I dont read indian writers, just for the heck of it.
I didnt understand the word 'shade' is a slang, to mean an insult.
As for the image on a dollar bill, i thought of Green seal, ... older dollar bills had blue / red / green / brown seals .... I have a few copies.
Have a nice day, and a good weekend, all.
Thanks, Bill, for the education.
On another note, today's Universal Crossword was constructed by a 13-year-old (Leo Dudley) and, of course, edited by David Steinberg (a 24-year-old). Congrats . . .
and is it too early for a drink?
Hi Y'all! An enjoyable challenge, Kyle, thanks. another great expo, Husker, thanks.
NE was the last fill. I had AGORA & DOG then EGG. Very tricky cluing throughout. Gotcha for ROGER was a long time coming, but okay.
LASER MICE: Had never heard of it or Logitech Products. I did have a wireless mouse on my IMAC.
Imaginary AXE = AIR GUITAR had me stumped then laughing when it dawned on me.
DNK: KAL, remoulade, NEVILLE, ANITA, [facepalm].
Puzzling thoughts:
FIR, with just a couple write-overs and one WAG (DOS xing LAO). This may have been the easiest Saturday themeless yet for me but I enjoyed the clueing and fill just the same.
Thanks HG for guiding us through the recap
No, MM, it’s not too early to drink!
My haiku du jour:
Was Oscar the Grouch
The first ever character
To engage TRASH TALK?
Lemonade, thanks for pointing that out about LAO. I raised this same point with Rich after I received the puzzle preview from Gary. (FWIW, my original clue did reference the Tai language family.) Although it was not possible to change the clue in time for this publication, Rich agreed to retire this clue for LAO from his database going forward.
(Apologies if this posts twice, my first try appears to have vanished into the ether!)
Hi All!
Thanks Kyle for the Saturday challenge. Got about 50% before I needed a cheat.
//I still haven't hit your wavelength. Oh, thanks for stopping by The Corner.
HaHa HG re: latter (that guy's going to bust his gutter b/f his butt). Thanks for the expo and Rodney Dangerfield.
WOs: HEalS ->HELPS, DoH->DUH, PCT until peek at HG's grid showed it's SEN.
ESPs: N/A (I cheated!)
Fav: AIR GUITAR's clue.
{++}
LOL MoeKu.
Wendybird - "throwing shade" is, in general, subtlety putting someone down (in your shadow?).
//Our new Jr. Analysts are <25yro. I hear "oh, shade" >5 times a week when I discuss how things should be v. how they've been implemented (or some such).
In many sports, players "trash talk" each other to get the "mental advantage."
e.g. "Nice hit - your grandma teach you how to play baseball?"
MManatee - at the time of your post, you still had to wait another 5 minutes for a cocktail to be socially acceptable (hey, it IS the weekend :-)).
Cheers, -T
Thanks for the "encouragement" Ch Moe and -T but you do know that my time zone is two hours behind this blog's dontcha?
Kyle, it is very gracious of you to stop by and acknowledge my comment. I do not dwell on nits but I am married to a Thai woman and I have Lao relatives from my cousin's marriage so it seemed important.
And three hours behind me Joseph, but really who cares about that old life controlling statement. Be free
Another one of these tough-but-doable Saturday grinds, this one earning our thanks for Mr. Dolan. Nicely illustrated by Husker G.
FIR, no cheats needed.
I am always impressed by how certain PZLs--including this one--can make us feel a lot smarter than we actually are. As we crack the cluing codes, we get momentary jolts of glee--and their impacts are doubled as perps fall into place.
Strangely (at least I think so), the first fill for me was OLIVE DRAB. I dunno why. Just out of the blue it came to me. The only time I actually wore it was in high school ROTC.
I hesitated to ink it in only as long as it took me to "eye" two potential perps--SODS and NEVILLE--and when I saw they would do, I plunged ahead.
My fave clue? 42A, I guess.
There are so many ways to set up EDSELS, this seemed a bit offbeat.
Owen ~ With today's additions, good sir, you enter the pages of poetic history!
Sorry, no diagonals today.
~ OMK
Now off to try the Universal...13 eh?
Becks, nice to see you, it has been a while and a themeless brings you back with a nice gerund double pun.
Yes, my brother from another mother, learning languages young is much easier. As I have previous mentioned, I spoke three by the time I was 6 but didn't know it. Now I remember bits and pieces of many, many languages but fluency escapes me
Looked at the puzzle off and on as I had time and I eventually got a FIR. Very slow filling in the midwest with KAL and AKA my last entries. WOs here and there: of course/AS A GIVEN, led/RAN, and HEalS/HELPS to name a few. But a FIR on Saturday! Thanks Kyle and Husker Gary for all the entertainment today.
Our resident toaster, Tin-beni, waits til 5pm to toast the sunset but eschews BOODLE'S and booth for Johnny W. Neat of course
OMK, well said. Wilbur is chortling with glee. But I cheated. I was at one of those meetings(c. Jumble, 5.6-9.30) where all they had was regular. Hence the FIR
Waseeley, this Dog is in the news in Florida. Every seer, dowser, tarot reader etc is cashing in.
WC
Mal Man: At chez Token Creek, it's never too early. (:^)
Nearly gave up after 5 minutes, but set it down and walked the greyhound. Picked it back up and worked a while longer making good progress, then put it down and went to brunch. Picked it back up and lo and behold, FIR.
I don't think of GRAND SLAMs as being rare. I think of inside-the-park home runs, unassisted triple-plays and perfect games being rare. But then again I don't watch much baseball anymore. I DO remember that if the opposing pitcher threw Warren Spahn a fat fastball down the middle, he would often get a new ball from the ump after Spahn completed his home run trot.
DNK Booth's but did remember that Travis McGee drank Boodles GIN.
I knew of Aaron NEVILLE but not that other guy.
How to: Step 1 - Load DOS.
I will always think LOP as "line of position", how you figured out where you were in the days of navigating by the heavens, landmarks, radio direction finders, and loran.
Spitz too, I'll bet.
I loved this puzzle. A super head-scratching process but ever so satisfying. I enjoyed the heck out of much of the cluing and fill. I hope you have more like this one in your arsenal, Kyle.
I knew NEVILLE Marriner for the same reason Malodorous Manatee did.
Exactly like Becky, I had ALE before DYE, LED before RAN, and LOGS ON before IN.
LEAVE BE changed to LET IT BE, then changed back to LEAVE BE.
For some reason I was going for LAPEL MIKE for too long, before I finally got LASER MICE, even though I know Logitech doesn't make microphones. Maybe it's because I misspelled SCOOT as SKOOT, so that K was already there.
Owen, I like your version of "Ozymandias" too. Allow me to post here that other poem, of two, that Owen referred to. It was written, in friendly competition with his friend and fellow poet Percy Bysshe Shelley, by Horace Smith:
In Egypt's sandy silence, all alone,
Stands a gigantic Leg, which far off throws
The only shadow that the Desert knows:—
"I am great OZYMANDIAS," saith the stone,
"The King of Kings; this mighty City shows
The wonders of my hand."— The City's gone,—
Naught but the Leg remaining to disclose
The site of this forgotten Babylon.
We wonder,—and some Hunter may express
Wonder like ours, when thro' the wilderness
Where London stood, holding the Wolf in chace,
He meets some fragment huge, and stops to guess
What powerful but unrecorded race
Once dwelt in that annihilated place.
Thanks to all of you from whom I have learned so much.
From a few days ago re Sunday LAT crossword. Our daily rag (and that's a complement) also has the two-week-old NYT, which DW does. I go to WAPO* (holding my nose). No pay wall,no nothing. *WAshington POst.
Jinx @3:39 PM Both Nevilles were rock stars. Mariner began as a Baroque specialist but eventually expanded his wheelhouse to include all periods of classical music.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/crossword-puzzles/daily/ That eliminates all the fishin'.
Jayce ~ Thanks for giving us the Smith version. Shelley's original certainly has power to inspire reactions.
We had to study Shelley's "Ozymandias" in high school. I remember our English teacher kept mispronouncing the "mighty king"'s name, thus adding a stress to the pentameter line. As a true pedant, he refused to accept a polite correction.
PAN? HG ~ To continue picking NITs, may I point out that your dinosaur example seems to be an upward shot, rather than a PAN?
It has a little sideways motion, but is mainly a vertical movement--technically a tilt.
~ OMK
Henry James in The Bostonians had a dinner scene where he wrote that an aunt revealed a generation of hostility in the words "Please pass the…"
Shouldn't that have been "smiling emojis" for LOL?
From the new MadAve model an EDSEL failure is a success for bringing attention to the brand. c. Limu the emu
This NIT was my goto in 70s and 80s. Actually, BC was in 1967 NIT vs Louisville. Triple OT win for BC.
WC
Jinx @ 1539 - - Yep; 3 LOP's whose crossing narrows down to a small "cocked hat" is alway a plus.
Imy sorry, but I found the poor Doctor's clues neither clever not precise. "Here you go" is a "passing" comment? In who's lexicon?? I've played my "air guitar" while listening to my beloved Classic Rock s million times but never, NEVER heard it called an "axe". How many levels of conveluted thinking brought out TRASH TALK from"Shade on a field"??? In my opinion, the praise he is receiving here is totally unwarranted!
Unknown - see expo for "passing comment" as in passing the mashed potatoes.
Also, see my 1:51p note to Wendybird re: Shade on the (sports) field.
Also see: this for mini-axes for sale.
WC - There's an LOL emoji that conveys you're laughing so hard you're crying.
Cheers, -T
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