Saturday Themeless by Stella Zawistowski
Those of you who are familiar with our Renaissance woman, Stella, should recognize the flavor of her diverse puzzles. Here are her comments:
It shouldn't be too hard to guess one of my two seeds: DEADLIFT, which is the lift I'm performing in my Twitter profile photo (@stellaphone) (shown below). That is 325 pounds I had just pulled in the photo! Unfortunately lack of access to gyms during NYC lockdowns means I've lost a lot of posterior chain strength and would not be able to pull even close to that today, but it remains one of the achievements I'm proudest of. The other seed for this themeless was BRUNOISE, because I enjoy cooking very much.
Across:
1. A little of this, a little of that: GRAB BAG - Stella's trademark
8. Common packing list item: ADAPTER - The rest of the world plugs in differently
15. Transpose: REVERSE - When I want to sing a song in a different key, I transpose the music to guitar chords that are more to my liking using this iPhone app. Changing but not REVERSING them.
16. Italian music festival city that inspired Eurovision: SAN REMO.
17. Twist expert?: IRONIST - When I think of IRONY experts, O. Henry and his Gift Of The Magi spring to my mind. You?
18. Gets off the fence: CHOOSES and 6. Buridan's __: philosophical paradox: ASS - More learning for your humble reviewer
19. Gets down?: LANDS - An Apollo capsule LANDS but not on, uh, land
20. Expert: ACE.
22. Votre et ma: NOTRE - From my granddaughter: Votre et ma classe de Français est très interessant (Yours and my French class is very interesting) and NOTRE professeur explique la grammaire tres bien. (Our professor explains grammar very well.)
23. She's Frankie on "Grace and Frankie": LILY - Jane Fonda and LILY Tomlin
24. Shepard and Bean: ALANS - They are the first and third moonwalkers in the second row of this poster
26. Don't stay in one place: FLIT.
27. Jargon suffix: ESE - We often speak CROSSWORDESE here
28. Dazzled: BLINDED.
30. QB effort: ATT - NFL Pass ATTEMPT leaders
31. Weight training exercise: DEAD LIFT - The lift Stella is doing at the first of this writeup and a seed entry for her
33. Oil-rich peninsula: ARABIA.
35. Hardly symbiotic: DOG EAT DOG - Every woman for herself
37. Financier Edward Francis __: HUTTON - Their classic commercial
40. Culinary knife cut producing tiny cubes: BRUNOISE - New to me and another seed entry for Stella. I thought of Julienne but that would only be the first step.
44. Repulsed reaction: UGH - Adrian Johnson had GAH last Saturday
45. Stray: DEVIATE.
47. Snow: CON
50. Julie of the "Before" film trilogy: DELPY - No chance for me
51. Half up front?: HEMI - HEMI "up front" in a word means half
52. Spent: TIRED.
54. Act for, for short: REP - I substitute for teachers and am a SUB for short
55. Material for "Suits": CASES - These TV lawyers have CASES. (Suits is capitalized and in quotes)
56. Current with the wind: LEE TIDE - A tide that is moving in the same direction as the wind which can be dangerous for small craft
58. "How stupid of me!": I'M A FOOL.
60. Magazine that annually runs the Black Women in Hollywood Awards: ESSENCE.
61. Last of eight: NEPTUNE - Sorry Pluto
62. Pick a fight: START IN.
63. Unceremoniously dropped nowadays: GHOSTED or 41. Treats in an unfriendly way: ICES OUT.
Down:
1. More than just questioned: GRILLED - Gibbs' specialty at NCIS
2. Bold poker move: RERAISE.
3. Fictional Prince Edward Island community: AVONLEA.
4. __ straw: BENDY - Its invention was in 1947
5. Ritual for some eight-day-olds: BRIS - No image from me for this Jewish ritual
7. "Surely you can do better things with your time!": GET A LIFE.
8. Rise: ASCEND.
9. Code word: DAH - Gary in Morse code is DAH-DAH-DIT DIT-DAH DIT-DAH-DIT DAH-DIT-DAH-DAH
10. Sans attribution, for short: ANON.
11. Jury swayer: PROOF - Perry Mason often waited until the very end of the trial
12. Destination of many a tube: TEST LAB.
13. Honored retirees: EMERITI - Indiana University has a house for EMERITI, retired faculty, so they can keep in touch with the university and provide their many talents as a resource
14. Stone home: ROSETTA - It was found near ROSETTA, Egypt
21. Singingly, in music: CANTABILE - More learning for this blogger
24. Joined (with): ALIGNED - or not
25. Navy tour, e.g.: SEA DUTY.
28. Vein flower: BLOOD - Stella didn't get me on this where a flower is something that flows and not a plant
29. Spy in the air, maybe: DRONE - Here is an eight minute narrated DRONE flight over my golf course.
32. EPA-banned insecticide: DDT.
34. Long tail?: AGO - It was long AGO that Husker football was great
36. Blocking the escape routes of: TRAPPING - TRAPPING is also done in football. In this picture, #90 in white is allowed through and then trap blocked by #77 in maroon so he can't escape
37. "Side" jobs: HUSTLES - Starting teachers sometimes have/need the "side HUSTLE" of tutoring
38. Most frightful: UGLIEST.
39. "Long Island Medium" star __ Caputo: THERESA.
42. Unspecified soul: SOMEONE.
43. Isolated, in a way: ENISLED - Napoleon was ENISLED on Elba
46. "Pippin" Tony winner: VEREEN.
49. Turn aside: DETER.
51. Sword handles: HAFTS - Not HILTS it seems
53. Force: DINT - Online discussion went between answer (A) and (D)
55. The "C" in the musical instruction "D.C. al fine": CAPO - Repeat from the beginning (CAPO/head) to to finish (FINE/end).
59. Unenthusiastic review: MEH - Never on a Stella puzzle!
37 comments:
Hi Y'all! Sorry, Stella, but my review is unenthusiastic, despite what Gary sez. Groan, whimper, aaargh! You seemed bent on PROOF that I"M A FOOL. We are "hardly symbiotic" which I never would have guessed meant DOG EAT DOG. Took me 50 minutes to fill this. I got most of the center & SE. Rest was snow white. Struggled, WAGd & red-lettered my way thru.
Well, now I'm so SPENT, maybe I can sleep a few more hours.
Gary, I'm even too tired to read your whole expo which I am sure is great as usual. Just saw the last comment. Forgive me.
Good morning!
Nope. No way. I've heard of pink noise and white noise, but not BRUNOISE. Tried SEMI before HEMI became obvious. But d-o refused to give up on SUB where REP needed to be, so VEREEN, TRAPPING, and CANTABILE never fully appeared. DELPY? Bzzzzzt! Thanx for playing. Saturdays are supposed to be tough, and this was a "Stella" effort. Enjoyed your expo, Husker.
SEA DUTY: Tried my darndest to avoid it, but the Navy thought I should serve on a ship. Navy? Ship? Who knew? Still, that's better than in a jungle.
Don't forget to "fall back" tonight. If you didn't change 'em at the spring time change, it's time to replace the batteries in your smoke alarms.
I agree that this was too hard for me. The B that HG stumbled on and the E at the end of the word were beyond me though I did know DELPY
I used to powerlift until my 50s now getting out of bed is my power exercise
Thanks Gary and Stella
I managed to fill 24 entries (21 correctly) before giving up. Just not enough interesting material to spend a lot of time on. Spent more time on Gary's tour.
I would like to amplify D-O's advice on smoke detectors. When you look in the battery compartment, look for the manufacture date. If it's more than 7 years ago, consider replacing it. If it's at least 10 years ago. replace it. Don't forget to check detectors that are hardwired, including any that your alarm company installed. They have the same time limitations. I have started replacing my old ones with "no battery change" types that come with batteries that last the lifespan of the detector (7-10 years). The ones I use also "talk" to each other, so a fire in the basement will set off the detector in the main floors and the attic. The same guidelines apply CO and LP detectors. While you are at it, check your fire extinguishers too. Most have gauges, and all have expiration dates.
Complete failure. Even with red letters on, I had to ask AcrossLite to reveal 5 letters to me, 3 of which I should have guessed if I'd been sharper, 2 complete naticks to me no matter what [addenda: the same two marked in blood on HG's grid.]. In addition to many names I didn't know, unknown words also included IRONIST, BRUNOISE, LEE TIDE, CANTABILE, ICES OUT, ENISLED, DINT, CAPO.
Too bummed out to versify today.
It’s been a while since I didn’t finish a CW correctly, but after over an hour of brain wracking I had to admit defeat on this very tough (at least for me) puzzle by Stella Z. I was totally tripped up in the same two red squares that Gary pointed out, and could make no combination work. Didn’t know DELPY or BRUNOISE, and had never heard of CANTABILE. I was correct with REVERSE but still unsure of the clue meaning as in music it means to change the key, not reverse it. “Edward Francis” was a good clue, would have gotten it sooner if the clue had been “E.F.” All in all, a Saturday worthy puzzle for sure and thanks for the challenge Stella (also a very impressive 350lb. lift!). As always, a very informative expo from Gary!
Good Morning:
When I saw Stella’s byline, I shuddered because I still have nightmares remembering my first encounter with her work. Never fear, though, because a chip here and a chip there, and lots of P an P led to a FIR w/o help in 38 minutes. Woo Hoo, as Misty would say! I was familiar with Brunoise and Delpy but it took all the perps to come up with the correct spelling. My w/os were Pro/Ace, Hilts/Hafts, and Decides/Chooses. Bendy threw me for a bit, but it makes sense. Nice CSOs to Lily, our favorite feline from Nebraska, Emeriti, our distinguished retired scholars, and Alan(s), YR’s pride and joy.
Thanks, Stella, for a tough but doable challenge and thanks, HG, for your ever-present humor and vast knowledge which you so generously share.
I was so proud of myself yesterday for turning back three clocks until I realized that I was a day early. At least I didn’t reset every clock in the house!
I watched Colin Powell’s Memorial Service which was quite moving and celebratory.
Have a great day.
Another disastrous DNF this weekend! I had only figured out a few answers when I gave up and tried peeking at Husker Gary's grid to get some answers. Even then there were unknowns until I read his review. It all was a learning experience, but daunting, Stella. Hope to do better tomorrow.
I never thought about foreign travel so ADAPTER never occurred to me though I have often packed one. I thought about the planets for "last of eight" knowing it wouldn't be Pluto, but didn't know NEPTUNE without perps. That's something I could work on. Now off to the rest of my Saturday. Have a good weekend, everyone!
Nope. Not even close. An almost complete field of white, with just a very few fills which when I came here I found even those to be wrong. One look at this intimidating grid and I knew I was in trouble, but WOW. This one stopped me cold. Even simple clues like 26A which could be ROAM or ROVE turns out to be FLIT, which would not have occurred to me. And IRONIST? What? That’s a word? Oy. Throw in CANTABILE crossing BRUNOISE and my ship is sunk. Nice write-up, HG, but this CW is just way out of my league.
"If you knew that music term, that cooking term and Julie DELPY, you're a better man than I am." Gary, I did not. . . and am not.
I.M., I started setting my clocks back several days ago. I had to get an early start. Three exterior timers, two cars, three thermostats, two phones, three desk clocks. three clocks on kitchen appliances, one TV set, and two interior timers. For a few days I've had to remember to look only at the clock on my cell phone. . . which I have done . . . with only a couple of exceptions.
MM, Remember Segal's Law: A man with a watch knows what time it is. A man with two watches is never sure.
If your car's GPS knows where you are, what can't it tell what time it is?
Stella, I know you are a lot tougher than the old frail Cornerites but crossing two words that probably 99% of the people have never heard before- CANTABILE & BRUNOISE- and an unheard of name for a person-DELPY- (DENPY looked as good as DELPY) makes this puzzle above my pay scale. DNF
Gary I guessed 'CANTATINE' & 'TRUNOISE'. The rest of the puzzle was enjoyable and I can usually work out the unknowns but those TWO were impossible for this buy. NOTRE, SAN REMO, LILY, Buridan's ASS, THERESA, and SEA DUTY were not known but I got them. I only knew ESSENCE because the Essence Festival is held yearly in torn.
Only changes were PAN to MEH and SEMI to HEMI.
That was hard. Too hard for this fool. Humbled. I had quite the string of completed puzzles til today.
So glad to know I’m not the only one who had vast unfilled areas. I come here when I wonder whether it’s an unusually difficult puzzle — or I’ve become incredibly stupid overnight. I guess I can safely go about my day untended now.
DNF for me also. Just too many unknowns. Stuff happens. I guess this is a fair challenge for those on Stella’s wave length.
Good morning everyone.
Not knowing BRUNOISE and CANTABILE essentially gave a Natick so, DNF. CHOOSing 'commits' over CHOOSES didnt't help either. So; more of a learning experience today. Had 'hilt' for HAFT, too. But I did get most of what I couldn't get, at first, so; I'm satisfied.
BRIS - One of the M A S H episodes deals with this where a Jewish Chaplain on the Essex radios instructions to Father Mulcahy. When they show footage of the Essex, you can see the hull number is '10'. 10 is actually the USS Yorktown (now a museum ship at Charleston, SC). Essex's hull number is (CV-9)
Have a great day.
I'm in VERY good company today. However, I did know brunoise (I can't do it, though) and cantabile. Ices out and enisled were my downfall. What a horrendous and absolutely wonderful Saturday puzzle.
Becky
The Chicago tribune site does not have an option
For expert, or no red letters, but this seems to be an afterthought
As when you get to the point of all spaces filled, it says
"Almost there" and do you want mistakes revealed?
So I did it with the red letters and was sure I would have to hit reveal
For all the names as per my usual Saturday stumper methodology,
And was pleasantly surprised that I did not have to.
I actually teased out all the letters with mental alphabet runs!
(Ok, there were more than a few letters that were red,
And some that were surprisingly blue....)
Thanks for all the kind words yesterday,
However today's puzzle seems much too serious to
Find silly links for, and when I can't find anything I like
I keep my mouth shut.
Hmm,
Just reread my post,
And it appears I am a liar!
(But I did like today's puzzle!)
So no cutting remarks...
Chiffonade!
Hola!
In the words of Marlon Brando in A Streetcar Named Desire: STELLA! STELLA! And in my own words, you almost gave me a headache!
Actually I did well in at least 85% until I reached the bottom. CAPO, HAFTS and LEETIDE were my undoing. Oh, and THERESA. I know so many other THERESAs. The one from Avila and one from Lisieux, but no, neither of those appeared. Francis Edward HUTTON was also foreign.
But thank you for the GRAB BAG, Stella. It started my Saturday vigorously and now I must get ready for the Book Club.
Have a super Saturday, everyone!
Good point,D.O. In my case, though, the newer of the two cars is ten years old and neither has a factory installed GPS so I have to manually re-set the dashboard clocks. The Tom Tom and the Garmin do re-set themselves, along with the rest of my "computing devices." If they didn't I'd have to start even earlier!
Puzzling thoughts:
I spent half of the puzzle on Crossword Tracker looking up answers.
IM A FOOL for spending the better part of an hour just “cheating”, but I suppose I had a plan.
Too many errors and write overs.
Now I’m just TIRED. Don’t know if I could DEAD LIFT a pillow.
MEH 😕
PT's2:
HG conveniently left 6-Down with no comment
Not I
Here is a limerick from the vault:
After birth, couple's son had his BRIS
But just wait 'til you hear about this:
The Mohel arrived drunk;
Then butchered baby's junk.
Looks like something's become quite a Miss
Boo Hiss
Just in case anyone gives a flying fornication: The GPS system DOES know what time it is, sorta. It knows its OWN time, which is around 15 seconds different from the time we earthlings use. Standardized time (a la NIST) is adjusted occasionally by adding or subtracting leap seconds, but those tweaks aren't applied to the GPS constellation. You can see this effect by comparing the time displayed on your GPS device to the time provided by NIST at time.gov.
Of course, GPS doesn't know what time zone you are in, or whether you are under daylight saving time. Those features are implemented (or not) in your receiving device.
Happy to finish this Saturday goodie from Ms. Zawistowski, a bit intimidating at the start but gradually yielding its congenial fills.
Ta ~DAH!
Nice to see EMERITI, my 2nd fill today (after SAN REMO). "Professor Emeritus" sounds so much neater than "Retired."
After 40-odd years as a professor, I like this "rank," the only level I did not have to strive for!
The last part to cave for me was the SE sector. I stuck with HILTS for too long. (I see several blog comrades did the same.)
As a collegiate fencer, I hardly ever heard the word HAFTS; we always spoke of HILTS.
Thankfully, the perps forced my hand.
~ OMK
Hi All!
Nope. 21 filled and only 19 right. Big Fat DNF.
Thanks for the grid Stella; frankly way too many names for a Sat. Only Lily I know of but never saw Grace & Frankie.
Thanks HG for the fine review and some back-story on the grid. Your earlier interview with Stella for another puzzle helped me at 31a :-)
Curiosity got the best of me (where is that?!? I've seen that bridge more than once) so I LIU. Snopes on the misALIGNED bridge.
Wrong fill: Pro (ACE), decides (CHOOSES)
Learning takeaway: Never heard of BRUNOISE (and I loved watching food-porn!)
EMERITI - where's Misty today for her CSO?
First fill today was BRIS and it's my fav just 'cuz it makes me think of this clip [2:57 Brooks] //LOL @2p C.Moe!
I've whittled things down to three clocks to change: My car, DW's wheels, and the oven. I never bother with the microwave 'cuz we lose power 2+ times a week; it blinks while the oven is only behind a minute.
All other timekeepers I have (DVR, computers, cell phones) change themselves.
Jinx - On your advice earlier this year, I purchased 6 of the 10-year "ever-battery" smoke detectors. No changing of the 9volts this time :-)
All y'all have a wonderful afternoon!
Cheers, -T
I really liked this puzzle! I stared at it for a while before entering a tentative letter here and there until it was (almost) filled correctly! Like a fool I entered BLOOM instead of BLOOD for some reason, probably because of the cluing which was fantastic throughout the puzzle. Granted, going to culinary AND film schools made BRUNOISE/DELPY crossing CANTABILE a breeze for this musically inept guy.
Just throwing some love at this puzzle, I enjoyed it a lot. Have a great day!
HG, I enjoyed your educational recap as I always do. I had the same two bad squares. Though I read cooking columns, I've never heard of BRUNOISE, and since I don't follow movies, same with DELPY. And CANTABILE? I only had EMERITI in the NE and stubbornly wouldn't let go of "decides", and I was thinking along the lines of a house built of stone until the aha moment struck - ROSETTA! which completed the NE after I replaced decides with CHOOSES. I considered giving up on Stella's creation, so two bad cells are fine with me.
Wish the US would go with DST permanently; hate when it's dark at 5:30 in the "evening."
C-Moe @2:00 - I'm groaning and chuckling at the same time. Only you could've come up with that one!
Meant "5:30 in the afternoon."
I agree with the VAST majority here: DNF!
Again, I don't blame the constructor ... she's just doing what she does best: vex the crowd! However, if just about EVERYONE here ( the "regulars") are putting DNF, it's the fault of the editors. Again I warn: Every DNF puzzle like this entry decreases the ranks of dedicated solvers ...through frustration. Editors: PLEASE do your job and assist the constructor with problematic defs - the likes of which provided most of us much angst today!
Totally unable to solve this puzzle. I had to look up so many things.
Even when I looked up "Pippin" it showed that Roger O. Hirson was the Tony winner, but no, HIRSON was the wrong answer! Another source finally revealed that Ben VEREEN won the Tony for Best Leading Actor.
Although I did get CANTABILE it didn't help at all with getting BRUNOISE and DELPY, both of which I had zero knowledge of. THERESA and HUTTON were also names I couldn't solve until looking them up; after that I realized that HUTTON guy is E.F Hutton of whom of I did know.
I could go on, but need not.
I think in the case of some cars, the clock is not set by the GPS because if you don't buy the navigation package there is no GPS receiver. I suppose it could be designed so that if the navigation package is installed the connection to the clock, which would otherwise exist but remain unused, would automatically be made.
I'm thinkin' Chez Jayce needs to get one of those new smoke alarms to replace our old one.
A salute to both of you Professor EMERITI and good wishes to you all.
TXMs, groaning, chuckling and cringing!
Anon T ~ Misty had a luncheon scheduled for today. She may check in later..
~ OMK
Gary, ditto on the three cells. I WAG'ed DELPY. AGO as 'tail. Why not just Long ___
No sports today that I recall. This started in the morning, resumed as I drove around Ocala doing errands and DUTY and DOG EAT DOG filled after a nap. 12 hours.
I see I messed up NW with LIsa, AVONsEA and BENDa(Straw). Too occupied with middle down
Gary, your BRIS image is above(Julienne?)*
I'm sure Misty's received her CSO for EMERITI. And of course OMK whom I must congratulate for BRUNOISEing this xword. Music, pop-cul and French cuisine???
Being online I had to fill something so came to the FIW. But I hung with it until I got to Natick (I think that's 8-10 miles along Boston Marathon route).
I have two basic rules : Don't give up; Don't look up. I believe there's a psychology factor on #2 and the brain keeps working even while napping.
BTW, I just couldn't get DUTY even though Jarheads often serve on ship.
WC
** I thought I was bad until C-Moe's l'ick. lol btw.
I tried to come to terms with
Today's puzzle,
But DW splained it to me...
Wow! Thank you, Anon T., Ol' Man Keith, and Wilbur for mentioning my Chancellor's EMERITA status on the blog today! Wow! First time in all these years that I was ever missed.
My brunch today was an AAUW affair--American Academy of University Women--if not necessarily Emerita--but very nice and interesting and enjoyable.
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