Saturday Themeless by Jeff Chen and Christina Iverson
Jeff Chen, our frequent puzzle collaborator/constructor from Seattle co-authors a fun Saturday themeless with Christina Iverson who is the LA Times editor Patti Varol's assistant. Christina lives here in the heartland, 2 1/2 hours east of me in the familiar cwd town of Ames, Iowa. Here is her note to us:
Hi Gary,Jeff forwarded me your email and here are a few notes on my themeless collaboration with him...
Jeff helped me get started in constructing a few years ago, and we made several themed puzzles together that have been in various outlets. This is our only themeless collaboration (so far!). I've been making quite a few themeless puzzles the last year and a half, but this is the first to see print. I have another coming out next week in AVCX as well, so it's fun to have two themeless puzzles that I made at very different times come out within a week.
Our seed entry for this puzzle was YOUR OTHER RIGHT. I'm not great at lefts and rights, and when I suggested YOUR OTHER RIGHT to Jeff as a seed, I pitched the clue "Left, rather rudely." I was really proud of the clue, until I told it to my husband and he pointed out that YOUR OTHER RIGHT still means RIGHT, not LEFT. Of course. I'm pretty sure Jeff was politely not mentioning this nonsensical clue, and was planning on gently suggesting other clues when we got to the clue-writing stage. Thanks :)
Christina Iverson
 |
| Here are Christina and Patti Varol |
Across:
1. Support that's often rigged: MAST - It's great to get 1 Across.
5. Role, metaphorically: HAT - Others wear mom's hats for a day
8. Pair sharing a <3 b="" necklace="" probably:="">BFFS - Here's a bunch more
12. Instruments in some Gershwin works: ALTO SAXES - Anyone else think of CLARINETS featured in Rhapsody In Blue?
15. "I don't mind __ / Except as meals. / And the way they feels": Nash: EELS - Ogden Nash
16. Tabula rasa: CLEAN SLATE - I first went BLANK for _ L _ _ _ SLATE
12. Instruments in some Gershwin works: ALTO SAXES - Anyone else think of CLARINETS featured in Rhapsody In Blue?
15. "I don't mind __ / Except as meals. / And the way they feels": Nash: EELS - Ogden Nash
16. Tabula rasa: CLEAN SLATE - I first went BLANK for _ L _ _ _ SLATE
18. Joie de vivre: ELAN - A familiar French phrase follows a familiar Latin one above
19. Susan who wrote, "The writer's first job is not to have opinions but to tell the truth": SONTAG - Susan's admonition is violated constantly today
20. Sources of fleeting joy?: YACHTS - Fun cluing! Here's a fleet of YACHTS
19. Susan who wrote, "The writer's first job is not to have opinions but to tell the truth": SONTAG - Susan's admonition is violated constantly today
20. Sources of fleeting joy?: YACHTS - Fun cluing! Here's a fleet of YACHTS
22. "Wrong hand, silly": YOUR OTHER RIGHT - See Christina's fun exchange with Jeff and her husband in her notes above
26. Active front?: RETRO. RETROACTIVE
27. Postulant: NOVICE - From Sisters Of Life
28. Grace period?: AMEN - What these novices proclaim after saying Grace. Fun clue!
31. "Toodles!": TATA.
33. Tree on the Lebanese flag: CEDAR - Fatima Dryad was the first Lebanese woman to scale Everest
34. Latin law: LEX - LEX Orandi, LEX Credendi (the law of prayer [is] the law of belief)
35. Place to get high and pass out?: TOP BUNK - Fun
37. Rx writers, often: DRS and 46. Line on a handwriting test: NEATNESS COUNTS - Digital prescription writing have significantly reduced errors
38. Device that requires spin control: LATHE.
40. Inoculation fluids: SERA.
41. Literary alter ego: HYDE - $9,000 will get you an 1886 first edition with the author's signature inside
44. Animal in Aboriginal cave paintings: DINGO.
50. One of two tarot card groups: ARCANA - There are 22 cards in the Major ARCANA group and 56 in the Minor ARCANA group
51. Went viral: BLEW UP - Will Smith's slapping of Chris Rock went viral on social media instantly
53. State whose road signs feature 8-Downs: UTAH and 8. Symbol of 53-Across: BEEHIVE - Why the BEEHIVE?
54. Academic term: SCHOOL YEAR - It's over. No subbing for three months.
57. Nice parent: MERE - Cwd peeps see the French city first and knew of a French mom!
58. Dessert with a high point: SOFT SERVE.
59. Son of Hera: ARES - Here ya go
60. GRE org.: ETS.
61. Like a fly ball to the warning track: DEEP - As they say in baseball, "Just a long out."
Down:
1. Safari runners: MACS - Can you see the word Safari in this screen shot of my MACBook doing this blog?
2. Heterogenous union: ALLOY.
3. One working with a dictator: STENO.
4. Perfectly: TO A TURN - Getting a steak grilled TO A TURN takes some real monitoring.
5. Lacks options: HAS GOT TO - This golfer HAS GOT TO play the ball where it lies if he does not want to incur a penalty. He 9. Was awash in euphoria: FELT GIDDY if the ball went in the hole
6. Rose up on stage: AXL - AXL Rose of the band Guns 'N Roses. Cute clue!
7. Leaves in a pot: TEA.
10. Study aid: FLASHCARD - I generated a slew of them online
11. Three-part fig.: SSN.
13. Bag: SNARE and 23. Bags: TRAPS.
14. Eyelid issue: STYE.
17. Make dough or bread: EARN - 100 Slang words for money
21. Earthenware vessel: CROCK - My lovely wife remembers taking her turn going to the well to fill the water CROCK at her one-room school.
24. Breeding grounds: HOTBEDS - Boston in the 1770's was a HOTBED of revolution
25. Clipped: TERSE - THERE. SHOULD. BE. NO. POLITICS. HERE.
28. Wiped out: ALL IN.
29. One having a cow?: MEAT EATER and 30. Not well-done in the least: EXTRA RARE.
32. Derived from gold: AURIC - The latin word for gold is AURUM and its chemical symbol is Au, so...
35. Brandon __: Hilary Swank's "Boys Don't Cry" role: TEENA - Based on true events in Humboldt, NE
36. Tiny tech powering Iron Man and Black Panther's suits: NANOBOTS - Here ya go
39. Tours of duty: HITCHES.
41. Sweet: HONEYED.
43. Fox holes: DENS.
45. "Mine! Mine! Mine!" criers in "Finding Nemo": GULLS.
39. Tours of duty: HITCHES.
41. Sweet: HONEYED.
43. Fox holes: DENS.
45. "Mine! Mine! Mine!" criers in "Finding Nemo": GULLS.
47. Small pouches: SACS.
48. Poetic contraction: TWERE - Can't go wrong with Tennyson
49. Polished: SUAVE.
52. Get set: PREP.
53. Actress Thurman: UMA.
55. Rowing implement?: HOE - Oh that kind of row. Yeah right, I was the only one who put OAR! 😉
56. Many times o'er: OFT.
More from Christina:
I was so lucky to get to be judging at the ACPT (American Crossword Puzzle Tournament). I was welcomed into the community with open arms by constructors, editors, and solvers alike. I got to watch 500 people solve a puzzle that I made, which was quite an experience... as WSJ editor and fellow constructor Mike Shenk said, it felt like spending hours and hours making a gourmet meal, and then watching people eat it in a speed-eating contest. Thank you to everyone who went out of their way to welcome me and make me feel at home! Already can't wait for ACPT 2023 
45 comments:
Hi Y'all! A challenge, but one with rewarding moments, thanks, Christina & Jeff. Great expo, thanks, Gary.
Place to get high & pass out was not Everest, but TOP BUNK. Well, they both make sense.
Had trouble getting started then perps began to develop so kept going. The mid-west third was possible only with red-letter runs & WAGs.
Good morning!
Got 'er done in good time, so life is good. That E in HOE took a second alphabet run -- nothing popped the first time through. Oh, a "tough row to HOE." Thanx, Jeff, Christina, and Husker.
TO A TURN: When I cook something that needs fine temperature control, I pull out my trusty portable induction cooktop. It doesn't get "hot," so you can turn it off, and the cooking process stops immediately. It's also great for keeping sauces warm -- just set it at 140° or 180°.
Yay, both bikes are repaired, and we can head out for a pedal through the 'hood. We have to go early to avoid excessive temps.
Yay, unbelievably I FIR on a Saturday before I had to leave to pick up Alan. As DO said, "Got 'er done in good time, so life is good."
In square dancing we often say, "Your other right," or "Your other left." Some of us have two left feet.
TOP BUNK was my favorite. It took until almost the end to suss.
Time to do my mom's taxi run.
Sorry for the length
Aha, in front of 'active' is RETRO. Sound of V8 can dropping..
I thought of AMEN but was having trouble with A,M until I fixed res,rex to LEX and ALL IN fell and the MEAT EATER who likes his steaks EXTRA RARE(I had a HS classmate who merely BRAISED* his steak
I managed to dredge up ARCANA from the arcana of my mind. Betsy played around with Tarot and all that crap.
After my one year HS French HITCH, and before HITCHING up with USMC I was a manager trainee for a bank known as the BEEHIVE.
UMA was LHF along with MERE, ARES and a 4ltr state beginning with U?
For a tour of duty I had waTCH/HITCH. And finally filled the SW.
STENO was my first fill and S_N___ led immediately to SONTAG but I had CLEAN pLATE which made HAS GOT TO hard to parse.
Remember this AURIC?
Changing GirLs to GULLS finished off SE giving me BLEW UP.
"Oh, that little row
We had to HOE…"*
"Place to get high & pass out was…" The SkyHigh Ski Club
WC
* From yesterday
** From the Big Brother Bob Emery theme song of the 50s. The Popeye cartoon ran at 1250 - 1255 and that gave me 15 minutes to cover the 1+½ miles to JHS to arrive by 110 pm. Result: perennial detention. Result: Better grades as I did homework
FIW. Alas, didn't know Susan Sontag and guessed ending in an N. Of course, "has not to" made no sense, but.....
I too found this a doable Saturday despite many unknowns. Jeff is a very generous mentor and Christina is now very busy.
WC I also grew up with Bob Emery and the cartoons and songs.
HAT two days in a row with very tricky clues. TEENA as clued ???
HG I am not a fan of Tennyson. I enjoy your writing more.
MOE I did enjoy you getting the SO to yourself into the puzzle.
Happy Saturday all
Today's took me 16:50. How about you?
Unknowns were: Ms. Sontag; the movie role by Swank; "to a turn," and, "twere."
I'm not sold on "All in" for wiped out. I was originally radioactive before becoming retroactive.
I wish it weren't twere, but it was twere. Still, I enjoy the themeless puzzles.
My little Italian grandmother would always say she was “all in” when she was “wiped out”, so I always have a smile whenever this answer pops up:)
Valerie took the lead this morning with me serving as occasional consultant and for translating Saturday-level clues to earlier-in-the-week clues. The clue for MEAT EATER was her favorite. She figured that one out while I was still thinking about something to do with Bart Simpson.
James Holtzhauer was famous for going "all in," but then he got "wiped out."
Good Morning:
This was a challenging but doable Saturday, once the SW corner fleshed out and Res was changed to Lex. Teena, Arcana, Gulls, as clued, and Nano Bots needed perps. I, also, fell into the Oar/Hoe trap, DO, and I pondered over a Desert with a high point until I finally realized it was a Dessert. As always, the low (10) number of three letter words was a plus. Our duo constructors gave us plenty of fun duos: Novice/Amen, Snare/Traps, Bee Hive/Utah, Bunk/Beds, Rare/Meat, and Oft/Twere. CSOs were abundant, as well: Lucina (Amen and Novice), Ray O and Inanehiker (Drs and Sera), Kazie (Dingo), CC (Tea), Jinx (Mast), and Hahtoolah and Lemony (Lex).
Thanks, Christina and Jeff, for a crunchy and satisfying solve and thanks, HG, for your always illuminating and educational explication. I’m surprised that, in this day and age, there are still some young women choosing the religious life. Enjoy your subbing-free summer. (On the links, of course!)🏌️♂️
Today and tomorrow are going to be brutally hot/humid so I plan on staying put under the A/C.
Have a great day.
Oops, my Oar/Hoe comment was meant for HG, not DO, no offense DO. 🤭
I was familiar with Susan Sontag so I got that pretty much right away. And, upon seeing the word "Safari" I tried to think of some animal that started with "m" and ended with "s." Other than that, it took P & P but I finally ended up FIR, so I'm happy.
IM, mea culpa for putting OAR first. Then I saw the question mark in the clue, and Wited it Out.
It took two sessions to fill this correctly today. The first session was almost all white, followed by a 10 mile bicycle ride, and then I finished it up.
Had no ideas about ETS, TEENA, NOVICE, OR NANOBOTS but they fit. SONTAG was a WAG. MEAT EATER & EXTRA RARE side by side reminds off the filet mignon I ate Thursday after the granddaughter's graduation from college.
ETS makes the test and then sells something to help you take it? Making money on both ends.
A very difficult (for me) CW that I did manage to FIR, but took 56 minutes of perseverance. I usually do not like CWs that take that long, but this one had so many clever clues: 1A, 8A, 20A, 22A, 35A, 38A and 29D stand out, although I suspect this list missed some other clever clues. Thanx, JC & CI, for this witty workout. Thanx too to HG for the terrific write-up. I hope all the blog writers know how much I appreciate their efforts.
16:50 seems unrealistic
A RARE puzzle result (DNF), probably because of lack of sleep and patience this morning. After a good start, I had trouble continuing to the bottom and had to check Husker Gary's review for fill. One word or phrase would help me continue a bit until I needed help again. I used three different colored pens and the grid ended up quite colorful. Thanks, Jeff and Christina, for this morning's challenge. Hope to do better on your next one!
Thanks, Husker Gary, for your extensive help today. I needed it! And as always I enjoyed your contact with the constructors.
I gave up on this puzzle early, by 9 AM, and I see only KS has reported a FIW so far in the comments. Maybe I should have kept at it but feel ALL IN after last night's dinner party. Welcome to Adele, and have a good weekend everyone!
Thank you Christina for a Saturday toughie, which until I got here I'd thought I'd extended my winning streak to one. Alas but for one letter 'twere not possible (BLED UP? Careless!).
This had a bit of a themed puzzle feel with CLEAN, RIGHT, and NEAT as parts of the longer fills. As a lefty I tend to think of my LEFT hand as the RIGHT hand, although I've learned to extend the other one when making deals.
And thank you Husker for another illuminating review, which had an almost Hahtoolahian feel about it. And that's a compliment!
Some favs:
12A ALTOSAXES. By the time I got to this clue I'd already filled the NW, along with CLEAN SLATE and knew I needed an X to complete 12A (Gershwin was first and foremost a jazz composer). The light bulb went off when I got it from 6D, Guns and Roses' lead singer.
26A RETRO and 28A AMEN, prefixing and suffixing their clues.
27A NOVICE. Immediately thought of Lucina. The picture and the link were filled with ELAN. I think one of my granddaughters may be discerning.
33A CEDAR. There are frequent references to the CEDARS of Lebanon in the Hebrew scriptures. My father made all of my sisters and Teri CEDAR lined chests for moth-proof storage of woolens.
38A LATHE and 29D MEAT EATER were cleverly clued.
24D HOTBEDS. Also cleverly clued.
44A DINGO. It took me a while to get this one. Then it dawned on me that these aborigines didn't live in French caves, but rather in Australian caves.
57A MERE. Could have been PERE, so I had to wait to fill Ms Thurman first.
Cheers,
Bill
waseeley @10:53 AM Forgot to mention 35D TEENA. Very informative link Gary.
Well, big lump on my head where a quart-sized can of V-8 just hit unclefred:
1D: Safari runners = Macs. Didn't get it when it perped in; didn't get it when HG 'splained it. Suddenly, DOH!! Mac computers run Safari software!! Let me get an ice bag. And add 1D to my list of clever clues. Geez. Hate to even admit to having such a thick skull. I'll blame it on continuing brain smog (yes, that's the word I wanted) due to Covid, even though I've been negative for 10 days. That's my excuse, and I'm sticking to it!!
Thank You Jeff Chen and Christina Iverson, for a very challenging puzzle that I finished, with a couple of lookups. I guess I enjoyed it.
Thank you Husker Gary, for your priceless contacts with the constructors - the News behind the News !! It is always fascinating of the diverse lifestyles that they lead...
Like many of the posters on this blog, .... we all have assorted lifestyles, vocations and trudge through Life in entirely radically different mileus, .... that IF we were to meet in real life, we would not have recognized each other .... and, yet ... our fondness and yearning in this common interest - connects us with this thin string.
As usual, I had a tough time with the specialized argot and slang, that Jeff Chen is an expert at, and some simple clues gave me the biggest problems.
I did think OAR was a simple answer, that turned to be wrong.
I thought COW had something to do with Bart Simpson, ... its been two decades or more since I ate a steak, prepared in any style. I prefer chicken, goat meat, and seafood especially fish, shrimp and scallops.
M--S ... Safari runners, gave me fits, until other clues had been perped.
Hetergenoous Union:: ALLOY .... is not strictly correct ... there are things like Eutectics and pseudo eutectics that are necessary for a successful ALLOY composition. They are not entirely heterogenous ... otherwise, the respective metals will not form a single alloy, but will or may pull apart in the future. There has to be a dispersion of the constituents in each others' matrices to form a cohesive structure.
Have a good Saturday, you all, and a great weekend.
Saturday toughie--as it should be--but still lots of fun. Many thanks, Jeff and Christina. And thanks for your always helpful comments, Husker Gary.
The clue that cracked me up was "One working with a dictator":STENO? Oh, that kind of dictator.
Had no trouble getting NOVICE right before AMEN.
And of course, HYDE was easy too.
But never heard of a DINGO--something new.
Have a great weekend, everybody.
Such clever clues in this puzzle. I didn’t finish however. I didn’t see that I had les instead of lex, and that mistake threw me off on this sleep deprived morning. Misty, if you didn’t know dingo, you must have never watched the TV comedy Seinfeld.
Loved "YOUR OTHER RIGHT" as the seed! My dance teacher Sylvia was always confusing her left and right. Her teaching partner Jonathan would tease her with that expression. DW has the same problem and it is a common household refrain.
ARCANA seems a bit META as it is indeed ARCANe? Has anyone ever heard the term TO A TURN? MEAT EATER indeed was clued cleverly! Took a long time to get it; laughed and then was able to finish that area. FIR.
As a freshman, I was very grateful to have HoToGAMIT as a guide for How To Get Around MIT. One of my favorite parts was the Lexicon.
FOUR LETTER WORD WARNING! I will never forget how CROCK was illustriously explained there as a "bucket".
Here is an image I just made of that CROCK page of the HoToGAMIT Lexicon.
Tante Nique Thanks for the reminder about Seinfeld and DINGO. Just watched the clip. DINGOs are feral dogs and do huge harm.
This was a challenging puzzle for me - but with P&P got 'er done! HG - I did think of the clarinet from the intro of "Rhapsody in Blue" but thought well maybe it was an Oboe - and are there such things as ALTO Oboes? JzB would know but it was a BZZT and switched to the SAXES once AXL filled in for the Rose on stage.
I also went from Blank SLATE to clear to CLEAN SLATE- although I think of a CLEAN SLATE more in the context of it had been messed up in some way and now you get a do-over with a CLEAN SLATE. But tabula rasa I think of in terms of Locke/Aquinas/Aristotle - something that has never had something written on it and is open.
LEX was a gimme because in my small city - the Missouri Capitol is one of the few places to take friends who are visiting - right in the middle of the rotunda floor is a huge seal with the motto of Missouri: "Salus populi suprema lex esto" translated "Let the welfare of the people be the supreme law"
Thanks Gary for the fun blog and Christina for the puzzle and stopping by!
From Yesterday:
Cross Eyed Dave Thanks for trying to help with my crazy print issue with the puzzles. And for the AGELESS Picard.
Not sure what your son-in-law means about needing a Windows update. Windows 10 forces all updates on you. It LACKS OPTIONS.
Does any other tech wizard here have any idea what is causing this puzzle printing mess?
The problem happens with Chrome and with Firefox. It has nothing to do with the printer. It started about a year ago. Yes, I have worked around it by doing a screen shot of the puzzle. But I would like to solve the problem.
I always look forward to the Saturday themeless and today didn’t disappoint, as Misty said above - a toughie, as it should be, but still lots of fun! Probably didn’t know 90% at first glance but with a lot of thought and a little perseverance and the usual help from WAG’s and perps I managed a FIR in 39:46, thank you Jeff, Christina and Patti for your combined effort on this challenging grid!
HG, thank you for another sparkling review, and enjoy your time off this summer!
Anonymous @ 10:09 ~~ that’s why the other Anonymous is referred to on here as SS (speedy solver)
On a side note, I recently picked up a local monthly paper which always has a NYT’s Sunday Xword, usually from a couple months prior. The puzzle dated March 27th of this year was constructed by a 14 year old high school freshman by the name of August Lee-Kovach, a brilliantly themed and put together grid. Not sure if his byline has ever appeared in the LAT, but it’s probably only a matter of time before we see it.
Kwite an eklektic kollection of kreative klues..
Inkovers: blankSLATE/CLEAN, meal/AMEN
Presumed that the <3 represented upper female anatomy, both sharing the edge of a necklace? 🤭 And I must apologize to the ladies for mothers as "breeding grounds". Hey but it worked with the perps I had for awhile. 🥴
Thought the cave paintings were mostly cattle types (aurochs) and antelopes. Oh and UFO's. 🛸🛸🛸...(I watched "Prometheus" yesterday )
SONTAG popped outta nowhere with some perpaid.
.... If you BAG game you shoot and kill it not just TRAP or SNARE it.🤔
NOVICE a definite CSO to Lucina. Wanted to try cliffnote for "study aide". A YACHT may be "fleeting" if you're a Russian oligarch "having a cow" EXTRA RARE. LATHE required an alphabet run. Homogenous unions, YOUROTHERRIGHT, may be illegal again.
We had to produce monthly "handwriting test" folders till 8th grade. Hated it. But my painstakingly achieved great handwriting is now just useless ARCANA.☹
Anyhoo ...
Too lazy to drive into town from camp to grab the paper so did the puzzle online using the Arkansas Gazette page. Had the "red letters" turned off but they kept popping back on so errors and corrext answers were revealed..Thus I declare a FIRBWRLTO...(finished it right but with red letters turned on) 😃
McDonald's Roy....CROCK
Played Dora in "Nemo"...ELAN
Urban leader..MÈRE
Fender benders...DENS
Just hit 90 in the Adirondacks, 50s just days ago..but the heat will put an end to the black flies for the season.
Tante Nique @ 12:18 ~ I have never watched Seinfeld but I knew Dingo from the movie A Cry In The Dark, which was based on the true life story about an infant being taken (and killed) by a Dingo from the family’s camping site in Australia’s Outback.
Tante Nique, many thanks for your point about Seinfeld. I did see Seinfeld once in a while back in the day, but don't remember anything about a Dingo. So I looked it up and saw a clip where a woman is wondering where her fiance is, and the Seinfeld lady tells her "The dingo ate your fiance." Cute and funny, but could you explain how the dingo came up in this conversation? I just can't imagine it.
Wow so dingos do eat babies, as Elaine in Seinfeld announced. How horrible.
Puzzling thoughts:
FIR with a few look ups and several write overs
Clearly, NEATNESS didn't COUNT for my grid. The northern boundary from WA to MN is a complete Rorschach test
HG, nice usage of illustrations
unclefred @ 10:05: we most certainly do! Thanks for reading them and your positive comments. Our job is certainly easier in two ways: 1) we get the puzzles and answers the week prior, which 2) gives us plenty of time to solve and think through the theme and/or clues. All of you reader/responders generally solve the puzzle the day of its issue. FWIW, I spent the better part of an hour solving today's puzzle ...
A fine Saturday PZL from the Chen/Iverson team. Unlike on the past two Saturdays, this one was (IMHO) quite do-able.
Well received on our behalf by Husker G.
Fave clue & fill = 35A, TOP BUNK
ETS = Educational Testing Service // Nobody asked, but I thought I would clarify.
They are having a hard time these days, with so many universities dropping the now-controversial SAT exams.
Back in my day, I did not have to take the SAT, but I did take the GRE. I was in England at the time and had to travel to London to take the test at the US Embassy.
~ OMK
____________
DR: FOUR diagonals (Hotcha!) today; three on the near side & one in opposition.
The main diagonal to hand offers a solid anagram (14 of 15 letters), referring to a fierce canine that normally roams freely over his master's property but is kept at a safe distance when guests are expected.
Yes, this is one...
"PREVENTABLE MUT(t)"!
We have the Victoria Day holiday on Monday and no newspaper that day. Thus today’s paper had the Saturday and Monday CWs and comics (and no date on n the CWs). It appears that I chose to solve the Monday CW this afternoon. No wonder I thought it was easy! And it has a theme that brings a smile.
I will read and comment no further here. Perhaps I will get a chance to finish the proper CW later and return.
Wishing you all a great day.
I've been up since 5:30 AM. I am all in. OR I worked so hard today I am all in. That's a common phrase in our house.
I often hear done to a turn, perfectly cooked. Today I wondered what the phrase's origin is.
"Rotating spits were developed in the Middle Ages; initially turned by hand and later by various forms of powered mechanism. The allusion in the phrase 'done to a turn', or 'roasted to a turn', is to food that had been cooked for the precisely correct number of turns of the spit."
Thanks Gary, for a well illustrated blog. Thanks Chen/Iverson team for a fun, much easier than usual Saturday puzzle.
Vidwan, I tell my peeps who don't want to talk xword(nor listen to poetry) that we have chat rooms expressly for that purpose
Heres the Seinfeld clip Maybe the DINGO ate your baby
Here's the wiki reference:
"A dingo ate my baby!" is a cry popularly attributed to Lindy Chamberlain-Creighton, as part of the 1980 death of Azaria Chamberlain case, at Uluru in the Northern Territory, Australia. The Chamberlain family had been camping near the rock when their nine-week-old daughter was taken from their tent by a dingo"
WC
Hi All!
I'll just chalk it up to another 'learning Saturday' got about 50% before cheating.
Thanks Jeff & Christina for the puzzle. Thanks for sending HG some inside-baseball.
Thanks for 'splainin' things, HG. Always an enlightening expo.
Wrong!s: ToteS for TRAPs, TTFN instead of TATA, acT didn't become HAT until a glance at HG's cheat-sheet. MEAL time was right out [Hi Ray-O!]
Fav: YOUR OTHER RIGHT (nimrod) is something Pop would say to me OFT :-)
D-O: who makes that cooktop you can control so well? I'll recommend my favorite temp-toy: Thermapen; excellent to make sure nothing is EXTRA RARE.
Picard - I get the same weirdness sometimes when printing USAToday puzzles' site. I had to print today's LAT (where's my H-Chron?!?) and lost far-right grid-lines & part of [UMA] Thurm---'s last name. I think it has more to do with the site you're printing from(?) / their conversion to .pdf. Sorry, I can't be more help.
Your MIT guide made me laugh & think of MIT's alum wits Tom & Ray.
IM - Never seen Seinfeld? What were you doing on 'Must See' Thursday's? :-)
//It's funny, 'cuz the Girls have watched all Friends, Seinfeld and, now, Eldest watches X-Files... "Dad, OMG [...] And then [...]" Me: "Yep, your Mom & I watched ever episode - we taped them too"
Re: DINGO - Elaine on Seinfeld was making fun of an item (nope, BFFS @8a) in the news at the time. I turns out, a dingo really did take the baby.
And on that sad note, I'll wish y'all a wonderful afternoon.
Cheers, -T
Anon T @ 4:00 ~ We lived in Florida from 1985-2002 and I guess watching TV was low on the social activity dance card. (Any excuse to party, wink, wink!) Seriously, there were many community activities, plus dinner parties, shows and concerts, movies, great restaurants, pontoon outings, etc.that kept us on the go. My husband was an avid X-Files fan but I never watched it and don’t remember what I watched instead, if anything. I don’t remember hearing Must See Thursdays, either. 🫣
I liked this well constructed and excellently clued puzzle and had pretty much the same experiences, pitfalls, chuckles, and groans as many of you did.
I did a lot of head scratching at the clue for BFFS and I'm still not sure I understand it.
Hand up for filling BLANK SLATE at first. I confess I groused a bit at being forced to change it to CLEAN SLATE, but then I looked up "tabula rasa" and learned from the Encyclopedia Brittanica that it translates to "scraped tablet" i.e. a cleaned-off slate. This is the kind of learning experience that I enjoy and benefit from.
During Basic Training there were many times the Drill Sergeant had to yell out "Your other left!"
Spelling YAGHTS [sic] wrong prevented me from getting CROCK for far too long.
It took Gary's explanation for me to understand RETRO as clued. Cool beans.
MDS had to be changed to DRS.
UMA revealed it was MERE and not PERE and revealed, as Gary said, the only 4-letter state beginning with U. (I think it's the only state beginning with U.)
Love the clue for MEAT EATER! There are several other great clues also.
Good to read you all.
Ray-O -
the clue that had <3 - that is just text speak for a heart - so if you had a heart necklace you would share it with a best friend. When you're texting someone who is dear to your heart - it could be your romantic relationship, mom, sister, friend
First Saturday entry in a long time that didn't tie me into knots! Actually had a great time in the solving ...learned a few new words on the way. Maybe pairs of constructors tend to reign in the flights of fancy of their partners??
Inanehiker....thanks for 'splainin'. I usually recognize text speak. But what can I say.... ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Thank you, inanehiker.
Ray-O & Inane Hiker: some times those heart necklaces are split in two pieces with each "best friend forever" wearing one half with the other person's name on it.
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