Saturday Themeless by Ricky Sirois
Wow! What an amazing grid with only 27 blocks and 102 open squares.
The grid is filled with triple rows of 10's and triple stacks of 9's. All this was complemented by the usual Saturday wordplay and red herrings.
I hope none of you JUMPED SHIP.
Across:
1. Bailed: JUMPED SHIP
11. Brand at the pet store: ALPO.
15. Call after a knock, perhaps: ANYONE HOME.
16. Nu-metal pioneers: KORN - What is Nu-metal music?
17. Please and thank you, e.g.: MAGIC WORDS.
18. Steve of "Peacemaker": AGEE - The Mets outfielder (Tommy) and screenwriter for The African Queen (James) didn't make the Saturday cut.
19. Big heads: EGOS.
20. "But you just got here!": SO SOON - The year 2022?
22. Scamp: IMP.
23. Faces: SIDES - This die has 20 faces or SIDES (an icosahedron)
27. Proclamation: DECREE.
30. Astringent cosmetic: TONER
35. Zimbabwe's most populous city: HARARE - This capital city in Southern Africa has six KFC's (red dots on the map)
36. State fruit of California: AVOCADO.
38. Underground dwellers of urban myth: MOLE MEN - Superman and The Mole Men in a very low budget TV show.
39. Samurai sword: KATANA - Hilarious John Belushi uses his in The Samurai Delicatessen
40. Image in Magritte's "The Treachery of Images": PIPE - The French below the image says, "This is not a pipe". Magritte said it is only an image of a pipe.
41. Contractor's no.: EST - In 1979, our school chose the lowest ESTIMATE. They wanted to build an new junior high in the worst way and, by golly, that's just what they did.
42. Terse postgame recap: I LOST.
43. Together: DATING.
45. Place to order 2-Down: SUSHI BAR and 2. Eel, on a menu: UNAGI.
47. Giveaways: TELLS - In this M*A*S*H poker game, Winchester whistled when he was bluffing. He got cleaned out.
51. Use a touchscreen: TAP.
52. Crenshaw kin: CASABA.
55. Bound: LEAP - He could also LEAP over MOLE MEN
56. "... two fives for __?": A TEN - How 'bout two tens for a five by these two masters?
58. Classic film based on the play "Everybody Comes to Rick's": CASABLANCA.
60. Govt. weather agency: NOAA.
61. Be aware enough not to do something foolish: KNOW BETTER.
62. Gets to: IRKS.
63. "Oh, you!": SILLY GOOSE.
Down:
1. Lily of "Pam & Tommy": JAMES - I remember her as Lady Rose in Downton Abbey. It took four hours everyday to convert her into Pamela Anderson using prosthetics for the Hulu series.
3. [Gasp]: MY GOD.
4. Ready and waiting: POISED.
5. Abbr. on a business letter: ENC.
6. Code Reds, e.g.: DEWS.
8. Stable creatures, colloquially: HORSIES or HORSEYS
9. "Stick a fork in me": I'M DONE.
10. Capital of Cuba: PESOS.
11. Sobriquet letters: AKA and 12. Useful sobriquet: LOGIN NAME.
21. Scout's terse assessment: NO TALENT - This has made Simon Cowell a millionaire many times over by being a frank 32. Judgmental sort: EVALUATOR.
24. Like some differences: SEMANTIC.
26. Greater: MORE.
28. Oscar winner about a teenager who is the only hearing member of her family: CODA.
31. Many an Urdu speaker: PAKISTANI - Go to this site to see today's date in Urdu print and if you hit the speaker button you can hear it pronounced
33. In a way: SO TO SPEAK.
35. Uto-Aztecan language spoken in Arizona: HOPI - ha'u - If you'd like to know an easy Hopi word, "ha'u" (sounds a little like hah-uh) means "hello" in Hopi.
37. Exchanged notes?: CASH - Over 1,600 banks issued their own notes by 1861. Then the U.S. government started issuing notes to help finance the Civil War
38. Sch. that hosts an annual Mystery Hunt: MIT - Everything you want to know
40. Shade provider: PARASOL.
43. Aquafina rival: DASANI
46. Sticks up for: BACKS.
48. Slowly, in music: LENTO - I used Schubert's Ave Maria as an example recently
49. Corset securers: LACES - Anna laces up Lady Mary on Downton Abbey
50. Leftover: SPARE.
53. Go through a lot of tissues: BAWL.
54. Soccer star Wambach: ABBY.
57. Rapper who narrates Netflix's "The Get Down": NAS - We see his name here often but will never see his lyrics
59. Support under the table?: LEG.
39 comments:
So many unknowns, I wanted to BAWL. Huge amount of white space. Thank you red letters. I filled it, but no joy here.
Thank you, Gary.
Well, that was quite a “slog”! The first toehold I got was “ship” then (going down) “unagi.” Somehow I put it together for “jumped ship.” And I didn’t see how “faces” was the same thing as “sides” until I got on this blog. Getting “Pakistani “ was no easy thing either, as I had no idea what the “samurai sword “ was. But, eventually, through P&P I managed to FIR, so I’m happy. In fact, I’m ecstatic to have (in the end) triumphed on a Saturday!
Good morning!
This was very Silkyesque. That sea of white slowly, slowly came into focus. Finally, it was done. Wanted ZERO as that word before takeoff. Nope. Those corset LACES evoked Lee Marvin transforming from an unrepentant drunk to the imposing Kid Shelleen in Cat Ballou. Needed Husker to explain how CODE REDS could be DEWS; d-o was hung up on A Few Good Men. Those stacked 9s and 10s were daunting. Not sure how Ricky managed it, but it was impressive. Was this an LAT debut? Thanx for 'splainin' it all, Husker.
Wilbur xword rules: 1. Never give up. 2. Never look up(answers). Hard to observe for awhile
I was tempted to ask Phil about that sword. After FIR I asked him and he immediately said KAHANA and began to discourse about that and UNAGI
I think this xword was difficult like 8.5 but it seems a lot easier after the finish. My first fill was PESOS but squares were hard to come by for a long time.
PAKISTANI was a quick fill and I knew MOHS , ABBY, DASANI but couldn't dredge them up
(Ben)Crenshaw kin: Norman(Greg)
Ahas: DEWS(Mountain); KORN (Nu-Metal) refers to music?
I think CODA got an award recently and I think I read about it
We just talked about HOPI and LENTO
Picard, you must have enjoyed Mystery night at MIT
WC
I made it all the way to seven remaining clues in the northeast. And in record time for a Saturday. Then I hit the dreaded brick wall. I finished it, but only with the help of red strike throughs.
FIR, but struggled in the NE for quite a while when suddenly premieres came to me. My aha moment!
Finished this in 23 minutes even today.
I really struggled to see "premieres, not knowing any cities in Zimbabwe, having never heard of "mole men", and not knowing the Steve or his show/movie (to be fair, I also didn't know today's female actress, Lilly James).
Also hit a wall in the lower-left (pes?, katana, NOAA, and parsing "so to speak").
Good Saturday challenge. Thought about turning on the red letters, but glad I didn't.
Good Morning:
I liked 95 % of this offering but, as Anonymous @ 7:28 said, the NE was a brick wall with Korn and Agee, both totally unknown, as clued. Harare, Katana, Dews, and Mole Men were also unknown, but their perps were fair. I thought the fill was fresh and lively and the scant number of three letter words was, as always, a plus.
Thanks, Ricky, for a challenging Saturday, and thanks, HG, for the detailed review and commentary. Enjoyed all of the graphics, especially the one of the yummy-looking gelato! I have had CODA in my Netflix Saved Queue for ages. It’s unusual for it to take this long to get a current film.
Have a great day.
FIW today, but it was a daunting Saturday puzzle. So many long fills and few black squares! I was surprised when I started to get it. My error was putting LATIN NAME and I didn't know KORN or AGEE so perps didn't alert me there. Thanks, Ricky, for the Saturday challenge. New constructor?
Thanks, Husker Gary for confirming my questionable fill. ENC and DEWS filled when I did the long fill there and I didn't notice them right away. I guessed DEWS referred to the drink. Right! Didn't think of melons for Crenshaw until CASABA filled. A fun puzzle in general.
I follow your second rule, WC, and rely on the reviews to explain things I don't know. I'm a paper and ink person and usually make a WAG before reading the review. Sometimes I get lucky.
Have a good weekend!
I didn't JUMP SHIP but I couldn't finish the NE. Never heard of Nu-metal, KORN, MOLEMEN, "Code Reds", and AGEE & "Peacemaker" were unknowns. Luckily I filled CASABA by perps because "Crenshaw" was an unknown food. Next time I'll KNOW BETTER (if I remember).
A DNF today. The NW was the last part that I completed. Changed TEL to EXT to ENC; already had SHIP, HOME, DEWS, WORDS, and SO SOON. I finally remembered UNAGI and that opened it up.
Gimmes in the SW & SE opened up those areas. PAKISTANI an CASABLANCA did it for me.
PIPE- as if we're supposed to know what's in an artist's painting by a name? It's not the Mona Lisa.
MIT- might have filled it IF I'd known molemen or pipe. Had no idea.
DASANI vs Aquafina, AKA Coke vs Pepsi
NO TALENT- the reason I quit playing piano and trumpet. And speaking of TALENT I got word that my Little League baseball coach's wife died. Betty CLIBURN Majure. You can see by her middle name that her first cousin VAN had some TALENT.
Unknowns that were filled by perps James, CODA, CASABA, PES. POD???
After battling wits with Ricky Sirois today, I LOST.
Bet you'll never find Alpo in a pet shop. It's a supermarket brand. I had IAMS --- possible but wrong.
Learning moment: never knew the meaning of sobriquet. Might remember that.
Unagi or anago?
How in the world I FIR, I don’t know but I struggled and conquered, no JUMPing SHIP here. I loved this puzzle, yes it is Silkyish.
I never heard of MOLE MMEN, KORN, ÂGÉE, but WAGS and perps finally got me through the difficult NE.
At first I spelt DASANI DeDANI, but the SUSHI BAR corrected that.
Oddly, the Greater/MORE bit threw me for a while 'cause there was nothing Saturday-esque about it. Another indication of a crossword-warped mind.
Greetings. Well, I learned a lot today...! That's the lure of a Saturday puzzle for me. Lots of unknowns. NW was the last to fill. I have to laugh when I have enough perps to WAG the fill - kind of like a Wheel of Fortune moment!
Thanks, Ricky for the challenge, and thanks Husker Gary for your review.
Super Saturday. Thanks for the fun, Ricky and HuskerG.
I was so happy that I didn’t JUMP SHIP and worked my way through a sea of white to finish. But I arrived here to find that I FIWed.
My Oscar winner started out as CODi, then changed to Y (I thought that seemed more like a person’s name); since. Didn’t know KATANA, I let it stand. I should have known by the clue that Child Of Deaf Adults was needed.
But I’M DONE! (Really- Stick a Fork in me!?)
I was agasp to see OMG spelled out in the answer at 3D.
Many misdirections and clues requiring some specific American knowledge (NOAA, MIT). Perps to the rescue.
I really wanted tiramisu at that trattoria; I like it better than GELATO.
My business letter had inc Before ENC.
Ped changed to PES, IAMS to ALPO.
My Code Red was at the hospital (for fire). I had to look closely at the image HG posted to see the letters on the Mountain Dew can. Not familiar with that. (I see others had the same problem.)
Hand up with ATLGranny for Latin NAME before LOG IN.
I saw a program about AVOCADO farming in California using excess water and causing problems with drought. (Actually, I think it may have been about Almonds.) Perhaps our California contingent want to weigh in on that (although they have moved from drought to flooding).
I’m with PK re sobriquet.
CSO to CED with IMP.
Wishing you all a great day.
DNF/FIW. Stalled out and looked up the definition of "sobriquet", then the rest fell into place. Unfortunately, CODy x KATANy exposed yet another cache of hot crossed ignorance. Erased "we're in here" and "hello its me" for ANYONE HOME, don't go for SO SOON, paw for PES, pope for PIPE, inc for ENC, and stow for SHOO.
I really liked this one. My perfect Saturday challenge would have me FIR it with great difficulty about 50% of the time. Of course, that would have our more accomplished Cornerites singing "too easy".
I was going to say that I didn't know that Crenshaw was a fruit, but I didn't want to get cancelled.
Gotta tune in to see Kentucky at Tennessee. I imagine the Volunteers will shellac my Cats. I'm not sure Coach Cal has what it takes to recruit in these days of NIL millionaire amateurs. He has always touted the billions of dollars his former players are making in the NBA, but I think he needs a way to highlight how much players can make from the fan base while they play at UK, then set up promotional programs to exploit those opportunities.
A noble struggle but I ended up with a DNF in the little NE corner. (WEES)... First stuck too long with singlemom...didn't know KO of KORN, AG of AGEE, had LatinNAME.
Fruits have names? CRENSHAW ? (Think I'll name my next 🍎. Umm, let's see....Granny Smith!. )
By doing serial CWs old answers must be stored in a distinct part of the 🧠...with just a couple perps unknowns KATAMA and HARARE just popped up outta nowwhere. 😊
It wasn't a boy or military scout.
PARASOL = para (goes with) sol (the sun) umbrella in français, "parapluie" goes with the rain (pluie).
Inkovers: pod/PES, spoil/SPARE, cad/IMP
Anyone who watched the TV superman series knows the MOLEMEN are real!! HG even gives us a photograph!
When ladies lead Canada (Eh)...PREMIERES
_____ someday learn ____ language... HOPI, DECREE
Pertaining to a three stooge or our charming Chairman...MOHS
Doesn't gamble....KNOWBETTER
(Is it Ricky Siroyz or Sirwha?)
Any way enjoy the weekend all,
🙂
Hola!
That's my rule too, never give up, never look up. Some Saturdays it's tempting to do so but today P and P won. Almost.
I did not know KORN but I will guess that Tony does. So it was a DNF for me there though I should have had LOG IN NAME. Drat! I had LATIN NAME.
I love Lily JAMES! She is a good actress and versatile, too. I've seen her in serious roles besides Downton Abbey where I first saw her. She played Cinderella, for one.
KATANA simply perped. There is no way I would have known that.
Good for Ricky, getting his name in the clue for CASABLANCA, my favorite movie of all time.
Pima or HOPI? Wait for perps.
The Pima Reservation abuts Scottsdale a half mile east of where I live.
SPARE is the title of the new book by Prince Harry.
Have a great day, everyone! Rain expected here today.
FIR and got a fast time for a Saturday, though like many others I found the NE tough at first. (I did happen to know KATANA, and also HARARE, because as a Sporcler, I have some capitals in the back of my mind.) Having the NAME part of 12D gave me AKA, then LOGIN from L__IN was a bit of a WAG (...does anyone even call it a LOGIN NAME?) since AGEE wasn't the usual James from crosswordese (though JAMES is in the grid!).
FIR after much wailing and gnashing of teeth (but no BAWLING), and a lot of patient perp waiting. Thanks Ricky for the very Saturdayish slog and lots of clever cluing. And thanks Gary for your, as always, insightful review.
Some favs:
1A JUMPED SHIP. Got SHIP early but later realized that the clue meant "abandoning" rather than "saving" it.
16A KORN. Never 'eard of em. Heavy metal with Dad jokes?
31A PES. POD -> PED -> PES. The latter being the last shoe to drop, SO TO SPEAK.
34A MOHS. Hardness 1 for this old rockhound.
35A HARARE. It started with HOPI, but I don't know how I dredged up the rest of it.
38A MOLE MEN. This also started with HOPI. RIT would have fit on the downside, but MOLE made more sense than RO.....?
40A PIPE. Classic DA DA.
45A SUSHI BAR. Great idea Gary. Sushi's only fresh for about a day, so what do you do with it on day 2?
60A NOAA. Should have got this early, but misspelled EVALUATER even earlier.
1D JAMES. It must have taken a lot of prosthetics to get Lily James to look like Pamela Anderson.
6D DEWS. Hew knew?
28D CODA. Child Of Deaf Adults.
38D MIT. A (meta?) clue about puzzles.
48 LENTO. Had the L & O, but had to perpwait as it could have been LARGO.
49D LACES. Had SNAPS but they didn't hold.
Cheers,
Bill
Wilbur Charles Thank you for the MIT shout out. Apparently MYSTERY HUNT started the year after I graduated.
This puzzle ripped me off for 15 dollars! (And stole my lunch money...)
Code red=dews? (Thanks for the picture, I wouldn't have believed it otherwise.)
Anthony, thanks for posting "Iams",
I thought alpo was iams, but I had the A first, and couldn't figure out how to spell it...
(Should I even attempt the MIT th8ng?)
Saturdays are always toughies, but this one was still fun--many thanks for that, Ricky. And I always love your great pictures, Gary--thanks for those too.
Well, thank goodness I didn't have INSOMNIA, so I didn't have to JUMP SHIP but stayed on to have a chance to play with lots of MAGIC WORDS in this puzzle and avoid feeling like I had NO TALENT and was just a SILLY GOOSE. SO, SOON I was on my way, and stayed POISED to act like a good EVALUATOR and LOG IN my NAME and got started. MY GOD, it was fun to find some food, like that lovely tray of GELATOS and a delicious AVACADO and had a chance to try an UNAGI, something I'd never heard of before. And nice that I didn't need any CASH to try all the great items at the SUSHI BAR. Lots of great food and a good time, so, happily, I'M DONE.
Have a great day, everybody!
Excellent puzzle by Ricky and an equally excellent write-up from H-Gary! Thanks for explaining the DEWS clue!
FAVs: Exchanged notes? and SEMANTIC
I FIW because I did not go back and check NeAA. Ugh! I have had friends who worked at NOAA so I should have known better.
OTOH, I did know about the PIPE and CODA from recent blogs on this site. Thanks, bloggers! I knew HARARE but was unsure of the spelling. Close was good enough to see the perps and fix things.
Lucina @ 11:36. I'm growing fond of Lilly JAMES as well. She was also in the movie "Yesterday" which was in a grid not too long ago. Like H-Gary, I remember her as Lady Rose.
waseeley @ 11:56 "Snaps didn't hold". Good one!
Misty @ 12:18. A delightful story, as usual!
Ray-o- it took a minute for the light to dawn, but when I got “When ladies lead Canada (Eh)...PREMIERES”, I smiled broadly. Nice work with the French and our Parliament.
I was waiting to see if NOAA was spelled. ?
WC
CODA, once you get passed the the trope of actors who are really deaf the story is fairly predictable. I also found it "formulaic" and "derivative". (I actually don't know what those words mean just that uppity film critics use them all the time..😃).
Every day I deal with folks who don't speak English relying heavily on their kids to translate.
When we played cowboys and Indians we would raise a hand and say "How" ...that was the way "Indians" supposedly said " hello" ..guess it turns out some truth to that Kemosabe
Ray-O, Sirois was my grandmother's maiden name and we pronounce it Seer wha'. Nice puzzle, but we did get stuck in the northeast, not knowing Agee, crenshaw was unknown as well.
While I am here, let me thank bloggers for their book recommendations, although I don't remember specifically who they were. I really enjoyed A Gentleman in Moscow, and am currently reading White Fragility. In return, I highly recommend the movie Coda. It is always good to broaden our perspectives to include how others experience the world.
Wishing you all a wonderful day!
Dear Sundaze, thank so much for your kind words about my comments. I always worry that my blog friends may find them annoying, so it's a relief to hear that someone actually enjoys them. Thank you so much, and I enjoy your comments too!
This is my favorite type of Saturday puzzle. Challenging, yet doable if I take my time. A miracle that I didn’t have to look anything up. Perps saved me! Thank you everyone!
WEES.
Article in today's LA Times re water diversion for farming from the river above Bakersfield.
A neatly constructed XWD from Mr. Sirois, monitored by Husker G...
Unfortunately, no diags (see report below). Such a sharp PZL deserves them, but constructors are often unaware of the amusing possibilities.
I have a KATANA, an authentic one, over a century old. When I was producer of a theater in Virginia, my secretary told me that when I was out for lunch, a woman of unknown name had come by and left in my office "an old sword, in case it could be used as a show prop."
On my desk I found a Japanese sword in military-brown leather sheathe and belt casing. It looked like a serious weapon, and I had it appraised. Turned out, it is a late 18th or early 19th century blade, refitted with a WWII-era hilt and sheathe probably for some junior officer from a traditional samurai family.
Seems some of these were captured as "souvenirs" by GIs. I reckon mine had passed through the hands of a soldier from a Virginia family. The "woman" likely was disposing of it after the death of its local captor.
~ OMK
___________
DR: 8+8 = 0 Fill = No diagonals.
Picard, have you had to deal with flooding & landslides where you live? I thought I saw some TV news about rain problems near Santa Barbara & thought of you.
PK Thank you for asking about our situation. Personally, we are doing OK. Only because I fought hard to get our Home Owners Association to put drains and drainage lines in over a year ago. California lets developers get away with truly criminal malpractice regarding drainage. By the time the damage comes, they have their money and are gone.
But our area is hit hard. The freeway was closed for two days, meaning no way to get in or out of our isolated area. Even the airport was closed by flooding. Many vital roads are severely damaged and closed indefinitely. All of our hiking trails have been shut down for the next two months.
Warm air carries more water than cool air. This causes both extreme droughts and extreme flooding, depending on small perturbations of large air currents. Most of the time, the warm air holds the water that should fall on us and carries it east. Where it hits cold air currents and causes flooding.
This was a rare case where the warm air cooled over us and dumped the extra load of water here.
I have been taking another break from posting after the last round regarding the Climate Crisis. This is not politics or religion.
Yes, scientists once thought the sun went around the Earth. Then they learned more and corrected their understanding. The talk of global cooling was a very brief discussion many decades ago. The understanding of the greenhouse effect from humans putting carbon in the atmosphere goes back to the 1800s. The only question is when we will pass a tipping point where there is no turning back.
Do you know what happens when you first cross the point of no return (crossing the event horizon) falling into a Black Hole? Nothing. Nothing at all. The problem only shows up later when there is no way to turn back.
Thank you again for your concern about us.
Picard, thank you for your reply. I remembered you saying there were limited ways in and out of your area and that mud/rock slide closing the road seemed to have been there. Pretty scary. Hope the worst is over for you, but the weather tonight seemed to show some more nastiness coming. I'll be thinking of you and your lovely wife.
Misty:
You are so creative! I admire your writing and how you manage to interweave terms from the day's puzzle to write an amusing anecdote.
Picard:
It's good to know that you are all right. I also was concerned about you as I am about my friends whose homes are vulnerable to flooding or to being held hostage by the rain.
Rain is such a blessing when it comes but such a curse when it's destructive.
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