Themeless Saturday by Rafael Musa and Michael Lieberman
I had Rafael's initial LA Times submission last month where he told us he got into constructing because he read that someone had solved a NYT puzzle in under 10 minutes. He set that as a goal and when he reached it, he started submitting. 
Mike Lieberman is a litigation partner in Washington, D.C., office of Kirkland & Ellis LLP. His practice focuses on Supreme Court and appellate litigation. This is one of those puzzles where I seemed to be on the same wavelength as the two constructors. I did have an issue at REDDITAM_S and RECENCY BI_S but both lent themselves to minimal sussing (explained below) and I took a well-deserved "got 'er done" out of petty cash.
1. Ice __: BATH - Some trainers believe this really accelerates healing and soreness
5. Ebullience: PEP - Not JOY
8. Helps with checking out, maybe: BAGS - Paper BAGS are making a comeback
12. Calculus calculation: AREA - For us math peeps: calculus can be used to determine the AREA under a curve as the sum of the AREA of rectangles added together gets infinitely close to the actual AREA as the rectangles get infinitely narrower.
13. Internal revolution: PALACE COUP - "Beware the Ides Of March!"
16. Approach: NEAR.
17. Fitness revolutions: ARM CIRCLES which might be done wearing 18. Joggers: GYM PANTS
16. Approach: NEAR.
17. Fitness revolutions: ARM CIRCLES which might be done wearing 18. Joggers: GYM PANTS
20. Low-quality: CRUDDY.
21. "Mamma Mia!" song with the lyric "The love you gave me, nothing else can save me": SOS - Any day is better with ABBA in it
22. Mystery writer Josephine: TEY - I had no, uh, clue about mystery writer Josephine
23. Beams: RAYS.
24. Filled in: UP TO SPEED.
27. Infinitive with a circumflex: ETRE - Comment peut-on déjà ÊTRE en mars? (How can it be March already?)
31. __ pear: ASIAN - The Kimmel Orchards in Nebraska City have many of these trees but you have to get there on the right day as they get picked quickly
32. Penguin hunters: ORCAS.
34. Utter nonsense: ROT.
35. Rush: SURGE.
36. Underground rock?: ORE that can turn into 10. Like some expensive bars: GOLD.
 |
| Gold ORE |
37. Uses a collection box, say: MAILS - While the use of paper bags is going up, the use of these is going down
39. "Pressure" singer Lennox: ARI - Her picture and the lyrics
40. Nurse: SIP ON.
42. Be relevant: APPLY - "The fundamental things APPLY, As Time Goes By."
 |
| "You played it for her, You can play it for me." |
43. Dependents that can't be claimed as tax deductions: PETS - We can't even deduct Lily's houses and perches, but that's okay with us.
45. Little League game ender, perhaps: MERCY RULE - This game was over in 3 1/2 innings
47. Locks: HAIR.
49. Still: YET.
50. Big time: ERA - My mom loved The Big Band ERA
52. Garment traditionally worn with a kebaya: SARONG - The kebayas are the tops worn with these SARONGS. Yeah, I knew that and didn't use all the perps! 😏
55. Court luminaries: NBA STARS.
57. Not set: UP IN THE AIR.
59. Plot line: AXIS.
60. Some online tell-all sessions: REDDIT AMAS - We've seen the website REDDIT that features AMAS (Ask Me AnythingS) in our puzzles
61. Actress Russo: RENE - I really liked some of her movies but she, Morgan Freeman and Tommy Lee Jones were a big draw to this "worst movie I ever spent money on" (4% on Rotten Tomatoes).
62. Red and Coral, but not pink: SEAS.
63. Low-__: RES 7. __-Man: PAC - On my Apple IIe
64. Reindeer kin: ELKS.
Down:
1. Loud reports: BANGS.
2. "Final answer?": ARE YOU SURE?
3. Pride of Lions, e.g.: TEAM SPIRIT.
4. Guinness logo: HARP.
5. One who makes everyone get down on the dance floor?: PARTY POOPER 😀
6. Many Central Park trees: ELMS.
8. Juicy fruit: BERRY.
9. Impeach: ACCUSE.
11. Sought redress: SUED.
13. Glazier supply: PANES - Here they're using suction to move a big PANE
14. Summer bug: CICADA - Their song is a sign of late summer around here
15. Humanities subj.: PSY.
19. Does penance (for): ATONES.
23. Tendency to rely on short-term memory: RECENCY BIAS - Some juries can be more swayed by the last closing argument they hear
25. Label: TAG and 55. Moniker: NAME.
26. Catcher's interference, for one: ERROR.
26. Catcher's interference, for one: ERROR.
28. Skating feat first performed in competition by Vern Taylor: TRIPLE AXEL - From 44 years ago. It wasn't perfect but it was the first one.
29. Derby place: ROLLER RINK - A different skating activity
30. Site of creation?: ETSY - A popular website for puzzle fill
31. "Need this rn": ASAP.
33. Brains: SMARTS - Poor Fredo
38. "The Problem With __": "The Simpsons" documentary: APU - about Indian stereotypes
41. "We'll see": I MIGHT.
44. Writer/producer Rhimes: SHONDA - Some of her work
46. What dates may end with: YEARS - When I was in the hospital recently, I was asked my date of birth very often and had to rattle it off (9/11/46) over and over
48. Naysayers: ANTIS.
51. Donkeys: ASSES.
52. Big follower in California?: SUR - The Pacific Coast Highway runs through here
53. Primatology focus: APES.
54. Lift: RIDE.
56. Discount when buying some foods?: TARE - A great explanation
58. Eustachian tube locale: EAR.
36 comments:
Wow and Zowee! This is one puzzle that I don’t think Ms. Irish Miss will complain is too easy! It was tough! And it didn’t help that I kept trying to make it “Ani” Lennox instead of “Ari” Lennox. (Even though I know perfectly well that the name of the “Heart “ singer is “Annie” Lennox!) Other little mistakes like that (including misspelling the last name of Ms. “Tey”) made this puzzle quite a slog. But, in the long run (and after a good, long time) through P&P I managed to FIR, so I’m happy.
Good morning!
Nope. T'was not to be. Went wrong with Berg/BATH (Have I ever mentioned...?), joy/PEP, oakS/ELMS, sealS/ORCAS, and kimONo/SARONG. The four sets of stacked tens were impressive, but remained mysterious. Got 'er done, but not without peeking. I call that a DNF. Thanx, Rafael, Michael, and Husker.
Thank you, Michael Lieberman and Rafael Musa, and thank you Husker Gary.
Wow ! Slightly faster than yesterday's 18 minute solve. Easy week continues.
Yet another "read the clue and fill in the answer" crossword puzzle. Well, not quite, but almost. "ARE YOU SURE this is a Saturday level puzzle at the LA Times ? Well, it is themeless, and it is Easy Week, so let's run it."
Today I started with the acrosses at 31A, and filled in 14 of the next 15 answers almost as quickly as I read the clues. The MERCY part of MERCY RULE was known, but relegated to the cobwebs.
RECENCY BIAS - "Michael Jordan and Kareem Abdul Jabbar were pretty good NBA STARS, but Lebron James is the greatest of all time", or "When you rank the Top 10, Taylor Swift is the most popular singer that has ever lived !"
Here's one for Wilbur Charles: "Ted Williams was a good hitter, but he didn't face the quality of pitching and use of relievers that is present in the modern game."
Gotta run for now. See all y'all later n'at !
FIR, but erased berg for BATH, office coup for PALACE COUP, shoddy for CRUDDY, seals for ORCAS, ado for ERA, oaks for ELMS, eden for ETSY, and ROT, which went back in. Very easy Saturday puzzle, meaning even my sorry self got it.
RECENCY BIAS: "What have you done for me lately?" "One 'oh shit' erases 20 attaboys."
What dates may end with, and "lost underwear" didn't fit. (PS - Look in the glove compartment.)
OK, this site taught me AMA, and now is building on that foundation.
Thanks to Rafael and Michael for the fun challenge, and to Gary for the funny review.
FIR. Definitely a Saturday puzzle. Tough cluing, and a few unknowns, but with perp help, got the job done.
FIR on Saturday? Yes, indeed! Many of my first thoughts (BANGS, BAGS, and HAIR, for example) were right after I got the perps figured out. Others weren't: joy/PEP, oaks/ELMS, and yes/PAC. That section was s l o w to fill right. And I didn't know about the MERCY RULE but it made sense when I did an alphabet run to get I MIGHT. Is this the debut for CRUDDY?
Thanks, Rafael and Michael, for a clever puzzle with abundant misdirection. The long phrases were a help when I got them.
Thanks, Husker Gary, for an excellent review and for explaining RECENCY BIAS among other things. I also appreciate your contacting the constructors.
A sunny Saturday to you all!
Good Morning:
So far, as I type this, my Goldilocks analogy: SG and DO (Hard), TTP and JInx (Easy), KS and IM (Just Right). I thought this was a perfect Saturday puzzle, with just the right amount of chewiness, excellent cluing, fresh and vibrant fill, minimal pop culture, and no junk! I stumbled slightly on Cheesy/Cruddy, Anjou/Asian, and Speed/Surge. I also needed perps for SOS, Ari, Recency Bias, Etre, and Sarong, all as clued except Recency Bias which is a new, but sensible, concept to me, although no Hollywood star in recent or present years has come close to replacing my one and only Cary Grant!
Thanks, Rafael and Michael, for a truly enjoyable challenge and solve and thanks, HG, for a delightful visual presentation and informative review. My favorite, of course, was Darling Lily, all cozy and comfy in her “Pet Penthouse”. Paper bags are the only choice we have, other than bringing your own totes, and there is a 5¢ charge per bag. The Tare article was very interesting, also.
FLN
Tante Nique, happy to hear that all went well with your surgery. After my cataract surgery, we went to lunch, shopped at Publix, spent the evening with friends, had dinner and the next day, I had absolutely no memory of doing any of these things. 🫢
BlueHen, so nice to hear from you. Sorry to hear of your health issues and ongoing house problems, but I’m glad you’re still enjoying your culinary capers. I miss reading about your adventures in the kitchen, so please drop by more often to regale us with your tantalizing menus. 😉
Have a great day.
Wavelengths. If this puzzle was on the AM band, my brain was firmly tuned to FM. Finally had to TITT. After reading HGs review it was D'oh! Of course! Funny how that happens. I always heard "slaughter rule". I guess we were not very merciful as kids.
Everything IM☘️ said I agree with. This puzzle had fun misdirections and, thank goodness, it didn’t rely on many obscure proper names for clues.
RECENCY BIAS and REDDIT AMAS were the last to fall.
Kudos to our constructors and our PEPpy reviewer HG.
IM that was brave of you to “party” after your surgery. All I wanted to do was go home. For one thing I felt too much like a weird pirate with an eye patch on my left eye. But then like you, I wouldn’t have remembered anyway.
No secret that I am not the best CW solver. Maybe the worst of those who post here. So I puff out my chest and say I managed to FIR a Saturday CW, after much time and effort. CUBE:BERG:BATH to start things off with a mess in the NW. JOY:ZIP:PEP continued to empty my pen and mess up the paper. Then things started to fill pretty well for a while. Until it didn’t again. Anyway, thanx RM & ML for this challenging CW, and thanx too to Husker Gary for the outstanding write-up.
Very nice Saturday puzzle. The right level of challenge, with some fun clueing.
Six inches of snow overnight. Roads all plowed - Vermont does a great job with that. May not be an early Spring after all.
FLN: Thank you all for your kind comments. Valerie and I pulled into town mid-day yesterday MST and are settled in for the most part. We were greeted with light snow which a good type of snow - no tire chains required and, yet, it was snowing.
RosE, I completely missed the maIlman malman angle. That was a good catch.
unclefred, your Confucius comment reminded me of an old joke and,had I been thinking straight I would have used it in the recap: What do you do with an elephant that has three balls? Walk him and pitch to the rhino.
Have a great weekend, everyone.
I'm afraid that, unlike Husker and several others, I was not on Rafael's and Michael's wavelength. My only defense is that it took two of them to break my 4 game streak (not including Thursday). That said this was a very clever puzzle with lots of wordplay and the little P&P it contained I happened to know.
And thanks for the informative recap Gary. I had several head slappers as you revealed the results.
Favs & stumbling blocks.
1A BATH. I shrugged off D-O's lament, but immediately got 4D HARP, which R/Od BERG. ICE BASHES are a thing, but didn't work. The idea of an ICE BATH is not a concept I'm clear on.
12A AREA. One of the head slappers. I was looking for something longer like DERIVATIVE or INTEGRAL. Even though I knew that the latter was a caculation of AREA (as a PSY major Calculus wasn't my strongest subject) it didn't surface until I got here (despite having A__A!). Loved the clever gif Gary.
18A GYM PANTS. The obvious fill, especially with 1D BANGS, but not obvious to me at the time.
22A TEY. Bought Teri one of her books years back. Recalled her name but not the title.
39A ARI. As someone else has mentioned, I started with ANI (Lenox) and never changed it, which then rippled its way up the NW to my DNF.
61A RENE. A homophonic CSO to sumdaze.
64A ELKS. A CSO to Yellowrocks -- should this be ELK, akin to the plural of DEER being DEER? I thought ELKS are akin to Oddfellows.
2D ARE YOUR SURE. No I wasn't. I was SUNE actually. See 39A.
9D ACCUSE. We're batting ZIP on REMOVING ACCUSED Presidents from office.
3D TEAM SPIRIT. See 12A.
23D RECENCY BIAS. DNK this term, but as an antiquarian I'm familiar with it. The present condescends to the past, and is incapable of forgiving it. Even though the present is the INTEGRAL of the past to date.
46D YEAR. Like Gary I've been getting asked that question every 1 or 2 weeks these day. The odds of confusing two people using MM/DD/YYYY as the tie breaker are a lot lower than using the last 4 of the SSN.
Cheers,
Bill
Wow, what a workout -- but an amazing puzzle! The fill is fresh, the clues are terrific. Thank you, Rafael and Michael, and to Gary for the fun review!
Surpassed my ability to solve.
Neat Saturday puzzle, many thanks, Rafael and Michael. And thanks for the helpful commentary, Gary, always a pleasure to get on a weekend.
Well, if you asked me, "ARE YOU SURE you want to comment on this puzzle? Are you really UP TO SPEED?" I MIGHT have to admit that I'm UP IN THE AIR but willing to give it my best shot. Had a BATH this morning, but not looking too great with my HAIR in BANGS, and wearing GYMPANTS and didn't APPLY any make-up. Maybe later today I'll put on that new SARONG. Frankly, I'd rather play with some PETS than work on a puzzle, but all I could get this morning were some ELKS and a couple of ORCAS and they don't have much TEAM SPIRIT. So I hate to be a PARTY POOPER but it's time for my nap.
Have a great afternoon, everybody.
Definitely a Saturday challenge. Hand up ANJOU before ASIAN and BERG before BATH. BRR. Good to see RECENCY BIAS. We HAIRless APES have many cognitive BIASes.
Here we posed at that iconic Bixby Bridge spot along BIG SUR.
Interesting to see the bit about DEPENDENTS. My brother and I are supporting our mother in a care facility. But we can't declare her as a DEPENDENT, either.
Hi All!
Woot! Nailed a Saturday puzzle!
//oh, fine - y'all said it was easy ;-)
Thanks Rafael & Michael for the fun grid to noodle during our 10am touch-point this morning. A few WOs, but everything just came together. IM @8:53 said it best.
Thanks HG for the wonderful expo. The AREA / Calc. graphic was spot-on. I also enjoyed you embedding the TRIPLE AXEL vid for us.
WOs: shoDDY, RECENt???? | NetSTARTS (tennis?), RIsE
ESPs: TEY, ETRE
Fav: UP TO SPEED - that's the point of our touch-points this morning.
I've been AWOL (and remiss) this week as the team has been investigating an incident ~20 hours a day since Monday. Nothing damaged and no money transferred but... HTF did MFA (multi-factor authentication) get bypassed?
//TTP nailed my reason for not showing at The Corner on Wednesday.
//Jinx your RECENCY BIAS is just about how our team feels now.
Anyway, I did enjoy the puzzles, RECAPs, & reading everyone in the moments between computers whirling -- so thanks for keeping me sane and entertained, y'all.
Tante Nique - I followed your cataract saga and was glad to read the story ended nicely for you. Ditto on last to fall fills.
BlueHen - nice you stopped by to whet my appetite. Tonight is salmon, potato wedges, and roasted Brussel sprouts with a soy and honey sauce. Youngest made it for us last night so we'd eat (DW is under the weather and I'm still doing IR (incident response).
Waseeley - FLN, the link was probably nothing to worry about if your system is up-to-date.
Unclefred - LOL! I'm probably the worst solver here. Mondays take 15+ minutes and Saturdays are 'learning days.' I keep at it and sometimes a blind squirrel finds an acorn.
+1 and a GOLD star Misty. Your story was smooth.
Nice pic Picard but WTF are those two doing sitting on the bridge? Can't be fishing(?)
Oooo, work-chat just ding'd - back at it.
Cheers, -T
IM @ 8:54 - Count me in with SG and DO; a very difficult puzzle for me with the berg/BATH, joy/PEP Anjou/ASIAN and other incorrect answers. Knew TRIPLE AXEL but thought MERCY RULE was MERCY call. Haven’t thought of the word CRUDDY for many years and like many, scratched my head at RECENCY BIAS. Thank you for making it clear HG.
Waseeley - sad about Wayne Shorter, a fine tenor sax player and composer. Also gone in Feb. drummer Butch Miles. Many from the golden age of jazz are now in their 70’s,80’s or 90’s.
Wishing everyone a nice weekend!
Both Reindeer and ELK can be Plural a better clue would've been BPOE Org)hi waseeley)
Betsy has picked up a Summer bug
FIW on REssIT/RIsE/SHONtA. Pure stupidity. Mr S is smirking as a type
I inked Berg/BATH but perps said otherwise. HARP should've dropped easily
False. 4 man rotations , 8 teams, 7 or 8 innings/starter. I'd say the opposite on Teddy ballgame
I previously(J-blog) rated this an 8 on the saturday scale
WC
Thanks, Rafael and Michael for your puzzle! I saw early on that I would need to enact the MERCY RULE and opened up a Google window PANE.
Thanks for your write up, H-Gary. FAVs: Calculus diagram, Lily in her perch, and Bixby Bridge. They set up a grand piano near the bridge during the Big SUR marathon. The beautiful music pulls you across and inspires you for the next several miles.
-T @3:24 PM I am in AWE of your FIR on this puzzle, as I fell flat on my face. Glad to hear from you. I missed you BRO. 😀
This was a fun puzzle. I did struggle until I came to the clue that led to "Mercy Rule." Then almost everything else fell into place. The Little League frowns on calling it the "mercy rule," preferring the innocuous term "run rule."
An-t. Glad you could join us in spite of heavy work load that doesn’t sound fun. We missed your vibrant posts.
Dear Subgenius: Annie Lennox doesn’t sing with Heart. She’s the lead singer with Eurythmics. Just FYI.
TEY - This short fill was my POE (Point of Entry) into today's PZL. Just about every student of theater knows Josephine Tey's book, Daughter of Time, an exoneration of Richard III.
The MERCY RULE is new/news to me. I don't consider it MERCIful to any kid on the winning team who gets derived of his chance to bat three HRs.
Along with sumdaze, I needed the MERCY call myself--and can't help wondering if it is not wise to consider adding such an option for would-be solvers of end-of-week PZLs.
~ OMK
____________
DR: The single diagonal on the near side gives us the anagram (11 of 15) for what we might overhear if the wife of Boxer A secretly offers encouragement as she squeezes by the crowd behind Boxer B's corner ...
"PSST, ATTABOY!"
This one took 15:01.
I remain grateful for "No Circle Saturdays."
OMK @6:08 PM Thanks for that Doctor. I remembered Tey, but not the novel I gave Teri "Daughter of Time". SF isn't it?
Gary- I FIR at the cross of REDDIT AMAS and RECENCY BIAS, which I'd never heard before. Never been to the Reddit site but the AMAS have been in previous puzzles. This puzzle had plenty to both love and hate because it took some WAGS to get going. TRIPLE AXEL, APU, ORCAS could have been JUMP, STU and SEALS. I filled most of the bottom very early, went to play in a pickleball tourney, and finished about 6:30pm. A 10 hour gap to get UP TO SPEED.
ANJOU or ASIAN pear; PEACH or BERRY; CRUMMY or CRUDDY: JOY or PEP
glass, glaze, putty, and finally PANES
GYMPANTS, aka shorts, and the clue-Joggers- both new terms for me-perps
Ice FALL, FLOE, and finally BATH, which I'll never take
ROLLER RINK- I thought the Roller Derby was on a banked track, not on a rink
ARI, TEY, SHONDA, TARE- unknowns filled by perps.
ASAP was perped because my newspapers 'rn' looks exactly lime 'm', plus I've only seen a Registered Nurse abbr. as RN, not rn.
Good tough Saturday puzzle today.
TTP- it's impossible to compare stats and stars from different eras. As for the GOATS take two examples. In the NBA they opened up the lanes so faster players could crash the boards; also added the 3-point play. There are also TWICE as many teams as 40 years ago and Kareem, Wilt, Russel, Jerry West, and their contemporaries were facing tougher competition more often. If Kobe or Lebron tried to drive up the middle against Bill Russell or Wes Unseld they would end up eating the ball.
Baseball- the starting pitchers in the past were better, there were fewer teams, and the batters had to face the best pitchers more often. Seen any 300 games winners lately? Nobody will ever know but saying today's players are better (or as good as) Ruth, Aaron, Williams, Musial, Bob Gibson, Ty Cobb, or Warren Spahn is just dreaming.
Many of today's major leaguers would be playing AAA ball and NBA players wouldn't even be playing anywhere if they played 50 years ago.
I just saw on REDDIT Keanu Reeves holding a sign which reads REDDIT AMA Saturday 3/4 12 pm PT/ 3 pm ET. Well I missed it.
Tante Nique - oh, this s*** is fun - it's what I live for (outside of family & crosswords).
We've nailed the attacker, his bank account, and remediated 90% of what we know. Dig, dig, dig... chasing the Rabbit.
BigE - All we have as fans is stats. We know the differences between the Dead Ball ERA and S'troids. But it's just a game - and a good one at that. //I'm not sure about the new rules. I hope they don't apply to play off games.
MERCY RULE - Didn't APPLY in my day. Pawnee Lumber was the best team in the state [IL] and would cream us.
We got convalescent Dairy Queen after the game :-)
Cheers, -T
I forgot to say says...
There's no SURGE, there's just RUSH.
//Greatest rock band ever - Challenge me or AMA :-)
Cheers, -T
Wilbur Charles and Big Easy, you misunderstood. Those aren't statements I would say. They are examples of statements a person might hear or read that demonstrate RECENCY BIAS by the person making them. That's why the example statements were written in quotes. Anyway, recency bias holds a preference to recent events over the past.
Dash T, welcome back. You've been working 20 hour days. Fatigue sets in. Heck, I put in 10 hours reorganizing my tool room and shop today, and I'm toast. You got Dairy Queen after your little league games. Funny. Dairy Queen was the sponsor of the Little League team I played on. So yep, we all got a small cone after each game.
Time to get some rest.
From my memories of Little League decades ago. The 'Mercy Rule' worked like this -- if one team was ahead of the opposing team by ten runs or more after three (?) innings, it was considered unlikely that disparity would change, and the game was called. The 'mercy' part is to not hurt the losing team's feelings ... too much.
waseeley @6:46 ~
You are welcome!
If "SF" = San Francisco, yes, that was my home town.
But maybe you meant "science fiction"? Otherwise, I am not sure...
~ OMK
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