Saturday Themeless by Annemarie Brethauer and Katie Hale
There were several runs of very easy clue/fills which facilitated a fairly easy solve.
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| Tomorrow |
Across:
1. Lean: LIST - TILT/TAUT worked at 1 Across and 1 Down (LIST/LANK) until they didn't.
5. Comedian profiled in "Last Man Standing": SAHL - Mort abandoned conventional comedy and took on hard issues of the day. The NYT called him, "Mark Twain with fangs".
9. Member-owned shop: COOP - CO-OPs are a big deal in farm communities
13. "Because Freedom Can't Protect Itself" org.: ACLU - Listing their concerns as RTS in yesterday's puzzle was not popular.
14. Abbr. on an ESPN ticker: NCAA.
15. Home country of Olympian Pita Taufatofua: TONGA - Pita was entered in the tae-kwan-do and cross-country skiing in the 2018 Olympics but is more famous for carrying TONGA's flag shirtless.
16. Low-alcohol brews: NEAR BEERS.
18. Something to gain?: ENTRY 😀
19. Random comments online?: KEYBOARD SMASHES - I just did one, "Oaiw 4jfqo;iawfjen"
21. TV planet on which people age backward: ORK - 22. "Make sense?": YOU SEE with Robin Williams anything seems possible
23. Sydney's st.: NSW.
26. Was more than superficial: DUG - Perter, Paul and Mary sang I Dig Rock And Roll Music and I really DUG them!
28. Red choice: MERLOT.
31. "Sorry, can't make it": I HAVE PLANS - "That sock drawer won't sort itself!"
35. "We'll Meet Again" singer Lynn: VERA - An emotional standard of WWII
36. Feed: CATER.
38. Burton of "Reading Rainbow": LEVAR.
39. Profess: AVER.
40. Finally learns about: GETS WISE TO.
42. Kind of filler: DERMAL.
44. Maroon 5's "__ Will Be Loved": SHE - Maroon 5's lead guitarist, James Valentine, is a proud product of Lincoln Southeast High School and is a former student of my son-in-law.
45. Service call?: LET - 😀 We had this tennis term a few weeks ago
46. Blue choice: COBALT.
49. Many times o'er: OFT.
51. Unnamed informant: ANONYMOUS SOURCE - A famous one
57. Treats, as a winter road: SALTS.
58. Catering production?: OSCAR BAIT - Movies made for the express purpose of winning an Oscar. Top ten failed OSCAR BAIT movies of 2016.
59. Healing plants: ALOES.
60. "Make sense?": MKAY - Slang for okay heard for "mmm...okay" from Mr. Mackey in South Park
61. Some leafcutters: ANTS.
62. Catherine who is one of the six in Broadway's "Six": PARR - Catherine PARR was the last of Henry VIII's six wives and kept her head!
63. Fed. IDs: SSNS.
64. Blue-bottled vodka: SKYY.
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Down:
1. Lean: LANK - LANKY Cowboy by Trish Stevenson
2. Brand with Blue Lemonade and Blue Vanilla flavors: ICEE - Our crossword stalwart has many flavors and vowels.
3. "You __ me!": SLAY.
4. Lead-in for jet or prop: TURBO - It turns a prop and provides jet propulsion as well
5. Prepare to scare, with "on": SNEAK UP.
6. Big name in gaming monitors: ACER.
7. "Jude the Obscure" author: HARDY - First edition (1896) with an autographed note on the endpaper. $1,450.
9. Saves: CONSERVES.
10. Bona fide: ON THE LEVEL.
11. Scary figure: OGRE.
12. Picks up a bill, or hands a bill: PAYS.
15. Tantalize: TEASE.
17. Frame: BORDER - In 1906, the Countess of Béran gave this portrait its current frame, a Renaissance-era work consistent with the historical period of when it was painted
20. Some British parents: MUMS.
23. Battery acronym: NICAD - Nickel-Cadmium batteries are usually labelled Ni-Cd
25. Medium also known as aquarelle: WATERCOLOR and 33. 25-Down, e.g.: ART. - Watercolor (American English) or watercolour (British English; see spelling differences), also aquarelle(French: [akwaʁɛl]; from Italian diminutive of Latin aqua "water"). You're welcome.
27. Jane Lynch series: GLEE - She's the P.E. teacher in this ensemble picture
29. Give a skilled delivery: ORATE.
30. Allegorical cards: TAROT.
32. Ben or Jerry, notably: VERMONTER - The entrance to their facility in St. Alban, VT. It employs 200 people and runs 24 hrs/day producing over 500,000 pints of ice cream per day
34. Wit's end?: NESS and 38. Try to protect, in a way: LIE FOR.
41. "Is that so?": WHO SAYS.
43. Vast chasm: ABYSS.
47. Rises into view: LOOMS - A legendary (if unsteady) Earth rising shot by Apollo 8 astronaut Bill Anders on Christmas Eve 1968.
50. Low winds: TUBAS - Dean Hansen's Polka Band from Wahoo, NE is a favorite of my MIL and the TUBA is its heart and soul.
51. Urgent letters: ASAP.
52. Character voiced by Moira Kelly and Beyoncé: NALA.
53. Read quickly: SCAN.
54. Putrid: RANK.
55. Lincoln or Jackson: CITY - The capitals of Nebraska and Mississippi respectively
56. Crafts site: ETSY.
49 comments:
Gary took the words right out of my mouth, including what he had to say about “Mkay” and also about the do ability of this puzzle. So I don’t have too much more to add, except my usual “FIR, so I’m happy.”
Good morning!
D-o wouldn't label this one easy -- it took 20 minutes come into the station. Tried witLESS before Eliot showed up. It all came down to MN/WI. Took a WAG at NCAA and things fell into place. Whew. Thanx, Annemarie, Katie, and Husker.
TUBAS: The polka band of my ute was Frankie Yankovic and his Yanks -- no relation to Weird Al.
VERA: Did you immediately think of this movie?
Almost gave up several times, but kept plugging along. Too many names: 16 by my count. Too many DNKs to list. After spending almost an hour, I was so sure I had something wrong when I ended up with MKAY, but, at that point, just said, “Okay, I don’t know, right or wrong, I’m done”. Then came to the blog and found there is such a thing as MKAY. Did not know there was such a thing as OSCARBAIT, either. A couple WAGS for long fills were a huge help. Overall, this CW is out of my zone of solving capability, I’m very surprised I managed to eventually FIR. A real toughie, AB&KH, thanx for the challenge. Thanx too to Husker Gary for the terrific write-up, and explanations.
I'm never happy when I see a clue also used as an answer (CATER), why not just fix the clue? Also, since when is the Tuba a wind instrument? Everyone knows 4-letter 'low wind' is 'oboe'!
Nothing but names.. super yuk!!
FIW. Not knowing who Levar Burton was, I had die for at 39D instead of lie for. Also struggled to make jumbo work at 4D for a while, and what in the world is mkay? Even spell check fights that one. Overall, a good Saturday puzzle.
BTW, a tuba is not a low wind. It should be oboe. But of course that wouldn't have fit in their grid.
FIW, writing reek instead of RANK. Erased tilt for LIST, skye for SKYY, oboes for TUBAS (Marc told me to), and erased loom for looos, then put LOOM back in.
MKAY is just RANK.
CSO to me at PITA. You aren't the first to call me that!
When I shopped at Kroger's in Atlanta I was surprised to learn that I couldn't buy St. Pauli Non-Alcoholic Beer on Sundays. They said that even nonalcoholic beer has a trace of alcohol in it, making it illegal to sell.
Ted LASSO has become the oboe of acting.
Turboprops get negligible thrust from their exhausts, almost all the energy goes to turning the propeller. One of the best benefits of turboprops is their reliability compared to piston-powered engines. Very important to crop dusters, who usually operate at low altitudes where there is little or no time to respond to an engine failure. Where's Leo now that we really need him?
The first step in overcoming a problem is admitting you have a problem. Gary, your son-in-law is a brave man to admit he has a connection to Maroon 5. Give him all the love and support you can.
Since 3Q23 starts today, I guess I should start trying to remember to write "2024" on checks and forms. If I do that, maybe I'll remember by 1/1/2024.
Thanks to Annemarie and Katie for the puzzle that was mostly pleasant. And thanks to H Gary for another fine Saturday tour.
Took 20:57 today for my train to arrive just after D-O's.
I agree with the other comments above.
Mkay?
Bunny rabbit, 👯, bunny rabbit, 👯♀️, bunny rabbit, 👯.
A storyteller from NEW SOUTH WALES
Would make up the most grisly tales!
He got them, YOU SEE,
From the Aborigine
And from Great Emu War details!
From TONGA, Mr. TAUFATOFUA
In Taekwondo, he threw a
Olympic contestant
And then he went
Cross country sking in Korea!
{A, A.}
Pita competed in Taekwondo in the 2016 summer Olympics, and cross-country skiing in the 2018 winter Olympics.
Can any of you with higher resolution or sharper eyes than me tell the difference between the 3 bunny emojis?
Good Morning:
My initial reaction to the fill was that the constructors thought they’d temper any grumbling about Mkay, Keyboard Smashes, Oscar Bait, and any other foreign (to me, anyway) lingo by throwing us “golden Ager’s” a couple of nostalgic bones like Mort Sahl and Vera Lynn. If there is a rationale for saying or writing Mkay vs Ok, I’d love to hear it. OTOH, I’ll accept and consider Keyboard Smashes and Oscar Bait learning moments, albeit inconsequential ones. I finished w/o help in 24:05 with only two w/os, Avow/Aver and Sands/Salts. The clue for Dug was too obtuse for my taste and, as mentioned above, the Cater/Catering dupe could have and should have been avoided. On the positive side, I liked the Lean clechos and my first thoughts were Tilt/Thin, but a glance at the perp clues led me to List/Lank. I thought some of the cluing was very clever, especially Wits end=Ness and Show one’s face=Shave. Props, as always, for the wee number (8) of three letter words.
Thanks, Annemarie and Katie, for a very enjoyable solve (despite the aforementioned nits) and thanks, HG, for always smoothing my ruffled feathers with your fair and balanced critique, not to mention all of the fun facts and interesting asides. Having never heard the term Oscar Bait, I particularly enjoyed your link which explained it so thoroughly. Out of all of the referenced movies, I was familiar with only one, The Girl On The Train, which I saw and would never in my wildest dreams think it was Oscar-worthy. BTw, HG, we’re still waiting to hear a recap of your best golfing day! 👏
Have a great day.
Irish, After countless swings at wiffle balls in my back yard, I finally figured out what a good swing was supposed to feel like. On Thursday, I started using my new discipline and was elated to see consistent straight ball flight, did not lose a single ball and beat everyone in my group. Now I am going to focus on my chipping and putting which is where you can really improve scoring. Thanks for your interest!
Owen, the middle pair of bunny emojis have a different suit on, a leotard more like a swimsuit, whereas the 1st and 3rd pairs have a jumper that covers more of their legs. The second pair also has straps on their shoes. I really can't tell any difference between the 1st pair and the 3rd pair.
Owen, and the middle pair have long hair hanging down in the back.
"Was more than superficial: DUG"
DUG is a past tense verb; the clue calls for an adjective, maybe a noun. DUG is neither and here is ungrammatical.
MKAY is not Okay!
Happy Canada Day!
This was not a puzzle for me. So many names, it just became annoying rather than fun. I also don’t like fill in the blank for snippets of conversation. That said, there were some good clues but not enough for me.
Thank HG for enlightening me on what I didn’t know.
SMASHing Saturday. Thanks for the fun, Annemarie and Katie.
I required a Google search for TONGA to open up the NE corner.
And the cross of SAHL and LASSO was a Natick for me. I guessed at an R instead of the L.
But I did finish (and by now I know not to try to fit a U into COLOR).
Preserves changed to CONSERVES.
I debated between Salts or SANDS to treat that winter road.
I had to parse ON THE LEVEL to get the V in LEVAR. (I wanted a M).
Yes, MCKAY and DUG were just Ugh.
I have not posted for a while due to hospitalization and death of my mother. Still dealing with lots of aftercare, but hope to be back more regularly.
Wishing you all a great day.
Wind instruments consist of the brass of which the tuba is the lowest, and woodwinds which includes the oboe. The oboe is more in the alto/tenor range. The bassoon and contra-bassoon are much lower. Saxophones are also wind instruments, but are hybrids made of metal but using a reed like a clarinet. Agree "oboe" is usual answer.
Can't recall where I've read it, but it's always M'KAY, with an apostrophe.
"Wiktionary
https://en.m.wiktionary.org › wiki
m'kay
(informal) Okay; an expression of acknowledgment or affirmation, now sometimes used in an ironic or condescending sense"
@Anon 8:00 AM - "Nothing but names"? Oy! That seems to be a daily comment/complaint here, but I didn't find any names that were unfairly crossed (use the perps!) or overly difficult.
Pretty tough puzzle but perfectly appropriate for a lazy Saturday. Happy Independence Weekend!
desper-otto Yes, I immediately thought of Dr Strangelove with WE'LL MEET AGAIN. It is the only way I know that song. Powerful.
Husker Gary Yes, I also DUG Peter, Paul and Mary and thought of that song.
CC Hope you had a happy birthday.
Hand up about MKAY. Really struggled what to do in that area. As in the top center with all those crossed proper names. Proud to FIR.
Here was a very well attended ACLU event here at the Santa Barbara Main Library.
Happy to see ACLU two days in a row. The event in those photos was an information meeting about the inappropriately named "PATRIOT" Act. Which took away many RighTS of US citizens. This was just before the US invaded and occupied Iraq in 2003.
As you can see, the meeting was standing room only. Or SRO as we often see in these puzzles.
Thank you all for the good travel wishes. We will be leaving shortly!
Nope. Not today. Some clever clues, but this one came in way over my pay grade. DNF in the NE corner, and too much obscure A&E trivia. Did manage to remember New South Wales after two memorable R&Rs (I&I?) In Sydney back in the day.
Knew M'kay from "Southpark's" Mr. Mackey.
Sure was a lot of repeating stuff in this one. Sure was a lot of repeating stuff in this one. Clever, though.
Gary- ditto for me on the unknown MKAY. I had to change OKAY to MKAY- is that the new Mary Kay Cosmetics logo?
I filled most of the grid early today and got stuck in the NE quadrant. So before it got too hot I went for a bike ride, mowed the lot, put flea medicine on the cat, and then picked up the newspaper and finished the puzzle. I was pretty sure COOP and PAYS were correct but the country that ended in 'A' had me stumped. That put CHILE, SUDAN, & HAITI out of the running. Maybe MALTA, INDIA, or SAMOA? After opting for OGRE I remembered TONGA. But that left the unknowns VERA and LEVAR. Changing GETS WIND OF became GETS WISE TO saved the day.
LIST, LANK, TILT, TALL,- lean can mean a lot of things- LOW FAT, the oxygen mixture in that TURBOcharged car. Thank you NEAR BEERS for the gimme to clear up that area.
SAHL, HARDY, LASSO, ACER, WATERCOLOR, PARR, SHE, TAROT- I really didn't know but just guessed on those because they fit.
KEYBOARD SMASHES, OSCAR BAIT, and DERMAL filler- never heard of those terms.
Marc & Jinx- an oboe is not a low wind. The English horn and Bassoon are double-reed woodwinds that are lower in range. As far as a TUBA being a wind instrument, you gotta BLOW through them to make a sound.
Stay cool everybody.
CanadianEh @10:29. So sorry about your mother. I lost mine many years ago, but I still miss her terribly.
Any instrument that uses air to produce a tone can be called a wind.
This one fell together fairly easily except the NW corner and when Near Beer fit, I wound up at 17:30 flat. Must be a record time for me on a Saturday CW. A LOT of proper names. Ironically the one that gave the most trouble was Sahl.
BE - That's kinda the point. If it's a music instrument and four letters (or five if plural,) I'll just plug in "oboe" (or "oboes") even if the fill should be "viol," because the fill is so overused. Just as "snap" can activate my eraser to fix "oreo." LASSO is fast becoming supertrite fill as well.
Picard - One good thing about the Patriot Act was that it exposed the serious corruption of our "secret squirrel" agencies. The FISA process was ripe for misuse, and the feds were up for the challenge. If the Act had a sunset clause (maybe after 5 years) I think it would have been a good thing, but being open-ended makes it a threat to our very way of life. Scary times.
C-Eh - Sorry about the loss of your mother. No matter how long she lived, I'm sure it wasn't enough for you. Lost mine some 20-odd years ago at 86 years old. I still remember her "-isms," and still cook some of her recipes. (We owned a restaurant and she had quite a reputation in town. When Happy Chandler (Kentucky governor and Commissioner of Major League Baseball) would go to Eastern Kentucky, his staff would call and alert my mom that he would be stopping in. She would always bake him a lemon meringue pie to take with him. (She was also the president of the Rowan County Democratic Women's Club, which may have been "governor bait" as well.))
HG @ 9:11 ~ I guess you’ve proved that practice makes perfect. Well, maybe not perfection but definite improvement. Good luck with fine-tuning your short game.
CanadianEh @ 10:29 ~ Heartfelt condolences on the loss of your mother. 💐
So sorry to hear about the loss of your mother, CanadianEh!. Such a heartbreaking experience. I have family pictures all around my bedroom, and two pictures of my mother, one when she was young, and one when she was already a grand-grand-mother, make me so happy when I look at her sweet smile. So I send you my deepest sympathy.
My big ? was MKAY. DUG thgotten?
NEAR BEER, known as NA beer is being challenged by zero alcohol beer. My fav is NA Genessee for which I detect no alcohol. Then there's O'Douls, the MEH of the genre or "Why bother"
B&J, past meh and into ugh
Two more Caps are named after prez? Who's gottem?
Happy Chandler integrated MLB then they got rid of him. He also suspended Leo Durocher for associating with low types like George Raft
WC
Saturday toughie, but that's what they're supposed to be. So, many thanks, Annemarie and Katie. And always appreciate your commentary, Gary.
Well, I always look forward to what sort of food a puzzle will CATER for us, but this one unfortunately wasn't a great host. All we got were a few drinks--an ICEE, some NEAR BEERS, and a glass of MERLOT---I wouldn't say that that adds up to much of a gala. But at least we can TEASE each other while playing a game of TAROT.
Have a fun weekend, everybody.
Well I got the solve despite INCORRECT clueing. A new wind instrument…the tuba. Geez. Among other errors as noted.
I would question the “editor”, but as we all know by now, the “editor” is not. Nor should they be, they are the worst XWord puzzle editor ever. But boy, what an easy job when no one checks your work.
My local newspaper publishes two puzzles. The other one was an easy one…they replaced it with the Newsday puzzle…todays was beyond me…take a look.
Brian, thanks. None of the details you list show up on my phone. Different devices display emojis differently. I may have accidentally duped that third pair of bunnies. 👯♂️👯♀️👯
CanadianEh! – So sorry to hear about your mother’s passing. I hope you are back musing with us very soon.
Husker Gary brings us today's Brethauer/Hale construction...
SAHL! Ah, yes, I remember Mort SAHL from his days at the hungry i in San Francisco. Good times!
MKAY? I balked at this one. But then I remember how my Dad, who worked for the phone company all his life, used to answer the phone.
It may sound weird now, but it seemed to make sense--kinda cool!--back then:
"Mmm'Yel-LOW!"
I copied it for a while in my early teens.
~ OMK
____________
DR: Four diagonals, three on the near side.
The central diag presents us with an anagram (13 of 15) of a familiar terse response often heard from shy respondents.
They are sometimes thought to be rude, when they are actually...
"BASHFULLY CURT"!
Happy Canada Day 🇨🇦 to you,CEh!
~ OMK!
CanadianEh ~ Heartfelt condolences on the loss of your mother. Best wishes to you for your journey though aftercare. Sorry to have missed both issues on my earlier pass through the blog.
mmmmmkay...
Well, this puzzle may be “very doable”, but not for me! I struggled for a long time, made mistake after mistake and finally turned to google for help - so I FIR-W (with help). Still don’t know what a KEYBOARD SMASH is. I did love SHAVE as a clever answer. I loved all of Vera Lynn’s songs- my parents played them often.
Canadian ‘Eh, losing your mother is so tough. I send condolences and wish you well as you go through the worst, first period.
Wendy, I hadn't heard of KEYBOARD SMASH either, but I assume it's similar to butt dialing a smart phone. Either that, or it's how to create a hard-to-guess password.
TITT in the NW. I'm looking at you tilt&thin and liteBEERs!
FAVs: Wit's end?; Service call?; Show one's face
Terrific write-up, H-Gary! When I cannot solve the puzzle at least I know you're here to explain it.
CanadianEh! I add my most sincere condolences. Your mother must have been a thoughtful, clever, interesting woman because that is what I think of you when I read your posts.
Learning moment that a tuba is considered a “wind” instrument; yeah, one blows into the thing to make sound — but most people, when asked would call a tuba a brass instrument, MKAY?
And, if there were less obscure proper names, I’d’ve DUG this puzzle a bit more 😎
====> Darren / L.A.
Nice challenge today, especially w my self-imposed misdirection ‘gets wind of’ v ‘gets wise to’ .. lol.. I kept trying to make it fit
Hi Y'all! Well, it finally happened: I put the puzzle down and walked away not caring enough to finish it. I struggled with all the weird clues and unknowns and finally resorted to red-lettering in most of the white holes to get toe-holds. I was about 2/3 done when the puzzle disappeared then returned with 39% filled. I started over thinking I would remember what I had filled. NOPE! Decided I didn't need to continue the torture and went to bed.
CanadianEh! so sorry to hear about your mother's death. Such a big chunk of who we are is because of our mother. I still get news I need to tell someone and realize only my mother would know why it mattered. Mine has been gone for 23 years and no one can take her place. We have ascended a generation. Good luck with the aftercare.
Thanks for all the messages of condolence. Your caring words are appreciated.
C-Eh! There is new hole in your universe, which gradually wlll be smoothed over -- or maybe, filled up, eventually -- by the cares and weight of life. This first month after the passing away is the worst: decisions to make, funeral arrangements (who does the pricing for morticians, anyway), condolences and responses, insurance and wills, ....
If you are so minded, pray that God will keep your mother's memory always.
NiCad is not an acronym.
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