Saturday Themeless by Wendy L. Brandes
Wendy has had several puzzles in the LA Times but they were all weekday or collaborative puzzles. Today is her first LA themeless Saturday. Wendy is a lawyer, professor and children’s book author. Her puzzles have appeared in the Inkubator, The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, USA Today, Boswords and Universal Crosswords. When she is not thinking about crosswords, she can be found knitting, engaging in vicious games of Catan, or rooting on the Yankees, Rangers, Giants and Swarthmore Garnet.
All in all it was very doable and a fun solve for this camper. Let's jump in and see what Wendy has for us today.
Across:
1. Bulb that rarely needs to be replaced: TULIP - This was my first thought but I waited for crossings.
6. Steel (oneself): GIRD - I knew the fill and was glad to learn the origin of the phrase.
10. Verge: CUSP.
14. Weigh in: OPINE.
15. Mideast leader: EMIR.
16. Purnell of "Yellowjackets": ELLA.
17. Repetitive sonata movement: RONDO - The RONDO is a musical form that contains a principal theme which alternates with one or more contrasting themes. Fur Elise has been called the "ultimate RONDO" and is illustrated in both auditory and visual fashion here:
18. Shuriken: NINJA STAR - A shuriken is a Japanese concealed weapon that can be used as a hidden dagger.
20. Topping: ONE UPPING - Betty Hutton and Howard Keel sing a song with this theme in Annie Get Your Gun. (3:00)
22. Fixes holes in hose: DARNS 😀
23. Where to save for a rainy day?: CLOUD STORAGE 😀 - I guess "rainy day" is a metaphor for when your computer loses something you had stored. Hopefully, your work is saved/stored "in the cloud".
25. Makes a difference: MATTERS.
28. Alley-__: OOP.
29. Too green: UNRIPE.
30. Film lengths: RUN TIMES - Cleopatra - Run Time: 4 hrs, 8 min. However, Dick and Liz's stormy relationship ran for years.
35. Spot for a toaster?: STOOL 😀 - Oh, a bar STOOL!
37. Square things: ATONE.
38. Stella alternative: HEINEKEN.
40. Modest response to compliments: OH STOP.
41. Melody: AIR.
42. Member of a sorority founded at Boston University, familiarly: TRIDELT - Maybe so, but meanwhile on SNL...
43. Mark of a decent student: B-PLUS AVERAGE.
48. Kicked off the covers, say: AROSE.
49. "Riverdance" numbers: IRISH JIGS.
48. Kicked off the covers, say: AROSE.
49. "Riverdance" numbers: IRISH JIGS.
53. Airport transport, maybe: LIVERY CAB - Livery rides and fares must be prearranged and may not be street-hailed. Does this sound somewhat like Uber to you?
55. W-2 information: WAGES.
56. Palm reader: SEER - Ed McMahon's introduction: "And now, the great SEER, soothsayer, and sage, Carnac the Magnificent."
57. Simplicity: EASE.
58. Stave off: AVERT.
59. Puts two and two together: ADDS - Yesterday we had ADDENDS
60. Cold drafts: ALES.
61. Steppes tents: YURTS - A luxury one
Down:
1. Rafael Nadal's logo: TORO.
2. Atop: UPON.
3. Prompter's cue: LINE - If an actor has a memory lapse, he might call out, "LINE, LINE?" to a prompter
4. Entry to the Hall of Fame, e.g.: INDUCTION - Worst MLB players to be INDUCTED into baseball's HOF
5. One who may find it hard to say no: PEOPLE PLEASER and 7. Rare response from a 5-Down: I MIND. Sometimes you have to say no.
6. Bar tender at an Apple Store: GENIUS.
8. Tolls: RINGS OUT - The first and last lines of this Donne poem are very familiar
9. Hall of Famer whose no. was retired by the Nets and the Sixers: DR J - Julius Irving
10. France : __ :: United States : Oscar: CESAR - All you want to know.
 |
| CESAR OSCAR |
11. To the nth degree: ULTRA.
12. "Dope" and "gucci," e.g.: SLANG - Both slang for good, cool, great
13. Pick apart, in a way: PARSE - A daily chore for us puzzlers
19. Own the road?: ADOPT A HIGHWAY.
21. Sponge feature: PORE.
24. Long or short amount: TON - If you must know why there's a difference
25. Soft stuff: MUSH.
26. Penny-__: ANTE - Very low stakes poker
27. Riker's spouse on "Star Trek: TNG": TROI - Okay...
30. "Game 7, 1986: Failure and Triumph in the Biggest Game of My Life" memoirist Darling: RON.
31. "I've been here before": IT'S DEJA VU.
32. Dust in the wind?: MOTE.
33. Hydroxyl compound: ENOL - If you must
34. Equinox mo.: SEPT - On Sat, SEPT 23, 2023 at 1:49 AM (CDT) the sun will be directly over the equator.
36. Neck-related: CERVICAL.
39. Forte maker: KIA.
40. Hours, in Italy: ORAS - TV shows usually last an hour. (I programmi TV di solito durano un'ORA.)
42. Clans: TRIBES.
43. Model material: BALSA - I had many a BALSA Testors™ airplane in my yute.
44. Got a bit too personal: PRIED.
45. Thought the world of: LOVED.
46. App purchasers: USERS.
47. Backspace over: ERASE - Our typing teacher would get upset if she saw a backspace/strike over "correction" in our work on a manual typewriter.
50. Disney CEO Bob: IGER.
51. "Runaways" superhero Yorkes: GERT.
52. Flightless birds?: SST'S - Frequent fliers in our puzzles but no longer in the skies
54. Floor support?: YEA 😀
31 comments:
I wouldn’t say this puzzle was easy, by any means, but it definitely seemed sussable. Getting long fills like “Adopt a Highway” and “It’s Deja Vu” certainly helped with the solve. And I will brag a little and say that , like our moderator, I wasn’t fooled by the misdirection of one across , either. Anyway, FIR, so I’m happy.
Good morning!
So that bulb at 1a wasn't an ONION (Have I ever mentioned....)? Otherwise, things went pretty well on this one. Didn't recognize Shuriken, but figured it was probably the name of a Mutant Ninja Turtle. [Shrug] "Verge" wasn't EDGE -- Brits call the sides of the road the verge. Lotsa names today, as usual. Thanx, Wendy and Husker.
Thanks for a tricky puzzle, Wendy. Fun expo, thanks, Gary.
Lot of unknown names & terms. Helped that I had watched NINJA Warriors on TV last night so WAGd that one.
TULIP came EASY this morning. However, bulbs needed to be replaced when I was on the farm. I had a beLOVED dog that dug up the TULIP bulbs and ate all but one. She left me a bright red one to see from my kitchen window. She also ate all the strawberries as they ripened.
Oh! I forgot “people pleaser.” And that was the main “long fill” that broke things open for me!
Took 11:49 today for me to parse this one.
I thought 1A would be onion too. Needed the TO_O to finally guess "toro." "Rondo" was unknown.
Lots of names. Lots of unknowns, e.g., today's actress (Ella) and every part of "Runaways" superhero Yorkes/Gert. I wasn't pleased with the hydroxyl compound, Italian hours, French awards, and the spouse of a Star Trek character. But, having lots of proper names and foreign words in a puzzle (for the past 2 years) makes me say, "it's deva ju".
Very few 3-letter words, so Ms. Irish Miss should be happy about that. Also, SubG is happy, so I guess it can't be that bad.
I don't believe Riker and Troi were married on TNG. They were in Picard.
I’m a lawyer and a professor, but not a children’s book author. Maybe that’s why I almost, but didn’t quite FIR. Ultimately, Oh STOP and MOTE did me in. OH SNAP didn’t seem right and that’s because it wasn’t.
FIR. Tricky but very doable Saturday endeavor. Several unknowns, but once again the perps came to the rescue. Last to fall for me was the NE. Tried in vain to put edge at 10A. Might have helped if I knew Ella. Finally saw ninja star and I was on my way.
DNF with one cheat, ELLA. Erased edge for CUSP, emus for SSTS, and edgar for CESAR. It may just be a low res picture, but I think the CESAR in HG's picture looks like STOOL. Oh yeah, I also erased "erase" for PARSE.
Today is:
International Orangutan Day
World Honey Bee Day (we don't want to bee without these wonderful critters, but they are in trouble)
World Humanitarian Day
World Photography Day (I'm so old I remember when it was done on film)
International Bow Day (not the front end of a boat)
National Aviation Day (fly me to the moon and let me play among the stars)
National Soft Ice Cream Day (Invented by Tom Carvel when his ice cream truck broke down)
Riverdance was so much fun. Saw it at the Fabulous Fox in Atlanta.
Obligatory Kansas link for Dust in the Wind.
Thanks to Wendy for the grid that was Saturday-perfect for my ability - just out of reach. And thanks to H. Gary for yet another fun tour, except that I don't know about that HOF guy dissing relief pitchers. Reminds me of (basketball HOFer) Bill Walton declaring that the lowest form of life is "the guard."
Not as hard as some Saturdays. The long fills were the first to appear. (I don’t know why but spell check hates the word WERE and automatically changes it to WE’RE.) DNF however because I couldn’t come up with the letter J in NINJA STAR. In retrospect I should have persevered.
Most of the people names were unknown to me but perps helped. All in all a very doable and pleasant CW.
HG was a great guide/explainer.
Thanks Wendy and congrats on your Saturday debut. They are the NE PLUS ULTRA of puzzles here every week. And thank you for a rare Saturday FIR.
And thanks to you Husker for a stellar review. The explanation of "GIRDing ones loins" was my favorite.
A few favs:
17A RONDO. Here's the Turkish RONDO by Mozart, who briefly mentored Beethoven.
10D CESAR. Am the only one who finds the CESAR statue to be ugly?
27D TROI. Somehow I needed perps for that one, despite having seen all the STNG episodes twice. Did I miss the wedding?
32D MOTE. Here's Kansas' take on the clue. I think it's distantly related to Matthew's MOTE.
43D BALSA. CLAY was too short.
47D ERASE. One of my first jobs was as a biller in a warehouse typing delivery receipts/invoices on 6 part forms. I had no choice but to BS/XOUT mistakes.
Cheers,
Bill
BobB @7:34 AM Thanks for the info on the Riker/Troi nuptials. I thought I was losing my marbles for a minute.
Wasn't on my wavelength today. Had to do several lookups to finish. Didn't know CESAR, or ORAS.
I agree that filling the long down answers liked a great deal.
My admiration to Wendy for a grid with minimal names in a themeless puzz,puzzle, and to Gary for a fine recap.
No, Troy and Riker weren't married except I recall a fantasy episode where Picard was time jumping.
Good Morning:
I’m always surprised by the difference in solving experiences of my fellow Cornerites. For example, one of my notes after completion was “minimal pop culture”. So, after reading several comments about the plethora of names, I revisited the grid but didn’t find an over abundance of proper names. Granted, there were some that I needed perps for, i.e., Ella, Ninja Star, Troi, and Gert, but these, plus a few others that I knew, were far fewer, IMO, than many recent puzzles. My other notes were: challenging but highly doable, some clever cluing, no junk, and only 8 three letter words. (Hi, SS!) In addition, I made note of some fresh and sparkling entries: People Pleaser, B Plus Average, It’s Deja Vu, Adopt A Highway, and Cloud Storage (Cute Clue!). I found this solve very enjoyable and very satisfying, so, I’m very happy, ala Subgenius.
Thanks, Wendy, and congrats on your impressive Saturday debut (Not much to root about this year’s Yankees, though! 😪) and thanks, HG, for your always impressive and enjoyable recap. Great visuals, especially the Shy Panda, 🐼 and links (see comment below).
Jinx @ 8:49 ~ I read most of that article and, IMO, the writer lost all credibility because of the harsh tone and seemingly narrow-minded view of some player’s accomplishments. He may be a statistical whiz, but his critiquing credentials are questionable, at the very least.
FLN
Anon T, I think you deserve Dad of the Year Award and Im sure Youngest and Eldest would agree! 😉
Lewis, thanks for dropping by the Corner.
Have a great day.
Close, but no cigar today. Done in at the NE corner, and could not grok "ninja". Wanted "throwing star" but it wouldn't fit. All in all, I'd still rate this as an enjoyable outing. Saturday CWs are never "gimmes" for me, so I'll happily settle for close.
Fun but difficult for me with the bottom doable and the NE needing help. Ravi’s logo is a bull so is took a while to see it was in his language TORO. Then TULIP came easily as I have planted many, some that I brought back from The Netherlands. We take pride in the annual TULIP Festival in Albany, celebrated this year for the 74th year
And speaking of Holland, I have been to the HEINEKEN factory in Amsterdam, but the automated line was down so we did not see the beer-put-in-the-bottle process..
Chuck Howley, a WVU grad and Dallas Cowboy, was not able to attend his INDUCTION into the NFL Hall of Fame earlier this month because of dementia. He was the only player on the losing team in NFL history to receive the Super Bowl MVP, a Cowboy’s loss to the Baltimore Colts in 1971. He is also the only athlete to win 5 letters in 5 different sports at WVU.
TROI and YURTs remind me of my grandson Troy who spelled his name backward in kindergarten, Yort. His sisters still call him that, to his annoyance.
Thank you WLB for an interesting puzzle and HG for explaining STOOL and TON (thought it might be con before CLOUD STORAGE appeared.
Happy day, all!
Waseeley, I'll see your Turkish Rondo and raise you Dave Brubeck's Blue Rondo A La Turk.
Waseeley @10:27- Yes, I think it is ugly. It reminds me of the Rodin statue of Balzac at Place Vavin ( Blvds. Raspail and Montparnasse in Paris. Although the history of the Balzac statue, and knowing about him and Rodin, makes it interesting, and I like it.
Hand up very confused by TROI as spouse of RIKER in Star Trek The Next Generation. I wonder how this mistake happened?
Here I got to see the real TROI up close at a Star Trek convention in Los Angeles in 1994.
Almost DNF in the NE with all those unknowns like CESAR, NINJA STAR and ELLA. Never heard of using DARNS on hose, only on socks. When I got that, I was able to FIR.
From Yesterday:
AnonT Good for you for getting five balls at all. You are doing better than I am. The only learning strategy I know for this is to do a "flash" where you throw the balls in correct sequence, but don't try to catch them.
From Thursday:
AnonT, Bill Seeley Thanks for the answer about FLY STANDBY. I guess I did get it. For some reason it felt different than the other theme answers.
I did this in the LA Times, where I live. Here tulip bulbs must be replaced every year. Got 1a only after the other clues made it the obvious fill.
It may be mentioned upthread, but Wil Riker and Deanna Troi were not married during the TV run of Star Trek:TNG. That didn't happen until the beginning of the last TNG movie, "Nemesis."
Just joining the others in saluting yet another “oopsy” by our celebrated editor.
Wish I could keep a paying job by being so poor at it.
My noodle got a pretty good exercise solving this puzzle today, which I enjoyed. Irish Miss has already said what I would have said.
D-O 11:20 AM Thanx for that -- love me some Brubeck. You know I think this might be Deja Vu all over again.
Hola!
This was unusually doable for a Saturday! And besides, I had insomnia last night and did not go to sleep until 7:00 A.m. Thankfully I have Netlix to entertain me and I re-watched the "Cook of Castamar" and almost finished it.
Wendy gave us a puzzle with few foreign words and even fewer unknown names. ELLA, though clued unfamiliarly, emerged after that corner was PARSEd.
Drat! I did not get NINJA STAR and failed to notice the gibberish I had at 18A.
Your comments, as always, entertain me as does Gary's fine narrative.
I hope you are all having a fine day!
Thanks to Husker Gary, we have today's Brandes PZL.
Another 50/50 XWD for yrs trly...
As a retired professor, my favorite fill today was 43A. It may cause thoughtful reflection.
I agree that a student with a B-PLUS AVERAGE may be called "decent." But no more than that--esp. these days.
Students entering college with a high school average of B-Plus are likely in for quite a shock. Grade inflation at ElHi (K-12) does them a disservice. Any student with a GPA between 3.5 and 3.9 is lucky to get into a better university, and then they will need to work extra hard to maintain the grades to which they're accustomed.
~ OMK
____________
DR: Three diagonals, far side.
The central diag presents an anagram (12 of 15) that anticipates A.I. robotic hula dancers' chief feature, their...
"AUTO PELVISES!
I'm pleased to report a 1-box FIW on this very difficult (to me) puzzle. TRIDEnT/ENOn. Thanks, Wendy! FAV: ADOPT A HIGHWAY
TULIP. What H-Gary said.
SHURIKEN. What D-O @ 5:56 said.
43A. above AVERAGE > BeLow AVERAGE > B-PLUS AVERAGE
Many thanks to H-Gary for his consistently excellent reviews!
Best wishes to those of you who are in Hillary's path.
Enjoyed this very much. I saw Brubeck and Desmond in Chicago during the 1950's. You can hear more on a Clint Eastwood documentary titled Piano Blues playing on Youtubbe.
Italian hours isn’t oras , it’s ore.
Very satisfying fills on the “longies” esp. CLOUDSTORAGE (Husker G., I’m thinkin’ it’s because clouds “store” rain).
One I thought was a bit redundant, however, was LIVERYCAB; by definition, a taxi cab is a livery vehicle, i.e., a car for hire. But we’re not splitting atoms here, so I’ll let it ride… (sorry, I’ll see myself to the door)
====> Darren/ L.A.
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