Saturday Themeless by Amie Walker
Amie Walker is an attorney/current stay-at-home parent to three little girls in Chandler, Arizona. When she’s not thinking about puzzles, she loves spending time with her family and singing in her women’s choir. Here is a picture of Amie on Jeopardy on 3/28/22. The video of the result of her game is at the bottom of this write-up.
Amie's puzzle went slowly and I was done below the Mason Dixon Line before heading north. Single small words unlocked big areas.
1. "Designing Women" co-star: POTTS - Annie was a hoot as Mary Jo Shively (l.) in this great show. These days she is still a riot as Shelton's racy grandma (r.) in Young Sheldon.
10. "Might as well" hashtag: YOLO - I'd try this and I'll bet Sumdaze has!
14. Watch part: STRAP.
15. Got down to business: SET UP SHOP - In a hilarious Everybody Loves Raymond, Ray and Peggy have a real battle on where they could SET UP SHOP to sell cookies.
17. Botanical opening: STOMA.
18. Auto-graph?: CAR SELFIE - I hope this car is at a stop! 😳
19. Salmorejo base: TOMATO - Salmorejo, sometimes known as ardoria or ardorío, is a traditional soup originating from Andalusia, southern Spain, made of tomato, bread, extra virgin olive oil and garlic.
21. Going around in circles, say: LOST 😀 Gotta love GPS!
22. German conjunction: UND - Dick UND Doof translates to Thick AND Stupid
23. "Encanto" uncle: BRUNO.
25. Some peaceful protests: LIE INS - The Woolworth lunch counter SIT INS in Greensboro, S.C. first came to my mind.
27. Comment before "He was dead the whole time," hopefully: SPOILER ALERT - Don't tell anyone how Psycho ends if they haven't seen it. 😀
30. Salt component: ION - This was the first thought for this guy who has taught chemistry but I fought it. Sodium (Na) gives up an electron and becomes a positive ION and Chlorine picks up that electron and becomes a negative ION. Ergo, they attract each other.
31. Finest form: A-GAME - The NFL teams bring their A-GAME to the playoffs
32. Morally bankrupt: EVIL.
36. Cooks up: BREWS.
38. Ayesha Rascoe's network: NPR
40. Informal get-together: SESH - Slang for session
41. Pool units: GENES - LANES in the swimming pool? Uh, not so much.
43. Langston Hughes Library designer: LIN - Of course Mia Lin is more famous for this wall
44. "Let me recover from that": I NEED A MOMENT - My birthdate is as close to 1869 as it is to today!
48. Tears it up on the slopes: SHREDS.
50. Stage: PUT ON.
51. Cable abbr.: SHOwtime
52. Knob-handled tools: AWLS.
54. "Ish": SORT OF.
57. Mane squeezes?: PONY TAILS 😀
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| Husker VB 63. Squad: TEAM. in front of 92,000 fans last. year |
60. Serving a purpose: UTILE.
62. Cliffside town west of M·laga: RONDA.
64. Like freshly moisturized skin: DEWY.
65. Bad look: SNEER.
Down:
1. Soft call: PSST.
2. Inflatable pilot in "Airplane!": OTTO - Ya gotta love OTTO Pilot
3. Ska instruments: TROMBONES.
5. Flippers?: SPATULAS 😀
6. Women of Troy's sch.: USC.
7. Rihanna's "As __ as You and Me": REAL.
9. Barbie owner?: AUSSIE 😀
10. Fashion house co-founded by Pierre BergÈ: YSL.
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| Yves Pierre Fashion Business |
12. Cuts for Canadian-style bacon: LOINS - Yup, there it is on the label
13. News stand?: OP ED.
16. Filmmaker Jackson: PETER.
20. Donor type, briefly: O-NEG - A NASA guy would see ONE-G 😀
24. Part of a halftime snack for many a soccer player: ORANGE SLICE - Soccer mom on duty
26. Article: ITEM.
27. Bros, e.g.: SIBS 😀
28. Toner target: PORE.
29. Totally psyched: AMPED
33. Part of a heart-to-heart exchange: VALENTINE 😀
34. "You convinced me": I'M IN - Matt Damon apologized for getting people into this risky investment.
35. Trap collection: LINT.
37. Sound like a fan: WHIR.
39. Performances that might earn major props?: USO TOURS - Bob Hope would always bring out beautiful women and tell the majors, privates, et al, "I want you to remember what you're fighting for."
42. Grounded birds: EMUS 😀
45. "Swell": NEATO.
46. Part of PEI: EDWARD.
47. Big name in salt: MORTON - Joy MORTON was the son of Nebraska's great tree planter, and founder of Arbor Day, J. Sterling Morton. Joy moved to Chicago and founded MORTON Salt.
49. Passport producer: HONDA.
51. Narrow peninsula: SPIT - Dungeness SPIT in western Washington State
53. Leaves on the side: SLAW 😀
55. Tavern adjective: OLDE.
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| 5183 Main St. Manchester Center, VT |
58. Hebrew for "day": YOM.
59. Total mess: STY.
It is very impressive that AMIE made the show but here is her unfortunate Final Jeopardy round:
41 comments:
Well, that was quite a work-out! There were so many “?” clues, I thought I was solving a “cryptic crossword” for a moment there. (And, yes, I did “need a moment” to solve it. In fact, many “moments!”) But, anyway, through P & P I got through this very tough puzzle. Saturdays rarely disappoint in terms of being challenging, and this one didn’t either.
Anyway, FIR, so I’m happy.
Hi there~!
HuskerG, that reference to 1869 had me thinking what my "need a moment" would be - turns out, "nothing" historical occurred on my 'reverse' birthday in 1918; but Prohibition officially started less than one month before it in 1920.
Thanks always for your steady Saturday summary~!
Splynter
SPOILER ALERT!! I was also done below the Mason Dixon Line before heading north but it was a DNF today. I filled NE but was LOST west of YSL. I claim total ignorance about 'Designing Women", "Encanto", Salmorejo, Ayesha Rascoe, Ska instruments, and Wheat-free soy sauce. My pool had LANES, not GENES. There are colleges in Troy NY, MI, AL, and I wasn't thinking USC, called by many as the "University of Spoiled Children".
Donor type- A, B, or O, POS or NEG. Didn't get the right combo
Got the SLICE but not the ORANGE
RONDA- was all perps-unknown.
Satchel Paige- I knew that one.
I don't get how CAR SELFIE is an auto-graph. The auto part is obvious, but graph? Crossing with OH FUN didn't help. Oh, is graph short for photograph? Never heard that.
I also don't understand the "squeezes" part of PONY TAIL. School boys may pull on the ponytail of a girl sitting in front of them, but that's not really a squeeze.
Being pretty sure SIT INS was an answer messed me up until I saw it had to be LIE INS.
No clue about Salmorejo or Encanto nor the soy sauce that crossed, so I had to reveal them to get the NW corner.
Trivia about another OTTO: Jim Otto was a 1960s center for the Oakland Raiders in the AFL. He wore number 00 because it spelled out his name--"aught oh".
Took 12 minutes exactly today.
Aside from the daily actress clue (Potts), this one had the hallmarks of a typical Saturday LAT puzzle: a food/dish I've never heard of (salmorejo), a geographical place I've never heard of (Malaga & Ronda), a fashion-related answer (YSL), some foreign words (yom & und), and some overly-cutesy clueing (carselfie, ponytails, & USOTours).
Still, I mostly enjoyed this puzzle.
I hope everyone is staying warm.
FIR, but it took a lot of "I need a moment"'s to get a foothold. For a while I was staring at a sea of white squares imagining a negative finish and going down in flames.
So I went to the bottom and worked my way up. And I persevered until I reached the top. The NE was the last to fall. I had Mattel penciled in at 9D, and that held me up a while.
And the crossing of Bruno and tamari only worked because of a good WAG.
All I can say is what a workout; phew!
This was a usual Saturday challenge but eventually got 'er done
There were many uncles in "Encanto" but only BRUNO had a catchy song about him
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bvWRMAU6V-c
Fun clue for SPOILER ALERT
The memorial outside the Civil Rights Memorial Center in Montgomery, AL was also designed by Maya LIN - we went there on a trip with our kids one spring break. Not as massive as the Vietnam Memorial but still quite poignant with the names of those who lost their lives in that movement.
Thanks HG for the fun blog and Amie for the puzzle.
Good Morning:
I came very close to TITT, but today I mustered up enough P and P to finish w/o help in 49:45, much longer than usual for a Saturday. Once again, I applaud the very clever cluing and once again I criticize the too-clever-by-half cluing and the annoying, to me, trend of cluing basic words in an oblique way, to wit, Real and USC. I welcome a challenging puzzle but I wish the constructors and/or editors would try to balance the difficulty factor against the fairness factor. Not every clue in a puzzle has to be a head scratcher; give the solver a few gimmes to help gain some helpful footholds.
Thanks, Amie, and thanks HG for a warm and cheery review that hit the spot on this frigid morning. Enjoyed all the dazzling photos, as usual, but the Best In Show goes to our favorite Indoor Cat, Darling Lily. She blends in perfectly with the Cat Bed and the carpeting!
Have a great day.
A truly Saturday puzzle! Some really clever clues, but again, too clever by half for me this morning. Could just not grok the NE corner, but the workout was at least (mostly!) entertaining!
Definitely a Saturday level puzzle. I finally TITT. My weakness is lack of knowledge of trendy foods, expressions, and movie/TV names. Lacking those entries, I lose heart trying to fill in the clever clues not having enough of a toe-hold.
I too was so sure sITIN was correct. The Barbie owner clue was fun, so was the GENE pool.
DH graduated from USC.
What a sobering thought. I wish I had not calculated that my back year is 1859. What a revolting development that is.
HG’s recap was spot on. And I like that INDOOR CAT. She looks quite comfy.
DNF. I filled everything in my first session, except for a square of four cells in the middle. Finally looked up Ayesha Rascoe's network, which game the the NP in NPR. Then ORANGE forced "lane" out of the pool, and the rest filled quickly. Isn't it enough that I am forced to fund NPR - must I listen to it too?
Today is:
NATIONAL DISC JOCKEY DAY (the radio types have all but disappeared, but the wedding and rave DJs are still in demand)
NATIONAL USE YOUR GIFT CARD DAY (before some SOB hacks its value)
NATIONAL CHEESE LOVER'S DAY (I’ve been told that I’m pretty cheesy)
NATIONAL BUTTERCRUNCH DAY (a lot more fun than ab crunches)
Like H.Gary, I was thinking of ONE G too.
Norfolk's Willoughby SPIT was formed by a hurricane in 1806, some 70 years after Norfolk was incorporated. It is an area in transition, going from a seedy neighborhood to a more upscale one. I kept my boat at a Willoughby Bay marina, which formed between the SPIT and the main part of the land. Navy sailors practice jumping out of helicopters, then retrieving swimmers by helicopters, in Willoughby Bay.
Thanks to Amie for the fun challenge that I was almost up for. And thanks to H.Gary for another fine review.
Forgot to ask - Monkey, what the heck is a "back year," and why is yours 1859?
Jinx@11:30. HG wrote that he NEEDed A MOMENT when he realized his birthdate is as close to 1869 as it is to today. Mine is 1859.
Quite a leap from yesterday’s breezy easy puzzle.
Lotta mistakes mostly blanks, “a total mess”🙄
Whiner @ 7:58: Autograph. “Graph” usually refers to a picture like a photograph
Canadian style bacon is cut thicker so slabs. Was trying to think of a school in IM’s Troy NY that would work.
“Time out in the park” STROLLER NAP a real streeeetch. So was PONY TAILS. Hadda be sitINS cuz the recent be-ins (new to me) was too short, WRONG!! Liked “Barbie Owner”
Help me RONDA, help help me RONDA I changed a lot of correct answers cuz of incorrect perps
Salt? Was thinking IDE for “Halide”. I tune in to NPR in the car and don’t recall Rascoe. The “ get together” sounded like a baSH.
Don’t get the “earn major props”?
Great job all of you who FIR 🧐
OK enough complainin’ about the puzzle …. and …. switch to the weather …. 🥶 12 degrees
I need to title these comments "Two Heads are Better than One". As I was throwing in the towel after about an hour with the puzzle only 2/3 finished I handed it off to Teri to take a look at it and went of to say morning prayers -- SPOILER ALERT - not only did she finish it right, but she had to undo several wrong answers in order to fill in the rest.
Thank you Teri for bailing me out!
Thank you Amie for the puzzle. I'd like to see how Mayim Bialik would do on this one!
And thank you Husker for another clever Saturday STROLL in the PARK explaining all this stuff.
A few favs:
30A ION. Like Gary I did a double-take on this, but then NACL is a classic compound for illustrating IONIC bonds.
39A UMAMI. Even though I got TAMARI early this one went over my head (thanks Teri!).
43A LIN. Had "I SEE" for 34D and figured "3 letter word for an architect, middle letter must be (I.M.) PEI. Another Teri correction.
61A INDOOR CAT. Loved the Lily pic Husker.
13D OPED. The Baltimore Sun has just experienced a hostile takeover -- the "News stands" are going to take a marked shift Eastward and I've already located two alternate sources for the LAT Crossword.
49D HONDA. Figured this had to be a CAR, but then completely missed 62A RONDA, the Beach Boys classic.
Cheers,
Bill
I loved the Barbie/Aussie clue. I was so misdirected because of the popular Barbie movie.
Alas, another Saturday puzzle that I DNF but I really liked Amie’s style and cleverness.
I agree with some other contributors that the editorial team twists the wording on the clues; and ultimately their “ brillant” word manipulations only take away from the enjoyment of solving the puzzle.
Thanks for a fresh and clever puzzle Amie.
…. kkFlorida
FIR, with Googles to confirm a couple of things I had right, like BRUNO, but I can’t remember a puzzle with more lameness than this one. There were a few unknowns (like BRUNO), and DW knew TAMARI, but most of the difficulty was caused by the clues.
I tagged 19 of them as being ridiculous, unhelpful, or misleading without being clever. I hated, yes hated, Paws-ative Homebody, the spoiler alert clue, mane “squeezes” for PONYTAILS (the mane works but the squeezes doesn’t), “major” props for USO TOURS, and SLAW consisting of leaves. Why is “tavern” the clue for OLDE? Are there no more accessible guys named PETER than the film director (which I did glean quickly, admittedly)? Who thinks of TROMBONES for Ska?
Other unknowns: YOLO, CAR SELFIE (still can’t conjure what that entails), Salmorejo, RONDA, the “Airplane” dummy OTTO, Ayesha Rascoe, Monsieur Berge of YSL non-fame, and STROLLER NAP (which may be logical but is it a budding cliché worthy of the puzzle)?
As usual, Patti’s delusions about her dialogue skills were annoying. “Love you for that” to clue OH, FUN (which I would have disliked with any clue, much less that horrible one) was totally unhelpful, and I disliked the clue for I’M IN, because “you convinced me” would have been “you persuaded me” if Amie and Patti were grammarians,
It took me more than an hour, and there was nothing satisfying about much of any of it. A dismal swamp.
At least I came up with four possibilities for the Designing Woman. Erased Delta for POTTS, by which time I had gotten TAMARI and knew Dixie (Carter) and Smart (Jean) weren’t the ones. I did know Satchel Paige, and I saw him pitch in the minors when he was nearly 60.
Puzzling thoughts:
My attention span for crossword puzzles starts to decrease rapidly when I get close to the 30-minute mark for solving. As the time neared 28 minutes, I turned on the "reveal word" for TROMBONES. That finally got me settled on the central west coast section of the puzzle, and allowed me to finish it
So, technically a FIW. I initially inserted ABBR where SIBS resides, so that was no help and contributed to that section being unsolvable
Lots of more obscure words than I care for, but that is what makes Saturday puzzles so different and difficult. I'd probably have a tough time creating a "week ender" ...
I got, "Who is Satchel Paige?" in less than 30 seconds (the time of the Final Jeopardy "jingle")
Once again, Phoenix area is the "hot spot" for the contiguous 48. High of 72 today will be even warmer than South Florida
Ray-o, really? A graph usually refers to a pictorial representation of data from a chart. That's not a photograph. I googled "is graph short for photograph" and didn't see any obvious hints. Photo is usually the short form of photograph, not graph. This is another forced clue.
Copy Editor, there's no way I'll spend an hour on any of these puzzles, especially one with too many unknowns or cutesy clues.
I think I'd have been satisfied with "Hey, entertaining!" as the clue for OH FUN but not the vague clue used, especially with lack of other clear answers in that corner.
Edit to my 2:06pm post, that was supposed to be "obvious hits".
Hand up this was really difficult for me. Grumbled at crossed proper names POTTS, OTTO, TAMARI, BRUNO and TOMATO as clued. No idea what a PORE has to do with a TONER. Learning moment about ORANGE SLICES and SOCCER. I am sorry to see kids being so overscheduled.
One of my best friends is now living not far from RONDA. Never heard of it. Will have to suggest it to him. Many other obscurities and unknowns. Proud to FIR in about an hour. I did like the GENE POOL misdirection. Learning moment about SKA and TROMBONES.
Husker Gary What breed is your INDOOR CAT? It looks just like my mother's cat, which is a British Blue. A very sweet and affectionate cat. Also, very fat these days.
Nowhere near my wavelength today. All my complaints have been itemized by all the preceding opinions.
Aime, your puzzle was tough but your cluing (or m as ybe your editors cluing) was atrocious. Some only seemed half relevant e.g. Mane squeezes or Paws-itive homebody. Gary, you did your best for a bad situation, congrats.
Nothing like HOT SOUP on a cold winter day.
Ridiculous.
"or as may be" Stupid autocorrect.
I am bruised and beaten. I could almost hear Google whining, "Jeez, you again?" Even with many trips to Google I could not solve this puzzle and had to throw in the towel.
Thanks, Monkey. I don't like that game, but it made me think. I've already lived longer than my dad, and am closing in on my mother's longevity. Never thought that would happen.
I just remembered kind of a throwaway scene involving OTTO. OTTO started losing inflation, but fortunately Elaine was able to re-inflate him using an air stem. Located in his groin area. When Elaine finished, OTTO was shown with a big smile and both were smoking cigarettes.
Ayesha Rascoe is the gracious joirnalist hosting Weekend Edition on NPR. The show includes the weekly word puzzle by Will Shortz
Musings
-Irish: She is indeed our INDOOR CAT queen. These subzero temps often find her lying in front of the fireplace as shown giving us the hint to turn it on.
-Picard: My wife says our kitty is a 11 1/2-yr-old seal point Siamese. She is our third Siamese over 56 years of marriage and is a big part of our household. Saying she is spoiled is an incredible understatement.
-Mayim is definitely not my cup of Jeopardy tea.
-Copy Editor: Those clues clanged on my ear as well and I am impressed you knew all those ladies from Designing Women
-Jinx, I was going to post the picture of OTTO’s inflation scene but did not. :-)
-Better weather ahead as we had -20F last night but we will be near 40F this week! Yay! Not only are our bird feeders overwhelmed, our heated bird baths are very busy too.
Lee- I've seen " Stupid autocorrect." as "Otto Car Wreck"
And for the movie, which I had not seen, but there's an OTTO-PILOT on all those jets.
But I can a clue in the future: "Name the "Irish Spice Girl HOF player who flies jet planes."
MEL-OTT-O'PILOT.
I've been under the weather these last few days but decided to give today's puzzle a try. To my surprise, I had a FIR in less than my usual Sat. time -- hazy brain and all. I was expecting to come to the Corner and read that everyone thought it was too easy. Go figure! Incorrectly starting with dRuM instead of TROM(bones) ended up helping.
I've blogged a few of Amie's Monday puzzles. She likes to have fun with her constructions. FAVs: Barbie owner?, SPOILER ALERT, and Bad look. Thank, Amie!
Thanks, also, to H-Gary! I laughed when I read that you think I would ever skydive. I am not a heights person. I can barely look over the edge of a hotel balcony. So I'll wait on the ground while you try skydiving and I'll take a photo of the huge smile on your face when you land.
FAV: hands down Queen Lily!
On the first pass thru this puzzle, I entered only EDWARD & MORTON correctly. Second pass, I correctly guessed YVES. I almost quit then, but persevered and filled it. There wasn't a word I didn't have to make red-letter runs, many for every letter in the word. I will never ever undertake a puzzle by Amie What's-er-name. Cruel & unusual punishment therein.
Graph > Latin for “picture”; attach photo (“light”) = “light picture”. FYI
Husker Gary Thanks for checking with your wife for the breed of your INDOOR CAT.
Here my DW was brushing my mother's INDOOR CAT last month.
I forgot to give a hand up for SIT INS before LIE INS. I have participated in DIE INS. Had CRAB before URSA.
I think I’ll just make this short with “What y’all said!” Some great clues (for AUSSIE & OPED) but also some really stinky fills; STROLLERNAP…really?? That one broke the rubber band, it was so far-stretched! Leaves on the side is SLAW…oh-kay-eee…someone is just trying too hard to throw screwballs here, imho.
Hand up for trying sitINS until the perps whacked me, along with Mattel on Barbie owner. And ION being a “component” of salt, that
zooms right over my head…
==sigh== at least I finished it.
====> Darren / L.A.
FIR, but puzzled mightily between several clues and how they correspond to answers. Much as I love this blog I always hope maybe someone here not only knows the answer but can explain the connection? Not sure why women of Troy indicate USC? Not sure a ponytail is a mane squeeze as much as a scrunchie or similar; and is a Latin term a good relation to a more colloquial clue such as critter? I still enjoy the challenge but the effort to be clever at times seems to surpass logic, and combining that with highly obscure items such as Ronda, tamari, ‘sesh’, etc., seems like too much of a stretch. Good thing so many bright folks can do these in minutes. Deserve plaudits!
Hola!
Today was our Book Club day so, of course, I wasn't home to post. I started the puzzle in the little time I had before leaving and continued when I returned. Saturday puzzles are real stumpers and this one affirmed that. I filled most of it URSA, YOLO and a few others eluded me. I remembered POTTS because she is also in Young Sheldon which I occasionally watch.
However, I'm not familiar with TAMARI so ALEXA helped with that and I did recall PETER Jackson as I watch Entertainment Tonight for that kind of information.
MORTON salt is on my shelf so that was easy.
All in all, I finished about three-fourths of the puzzle by myself and for a Saturday I call that a good day.
Rain is predicted for tonight and tomorrow! Yea! I need to check my umbrella.
I hope your day has been excellent, everyone!
Anonymous @ 7:25 pm. The USC mascot is the Trojan, hence the reference to Troy.
WEES. Thanks HG for filling in the rest of the grid so I could move on with my day.
Picard - Toner is a tonic you put on your face to tighten your PORES. As a guy, that's the extent of my knowledge so ask your DW.
Cheers, -T
Anonymous @ 7:07 wrote, "Graph > Latin for “picture”; attach photo (“light”) = “light picture”. FYI"
Wrong languages here. PICTURA is Latin for 'picture,' from the verb 'pingere,' to paint. GRAPH is from the Greek 'graphein.' to write. PHOTOGRAPH only dates back to 1839, so the etymology is off.
Unfortunate that the school’s team is named after a brand of prophylactics… 🤣
You’re right about “graph”; I got my Latin and Greek mixed up (was never good at either!). But why does the etymology not apply? As an ex-pro shooter, I’m sure of the word’s origin.
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