Themeless Saturday by Parker Higgins
Parker is a Brooklyn-base artist and activist. This construction has a whopping 101 open squares which makes for a lot of white space with multiple stacks of 9!
The top third of the puzzle had some interesting fill as I did not know EDGE CASES, GIBED (shoulda knowed how to spell it!), DEREN, TROLL (as clued), ESOS, THIRST TRAP and SANSA. I fought my way through and will take only two bad (stupid error) cells and try to make a coherent blog.
Across
1. Results of unpredictable user behavior, perhaps: EDGE CASES. Events that occur only under extreme conditions. An example I saw was sound distortion when a stereo is turned up to max.
10. Older daughter of Winterfell: SANSA - SANSA Stark from Game Of Thrones. Crosses got it, so no complaints.
15. Unhurried: LEISURELY.
16. Patent __: TROLL.
17. Branch location?: ARBORETUM - Lauritzen Gardens is located in Omaha just above the Missouri River. It has a 100 acre ARBORETUM and has added a $21M conservatory.
18. Did a dress rehearsal: RAN IT. - Places everyone! We'll have an audience tomorrow!
19. Sets (up): TEES.
20. Off-target, in a way: WIDE.
21. Domicile: ABODE.
22. See 27-Across: END and 27. With 22-Across, message before credits: THE 😀
23. __ splicing: GENE - I filled it easily but here is the explanation. Yikes!
24. Many a bridesmaid: SISTER.
25. Tax law pros: CPAS.
26. Mild rebuke: TUT - TUT, TUT, tsk, tsk.
28. Hot shots?: THIRST TRAPS - New to me: A thirst trap is a type of social media post intended to entice viewers sexually. It refers to a viewer's "thirst", a colloquialism likening sexual frustration to dehydration, implying desperation, with the afflicted individual being described as "thirsty" It had to fill itself in.
32. Whole __: HOG.
33. Optimistic: ROSY.
34. English scientist who coined the term "cell" in his 1665 work "Micrographia": HOOKE.
35. Pattern that's often pixelated, for short: CAMO - Can you see the soldier in a pixelated CAMO uniform on this couch?
37. In-person appointments that require an online application?: TINDER DATES - Swipe left or swipe right.
39. See to one's seat, slangily: USH 😀
40. WSW opposite: ENE.
41. "Cut that out!": STOP.
42. Riffing on, online: MEMING.
45. Knicks spot, briefly: MSG - The third Madison Square Garden was built in 1925 and became the home of the NY Knicks NBA team the year I was born (1946).
49. Slicks back, maybe: GELS.
50. Fabrication specialist?: LIAR 😀
51. "For the love of good food" cereal brand: KASHI.
52. Dazed: IN A TRANCE.
54. "You should get a cold pack on that sprain": ICE IT.
55. Ingratiatingly friendly: NICEY NICE.
56. Short-tempered: TESTY.
57. Come to one's senses: SEE REASON.
Down:
1. Absolutely delight: ELATE.
2. "Meshes of the Afternoon" director Maya: DEREN - Maya was a Ukrainian-born American experimental filmmaker and an important part of the avant-garde in the 1940's and 1950's.
3. Called mean names, say: GIBED - My alternate spelling of JIBE didn't work out.
4. Spanish "those": ESOS - ¡Me encantan ESO Cornhuskers! (I love those Cornhuskers!)
5. Mutt: CUR - A flag on the play for me! Many mutts are lovable and not a CUR
6. Defining question?: ARE WE A THING.
6. Defining question?: ARE WE A THING.
7. Unchangeable: SET IN STONE - A favorite poem of mine contradicts this.
9. Culture writer Rachel: SYME - Okay...
10. Narrow channels: STRAITS.
11. Many Maghrebis: ARABS - The Maghrebi
12. "Anything but!": NO NOT THAT - Sometimes it's just a trick
13. Dirty a plate?: SLIDE HOME 😀 - I got this one right away.
14. Extra lives?: ALTER EGOS - Sometimes when I praised a child at a Parent/Teacher conference, parents would reply they are nothing like that at home.
23. Rte. finder: GPS.
24. One with many good buds: SUPER TASTER - TASTER filled first and eventually SUPER made sense
25. Shout: CRY.
26. Occurs: TAKES PLACE.
28. First responder's pack: TRAUMA KIT.
29. Derby, e.g.: HORSE RACE.
30. Landmasses with two coasts: ISTHMUSES.
31. Dowsing tool: ROD.
35. Limit: CAP.
37. Stretched-ness: TENSITY.
38. Bobs and weaves: DOS.
43. "They got me!": I'M HIT.
44. "Aladdin" figure: GENIE - This Jeannie was told by NBC to keep her belly button hidden, but her high waisted pants sometimes slipped but no one said anything.
45. "The Italian Job" vehicles: MINIS - The MINI Coopers were a big part of this heist film
46. Anarchist convicted with Vanzetti in a 1921 murder trial: SACCO.
47. Not yet ripe, maybe: GREEN.
49. Stirs (up): GINS - Agents are constantly trying to GIN UP interest in their clients for them to get hired. Definition and several etymologies
50. "Summertime Sadness" singer Del Rey: LANA.
53. Pastrami bread: RYE.
43 comments:
Well, this one was beyond
me, folks. I couldn’t even get one across and one down! I managed to solve about 75% of the puzzle, but the upper left quadrant eluded me. So, why I’m not happy that I FIW, I am happy to be with you folks and see how you did! I hope you did better than I! (Or is it “me”?) Anyway, Subgenius out!
Good morning!
Quickly filled in several 9s, and thought maybe I had a chance at this one. I was wrong.
Alas, I DNF. I got about 90% of the grid completed correctly, but like Subgenius, the NW corner did me in. But that’s okay. My wife and I are on a road trip to Saranac Lake, NY and I am typing this in a lovely hotel. So, all is good.
DNF, filling 36, 31 correctly.
Today is:
The Preakness Stakes (Man O’ War didn’t run in the Kentucky Derby, because the owner wanted him to be at his best for the Preakness, a more prestigious race in 1920. Man ‘O War won.)
ARMED FORCES DAY (Army, Navy, Marines, Air force, Space Force. Coast Guard is part of Homeland Security, but is considered a military branch)
NATIONAL LEARN TO SWIM DAY (could save a lot of lives)
NATIONAL VISIT YOUR RELATIVES DAY (not today, hopefully in 4 weeks)
NATIONAL NO DIRTY DISHES DAY (finally! An alibi for drinking orange juice out of the jar)
NATIONAL CHEESE SOUFFLE DAY (thanks, but I’ll take a [crossword favorite] omelet if it’s not too much trouble)
NATIONAL HIV VACCINE AWARENESS DAY (there isn’t one)
My favorite ISTHMUS is on Catalina Island. It forms Cat Harbor on the south and Isthmus Cove on the north. Yachties and bison roam the area freely. On one occasion I was there with a LA boat club. We had about 40 people for brunch at Doug's Harbor Reef. They set us up with a long outside table, and brought a bunch of bottles of Champaign. They explained that they would be serving us Champaign, but the bottles were there in case they got busy and our glasses ran dry.
Thanks to H.Gary for the fun review.
FiR, and I'm actually amazed that I did. It took a lot of WAG's to fill in the NW, but I had a shot when leisurely fell into place.
There were a lot of unknowns for me and proper names I'd never heard of, but persistence paid off. My first fill was tinder dates and that got me a foothold. Last fill was edge cases. What? And thirst traps? Oh boy!
Not sure I enjoyed this puzzle, but it's done and I'm pleased.
Good grief. That Pacific Northwest territory gave me fits. The rest of the puzzle was challenging, but it was struggle city up there.
I entered EVERLASTING at 6d as the answer to the clue "Unchangeable." But that clue was 7d. Realized my error and removed it because it also messed up some answers that I was highly confident about. To wit: GENE, CPAS and THIRST.
That left me with ELATE, ESOS (or esas) and CUR. Then played with possible forms of 'measured' for the "Unhurried" clue, but that messed up ELATE.
Took a chance on ELUDE, which led to WIDE, and with the second e from measured still in place, I eventually saw IN (had STONE). Aha! SET IN STONE. That got me going again, and I got the two major perps of LEISURELY and ARBORETUM
I went with ElsE CASES. That left two very odd looking downs, but one was a name (I thought LEREN might be ok) and thought that SIBED was some new or very old slang that I'd never heard of.
BZZT.
Good Morning:
I claim no joy in saying I finished w/o help in 30 minutes, because I felt no joy in finishing. At the risk of being labeled as a broken-record complainer, I'll repeat once again that, for me, a successful solve doesn't always mean an enjoyable, satisfying solve. The NW corner was brutal but the obscure, specialized cluing and fill permeated the entire grid: Edge Cases, Sansa, Hooke, Derek, Syme, Thirst Trap, Tinder Dates, Nicey Nice, Super Taster, Arums, Minis, etc. If I never saw the inane "Ush"" and "Meming" again, I would not be unhappy.
Thanks, HG, for offsetting my frustration with another sparkling review filled with pleasing visuals. Enjoyed the repeat S and G music, the Cat's Meow, the Shelley poem, and that mouth-watering Pastrami on Rye! I, too, knew Slide Home, immediately!
Have a great day.
Mini theme seems to be IT….IM HIT, RAN IT, ICE IT… but D__MN IT!! I came nowhere near finishing 😳
Inkovers: top/CAP, transpires/TAKESPLACE. This latter middle of the puzzle long vertical mistake that I was sure was correct spelt my ruin. 😟
Almost filled slowpaced for “unhurried” but wouldn’t perp. Is it MAP or GPS?
I don’t even know what “Meshes in the Afternoon” means. Saw “The Italian Job” . Alls I recall is Marky Mark was in it. But I did remember SANSA from GOT. Her name always reminded me of the SANSA-belt brand of pants.👖 (Patent-TROLL?)
I lived in the “Mediterranean” for 6 years and had no idea what ARUMS were. Then saw the pictures, a type of Lily. A miniature variety is actually blooming in our kitchen window right now. EDGE CASES? THIRST TRAP? TINDER DATES…who says USH? Can you say “ISTHMUSES” theee times? I’m afraid there are constructors itching to use these odd answers in future puzzles all of which I will have forgotten. 🤨
Refugees often forced to live in a___ TENSITY
Final exam week….TESTY
Infrequent gay bar denizens….STRAITS
Won’t get off the green, hole___ HOG
Congrats to all you GENIEuses who finished 😊
This puzzle checked all the wrong boxes...obscure references, clues that misalign with their answers, "slang" that exists only in the constructor's mind. As soon as I saw USH I had a feeling that I would not feel NICEYNICE (??) about this puzzle.
FIR but I shamelessly looked up proper names like DEREN, SYME, SANSA, HOOKE.
As IM☘️ stated too many very specialized phrases like EDGE CASES, THIRST TRAPS. And then MEMING, USH. All those come from a world other than mine.
I did like the clue for ALTER EGO. I immediately knew the MINIS because the original “The Italian Job” movie ELATEd me many years ago. I have some KASHI cereal right now that I really dislike.
Thank you HG for all the good info. It was NICE reading your recap.
I’m planning to have a LEISURELY day today with more settled weather.
My poor SIL in Houston is still without power and it might be weeks before it is restored. Thank goodness her niece, also in Houston never lost power, so she can go stay with her.
I finished this puzzle with a couple of lookups. SubG, DO, and Jinx are right. Thisi was a disaster. USH?? TINDERDATES?? THIRSTTRAPS?? Ridiculous!
Had no idea who Miss Maya, Miss Rachel or Winterfells daughter were.
Probably never hear from them again. The rest of the grid fleshed out nicely, but not NICELYNICE. Also , I don't practice MEMING.
The best of the rest is the rest of the best.
Farandaway.
AIso agree with IM that there was no joy in this solve. However, Gary did a yeoman's job of decoding the results.
Chacun a son gout, I suppose, but edge cases, nicey nice, ran it, thirst traps, meme as a gerund, and several obscure (to me, anyhow) proper nouns ain't my personal cuppa tea.
Irish Miss Congratulations on finishing. For some reason I could not see ARBORETUM, even though the clue was fair and clever. Had to cheat by looking up utterly unknown DEREN, then it fell in place to get that "R". For me, that is a DNF.
Here I saw ART GARFUNKLE up close at our Lobero Theater.
Yes, I shared this once before. Learning moment about THIRST TRAPS. The trial of SACCO and VANETTI is widely agreed to have been improper.
From Yesterday:
MalMan Way cool that you have been to our Gaviota natural MUD SPA. I looked up the Sespe Hot Springs. It looks as if the shortest hike there is 15 miles round trip. Is that what you did?
Picard, back in the late 60's and early 70's my buds and I spent a helluva lot of time exploring along Highway 33 between the coast and Reyes Peak. IIRC, one could drive a (now closed and reverted to its natural state) road a lot closer to Sespe Hot Springs than is now possible (if you were able to ford the river in a couple of places). We got snowed on, burned 30 weight to stay warm and, generally, learned a whole bunch of stuff that, as ignorant city kids, we had not learned in school. We were, of course, lucky that we suffered no serious consequences. My "bible" at the time was Colin Fletcher's The Complete Walker.
MalMan Thank you for the explanation about your Sespe experience. Yes, I know at least one hiking trail here that used to be a road. It is Romero Road. I have also been on a road at Figueroa Mountain about 20 years ago that is no longer usable by ordinary vehicles. What used to be a moderate hike is now beyond my limit.
Learning moment about Colin Fletcher's The Complete Walker, which I had not heard of. Thanks!
This felt challenging but then solved in a usual time
I've never watched Game of Thrones, but like The Simpsons, between crosswords and Sporcle I've learned quite a few people - and SANSA Stark is one of the more famous characters with one of the shortest names except for Jon Snow. My boys like "The Italian Job" so I knew about the MINIs
I found TINDER DATING crossing "ARE WE A THING" amusing. My kids didn't meet their spouses that way, but many of my nieces and nephews have- they tell me that if you are looking for someone to seriously date then you go on Hinge- the other is more for hook-ups - I'm way out of the loop on these things.
My husband and his local Master Gardeners group is trying to start an ARBORETUM in a local park. Theirs will be a level 2 ARBORETUM which will require at least 100 different tree species. Here are the different criteria:
https://arbnet.org/accreditation/levels-accreditation
One of my favorites is the University of Wisconsin Arboretum which was walking distance from my house when we lived in Madison. Downtown Madison was built on an ISTHMUS between 2 lakes- with the Capitol at one end and the University at the other end.
Thanks Gary for the fun blog (can't get enough of Simon & Garfunkel :) and to Parker for the puzzle
I've always assumed that crosswords and other puzzles were to serve as a pleasant and fun diversion from the hard news. And the completion of these puzzles would give the solver a sense of fun and satisfaction.
Unfortunately, puzzles like today's are becoming more common, where the constructor and editor produce something convoluted and impenetrable whose main function seems to be trying to show off.
I look forward to a change in this philosophy; otherwise, you're going to lose your audience.
Thank you Parker for a Saturday challenge, which with the help of Teri, we managed a FIR.
A thank you Husker for another great, well illustrated review.
Some favs:
17A ARBORETUM. Two beautiful ARBORETUMS within an hour of Baltimore are Longwood Gardens in Kennett Square, PA and the Ladew Topiary Gardens in Monkton, MD.
23A GENE. Great video of RNA splicing. This process is managed by a complex of enzymes (proteins) called the spliceosome. The 64 million dollar question is "How does the spliceosome 'know' (note anthropomorphism) the order (and alternate orders) in which to assemble the segments extracted from the raw mRNA (exons) in order to assemble a given protein?" And a much, much bigger question is "How does the spliceosome, which is an enzyme, "know" how to correctly assemble the GENE exons needed to assemble another spliceosome?"
28A THIRST TRAPS. JUMPER CABLES was too long.😀 "Hot shots" sound like links you might find if you swiped right on 37A.
7D SET IN STONE. I like that poem a lot as well. Alas -- all things must pass.
11D ARABS. It perped, but I didn't DNK "Maghrebis" -- thanks Gary.
29D HORSE RACE. One starts today at Pimlico Racetrack at approximately 6:50 p.m. ET.
37D TENSITY. TENSION didn't perp.
59D GINS. I think we had "GIN" recently as a triumphal reply in a card game.
Cheers,
Bill
FWIW -- somehow I got on a mailing list and they've started sending me daily mini-puzzles -- nice appetizers before an LA Times breakfast puzzle.
Well, not too much to say about this one. The above comments should suffice. That most of the regulars didn’t bother to comment should tell you something. I will end it here, feeling the same way. Nuff said.
I needed more than an hour and some red-letter-type help in the NW to get my FIR, so I’m not very happy. The “stretched-ness” of this puzzle was absolute wretched-ness. The 1A/2D natick of EDGE CASES and Maya DEREN was simply the last straw. ARE WE A THING took forever to suss, and so did ARBORETUM. No wonder it was such a struggle.
The SW fell first, with my WAG for KASHI paving the way. TENSITY made that difficult. The SE fell next, despite the utter clunkiness of SEE REASON. Toeholds were so hard to come by that I ended up liking NICEY NICE
Names and terms I didn’t know, besides DEREN and TENSITY: SANSA, HOOKE, THIRST TRAPS (!), and TINDER DATES.
Names I did know: ART Garfunkel, SACCO (though spelling was a challenge), LANA, and SYME, although in Rachel’s case I simply felt it was “that New Yorker writer” until it finally came to me.
There was plenty more not to like – as the rest of you plainly are aware. I.M. filled in many of those blanks in her sterling review, as did H.G. (thanks!), so I’ll refrain.
I prefer to reminisce about my only three visits to MSG. The first was a $6 seat at a boxing card the evening following my first Jeopardy taping in 1969, the second was a news photo pass on the floor for the NIT semis and finals in 1975, and the third (at the smaller arena formerly known as the Felt Forum), was a front-row-center press seat at a boxing event in 2011.
Nope. Way over my ability. I guess this is my comeuppance for having two great days in a row. Far too many DNKs, including perhaps ALL the names. I filled the grid only with a ridiculous number of alphabet runs. PH, ya really busted me today, but thanx anyway for the entertainment. I can't imagine constructing this CW. HG, thanx for the great write-up.
Copy Editor, in 1975 the NIT was still a fairly important tournament. "Only" 32 teams went to March Madness, which left a lot of talented teams to invite (16 teams danced the year before.) With 66 now going to the big dance, it is no longer such an honor. I'm guessing you had one of the big-format film cameras using the one-time flash bulbs.
Hola!
As Yoda might say, "finish I did" but not alone. Alexa and I partner together on Saturdays when I am stumped. However, Alexa did not know SYME or SANSA and neither did I. But it might be in the way I asked. ALEXA needs precise definition.
EDGE CASES still make no sense to me but I certainly know LEISURELY.
For me, LANA Turner would have been easy but I have heard of LANA DEL REY in previous puzzles.
The name SACCO is seared into my brain from those very same headlines. It was such a shocking scandal at the time.
Oh. I just realized that TINDER DATES are from TINDER, an application I never use.
My bridesmaid was my sister-in-law.
I know I've been watching too much of CHICAGO FIRE when I know TRAUMA KIT instantly.
Interesting to learn about Robert HOOKE who coined the term "cell" in 1665!
My sister, Margaret, is a SUPER TASTER. She can pick up even the most subtle tastes when the rest of us can't.
Yesterday I learned a disappointing fact about my favorite grocery store. It will close at the end of this month. Of course, there are other stores in the area, Walmart and Bashas, but I've been shopping at Fry's (a Kroger store) for decades and know exactly where everything is located. I will miss it. The irony is that when it was bought earlier this year, the buyer said, "Don't worry. No stores will close." Hah!
Have a wonderful day, everyone!
Maybe it’s just me, but if I have to look stuff up, I don’t claim FIR.
And…I sure had to look up quite a few answers today. So, with help from Google, I managed to fill in the squares, but there was no sense of accomplishment.
The only bright note for me was Waseely’s sparkling tour, which never disappoints.
Jinx -- The camera was a normal Minolta 35mm with a standard flash attachment. I was there to see my Oregon Ducks come in third and to snap a photo of Oregon coach Dick Harter, who spent his summers in our reading area in Vermont's Northeast Kingdom running a summer resort, which constitutes local interest for a small daily newspaper. I did get a great shot in the Providence-Princeton championship game as a Princeton player diving for a ball headed out of bounds nearly landed on me as I tumbled backward.
Thanks to Parker for his Saturday challenge! Ironically, I had a FIR (w/o help) today; but, IIRC, a FIW on every other puzzle this week. (I don't keep track but it feels like that's the case.)
FAVs: "Aladdin" figure crossing College figs and ISTHMUSES.
NW was last to fall after I changed EvaDE to ELUDE.
So "MEME" has a verb form? Good to know.
Padma Lakshmi from "Top Chef" is a SUPERTASTER. I knew that one from reading her book.
Thanks to H-Gary for explaining why my WAGs worked! I did not think I knew ARAMS but it turns out some are growing in my front yard. I call them "lilies". The ARBORETUM you showed us is gorgeous!
Oops - I meant to thank Husker G. for the great tour and inadvertently typed Waseely (also a great tour guide, just not today).
Wow! A real Saturday toughie, but that's what Saturday puzzles are supposed to be. So thank you, all the same, Parker, and have a great weekend. And Gary, your commentary was made especially interesting and fun by those delightful and helpful pictures. Thank you for those too.
So, as you can guess from my comment, this was in no way a LEISURELY solve for me. Solving it was a bit TESTY and took a while with some help, but it never put me IN A TRANCE. And I certainly didn't need a TRAUMA KIT. Now it's time for me to take a NICEY-NICE SLIDE HOME, and have a good Saturday afternoon nap.
Wish you all a great weekend too.
Puzzling thoughts:
It took me a very long time to solve this without having to look up any words
My on-line "Across Lite" software has a built-in timer. I left it on while I took several breaks. When I finally finished, the timer had stopped at 99:59. That has to be a record
But no red squares and just handful of write-overs
I won't "pile on" with the words/names I didn't know
12 nine-letter words is a whole bunch. I don't care what the words/phrases are. Making them all fit together is pretty cool
Husker Gary has been our Saturday deconstructor for many years, not to take anything away from Bill.
Picard, in response to our correspondence about my turtle Gophie a day or two ago, I just wanted to thank you for the advice you gave me. When I fed Gophie today I put a half-dozen small chunks of watermelon on her plate of lettuce, and when I checked her pen just now, I saw that she had eaten every bit of it. So she clearly does love fruit and other things as well, and I'm going to start giving her a much better and more colorful and healthy diet from now on. So thanks again for your very helpful comment and suggestion. (I'm sure Gophie thanks you too, in her tortoise heart).
Finished in record slow time.
I’m with you!
FIR! Oops, not really since like many the NW killed. I had to look up the obscure Deren before everything else fell into place. The only manageable area for me was the SE. I certainly feel Tinder dates was fair, but never heard of patent trolls although I love dilbert! Same for edge cases, Sansa, syme, thirst traps, Hooke, nicey nice, super taster (is that a thing?), arums, meming as a verb, kashi! So it was a drudgery over several hours- I just don’t know when to throw in the towel! Or I guess I did at Deren!
Amen! Too many constructors are foisting their vanity projects upon us.
I second what Tehachapi Ken, Monkey, Anonymous@10:46, Lee, and Irish Miss said.
Nope. No way, no how, no fun.
Lemonade @4:31 PM. Actually I've never blogged a Saturday puzzle. It's above my pay grade!
Charlie @8: PM Fun? It's the kind of puzzle we masochists LUV! 😃
An edge case is *not* the result of user behaviour (predictable or otherwise). An edge case may come to light as a consequence of user behaviour but it exists whether or not it is known about.
But I'm probably just grumpy because the NW corner defeated me.
I am gladdened to know that I am among friends, united in the sorrowful joy -- or is it joyous sorrow? -- of an abominable experience like today's,
Miss Agnes once used the word 'twee' to describe such puzzles. Her sensibility can be parallel with my more abrupt "Junk."
Once again, I'm with @Irish Miss on today's puzzle: too many off-the-EDGE references and weird pop-culture words. USH? Whose slang is that? Fortunately there were enough enjoyable entries like ALTEREGOS and ISTHMUSES to furnish adequate cheap entertainment that kept me from being totally p.o.'ed about weird stuff. To say the NW was "brutal" is being charitable 😆
@Jinx, nice to see another Catalina-ite here on the Corner; the wife and I try to spend a few days there each summer (she's been going since she was a li'l 'un, like for 60 yrs!). We'll ship our tandem kayak over to the island on the barge the Friday before, pick it up at the barge depot when we arrive, rig it and then paddle the two miles to Avalon Harbor. Great fun to have for the rest of the family that also comes over at the same time.
====> Darren / L.A.
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