Saturday Themeless by Adrian Johnson
Our Wyoming native who went to college in Minnesota is now doing great work for a startup group called BetterFi, a nonprofit working to end predatory lending in Tennessee.
1. Car whose interior "looks like Darth Vader's bathroom," per Michael Knight: KITT - KITT was the car and The Hoff played Michael Knight
5. "Figure it out": DO THE MATH - They could and did.
14. Shine: GLEAM.
16. Hugh Grant film based on a Nick Hornby novel: ABOUT A BOY - Nick probably has some credit in the small print
17. Lively presence in Hollywood?: BLAKE.
18. Bends and stretches: LIMBERS UP.
19. Georgia O'Keeffe's "Jimson __/White Flower No. 1": WEED - Saturday cluing for a common word. I have heard of Jimson WEED but had no clue about Ms. O'Keefe's painting.
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| It sold for $44M |
20. Otherworldly visitors: ETS.
21. "Ghosts" actress McIver: ROSE - Saturday cluing for a common word.
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| A cable TV series from Paramount+ |
22. Sandwiches since 1967: BIG MACS - I'm embarrassed/ashamed I remember all these lyrics about the burger Ray Kroc said was the answer to The Whopper
24. Film stock: STILLS.
26. Boxing trainer Dundee: ANGELO - The trainer for Cassius Clay/Muhammad Ali is obscure to some, well known to me
29. Common source of revenue for podcasts: ADS.
30. Spiced coffeehouse order: CHAI LATTE.
32. Inflatable swan, e.g.: POOL FLOAT.
33. 2023 Pink album: TRUSTFALL and a funny one
37. Basic shelters: LEAN-TO'S - On the primitive side
38. Land between the Atlantic and the Pyrenees: IBERIA.
40. Shows confidence in, in a way: ELECTS 😀
41. Trapper's task: SNARING.
42. Try to make angry: BAIT.
43. Comm. system in the film "CODA": ASL - 94% at Rotten Tomatoes
45. Passable, at best: SO SO.
46. Follower of an aperitivo: ANTIPASTO
49. Hunt of "Mission: Impossible": ETHAN - Played by this guy
51. Cereal mascot once voiced by Mel Blanc: TOUCAN SAM - One of so many in Mel's repertoire
52. Lacks buoyancy: SINKS.
53. Language whose name translates to "one who hopes": ESPERANTO.
54. Residencia: CASA.
Down:
1. Security org. dismantled in 1991: KGB.
2. Bringer of misfortune, so they say: ILL WIND.
Falstaff. What wind blew you hither, Pistol?
3. Chinese snacks with a marbled pattern: TEA EGGS - Tea egg is a typical Chinese savory food commonly sold as a snack, in which a boiled egg is cracked slightly and then boiled again in tea, and sauce or spices. It is also known as marble egg because cracks in the egg shell create darkened lines with marble-like patterns. You're welcome.
Pistol. Not the ILL WIND which blows no man to good.
Shakespeare: 2 Henry IV. act v. sc. 3.
3. Chinese snacks with a marbled pattern: TEA EGGS - Tea egg is a typical Chinese savory food commonly sold as a snack, in which a boiled egg is cracked slightly and then boiled again in tea, and sauce or spices. It is also known as marble egg because cracks in the egg shell create darkened lines with marble-like patterns. You're welcome.
4. "I want to go too!": TAKE ME.
5. Low areas: DALES - Over hill, over DALE...
6. Late notice?: OBIT 😀
7. Accessories company with a "one for one" business model: TOMS.
8. Nerve center: HUB.
9. French summer: ETE.
10. The Ritz-Carlton owner: MARRIOTT.
11. Pardon: ABSOLVE.
13. Builds up: HYPES.
15. Olympic chart: MEDAL COUNT.
22. What do ewe say?: BAA 😀
23. Party leaders?: CO-HOSTS.
24. Historic Buddhist monastery in the Songshan mountains: SHAOLIN - The birthplace of Kung Fu.
25. Career number for sluggers: TOTAL BASES and 44. 25-Down, for one: STAT - Leaders for active players
27. Slugs: BIFFS.
28. Spanish pronoun: ELLA.
31. El __: second-largest city in Bolivia: ALTO - El ALTO has a population of nearly a million and is the highest major city in the world with an average elevation of 13,000'.
32. Drill: PRACTICE.
33. "Let's go for a drive!": TEE IT UP 😀
34. God celebrated on Janmashtami: KRISHNA - More
35. Ornamental trees with acorns: PIN OAKS - They get very yellow (chlorotic) in our town but are lovely in Lincoln.
36. Evil Queen's disguise in "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs": HAG.
37. Peruvian prairies: LLANOS - My diligent search showed LLANOS mostly in these countries
40. Online discount: E-BATE.
41. Sportscast tech: SLO MO - This device can do that or even freeze the frame
43. WNBA pt.: ASSN - All sports peeps know what caused this
47. Norm: PAR - For my golf game, it's a goal, not a norm. 😀
48. Tennis star Ivanovic: ANA.
50. DOD arm: NSA - The NSA doesn't take credit or blame for their activities
40 comments:
“KITT” took a while to come to mind and
I never heard of “biffs,” but most of the other answers were known to me. I’ve even heard of “Shaolin” boxers! It was still a challenging puzzle , but I got through it. FIR, so I’m happy.
DNF. Filled 42 answers, 33 correctly. About PAR for my Saturday. Don't know much about geography, as the old song goes, nor other cultures. And I think my fading interest in baseball has finally gone away. I read today that MLB is going to put ads on the batting helmets in the post season. It will be only a matter of time before an interview with the star of the game will sound like NASCAR: "Well, the Blue Emu - Nike - Louisville Slugger - Gatorade bat was ready to go today."
Gotta get the RV ready to go today for our trip that starts tomorrow. Charge the house battery, start the refrigerator, remove the wheel and mirror covers, lube the leveling jacks, check the engine oil and stow the satellite dish. The big "maybe" is whether my DW can actually make the trip. She is rapidly becoming weaker and less steady on her feet. This 12-day trip will help me make the go /no go decision for the three month Florida trip.
Thanks to Adrian for the puzzle, even though it was out of my league. And thanks to H.Gary for another fun review.
Our local fish wrapper has decided to carry a different crossword. I guess I'll waste ink and print the LA Times. Also different comics.
This was an usually doable puzzle even with the unknowns which all became filled by perps. BIFFS TRUSTFALL PIN OAKS were unknown SNARING seemed like a stretch, and ALTO was just a logical guess. ANA IVANOVIC was another of the skilled and very attractive tennis stars during the MARIA SHARAPOVA era. ESPERANTO was popular when i was in grammar school, but we preferred OPPISH . Thank you Gary and Adrian.
Took 13:13 today (the day after a Friday the 13th).
Lots of unknowns, which is expected on a Saturday, but this puzzle had too many international influences: one of today's actresses (Rose; I knew Blake), the tennis player, Chinese snacks, Spanish pronoun (I knew the other Spanish: casa), Peruvian something, Bolivian something, Italian something, whatever Esperanto is, and a Buddhist place. But, I knew the French summer and Iberia.
I strongly resisted "biffs".
I like many of Pink's songs.
Thanks for the nice review, HG.
Token Creek @ 7:01 a.m.
Interesting coincidence,
T.C. I found out today that my local paper no longer carries the L.A. Times crossword either. (I’m in Richmond, Va.) As Saturday was the only day I bought the paper anymore (for the express purpose of having a record of how I did on the Saturday crossword) I probably won’t be buying the local newspaper any more, ever.
Fortunately we’re close enough to Washington, D.C. that we also get the Washington paper in some stores, including my local Kroger’s. It DOES still carry the L.A. Times crossword. So I will still be able to have the paper record of my Saturday crossword triumph (assuming I do triumph) after all. Thank goodness!
FIW. I had cohorts at 23D, instead of cohosts, and of course did not know the Pink album, so I took a WAG and was wrong. Also didn't know El Alto and put Aloo. Oh well.maybe Truro Fall would make a good album for someone!
Otherwise this was not all that difficult for a Saturday. I got through the rest in rapid time.
So overall, I enjoyed this puzzle.
Another local paper drops the LATimes crossword......hmmmm......this was predicted to happen when Patti became the editor.
Good Morning:
I guess I'm in the minority as I found this a difficult solve. I was successful, but only due to plenty of P and P and a lengthy finish time. I never heard the word Biffs before or Shaolin, either. Also needed perps for Trust Fall, Toucan Sam, and Esperanto, plus many others that were clued in Saturday fashion. I did enjoy the solve, despite some frustrating moments.
Thanks, Adrian, and thanks, HG, for the usual sparkling visuals and informative review. That Trust Fall Canine is adorable, as is the shotgun-riding Pooch, with the wind at his back!
Have a great day.
For the second Saturday in a row I had to TITT for a DNF. The NE was my nemesis as I DNK the Hugh Grant flick, the Ghosts actress, TOMS, or the monastery. Perps to the rescue on KITT, ETHAN and TRUSTFALL. Tough puzzle for me, but no complaints, thanks Adrian for the challenge.
HG ~ a belated happy b/day! Thanks for another stellar synopsis. I managed to make 11 PARs in my round of 78 on Thursday which included one birdie and one double.
I haven’t commented in a few days, been a little busy, but I have read all the blogs and comments, thanks Splynter, Bill (and Teri), and Naomi and all those that posted, always a good read!
IM - Did you see my email Monday 9/9?
IM - (above) Parsan
A bust… all in the NE. The only hotel chain I could think of that ended in two TT’s was Hyatt. Add to the mess mess up for TOUSLE. “Pardon” exonerate too long, excuse too short. …. ergo a DNF 🥹
I’ve watched every season of “Ghosts” both the Brit and American versions and couldn’t tell you one cast member’s name 😳 (guess she’s an “actress” not an actOR today.) At first had ANGELa giving me CaHOots which made no sense. Then COHOrTs, finally COHOSTS.
“Drive” as in golf! Good one.
Take videos of cows….FILM STOCK
XL British raincoats…. BIG MACS
Our “chairman” on a lazy day….SLOMO
Mortician’s slogan….IBERIA
Off to Roch-cha-cha NY, a 2 hr drive, for DW’s sister’s 40 wedding anniversary party, beautiful day for it.
Musings
-Me too! The Omaha Weird Herald, from out of the blue, has also dropped the LA Times puzzle and replaced it with something called the Sheffer Crossword which today’s NW corner contains JIG, JAM, IMAC, GIVE, MAV, and AMIE. It would not reach Monday level in the LA Times puzzle. They still run the Stella Zawistowski Commuter Crossword that is at least at early week LA level. Online, here I reluctantly come.
-With “dead tree” papers having big financial issues, I’m sure it’s a financial decision. As Solomon said, “The answer to everything is money.” Sigh…
I had not thought of "Knight Rider" in decades. The memory did come in handy at the start but I hope to return to amnesia on this particular recollection. Also, Shaolin bubbled up from watching the Kung Fu TV show decades ago. Despite these two references and Biff (not the character from Back To The Future, in this case as clued) an enjoyable Saturday journey. Thanks, Adrian and HG.
Trappers set snares, so they are snaring. Right?
Wow, FIR after lots of deep thought! The middle was the last to fall as the combination of slugs/biffs (big stretch), Spanish pronoun (I took German), Bolivia city, coffeehouse fare (I don’t drink coffee hence never step in a coffee shop), and Pink music together left me at sea! Thanks to David Carradine and Kung Fu, Shaolin came to me as did pool float once pond something didn’t work! Once Dales replaced mires in NE, that section came together. Many unknowns, but we got there!
Just sent you an email. 😉
I tuned in to the correct wavelength today and FIR in "good" time. I've never clocked myself but I average 15 mins. early in the week to a 1/2 hour later on. On especially tough puzzles I'll spend up to an hour before throwing in the towel. I never look things up because then it turns into a research project instead of a game. Googling just to fill in blanks doesn't make sense. If I'm stumped, it's a DNF.
As Token Creek and others have noted, printing out the xword may be the new normal for me. I'm old school and hate scrolling up and down for clues. To save ink, I copy the puzzle and paste it into the original Paint program that comes with PCs. Simple matter to fill in the black squares with light gray before printing.
Slow going this morning with lots of interruptions. I finally FIR, but it took lots of SWAGS and perps.
I figured lively had to refer to a person, but who? The ILL WIND and the WAG for WEED provided the answer. TRUST FALL and TEE IT UP needed more WAGS.
TOUCAN SAM surfaced unbidden, where from, mystery. The Kilometers gave me KRISHNA. BIFFS is unknown to me.
So with lots of p and p, I made it. Better than some Saturdays.
Thanks HG. I enjoyed your write up.
Seems like a few big companies have gobbled up nearly all the dailys. Although my local still carries the LAT puxle, I prefer to print it at https://www.latimes.com/games/daily-crossword
Our fish wrapper owners also owns Chicago Tribune, Orlando Sentinel, South Florida's Sun-Sentinel, Virginia's Daily Press, The Morning Call of Lehigh Valley, and the Hartford Courant.
I also play the Dell / Penny Press at www.arkadium.com/games/daily-crossword-pennydell/
I play the King Features / Sheffer grid too, but agree that it isn't usually much of a challenge. It appears on the opcom page with the LAT daily and a Sudoku, so I print it too. (Like my new word- "opcom"? Opposite the comics.)
Hand up a difficult challenge with so many unknown proper names. Last to fill: Cross of suspicious BIFFS, TRUST FALL, SHAOLIN. Amazed to FIR.
Yesterday Merlie's surgeon called, asking us to rush down there so he could fit her with temporary teeth before he flew out on vacation. They are just for appearance; she won't be able to eat real food for months. But her appearance is rather scary. As we got on the freeway, Merlie felt uncomfortable as a guy in the next lane stared at her. I got a bit worried that he might call the police.
Here I am posting the photos day by day.
You have to click on each file separately for now.
From Thursday and Yesterday:
CanadianEh Thank you for answering my question that started with TADPOLE in the puzzle. Do you find frogs scary or is it something else, if you don't mind me asking?
Interesting to see ROOT CELLAR; not a common term.
Here I was with my friend Danielle at a very remote ROOT CELLAR in the mountains two weeks ago.
The quest for that ROOT CELLAR led to my concussion and injured wrist on the way back.
Jinx at 6:29 AM, I'm impressed that you're taking on caretaking on the road. Hope it works out and that you are both able to enjoy the time away.
Picard at 12:42 PM, I continue to think good thoughts for you and Merlie.
Rusty Brain at 10:57 AM, I agree that "If I'm stumped, it's a DNF." Today's puzzle came close to that sad ending, but was finally a FIR thanks to reasonable perps and WAGs. DNK the Pink album, the Buddhist monastery, KITT, the ornamental oaks, or BIFFS. Oof! Anytime it's this hard and I succeed, I like it.
Thanks to Adrian Johnson for the workout (am I LIMBERed UP now?) and to Husker Gary for a stellar review.
I managed to FIR, and I enjoyed it. But there were a lot of obscurities, some of which should have been eliminated by the editor.
I liked a couple of those. ANGELO Dundee was the first fill-in for this longtime boxing writer. El ALTO was surely an unknown to anyone with merely average knowledge of Bolivian geography. When we studied that in sixth grade, El Alto didn’t even exist. Now it’s got more than 900,000 people, which is more than the erstwhile largest city/capital La Paz and the longtime runner-up Cochabamba, now in fourth place. No. 1 Santa Cruz was smaller than Cochabamba as of 1969, the year of my Encyclopedia International edition.
I also enjoyed the TOUCAN SAM (Froot Loops) trivia more than I ever enjoyed the cereal; ESPERANTO (the study of which would greatly enhance a couple of Cornerites’ solving skills and perhaps worldviews); ABOUT A BOY (for which well-known writer Nick Hornby got plenty of publicity); KRISHNA; and, once I crossed out pampas, LLANOS – like the Llano Estacado (staked plain) in Texas.
Unknowns to me began with KITT (has desper otto ever told us . . .?) the Pink album title, and SHAO LIN, and also included ROSE McIver (of all the Roses and roses Patti could pick), TOMS (as clued) and, natch, the female tennis star. I was reluctant to go with BIFFS and PIN OAKS until the perps confirmed them.
Irritating clues included the over-complicated clue for WEED. The clue for BEHOOVE wasn’t evocative, and a better clue for TOUSLE would be “muss up.” The lame dialogue clue for the day was the “pun” on drive (TEE IT UP). We were taught in headline writing class not to make dumb puns like LIVELY on people’s names, and sometimes that extends to crossword puzzles.
TOTAL BASES is less about the accumulation over a season or career than it is the criterion that determines “slugging percentage,” which would be 4.000 if a batter hit a home run every time up, 1.000 if he singled every time, and on down. A slugging percentage of .600 or higher indicates a lot of extra-base hits. Now that stat nuts are big on a combination of on-base percentage plus slugging percentage called OPS, the latter is more “important” than ever.
Thanks, H.G., for helping us figure it all out.
I'm getting closer but it was a DNF today. The NW was blank except TAKE ME. KITT, BLAKE, WEED, and TEA EGGS were complete unknowns and my MEDAL COUNT was TOTAL COUNT. I managed to get the rest in spite a few other complete unknowns- ABOUT A BOY, BIFFS (new to me), ETHAN Hunt, TRUST FALL (and any album name newer that Sgt. Pepper), TOMS and ROSE.
SHAOLIN and KRISHNA were lucky WAGs.
DO THE MATH-calculators have ruined math learning. Kids can't do the math or write cursive. That's why they avoid college chemistry at all costs. My grandson just started at LSU and taking an environmental science course. He said it's a total joke because he said he learned those things in the 8th grade.
TOTAL BASES- I don't think anybody will top Hank Aaron's numbers.
I kind of hope my local paper will stop carrying this ridiculous crossword which is no longer fun to do….thanks Patti, I sure hope these drops affect your tenure.
Well, Saturdays are expected to be even bigger toughies than Fridays, so it was no surprise to get one this morning. But it still had some fun here and there, so many thanks, Adrian. And we really appreciated all your help this morning, Gary, thanks for that too.
The puzzle started out telling us to DO THE MATH, presumably on what we could solve, but that early ILL WIND didn't bode well for a good answer. Soon we got an OBIT--also not great news. Clues like "Try to make angry" and "Passable at best" and "Lacks buoyancy" offered no HYPE either. At least ESPERANTO down on the bottom gave us a little bit of hope. So we went for the food, and got some ANTIPASTO and some TEA EGGS to enjoy with some CHAI LATTE--not the best lunch but at least a start.
But, hey, I'm joking--I still enjoyed the puzzle and had fun.
Have a great weekend, everybody.
P.S. Forgot the BIG MACS--they would have helped us a lot at our lunch.
Just punch in LA Times crossword in Google.
Remember David Carridine in Kung Fu and their Shaolin priests? That's the only reason I remembered.
I’m so jazzed. I designed and my company built the SlowMo controller you showed. Imagine my surprise.
No, trappers set traps. Snarers play drums.
So sad to see Merlie's bruises. I never had any over the years. I hope her gums recover! Give her plenty of tlc! Sasse
Moe, Backyard Brawl! Wow! Just wow! I'm exhausted!
D'OH! I forgot to post my comments earlier!
Thank you, Adrian. An excellent Saturday puzzle. There were sufficient toeholds in every area, so little by little it all came together in 24.5 minutes. It seemed longer, but that's probably because I had to work out so many answers.
Except for the SW area. The triple stacked nines were relative gimmes to this solver. My friend's name is Esperanza, and I knew the name means hope. I was reading yesterday about the Warner Bros studio cartoon history, and of course Mel Blanc. ANTIPASTO was easily derived from the perps.
I used to live near LLANO, Texas, so I know what llano means. It's a Spanish word for a large (and generally treeless) grassland. Llano, Texas is hardly treeless. Other more recognized names for a llano are savanna, steppe, pampas and prairie. The prairies of Canada and the U.S. are called the Great Plains, but they could also be called a llano.
I didn't get the congrats message. I somehow ended up with MEtAL COUNT instead of MEDAL COUNT. I guess there are some advantages to solving on paper.
I had to look up more than 6 items in order to "solve" this puzzle. Yep, it was difficult for me.
I hope your trip goes successfully, Jinx.
Good reading you all.
Thanks to Adrian for his Saturday challenge! Today's was a DNF for me. I couldn't parse SHAO LIN, BEHOOVE, & BIFFS. Nevertheless, it was a fun challenge. FAVs: DO THE MATH and "Drill" for PRACTICE.
ETHAN Hunt was in the punchbowl but I was thinking it was an actor's name -- not a character. Similarly, I got ROSE because I mixed her up with the ROSE MacClare character on Downton Abbey.
= )
Safe travels to Jinx!
Thanks to H-Gary for his excellent explanations! Those TEA EGGS are pretty. I also liked the "Let's go for a drive!" dog.
It will come as a surprise to nobody that I DNF. I worked on it for a while, but was having no fun (again) because I DNK so many things. I may just quit trying to do Saturdays. On second thought, every once in a while I do manage to FIR, so I'll do what I did today, give it a try then if it's no fun TITT.
It's almost another day when I'm posting this but I'll do it anyway. I was gone most of the day and I enjoy Saturday evening TV so neglected commenting. I did most of the puzzle before I left this morning then finished when I returned. It was challenging but "never give up" is my motto so finished with a lot of wite- out. Thank you Gary and constructors. It was fun ultimately.
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