Saturday Themeless by Erica Hsiung
Erica is an Assistant Professor in the Psychology Department at Skidmore Collegewhere she is an assistant professor.
Erica wrote the championship puzzle for 2023 Lollapuzzola Tournament in NYC.
The upper right quadrant was a slog for this solver; more for the cluing than the fill.
1. Portmanteau for Disney World's wintery mix: SNOAP - Yup, even when it's very hot in Florida, Disney has a machine that converts soap into artificial snow.
6. Puts on screen, perhaps: DEPICTS - Directs was not to be at D _ _ _ C T S. Similar but not matching.
13. Swinton of "Asteroid City": TILDA.
14. Power plays?: EGO TRIPS π
16. They're not basic: ACIDS.
17. Many a Maine newborn: MOOSE CALF - Awww...
19. Changes for the better: REVISES.
21. Get way ahead of, in a way: LAP - If you get LAPPED it's an unwritten rule that you have to get out of the way and let the faster runners by.
22. Copacabana city, casually: RIO - The Copacabana is a 2.5 white sand. beach in RIO de Janeiro
23. Frank: WIENER π The noun not the adjective!
24. One who shows up in court with bells on: JESTER - A 1955 movie for Danny Kaye
26. Key compound in a cell's energy cycle: Abbr.: ADP - Something from college biology stuck
27. First roomie, for some: SIB - My wife and her twin sister were wombmates
29. Product with a Frosted Chocolatey Chip Pancake variety: POP TART.
30. Animal control?: REIN. π
32. Place to buy a screwdriver: CASH BAR.
34. Full up: SATED.
36. Allen who was part of the Celtics "New Big Three": RAY.
37. Rover: NOMAD.
41. Treadmill-like playground structure: LOG ROLL.
44. Purple-brown: PUCE.
45. Scapegoat: FALL GUY - Some historians have made Admiral Kimmel the FALL GUY for Pearl Harbor.
48. Feel unwell: AIL.
50. Cell service letters: LTE - Long-Term Evolution
51. Miembro de la familia: ABUELA - Grandma in EspaΓ±ol
52. Shiner accompanier, maybe: FAT LIP.
54. "__ so fast!": NOT - This became Lee Corso's "go-to" phrase when he disagreed with another football announcer
55. Catcher's asset: ARM - Even from his knees, KC Royal's Salvador Perez had a great arm
57. Renaissance Tour attendees, collectively: BEYHIVE.
58. Marmaduke, for one: GREAT DANE.
61. Airport on Boston Harbor: LOGAN - Named for Lt. General Edward Lawrence Logan, a hero of the Spanish American War from South Boston. 64. Comes to: LANDS AT. I never have landed at LOGAN.
62. Frank Lloyd Wright estate in Wisconsin: TALIESIN - His home, studio and school
63. Go on the stump: ORATE.
65. Ebbed: WANED.
Down:
1. Epic based in part on Kurosawa's "The Hidden Fortress": STAR WARS - Another famous Kurosawa remake
2. Feedback sometimes followed by "but": NICE IDEA - New Coke?
3. Kalamata center: OLIVE PIT - Kalamata is an olive that is named for the city of Kalamata in southern Greece.
5. Goes by: PASSES.
6. Some pols: DEMS - Not REPS, SENS or GOVS
7. Nwodim of "SNL": EGO - ¯\_(γ)_/¯ Talk about your Saturday obscure cluing for a common fill
8. Combine: POOL.
9. "Pays the rent": IT'S A JOB - I had MAIN JOB for quite a while
10. Low-rimmed skillet: CREPE PAN.
11. First of three O's: TIC - The second is TAC and the third is TOE
12. Region near Kalamata: SPARTA - They are 61 miles apart but not as the crow flies π
15. More conniving: SLIER.
18. Pillow construction: FORT.
20. "The __ Andre Show": ERIC ¯\_(γ)_/¯ - See reference to EGO above
25. Traditional shaving tool: STROP.
28. HBO series about a hitman who joins an acting class: BARRY - ¯\_(γ)_/¯
29. Kingdom divisions: PHYLA - The plural of phylum
31. Harper Lee's given name: NELLE.
33. __ Paulo: SAO.
35. Bit of literary contrivance: DOG LATIN - ¯\_(γ)_/¯ Dog Latin or cod Latin is a phrase or jargon that imitates Latin, often by what is referred to as "translating" English words into Latin by conjugating or declining them, as if they were Latin words.
Example: Illegitimi non carborundum (Don't let the bastards wear you down) has no meaning in Latin
38. Do-over: MULLIGAN - Very familiar to golfers
39. Start up: ACTIVATE.
40. Got more real: DEEPENED - Act 3 in this form
42. Withholding: GUARDED.
43. What happens to you while you're busy making other plans, per "Beautiful Boy": LIFE - John Lennon borrowed this line from a 1957 Allen Saunders quote in his song Beautiful Boy.
45. Viper tooth: FANG.
46. End abruptly: ABORT.
47. __ phase: post-ovulation stage: LUTEAL.
49. Hide: LAY LOW - Reminds me of lyrics from Simon and Garfunkel
When I left my home and my family
I was no more than a boy
In the company of strangers
In the quiet of the railway station
Runnin' scared, LAYING LOW
Seeking out the poorer quarters, where the ragged people go
Looking for the places only they would know
53. Actress Birch: THORA.
I was no more than a boy
In the company of strangers
In the quiet of the railway station
Runnin' scared, LAYING LOW
Seeking out the poorer quarters, where the ragged people go
Looking for the places only they would know
53. Actress Birch: THORA.
56. The Bay State, for short: MASS.
57. Like elements of pipe cleaner art: BENT.
59. Styled after: ALA.
60. "The Marvels" director DaCosta: NIA ¯\_(γ)_/¯ The more familiar NIA Vardalos would have fit right in with our other Greek entries today.
4 comments:
I got everything but “Nelle” , “abuela” , and “luteal.” I just could not see the “ue” in “abuela”! So, once again for a Saturday, close but no cigar. I’m not happy about that, but I am happy to be here with you folks and see if you did any better than I did!
Good morning!
After first glance, I often blow off the Saturday puzzles. Today things started to fall into place...and kept falling into place. Only SAUTE PAN (Crepe) and putting a second E in TALIESIN slowed me down, but they worked out. I've visited TALIESIN and should've known better. Yay, there's no theme to miss. Thanx, Erica and Husker. (That first sentence of the recap needs some work.)
Yeah, "Erica is an Assistant Professor in the Psychology Department at Skidmore Collegewhere she is an assistant professor" should read "Erica is an Assistant Professor in the Repetition and Redundancy Department at Skidmore College, where she is an assistant professor. "
DNF, filling just 22, 19 correctly. Got LTE right off the bat, so I got that goin' for me.
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