Saturday Themeless by Erica Hsiung
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.
31 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.
Welp, that’s forty-two minutes and seventeen seconds of my life that I’ll never get back.
The upper right was more than a slog for me. I filled ITS A JOB, SPARTA, SLIER, and FORT but it ended there.
A DNF today. I got most but unknowns busted me. I did fill BARRY, ERIC,RAY, BEY HIVE, SNOAP, and TILDA by perps.
NELLE, ABUELA, NIA, EGO, LUTEAL, and especially DOG LATIN and TALIESIN-no way to guess those unknowns. I've never heard of a LOG ROLL as a playground item.
LANDS AT- I didn't fill but wanted 'wakes up'
CREPE PAN- incorrectly guessed SAUCE PAN
"Withholding"- my mind kept thinking taxes- GUARDED didn't have a chance.
Took 13:50 today for me to luckily finish correctly.
I didn't know ADP, luteal, Nelle, snoap, dog latin, crepe pan, & phyla.
I was surprised to see Ego crossing ego(trip).
I knew today's actresses (Tilda and Thora), but not the director (Nia).
Cashbar could've used a better clue.
Taliesin seemed obscure to me, though I was familiar with the murders of Frank Lloyd Wright's family there. It's an interesting story if you're unfamiliar.
Well, I had the grid mostly filled in a half hour, 3 blanks in the SW (see SubG) above. AB_ _LA and L_TE_L, I knew they were all vowels but couldn’t WAG them into the right position simultaneously, FIW. Tough puzzle for me.
I knew I was in trouble at the outset when I was stymied by 1 Across (SNOAP). But I blissfully plowed ahead nonetheless, because I like to experience good Saturday puzzles.
Prof. Wojcik's puzzle had a lot to be said for it. DOGLATIN was new to me, I thought. I knew Pig Latin, and then I realized that I taught Dog Latin in my Shakespeare classes. It's often funnier than Pig Latin.
If you are more sly, are you slyer or slier?
4 Down slowed things down for me; I wanted "add to," not "add in."
Thanks, Erica, for your brief nod to baseball, at 55 Across, "Catcher's asset," which is ARM. Of course, having a good arm is a handy asset for all fielders!
Other clues I admired: "Pillow construction" (FORT); "First of three O's" (TIC); "Kalamata center" (OLIVEPIT); "They're not basic" (ACIDS); and "One who shows up in court with bells on" (JESTER).
Best of everything, Erica, at Skidmore. As a high school dean and college counselor, I sent many a senior to Skidmore. And thanks again for an enriching, fresh, and clever Saturday crossword.
This solve came in fits and spurts - sometimes faster than a usual Saturday and then some slow downs that needed ESP like DOG LATIN
I didn't know that STAR WARS had some of its origin in a Kurosawa film - the only film of his I remembered a direct American connection was "The Seven Samurai" became "The Magnificent Seven" in its US version.
A few gimmes - I lived for ~10 years in Madison, WI about 20 minutes from TALIESIN
LUTEAL phase was something I explained to many a patient, and pulled ADP out of the recesses of my brain that still hold biochemistry terms
A friend's Mexican grandma is well under 5 foot tall so we call her ABUELita for little grandma
Thanks HG for a fun review and Erica for the puzzle!
Last night was an exciting win for the Minnesota Lynx over the New York Liberty in WNBA - so it will go to the deciding game on Sunday night
EGO crossing EGO TRIP seems like it breaks a construction rule π€·♂️
CBNC - Close But No Cigar, just like Subgenius, except I got the E of Nelle but not the U next door. So one measly letter! Grrr.
Erased the NE several times thinking the first O was for Out Of Office. Then entered DELS (delegates) which gave me a Loose Calf which seemed plausible.
Loved the Jester clue. All in all, just what I look for on a Saturday.
Like yesterday’s, fairly easy for a Saturday. Must be, cuz I FIR π€
Inkovers: add to/add on/ADD IN, foam/FORT, ATP/ADP (but not STP π)
STROP: When I was a tyke I would watch in fascination as my grandfather slowly and carefully shaved with a straight razor.
Why “Maine” for MOOSE CALF? Meese like geese are found throughout country. But just LIU: minimum population in Alaska 175,000, next is Maine 60,000. So if Alaska were a state it would have been in the clue instead π. New York population is only 600 per the article. They must be talking about New York City because there are too many sightings just in the Adirondack park alone for such a low number.
“Combine” harvester too long. Never heard of LTE ….nor have ever seen a LOGROLL in a playground. Looks like a lawsuit waiting to happen. π³
DOGLATIN?: I only know ”cave canem”?
Cute/clever/fun clues: “screwdriver”, “not basic”
Mentioned once before. If you’re a fan of Seinfeld nonsense like me you’d enjoy his NETFLIX movie “Unfrosted” about the invention of the POPTART
DNF. The NW had me flummoxed. I thought I was doing so well with the right half of the puzzle filled in, struggled a bit with the bottom left but got it done, and came to a standstill in the NW. Snoap was a mystery to me and still is. The crossing of dog Latin and log roll also got me.
So overall, all I can say is that that's over, thankfully.
A Saturday display of honesty and egos
I had to start at the bottom right, and work my way up, finishing the upper left last. Still don’t really understand “snoap”.
I tell myself every week I’m not going to bother with Saturday’s puzzle , but I do.
Almost gave this one up.
The South filled in ok but NW and especially NE had me scratching my head.
Maine newborns gave me fits and power play had me thinking about music.
Anyhow, FIR after some ral head scratching
49 down clue is present tense HIDE but answer is past tense LAY LOW. The present tense is Lie LOW.
Managed to fill without peeking except for Ms Nwodim. I agree that it seems like a violation of crossword rules as YP indicated.
Never heard of a LOGROLL at a playground. Tried DOGMATIC for 35D, but soon got corrected. The WeiNER dog didn't fit, but the sausage did.
Congrats to Erica for her puzzle contribution and Gary for the fine recap.
Garfield hates Mondays.
Wellness.
DHNF. (Didn't Have No Fun) TITT. Not only not in my wheelhouse, but from an alternate universe far, far away. Arcane, obtuse, obscure, unpleasant.
Our desper otto came to mind as I began this comment. I expected him to echo my complaint about the dreadful 1A portmanteau, and I expected him to know more than the rest of us about Taliesin.
For most of us, TALIESIN was more obscure than SNOAP, and it was part of a double-natick for those of us who had never heard of DOG LATIN and were unsure at best about LUTEAL. Still, I managed to FIR. I did enjoy the puzzle more than not, but I sympathize with those who didn’t.
The SE fell first, once I accepted the odious LAY LOW and realized I was expected to know the name of a Beyonce tour. I realize there are many valid reasons she is famous and popular, but if you don’t know her songs, you probably can’t pick her voice out of a crowd. FAT LIP (great clue!), PUCE, MULLIGAN, THORA, and LOGAN helped me.
OLIVE PIT and TILDA helped me fill in the 1A/1D blanks in the NW. PUCE, RAY Allen, and BARRY were early entries in the Midwest, and ABUELA and GREAT DANE ultimately propelled me in the SW.
The NE fell last when I changed saucePAN to CREPE PAN and finally realized MOOSE CALF was making what surely was its first LAT crossword appearance ever. As for EGO Nwodim, she has appeared in the LAT three or four times now, and her name is pronounced “Eggo,” which dilutes the Ego/ego argument.
And as for JESTER, I once wrote a comedy routine about being grateful I was born in a world with diverse job prospects, because my lack of hands-on/mechanical skills would have rendered me unfit for any occupation except court jester. But if the notably unfunny Rigoletto could get a job doing that, surely I could have.
Anon @10:57: Your comment "49 down clue is present tense HIDE but answer is past tense LAY LOW. The present tense is Lie LOW."
Use the words as nouns rather than verbs. For example: You better HIDE for awhile. You better LAY LOW for awhile.
It was a tough puzzle but I finished with the help of much looking stuff up and turning on red letters to see where I went wrong.
Likes:
The clue for ACIDS
MOOSE CALF
The clue for JESTER
FALL GUY
GREAT DANE
The word TALIESIN
NICE IDEA
OLIVE PIT
CREPE PAN.
Dislikes:
EGO crossing EGO TRIP
SNOAP
BEYHIVE
LAY LOW (it really should be LIE LOW).
I flat out did not know:
ADP
POP TART
CASH BAR (HARDWARE STORE did not fit)
RAY (Ray Allen or Allen Ray?)
LOG ROLL
STAR WARS as clued
SPARTA (I got it after a couple of perps and after looking at a map)
ERIC (Eric Andre or Andre Eric?)
BARRY
DOG LATIN (it's a funny phrase, though)
LUTEAL
NIA.
Nice job, Erica.
Interesting Saturday puzzle, many thanks, Erica. And thanks for your commentary too, Gary.
I wondered if TILDA DEPICTED a sweet MOOSECALF on one of her EGO TRIPS, hoping that we'd all think it was a NICE IDEA and nudge us to give her a WIENER as a reward. We did and gave her even more, including a POP TART that had been heated in a CREPE PAN. A little later BARRY took her to a CASH BAR where she got to do a LOG ROLL, and ended up earning enough money to buy something she had always wanted: a GREAT DANE. Since then she's stayed at home, happily trying to teach her new pet DOG LATIN to REIN him in a little. Let's hope she succeeds.
Have a great weekend, everybody.
Thanks to Erica for a challenging Sat. solve! FAVs: Kalamata clues.
I took a wrong turn with razOr/rust before STROP/PUCE. I very much appreciated the solid NOMAD to correct my STRaP.
BEYHIVE was in the punchbowl. Didn't someone recently give us a list of fan group names? Perhaps waseeley???
I am guessing EGO had to be clued as a name to separate it from EGO TRIP. I hesitated on that one, too.
I was a catcher back in my Bobby Sox days. Nothing better than nailing that throw to 2nd! But when it goes wrong...oof!
Thanks to H-Gary for being here every week! I needed you to explain why 11D, 35D, and 47D worked. LUTEAL -- only on a Saturday!
FLW, my belated Happy Birthday wishes to CED and Get Well Soon wishes to Irish Miss and NaomiZ's daughter. Love checking in with the three of you each day. <3
You pompous ass, who the hell are you to write, "For most of us, TALIESIN was more obscure than..."
You have no special insight into what "most of us" know or don't know, so shut the hell up.
Nice talk
== sigh ==. Another Saturday "how obscure and vague can we make the clues" beast. I mean, a minor pop-culture non-celeb for EGO?? (plus that cross). Gimme a break. DOGLATIN…woofus? At least TALIESIN was familiar, having recently seen a docu on F.L.W. But otherwise, I'll just contribute this one to the waste bin -- too much bad vibe for me.
George Lucas lifted sooo much stuff from other books/movies/ you name it, for STARWARS besides the Kurosawa plot: The maker worms from "Dune" (and the Fremen for the desert beings), dog fights from WWII movies, the end scene from "Wizard of Oz"…I could go on with more. But it made for an epic adventure, do why not?
====> Darren / L.A.
*so
Hi All:
Oy! It's a Saturday. Thanks Erica for putting me in my solving place.
HG - Thanks for filling the rest of the grid for me.
OOO was not OUT of office :-(
//We use OOO on the calendar when [IT'S A] JOB is just too much and we step away for a day or three.
EGO Nwodim was a gimme... I'm a fan of SNL #50years.
And, like Jinx, LTE was cake.
Plum -> PUCE - not so much; it took a cheat from HG's sheet.
Ray-O: Unfrosted was kinda funny. I think DW fell asleep and we never finished it.
SNL's Weekend Update is over so it's bedtime.
Hope all the Cornerites are doing well / healing. #LoveYourWays
Cheers, -T
Dear Charles ... Totes Agrees! The only cure for me, might a complete mindwipe and rejuvenation. Luteal? Beyhive? Tilda? Not only opaque, but assuming a cultural background 50 or 60 years beyond mine.
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