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.
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
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.
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
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.
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
9. "Pays the rent": IT'S A JOB - I had MAIN JOB for quite a while
10. Low-rimmed skillet: CREPE PAN.
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.
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.
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.
17 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
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