Themeless Saturday by Kyle Dolan
This is my 17th Saturday puzzle by Dr. Dolan and it took just the right amount of effort for me to earn a satisfying "got 'er done!" Kyle did write to me to add a comment on his FRERE JACQUES ENTRY. It tells of how great constructors can get an idea and hang on to it until they can use it.
1. With 46-Across, noncarbonated drink with bubbles: BOBA and 46. See 1-Across: TEA - I learned of this by doing cwds but almost every student in the school where I sub knew of it.
5. K-pop group that visited the White House in 2022: BTS.
8. Tunnel (into): BORE - If you BORE under the English Channel you hope you meet up with the country coming from the other direction and have a Chunnel. They did meet 30+ years ago.
12. Has to pay: OWES.
13. Hilarious types: RIOTS.
15. Market investment opportunities, for short: IPO'S.
16. Was totally satisfying: HIT THE SPOT.
18. Tart shavings: ZEST.
19. One- or two-star flag officer: REAR ADMIRAL - Admiral info
21. Fresh start?: NEO.
22. Dirt found in cubes?: OFFICE GOSSIP - Teacher's lounges are not immune to this phenomenon
24. Poke tuna: AHI.
27. Up to, casually: TIL - I immediately thought of the Mills Brothers. The Mills brother on the right gives a hint of Doo Wop music to come with the bass line.
28. Fruit infused in spirits: SLOES.
29. Place for a seasonal recital?: SANTA'S LAP 😀
33. "Filthy" stuff: LUCRE 😀
35. __ Romeo: ALFA - This 1988 ALFA Romeo Spider Veloce recently went on the auction block with a starting bid of $10,000.
36. Lost all patience: HAD IT.
38. Farm gait: TROT.
39. Places with customs: PORTS.
41. Marriage bureau?: HOPE CHEST 😀 My grandmother used to call a CHEST of drawers in her house a bureau.
43. "If __ Street Could Talk": BEALE - I thought this might be about the famous street in Memphis, TN but it is set in NYC
45. Show whose first host was George Carlin, familiarly: SNL.
47. Children's tune interpreted in Mahler's Symphony No. 1: FRERE JACQUES - I remember singing "Are you sleeping, Brother John?" in grade school. Here is a note from Kyle that he asked me to include about this clue:
Some time ago, I put FRERE JACQUES on a list of themeless seeds I’d developed. I specificallywanted to clue it through its association with Mahler’s First Symphony, where it appears, rather whimsically, as a funeral march in the slow third movement. After about a year of grid development, working through multiple layouts (a few of which were submitted unsuccessfully to various venues), this version finally hit the mark with Patti Varol. Happily, she kept my Mahler reference in the clue! For curious solvers, here is the movement featuring the Frere Jacques tune:
51. Galoot: OAF.
52. Sign of diversion: DETOUR AHEAD.
56. "I don't believe you!": LIAR - In 1965, the Castaways were one-hit-wonders with this title. Here are some TV castaways dancing to that song.
52. Sign of diversion: DETOUR AHEAD.
56. "I don't believe you!": LIAR - In 1965, the Castaways were one-hit-wonders with this title. Here are some TV castaways dancing to that song.
58. Event for seniors: CAREER EXPO.
59. South Asian rice cake: IDLI - ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
60. Sole clue for a detective?: TREAD.
61. Bag that may be stolen: BASE 😀
62. Capital city with a Viking Ship Museum: OSLO - That figures
63. Bug: IRK.
64. Home of the Big 12's Cyclones: AMES.
Down:
1. Einstein contemporary: BOHR - Niels Bohr worked on The Manhattan Project but Albert did not because of uncertainty about his political views.
2. Boo-boo: OWIE.
3. Alpha follower: BETA - A different alpha than the car name
4. Jetson family member: ASTRO.
5. Arabic invocation heard in Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody": BISMILLAH - Chief songwriter Freddie Mercury was not Muslim but lived in Zanzibar as a child which is 90% Muslim. BISMILLAH translates to "In the name of Allah".
But I'm just a poor boy, nobody loves me
He's just a poor boy from a poor family
Spare him his life from this monstrosity
Easy come, easy go, will you let me go?
Bismillah, no, we will not let you go
(Let him go) BISMILLAH, we will not let you go
(Let him go) BISMILLAH, we will not let you go
(Let me go) Will not let you go
(Let me go) Will not let you go
(Never, never, never, never let me go)
6. Issue: TOPIC.
7. Supply: STORE - Every school has a STORE room for teacher supplies.
He's just a poor boy from a poor family
Spare him his life from this monstrosity
Easy come, easy go, will you let me go?
Bismillah, no, we will not let you go
(Let him go) BISMILLAH, we will not let you go
(Let him go) BISMILLAH, we will not let you go
(Let me go) Will not let you go
(Let me go) Will not let you go
(Never, never, never, never let me go)
6. Issue: TOPIC.
7. Supply: STORE - Every school has a STORE room for teacher supplies.
8. Industry, briefly: BIZ.
9. Unspoken shared knowledge: OPEN SECRET - Hollywood is famous for having OPEN SECRETS
10. Comic strip about the Gumbo family whose title was inspired by Gertrude Stein: ROSE IS ROSE.
14. Some deer: STAGS.
17. Must, slangily: HAFTA.
20. Hang: LOLL.
23. __ Beach: SOUTH.
24. Short message written in a hurry?: ASAP - or spoken
25. Wraparound hairstyle: HALO BRAIDS - I never saw my grandmother or my aunt Betty with any other hairdo.
26. Plummeting: IN FREE FALL.
30. Language spoken along the Volga: TATAR - If you look closely you can see TATARSTAN with the Volga flowing through it.
31. Hoopla: ADO.
32. Squirt: PIPSQUEAK.
34. First name in jazz: ETTA.
37. Hard to dismiss, in a way: TENURED - After three years of teaching in Nebraska, TENURE makes getting fired very difficult.
40. Arctic transport: SLED.
42. Obvious: CLEAR.
44. Disappearing mode of releasing an album?: EJECT - Release the album from your CD player
47. Large book: FOLIO - This one will cost you around $10M
49. Piemaker's tool: CORER - This CORER/slicer is frequently found in my lunchbox.
50. Biblical queendom: SHEBA - Modern scholars think SHEBA was located in the red circle below
