Saturday Themeless by Evan Mulvihil
Evan told me, "I am a clinical pharmacist at Zuckerberg, San Francisco General, a crossword constructor and lover or all things word-play related."
1. Fold: ACCEDE.
7. Pen: ENCAGE.
13. Polo player?: LAUREN.
14. Opposite of "Nothin' but net": AIRBALL - When shooters miss everything.
16. Words of resignation: I TRIED.
17. "Elmo's World" character played by Bill Irwin: MR NOODLE. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
18. Quaint contraction: SHANT.
19. Comedian Wyatt: CENAC - Wyatt worked with Jon Stewart on The Daily Show until they had a falling out
20. Cab alternative: ZIN - You might have a ZINfandel rather than a CABernet
21. Tic-__-toe: TAC - We had this in a Saturday puzzle two weeks ago.
22. Have in common: SHARE.
24. Slams the door on: STOPS.
26. India's neighbor on a Risk board: SIAM - SIAM on this board game encompasses several modern countries.
28. Just __ by: EKED.
29. Went up: ROSE.
30. Abundance during amateur hour?: ROOKIE MISTAKES.
34. Orchestra known for an annual Fourth of July concert: BOSTON POPS.
35. Some unicorns: TECH STARTUPS - Unicorn companies are those that reach a valuation of $1 billion without being listed on the stock market and are the dream of any tech startup.
38. Fruit with wrinkled skin: UGLI.
39. Court pro: STENO - Old and new machines
43. Breaks open chests in Fortnite: LOOTS ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
45. Pitch: TAR.
46. Baby: SPOIL - A verb
48. Oft-mispunctuated word: ITS - IT'S (contraction) very common to misuse the word ITS (possessive)
49. One hoping for a refund from an online return: E-FILER - I'm one of those hoping
52. Crime novelist Buchanan: EDNA. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
53. "Elsbeth" star Carrie: PRESTON. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
55. Good standing with sailors?: SEALEGS 😀
57. Idle: SITTING.
58. Sir Ken Robinson's "Do Schools Kill Creativity?," notably: TED TALK.
59. Hammers: POUNDS.
60. "Heather Has Two Mommies" writer Newman: LESLEA ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Down:
1. Groups of celebs who might bypass the line: A-LISTS.
2. Persian rugs?: CAT HAIR 😀
3. Place to enjoy krioyo cuisine: CURACAO.
5. 411: DEETS - I need the details
6. Demise: END.
7. Got a bit extra, in a way: EARNED INTEREST 😀
8. "High Priestess of Soul" Simone: NINA.
9. Some restaurant clogs: CROCS - I've never owned or worn this footwear.
11. "Zounds!": GADZOOKS.
12. Figure in Kepler's first law: ELLIPSE - Piece 'o cake for me.
17. One unsuited to battle a god?: MERE MORTAL.
19. Pre-wedding trials: CAKE TASTINGS.
23. Job at a bank: HEIST 😀
25. Yappers: TRAPS - Rude
27. Finale of "The Sopranos," maybe: MOB HIT - Creator David Chase's decision to fade to black rather than show what did or didn't happen was brilliant. He compared it to Schrödinger's cat. Tony is both alive and dead.
23. Job at a bank: HEIST 😀
25. Yappers: TRAPS - Rude
27. Finale of "The Sopranos," maybe: MOB HIT - Creator David Chase's decision to fade to black rather than show what did or didn't happen was brilliant. He compared it to Schrödinger's cat. Tony is both alive and dead.
31. Heavy socks?: KO'S 😀
32. Did some politicking, say: SPUN - "Oh no, that is NOT what the candidate meant."
33. Traditional literary motif: TOPOS - TOPOS are stories from classical tradition weaved into modern American drama. Eugene O'Neill's Desire Under The Elms has been referred to as a modern retelling of Euripides' myth of Hippolytus and Phaedra. (Raise your hand if you thought I already knew that!)
35. Bulbs that may not need to be replaced: TULIPS 😀
36. Delusion of grandeur: EGO TRIP
37. Friendly with: CLOSE TO.
40. "Your terms are a joke": NO DEAL
41. Individual: SINGLE.
42. "The Great North" setting: ALASKA.
44. Become real: SET IN - It has finally SET IN that Husker FB has come to be mediocre at best.
47. Attacks, as with questions: PELTS - Despite the less than optimal video quality, this is a fabulous example:
50. Residue used to make pan sauces: FOND - I love these little "leftovers" but never knew there was a name for them
51. Instagram video: REEL - Make your own series of videos
54. "The Simpsons" disco guy: STU.
56. Slangy ending with hater: ADE 😀
40 comments:
There are some words I only got through perps, such as
“fond” (as clued) and “topos.” And some names, ditto, such as “Cenac” and “Leslea.” But somehow, through P&P, I managed to solve this challenging puzzle without turning on the red letters or using any “outside” help. FIR, so I’m happy.
Easy enough, but I'm usually not a fan of puzzles with so many "?" clues. Usually some of them don't land at all. I don't get what the surface for 17D is supposed to mean (I assumed "unsuited" = "naked" but no) and I also don't see how "player" works in the LAUREN clue. I thought the answer would be an actor known for playing Marco Polo in a movie. Can anyone enlighten me?
FIR by perps and WAGs. Too many unknowns to bother listing, and the ones I *did* know were heavily masked by tricky clues. My *first* fill was ZIN, so at least all the wine I've consumed has done me some good. Tough one, Evan! Thanks for the tour, Gary!
Welp, that pretty much sucked out what little joy there is in my life.
FIR Saturday, which for me is about as common as spotting a unicorn roaming around without a leash. crease->ACCEDE, its bad->I TRIED, mailer->EFILER, and logos->TOPOS.
One of the all-time best ROOKIE MISTAKES happened Thursday, when Jets ROOKIE Malachi Corley caught the ball and had a clear path to the end zone for his first NFL touchdown. One little problem - he started celebrating before he got into the end zone, and the ball tumbled out of bounds inside the goal line for a touchback. He still awaits his first NFL touchdown, but the Jets won the game and covered the point spread against the lowly Texans anyway.
I filled SEA LEGS within the last couple of days, but I don't remember whether it was the LAT, Scheffer, or Penny/Dell crossword puzzle.
Thanks to Evan for the fun Saturday challenge that even my dumb mass could solve. And thanks to H.Gary for the fine review. If it is any condolence, my Kentucky football program has been mediocre since that traitor Bear Bryant defected to Alabama.
I believe the reference is to the fashion firm Ralph Lauren, known for its polo shirts.
Tehachapi Ken @8:25 I got that LAUREN is Ralph Lauren and "polo" is the shirt, but I don't see how "player" works in the non-surface reading of the clue.
I am in awe of all who had no problems with this CW. I did a walk through and decided this was not for me. So I came here and realized I was right. So many unknown names, expressions, etc. Even HG’s nice recap didn’t clear up everything.
Oh, well, can’t win them all.
FIR. I felt pretty good when I threw down Boston Pops, and got the other long answers as well. But the NW and SE got me bogged down. Last to fall was the NW when Lauren came to me and I had my aha moment.
Not sure I liked deets, topos, or fond, but the perps and perseverance got me through.
Overall quite enjoyable for a Saturday puzzle.
I wasn't as fast as Gary today, but I did manage to FIR in short order. It had a few gimmes- ALASKA, BOSTON POPS, NINA- but I DNK some things-TOPOS, FOND, LOOTS, CURACAO- along with unknown people-LESLEA, PRESTON, CENAC, MR NOODLE, Ken Robinson- who worked their way in via perps.
CAKE TASTINGS? That's a new one for me. At NOLA area wedding receptions cakes are usually the last things offered. And by then people are already full or have left.
CAT HAIR- I kept thinking wigs or Persian carpets. I SHANT lie. I TRIED IRAN AIR and Ralph LAUREN let it CAT show up.
Went round and round with this one, filling in little words here and there until longer ones became apparent. Some solid perps plus a few educated guesses and tada...FIR! Several erasures though, wanted DRESS FITTING as a wedding trial.
What is the statute of limitations on spoiler alerts? I didn't have HBO back in 2007 and am just catching up on the Sopranos. Just kidding, 17 years is probably enough (for everyone but me LOL). But don't tell me what happens at the end of Romeo and Juliet!
Pretty much what Naomi said, seems like I needed perps for the entire puzzle cuz I didn’t know much, none of the names, except LAUREN. Starting off at 1A I could think of three different meanings of “Fold” but accede was not one of them. In the end I had five blanks and not a clue, that usually means I’m headed for a FIW, but lo and behold I WAGed correctly on first try in the MR NOODLE, CENAC area for a FIR in 41:51. Very tough puzzle for me. Still don’t understand how ADE relates to hater, or how CROCS are affiliated with restaurants. TOPOS and FOND?? Nope. Thanks Evan for the extreme challenge this morning.
HG ~ 17 minutes on this puzzle is a great time IMO! Thanks for the fine recap.
Huzzah and zounds, Evan! That was quite a workout. One bit of cleverness followed by another after another. I notice, for instance, that your one-word clues are usually not the expected part of speech: "Pen" and "Hammers" and "Baby" are here not nouns, they're verbs. And for equal time, you have some clues, like "Pitch," which the solver may anticipate are verbs, but nope, they're nouns.
I enjoyed clues like "Good standing for sailors" (SEALEGS), "Cab alternative" (ZIN), "Heavy socks" (KOS), and many other misdirections.
I've never heard or seen the word "haterade." Why can't people use "hatred," which, after all, is a legitimate English word?
Thank you for 48 Across (IT'S). That kind of mispunctuation is one of my pet peeves, especially because I see it all the time, including in this blog, I'm afraid.
For 10 Down, I'm assuming that ABO is referring to blood types. Also, for 5 Down, I'm not convinced that DEETS is an adequate or accurate depiction of 411.
Thanks, Evan, for a satisfying, informative, and enjoyable Saturday challenge!
After 20 minutes of Google Assist, I admitted defeat and TITT. Nope. No fun.
Good Morning:
Congrats to HG for that impressive finish time. It took me twice as long but I enjoyed every minute of the solve. Mr. Noodle, Cenac, Preston, Leslea, Topos, etc. were unknown but, eventually, fell into place. While solving, I was continually surprised (and impressed) by the cleverness and subtlety of the cluing. In addition, the fill was outstanding, e.g., Rookie Mistakes, Mere Mortals, Cake Testings, Gadzooks, Boston Pops, etc, and only 10 TLWs. IMO, this is aas close as it comes to a perfect puzzle.
Thanks, Evan, for a true gem of a challenge and thanks, HG, for the excellent review and commentary, as usual. Loved the kitty Pirate and the pretty Persian.
Have a great day.
Well, if the constructor sees this, he can correct me, but the question mark pretty much detours the clue. The question mark suggests to the solver not to take the clue literally.
This was just a tad out of my wheelhouse, so I'll just Echo Monkey. Lots of clever clues...just too clever for me!
This puzzle did have a theme, but not one that I can repeat in mixed company. It took me 16 unenjoyable minutes to complete this assemblage of obscurity, questionable clue/answer relationships, and cluing that was too cute and often nonsensical. Perps and WAGS saved the day but still couldn't get the sour taste out of my mouth.
Ken, both "haterade" and "deets" are relatively new (and unwelcome) additions to modern slang. Deets is short for "details" and both it and "411" mean "information" in that context.
Example of "haterade" might be to respond to constant criticism of say, one's favorite athlete with "stop drinking that haterade!" (A takeoff on Gatorade).
Lauren is a “player” in the “polo” (shirt) world - might even say THE player in making this item so popular in the 80s preppy craze
see my reply to you above
Cake tastings = as part of planning the wedding - trying out various vendors’ creations before choosing to order/purchase
I too loved the verb-not-noun and noun-not-verb twists
theme? - ah, c’m’on?
Neat, if challenging, Saturday puzzle--many thanks, Even. And thanks for your helpful commentary, too, Gary--much appreciated.
Well, I TRIED solving the conflict, but I'm a MERE MORTAL. I'm not on any A-LISTS, and I still make a lot of ROOKIE MISTAKES. So I'm never invited to help with an TECH START-UPS, and that's good because it helps me avoid a MOB HIT, and also an EGO TRIP. I think I'll just keep working as a STENO, and that way I may eventually EARN a little INTEREST, which would help me to maybe offer friends some CAKE TASTINGS. Not bad, don't you think?
Enjoy a great weekend, everybody.
I managed to FIR, but it was precarious. The number of unknowns, bad clues, and poorly conceived entries was low for a Saturday, at 14 (20 is common, and I’ve seen 30 before), but the grievances were intense.
I knew NINA Simone, EDNA Buchanan, Disco STU, and Ralph LAUREN, but the other names were all unknown. I don’t dislike names in crosswords as much as most of you proclaim, but CENAC (my final fill), MR. NOODLE, PRESTON (as clued), and LESLEA were unusually obscure unknowns for this quiz kid. “Heather Has Two Mommies” isn’t obscure, but I’m betting Evan must have googled Leslea to see if anyone with that spelling exists. Better clues for PRESTON would be Kelly, Robert, or Sgt. Also: I barely know what a Ted Talk is. I sure as heck didn’t know how Sir Ken Robinson was supposed to convey that term.
Clunkiness abounded. The “heavy socks” clue for KOs didn’t parse with boxing, about which I sense Evan, like most people, knows nothing. . . . Is there something about CROCS that’s peculiar to restaurants? . . . I’m a pretty literate person, but TOPOS? . . . I’ve never heard of FOND, as clued, but DW knew the answer (after the fact). . . . CAKE TASTINGS felt contrived, despite one of the Anonymouses’ explanation. . . . I also wasn’t nuts about the Persian CAT HAIR, ENCAGE, or, especially EKED “by.”
I DID like the preposition usage for CLOSE TO. People are saying “close with” nowadays, and I don’t like it, much as it took me about two decades to accept “went missing” instead of “disappeared.” . . . I also enjoyed SHANT, ITS/IT’S, TRAPS (as clued), and HEIST. Oh, and TULIPS. I started 15 of ‘em, and 20 daffodils, last weekend, which I haven’t done in years.
I loved this puzzle❣️ It took me a long time, but less than Sat puzzles usually do.
And I did it all by myself, & learned a lot; & knew things I thot I didn’t - once I shifted perspective (like verb-not-noun & vice-versa). “Topos” got a bit of a dive - I didn’t study lit-crit anywhere in my over-educated science-y past. Thx Evan & HG❣️
So I’m curious, if y’all will indulge me — in part because of a recent visit w/ my long-time (writer/journalist) friend who “hates!” every shift in common usage, and new “made-up” words and slang: What makes it so hard to give room for the “new”, “made up”, even silly? Isn’t all language “made up”?
“A Is for Ox” - two separate books by this title are history/commentary on just this subject - helped me SO MUCH with how to explore and appreciate what a remarkable achievement (and moving target!) language (and grossly imperfect communication) is (and why it must, needs to, keep changing) as I researched the psychology of sex and gender for my PhD in clinical psychology.
Well, that turned into a wee bit of a sermon — too “deets” = “info” = “411”? !?TMI?!
Sorry - & thx❣️ 🙄😊
I found this one tough, but do-able. I just want to enact a moratorium on all E-blank answers. Nobody uses these words! Nobody says "I am an E-FILER." Nobody calls it E-TAIL or uses E-VITES anymore. Personal pet peeve, but I'm sure it's incredibly helpful in constructing.
Nice “use your spelling words in a sentence” - er, story - here! Love it!
I wonder how many of the "utes" that use 411 for "information" know that calling 411 once connected us with the telco's information operator. The telcos changed the name to "directory assistance" in an attempt to cut down the number of calls asking for tomorrow's weather, what TV channel the Wildcats' football is going to be on, where the fire engines are headed, and the like. Hell's bells, most probably don't know that we used to dial 411 if someone wasn't listed in their phone book, or what a phone book was, for that matter.
While I'm at it, I think that calling someone a hater now means the speaker disagrees with something the "hater" says. The power of words is diminished by widespread misusage. "Racist" and "fascist" are in that category too.
Not bad at all.
An old law school saying for defense lawyers. "If you have the facts on your side, pound the facts; if you have the law on your side, pound the law; if you have neither the facts nor the law, pound the table." If that doesn't work call your opponent a fascist.
I totally agree with your last paragraph.
I’m with you
Life is too short for this claptrap.
Red letters, WAGS, and perps carried me safely from the SE, as I traveled northwestly over the Great Plains, across the Rockies, all the way to the Olympic Peninsula where I TRIED, but SPUN out at 1A. I couldn’t ACCEDE (as clued) to that “high position” (as properly defined). DNF
Well, the constructor/editor wanted to make this puzzle hard and they succeeded. Actually, I was able to use my NOODLE to figure out most of it but had to resort to looking up the DEETS on some of the specific names. Even after filling some of the answers by means of the perps I still didn't understand them; for example, haterADE and CROCS being restaurant footwear. I FOLD!
Maybe we make a new rule: the answer has to be in the dictionary? The only 'definition' for "topo" in the 11th Collegiate is as short for topographic.
Thanks to Evan for this Saturday workout! WAG-ing took me pretty far today but I failed to let go of joKES where MISTAKES went so TOPOS and TRAPS never appeared. Other than that, the ah-ha moments made this one fun. FAVs: Job at a bank; GADZOOKS; and MOB HIT.
Thanks to H-Gary for sorting this one out! I was with you on all of those shrugs but not on your impressive 17 min. Well done!
It's topos, not topo. Look that up.
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