Themeless Saturday by Adrian Johnson and Victor Sloan
I had to fight through a blizzard of white cells to start, even though the clues seemed to be very reasonable. Eventually solving the "gettable" long fills became very helpful and I earned a "got 'er done!'.
Across:
1. __ dance: STEP - Here is some STEP dancing for you.
5. Low digits: TOES 😀
9. __ bar: TAPAS.
14. Delivery option: HOME BIRTH - The Pros and Cons
16. Carne __: ASADA - Spanish for roast meat. Those pesky Spanish speakers put the adjective second.
9. __ bar: TAPAS.
14. Delivery option: HOME BIRTH - The Pros and Cons
16. Carne __: ASADA - Spanish for roast meat. Those pesky Spanish speakers put the adjective second.
17. Snowball effect caused by lowered standards: RACE TO THE BOTTOM.
19. Untainted spots: EDENS.
20. Frequent Bosch subject: HELL - This is his most famous painting The Garden Of Earthly Delights. The left panel depicts heaven (previous clue/fill), the middle panel shows earthly delights and the right hand panel shows hell, where humanity is punished for succumbing to those earthly delights.
21. Info on a political rival: OPPO - "Research" on an OPPOnent can be very unfair and using this tactic would cease if it did not work. Facts can be stretched or manufactured like this one.
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| Ad that ran in Nebraska's Second District race this fall |
22. Mauveine, for one: DYE - Another name for mauve.
23. Western Greek island: CORFU.
25. Ruckus: ADO - A list I found rated this word as #10 on the most used crossword answers. Oreo came in at #39.
27. Paul who's the only inductee of both the Rock & Roll and National Inventors halls of fame: LES - Musician, inventor and song writer LES Paul examines one of his Gibson LES Paul models with another pretty famous musician and song writer.
29. Actor Stephen from 51-Across: REA and 51. Stormont locale: NORTHERN IRELAND - Stormont is the building in REA's hometown of Belfast that houses the unicameral government of NORTHERN IRELAND
30. Bit of redundancy in a Yogi Berra quip: WRONG MISTAKES - Yogi also said, "I really didn't say all the things I said"
34. William, since 2022: PRINCE OF WALES.
35. Dismissive comment after a hot take: SAID NO ONE EVER.
37. Positive course feedback?: YUM 😀
38. Some, in Somme: DES - Je veux DES pommes (I want some apples)
39. Chorus part: LA LA - A great 60's song with lots of LA LA's. What's not to like?
41. Knot again: RETIE - Not for me anymore
44. __ Louise Huxtable, winner of the first Pulitzer Prize for Criticism: ADA - From The New Yorker Magazine about architecture critic ADA.
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| ADA Louis Huxtable already doesn't like it. |
47. Apple with multiple cores: IMAC 😀 This Apple guy was not fooled for a minute.
48. Instant Pot dish: STEW - This would have fit right in on our 12/4/24 puzzle on fast foods
49. Inflexible: RIGID - Penny? No. Sheldon? Yup.
54. Maintain: ARGUE.
55. "Just fate, I guess": IT'S KISMET - A hypothetical force or power that determines the course of future event. It was KISMET that I found this site. 😀
56. Percolates: SEEPS.
57. Pacific salmon: COHO.
58. Candy bar with a bubbly texture: AERO.
Down:
1. Unit of decency?: SHRED.
2. Suck-up: TOADY.
3. One making introductions: EMCEE.
4. Hammer part: PEEN.
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| Hammer with a claw Hammer with a PEEN |
5. Bruno of "Encanto," for one: TIO - ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
6. GroundClear and WeedClear maker: ORTHO.
7. Bitcoin alternative, familiarly: ETHER - ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Here ya go
8. Last time: SHELF LIFE 😀
9. Yin-yang principle: TAO.
10. "The Great Lie" Oscar winner Mary: ASTOR - Can you find Mary in the credits?
11. "Movement in Black" poet: PAT PARKER ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
12. Some rescues: ADOPTEES - I'd want to take them all
13. Turnovers served with chutney: SAMOSAS.
15. Band also known as the Bangtan Boys: BTS - Wow, we are seeing these boys a lot here!
18. "Hooked on a Feeling" hitmakers: BLUE SWEDE - I was singing this all through but could not fit BJ Thomas in the cells. This group had a hit covering BJ's hit.
23. Open space: CONCOURSE 😀
25. Like xeric landscapes: ARID - ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
28. Hold (off): STAVE.
30. Clear to see: WRIT LARGE.
31. Plane-related, say: GEOMETRIC 😀 Plane geometry!
33. Hoppy pours: ALES.
34. "This Is Why" Best Rock Album Grammy winners: PARAMORE ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
35. Monterey town known as the "Salad Bowl of the World": SALINAS, California
40. Advocacy gp. co-founded by Larry Kramer: ACT UP.
43. "It'd be a dream come true!": I WISH.
44. Top form: A-GAME.
45. Hash house: DINER - Our town has a good one with comfort food at reasonable prices
46. Lengthen, as a lead: ADD TO.
49. L.L. Bean rival: REI.
50. "Casablanca" role: ILSA.
52. Father and son: HES.
53. Studio taken over by Howard Hughes: RKO - I'll bet you know which one is Howard Hughes
39 comments:
Well, it was the usual Saturday combination of misdirection and obscurities, but somehow I made it through. FIR, so I’m happy.
By the way, whatever happened to “bygone anesthetic” as a clue for “ether”? (Rather than some obscure clue regarding “bitcoin”)
Well I got 90% of it right so I’ll give myself an A-, but officially a DNF, the SW did me in with the likes of PARAMORE and WRIT LARGE. Nomination for worst clue of the month - “Advocacy gp. co-founded by Larry Kramer”. Also, when I hit “reveal word”, I realized my SALAD bar was a WRONG MISTAKE too. Thanks for the challenge Victor and Adrian, I just wasn’t quite up to the task today. HG ~ fine review today, much funner than the puzzle.
I am both pleased and proud to report that through a combination of my own intellect, a bunch of WAGS and red letters, I managed to correctly fill about two thirds of the grid. I’ll take THAT as a win (at my age I set the bar pretty low)…
Saturday puzzle….
Fuhgeddaboudit!!
Greet the day!
DNF. I filled all but 11 cels in the San Diego area, and went to the LA Times web site, typed all I had in, and did a check puzzle. Only red slashes were for alto, which I quickly corrected to bass, then when that didn't work, on a lark tried LALA -AHA! No more slashes! The rest I filled without further ADO.
Can everyone name the first US President who didn't come inti the world by HOME BIRTH? (answer below)
salad->TAPAS, danishs->SAMOSAS, inga->ILSA, and the alto-bass-LALA fiasco.
I'm glad I'm not a sexist, or I probably wouldn't be able to resist writing "of course the first Pulitzer Prize for Criticism was a woman."
Had the clue been "near where Janis lost Bobby McGee" I would have gotten SALINAS immediately.
Answer- Jimmy Carter was our first hospital-born president. He is 100 years old and approaching 2 years in hospice care.
Thanks to Adrian and Victor for the fun challenge that I was nearly equal to. And thanks to H.Gary for another fine Saturday review.
Took 14:25 today for me to finish this crossname puzzle.
Too many names for my liking. I didn't know: today's actress (Astor), Larry Kramer or his cause (I agree with my neighbor, YooperPhil), this Bosch person, the architecture critic, the poet (or his/her poem), the Greek island, where Stormont is, the Myanmar ethnic group, and the Monterey town. I also didn't know some word in Somme, the Bitcoin alternative, or writ large.
I was glad I knew Les, Rea, Blue Swede & Paramore (eventually), Yogi, which William, Isla, REI, RKO, and Donny.
There seems to be a growing trend of foreign foods entering the LAT puzzles. I can understand including some, but I dislike the ... taste ... of tapas on asada, both mixed with samosas.
The most enjoyable part of this puzzle for me is the fourth line across:
Edens Hell oppo.
FIW. I've never heard of Blue Swede, so I took a WAG and put ses for the French word. Wrong mistake!
And I was so pleased with myself for throwing down the long answers starting with Prince of Wales.
Once again a plethora of proper names ruined a good puzzle. So overall not an enjoyable solve.
Thank you, Adrian and Victor, for providing us with such a clever and rewarding puzzle. Was it challenging? You betcha. But this is a Saturday, after all.
I love misdirections in clues, and this puzzle was Misdirection Heaven. As a former math teacher, I especially appreciated 31 Down, "Plane-related, say."
I'm not sure I've ever seen HOMEBIRTH in a crossword before, but as an advocate, it resonated with me. Both of my children, including Arizona Jim, were born at home.
And the great Mary Astor made an appearance in your puzzle! She actually won an Oscar for "The Great Lie." Probably her best-known role, though, was in "The Maltese Falcon" with Humphrey Bogart. At the end of the movie Bogart tells her that he is going to "send her up the river to Tehachapi." (We used to have a women's prison here)
Thanks again, Adrian and Victor, for giving us such a stimulating and enjoyable Saturday solve. I hope to see you here again in the near future.
Crashed and burned in California. I'm gonna have to listen to some PARAMORE now and see what that's all about since they're new to me. I'll squeeze some in between the Christmas music.
Started off strong in the northern hemisphere and got RACE TO THE BOTTOM with only a couple letters, so I thought "I am a genius!" Then got hung up a bit around the equator, and "I'm not too bad at this." Finally hit the south pole and "I don't have a clue!" Got stuck with BASS as the chorus part and that ruined that part of the world.
But always a good puzzle with LES PAUL in it. I have two (electric guitars, not the man). My Gibson Les Paul Custom is beautifully made, plays like butter, and sounds incredible. It's also the heaviest guitar I own which wears on your shoulder after a long night. Just like everything else in life, there is no perfect guitar (but it's close!).
Favorite clue was 8A - Last time for SHELF LIFE.
ETHER and clue? Nobody wanted to throw up. Ethereum and Bitcoin- I'm waiting for those to join the Tulip Mania and South Seas Company and disappear. Money doesn't grow on trees but those two have pulled it out of thin air.
Blue Swede became a one-hit wonder by bastardizing the sweet BJ Thomas song Hooked on a Feeling. How this cover became a hit I'll never know. Unlike a lot of music I didn't like when i first heard it, this one didn't get better with time.
I'm as skeptical as you about Bitcoin and clones, but the good ole US Dollar is pretty much out of thin air too. We abandoned the gold standard in 1933. Now its worth is pretty much based on good will.
And Bitcoin doesn't produce anything. That's why, in the long run, equities (stocks) must outperform monetary assets like metals, binds and deposits. Trouble is, I'm so old there isn't a long run.
I have a Les Paul Standard, candy apple red, which has increased in value about 5 fold since I bought it in 1982. You’re right about the ease of play. These days I don’t play it at all, prefer my Taylor acoustic/electric.
Close, but no cigar this morning. Never heard to song "This is Why" or heard of PARAMORE. Also had filled WRITLAR__E but ACTUP (unknown) and ARGUE couldn't make it. PAT PARKER- all perps on that unknown.
HELL, ARID, ORTHO, ASADA, CORFU, REA- WAGS on those.
DYE, & Mauveine, YUN, TIO Bruno, ETHER, ASTOR, SAMOSAS, MON- unknowns filled by perps. I was thinking of a Girl Scout cookie but realized they were samoas.
The studio was either MGM or RKO; waited for the first perp.
When I see Bosch, I think of the expensive Bosch Dishwasher DW's best friend had installed that CAUGHT ON FIRE due to a short. She was not home but her smoke detector alerted the Alarm Co. The FD had to break in and distinguish the fire. Bosch got the privilege of paying about 75 grand for their badly made appliance. I went over and inventoried every single item in the kitchen and Bosch's insurance Co. also paid for them as well as smoke damage.
Bitcoin worth. I agree with your dollar comment but at least the USD is backed by the federal gov.'s ability to tax citizens.
Good Morning:
It took me three times, plus, as long as SS to complete this challenging offering, but finish it I did, with more satisfaction than joy. The satisfaction came from drawing upon every ounce of P and P that I could summon to earn that coveted TADA. The lack of joy was a result of too many unknowns, i.e., Pat Parker, Blue Swede, Paramore, Salinas, etc., and the unnecessarily obtuse cluing for common words that could have provided some perp help: Mon, Ether, Hell, Dye, etc. On the positive side, the fill was top notch and fresh and most of the cluing was clever and Saturday-worthy.
Thanks, Adrian and Victor, and thanks, HG, for the pleasing visuals and chatty commentary.
Have a great day.
I didn’t think I would complete this STEW of misdirections, proper names and obscure words, like xeric, mauveine, but I did , however I’ll confess I looked up two names: PARAMORE and, BLUE SWEDE, when I realized without those two words, I couldn’t finish.
I entered SAID NO ONE EVER, not knowing why. I don’t quite know what a hot take is. I know REI from previous CWs as well as BTS. I’ve never seen a candy bar named AERO, but then I never eat candy bars.
I liked positive course feedback, YUM. When we used to go to the Monterrey area every year, on our way back to the San Jose airport we would drive through SALINAS and I would marvel at the acres and acres of beautiful lettuce
Squeezed in the solve this morning before I head to the dress rehearsal for my community choir concert this evening - always fun to add the variety of instruments when we just have the piano in practices.
Like Big Easy - I went to Bosch appliances and then main character on the BBC program before landing on the artist!
In Myanmar many minority ethnic groups like the MON have suffered but the Rohingya has experienced the worst with a genocide in the last several years.
My husband has been in Cairo all week teaching a course but had a sprint through the CONCOURSE in Paris to get to his connecting flight to Chicago, after his flight from CAIRO to Paris was delayed 3 hours
Thanks HG for the fun blog and Adrian& Victor for the puzzle
Yikes, I FIR! ….. persistence and consistently responding to orders barked from the kitchen with “Almost finished with the puzzle.“ for more than an hour helped. (I have not one ounce of decency .. maybe just a SHRED*) 😙
Inkovers: ideal/IWISH, ounce/SHRED*
Liked “last time” “course feed back” “plane” as related to GEOMETRY (not aero). Who doesn’t love “Hooked on a Feeling” but who remembered this band’s name?
“Mauveine”, ETHER?
That “Instant Pot Beef Stew” picture says “Dinner at the zoo.com” Think I’ll pass. 😳
The stubborn WRONG MISTAKE of spare for STAVE was a key “hold (off)” in the middle. OPPO suddenly popped out of my crossword storage cerebral cortex.
Agree with Jinx; “Somewhere up near SALINAS”, where Janis let Bobby McGee slip away.
If criminal Belugas, Humpbacks etc. had fingers you could trace the ___….PRINCEOFWALES
Prison college subject…. CONCOURSE
Care for …. TENTO
Continental marine animals …. SHELFLIFE
”What dear, you say your mother plans to ____ !! “ …. MAUVEINE
Gotta get going . The list of Saturday chores and errands keeps expanding, see you all on Monday.
Mine is the '74 20th Anniversary model. I'm actually a Fender guy and have a number including two 60s Stratocasters. But you gotta keep some Gibsons around for their sound.
Just when I thought a puzzle could not get any worse than yesterday's, I found that I had made a WRONG MISTAKE. "Gee, this sure was a fun and satisfying crossword" SAID NO ONE EVER. A true dumpster fire of obscure, obtuse, and asinine cluing.
Hola! Again, I see that I am in good company finding this puzzle really difficult and of course, I'm distracted by all the holiday preparations. Finally, I threw in the towel and LIU to finish as I have to leave for our gift exchange in a few minutes. Congratulations to any and all who finished! I hope you are having a superb day, everyone! Until later!
Challenging Saturday puzzle, but that's what they're supposed to be. So, thank you, Adrian and Victor. And thank you for your helpful commentary too, Gary.
Well, it would be fun to enjoy some TAPAS at a place like CORFU or NORTHERN IRELAND, wouldn't it. But I guess IT'S KISMET that we'll just stay HOME and enjoy some STEW and argue about whether or not we made the WRONG MISTAKES while doing the puzzle today. Perfectly enjoyable weekend, I'd say.
And I wish you all one too.
But there's a limit to teh ability to tax. There are two tax rates where the government collects zero taxes - 0% and 100%.
I had a Telecaster which was stolen out of the back hatch of my vehicle, used the insurance $$ to buy the Gibson, which covered about 2/3 of the cost.
I enjoyed the puzzle despite, and sometimes because of, numerous obstacles. My annoyance count was 23, which is a lot. I got my FIR, but I needed more input than usual from DW, who helped with OPPO, ACT UP, STEW, BTO, ETHER, and RACE TO THE BOTTOM
The biggest annoyance in the puzzle was a Yogi Berra attribution I’ve never heard, and the biggest frustration was not knowing the name of the Hooked on a Feeling group. I didn’t know PARAMORE and PAT PARKER. I also had trouble with several short answers, including the Myanmar faction, the French word, and ART, as clued. There were other stretchy and sketchy clues I won’t go into, but I did really dislike LA LA.
It was odd to see TIO Bruno and the Pulitzer Prize for Criticism in the puzzle for the second day in a row. Again, it’s PULL-it-zer, not PEW-lit-zer.
Likes included SALINAS (although the clue should have said Monterey COUNTY), CORFU (a WAG), YUM (a CSO to Hahtoolah), SHRED (difficult to suss without perps), STAVE, and, fittingly, HELL.
A whole bunch of unknowns but I managed to finish. Too much name-ification for my taste, like the clues on MON and especially ACTUP (seriously? That corner already has ALINAS and PARAMORE).
Favorite mistake: CARTESIAN for GEOMETRIC off the E.
I was unable to solve this puzzle.
Ech…here we are again, with another “Lets see how many off-the-edge clues we can invent” Saturday. I’m with @Charlie Echo on this one — even though I got almost all of it (I resorted to my usual m.o. in the obscure names dep’t: look ‘em up and continue). Plus L.L. Bean ≠ REI — “buy a pair of skis or rock climbing shoes from LL Bean”, SAID NO ONE EVER! No cee-gar. I will give credit for some pretty snazzy clues, like Low digits > TOES and Last time for SHELF LIFE, so at least there were some grins in an otherwise grim puzzle. As with some of y’all, PRINCE OF WALES gave me my first toehold, but still came so close to a TITT today. HG’s run-through was my only relief — thanks, dude!
@Jinx, I say your Pulitzer Prize gag isn’t sexist;funnier’n’HELL, yes — thanks for the treat! And I agree, BLUE SWEDE murdered that BJ Thomas tune…
LES Pauls are such beautiful guitars indeed, but I’m with @Youper Phil — my go-to’s these days are my Taylors (6- and -12 string). Although I still play an electric for giggles every so often, I’m well past my rock’n’roll band days…
Looking forward to a nice Sunday cruise tomorrow!
====> Darren / L.A.
I bought a Martin online from a major retailer, I just didn’t like it, wide neck, action not good, physically brought it back to the store and played a 6 string, Taylor, great tone and a better fit for me.
I went back and attempted yesterday's (Friday's) puzzle. I enjoyed reading NaomiZ's write-up and all your comments. I heartily agree with Irish Miss's first and detailed evaluation.
Not sure if anyone will see this late post. This morning our Early Music Ensemble was rehearsing for our big performance. Christmas music from 500 years ago. Then we performed for real in the small town of Carpinteria and we had a very enthusiastic reception from the crowd. Then we watched the fun Carpinteria holiday parade. I was thrilled that some people recognized us from the performance!
Hand up I found this puzzle difficult. Hand up with music on my mind, ALTO had to be the CHORUS PART. But I also knew SALINAS was solid. I knew of ACT UP, but that clue was no help. Hand up did not like the crossed proper names and obscurities. Hand up: Favorite was SHELF LIFE clue. Amazed to FIR.
Here is my photo at the Steinbeck Museum in SALINAS. Including East of EDEN.
I had lost these photos for many years. I just found them in a folder of "recovered" photos that must have been damaged somehow on the memory card.
From Yesterday:
Thanks for all of the lively discussion of the evils of SHRINKFLATION. Even those who did not enjoy the puzzle seemed to appreciate ranting about this corporate evil.
Anon at 8:27PM, Token Creek Thanks for your late additions.
Glad you found the picture! If I ever go back to California, that'll be on my list. I like Santa Barbara County, and have spent some time in Santa Maria. Had business in Guadalupe and Orcutt too. And like every tourist, had pea soup at Andersens in Solvang.
Driving up El Camino Real from Santa Monica, we had to turn left to get to the City of Santa Barbara. Our favorite gag was "I drove to Santa Barbara for the meeting, but there was a sign that said SANTA BARBARA LEFT, so I turned around and came back to the office."
FIR before heading out this morning, and came here after dinner to enjoy HG'S review and all your comments. So many guitarists in the Corner! Impressive. The southwest corner of the puzzle almost stumped me, but I had the California advantage of knowing SALINAS, and enjoyed the solve in spite of a few unknowns. Thanks to our constructors, to HG, to all of you Cornerites, and to C.C. for this special space.
ExACTly, Youper! I have a Martin J40-12 that sounds like an orchestra — but it is literally a pain to play. The Taylor is so much easier on the hands — but it doesn’t have the tonal fullness of the Martin. What to do… (short answer: Taylor cu$tom)
====> Darren
So many Californians here on the corner, too!
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