Themeless Saturday by Kareem Ayas
As yoyu can see by the red highlights, this puzzle had a lot of first time entries. Those entries, once deciphered, were the key to a well-earned "got 'er done!"
Kareem's proper names had decent escape hatches.
1. Coin star: SACAGAWEA - π Yup, I thought of the machine, ignoring the space between Coin and star.
10. Puccini heroine: TOSCA.
15. Reaction that may cause redness: OXIDATION - NASA's Perseverance Rover captured the redness of Mars that is due to OXIDATION
16. Count de la Fère in Dumas novels: ATHOS.
17. Aries, Leo, and Sagittarius: FIRE SIGNS.
18. One concerned with baby weight?: STORK π
19. Tic-__-toe: TAC - The climactic scene from War Games was to get the computer to play Tic Tac Toe against itself . The computer discovered that like war, no one could win and so it stopped missile launches.
20. What sitcoms always begin and end with?: ESSES and 1. Start to celebrate?: SOFT C.π Meta clues always take a few heartbeats to detect
22. Rent alternative: OWN.
23. Bra part: CLASP - I'm told unclasping with one hand is an art.
26. Ran: LED.
28. Run-__: DMC.
30. NYU's __ School of the Arts: TISCH.
34. Browser action: RELOAD - Command + R can e used to update a page
36. Goes out briefly: CATCHES A FEW Z'S π
38. Flexible flyer: PAPER AIRPLANE - How to construct this world champion airplane
39. Chophouse array: SIRLOIN STEAKS.
40. Browser action: PAGE UP.
41. "Try some": TASTE.
42. "That's __ from me": A NO - He's made millions with this phrase
43. Stock option?: STY - You could also keep your livestock in a pen and 55. Stock option?: DOW - Other stock altogether! π
45. Dutch cheeses: EDAMS.
49. Oogenesis products: OVA.
51. Sensitive spots: SORES.
56. Wolf voiced by Giancarlo Esposito in "The Jungle Book": AKELA.
58. Sharp infusion in some fish marinades: WASABIOLI - This one was unknown to me but just made sense
61. Money minted in Quezon City: PESOS - A current Philippine PESO is worth about $.017. However, this 1903 PESO sold for $4,800.
62. Storage unit: ZIPLOC BAG - Keeping your phone dry in a ZIPLOC BAG is a 50/50 proposition.
63. Storage units: BYTES - Not bushels here π
64. "Does someone want in ... ?": ANY TAKERS.
63. Storage units: BYTES - Not bushels here π
64. "Does someone want in ... ?": ANY TAKERS.
Down:
2. Like some symmetry: AXIAL.
3. Around: CIRCA.
4. Juice suffix: ADE.
5. Part of LNG: GAS - Liquid Natural Gas
6. End in __: A TIE - Crossword's favorite coach ARA Parseghian of Notre Dame elected to not to try to win in 1966. He had his boys run into the line for four straight plays and settle for A TIE in 1966. That decision would follow him forever.
7. Freaks (out): WIGS.
8. Forever and ever: EONS.
9. First name in landscape photography: ANSEL.
8. Forever and ever: EONS.
9. First name in landscape photography: ANSEL.
 |
| In the 40's, he often shot from the top of his Pontiac woodie |
10. Prof helpers: TAS.
11. Miranda of "Homeland": OTTO ¯\_(γ)_/¯ A Saturday obscure OTTO for me
11. Miranda of "Homeland": OTTO ¯\_(γ)_/¯ A Saturday obscure OTTO for me
12. Final battles: SHOW DOWNS.
13. Where the walls have ears?: CORN MAZE π Just 15 minutes west of Omaha
14. "That's a big __": ASK.
21. Colorful wraps: SERAPES - Clint said he wore the same one in every spaghetti western he made and it is now in a closet somewhere in his house
24. Bread, e.g.: STAPLE.
25. Wretched: PITEOUS - I'll bet I wasn't the only one who first put HIDEOUS
27. Air out?: DEFLATE - Did the Patriots really order the footballs deflated for an AFC Championship game?
29. Media for PC games, once: CDS.
31. Plot lines?: SCRIPTS - Autographed by Julius Epstein one of the screenwriters
32. Gemma of "Crazy Rich Asians": CHAN - ¯\_(γ)_/¯ Speaking of Saturday cluing there is no Charlie here.
33. Safe job: HEIST.
35. Released inconspicuously: LEAKED - Sometimes called trial balloons.
36. Multipocketed garment: CARGO VEST.
37. Sp. miss: SRTA.
38. Upright part: PIANO KEY π This 1877 fully restored Steinway upright can be had for $49,000.
39. Location with masks: SPA.
44. "Impressive!": YOWZA.
46. InDesign company: ADOBE.
47. Meat grinder?: MOLAR π
48. Gulps: SWIGS.
50. Boba tea option: ALOE.
52. Pluviometer measure: RAIN - from the Latin word pluvia, which means "rain", and the Greek word metron, which means "measure". We just call this a rain gauge and have this one for years. In 2019 it filled to overflowing one night.
54. Abundance in Bolivia's Salar de Uyuni: SALT - Salar means "salt flat" in Spanish and Uyuni is the nearest town.
56. "Be on the lookout" msg.: APB.
57. Crèche figure: ASS.
60. __ factor: ICK - Supply your own entry. π«
2 comments:
Well, I missed ONE
letter in the whole puzzle, but that’s enough to FIW. It was from the clue “Part of LNG”
I had no idea how to spell the name of the “coin star” so I put an “L” where the “G” should go, making “Las” instead of “Gas.”
I’m not terribly happy about that, but I am happy to be with you guys and see how the rest of you did. Subgenius out!
WASABIOLI?? YOWZA!! Well, the triple stack of niners bottom right led me to a DNF, couldn’t get any help from the verts and too many blanks to even WAG. With cluing that bordered on the ridic (even for a Saturday), I was happy to get as much right as I did. Has anybody ever heard of Giancarlo Esposito? “Does someone want in…?” I thought was somebody talking to their pet scratching at the door. Oh well, I guess I enjoyed trying to solve this puzzle, thanks for the challenge Kareem.
HG ~ kudos to you that you “got er done”, and thanks for enlightening me on all I didn’t know.
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