Themeless Saturday by Zhouqin Burnikel
C.C. has a very challenging and mouth watering-entry for us with her 400th puzzle. I kept coming up to culinary clues and fill that were foreign to me but they all worked themselves out and I got a very satisfying "got 'er done!" As you can see by the graphic at the left, she had some very unique or 1 other long fill.
1. Seated asana?: CHAIR POSE
10. Also: TOO.
13. Some transparent covers: GLASS DOMES.
13. Some transparent covers: GLASS DOMES.
15. Clearly embarrassed: RED AS A BEET.
16. Concert lineup: AMPS.
17. Skin care company with a Sanskrit name: AVEDA - From Ayurveda which is Sanskrit for "knowledge of life".
20. Hill with no peak: MESA 😀
21. Bread like limppu: RYE - ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Finnish RYE bread
23. Noodles: PASTA.
25. Brought up the rear?: STOOD 😀
27. Hymn associated with King David: PSALM.
30. Sound for silence: SHH 😀
32. The Grand Ole __: OPRY - We went to see the new Grand Ole Opry in Nashville but it was flooded out so we went to where the show originated - Ryman Auditorium in downtown Nashville to sit in the original pews.
33. Ticks away: ELAPSES.
35. Start without a key: HOT WIRE.
37. Juicy bits?: PULP.
38. Masked drama whose name means "skill": NOH.
40. Food that never decays: HONEY.
41. Not great at all: SMALL 😀
43. Real head-turner: BEAUT.
45. Rainbow eucalyptus, for one: TREE - Native to the Philippines
46. Liquor in a dark 'n' stormy: RUM.
51. Play things for kids: TOY PIANOS - A vintage Schoenhut model over 100 years old
54. See-through fabric: GAUZE.
55. Whale that preys on seals: ORCA.
56. Total variety: RAISIN BRAN.
58. Go nowhere: STAY.
59. Frank Stella pieces: MINIMAL ART.
60. With it, once: HEP - Hip or Hep? My last fill was the ending vowel in 27. Rich fruit cake: PLUM TORTE.
61. Travel at night, maybe: SLEEP WALK 😀 Here's Dick Clark introducing the great old 50's instrumental with this title.
Down:
1. AIDS Memorial Quilt designer Jones: CLEVE.
2. Dead zone?: HADES 😀
3. Taqueria option: ASADA - Grilled meat in English
3. Taqueria option: ASADA - Grilled meat in English
4. Emmy nominee Rae: ISSA.
5. Vitamin fig.: RDA.
6. New Orleans heros: PO'BOYS.
7. Gyeran-mari and tamagoyaki: OMELETS.
8. Acorn, for one: SEED 😀
9. One of the Haim sisters: ESTE - She is on the right
10. Red hot pizza: TOMATO PIE.
11. "My bad!": OOPS, SORRY.
12. Bone, in Italian: OSSO - Mi sono rotto un OSSO del braccio (I broke a bone in my arm)
13. Approximate weight of some large butterflies: GRAM.
14. City with views of Table Mountain: CAPETOWN.
19. Scale divs.: LBS.
21. Noodle dish with a tonkotsu variety: RAMEN - Tonkotsu is a Japanese word that refers to both a ramen broth made from pork bones and a fried pork cutlet dish. You're welcome.
24. Patient sound?: AHH.
26. Turn blue, perhaps: DYE 😀
28. Top sports figure?: SALARY CAP - When you pay your QB a huge salary, it's hard to get good players for other positions and stay under the SALARY CAP.
29. Google Wallet alternative: APPLE PAY.
31. Lackluster: HO HUM.
33. Short records: EPS - Extended Play recordS play a little longer than a 45 rpm record and far less than a 33 1/3 rpm LP
34. Have a good cry: SOB.
36. Fry alternative: TOT 😀 - Tater TOTS are a good alternative to French fries.
39. Mulan, for one: HEROINE.
42. Ring around the collar: LEI.
44. Down Under one: AUSSIE - A nickname for Australia is OZ because it's pronunciation is close to its first syllable.
48. Like much of Maine: RURAL.
49. Netflix show set in Missouri: OZARK.
50. Farmer's market structure: TENT.
51. Peter of the Wailers: TOSH ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
52. Quintet for most starfish: ARMS - Creepy
53. Place for cuticle oil: NAIL.
54. Chew like a mouse: GNAW.
57. Naughty child: IMP.
39 comments:
Challenging, but fair, I thought, like a Saturday puzzle by C.C. usually is. Once I got “Old El Paso” things started falling into place. FIR, so I’m happy.
Good morning!
This one seemed too easy for a Saturday. The answers weren't always obvious, but things perped quickly. D-o noticed "Seated asana" crossing ASADA. Anyone else think of Schroeder ("Peanuts") at TOY PIANO? Back in the day, EPS were 45-RPM records with two songs per side. Congrats on the big 400, C.C. Nice expo, as always, Husker.
FIR. For a while I was staring at a sea of white and I thought it seemed hopless. But once I got a foothold, it seemed to fall into place nicely, despite a plethora of unknowns.
The bottom of the puzzle filled first and the last to fall was the NW.
Overall a very enjoyable puzzle, even though it was Saturday hard.
Took 14:34 today. Like KS, the top-left was the last to fall for me, not knowing Cleve, the Sanskrit brand, or what a taqueria was.
As usual, obscure and/or foreign foods made their presence known on a Saturday puzzle (limppu, tonkotsu, plum torte, tomato pie).
I knew today's actress (Issa), but not any of the Haim sisters (nor brothers if they have any), and not Frank Stella.
FIR. A Saturday puzzle. An indication that this was an easy one, but mark it down: Jinx's dumb mass got a Saturday puzzle in 2025! (I admit that I guessed AVEDA x CLEVE.) Fixed noi->NOH, idle->STAY, and esme->ESTE.
Gold medal to CC for the "obscure clue for Ektorp fill" category: "Gyeran-mari and tamagoyaki" for OMELETS. Don't know what either one are, but I'm pretty sure I'd rather have a New Mexico OMELTE.
Thanks to CC for the fun Saturday challenge. My favorite was "patient sound" for AHH. And congrats on your amazing 400th. And thanks to H.Gary for another great review. I've known Sleep Walk forever, but until today I didn't know it had a name.
Top sports figure? Dove bars? Brought up three rear? Ring around the collar, Travel at night, maybe. All original excellent Saturday clues IMO. 21A and 21D, “Bread” and “Noodle dish” were Ektorps, limppu and tonkotsu were excess baggage. RAMEN crossed PASTA. NOH is usually clued with a Japanese reference which is a gimme, today required perps. CLEVE, MULAN, TABLA, MINIMAL ART, all unknowns but also perped. AVEDA, not to be confused with Aveeno. FIR in 21:47. C.C. ~ thank you for the enjoyable solve, and congrats on your 400th LAT publication, your prolificacy is amazing! Just curious, do you ever moonlight as an editor for any CW outlets? HG ~ your Saturday blogs are always a fun read, thanks for today’s stellar review!
Brought up the rear? not three, shoulda proofread more.
Rats! Another miss by 1 letter. Alphabet run for the V at the cross of CLEVE & AVEDA didn't help. Grr.
Fun fact: Concert lineups at large venues rarely feature rows of AMPS anymore. Sound is projected through massive PA systems so some bands place dummy stacks (sorta like the facade of a western town on a movie set) to fill up space and look cool. "Rush" lets their fans in on the joke by placing stacks of washer/dryers on stage!
C.C., what an impressive accomplishment to now have 400 crosswords under your belt. I hope you feel free to take a bow. And somehow it seems appropriate that the 400th be a good old difficult themeless Saturday puzzle.
Today's was indeed a challenge, but well-constructed and full of creative misdirections. My two favorites are probably "Brought up the rear?" (STOOD) and "New Orleans heros" (POBOYS). Oh, also "Dove bars?" (COOS).
Conversational utterances, euphemistically called "in-the-language phrases," I think, seem to be featured nowadays in virtually every LAT crossword. Today's entries included PLS, OOPSSORRY, and SHH. [Why isn't it spelled ssh?]
My biggest surprise was that we had a C.C. puzzle with nary a baseball clue or answer in it. Say it ain't so!
Thanks again, C.C., for making your 400th a fun and challenging experience for us. And thanks, Gary, for your entertaining and helpful recap.
Good Morning:
This is a fine example of what a Saturday puzzle should be: Challenging, yet solvable, thanks to fair and plentiful helpful perps. I was impressed by the clever cluing and the bounty of fresh and outstanding fill. I think the number of food-related entries might be a record for a non-Sunday grid. As others have mentioned, the NW corner was slow to complete, due to the unknowns of Chair Pose, Cleve and Aveda and, in my case, holding onto Dram too long, until Gram finally materialized. Other tricky fill included Tosh, Tabla, and Este.
Thanks, CC, for an exciting and enjoyable solve. What an impressive representation to mark your 400th crossword puzzle! Congrats, dear CC!
Thanks to you, HG, for your guidance and commentary and the striking photos. The Rainbow Eucalyptus tree was my favorite.
Have a great day.
Long time reader (and longer time solver), first time commenter. This was, for me, the easiest Saturday puzzle I’ve seen in a long while. But sometimes the answers jump out at you and sometimes they don’t.
Now, pardon my lack of experience here, but I see the puzzle as edited by Patti Varol, constructed by Zhouqin Burnikel, and explained by Husker Gary. No offense intended, and all congratulations on the accomplishment, but who is C.C.? And 400th L.A. Times what? Please forgive my ignorance and, again, no offense intended.
Would you believe I looked, and I cannot find a happy 400 cake...
YP here ~ C.C is Zhouqin, her 400th LAT CW published today.
Hi, Chip at 10:22 am! Zhouqin Burnikel's blogger handle (screen name) is C.C. She started this blog and runs it like the fine machine it is! Today's puzzle is the 400th that she has personally constructed and had published.
Did you look at Sequoias-R-Us.com?
Pure genius, C.C.! I was able to fill in the unknowns thanks to perps, and laughed out loud several times along the way. A favorite: Brought up the rear = STOOD! Congratulations on this and on 399 other excellent puzzles.
Thanks, Husker Gary, for explaining it all. Always a pleasure to read your posts.
Always a feast with C.C.'s puzzles.
You have to look under "Quatercentenary," I believe.
Puzzling thoughts:
First, congrat's to C.C. on her 400th LAT puzzle!
Second, it took just 15 minutes to solve this - maybe a Saturday record for me - but I always "seem" to be on C.C.'s wavelength
Third, my follow-up appt from my cataract surgery shows that I am good to go with getting the second eye done this coming week
Fourth, I can't resist responding to 14-across with a 17-syllable poem:
A dove just flew by.
Landed on a church steeple,
Uttering high coos
Like many of the rest of you, this was quick for a Saturday for me. Learning moments on the various foods in the clues - it will be fun to read Misty's comment today!
Some gimmes - AVEDA products have been around for 35+ years and early on the scene of chemical free products using botanicals. Used to be that you could only get their products in a salon - but now you can get it online
Growing up I both SLEEP WALKed and talked - but now I only talk in my sleep and much less often.
I had the same experience as Jinx with the song SLEEP WALK- totally recognized the music but didn't know the title
Thanks CC for the puzzle and congrats on #400 and thanks HG for the fun blog!
I'll just Echo Irish Miss this morning, as she pretty well summed it up for me. What an enjoyable way to start a Saturday morning!
Always exciting to get a C.C. puzzle, and even more so on a Saturday. Woohoo! Thank you, C.C. And your commentaries are also a pleasure, Gary--so thank you for those too.
Well, I was a little worried to see HADES so early in the puzzle, but then right away the food started to show up with that OMELET, and what a treat that began. We got TOMATO PIE right after that and soon some RYE bread and some PASTA. That PLUM TORTE was probably our favorite, served with a dash of HONEY. But before all that we should really get some breakfast and enjoy some RAISIN BRAN. Well after that amazing food morning, we are certainly not going to SLEEP WALK. So thanks again for this treat, C.C.
Get a good breakfast, everybody.
Thank you so much! Would not have figured that out.
Brilliant, Chris. You are the Bard of the Corner.
Thank you! I really appreciate it.
What we really want on a Saturday is to FIR after a struggle that entails a lot of white space after the first tour of the clues, and C.C. provided that.
I didn’t love everything, and the SE corner, which fell last, exemplified my ups and downs. The SLEEP-WALK clue was marvelous, but who knew Total has a RAISIN BRAN variety? And Frank Stella must use green paint on that MINIMAL ART.
But there were many delightful toeholds along the way. PO’BOYS, CAPETOWN, RAMEN, TABLA, HO-HUM, and Peter TOSH were my favorites. DW sort of knew CLEVE (although the only Cleveland Jones I knew was a tiny scatback for the 1960 Oregon Ducks), and OLD EL PASO was a satisfying fill despite a clue that didn’t help me much.
Several clues had a word I found unhelpful. As a clue for COOS, “dove bars” doesn’t work, because “bars” are a tempo marking and coos are like notes, not beats. Are amps lined up? Not in the band I was in. Track “records” as BETS didn’t parse for me. Down Under “one,” instead of “person,” seemed based on the necessity of having a one-line clue. As for Maine being primarily RURAL, that’s true of nearly every state. I disagree with H. Gary about the dual role for “tonkotsu.” Although it is a ramen broth (which I hadn’t known), the pork cutlet is tonkatsu (which I DID know).
I also don’t think “run” and TROT are quite synonymous. I should mention that I think jogging and trotting are harder on the knees than flat-out running. I was able to sprint quite fast in middle age until a bout of sciatica stopped me 10 years ago.
I never had a TOY PIANO. I first took lessons on a real piano at age 4.
Our own CC here to challenge us on a Saturday (are you sure this puzzle wasn’t meant for the daily “Asia Today” 😃) almost finished but was blocked in the NE and SW by sticking with some baaaad entries😖
See through for “transparent”and Red in the face for “embarrassed” wouldn’t work. It’s admirable that CC went out found, caught and weighed a large butterfly !! , POBOYS, cuz Muffuletta too long
I’ve learned a lot about Yoga from the CWs and know it’s not for me. Once stuck in these poses who’s gonna pull me out! 🥹
“Limp pu”* (I could have a lot of fun with that term but… won’t 😀) “patient sound” ”nurse, I gotta go to the bathroom”* STOOD for “brought up the rear” (also what’s done with a colonoscope 😀) “Ticks Away!” an OTC med to prevent Lyme Disease? (Did any one tell King David he didn’t need the “P”).
Our town is know for its TOMATO PIE and that’s not it. Shipped around the country to expats and others
Part of the hint for TOY PIANOS was that the clue was “play things”. Not playthings
Thought TOT was an alternative to small”fry”
Brains: NOODLES
Do you know the name of the masked drama? … “NOH” I don’t
What about you. Do you know the same of the masked drama? … “GNAW I don’t either”
C’mon I bet Frank Stella painted that eucalyptus. 🤨
Congrats CC on your 400th. Quite an achievement. I’m sure you don’t remember but you did a puzzle for my wife Wendy on the occasion of my 80th birthday almost six years ago, which was a lot of fun. Hope you have 400 more.
Alright, alright, rub it in. Most everyone thought this was easy for a Saturday, I had to use red-letter help and two alphabet runs. Like yesterday, I did eventually fill all the cells (21 minutes) with the correct letters, but can't give myself a FIR because of the alpha runs. DNK some of the names, or NOH, or LIMPUU, or the Korean omelets. 40A SPAM did not fit, had to be HONEY. 61A especially clever clue. AVENO/AVETA. Well, it was a fun-to-work CW, even though no FIR for me. Congrats to C.C. on an amazing 400 CWs. Astonishing. Thanx too to HG for the terrific write-up.
This one’s GNAWt for me.
Don’t know WEES but I don’t consider alphabet runs (running the alphabet through your head to come up with the correct letter) as a barrier to a FIR. If I did I would have to cut my FIRS by half especially at end of the week. 😖
Later me add my congrats to CC. for 400 puzzle
Constructions. Based on CW average of 225 blanks per square you have filled 90,000 letters to be pars
I'm going to push back a bit here. In music, a bar is not a tempo marking at all; it is simply another name for a measure. The cooing of a bird consists of notes and beats sung across several bars. C.C.'s clue is not only one of her clever misdirections; I find it a sweet and poignant misdirection.
🤣👍🏽 ====> D.
If you’re in a headliner band, yeah, amps are lined up. Ever hear of a Marshall wall? They were a client back in my photo days; I shot a poster with Michael Schenker in front of nine 4x12 speaker cabinets with a head on each stack of 3. Now THAT is a “wall of sound” (credit Phil Spector) 🎸
====> Darren
A normal Saturday workout, but a nicely-done one — like D-Otto, it was a bottom-up solve for me; some sneaky but creative clueing (most by C.C. I’m going to guess!) and a masterpiece for Ms. Zhouqin, one of your best! So apropos for your 400th construct — wow, what a milestone, C.C. Huge congrats to you! 🎉🎇
Add to that Husker Gary’s recap; you always find cool references for the fills! Tonkatsu…yum, my favorite thing to order when at a Japanese eatery (the cutlet, that is). Yes, TOY PIANO brought the “Peanuts” kid to mind, D.O.; and the vid of “Sleepwalk” was a treat to watch (great clue on that one, btw!) — that kid Santo was quite a talent on the Hawai’ian guitar.
Speaking of the Islands, there are a ton of rainbow eucalyptus on Kauai; their beautiful bark had me shooting Stella-ish abstracts for about 45 minutes one day. My contribution to MINIMAL ART, lol
TABLA I knew immediately; I was very into Ravi Shankar back in the hazy ‘60’s 😎 (cool fact: his daughter is singer/songwriter Nora Jones).
So, once again, big congrats to C.C. on your 400th published puzzle. And Chairman, so glad to hear your cataract surgery was a success; these days it’s become an almost pedestrian procedure, so good on ya for the other eye.
====> Darren / L.A.
PS — hadn’t heard about Rush stacking washer-dryers in place of their amp stacks! Hilarious!!
====> D.
I started slowly and raced to a finish today. A FIR test. It's usually a bad omen when Both 1A & 1D are unknowns. But RED AS A BEET, AVEDA, POBOYS, and MESA allowed them to fill. I've seen OLD EL PASO in stores but it took a few perps to figure who made the unknown Smart Fiesta kit came from. Their 'stand up taco shells'- don't get them. The bottom cracks as soon as you pick one up after its been filled.
As for the tamogoyaki and tonkotsu clues, it just took a few perps to guess OMELET and RAMEN.
Frank Stella & MINIMAL ART- no knowledge of either. Ditto for ESTE and TOSH.
ISSA, IDRIS, ad IDINA sure show up a lot in these puzzles.
SALARY CAP- I don't really care how much somebody makes but publishing these stratospheric salaries in the paper means one thing. Ticket prices go up.
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