Saturday Themeless by Marshal Herrmann
All I could find while searching for this constructor was Marshal saying: My name is spelled atypically, and in instances where spelling matters, I always introduce myself as “Marshal with ONE L” He did not mention the two R's and N's in his surname.One negative in my search for info on "Marshal with ONE L" was that Google kept offering me Field Marshall Hermann Göring. Yikes!
This puzzle bedeviled me in the NW corner. MATCHA TEA and bespoke accessories were not in my ken (how 'bout using that word?)! IMS, TATS, SHERE and TATTLE as clued were also impediments for various reasons I will enumerate.
1. Opening remark?: IT'S A START - It truly is
10. Discussion topic for Oscar buffs: SNUBS - Here are some
15. Green energy source?: MATCHA TEA ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
16. Colorful discovery on some Egyptian mummies: HENNA - Saturday cluing for a common word
17. Some bespoke accessories: STATEMENT PIECES ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ bespoke furniture, quite simply means 'furniture made according to the specifications of an individual buyer'. Custom-made furniture, in other words. I did notice bespoke was not capitalized. Google at will!
19. Sound from a La-Z-Boy, perhaps: SNORE 😀
20. Authority figures: TOP DOGS.
21. Beats by __: DRE.
22. Subs: FILLS IN - Hey, I know a guy...😀
24. Ergo: THUS.
26. Patron saint of lost causes: JUDE - Any nominations?
27. Diner fare: HASH.
29. Alley-__: OOP.
30. Bumper sticker word: HONK - There's a link on Etsy to a company that will make you one
31. Twisted part of an Impala?: GAS CAP 😀
33. Unionized?: MARRIED.
35. Lap top covers: NAPKINS 😀
36. Curling devices: BROOMS.
37. Mesh: JIBE or not...
39. Legislative body reestablished after the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis: DUMA.
40. Ballpark figures: OUTS 😀
41. Wind blast: GUST.
42. Natural skills: TALENTS.
44. Provisos: IFS.
45. Craft that may utilize old phonograph records: SPIN ART.
47. Elitists: SNOBS.
49. Blissful stretch before reality sets in: HONEYMOON PERIOD.
53. Genre for composer Terence Blanchard: OPERA ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
54. Fights before the big fight: UNDER CARD.
55. South Asian crepes: DOSAS ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
56. Exams that require passing: ROAD TESTS - I don't think I remember passing another car as I was being so very careful but I did pass the ROAD TEST and got my license 62 years ago.
Down:
1. Slack lines, for short?: IMS - ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I don't use nor have I ever heard of Slack
2. Sleeve extenders?: TATS - Not ARMS. Here is a 3/4 sleeve tat that a man is considering extending to a full sleeve.
3. Sets of bits: STAND UP ROUTINES - Nobody did it better
4. Reel people: ACTORS 😀
5. Hite whose major work is subtitled "A Nationwide Study of Female Sexuality": SHERE.
7. Had a bite: ATE.
8. Driver role: REN - Golf club, trucker, Minnie? All no!
9. Talk: TATTLE - 🤨 When the police tell a suspect to "talk" they are asking him to TATTLE on illegal activities
10. Orderly: SHIP SHAPE.
11. Question about a question: NEED I ASK - "Gary, do want some more onion rings?"
12. Internal force?: UNCONSCIOUS BIAS - Explained
10. Orderly: SHIP SHAPE.
11. Question about a question: NEED I ASK - "Gary, do want some more onion rings?"
12. Internal force?: UNCONSCIOUS BIAS - Explained
13. Rare blood type, for short: B-NEG.
14. Lip: SASS.
18. Party person: POL.
22. Share holder with shareholders: FUND
23. "Beats me," in a text: IDK.
24. The Taj Mahal, for one: TOMB - At Dharmapuri, Forest Colony, Tajganj, Agra, Uttar Pradesh 282001, India
25. More than collect: HOARD.
26. Fellas: JOES.
28. Youngest recipient of AFI's Life Achievement Award: HANKS - The youngest winner ever.
30. High points of a trip to Asia: HIMALAYAS 😀
31. Jabbers: GABS.
32. Sibilant summons: PSST.
34. When I was one?: ROMAN ERA 😀
35. Small criticisms: NITS.
37. Project: JUT.
40. Like Taylor Swift for most of 2023 and 2024: ON TOUR - Making billions in the process
41. Liftoff sensation: G-FORCE.
43. Sound of hesitation: ERM.
44. Sluggish: INERT.
45. Not barefoot: SHOD.
46. Five-O: POPO - I had _ O P _ and entered COPS. Turns out I was a generation off.
48. Type: SORT.
50. "Imagine" co-producer: ONO.
51. Doc in some severance packages: NDA.
52. Deg. for one who faces oral exams: DDS 🦷
39 comments:
It took me nearly an hour
to solve this puzzle, but I finally figured it out. The grid spanning answers, across and down, were intimidating at first but gradually allowed themselves to be revealed. This puzzle had Saturday level
“?” clues and other difficulties, so I pat myself on the back that I got through it!
FIR, so I’m happy.
Quite the grid layout today with the two vertical and two horizontal spanners, and no theme to aid in the solve. I took a break at the 25 minute mark, when like HG, I was stymied in the NW. When I came back a while later, it took about 10 minutes with the timer stopped, parsing the clues before I filled anything, adding to my official FIR time of 32:48. Tough puzzle and definitely Saturday worthy IMO. I resisted the urge to look up what “bespoke” meant and eventually STATEMENT PIECES perped. We had Slack the other day so I knew it was either IMS or DMS. Among the unknowns were MATCHA TEA, DUMA, SPIN ART, and DOSAS. Can JIBE and Jive mean the same thing? I liked the clue for ROMAN ERA once I figured it out. Thank you Marshal for the challenging puzzle and to HG for explaining it all!
FIW, missing my WAG @ MATCHAToA x RoN. Also, elmo->JUDE, blts->HASH, antler->GAS CAP, o neg-> B NEG, guys->JOES, job->JUT, and, of course, cops->POPO.
CSO to our Saturday Sherpa @ FILL IN.
I've only seen SPIN ART at fairs. Little kids love it. Never seen it done with vinyl discs, though.
I just finished a British spy novel that refers to any spy on any side as a "joe," using a lower-case "j."
I noticed "beats by" and "beats me" today.
Thanks to Marshal for the challenge, to which I was nearly equal. And thanks to H.Gary for another fine review. I remember that those old gas caps back in the days before evaporative recovery systems. Around my neighborhood, a red shop rag frequently replaced them.
FIW. I've never heard of matcha tea, and the perps were no help. I guessed ifs at 1D and run at 8D. Wrong on both!
But my WAG at popo crossing with dosas was spot on.
Ironically all the long answers were relatively easy for me.
So overall this was a puzzle that left me meh.
FIW. Slacks line is an inseam. So, iSs are inseams. And satcha tea is a thing, but today it was the wrong thing.
Took 16:08 today, although for a while I thought I'd be one St. Jude was looking after.
Finally, I was able to breakthrough in the upper left. I resisted "tats" for sleeve extenders, because, well, I don't think it fits. I don't know Shere Hite/Hite Shere.
So, SubG, I take it that you won't label this one a WITP?
I liked the clue for Roman Era.
It's not a Saturday puzzle without an unknown food (dosas). I didn't know "duma" or "spin art."
Now *this* is a Saturday puzzle! Very happy to FIR on paper during breakfast, no cheating. Loved the clue for ROMAN ERA. Bespoke accessories can also be custom made neckties, jewelry, handbags, shoes, etc., and if eye-catching, they are STATEMENT PIECES. DNK the OPERA composer, but his genre perped nicely.
Many thanks to Marshal with one L, and to HG with the fortitude to face every Saturday challenge head on. Bravo!
I don't SNORE in my La-Z-Boy, but my wife says otherwise!
Hesitation sounds like ERM, and ums, ers and uhs seem like last resort letter fillers.
Noticed the capitalized Impala and knew we were talking Chevy, but wanted to twist the key or ignition at the start (bad pun).
Overall, this is was tough but fair. Could've used a few more misdirect clues like "lap top covers" and "curling devices". Those are always fun aha moments when you figure them out.
I thought Marshal's challenge today had many admirable features. In its construction there were four grid-spanners, and since two were horizontal and two vertical, they were of necessity interconnected. Well done! And it seemed like there were a minimum number of black squares.
The puzzle was a good exercise in word play, with playful and lively fill, I felt. It required imaginative thinking in places, but that's fair game for a Saturday crossword.
Thanks, HuskerGary, for leading us through the puzzle with patience and humor. And yes, your use of "ken" was spot-on. It means knowledge or understanding or range of vision. As a verb, it means to know.
Good Morning:
I was most impressed by the quality and quantity of the fresh and sparkling fill. My finish time was just about the same as YP’s and I, too, was stymied by that NW corner. Overall, this was a Saturday worthy challenge with no dreck, lots of interesting and new terms, very few TLWs, and some very clever cluing. I found a few clues too cutesy for my taste, but this is a small nit, far outweighed by the enjoyment and satisfaction of the solving experience.
Thanks, Marshal, and thanks, HG, for your always fair and informative analysis. The photo of Cary made my day and the IV golfer brought a chuckle!
Have a great day.
99.5 didn't get it today. The crosses of three unknowns in the SW was my downfall. I got SPIN ART but POPO and DOSAS was an AEIOU choice. I left it blank. Oh, 'book 'em, Dano? That POPO.
OPERA for Terence Blanchard is just plain wrong. He's a JAZZ trumpeter.
MATCH TEA was all perps; unknown. If you took all those snake-oil pills advertised on TV and radio, you'd be broke.
BIG WIGS before TOP DOGS corrected it.
REN and "Driver role"- perps for those two unknowns.
YAKS, JAWS, or GABS- I had the A&S and waited for the cross fills.
JIBE for Mesh? Meh.
GAS CAP- I noticed the capitalized Impala and knew it wasn't the animal.
The only place I SNORE is in the recliner, because I sleep on my back there, but not in the bed.
B-E, he is a jazz trumpeter, but he's also written a couple of OPERAs. No foul.
A quick prayer to St. Jude to do the impossible and help finish a Saturday puzzle to no avail . But he has more important work to do. Anyway The NW went unfinished. Sticking with sentimentPIECES did me in. Plus didn’t know POP _ crossed with D_SAS in the SW. (How times have changed; POPO 👮 is considered offensive. When I was in GS calling a policeman a “cop” was considered offensive and we were quickly corrected )
“Lip”: brim, edge or SASS? “Lacking bite”: blah, weak or TAME? “Oscar” the award or the grouch?
I may be unionized by being “MARRIED” but the Boss makes most the decisions and rarely with arbitration 🥺. At least there’s never been a “lockout” 😅
Wanted twisted horns for an Impala, wouldn’t work so hadda be the car. “When I was one” .. brilliant!! Guessed at SPINART, have seen the kits but don’t get the vynal record connection.
Had FILLINS first cuz I read “subs” as a noun. And I thought HENNA was temporary. Guess it can last a few thousand years.
On my road test at 17 (1967) the “Brownie” told me to make a “U-turn” but the street was clearly too narrow. So I asked, “You mean a ‘3-point turn’?” Answer: “I SAID a U-turn” I had no choice and made a 3-point turn figuring I’d just failed. But received my license. Reported back to my HS driving instructor who told all his classes to do the same.
“Driver” as in Adam, Minnie or golf club
Liked the “oral exams” clue
There’s a Robert Burns poem “John Anderson, My Jo” (sweet heart “Joy”)
Have a great weekend.
Way above my pay grade, congratulations to anyone who finished this right!
When I saw twisted part of an Impala = gas cap, I knew I had to cheat my way through this just to see how many gems were hidden in here...
(It's not the same just reading all the answers on the Blog, I have to be puzzled for a few seconds at least... :)
And another thing,
Who here would know that Impala was a car because it's capitalised?
(I start Impala, the animal, with a capital. Don't you?)
Am I missing some part of English here?
Sleeve extenders, TATS
Early in practice (mid to late 80’s) I worked with an excellent ER doc who had a right arm sleeve tattoo that hospital administration had him cover up with a lab coat when seeing patients.
Now…. I see ER personnel with head to toe ink and as many piercings as you would get from an inexperienced phlebotomist.
Times, they are a changin’ 😐
A really clever puzzle, but a tad too clever for me. DNF, but the challenge was fun. I enjoyed the many V-8 moments (at least the ones I was able to figure out!) like SHIPSHAPE and ROMAN AGE. A lot of obscure clues, (to me!) but a pretty satisfying exercise this morning.
Working the “across” clues, north to south as usual, led to a series of failures until I finally landed 21A, Beats by DRE.
I was sure that this might be a rare TITT, but the middle filled in quickly and I just chipped away at the rest, finishing in just under 17 minutes.
A few too many cutesy clues for me, but not enough to complain about, and I ended up enjoying the puzzle.
I agree that tats as sleeve extenders seems too big of a stretch. Good puzzle though.
RomanERA!
got stuck on fill ins for subs
I sailed through this one, thanks to a few lucky guesses.
The NW corner was daunting at the start, so I went down to Oregon and started with THUS, TOMB, and HOARD. Being right about DUMA and DOSAS propelled me in the SW, although it took a while to tie jazz great Terence Blanchard to OPERA. ROAD TESTS and UNDERCARD (I’ve written a lot about boxing) helped me discern HONEYMOON PERIOD early on and helped me through the SE.
The worst part of the puzzle was the OUTS-JUT-JIBE-NITS-GABS portion of Kentucky-Tennessee, although I struggled later with POPO (I thought it might be HOPO, for Honolulu Police), and ERM, which is even worse than “um.” “Uh” is still better than either of those.
Perps helped me figure out UNCONSCIOUS BIAS and STANDUP ROUTINES, but the real key to the NW was my familiarity with SHERE Hite because she wrote regularly for Playboy when it was still a good magazine.
My first thought about 1D was that the “slack lines” were inseams, but then “lines” ought to have been singular, so I held off until I realized MATCHA TEA was probably right, at which point I remembered Slack is an email service.
The Tom HANKS trivia question was outstanding. I needed perps.
Saturday toughie, but weekend puzzles are supposed to be toughies, so no problem--and many thanks, Marshal. And thanks always for your helpful commentaries, Gary--much appreciated.
Wasn't sure what to expect with IT'S A START, but it would turn out to be the ACTORS coming in right at the top who would prepare us for their wonderful TALENTS at the bottom. There we'd learn that they even performed in OPERA while ON TOUR, and that they were not a bit INEPT, but actually quite SHIP-SHAPE on their ROAD TESTS. And some of them even had cool TATS. I'd say we should give them a round of applause.
Have a lovely weekend everybody.
Species names are not capitalized, while specific breeds are. So, it's just "dog" but becomes "Golden Retriever."
Hola! As usual I worked on the puzzle off and on until finally it was mostly filled but not without a struggle. The SE was a HONEYMOON PERIOD as was the entire eastern bloc, but the west was thorny and I never did get ACTORS and don't understand 1D, IWS. The obscure cluing really threw me off. Even St. JUDE didn't help me.
I really liked the clue for NAPKINS. And I had no Idea Tom HANKS was the youngest recipient of the AFI's Lifetime Achievement Award but perps did.
I was so sure about COPS and still don't know POPO.
Thank you, Marshal Herrmann and Gary for today's trying task!
When I was one, I was happy. Now that I’m not, I’m just Roman the streets.
I didn't think I would, but I ended up really liking this puzzle. A toehold here and a handhold there, chipping away, I managed to fill it all in correctly after making a few wrong turns and having to fix some mistakes. I heartily echo what Irish Miss said. I deem this a well-constructed puzzle.
I FIR but this was no HONEYMOON. Á lot of my fills were WAGS, lucky ones at that. I too struggled with the NW, but I finally remembered Slack from á few days ago.
Yes, the ROMAN ONE is very clever. At first I wanted horns of an impala not noticing the capital I. Another clever one.
I agree, á true Saturday worthy CW.
As I read the clue for SNORES, some were emanating from the recliner next to me. The culprit shall of course remain anonymous.
Thank you HG for the nice review. How is HORN an unconscious bias?
I wish I had known that chart when I was teaching project management. Managers must become conscious of unconscious bias, and adapt as warranted. The "halo" bias is the tendency to rate people who have always been exemplary contributors as performing excellently this time. I think HORN must be the opposite - Seargeant Carter's first thought is that Gomer Pyle has messed up anything he has tried to do. Both get in the way of objective evaluation, and will eventually hinder the performance of the organization.
Long way of saying: Horns are the opposite of halos - angels get halos; devils get horns.
Thanks to Marshal! Very impressive grid! I ended up liking this one more than I thought I would. Hand up for enjoying the ROMAN ERA clue. Other FAVS: "passing" exam; question about a question; and the 6D&7D pairing.
UNDERCARD was new to me so the SE tripped me up.
Blogging about Slack last Mon. paid off today.
Taj Mahal and HIMALAYAS allows me to say that I recently read Rick Steve's book, "On the Hippie Trail". I recommend it but it's pricy because of all the photo pages so get it from your library.
Thanks to H-Gary who FILLS IN at school on Mon.-Fri. and is a TOP DOG on Saturdays!
FLW: IM. I caught up on this week's puzzles, blogs, and comments last night. I saw your note about Bosch. Yes, that was my DH. Thank you! I actually texted him your comment before I read your correction comment. He's been busy so is only half way through the series but appreciated having that to look forward to.
Got it.
Impalas (both kinds!) also have horns.
I thought it was pretty easy until that one area.
Spelling erm, er, uh, huh and others is the only way of recording spoken dialog on the printed age. I frequently see all of them in print and also hear all of them in speech. ERM, especially, is popping up much more often in print and in speech these days.
Sorry if I mansplained it
The name of Rick's book brought back memories- I was in India for a few months between college and grad school on a mission trip. I did get to both the Himalayas and the Taj during that trip. Our in-country advisors told us never to wear jeans when we traveling between places as other Indians would think we were "hippies" who had a bad rep for being slovenly, leaving litter, stealing and on drugs
Challenging puzzle - but finished with spurts and then slow downs
A few gimmes - my daughter loves Matcha and also something called Golden Milk which is steamed milk with turmeric in it.
I liked arts and crafts as a kid so I was given a SPIN ART kit for a birthday somewhere in the grade school years.
Thanks Gary for the fun informative blog and Marshal for the puzzle
When I lived in Madison there was another family med doc who was named Marshall Fields - turned out his name came legit and not as a joke - he was from THE Marshall Fields lineage of department store fame. Super nice guy and not a SNOB at all
(Back to the grind after a great week skiing in Mammoth 😎)
Tough start, but once I gained a toehold down in the TOMB-OOP-HOARD territory, things started to flow, especially with the “aha!” as that western ceiling-to-floor fill of STANDUPROUTINES hit me. And I really enjoyed the clueing in this puzzle — don’t know if I should salute Patti or Marshal on that, but kudos to whomever. As did everyone else above, the star of the show was that clue for 34D, closely supported by the Impala twist and the lap top covers.
@Copy Editor, I guess you need to hang out with more Brits to get used to hearing/reading “erm”…
And @Ray-O, loved your phlebotomist gag; talk about poking fun at something sticky!
Nice recap as usual from Gary; thanks for the rerun of Rodney Dangerfield on Carson — I’d forgotten how funny he was, and his stuff still STANDs UP today.
Looking forward to a nice romp through tomorrow’s puzzle.
====> Darren / L.A.
Post a Comment