Saturday Themeless by Malaika Handa
This is my third themeless puzzle by Brooklyn resident Malaika Handa. 
Malaika is a software engineer who has been making puzzles for three years. You can see an archive of all her puzzles on her website: https://www.
Here is a link to a playful but instructive interview with Malaika that includes this wonderful quote from her:
Also, when you’re solving, look up entries that you don’t know! It’s a game, not a test.
1. Healing process: AFTER CARE - My DW is as good as you can get!
10. Wedding traditions that involve rings: HORAS - Ah, rings of people not metal
15. Participated in a group ride: CAR POOLED.
16. Not sneaky: OVERT.
17. Shape that might resemble a hexagon sliced in half: TRAPEZOID - Slicing this hexagon yielded a TRAPEZOID, a parallelogram and a triangle. This math guy loved this idea!
18. Shelf: LEDGE.
19. Goddess believed to be the divine mother of the pharaoh: ISIS.
20. Part of JPY: YEN - You have to look very carefully to see the symbol for the JaPanese YEN ¥ in the picture to the left of the number. Security measures on these notes
21. Fund: ENDOW.
22. Zip around a soccer field?: NIL - NIL and zip are euphemisms for zero.
23. Texting tech: SMS - We do a lot of Short Message Service text for personal and professional contacts. Here, my grandson and I set up a golf date.
24. Some characters on the U.K. show "The Thick of It": MPS - Members of Parliament ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
26. "Entertaining Is Fun!" columnist Garten: INA.
27. Not likely to enjoy icebreakers: SHY.
28. Actress Issa: RAE - A regular in our crossword cast
29. Asterisk: STAR.
30. 1960s hit covered by Salt-N-Pepa: TWIST AND SHOUT - I'm sure Salt-N-Pepa did just fine, but c'mon...
33. Gradually losing a connection: DRIFTING APART.
34. Bases for some sandwiches: TOASTED BAGELS.
35. Homey lodgings: INNS.
36. "Star Wars" heroine who inspired an Ali Hazelwood romance novel: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ REY ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
37. Bird associated with Athena: OWL.
38. Qt. halves: PTS.
39. __ admin: SYS.
40. Some TVs: LGS - We have several
41. Key ring attachment: FOB - It took me a while to realize I don't have to insert or remove a key from the ignition to start my car.
44. Dessert brand with the early slogan "Delicate. Delightful. Dainty.": JELLO - From 1873 - 1932
47. Country name that has an accent called a síneadh fada: EIRE.
48. To no __: AVAIL.
49. Sauce made with a molcajete y tejolote: GUACAMOLE - Molcajete y tejolote is Spanish for mortar and pestle. Here is the cooking version made of volcanic rock where grinding ingredients brings out more of the flavor.
51. Host of HGTV's "Ugliest House in America": RETTA - She's a hoot.
52. Age-old navigation aid: URSA MINOR - The end star of URSA MINOR (tail of the small bear) is the North Star. It is the one point in the sky that is in the same position all night and every night and you can always tell which direction in North. The "pointer" stars in the Ursa Major always point to the North Star.
53. Cynical look: SNEER.
54. HelloFresh options: MEAL PLANS.
Down:
1. Cellular protein in microfilaments: ACTIN ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ More than anyone wants to know
2. Language of the Asghar Farhadi film "The Salesman": FARSI.
3. Lag: TRAIL.
4. Actor Omar: EPPS.
5. Spherical garnish: ROE.
6. Lilian Jackson Braun genre: COZY MYSTERY - These books are known for their lighthearted tone, focus on a small-town setting, and the absence of graphic violence or explicit content
7. Some xeriscaping plants: ALOES - Xeriscaping plants need very little water. Can you see some of our crossword ALOES in this landscape?
8. Pull (in): REIN.
9. "Double D" in a Cartoon Network trio: EDD ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Supposedly the "brains" of this group
10. Features of many well-loved sweatshirts: HOLES.
11. Pizza place: OVEN.
12. Social media users who celebrate an annual "cake day": REDDITORS ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
13. Sailor on Jason's quest: ARGONAUT.
14. "Twilight" star: STEWART.
 |
| Robert Pattison. Kristen STEWART |
23. Loose dress: SHIFT.
24. Anime source, often: MANGA - MANGA are Japanese comic books from which anime (animated versions) are made.
25. Related to teaching: PEDAGOGICAL - A well-known word to this educator
27. Like fondue: SWISS.
28. Passed: RAN BY.
29. Formal will: SHALL - SHALL and will are alternate form of a future tense verbs. SHALL is more formal and less used. SHALL is much better in this instance.
30. Decode: TRANSLATE - I think we all know that some of the most important decoding in human history happened in this building in Bletchley Park, England during WWII.
31. Nautical table data: TIDES - When I used to take kids to Cocoa Beach, FL we would arrive around 3:30 pm. If you look at the chart. below, you can see we would be there at a very low TIDE if we were there today at that time. There would be a lot of beach showing and a lot of shells would be taken back to the bus.
32. Shoots out: SPEWS.
33. Stop order?: DON'T EVEN - Back off Cowboy!
34. Change places?: TIP JARS.
39. __ plexus: SOLAR.
41. "Fetch the Bolt Cutters" singer Apple: FIONA - Lyrically, Apple reaches into her past to confront middle-school bullies and looks into her future for an imaginary lover. Wanna listen to this sad/angry song?
42. Acrylic material: ORLON.
43. Heady stuff?: BEERS 😀
45. Lo-cal: LITE.
46. Name of LaCroix's unflavored sparking water: PURE.
47. Track legend Zátopek: EMIL - A Czech runner who won three gold medals in the 1952 Helsinki Olympics.
49. Extra, e.g.: GUM - I chew Mentos sugar-free GUM
50. Concert piece: AMP.
Irish Miss sent me a lovely note asking me to share this with you and of course I am happy to do so.
As RCA appears so often in our puzzles and Nipper is so well known, I thought this article would be of interest to the Cornerites. It has special meaning to me as I worked for RTA (Radio Television Appliance) which was a distributor for RCA appliances for 16 years in this building in Albany . This iconic RCA Records dog is now a symbol of New York's capital city. More information.
Now THAT’S what I call
ReplyDeletea Saturday puzzle! Challenging but fair, and, unlike last Saturday’s , far from impossible to solve. I did, in fact, solve it, and had a pretty good time doing so.
FIR, so I’m happy.
I was zipping along quite handsomely until I hit the proverbial brick wall in the SE section of the grid. It took red letters and alphabet runs to get me across the finish line gasping and wheezing and coughing up blood. All of which is my way of saying I thoroughly enjoyed this challenging, but fair and definitely fun puzzle.
ReplyDeleteI did it! I finished a Saturday LAT crossword! Finished it wrong, but still finished. Missed my WAGs @ cHI x cURE and REel x YEl, and surprise, surprise sergeant - I mispeld TRAPiZOeD.
ReplyDeleteI had north star before URSA MINOR, toasted cheese before TOASTED BAGELS, and smock before SHIFT.
I don't usually associate "Double D" with a Cartoon Network show.
"Blah, blah, blah singer Apple" will forever be FIONA.
Thanks to Irish Miss for sharing the newest symbol of Albany. Nipper could also be a NYC icon - poops on the sidewalk and depends on others to feed him.
And thanks to Malaika for letting me play with the smart kids today. And thanks to H.Gary for another fine review. I was surprised to learn that the walls of AMPs at big concerts are almost all just there for show - in fact most of those AMPs are dummies. The audio systems at most arenas are vastly superior to what they were in the early days of rock.
A completed Saturday puzzle for me today. The last fill was a guess at the cross of unknowns MPS and MANGA. Aren't those are military police and Italian for 'eat'. Japanese cartoon xing British TV; not my cup of tea. Neither is the Cartoon Network. My first thought for "Double D" was Deputy Dawg but it was one letter too many.
ReplyDeleteThe puzzle was easier than I expected after a few toeholds and lucky guesses. The NE was the easiest, even without knowing STEWART or
REDDITORS.
APPLE- don't know of the song but have heard of FIONA. Issa is always RAE.
CAB SHARED before CARPOOLED took over.
FERNS before the perps made them ALOES.
MYSTERY was easy but COZY was all perps for that unknown.
RAKE it in became REIN and changed the unknown YEE to YEN (worth 2/3 cent)
RETTA, EDD and ACTIN were all perps.
Italian for "eat!" would be MANGIA with an I. I don't think I've ever encountered it as crossword fill but I've definitely seen it in clues for EAT.
DeleteAs per a typical Saturday themeless, first glance over the clues revealed what I thought would be a daunting task, encountering words such as molcajete y tejolote, xeriscaping, and proper names Ali Hazelwood and Lilian Jackson Braun, but the perps were kind enough to register a FIR w/out help in 25:24. A really enjoyable challenge today, good cluing by Malaika and Patti, thank you both! I think CED is a good candidate to be a REDDITOR. HG ~ thanks for the enlightenment, you must have been an exemplar teacher, it comes across in your writing. I know the puzzles are a game, but Saturday’s often feel like a test. I never look anything up while solving and no red letter help, but I do look stuff up post solve, from references in the grid, the blog and the comments. That’s the educational part of CWs. PS - went golfing in the rain on Thursday, shot an intolerable 20 over 92 🙄.
ReplyDeleteIt was actually a 90, even bogey, 44-46.
DeleteFIW. I was so pleased with myself when I could finish the center long answers without missing a beat, but the NW and SE were a different story. I struggled in th SE until guacamole went down, and the rest just filled. But the genre in the NW was a total "mystery" to me. I had the mystery part but I had to take a WAG at the cozy part and came up short.
ReplyDeleteOverall although quite challenging this was an enjoyable puzzle.
Good Morning:
ReplyDeleteI agree 100 % with Subgenius’s comments. Props to the author for the fresh and vibrant fill, to wit: Pedagogical, Trapezoid, Argonaut, Redditors, Guacamole, Ursa Minor, Cozy Mystery, Tip Jars, etc. Any unknowns were solved by the generous perps throughout the grid. Seeing Lillian Jackson Braun brought back many warm memories of her cat-centric mysteries which featured the two feline “sleuths”, Koko and Yum Yum.
Thanks, Malaika, for a satisfying and enjoyable Saturday challenge and thanks, HG, for the equally enjoyable review. As always, the visuals are striking and evocative. Thanks for the sweet, little Lhasa Apso and thanks, also, for the pictures and article about the beloved Nipper.
Have a great day.
I got off to a good start, but then completing the puzzle was a slog. All in all, the results were satisfying. I needed no look-ups, and I DO NOT agree with Malaika’s CW philosophy. It’s not a test, but it is a game with standards.
ReplyDeleteThe biggest struggle was COZY MYSTERY. The z simply HAD to be right. I wasn’t sure about SMS, so that combination was a Natick. More often, I plowed ahead when answers like DON’T EVEN could have stopped me short. I also struggled a long time with TOASTED BAGELS, and hand up for aro before SHY. I needed perps for the HGTV host. I’ve seen her before, but I certainly didn’t know her name. I didn’t know ACTIN. I didn’t know REY. I didn’t know REDDITORS, but it made sense. And I sure as heck didn’t know anything about JPY.
There was a lot to like. The CARPOOLING entry was clever, and so was the TIP JARS misdirection. I didn’t get TRAPEZOID without perps, but I got it. The TWIST AND SHOUT trivia question was a good one. GUM didn’t immediately come to mind for “Extra,” so that was a pleasant surprise. SHIFT turned out to be a good WAG. It was good to see EMIL Zatopek in the mix. I always get him mixed up with Paavo Nurmi.
I should confess that I worked the puzzle Friday afternoon (the Friday San Francisco Chronicle carries the Saturday LA Times and Sunday NY Times puzzles).
I found this Saturday Stumper very enjoyable (for a change.) and being a huge guacamole fan, found the clue to be a bit grinding... but second thoughts make me realize, hey, two foreign language words I never knew, and a very clever new way to clue a common CW word. (Ditto Aloe!). I guess you gotta expect to be puzzled on a Saturday...
ReplyDeleteThanks YooperPhil (I think), but quite honestly, Reddit (and quora) are on my do not visit list, due to their insistence on signing in, and so many ads that my iPad slows to a crawl, combined with really bad navigation. ( I can never find the answer to why I followed the clickbait in the first place...)
Thank you both for the little nipper pic! a refreshing change from the kind of stuff you find here on the East a coast...
FIR - but with some help on lookups for the SE as I had pedagouery first and food plans because I misspelt Llaso vs lhasa! Big difference. Never heard of a “cozy” mystery before either as the NW also gave me issues until aftercare and roe helped me finish. Roe is a garnish eh? Not in my food or drink 😜
ReplyDeleteCame close but the NW was my downfall. Kept trying to shoehorn in CARParade. And figured cacti not ALOES so a DNF. Never heard of a COZY MYSTERY genre so I figured TRAPAZOID hadda be wrong. Lots of “you know or you don’t proper names” that only surfaced with perps.
ReplyDeleteInkovers: dens/INNS, brews/BEERS. Japan/MANGA
Wanted to try gooey for “fondue”. We were taught that future tense is constructed with SHALL first person singular and plural ( I shall, we shall) the rest is “will” but I shan’t quibble about it.
RAN on or RAN BY?
Beautiful day at the lake, gonna take my daughter on a canoe ride 🛶
I agree with Copy Editor,
ReplyDeleteand think he put it very well.
And I would also say that I DO see a crossword puzzle as kind of a “test.”
A test of my general knowledge, including science, literature, and the general “culture.”
If it’s like today, it feels so good to “pass” the “test”!
Subgenius out!
Lots of clever entries, but in the end, it was a bit outside my grasp. DNF, but fun trying! I too do not look up answers while solving...it spoils the challenge for me.
ReplyDeleteSlightly tough Saturday puzzle, but they're supposed to be tough, so this one was still a treat, Malaika--many thanks for that. And your commentaries and pictures are always a pleasure, Husker Gary, so thanks for that help too.
ReplyDeleteWell, at first this puzzle had some of us DRIFTING APART more than feeling we were on the way to solving a COZY MYSTERY. So we had to TWIST AND SHOUT a bit to get going on this work. But thank goodness we were first offered a bit of breakfast, with that TOASTED BAGEL warmed up in the OVEN, then served with some JELLO, and GUACAMOLE, and some GUM. A pretty good MEAL PLAN, I'd say--nothing to SNEER at. So thanks again for this treat, and for all this help.
And have a lovely summer weekend, everybody.
Ditto for not looking things up until I've finished or thrown in the towel. Doctor's order. He was concerned about the bruising on my forehead from when I would look something up, then slap myself hard on the forehead, saying "Doh - I shoulda known that!"
ReplyDeleteI loved this puzzle. So much white space appeared daunting at first, but excellent cluing enabled me to fill it all without having to look anything up, even though Malaika Handa invited us to "...look up entries that you don’t know! It’s a game, not a test."
ReplyDeleteGary, your write-up was informative and interesting. Thanks for posting Irish Miss's lovely note and photos.
Good reading all your comments, folks.
Hola! Finished on a Saturday and in good time, too! I see though, that I am not alone. Very often I find Saturday puzzles too challenging, but this one was a joy and fun to solve. Ironically, PEDAGOGICAL was the last word to finish and like HG I am very familiar with that term. MPS/MANGA stumped me for a long time.
ReplyDeleteUgh. When my shirts have HOLES it's time for the rag bag.
GUACAMOLE had me scratching my head as I don't consider it a "sauce" but I guess in a very broad sense, it is.
Even though I've never watched or read TWILIGHT, perps helped so thank you, Malaika, for that boost.
I hope you are all enjoying a lovely day; it's already 101 degrees here!
Super Saturday. Thanks for the fun, Malaika and HuskerG.
ReplyDeleteI don’t often have time to work on a Saturday CW (let alone finish it), but I managed this one with one lookup.
Hand up for inkblots in that SE corner.
RHO changed to PHI when I Googled PURE to break open that corner. (I hate sparkling water, and don’t know that brand.)
The ICAL ending on PEDAGOG took several tries to enter correctly.
I was trying to think of another Mexican MOLE like Negro that would match my perps. Head slap (hi Jinx) when I saw GUACAMOLE.
The clue for GUM was obscure (but it is Saturday).
Thanks to Irish Miss and HuskerG for the great article and photos.
Wishing you all a great day.
15 names, DNK 9, very surprised I managed to eventually FIR in 24. To my astonishment, no W/Os today, so nice clean looking paper CW. Thanx MH, fun CW. Had no clue what JPY stood for, so that took a while to yield YEN. Particularly clever clues: "Formal will", "Change places." I was surprised to see JELLO appear. Thanx too to Husker Gary for the great write-up. Key fob was mentioned, which brings me to this: I am absolutely ASTONISHED that I cannot lock my Jeep if I have left the key fob in the car. Somehow the car knows EXACTLY where that key fob is. If I push the door lock button, shut the door, even if the fob is in the pocket in the door, when I shut the door the car will automatically unlock. If the fob is right up against the door outside the car, it stays locked! How.....???
ReplyDeleteOur car also knows where inside or outside (close by) the fob is. I guess that there are numerous small antennas positioned at strategic locations to detect the presence of the fob. Thus, even though my wife has her own key fob and is sitting in the passenger seat, the car knows it is I who is driving.
DeleteThanks to Malaika and to H-Gary for the Saturday education! Malaika will be happy to know that I hit a dead end in the SE to I looked up EMIL to shake loose that section. I especially liked TRAPEZOID and the clues "Change places" and "Formal will". I noticed we had RAE and REY.
ReplyDeleteMy sweatshirts had HOodS --> HOLES
COZY MurdERs --> COZY MYSTERY
TrimmED crustS --> TOASTED BAGELS
Thanks, also, to HG and IM for sharing the Nipper article. I hope it stays there for "eons".
I enjoyed this puzzle but the pop up ads continue to be annoying! Is there a way to prevent this from happening?
ReplyDelete