Saturday Themeless by Zhouqin Burnikel
The only really hard name for me was a soaper star but C.C. gave me every letter I needed. C.C.'s penchant for clever word play definitely was part of this fun puzzle.As you can see in the grid, the center of the puzzle was dense with unique fill. Very impressive! C.C. told me this is his lowest themeless word count she has ever achieved. She aims to have only 70 - 72 words and this one only has 62!! WOW!
Across:
1. Dress to impress: GLAM UP - We've seen GLAMPING and GLAM ROCK and this phrase fits that pattern.
7. Hit up quickly: PINGED.
13. Muralist on some Mexican 500-peso notes: RIVERA - $26.74 in Nebraska! The Rivera mural shown hangs in The Mexican National Palace.
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15. Track unit: ONE LAP.
16. Left out words?: WHY NOT ME.
16. Left out words?: WHY NOT ME.
17. Place to go for a drive?: TEE. 😀
18. Mosslike organisms: LICHENS.
20. Only Canadian NBA city, for short: TOR.
21. Something that may be a little fishy: TANK 😀
23. Valley known as the "Garden of France": LOIRE.
24. Tricks: CONS.
25. Montana motto: ORO Y PLATA - I learned here that this is "gold and silver"
27. Fighting chance?: BOUT - Over 70,000- people filled the Alegiant Stadium last week to see Terence "Bud" Crawford of Omaha become the first boxer to hold undisputed crowns in three different weight classes. Some say he is the best "pound for pound" boxer in history.
28. Pocket money: LOOSE CHANGE.
30. Dis-illusioned?: DOWN TO EARTH - All that glitters is not gold.
31. "Something just occurred to me": HERE'S AN IDEA.
32. At any time: EVER.
33. "Days of Our Lives" actress on "The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills": LISA RINNA ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Talk about GLAMED UP!
37. Put on a happy face: GRIN.
38. Small porch: STOOP - From the Dutch word stoep meaning step or platform brought to America by Dutch settling in the Hudson Valley. You're welcome. 😀
39. Grant consideration: NEED.
40. "Details later" letters: TBA.
41. "I'm not buying it": C'MON NOW.
43. Tom yum __ soup: GAI - Thai dish: Tom (to boil), Yum (to mix) and Gai (chicken)
44. Judged events for pedigreed and companion animals: CAT SHOWS - Yeah, even I put DOG first
46. Start of a rumor: I HEARD - When I first HEARD this, it became a mission of mine to take on anyone who believed it.
48. Ravaged by time: AGE WORN - My old Chucks had to be falling apart before I pitched them
50. Fly-by-night operation?: RED EYE 😀 We left Honolulu at 11 pm to arrive in LA at 5 am. It was New Year's Eve and so they turned on the cabin lights for ten seconds over the Pacific where it was midnight and wished us a Happy New Year.
51. Sturdy woolens: TWEEDS - Professor Henry (Indiana) Jones wore TWEED
Down:
1. Spelunking site: GROTTO.
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| In the Timberline GROTTO in Colorado |
2. Flat, in a way: LINEAR - Well known for us math peeps
3. Active Naturals brand: AVEENO.
4. Airport code in Victoria: MEL.
5. Eurasian border range: URAL.
6. Toy spaniels: PAPILLONS - Also know as Continental Toys
7. Stewart who won the U.S. Open twice in the 1990s: PAYNE - He was very popular, known for his colorful outfits and died far too young at 42.
8. Trip stops: INNS.
9. Many a charitable gp.: NGO.
10. Bring the hammer down: GET TOUGH - Mahler also called for this during his sixth symphony
11. Los Angeles suburb: EL MONTE - A 19 minute drive.
12. Busy bodies: DOERS.
14. "And they're off!": THE RACE IS ON.
16. Hot dog option: WHITE ONIONS.
19. Beach resort locale: COASTAL TOWN.
22. Padmé Amidala's grandson: KYLO REN - Halloween is just around the corner
24. Hold: CONTAIN.
26. It might be lost in a storm: POWER - It happened to us for three days in March.
27. More minimalist: BARER - Most of us can remember our dorm room
29. Wasn't talking nonsense: HAD A POINT.
30. Strayed: DEVIATED.
31. Grass and such: HERBAGE.
35. Closed in on: NEARED.
36. Athletic brand based in Bavaria: ADIDAS - Headquartered in Herzogenaurach, Bavaria, Germany. They have supplied Husker gear for years
37. Aston Martin DB12, for one: GT CAR - Grand Touring. Those Europeans always get their abbreviations backwards. 😀
38. Three-ingredient treat: SMORE.
41. Baby bok __: CHOY.
42. Cry of relief: WHEW.
45. Nor. neighbor: SWE.
47. Tip of the tongue?: ESE - Japanese, Chinese, Vietnamese, Maltese, Burmese, Sudanese...
35 comments:
With cavern/GROTTO, tINEAR/LINEAR, and TuNa/TANK all piled up in the NW, that area turned into a slog. Thought KY LOREN might be the grandson. Wanted "judged" to be a verb rather than an adjective. Those three staggered 11s sandwiched between a pair of 9s was an impressive feat. Excellent construction, C.C. Enjoyed your expo, Husker.
Typical Saturday tough one for me, had most of the grid filled in 25 minutes, but like SubG, the NW had me baffled. PAPPILONS, EL MONTE, LISA RINNA, GT CAR, all perps. Would take a true Trekkie to know who Padme Amidala is, crossed with the unknown state motto, last fill was an a-run to get the Y in KYLO REN. Tale and tuna eventually gave way to TANK, lineal became LINEAR. Thought Victoria was referring to B.C. but perps made me realize it was referencing Australia. Grass and HERBAGE, in some circles also known as “weed”. Once I had RIVERA I did remember his first name Diego. FIR w/out help (except the a-run) in 44:14. Thank you Zhouqin for the challenge, the low word count very impressive! Also to HG, another superb write-up, and thank you for the lesson in Thai, will try to remember for future puzzles. Payne Stewart was a crowd favorite for sure, with his colorful attire resembling knickers. Tragically he was on a Lear Jet that lost cabin pressure minutes after takeoff from Orlando, a lack of oxygen asphyxiated the six people on board and the plane flew aimlessly across country before crashing hours later in South Dakota, I remember it well.
Help. I don't get the connection between "dis-illusioned" and "down to earth". 'Splain please. Thanks.
A number of things I
didn’t know kept C.C.’s offering pretty challenging, such as the dog breed and the television star’s name. However, through
P&P I got ‘er done. FIR, so I’m happy.
Took 13:57 today.
Top-left was the toughest area for me too as I didn't know the Latin motto or "papillons". I didn't know the Actress of the Day (Lisa Rinna) or the usual Saturday foreign food clue(s) (gai & choy). I don't quite get how "dis-illusioned" is "down to earth," but overall it was an enjoyable Saturday challenge.
Oops, I just assumed the first post was by SubG, now I see it was d-o.
DNF. The NW completely baffled me, starting with glam up. I had doll up and even with Ural, papillons, and oro y plata I could not suss it out.
I was pleased with myself when I threw down the long middle answers with certainty and really thought I would finish. But alas it was not to be.
This was a typical Saturday puzzle and even though it beat me I enjoyed the challenge. If only I had thought of grotto then maybe.........
Good Morning:
I may be wrong but I think the majority of the clues are Patti’s, not CC’s. I say this because, right from the start, I never had the feeling that I was solving a typical CC puzzle. El Monte, Gai, GT Car, and Kylo Ren needed perps and Dog had to replace Cat and the spelling of Papillons (Hi, Lucina) was tricky. Lisa Rinna is known to me only as Harry Hamlin’s wife.
Thanks, CC, it’s always a treat to see your byline, and thanks, HG, for the usual informative commentary and the dazzling visuals.
Have a great day.
C.C.'s puzzle today was well-crafted, with an extremely low word count. Our blogmistress knows how to construct a crossword! Today's was a sea of white, with back-to-back-to-back 11's dominating the center (and crossing each other), accompanied by a passel of 8's and 9's.
And C.C. managed to include in the fill that enticing Thai soup, tom yum gai. The only thing more heavenly for me is tom yum goong (shrimp).
Thanks, C.C., for another delightful challenge. And thanks, HGary, for the enjoyable recap. Good luck to the Cornhuskers today in their big game with Michigan!
dis = not, so “dis-illusioned” = not-illusioned = real = down to earth (or, feet on the ground)
Whew! I finished a Saturday!
(Not really) it was a red letter whack a vowel stumper...
But I did enjoy the challenge, thank you.
Learning moment: papillons
And I have a question, if a GT Car is "Grand Touring," what is the "O" in GTO?
Love the range and challenge of CC’s puzzle! NE corner was my last to fall - I took a while to “glam up” (thot of it early, but kept resisting 🙄), then the rest settled. And, I insisted to the end on “phew” instead of “whew” - even tho “cmonnop” made no sense 😝 And, I looked up Victoria, Padme, and Montana. Hopefully I’ve learned a little today, to apply to future CC puzzles! (I want someone, someday - hubby, pls? - to get me a custom CC bd puzzle 😊 - just sayin’). My faves were the long fills crossing! Thx CC, and Patti, and D
Oops! ?D - TY, Husker Gary 🙄🙈
See my thot in reply above to other Anonymous
I agree with the comments about the construction -- very impressive, with a low number of entries. It may be standard practice to call them "words," but I count 62 *entries*, quite a few of which contain several words. For me, the multi-word entries were the most challenging aspect. WHY NOT ME, DOWN TO EARTH, HERE'S AN IDEA, THE RACE IS ON, HAD A POINT ... the list goes on. I think what helped me solve those phrases were the single word answers like PAPILLONS and HERBAGE. I didn't know GT CAR or LISA RINNA, put pHEW before WHEW, and am familiar only with the spelling "tom yum kai" for the soup, but FIR in good time, no cheating, and certainly felt a sense of accomplishment. Thank you, C.C., for keeping us on our toes with this masterful challenge, and thank you, Husker Gary, for explaining it all, and especially for the attention you pay to construction and unique fill.
"Gran Turismo Omologato." Pontiac poached the term from Ferrari as a marketing ploy.
As an adolescent in the sixties, I was told by a neighborhood teen (and GTO owner) that it meant "after 100 miles per hour God Takes Over."
Well, I was close, but hung on to TuNa and couldn’t come up with GLaM UP, so that messed up. Then I left the P of pinged blank, though I should have guessed that.
Otherwise got the rest. I filled in PAPILLONS though I didn’t know they are spaniels. We’ve had ORO Y PLATA in many CW puzzles before. I didn’t know LISA RINNA, but she showed anyway.
In spite of a few hiccups, I enjoyed this clever puzzle.
Thank you HG for your usual great recap.
I zoomed right through this one, filled in all kinds of words and essentially made my own puzzle because most of my answers were wrong! Brought out my big eraser and slowly backtracked until I had everything corrected except 1 space because PAPILiONS seemed plausible. Impressive challenge, C.C!
Nice job, G! You are a master of colorful gridwork.
Growing up, I was told it meant "Oversized" as it had a larger engine than standard. But while Anon is correct with his Italian, I didn't know what Omologato was. It lead me down a rabbit hole to find out that it meant "homologated." Still no help LOL. In this case it means approved by an official authority for use in a particular class of racing.
I had an easy time with this one. Diego RIVERA was my first fill. I knew ORO Y PLATA, too, as well as PAPILLON, so the NW was the easy part of the puzzle.
There were a lot of what Jayce calls “paraphrases” in this one, and not all were lovely, but if you like a puzzle with lots of lengthy answers and not many black spaces, paraphrases are a necessary evil.
So many clues I found clever: Left-out words; Why not me?; and Fly-by-night were favorites. Red-eye flights are my preferred means of reaching the East Coast without wasting a day. I can’t sleep on the flight but I stay awake anyway during the day and then try to get to bed by 8 p.m. or so. No jet lag.
Was relieved WHEW, and not “phew,” was an entry. . . .Like others, I was thrown by the Victoria clue and figured it out only after I had come up with MELbourne.
LOL! Thanks guys...
I very much liked this puzzle.
GOSSIP -->IHEARD
PLATAYORO-->OROYPLATA
??VADER-->KYLOREN
TBD-->TBA.
I agree with Irish Miss: "I may be wrong but I think the majority of the clues are Patti’s, not CC’s. I say this because, right from the start, I never had the feeling that I was solving a typical CC puzzle." I felt the fill was CC's but the clues were mostly Patti's. Cluing TEE as "Place to go for a drive?" is a good example; does one really "go to" a TEE? One uses a TEE, one does not go to a TEE.
Anyway, it was a terrific puzzle and fun to solve.
Good reading you all.
Just to celebrate CC's puzzle, with a few previous post references, in this case, A.I. (how do I get to use this new tool?). I just have to show you two of my loves: Cats, and Pizza...
And, if you may remember, I had trouble "finding Waldo."
here's to a Saturday upping the difficulty...
There’s a good 3.letter word for future puzzle constructors. Arthur SZE was named the 25th U.S. poet laureate by the Library of Congress for 2026.
"SZE'who?
No one else tried "small change"?
Hola! It's only midmorning and I'm late to the party! WHEW! What a puzzle! Thank you, C.C. and Patti! It was very doable for a Saturday. That is, except the SW where I could not let go of DOG SHOW. Never heard of a CAT SHOW so GT CAR never made it.
Yes! My sweet PAPILLON lived for 17 years; thank you, Irish Miss, for remembering.
Another place I briefly strayed was at ORO Y PLATA. I had it backwards, PLATA Y ORO but GROTTO soon corrected that with a little help from ALEXA.
It is exhilarating to fill so much on a Saturday! Enjoy your day, everyone!
On my 7:30am first pass I got about six correct fills and others I had to back out of. That Devilish C.C. I had GROTTO, ORO Y PLATA, TANGELO, SWE, TEE, and ADIDAS- that was it. So I went away for 3 hours before making another attempt.
DOG SHOW was wrong. The only companion ( she claimed it was a 'service') animal CAT I ever experience was on a flight from Phoenix to NOLA. It meowed all the way. Another person had a phony service dog, which proceeded to try to fight with a blind person's German Shepherd while we were waiting to board.
CHUMP CHANGE was halfway correct. LOOSE
I had to delete DELETE so the unknown 'soaper-fake housewife' LISA RINNA could hit the grid.
PAPILLONS- those butterflies only made it on my grid by perps.
I only know KYLO REN from puzzles and had no idea about one of his grandparents.
Payne's plane lost pressure- the same thing happened to Bo Rein, the new head coach LSU had hired. After the plane left Baton Rouge, the auto pilot kept going and when the FAA realized something was wrong, fighter jets followed it until it ran out of fuel over the Atlantic.
You go to the TEE box to hit your DRIVE.
You hit your first DRIVE from the first TEE.
What a pleasure to get a C.C. puzzle on a Saturday: many thanks for this treat, and have a wonderful weekend. And your commentary is always a help and a pleasure too, Husker Gary, so thank you for that too.
Well, any time young people GLAM UP we worry that they might no longer be DOWN TO EARTH, like us. We'd have to tell them "C'MON NOW," and ask them not to NEGATE us. Don't DEVIATE from all your usual activities and games, since we're all part of a COASTAL TOWN. So HERE'S AN IDEA: you all love cats, so why don't you participate in some CAT SHOWS? If they win and you have some LOOSE CHANGE, we can all go to an INN and have some NESTEA. And as a special gift we can order some milk for our kitties. Not a bad way to spend a weekend when you're already all dressed up in TWEEDS. See you soon (in spirit, if not in person) and have a lovely weekend.
First, let's begin with this wonderful Saturday.
Jiji the black cat videos are addictive.
Like you I also sensed something “off” for this as a CC puzzle.
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