google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Saturday, September 27, 2025, Doug Peterson and Samuel A. Donaldson

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Sep 27, 2025

Saturday, September 27, 2025, Doug Peterson and Samuel A. Donaldson

Saturday Themeless by Doug Peterson and Samuel A. Donaldson

I had a collaborative puzzle by these two veterans a year ago. This one was just as much fun as that one. This beautiful grid only had 29 blocks amid the 98 open squares comprising a lot of white space. Symmetric grid spanners adds to the puzzles skill level. I got a hard-earned a "got 'er done" 



Sam Donaldson
Doug Peterson


Across

1. Technique employed by funk artists: SLAP BASS.


9. Many group chat texts: MEMES


14. Garbage genre: ALTERNATIVE ROCK - Garbage is an alternative rock band. Their  incorporates elements of electronic rock, electropop, trip hop, post-grunge and industrial rock.  
¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 


17. "What are you even saying?": MAKE IT MAKE SENSE - What I would say about the description of the music played by the group above.

18. On Signal, say: IMING - Internet MessagING on a private messaging service known as Signal

19. Ketanji colleague: ELENA and 
28. Ketanji colleague: SONIA - Amy Coney Barrett, SONIA Sotomayor,  Ketanji Brown and ELENA Kagan,


20. Processed food: ATE.

21. Salon offerings: TANS.

22. Google crossword clues, some say: CHEAT - If you Google (verb) a crossword clue, it is not a CHEATING, it is learning. Constructor Malaika Handa said, "
Also, when you’re solving, look up entries that you don’t know! It’s a game, not a test."

23. Gazebo board: SLAT.

24. Count ender?: ESS.

Violet Crawley the Dowager
COUNTESS of Grantham

25. 25-Down, in Toledo: TRES 
25. 25-Across, in Toledo: THREE The first one applies in Toledo, Spain. The second one is in Toledo, Ohio. πŸ˜€

26. Like most Iraqis: SHIITE.


28. Wiring problem: SHORT - An electrical SHORT in the Service Module provided the spark for the explosion on Apollo 13.


29. Norse pantheon: AESIR.


30. Launch-related stress: G-FORCE - Jet pilots launched off an aircraft carrier go from 0 - 140 mph to two seconds and feel 3-4 G's of FORCE.


32. Tool used to go suck a lemon?: CARVAC πŸ˜€ I use a CARVAC in my non-lemon car ! My last fill!


34. Queeg's ship: CAINE Was Queeg mentally ill?


35. County, across the pond: SHIRE - Robin Hood "lived" in NOTTINGHAMSHIRE.


36. Jumps on board?: OLLIES.


38. Hard to grab hold of: EELY.

39. Lotion letters: SPF.

42. Jessica of "Sin City": ALBA.


43. Coward's offerings: PLAYS πŸ˜€


45. 2020 Pixar film: SOUL.


46. Act excused with crossed fingers: LIE.

47. Working stiff: PROLE.


48. Atlantic capital: ACCRA.


49. Negotiation assets: BARGAINING CHIPS - One mom's opinion


52. Free pass from a manager: INTENTIONAL WALK - The pitcher no longer has to throw four balls. The manager can just choose to put a batter on base via an INTENTIONAL WALK

53. They may get thumbed: NOSES πŸ˜€

54. Royalty figure: NET SALES - Noel Coward accumulated millions in royalties on NET SALES of his work before his death in 1973 and his foundation administers that income now.


Down:

1. Silky fabric that dates to the Middle Ages: SAMITE.


2. Characters in Anna Dewdney books: LLAMAS ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 


3. Big name in middle management?: ATKINS πŸ˜€


4. Hammer heads?: PEENS.

5. Ocean cooler: BRIG - πŸ˜€ I finally saw that cooler was another word for jail which on a boat on the ocean it is called a BRIG.

6. Colony toiler: ANT - The city name of Accra comes from Akan word Nkran meaning ant because of all the ant hills in Ghana.

7. "Ditto": SAME HERE.

8. Most like a chestnut: STALEST.


9. Home of Arizona's idea Museum: MESA.


10. Afore: ERE.

11. Work in the Louvre's Salle des Γ‰tats: MONA LISA πŸ˜€ - I loved this clue/fill once it became obvious. The MONA LISA is in the Louvre's "States Room"

12. Stoked: ECSTATIC.

13. Pesky little sucker: SKEETER - I had some on the course recently and I put on my Absorbing Jr and they were gone.

15. Shopper's "maze with meatballs": IKEA.


16. Lets off steam: VENTS.

22. Gator kin: CROC.

23. Mesh in the kitchen: SIEVE.

27. Styles with many cuts: HARRY - The old common/proper noun switch for the many coifs of singer HARRY Styles


30. Vanilla liqueur: GALLIANO.


31. Hazelnuts: FILBERTS.


32. Dull Knife's people: CHEYENNE.


33. Feels off: AILS.

34. Container for seamy material?: COAL BIN πŸ˜€ Coal is found in seams in the Earth 


35. Beach barker: SEA LION.

37. 
Mast attachment: SPRIT.


39. Phishing target, informally: SOCIAL.


40. Crayola's wild orchid, e.g.: PURPLE.

41. Glassware in labs: FLASKS.

44. "The Real" co-host Love: LONI - Second from the left


45. Either side of Alaska?: SCHWA πŸ˜€ 
Ə las kΙ™


47. Parts of a balance scale: PANS - The most famous ones are held by a lady with a blindfold.


48. Bands that may be strained on courts, briefly: ACLS.


50. [low whistle]: GEE.

51. Noir piece: GAT - The man below in this film noir scene is wielding a GAT or rod

 

2 comments:

Subgenius said...

The fact that those
grid spanning answers were not impossible to get helped me solve this challenging puzzle. Anyway, FIR, so I’m happy.

desper-otto said...

Good morning!

I often pass on Saturdays, but I'm familiar with the work of both Doug and Samuel, so I gave it a shot. Glad I did. It took most of my allotted solving time, but it finally came together. [Whew] I thought of Harry Styles' recordings ("cuts") rather than his hairy styles. The four grid spanners were very nice. Thanx, guys. Thanx, too, to Husker for the elucidation.