Themeless Saturday by Rafael Musa & Geoffrey Schorkopf
BRICK went in immediately and then I raced down the eastern seaboard with just Florida to fill in. That did take a little doing but I came back and finished there. Cutesy cluing and modern slang provided some speed bumps but I did get a satisfying Congratulations message when I "got 'er done".
As the graphic shows, Rafael (A software engineer for Airbnb in S.F.) and Geoffrey (a software engineer at Fastly in Atlanta) had a lot of unique fill including all of a triple horizontal stack of 9's in the NW. Its matching triple stack in the SE had one unique fill and the symmetric double vertical 10's each had one.
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Across:
1. Showers with affection in a manipulative way: LOVE BOMBS - I was happy to learn this. It seems to be an example of "too much, too soon".
15. Option at a Mediterranean bakery: OLIVE ROLL - Unknown to me but makes perfect sense.
16. Art print, for short: LITHO - A very nice one minute video about the LITHO (rock) GRAPHY (picture) process.
17. Hero in a 2018 Thai rescue operation: CAVE DIVER.
18. Photographer Adams: ANSEL.
19. Fertility clinic donations: OVA.
20. Piggy back?: LOIN - I had _ O I N and thought GO IN as you piggy back on someone else's idea or gift purchase and GO IN on it. 😀
21. Not spotted: UNSEEN.
22. People taking steps together: LINE DANCERS 😀
24. Pro pitcher, perhaps: AD MAN - Pitcher is one of those clue words that warn you this is might not be a baseball player or a container of lemonade.
27. Symbol of statistical deviation: SIGMA - Yes, 𝛔 is a lower case SIGMA. 𝜇 is the mean or average.
30. Host who fielded many, many questions: TREBEK - It just ain't the same without him
32. New beginning?: NEO.
33. Aura: VIBE.
34. Water under the bridge: BYGONES.
36. Medium for pop art?: SODA CAN - Andy Warhol's Campbell's SOUP CAN came to me first
38. Cracked: AJAR - This door can be said to be slightly cracked or AJAR
39. Long-nosed fish: GAR.
41. Fights off: REPELS.
42. Primary ingredient in the Nigerian dish āmālā: YAM - When I saw it wasn't OCA I entered YAM
43. Conceive: BEGET - The Book Of Matthew chronicles 40 generations of BEGETTING!
45. Church walkway: AISLE.
46. Butler honor: NEBULA AWARD.
50. Coin featuring Hagia Sophia: LIRA.
51. Interior designer's deg.: BFA - This is the degree my youngest granddaughter is currently pursuing
54. Parties hearty: RAGES.
57. Goddess of peace: IRENE.
58. Departing words: ALL ABOARD before they 21. Cast off: UNMOOR.
59. Guy Fawkes Night structures: PYRES - What is this all about?
60. Updos that might be carefully arranged to appear casual: MESSY BUNS.
Down:
1. Set into -motion?: LOCO - I never miss a chance for some great 60's rock 'n roll!
2. Norwegian ruler known as Folkekongen, "the people's king": OLAV.
3. "Ą__ la fiesta!": VIVA - "Long live the party!" or "Hooray for the festival!"
I struggled with this one because of the character Ą at the front of the clue. I asked my good friend in Lincoln, Dr. Fred Ohles, who is the former president of Nebraska Wesleyan University (and puzzle constructor himself), what he thought. He thinks that the special character Ą was mistakenly inserted where the inverted exclamation point ¡ was required for a Spanish phrase that ends with an exclamation point.
5. Set for retirement?: BED LINEN 😀 Set is a noun
6. Spacecraft of NASA's Artemis program: ORION - Yeah, I knew it! The ORION spacecraft that will carry astronauts sits high atop this massive rocket. The vast majority of rocket below the ORION craft simply carries fuel and two boosters.
6. Spacecraft of NASA's Artemis program: ORION - Yeah, I knew it! The ORION spacecraft that will carry astronauts sits high atop this massive rocket. The vast majority of rocket below the ORION craft simply carries fuel and two boosters.
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| Hint to find Waldo at bottom of write-up |
9. Snap decision, for short?: SLR - Yes, you can use a Single Lens Reflex camera to take a snap (photo)
10. Bahía __: city whose name means "White Bay": BLANCA.
11. Dishwasher setting: RINSE.
12. Field for one with their head in the cloud?: IT SERVICES - Uh, the virtual cloud (singular in the clue)
13. Lacking taste: CHEESE BALL - He is so CHEESE BALL
14. City on the Rhein: KOLN - In Germany they say KURN in English we say Kuh LOWN. Koln or Cologne?
22. When one might hope for same-day delivery?: LABOR 😀
23. Quite a stretch: AGES.
24. No longer dangerous: AT BAY.
25. Nondrinking age?: DRY JANUARY.
26. Very big deal: MEGA MERGER.
29. All knotted up: TENSE.
31. Pelvic exercises: KEGELS.
33. Jejune: VAPID.
35. Hardly a digest: SAGA.
37. Advice column with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame: DEAR ABBY.
40. Cask beer in traditional British pubs: REAL ALE.
43. Kisses: BUSSES.
44. Shows off a new dress, say: TWIRLS 47. Geoffrey of fashion: BEENE. Here is a TWIRL in a Geoffrey Beene dress.
ee49. Stalactite origin: DRIP - The DRIP can make them grow as fast as 1" per 100 years.
51. Main squeeze: BEAU.
52. Scottish comedian Brady: FERN - She's a hoot who says, "I am an intelligent woman trapped in a Scottish accent". Here's a 29 second clip.
53. Does the math: ADDS.
55. Mac spec: RAM.
56. Hold up: ROB.
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| Here's Waldo! |
2 comments:
Well, I got it. Took me almost an hour, but
“slow and steady wins the race” I guess.
Anyway, FIR, so I’m happy.
With only a handful of gimmes, it was a very slow start, after about 25 minutes I only had about 40% filled, took about an hour break, came back and slogged my way to a FIR w/out any help in just under 43, a very challenging Saturday puzzle as it should be. Total unknowns = LOVE BOMBS, DRY JANUARY, NEBULA AWARD, MESSY BUNS etc… In my circle nobody ever says jejune or VAPID, and I didn’t know the meaning of either. Thanks Rafael and Geoffrey ( I saw the SO to yourself with the BEENE clue). Thanks to HG for yet another stellar review!
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