Saturday Themeless by Kyle Dolan
This is the 20th themeless Saturday puzzle by Dr. Dolan I have blogged. My first one was on May 26, 2018 and every one of his constructions has been a delight. This one was kind of an enjoyable slog until the long fills helped out.
I'll point out the rough spots below that slowed my progress to a well-earned "got 'er done".
1. Sign of aging: PATINA - A very famous example:
7. Leave a black mark on, say: SCORCH - The Apollo Command Modules returned to Earth from the Moon at 25,000 mph. Entering Earth's atmosphere slowed them down enough to parachute safely into the ocean but the bottom heat shield got up to 5,000℉ which left SCORCH marks.
15. Sweet-talk: CAJOLE.
16. __ effect: phenomenon of attraction in fluid mechanics, familiarly: CHEERIOS - Cheerios in the middle of the bowl tend to clump together and on the edge of the bowl they cling to the side of the bowl. More...
18. Didn't work: RESTED.
19. French "his": SES - Il a besoin de SES chaussures (He needs his shoes)
20. Sure to fail: CAN'T WIN.
22. "Hansel and Gretel" figure: HAG - A word that is now considered to be sexist and ageist.
23. Hertz, for one: UNIT - Hertz are cycles/second. My hearing stops at around 8,000 hertz (vps) while my students could go up to over 20,000 hertz
25. __ steak: STRIP - I've eaten may a good NY STRIP Steak
26. Sloggy terrain: MIRE.
27. Twangy-voiced: NASAL - Bob Dylan leaped to my mind
29. __ canto: BEL - Italian for "Beautiful Singing" More...
30. "Derry __": sitcom set in Northern Ireland: GIRLS - I thought it might be something clever like Derry Ayers 😀
31. Home of "Whistler's Mother": MUSÉE D'ORSAY - Here Whistler's Mother, or Arrangement in Black and Gray No. 1, is being hung in the Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena, CA as part of an exchange program with the Musée d'Orsay in Paris.
34. Shooting stars?: SAGITTARIUS 😀 I loved this (eventually). This astronomy teacher should have parsed the reference to the zodiacal constellation of SAGITTARIUS The Archer.
35. Fallible ones: MERE MORTALS.
36. Prime minister between Theresa and Liz: BORIS - UK PM'S
 |
| Theresa May Boris Johnson Liz Truss |
37. "Bad idea": NAH.
38. Clear a way for: LET BY - What linemen try to create for running backs.
42. Port northeast of Djibouti: ADEN - It's a 45 minute flight or an 84 hour drive (bad roads and armed conflict also make this a bad choice).
43. Cuts finely: DICES.
45. Elisabeth of "Cobra Kai": SHUE - Elizabeth Shue was 20 years old when she played Ali Mills in 1984's Karate Kid. She reprised that role at 61 years old in Netflix's Cobra Kai.
46. Former Japanese coin: SEN - Due to inflation, the SEN (.001 of a Yen) was demonetized after WWII and Japan now uses the Yen.
47. Has more than: OUT EATS.
49. "The Hurting Kind" poet Limón: ADA.
50. Bamboozle: TRIP UP.
52. Features of many Best Picture winners: R-RATINGS - The MPAA says: An R-rated movie contains content such as strong language, intense or persistent violence, sexually oriented nudity or drug abuse that is deemed unsuitable for viewers under 17.
54. Call for: ENTAIL.
55. Plastic souvenir, e.g.: TRINKET.
56. Declares: SAYS SO.
57. Like a good sidekick: TRUSTY or maybe not...
Down:
1. California surf culture apparel brand: PACSUN.
2. Goddess who is a judge in "The Eumenides": ATHENA - I had no idea that this was a play by Aeschylus but ATHENA seemed like a pretty good guess for a Godess.
3. Construction such as the term "un-freaking-believable": TMESIS ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
4. Sew up: ICE - Many NFL games are ICED (won) by game-ending field goals.
5. Snitch (on): NARC.
6. Dramatic solos: ARIAS.
7. Cheese substitute?: SCRIP - 😀 Both are synonyms for money
8. Bay Area columnist who coined the word "beatnik": CAEN.
 |
| The first use of the word |
9. Citrus drinks, for short: OJS.
10. Shelters named for a senator: ROTH IRAS - William Roth was a Republican senator from Delaware.
12. Equivocates: HEDGES.
14. "I'd have a backup plan": DON'T BET ON IT.
17. Many a "Fast & Furious" character: STREET RACER.
21. Free-spirited: WILD AT HEART.
24. Amazon primate: TAMARIN - Here's a Golden TAMARIN
28. Winter racers: LUGES.
30. Spot for a brat: GRILL - Uh, not for unruly children
32. Calling card?: SIM.
33. "The Masked Singer" judge Rita: ORA.
34. Calm: SERENITY - Frank Costanza's mantra.
35. Biotech firm known for vaccines: MODERNA - It's the one we got
36. Juices up?: BASTES 😀
39. "Much obliged": THANKS.
40. Affordable: BUDGET - Having Dom Pérignon tastes on a Budweiser BUDGET could be disastrous
41. Like a brewery: YEASTY.
43. Lego brand for little hands: DUPLO - DUPLO is double in Danish
44. Flinch: START - Was this a part of anyone else's childhood?
47. Nice words of agreement: OUIS - When I see Nice, my mind immediately goes to French like in this song which charted at #2 in 1918.
48. To-do: STIR.
51. Some medical providers, for short: PAS - Our neighbor's daughter is an M.D. married to a Physician's Assistant (P.A.) in central Nebraska.
53. Shiba __: INU ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
2 comments:
I knew it had to be
“ATM card” and I knew it had to be “Cheerios” but it took me a long time to get “patina” because “tmesis” made no sense to me. Nevertheless, after over an hour, I did end up getting it.
FIR, so I’m happy.
Well my extensive string of FIRs came to an end today with a TITT DNF. I pretty much spun my wheels for a half hour with little to show for it, took a few breaks and each time coming back and picking away at it a little more, after an hour I still had 8 blanks in the NW, tried some a-runs in my head but couldn’t come up with PATINA, PACSUN, SES, UNIT, TAMARIN, and of course TMESIS??? Oh well I got 96% correct which is still an A, but unlike SubG, not happy about it. Thanks Kyle, I had fun trying and learned some new stuff, and to HG, thanks for the write up, glad you got er done, but I’m guessing you may be in the minority on this one.
Kudos to anyone who knew the home of Whistler’s Mother off the top of their head!
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