Themeless Saturday by Ryan Patrick Smith
Ryan Patrick Smith lives in Austin, TX and is a writer, editor, gamer and frequent moviegoer who has been constructing word puzzles for over a decade. His work has previously appeared in the NYT and other venues. He and I have been visiting via FaceBook messaging and he is a very nice guy.I did tell Ryan I had a huge issue in the SE corner where, as the grid shows below, he had a stack of ten unique fills.😳 He replied, Thanks for the kind words, and for giving the puzzle a fair shake! I look forward to your blog post.
1. "For me? You shouldn't have!": AW HOW SWEET.
11. Froze (out): SHUT - An all too common event in a school lunchrooms and playgrounds
15. I dropper: THE ROYAL WE - Queen Victoria may or may not have said this but it is usually attributed to her.
16. Antler point: TINE - Makes sense
17. Approximately: MORE OR LESS.
18. Derby, for one: RACE - The most famous one in America and in Britain where they pronounce Derby as Darby.
19. Org chart topper: CEO.
20. Soapstone, largely: TALC.
20. Soapstone, largely: TALC.
21. Product line?: SLOGAN.
25. Red __: HOTS - Red HOTS candy is hot because of cinnamaldehyde, a chemical found in cinnamon bark. It's a skin irritant; when put on the tongue, that's perceived as "hot". It was a favorite in my misspent yute but "burns" my tongue too much now.
28. Buy more Time: RENEW 😀
30. With 56-Down, piledriver or Polish hammer: WRESTLING and 56. See 30-Across: MOVE.
 |
| Polish Hammer |
 |
| Pile Driver |
32. Milwaukee rival: DREMEL.
34. "Got it": I SEE.
35. "Auld Lang Syne" time, for short: NYE - It is sung on New Year's Eve
36. Plan for a night out?: STAR CHART 😀 Tonight's sky
39. Common thing to clasp behind one's back: BRA 😀 or unclasp
42. Chicken __: KIEV.
43. "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" role: MARTHA - Elizabeth Taylor won her second Academy Award for portraying MARTHA. Martha to her husband: I hope that was an empty bottle, George! You can't afford to waste good liquor, not on YOUR salary!
47. Take courses in the evening?: EAT DINNER 😀
50. SoFi Stadium pro: LA RAM.
51. Pays for hand delivery: ANTES 😀
52. Word before or after what: THEN.
54. NOLA squad: PELS.
55. Self-evident observation: TRUISM.
57. Plays that create one-on-one scoring opportunities, in basketball shorthand: ISOS - All members of the red team have moved to one side of the court so the one red player left is ISOLATED on one defender.
59. Block letters: ABC.
60. Animated musical film set in a theater: SING.
61. Radiohead album with the single "Paranoid Android": OK COMPUTER. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
64. Brand in some bathrooms: MOEN.
65. Phase when one stops being a pushover: VILLAIN ERA. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
66. Travel itinerary info: ETDS - When you are departing
67. Cartoon Network series about a trio of similarly named friends: ED EDD N EDDY ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Down:
1. Item that's easy to swipe: ATM CARD. 😀
2. "Anyone'll do": WHOEVER.
3. Captain Marvel, for one: HEROINE.
4. 31-Down material: ORE and 31. Underground band: SEAM.
5. Triumphant cry: WOOT.
6. Red choice: SYRAH.
7. Refuse to move on, say: WALLOW.
8. Quiet ride: ELECTRIC VEHICLE - A nice freebie grid spanner
9. Disgusted chorus: EWS.
10. Novelist Gerritsen: TESS ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
9. Disgusted chorus: EWS.
10. Novelist Gerritsen: TESS ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
12. Follow-up start: HI AGAIN.
13. Preternatural: UNCANNY.
14. Adolescent: TEENAGE.
22. Rugby pass: LATERAL.
24. Hill side, for short: DEMS - DEMocratS are one side on Capital Hill
26. Meet: SESH - Slang for session
29. Smooch from a pooch: WET KISS - Awww...
33. Edward R. Robinson's "Hymn for Soldiers Who Have __ in the Snow": Not a pleasant read
37. Number for a letter?: RENT - Let is a synonym for rent so a renter is also a letter
38. "It's a __!": TRAP.
39. [Shrug]: BEATS ME - A symbol I use a lot: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
40. Went berserk: RAN RIOT - Yeah, I put RAN AMOK first too
41. Listening carefully (to): ATTUNED.
44. Got a round, say: TREATED.
45. Renaissance weapon: HALBERD - They all have one
46. "Go jump in a lake!": AMSCRAY - I haven't heard Pig Latin in a long time
48. Condescends: DEIGNS.
49. Like many concert tickets: RESOLD - If you buy a ticket on the secondary market, you are at the mercy of "supply and demand". Some Taylor Swift tickets for her Era Tour went for $14,000.
53. Itinerant: NOMAD.
58. Get around?: SPIN - Very different from "Get a round".
62. Tyke: KID.
63. Article indéfini: UNE - Je conduis UNE Buick (I drive a Buick).
5 comments:
It was tough, but I
eventually got it. It did take me over an hour, though, and a lot of iPhone battery power.
The hardest thing for me to get was the name of those three little boys: Ed, Edd, Neddie. But get them I did, eventually.
Anyway, FIR, so I’m happy.
Meh, not a fan. Saturday puzzles leaving me cold lately.
Gave up
For the third Saturday in a row I came up a bit short, done in by the SE trio of HALBERD, AMSCRAY, and VILLAIN ERA, FIW when I couldn’t WAG my way out after 44:19. Happy I got as much as I did on this very challenging puzzle. Learning moment of the day - Captain Marvel is a she. Thank you Ryan for testing my patience with this one, and to HG for the enlightenment.
Took 29:31 today.
Lots of unknowns, including "halberd," the role (Martha), and today's writer (Tess).
Not sure how I feel about some of the clues, which is a common feeling after completing a Saturday LAT xword.
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