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).
32 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.
FIR. I really didn't think I was correct in several places. I really thought I had failed, but got surprised when I was right!
I had no clue about syrah. I don't drink so a wine or whatever that is doesn't compute.
The SE was the last to fall, compounded by my having Laker before LA Ram. Also not a sports fan, unless it's baseball.
So overall not an enjoyable puzzle.
Reading HG’s fine review, I’m glad I TITT early. This is not the kind of CW I enjoy.
Adolescent = teenager. Adolescence = teenage
I think you need to think of it like an adjective, not a noun to make it work
I finished the grid with the same doubts KS expressed. I was wondering what DREMEL is (and therefore, what “Milwaukee” meant in the clue); I had staggered into AH, HOW SWEET and THE ROYAL WE despite the clues’ seeming like non-sequiturs; I had come up with a name for the youngest Haim without knowing who or what Haim is; I’d been forced to accept that the New Orleans PELS and the little-if-ever-used term ISOS had passed muster with the esteemed editor; I had gotten STAR CHART and VILLAIN ERA via perps and had accepted HALBERD when I thought it ought to have a Y in it; I had accepted that there might be a female Captain Marvel; I had gotten the HI AGAIN entry against all odds; and I had to hope that ED EDD NEDDY was right.
I wouldn’t have bet I had come away with an FIR.
I did know a few things. OK COMPUTER was one of my first fills, and I liked seeing it cross KID because “Kid A” is an even better Radiohead album. ATM CARD came to mind quickly. I didn’t need many perps for ELECTRIC VEHICLE or AMSCRAY. I even got SESH. And I got a “word” I really dislike, WOOT, without even noticing.
I did like DEIGNS and MARTHA. But not much else. I don’t blame anyone for despising the puzzle today.
Good Saturday challenge - - lots of sussing and finally FIR in about 30. It certainly helped knowing OKCOMPUTER, HALBERD, and EDEDDNEDDY. (Never watched the inane cartoon, but the name always stuck with me.) Final WAG on SYRAH (Red Hots? Dots? Mots?) Wine and foreign food are the biggest crossword handicaps for this uncultured rube! Thanks for the 'splainin, HG!
Sorry, Dremel is Milwaukee's rival in the same way my local coffee shop is Starbucks' rival
Also thought DEWALT was a more apt competitor of Milwaukee, but I suppose HG's photo is indisputable!
Good Morning:
Sincere congrats to those who completed this puzzle. That being said, Thumper and I are taking the day off.
HG, thanks for your diplomacy, patience, and generous nature. I hope Darling Lily has recovered from her latest Vet treatment. 😉
Have a great day.
Above is my post, in case there were any doubts! Blogger continues to torture me and Monkey!
Learning moment: Dremel/Milwaukee
I questioned this too, but a look at their website reveals they sell a large variety of different tools. Who knew?
In the honesty dept. I have not done today's puzzle. (Saturdays stump me) I did (had to) read HG's review. My goodness! What a plethora of visual information!
(I mean that in the "large sense." Not excessive in any way. Thank you HG.)
But in the good news dept., I will use DW's new $60- ink cartridge to print out the puzzle, and the next time she drags me to the beach out of cell phone range, I will have hours of fun to keep me busy. But I read all the answers you say? Believe me, with my memory, I won't have a clue...
Exactly. I come from a family of contractors and there wasn't a Dremel product in sight in any of their tool inventories.
Nope. Waaay out of my wheelhouse...I did manage to fill about a third of it before surrendering, which is about par for me on a lot of Saturday puzzles, and Huskers recap was informative.
Not a fan of this puzzle, although I managed to FIW (I had to use the "reveal letter" tool for the M that crossed DREMEL and DEMS.
I finished in 25 minutes, almost double my usual Saturday time.
Too many obscurities and cutesie clues for me. I thought the clue for VILLAIN ERA was weak. More often than not, the one-time pushover will become a hero.
In the yesterday dept.
Misty mentioned The Ginkgo Tree from the puzzle, and if any of you are unfamiliar with it. You might want to learn about it before planting one.
the Ginkgo tree was once thought to be extinct!
It was like finding a live Dodo bird! However the more you learn about this tree, you might theorize that it almost went extinct because people tried to kill it!
Watch this till the end!
this could cost you a $15,000 fine and possible jail time!?!?!?!.
My DREMEL is a high speed oscillating tool which cuts with a serrated blade. It’s indispensable in a lot of tight spots where a saw can’t reach. I didn’t know Milwaukee made the same type of tool, generically it’s a DREMEL where I live.
Oof! Suffice it to say that I was defeated in the southeast. I managed the rest of it, but it was a struggle. Thanks to Ryan for the tough test, and to Husker Gary for explaining it all.
Another horribly clued “look how smart I am” Saturday mess. I took a tour across and then down and then stopped. Life is too short to kneel to egomaniac crossword authors and their sadly incompetent editors.
Challenging, but still interesting Saturday puzzle, many thanks, Ryan. And your commentary and pictures are always a pleasure, thanks for those too, Gary.
No, a Saturday puzzle doesn't get an "AW HOW SWEET" tribute, even when it's MORE OR LESS interesting, like this one. It did require a bit of WRESTING (okay, cheating) for us to get most of the answers, but even if it wasn't a STAR CHART, it was still an OK COMPUTER item. So we're happy.
Have a wonderful rest of the weekend, everybody.
Thank you for remembering my mention of the Gingko Tree in an earlier reference of mine, CrossEyedDave--much appreciated.
I'm also a contractor, and DREMELs are toys compared to Milwaukee's line-up. DREMELs have their place in detail work, but if you need to hammer though a concrete wall...
When the going gets tough, I quit. For a while, anyway. When I pick it up again in a few hours, words that eluded me seem to pop out. So, Patrick has given me two puzzles for the price of one!
Thanks, HG, for your ace review. I'm glad you provided a picture of a HALBERD because I couldn't picture it myself.
Took me a very long time … Finally did a bit of judicious “learning” - or ?should I say “looking” (?cheating): ok computer, halberd, dremel, pels (short for “pelicans”?)
Passive learning from “perp-ing” - Tess, Alana, thot C Marvel was male.
I sort of get “sesh” = “meet”, but not really since I’ve never seen/heard “sesh” as a verb nor “meet” as a noun.
And, I would’ve thot past participle “teen-aged” = “adolescent”, as adjectives, but …
Thanks for challenging and informative Saturday puzzle and explanation.
Happy weekend to all - don’t forget to “fall back” tonite …
Agree!!!
23:35. Pretty good puzzle. However, the SW gave me fits...
Cheers to all who tackled my puzzle today! Sounds like a few of you even enjoyed it. ;)
I can confirm "sesh" and "meet" are both nouns here. The latter is current corporate shorthand for a meeting. :)
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