Saturday Themeless by Ed Sessa
Seeing Dr. Sessa's byline made me feel confident that I would have a pleasant and engaging solve and that proved to be true for my 13th Sessa puzzle blog. Anything that was new or unusual had plenty of escape avenues and after a lovely 17 minute excursion I earned a "got 'er done".
1. Farmer's dozen: FRESH EGGS.
10. Brightly colored Arita ware: IMARI - IMARI porcelain is made in the town of Arita in Japan, though it is named after the port of Imari where the wares were historically shipped.
10. Brightly colored Arita ware: IMARI - IMARI porcelain is made in the town of Arita in Japan, though it is named after the port of Imari where the wares were historically shipped.
15. Bubble Wrap alternative: AIR PILLOW.
16. Violet shade: LILAC.
17. Memorabilia from the Great White North: CANADIANA - We have Americana and Canada has Canadiana, a term used to describe things (e.g., books, historical documents, works of art, music and artifacts), ideas, or activities that concern or are distinctive of Canada, its peoples, and/or its culture, especially works of literature and other cultural products.
18. Guitar legend Van Halen: EDDIE.
19. Jolly pair?: ELS - Meta cluing, Jolly has two "L's"
20. "Mad Men" types: AD REPS.
22. Fuse with heat: WELD.
23. Popeye's __'Pea: SWEE - The original characters
26. Bouquets: AROMAS.
29. Some military caps: KEPIS - I always think of this guy
30. Pass on: RELAY - Sometimes it comes back to you
31. Near-perfect ballgame: ONE HITTER - In 1995 Paul Menhart of the Toronto Blue Jays pitched a ONE-HITTER but lost the game 1- 0 as the only hit was a home run by Oriole Harold Baines.
35. Day of March madness: IDES.
36. Russian refusals: NYETS.
37. Sine qua non: NEED.
38. Shelties' shelters: DOG HOUSES.
40. One-named singer dubbed the "First Lady of Crunk & B": CIARA ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
41. __ in: intrudes: BUTTS.
42. Software shortcuts: MACROS.
43. Figure in the knight time?: SQUIRE 😀
45. Give credit to: CITE.
46. Figure on many a flag: STAR - Of course Texas features a lone star
47. Leafy spots: ARBORS - An ARBOR at the home of J. Sterling Morton, the founder of ARBOR Day, in Nebraska City, NE.
49. Tallahassee inst.: FSU.
52. Argentine dance: TANGO.
54. Folks who are rotten to the core: BAD APPLES.
56. Tribal leader: ELDER.
57. Rare blood type: A-NEGATIVE.
56. Tribal leader: ELDER.
57. Rare blood type: A-NEGATIVE.
58. Oft-poached fruit: PEARS.
59. Floral additive to Turkish delight and gulab jamun: ROSE WATER.
Down:
1. Portrait subject: FACE - Legend has it that this FACE belonged to Mona (my lady) Lisa (del Giocondo)
2. Capital of Oman: RIAL - $2.60
3. Gray sea eagles: ERNS.
4. Massage center: SPA.
5. Secreted: HID AWAY.
6. Says "coulda, woulda, shoulda," say: ELIDES 😀
7. Intimidating look: GLARE.
8. Used up: GONE.
9. Free trade zones?: SWAP MEETS 😀
10. __-de-France: ILE - Literally, the name "Island of France" for the territory of Paris. It was derived from its being bordered by the rivers Seine, Oise and Marne (tributaries of the Seine) and Beuvronne (a tributary of the Marne), which surround it like an island.
11. Stereotype associated with a region of the United States: MIDWEST NICE - We tend to be that way
12. Tree with catkins: ALDER.
13. Small wading birds: RAILS - Miraculously, I recalled RAILS which kept me out of the possible natick at IMARI/RAILS. Hmmm... I wonder how many RIALS RAILS cost? 😀
14. Frosted: ICED.
21. Former frosh: SOPHS.
23. Order that requires a superhot griddle: SMASH BURGER - It starts as a round ball and then...
21. Former frosh: SOPHS.
23. Order that requires a superhot griddle: SMASH BURGER - It starts as a round ball and then...
25. Nintendo game console: WII - WII golf in a nursing home
26. Saharan: ARID.
27. Let result, in tennis: REDO - If a serve hits but gets over the net in VB play continues and there is no REDO.
28. Cassini of fashion: OLEG - OLEG was Jackie's official designer but this suit she wore 62 years ago today was by Chanel. This famous pink dress is stored in the National Archives and will not be on display until 2103. Her pillbox hat has been lost.
29. End of a lap: KNEES 😀
31. Spot to order Kumamotos: OYSTER BAR - At 10 o'clock below
32. Rend: TEAR.
33. Architect Saarinen: EERO - Some of his many designs
34. Iron reqs., e.g.: RDAS.
36. Dietary product prefix: NUTRA -
"Nutra" is a common abbreviation for nutraceuticals
, which are products derived from food sources that provide extra health benefits, including the prevention and treatment of disease
40. Dupe: CATS PAW - A fable where a monkey tricks the CAT into using his PAW to retrieve chestnuts from the fire while he eats them as they come out.
42. Sleight of land?: MIRAGE 😀 A nice play on words land/hand
43. Like many bad jokes: STALE.
44. Post-lecture sesh: Q AND A - A Q AND A session with 7th graders will yield many hands. With seniors, not so much.
45. Programs: CODES - We have many CODERS in our merry little cwd bunch.
46. March part: STEP.
48. Baja bath: BAÑO - Sometimes you don't really need a bath...
49. Move like a monarch: FLIT 😀
50. Golf legend Ballesteros: SEVE - Seve Ballesteros est un golfeur professionnel espagnol.
51. One logging on: USER.
53. Scrubs ctrs.: ORS.
55. School org.: PTA.
26 comments:
No doubt, the crossing
of “Ciara” and “Eero” will cause comments, and, indeed, I only got that after exhausting many other alternatives in order to get the success “flip.”
But get it I eventually did, and so
FIR, so I’m happy.
Good morning!
I often skip Saturdays, but seeing Dr. Ed's byline, I decided to give it a try. Glad I did. Only went sideways at 4d, expecting the "Massage center" to be ESS. Oops. D-o has A-NEGATIVE blood, even though the Navy put A+ on my dogtags. It may be a rare type, but the blood center doesn't want it. They always want me to donate plasma or packed cells rather than whole blood. Thanx, Dr. Ed and Husker. (Methinks you meant to type "2103.")
FIR. This was a workout, but one expects that on a Saturday. It was very tough, but very doable.
The crossing of RDAs, cats paw, and Ciara required a major WAG, but today my guesser was working.
Overall, for a Saturday, an enjoyable puzzle.
I knew EERO but the only "Ciera" was an Oldsmobile, not spelled CIARA. EERO is an old SW staple 4-letter fill. He does not show up much anymore.
Took 11:03 today to guess luckily at imari crossing ile & rails. Many letters would've looked just as right/wrong.
I didn't know Ciara, the Oman capital, and rose water (or it's clue).
I sussed the French (oui) and Spanish (bano).
At first, "coulda, woulda, shoulda" for me was "rhymes."
I didn't like the top-right section (imari), but overall nice puzzle.
FIR! Saturday! My dumb mass! Only one erasure, dog pounds->DOG HOUSES.
The toughest part for me was not knowing how CATS PAW=dupe, crossed with the unknowable (to me) CIARA. If I don't understand the clue (crunk R&B) I have a somewhat harder time getting the fill.
SEVE is respected by pro golfers, even those who weren't yet born when he died from brain cancer at 54. For Spanish golfers (most notable Sergio Garcia and John Rahm) his legend is their inspiration. SEVE was a lot like our Phil Mickelson in Phil's prime. Long hitter, but not particularly accurate. What made both special was their ability to make seemingly miraculous recovery shots time after time.
There are two events that I'll never forget where I was and what I was doing when I learned about them. One was the 9/11/2001 terrorist attacks; the other was JFK's assassination. I was in sixth grade, and was watching our little town's Thanksgiving parade with my mother and father. Someone in the crowd had one of those new-fangled transistor radios, and the word quickly spread that the president had been shot. A short time later they announced that he had been given his last rites, something my dad had to explain to me.
Thanks to Ed for another fun puzzle. And thanks to H.Gary for the interesting tour. I'll be watching for the date clarification. And in the spirit of the season, thanks to Patti for not messing up this work of art.
Dr. Ed always presents a tough but solvable puzzle and today's was no exception. The NE took a guess to FIR at the cross of the unknown pottery IMARI and tree- ALDER- that does not grow down her. It could have been IMERI and ELDER, because I really didn't know. ELDER showed up later in the puzzle, just not the tree.
CANADIANA was an easy fill for a term that was not known to me.
KEPI- an old SW fill, but I've never heard of Captain Gallant but Buster Crabbe was an Olympic Champion and Flash Gordon.
A-NEGATIVE- that's my blood type and two competing blood banks called me regularly for donations every couple of months. I had to quit donating after getting a melanoma removed.
I live in oyster country but have no idea about the names of different types. I had to go from my OYSTER BED to the BAR to complete the clue.
CATS PAW- I have heard it said but really didn't know anything about what it was. CIARA was also all perps.
Two straight days of tough but enjoyable challenges! Today when I saw the triple stack of 9's in both the NW and SE, I knew we were in the hands of a master constructor.
Thanks, Ed, for a pleasurable Saturday interlude. And thanks, Gary--you Midwestern nice guy--for the helpful and comprehensive recap.
WEES, tough but doable puzzle=enjoyment. I too had IMeRI and eLDER at first, but ELDER appeared in the SW. My one unknown besides IMARI was CIARA.
I often use ROSE WATER on my face after washing it. I love poached PEARS. In the SE we also had APPLES.
Thank you HG, you NICE MIDWESTerner, for a great review.
I too usually skip Saturday but saw Dr Ed and knew it would be fair. Excellent job by him and an enjoyable solve. My favorite was "end of a lap". Thanks Gary for the fine recap.
Good Morning:
It’s been quite a while since I’ve been as impressed with the quality, freshness, and abundance of such outstanding fill as I was today: Midwest Nice, Smashburger, Cat’s Paw, Canadiana, Bad Apples, Fresh Eggs, Air Pillow, Swap Meets, Oyster Bar, Rose Water. A Negative. Wow, just Wow! The rest of the fill and cluing were top-notch, as well. I had no trouble with Ciara (she’s married to QB Russell Wilson) or Imari, which I’ve heard of, or Eero, the Oreo of designers.
Bano was the only unknown in this otherwise much easier than typical Saturday offering. That would be my sole criticism, if pressed for one, because it meant the enjoyment was over too soon.
Thanks a lot, Dr. Ed, for a truly pleasurable solve and thanks, HG, for a truly enjoyable review, filled with eye-catching photos and images. That picture of President and Mrs. Kennedy was taken 62 years ago today.
Have a great day. Has anyone watched Season 2 of Ted Danson’s “A Man On The Inside” on Netflix? If so, I’d be interested in your opinions.
FIW by one letter, and the crossing of IMARI and RAILS, in 11:43.
"Sesh" made an other unwelcome appearance, albeit as part of a clue, not an answer.
I'm familar with Ciara due to her marriage to NFL QB Russell Wilson.
Overall, a really well-constructed and enjoyable puzzle. 9/10
*"at the crossing"
We can count on Dr. Ed to provide a puzzle with ample crunch and few annoyances, but this was a pretty forgettable puzzle.
I ended in Virginia finally figuring out the not entirely apt cliché about the Midwest and perping the unknown Crunk & B star. The nearby RDA clue about iron reqs was difficult to decipher. I did know EERO.
There were several unknowns, headed by IMARI and the OYSTER BAR option, and I also wasn’t keen on the inapt clue for ELIDES (which is more about sloppy diction than sloppy dialect) and the ONE-HITTER clue, which implied a no-hitter would be “perfect.” Baseball jargon differentiates no-hitter and “perfect game” quite distinctly. And “sleight of land” was almost outlandish.
But I enjoyed the exercise and the overall lack of aggravation.
Super Saturday. Thanks Dr Ed and HuskerG.
Completed while travelling. Love Canadiana!
This is CEh! Goggle won’t let me sign in.
A rare Saturday FIR for me on Dr. Ed's highly entertaining offering. This is what a puzzle should be! An enjoyable struggle, with a nice feeling of accomplishment.
I was thinking CATS PAW was some kind of string trick someone does with their hands, or a yoyo trick, or both.
Is it Monday already? Raced thru this one with only a single Inkover: stare/GLARE. RAIL was the only birdlike sounding word that perped the R for IMARI. Didn’t know that thing I find in packaging is called an AIRPILLOW.
Even got interrupted when DW tossed me a “honey do” list. I just got back from the grocery store and picked up where I left off. (Didn’t want to end up in the DOGHOUSE)
Not sure I get how “sleight of land” is a MIRAGE . “Frosh” yes, SOPHS, meh
Linguistically speaking I figured since “bath” in Italian is “bagno” (bah-nyo) it must be BAÑO in Spanish.
I almost filled Charo (of “cuchi cuchi” fame) but perps gave me the unknown CIARA.
A fellow radiology resident from the MIDWEST was telling us how he and his brother used to fight. “My brother and I used get to tangle a lot” We said “you used to TANGO with your brother!” 😆
Tuesday ___ WELD
Seymour ___ BUTTS
To get a “Farmers dozen” the hen had to ___ 11 times…. RELAY
Have a nice weekend, 😃
Yes, I too was about to skip it when I saw Ed Sessa. Enjoyable, felt "on my wavelength.. (sorta')" despite ending in 2 alpha runs (Amari/bird ) Eero was a crossword staple, except I can never remember how to spell him, crossing
(Who? Musta perped in...)
All in all a doable sussfest!
Learning moment: catspaw. (Relearning? I dunno...)
I think the first and only time I think I came across this fable, which goggle attributes to several sources, was in the title of an original Star Trek episode. As a kid, I thought it was a Halloween related episode. But now I wonder what the title meant in relation to the episode.
(Was Kirk and The Enterprise being used?)
P.S.
Canadian Eh,
I will continue to misspell "goggle" ( and not capitalize it) until our government relinquishes control of it..
Clean, clear Saturday from FRESH... to ...WATER, with no horsing around. Thanks Mr. Ed!
And thanks for the great info, HG. I needed to know about CATS PAW, and you delivered, as always.
Air pillows are a cost alternative for (people?) who are all thumbs...
As you can see here, it is used to save money...
aaaand,.....
Was happy to see Dr. Ed’s byline on a Saturday, I knew it would probably be a doable challenge which is what it turned out to be, FIR in 17:53, well short of my Saturday times of late. Needed perps for the unknowns IMARI, SQUIRE, and CATS PAW (which I know as a nail pulling tool but not a dupe 🤷♂️). Had to change the stereotype MIDWEST “hick” to NICE, of which I am both. All in all a very enjoyable solve, thanks Ed for that, and to HG for a very fine summary.
Tough, but still enjoyable Saturday puzzle--many thanks Dr. Ed. And thank you too, Gary, for your always helpful commentary and pictures--much appreciated.
Well, what better way to start a Saturday puzzle than with FRESH EGGS for breakfast. I was thrilled to have my day begin with their delightful AROMAS. I don't need any SMASH-BURGERS at this time of the day, or any BAD APPLES. But I'd love to have access to an OYSTER BAR along with some of those fresh PEARS that I HID AWAY yesterday. So a good breakfast, all in all.
Well, time to get ready to see if I can figure out how I might be able to attend that SWAP MEET. And I wish you all a great end of the weekend, everybody.
You must have read the novels 'Under The Beachers" by Seymour Butts' and "Fifty Yards to the Outhouse," by I.P. Frehley", illustrated by Betty Dont.
They are great to stomp on, making a loud pop. Even better, is when one is put underneath somebody's wheel and listen to them as they drive off.
(From grade school). The novel “Yellow River” by I. P. Daley
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