Saturday Themeless by Rafael Musa
I could stare at that red cell below until the proverbial cows come home and would never get it, so I'll take one bad cell and, as Taylor Swift would sing, Shake It Off.
1. Florentine political dynasty: MEDICI - The MEDICI family were the main patrons of Galileo and supported much of his work.
7. Posters that are usually ignored: SPAMBOTS.
15. Transfer: IRON ON - Mom IRONED ON a big Superman IRON transfer for 10-yr-old me and it was my favorite shirt for many years.
16. Music genre that originated in 1930s Shanghai: MANDO POP - ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ A mix of Mandarin and Western music. Origin and an example of it today.
17. Confection: BONBON.
18. Cold look: ICY STARE.
19. Put away: STOW.
20. Bajo opposite: ALTO - I always think of Baj(a) California (lower california) and Palo ALTO (tall stick), CA.
21. Meathead: CLOD.
22. Federal holiday since 2021: JUNETEENTH.
25. Secondary account, informally: FINSTA ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ You might create a FINSTA (fake instagram account) along with your RINSTA (real instagram account) to share more freely with a small group of friends. It's a way to post silly memes, inside jokes, and unfiltered thoughts without worrying about your public image.
26. Revolutionary outcomes, often: NEW ERAS - Mao's Cultural Revolution brought a NEW ERA to China and he tried hard to eliminate Mandopop and other "Western cultural trash". BTW, Taylor Swift has a huge following in China today.
30. Stick around the TSA line: WAND 😀
31. Meddle: PRY.
33. In profile: SIDE ON - You might have some miles on your tires to recognize this famous profile. (*answer at bottom of write-up). BTW, I don't anyone who knew FINSTA would get this famous profile.
35. Vegan baking ingredient made with ground seeds: CHIA EGG ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Egg substitutes
38. Scrub Daddy competitor: BRILLO.
40. Greeting often followed by "Como vai?": OLA - "How are you?" and "Hello" in Portugese
41. Smith of "House of the Dragon": MATT - I wonder if Rafa even knows the name Gunsmoke's MATT Dillon
40. Greeting often followed by "Como vai?": OLA - "How are you?" and "Hello" in Portugese
41. Smith of "House of the Dragon": MATT - I wonder if Rafa even knows the name Gunsmoke's MATT Dillon
42. Flabbergast: ASTOUND.
44. Tame __: "The Slow Rush" band: IMPALA ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ but it just kept filling itself in
46. Find peace: FEEL AT EASE.
48. Abbr. in some titles: ASST.
51. Workers' residence: HIVE 😀
52. Crash site org.: NTSB - The National Transportation Safety Board examines a damaged aircraft in Philadelphia
54. Like some hair products: TWO IN ONE.
56. Amused sound: TEE HEE.
58. Thing that's handled badly: MISNOMER - A handle can be called a name for something so a misnomer could be Koala Bear (is a marsupial not a bear), a peanut is a legume (not a nut), lead pencils (they use graphite), etc.
59. Wading birds with powder down: HERONS - Not EGRETS this time
60. Exhaustive analysis?: SMOG TEST.
61. New money?: CRYPTO - 😀 What I know about CRYPTO could be put in here
Down:
1. Sci-fi franchise starring Will Smith: MIB - Men In Black
2. Cherubic deity: EROS.
3. "You'll bring us bad luck!": DONT JINX IT.
4. Like some rush-hour traffic: INBOUND.
5. Shares responsibility, in a way: COOWNS.
6. Stonewall __: INN - The site of a 1969 riot that launched the gay rights movement
5. Shares responsibility, in a way: COOWNS.
6. Stonewall __: INN - The site of a 1969 riot that launched the gay rights movement
7. Katy Perry album with the single "Cry About It Later": SMILE.
8. Old name of a gp. that now has two members: PAC TEN - All the schools left and only lOregon State and Washington State remained
9. Impossible to call: ANYONE'S GAME - Tie score in the ninth inning...
10. Physical performers, for short: MDS 😀
11. Made a mess of: BOTCHED.
12. Gem for a Libra: OPAL - Ruby is the only other 4-letter birthstone
13. Sushi bar cut: TORO.
14. Tore: SPED.
20. Game company that released a 50th anniversary bundle in 2022: ATARI.
23. Classic movie line uttered while pointing out the window: ET PHONE HOME.
24. Bit of kindling: TWIG.
25. The Big E et al.: FAIRS ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
27. Old stock market: RESALE SHOP.
28. Left ventricle outlet: AORTA.
29. Foul mood: SNIT.
30. Dream realm?: WNBA.
32. Former Rocket Ming: YAO - His wife is 6' 3" but he is 7' 6"
35. Fingerprint, maybe: CLUE.
36. Select few: ELITE.
39. Hitting up: LOFTING - That'll get them away from the net
43. Tackling groups, for short: D-LINES - a famous one played in Pittsburgh in the 70's
45. Saag __: spinach dish with cheese: PANEER ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I'll bet you can get this in Jayawardenepura Kotte
48. PIN-points: ATMS.
49. Make waves, say: SWIM.
50. Shrugworthy: SO SO.
53. Dog-eared, say: BENT - Don't let the librarian catch you 😊
55. "__ cool!": NOT.
56. Compound in some edibles: THC - The hilarious day everyone in Grey's Anatomy ate cookies that were laced wtih marijuana (active ingreint is (Tetra Hydro Cannabinol) (5:58)
*That famous SIDE ON profile is of Alfred Hitchcock and was used at the start of his 60's TV show
Jess Rucks, a crossword constructor, whose puzzles I have blogged many times, contacted me via FaceBook to meet in Lincoln for dinner on Friday night as she was driving from Colorado Springs to her hometown in Minnesota. We met at Lazlo’s Restaurant and had a very pleasant evening. Here is a picture of me and Jess. As you might imagine from the picture, she played D1 volleyball at New Mexico but not so obviously she later served as an Urdu translator for the Air Force. Besides being brilliant, she also has a wonderful sense of humor!
47 comments:
Just FYI, folks, I may
not post until later in the day, if at all.
That’s part of my new, hard-won (to me)
“freedom.”
Good morning!
Got 'er done, but didn't really enjoy the journey. Two many of the answers just seemed off. Initially tried ONYX where OPAL needed to go. I guess it's not a birthstone. Didn't work out, anyway. MATT: In the Gunsmoke pilot radio episode it was Mark Dillon...then they took a step back in the Bible. Thanx, Rafael and Husker. (Are those intended to be comedy/tragedy photos with Jess?)
DNF. Filled 49, all correctly for a change. I could have gotten a few more, but I was kind of put off by Shanghai genre, vegan baking, Katy Perry album, Gaehjasbdgbjbadsxfjhkrhtb Kotte, slow rush band, sushi bar cut, and saag.
I'll claim a CSO @ DON'T JINX IT. If you DNFed or FIWed today, you probably did.
The Big E is the USS Enterprise, CV-6. The new version, CVN-80, is under construction just west of Norfolk in Newport News, and is scheduled to join the fleet in 2030. Using the nickname for anything else is like saying there are other James Bonds other than Sean Connery - sacrilege.
Thanks to Rafael for allowing me to earn a participation trophy. And thanks to H.Gary for another fun tour. Nice pictures, but don't you know you're supposed to stand up in the presence of a lady?
Who else had SOS Pad for Brillo
FIR w/out help in 35:45, but not without a typical Saturday struggle, as there were very few gimmes. Three correct WAGs gave me the win, the M and L in SMILE, and the F in the FINSTA/FAIRS cross. In a puzzle rife with clues (and fill) which could be in the running for “worst of the month”, the clues for SRI and IMPALA are two standouts. Notable unknowns included MANDO POP, PANEER, and CHIA EGG. Thanks Rafael for the morning mental workout, and to HG for the informative write-up.
I’ll take a DNF today.
I just could not get “Mando Pop” among others. Oh well, I guess you can’t win ‘em all!
Took 16:10 today, but not a fan.
This was an example of the new Saturday norm: obscure foreign food (paneer), a little-known geographical area (sri), an unfamiliar band (impala), and a couple modern-day terms (spambots, finsta, & crypto). At least we were spared today of questionable question mark usages.
The juice wasn't worth the squeeze for me today. I hope you enjoyed it more.
I never heard of "mando pop", but it was cool seeing "ET phone home".
YP: You're spot on with your nominees.
HG: I knew it was Hitchcock - why does he always seem to make a cameo.... Thanks for all the fun reviews.
Completely agree. Even with help it took me an hour.
FIW. Took a WAG at the big E and entered pairs instead of fairs. Never heard of finsta so it was either an "f" or a "p". Wrong!
I'm really pleased at how well I did on the rest of this very hard Saturday presentation.
Overall an enjoyable puzzle.
I just added this author to my “ don’t even bother with” list. Too many really, really obscure clues.
Good Morning:
Saturday puzzles used to be challenging and had a certain level of difficulty, but were usually fairly clued and filled. There was word play and trickery and misdirection but usually more “solver friendly” rather than “solver stumper”. I came close to finishing but the SW corner did me in. Holding on to All In One (which in retrospect doesn’t even make sense) and Lung Test (same retrospect), and not being able to come up with Asst or ATMs led to a DNF. Much of the cluing and fill was unknown to me, e.g., Finsta, Chia Egg, Mando Pop, Impala, Matt, Sri, Toro, etc. I don’t want nor expect easier Saturday puzzles, but I would appreciate a little more solver-centric offerings and less ego-centric construction feats.
Thanks, Rafael, and thanks, HG, for the fun commentary and relative photos, especially the ones of you and Jess.
Have a great day.
Enjoyable puzzle. Took 11:01. Only unknown was mandopop but easily gettable.
DNF. I BOTCHED the NE and the SW. So many unknowns like MATT, IMPALA, CHIA EGGS, MANDO POP, etc. I was more frustrated by this puzzle than entertained. I did like the clue for new money, CRYPTO. The rest NOT COOL.
Thank you HG for your usual sedate and informative review. I enjoyed reading it and the pictures.
Morning all✨
I enjoyed today, and DNF:
Didn’t know Smile, nor PacTen(-8), nor spambot, nor Mandopop.
I only got WNBA from perps, as sports is my weakest area.
I did put in the “F” cuz finsta sounded vaguely familiar, and fair 🤷🏼♀️ followed.
It took time for many things to bubble to the surface of my brain - either as recall, or as “hmmm, really, could it be __?” — like “chia egg” (which now I wanna try, cuz chia is a clever hack for a tasty vegan protein).
And, btw, I LOVE and recommend, Indian saag paneer - and, aloo gobi (potato and cauliflower) - way yummy curried veggies!
I first discovered them in recipe form (and made immediately) in the India volume of 1970s Time-Life “Foods of the World” cookbooks that I got into (still have them - all 🤦🏼♀️, like my HS yearbooks - hard to part with book(best)-friends!)
Creamy saag paneer
Aloo gobi lumps
Sweet, warm veggie feast
Yeh, Moe, haiku may be addictive!
Thanks for the puzzle, the blog, the comments, the camaraderie!
Happy Holidays!
“Big E” = USS Enterprise; I’d forgotten that. I got to tour the Big E, in early summer 1969 (yup, a moon landing too, a little later), when it docked in Alameda, CA after a tour in the Gulf of Tonkin. It was astounding! And, the start of a new era for me. Cuz my sailor boyfriend dumped me on our way home that day, so he could marry his HS sweetheart instead (sigh💔). But it all worked out - 10yrs later I married a physicist 👨🔬 instead.
Thanks, Jinx, for stirring memories.
Perseverance paid off. It took me about an hour to make just enough progress to keep hopeful.
Obstacles included MANDOPOP, NEW ERAS, FEEL AT EASE, TWO IN ONE, RESALE SHOP, an obscure clue for MATT, ANYONE’S GAME (I’m used to “anyone’s guess), FAIRS as clued (FINSTA was no help), and the clue for WNBA consisting of one of the league’s many impossible-to-memorize nicknames.
JUNETEENTH, ASTOUND, the mishandled-MISNOMER combo, LOFTING, and Saag PANEER kept me going, and PAC TEN was practically a CSO
Even after USC, UCLA, Oregon, and Washington defected from the Pac-12 to the Big Ten, the eight schools remaining seemed like a nice league, but then Colorado, Utah Arizona State, and Arizona defected to the overly large Big 12, forcing Cal and Stanford to migrate to the ACC. That leaves just Washington State and Oregon State as the foundation of a new PAC-something that will include a lot of Mountain West schools such as Boise State and San Diego State. It won’t be a league that Bill Walton could ever have called the “Conference of Champions.”
We agree on Indian restaurant go-tos, although I always have to ask for more cauliflower and less potato for my aloo gobi. I'm disheartened that so many Cornerites still consider all Indian foods too obscure, but then there are about 400,000 South Asians in the Bay Area.
DNF. Another Saturday "Look how clever I am" egofest. Poor cluing, and after reading the answers in HGs recap, I had far more WTFs? than AHAs! I'm with IM.on this turkey, and with Jinx on immediately thinking "USS Enterprise" for BIG E. Tough is one thing, but the only adjective that comes to mind for this puzzle is "unfair".
I wonder if they'll call the CV-80 "The BIGGER E"?
Jinx @ 5:51am: Yes, I agree with you. I tried to put SHIPS in for the BIG E.
I worked with a guy who served on the BIG E in the 60's. He claimed that when the ship went into San Francisco bay, they had to do a hard banked turn in order to avoid the top towers on the ship hitting the bottom of the Golden Gate Bridge.
FIR in 15:13 but, like a few others here, did not enjoy the experience.
I’m generally not a fan of Rafael’s puzzles, and this one was no exception. Not a total ego trip like others whose names need not be mentioned, but just enough “I’m so clever, aren’t I?” entries to leave a bitter aftertaste upon completion.
I give it a 4/10.
Hola! I'm in agreement with most of the comments about this puzzle. I managed to finish about 90% and was exhausted by the time I reached the bottom. Isn't the Big E, the Big Easy, NOLA? No fair using a different nomenclature! And I would not have known FINSTA in a million years!
The same with MANDOPOP and SMILE. I'm just not into modern slang and modern music. Also count me in for EGRETS before HERONS. RESALE SHOP was truly a misdirection! Gracias, Rafael, for the challenge, but you beat me.
Have a nice day, everyone! I finally wrapped the last gift, and I hope that's all for me. Actually, from me.
My daughter is a big fan of "Jaws" and I found an original copy of the book for her. It was for a regular price and not deemed an "antique". Lucky find!
I call utterly foul on that Evil Big E thing. Turns out Big E can refer to a PAIR of vintage LEVI's jeans. Just Google "Big E". See here:
https://www.levi.com/GB/en_GB/blog/article/vintage-clothing-guide
FAIRS could easily have been clued in a way that actual humans could have gotten. But Big E has many different meanings. Including one where PAIRS is the correct answer. Evil. The only question is whether this was Patti or Rafa at fault.
Too bad for their mistake, because I FIR otherwise.
The "Big E" is BIG! When it visited Fort Lauderdale for Navy week, I was driving toward Port Everglades and it looked like the city had dropped in a new skyline.
I usually enjoy Rafa’s offerings, and this one was certainly better than the garbage-filled slop we’ve been served up the last few weeks. Unfortunately, this one comes too close to a trivia test inside of a crossword puzzle for my taste.
Coming right out of the gate in the NW we begin with a foreign political proper name, a movie franchise and a figure from Greek mythology. Before we even get out of the far northern region of the grid we are also quizzed on Katy Perry, some Spanish and some music from Shanghai from about a century ago. Not my idea of a fun time.
I don’t know why the editor at the LAT chooses to (or perhaps is incapable of doing otherwise) making their puzzle “harder” by simply loading it up with trivia and arcana. They really ought to invite Robyn W. over to put on a workshop on cluing designed with the solvers enjoyment as priority number one.
Was there an 8th day this week called Harderday? This was one I had to put down and return to later. As is often the case, the second time around things began to click. Took a lucky last stab at FINSTA (thought it might be Final INSTA or something) and figured E was for Expo. Two wrong ideas that lead to the right letter! So FIR with no Egrets, a very difficult but doable offering from Rafael.
Thanks to my kids, I knew Tame Impala and actually like them. Although when I first heard their name, I thought they said Tim & Paula.
Super duper review today, HG! This one was tough but you nailed it.
Well, this was a real Saturday toughie, Rafael, with a ton of words I didn't know. But it's still enjoyable to get one of these every so often, and this one had items we did know, so that was helpful too. So, many thanks, Rafael. And your commentary and pictures are also very helpful, Gary. I still can't believe you gave us a picture of our heroic figure Kirk Douglas at 109 years old! Let's pray that he gets another part of a decade before it's all over.
So, as I said, I didn't get any of the opening words in this puzzle and was totally stumped by words like SPAMBOTS and MANDOPOP and FINSTA. This quickly gave me a pretty ICY STARE as I moved on in what felt like a NEW ERA in crosswords to me. I couldn't even comfort myself with items to eat--my usual crossword comfort--since I didn't know BON BON or CHIA EGG or that Saag PANEER. I finally felt like just going to an INN--(not Stonewall, just a regular one) to buy a coke and some regular snack. That would make me FEEL much more AT EASE.
Have a happy weekend, everybody.
A typical DNF Saturday attempt today. I managed most of the west and south but SPAM BOTS and SPED was all I could get in the NE. There were too many unheard of unknowns to be able to finish and I made a few critical endings of two fills. I filled DON'T JINX US (not IT) with 'us' in the clue, dumb. I FELT AT REST, not EAST.
MANDO POP, FINSTA, PANEER, MATT, Tame IMPALA, FAIRS for "The Big E",
LOFTING- no idea about those fills.
I've played tennis for over 60 years and have never heard the term LOFTING for lobbing.
The Big E is ELVIN HAYES, who led the Houston Cougars and broke UCLA's win streak in 1968 when Lew Alcindor, Lucius Allen, and Mike Warren were on the Bruins. 52,000 people watched in the Astrodome. A couple hundred miles east on I-10, a guy by the name of Maravich was playing at LSU.
FIR without any help (almost). The wife looked over my shoulder and said, " You know who performs physicals. That gave me MDs.
And even though I got it right, 58A, misnomer, didn't make sense until this Husker Gary explained it to me. Thanks.
And I always remember that a koala bear is not actually a bear. He doesn't meet all the koalafications.
CE- I like a more cauliflower, less potato, too. I’m in so cal - where international food choices also abound. So I seldom make my own
My erstwhile sailor boyfriend, and his buddy who introduced us, told the same tale. It was exciting and scary to hear about - I wish we could have seen it. And, it did look like a city downtown to me - looking up at it from the dock - totally a multi-story building view.
Agree and the Saturday norm seems to be find an obscure gogle search t get an answer
I agree
Yeh - and, I got curious about the West Springfield event, cuz I now have family in MA. I gotta say, it sounds like quite a fair! I loved the Fresno County Fair when I was a kid! Even the -smelly- farm animal exhibits were a must see.
Well, at least I "got 'er done" but not without a lot of help.
I, too, wanted the answer to be about Elvin Hayes.
Thanks to Rafael for a challenging activity on this gloomy weather Saturday! It took me 1 hr. to finish with a 1-box FIW at MANgO-POP. H-Gary's red square was my last box to fill. I did WAG the F.
I had a difficult start because I thought Will Smith was in WWZ. I also had "way cool" before "NOT cool". You will probably laugh at me, but it took me a while to realize that Scrub Daddy was not a Rap artist.
FAVs were PIN-points and Exhaustive analysis but the MISNOMER clue made the whole puzzle worthwhile for me. Loved that one!
I use flax EGGs but have not tried a CHIA EGG. I can see how they would be quite goopy, like a chicken egg.
DH almost always gets a side of Saag PANEER.
Thanks to H-Gary for his excellent tour. I appreciate your explanations for FINSTA and NTSB. I laughed about what you said for IMPALA. I had the same experience. Thanks, also, for sharing your pics with Jess. I would have loved to join you. I'm a fan of her puzzles.
Really? It’s difficult to simply read all the clues in 11 minutes.
The Big E is the Massachusetts state fair in Springfield, MA
It seems that Big E could refer to pretty much anything that begins with the letter E. Including Evil. The constructor and/or editor needs to admit that they made a mistake.
Saturday toughie - a lot of P&P to finish but it had fast parts and slow parts so I wasn't too far off from my regular Saturday.
PANEER is a common word in Indian food - I just finished "Six Days in Bombay" by Alka Joshi who also wrote "The Henna Artist" -so had Indian foods in the forefront of my brain
FAIRS is a simple word but The Big E - had so many other meanings and never have heard of that fair in New England even after hearing the answer!
I use a TWO IN ONE shampoo + Conditioner because I don't want to waste time with 2 separate products
Saturday cluing for MATT Smith as he was one of the most famous actors to play Doctor Who
Thanks Gary for the blog - I believe Jess is as much taller than you as I am shorter than you! and thanks to Rafael for the challenging puzzle
Not for everybody. My average Saturday time is 12-13 minutes.
(I’m not the same Anon you responded to btw)
Same here. Elvin Hayes came to mind immediately.
I smiled at FINSTA and IMPALA. Always nice to see some more contemporary pop culture references instead the same old hackneyed ones that only my grandparents care for.
For some strange reason I was in tune with a lot of Rafael’s stuff today, despite the delusional clueing, and managed to pull a Leporidae outta my chapeau for a FIR. Like every other denizen of the Corner, when I see “The Big E”, it’s the USS Enterprise — some county fair using that title is just grand theft. Loved the E.T. fill, but the rest of this crossword was nothing to PHONE HOME about. If it wasn’t for Husker G’s entertainment, I might’ve felt like I burned too much of my day on doing this; I had more fun laying 24” square concrete pavers later this afternoon…
====> Darren / L.A.
Post a Comment