Themeless by Enrique Henestroza Anguiano
I’m a data scientist from Oakland, CA, with a background in computational linguistics. In this picture I am eating a Voodoo Donut in Portland, OR.
I had a very pleasant solving experience and here is what Enrique was kind enough to share with us when I asked him about the genesis of this puzzle:
Hey Gary,
Sure thing! Here are the notes:
This puzzle was seeded with the pair DRAG QUEEN and SHORT KING to bookend the grid. I love going to see drag cabaret shows at the Oasis in San Francisco, and I’m right on the cusp of short king status at 5’8”! 
1. Performer often found with big wigs: DRAG QUEEN and 60. Cute nickname for a dachshund: SHORT KING - Enrique's two "royal" seed entries. (FWIW, my sister-in-law has had doxies for decades and has never hear that phrase).
10. Golf kin: JETTA - The VW models came to my mind very quickly.
15. Soft rock duo from Australia: AIR SUPPLY - A wonderful song
16. Oohed and __: AAHED.
17. Like a watered-down event?: RAINED OUT 😀
18. Dough, or what dough becomes: BREAD 😀 and 44. Campus figure: BURSAR - Almost one year ago today, Enrique partnered with Erik Agard and came up with this clue/fill:
36. Brown bread specialist: BURSAR.
Brown was a college and BREAD is slang for money. I might blame Erik for that one.
19. Wrap up: END.
20. Some ink vessels: SACS.
19. Wrap up: END.
20. Some ink vessels: SACS.
21. Trust subject: ESTATE.
22. In the tub: BATHING.
24. Minorly: A TAD.
25. Tone: SHADE.
27. Trips: VOYAGES.
29. Crepes eaten during Maslenitsa: BLINI - A thin, golden crusted pancake eaten during this Salvic festival
31. Rec from GPS: RTE - If I want to visit C.C. in Minneapolis again, my GPS will give me a very nice RTE Rec(ommendation).
33. Lists on Poshmark, say: RESELLS ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
36. Scannable pass: E-TICKET - All concessions are also digital at Husker events.
38. One curl, e.g.: REP.
39. Midsummer arrivals: LEOS.
41. "Schitt's Creek" character with an impressive wig collection: MOIRA.
42. Flatbread cooked on a tawa: PARATHA - ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Plain Tawa Paratha is a popular, flaky North Indian flatbread made from whole wheat flour (atta) cooked in ghee or oil on a hot skillet called a tawa.
44. The Black Keys and the White Stripes: BANDS - BANDS made quick sense to me although I had no idea they were duos like Air Supply above at 15 Across.
46. Total anarchy: MOB RULE.
48. Bird that weaves pouchlike hanging nests: ORIOLE - They are our favorite backyard visitors
50. Sound from a peat bog: BURP ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
A "peat bog BURP" is a natural phenomenon where methane or other gases, trapped by decomposing organic matter, are released in a sudden, loud bubble
. 
51. Car sticker stat: MPG.
54. "From your lips to God's ears": I HOPE - An idiom saying you hope something comes true
54. "From your lips to God's ears": I HOPE - An idiom saying you hope something comes true
Person A: "I hope the weather is good for the wedding."
Person B: "From your lips to God's ears"
55. Blast that's often annoying: MASS E-MAIL - Every few days I get a message from my governor, senator or representative.
57. Gets worked up: RILES.
58. "I can't take any credit": IT'S ALL YOU.
59. Members of the BTS ARMY, e.g.: STANS - ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ The dedicated fans of the Korean Group BTS are called STANS.
.
55. Blast that's often annoying: MASS E-MAIL - Every few days I get a message from my governor, senator or representative.
57. Gets worked up: RILES.
58. "I can't take any credit": IT'S ALL YOU.
59. Members of the BTS ARMY, e.g.: STANS - ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ The dedicated fans of the Korean Group BTS are called STANS.
Down:
1. Find the courage: DARE.
2. "Wake Up Dead Man" filmmaker Johnson: RIAN ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
3. Saharan: ARID.
4. "The $100,000 Pyramid" airer: GSN.
5. Snack that may be made with Oaxaca cheese: QUESADILLA.
6. Keep current: UPDATE.
7. Geologic time: EPOCH.
8. Hard to pin down: ELUSIVE.
9. Crossplay owner, familiarly: NYT ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
8. Hard to pin down: ELUSIVE.
9. Crossplay owner, familiarly: NYT ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
10. Some low blows: JABS - Some can take place in a boxing ring and some in a political campaign
11. Wildlife tracker: EAR TAG.
13. Experts who use cupping sets: TEA TASTERS.
21. Mo Salah's home country: EGYPT - ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Soccer player
22. Curse: BANE.
23. Pore strip target: NOSE.
25. Box office surprise: SLEEPER HIT - One of the biggest of all time
26. Most populous island in the West Indies: HISPANIOLA.
28. Hide outside: ANIMAL PELT 😀
29. Sound that may accompany goosebumps: BRR.
32. "What's the GPS telling you?": ETA.
34. Offer of assistance: LET ME.
35. Carnaby Street's neighborhood: SO HO - In NYC, SOHO means South of Houston St. but in London, it's named after an old hunting cry in the 17th century.
37. Convalescent wear for some pets: CONE.
40. Day of rest: SABBATH.
43. Investigate anew: REOPEN.
44. [BURSAR - See explanation at 18 Across above]
45. "The Third Man" and others: NOIRS.
47. Shared surname in Marvel films: RUSSO ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
 |
| Directors and brothers Joe and Anthony Russo |
49. What's more?: LESS.
53. Pouring sound: GLUG 😀
55. Start to trial or fire: MIS.
56. Jan. honoree: MLK.
25 comments:
I got it!
There were no real obscurities, except ( for me ) that “flat bread”, but it was easily perped.
Everything else fell neatly into place.
FIR, so I’m happy.
Hi there~!
I loved the crossing of MOB RULE(s) with (Black) SABBATH - have to add this link for that~! I wonder if the author knew . . .
Thanks for the write-up, as always, HuskerG~!
Splynter
Good morning!
So close, yet so far. Figured it had to be SHAPE -- SHADE never came to mind. And the PAR_THA bread never rose. As a result, QUESADILLA never appeared. Bzzzzzt. Still, it was an enjoyable defeat. Thanx, Enrique and Husker.
FIR! Me! Saturday! However, pens->SACS, wiener dog-> SHORT KING, and bump->BURP (which I'd call a "swamp fart.")
An E TICKET used to be required to access the best attractions in Disneyland. Visitors could buy individual tickets, but most bought packages containing A, B, C, D, and E TICKETs. (A-ticket rides were lame; the best required an E-TICKET.)
The Dodgers didn't have a good enough team, so they just acquired right-handed pitcher Chayce McDermott from the ORIOLEs.
The first AIR SUPPLY song I thought of was Lost In Love.
FLLN: Thanks for the Moku, Chairman.
Thanks to Enrique for the fun challenge that even my dumb mass could solve. And thanks to H.Gary for another interesting tour.
Took 10:07 today to get my queen to the king.
It's not a Saturday without an obscure food clue/answer, and today it is "paratha". Don't worry, "blini" we see you too.
I've never heard of the "short king" thing and struggled with spelling "Hispaniola." Today we had a burp crossing bursar and a nene on an oriole.
Enjoyable puzzle, and review of course. So, like our good friend SubG, I'm happy.
Hey, Enrique, you're holding the wrong donut! You need the little zombie-shaped one with a pretzel dagger in his heart. LOL I'm surprised you had time to create a crossword after waiting in line for hours to get one.
When I FIR on a Saturday, there is a sense that I've accomplished something...although RightBrain wishes my accomplishment would be painting the living room.
I knew everything about HISPANIOLA except how to spell it.
I wanted "great movie theme songs" for The Third Man.
Greta job HG, on figuring out the royalty theme in a themeless puzzle! However, a quick search reveals that SHORT KING is barely a thing.
FIR. I had to really work at this one and for quite a while I was staring at white squares and thinking I was going to go down in flames. Then suddenly Jetta showed up and I had my foothold.
Perseverance paid off as I was determined this one wasn't going to get me. Finally I convinced myself Short King had to be and I was finished.
Overall an enjoyable puzzle.
Could have done with LESS ¯\_(ツ)_/¯s in this one, and I would have had MORE fun.
I had to go online for red-letter help, and even then needed a few alpha runs, so I can't claim to FIR. Lots of clever clues, a fun CW overall, but it defeated me. 14 names, and DNK 9, so that didn't help. And I never heard of calling a dachshund a "SHORTKING". But....whatever.
There's a lot of different kinds of Indian flat bread:https://www.google.com/search?q=types+of+indian+flat+bread&rlz=1C1GCEA_enUS1116US1116&oq=types+of+indian+flat+bread&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUyBggAEEUYOdIBCTEyMTQ1ajBqNKgCALACAQ&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8
Thanx, EHA, your creation was clever and I had fun, even though I was defeated trying to FIR cleanly.
Thanx too to HG for the fine write-up. I hafta say that chart of West Indies islands was pretty abbreviated. Oy, just occurred to me maybe West Indian Islands are a different set than Caribbean Islands?
Learning moment: the difference between Tint, Shade and Tone. Hmmm. I wonder where "hue" fits in there?
Good Morning:
Based on the successful solving of so many of my co-Cornerites, I’m beginning to doubt my own solving abilities, as I found this offering beyond my reach. After much frustration and hair-pulling, I asked for one letter help and that broke the dam open, so it was a FWH but not with any joy. There were just too many unknowns and too many misleading (leaning toward unfair, IMO) clues. Props to the author for the abundance of fresh and sparkling fill, with some questionable exceptions.
Thanks, Enrique, and thanks, Gary, for the usual informative and entertaining review. Thanks, also, for sharing some words from the author. I hope Lily wasn’t aware of 37D Cone!
Have a great day.
The SE gave me trouble, but I sailed through the rest, and it was a pleasant journey
DRAG QUEEN and QUESADILLA arrived quickly, and I remember AIR SUPPLY without knowing it was a duo and Australian. The golf/JETTA misdirection hit me quickly too because I was already trying to reconcile JABS with low blows, which jabs almost never are. BLINI and HISPANIOLA came easily in the SW, and a few perps made SLEEPER HIT apparent.
BURSAR came to me first in the SE, although I wasn’t sure what vowel precedes the second R. I had ANIMAL skin until skin was proving wrong, so I tried PELT and it ultimately fit. Even then, the BURPing PEAT didn’t make sense to me. I might have preferred Jinx’s “swamp fart” suggestion. RUSSO as clued crossing the lame IT’S ALL YOU paraphrase was sort of a Natick, and SHORT KING required HG’s explanation, even though I had it right. GLUG was a WAG, and next door I had to hope PION meant something.
As for opening doors for women, I do it, but I’m also perfectly happy to let them do it for me if that’s the most expedient action, which it usually is.
This must be the most pleasant Saturday puzzle i have ever done.
Not easy, but perpable with some sussing...
Yes, total learning moment re: shade,tone.
10:24 for me. Thought everything was on the easy side except for the SE. Overall good puzzle.
Super fun, everything came smoothly for me except the SE… I just couldn’t get SHORT KING for the life of me, from the dachshund clue.
STANS is actually a general term for very passionate fans, usually of pop music. The BTS Army definitely fits the bill hahah. Fanbases of pop artists tend to give themselves a group name as well — a Beyonce STAN is a member of the Beyhive, an Ariana Grande stan is an Arianator, etc!
It took 45 minutes but I managed to FIR two Saturdays in a row. Plenty of unknowns filled with perps and by guesses. RIAN, BLINI, MOIRA, EGYPT, NYT, RUSSO, PARATHA, SOHO, NOIRS, BURP, GLUG, SHORT KING.ORIOLE, ESPN.
We went to the French Quarter Festival yesterday and I'm sure there were a few out-of-uniform DRAG QUEENS walking around listening to some of the bands on the 15 different stages.
Same here for Hispaniola. It seemed to have one too many letters and I wanted it to end NOLA and thought maybe SPA-I-N. It took perps for me to put the 'I' in the right spot.
FIR and enjoyed it, although baffled by PARATHA, SHORT KING, GSN, and PION. Yes, it's been a while since BURSAR dared show itself in the LAT crossword! Overall, very clever and fun to fill. Thanks, Enrique and Husker Gary!
Hola! Sadly, I stand among the defeated on this Saturday creation. DRAG QUEEN and AIR SUPPLY never occurred to me. But I had about 90% of it filled. Once I had -OLA at the bottom, HISPANIOLA emerged and then that whole section just became clear. SHORT KING fell short as I've never heard of it and MUON was my choice instead of PION. Sigh. Congratulations to all who finished this and thank you, Gary and Enrique for the challenge. Enjoy your day, everyone!
Delightful Saturday puzzle, many thanks, Enrique. And your commentaries and pictures are always a helpful pleasure, thanks for those too, Gary.
Well, I'm not sure I'd be someone who OOHED and AAHED for having to see a performance by a DRAG QUEEN. I think I'd rather get RAINED OUT while BATHING and look for some AIR SUPPLY and then eat some BREAD on my ESTATE ( if I had one). After that I'd be ready to take a ride on a VOYAGER who RESELLS E-TICKETS so that we can celebrate some LEOS and enjoy some PARATHA while listening to the sound of an ORIOLE. Later in the day I'd check my MASS E-MAIL ( if I ever get any), hoping I'd get a lovely message from ALL YOU.
Have a lovely weekend, everybody.
Jinx, my pleasure!
Puzzling thoughts:
I Rue Paul-ed my way across the first entry, but it took me a while to suss out the rest but I resisted being wigged out ... hmm - that almost sounds like the end of a Moe-ku ...
WIENER DOG => SHORT KING (who knew THAT one??)
ADAGE => I HOPE
MOB LIKE => MOB RULE
HONK => NENE (which I thought had long since been banned by xword ed's)
Can anyone else recall when an "E TICKET" was used for certain amusement park rides at a certain amusement park?
Late to the puzzle. Funeral of one of the last of my parents’ closest friend and neighbor at 97. Beautiful mass at the Maronite Catholic Church sung in Aramaic (language spoken by JC). Bittersweet event, sad, but happy to reunite with folks not seen in decades.
The puzzle was relatively easy FIR but MASS EMAIL had me head-scratching holding up the SE.
Golf kin polo , croquet ? Know who BTS is by now but not STANS
BURP :Teachers used to tell us the polite word was “belch” 🧐
“Maslenitsa?” Crossplay”/NYT? “Tawa”, PARATHA (that hadda be a constructor Google search)
Inkovers: evasive/ELUSIVE, skin/PELT, lots/LESS, MSP/MPG.
Didn’t we recently have AIRSUPPLY and NENE clues?
See you all Monday 😊
Holy guacamole (to go with that QUESADILLA), Señor Anguiano sure gave me the workout on this one! Doing these in ink produced one mess of overwrites — pens > SACS, RAINdelay, “see me” > LET ME, EvaSIVE > ELUSIVE…but I managed to drag out the FIR, kicking and screaming (it, not me! 😎). Great stuff, snazzy clues and only three A&E proper names (yay!). Thanks Enrique!
And thanks for all the learning info, Husker G. — islands in the sun, subatomic particles, and the SHADE thing (I’ve worked in the graphics fields for most of my life and never ran across that one!). And, of course, I enjoyed the clip of the late great Ozzy with Black SABBATH. Took me back to my head-bangin’ days, power chords and all.
Yeah, the E-TICKETs were the valuable ones in the book you’d buy at Dizzyland, because they were your pass to the best rides in the place — hence the phrase “Man, that was a real E-Ticket ride!!” (I used to get that after I’d given guests hot laps on the race track at manufacturer events).
Looking forward to what C.C. has in store for us tomorrow—
====> Darren / L.A.
Quite a struggle to complete this puzzle, requiring several lookups, but the satisfaction quotient was pretty high.
I really liked the clue/answer "Dough, or what dough becomes": BREAD.
DW and I have eaten PARATHA often when we go to Indian food restaurants.
For many years when he was but a tad, our grandson would only deign to eat a QUESADILLA when we would dine out at a Mexican food restaurant.
EVASIVE-->ELUSIVE.
I only filled EGYPT because I already had the EG.
Hand up for MUON before it transmorphed into a PION.
Good reading all your comments.
“Short king” to describe dachshund is just a totally made up usage. It describes shorter men, 5’8” and under. Where this author got it to describe a dog is unknown, perhaps in a dream.
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