Saturday Themeless by Alan Levin
Across
1. Adjustable border: HEM 😀
4. Heavy coat?: FOG. 😀
7. Donor's words: I GAVE.
12. Smithwick's, for one: ALE.
4. Heavy coat?: FOG. 😀
7. Donor's words: I GAVE.
12. Smithwick's, for one: ALE.
15. Puff piece?: CIGAR 😀
16. Join: SIT BESIDE - When Queen Elizabeth II's dad George VI came to D.C. for a state dinner in 1939, this was the seating chart.
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| Click to enlarge |
18. Temper: INURE.
19. Rogers Centre team: TORONTO BLUEJAYS - I would love to watch the MLB TORONTO BLUEJAYS play a game while I am sitting atop the CN Tower and then they have retract the roof in the Rogers Centre
21. Georgia city nickname: A-TOWN - An alternate name for the state capital Atlanta, GA.
22. Rodeo circuit?: LASSO
26. Boondocks: STICKS - The boondocks is an American expression from the Tagalog (Filipino) word bundók ("mountain").
30. Problem that can grow with fame: EGO.
32. Rendezvous: TRYST.
34. Time when shadows are shortest: NOON - I lovingly remember the long shadows of afternoon World Series games in late September.
39. Diamond who went platinum: NEIL - Here is NEIL's first certified platinum album (sales over one million). It did not make platinum but I just about wore out his very first album
40. Ricochet: CAROM.
41. Syncopated piece: RAG - Wasn't he your first thought too?
42. Intel providers: ASSETS - ASSETS (spies) are often sent out to gather intel
45. Take to the limit: MAX OUT.
47. __ restaurant: THEME - One of my favs is the Sci-Fi Drive In at Disney Studios. You are seated in replicas of old cars while old move trailers, cartoons and ads play on the big screen.
49. Try to get a rise out of: TROLL.
52. Major achievement?: BACHELOR'S DEGREE - I've got one of those around here somewhere where I majored in math. 58. Studied on the side: MINORED IN - My minor was physics.
57. Dough in a French bakery: EUROS - I wonder what euphemisms the French use for money.
59. Pong maker: ATARI - Wanna play a free online game?
60. Some clinic procedures: SCANS.
61. Arch Manning's uncle: ELI.
62. Caesar dressing?: TOGAS 😀
63. "Gorillas in the Mist" subject: APE.
64. Managed: RAN.
Down:
1. "__ la vista": HASTA - "See you later" literally means "until the view" or "until the seeing". ¡Hasta luego, cocodrilo! (See you later alligator)
2. "Daniel Deronda" novelist: ELIOT - George ELIOT. The nom de plume for Mary Ann Evans.
"No evil dooms us hopelessly except the evil we love, and desire to continue in, and make no effort to escape from."
3. Chicago, for one: METROPOLIS.
4. Hand ball?: FIST 😀
5. Pasta aglio e __: OLIO - Below is spaghetti aglio e OLIO (with garlic and oil)
6. Seventh-inning stretch song, often: GOD BLESS AMERICA - MLB started doing this after 9/11 and now only the Yankees do it.
7. Least friendly: ICIEST.
8. Noir establishment: GIN JOINT - Hey, you thought of this too...
9. Arizona's __ Fria river: AGUA - Even I can translate this but...but if you can't
10. Fluctuate: VARY.
11. Spanish 101 word: ERES - Tù ERES muy comico. (You are very funny.)
13. "30 Rock" page: KENNETH - Getting his tie pulled by star Tina Fey
14. Actress Ward: SELA.
17. Pick up a few spares, perhaps: BOWL - The hardest one.
24. "Midsommar" director Aster: ARI. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
25. Line up: SYNC - I love getting together to watch the Lincoln Saltdogs professional baseball team play for Father's Day, but we have to SYNC the schedules.
27. Writ, e.g.: COURT ORDER.
28. Longboard Island Lager brewer: KONA.
29. Bump in the road: SNAG.
30. Honey Cone lead singer Wright: EDNA ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
31. Says: GOES.
33. Hill of __: home of Ireland's Lia Fáil: TARA All you'd ever want to know
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| Lia Fáil - The Stone of Destiny on The Hill Of Tara |
36. Abundance: PLETHORA.
37. Arctic __: FOX.
38. Theatrical folks: EMOTERS.
43. Something to prove: THESIS.
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| It should be THESIS and not THESES but I liked the cartoon. |
44. Poivre et __: SEL - French words for the two most common condiments
46. Beseech: URGE.
48. Some parents: MOMS.
50. Arabic name that means "night": LEILA ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
51. Bolshevik leader: LENIN.
52. Exhausted: BEAT.
53. "Set it and forget it" mode: AUTO - Not foolproof
54. Rugged feature: CRAG.
55. Show appreciation at a poetry slam, e.g.: SNAP.
56. "That's all, folks!": DONE -
34 comments:
I got it!
And it really didn’t seem that hard!
Even the grid spanners weren’t that tough to get!
FIR, so I’m happy.
Good morning!
I often pass on the Saturday puzzles, but I didn't recognize Alan's name, so I gave it a shot. I liked it, even though "Rodeo circuit" was a little too cutesy-poo. No Wite-Out was required today. Thanx, Alan and Husker.
FIR a Saturday! Me! Saturday! (That means that the smart Cornerites will complain about it being too easy.)
I helped put cushions on the seats of the Rose Bowl in preparation for Super Bowl XXI. While we were there, NEIL Diamond rehearsed the National Anthem over and over - like maybe 15 times. To me, every time it sounded exactly the same. At least he cared.
I lived in Atlanta for a few years. Don't remember ever hearing it called A-TOWN. Certainly not as catchy as Big D, where I hung my hat before moving to A-TOWN.
FLN - Thank you Irish Miss. It certainly was Abejo who was the active Shriner.
Thanks to Alan for the Saturday special that even my dumb mass could finish. My favorite (and final) fill was EURO for "dough in a French bakery." My least favorite was "says" for GOES. "She goes...then he GOES..." grates on my last good nerve.
HGary, you were wondering about French slang for money, or dough. The closest to "dough" is ble (with an accent over the e), which is the French word for wheat. So they use it like our calling money "bread."
When I lived in Paris decades ago, the French were still using "sou," which means a trifling amount ("This isn't worth a sou!"). The sou was their old currency, worth less than a penny.
They also call money "fric," short for fric-frac. And many others, including one that the French have borrowed from English, good old "moolah." Only they spell it moula--pronounced exactly the same.
In spite of the PLETHORA of names I wasn’t familiar with, this was a fun puzzle. HG pointed out some of the neat clues with a happy face.
Great pairing of BACHELORS DEGREE and MINORED IN. CSO to CanadianEh! for the TORONTO BLUEJAYS.
I wonder why page was not capitalized. That made me hesitate to enter KENNETH.
Thank you HG for your review and comments.
Took 11: 21 today to max out.
A plethora of unknowns, including the following: the Italian "olio," the Arizona river (Fria), the novelist (Eliot), the singer (Edna) or her band, the Arabic name (Leila), the director (Ari), whatever "sel" is, and the Irish hill and thing on the hill. So, thank you, thank you perps. Like SubG, I'm happy.
FIR. I knew this was going to be easy when I threw down "God Bless America" without hesitation.
The only area, and last to fall, was the ending to dolphin safe (?). I couldn't immediately imagine what four letter word might end with an "a". When sticks showed up I had my aha moment.
Overall a most enjoyable puzzle.
Usually spend about 5 minutes on a Saturday before giving up. However, got about 90% of it done correctly today.
FIR but a couple little words delayed the outcome. My heavy coat was FUR instead of FOG, and UPS as a carrier gave me a P in the middle of LASSO so it looked like LAPSO, a weird rodeo circuit? Fun times from Alan.
NEIL Diamond's 8th inning song in Fenway Park is "Sweet Caroline."
I liked how BACHELOR'S DEGREE and MINORED IN went together.
Thanks, Gary, for the pic of the Sci-Fi Drive In. I used to install home theaters in McMansions, and always wanted to try that decor in one. They make sofas that look like sections of cars, and lining the walls with fence panels would simulate the drive-in effect.
Another tough slog for me, but all Saturdays are. Eventually managed to FWH (red-letters) but took 34 minutes, even with red-letter help turned on. I lived just outside Atlanta for three years. back in the 70's, and never heard it called "ATOWN". But that was long ago. Maybe it's a thing today.
16 names, DNK 11, which undoubtedly contributed to the time needed. UPS/USS.
Even though I struggled, it was still a FUN struggle...if there can be such a thing. Thanx AL.
Thanx too to HG for the terrific write-up. BTW, at 35A I suspect you meant to say "...cause LESS distress for dolphins", but you left out "LESS". I'm sure you didn't mean to say the nets are constructed to cause stress to dolphins.
BTW, yesterday I asked "What is a 'twurd'"? but don't think anyone answered. Anyone?
FIR in 14:02. A fairly easy puzzle for a Saturday, if only because the double handfuls of unknowns were easily filled with helpful perps.
The clue for GODBLESSAMERICA needed a better qualifier than “often.” What percentage of people have been to a Yankees home game? I remember it being a thing after 9/11 but had no idea it continued beyond that window.
The clue for LASSO might be the worst of the month.
Unclefred, it's what Splynter calls a two-word answer.
Two Saturdays in a row for a FIR result. The trouble was in the north. I didn't know the 'margarine' synonym-OLIO (really it's oleo)- as clued and my FUR had to turn to FOG. The NE was the last to fall, as I never took Spanish 101 and my GILA Fria became the Fria AGUA river. I guess some rivers in AZ need water. I held on to I CARE until I GAVE up. Then my CLOUD turned into a CIGAR. My DOLPHIN FREE TUNA became SAFE TUNA, allowing the unknown Hill of TARA and GOD BLESS AMERICA show up after the common 'Carrier' UPS turned into a USS aircraft carrier.
The puzzle had a few gimmes, notably TORONTO BLUE JAYS, NOON, NEIL, RAG, EUROS, and for me, ELI Manning. Arch's sister May, played in DW's tennis league. Their dad Cooper and Archie would come to watch her play.
KENNETH, ARI Aster, KONA, EDNA Wright, SEL, LEILA- did I really know? No, but the perps took care of them.
"Set It And Forget It"- Ron Popeil wouldn't fit, but AUTO did.
And appropriately for 56D, Porky Pig couldn't say 'good-bye' and finally said "That's All Folks" I'm DONE.
The San Francisco Giants add God Bless America to their seventh-inning stretch festivities at Sunday games.
You're right to present BLUE JAYS as two words. HG is perhaps misled by the fact that his Creighton Bluejays are an exception, spelling-wise.
We’ve had a good run of Saturday puzzles recently, and this was no exception.
Three of the four grid-spanners (assuming a vertical can be a grid-spanner) were easy, but the fourth, DOLPHIN-SAFE TUNA, came slowly, and so did the Mid-Atlantic. STICKS, KONA, and COURT ORDER were elusive until the end.
So, much of the puzzle was easy, but not all. An adequate challenge.
Hi, Monkey! The character KENNETH worked as a "page" at 30 Rock. "Page" was not his name. Hope that helps.
French, Spanish, Italian -- thank you! I filled in the foreign words first. LEILA is also the Hebrew word for "night" and is my daughter's name.
I was impressed by the grid spanners and liked the whole puzzle. Changed clAP to SNAP and THEory to THESIS. It's a good day when the sports trivia doesn't out FOX me. FIR and enjoyed it. Thanks, Alan and HG.
Oh! That sure helps. Thank you.
Fairly easy Saturday, 😅
I’ve heard of “Hotlanta” but never A-TOWN. Maybe we should call out capital, Albany, that too,
Held off on CAROM, thought it had two “r’s” … Have never seen ICY used as “unfriendly” except in CWs
To be grammatically correct it should be “aglio ed OLIO. Olio starts with a vowel so “e” becomes “ed” … Our elementary teachers always corrected us when we used GOES
for “says”
Have heard GIN mill. Not Gin JOINT. My uncle and FIL owned neighborhood bars they both called “Joints” (not a pejorative, a local term)
Honey Cone?
“Song Song Sung Blue” great film, true story about a NEIL Diamond tribute band with Hugh Jackman and Kate Hudson
As NZ points out :a variety of foreign romance languages today..
Enjoy rest of the rest of the
Fin de semana
Fine settimana
Fin de semaine
(el, il, le week-end)
😊
“Song Sung Blue”
Yes, easier than most saturdays. Except I thought the 7th inning song was "Take Me Out To The Ballgame."
Good job, Alan. I'm impressed with your puzzle construction, with all those grid-spanners. And as a baseball follower, I appreciated two of them being baseball- related.
The fill was lively and accessible, and free of Naticks as far as I could tell. One nit: GOES being a synonym for "says."
At any rate, Alan, thanks for an informative and satisfying Saturday workout. And thanks, HG, for so ably leading us through it.
There is a famous line from “Casablanca”, from Rick referring to Ilsa - “Of all the GIN JOINTs in all the towns in all the world, she walks into mine”.
When God Bless America is part of the seventh-inning stretch, Take Me Out To The Ballgame usually follows, rather than being omitted.
FIR w/out help in 20 flat, which would have never happened without what others have said, very significant perp help. TORONTO BLUE JAYS was a gimme, (and a CSO to CEh!), and we don’t see a lot of Saturday clues easier than the one for NOON. Odd clue for ASSETS. I knew STICKS cuz I definitely live in them. If you mix half Guinness stout and half Smithwick’s ALE, it’s called a Blacksmith. DNK the foreign phrases or most of the names but it somehow came together. Thank you Alan for the enjoyable challenge and to HG for the review. I had that exact experience you referred to, several years ago was up in the CN Tower early evening, looking down we got to see the roof of what was then called SkyDome retract and reveal a baseball game. It was so far up it was like looking at a two inch square at arms length. The players were like white dots and you couldn’t see the ball or what was really going on.
Hola! What a nice Saturday puzzle! I can hardly believe I finished it as I often skip Saturday ones. My slacks and jeans often required a HEM adjustment but I found some that are short enough for me. And, sigh; FOG eluded me; I had RUG then WIG and neither made sense so I had to leave a blank. Drat!
I don't speak Italian so did not know the meaning of OLIO. Sometimes I can relate Spanish to Italian, but not always.
I often feel very disappointed to hear GOD BLESS AMERICA instead of our national anthem. It may not be a great song, but it is our anthem.
How ironic it is to say DOLPHIN SAFE TUNA when it has to be killed to be eaten! How safe is that? Have a wonderful day, everyone! Stay safe!
Interesting Saturday puzzle--many thanks, Alan. And thank you too, Gary, for your helpful commentary and pictures, always a pleasure.
Well, this puzzle made me contemplate a thought about a possible experience on a FOGGY day, when I had a worker SIT BESIDE my table, where I GAVE her some ALE and a PLETHORA of snacks including some pasta aglio e OLIO (whatever that is) and a CIGAR, which she politely refused. She used to work for the TORONTO BLUE JAYS but is now living in A TOWN, hoping to find a partner. She needs to earn some EUROS to keep working on her BACHELOR'S DEGREE so she can go on and finish a THESIS and get a PLETHORA of job offers. Let's hope that it all goes well with only a MINOR DIN or two, and that she'll then and up doing work in her favorite METROPOLIS.
Have a lovely weekend, everybody.
I’m pleased to say I FIR on a Saturday, even tho, as others have commented, it was a little easier than most Saturdays. Thanks Alan and Husker Gary! Loved the cat scan!🤣
If the answer to 62A is plural shouldn't the clue also use the plural?
`Often' in 6D seems like a stretch
Are you sure it wasn’t an “ahi” moment?
I’ll see myself out… 🤣
====> Darren
Another bottom-up build today; as I went through the top 1/3 of Alan’s grid, I was coming up with all blanks — until I came to those spinners, which I thought were the easiest part of his puzzle! But not easy: the PLETHORA of “furrin” words— really, dude? Props, though, for some snazzy clueing, like EUROS for French dough (that kind of “furrin” stuff I enjoy 😎).
At least, for a change, I knew most of the A&E junk.
Thanks, HG, for your usual erudite and informative content. “Elite Synchopations” by Scott Joplin was my gimme for RAG, as you suggested. Btw, I think in that “Origin” cartoon you posted, THESES is apropos, because it rhymes with the gag basis, “species”, yeah?
And Kona Brewing makes some killer beer; they’re one of my fave makers, especially when I can find a case of their variety-pack at Costco 🍻
====> Darren / L.A.
DEAD before BEAT. Just me? Fun puzzle.
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