Saturday Themeless by Craig Stowe
Here's a nice note from Craig about this fun puzzle:Hi Gary,
Thanks for reaching out, it's been a while! I haven't been as constructive as of late mainly because I don't have as much free time these days. For your Canadian solvers I have a couple of puzzles at thewalrus.ca if anyone is interested in checking them out. It has a fun (and free) crossword section similar to the LA Times or Universal in terms of difficulty.
As is often the case I was staring at a blank grid wondering how to start when I heard the phrase AS THE KIDS SAY on tv. I typed it in and let the puzzle reveal itself. The fun of making themeless grids is solving the puzzle as you go, making changes to the grid when necessary and learning new words - ANNOYWARE, for example, is something most of us have experienced but probably didn't have a name for. Hopefully the crossing are fair enough that solvers can figure it out without too much difficulty.
Happy solving!
Craig
p.s. Slight update, I'm still at the hotel but I work in finance now. 
1. Iodine source: KELP - Since Craig is in Canada, he may pronounce this EYE oh deen
5. Kenny Chesney hit about living in the moment: HERE AND NOW
A lot of people dreamin' 'bout a one day
Somedays waitin' just around the bend
I used to be one, wonderin' when they'd come
But now I'm livin' in (But now I'm livin' in)
Here and now
15. "Toodles": CIAO.
16. Birthstone for many Pisces: AQUAMARINE.
17. Genesis preposition: UNTO.
18. Splurges, in a way: RUNS UP A TAB.
19. Coevals: PEERS - Our school administrator once had us evaluate our colleagues/PEERS and it really did not go well.
21. Quite a stretch: AGES.
22. Bowler's edge: BRIM - Liza wore one well
23. Take third, say: STEAL 😀- Here's my current fav ball player Bobby Witt Jr. doing it
25. Bulb choice: LED - How do you decide?
27. MDW alternative: ORD - O'Hare International Airport in Chicago is an alternative to Midway
28. Comment after using a new expression: AS THE KIDS SAY - Craig's seed entry. Isn't it obvi you just totes adorb the new expressions? 😀
32. For sure: DEFINITE.
33. __ pudding: PEASE - The chant for PEASE porridge (aka pudding) hot, PEASE porridge cold clapping song we all did growing up (picture is a little old!)
37. Actor Arkin: ALAN.
38. Queens player: NY MET.
41. Cut: SNIP.
42. "Roots" actress Sinclair: MADGE. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Some of us seniors might remember this MADGE.
44. Splurging: ON A BINGE.
46. Top-notch: SECOND TO NONE.
49. Nerve center: HUB.
52. Fa follower: SOL.
53. Uncool in a cool way: NERDY - My NERDY high school classmate became pretty cool when he became a tech multimillionaire.
54. French 101 verb: ETRE.
56. Storage structure: SILO - Harveststore is a big name around here
58. Critters that can regenerate limbs: NEWTS.
61. Start again: REACTIVATE.
64. British noble: EARL.
65. "... any time, really": OR WHENEVER.
66. Three, in Kindergarten: DREI 😀 Kindergarten is a German word so...
67. Photography collection subtitled "Mathematicians and Their Chalkboards": DO NOT ERASE. I love the irony of this picture I saw last year while subbing.
68. Throw, 28-Across: YEET - As the kids say...
Down:
1. Coffee option: K-CUP - Part of my daily routine
2. A on a German test?: EINE - The title below is A Little Night Music. Sample as much of this beautiful music as you like
3. This week's TikTok trend, e.g.: LATEST FAD - Some can be very dangerous
4. Oscar-winning film based on an Alasdair Gray novel: POOR THINGS.
6. Goal of many civil rights organizations: EQUALITY.
7. Step up or down: RUNG 😀
8. Stands in a studio: EASELS - Stands is used as a noun not a verb
9. Tickles: AMUSES.
10. Quick recharge: NAP - Ten minutes and I'm good to go!
11. Uninspired: DRAB.
12. Coffee option: NITRO - Coffee infused with Nitrogen gas
13. Live in a studio?: ON AIR. 😀
14. Site with health advice: WEB MD - Check it out
20. "I feel __": SEEN.
24. Related: AKIN.
26. Big name in caulk: DAP.
28. Driver in Hollywood: ADAM.
29. "Homesick: A Memoir" writer Ward: SELA.
31. "For sure, for sure!": YES INDEEDY.
34. Application with persistent pop-ups: ANNOYWARE - Annoyware is software that continuously shows reminders or pop-up windows to remind users to perform a particular action, such as registering or buying
35. Ink: SIGN - ink as a verb not a noun
36. Olympic event since 1900: EPEE.
39. Thesis section: END NOTES.
40. London home of many works by Louise Bourgeois: TATE - Her work is displayed in London's TATE museum
43. Some RPI grads: EES - Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
45. "I was __ ready!": BORN.
47. Secant reciprocal: COSINE - COSINE is a common trig function and its inverse is called a secant.
48. "Where Is Love?" musical: OLIVER.
49. Judean king known for ambitious building projects: HEROD.
50. In __: UTERO.
51. Might: BRAWN.
55. Bounce back: ECHO.
57. Mountain flower: LAVA - 😀 A flower is something that flows as well as a plant
59. Fig or olive: TREE.
60. Paper cut: SLIT.
62. Holiday celebrated with banh chung: TET - Hmmm..., a three letter Asian holiday...
63. "I'll see thee damned __ I call thee coward": "Henry IV, Part 1": ERE - Along with a translation into, uh, English. 😀
I got it!
ReplyDeleteAnd in less than half an hour!
It didn’t strike me as terribly difficult, certainly not for a Saturday.
I hope many of you do as well as I did.
FIR, so I’m happy.
Good morning!
ReplyDeleteI recognized Craig's byline, so I gave it a shot. The NW corner was the last to fall, probably because I was sure of SALT crossing LATEST FAD. (Have I ever mentioned....?) Why is UNTO clued as Genesis-related? PEASE porridge, yes. PEASE pudding, no. But d-o did successfully navigate the grid on a Saturday. I suspect many will decide this one was too easy. I won't be among them, but I enjoyed it. Thanx, Craig and Husker.
DAP (especially as clued!) x PEASE is a baffling editorial decision. DAP really should've been TAT. LET, TAT and TEASE are nowhere else in the grid, plus you can clue TAT as [Bit of ink], ECHOing the clue on SIGN.
DeleteFIR, yes even my dumb mass got this one. Many erasures, some more than once (I'm lookin' at YOU, shed->sill->SILO.)
ReplyDeleteNever heard of NITRO coffee, but "decaf" didn't work. Since the air we breathe is about 80% nitrogen, I wonder if hipsters that drink that coffee would know the difference if their cup of jolt was infused with ambient air instead of concentrated NITROgen.
This was my first night in rural North Carolina. Woke up this morning to a bull calf calling for his mom, instead of hearing the horns of impatient commuters. I'm staying until Monday, then I'll go home and resume prepping it for sale.
I couldn't access the puzzle this morning at the LAT web site. Seems they would appreciate it if I subscribed. But I already subscribe to Go Comics and the Ocala Star Banner, so I can print the puzzle from either of those.
Thanks to Craig for a Saturday special that even I could solve, and to H.Gary for the fun review.
Took 16:26 today to say "ciao".
ReplyDeleteI didn't know the Actress of the Day (Marge), "nitro", "annoyware," the German, or a few others.
Can we please yeet "yeet"?
I'm with ya on YEET. I work with young people and have only heard that once.
DeleteEnough already
FIR. Despite this being a Saturday puzzle, I found it fairly easy. My only sticking points were the SE and the NW. Amazingly I threw down many long answers with ease.
ReplyDeleteI wasn't familiar with annoyware and didn't even know it was a thing. Likewise the phrase "on a binge". Somehow that sounds weird.
The last to fall was the NW. When kelp showed up my aha moment happened.
Overall an enjoyable puzzle.
Good Morning:
ReplyDeleteAs Saturday puzzles go, this was on the easy side but it had enough challenge to be interesting. The fill was fun and fresh with several popular phrases and, with the exception of the insufferable Yeet, dreck free. It was a very pleasant solve, unlike some of the recent Saturday hair-pulling, teeth gnashing experiences.
Thanks, Craig, and thanks, HG, for the usual serving of fun, facts, and photos. Enjoyed the Mozart and the current comments from the author.
Have a great day.
I'd say I liked it overall, but this grid has an uncanny mix of great long answers (AS THE KIDS SAY, SECOND TO NONE, YES INDEEDY), stuff that I didn't care much about (HERE AND NOW, POOR THINGS and DO NOT ERASE all clued as titles, plus ANNOYWARE), and straight up bad fill (DAP x PEASE, ON A BINGE, and the name cluster in the western side of the grid).
ReplyDeleteFIR, but it was a little challenging for me. I’m with everyone else, I dislike YEET, but in this case I thought it was very clever of Craig to tie it in to the long answer, AS THE KIDS SAY.
ReplyDeletePerps made me change on a spree to ON A BINGE and retro to NERDY.
Is a Hollywood Driver going to be ADAM or Mini? And is the Hollywood Arkin going to be ALAN or Adam.
Great puzzle. I enjoyed it.
Thank you HG for your fine review as usual.
Being a Saturday, I printed the CW but then went directly online to work on it. Didn't even try the ink-on-paper route. With red-letter help it still took me 25 minutes to FWH, but I got many of the long fills immediately. Only 8 names, but DNK 5, and that cluster of names in the west should be a CW no-no. I only knew ALAN.
ReplyDeleteLAVA filled mostly with perps, after LILY didn't work. Then I thought it was some kind of flower I DNK. Until HG 'splained it, flow-er didn't occur to me.
I always thought it was "Peas porridge hot, peas porridge cold..." I didn't recognize PEASE, and I've never heard it called "PUDDING" The word 'pudding' reminds me: that is what the Brits call all desserts, for some reason.
Also ORD was a V-8 moment when HG reminded me of airports. Doh!! NYMET I first thought of the opera house, but that's a place, not a player, so after a little thought I got the V-8 can.
WEES about YEET. I have never heard anyone say that, and the only place I ever see it is in CWs. Please ban YEET from CWs.
There was plenty to like about this CW, like many clever clues, especially the clues for the long fills. Thanx CS. It took a long time to fill, and I needed red-letter help, but your creation was still fun and entertaining.
Thanx too to HG for the great write-up. That in-utero illustration: amazing! I do like Mozart, thanx for that, too.
Our run of good Saturday puzzles continues with this challenging but seldom absurd presentation.
ReplyDeleteMy FIR came down to a WAG on the DAP/PEASE Natick, and I guessed right. I’ve heard of Pease porridge (in the pot, nine days old), but not Pease pudding. Still, the latter was plausible. I think we can all agree that we’re not fans of mooshy peas, especially after seeing the illustration HG included.
Unknowns other than DAP included POOR THINGS and ANNOYWARE. The annoying YEET made “yeet” another appearance, and so did the “flower” misdirection.
We also had ON AIR crossing OHARE, sort of. I imagine the MDW clue for the latter threw some people. We also had ALAN Arkin crossing ADAM, though not Adam Arkin. Not to mention AKIN. We also had NIH and WEBMD, a pair I used a lot during a period of writing about graduate schooling for nurses.
As for the coffee options, I needed perps for NITRO, and I came up with KCUP only after changing “salt” to KELP. I imagined I would prefer NITRO to a KCUP (though Nitro isn’t what I imagined), because the KCUP is too weak for my tastes. Americans overall prefer weak coffee, but it’s a lot easier to add a bit of water to strong coffee than to strengthen weak coffee, so the former should be the default. But it seldom is.
Challenging Saturday puzzle, but still interesting--so, many thanks, Craig. And your commentary and pictures are always a pleasure, so thanks for those too, Gary.
ReplyDeleteWell, I have no idea what KELP is, but I did see that today's puzzle mentions RUNS UP A TAB, right at the beginning, HERE AND NOW. So I worried a little about those PEERS, maybe ones who AGE slowly and are still pretty young. AS THE KIDS SAY, they are still pretty NERDY, yet still SECOND TO NONE, and they seem happy to be REACTIVE to difficult areas, OR WHENEVER they're needed to do things. So let's follow their orders when they say "DO NOT ERASE any of our comments", and let's just SIGN off on their END NOTES.
Enjoy a lovely weekend, everybody.
Very Saturday-ish puzzle, with a different (but fun) theme. I didn’t find it easy at all, but, as is typical for my Saturday slogs, I just kept slogging at it until it eventually all came together; I’ll claim a “sorta-FIR” because I had to look up the Roots actress to refresh my memory of her first name — which, btw, was tangled in the sole ugly bit of this construction. C’mon, dude…three crossing names on the Oregon coast?? SELA x ALAN and MADGE…🤮 I’m surprised no one else mentioned this buggah. Also (not Mssr Stowe’s fault) I’d say the clue for HAR is weak; that’s not a “chuckle syllable”, but more of a “guffaw” level, imho. Aside from that one, I thought the clues today were very well done — even the diabolical “Flower” for LAVA 😆 A hand up for having zAP until Kenny’s song title drifted up out of the murk that is my memory these days…
ReplyDeleteThanks for the cornucopia of fun stuffing in your recap, H.G.! Your efforts are well appreciated (as with all the reviewers here on The Corner — thanks y’all!).
Count me in the masses that would like to “yeet” YEET once and for all; even auto-corrupt doesn’t like it — keeps correcting it to “yet” 👎🏼
====> Darren / L.A.