Saturday Themeless by Mike Graczyk
A fun solve on what appears to be Mike's initial LA Times puzzle. My trek started in the NE with my Greek wife's least favorite salad and expanding out from there.
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| NOT ME! |
10. Saw: ADAGE.
15. "Do I know you?": HAVE WE MET.
16. Historic site in Jordan known as the Rose City: PETRA - One of the new seven wonders of the world
17. Eggs-cellent breakfast spot: 😀 OMELET BAR.
18. "Door's open!": ENTER.
19. "You bet!": YES.
20. Pinch-hit: STEP IN - What we subs do during the school year
22. Next: THEN.
23. Hardly pusillanimous: BOLD.
24. Bears named for an Alaskan archipelago: KODIAKS.
26. Call it a day: GO HOME.
29. People who pay flat rates?: TENANTS - I think we all know what an apartment is called in the UK
30. Wistful words: I HOPE.
31. Went to court?: WOOED - 😀 Court is a verb here.
32. One who loves ewe very much: RAM.
34. Migrators in the Maasai Mara's Great Migration: GNUS.
35. Brook swimmer: TROUT.
36. Brand of shapewear: BALI.
37. Brief alarm: SOS.
38. Essence: POINT.
39. Test versions: BETAS.
40. Takes back: RECANTS.
42. "You bet!": SURE DO.
43. Ouster: DEPOSAL - Ouster : Oust :: Deposal : Depose
44. One thing after another: LIST.
45. Campus building: HALL - My home for two years
46. Connecticut governor Ned: LAMONT ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
48. Rugby ball prop: TEE.
51. Taco truck option: ASADA.
53. Places to break some records?: RAGE ROOMS - or break most anything else
53. Places to break some records?: RAGE ROOMS - or break most anything else
55. Hammer and anvil, for two: BONES.
56. "I wish wearing flat-irons on our heads would keep us from __": "Little Women": GROWING UP.
57. IV part: INTRA.
58. "No prob": EASY PEASY.
Down:
1. "Hello, sailor!": AHOY.
2. Appellation: NAME - For wine: An appellation is a legally defined and protected geographical indication used to identify where the ingredients of a food or beverage originated,
3. __ Rocher cosmetics: YVES ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
4. Office no.: TEL.
5. "Way cool!": AWESOME - In my opinion, this is the most overused adjective used today
6. Boiling point?: KETTLE 😀
7. War zone journalist: EMBED.
8. Bring in: REAP.
9. Go down swinging, perhaps: STRIKE OUT.
10. Mimic: APE.
11. Tooth component: DENTIN.
12. "If we stayed on such a road ... ": AT THAT RATE - Ten minutes/hole. AT THAT RATE we should be done in three hours.
13. Dish with feta and Kalamatas: GREEK SALAD.
14. Brings in: EARNS.
21. Largish combo: NONET - Nine, count 'em, nine
23. Catchy tunes, informally: BOPS.
25. Pops: DAD.
26. Some play dates?: GIGS - My grandson will be taking his years of experience, his Master's Degree and connections to NYC to play some GIGS.
27. "Just wondering": OH NO REASON - Yeah, right...
28. Leaves for one's residence?: HOUSE PLANT.
29. Pluto and others: TOONS.
31. Plain to see: WRITLARGE.
33. Soup often served with gyoza: MISO.
35. Like some languages: TONAL.
36. Muppet who loves pigeons: BERT.
38. Faux finish?: PAS - I have made many a faux PAS in my life.
39. Way to travel with class?: BUS TRIP - I travelled the 1,400 miles to KSC with 23 classes with airplanes but never on a BUS. 😳
41. "You're even farther now ... ": COLDER - The opposite...
42. Muscular: SINEWY.
43. Abu __: DHABI - The silent "H" threw me for a while
44. Screen icons: LOGOS.
47. "Matilda" star Wilson: MARA.
48. Caesar wrap?: TOGA. 😀
49. Cassowary kin: EMUS.
50. Award for top plays?: ESPY - ESPN's yearly awards for top sports plays
52. Butterfield of "Sex Education": ASA.
54. Number worn by Oscar Robertson: ONE.
Wow! I did that so fast!
ReplyDelete(Less than 15 minutes.) And on a Saturday, no less!
FIR, so obviously I’m happy!
This makes up for a lot of the (garbage) we’ve experienced this week, IMHO!
Whoopee!
Good morning!
ReplyDeleteWednesday came on Saturday this week. Most of my WAGs were golden. Most, but not rEmOvAL or EASY as pie. Both fixed EASY PEASY. Excellent debut, Mike. Enjoyed your expo, Husker.
About as EASY PEASY as it gets on a Saturday, FIR in 17:18. Filled the NW quickly and confidently which is rare for me as a starting point on a themeless. Took a WAG to get the M in the MARA/LAMONT cross, I know some state governors, Connecticut’s not being one of them. I love a GREEK SALAD, but disappointed when a restaurant uses black olives instead of Kalamata, not the same. I like the expression “WRIT LARGE” but I never use it. RAGE ROOMS are really a thing? Thank you Mike for taking it easy on us today, congrats on your LAT debut. And as always HG, enjoyed your entertaining recap!
ReplyDeleteFastest and easiest solve for a Saturday that I can remember, especially in the NW. And that section has a mini plot. Guy went to an OMELET BAR, used the old line on all the women "HAVE WE MET?" Were there ANY TAKERS? One girl said YES. He was BOLD, thinking "I HOPE she would like to STEP IN his car and GO HOME with him". She said, "buddy I have 'GNUS' for you: GO HOME. He WOOED the wrong girl and managed to STRIKE OUT.
ReplyDeleteMy paper was clean except the SE. For the Cassowary kin, I was thinking singular, not plural with either KIWI or RHEA. The rugby prop TEE solved it.
RAGE ROOM is a new term for me. If that's your thing, go work on a demolishing crew where you can use a wrecking ball. Now that would be fun.
DeleteMARA and YVES were other unknowns filled by perps.
Love the “plot” - a great “madlib”
DeleteBigEasy- you are “pinch-hitting” for Misty today!” J
DeleteFIR. For a Saturday I found this extremely easy. And compared to yesterday a definite walk in the park.
ReplyDeleteI loved the clue for bus trip. In fact that whole corner was the last to fall, mostly because I didn't know Ned Lamont and crossing with Mara was the only cruel spot in the entire puzzle. But a WAG did the trick.
Overall a very enjoyable puzzle.
Good Morning:
ReplyDeleteThe SE corner gave me a bit of trouble but, overall, this was a nice Saturday treat that I think we deserved after some clunkers this week. The cluing was clever but not cutesy and the fill was fresh and lively. Normally, I prefer a more challenging offering on Saturday but I thoroughly enjoyed this reprieve from any teeth gnashing or hair pulling.
Congrats on your impressive debut, Mike, and, as always, thanks to HG for entertaining, enlightening, and educating us so skillfully and successfully. If I never heard the word “Awesome” again, I’d be very happy. And I’ll sit out the Mars trip, as well.
Have a great day.
FIR, overcoming my stall in the Carlsbad area. Took a break, returned to the puzzle, figured out DEPOSAL, then the rest fell.
ReplyDeleteI thought that the weatherman on the Today show must have branched out into cosmetics, but "Al" was too short, and I think he spells his last name with a "K" or two.
My favorite uniform trivia involves the Cincinnati Reds. Back in the Johnny Bench and Pete Rose days, they had a guy who had his first name, his last name, the birth month, and the day of the month he was born all displayed on his uniform. Lee May had his first name on the back of the uniform. His last name, May, was depicted by his number, 5. He was also born on May 5, so his number depicted those as well. (He also batted 5th in the lineup.)
Thanks to Mike for a Saturday puzzle that even my dumb mass could solve. And thanks to H.Gary for yet another fine review.
Another Saturday win. Thought I was getting shmarter but WEES … let’s face it a fairly EZPZ romp
ReplyDeleteLike Big E : “Cassowary” is singular so I filled rhea but “kin” is a collective noun here so EMUS was correct
Bears named for being photogenic : KODAK 🤭
Liked “leaves for one’s residence”. 🌱
MARA Wilson?
Migrating wildebeest band: “Huey Lewis and the ___” … GNUS
Where some pols and lobbyists can be found … EMBED
Why the Beatles broke up?… OHNO REASON
Have a nice weekend 😊
Mike delivered a very doable puzzle for his debut, even though I wrote IN THAT CASE before AT THAT RATE. Anyway, congrats!
ReplyDeleteMigrators in the Maasai Mara's Great Migration? It's GNUS to me.
DENTIN is to tooth as "Dentyne" is to gum.
Thanks, HG.
RB- you may know those migrators as “wildebeests”. I am more familiar with that name after our safari in Masai Mara, Kenya. We were there in the spring and didn’t see the migration which happens there in September. But we saw plenty of animals (and their youngsters too). Trip of a lifetime!
Delete“Gnus and wildebeests are the exact same animal, meaning both terms describe the primary star of the Great Wildebeest Migration into Kenya's Masai Mara National Reserve. "Wildebeest" is the Dutch/Afrikaans name ("wild beast"), while "gnu" comes from the Khoikhoi word imitating their sound.” (AI)
This one finished faster/easier than usual, almost like a Monday puzzle 👏🏼
ReplyDeleteAnd/But - somehow! - I never knew the correct meaning of “pusillanimous”, until today 🤦🏼♀️❣️
(I had A Meaning in my head - and it has been TOTALLY WRONG, for, like fuur-eeevver!)
Nor did I know that “bop” was anything other than a music genre.
I love that I am still learning at 76yo❣️
Thanks to all of you for this place to share the fun/challenge/agony&ecstasy of crosswords! 🙏
A bit easy for Saturday, but a real fun puzzle with plenty of clever cluing.
ReplyDeleteI agree almost EASY PEASY today. My only UKNs were OPS and LAMONT. We had a mini zoo, KODIAKS, GNUS, EMUS, TROUTS, RAM, APE + a HOUSE PLANT.
ReplyDeleteI wouldn’t have known what a RAGE ROOM is a month ago, but in early July my great grand nephew treated his son to a session of destruction for his 12th birthday. Father and son were outfitted with masks and special clothing and they batted away at things that make noise when they break. To each his own.
Thank you HG for your review. I liked the list of flightless birds. I was surprised to see the little kiwi on it.
Not OPS, but BOPS.
DeleteMike provided us today with a lively and entertaining challenge that even featured some teachable moments. And replete with misdirections, my favorite type of clueing (I wonder if the "e" belongs in that word. Our resident spelar, Jinx, should know).
ReplyDeleteThanks, Mike, for the enjoyable and satisfying Saturday solve. Please join us again!
And thanks, Gary, for another spot-on and amusing recap. Incidentally, in your 1-Across comments, are you referring to yourself when you said "this NASA guy"? The reason I'm wondering is that could apply to me on both counts: the NASA connection, and not volunteering for a trip to Mars.
10:56. Definitely on the easy side but good puzzle. How weird is it that "omelet bar" also appears in the NYT puzzle today???
ReplyDeleteIf today's puzzle included a drinking game wherein the solver had to take a shot every time quotation marks appeared, they would be flat on their back before the halfway point.
ReplyDeleteI guess I'm the outlier today. I did not enjoy this conversation fest at all.
I too noticed the quoted clues. There were 10 of them.
DeleteNaomiZ. Do you know that all the letters in your name + a t appear in the NYT’s Spelling Bee this morning?
ReplyDeleteCute!
DeleteThat was Monkey above.
ReplyDeleteSteady solve, with some helpful perps to keep the puzzle moving
ReplyDeleteWith EMBED, HG posted a pic of David Bloom. I thought of him too. He was EMBEDded for a few weeks as a TV reporter in 2003 covering the Iraq War. He had a blood clot in his leg (DVT) from the cramped conditions which then traveled to his lung and he died a sudden death from the pulmonary embolus at age 39. His wife worked with the Coalition to Prevent DVT in the years after that.
Thanks Gary for the blog and Mike for the puzzle
Thank you, Mike Graczyk! Fabulous debut with a friendly Saturday puzzle! Like KS, I had to make a WAG to complete the crossing of LAMONT and MARA, but FIR and enjoyed it. Especially liked filling RECANTS and WRIT LARGE, and loved the clue for HOUSE PLANTS. Many thanks to Husker Gary for another delightful review.
ReplyDeleteThanks to everyone for the kind remarks yesterday about my first constructor credit on a crossword puzzle! As you might imagine, C.C. was responsible for everything that mattered! Still, it was a thrill to see my name in print on a puzzle. If DH ever retires, which would allow *me* to retire, I might enjoy doing more puzzle building.
Oh, and since I didn't get a chance yesterday, let me say that I loved Splynter's Friday blog, with the generational analysis of clues. That is certainly an issue. I'm in the "Oreo" generation -- sandwiched between care for young grandchildren, care for ancient parents, and trying to stay sweet in the middle while working full-time. Everyone in this blog space helps to buoy my spirits.
Truly EASY PEASY
ReplyDeleteSuper Saturday. Thanks for the fun, Mike and HuskerG.
ReplyDeleteI picked up the paper after lunch and told DH I would give the CW a try to see if it was doable. Wow! Not exactly EASYPEASY, but certainly doable. This is what a Saturday CW should look like IMHO.
That being said, I officially had a FIW, since I guessed an S for that Natick-to-me name cross of MARA and LAMONT.
I had more success doing the Downs first.
Earn turned to REAP , but was needed later at 14D.
I had no idea what “pusillanimous” meant, but eventually BOLD perped.
I was despairing of knowing the journalist’s name (EMBEy, r ?). EMBED was a lightbulb moment.
I wondered if IV was a Roman numeral. Oh, INTRAvenous.
We had Baklava the other day and GREEK SALAD today. I love both. My nephew’s wife is Greek and she brings both to family dinners. Yummers!
Niagara is a major designated viticultural area officially recognized as the Niagara Peninsula VQA (Vintners Quality Alliance) appellation in Ontario, Canada. It is the largest and most prominent wine region in the country, governed by the Ontario Wine Appellation Authority. One of my favs is Cave Springs Dolomites Riesling from the Beamsville Bench. You can taste the mineralogy from the limestone rock base of the area
Favourite today was the clue for WOOED. ( I wanted Sued at first.)
Second favourite was the Brit clue for TENANTS.
Wishing you all a great day.
This is Jayce. I enjoyed this puzzle.
ReplyDelete"Me love you long time" didn't fit where AHOY did.
RENTERS-->TENANTS.
I learned what pusillanimous means. I was getting it mixed up with pugilistic. I also learned that an OMELET BAR is actually a thing.
Hand up for the EARN/REAP phenomenon.
Good reading all your comments.
Hola! What a nice and doable Saturday puzzle. Thank you, Mike Graczyk. PETRA recalls my visit there and the feelings of wonder staring up at the carvings!
ReplyDeleteThe SW corner required a lot of wite-out as I had REMOVAL and DORM.
One of my nephews lived on KODIAK island for a while and regaled us with stories about it.
In either Turkey or Greece, I'm unsure exactly which, there was an enormous breakfast room with many stations for a variety of foods, including an OMELET BAR. One could order pancakes, eggs of any type, toast, etc.
I love BALI products; they are comfortable and form-fitting.
My late DH WOOED me for a year before I finally decided to go out with him. Now I regret that I didn't have that time with him. He later told me the reason he persevered was that he knew he would marry me.
Thank you, Gary; everyone, enjoy your day!
On first sight, I was like “holy $#!+ this is going to be impossible with all that white!” — but Mssr. Graczyk put together a very nice construct, with challenging (but fun) fill and accompanying clues after all the fear abated. Nice job, perfect difficulty for a Saturday, I’d say — AWESOME*, Mike!
ReplyDeleteOnly a few faux PASes doing the puzzle: I had rENterS at first, but the perps whacked that, and then I incorrectly guessed “viTro” down by the Mexican border until Abu DHABI put that to rest. Best Clue award goes to “Caesar wrap” for TOGA (I was hungry whilst doing the puzzle, so was thinking “pita” at first 😆) with the Brit flats line a close second; but SUREDO for “You bet!” is kinda wanky if ya ask me, and that LAMONTxMARA was quite fugly, too — but the amusing cross of STRIKEOUT and STEPIN healed that. I’m not sure I buy BOPS as “catchy tunes”, though….
I had fun reading through today’s reveal, Husker G. — your usual entertaining asides abounded! Fascinating chart on the flight-less birds, and I loved the menu you found for that RAGEROOM — which, btw, are great fun, worth trying at least once in one’s life. Is your nephew the drummer in that GIG photo? Tough biz, I wish him luck… 🤞🏽
And speaking of animals, thanks @Canadian-Eh! for the intel on one of my favorites, GNUS (y’all may recall my January 1st greeting “Happy GNU Ear!” 🤣). I never knew wildebeests were one and the same — I thought they were related, but unique — and I looove how they got their name! Great learning moment for me.
* my preferred phrase is the clue: “Way cool!”
====> Darren / L.A.