Saturday Themeless by Emily Biegas
In my last puzzle by Emily I came up a few cells short and today it was one cell with the coffee crossing modern "dish the dirt" show. I had a hard time starting this puzzle but had fun once I left the starting block and then had to finish the NW. It was populated by clues and fills that were not in my vocab, so I had to get help on two cells to unlock that corner. I'll get over it. Does the picture suggest to you that Emily and I may have different life experiences? 😊
1. Many a Maximum Fun collaborator: PODCASTER ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
10. Signal to change a battery: CHIRP - Smoke detectors leapt to my mind. It would be a real chore to count all the batteries in this house and most just quit working when they need replacing.
15. Espresso variety: AMERICANO - I was so sure of some variation of ARABICA for too long
16. Norse pantheon: AESIR ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
17. Makes: GENERATES.
18. Buttoned-up sort: PRUDE.
19. Fashion designer Saab: ELIE ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Here he is with some of his creations.
20. Noted law maker: NEWTON - I have taught NEWTON's Laws hundreds of times
22. "__ of Me": PJ Harvey album: RID ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ - No idea on the artist or the song. I looked up some of her lyrics and they match the tenor of her picture.
23. Impetus: REASON.
25. Poivre partner: SEL.
27. WashU's city: STL - A 12-minute drive from The Gateway Arch
28. House Stark patriarch: NED - ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ From Game Of Thrones
30. Fed action: RATE CUT.
32. Show stopper?: SERIES FINALE 😀 The most watched TV episode of all time - 106 million viewers.
34. "Measure twice, cut once," for one: MOTTO -
37. Sentimental one: SAP.
38. Golf course halves: NINES - The first NINE holes are called the front and the second NINE holes are called the back
39. Discount emporia: THRIFT STORES.
42. Look down upon: SCOFF AT.
43. Goss: TEA - Slang double header: Goss is short for gossip and "stir the TEA" means share the goss.
44. UFC style: MMA - Mixed Martial Arts. Not a fan.
47. Feature of an ungulate: HOOF.
48. Title choice on some forms: MRS - On the old What's My Line show, John Daly's first question of a female contestant was her marital status. Uh, that would not fly today.
50. Contests: ARGUES.
52. Fender Deluxe Reverb, e.g.: AMP - Fender says guitar and Reverb says AMP.
53. "Help me out, would ya?": BE A PAL.
55. WNBA positions: Abbr.: CTRS - The best of the new NBA CTRS is 7' 4" Frenchman Victor Wembanyama .
56. Take care of: SEE TO.
58. Joint tissue: CARTILAGE.
60. Shinto shrine entrance: TORII - The TORII Gate in Omaha's Lauritsen Gardens was a gift from Omaha's sister city Shizuoka, Japan.
61. Race unit: KILOMETER - My granddaughter regularly runs 5K and 10K races
62. First name in landscape photography: ANSEL.
63. Drag event?: SNOREFEST.
Down:
1. Motorola devices: PAGERS - Many hospitals still use them. They are great for professional purposes, almost never get spam calls and can get service where cell phones can be blocked.
2. Tamagoyaki, e.g.: OMELET ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
4. Grand Council of the __: political body in Canada: CREES
5. Cause of inflation: AIR 😀
6. Security line machine: SCANNER.
7. The Village Voice critic Greg who was awarded a posthumous Pulitzer Prize in 2024: TATE ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Uber obscure to this solver
6. Security line machine: SCANNER.
7. The Village Voice critic Greg who was awarded a posthumous Pulitzer Prize in 2024: TATE ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Uber obscure to this solver
8. TMZ alternative: E-NEWS.
9. Athletic position?: ROSTER SPOT - Here is a list of 87 players trying to make a ROSTER SPOT on the 2026 KC Chiefs 53-man squad.
10. Skipper, for short: CAP'N.
11. "That girl?": HER.
12. "Consider it done!": I SURE CAN - My reply when C.C. asked me if I could blog the Saturday puzzle about ten years ago.
13. Lampoon: RIDICULE.
14. Antecedes: PREDATES - Precedes was a decent first guess
21. "Frozen" character who sings "In Summer": OLAF - Naive OLAF sings this ironic song
24. Ad hoc: ONE OFF - Several TV characters were intended to be ONE-OFFs, only appear once and then leave the cast. Some made such a lasting impression they became regulars. Examples: Frasier Crane, Saul Goodman, Max Klinger, Gomer Pyle, et al. Others?
26. "Train Dreams" writer Johnson: DENIS ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
29. Fighting words?: DISS TRACKS - DISS has become a familiar fill and here it serves to describe musical answers to artists who felt they were "disrespected'.
31. Lack of sensitivity: TIN EAR - Oho, that's not what you meant...
32. Shortchange: STIFF - I would never STIFF a server because of a bad meal
33. "I could __": EAT.
34. Stratovolcano in NorCal: MT SHASTA.
35. "Gimme a break": OH COME ON.
36. Highway enforcers: TROOPERS - A truly thankless job
40. Mild: TAME.
41. Many a "Selling Sunset" cast member: REALTOR. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
44. Re-strain?: MUTATE 😀 Kind of a stretch?
45. Picks a lane?: MERGES.
46. Declare: ASSERT.
49. Valencia's country: SPAIN.
51. Sign of treble?: G CLEF - Named for the second note on the staff. The stylized "G" wraps around that second line
54. "Alligator Boy" in a 2021 Netflix animated film: ARLO. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
57. Runoff cause, perhaps: TIE - It wasn't an actual TIE but no one got more than 50% of the vote.
59. "__ Mine": George Harrison book: I ME - Song video and book cover:
I thought this puzzle
ReplyDeletewas fair, for the most part.
However, when I felt stymied in the northwest, I “accidentally” turned on the red letters, so I can’t say I finished without help, but I did finish it. See ya!
Started slow, swam around in the NW for a while at the end but FIR.
ReplyDeleteNice, tough Saturday
New here. Any idea how to turn off the automatic checking feature? When I enter a letter into the last open square, it immediately tells me I screwed up somewhere. But the teacher isn't supposed to snatch your test until you've looked it over, right? (I get that I can wait to hit the last letter, but sometimes I don't notice because I jump around.)
ReplyDelete