Saturday Themeless by Kyle Dolan
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My 26th puzzle by Kyle was a shock to my eyes when I saw the clusters of the blocks on the edges. For those of you who know me, you can understand why CAPE CANAVERAL was a sitting duck for this NASA guy. The other long fills were very "gettable" and helpful but in his usual "not so fast" manner, he planted some twisted clues out in the middle!
I'll point out some of my issues below.
Kyle was kind enough to write this:
Hi Gary,
Thanks for your note. Glad you enjoyed the puzzle and found that CAPE CANAVERAL resonated with you. I was motivated to see what I could do with a themeless grid of this type of pattern (which I think of as "S-shaped"). Curious to see what solvers think of it!
Best,
Kyle
Across
1. Amateurs who are known to make waves: HAM OPERATORS - In the opening scenes of Contact, young Ellie Arroway (played by Jena Malone) was a HAM OPERATOR. Jody Foster played Ellie as an adult.
13. Place where flights are astronomical: CAPE CANAVERAL - KSC and CAPE CANAVERAL sit adjacent to each other.
14. Meet-cute genre: ROMANTIC COMEDY - ROM COM leapt to my mind and then I saw I had to spell it out.
15. Piglike herbivores: TAPIRS - Mom and calf at Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo. Baby has jungle camouflage.
16. Female kangaroo: DOE.
17. Need for constructing some temporary buildings: PAIL. 😀
18. Great Lakes fish: SMELT.
19. Cause of a mass movement?: FORCE 😀 I taught this a few hundred times!
21. Handmade letters: DIY.
22. Sense of gloom: PALL - Name that poem! (*Answer at the bottom)
22. Sense of gloom: PALL - Name that poem! (*Answer at the bottom)
The outlook wasn't brilliant for the Mudville nine that day:
The score stood four to two, with but one inning more to play,
And then when Cooney died at first, and Barrows did the same,
A PALL-like silence fell upon the patrons of the game.
23. Losses: DEFEATS.
25. Business with a relaxed dress code?: SPA 😀
26. Award-winning Netflix series about conflict: BEEF ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
The score stood four to two, with but one inning more to play,
And then when Cooney died at first, and Barrows did the same,
A PALL-like silence fell upon the patrons of the game.
23. Losses: DEFEATS.
25. Business with a relaxed dress code?: SPA 😀
26. Award-winning Netflix series about conflict: BEEF ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
27. Seehorn of "Pluribus": RHEA - In Better Call Saul, Rhea's character Kim stayed with Saul no matter what idiocy he pulled.
29. Pending: ON HOLD - The biggest VB crowd in Illinois history showed up to see #1 Huskers play in Wrigley Field. After 15 minutes of play, the coaches agreed the court was too slick to be safe and so the game was put ON HOLD for 45 minutes and eventually postponed. It may be the death knell for outdoor VB.
33. Emigre from Kerala, say: DESI - In India and South Asia, desi (pronounced deh-see) means "local", "native" or "indigenous"
34. Bearing: MIEN.
35. Trunk stabilizer: RIB.
37. __ Medal: National Geographic Society honor: HUBBARD - Sir Edmund Hillary received one in 1954 from Dwight Eisenhower.
39. Word with tester or blocker: BETA - One for software testing and one for heart protection
40. Jamaican style: SKA - This cwd solver has seen this word it many times but has never heard it played.
43. Classic Times Square lights: NEONS - A big tune for the Drifters, remember?
43. Classic Times Square lights: NEONS - A big tune for the Drifters, remember?
They say the neon lights are bright on Broadway
They say there's always magic in the air
But when you're walking down that street
And you ain't had enough to eat
The glitter rubs right off and you're nowhere
44. Two-time NBA Finals MVP Durant: KEVIN.
45. Student setting out for the bar?: ONE L.
47. Reward for a sacrifice, at times: RBI - Can be accomplished with a long fly ball or a short bunt
48. "Farewell": SO LONG.
49. Solar-powered lighting?: AURORA BOREALIS - When I was in Central Saskatchewan the northern lights were high in the sky and brilliant every night!
52. One whose digits are shielded: PRIVATE CALLER - If I see "Unknown Caller", ain't answerin'!
53. Guest spots?: SLEEPER SOFAS - My daughter had one in Lincoln I used during a Classe and don't remember a minute of rest.
Down:
1. Mark visible on many planets: HAMIL 😀 - Kyle!
2. To pieces: APART.
3. __ rea: MENS.
3. __ rea: MENS.
4. Fall Classic mo.: OCT - The World Series in OCT meant: 1) Day baseball games with long shadows, 2) Black and white TV. 3) Sneaking a transistor radio into class.
5. Was worth it: PAID OFF.
6. Program extension: ENCORE.
7. Furniture for a kid who's growing up fast?: RACE CAR BED 😀
8. Versatile fruit, for short: AVO - AVOcado
9. Coverage resource: TEMP - We substitute teachers are really admired because we take coverage responsibility away from regular teachers.
10. Water : naiad :: mountain : __: OREAD ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Nymphs of the water and nymphs of the mountains
11. Spoke multiple times?: RADII 😀
12. In a foxy way: SLYLY.
13. Ballet dancer Misty: COPELAND - ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I wonder if she's ever had a cheeseburger
9. Coverage resource: TEMP - We substitute teachers are really admired because we take coverage responsibility away from regular teachers.
10. Water : naiad :: mountain : __: OREAD ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Nymphs of the water and nymphs of the mountains
11. Spoke multiple times?: RADII 😀
12. In a foxy way: SLYLY.
13. Ballet dancer Misty: COPELAND - ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I wonder if she's ever had a cheeseburger
14. New York/New Jersey's __ Mountains: RAMAPO ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ - 42 miles from "Where the neon lights are bright"
15. Recipe amts.: TSPS.
19. Doomscroller's milieu: FEED - Once you get on a negative FEED, the sites will just keep coming for you.
20. "__ Frome": ETHAN - a 1911 novella by American author Edith Wharton. It details the story of a man who falls in love with his wife's cousin and the tragedies that result from the ensuing love triangle.
23. Do some peer review, legally?: DELIBERATE - Wow, Kyle! A jury of your peers must DELIBERATE in your legal matter 😀
24. Triple __: SEC - Triple sec is a clear, sweet, orange-flavored liqueur made by distilling neutral alcohol with dried sweet and bitter orange peels.
26. Mr. Smee in "Peter Pan," e.g.: BOSUN.
28. "Farewell": AU REVOIR.
30. Chuckle sound: HEH.
31. Publicizes: AIRS.
32. Counter protests?: SIT INS - It's hard to believe these needed to happen in my lifetime.
34. Plants whose roots are used to make tapioca: MANIOCS - ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Into each puzzle a little learning must occur
36. Complete rapidly, with "out": BANG.
38. Fishing gadget: BOBBER.
39. __ lettres: literary genre: BELLES - Fine letters or beautiful writing. More
40. Daytime fare: SOAPS.
41. Metalworking ridge: KNURL
42. American Eagle Outfitters subsidiary: AERIE.
46. Robert Indiana sculpture: LOVE.
48. Ego: SELF.
50. Grammy category: RAP.
51. Big name in pasta sauce: RAO - I noticed it on the grocery shelf next to Prego after I saw it in a cwd.
*
I got it, but it was
ReplyDeletecertainly a toughie. Little words like “spa” kept tripping me up. But I kept plugging until I got the congratulatory “flip” on my phone.
FIR, so I’m happy.
I finished a Saturday LAT crossword! Me! Finished it wrong though, with SkEeT x RAkAPO and HAMIeL instead of SMELT x RAMAPO and HAMILL, and coBBiRD x Hee, BOSoN and MiNIOCS instead of HUBBARD x HEH, BOSUN and MANIOCS. The only V8 can that struck was BOSUN the shipmate, not boson the subatomic particle. The others were total unknowns.
ReplyDeleteThanks to Kyle for letting me play with the smart kids today. And thanks to H.Gary for the fun tour. FLN, your mom only had ABC, CBS and NBC to hide obscure names, and streaming was what the brook out back did. And the newspapers mostly covered the same stories with somewhat different slants. So your mom probably had to find something else to aggravate her, like maybe raising a son.
Close but no cigar. Fun puzzle though
ReplyDeleteKyle won this round as I could not have finished without red letters. AVO for avocado? No thanks. Some witty cluing and fill but beyond my skills. When we finally got a tv when I was 7, there were only 2 channels that came in during the day, one nbc, one cbs. At night we could receive signals from many miles away. That was fun.
ReplyDeleteThank you Kyle and Gary
Loved the creative clues. Really enjoyed this puzzle. Hope to see more of Kyle’s work!
ReplyDeleteFIR. I really felt I was on this constructor's wavelength when I threw down ham operators without even a moments of hesitation. From there on the solve just seemed to come.
ReplyDeleteLast to fall was the NW. The clue for Hamill had me byffaloed for a bit until pall showed up and I got my aha moment.
Overall a very enjoyable puzzle.
Almost FIR. It wasn’t easy. The south filled first, then I tackled the north. Once I got the first three long answers, other cells began to fill, but some were I known to me as clued, like HAMILL, AVO. My downfall, I fumbled the mountains crossing the SPA (and I mistakenly entered SpELT). The other personal Natick was the DESI, HUBBARD, HEH since I kept HEe.
ReplyDeleteI surprised myself with some correct entries like MANIOCS, RHEA, BOBBER, COPELAND.
Lots of fun clues like the ones for RADII, PAIL, RACE CAR BED, ENCORE. As Sub-genius would say, I’m happy.
Thank you HG for another stellar review and for getting in touch with Kyle Dolan.
AU REVOIR all.
That should be unknown, not I known.
DeleteGood Morning:
ReplyDeleteDespite the scary looking grid design and the fearsome author, I FIR without help in reasonable Saturday time and with deep satisfaction and enjoyment. I’ve come a long way in understanding and translating Kyle’s unique cluing style, so his offerings no longer frustrate me; they challenge and delight. Today’s exercise turned from daunting to doable once the helpful and plentiful perps opened up the numerous long entries and completed the many unknowns.
Thanks, Kyle, for a fun solve, and thanks, HG, for putting it all in perspective. As usual, the visuals were pleasing and appropriate.
Have a great day.
What a joke. Seriously, these clues are just terrible, and it’s obvious that the only objective is to deceive the solver. Ham Operators “make waves” - yeah, right. Yes, I get the RADII / spoke connection - there is no way you come up with that clue unless you are in “look how smart I am mode”.
ReplyDeleteNo fun at all. Let’s just leave it at that.
That clue for 34D about tapioca was extremely close to a Natick!
ReplyDelete14:16. Really nice puzzle. Easy to plunk down some of the long answers which helped everything else. The north was the last to fall Once Hamill came into view, everything else filled itself in.
ReplyDeleteI only managed to fill all cells with red-letter help and multiple alpha runs. Going back over the CW I see many terrific, witty clues, but they evaded me while trying to solve. I "award" myself a DNF due to all the alpha runs. For 11D I wanted WHEEL, but perps hated every letter.
ReplyDeleteEven with all the cheating it took me 30 minutes to fill all the cells. Only 10 names, but DNK 8, which was an obstacle to fill, but also a ton of other DNKs in this CW.
Very clever CW, KD, but way out of my zone.
Nice write-up, HG, thanx. You 'splained many of the head-scratchers. On the outdoor volleyball, playing on grass proved impossible, but beach volleyball is still very popular. I guess ONEL is first year law student.
The VB game at Wrigley was played on a tartan surface that sat on a platform as you can see in the picture not on the grass. The humid night air kept condensing on the surface despite many effort to get it dry and continuing to play would have endangered the girls.
DeleteThe same setup was used in Lincoln and 92,000+ fans showed up and they played the entire match with no problems. It was the largest crowd for a women's athletic event ever played.