Saturday Themeless by Jess Rucks
It's always a pleasure to see Jess's byline. Here you can see a picture of her and me as we met for a fun supper in Lincoln on a cold February night. Jess's long fills were the key to the solve and helped with some of the cleverness Jess supplied. Her Air Force job was as an Urdu translator and at least she did not use any of those words! 😊
Here's what our friend Jess had to say about this puzzle:
Hi Gary!
Yay, thanks! I don't remember if there was a seed for this one. LOOK MOM, NO HANDS was probably something inspired by my son Sigur! My goal was to keep the fill clean but also include interesting long answers that had the potential for fun cluing angles. To make up for having a few more shorter answers than is typical in a Saturday LAT themeless, I tried to up the difficulty a little bit in the clues!
I asked Jess how she came up with such a unique name for her son and I am quoting her reply because she actually used the word our cwd buddy EDDA in her answer:
We both have strong Scandinavian roots, so we looked to Nordic folklore. Sigurd is a hero in the Poetic EDDA, so we thought that name could be cool, but decided to drop the "d."
1. Aid in scratching an itch: CLAW.
5. Jeans choice: SLIM - Levi, Lees? Nope.
9. "What's wrong with u?": SMH - Get it?
12. Vader offspring: LEIA - Not her brother Luke this time
13. Southwestern casserole: TAMALE PIE.
16. "Same here": SO AM I.
17. "Let's do this!": IT'S GO TIME.
18. Forex benchmark: USD - FOReign currency EXchanges use US dollars for comparison
19. The old you: THEE - Not THOU
21. Like some kitchen herbs: POTTED.
22. Nullifies: NEGATES.
24. Tradition within Swedish coffee culture: FIKA.
25. Like some jobs: CUSHY.
26. Abound (with): TEEM.
27. Shengjian __: pan-fried pork bun: BAO - We seem to be learning a lot of bread products from around the world
30. Setting of Fox's "Best Medicine": MAINE.
31. Milanese dish traditionally served with risotto: OSSO BUCO.
33. With 47-Down, extra lives?: ALTER and 47. See 33-Across: EGOS - Clark Kent, Peter Parker and Bruce Wayne come to mind.
34. Service rep with a lack of humanity: BOT - I keep saying "Representative or pushing O" hoping I will get out of an annoying conversation with a BOT
35. David's "Baywatch" role: MITCH.
36. Eyes angrily: GLARES AT.
38. Takes down: NOTES.
39. Letters from a bygone empire: SSR.
40. Travels cross-country?: SKIS.
41. Wades through: FORDS.
42. Leave out: OMIT.
43. Nullifidian: ATHEIST - I had no idea but it makes sense
45. Cold treat: ICE POP.
48. National Farm Toy Museum locale: IOWA - It's about a 10 minute drive between these two attractions in tiny Dyersville, IOWA.
49. Whiz: ACE.
50. Home brewer's appliance: KEGERATOR.
50. Home brewer's appliance: KEGERATOR.
52. Chute material: NYLON - American parachutes were mostly made from Japanese silk. As you can imagine, Pearl Harbor cut off that supply and DuPont came with a synthetic substitute called NYLON. The first person to test the new material was parachute rigger Adeline Gray. She made her historic jump on June 6, 1942, two years to the day before they were widely used on D-Day.
54. Resolved: IRONED OUT.
55. Exploit: DEED.
56. Court figs.: DA'S.
57. Nueva canción great Mercedes: SOSA - Nueva Canción means "New Song"
58. Singer who has six top 10 studio albums with her namesake band: SADE.
Down:
1. Scary-good moments?: CLOSE CALLS.
2. Role for one who picks the melody?: LEAD GUITAR.
 |
| Bass Drum Lead Rhythm |
3. Asset in a snowball fight: AIM.
4. "You're telling me that's only part of the story?": WAIT THERE'S MORE - Remember pitchman Billy Mays?
4. "You're telling me that's only part of the story?": WAIT THERE'S MORE - Remember pitchman Billy Mays?
5. Spots for muckety-mucks?: STIES 😀
6. Like someone who gets stuck in traffic, perhaps: LATE.
7. Pings online: IMS.
8. Birds that recognize faces and hold grudges: MAGPIES - Now there's a face a MAGPIE can remember.
9. Rotisserie rod: SPIT.
10. Expert in nonverbal communication: MIME - A MIME MEME?
10. Expert in nonverbal communication: MIME - A MIME MEME?
11. Obey: HEED.
14. Cry for attention: LOOK MOM NO HANDS - Jess was thinking of her son when she thought of this.
15. James in the Blues Hall of Fame: ETTA.
20. "Yo!": HEY.
23. Ed of "Up": ASNER
24. End of Oktober?: FEST.
26. __ and the Maytals: TOOTS ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
27. Rang up from down under?: BUTT DIALED - My favorite clue!
28. Opening sequence: ACCESS CODE.
29. Sounds amazed: OOHS.
30. Some off-the-rack purchases, briefly: MAGS - A recurring scene in this movie
32. "Free your pores" brand: BIORE.
37. Bypass online promos: SKIP ADS - I click on 'em every time I can.
41. "Victory!" letters: FTW - I'll take Leslie Uggams For The Win
42. Like a tips-only bar: OPEN - The booze is already paid for so...
43. Place for a stent: AORTA.
44. Point value of "five" in Scrabble: TEN - Find the letters and add 'em up
45. "Only joking": I KID - His material would never work today
46. Michael of "The Running Man": CERA.
48. Chits: IOUS.
53. "About __ big": YEA.
The fact that two long
ReplyDelete“down” answers were in-the-language
phrases helped me solve this knotty puzzle.
FIR, so I’m happy.
Both are great but "WAIT, THERE'S MORE" sounds much better to me with a "BUT" at the front. Too long for a standard grid.
DeleteStayed up late here in AZ to get an early whack at this puzzle. FIR. Can't say I enjoyed it. Much preferred Ms Chen’s melodious fare from Friday. Today's seemed ponderous and forced in comparison. YMMV. I'll be interested in how the jabs land on this one after yesterday's slugfest.
ReplyDeleteThis is not a NO NOTES puzzle IMO.
DeleteFinished it with the help of a few "check puzzle" assists.
ReplyDeleteLeaving early for an appointment to get my RV's front tires replaced. They have safety devices called Tyrons on them. Makes them much safer in a blowout, but it is difficult to find a shop with the tools and knowledge to change them. My guy in Norfolk retired and closed his shop, so I was in kind of a panic. Thanks to ChatGPT I found a shop near Statesboro, GA who knows how to perform the job. That also gets me off I-95 and allows me to finish my migration to Ocala on US 301 instead.
BTW, my old tires look brand new but are 8 years old. Almost without exception, motorhome tires are changed because of age, not wear.
So that's the reason I solved on line today. I didn't feel like dragging out / stowing the printer this morning. I need to be on the road to the tire shop by 7:15, and then I'll be Southbound. (Can't get Allman Brothers songs out of my head ever since I made reservations for Statesboro.)
I only remember forex as an old brand of condoms, but I seem to remember them branded as XXXX. Kinda like Dos Eques for XX Cerveza.
No Gary, I don't get SMH. That's why I come here.
Your 'Fourex' is not designed to "exchange" anything but to stop it
DeleteSMH = Shaking My Head
Delete...nevermind, d-o replied way earlier than me. Ignore me.
DeleteGood morning!
ReplyDeleteI don't get SMH, either. I had SUP. The west came together quickly. The east never came together at all. I'll suffer my crushing defeat down here in the abasement. Thanx, Jess and Husker.
Hey, I think I just figured out SMH -- Shaking my head?
I liked the puzzle, but I’m not sure about “yea big”. I think it should be yay big, or yey big. Yea is simply a slang for yes. I don’t say yea big.
ReplyDeleteAgree, "yay" is much more common in this context.
DeleteTook 16:52 today to claw and ford my way through this one.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed this puzzle, despite the buffet of Saturday obscure food (bao, fika, tamale pie, and perhaps, osso buco).
Worst clue of the month candidate, "Nueva canción great Mercedes" (sosa).
Good Morning:
ReplyDeleteI finished w/o help but didn’t enjoy the process due to the many unknowns and the overly cutesy cluing. The long fill was certainly a help but cluing many simple words in a not so simple direction is unfair, IMO, and adds unnecessary difficulty. For example, Exploit=Deed is correct but the clue could have been more solver friendly. The same logic applies to Fords, Toots, Oohs, and Atheist. In fairness, though, the long fill itself was fresh and very much in the language, so props for that. I just wish that Saturday offerings could strike a balance between challenging but solver friendly and head-scratching solver frustration.
Thanks, Jess, and thanks, HG, for the review and commentary and for sharing Jess’s comments.
The supermarket that I order my groceries from, Hannaford, has been offline since this past Tuesday due to a hack. I can’t believe the issue hasn’t been resolved in 5 days. Meanwhile lots of delivery customers are inconvenienced, not to mention Hannaford’s lost revenue. Orders can be placed through Instacart, Uber Eats, and DoorDash, but their prices are higher than in store, plus their various fees are outrageously high. Fingers crossed for a speedy resolution!
Have a great day.
Let's hope Hannford gets their act together quickly. When you come to rely on a service, it's annoying when that service is interrupted.
DeleteFIR. Another Saturday, another workout. Ironically the long down answers were actually the easy fills today. The short answers were baffling. If it weren't for perps I would have a sea of white squares all over.
ReplyDeleteOverall a so-so puzzle.
Had to start another win streak today after yesterday’s one letter loss, which I accomplished w/out help in 25:38, probably better than my average Saturday time. I thought the difficulty level was appropriate, made me think a bit and I learned some things along the way (and from Gary’s blog), what’s not to like? Had to change ‘asami’ to SODOI, ‘dirty to CUSHY, and ‘arm’ to AIM when perps didn’t align. Total unknowns were FIKA, SOSA, MITCH and BIORE, also DNK ASNER or ATHEIST as clued. How was it determined that MAGPIES hold grudges? Thank you Jess for today’s creation, and to HG for another fine review! This is Yooper Phil, forgot again to click on ‘Google account’ and can’t do it after starting typing.
ReplyDeleteDNF because I stubbornly held on to idle for LATE, so that ruined that section. Then I missed the ALTER EGOS, couldn’t come up with KE__ERATOR.
ReplyDeleteFor the rest, lots of blind guessing like ASNER, MITCH and perps like for FTW, FIKA, SMH (?), SOSA, TOOTS, MAINE. I’ve never heard of ICE POP. It must be regional.
We had nullifies and nullifidian, and two pies, one a bird the other a food. Speaking of food, there was a cornucopia of delectables.
I did like the long answers, clever and fun, but the rest of the puzzle tired me out.
Thank you HG for your nice review, as a,ways.
That should be always.
ReplyDeleteHey all, Jess here! I did try to make this puzzle crunchy -- it's a Saturday, it should be! Glad to hear the longer answers helped some of you sink your teeth into the puzzle. Gotta love getting inspiration from my kiddo (LOOK MOM, NO HANDS!). Gary, thanks so much for the great write-up. I enjoyed learning about Adeline Gray. And fwiw, I really liked my clue for BUTT DIALED too :) Was also pretty happy to put FIKA in the puzzle... love representing my Scandinavian heritage. Cheers and happy Saturday, all!
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by! I liked your inspiration, but I always said, "Look MA, no hands."
DeleteThanks for the visit, Jess. I did enjoy the puzzle, just didn't do very well on it. Gotta agree with Rusty, it's "Ma" rather than "Mom" when you're hands-free.
DeleteI think it depends on where you're from! Never in a million years would I call my mom "Ma" :) And my kiddo has never ever called me "ma" (just "mom" or "mama"). But, that's what I like about crosswords, fun regional things to learn (and debate about!).
DeleteAre CLOSE CALLS "scary-good" (hyphenated) because they're scary but everything works out in the end? Meh. I wanted something to do with horror movies.
ReplyDelete13:53. Fun one. Started off really easy in the west but became more difficult in the east. Some great clues and long answers.
ReplyDeleteJess delivered a tough but fair puzzle, great way to end the week.
ReplyDeleteFav clue was "Opening sequence" for ACCESS CODE.
What's on TV? We used to call "Baywatch" BabeWatch. And "Best Medicine" is a poor reboot of the Brits "Doc Martin."
Thanks, HG, for your masterful review.
DNF. Typical Saturday for me. I gave up early, went back and got a little bit of the NE.
ReplyDeleteAs expected Saturdays are peppered with obscurely referenced clues but today words/terms I’ve never seen before. “Forex” “Maytals” “nullifidian” SOSA; Spanish 101 terms ok but are we expected to pass the Regents exam? Soooo I can’t believe I FIR when the last to go was what changed to WAIT THERES MORE! (Nope there isn’t!)
ReplyDeleteLotsa Ink-overs: nail/CLAW, Lees,Levi/SLIM, telephoned/BUTTDIALED (great clue),stare/GLARE AT, ditto/SOAMI, edgy/LATE
FIKA? MAGE? (A wizard from “The Witcher”?). Is an ICEPOP like a popsicle or an aloof father? KEGERATOR? Didn’t need one at our frat parties, they were drunk up before they could get warm
FTW (“for the win” Is this a thing?) SMH (“shaking my head”? C’mon!) in central NY state, Strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester where I did some of my rad residency. a tertiary care center.
Enjoyed many meals in Milan. Signature dish is cotoletta alla Milanese: breaded veal cutlet (like, but better than Wienerschnitzel) served with saffron “risotto”
A cameo from the constructor is always welcome. Thanks Jess Ruckity Rucks 😀