Saturday Themeless by Amanda Cook
Amanda is a music critic and digital editor who is a published crossword puzzle constructor that maintains a blog for refined sugar-free dessert recipes, and enjoys taking care of her growing collection of houseplants. Amanda lives in Minnesota with her husband Kenny, and together they enjoy hiking, playing board games, and cheering for the Cleveland Guardians. She added that she had certainly heard of C.C., had met her once and lives in a Minnesota city next to our lovely blogmistress.
Be sure to read the additional info about Amanda's constructing style at the bottom of this write-up.
Across:
1. Volunteer effort where word gets around?: BOOK DRIVE 😀
10. Wrapped in terry cloth: ROBED.
15. Let someone else do the cooking: ORDERED IN.
16. Make reparations: ATONE.
17. Romantic partner's quirky yet innocuous behavior: BEIGE FLAG 😀 One of Amanda's seed entries. I laughed out loud when the sense of the clue/fill hit me! Below is the first of many more BEIGE FLAGS at this site
- Makes weird moaning sounds while they eat.
- Infinitely reuses the same tissue, stuffing it in their pocket each time.
- Never puts lids back on stuff.
- Set a dozen alarms and ignore them all.
- Texts by sending a million short individual texts instead of typing it all out before sending.
- Wearing clothes that are all too big or too small.
- Has a repeated “catch phrase” that you can’t unhear once you notice it.
19. Suffix in many Icelandic surnames: SON - Iceland's starting soccer team
20. Faced off, in a way: DUELED.
22. Soothe: LULL.
23. Like Parmesan cheese: AGED.
24. Sticks the landing: NAILS IT.
26. Part partner: PARCEL.
29. Professionals who have a real sense of style: EDITORS 😀
30. "Copy that": HEARD - "Houston we have a problem!"
31. Lock: TRESS.
32. "Now I get it!": OHH.
34. Cedar Point's lake: ERIE - Cedar Point bills itself as America's Roller Coaster and is located near Sandusky, Ohio. All that blue is Lake ERIE.
35. Join: MARRY.
36. Primary instrument of English Renaissance composer John Dowland: LUTE - ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Saturday cluing for LUTE
37. Score 11 points in pickleball, perhaps: WIN - But you do have to win by two
38. Broncos and Mustangs: AUTOS - Fords, of course
39. Group of experts: PANEL - Are they always experts? 🤔
40. International travel need, often: ADAPTER - Don't cross an ocean without one. I lost mine in Venice, Italy and the hotel had a box with at least 5o in it that had been left behind.
42. Smashing pumpkins fan?: VANDAL - The word pumpkins is not capitalized and so it is just a run-of-the-mill idiot.
43. Relief medium: PLASTER.
44. Kite, for one: BIRD - Oh, that kind of Kite.
45. Vent: RANT.
46. Oatmeal-based brews: STOUTS.
48. Fell: HEW - Fell is a verb here
51. "Blackfish" mammals: ORCAS - Of course they are more than black and are certainly not a fish but...
53. One of 17,974 in Passau's St. Stephen's Cathedral: ORGAN PIPE - I'm sure Splynter could give them a tune-up.
55. Cardiologist's insert: STENT.
56. Counted: TALLIED UP.
57. Rebecca Solnit piece: ESSAY ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
58. Accumulation for new parents: SLEEP DEBT - Oh, how I remember!
Down:
1. Blunt cuts: BOBS - "Bells on BOB tail ring"
2. Snack that had a Space Dunk version: OREO.
3. Ragnarok warrior: ODIN - ODIN is a character in this game
4. Saloon delivery: KEG.
5. Coated in flour before frying: DREDGED.
6. Make a pit stop: REFUEL or RECHARGE
7. Ran in place: IDLED.
8. Vaccine container: VIAL.
9. Gives rise to: ENGENDERS.
10. "The Big Bang Theory" role: RAJ.
11. Verdi opera with Desdemona: OTELLO.
12. Chance to add to one's score: BONUS ROUND.
13. Twinings product: ENGLISH TEA.
14. Passed out: DEALT.
21. Princess who first appeared in Super Mario Land: DAISY ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
23. Lot unit: ACRE.
25. "__ go time!": ITS - Lloyd Bridges calls out Jerry Seinfeld
26. "What a relief!": PHEW.
27. Silks and trapeze, e.g.: AERIAL ARTS - I knew trapeze.
28. Hopi ceremonies: RAIN DANCES.
29. User __: ERROR.
31. Hot-dish topping: TATERTOTS - Very common in our part of the country
33. Land down under?: HELL
35. Trumpet accessories: MUTES.
36. Resonate, as a joke: LAND.
38. Spot-on: APT.
39. Root vegetable: PARSNIP.
41. Kazakhstan capital: ASTANA - 1,700 miles ESE of Moscow
42. Sportscaster who coined "dipsy-doo dunkaroo": VITALE - I knew him but not the phrase
43. Conventional writing: PROSE.
44. Military brass?: BUGLE - In From Here To Eternity, Montgomery Clift's character played taps on his bugle into a megaphone that he rotated.
47. Like most dissertation defenses: ORAL.
48. Mask: HIDE.
49. Kindle file format: EPUB.
50. Expressed relief, perhaps: WEPT.
52. Dirty digs: STY.
54. Disposable sock: PED.
More thoughts from Amanda
This is my first published themeless puzzle, and it was created around the seed entry BEIGE FLAG, which is making its debut in this grid! The team at the LA Times really helped me get going when I was a new constructor, and one thing they instilled in me early on was a high standard for clean fill. I'm really happy that I managed to find some fun options for the marquee entries in this grid without having to rely on too much "crossword glue." I also try not to have too many proper nouns in my grids because as a solver, I hate getting stuck on know-it-or-you-don't clues. In my fill, I love to include food, the arts and humanities, sports, references to life in the Midwest, and misdirection clues, and you'll find all of those in this puzzle!
