L.A.Times Crossword Corner: David Karp

Showing posts with label David Karp. Show all posts

Oct 25, 2025

Saturday, October 25, 2025, David Karp

Themeless Saturday by David Karp

Earlier this year David told us he was a relatively new constructor from Victoria, B.C., Canada who took up puzzle construction during the pandemic. David's "day job" is as a policy advisor for the provincial government. As you can see by the color-coded grid, David has a lot of unique fill in this puzzle.

Here's what David had to say about GEN ALPHA (my last fill) when I wrote to him about it wondering why the classification starts at 2010.

- Hi Gary,

I was just reading up on Gen Alpha again. It sounds like 2000-2010 is generally considered Gen Z and 2025 onward is apparently considered "Gen Beta" by people who apparently decide such matters. Go figure.

Best,

David

Across

1. 2-Down, for one: BALM and 2. Soothing gel: ALOE.

5. Name on Iran's flag: ALLAH - The phrase "Allahu Akbar" (God is great) is written in white, Kufic script 11 times along the top and bottom edges of the white stripe, for a total of 22 repetitions.

10. "Excuse you!": AHEM.

14. Pelvic bones: ILIA.

15. "Nightcrawling" novelist Mottley: LEILA ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

16. Umami-rich paste: MISO.

17. Design trend that showcases literary treasures: BOOKSHELF WEALTH.

20. One of the Six Nations: SENECA.

21. Buzzy instruments: KAZOOS.

22. Cookbook writer Rombauer: IRMA.

24. Vibing with: INTO.

25. Gold-backed cryptocurrencies, e.g.: STABLE COINS - ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Here ya go

28. "There is no there there" coiner: GERTRUDE STEIN - Today I learned that Gertrude's comment was meant to indicate her painful nostalgia that her hometown of Oakland, CA was mostly all gone not that the city was meaningless. The meaningless use is more common today.

30. "Aladdin" actor Massoud: MENA ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

31. To love, in Italian: AMARE - Let's all conjugate together

32. Birkenstock option: CLOG.

34. Studio sign: ON AIR.

36. Texting tech: SMS - This texting method is used by our entire family to share news and make plans. Unlike phone calls, it allows for some rumination before commitments are made.

37. Central focus: THEME.

38. Festive vegan drink: OAT NOG.

40. "They are ready to see you now": GO ON IN.

41. Guardians, on scoreboards: CLE - For some they will always be the Cleveland Indians

42. Spice cultivated from Crocus sativus: SAFFRON - SAFFRON is a spice derived from th dried stigmas of the Crocus satis flower. It is the most expensive spice in the world due to the labor-intensive process of harvesting the tiny stigmas by hand, with approximately 150 flowers needed for just one gram of the dried spice. You're welcome.

46. Demo stuff: TNT - Demolition not demonstration

47. Rivals, slangily: OPPS.

49. Nasty fall: SLEET - In March a horrible SLEET and wind storm weighed down wires here in Nebraska. It broke over power poles and we were without power for three days.

50. Thermometer type: ORAL - Don't ask an angry pharmacist how to use a rectal thermometer!

51. Question while filling out a form: WHAT'S TODAY'S DATE.

54. Figure on Arizona license plates: SAGUARO - I wonder how HUSKER GARY would look

55. Enthusiastic assent: DO I EVER.

56. One who picks up speed?: SENSOR - I used this SENSOR in my physics lab to determine speed.

57. Puzzled (out): SUSSED.

Down:

1. Lobster catchers: BIBS 😀

3. Animal on Sri Lanka's flag: LION.

4. Money order?: MAKE IT RAIN.

5. Islamic palace in Spain: ALHAMBRA.

6. Spike in direction: LEE - 20 lashes with a wet noodle for this former volleyball coach for not seeing Spike as a name and not as a verb

7. Smaller than sm.: LIL.

8. Melmac native: ALF.

9. Curved facial feature: HAWK NOSE.

10. Component in many a smart home: AMAZON ECHO - Alexa does your bidding via the Amazon ECHO Dot

11. Only U.S. city with a zoo in a rainforest: HILO.

12. Spanish "this": ESTO.

13. Mineralogist with a scale: MOHS - Talc is at 1 on the MOHS scale and diamonds are at 10

18. "Ice Age" squirrel: SCRAT - In any language

19. "Weird Al" parody that begins, "How come you're always such a fussy young man?": EAT IT 😀 With apologies to Michael Jackson.

How come you're always such a fussy young man?Don't want no Captain Crunch, don't want no Raisin BranWell, don't you know that other kids are starving in Japan?So, eat it, just eat it

23. Homecoming week crowd: ALUMS.

24. Decoration specialists: ICERS.

25. Teen who helps with the bills: SENATE PAGE - Oh, legislative bills.

Senator George Pepper playing
ball with some Senate PAGES

26. Common cheese in kaasstengels: EDAM - I filled in only one letter to SUSS out our frequent cheese visitor.

27. Bring-your-own-headphones dance party: SILENT RAVE.

28. People born yesterday: GEN ALPHAS - New to me. It applies to people who were born in the 21st century from 2015 - 2024. See David's note in the intro.

29. Given a nod: NOMINATED.

30. Udder delights for a toddler?: MOO COWS.

33. Less rough: GENTLER.

35. Children's author Asquith: ROS ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

37. Long or short amount: TON.

39. Pub prefix: GASTRO - What is it?

40. "Heard": GOT YOU - "I heard you the fourth time!" 😠

43. Completely wow: FLOOR and 48. Completely wow: STUN.

44. Govt. agent: FED.

45. Anticipates: READS.

50. Dedicated works: ODES.

52. Nordic carrier: SAS.

53. Member of the fam: SIS.

Aug 9, 2025

Saturday, August 9, 2025, David Karp

Themeless Puzzle by David Karp

David's fun puzzle started out quickly but slowed to a more moderate pace. Here is what he shared with me after I told him that MWAHAHA/RAWR gave me one bad cell.

Hi Gary,

Glad you enjoyed the puzzle! And sorry to trip you up -- I was a bit worried about how that crossing would play out.

This one is a pretty open grid so it was challenging getting clean yet interesting fill throughout -- it went through a few revisions with the editors, particularly in the bottom right corner. But I'm particularly happy that MUSIC BINGO (I enjoy playing it), ZAMBONI RIDE (I'm a Canadian/hockey fan) and EGG MATZOS (my dad's side of the family is Jewish) made it through.

I can't believe it's been a couple years since my last LA Times themeless puzzle. I've had three crosswords in the LA Times since then (including a couple collaborations with friends and family), but they've all been Mondays, funnily enough. I feel most in my element doing challenging themeless puzzles though so it's nice to be back with a themeless.

Not much to update in the way of my current activities; I still work for the provincial government, enjoy making crossword puzzles in my spare time (I recently published my 50th puzzle -- this one is #52) as well as playing ball hockey and soccer.

Across:

1. Rank denied to Anakin Skywalker: JEDI MASTER ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ He never became a Jedi Master. He became a Jedi Knight close to the beginning of the clone wars. Knights were also given padawans to train during the unprecedented times in the final years of the Republic. Even after he became a force ghost he was still known more as the Chosen One than a true Jedi Master.

11. Pollutants phased out by the Montreal Protocol, for short: CFCS - Chlorofluorocarbons were identified as destroying the ozone layer and were outlawed in 1987.

15. "Count me in!": I AM SO THERE.

16. Baseball dynasty name: ALOU - They had a lot of talent and vowels.

17. Game whose object is to get lots of hits: MUSIC BINGO - A fav game of David's. Players receive bingo cards with song titles or artists listed in a grid. The host plays short clips of songs. Players identify the songs and mark them off on their cards. Five in a row, column or diagonal wins.

Sample Card

18. Gamer who lacks game: NOOB.

19. 1971 cult classic: SHAFT - The fabulous Isaac Hayes theme song below has the lyrics start at 1:48

20. Startles: SPOOKS.

22. Celeb gossip site: TMZ - It stands for the Thirty Mile Zone surrounding Los Angeles and the entertainment business. Here's the latest edition

25. Story that may remain unfinished: ATTIC 😀 An unfinished top story ATTIC would get pretty toasty around here.

27. Spine-tingling: EERIE.

28. Treats: HEALS.

30. "What a bore!": SNORE.

32. "Wanna __?": BET - TV's most famous BET!

33. "__ Vep": HBO miniseries: IRMA - An anagram of Vampire More

34. Crispy kosher snack: EGG MATZOS.

36. Clouds of gas and dust: NEBULAE.

38. "They'll never catch me!": MWAHAHA and 31. Noise made while curling one's fingers, perhaps: RAWR the crossing of these two cost me a "got 'er done".

40. Debate figure: MODERATOR.

42. Layered sandwich: OREO.

43. Actor Chaney: LON.

44. Blacksmith garb: APRON.

45. "Paul Bunyan" librettist: AUDEN.

46. __ coffee: IRISH - IRISH is also a beloved member or our community

48. Networks, for short: SYSTS.

50. Fr. holy title: STE - French abbreviation for SAINTE the female form for Saint

51. Some adoptees: STRAYS - God bless those that do this

53. One of the three R's: REUSE - Oh, those 3 R's. I first tried "RITIN'"

55. Duck out early: BAIL - We did BAIL on a Husker FB game once when it looked like they would lose. The cheering we heard on the street told us we made a mistake.

56. Unlikely to show mercy: IRON FISTED - These leap to mind: Stalin, Lenin, Putin in Russia. Idi Amin in Uganda. Fidel Castro in Cuba. Daniel Noriega in Nicaragua. Saddam Hussein in Iraq. Hafez Assad in Syria. Hitler in Germany.

61. "Balladz" poet Sharon: OLDS ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Her bio

62. Tale that may be told with a fire in one's eyes: GHOST STORY 😀

63. On a cruise: ASEA.

64. Easy wins for presidential candidates, often: HOME STATES - Most do but in 1972 George McGovern, among others, even lost his home state of South Dakota in the Nixon landslide.

Down:

1. Actor Parsons: JIM - He was a big reason The Big Bang Theory was a huge hit.

2. Evian, e.g.: EAU.

3. Private convos: DMS - Direct MessageS

4. Mother of Horus: ISIS.

5. Drinks made from two kinds of beans: MOCHAS - A mixture of cocoa and coffee beans

6. Rockie start?: AT BAT - 😀 Their AT BATs have not been very productive as the Colorado Rockies have the worst record in MLB (30 - 85).

7. Takes a turn: SHIFTS GEARS - I really liked this clue as it references a turn in a conversation or strategy not in a car.

8. Part of a nomad's lifestyle, perhaps: TENTING.

9. Work unit: ERG - I love this definition of an ERG: It's the equivalent of an ant doing one push up

10. Some classic cars: REOS - Ransom Eli Oldsmobile invented the Oldsmobile Car and then, after a falling out with a partner, stopped that and started building the REO

11. __ Journey: annual event for Pacific Northwest Indigenous peoples: CANOE.

12. They may be swept under the rug: FLOOR BOARDS - There is a difference between actually doing this and the sense of ignoring a bad topic

13. Need for one who's rolling in dough?: COOKIE SHEET 😀

14. Part of the whole: SUBSET - We crossword solvers are a SUBSET of the general population

21. "The Hunger Games" boy: PEETA ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

22. Scarce: THIN.

23. They're only human: MERE MORTALS.

24. Hockey fan's intermission experience, perhaps: ZAMBONI RIDE.

26. Sound track?: COMMON SENSE 😀

29. Credit: LAUD.

34. Tombstone name: EARP - Despite his adventures in Tombstone, AZ, Wyatt's actual, uh, tombstone, along with his wife's, is in Colma, CA near San Francisco.

35. Dynasty before the Qin: ZHOU.

37. __ Law: human rights measure named for the third-longest-serving U.S. senator: LEAHY.

39. Top-notch: A-ONE.

41. Place for kidding around at home?: TOY ROOM 😀

43. Capital city in Província da Estremadura: LISBOA - Portuguese in clue means the city will be spelled in that language

45. One of 3,234 for Sue Bird: ASSIST.