Saturday, February 15, 2025, Enrique Henestroza Anguiano

 Themeless by Enrique Henestroza Anguiano

I’m a data scientist from Oakland, CA, with a background in computational linguistics. In this picture I am eating a Voodoo Donut in Portland, OR.

Here is what Enrique told me about this puzzle: I built this puzzle around A STRANGE LOOP, which is a musical I had recently seen on tour in San Francisco. I laughed, I cried, and I was moved by its perspective on the black gay experience and on an artist's creative process. Otherwise, something I got early feedback on with this puzzle is that it only has eight answers of 8+ length. I don't see that as a problem: I think answers of every length can be interesting and combine to create a fun overall experience, and not every themeless puzzle needs to try to tick the same boxes. I love the flow of this grid and how it came together with a low word count of 70. I hope you enjoy it too. :)

I've had some quick solves in the past few weeks, uh, this wasn't one of them. I had sporadic success in the upper part of the puzzle and only got a good foothold in the SW corner where that fill came quickly and then so did BREAST STROKE (C.C. is featured in this fill). It was upward and onward from there and I got a well-earned "got 'er done". A little humility is good for us all!

Across:

1. Trap: YAP - My first thought was NET but we've seen trap as a form of rap lately but this just turned out to be slang for mouth.

4. DOMS symptoms: ACHES ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I had no idea but I suspect this is a problem with New Year's resolutions about working out more often or at all.

9. Icy __: STARE.

14. Address on a business card: URL.

15. Go toe-to-toe: CLASH - Bragging about what you'll do to Mike Tyson can all go away when you're toe-to-toe with him

16. Engage in a numbers game?: HIT ON - I was thinking of gambling and trying to HIT ON a number but was not all that happy with that idea. So, I asked Enrique and he said his intent was HITTING ON someone and trying to get a phone number. 😀

17. Spy-fi org.: CIA.

18. Low member of a quartet: CELLO - The O in SHOULD gave me _ _ _ _ O and I went for a singing BASSO first.

19. Out: ALIBI.

20. Frying medium: CANOLA and 31. Frying medium: PALM OIL.

22. Like art with hazy provenance, perhaps: UNDATED.

24. Pulitzer- and Tony-winning musical whose cast consists of Usher and his Thoughts: A STRANGE LOOP - A seed entry for Enrique: An usher is the main character and has nothing to do with the singer. This usher is an aspiring black queer musical theater writer.

27. Tactic that fails to deliver the goods: BAIT AND SWITCH.

32. "Huzzah!": YAHOO.

33. Ultra hi-__: RESolution

34. Flair: KNACK. 

37. "How cute!": AWW or

38. Home __: BREWS.

41. Soundproofing aids: CARPETS - BAFFLES filled in like a dream at _ A _ _ _ _ S but...

44. "Does this sound like a joke to you?": I'M DEAD SERIOUS.

47. Slowest competitive swimming style: BREASTSTROKE - C.C. was kind enough to share this video of her doing this stroke in October of 2023 when she was learning to swim.

50. Strike for an umpire?: BAD CALL - Angel Hernandez has consistently been rated as the worst umpire in MLB.

53. Gadgets in Yondr pouches: PHONES - ¯\_(ツ)_/¯  Yondr pouches are lockable bags that keep phones and other devices out of sight and out of reach. They are used in schools and at events to create phone-free spaces. 

54. Basic font: ARIAL - This is ARIAL font

55. HS class for aspiring premeds, perhaps: AP BIO.

58. "That can be arranged": YES - Be careful what you ask for.

59. "I wanna try!": LEMME.

60. Mushroom variety: MOREL.

61. Polish brand: OPI - Yes, it is available in Poland! 😀

62. En __: MASSE.

63. Mate's response?: I LOSE.

64. Capitalize on: USE.

Down:

1. Joshua tree, e.g.: YUCCA.

2. Artistic displays at the Met: ARIAS - Opera singing is definitely an art

3. Like a diet rich in phytonutrients: PLANT BASED - Photo is the Greek word for plant

4. Applaud: ACCLAIM.

5. Social media hashtag for nourishing one's inner neatnik: CLEAN TOK - ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

TikTok videos with the hashtag #CleanTok have more than 150 billion views, with influencers broadcasting themselves scrubbing their sinks, descaling their dishwashers, and using increasingly bizarre and extreme methods to make their homes shine.

6. Sparks of "Queer as Folk": HAL ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

HAL is in the
middle row on the left

7. Subj. for some refugees: ESL.

8. "Auld Lang Syne" opener: SHOULD.

9. Mysterious: SHADOWY.

10. Warmwater fish: TILAPIA.

11. Working hard: AT IT.

12. Wrap after a spa treatment: ROBE.

13. "Wednesday" werewolf: ENID ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

21. Voiced: ORAL.

23. Refusals: NOS.

25. Result of crunch time?: GAIN - I told Enrique that I thought that meant a GAIN of muscle from doing ab crunches and Enrique said I was right. He thought it was funny when I told him that might cause some Delayed Onset Muscle Aches (4. Across)

26. Interweaves: ENLACES.

28. "Don't even try to pin the blame elsewhere": THAT'S ON YOU.

29. Female whales: COWS.

30. Know-__: HOW.

31. Do for a while?: PERM - They call it a permanent even though it is temporary. 😀

33. Softball stat: RBI.

35. Roller on a golf course: CART 😀

36. Word in some crunchy cereal names: KRISPIES - Packaging over 90 years

39. Vlogging equipment: WEBCAMS.

40. Maker of Perfect Pairings pies: SARA LEE.

42. Cause of a bumpy ride: POTHOLE.

43. Nice bit of cash?: EURO - A crossword device using Nice as a city on the French Riviera 

45. Drag queen Bianca __ Rio: DEL - We've had this name before

46. Charcuterie slice: SALAMI.

48. Doesn't spoil: KEEPS - Clarence Birdseye saw Inuit people quickly freeze fish they caught to preserve them and brought this flash freezing idea to America so food could KEEP much longer.

49. Polish brand: ESSIE - I can't find if it is available in Poland. 😀

50. Emollient: BALM.

51. Gray __: AREA.

52. Turns down: DIMS.

56. Capitol fig.: POL.

57. Amigo: BRO - Cross-cultural slang.

Saturday, April 13, 2024, Enrique Henestroza Anguiano

Saturday Themeless by Enrique Henestroza Anguiano

This is my fourth LA Saturday themeless with Enrique who has a background in computational linguistics.The puzzle gave me fits as some of the cluing was, to borrow a crossword we have seen here

         

Yes, Enrique has a lot of white real estate in his construction with 98 open squares (squares that don't touch a border or a block). The stack of three grid spanners is impressive! 

As usual, I skated around and enjoyed most of the puzzle, however, I had one Natick at 27 Down/Across and could not come up with a Japanese breaded cutlet or a 3-letter name for an actor named Penn. I'll take my one bad cell and try to face tomorrow! 

This just in: Yeah, I know we had KATSU in Tuesday's puzzle but I did Enrique's puzzle before Zachary's Tuesday construction. The consolation is that I did get KATSU on Tuesday. 😊

Across:

1. Way to play music that's a hit?: SLAP BASS 😀 - Yup, he's hitting or SLAPPING that BASS

9. Words after a deep breath: I'M CALM.

15. Where the action is?: MOVIE SET 😀

16. The __ Brothers: "Black Water" band: DOOBIE - A fun listen

17. Egg option: OVER EASY.

18. Position: ORIENT - A recent activity of mine

19. Mulligans: REDOS - In a friendly game of golf you can request a mulligan or to REDO a shot. Our group allows one on the front 9 and one on the back. Some guys never take one. It can also be used if you say or do anything you wish you had not, "I'd like to take a mulligan on that!"

20. Lavender brew: HERBAL TEA.

22. Jacob's twin: ESAU.

23. Unagi roll fish: EELS.

24. "Food's getting cold!": EAT.

27. "The Namesake" actor Penn: KAL - When I looked him up, he was more familiar to me as Kumar of Harold and Kumar but I still would not have had to guess at the first letter of his name.

28. Big Mac rivals?: PCS 🤨 - Enrique, I have never called my Mac computer big! Yeah, I know, it's a big rival not a Big Mac. 

31. Four-part cooking series starring Samin Nosrat: SALT FAT ACID HEAT.

37. "How's about this instead!?": I GOT A BETTER IDEA - I had to swap out ANOTHER for A BETTER. 

38. Election system that gets the press involved?: PAPERLESS VOTING - 😀 Yes, you press a button or icon and do not put a mark on a piece of paper.

39. Alums-to-be: SRS - The SRS where I teach are handing out grad party invites this time of year.

40. Big bird: EMU.

41. Shortish releases: EPS - Back when vinyl ruled the world, Extended PlayS held more music than a 45 but less than an album. This group made one with four songs, not two, you can get this EP record on eBay for $150.

42. Instrument once plucked with a quill: LUTE.

44. "Who's this under?": NAME 😀 Uh, Mr. and Mrs. John Smith...

48. Hot pockets?: EMPANADAS.

53. Sunny?: SOLAR 😀 - Some crops flourish under solar panels as their rotation following the sun gives just the right amount of sun and shade.

54. Friendly gesture: HAT TIP.

55. Ulaanbaatar's country: MONGOLIA.

VW96+R47 Unnamed Road, 
Ulaanbaatar 17025, Mongolia

57. "You're making me blush!": OH STOP.

58. Oktoberfest snacks: PRETZELS.

59. Pushes boundaries?: WIDENS.

60. Be reasonable: SEE SENSE.

Down:

1. Food contraction that omits "ome": S'MORE - Short for SOME MORE. A word invented in a 1938 summer camping manual

2. Melts for: LOVES - See picture above for melting everyone LOVES

3. Estée Lauder subsidiary: AVEDA.

4. Spin on a classic ballet performance?: PIROUETTE.

5. Some queens: BEES 😀

6. "Hugo" actor Butterfield: ASA - The Hindi version

7. Brief meeting?: SESH - Short for session and seen in cwds more and more frequently

8. Eye annoyance: STYE.

9. "We Shall Overcome" phrase: I DO BELIEVE.

10. Principled: MORAL.

11. Tesla stock?: COILS - Nikolai Tesla sat inside his invention for publicity. I had a smaller Tesla Coil in my classroom.

12. Help with a heist: ABET - Michael J. Pollard, on the right, played C.W. Moss who drove the getaway car for the 1967 movie Bonnie and Clyde. 

13. "I forgot what to say!": LINE - What an actor says when he is lost and needs a prompt 

14. Threads owner: META.

21. Posts a GIF, perhaps: REACTS - I do that often. A picture is worth a thousand words!                                               

25. Miles away: AFAR.

26. Some Apple Design Award winners: TABLET APPS.

27. Breaded cutlet dish: KATSU - Who knew (before last Tuesday)?

28. Mani-__: PEDI.

29. William the Conqueror's burial place: CAEN - 32 miles from Omaha Beach

30. Single party election?: STAG - These guys elected to have no women at this party

31. Small suctions on cups?: SIPS 😀

32. Vegan gelatin substitute: AGAR.

33. Cuts (off): LOPS.

34. Overflowed: TEEMED.

35. Release: DROP - A British airman in WWI gets ready to DROP a bomb from the gondola of an airship

36. Prepare to go out again?: 😀 HIT SNOOZE - This took me awhile.

42. Chai __: LATTE.

43. Labor group: UNION.

45. "It's Not Me, It's You" singer Lily: ALLEN.

46. Sends flying, perhaps: MAILS 

47. Rub off: ERASE.

48. Site with step-by-step guides: E-HOW.

49. Fish tacos choice, on menus: MAHI - Enrique, no hint on the double name in the clue? C'mon! 😀 Half fish taco choice...

50. Condition that may respond to CBT or LSD: PTSD - A thoughtful article

51. Boomers at a concert?: AMPS.

The Grateful Dead's Wall Of Sound

52. Sensitive: SORE.

53. NCOs who know the drill: SGTS.

56. Jennifer Affleck, __ Lopez: NEE - Yes, she changed her name.