L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Ezra Baruner

Feb 6, 2021

Saturday, February 6, 2021 Ezra Brauner

Themeless Saturday by Ezra Brauner

Today's constructor is Ezra Brauner from Teaneck N.J. He is a third year computer science student at Rutgers. Here's what he had to say about this puzzle:

Hi Gary,

I find it interesting seeing the final puzzle ahead of time, particularly comparing the submitted and final clues. Cluing is challenging for me: I'm not so comfortable with proper cluing syntax and I find it hard to focus on one clue at a time. Most of my clues were changed: some had words rearranged to be made shorter but are effectively my clues, while others were probably too out there. There were many clues that I see now were too wordy; some of the clues that were changed entirely were long, so I understand making them more concise. I'm a somewhat new constructor, but I think my cluing skills are improving.

On the other hand, grid filling is my favorite part of the process: it's analytical, which meshes with my computer science background. I think this themeless was one of the first I made. My focus now, when filling a themeless grid, is packing it with interesting long entries, but here I think I was going for a clean grid, filled largely with familiar words and phrases. This is an earlier work of mine so the clues I wrote then were probably a bit strange.

I'm happy to have a puzzle in the LA Times!

Best,

Ezra Brauner

Across:

1. Big name: SUPERSTAR and 10. Put together: BUILT and 23. 10-Across dude: HE MAN - A vintage photo of someone who fits all three categories and literally has a Big Name

15. Early program marketing method: SHAREWARE - Early on I had a lot of floppy disks with SHAREWARE on them. Most of it was junk but...

16. Clarinetist Shaw: ARTIE - A self-described "difficult man", he was married 8 times including to Lana Turner and Ava Gardner who is seen with him here.

17. Passing words: NONE FOR ME - When a waitress asked my friend if he wanted more coffee, he always said, "NONE FOR I". I applied the old Ann Landers test, "Is anything going to be any better if I say something?"

18. Comes up: RISES.

19. Byron's "__ Walks in Beauty": SHE - She walks in beauty, like the night

Of cloudless climes and starry skies - My learned friends will see the iambic tetrameter.

20. Pressed: URGED.

21. 24-Across' love, with "the": BEAST and 24. 21-Across' love: BELLE (The Beauty of whom Lord Byron might have written). Here is BELLE (Beauty) and the BEAST

22. "God in His wisdom made the fly / And then forgot to tell us why" poet Nash: OGDEN - Iambic tetrameter again?

23. Campus building word: HALL - I was a freshman in Morey HALL in 1964, it was old then and is still in use 58 yrs later

27. Satisfied for now, with "over": TIDED - After tomorrow, we football fans have to find something to TIDE us over until next fall

29. Trip-taking aid: LSD - Dr. Timothy Leary was one of the first travel guides

32. Biting: ACID - This adjective is a noun in the LySergic ACID Diethylamide at 29 Across

33. Alarmist: FEAR MONGER - We all know who the famous one was in the Aesop Fable

35. Been in the fridge for too long: GONE BAD.

37. "That I can answer!": EASY ONE - I was so happy granddaughter face-timed me to get help with this algebra problem this week and that I was able to walk her through it. I hope Bill G. reads this today!

38. Justice who clerked for Thurgood Marshall: ELENA KAGAN.

40. Bottom-line bummer: LOSS.

41. Spill preventer: LID - This MacDonald's Coffee LID tells you the contents are hot in two languages, has two "push in" indicators in case it is Decaf or Other and the opening folds down into a recess to stay out of the way. Oh yeah, it can stop spills too.

42. Shroud: BEDIM - Online dictionaries call this a rarely used word

43. Presages: BODES - The Chiefs' roster BODES well for its chance in the Super Bowl tomorrow

44. Uses Venmo, say: PAYS - An app that is owned by PayPal

46. Held for a more opportune time: SAT ON - Hawkeye and Trapper John SAT ON Spearchucker Jones until after halftime to run up the bet and then turned him loose.

48. Not suitable: INAPT - I have the amazing facility to do something INEPT at an INAPT time.

50. Bridge action: REBID - Clear as mud to me

51. Harley-Davidson's NYSE symbol: HOG - Harley Owner's Group. Yesterday:

54. Household nickname: POPPA - An alternate spelling of what grandkids (ages 23 - 15) call me.

55. Self-reflection period: ALONE TIME - I have been "hip-deep" in adolescents my entire life

57. The "O" in football's OBJ: ODELL - ODELL Beckham is mostly remembered for this catch as a Giant. When he and his ego left Cleveland, the Browns got better.

58. Ready to be turned on: PLUGGED IN.

59. Shemar's "Criminal Minds" role: DEREK - Here ya go

60. Two-person exchange: TETE-A-TETE - and this piece of furniture takes its name from this exchange that it facilitates

Down:

1. Figures to protect, briefly: SSNS - I have the SSN for thousands of people in my files from hiring them when they were kids

2. "Here comes trouble!": UH OH.

3. Glazier's job: PANE.

4. "Blood hath been shed __ now": Macbeth: ERE -Act 3, Scene 3 - (Banquo's ghost appears) Blood hath been shed ere now, i' th' olden time, ERE humane statute purged the gentle weal. (Translation: In ancient times, before there were laws to make the land safe and peaceful, a lot of blood was spilled.)

5. Harbor: REFUGE.

6. Symbol of military power: SWORD.

7. Marketing tailored to personal tastes: TARGETED AD - As soon as I searched for bird feeders, ADS for them started appearing on other pages I viewed

8. Georgia neighbor: ARMENIA - Nogorno-Karabakah (shown in red below) is claimed by both ARMENIA and Azerbaijan

9. Oboist's need: REED.

10. Rihanna's birthplace: BARBADOS - This is her childhood home in Bridgetown, BARBADOS. The street has been renamed Rhianna Drive.

11. One of the archangels: URIEL - There are seven of them and each is associated with a day of the week. URIEL's is Tuesday

12. "We're cool": IT'S ALL GOOD.

13. Rests: LIES - If for some reason this golfer LAYS his ball in the sand trap, he can then say the ball LIES there.

14. Final, e.g.: TEST.

22. Long-ago: OLDEN.

24. Everything __: BAGEL - They could be topped with most anything. Common toppings include poppy seeds, sesame seeds, onion flakes, garlic flakes, pretzel salt, and pepper.

25. Food recall trigger: E-COLI - Uh, this would not be an appropriate topping

26. Binder filler, perhaps: LINED PAPER - I'm sure your binder if fine but if you want to talk LINED PAPER to us baby boomers:

28. Fervently hope for: DREAM ABOUT.

30. Make __: SENSE.

31. Get ready, as for a fancy dinner: DRESS - What? You don't change clothes for dinner? How gauche!

33. Forges: FAKES - There is only one forgery in this note. The forger changed (sloppily) the April 14 date from 1864 to 1865, the day Lincoln was assassinated, because he thought that he could sell it as perhaps the last document Abe signed.

34. Common toothbrush material: NYLON.

36. Speech that's hard to follow: BABY TALK - I could swear she said "Daddy"

39. Ballet whose title heroine dies in Act I: GISELLE - GISELLE features these "back from the dead brides" known as the Wilis. This may have been the origin of getting the "willies".

43. Barrio market: BODEGA - Jerry bounced a check at his BODEGA

45. With 48-Down, only its Touch is still in production: APPLE and 48. See 45-Down: IPOD - Costs much less than an iPhone, but, oh yeah, it is NOT a phone.