Saturday, June 27, 2020, Kyle Dolan

Saturday Themeless by Kyle Dolan

Kyle Dolan returns for another themeless puzzle and the solve went very nicely for me. Here are Kyle's comments on this puzzle: 

Hi Gary, 

We're doing well too, thanks.

Here are some thoughts on this puzzle:

I began constructing this grid in March 2019 and I sent it to Rich Norris a couple months later. In October 2019 Rich asked for some revisions in the short fill. Soon after I completed these, he accepted the puzzle. 

DANCE LESSONS was the seed entry for this grid, inspired by the fact that at the time I wrote it, my wife and I were learning how to rumba for our wedding dance! REGINA KING was another early entry, as she had just won her Oscar for "If Beale Street Could Talk". My research indicates that, as of this writing, her full name has never appeared in a newspaper crossword grid before; if that's true I'm very happy to debut it and I hope solvers enjoy seeing her in the grid.

Overall I'm pleased with the way the long fill in this puzzle turned out, but I think now there are a few too many clunkers in the short fill for my liking: A DUB, A TEST, SPAKE, and the like. If I were constructing this puzzle today, I'd try to reduce the number of these kinds of entries if not eliminate them entirely.

By the way, this is my 10th LA Times puzzle, all of which have been Saturday themelesses--including my very firstnewspaper crossword back in 2009.  My thanks to Rich Norris, Patti Varol, and the editorial team who have given me the chance to share my puzzles in this venue; to the bloggers at Crossword Corner and elsewhere, thanks for sharing your thoughts on my puzzles; and to the solvers reading this, I hope you enjoy it!

Thanks again,

Kyle

Across:

1. Gym supplies: MATS.

5. Affectionate-poke-on-the-nose word: BOOP.

9. Cut souvenirs: SCARS - Some SCARS don't show

14. Without instruments: A CAPPELLA - "In the manner of the chapel" Usually two words, two P's and two L's. The A CAPPELLA group, Pentatonix, provides some instrument-like voice accompaniment in this haunting piece.

16. "Haystacks" painter: MONET - This time it was MONET

17. "What?": COME AGAIN.

18. Soaked: SOGGY.

19. "The Twilight Zone" (2019) host Jordan: PEELE - Much more familiar with the guy on the right who created the series in 1959

Jordan PEELE                     Rod Serling

20. Distress: VEX.

22. Ballet move: PLIE.

23. Two-step tutorials, say: DANCE LESSONS - Kyle's seed entry - Let's see a lesson

26. Take a bad turn: GO SOUTH - Some people have seen their businesses GO SOUTH this year

29. "Semper Fidelis" composer: SOUSA - Oorah!

30. "Concord Sonata" composer: IVES - Wow, Charles!

31. Race units: LAPS.

34. Talked like Moses or Abraham?: SPAKE - And thus God SPAKE unto Noah,"Uh, you're gonna need a bigger boat"

36. Tart finish?: LET - A tart is a baked dish consisting of a filling over a pastry base with an open top not covered with pastry. 

37. In actuality: DE FACTO - I may be listed as "head of household" but...

39. The last pope named Clement: XIV (1760 - 1774) Obverse: Clement XIV. Reverse: Jesus, Peter and Paul expelling the Jesuits which Clement did in their name

40. Cleaner brand with a macron on its first vowel: DRANO which makes the drain 42. Circulate: FLOW better

1950's Can

43. Cornmeal product: PONE.

44. Ones known for excellent service: ACERS - 163mph tennis serve is the record

46. Many people make them at work: LIVINGS.

48. Blizzard portmanteau: SNOWMAGEDDON - A news media image after a 6" snow was predicted

51. "Rub-__ ... ": A-DUB - Three men in a tub

52. Root that may be cubed: YAM - We math peeps appreciate the two red herrings

53. Big battery: D-CELL.

56. Realm of Tolkien's Dwarves: MORIA - Here 'ya go!

58. Are useful: FILL A NEED - For good or ill, I do that here on Saturday

61. Cleared in a diner: BUSED.

62. Proverbial nonexistent meal: FREE LUNCH.

63. Nuclear trial: A-TEST.

64. Pamplona pronoun: ESOS. ESOS pantalones están sucios (Those pants are dirty)

65. BFN alternative: TTYL - Bye For Now vs Talk To You Later


Down:

1. Buddy: MAC and 32. Buddy: PAL.

2. "Rent-__": 1988 film: A COP - This turkey had some big name stars

3. Unlikely to titillate: TAME.

4. Small trunks: SPEEDOS - Google if you must

5. "Go easy on me": BE GENTLE when correcting any 49. Faux pas: GAFFE I make here

6. Copacabana greeting: OLA and 48. Copacabana steps: SAMBA - OLA. ¿Te gustaría SAMBA? (Hello. Would you like to SAMBA?)

7. Tree sacred to Athena: OLIVE - What's that all about?

8. "Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!" group: PANEL - Here is Tom Hanks serving as a guest host

9. Texting format, briefly: SMS - I use Short Message Service for texting and love it when people respond quickly. 

10. Confines: COOPS UP - We've all had months of this recently

11. Norman Conquest victim: ANGLO SAXON - When the last ANGLO SAXON king, Edward the Confessor, died childless in 1066, William of Normandy (later The Conqueror) invaded to take the British crown from two others 3-minute summary

12. 2019 Best Supporting Actress winner for "If Beale Street Could Talk": REGINA KING - Kyle is happy to have introduced her name into crosswords. Her IMDB

13. They may be treated with compresses: STYES - Saturday cluing for a staple

15. Country in the Caroline Islands: PALAU - Peleliu is a small island in the PALAU archipelago and saw bitter fighting in WWII

21. Strike symbols: XES - Here's the last two XES on Boomer's twentieth 300 game

24. Source of livestock feed: CHAFF - Dried chopped forage used to add bulk to animal feed

25. Okay: SO SO.

26. Deceptively adorn: GILD - There's no need to GILD the lily

27. Transmission conclusion: OVER AND OUT 

28. Start of typical "Star Trek" navigation orders: SET A COURSE 

33. Admonish: SCOLD.

35. Tense times, maybe: EVES - This dystopian song came to my mind

37. School house: DORM - My first DORM room was #237 in Morey Hall in 1964

38. Turns idly, as a pencil: TWIDDLES.

41. Green ones: NEWBIES.

43. Pesto ingredient: PINE NUT - among other ingredients

45. For example: SAY.

47. Inclined to opine: VOCAL.

50. Mideast dignitaries: EMIRS.

54. Advanced: LENT - I LENT/advanced a family member a lot of money to help adopt a child from China and in my heart I knew I would never get it all back. BTW, she was worth it!

55. Goranson of "The Conners": LECY - Then/now

57. Big name in home security: ADT - Is the sign enough to deter criminals?

59. Summer sign: LEO.

60. FedEx rival: DHL 

Comments for Kyle?

Saturday, June 20, 2020, Sid Sivakumar

Themeless Saturday by Sid Sivakumar

Happy Summer Solstice! Today's constructor is Sid Sivakumar. Here is Sid's gracious reply to my request for info about him and this puzzle:

Hi Gary, 

I'm excited to make my LAT debut with a themeless puzzle! I'm an MD/PhD student based in St. Louis, MO and I've been constructing crossword puzzles for a couple of years. This was one of the first themeless grids I ever successfully built, though it went through several revisions before submission. I initially constructed this in the midst of the 2018-19 NFL season, so I started in the center with a football-shaped collection of black squares [NOW I SEE IT! hg] and the football-related entry CALLED AN AUDIBLE. After filling the center (anchored by the fun stack of READS PALMS / GREEN ROOF / MAKE IT RAIN), I tackled the NW/SE corners, and finally the NE/SW corners. I'm happy with the stack of K-CUP POD / BE ASSURED / RELAY RACES, although STOPPED in the opposite corner isn't quite as sparkly. 

I can definitely say that my themeless constructing philosophy has changed since when I made this puzzle, as evidenced by the themeless puzzles I've since published for free on my indie blog, Sid's Grids. Nowadays, I try to maximize the number of long slots (8+ letters) in my themeless grids, and find juicy entries for each of them, while keeping the short fill clean. This LAT grid has only twelve long slots, and many 7-letter slots with neutral entries like IMPINGE and RESEALS — I don't think I would submit it today. But I hope there is enough color in the longer entries here to make for an entertaining solve. (I'm at least glad that the short fill is reasonably smooth.)

Hope solvers enjoy the puzzle! 

- Sid

Okay, let's explore this Sid Grid which I definitely found entertaining:

Across:

1. Stress marks: ACCENTS - These ACCENT marks show to place the stress on the penultimate syllable 

8. Result of melted crust: MAGMA.

13. Kind of cable: COAXIAL - Our city is trenching everywhere to replace the old copper COAXIAL cable

14. Little one on a slide: AMOEBA.

16. Make an impression (on): IMPINGE - Flooding definitely did IMPINGE on my golfing last summer

17. Nephrology focus: KIDNEYS - My nephrologist friend Dr. Lund has established his practice on the ground floor of an historical house here in town. He and his family live in the fully remodeled upstairs

19. "Mind your own business": DON'T JUDGE - Walk a mile in their shoes

21. "Immediately!": STAT.

22. Poppycock: PAP.

23. Split between personalities: RIFT - A ten-year RIFT developed between Don and Phil and then they had a reunion concert in England in 1983

26. First woman to land a triple axel in competition: ITO - Regular and slo-mo with Japanese commentary

27. Super Mario __: BROS 

29. Back in: RETRO - These are the same shoes I wore when Eisenhower was president except girls wear them now

30. Sponge (up): SOP.

31. Shipbuilder's starting point: KEEL - Laying the KEEL for the Titanic in 1909 in Belfast, Ireland

32. Heckled: JEERED.

33. The Zugspitze, e.g.: ALP - Germany's highest mountain 

34. Changed plans at the last second: CALLED AN AUDIBLE - Sid's seed entry. Peyton Manning famously yelled OMAHA before he CALLED AN AUDIBLE

37. Ryder Cup team: USA - Current players for 2020

38. Iberia hub: MADRID - Non-stops out of MADRID

39. Renaissance faire quaff: MEAD - The majority of its fermentable sugar comes from honey

40. "Gentleman" singer: PSY - Korean techno-pop song with a lot of tasteless pranks. Google if you must

41. "Challenge accepted!": IT'S ON.

42. Proving field?: MATH - What we MATH peeps did to get degrees

43. Brita competitor: PUR 

44. Defaulter's risk: REPO.

45. A, in the key of D: SOL - Here 'ya go, sing it with me: Do, Re, Mi, Fa, SOL, La, Ti, Do

46. Kind of will: ORAL - It's better in writing

48. Subject in the film "Ghost": AFTER LIFE - A fun movie speculating about the AFTER LIFE

53. Sound measure: DECIBEL - Some claim K.C. Arrowhead Stadium is the loudest NFL stadium at 142.2 DECIBELS

56. Sun-on-skin concern: AGE SPOT - Last Saturday, Michael Wiesenberg had "50. Too much sun, they say: AGER"

57. Warp, e.g.: DEFORM.

58. Zips again, as a Ziploc bag: RESEALS - I prefer the ones with a slide

59. Night lights: STARS.

60. Foe of Stalin: TROTSKY - Stalin's simple solution was to send a member of his secret police to kill TROTSKY who was in exile in Mexico


Down:

Sid's mini-theme: ROCK

1. __ rock: ACID.

45. "Like a Rock" rocker: SEGER  - Chevy Truck's  anthem

51. __ rock: FOLK - A prime purveyor this genre is next:

8. Repeated phrase in the coda of James Taylor's "Shower the People": MAKE IT RAIN.

2. Perry with five Emmys: COMO - Mellow, non-rocker Perry COMO won five in the late 50's

3. Commander in brief?: CAP'N.

4. It's taken on the way out: EXIT POLL 

5. Deadly agents: NINJAS.

6. Prepare to go after a fly: TAG UP - You can TAG UP and try to go after a fly ball is caught but don't do it on Bo Jackson! Bo wags his finger at the guy who tried it!

7. Downhill traveler: SLED.

9. "What __ missing?": AM I.

10. Krishna, e.g.: GOD - All you need to know

11. __ room: MEN'S 

12. "We did wager, didn't we?": A BET IS A BET - Derek Jeter paid off a $100 lost bet in pennies

15. Islamic leader: AYATOLLAH Khomeni Some say his hostage taking 18. Prevented: STOPPED Jimmy Carter from being reelected 

20. Eco-friendly housetop: GREEN ROOF - University of Nebraska professor Richard Sutton tending his GREEN ROOF in Lincoln

24. Neurologist who redefined "libido" to fit his theories: FREUD Here 'ya go!

25. Broadway barber: TODD - Sweeney TODD

27. "I promise you ... ": BE ASSURED - "You will not have lunchroom duty for more than one year." Yeah, right!

28. Contests with four legs: RELAY RACES - When you're handing off to Usain Bolt for the last leg, you're in pretty good shape

29. What a chiromancer does: READS PALMS - New word for me

31. Single-serve coffee container: K-CUP POD.

32. Singles network logo with a partly outlined Star of David: JDATE - Mazel Tov

35. Islamic leader: EMIR

36. "Ready!": I'M ALL SET

42. Beyond that: MORE SO.

47. Raise: LIFT.

49. Sharp-tasting: TART.

50. Pub orders: IPAS.

52. E-tailer with a "Vintage" category: ETSY - Here 'ya go

54. Feathers on a runway: BOA.

Comments for Sid?