L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Kareem Ayas

Jan 11, 2025

Saturday, January 11, 2025, Kareem Ayas

Themeless Saturday by Kareem Ayas

As yoyu can see by the red highlights, this puzzle had a lot of first time entries. Those entries, once deciphered, were the key to a well-earned "got 'er done!"

Kareem's proper names had decent escape hatches.

Across:

1. Coin star: SACAGAWEA - 😀 Yup, I thought of the machine, ignoring the space between Coin and star.

10. Puccini heroine: TOSCA.

15. Reaction that may cause redness: OXIDATION - NASA's Perseverance Rover captured the redness of Mars that is due to OXIDATION

16. Count de la Fère in Dumas novels: ATHOS.

17. Aries, Leo, and Sagittarius: FIRE SIGNS.

18. One concerned with baby weight?: STORK 😀

19. Tic-__-toe: TAC - The climactic scene from War Games was to get the computer to play Tic Tac Toe against itself . The computer discovered that like war, no one could win and so it stopped missile launches.

20. What sitcoms always begin and end with?: ESSES and 1. Start to celebrate?: SOFT C.😀 Meta clues always take a few heartbeats to detect

22. Rent alternative: OWN.

23. Bra part: CLASP - I'm told unclasping with one hand is an art.

26. Ran: LED.

28. Run-__: DMC.

30. NYU's __ School of the Arts: TISCH.

34. Browser action: RELOAD - Command + R can e used to update a page

36. Goes out briefly: CATCHES A FEW Z'S 😀

38. Flexible flyer: PAPER AIRPLANE - How to construct this world champion airplane

39. Chophouse array: SIRLOIN STEAKS.

40. Browser action: PAGE UP.

41. "Try some": TASTE.

42. "That's __ from me": A NO - He's made millions with this phrase

43. Stock option?: STY - You could also keep your livestock in a pen and 55. Stock option?: DOW - Other stock altogether! 😀

45. Dutch cheeses: EDAMS.

49. Oogenesis products: OVA.

51. Sensitive spots: SORES.

56. Wolf voiced by Giancarlo Esposito in "The Jungle Book": AKELA.

58. Sharp infusion in some fish marinades: WASABIOLI - This one was unknown to me but just made sense

61. Money minted in Quezon City: PESOS - A current Philippine PESO is worth about $.017. However, this 1903 PESO sold for $4,800.

62. Storage unit: ZIPLOC BAG - Keeping your phone dry in a ZIPLOC BAG is a 50/50 proposition.

63. Storage units: BYTES - Not bushels here 😀

64. "Does someone want in ... ?": ANY TAKERS.

Down:

2. Like some symmetry: AXIAL.

3. Around: CIRCA.

4. Juice suffix: ADE.

5. Part of LNG: GAS - Liquid Natural Gas

6. End in __: A TIE - Crossword's favorite coach ARA Parseghian of Notre Dame elected to not to try to win in 1966. He had his boys run into the line for four straight plays and settle for A TIE in 1966. That decision would follow him forever.

7. Freaks (out): WIGS.

8. Forever and ever: EONS.

9. First name in landscape photography: ANSEL.

In the 40's, he often shot from the top of
his Pontiac woodie

10. Prof helpers: TAS.

11. Miranda of "Homeland": OTTO ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ A Saturday obscure OTTO for me

12. Final battles: SHOW DOWNS.

13. Where the walls have ears?: CORN MAZE 😀 Just 15 minutes west of Omaha

14. "That's a big __": ASK.

21. Colorful wraps: SERAPES - Clint said he wore the same one in every spaghetti western he made and it is now in a closet somewhere in his house

24. Bread, e.g.: STAPLE.

25. Wretched: PITEOUS - I'll bet I wasn't the only one who first put HIDEOUS

27. Air out?: DEFLATE - Did the Patriots really order the footballs deflated for an AFC Championship game?

29. Media for PC games, once: CDS.

31. Plot lines?: SCRIPTS - Autographed by Julius Epstein one of the screenwriters

32. Gemma of "Crazy Rich Asians": CHAN - ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Speaking of Saturday cluing there is no Charlie here.

33. Safe job: HEIST.

35. Released inconspicuously: LEAKED - Sometimes called trial balloons.

36. Multipocketed garment: CARGO VEST.

37. Sp. miss: SRTA.

38. Upright part: PIANO KEY 😀 This 1877 fully restored Steinway upright can be had for $49,000.

39. Location with masks: SPA.

44. "Impressive!": YOWZA.

46. InDesign company: ADOBE.

47. Meat grinder?: MOLAR 😀

48. Gulps: SWIGS.

50. Boba tea option: ALOE.

52. Pluviometer measure: RAIN - from the Latin word pluvia, which means "rain", and the Greek word metron, which means "measure". We just call this a rain gauge and have this one for years. In 2019 it filled to overflowing one night.

53. Jimmy V Award for Perseverance, for one: ESPY - NCAA WBB Champion coach Dawn Staley is the most recent winner of this award named for Jimmy Valvano, a coach who lost a valiant fight against cancer.