L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Saturday

Showing posts with label Saturday. Show all posts

Feb 1, 2025

Saturday, February 1, 2025, Adrian Johnson, Will Nediger

Saturday February 1, 2025 by Adrian Johnson & Will Nediger

Adrian

Will

I had a nice 14-minute trip through Adrian and Will's puzzle. I wrote to Adrian about this puzzle he co-authored with Will and this was his gracious reply.

Hi Gary,

Great to hear from you. Will and I are good friends that have collaborated a few times on puzzles, most recently co-organizing a charity pack to support humanitarian relief efforts in Palestine (https://www.puzzlesforpalestine.com/) that we hope you’ll check out. Some wildly creative work from the best people in the business, 22 puzzles and no minimum donation—whatever you can spare to support rebuilding and humanitarian efforts.

This puzzle was a stunt of sorts to see how many 12-letter entries we could fix into a 15x grid. I sent Will the layout last year, he helped lock much of the center into place, I polished off the corners, and we were off! Thanks as always for the work you do.

Cheers,

Adrian

Across:

1. Attach: TIE ON.

6. Pickle: SCRAPE - Origin of the phrase

12. "You're getting ahead of yourself": DON'T BE SO HASTY.

14. "I'll meet you halfway": LET'S COMPROMISE.

15. Vaudeville singer Smith: MAMIE ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

16. __ bran: OAT - Love this variety

17. Break stuff?: ADS 😀

18. Like: AKIN TO.

20. Car mirror's view: REAR - Not what you want to see

23. "__ Masters": reality show with building contests: LEGO.

24. When all's been said and done, to a Brit: AFTERWARDS.

30. Gifts that might be made with kukui: LEIS - A LEI made with Ti leaves and kukui nuts

31. Udder part: TEAT.

32. Joplin's "Treemonisha," e.g.: OPERA.

33. Zig instead of zag, perhaps: ERR.

34. Newspaper that covers Congress: THE HILL.

36. __ canto: BEL - Bel canto, Italian for beautiful singing is both a style of singing and a style of opera.

37. "Julia" star Swinton: TILDA.

39. TV explorer Márquez: DORA The Explorer

40. School house, informally?: FRAT 😀

41. One might be on a roll: SESAME SEED - Yes, I'm embarrassed I can still sing this song from memory!

43. Freddie portrayer in "Bohemian Rhapsody": RAMI.

RAMI Freddie

44. Audition dismissal: NEXT.

45. Basil who designed England's Coventry Cathedral: SPENCE.

47. "That's the spot": AAH.

50. Question for a magician: HOW.

52. Planet-mapping tool: RADAR - An artist's concept of NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter mapping the red planet.

53. Highly stressful situation: PRESSURE COOKER - If they pay you millions...

58. "You've been up too long": IT'S TIME FOR BED.

59. Promise: ASSURE.

60. Coarse cloth: TWEED - I'll bet you know who this prof in a TWEED coat is. (* answer at bottom.)

Down:

1. Big name in pizza rolls: TOTINOS.

2. Like some jewels: INSET

3. "There's more," briefly: ETC.

4. Letters with a negotiable price: OBO - Or Best Offer - A cool name for a thrift shop in Spokane, Wa

5. Nautilus captain: NEMO - James Mason played the good captain in this Disney movie. BTW, 20,000 leagues is approximately 60,000 miles. Jules Vernes' book referred to how far the Nautilus travelled while under the sea not how deep the sea was. You're welcome.

6. Recycling-plant worker: SORTER.

7. Margaret of "Fire Island": CHO.

8. Zodiac mammal: RAM.

9. Home of most of Turkey: ASIA.

10. Condition that may be treated with EMDR therapy: PTSD - A very interesting 3-minute video about Eye Movement and Desensitization and Reoricessubg therapy for treating Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

11. Socket sets: EYES 😀

12. People who partially identify as female: DEMIGIRLS.

13. Blowout remedy: SPARE TIRE - Where it was in my Uncle Virgil's pickup

14. Endpoint of the Detroit River: LAKE ERIE - I was pleased to learn that Lake Huron flows into a Lake St. Claire and then the Detroit River takes that water down to LAKE ERIE.

15. Marimba strikers: MALLETS - Lionel Hampton used those MALLETS on xylophones, vibraphones and marimbas.

19. Promise: OATH.

21. Rotten to the Corps, perhaps: AWOL 😀

22. Genre for Flo Milli and Flau'jae: RAP - Not familiar with either of them but RAP made sense

25. Business offering stock options?: FEED STORE.

26. Sugar Bowl home: TAHOE - Yeah, I tried every variation for New Orleans I could but...

27. Handled better?: REBRANDED.

28. Ideal wheels: DREAM CAR - I'll take a '57 red and white Vette convertible!

29. More coarse, in a way: SALTIER not 34. Not at all ferocious: TAME.

35. Boyos: LADS - A Welsh term

38. Dojo level: DAN.

40. Flipped out: FREAKED.

42. Dig up: EXHUME.

46. Europa Clipper, for one: PROBE - Surveying the surface of the Jupiter moon of Europa.

47. Capital of Samoa: APIA - 5hr 35min flight SSW of Honolulu

48. Poetry, weaving, et al.: ARTS.

49. Pianist Myra: HESS ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

51. Warp counterpart: WEFT.

54. Stampede Wrestling co-founder Hart: STU.

55. Military title: SIR.

56. Interrupting animal in a classic knock-knock joke: COW - I laughed really hard the first time I heard this joke.

57. City-building resource in Catan: ORE ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I don't play.

*That of course is Dr. Henry (aka Indiana) Jones

Jan 25, 2025

Saturday, January 25, 2025, August Miller

Saturday Themeless by August Miller

August really outdid himself for cute cluing (see 😀's below). I really had to expand my thinking on some words to come to a successful conclusion.

Well, okay, I did not get the "W" at cell block #3. I knew it was a Star Wars clue and JABAS (The Huts 😀) seemed fine to me but it turned out to be JAWAS.

Across

1. Droid vendors on Tatooine: JAWAS.

6. First band from Sweden to win Eurovision: ABBA - I need very little encouragement to post a video from this fabulous group! Here is their winning performance from Eurovision 1974.

10. TV port letters: HDMI - High Definition Multimedia Interface

14. Sushi order with salmon, crab, and avocado: ALASKA ROLL - ALASKA filled itself in and my limited sushi knowledge told me that it was probably a ROLL.

16. Like Antarctica: ARID - Very little precipitation there and the humidity level is routinely as low as .03%

17. Taking early retirement?: ZONKING OUT 😀 Retirement here means going to bed or at least taking a nap

18. What to say when one doesn't know what to say?: LINE 😀 - LINE? What a stage actor might say when he has forgotten his line so a prompter can tell him his next LINE.

19. Canadian series finale?: ZED - The Canadian name for Z

20. "I'm killing it right now!": GO ME.

21. Legitimate: VALID.

22. Pool surface: FELT - Replacing the FELT on a pool table

24. Bounty targets: SPILLS - Not a fugitive reward nor Captain Bligh's boat.

26. "See you!": CIAO.

27. Catch up, maybe: CHAT.

28. Have a bawl: SOB.

30. Comment while washing one's hands?: WHAT MORE CAN I DO 😀

33. Parking advisory?: SEATS ARE LIMITED - Where you park your rear end.

34. Short stack at a startup, perhaps: PERSONNEL FILES 😀

35. ATV component: ALL - ALL Terrain Vehicles are popular in our part of the world but their high center of gravity and narrow base can made them susceptible to roll overs.

36. Flask: VIAL.

37. Model Rau who is an ambassador for L'Oréal Paris: INES.

38. The Binghamton Rumble Ponies, for one: AA TEAM - The AA minor league team of the NY Mets

40. Discreetly keeps updated: BCCS.

41. Manhattan's __ Place: ASTOR.

42. Qatari leader: EMIR.

44. Sammy with two spreads: PB&J - My breakfast this morning.

47. Winter Palace figure: TSAR.

48. "As if!": IN A PIG'S EYE - Origin

51. "NFL Live" analyst Kimes: MINA ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

52. Living room combo: OTTOMAN SET.

53. Casual get-together: SESH - A SESH or a convo can be where you meet your peeps

54. Drew on: USED - Many constructors have drawn on C.C. to begin

55. Makeup kit item: GLOSS.

Down:

1. Toni Morrison novel set in 1920s Harlem: JAZZ.

2. Plant with tubular flowers: ALOE.

3. Makeup kit item: WAND.

4. Seek answers: ASK.

5. Navigate a slippery slope: SKI.

6. Cant: ARGOT - Huh, Peyton?

7. Good time: BOOM - We all know what stopped these.

8. Mario Kart projectile that seeks out the lead racer: BLUE SHELL ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

9. Flying fig.: ALT.

Finding your ALTITUDE
with an altimeter

10. Designation at some meat markets: HALAL.

11. Places to dig deep: DRILL SITES.

12. Heavily abridged installments: MINISODES ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Obvs, a portmanteau of MINI and EPISODE

13. Called a name?: IDED.

15. Obsession with all things British: ANGLOMANIA - An epidemic of the 60's!

21. Immune-boosting compound: VITAMIN C.

22. Some Italian imports: FIATS.

23. Tries a friend's cooking, maybe: EATS OVER - I've been to a SLEEP OVER but have never heard of an EAT OVER.

25. Guillermo del Toro franchise with kaiju: PACIFIC RIM ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Apparently the kanju is the monster

26. Falsies?: CHARLATANS - Harry Houdini spent a lot of his time exposing them.

27. Fish hamper: CREEL.

29. Beach __: BOD - My first thought was of Brian Wilson and his Beach BOYS but that didn't cut it

30. Scot's tot: WEE LASSIE.

31. They're often suspended over the holidays: ORNAMENTS 😀

32. "Frasier" role: NILES - There were so many lines to choose from