Theme: None
Total words: 70
Total blocks: 32
Hallmark of Bob's Saturday themeless: three grid-spanners, all colloquial expressions:
17A. "Beats me" : I HAVEN'T GOT A CLUE
36A. Reservation opening : ON SECOND THOUGHT
52A. "And afterward?" : WHAT HAPPENS NEXT
He must have a notebook full of 15-letter common expressions. Besides the above three 15s, Bob also gives us 11 more multi-word entries.
D, R, S & T are probably the most frequently used English consonants in crossword grid. Today we have 27 Ts. T can start or end a word. Form consonant blend like TR, TW or ST. Very versatile, just like S, but much better looking. Too many plural S or third person singular S at the bottom/right edge can make a boring grid. Singular ASS, SOS, SAS, ASSESS is not much better.
Across:
1. "Get going!" : SNAP TO IT. I sure did not start well.
9. Bantam : PETITE. Always associate bantam with chicken, not person.
15. Consort of Gustav I : KATARINA. I did not even know who Gusatav I was. According to Wiki, he's the founder of modern Sweden.
16. Like many barber shops : UNISEX
19. Bulbs in the kitchen : LEEKS. Not light bulbs. ONIONS can be clued this way also.
20. Speed : ROCKET. Can you make a sentence for me to show how they are interchangeable?
21. Wins approval : SELLS
23. Fellow : GENT
24. Contraction of a sort : TIC. Muscular contraction. Twitch. Great clue.
25. Botanical opening : STOMA. Greek for "mouth". New to me.
27. "Oh, sure!" : I BET
31. Italian classic : O SOLE MIO. Classic what? Food? Car? Beauty? I sure needed "song" in the clue.
34. Many a Middle Easterner : SEMITE
38. Arrives at : GETS TO
39. Vaulter's target : CROSSBAR
40. Before, before : ERST
41. Cast : THREW
43. Gasteyer of "SNL" : ANA. Learned from doing crossword.
44. Main call : AHOY. Bounding main. Ocean.
45. Points at dinner : TINES. The fork points.
47. In the habit of : USED TO
50. Big fan : FIEND
56. Explosive solvent, as it was formerly called : TOLUOL. Sigh! Nope. Luckily the crossing ETUI (49D) has become a gimme, otherwise letter U can be a wild noun guess.
57. Some tiny rods and spheres : BACTERIA. Too sophisticated a clue for me.
58. Funny bit : SHTICK. Consonants rich.
59. Versatile auxiliary wind-catcher : STAY SAIL. Stumped me again.
Down:
1. Word with run or jump : SKI
2. "No way!" : NAH
3. Regardless of the consequences : AT ALL COSTS. Nice entry.
4. "Star Trek" character __ Chekov : PAVEL. Mystery answer for me. Have never watched "Star Trek".
5. Poem with the line "Who intimately lives with rain" : TREES
6. Pen emission : OINK. Nailed it. Pig pen. I've been thinking lately why Jayce says sometimes clever clues please him, sometimes annoy him. Clues such as OINK are lovely. A big "Aha" or "D'oh" when you get it. On the other hand, "Chinese bread" (normally question mark is not provided on Saturdays) for RENMINBI will irk many, simply because most solvers are not familiar with the currency. A clever clue will not help. But try to commit RENMINBI (literally "people's money") to your memory, it will come up in a puzzle some day.
7. Stats for QBs : INTS. Interceptions I suppose.
8. Touching game : TAG
9. Fake it : PUT ON A SHOW. Great answer too.
10. Pass : ENACT. As law.
11. Little sucker : TICK. Fun clue.
12. You usually can't walk to one : ISLE. Draw a blank.
13. Ger. : TEUT. OK, Teuton/Teutonic.
14. Computer filename ending : EXE
18. Utah County city : OREM. South of Salt Lake city.
21. Moe, for one : STOOGE. The other two are Curly & Larry.
22. "The Spirit" comics writer Will : EISNER. First encounter with this guy.
23. Emotionally therapeutic episode : GOOD CRY. Do you cry easily?
25. Convince using flattery : SMOOTH TALK. Beautiful phrase.
26. Badge material : TIN
27. "God's Other Son" radio host : IMUS (Don). Not familiar with the show.
28. Swing time? : BIG BAND ERA. Gorgeous clue/answer.
29. Flammable gas : ETHANE
30. Bright swimmers : TETRAS. Brightly colored fish.
32. "O, swear not by ... the fickle moon ... __ that thy love prove likewise variable": "Romeo and Juliet" : LEST. Man, Shakespeare gives me trouble all the time, esp his damned quotes, never know what the guy wanted to express.
33. Outside: Pref. : ECT. Or ecto. Opposite of "endo-".
35. Aurora's counterpart : EOS. Greek dawn goddess. Also learned from doing Xword.
37. Three abroad : TRE. In Italy. Uno, due, tre. Sometimes it's clued with a tricky "It's over due?".
42. Shooter's target : HOOP. Basketball.
44. Literally, "for this" : AD HOC
45. Petulant : TESTY
46. Laura of "ER" : INNES. Total stranger.
47. "That's not good!" : UH OH
48. Old man of the sea : SALT. Slang for "sailor", but why "old"? It's not used any more? Or just playing on Hemingway's book title?
49. Small tool case : ETUI
50. Great achievement : FEAT
51. Tambo Colorado builder : INCA. Was ignorant of Tambo Colorado. The Inca adobe complex in Peru.
52. Mg. and kg. : WTS (weights)
53. "Frontline" airer : PBS
54. Noon indicator : XII. Clock/watch. Got me.
55. Chess champion who succeeded Botvinnik : TAL (Mikhail). The Latvian chess champion. I don't know who Botvinnik is, but the three-letter chess guy is always TAL, meaning "rain", "dew".
Answer grid.
C.C.
Total words: 70
Total blocks: 32
Hallmark of Bob's Saturday themeless: three grid-spanners, all colloquial expressions:
17A. "Beats me" : I HAVEN'T GOT A CLUE
36A. Reservation opening : ON SECOND THOUGHT
52A. "And afterward?" : WHAT HAPPENS NEXT
He must have a notebook full of 15-letter common expressions. Besides the above three 15s, Bob also gives us 11 more multi-word entries.
D, R, S & T are probably the most frequently used English consonants in crossword grid. Today we have 27 Ts. T can start or end a word. Form consonant blend like TR, TW or ST. Very versatile, just like S, but much better looking. Too many plural S or third person singular S at the bottom/right edge can make a boring grid. Singular ASS, SOS, SAS, ASSESS is not much better.
Across:
1. "Get going!" : SNAP TO IT. I sure did not start well.
9. Bantam : PETITE. Always associate bantam with chicken, not person.
15. Consort of Gustav I : KATARINA. I did not even know who Gusatav I was. According to Wiki, he's the founder of modern Sweden.
16. Like many barber shops : UNISEX
19. Bulbs in the kitchen : LEEKS. Not light bulbs. ONIONS can be clued this way also.
20. Speed : ROCKET. Can you make a sentence for me to show how they are interchangeable?
21. Wins approval : SELLS
23. Fellow : GENT
24. Contraction of a sort : TIC. Muscular contraction. Twitch. Great clue.
25. Botanical opening : STOMA. Greek for "mouth". New to me.
27. "Oh, sure!" : I BET
31. Italian classic : O SOLE MIO. Classic what? Food? Car? Beauty? I sure needed "song" in the clue.
34. Many a Middle Easterner : SEMITE
38. Arrives at : GETS TO
39. Vaulter's target : CROSSBAR
40. Before, before : ERST
41. Cast : THREW
43. Gasteyer of "SNL" : ANA. Learned from doing crossword.
44. Main call : AHOY. Bounding main. Ocean.
45. Points at dinner : TINES. The fork points.
47. In the habit of : USED TO
50. Big fan : FIEND
56. Explosive solvent, as it was formerly called : TOLUOL. Sigh! Nope. Luckily the crossing ETUI (49D) has become a gimme, otherwise letter U can be a wild noun guess.
57. Some tiny rods and spheres : BACTERIA. Too sophisticated a clue for me.
58. Funny bit : SHTICK. Consonants rich.
59. Versatile auxiliary wind-catcher : STAY SAIL. Stumped me again.
Down:
1. Word with run or jump : SKI
2. "No way!" : NAH
3. Regardless of the consequences : AT ALL COSTS. Nice entry.
4. "Star Trek" character __ Chekov : PAVEL. Mystery answer for me. Have never watched "Star Trek".
5. Poem with the line "Who intimately lives with rain" : TREES
6. Pen emission : OINK. Nailed it. Pig pen. I've been thinking lately why Jayce says sometimes clever clues please him, sometimes annoy him. Clues such as OINK are lovely. A big "Aha" or "D'oh" when you get it. On the other hand, "Chinese bread" (normally question mark is not provided on Saturdays) for RENMINBI will irk many, simply because most solvers are not familiar with the currency. A clever clue will not help. But try to commit RENMINBI (literally "people's money") to your memory, it will come up in a puzzle some day.
7. Stats for QBs : INTS. Interceptions I suppose.
8. Touching game : TAG
9. Fake it : PUT ON A SHOW. Great answer too.
10. Pass : ENACT. As law.
11. Little sucker : TICK. Fun clue.
12. You usually can't walk to one : ISLE. Draw a blank.
13. Ger. : TEUT. OK, Teuton/Teutonic.
14. Computer filename ending : EXE
18. Utah County city : OREM. South of Salt Lake city.
21. Moe, for one : STOOGE. The other two are Curly & Larry.
22. "The Spirit" comics writer Will : EISNER. First encounter with this guy.
23. Emotionally therapeutic episode : GOOD CRY. Do you cry easily?
25. Convince using flattery : SMOOTH TALK. Beautiful phrase.
26. Badge material : TIN
27. "God's Other Son" radio host : IMUS (Don). Not familiar with the show.
28. Swing time? : BIG BAND ERA. Gorgeous clue/answer.
29. Flammable gas : ETHANE
30. Bright swimmers : TETRAS. Brightly colored fish.
32. "O, swear not by ... the fickle moon ... __ that thy love prove likewise variable": "Romeo and Juliet" : LEST. Man, Shakespeare gives me trouble all the time, esp his damned quotes, never know what the guy wanted to express.
33. Outside: Pref. : ECT. Or ecto. Opposite of "endo-".
35. Aurora's counterpart : EOS. Greek dawn goddess. Also learned from doing Xword.
37. Three abroad : TRE. In Italy. Uno, due, tre. Sometimes it's clued with a tricky "It's over due?".
42. Shooter's target : HOOP. Basketball.
44. Literally, "for this" : AD HOC
45. Petulant : TESTY
46. Laura of "ER" : INNES. Total stranger.
47. "That's not good!" : UH OH
48. Old man of the sea : SALT. Slang for "sailor", but why "old"? It's not used any more? Or just playing on Hemingway's book title?
49. Small tool case : ETUI
50. Great achievement : FEAT
51. Tambo Colorado builder : INCA. Was ignorant of Tambo Colorado. The Inca adobe complex in Peru.
52. Mg. and kg. : WTS (weights)
53. "Frontline" airer : PBS
54. Noon indicator : XII. Clock/watch. Got me.
55. Chess champion who succeeded Botvinnik : TAL (Mikhail). The Latvian chess champion. I don't know who Botvinnik is, but the three-letter chess guy is always TAL, meaning "rain", "dew".
Answer grid.
C.C.
