Saturday Themeless by Madeline Kaplan and Erik Agard
Today's puzzle is another collaboration featuring our friend, Jeopardy winner and USA Today Crossword puzzle editor Eric Agard. This time his partner is Madeline Kaplan. She was kind enough to write this about their entertaining creation:
Hi Gary,
I just saw your message on Twitter -- happy to share a little bit about
this puzzle.
I was relatively new to constructing when Erik reached out and asked if I
wanted to collaborate on a themeless. That was about a year ago, I think. At
the time, I had just discovered the Fill function in Crossfire which
made my constructing process about 100x faster...
I started with ZAZIEBEETZ in the NW corner and AMERICANAH in the SE, then
finished the rest of those stacks through a lot of trial and error.
Hammering out the clues was a lot of fun -- I think my favorites are 15-A
and 47-D.
I learned a whole lot about good construction and clue-writing from Erik
throughout this process. I'm very grateful to him, and to Patti and Rich
for publishing this puzzle. And psyched for it to be out in the world!
Enjoy the rest of your weekend,
Madeline
Erik added: The gratitude is mutual! Madeline is a brilliant, vital constructor, and I'm thankful she took the time to collaborate with me. Very proud of the result - hope you enjoy!
1. Not fresh anymore: GETTING OLD.
11. Sixth Greek letter: ZETA - Alpha, beta, gamma, delta, epsilon, ZETA...
15. To a ridiculous extent: AD ABSURDUM (with Italian subtitles)
16. Decamp, e.g.: EXIT.
17. Emmy nominee who plays Van on "Atlanta": ZAZIE BEETZ - One of Madeline's seed entries. I needed letter-by-letter help.
18. Give a "G," say: RATE.
19. "When the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie" emotion: AMORE - Start of the second verse of this Dean Martin hit - "When the stars make you drool just like a pasta e fasul, That's AMORE
20. Apple co-founder's nickname: WOZ.
19. "When the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie" emotion: AMORE - Start of the second verse of this Dean Martin hit - "When the stars make you drool just like a pasta e fasul, That's AMORE
20. Apple co-founder's nickname: WOZ.
21. Olympic city whose opening ceremony included a "Swan Lake" performance: SOCHI - The 2014 Olympics there cost $51B after being budgeted for $39B. Corruption and waste led to a very shoddy Olympics
22. Heaven-sent: DIVINE.
24. Sometimes controversial message: TWEET - I found Madeline on Twitter with no controversy
25. "The Alienist" network: TNT - Here 'ya go
28. Small container: TIN
29. Pickle serving: SPEAR.
31. "Where __ you?": WERE - Right at the top of this poster for a great movie (Rotten Tomatoes - 96%)
33. __ loss: AT A.
35. Sappho's island: LESBOS and 49. Tyrrhenian Sea resort: CAPRI - An ~7 hr flight between these islands
38. One concerned with appearances: IMAGE CONSULTANT - "One who puts lipstick on a pig?"
41. Organic food label term: NON-GMO - Genetically Modified Organisms are made with DNA from organisms that normally don't breed. Hybrid seed companies have made corn from different varieties by simply removing tassels from certain plants and leaving others to shed pollen to make a better variety much like has been done for centuries.
42. Hoover, for one: DAM - Author Michael Hiltzik
speculated that without the Hoover Dam, Seattle and San Francisco might the
only big cities west of the Rockies.
43. Stage accusation: ET TU.
44. Trickster: SCAMP.
46. Pro __: TEM - Chuck Grassley is the current President Pro TEMpore of the Senate and third in line for presidential succession behind Pence and Pelosi.
48. Hyperbolic wait time: EON - I haven't seen you
in EONS!
51. Responds to, as intelligence: ACTS ON or 40. Did nothing: SAT THERE
54. Agrarian: RURAL.
55. Masked drama: NOH.
56. __ Macedonia: NORTH - A fascinating story
60. Polish, in a way: EDIT.
61. June 11 Hawaiian honoree: KAMEHAMEHA - On that day his statue in Honolulu is adorned with leis
64. Adichie novel that won the 2013 National Book Critics Circle Award: AMERICANAH - A story of a Nigerian woman who comes to college in the U.S.
65. Ring sites: TOES.
66. Most-visited British art museum: TATE MODERN - In London
Down:
1. Disputed Mideast strip: GAZA.
2. Cheese named for a Netherlands town: EDAM - A cheese market in our favorite crossword cheese town of EDAM, Netherlands
3. Former Starbucks tea: TAZO - Starbucks sold that brand to Unilever for $383M
4. Classic Ford: T-BIRD.
5. "They DO look alike": I SEE IT and 25. Matching: TWIN - Steve Bridges is on the right
6. Pencil, barely: NUB.
7. Caught up with, sizewise: GREW INTO - Didn't your mother do this to test for growth allowance?
7. Caught up with, sizewise: GREW INTO - Didn't your mother do this to test for growth allowance?
8. Ancient theater: ODEON - I've posted images of ancient open-air ODEONS. Here's a modern one in London
9. Skating jumps: LUTZES.
10. Boundary at the 38th parallel, for short: DMZ - The division between North and South Korea at the 38th parallel is very obvious from space at night
11. Garbage disposal goal: ZERO WASTE.
12. Compound: EXACERBATE.
13. Charitable gift: TITHE.
14. Took the loss: ATE IT - What a sacked quarterback is said to do to the football
 |
| Aaron Rodgers taking a loss |
21. Big name in romance fiction: STEEL.
23. Nickelodeon parent: VIACOM - Not a character on a kid's program but the owners
26. Captain or a fish: NEMO.
27. It's celebrated with a blue-, pink- and white-striped flag: TRANS PRIDE - Blue (male) and pink (female) stripes with white in the middle that represents gender neutral. Here the flag flies at the Philadelphia City Hall on Trans Pride Day.
30. Feathers: PLUMES.
32. Containers for some fragile goods: EGG CRATES.
34. "Yes?": AND - The first rule of improv is "you have to keep it going"
32. Containers for some fragile goods: EGG CRATES.
34. "Yes?": AND - The first rule of improv is "you have to keep it going"
36. Cognizant of: ONTO.
37. Floor: STUN.
39. Inbox pileup: E-MAIL.
45. Site of a historic 1914 waterway opening: PANAMA - 28 years later my dad started his WWII duty there
47. Country with a 26-year Grace period?: MONACO - This is a fabulous clue/fill!
 |
| Princess Grace of Monaco |
50. Sound: AUDIO.
52. Threat in 1998's "Deep Impact": COMET - Meh...
53. Wayfarer: NOMAD.
57. Actress Russo: RENE - She is a really good actress but she played a very weak woman in this horrible movie that lost $15M. I shoulda walked out.
58. Whaler's direction: THAR.
59. "Transparent" actress Kathryn: HAHN - Where she played Rabbi Raquel
61. Kit __: KAT - One of our Halloween handouts
62. Word for a guy: HIM - Professor Higgins Hymn To HIM. He soon realized he had Grown Accustomed To Her Face.
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