Themeless Saturday by Christopher Adams
Today celebrates your local pour-master and perhaps listening post.
FYI: "A mixologist is an individual with a passion for combining elixirs and creating extraordinary cocktails, whereas a bartender is an individual with a passion for making great drinks and creating well-balanced experiences. To be successful, you really need both types of pros behind the bar."
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Christopher Adams
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Our constructor Christopher Adams is currently a graduate student in mathematics at the University of Iowa. He graduated in 2014 from Cornell University, with a major in mathematics and minors in physics and creative writing, after which he spent a year abroad teaching physics at Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar.
Christopher's puzzle took me twice as long as Dr. Lim's did last Saturday but was still a fun excursion.
Now let's examine the loci of our math man's cluing:
9. Kidder who played Lois in four "Superman" films: MARGOT - Before the blue screen was added
16. Ballpark figures: USHERS - "Crazy Steve" is a truck driver by day and an USHER with some good dance moves at night in Peoria, IL
17. "Kennedy" biographer: SORENSEN - Native Nebraskan Ted SORENSEN graduated from Lincoln High School and UNL
18. "Grey's Anatomy" show runner Rhimes: SHONDA - I have visited "Shondaland" quite often on Netflix. Her productions have included many strong women
19. Secluded spot: NOOK - Not a NEST it turns out
20. Rose: AWOKE.
22. "__ Rosenkavalier": DER - The Knight Of The Rose - A comic opera by Richard Strauss. If you think I knew that, I've got this bridge in Brooklyn...
23. Actor Danny Trejo, for one: LATINO - From the IMDB
25. Towel spec: HERS.
26. Worked on a roast: CARVED - Carving a roast for dummies (;30)
30. One on the phone, often: TEXTER - Not while driving!
32. Here, in Juárez: AQUI - a very familiar sign in our town
35. "Nunsense" costume: HABIT - Here starring Rue McClanahan
38. Academic dictum: PUBLISH OR PERISH - Academic treadmill
42. Heavyweight fight?: SUMO - No 12. Workplace concern: GENDER BIAS here
43. Account: TALE.
44. Album by Destroyer with a German title meaning "broken": KAPUTT - You would have known this if you were into Kiss tribute bands from Canada
46. Ameliorate, in a way: LESSEN.
48. Burns miss: LASS - Robert Burns of course
50. Eponymous Portland bookstore founder: POWELL - Number 4 on Top Ten Things to do in Portland, OR
52. Evil Tolkien soldier: ORC - A frequent member of the cwd military
53. Big note: C-SPOT - Some restaurants will no longer accept C-SPOTS ($100 bills)
54. Bring home: EARN
58. Fictional 1719 autobiographer: CRUSOE - Many thought Daniel Defoe's character was real
60. More than just meddle: MUSCLE IN.
63. Tasmanian capital: HOBART - Viking Cruises offers this trip from L.A. starting at $15,000 with HOBART being a port of call
64. One might copy from it: EDIT MENU.
65. Ace of Base, e.g.: SWEDES - "Alex, I'll take 'Swedish pop rock quartets beginning with A' for a $1,000" Oops, it's not our old cwd buddies!
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| Ace Of Base |
Down:
1. Head of state?: ESS - State
2. "I'm listening": GO ON.
3. Greek deli item: GYRO - "YEE row" seems to be the consensus pronunciation
4. Psychic Miss: CLEO - There's one born every minute
5. Bother big-time: RANKLE.
6. "The Martian" has none: ET'S - Most famous line from this great movie "I'm gonna have to science the $*^+ out of this!"
7. Bothered big-time: ATE AT - I know how Jerome will see this fill 😏
8. 1927 Hemingway short story collection: MEN WITHOUT WOMEN - All you need to know
9. Arctic grazer: MUSKOX - Named for the strong odor it emits during mating season
10. Court immortal: ASHE - Arthur is a tennis star from Richmond, VA
11. Parthenon P: RHO - Yup, RHO is the third letter in Parthenon - Παρθενώνας
13. Court command: ORDER.
14. Peter and Paul, but not Mary: TSARS - TSAR Paul I was a great grandson of Peter I (the Great)
21. Like show-offy push-ups: ONE ARM
24. Tosses in: ADDS.
25. Trick-taking game: HEARTS - Play online if you like
26. Mushroom parts: CAPS.
27. Water color: AQUA.
28. It has over 43 quintillion configurations: RUBIK'S CUBE.
29. Ritzy retreats: VILLAS - Info on VILLAS to rent in Tuscany
31. Not just any: THE - Ohio State emphasizes THE
34. "You're too kind!": OH STOP.
36. Archipelago component: ISLE - Solzhenitsyn's archipelago was of gulags (forced labor camps) in the U.S.S.R. not ISLES
37. Second of a logical pairing: THEN - It appears here that entering A was the only way get a TRUE response
39. MSN, for one: ISP - My Internet Service Provider is Spectrum (formerly Time/Warner)
40. Ask for opinions: POLL
45. Some March Madness madness: UPSETS - UPSETS are fun but the final four teams are populated by many of the favorites save for the occasional UPSETS
47. Sends to Washington: ELECTS.
48. Leven and Lomond: LOCHS - There's about an hour-and-a-half driving time between these two LOCHS (lakes)
49. The CW show about a vigilante archer: ARROW - Wanna stream some episodes?
51. Scriabin work: ETUDE - Tolstoy called Alexander Scriabin's music, "a sincere expression of genius"
53. Fission site: CORE - This is where the uranium atom is split in a nuclear power plant and that heat boils water which...
55. __ mater: ALMA.
56. Show shock: REEL - The Beach Boys were Rockin' and a-REELIN' in this fun song
57. Roger Maris' uniform number: NINE - Roger (a proud product of Fargo North Dakota High School) got a record breaking 61 home runs in 1961. BTW, if you don't know the other guy depicted below, baseball really isn't your thing.
59. Regrettable: SAD - It was very SAD that the stress of chasing Babe Ruth's single season home run record made Roger lose hair
61. Skip, with "out": SIT - Roger did SIT out one of the 162 games that year
62. Frat letters: NUS - There are four Greek letters that would fit this 2-letter fill. Can you name the other three?
Very nice puzzle for a Hawkeye! (Husker sarcasm 😙). Feel free to comment on Christopher's great work.
Note from C.C.:
Happy 49th birthday to dear Barry G, who used to comment on our blog regularly. So glad that he continues to solve the daily LAT crosswords and reads our blog from time to time. Is Joshua now taller than you, Barry?
July 2, 2016
