Themeless Saturday by Joe Deeney
I had a very pleasant exchange with Joe about this puzzle and here is his response:
Hi Gary,
I always enjoy reading the Crossword Corner blog post and the comments when I have a puzzle in the LA Times. Of course I'm familiar with her puzzles (and a fan of them!), but I've never had the pleasure of meeting or talking with C.C..
This photo was taken at the Exploratorium in San Francisco in 2014. I believe the device was intended to swap one's hearing left/right. I don't remember much else about it, but I've always enjoyed the photo. :-)
My notes suggest I originally constructed this puzzle in June of 2018. I submitted it to Rich that November; in January, he requested a revision to the SW corner. I gave him a few options and he accepted this version in February.
I keep a running list of potential seed entries for themeless puzzles - I try to limit myself to entries that I've got clever clues for. The seed for this puzzle was SAGITTARIUS, which I clued as [Fall guy?] - I haven't seen the final version yet so I'm not sure if Rich kept the clue.
I have a unexplained fascination with grids that have 90 degree rotational symmetry - more than half of the themeless grids I construct have this. I thought this grid arrangement would be a fun challenge. In hindsight, the corners are quite difficult to fill cleanly. FUELOILS, DYSONS, and FREONS are all unfortunate plurals that I probably wouldn't use today.
Thanks for your fun photo and sharing a bit about yourself. I look forward to Saturday's blog post! Let me know if you have any more questions.
-Joe
Across:
1. Jacket whose earliest version was created for pilots: BOMBER - This WWII BOMBER jacket was "featured" on Pawn Stars and eventually sold at auction for $2,650
13. "The Conduct of Life" essayist: EMERSON - All nine of his essays from this 1860 publication
15. Players on the road: TROUPE - Taylor Swift required 82 semis for her TROUPE to set up here in Columbus, Ohio
16. Place to park a whirlybird: HELISTOP - Our local hospital has a HELISTOP where patients are loaded and unloaded. Maintenance is done on the aircraft in a HELIPORT at the local airport.
-and-
6. Whirlybird part: ROTOR - Both horizontal and vertical
18. Even though: ALBEIT.
19. More than is prudent: ONE TOO MANY - AA motto: "ONE drink is TOO MANY and a thousand aren't enough"
21. If-then-__: programmer's construct: ELSE - Below you get two chances
22. Factor in club selection: LIE - Use a very lofted club and swing hard!
24. Drilling org.: ROTC - Yeah right, I was the only one who had to change OPEC
25. First of a box set: DISC I - DISC I is their first studio album Please, Please Me
28. DVR button: REW.
29. Crooked: ATILT - Gate Of Europe in Madrid
30. Privileged group: INNER CIRCLE.
33. Sign of fall: SAGITTARIUS - Joe's cluing of "Fall Guy" didn't make it past Rich
34. Comedy of errors?: BLOOPER REEL - Google at your leisure
35. "Speak up!": SAY IT - "Just shout 'em right out!"
36. Some smoke detector batteries: AA'S - Why do those AA'S always go dead at 3 am? Beep, beep...
37. Spruce (up): SPIFF - Wal Mart's attempt to SPIFF up
41. "Over here!": PSST.
42. Groom carefully: PRIMP.
44. Surly sort: CUR - A CUR can have two or four legs
45. Is in Spain?: ESTA - "Dónde ESTA el baño" is probably a phrase we all have learned to relieve a biological imperative
46. Michigan national park: ISLE ROYALE - Cost to get to ISLE ROYALE from Copper Harbor, MI - $136/person for this boat (round trip), $7/day National Park user fee and $10/day to park your car at Copper Harbor.
49. Sat on a sill, perhaps: COOLED.
51. Avoided a tag at: SLID INTO - Whit Merrifield SLID INTO and contorted around the tag at second
52. Minolta partner: KONICA.
53. Boards with a jump: LEAPS ON - Or not...
54. Cunning: SNEAKY.
55. V11 vacuums, e.g.: DYSONS - Want one?
Down:
1. Take in: BEHOLD.
2. 1978 horror sequel: OMEN II - Meh...
3. Free-for-alls: MELEES.
4. Many a theatre attendee: BRIT - Theatre/theater
5. Gulf Canada alternative: ESSO.
7. Halts: STAYS - S T _ _ S Hmmm, what else could it be?
8. Business card letters: URL.
9. "I Spy" actor: ROBERT CULP - Too soon to mention his co-star?
10. They usually have higher flash points than kerosene: FUEL OILS - Kerosene's flashpoint is around 100°F and it's 150°F for FUEL OILS and so the latter is considered to be safer
11. Dispatch: EPISTLE - St. Paul's EPISTLE to the Corinthians contains my favorite words from the Bible
12. Discover: DETECT.
14. Baby shampoo product line: NO MORE TEARS - An ad campaign that has been around for a long time
17. Auditors' follow them: PAPER TRAILS - Part of the PAPER TRAIL that sent Al Capone on an all-expenses-paid trip to Alcatraz
20. Air freshener option: NEW CAR SMELL.
26. PBS cooking show hosted by Mary Ann Esposito: CIAO ITALIA - Here 'ya go
27. Pricey bar: INGOT.
29. Celestial ovine: ARIES - The Ram
31. Pinch: NIP.
32. More than displeasure: IRE.
33. Singer at Woodstock with his "Family": SLY (and the family) STONE - Unlike countless others, SLY has proof he was actually at Woodstock
34. Big wind: BASSOON - First of all, ya gotta love a musical group called The Breaking Winds. Secondly they are a BASSOON - playing quartet, here doing Lady Gaga music complete with costuming and choreography!
35. Iotas: SPECKS.
38. "Just you watch!": I CAN SO.
39. Atlanta's county: FULTON - When Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium was torn down, the outfield fence over which Hank Aaron's 715 sailed was saved in place and a parking lot was built around it
40. Trademarked halocarbon products: FREONS - Everything you could possibly want to know
42. March 14, mathematically: PI DAY - Google is full of many clever, delicious variations
43. Asked too much: PRIED.
47. Jazz singer Anita whose stage name is pig latin for a slang word for "money": ODAY - DOUGH in pig latin is ODAY
48. Performance anxiety: YIPS - Usually associated with golf but can happen to hitters, fielders, field goal kickers, 3-pt shooters, ad infinitum
50. Luther opponent Johann __: ECK - The Leipzig Debate
