google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner

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Jun 20, 2020

Saturday, June 20, 2020, Sid Sivakumar

Themeless Saturday by Sid Sivakumar


Happy Summer Solstice! Today's constructor is Sid Sivakumar. Here is Sid's gracious reply to my request for info about him and this puzzle:

Hi Gary, 

I'm excited to make my LAT debut with a themeless puzzle! I'm an MD/PhD student based in St. Louis, MO and I've been constructing crossword puzzles for a couple of years. This was one of the first themeless grids I ever successfully built, though it went through several revisions before submission. I initially constructed this in the midst of the 2018-19 NFL season, so I started in the center with a football-shaped collection of black squares [NOW I SEE IT! hg] and the football-related entry CALLED AN AUDIBLE. After filling the center (anchored by the fun stack of READS PALMS / GREEN ROOF / MAKE IT RAIN), I tackled the NW/SE corners, and finally the NE/SW corners. I'm happy with the stack of K-CUP POD / BE ASSURED / RELAY RACES, although STOPPED in the opposite corner isn't quite as sparkly. 

I can definitely say that my themeless constructing philosophy has changed since when I made this puzzle, as evidenced by the themeless puzzles I've since published for free on my indie blog, Sid's Grids. Nowadays, I try to maximize the number of long slots (8+ letters) in my themeless grids, and find juicy entries for each of them, while keeping the short fill clean. This LAT grid has only twelve long slots, and many 7-letter slots with neutral entries like IMPINGE and RESEALS — I don't think I would submit it today. But I hope there is enough color in the longer entries here to make for an entertaining solve. (I'm at least glad that the short fill is reasonably smooth.)

Hope solvers enjoy the puzzle! 

- Sid

Okay, let's explore this Sid Grid which I definitely found entertaining:

Across:


1. Stress marks: ACCENTS - These ACCENT marks show to place the stress on the penultimate syllable 



8. Result of melted crust: MAGMA.




13. Kind of cable: COAXIAL - Our city is trenching everywhere to replace the old copper COAXIAL cable




14. Little one on a slide: AMOEBA.


16. Make an impression (on): IMPINGE - Flooding definitely did IMPINGE on my golfing last summer


17. Nephrology focus: KIDNEYS - My nephrologist friend Dr. Lund has established his practice on the ground floor of an historical house here in town. He and his family live in the fully remodeled upstairs




19. "Mind your own business": DON'T JUDGE - Walk a mile in their shoes


21. "Immediately!": STAT.


22. Poppycock: PAP.


23. Split between personalities: RIFT - A ten-year RIFT developed between Don and Phil and then they had a reunion concert in England in 1983




26. First woman to land a triple axel in competition: ITO - Regular and slo-mo with Japanese commentary


27. Super Mario __: BROS 


29. Back in: RETRO - These are the same shoes I wore when Eisenhower was president except girls wear them now




30. Sponge (up): SOP.


31. Shipbuilder's starting point: KEEL - Laying the KEEL for the Titanic in 1909 in Belfast, Ireland




32. Heckled: JEERED.


33. The Zugspitze, e.g.: ALP - Germany's highest mountain 


34. Changed plans at the last second: CALLED AN AUDIBLE - Sid's seed entry. Peyton Manning famously yelled OMAHA before he CALLED AN AUDIBLE




37. Ryder Cup team: USA Current players for 2020


38. Iberia hub: MADRID - Non-stops out of MADRID




39. Renaissance faire quaff: MEAD - The majority of its fermentable sugar comes from honey


40. "Gentleman" singer: PSY - Korean techno-pop song with a lot of tasteless pranks. Google if you must


41. "Challenge accepted!": IT'S ON.




42. Proving field?: MATH - What we MATH peeps did to get degrees


43. Brita competitor: PUR 


44. Defaulter's risk: REPO.


45. A, in the key of D: SOL - Here 'ya go, sing it with me: Do, Re, Mi, Fa, SOL, La, Ti, Do




46. Kind of will: ORAL - It's better in writing


48. Subject in the film "Ghost": AFTER LIFE - A fun movie speculating about the AFTER LIFE




53. Sound measure: DECIBEL - Some claim K.C. Arrowhead Stadium is the loudest NFL stadium at 142.2 DECIBELS




56. Sun-on-skin concern: AGE SPOT - Last Saturday, Michael Wiesenberg had "
50. Too much sun, they say: AGER"


57. Warp, e.g.: DEFORM.


58. Zips again, as a Ziploc bag: RESEALS - I prefer the ones with a slide


59. Night lights: STARS.


60. Foe of Stalin: TROTSKY - Stalin's simple solution was to send a member of his secret police to kill TROTSKY who was in exile in Mexico



Down:



Sid's mini-theme: ROCK

1. __ rock: ACID.


45. "Like a Rock" rocker: SEGER  - Chevy Truck's  anthem




51. __ rock: FOLK - A prime purveyor this genre is next:


8. Repeated phrase in the coda of James Taylor's "Shower the People": MAKE IT RAIN.




2. Perry with five Emmys: COMO - Mellow, non-rocker Perry COMO won five in the late 50's



3. Commander in brief?: CAP'N.


4. It's taken on the way out: EXIT POLL 


5. Deadly agents: NINJAS.


6. Prepare to go after a fly: TAG UP - You can TAG UP and try to go after a fly ball is caught but don't do it on Bo Jackson! Bo wags his finger at the guy who tried it!




7. Downhill traveler: SLED.


9. "What __ missing?": AM I.


10. Krishna, e.g.: GOD All you need to know


11. __ room: MEN'S 




12. "We did wager, didn't we?": A BET IS A BET - Derek Jeter paid off a $100 lost bet in pennies


15. Islamic leader: AYATOLLAH Khomeni Some say his hostage taking 
18. Prevented: STOPPED Jimmy Carter from being reelected 


20. Eco-friendly housetop: GREEN ROOF - University of Nebraska professor Richard Sutton tending his GREEN ROOF in Lincoln




24. Neurologist who redefined "libido" to fit his theories: FREUD Here 'ya go!


25. Broadway barber: TODD - Sweeney TODD


27. "I promise you ... ": BE ASSURED - "You will not have lunchroom duty for more than one year." Yeah, right!


28. Contests with four legs: RELAY RACES - When you're handing off to Usain Bolt for the last leg, you're in pretty good shape



29. What a chiromancer does: READS PALMS - New word for me




31. Single-serve coffee container: K-CUP POD.


32. Singles network logo with a partly outlined Star of David: JDATE - Mazel Tov

35. Islamic leader: EMIR


36. "Ready!": I'M ALL SET


42. Beyond that: MORE SO.


47. Raise: LIFT.


49. Sharp-tasting: TART.




50. Pub orders: IPAS.


52. E-tailer with a "Vintage" category: ETSY Here 'ya go


54. Feathers on a runway: BOA.



Comments for Sid?