Saturday Themeless by Jeffrey Wechsler
In response to Gary’s request for commentary on this puzzle, I will offer a few observances on the clues. It has been mentioned in many commentaries by myself and others that a crossword editor may alter as many as half of all the original clues. It’s often interesting to note whether the clues have been made easier or harder, especially because both approaches may be seen within a given puzzle.
Two instances of the editor adding difficulty in this crossword are the following. My original clue for TRENCH was simply [Long pit], which could be rather obvious. Rich’s [ ___ coat] is much harder, and I recall considering that clue but thinking “No, too hard”. For CRAYOLA, I used [“Colorful” company that produces Silly Putty]. Rich made that harder by removing “colorful”. It seems odd when a changed clue doesn’t really alter the difficulty at all, as in my clue for WINK as [Acknowledge coyly] to the editor’s [In-on-the-joke indicator], or my clue for AS IN changing from [A-apple core?] to [B-bravo link]. I often think such changes are just expressions of the editor’s desire to insert some personal creativity.
Of course, it’s always nice to see a deceptive, humorous clue appreciated and maintained, especially at 1-Across where my [Victorian constraint on women?] was accepted. And I am always glad when the Shakespeare reference that I place into each of my crosswords is maintained, exemplified here by the King Lear quotation at 49-Across.
1. Victorian constraint on women?: CORSET - Here Mammy is constraining Scarlet in a CORSET at Tara.
16. Home terrarium area, perhaps: SUN PORCH.
17. Create: DEVISE.
18. Crunchy low-calorie snack: RICE CAKE - Their ingredients contain everything except flavor 😉
19. Like yesterday's news, relatively: RECENT.
21. XXXII, quintupled: CLX - You can use this online calculator to do what I did below
22. "__ Can Cook": PBS show: YAN - CRAYON finally dawned on me and took care of this potential natick with YAN
23. In-on-the-joke indicator: WINK.
27. Spots at the prom?: ACNE.
28. Traces: HINTS.
29. Plural used for people but not animals: ELKS - I thought this was really clever. Some friends of mine are ELKS and I have seen herds of ELK
30. Wine list clarification: YEAR - Sotheby's got £168,000 for a 12-bottle case of this Château Cheval-Blanc 1947
32. Break-even situation: WASH - WASH: I won $100 at blackjack and then lost $100. It's a WASH.
33. First name in Canadian whisky: HIRAM - Unlike the high
price wine above, you can get this 700 ml bottle of Canadian Club
Whiskey produced by the HIRAM Walker Distillery for about $30.
38. B-bravo link: AS IN - My name is Golf, Alpha, Romeo, Yankee. I'm sure our military contingent here would say the "AS IN" is assumed
43. Word in some European country names: LAND - Eng, Ice, Green, Po, Switz are some
44. English subject: USAGE
46. Russian veto: NYET.
47. "No time to lose!": ASAP - We recently had Stat as a clue for PDQ
48. David's "Frasier" role: NILES
51. Cash source: ATM - This seems to be a "stand alone" word now
52. Longtime beverage sponsor for the New York Mets: RC COLA - The most famous Met of them all, Tom Seaver, pitching RC Cola and not baseballs
57. "Darn it!": OH RATS - This Peanuts cartoon sounds like a crossword utensil discussion we have
60. Hurtle: ROCKET - This 8-second video shows the Osiris-Rex spacecraft (that was launched by an Atlas V ROCKET) landing on an asteroid that is HURTLING through space at 65,000 mph, stirring up the surface, taking in samples and taking off again after six seconds of contact to return to Earth
61. Corridors, e.g.: PASSAGES.
62. Academically stylish: TWEEDY - Indiana wore a suit like that
Down:
1. Hardly a nice guy: CAD.
2. Not neat: OVER ICE - Avert your eyes Tin!
3. Northern Italian city near the Adriatic: RAVENNA - In our phone call, I told Jeffrey I had confidently entered TRIESTE first
4. Kind of a shock?: STICKER.
5. Minimal effort: EASE.
6. __ coat: TRENCH
7. Pre-1991 atlas initials: SSR
8. Irascible: QUICK TO ANGER.
9. Symbol since the War of 1812: UNCLE SAM - An interesting history
10. Top: APEX.
11. Bespectacled "Snow White" figure: DOC - Can you name them left to right? Answer
12. Company that trademarked Silly Putty: CRAYOLA - Who knew?
13. Nickname for antiaircraft guns: ACK ACKS - Cuba Gooding Jr. plays the role of U.S. Navy cook Dorie Miller in the movie Pearl Harbor. Dories took over an ACK ACK (anti aircraft) gun aboard the USS West Virginia and became a hero
20. "Child's play!": THIS IS SIMPLE.
23. Method: WAY.
25. Facing charges: ON TRIAL - Guess who's ON TRIAL here
26. Select group?: FEW.
33. Hard to forget, as a melody: HAUNTING - Pentatonix's version of just such a melody
34. Catch fire dramatically: FLAME UP.
35. Layered entrée: LASAGNA.
36. Closely related things: ANALOGS - A variant spelling of ANALOGUES
39. Assure compliance with: ENFORCE - Will police be asked to ENFORCE mandatory mask ordinances nationwide?
40. Where some picnicking takes place: BY A LAKE - Picnic By The Lake (Пикник у озера) by Vladimir Pervuninsky
41. After the event: BELATED.
42. Letters on a Cardinal's cap: ST L - Nebraska's best athlete wore this cap
|
| Bob Gibson |
45. Go along with: ESCORT.
51. Verdi creation: ARIA - Our more literate bloggers will know what opera produced this ARIA which some claim is opera's most famous.
53. Eats: CHOW - Noun not the verb. CHOW for a U.S. soldier:
55. Prof's helpers: TAS - Professor Lambeau and his TA (played by John Mighton who helped write the complex math in the movie) examine Will's anonymous work in Good Will Hunting
56. Part of CBS: Abbr.: SYS.
