Saturday Themeless by Brian E. Paquin
Here's another fun puzzle from our great cadre of Canadian constructors. Today Brian Paquin, who lives on the north shores of Lake Ontario in Kingston, Ontario, provides a fun and challenging puzzle. He graciously shared these thoughts:
Hi again Gary,
I think that this is one of the cleanest grids that I've ever produced. I kind of like the long entries, especially 5D AMENTOTHAT and 42A TIPPYTOES. Of the not-so-long entries, 11D BROHUGS and 38D AMILATE are kind of sparkly, I think.
There are more black squares and cheaters than I normally use in a themeless, but there is nothing especially obscure to be found in the grid.
41A SAMI is tough: I had it clued as "___-Am" from Dr. Seuss, but that might be too much of a gimme. I managed to avoid everything from my list
of dreaded tiresome entries, like AREA, EKE, ONO, etc. You know the ones.
I didn't remember that 30D TROI was partially 31D TELEPATHIC, so that was a good catch by the editors.
In terms of stats: Of the 68 entries, 27 of the clues were changed significantly, so about 60% of mine survived (16 exactly the same, 25 fairly close). The only new clue that I found to be strange was for 45D EATEN ("Taken in"). It didn't quite click with me, but I will be interested to hear what others thought of it.
I hope that everyone will have a good holiday season. Let's hope that the next one will be back to normal!
Brian
Across:
1. Kitten cry: MEWL - I don't know when a kitten's MEWL turns into
a cat's MEOW
5. Top-notch: A-PLUS.
10. "Fawlty Towers" network: BBC - A hilarious vehicle for John Cleese, et al
5. Top-notch: A-PLUS.
10. "Fawlty Towers" network: BBC - A hilarious vehicle for John Cleese, et al
13. Not a brick-and-mortar operation: E-SHOP
15. Squirrel's pal, to Boris: MOOSE and 22. Boris' sidekick: NATASHA.
15. Squirrel's pal, to Boris: MOOSE and 22. Boris' sidekick: NATASHA.
16. Mess up: ERR.
17. Cone topper: SCOOP
18. Send: ELATE - Here's some ear candy for your Saturday using this 50's slang!
17. Cone topper: SCOOP
18. Send: ELATE - Here's some ear candy for your Saturday using this 50's slang!
19. Surname suggesting anonymity: DOE.
20. Ride __: SHOTGUN - Below is the genesis of that phrase. I rode SHOTGUN (sat in the front passenger seat) many times but never with a firearm
24. Agent taking a cut?: REPresenative
25. '70s-'80s televangelist show "The __ Club": PTL - They had a lot of 'splainin' to do when they got charged with wire fraud and conspiracy to defraud with their Praise The Lord Ministries
27. Disgust: ODIUM - See above
28. Endures anxiously: SWEATS OUT - Might make you 32. Not at all cool: EDGY.
37. Classic '60s hit that mentions a roller coaster: PALISADES PARK - A hit for Freddy "Boom Boom" Cannon
42. Much ballet dancing is done on them: TIPPY TOES - This lovely seasonal music is from my favorite ballet, ok, the only I've ever seen but the music - это так красиво (it is so beautiful)
44. Kid's transport: TRIKE.
46. Inverness objection: NAE - The Loch Ness is just SW of Inverness, Scotland. I suspect if you asked most residents if they have 48. As a minimum: AT LEAST seen the monster, they would reply, "NAE!"
57. Has status: RATES - "Hey, how do you RATE going first?"
58. Examine carefully: VET - Failure to VET an prospective employee or candidate can lead to real embarrassment
59. Same old same old feeling: ENNUI - L'ennui by Mireille Potvin. I wonder if our art curator Jeffrey Wechsler is familiar with this piece.
60. __ nous: ENTRE - S'il vous plaît, gardez cette histoire ENTRE nous (Please keep this story between us)
61. "... __ the set of sun": "Macbeth": ERE - "Receiveth out of Stratford On Avon ERE the set of the sun" said Shire Reeve Bill. 😊
63. Hardy girl: TESS - Thomas Hardy's TESS of the d'Urbervilles Read a squashed version in 50 minutes
Down:
1. Mr. and Mr.: MESSRS - An 1917 ad for a Standard Dictionary by MESSRS Funk and Wagnalls
7. Grant alternative: LOAN.
8. Court org.: USTA.
29. Do an impersonation of: ACT LIKE.
30. Half-Betazoid aboard the Enterprise: TROI and 31. Like 30-Down, to an extent: TELEPATHIC - Listed sixth on her card
35. Guessing game for a road trip: I SPY with my little eye a black and white car with a flashing red light coming up quickly behind us. Any guesses?
37. Associate: PARTNER.
38. Comment from one hurrying in: AM I LATE - Couldn't resist this 2020 school cartoon
39. Floral cake decoration: ROSETTE - Wow!
40. Fish that measure up: KEEPERS.
41. Fast to the extreme: STARVE - I told Brian I struggled with this until I finally saw Fast as "not eating".
43. Acts smart with: SASSES.
45. Taken in: EATEN - I wasn't taken in by the alternate meaning of this phrase.
49. Word in family business names: SONS - The Don's SONS went into the family business
50. One of Tommy Tune's ten: TONY - He has won TONY awards for acting, directing, choreography and lifetime achievement. Yes, that's his real name, he was born Thomas James Tune in Wichita Falls, TX.
52. Steam: IRE.
53. Is unable to: CAN'T.