Themeless Saturday by Adrain Johnson
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| CARINA! |
After only a month's absence, our friend Adrian Johnson has another Saturday puzzle for us. To refresh your memory, Adrian is from Laramie Wyoming and has graduated with a degree in International Studies from Macalaster College in Saint Paul, MN. I had a delightful struggle with the puzzle and had one bad cell at LE_A/CARI_A. Not knowing anything about Game Of Thrones is one thing but for this amateur astronomer to miss CARINA was a real disappointment. It seemed that a lot of consonants could have filled that cell. Sigh...Particularly impressive to me was Adrian's double stack of grid spanners with a central grid spanner thrown in for good measure. Wow! Adrian's notes:Hi Gary
Thrilled to be back with my third LA Times themeless, just 5 weeks after my sophomore effort at the end of last month. I'm back to my old ways with a grid heavy on 15-letter entries, yet somehow this puzzle has one less grid spanner than my February LAT debut. As for the fill... I haven't seen 54A, but I made a deal with my partner that if she finishes my crossword I'll watch it with her. Personally, I'm not a big fan of superhero/fantasy movies as a whole, but Endgame was more than a movie. Endgame was the culmination and turning point of the Marvel Cinematic Universe– a saga of 25 (26 on 11/5) films that's become a cultural phenomenon and touchstone for millions around the world.
My other seed, 15A, reminds me of how much of a pushover I'd be as a father... allowing my kid to act up and then telling them "okay THIS time I mean it..." but then not being serious, thereby provoking a never-ending cycle of mayhem and empty promises in our house. I didn't find it in any database or wordlist I use as a constructor, so I thought It'd make for an engaging and original start to the puzzle.
Crosswords are my favorite OUTSIDE INTEREST in life right now, and I can't wait to share more of my work with you in the months and years ahead!
-AJ
1. Make bold, maybe: STRESS - When you really want to stress a point
7. Advanced degree candidate's no.: GRE SCORE - I took mine and got my score (no.) in 1968
15. "No more kidding around!": THIS TIME I MEAN IT - A seed entry for Adrian
17. Hobby: OUTSIDE INTEREST - Here is my hobby where I am celebrating my first hole-in-one
18. Peck in the park, informally: PDA - "Get a room!"
19. Controversial oil well verb: FRACK.
20. "Whose __ was that?": IDEA
22. Headey of "Game of Thrones": LENA - LENA Horne didn't work for a Saturday puzzle
24. "Turning Tables" singer: ADELE - She and her lovely vowels are on stage here quite often.
27. Main ingredients in the Thai dish tam som: PAPAYAS.
30. Shuffle alternative: NANO.
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| iPod NANO iPod Shuffle |
31. Speak from memory: RECITE - Did you have to memorize and RECITE the Gettysburg Address too?
34. One-named "Chandelier" singer: SIA - Her IMDB
35. Start thinking about old unpleasantness: DREDGE UP THE PAST - A Thanksgiving tradition that should be abandoned. Get over it!!
38. Stately tree: ELM.
39. Gas up?: AERATE - Inside this dispenser are tanks of syrup for flavor and CO2 tanks for AERATING "gassing up" water, This combination produces a soft drink
40. World's largest fashion magazine: ELLE.
41. Responds to a minister, in a way: SAYS I DO.
43. Coarse cloth: TWEED - Professor Indiana Jones in a TWEED suit
44. Join (with): ALLY.
45. Sources of suffering: BANES.
50. Completely surround: BOX IN - This guy in D.C. got BOXED IN but refused to sell his small building for years even though he was offered $3M.
51. Food is tossed in it: WOK.
54. 2019 culmination of a 22-film story: AVENGERS ENDGAME - One of AJ's seed entries. I hope he and his partner watch it soon!
58. Thrift store merchandise: VINTAGE CLOTHING - A store in NYC's West Village
59. Free throws, usually: SET SHOTS - Wilt Chamberlain didn't in his early years but changed to overhead SET SHOTS later in his career because he didn't like how the underhand style looked. He missed a lot either way.
60. "You're absolutely right": SO IT IS - What I say when my lovely bride is right. When I'm right, silence...
Down:
1. "That's enough!": STOP.
2. Sound of a flop: THUD - In sports an athlete who falls down dramatically feigning being fouled despite being untouched is said to have "flopped". The THUD is manufactured
3. Romance writers' award until 2019: RITA - Accusations of racism
4. Assassin standout?: ESS - Yup, there's a lot of 'em.
5. Smother: STIFLE.
6. Libya's Gulf of __: SIDRA
7. Company with woodchuck ads: GEICO - GEICO also used pigs, squirrels, et al
8. Stars' play area: RINK - Their rink is in Dallas.
9. Lifesaver, briefly: EMT - Can't say enough good things about First Responders
10. "Catch my drift?": SEE.
11. Canopus' constellation: CARINA - Canopus is the brightest star in CARINA that is the "Keel Of The Argo"
12. Short promotion: ONE DAY SALE.
13. Hilltop: RISE - "They'll be coming over the RISE any minute now"
14. Place Sundance liked to see: ETTA - Ah yes, The Sundance Kid's girlfriend ETTA Place always has a, uh, place in crosswords
16. Substance: MEAT - Some college football teams don't get into the MEAT of their schedule until this time of year
21. Drudge or trudge: PLOD - I'm more used to the former word being a noun
22. Woodshop tool: LATHE.
23. Heaviest of the three modern fencing swords: EPEE.
25. Alfalfa's love interest: DARLA.
26. Suspicious plant: ENEMY AGENT - This scene from Stalag 17 had William Holden outing Peter Graves as the ENEMY AGENT who was actually a Nazi plant in their prisoner barracks.
27. The Panthers of the ACC: PITT.
28. Symbolic compromise crossing: AISLE - Not much of that being done in today's very contentious Congress
29. Having no more room, perhaps: SATED - If relatives are SATED they won't DREDGE UP THE PAST at Thanksgiving.
31. Thin in tone: REEDY - Anyone else think of Barney Fife?
32. Latvian capital: EURO - A KFC in Riga. Instead of a decimal point, the EURO uses a comma.
36. Olympic sprinter Devers: GAIL.
42. Op-ed features: SLANTS - One piece may "point with pride" and the next one will "view with alarm"
43. Care for: TEND TO.
45. Bartlett relatives: BOSCS - I posted pear types last Saturday
46. Double or triple skating move: AXEL - Count the revolutions
47. Boys of Sevilla: NINOS - The Boy Who Touched The Stars
48. Cuban team, for short: MAVS - HUGE made me think HAVS (sic) would work before I realized Adrian was talking about the Dallas Mavericks, the NBA team Mark Cuban owns
49. Name that sounds like its first two letters: EVIE
50. Poison lead singer Michaels: BRET.
51. Stand by: WAIT.
52. Start to science?: OMNI - OMNI and SCIENCE both sound very different in this word below
55. Cry of exasperation: GAH - Not UGH or BAH
56. Word with surf or trip: EGO - I knew EGO trip but not
57. Letters next to a 4: GHI - Even on my iPhone 11
