Saturday Themeless by Craig Stowe
Craig is a a cook in a Toronto hotel and turns out fabulous puzzles that I have had the pleasure of blogging. Here is what he had to say about this construction:
Hi Gary,Thanks for your email. This is my second attempt at a central stack and I am happier with this result. The seed for the puzzle is 32- Across and that stack actually appeared quickly. Sometimes luck is on our side. It required a revision as I originally had DUMBBELLS at 32- Down, which Rich thought might be too inappropriate. I'm not the most sensitive person.
I promise I didn't intentionally include STOWED. There weren't any options (barring partials) that didn't involve STOW?? so stowed it was. One partial is bad enough.
I try to make themeless puzzles ones that I'd enjoy solving myself. I hope this one leaves a good impression with folks.
All the best,
Craig
Craig and I had a great exchange about
30. Shipping rope: TYE.
We eventually settled on "A chain or rope one end of which passes through the mast or through a block and is made fast to the center of a yard, the other end being attached to a tackle by means of which a yard is hoisted or lowered"
When I asked Craig if this pretty obscure word was an "any port in a storm" fill for those three cells. He replied,
"26. "You __!": BETCHA.!"
and gave me permission to share that with you. Ya gotta love a guy like that!
1. Some assembly stations: SALAD BARS - Are there any of these still operating?
10. __ al pomodoro: Tuscan soup: PAPPA - PAPPA means "mush" and al pomodoro means with tomatoes in Italian.
15. "Beats me": I'VE NO IDEA.
16. Use: AVAIL.
17. "Nice work!": GOOD STUFF.
18. Wagner's father-in-law: LISZT - "What is Wagner?" was a recent Jeopardy question for this answer - "Married last name of opera art director Cosima, two of her children were named Siegfried and Isolde."
16. Use: AVAIL.
17. "Nice work!": GOOD STUFF.
18. Wagner's father-in-law: LISZT - "What is Wagner?" was a recent Jeopardy question for this answer - "Married last name of opera art director Cosima, two of her children were named Siegfried and Isolde."
 |
| Cosima and Richard Wagner and Franz Liszt |
19. Least amt.: MIN.
20. Zaire's Mobutu __ Seko: SESE - It is estimated that he embezzled over $5B from his country
20. Zaire's Mobutu __ Seko: SESE - It is estimated that he embezzled over $5B from his country
21. __ ball: MATZO - Some say it is only for Passover and not for Hanukkah
22. "Doe, __ ... ": A DEER.
25. "The Last O.G." network: TBS - Okay...
27. Chi preceder: TAI - Craig! Phi is the Greek letter before chi but TAI comes first in the elegant Chinese art of TAI CHI.
28. Family nicknames: MAS.
31. Gym sets: REPS - REPetitionS
32. "No worries": DON'T MENTION IT - Craig's seed entry
35. Stop digressing: CUT TO THE CHASE.
36. Words often embroidered: HOME SWEET HOME
37. "Love & Basketball" actor Omar: EPPS.
37. "Love & Basketball" actor Omar: EPPS.
38. All Saints' __: EVE - The day before All Saint's Day on November 1 is All Saint's EVE which became All Hallow's EVE which is also now called Halloween
39. Bonobo, for one: APE - Some very close genetic relatives
40. First animal in the Chinese zodiac: RAT - My first entry of RAM only needed one correction
41. #34: DDE - HST was #33 and JFK was #35
42. Diminish slowly: ERODE.
46. Toot: SPREE - Bachelor parties and 21st birthdays leap to my mind
48. Latin for "scraped," in a phrase: RASA - We all have a chance at a Tabula RASA in two weeks
41. #34: DDE - HST was #33 and JFK was #35
42. Diminish slowly: ERODE.
46. Toot: SPREE - Bachelor parties and 21st birthdays leap to my mind
48. Latin for "scraped," in a phrase: RASA - We all have a chance at a Tabula RASA in two weeks
52. Pasture sound: LOW - Sounds of the season: "The cattle are LOWING..."
53. Get around: ELUDE and 2. Get around: AVOID - Craig?
54. Metaphor for doing more than is required: EXTRA MILE.
57. Massenet opera about a Spanish legend: LE CID - Massenet based his opera on the Spanish legend of El Cid
58. Party where no one goes home?: SLEEPOVER
59. Curator's concerns: FAKES - Our creative constructor Jeffrey Wechsler's job was as an art curator in New Jersey. (*See his great comments on the subject below my write-up)
60. Bike shop array: TEN-SPEEDS - 1967 Ad
Down:
1. Two after pi: SIGMA - Now we get the Greek alphabet
3. Sierra __: LEONE - ASKY Airlines can fly you from Accra, Ghana to Freetown, Sierra LEONE among other places. 4. "Then what?": AND.
5. Soirees: DOS - All you'd ever want to know about soirees, bashes, DO'S, etc
6. Parts of drills: BITS.
7. Musical collaboration instruction: ADUE - A frequent cwd visitor
8. Calls on a field: REFS - Peyton Manning seems to disagree with that REF'S call
9. Insurance metaphor: SAFETY NET - Many in our flood-prone town have no insurance SAFETY NET when the Platte comes out of its banks
10. Conceals, in a way: PALMS - The Queen Of Spades has been PALMED below
11. Adidas rival: AVIA.
12. What most novels are written in: PAST TENSE - “Scarlett O’Hara was not beautiful, but men seldom realized it when caught by her charm…”
13. Round item in a square box: PIZZA PIE.
12. What most novels are written in: PAST TENSE - “Scarlett O’Hara was not beautiful, but men seldom realized it when caught by her charm…”
13. Round item in a square box: PIZZA PIE.
14. Charlie Parker, at times: ALTOIST - Charlie played an ALTO sax so...
23. Isn't subtle, in a way: EMOTES and 24. Jeremiads: RANTS.
29. Put away: STOWED - Craig disavowed showing any favoritism toward his name
30. Giggly sound: TE HEE.
31. Nomad: ROAMER.
32. Sandbox toy: DUMP TRUCK - Nobody builds 'em better
33. "Into Thin Air" setting: MT. EVEREST - A gripping excerpt
34. "With any luck": I HOPE.
35. Bargain in court: COP A PLEA.
36. "Nature would not invest __ in such shadowing passion without some instruction": Othello: HERSELF - "I wouldn’t be trembling like this if I didn’t know deep down this (Desdemona's unfaithfullness) was all true"
41. Title pages?: DEEDS.
43. Stuffed hors d'oeuvre: OLIVE - How 'bout using blue cheese?
44. Parceled (out): DOLED.
45. Pretty pitchers: EWERS - All you'd wanna know
47. Carmela portrayer on "The Sopranos": EDIE - Last week we had Tony Soprano's psychiatrist Dr. Melfi, this week it's his wife Carmela played by EDIE Falco
49. Semi shaft: AXLE - This rig has five of them
50. Arm of the Korean War: STEN - Often the cwd weapon of choice
51. Father of the Amazons: ARES - Everything you want to know
55. Bridge Base Online offering, e.g.: APP.
56. Duff Beer server: MOE - A brew served on The Simpsons
*Jeffrey's comments on FAKES
Gary,
Well, a little bit of free publicity! Oh, wait – I’m retired! Anyhow, I don’t specifically recall any outright fakes that I had to deal with in my museum job (I did see some at estate sales). The most common source of authenticity problems that came my way involved individuals who brought items to the museum to find out if they were of value. I worked at a university museum, a non-profit institution, and therefore I did not offer valuations; I could, though, give an opinion on artistic quality and if the item was an original work of art. For example, many items bore notable signatures; they were not fakes but merely reproductions. This can usually be easily ascertained by looking at the surface with a magnifying lens. The presence of a dot pattern reveals the image’s source as a mechanical, photo-reproductive process.
Sincerely,
Jeffrey
