L.A.Times Crossword Corner

Feb 5, 2022

Saturday, February 5, 2022, Stella Zawistowski

Themeless Saturday by Stella Zawistowski

Our "renaissance woman " is back with another fun Saturday entry. This picture is of Stella and a fellow alto who both sing in the Oratorio Society of New York. You can see she has an abiding interest in the arts and you might remember that I posted a video of her and the Oratorio Society singing The Messiah in a beautiful rural setting. Here's Stella's input:

Thanks for the kind words! I'm drowning in puzzle- and trivia-related work at the moment so I can't give an extended commentary, but you can say this:

I seeded this puzzle around CINCINNATI CHILI. I'm not from Ohio, but my husband is, and upon trying CINCINNATI CHILI for the first time, my reaction was "where have you been all my life?" If you would like to make it at home, I'm partial to this recipe from Melissa Joulwan. I serve mine over standard-issue spaghetti, not spiralized zucchini noodles as she suggests.

My only bad cell was DAN_ON/SA_IE where instead of guessing an incorrect vowel, I chose a wrong consonant. I always enjoy Stella's puzzles and her unique perspective!

Across

1. Possible cause of price cuts: GLUT - When there is a GLUT of oil, gas prices are cut

5. Sensitivity symptom: ITCH.

9. Bucks' gp.: NBA.

12. Overdo, perhaps: POUR ON - Some coaches POUR it ON even when their team is way ahead

14. Greeting or parting word: CIAO - CIAO : Italy :: Aloha : Hawaii

15. Larter of "Heroes": ALI.

16. One might be involved in a gag: TONGUE DEPRESSOR - Clever cluing and so true for me

19. Finish in a winery: AFTER TASTE - The TASTE that lingers in the mouth or which is left on the palate AFTER a wine is tasted or spit. Its synonym is Finish.

20. Gossamer: LACY - "It was just one of those nights, Just one of those fabulous flights, A trip to the moon, On gossamer wings, Just one of those things." Ya gotta love Cole Porter!

21. Talk with one's hands: SIGN - American Sign Language

22. Conductor Klemperer: OTTO - Here ya go. We lowbrows know Werner Klemperer who played Colonel Klink in Hogan's Heroes

24. Again and again, in verse: OFT

27. Composer of "furniture music": SATIE - Furniture music, or in French musique d’ameublement, is background music originally played by live performers. The term was coined by Erik Satie in 1917

29. Decision-making board with no members: OUIJA.

33. Haydn oratorio, with "The": CREATION - I wonder if Stella's group has performed this piece

35. Bull elk, at times: BUGLER.

36. Sauce named for a city: CINCINNATI CHILI - Stella's seed entry

Cincinnati chili is a Mediterranean-spiced meat sauce used as a topping for spaghetti or hot dogs; both dishes were developed by immigrant restaurateurs in the 1920s. In 2013, Smithsonian named it one of the "20 Most Iconic Foods in America"

51. Great American Ball Park team: REDS - and this makes sense in Cincinnati's ball park

38. Fancifies: ADORNS.

39. Transaction involving the repurchase of securities recently unloaded: WASH SALE - Here ya go

40. "... a __ sorrows and acquainted with grief": "Messiah": MAN OF - Stella certainly has sung this lyric from Handel's Messiah

41. Pound parts: PENCE.

42. Bobs and weaves: DOS - HairDOS

43. Lean meat source: BOAR.

45. Shows interest ... or a lack of it: NODS.

47. __ Minor: ASIA - Not Ursa this time

50. Certain cookie vendor's reward: MERIT BADGE.

55. Symphonist's work: INSTRUMENTATION - Determines what instruments should be used in a piece and how. Gershwin's use of the clarinet in Rhapsody In Blue leapt to my mind.

57. Semana seventh: DIA - Semana is week and DIA is day in Spanish and so 1/7 of a week is a day. Talk about Saturday cluing!

58. Pre-owned: USED.

59. Digs: IS INTO - It's pretty obvious Stella IS INTO music!

60. Stock thriller character: SPY.

61. Queens, e.g.: BEDS.

62. Within: Pref.: ENTO.

Down:

1. Slip: GOOF.

2. Broadway theatre dedicatee Alfred: LUNT - Here ya go

3. Drives: URGES.

4. Travelers' aids, briefly: TOURIST INFO - Want some on my town?

5. Lays on, as buttercream: ICES.

6. Sneak, in a way: TIPTOE.

7. Insert indicator: CARET - There are several places below where FDR inserted text into his "Day Of Infamy" speech using the ^ CARET

8. Plot device?: HOE.

9. Org. in 2018's "First Man": NASA.

10. Like-minded group: BLOC - Party line votes?

11. Like a screened-in porch, say: AIRY.

12. Car-wash-sponsoring org., maybe: PTA.

13. Black numbers?: NET GAINS - as opposed to red numbers of debt

17. Prominent figure in the Reign of Terror: DANTON - I'd heard of the other two

18. Loses, with "off": SLOUGHS - Rhymes with bluffs

23. Connected (with): TOUCHED BASE - Before I took my first group of kids to KSC, I had to TOUCH BASE with my department head, the activity director, the principal and then the school board. Nobody said no!

24. Certain razor namesake: OCCAM.

25. 2002 title role for Salma: FRIDA.

26. Carpenter's joint component: TENON.

28. Open-mouthed: IN AWE.

30. Tale in which Hector and Achilles duel: ILIAD - Hector was the runner-up.

31. __ shot: JELLO - I had _ _ L _O. Wanna guess what this child of the 50's put?

32. Horned zodiac animal: ARIES.

34. Agile performer: ACROBAT.

35. Twice-baked cookies: BISCOTTI.

37. Astringent in red wine: TANNIN.

41. Like some bio majors: PRE-MED - PRE-MED Timeline

44. Get to chuckle: AMUSE.

46. Observed, maybe: SAT IN - The superintendent SAT IN on one of my NASA presentations this week