Saturday, March 19, 2022, John Guzzetta

 Themeless Saturday by John Guzzetta

John is a minister currently living in the Tampa, Florida area and wrote this about his construction: 

Happy to have my first themeless Saturday puzzle in the LA Times. I hope solvers enjoy it! The seed entry was 10-Down. The clues are definitely harder than my original submission--I especially like what the editors came up with for 14 across!

Across:

1. Chunk: GOB.

4. Arizona city within the Coconino National Forest: SEDONA - In north central Arizona

10. Medical capacity measure: BEDS.

14. It includes the study of roots: ARITHMETIC - Botany? No. Word derivation? No. Math? Yes! Square roots, cube roots, etc. that today kids do with calculators. 

16. Go: EXIT.

17. Profile: SILHOUETTE.

18. Saharan republic: CHAD - Okay, what number is it? (*answer at bottom write-up)

19. Fireplace accessory: POKER.

20. Get out of the cooler, with "for": POST BAIL - The sponsor for the The Bad News Bears

22. Cautions: ALERTS.

24. "For sure!": YOU BET.

26. Save, in a way: REDEEM.

27. Walking area in a Depression Era novel: WILD SIDE.

29. Pressed: IRONED.

31. "Tundra" series coolers, e.g.: YETIS.

$400 and it's yours!

32. Some four-legged toys, informally: POMS - Just when I thought I would never be fooled by "toy dogs" like POMeranians, this turned out to be my last fill.

35. Ancient Greek physician: GALEN - Here ya go

37. Philippic: RANT.

38. __ horizon: astrophysics boundary: EVENT - Here ya go

40. Patsy: STOOGE - Lee Harvey Oswald went to his grave claiming he was one

42. Fortresses: REDOUBTS 

REDOUBT of the Royal
Fusiliers in Yorktown, Va

44. Binging: ON A JAG.

48. One of Willie Mays' MLB career 140: TRIPLE.

49. It separated from Serbia in 2008: KOSOVO.

50. Something to check before picking up: CALLER ID 

54. Relocation figure: MOVER.

55. Cuba libre mixer: COLA.

56. It features exquisite settings: FINE DINING - Lady Mary and the Dowager Countess survey such a setting at Downton Abbey

58. Arabian Sea nation: OMAN - More geography: Name the # for OMAN (**answer below)

59. Buttering-up: EGO MASSAGE.

60. 2012 U.S. Open champ Simpson: WEBB - The scoreboard here shows WEBB in third place at +1 but the others faltered and he won at that score

61. Breakfast pastry: DANISH.

62. Conducted: LED.

Down:

1. Crèche figure: GASPAR - One of the Three Wisemen in this crèche

2. Camden Yards athlete: ORIOLE.

3. Cheated: BILKED.

4. Like Teller, vis-à-vis Penn: SHORTER.

5. Cassowary kin: EMU.

6. __ dive: DEEP - A thorough investigation

7. "The Simpsons" bus driver: OTTO - His route comes by here frequently 

8. Quibbles: NITS.

9. Radical in vinegar: ACETYL - If you must

10. Nonspecific and terse response to "Why?": BECAUSE REASONS - John's seed entry. It made me think of all the reasons I heard the day the kids twelve-week projects were due.

11. It might be the murder weapon: EXHIBIT A - These may not have been labeled  EXHIBIT A but they are among the most famous EXHIBITS ever

12. Firing on all cylinders: DIALED IN - Kids from small town high schools say they need some time to get there 3-pointers "DIALED IN" when playing in Lincoln's mammoth Pinnacle Arena.

13. Normal: Abbr.: STD.

15. Bad news about options: THERE IS NO PLAN B 

21. Shampoo ad buzzword: BODY.

1960 Breck Ad

23. Pollution portmanteau: SMOG.

25. Check: TEST.

27. Paintball mementos: WELTS - Here are some

28. Prefix with gram or graph: IDEO.

30. Tweed's caricaturist: NAST.

32. Fresh: PERT.

33. Verklempt: OVERCOME.

34. On-campus area for communications majors: MEDIA LAB.

36. Common library area: NOOK.

39. Rock's Jethro __: TULL.

41. Like some garden figures: GNOMISH - Okay

43. Bellyached: BEEFED.

45. Festive: JOVIAL.

46. Retaliate for: AVENGE - 

47. Consumed in large amounts: GORGED - Joey Chestnut's record is 71 Nathan's Famous Hot Dogs eaten in 10 minutes. 

51. European capital on its own gulf: RIGA.

52. Privy to: IN ON.

53. "Give Your Heart a Break" singer Lovato: DEMI - If you'd like

55. Strong-arm: COW - Herding dogs can really COW, uh, cows

57. Brief brief filers: D.A'.S.

*Chad is country #10

**Oman is country #12