L.A.Times Crossword Corner

Oct 8, 2022

Saturday, October 8, 2022, Malaika Handa

Saturday Themeless by Malaika Handa

This is my second themeless puzzle by Brooklyn resident Malaika Handa. Malaika is a software engineer who has been making puzzles for two years. You can see an archive of all her puzzles on her website: https://www.girlbosswords.com/ She has a puzzle in the upcoming Boswords fall league.

Here is a link to a playful but instructive interview with Malaika that includes this wonderful quote from her:

Also, when you’re solving, look up entries that you don’t know! It’s a game, not a test.

I added by subtracting on Malaika's challenging puzzle. SUGAR COATED medicine instead of CANDY COATED, DEW drop instead of MIC drop. Those changes opened up COMIC CON, RAVIOLI and NO MSG.

Across:

1. Closing pieces: CLASPS - Oh, that's how that works.

7. Trademarked sandwich: MCRIB - McDonalds seems to make a big deal of when they are and are not available.

12. Long, thin fish also called a grenadier: RAT TAIL - Not the comb this time

14. Worth giving up on: DOOMED - The wording of this clue was fun, uh, eventually! 😏

16. Fla-Vor-Ice rival: OTTER POP - I learned this in two recent puzzles

18. Settle early: PREPAY.

19. Hot items at a bakery: OVENS.

20. "Mario Party" dinosaur: YOSHI.

22. Slip-__: ONS - Skechers? ✔ Golf shoe? ✔ Slip ONS? ✔

23. "Duérmete __": Spanish lullaby: NINO - Rock-a-Bye Baby in Espanol. Duérmete translates as "Go to sleep" which a parent 1. Sings a lullaby, say: CROONS to a baby NIÑO or NIÑA

24. Cut: SAWED.

25. Destiny's Child, e.g.: TRIO - Beyonce : Destiny's Child :: Diana Ross : Supremes

26. Melancholy: SAD.

27. One making a bundle on a farm: BALER - This BALER is a machine not a person

28. "__ Morgen!": GUTEN and 43. "Buona __!": SERA - We have German for "good morning" and Italian for "good evening".

29. Adds: CONTRIBUTES.

31. Easy to swallow: CANDY COATED - Spoonful Of Sugar jumped into my head and so I smugly entered SUGAR COATED. Oops.

32. High tied activity?: ROPES COURSE - Malaika!

33. Charlie and Lola: NAMES - Charlie is a perfume and Lola is a showgirl. What, that's not relevant?

34. Passionate: LUSTY.

35. "The Magicians" novelist Grossman: LEV.

38. "Ars Amatoria" poet: OVID - Written in 2 A.D. This 9th century transcript of The Art Of Love is the oldest known copy

39. Fools: DUPES.

40. Dove home: COTE - Am I the only one who put SLID?

41. __ drop: MIC - "So there!"

42. Speaks in Spanish: HABLA - ¿HABLA inglés? (Do you speak English?)

43. Temaki or futomaki: SUSHI.

44. Becky Sauerbrunn's sport: SOCCER.

46. Gossamer: ETHEREAL - We saw this two weeks ago

48. Far-reaching: GLOBAL.

49. Fish in stargazy pie: SARDINE - Wanna see this pie which has sardine heads sticking out of it? I wonder where Malaika learned about this pie or if this is Patti's clue?

50. Place to share stories, for short: INSTAgram

51. Had: TASTED - I have never seen or TASTED stargazy pie.

Down:

2. Baltic state with a maroon and white flag: LATVIA - Geographers and vexilollogists will know the LATVIAN flag is below the flag of Estonia and above the one of Lithuania

3. Go: ATTEND.

4. Legal brief writer?: STENO.

5. Links data: PARS - You can see what PAR is for each hole I play on my home course/links

6. Bit of a draft?: SIP - A SIP of draft beer

7. Letters for a research scientist: MD-PHD - I struggled for this one

8. Bush who is part of "The Squad" in Congress: CORI - Speaking

9. Ingredient that makes she-crab soup orange: ROE - Obviously missing in he-crab soup

10. Brought in: IMPORTED - In school meetings, anyone brought in from over 100 miles away is an "expert".

11. Skullcaps: BEANIES.

13. Program that rewards super users: LOYALTY CLUB - Here's one for a casino in Germany

15. Maker of the Corrale straightener: DYSON.

17. Popular item: POWER COUPLE.

21. Blog with "The Food Lab" columns written by J. Kenji López-Alt: SERIOUS EATS.

24. Historic Vegas hotel: SANDS - Once the home of "The Rat Pack". I wonder if Malaika has ever heard of them.

25. Private pupil: TUTEE.

27. Series starring Emily Deschanel as a forensic anthropologist: BONES.

28. Daring: GUTSY.

29. Like some 31-Down attendees: CAPED and 31. Event where folks may be super dressed up?: COMIC CON. Lots of hints in the clue and one Malaika told me she really liked!

30. St. __: Caribbean island: BARTS - It's about a 7 hr flight from Miami to St. BARThelemy

32. Filling dish?: RAVIOLI - RAVIOLI does have filling

33. Chinese take-out order?: NO MSG.

35. Finally crack: LOSE IT.

36. Colorless gas: ETHANE.

37. "The __ Virgin": Strazza statue in Newfoundland: VEILED - A beautiful and amazing statue sculpted by the genius Giovanni Strazza in the 1850's showing the beauty and translucence of Carrera marble.