L.A.Times Crossword Corner

Mar 25, 2023

Saturday, March 25, 2023, Doug Peterson & Christina Iverson

Saturday Themeless by Doug Petersen and Christina Iverson

This quote from one of our favorite crossword authors sums up my feeling for this puzzle. Sue's title for a mystery story based on my experience today would be. "F is for Frustrating" or "C is for 47. Dull sound: CLUNK."

Unlike some recent walks in the park, today the bear almost got me and I had some real struggles. Oddly, though, I really enjoyed the puzzle and only 7. "The Song by God" scripture: BHAGAVAD GITA was an impossible "get" but served as some real learning. Some of Doug and Christina's fiendish cluing stymied me but then amazed me when I found out the answer. Of the thousands of puzzles I have done, this is among the most difficult I have ever tackled but I would do another puzzle by this combo again, any time. As I always say, I am smart enough to know how little I know.

Across:

1. Flies past: SHOOTS BY - What the years have done as I am now in my 55th year of being in front of teenagers.

9. Supported in the garden: STAKED.

15. Co-founder of the Iroquois Confederacy: HIAWATHA - Did he do this "By the shining big sea water"?

16. Pottsylvania spy Natasha: FATALE - I never knew her last name. I was pretty sure she was not Mrs. Boris Badenov.

17. __ calculus: INTEGRAL - I used this graphic two weeks ago to show how INTEGRAL calculus can figure the area under a curve

18. Choice in luxury leather: OX HIDE.

19. Practice figures, for short: MDS - My surgeon from last month is an M.D. who practices medicine.

20. Raced while supine: LUGED - Whoa!

22. Fell upon: BESET.

23. Fruity addition to pico de gallo: PINA.

24. Critics, e.g.: OPINERS - If you know the source, you probably will know the slant of their OPINERS

26. Many a custom Gibson: FLYING V GUITAR - A reflection of the times

30. Freetown currency: LEONE - This Toyota is available in Freetown (the price is in SLL Sierra Leone Leones) Conversion site

31. "The Goat, or Who Is Sylvia?" playwright: ALBEE.

32. Grandstand division: ROW.

35. Kicks out of Oz?: UGGS - Kicks is slang for footwear and Oz is slang for Australia (a phonetic abbreviation for its first syllable) where these shoes are made. 😀

36. NSFW: ADULT - Getting ADULT images on your computer that are Not Suitable For Work can be a dangerous practice.

37. Noodle house noodles: SOBA.

38. Drag strip?: BOA - People who dress in drag may very well have a BOA strip/stole as an accessory. 😀

39. Fibber of old radio: MCGEE - Fibber McGee and Molly were a mainstay of NBC radio from 1935 to 1959

40. Salmon, e.g.: COLOR - My family's first car

41. New York neighborhood also called El Barrio: SPANISH HARLEM.

44. Shiny fabric: SATINET - ARGH!

46. Architectural projection: EAVE.

48. Stagger: AMAZE.

50. O, for one: MAG.

53. Company whose logo is an alien named Snoo: REDDIT.

55. Line at an entrance: ADMIT ONE.

57. Many "The Twelve Days of Christmas" gifts: AVIANS - 😀 I count 23 AVIANS.

58. Used: LEANED ON.

59. Illinois River port: PEORIA - The Spirit Of Peoria sails on the Illinois River out of PEORIA, IL.

60. Culture club?: ART SCENE.

Down:

1. Level: SHIM.

2. Golden __: Drake's ship: HIND - Here's a $39 model kit

3. Aveeno ingredient: OATS - No ALOE here.

4. Be somewhat shy: OWE.

5. "The Breakfast of Champions," e.g.: TAGLINE.

6. __ along: STRUNG.

7. "The Song by God" scripture: BHAGAVAD GITA - ARGH! What I learned

8. Rory Gilmore's alma mater: YALE - A fictional character in The Gilmore Girls

9. Alaska Airlines hub: Abbr.: SFO.

10. Uncle Sam's piece of the pie: TAX BITE.

11. Goddess who oversaw the Argo's construction: ATHENA - Here she is shown, seated at the left in this bas-relief, adjusting the sail

12. Deli choice: KAISER ROLL - K _ _ _ E R seemed to call for KOSHER but Kaiser soon became apparent.

13. Honored one: ELDER.

14. Lowdown: DEETS - Slang for details

21. Train pulled by a pair of locomotives: DOUBLE HEADER - With trains now over a mile long, there can be more than two locomotives doing the pulling. This appears to be a quad header.

23. Spare parts?: PINS - So clever! I had _ I _ S and put in RIBS, but noooo... 😀 Boomer would not have been fooled!

25. First name in geometric art: PIET - My first thought was M.C. Escher but nooo.... It was Piet Mondrian who I have never heard of. Here is one of his paintings adapted to a pair of leggings.

26. Blow: FLUB.

27. Toy company based in Billund, Denmark: LEGO - A gimme

28. Place to stretch one's legs: YOGA STUDIO - Duh and ARGH!

29. Binders: GLUES.

33. Wind often made from grenadilla wood: OBOE - The name of this African wood is, uh, foreign but a four-letter wind instrument was pretty easy.

34. Close, in a way: WARM - 😀

36. Skin concern: ACNE.

37. Put out: SORE - If a baserunner is "put out" he might be "put out" if he thinks he was safe and "put out" of the game if the protest gets out of hand.

39. Bit of Borat attire: MANKINI - You'll have to look it up to believe it. ARGH!

40. Sudden collapses: CAVE INS.

42. "Learn what you are and be such" poet: PINDAR - ARGH!