Themeless Saturday by Tom Pepper and C.C. Burnikel
Today brings us a lovely puzzle that frustrated delighted me tremendously. It is a joint effort by our lovely C. C. and her dear friend Tom Pepper who has been a great comfort to her in this past year. Here is what they had to say about their collaboration:
From C.C. - Tom sent me a grid with the IDLE GOSSIP/PIGEON POSE stack in place. I changed some and together we built a new one.
From Tom - When we've done themelesses, C.C. and I typically go 50/50 on the fill and 50/50 on the clues. I think this might be the one time C.C. clued the whole puzzle because I was out of commission for a while for some reason.
I got an entry point in the NE and started working and all of a sudden I had the entire Eastern side done. I shifted to the southwest and finally the NW (gotta love GLEE/GHEE) and its great wordplay succumbed to my patience.
1. Up state?: GLEE 😀
5. Had kittens: BRED - This vexed me for a while as too obvious. I never miss a chance at kitty pix!
9. Big hits, for short: HRS - A baseball clue from C.C. is as standard as a Shakespeare clue from Jeffrey Wechsler.
12. Shows emotion: SHEDS A TEAR.
14. Mary Oliver, e.g.: POET.
15. Welcome message to a waiter: NEXT PLEASE - 😀 This clever turn of phrase unlocked the last corner for me after I saw waiter was simply someone who is waiting in line and not a server
16. Goddess whose temple on Palatine Hill glowed at night: LUNA - It was burned in the great Roman fire of 65 A.D. and not rebuilt.
16. Goddess whose temple on Palatine Hill glowed at night: LUNA - It was burned in the great Roman fire of 65 A.D. and not rebuilt.
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| The Temple Of Sol And Luna |
17. Wreath that may be stored in a fridge: LEI - LEI, how do I clue thee? Let me count the ways!
18. "Got everything?": READY.
19. Benched way too long: RUSTY - First day on golf course after a long winter
20. Look that makes waves?: PERM. 😀
21. Places to find temples and bridges: FRAMES. 😀
23. One of Sue Bird's WNBA record 3,234: ASSIST.
26. Hardest to see: TINIEST - Be sure to read the small print
27. Runs across: SPANS - To this day my wife can't believe I talked her into walking across this SPAN at The Royal Gorge
28. Paris native: TEXAN - What a fun structure in Paris, Texas. I'll bet D-O has been there.
29. Shepherd's greeting: ARF - Would it sound the same from a German Shepard?
31. Shoegaze band Yo La __: TENGO - Yo La TENGO (Spanish for “I’ve got it,” alluding to the call of a baseball outfielder) was assembled in 1984 in Hoboken, NJ, by romantic partners (later spouses) Kaplan and Hubley. Shoegaze comes from the use of pedal boards where musicians tend to look down at their feet a lot. Yeah, I knew all that! 😏
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| Georgia Hubley and Ira Kaplan |
32. North Dakota Natives known as the Arikara: REE - Arikara also known as Sahnish, Arikaree, REE or Hindi are a tribe of Native Americans in North Dakota. It had to fill itself.
33. Cory Booker, once: YALIE.
35. Med. condition exhibited by Hannah on "Girls": OCD - When I saw _ _ D, I was afraid Hannah had a more personal health issue.
36. Puts on the line: BAITS - Did anyone else thinks of RISKS before you thought of fishing
38. Apt rhyme for "quake": SHAKE.
39. Like a golfer who usually shoots around par: SCRATCH - I play golf with Nebraska's former governor Dave Heineman and he is a SCRATCH player on our course.
41. Gave title to: DEEDED.
42. Churlish: COARSE - Every substitute teacher's favorite skit
43. __ Paragon: large shopping mall in Bangkok: SIAM - Like the kitties above. Thailand, of course, used to be known as SIAM.
44. Jazz combo set: DRUMS.
45. En passant pieces: PAWNS - En Passant means "in passing" in French
47. Gives clearance: OKS.
50. Fenty Beauty founder, to fans: RIRI - Rhianna has appeared here before
51. Coffee break exchange: IDLE GOSSIP.
53. Decides: OPTS.
54. Haphazardly: WILLYNILLY - A fun fill
55. Sue Bird's WNBA career 6,803: Abbr.: PTS - I'll bet this was for two of them
56. Autumn stone: OPAL.
57. Bit of trouble: SPOT.
Down:
1. Fat with a very high smoke point: GHEE.
2. Golfer Thompson: LEXI - Even Tiger Woods wrote to the PGA and said this penalty on LEXI was too severe for unintentionally moving a ball less than an inch
3. Std. that starts every March: EDT.
4. Places for hot shots: ESPRESSO BARS - Here's one for the home
5. Nonstarters: B-TEAM - My fate for a lot of high school
6. Interpretation: READ - What's your READ on this?
7. Basic solutions: EASY FIXES.
8. "Power" role for Rotimi: DRE - Olurotimi Akinosho known professionally as Rotimi, is an Nigerian-American actor and singer. He is known for his role as Darius Morrison on the Starz series Boss and as Andre Coleman or DRE on Power.
9. Soup du jour alternative: HOUSE SALAD - A minimal one I would say
10. Complex protest?: RENT STRIKE - If the whole apartment complex is upset, then...
11. Temporary reprieve: STAY.
12. NBC show with more than 950 eps: SNL.
13. Vigilant: ALERT.
14. Column of smoke: PLUME.
19. Wet periods: RAINY SEASONS.
20. Notify: PING - I have had to PING my iPhone from my Apple Watch using the upper right hand icon more times than I can count.
22. Molecule studied by Joan A. Steitz: RNA.
23. Concerning: ASTO.
24. Unsolicited screenplay: SPEC SCRIPT - TriStar initially optioned the film (Pulp Fiction) and was even in talks to produce it, but then did a 180 by declaring, “This is the worst thing ever written. It makes no sense. Someone’s dead and then they’re alive. It’s too long, violent, and unfilmable.”
25. Beach volleyball spots: SAND COURTS - I'll have to admit that the court is not the first thing I notice in this competition.
26. Nail biters: TEETH.
28. Exercise that works the upper body: TRICEP DIP.
34. Noise before a break-in: AHEM.
37. Tags someone on Twitter, e.g.: ATS - Here ya go
40. "Groundhog Day" director: RAMIS - During the making of Ground Hog Day with his friend Bill Murray the two had such terrible disagreements they did not speak for 21 years.
41. Shabby: DINGY.
43. Balloon: SWELL - After years of coaching, I can say this describes what happens to a sprained ankle
44. Go down: DROP.
46. Pasta __ Norma: ALLA - The name Pasta alla Norma is said to have originated from the cry of joy and approval that people cannot repress after they eat this Sicilian specialty: “This pasta is a NORMA!” meaning "a masterpiece" in Italian. Yeah, I knew that! 😏
47. Capital with ferry service to Copenhagen: OSLO.
48. Scottish wedding garb: KILT.
49. Plant, for one: SPY - Eight spys or plants who worked for the Soviet Union during the building of the atom bomb
51. __ Jima: IWO.
From C.C.: Tom is now a newly-minted grandpa. His cute granddaughter Mary was born on Friday May 19th.
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