Themeless Saturday by Emma Lawson and Larry Snyder
As you will tell from the paucity of my comments, I was able to sail through big parts of this puzzle. However, when the wordplay heated up I had some delightful struggles. This is Larry's first published puzzle and Emma's first Saturday themeless but fourth overall for the LA Times.
Emma is a reasearch librarian at Langara University in Vancouver, British Columbia. Larry is a professor of Industrial and Systems Engineering and director of the Institute for Data, Intelligent Systems and Computation at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, PA. This is another transcontinental collaboration.
Across:
1. Age of the information superhighway: DIGITAL ERA - The switch from a slide rule to a calculator marked the beginning for me
11. 1980s pop duo: WHAM.
15. Hardest part of making guacamole: AVOCADO PIT.
16. Spooned, maybe: HELD.
17. Tropical mocktail: NADA COLADA.
18. Some Minecraft blocks: ORES - I had no idea but ORES made sense with that game title 😐
19. Sounds from a bull pen: SNORTS - Our friend Nick has heard many of those as he is a professional bullfighter/rodeo clown.
20. Fulfills a take-out order?: ERASES 😀 - No restaurants or mobsters here.
22. Actress Winslet: KATE - Her portrait done for the famous scene from Titanic was actually drawn by the director James Cameron
23. Mathewson who was one of the first five inductees into the Baseball Hall of Fame: CHRISTY.
25. Blackthorn berries: SLOES.
27. __ Troopa: Nintendo turtlelike creature: KOOPA.
30. Some viewer-supported broadcasts: PBS SHOWS.
34. "Best sleep on it before deciding": BE SURE - $154,940 for this Cadillac Escalade
37. "I can __": RELATE.
38. Tiny object that goes around the world?: MINI YOYO - This is Duncan's smallest YOYO and "around the world" is a standard yoyo trick (not shown here)
41. Date: PLUS ONE. - Joann is my PLUS ONE when we go to graduation parties
43. Teléfono answer: HOLA.
47. Neptune's largest moon: TRITON - TRITON with Uranus in the background
48. Up: ARISEN.
50. Cooler at sea: BRIG - 😀 Cooler is slang for jail and a BRIG is a jail abroad a ship
51. "Facts!": AMEN TO THAT.
54. "That must hurt": OUCH.
55. Rant and rave in public: MAKE A SCENE.
56. Ruby Queen, e.g.: BEET - People seem to either love or hate BEETS. I'm in the former camp.
57. "Little help, please!": I NEED A HAND.
Down:
1. Maker of Købenstyle casseroles: DANSK - Danish cookware
2. Pomeranian voiced by Emma Stone in Disney's "Suite Life" franchise: IVANA.
3. Focus of actors working as waiters?: GODOT - 😀 The actors in the clue are a profession but the waiters in the clue are, uh, just actors in a play where waiting is in the title. Last week, Tom Pepper and C.C. had 15. Welcome message to a waiter: NEXT PLEASE
4. "You matter to me": I CARE.
5. Delicacy: TACT.
6. Fusses: ADOS.
7. "U slay me!": LOL.
8. Clean water agcy.: EPA.
9. Backseat drivers, e.g.: RIDERS 😀
10. Video Olympics platform: ATARI.
11. "Maybe, maybe not": WHO'S TO SAY - How 'bout another way to ask it by a 22-yr-old Johnny Mathis on a 1957 Ed Sullivan Show?
12. "As requested": HERE YOU GO.
13. Some steinfuls: ALES.
14. Physical pros: MDS - During my yearly required physical with my MD, he and I mostly talk about space and golf for 20 minutes.
21. Welcomed: ASKED IN.
23. Farm moms: COWS - Ewes and sows get the day off
24. Guys: HES.
25. Decathlon event: SHOTPUT.
26. Legends: LORE - King Arthur and Robin Hood are two legends of England
28. Quarry: PREY.
29. Flight-related prefix: AERO.
30. Tawny __: PORT - Port Defined All ports are made from a blend of grapes grown throughout Portugal's Douro valley. There are two kinds of port: tawny and ruby. Tawny is aged in wooden casks and released ready to drink, while ruby ages more in bottle than in wood and generally requires many years of cellaring. You're welcome!
31. "The __ Crew": Milwaukee nickname: BREW - Very familiar to baseball peeps
32. Attractive figure?: SALE PRICE - SALE_R_C_ led me to SALES RACK for too long of a price
33. "The Boys" superhero who fires destructive beams: STARLIGHT - Neither the comic book nor broadcast has crossed my path. All you want (or don't want) to know
34. Nemesis: BANE.
36. Low bar?: DIVE - This DIVE is The Bottom Road Bar and is just across the Platte River from my golf course. It has great burgers and unbelievably low prices. Grandson and I ate all that for $13.00 total after 18 holes.
42. "Me too": SO AM I.
44. "Cocaine Bear" actor __ Jackson Jr.: OSHEA.
45. Singer Rimes: LEANN.
46. Paid to play: ANTED.
47. "Facts!": TRUE.
48. Not much: A TAD.
49. Parks of Alabama: ROSA
50. Small float: BOB - 😀 Also called a bobber. It was not my last fill but it was my last, "Oh, now I get it! Fishing gear."
52. Squeak (out): EKE.
53. Once called: NEE - More brides seem to be keeping their birth names.
1. Age of the information superhighway: DIGITAL ERA - The switch from a slide rule to a calculator marked the beginning for me
11. 1980s pop duo: WHAM.
15. Hardest part of making guacamole: AVOCADO PIT.
16. Spooned, maybe: HELD.
17. Tropical mocktail: NADA COLADA.
18. Some Minecraft blocks: ORES - I had no idea but ORES made sense with that game title 😐
19. Sounds from a bull pen: SNORTS - Our friend Nick has heard many of those as he is a professional bullfighter/rodeo clown.
20. Fulfills a take-out order?: ERASES 😀 - No restaurants or mobsters here.
22. Actress Winslet: KATE - Her portrait done for the famous scene from Titanic was actually drawn by the director James Cameron
23. Mathewson who was one of the first five inductees into the Baseball Hall of Fame: CHRISTY.
25. Blackthorn berries: SLOES.
27. __ Troopa: Nintendo turtlelike creature: KOOPA.
30. Some viewer-supported broadcasts: PBS SHOWS.
34. "Best sleep on it before deciding": BE SURE - $154,940 for this Cadillac Escalade
35. Big talkers: ORATORS.
36. Richard Williams, to Venus and Serena: DADAGER - Oh, now I get it, it's a portmanteau!
36. Richard Williams, to Venus and Serena: DADAGER - Oh, now I get it, it's a portmanteau!
37. "I can __": RELATE.
38. Tiny object that goes around the world?: MINI YOYO - This is Duncan's smallest YOYO and "around the world" is a standard yoyo trick (not shown here)
 |
39. Boob: TWERP - Professor Harold Hill's take on River City's new pocket billiards table:
It takes judgement, brains and maturity to scoreIn a balkline game, I say that any BOOBCan take and shove a ball in a pocketAnd I call that sloth the first big step on the roadTo the depths of deg-ra-day
40. Group that meets regularly to practice spelling?: COVEN 😀 An "out there" clue made sense when the spelling is about casting spells by a COVEN of witches
40. Group that meets regularly to practice spelling?: COVEN 😀 An "out there" clue made sense when the spelling is about casting spells by a COVEN of witches
41. Date: PLUS ONE. - Joann is my PLUS ONE when we go to graduation parties
43. Teléfono answer: HOLA.
47. Neptune's largest moon: TRITON - TRITON with Uranus in the background
48. Up: ARISEN.
50. Cooler at sea: BRIG - 😀 Cooler is slang for jail and a BRIG is a jail abroad a ship
51. "Facts!": AMEN TO THAT.
54. "That must hurt": OUCH.
55. Rant and rave in public: MAKE A SCENE.
56. Ruby Queen, e.g.: BEET - People seem to either love or hate BEETS. I'm in the former camp.
57. "Little help, please!": I NEED A HAND.
Down:
1. Maker of Købenstyle casseroles: DANSK - Danish cookware
2. Pomeranian voiced by Emma Stone in Disney's "Suite Life" franchise: IVANA.
3. Focus of actors working as waiters?: GODOT - 😀 The actors in the clue are a profession but the waiters in the clue are, uh, just actors in a play where waiting is in the title. Last week, Tom Pepper and C.C. had 15. Welcome message to a waiter: NEXT PLEASE
4. "You matter to me": I CARE.
5. Delicacy: TACT.
6. Fusses: ADOS.
7. "U slay me!": LOL.
8. Clean water agcy.: EPA.
9. Backseat drivers, e.g.: RIDERS 😀
10. Video Olympics platform: ATARI.
11. "Maybe, maybe not": WHO'S TO SAY - How 'bout another way to ask it by a 22-yr-old Johnny Mathis on a 1957 Ed Sullivan Show?
12. "As requested": HERE YOU GO.
13. Some steinfuls: ALES.
14. Physical pros: MDS - During my yearly required physical with my MD, he and I mostly talk about space and golf for 20 minutes.
21. Welcomed: ASKED IN.
23. Farm moms: COWS - Ewes and sows get the day off
24. Guys: HES.
25. Decathlon event: SHOTPUT.
26. Legends: LORE - King Arthur and Robin Hood are two legends of England
28. Quarry: PREY.
29. Flight-related prefix: AERO.
30. Tawny __: PORT - Port Defined All ports are made from a blend of grapes grown throughout Portugal's Douro valley. There are two kinds of port: tawny and ruby. Tawny is aged in wooden casks and released ready to drink, while ruby ages more in bottle than in wood and generally requires many years of cellaring. You're welcome!
31. "The __ Crew": Milwaukee nickname: BREW - Very familiar to baseball peeps
32. Attractive figure?: SALE PRICE - SALE_R_C_ led me to SALES RACK for too long of a price
33. "The Boys" superhero who fires destructive beams: STARLIGHT - Neither the comic book nor broadcast has crossed my path. All you want (or don't want) to know
36. Low bar?: DIVE - This DIVE is The Bottom Road Bar and is just across the Platte River from my golf course. It has great burgers and unbelievably low prices. Grandson and I ate all that for $13.00 total after 18 holes.
38. Sun chaser?: MON 😀 Oh, it's a calendar deal!
40. Hustler: CONMAN - Fast Eddie Felson leaps to my mind when I see that word. His drinking was one thing that put a 43. Snag: HITCH in his plans.
40. Hustler: CONMAN - Fast Eddie Felson leaps to my mind when I see that word. His drinking was one thing that put a 43. Snag: HITCH in his plans.
42. "Me too": SO AM I.
44. "Cocaine Bear" actor __ Jackson Jr.: OSHEA.
45. Singer Rimes: LEANN.
46. Paid to play: ANTED.
47. "Facts!": TRUE.
48. Not much: A TAD.
49. Parks of Alabama: ROSA
50. Small float: BOB - 😀 Also called a bobber. It was not my last fill but it was my last, "Oh, now I get it! Fishing gear."
52. Squeak (out): EKE.
53. Once called: NEE - More brides seem to be keeping their birth names.
