L.A.Times Crossword Corner

Mar 9, 2024

Saturday, March 9, 2024, Jamey Smith

Saturday Themeless by Jamey Smith

Jamie knew I would be blogging his puzzle and so he sent me this note: Not that you asked for one, but here’s an updated photo of yours truly. The real star of the shot, I’m sure you’ll agree, is a certain five-letter landmark that makes regular appearances in the cross-world. Thought your readers might appreciate seeing it freed from the grid for a change. Looking forward to your full CC post.

This is my ninth Saturday Themeless Puzzle of Jamey's I have blogged. He is a former Texas University employe and always supplies a puzzle full of charm and learning but today he has no sympathy for me for 27 Down as you will see.

Across:

1. Opportunity to work from home?: AT BAT - How's that for a cute start?

Harmon Killebrew
One of C.C.'s favs

6. News agency that covered Sputnik: TASS.

10. __-town: CHI.

13. Welcome addition: CHERRY ON TOP 😀

16. Kicked things off: LED.

17. Relic: MUSEUM PIECE - PIECES from the Apple MUSEUM all of which were "state of the art" items I owned at one time. 🤔

18. Cinnabar, e.g.: ORE - Cinnabar ORE and mercury refined from such ORE

19. Italian pronoun: ESSA.

20. Endorheic basin between Europe and Asia: CASPIAN SEA - An endorheic basin is defined as a region in which the river network is completely isolated from the world's oceans: the water flowing in the rivers never reaches the sea. Yeah, I knew that! 😀

22. "I'm Yours" singer: MRAZ - A fun listen.

24. Onetime Dodge: ARIES - The K cars were cheap, reasonably reliable and provided cheap transportation. They brought the Chrysler Corporation back from the brink of bankruptcy.

25. Short getaways?: VACAYS - It would be totes adorbs to take your bae with you on a VACAY 😫

28. Source of stability: BALLAST - Loading BALLAST in the bottom of a Viking Longboat for stability

30. Run into a hitch?: ELOPE 😀

31. South Asians living abroad: DESIS.

32. On a roll: HOT.

34. Karate levels: DANS.

35. Langley, Va., campus: CIA HQ.

36. Kellerman who writes Rina Lazarus mystery novels: FAYE - “My series characters are like family to me. They actually talk to me, telling me what to write and what not to write. And when they talk, I always listen” ― Faye Kellerman

37. Pomeranian pick-me-up?: ARF 😀

38. Fair: SUNNY.

39. Delight in: SAVOR.

40. Sequence depicting the passage of time, e.g.: MONTAGE - This is a great one whose ending has become a symbol of a city.

42. Cram: BONE UP - This weekend I have to BONE UP on finding surface areas of geometric solids so I can teach it on Monday. Derivation of the phrase

43. Former: PRIOR.

44. Orange stuff: PULP and 44. Orange stuff: PEELS. How fun!!

45. Expert in creature comforts?: GAME KEEPER 😀

48. __ Voyage: concert residency featuring avatars of a Swedish pop group: ABBA. These concerts feature virtual avatars (dubbed 'ABBAtars'), depicting the group as they appeared in 1979, and utilize the songs' re-recorded vocals from the group themselves in a studio in Sweden specifically for this show. Tickets start at £55 for this amazing experience.

52. Quarter of tetra-: UNI - 1/4 of four is one

53. Möbius strip, for one: ENDLESS LOOP - I loved making these with kids. We traced with a pencil and wound up right back where we started with a line on both sides of the strip without lifting the pencil.

55. With 57-Across, unleash: LET 57. See 55-Across: FLY.

56. Secretive state: STEALTH MODE.

58. Hill workers: ANTS.

59. County south of Suffolk: ESSEX.

In Massachusetts it is the other way around:

Down:

1. Do-It Yourself Tornado Kit company: ACME.

2. "It follows ... ": THUS.

3. White House resident between Eleanor and Mamie: BESS - Mrs. Truman

4. Tour guides?: AREA MAPS.

5. "Ur so right": TRU. K

6. Utah's state gem: TOPAZ - TOPAZ Mountain in western Utah

7. French cordial flavoring: ANIS.

8. Flight segment: STEP 😀

9. Ability to read the room, say: SOCIAL IQ.

10. Narrow escape: CLOSE SHAVE.

11. "I raise my glass": HERE'S TO YOU.

12. Inkling: IDEA.

14. Places that might have pool queues: YMCAS 😀

15. Cultured set: PEARLS.

Real PEARLS feel slightly rough
fake ones feel very smooth

21. Director DaCosta: NIA.

23. Barley kin: RYE.

25. Rig __: Sanskrit text with more than 1,000 hymns: VEDA - More info

26. Security hub: ALARM PANEL.

27. Sheepishness?: CONFORMITY - Wow, Jamey, this is off the charts for trickery! 😳 I told him that and he replied, As for 27-D, all I will say is … baa!

28. "Moneyball" figure Billy: BEANE - Billy BEANE was a radical general manager of the Oakland A's and Brad Pitt played him in this great "inside baseball" movie.

29. Wan: ASHY.

31. [That's right!]: DING 😀

33. U. of Maryland player: TERP - Short for terrapin

35. Ocho x cinco: CUARENTA - Si trabaja ocho horas a cinco dólares la hora, ganará CUARENTA dólares (If you work eight hours for five dollar per hour, you will make forty dollars)

36. Trees with pinwheel-like leaves: FAN PALMS.