Saturday Themeless by Steve Mossberg
Hi Gary,
I’m a music teacher in the Boston area and have been solving crosswords as quickly as possible for a couple of decades now. I began constructing in 2019, and have since developed a particular affinity for making cryptic crosswords as well.I started building this grid around the central entry POP BUMPER. I love playing pinball, and it involves a lot of lively language that’s well-suited to puzzles. Many pinheads are also crossword solvers, so I’m excited to hear their reactions! The second anchoring point was THELONIOUS Monk. As a jazz pianist myself, I was shocked to find that one of the true greats hadn’t had his first name in a grid. From solving crosswords alone, you’d think Al HIRT and ELLA Fitzgerald had the scene cornered. Fellow constructors, let’s get some more of these legends into our grids!
In addition to adding his own fun clues to the puzzle, Rich made a lot of small tweaks that gave this one an extra layer of elegance. I enjoyed the subtle punning angles he found for POP BUMPER and TRANCE, and thought it was cool that he included George Takei in his clue for AKIRA.
I like a light touch in my grids and cluing and feel proud of the ones for IT’S A SECRET, [“No telling”] and SPELL [One often cast in fantasy movies]. [Iron-rich potluck staple] for SPINACH DIP also makes me chuckle, because it’s such an odd way to talk about party food.
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| Give us a downbeat, Steve! |
Let me know if you need anything else. I look forward to seeing how it comes out!
-Steve
1. Wild way to go: BANANAS.
8. Holds up: STYMIES - Until about 100 years ago this was a golf rule/strategy. If your ball was between the hole and your opponent's ball, he was obligated to putt around you or jump over your ball. Now the closer ball is lifted, the position marked and the player farthest away putts.
15. Suggestive comment to a nearby lover: I'M ALONE - Uh, what'd have in mind?
16. Overseas play area?: THEATRE - Here are two such "play areas" in Stratford Upon Avon
17. Bad mark: DEMERIT
18. Enters gingerly: EASES IN.
19. Wields: EXERTS - Congressional majority and minority leaders EXERT a lot of power
20. __ party: PITY.
21. "There's more, right?": AND.
22. Monk famed for his unorthodox piano playing: THELONIOUS - A jazz pianist like Steve.
25. Samantha Bee's network: TBS.
28. Go very slowly: SEEP.
29. Race on skis: SUPER-G - If the Giant Slalom isn't quite fast enough, you can put the gates farther apart, widen them and call it the SUPER-Giant Slalom. Speeds might reach 90 mph. Yikes!
32. Impressive six-pack: RIPPED ABS and 39. Wrestler John: CENA.
35. Reminder of a bad scrape: SCAR.
36. "The Simpsons" waiter first voiced by George Takei: AKIRA - Steve liked Rich's inclusion of George Takei in the cluing
37. Small seal: PUP - Awwww...
38. Aptly named subsidiary of American Eagle Outfitters: AERIE - Walk right on in from the American Eagle Outfitters store
40. Common sense approach to determining authenticity: SMELL TEST - SMELL TEST is usually a metaphor but here it is literal.
42. Blank state: TRANCE.
45. Walk with effort: PLOD.
46. Gossip, in modern parlance: TEA - I filled it in but had no idea why. I had a group of 16-yr-old girls in a study hall and asked if they knew what TEA meant in slang and everyone of them giggled and yelled out "gossip". They taught me some more slang (e.g. "Nice cut, G) and laughed really hard because "It sounds so funny when you say it, Mr Schlapfer." FWIW, they had never heard of "dish the dirt"! A thorough explanation of the phrase
47. Adoption site: CAT SHELTER - This is the night Lily adopted us at the Capital Humane Society in Lincoln
50. Work the aisles, slangily: USH(er) - More slang
52. Swizzle: STIR.
53. Least common hit: TRIPLE.
57. Orange liqueur cocktail: SIDECAR.
59. Show the door: LEAD OUT.
60. Qatar, for one: EMIRATE - Qatar is an EMIRATE but not a member of the UAE
61. Fantasy beasts: DRAGONS - The one I know "lived by the sea in a land called Honah Lee.
62. No longer green, perhaps: RIPENED.
63. Working well with others: SYNERGY.
Down:
1. Wait for: BIDE - Oh Danny Boy: "You must go and I must BIDE."
2. Charging option: AMEX.
4. Heads-up: ALERT.
5. View from The Hague: NORTH SEA.
6. Palate cleanser at Indian restaurants: ANISEED.
7. A concert may feature one or more: SET - A two SET list written on the back of a postcard by Paul McCartney for an April 2, 1963 concert in Sheffield, England
8. Hofbräuhaus vessel: STEIN - Ja, bier!
9. To wit: THAT IS - Legalese
10. Finger-pointing words: YES YOU - Moi?
11. Whitman who voices Tinker Bell in the Disney Fairies franchise: MAE.
12. "No telling": IT'S A SECRET - "Don't spill the TEA!"
13. Multi-instrumentalist McKeown: ERIN.
14. Mail: SEND.
20. Pinball component that keeps the ball moving: POP BUMPER.
23. Vaults: LEAPS.
24. Knock over: UPSET.
25. Development site: TRACT - Levittown in postwar NY
26. Hog lover: BIKER.
27. Iron-rich potluck staple: SPINACH DIP.
30. Up: RAISE - Up as a verb - My Omaha newspaper has decided to RAISE/up my subscription price
31. "Little Women" (2019) writer/director Gerwig: GRETA.
33. Sanskrit for "life force": PRANA.
38. Leia's home planet: ALDERAAN.
41. Hard-to-win game: LOTTERY - 1 in 175,711,536 chance of winning
43. ER procedure: CT SCAN - It can inadvertently test for claustrophobia
44. Type of sale frequented by antiquers: ESTATE.
48. Brought on board: HIRED - "We Are HIRING" signs are ubiquitous these days
49. Chip feature, maybe: RIDGE.
50. App buyer: USER.
51. California's __ Valley: SIMI - An hour from LA (if traffic is moving!)
54. Shoddy: POOR.
55. Breather: LUNG - Polio treatment used the negative air pressure from iron LUNGS in the early to mid 20th century. Today the positive air pressure from respirators is used for LUNG issues
56. Modern artisan marketplace: ETSY - ETSY
58. Poetic preposition: ERE.
59. Church based in SLC, Utah: LDS.
58. Poetic preposition: ERE.
59. Church based in SLC, Utah: LDS.
