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Aug 27, 2022

Saturday, August 27, 2022, Rich Norris

 Saturday Themeless by Rich Norris

Our former LA Times Puzzle editor returns as a constructor and is even using his real name and not an anagram. You will be fascinated by this C.C.'s 2009 interview with Rich and also by the pseudonyms and anagrams he used as aliases when posting puzzles. The fact that I have a lifelong problem of spelling AMATEUR and no knowledge of RARE GEM and VEGA were a speed bump. All's well that ends well.  Are you like me in wondering if any of Rich's clues got changed?


Across:

1. File: ARCHIVE.


8. Go as low as: STOOP TO - what one does if he/she 15. Tightens, say: RELACES.

16. Observation when Porky leaves: PIG TAIL.


17. Ready: ON ALERT.

18. "I'll do it": ALLOW ME - Is this okay these days?


19. Pass with a wave?: SAIL BY - Fun clue about a boat on a wave

20. Up to one's eyeballs: IN DEEP.
21. "Street Scene" playwright Rice: ELMER More. Bugs Bunny's nemesis Fudd ain't cuttin' it on Saturday. 

22. Water line?: WAKE.

23. D.C. United's first home: RFK - That stadium is now deserted and will be torn down


26. Obscures: BEDIMS.
28. Belinda Carlisle album with French songs and Irish musicians: VOILA - Are this and  Chutzpah the most mispronounced/misspelled words in fairly common use in America?


30. Corkers: BEAUTS and 51. Humdinger: RARE GEM - I'm familiar with the former but the latter, not so much

31. Pub freebie: BAR NUT.

32. Confection that reportedly improves heart health: DARK CHOCOLATE.


34. Small tower: TURRET - Here's a Turret on the USS Monitor, the North's iron clad in the Civil war

35. Lots: DOZENS.

36. Companion of Dionysus: SATYR Here ya go

37. Fit: BELONG - A goal for school kids and, uh, adults too.

38. TY preceder, maybe: PLS - When saying Thank You and PLeaSe just take too much time. Last week Matt and Christina had IT ME substitute for IT'S ME

39. "Never __ the comments": READ.


40. Scoring instructions: TEMPI - Tina Turner's version of Proud Mary has two TEMPI. starts slow and then, BOOM... (4+ min)

44. Saved for later, in a way: TIVOED.

47. One of the Istari, in Middle-earth: WIZARD - I'll admit I don't know any of them but the fill had to be WIZARD.


48. Tinkerer: AMATEUR - If there's a spelling bee, I hope I don't get this word

50. Disinfectant distilled from needles: PINE OIL Pine-Sol was based on PINE OIL from Mississippi pine trees when it was created in 1929 and during its rise to national popularity in the 1950s. However, as of 2016, Pine-Sol products sold in stores no longer contain pine oil, which was done to reduce costs. You're welcome.

52. Feature of an assured fit: ONE SIZE - ONE SIZE does not always fit all

53. On point: GERMANE.

54. Scottish dogs: WESTIES - WESTIES and Scottish Terriers are both from Scotland and are closely related but WESTIES are always white and Scottish Terriers are never white.



Down:

1. Stopped lying?: AROSE - STOOD was the right idea but wrong word

2. __ artery: RENAL - The RENAL artery (red) bring oxygenated blood to the kidneys and the RENAL veins take the deoxygenated blood (blue) away


3. Maintain: CLAIM.

4. "Bruised" director: HALLE BERRY - She directed and starred and says she doesn't think she'll do that double duty again.


5. Party exercise: ICE BREAKER - The answers to these questions could be 
6. Rather: VERY funny or at least interesting.


7. Suffix for records: EST - The winner of the Olympic 100 meter dash is considered to be the fastEST man in the world

100 meter records since 1900

8. Defeats soundly, in sports slang: SPANKS.


9. Piñata feature: TILDE - Meta cluing. The word Piñata has a TILDE

10. Look that causes discomfort: OGLE.

11. Member of the Siouan family: OTOE.


12. Images on Clemson Tigers merchandise: PAW PRINTS.


13. Cook with a lot of Apples?: TIM - Tim Cook has been the CEO of Apple since 2011

14. Shout of support: OLE.

20. "My goose is cooked": I AM SO DEAD - Do all of you know this lyric: "The movie wasn't so hot, It didn't have much of a plot, We fell asleep, our goose is cookedOur reputation is shot"?       (* answer at bottom of write-up)

22. Lead-in to draw or hold: WITH - If you WITHDRAW from your job, they will WITHHOLD your pay.

24. Furnace part: FLUE.

25. Dennings of "2 Broke Girls": KAT - After ten minutes I realized that streams of sarcasm and low grade sexual innuendos are not my cup of TV. YMMV.

KAT is on the left
27. Tear __: DUCT.

28. Midwinter honorees: VALENTINES.

29. Grated ingredient in cranberry relish, often: ORANGE ZEST - Three ingredients you see here. Ready? Set on grate.


30. MVP of the first two Super Bowls: BART STARR - Packer QB

31. Clown whose voice inspired Krusty of "The Simpsons": BOZO.

32. Binary: DUAL.

33. Down __: COLD - I may never have the spelling of amateur (thanks auto correct) down COLD.

34. One of six in a fl. oz.: TSP - My physics lab never used oz. or TSP's

37. "Toss a can my way": BEER ME - Give me another brew

39. City on the Seine: ROUEN - The other more famous 5-letter French city on the Seine is only a 1hr 40min drive to the SE on theA13.



41. Don DeLillo title inspired by an Andy Warhol print series: MAO II.


42. Hold dear: PRIZE.

43. Runs without moving: IDLES - Tach reads 900 rpm but the speedometer says 0 mph. To paraphrase Matt and Christina, "You idling"


45. Market unit: ITEM.

46. Singer-songwriter Suzanne: VEGA Here's a sample

47. "Sideways" subject: WINE.


48. S.A. country bordering five others: ARG.


49. Novelist Rita __ Brown: MAE.


50. Sound of a sock: POW - When you think of campy TV...



*That "cooked goose" was a lyric from Wake Up Little Susie the Everly Brothers' first #1 song in 1957 

Notes from C.C.:

1) So nice to see you back, Rich!

2) Happy birthday to Lemonade (Jason), our faithful Friday Sherpa! Despite his health issues, he never missed a Friday writeup and continues to bring out the best in every crossword. Thank you, Lemonade!

Lemonade and his sons and nephew

3) Happy birthday to our kind and caring guru Vidwan also!