Saturday Themeless by Beth Rubin
Hi Gary,
Of course I remember you! So glad to hear that you liked the puzzle. I rewrote/updated what I had written last time with additional comments about the puzzle. See below:
Thanks for inviting me back to the L.A. Times Crossword Corner! Originally from New York, I am a librarian, crossword constructor, writer, and artist living in Los Angeles. My puzzles have been published by the New York Times, L.A. Times, Universal, Crosswords Club, Spyscape, and Daily POP Crosswords.
I was fortunate to connect to Erik Agard and the Crossword Puzzle Collaboration Directory just a few weeks into learning how to construct a puzzle. The guidance and mentorship have been stellar. The crossword community’s generosity, humor, and creativity continue to inspire me.
I’m a big fan of V Spehar’s TikTok UNDER THE DESK NEWS segment and built a 16x15 themeless puzzle around this seed entry. During their Thursday Night Good News Only Update, V wears a banana-printed shirt. I was happy to include the entry BANANA SEAT as a nod to good news. This puzzle also has a nod to my dad, who taught me my first CHESS OPENING moves, and my wife, who thank goodness, did not find me UNDATEABLE!
A special thanks to Patti Varol for her superb editing, encouragement and support.
Hope that you enjoy the puzzle!
Beth
Across:
1. Improve one's class?: SKIP A GRADE.
11. Quick: RAPID.
16. Alcopop kin: WINE COOLER.
17. Bring out: EDUCE - The clue did bring out EVOKE first
18. Single, but way too flawed: UNDATEABLE - Also a TV series it seems
19. Giant: TITAN.
20. Polish site: NAIL - Not Warsaw
21. "Git!": SCAT.
22. Nucleotide triplet: CODON - All you'd like to know
23. Test for some srs.: GRE.
24. Cena of "Peacemaker": JOHN.
25. Mariah Carey holiday hit: OH SANTA - Listen if you like
27. Resort town named for a native tree: ASPEN.
29. Mixed __: BLESSING - Living to a ripe old age can be a mixed BLESSING
30. Full of nervous energy: RESTLESS.
33. "The Rotters' Club" novelist Jonathan: COE - "Three teenage friends grow up in 1970s Britain watching their lives change as their world gets involved with IRA bombs, progressive and punk rock, girls and political strikes."
34. Current events TikTok segment that V Spehar broadcasts from their office floor: UNDER THE DESK NEWS.
39. Milne hopper: ROO - One of our cwd visitors from the 100 Acre Wood
40. Famished: RAVENOUS - Check out 44 Across!
41. Holiness: SANCTITY.
44. Étouffée option: PRAWN.
47. Arctic wear: ANORAKS.
50. Umbrella spoke: RIB.
52. Word in British placenames: SHIRE - Yes, John Wheeley Lea and William Henry Perrins created what became known as WorcesterSHIRE (WUUS-tər-shər) sauce in WorcesteSHIRE, England in the early 18th century. It's said to be a good example of umami flavor.
53. Natural satellite: MOON.
54. "Have it your way": FINE.
54. "Have it your way": FINE.
56. "Can I have a bit more time?": TEN MINUTES?
58. Make one: MERGE - Make one lane
59. Wheelie bike feature: BANANA SEAT.
60. Mascot whose weight is listed as "Top Heavy": MR. MET
61. Challenges for a translator, perhaps: SLANG TERMS - 24 more
Down:
1. Chased a pitch: SWUNG.
2. Kwanzaa candelabra: KINARA.
3. West __: INDIES.
4. Toll: PEAL - After his historic ride, Paul Revere made many bells that tolled/PEALED throughout New England
5. Do one's part?: ACT - Nice cluing for either meaning
6. Walks out, say: GOES ON STRIKE - My neighbor played for the Dallas Cowboys after the NFL went on strike in 1987.
7. Laurel and Hardy producer: ROACH - Hal made big money on this fabulous team but paid them very little
8. First British martyr: ALBAN - When Rome ruled Britain
9. Scapula neighbor, for short: DELT - Ella Dershowitz had DELTS and 22. Queen's gambit, for one: CHESS OPENING in last Saturday's puzzle
10. Long start, once: ERE - A famous George M. Cohan lyric, "Give my regards to Old Broadway
And say that I'll be there, 'ERE long!" and 28. Tense beginning?: PRE - PRETENSE
11. Throw again: RETOSS - There should have been one here
12. Brand whose website has a "3 Stripe Life" section: ADIDAS - Yup!
15. Cozy spot: DEN.
24. Raspberry: JEER.
25. Elizabeth who plays Scarlet Witch in the MCU: OLSEN - No chance for me to get this Marvel Comic Universe character
26. Improves, maybe: AGES - I'm seem to be doing a lot more AGING than improving
29. Eliot title hero: BEDE - The four English teachers I asked about this clue during lunch gave me a collective shrug about this Mary Ann Evans novel written under her pseudonym.
32. Tax: LEVY.
34. Bear up?: URSA.
35. "It went straight to voice mail": NO ANSWER.
36. 2014 memoir subtitled "Stories of Life, Death, and Brain Surgery": DO NO HARM - Another interesting looking book our librarian/constructor has for us today
37. Western Asia native: KURD - My first west Asian native for _ U R _ was a TURK not a KURD
38. Govt. cybersecurity monitor: NSA.
42. [I'm so uncomfortable right now]: CRINGE.
43. Retailer with a RedCard credit card: TARGET - Headquartered in C.C.'s Minneapolis
45. Bell hooks, for one: WRITER - Why Gloria Jean Watkins changed her name to uncapitalized bell hooks
46. Time slot with talk shows: NINE A.M.
48. Part of DKNY: DONNA - DONNA Karan of New York
49. "Succession" sibling: ROMAN - A character in this series
51. Tops: BESTS - These two girls should score 70 points by themselves to TOP/BEAT much bigger schools for a state championship at the state track meet next week.
53. Happy __: MEAL.
54. Make one: FUSE - This shows glass FUSE art before and after being put in a kiln
55. "Let me think ... ": HMM.
56. "Full Frontal" network: TBS - If you're interested
57. D.C. player: NAT - The Washington NATionalS were 2019 World Series Championships
