Saturday, May 14, 2022, Beth Rubin

Saturday Themeless by Beth Rubin 

Last December I blogged a Saturday themeless that Beth constructed with Brad Wilber. Today our librarian from Los Angeles has her first solo entry. Here are her comments on this puzzle: 

 

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.

48. 1856 Stowe novel: DRED - This was her second anti-slavery book whose title by coincidence presaged the DRED Scott decision of the next year.

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.

55. Dong-hyuk who created "Squid Game": HWANG - Gee, I'd like to know more about this

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!

13. Table: PUT ON ICE and 14. "Maybe later": I CAN'T NOW 

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.

31. "__ how I roll": THAT'S - Blog Saturday puzzles? THAT'S how I roll!

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 

Saturday, September 25, 2021, Adrian Johnson

Saturday Themeless by Adrian Johnson 

I first encountered Adrian Johnson on Feb. 13 of this year when he co-authored a Saturday themeless with Jeff Chen. Today we have a solo puzzle by Adrian with a very striking grid design. Adrian's comments:

Hi all,

It’s great to be back in the LA Times, and I’m excited to share my take on one of the most iconic themeless patterns of recent memory with you this weekend. 

 

I started with a NE crossing of PR BLITZ & ZEDONKS, which I thought was a fun, lively and scrabbly launching point for my creative thinking (though it didn’t survive my final edits). When I moved south and got JALISCO/JUKEBOX/XY PLANE to work in the SE, I knew I was onto something. My favorite clues that survived edits are 18A (which I owe to Brad Wilber), 41A and 41D, while my favorite entries are 15A, 1D and 8D.

 

Ultimately, I’m delighted by the end product, a feeling not based on how I might judge a “fun” or “lively” crossword, but instead rooted in the variety of words and phrases I was able to fit into the puzzle. The grid’s 36 7-letter entries give ample opportunity for a constructor to push themselves to develop an engaging picture of our world using many parts of life and culture, forcing solvers to stretch their brain and use all their knowledge to get to a victorious finish. In just one corner of this grid you get Mexican geography, French language, English playwriting, two musical entries that couldn’t be more different, some math, a cleaning agent and a tedious synonym. That kind of diversity is what makes me the happiest when reminiscing on this year-old crossword.

Thank you for taking a crossword journey with me on this fine Saturday, and I hope you enjoyed the puzzle! 

My email adrian johnson 435 at gmail.com is open to anyone wanting to chat about crossword stuff, or life in general. I’d love to hear from you!

-AJ

Across

1. P.D.Q. Bach's "Iphigenia in Brooklyn," e.g.: CANTATA - A CANTATA is a musical a medium-length narrative piece of music for voices with instrumental accompaniment, typically with solos, chorus, and orchestra. Peter Schickele's group performs many fun pieces mocking classical music and this is one of them. Here is some of this silliness

8. Dumpling cooker, perhaps: STEAMER - I wrote to C.C. and told her I'd bet a lot of money that she has a bamboo STEAMER. Her reply: "You lose! We have a small kitchen. These steamers are so bulky. In China, all families have steamers. Chinese don't bake bread. We steam mantou (Chinese bread)."

15. So cool it hurts: UBER HIP.

16. Cost of winging it?: AIRFARE - A fun Adrian clue. 

17. Court figures: LAWYERS - William Jennings Bryan v. Clarence Darrow is a very famous pairing

18. Bistro cheese?: MAITRED - A MAÎTRE D is a "big cheese" in a restaurant. I struggled for the name of a cheese and then for recognizing the French word i generated but got 'er done.

19. "90 Day Fiancé" airer: TLC - Google if you must

20. Fireballs, e.g.: METEORS - Pieces of space rock that usually just burn up in the Earth's atmosphere can be streaking across the sky in this long exposure picture 

22. Kings, on NBA scoreboards: SAC - Even Omaha was a part of  this family tree from 1973 - 1975

23. Ungulate feature: HOOF - Good advice I seldom heed

25. Music with conga drums: SALSA - Desi Arnaz's/Ricky Ricardo's instrument of choice

26. Nigerian pop star: SADE - Let's take a nice, smooth jazz break

27. Get a tat: INK UP.

29. Connection: TIE.

30. ESPN analyst Rose: JALEN and 47. Net support: RIM - Those RIMS are now spring loaded so they don't break off when guys like JALEN Rose used to dunk on them

31. Adolescents: TEENERS - Okay, if Merriman Webster says so...

33. Samovar transport: TEA CART.

35. Bit of hope: RAY.

36. German gripe: ACH.

37. Offered as proof: ADDUCED.

41. Pay-to-play system: JUKEBOX - This would not pass the woke test today

45. Director Sergio: LEONE.

46. Sr. income source: IRA.

48. Emotionless: STONY.

49. Streaming concerns: LAGS - A new ISP is coming to our town and promises much faster downloads

50. Skate park features: RAILS - What could possibly go wrong?

52. Leader of a popular breakfast trio: SNAP, Crackle and Pop. A great item in your Keto diet.

53. ER personnel: MDS.

54. "Heather Has Two __": 1989 children's book: MOMMIES - My neighbor's grandson has two MOMMIES and they are both lovely women.

56. Buck Henry was the first to host it five times, briefly: SNL - Who knew it would be a big hit in TV and crosswords?

57. "Do we have the ok?": IS IT A GO - Our constructors' conversations with Rich. Rich's reply, "Yeah, were' going to give it a 4. Shot: TRY."

59. Common cleanser: SAL SODA - It's been around for decades 

61. Habitual surfer: NETIZEN.

62. Medieval trumpet: CLARION.

63. London area: EASTEND.

64. "The Entertainer" playwright: OSBORNE.

Down:

1. "The Rocky Horror Picture Show," e.g.: CULT HIT - Ya think?

2. Awabi sushi mollusk: ABALONE.

3. Unsuccessful rollout that tried to imitate Pepsi: NEW COKE - The Edsel of soft drinks

5. "I'm talking now": AHEM.

6. Rotation targets: TIRES - Most say you should rotate your tires every 7,500 miles

7. High-level H.S. math course: AP STATS.

8. Abenaki leader who first contacted Plymouth settlers: SAMOSET - He is said to have wandered into the Plymouth camp and asked for some beer in English which he learned from British sailors with whom he had had contact on the coast

9. Crown: TIARA.

10. Goddess of discord: ERIS - Here ya go

11. Sailor's direction: AFT.

12. Wine used to flavor zabaglione: MARSALA.

13. Modern book case?: E-READER.

14. Trifling sum: RED CENT - Derivation

21. Certain Ivy Leaguer: ELI.

24. Community-building races: FUN RUNS - FUN and RUN in the same sentence?

26. Potpourri packets: SACHETS.

28. Parting word: PEACE - The one-word sign off word for the host of the original Today Show, Dave Garroway

30. Pickup game: JACKS - The set I had

32. Manhattan liquor: RYE -  2 oz RYE or Canadian whisky, 3/4 oz Sweet red vermouth, Dash Angostura bitters, Maraschino cherry (Garnish)

34. Café freebie: EAU

37. Hardly sharing words: ALL MINE.

38. Jordan River outlet: DEAD SEA.

39. Monitors a Lab, say: DOG SITS - Uh, that lab is a canine, not a scientific area

40. Place to play ball: DIAMOND.

41. State known for its tequila: JALISCO - Blue Agave plants used to make tequila in a field near Tequila, Mexico in the state of Jalisco 

42. Lyon greeting: BON SOIR - Good Evening in Lyon and the rest of France

43. Without respite: ON AND ON.

44. Where many plots are made: XY PLANE - Plot these points in an XY PLANE (Cartesian Plane), join the points and you got yourself a triangle 

50. Seth who played Wozniak in "Steve Jobs": ROGEN - ROGEN and Woz below

51. Makes watertight: SEALS.

54. Place to use an exit strategy: MAZE.

55. Rock quarry unit: SLAB - This quarry in Carrara, Italy produced the SLAB that Michelangelo used for the David

58. Start of a fair exchange: TIT - TIT for tat

60. Sign of success: SRO - Husker VB has a streak of 270 consecutive sellouts and so Standing Room Only tickets are all that are available for games