Today’s Newsday Saturday Stumper, by Greg Johnson, made me remember a line from Thomas Campion: “I care not for these ladies.” I cared not for this puzzle, which I found exceedingly difficult and unjoyous. I kept going back to square one, literally, and did not finish, having erred with 1-A, seven letters, “Had principally.” The correct answer there (which I just didn’t see) would have helped me see the answer for 1-D, eight letters, “Bloke harvesting beetroot.” Huh? And speaking of “Huh?”: how about 6-D, five letters, “It’s planted in home gardens.” Huh?
Some clue-and-answer pairs I especially liked:
30-A, eight letters, “Unquestioning.” Looking up the answer (which I knew had to be right) helped me understand a line in the 1931 Dracula that has always baffled me. I thought the writers had made a mistake. But no.
32-A, nine letters, “Tourist trap?” I know a different variety. When I finally saw the answer, I was happy.
33-D, seven letters, “Surveyor's angular measure.” I thought the answer must be the name of a tool, something like a sextant, and I had it, but no, it’s not a tool. Life-long learning!
56-D, four letters, “Moving day instruction.” Terse, terse.
65-A, five letters, “Broken-off branches.” Clever.
A pair of answers that almost pair: 27-A, six letters, “Pat alternative” and 54-A, three letters, “First Family member, 50 years ago.” Weird.
And a clue to which I take exception: 36-A, seven letters, “Tablet smaller than a smartphone.” No.
No spoilers: answers, explanations, and a rebuttal are in the comments.
Saturday, October 3, 2020
Today’s Saturday Stumper
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comments: 6
LIVEDON. I had DINEDON, which makes no sense, but it was the best I could do. My wrong answer also yielded NANPOOLS for VANPOOLS, another mistake I didn’t catch.
LABOURER. OMEGA. There’s a hydroponic gardening system called the Omega Garden. But here, OMEGA is “planted” in “hOME GArdens.” Another cryptic answer I understood only when beginning to explain why I didn’t understand it.
IMPLICIT. Renfield tells the Count, “I’ve followed your instructions implicitly.” The OED on implicitly: “with implicit faith, confidence, submission, etc.; unquestioningly.”
HEDGEMAZE. I’m more familiar with corn.
AZIMUTH. HERE. SECTS. TRISHA. PAT. (It’s Tricia Nixon.)
LOZENGE. Granted, the OED says that a lozenge is “a small cake or tablet” and that a tablet is “a small disc or lozenge.” But a lozenge is “to be held and dissolved in the mouth,” and a tablet is “designed to be swallowed whole.” This clue is too clever for its own good.
I don't like it when puzzle entries also appear in clue answers. I entered PAT right away but deleted it when I saw it in a clue.
It's not a strict rule per se, but it's an inelegance that's easily avoided, and an aid to the solver when the rule is followed.
I highly recommend Friday's too if you haven't done it. Very clever.
Yes, that was a good one. I do the Newsday puzzle daily. Friday was exceptionally good.
I wait until I see your Saturday Stumper post, then I start at Monday and work through the week during the morning. I can rarely finish the Stumper.
Keep at it! I used to rarely finish. But doing them teaches you how to do them, if that makes sense.
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