Today’s Newsday Saturday crossword, by Matthew Sewell, is a satisfying puzzle. Nothing like last week’s Saturday (which was a Stumper in everything but name), and too many three-letter answers (seventeen of seventy-two), but still a good puzzle, with tough spots here and there and two triple-stacks of ten-letter answers.
Some clue-and-answer pairs I especially liked:
1-A, ten letters, “Hard to read at the table.” Just because I saw it right away.
22-D, five letters, “Taco truck descriptor.” A tad misdirective.
34-D, nine letters, “Action or war.” Unexpected.
35-D, nine letters, “It’s carried out.” Regularly.
64-A, four letters, “Smartphone add-on.” Not that obvious at first.
One clue I take exception to: 40-A, five letters, “Word from the Greek for ‘skill-less person.’” The phrasing here is tricky: Is it a word for ‘skill-less person’ that comes from the Greek? Or is it a word that comes from the Greek word for ‘skill-less person’? It’s meant to be the latter, but it’s a bit of a reach to tie the Greek word to this meaning. I’ve written more about the Greek word in the comments.
No spoilers; the answers are in the comments.
Saturday, July 24, 2021
Today’s Newsday Saturday
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POKERFACED. ASADA. FILMGENRE. TOGOORDER. SKIN. IDIOT.
My guess is that the clue for IDIOT comes by way of the Online Etymology Dictionary: “from Greekidiotes ‘layman, person lacking professional skill’ (opposed to writer, soldier, skilled workman), literally ‘private person’ (as opposed to one taking part in public affairs), used patronizingly for ‘ignorant person,’ from idios ‘one’s own.’
The Oxford English Dictionary: “ancient Greek ἰδιώτης private person, person without professional knowledge, layman, ignorant, ill-informed person.”
Merriam-Webster: “The Greek adjectiveidios means ‘one’s own’ or ‘private.’ The derivative nounidiōtēs means ‘private person.’ A Greekidiōtēs was a person who was not in the public eye, who held no public office. From this came the sense ‘common man,’ and later ‘ignorant person’ — a natural extension, for the common people of ancient Greece were not, in general, particularly learned.”
Liddell and Scott’s Greek–English Lexicon gives covers these possibilities and more. Their Intermediate Greek-English Lexicon simplifies things: “a private person, an individual,” “one in a private station, opp. to one taking part in public affairs,” “one who has no professional knowledge,” “unpractised, unskilled in a thing,” “a raw hand, an ignorant, ill-informed man,” “one’s own countrymen.” I think it’s a reach to equate ἰδιώτης with “skill-less person.”
Now I see the typos. Corrected:
POKERFACED. ASADA. FILMGENRE. TOGOORDER. SKIN. IDIOT.
My guess is that the clue for IDIOT comes by way of the Online Etymology Dictionary: “from Greek idiotes ‘layman, person lacking professional skill’ (opposed to writer, soldier, skilled workman), literally ‘private person’ (as opposed to one taking part in public affairs), used patronizingly for ‘ignorant person,’ from idios ‘one’s own.’”
The Oxford English Dictionary: “ancient Greek ἰδιώτης private person, person without professional knowledge, layman, ignorant, ill-informed person.”
Merriam-Webster: “The Greek adjective idios means ‘one’s own’ or ‘private.’ The derivative noun idiōtēs means ‘private person.’ A Greek idiōtēs was a person who was not in the public eye, who held no public office. From this came the sense ‘common man,’ and later ‘ignorant person’ — a natural extension, for the common people of ancient Greece were not, in general, particularly learned.”
Liddell and Scott’s Greek–English Lexicon covers these possibilities and more. Their Intermediate Greek-English Lexicon simplifies things: “a private person, an individual,” “one in a private station, opp. to one taking part in public affairs,” “one who has no professional knowledge,” “unpractised, unskilled in a thing,” “a raw hand, an ignorant, ill-informed man,” “one’s own countrymen.”
I think it’s a reach to equate ἰδιώτης with “skill-less person.”
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