Today’s Newsday crossword, by the puzzle’s editor, Stan Newman, is another Saturday Stumper. A three-week streak! What doth it portend? More Saturday Stumpers, I trust.
Today’s Stumper begins with a clue that looks off in light of the week’s news: 1-A, six letters, “Afghans, for example.” Perhaps there wasn’t time enough to change it. The puzzle has two good fifteen-letter answers and a few unusual answers. I had immediate assists from 11-D, eight letters, “Ellington partner on a ’63 album” (a great album for all involved), and 37-D, eight letters, “Mad marginalia master.” So I worked in the northeast, then southwest, and then everywhere else.
Some clue-and-answer pairs I especially liked:
6-D, fifteen letters, “‘Believe it or not . . .’” I think I know how grammar would account for the answer.
17-A, six letters, “Stock market sales.” SHARES, right? Wrong.
21-A, five letters, “Elbows on the table.” GAFFE? I can’t believe I fell for this one.
28-A, six letters, “‘Go ahead, it’s an ___!’ (beer slogan).” Here’s an example of what I mean by unusual. I have never heard or seen this slogan. I like that it crosses with 23-D, five letters, “Spirit/spearmint concoction” — which is quite an alternative.
32-A, three letters, and 35-A, twelve letters, “Puh-leeze!” “Puh-leeze!” is more versatile than I thought.
35-D, five letters, “Blow.” I dig.
36-A, fifteen letters, “Redundant-sounding, rather new refreshment.” As my dad would have said, “Never heard of it.”
39-A, twelve letters, “Suite requiring a key.” I don’t think I’ve seen this answer before.
57-D, three letters, “Exclamation not heard (alas) in Hamilton.” The clue adds value to the answer.
59-D, three letters, “Post-retirement acronym.” Sneaky.
No spoilers; the answers (and a bit more about 11-D) are in the comments.
Saturday, August 21, 2021
Today’s Saturday Stumper
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HOUNDS. COLTRANE. ARAGONES.
(Duke Ellington and John Coltrane, recorded in 1962, released on Impulse! Records in 1963. Its version of “In a Sentimental Mood” is one of the great reimaginings of an Ellington composition, with Aaron Bell, bass, and Elvin Jones, drums. Jimmy Garrison, from the Coltrane quartet, and Sam Woodyard, from the Ellington orchestra, also appear on the album.)
STRANGELY ENOUGH. (A sentence adverb, right?)
CATTLE. PASTA. ODOULS. JULEP.
HAH. LEAVEMEALONE. LAMIT.
WATERMELONWATER. CRYPTOSYSTEM.
BRR. REM.
Got this with a degree of ease LAM IT was pretty questionable, and Mad magazine was rarely seen....so those were the tricky bits for me.
To me, “lam it” suggests flight from the law. But M-W says “ to flee hastily : scram” for “lam.”
I’m waiting for a puzzle that has “book” for “leave.” It’s slang I remember from a Bronx transplant at the NJ discount department store where I worked during college. “I’m bookin’.” “I’m gonna book.”
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