Saturday, August 20, 2022

Today’s Saturday Stumper

Today’s Newsday  Saturday Stumper, by Stella Zawistowski, is a true Stumper. I found an easy starting point in 14-D, five letters, “Erstwhile royalty, up and down,” and 16-A, five letters, “Good-luck pigment at Middle East weddings.” After that, I stumbled about, an answer here, an answer there. The clue that gave me the greatest trouble: 46-A, thirteen letters, “Mannered men and women.” Having that wrong made a mess of things for quite some time.

Some clue-and-answer pairs of note:

5-A, nine letters, “Play along with.” I thought of humoring someone.

11-D, eight letters, and 31-D, nine letters, “Superior at many schools.” I like the repurposing of the clue.

13-D, four letters, “Calls for.” Pretty misdirective.

21-A, thirteen letters, “What Beethoven called a piano.” One of several keyboard clues in the puzzle. There’s also 8-D, six letters, “Pianist’s pinky-thumb pair,” and 51-A, six letters, “Pianist’s pinky-thumb pairs.” 21-A is tricker than I suspected.

26-A, six letters, “Bit of year-end debris.” I was thinking of confetti.

38-A, five letters, “It might get you down.” Emily Dickinson gave me the answer here.

42-D, six letters, “Article length.” I have never seen or heard this word. Merriam-Webster’s examples of recent use are unrelated to this definition.

54-D, three letters, “Not following.” A clever way to improve a bit of crosswordese.

56-A, five letters, “What jelly beans are made with.” SUGAR, right? Wrong. Not especially obvious.

59-A, nine letters, “Typical Saturday matinee cartoon.” It pays to like old movies.

My favorite in this puzzle: 45-D, five letters, “Mainly?”

No spoilers; the answers are in the comments.

comments: 3

Michael Leddy said...

SHAHS. HENNA. POLITESOCIETY. (Not GENTLEPERSONS.) ACCOMPANY.

AAVERAGE. PRINCIPAL. YEAS. HAMMERKLAVIER. (with a k, not c.) OCTAVE. NINTHS.

NEEDLE. EIDER. Emily Dickinson, 764:

And when at Night — Our good Day done —
I guard My Master’s Head —
’Tis better than the Eider Duck’s
Deep Pillow — to have shared —

LINAGE. (Merriam-Webster’s entry.) ERE. PUREE. ONEREELER. ATSEA.

joecab said...

I wasn't crazy about that clue for LINAGE either. I would have preferred something related to classified ad rates, but then do those really exist anymore?

Michael Leddy said...

The OED has this as the most recent definition: ”Payment according to the number of lines; also, the charge made (by a newspaper, etc.) according to the number of lines occupied by an advertisement, etc.” But my hunch is that even when classified ads were common, it was an out-of-the-way word.