Today’s Newsday Saturday Stumper, by Steve Mossberg, has the arch (29-A, ten letters “Psychomotor learning experts”), the indirect (52-A, five letters, “Drops off”), the surprising (8-D, nine letters, Moby-Dick’s ‘lively sketches of whales’”), and the tricky (54-A, five letters, “Be stingy”). Something for everyone, and a really delightful puzzle.
I started with tamer clues — 33-D, four letters, “Musical note’s vertical line” and 41-A, three letters, “Sub-Saharan staple” — and then meandered with a mazy motion, a word here, a word there, doubting I’d get everything. The clue whose answer made me think I would: 13-A, four letters, “Type of batter bread,” which made many things fall into place.
Some more clue-and-answer pairs of note:
1-D, four letters, “Galaxy clusters.” Tricky, but it didn’t fool me.
10-D, five letters, “Poet pal of Tolkein.” Good to see the name in a puzzle.
13-D, ten letters, “Peruvian brandy cocktail.” Wha? I don’t know how I know this.
26-D, ten letters, “Similar color to Flame Orange.” Yow! But the clue should really read “Color similar to Flame Orange.”
34-A, fifteen letters, “One averse to innovation.” Worth an outright guess, Could it be? Yes.
36-A, ten letters, “Rustic jam.” But the spelling might be a challenge.
42-D, five letters, “Thoroughfare bordering Yale U.” A thoroughfare, really? Okay, I suppose it is.
45-A, five letters, “Deconstruct.” Sort of.
46-D, five letters, “Slip away, in a way.” Of course, ERODE. Uh, no.
My favorite in this puzzle: 14-D, seven letters, “Starting point.”
No spoilers; the answers are in the comments.
Saturday, July 15, 2023
Today’s Saturday Stumper
By Michael Leddy at 8:50 AM
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PETEACHERS. MOLTS. SCRIMSHAW. SMART.
STEM. YAM. PONE. APPS. AUDEN. PESCOPUNCH.
NEONCARROT. CREATUREOFHABIT. HOOTENANNY.
ELMST. PARSE. ELOPE. SCRATCH.
Oops — PISCOPUNCH. I had it right in the puzzle, but somehow I must’ve been thinking about fish.
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