Today’s Newsday Saturday Stumper, by Stan Newman, the puzzle’s editor, is a Stumper indeed. I wrote down 8:51 when I started work on puzzle (last night) and when I looked up (finished the puzzle) it was 9:46. The clues that most helped me along the way:
14-D, ten letters, “#5 in continuous Senate longevity.”
15-A, eight letters, “Literally, ’long mountain.’“
24-D, ten letters, “Most populous double-landlocked nation.”
34-D, eight letters, Troilus and Cressida warrior.”
I had 34-D right off — that was my starting point. But those other three clues (and perhaps 34-D, if you haven’t read Troilus) make for a large dollop of arbitrary trivia: ah yes, #5, not #4 or #6. And yes, this puzzle has triple-stacks of eight and triple-columns of ten, and only sixty-six answers.
Some clue-and-answer pairs of note:
3-D, four letters, “Shortening.” Got LARD?
4-D, eight letters, “Rattled.” That’s a past-tense verb, right?
10-D, eight letters, “Pain med brand.” Sorry, but this just doesn’t feel right in a crossword.
13-D, ten letters, “Eleanor Roosevelt, to Edith.” I first thought the clue must be about a lover. Nope.
15-A, fifteen letters, “Negotiation station.” One part of the answer is more obvious than the other.
16-A, six letters, “Roast participant.” I was thinking of Dean Martin and his dais.
17-A, eight letters, “Reviewers’ hangout.” Do they still have one?
20-D, seven letters, “Spin’s #2 ll-time greatest band (2002).” Again with the trivia.
24-A, five letters, “Cheery.” Wut?
25-D, ten letters, “Rhapsody in Blue, as first written.” Yes, okay, but not as first intended.
39-A, five letters, “Queue component.” No idea what the answer means. Now I understand.
44-A, “Word from the Greek for ‘unequal.’” Somehow it seemed familiar, but only after I got it from crosses.
51-D, three letters, “Porcine purloiner of poesy.” Is it possible to misread this clue as referring to a poetry-stealing pig? I am living proof.
53-A, eight letters, “Light work.” Clever.
My favorite in this puzzle: 52-A, eight letters, “Attractions you’ve never seen.”
No spoilers; the answers are in the comments.
Saturday, December 2, 2023
Today’s Saturday Stumper
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
comments: 2
TEDKENNEDY. MAUNALOA. UZBEKISTAN. ACHILLES. CUTS. UNSTRUNG.
PERCOCET. (I.e., oxycodone.) NIECEINLAW. (I was thinking of Lorena Hickok.)
BARGAININGTABLE. (My first guess was CONFERENCETABLE.)
WEENIE. ARTSDESK. RAMONES. UPFUL. (It’s a word.)
PIANOSCORE. (But written as a work to be orchestrated for piano and jazz band.)
TRESS. SCALENE. TOM. (The piper’s son.) OPERETTA. AROMAS.
Queue: “A long plait of hair worn hanging down at the back, from the head or from a wig; a pigtail. Now historical or archaic” (OED).
Post a Comment