Today’s Newsday Saturday Stumper, by Stella Zawistowski, begins: 1-A, eleven letters, “It takes willpower.” Uh, like this puzzle? The willpower to keep going even when it seems that one has nothing? It’s a hard, hard Stumper.
Some clue-and-answer pairs of note:
3-D, five letters, “Massenet opera wirh Castilian soldiers.” Me, after solving: “That is fiendish.” Elaine, after I told her the answer: “That is totally fiendish.”
10-D, six letters, “Postcard paper.” I haven’t thought of the answer in years. Must look up.
15-A, eleven letters, “Not a broad way” and 16-A, three letters, “B’way, by definition.” An irresistible row.
21-D, seven letters, “Splendid display.” My first thought was PAGEANT.
30-A, nine letters, “Impatient utterance.” I don’t think so. I think of the answer as expressing dread, not impatience.
30-D, nine letters, “Not meant to spread around.” Good one.
44-D, six letters, “Bar from ’50s TV.” I have no idea what this clue is about. oh, wait: I think I do.
46-A, seven letters, “1990s depictors of Cortes and Pizarro.” Wait, there was a movie about Cortés and Pizarro?
49-A, three letters, “180 intro.” Had to be.
49-D, five letters, “Disinfect, in a way.” Ick.
55-A, six letters, “Steel production.” Tricky. I was thinking of every kind of BEAM imaginable.
59-D, three letters, “Relatively recent story starter.” Got it.
60-A, three letters, “It can mean ‘imitation.’” And sometimes does.
61-A, eleven letters, “Simon says it’s about Beatty.” A giveaway, I think. If not, a moment of instruction.
My favorite in this puzzle: 4-D, four letters, “Angels fear it.” Partly because the answer broke open a big chunk of puzzle, partly because it’s such a clever clue.
No spoilers; the answers are in the comments.
Saturday, April 27, 2024
Today’s Saturday Stumper
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comments: 7
SELFCONTROL. LECID. (Not ELCID.) OAKTAG.
ONELANEROAD. AVE. PANOPLY. WHATSNEXT.
WHISPERED. SALOON. PESETAS. DOA. DERAT.
NOVELS. (As in Danielle Steel.) HER.
EEN. (As in velveteen.) YOURESOVAIN. FLOP.
Cortes and Pizarro pesetas refers to 1990s Spanish currency.
I think it’s simply that there were a ton of westerns on TV in the 1950s, so no shortages of SALOONs.
I breezed through this puzzle, ending in the bottom left. That almost makes up for the times you found it easy and I had to put it down to solve a little more after my brain reset.
My guess is that SALOON is a reference to television westerns. But those aren't specific to the 1950s.
Sorry, fellows, I added a comment about SALOON before setting that you had left comments.
I think PESETAS is one sign of a really tricky puzzle. Joecab, I salute your solving. I was ATSEA, as they say in crosswords, for a long time.
NOW WHAT seems to have more of a sense of irritation (although still a certain amount of dread).
I realize that I was thinking of a rhetorical question, spoken to the sky, say, rather than a question addressed to a person, which would suggest impatience and irritation.
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