Saturday, June 6, 2026

Today’s Saturday Stumper

Today’s Newsday  Saturday Stumper, by Stan Newman, the puzzle’s editor, is not my favorite kind of Stumper. Too much fact, too much trivia. The toughest part for me: the upper right corner, where 18-A, four letters, “Belgian-based imaging giant” and 32-A, three letters, “Reduced number” left me baffled. I turned to an online version of the puzzle to try letters until I found the ones that fit.

Some clue-and-answer pairs of note:

9-D, three letters, “He’s had 40+ jobs since the ’60s (surfer, boxer, barista,...).” Yes, him.

17-A, ten letters, “ ‘This Land Is Your Land’ to ‘God Bless America.’”  I think I should have known.

21-A, six letters, “Foreign Legion wear.” What’s the name for those hats? Never mind; it doesn’t matter.

22-A, seven letters, “Type of terrarium.” Amusing, at least if you’re outside the terrarium.

26-D, four letters, “Eight-time Burton collaborator.” But which Burton?

28-A, five letters, “Seat’s proof of purchase.” Pretty obscure.

30-A, five letters, “First synthetic detergent (still widely sold).” I guessed correctly, but still pretty obscure.

40-D, eight letters, “Whom Khrushchev’s son-in-law wrote for.” I knew the answer because I know the word, but to my mind, it’s a ridiculous clue, and it did a lot to spoil my enjoyment of the puzzle. Too much fact, too much trivia.

56-A, four letters, “Collector’s item.” A bit of a stretch, but okay.

65-D, three letters, “Coverage from Calvin Klein.” I caught on.

My favorite in this puzzle: 67-A, ten letters, “Sort of a small saw.” Because it reminds me of younger days.

No spoilers; the answers are in the comments.

3 comments:

  1. AGFA. QTY. KEN. ANSWERSONG.

    SASHES. ANTFARM. DEPP. DUCAT.

    DREFT. IZVESTIA. REPO.

    INK. (CalvIN Klein.) XACTOKNIFE.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I gave up on that corner too so popped over here to get a foot in with your help. It's been a while since that's happened. I'm with you on 40D. I even had the same idea on what those hats could possibly be called besides kepis.But some great letters with XACTOKNIFE (I used to do paste up so I can relate), HIGHIQ and JOSTLE.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I think of the X-Acto knife as a marker of a later phase of kid life — you’re now old enough to use an X-Acto knife.

    But I’ll never be old enough to read Izvestia :)

    ReplyDelete

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