Saturday, July 11, 2026

Today’s Saturday Stumper

I always dislike it when a puzzle — a crossword, the NYT ’s Connections, whatever — uses a solver’s knowledge against the solver. Take, for instance, today’s Newsday  Saturday Stumper, by Matthew Sewell. 9-A, five letters, “Two-time pianist on Bennett albums.” The reasonable answer is EVANS, as in Bill, with whom Tony Bennett recorded two celebrated albums’ worth of duets. But no, that’s wrong. The two-time pianist whose name fills the squares was indeed the pianist on two albums with Bennett. But the clue suggests a duo, a pairing. And the answer, no, not really.

As my son would say, Anyhoo. Moving on.

Some clue-and-answer pairs of note:

1-A, four letters, “Intro for the word.” This clue gets the puzzle off to a weirdly and difficult start. Some prefix?

6-A, five letters, “Atlantican princess of filmdom.” It helps to have granddaughters.

8-D, four letters, “Roaming browsers.” Hello, friends.

18-A, ten letters, “Mojito adjuncts.” I’ve never had a mojito, but thank goodness for this clue.

20-A, twelve letters, “High-profile gridiron celebrity.” TRAVISKEL — no, doesn’t fit. There are whole areas of American culture that are off my radar.

26-A, five letters, “‘I’ve got it for now.’” Never heard it said.

35-D, five letters, “Formal presentation.” Oof.

46-A, twelve letters, “Oscar category for The Incredibles.” I’d like a generalized clue. I’d also like italics.

47-D, four letters, “Small score” and 48-D, four letters, “Small store.” Nicely paired.

My favorite in this puzzle: 24-D, eleven letters, “Out of time?” Just because I liked seeing the word.

No spoilers; the answers are in the comments.

3 comments:

  1. BASIE. MUMS. ARIEL.

    DEER. LIMEWEDGES.

    CHEERLEBRITY. (Cheerleaders.)

    OWEME. ITISI.

    SOUNDEDITING. (Maybe “Oscar for the ears”?)

    DENT. DELI. AHISTORICAL.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Upon seeing the “word” CHEERLEBRITY my immediate thought was ‘we are living in PORTMANTEAUWORLD…’

    ReplyDelete
  3. LOL! I guess that “high-profile“ is something of a clue in the clue — human pyramids, people being thrown in the air.

    ReplyDelete

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