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Jul 27, 2023

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Advertisement Supported by Wordplay, The CROSSWORD COLUMN John Guzzetta returns with a high-flying Saturday puzzle. By Caitlin Lovinger SATURDAY PUZZLE — This is a really quick-witted themeless

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Wordplay, The CROSSWORD COLUMN

John Guzzetta returns with a high-flying Saturday puzzle.

By Caitlin Lovinger

SATURDAY PUZZLE — This is a really quick-witted themeless puzzle. It has enough challenges to make it satisfying to get through, and the funny bits that are sprinkled throughout make it a pleasure to solve. John Guzzetta has constructed for The New York Times for over a decade, and he has hit for the cycle, meaning he has created at least one puzzle for every day of the week, although most of them are Friday and Saturday grids.

Sometimes, the jokes and certain pieces of trivia in a puzzle just wind up being mood boosters, and this grid hit the sweet spot for me.

1A. “Expert with a temper?” is a pun; “temper,” in this case, refers to the physical properties of metal, rather than someone’s mood swings. The entry is SWORDSMITH, which contains WORDSMITH — it’s probably a coincidence, but it makes for a nice start to the puzzle.

15A. This is a puzzle debut, as well as a new word to me, and it comes with a sly clue, “Adoration of the Kardashians, e.g.” I filled it in slowly using crossing letters, which gave it the feel of a portmanteau: “hagiography” + “idolatry” = HAGIOLATRY. It’s related to both words, of course; “hagio” is “holy, or saintly,” and “latry” is “worship.”

36A. “‘Help!’ or ‘SOS’” is a mighty sharp clue for a small fill; it’s SONG (think Beatles and Abba).

47A. Ah, what a neat debut! You probably know what the clue is getting at: “One aboard the Tiangong space station” is a worker for the China National Space Administration. If you knew the right terminology, though, kudos; it’s TAIKONAUT.

59A. This is one of those trivia clues that gave me a little jolt. “Eatery with a 1950s vibe, say” made me think of automats at first, but it’s a RETRO DINER (which might seem futuristic to a Horn & Hardart customer).

29D. Another entry that I deduced in halves, from crossing letters: “Group members who are the most tech-savvy” are ALPHA NERDS. This is a forkful of word salad to me. I’ve never heard it in real life, but the term exists online (although I can’t tell if it’s a compliment or not — it’s probably complicated).

35D. Ouch to this double groaner, a quick and goofy pun solving to a dreaded procedure. In this case, “Big screens?” are exhaustive inspections, or TAX AUDITS.

53D. “Everglades predator” has to be a gator, right? Nobody expects the EGRET — especially fish, small snakes, amphibians and invertebrates.

Hello all! This puzzle began as a SWORDSMITH working on his temper. As the corner came together, ITS … at 8D seemed ripe for a 15-letter entry.

I wish I could have snazzed up one or two more long answers, but the puzzle came together with so much interlock (not on purpose, initially!) that I was satisfied to keep it as free from junk as possible. Maybe a few of the cultural references like TAIKONAUT will prove interesting for a Saturday solve.

The New York Times Crossword has an open submission system, and you can submit your puzzles online.

For tips on how to get started, read our series, “How to Make a Crossword Puzzle.”

Subscribers can take a peek at the answer key.

Trying to get back to the puzzle page? Right here.

What did you think?

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