TV foodie Brown / FRI 6-13-14 / Conditioning apparatus / Fermented milk drink / Feminist with 1984 book Gender Gap / Lefty out in left field / Storage Wars cry / Brand that's shortened description of its flavor

Friday, June 13, 2014

Constructor: David Steinberg

Relative difficulty: Medium-Challenging



THEME: none

Word of the Day: SKINNER BOX (30A: Conditioning apparatus) —
An operant conditioning chamber (also known as the Skinner box) is a laboratory apparatus used in the experimental analysis of behavior to study animal behavior. The operant conditioning chamber was created by B. F. Skinner while he was a graduate student at Harvard University (Masters in 1930 and doctorate in 1931). It may have been inspired by Jerzy Konorski's studies. It is used to study bothoperant conditioning and classical conditioning.
Skinner created the operant chamber as a variation of the puzzle box originally created by Edward Thorndike 
An operant conditioning chamber permits experimenters to study behavior conditioning (training) by teaching a subject animal to perform certain actions (like pressing a lever) in response to specific stimuli, such as a light or sound signal. When the subject correctly performs the behavior, the chamber mechanism delivers food or another reward. In some cases, the mechanism delivers a punishment for incorrect or missing responses. For instance, to test how operant conditioning works for certain invertebrates, psychologists use a device known as a "heat box". Essentially this takes up the same form as the Skinner box, however the box is composed of two sides: one side that can undergo temperature change and the other that does not. As soon as the invertebrate crosses over to the side that can undergo a temperature change, the area is heated up. Eventually the invertebrate will be conditioned to stay on one side of a heat box, or more specifically the side that does not undergo a temperature change. This goes to the extent that even when the temperature is turned to its lowest point, the fruit fly will still refrain from approaching that area of the heat box. These types of apparatuses allow experimenters to perform studies in conditioning and training through reward/punishment mechanisms. (wikipedia)
• • •

Welcome back. Well, you were here all along, probably, maybe, and I was gone, so welcome me back. Or don't. It's good to be back. Mostly. Minneapolis was fantastic, but I did miss you all. Mostly. I also sort of began to miss crosswords, which is a good sign, I think. I didn't even look at one for five days. Five glorious days. Instead I hung out with actual human beings and went outside a lot where the "sun" was and ate delicious things in significant quantities. I did sneak a copy of Brendan Emmett Quigley's "Marching Bands" puzzles into my backpack before I left, in case of puzzle-jones emergency, and that book got a little airport / pre-sleep action, but otherwise, yesterday's puzzle, done on paper in the Detroit airport the morning after an unexpected and completely unwanted overnight layover, was the first proper crossword I'd done in days. And it didn't go down well. Here's the picture I posted from the airport.


Today's puzzle went down much more nicely. Lots of fun. But I had at least heard of the Killer Proper Nouns in this one, i.e. SKINNER BOX (to a lesser extent) and SOULJA BOY TELL 'EM (to a greater extent). I got a huge smile out of imagining the average NYT solver (that's probably you … I mean, odds are …) watching SOULJABOYTELLEM come into view, cross by cross, and having no idea how the hell any of it could be right. I was going to say "I feel like he was big maybe five years ago"—then I reread the clue, and there it is: 2009 (51A: Rapper with the 2009 hit "Kiss Me Thru the Phone"). That sounds right. I know him by name only, and after crosses made it clear who I was dealing with, I still misspelled the start of his name at first, opting for the equally creative SOLJAH. Not sure how to account for my errant Rastafication. Anyway, that name, and SLR for EOS (49D: Canon shooter), and YUCK for NYUK (50D: Stooge syllable), and later WEST for ODOM (46A: Khloé Kardashian's married name) (wrong Kardashian), all made the bottom pretty tough—much tougher than the top.





Saw right through 1A: Family guy. Sadly, this meant that I wrote in MAFIOSO with great confidence. First two Downs checked out, so that resulted in a semi-sticky situation for a while. Knowing ADRIEN BRODY helped, though not remembering if he was an "A" ADRIAN or an "E" ADRIEN didn't … help, and really kept MOTLEY out of my reach until the very end (5D: Assorted). First certain answer in the grid was ALTON Brown (6D: TV foodie Brown)—I don't watch a lot of food-related TV, so I have no idea why his name stuck, but it did.


Thanks very much to treedweller and Puzzle Girl for blog coverage during my vacation. You may see them, and others, again during parts of July and August when I will be in NZ and CA, respectively.

Couple of notes: 

  • Peter Gordon is Kickstartering the "Fireball Fortnightly News Crossword" and his puzzles are never not good, so if you would like to add a hyper-timely, current events-related puzzle to your solving docket, you should get in on this. Information here.
  • Buzzfeed did a little article on how irate a bunch of you are about the NYT's new crossword app. You can read the piece here. I'm quoted (warning: mild profanity).
Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

134 comments:

Evan 7:51 AM  

Tougher than I expected even though I have heard of of SOULJA BOY TELLEM -- did not know how to spell the last name, and figured the cross with UDO was pretty mean (I mean, I guess it's reasonable to assume that the castle was EDO Castle, but still). I also didn't know what a SKINNER BOX was, and that was the last answer I filled in.

By the way, for those who haven't gotten around to it yet, my Devil Cross meta contest titled "Ringleader" is still ongoing until 6 pm ET today. One random winner gets a t-shirt. I'll be releasing the answer, plus the contest results and a bonus puzzle, tomorrow.

(p.s. If you've e-mailed me the answer and I haven't e-mailed you back, not to worry -- I got it. I've just been busy with other stuff.)

Evan 8:06 AM  

And welcome back, Rex. Your crossword drawing looks a bit like it could be part of Munch's "The Scream."

Moly Shu 8:17 AM  

Welcome back @Rex, thanks again to @TD and @PG

Medium for me, started with ADRIEN BRODY and got the top half rather quickly. The bottom half? Well, that was a completely different story. BASELY and SiENESE gave me the most problems. ENGEL still a gimmie for me (thank you Rammstein), and liked the clue for SKINNERBOX.

Mostly liked it, except I'm not sure if I'm ok with using AHS DOH and NAHS to make your first 3 across entries work. NAH, not ok with it, just decided after typing those 3.

Unknown 8:19 AM  

Med-chal for me too. Vaguely aware of SOULJABOY but I wasn't aware of his 'last' name. My knowledge of rap ended in the Run DMC and LL Cool J-era. Also had SLR for EOS. Was thinking WHOO for NYUK, but straightened that out quickly. Just the right amount of obliqueness to the clues for a Friday IMHO. A challenge, but not an unfair one.

Arlene 8:25 AM  

This was really hard for me - wasn't even sure I'd finish with Googling. But things started to fall into place - and I knew SKINNERBOX.
But there they go again with rappers and 1970's pop music - and 15ers, no less! I just don't know those - never heard them. Googling rescued those, thankfully.
I also had TollHouseCookie first - which made more sense than CHOCOLATECOOKIE.
There's more like that - but you get the picture of how I slogged through this one.

AliasZ 8:26 AM  


David Steinberg is quickly becoming my least favorite constructor. No offense David, but I do not see the upside of knowing what a SOULJABOYTELLEM is. It does not make me a lesser or better man and NYT reader, and does not invite any more people who wouldn't be caught dead reading the NYT or solving its crossword puzzles to now start doing so, because it made its debut here today. In this case I would've preferred A LOT ON ONE'S PLATE as a 15-letter entry. SKINNER BOX and GOOGOLPLEX were not much better. I must have been living under a rock to be unaware that these are considered nuggets of common knowledge. There may be a good reason that some words or phrases never appeared in a NYT puzzle before. It does not automatically make them worthy entries.

ADRIAN BRODY, AUDIOVISUAL AIDS, KRYPTON and NYUK were a few bright spots, plus St. Catherine of Siena, otherwise I worked my way through this one without much joy. It made me cranky. Now I must have a CHOCOLATE COOKIE and quickly try to forget about it, then put on my ONESIE and jump into the shower.

@Ellen S, I was disappointed that you thought I didn't know HANNIBAL ante portas meant Hannibal before the gates. It was my (obviously) failed attempt at a little humor. I simply assumed most people who solve NYT crosswords would know what it meant and my silly wordplay with it would elicit a few chuckles. My apologies if it misfired for you. I also do not have a friend with an UNCLE NCH, and I know that the ONESIE clue referred to a baby shower. I hope you are OK with this.

I also hope Saturday will bring a bit more elevated entertainment to one and all.

TGIF.

Lewis 8:28 AM  

Bottom half definitely tougher for me, and spelled GOOGlePLEX, which hurt me for a bit. For a Friday, medium-challenging to me. Loved the clue for ONESIE. Lots of zip in this one!

Post Puzzle Puzzle (PPP™): One of the answers is the first half of the name of a type of dance. What are the last two letters of the second half?

Lewis 8:31 AM  

PPP p.s. -- instead of "first half", technically, I should have said "first part" (and "second part").

Sir Hillary 8:34 AM  

Not my favorite, but that's mostly a matter of taste.

The 15s feel wildly uneven to me. ISHOTTHESHERIFF is great, but CHOCOLATECOOKIE feels a little like "green paint" even with the clue. SOULJABOYTELLEM is nice, but obscure enough that the clue for JOT needs to be more explicit -- dOT works perfectly well for the existing clue, and would SOULdABOYTELLEM really be that absurd? Finally, AUDIOVISUALAIDS also has a "grean paint" quality along with being a POC. I am probably nitpicking, but this whole puzzle is built around the 15s so they need to be better IMO.

I have never heard of a PACELAP, but maybe that's just me.

GOOGOLPLEX and SKINNERBOX are wonderful, although I only got the latter through crosses. Of course, I first wrote GOOGlePLEX, as I suspect many others did. Amazing how ubiquitous Google has become!

I totally fell for the "shower" misdirection -- was thinking bathroom all the way.

All in all, a mixed bag for me.

Sir Hillary 8:39 AM  

@Lewis - LE

joho 8:48 AM  

Welcome back, Rex! Nice to see you so happy and looking at crosswords with fresh and rested eyes. I always remember Minnesota as being unbelievably green ... and those great lakes, too ... I loved hanging out at Lake Calhoun.

I had so many missteps with this one, there wasn't a snowball's chance in hell I could finish. Stern before ENGEL, biT before JOT. tapir before OKAPI and my favorite, schMiel before GREMLIN! And many, many more.

All I can say at this point is NYUK, NYUK!







Milford 8:55 AM  

I may have crossed over to some level today - I finished a Steinberg puzzle without feeling completely lost during the solve. Knowing ALTON Brown and ADRIaN BRODY helped mightily.

I somehow got SOLJA BOY, but the TELL 'EM part was a complete mystery.

Funniest mistake - I had ABNeg (as in the blood type)as the unlikely donor before MISER.

At my own baby shower years ago, I opened a gift that had a three-pack of ONESIEs. My dear, clueless husband looked at the packaging and asked, "What's a ON -A-SIE?" (on-a-see)

Realized that SIENESE has one N, unlike my invented "siennese", which would be something of earthy red-brown origins.

Haven't commented in awhile, I guess life got busy, and the habit of checking in here fell to the wayside. I was still doing the puzzles occasionally, but what's the fun of solving if you can't discuss them afterwards?

Sorry you were stuck in DTW yesterday, @Rex. Should have had you come up to Milford for a beer, or a good Manhattan at Palate.

Glimmerglass 8:56 AM  

Welcome back, @Rex. I think the timeout did your disposition some good.

wordie 9:11 AM  

Please explain how Family guy is MADEMAN? TIA

RAD2626 9:19 AM  

Very hard for me even for Friday. ISHOTTHE SHERIFF AND AUDIOVISUALAIDS went fairly quickly but other proper nouns and longer fills killed me. Had OKIES and NETWORK right away so wasted a lot of time wanting the chips to be related to poker not Nestles. Brat's place fooled me and even XEDOUT as Unlisted? rather than Delisted gave me trouble. Must just have been bad biorhythms. Lots of good misdirection clues; just wish I had done better on the 15's

Maruchka 9:20 AM  

Love the Wailers (since 1973 at the Matrix), but hadn't a clue about SOULJABOYTELLEM. So, one google there, plus one for GOOGOLPLEX. Oh, forgot about Khloe - can't we all, please? ODOM [meter] maybe.

Agree that this is a mostly-fine Steinberg. STERN for ENGEL held up the SKINNERBOX solve. This also took me back in time. I had a friend who was thus treated. Fortunately, she turned out OK.

@Gill IP - Thanks! I really like your avatar photo.



Anonymous 9:27 AM  

@Wordie - A MADE MAN is a fully inducted member of the Mafia.

jdv 9:33 AM  

Challenging w/one error. dOT for jOT. Spent two minutes tracking down this error. I try to stay current in music, but never heard of SOLJABOYTELLEM. I've never had a CHOCOLATECOOKIE before. ALTON Brown and KEFIR were new to me. The grid is definitely more scrabbly than the last few days, but I didn't like it as much as his previous puzzles.

Anonymous 9:39 AM  

ROGET is not on the Word menu. Thesaurus is, but not ROGET -- and it's Roget's with an apostrophe S in any event. Not that it was a real stumbling block, but ugh.

Nancy 9:42 AM  

Was thinking along the lines of Nordic Track, not SKINNER BOX for the conditioning apparatus. Never heard of GOOGOLPLEX, spelled right or wrong. Never heard of SOUL what's-his-name. Too much modern pop trivia for me. DNF and found the puzzle irritating. (Did think the shower misdirection was clever, though, but didn't come close to guessing it.)

Anonymous 9:43 AM  

Hands up for TELLEM and GOOGOLPLEX befuddling me. The top actually went down so fast that I thought I was going to set my own best Friday time. I think David is improving although there are still some iffy fill and a propensity for some really obscure names and references. I did read that he submitted this about 2 years ago -- so he would probably do a few things differently today.

Lewis 9:45 AM  

@sirhillary -- yep!

GILL I. 9:56 AM  

Ugh, a thousand times UGH. Yes, my head is exploding. I want my money back.
At least ALTON brought a smile. I make the best French pressed coffee because of him...The trick? let it seep for 4 minutes and then press down very slowly.
Oh, and I got I SHOT THE SHERIFF likety split because my husband always plays Marley.
Bootie instead of ONESIE and when I got to the RAP crap, I threw in the towel.

retired_chemist 9:58 AM  

Challenging. Would have been an appropriate Saturday IMO. I finished but my time would have been slow even for a Saturday.

A mixed bag. Obscure trivialities mixed with delightfully ambiguous cluing.

Examples of he former: SOULJABOY TELLEM, KEFIR, GOOGOLPLEX, MADE MAN, ODOM, ADRIEN BRODY, ALTON Brown. You just gotta know 'em....

The latter: ONESIE (I came here thinking maybe people wore adult size ONESIEs after showering), DELI, CHOCOLATE COOKIE (I worked on _OK__ at the end being pOKer for a while), RIFLE.

Ovewrites: slr => EOS, john (Wayne) => ZANE.

On balance I liked it, although the obscure trivialities I find to be Steinberg's hallmark were too much in evidence. Part of the fun is watching this talented young man mature as a constructor.

r.alphbunker 10:05 AM  

For a while I had chINNERBar for the {Conditioning apparatus) instead of SKINNERBOX.

{Shower garment} was bootIE for a while (but I was thinking of puddle protection)

educatIonALAIDS fit.

Why ROGET is the answer to {Word menu option?} puzzled me. Googling "word menu option Roget" revealed a lot of crossword blogs but no really satisfactory explanation. What I came up with is the following:

ROGET made word lists. A list of words is sometimes referred to as a word menu. Other people have made word menus. So if you are looking for a word menu the one by ROGET is one of the options that are available to you. If this is right then I would be happier with ROGET's.

Thought that ENGEL and Tannenbaum were names of people. Needed Google to make the connection with the hymn Tannenbaum:
O Tannenbaum, O Tannenbaum
O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree

Generic Solver 10:06 AM  

+1 to AliasZ @8:26 regarding SOLJABOYTELLEM.

On the other hand, that rapper clue was offset nicely by a long Bob Marley clue that could be inferred if you were a Clapton fan as well. So as a Baby Booomer, I'm not feeling as left out today as I normally do when a rap artist is a prominent answer.

Steve J 10:26 AM  

I feel like both Steinberg's been getting better - less tone-deaf cluing, less obvious striving at obscurity - and that I've been getting more on his wavelength. This puzzle was more uneven than recent ones (probably because, it turns out, it's a couple years old), but I mostly liked this.

Great clues for MADE MAN, DELI and ONESIE. Nice fill with I SHOT THE SHERIFF and SKINNER BOX. And I liked the trickery of GOOGOLPLEX in that many people (me included) would reflexively enter GOOGle instead of the correct GOOGOL.

Both CHOCOLATE COOKIE and AUDIOVISUAL AIDS had a green-paint quality to theme, but fill was pretty solid overall (NAHS notwithstanding).

As others mentioned, top half was easier than the bottom for me, even with me not being able to remember ADRIEN BRODY for the longest time. Had stern (star) instead of ENGEL (angel) on top of the tree for a long time, also had SLR instead of EOS, and I never knew SOULJA BOY had a name beyond that. Also had the wrong Kardashian married to West instead of ODOM for quite a while. Good challenge overall.

Carola 10:27 AM  

Welcome back, Rex - it's nice to hear how restorative the Midwest was for you.

I quailed when I saw the combination of David Steinberg's name and the 15s, but ALTON and ADRIaN BRODY gave me a SHOT of confidence, and things perked along from there nicely.

ABZUG, DRANO, and RONCO gave me the GOO I needed for GOOGLEPLEX; memories of Psych 101, the SKINNER BOX (operant conditioning was dogma in 1968); Art History, St. Catherine of Siena; a failed attempt at finding a drinkable probiotic, KEFIR; and a BEQ puzzle of some time ago, SOULJA....something.

Loved the fake-out (for me) clue for ONESIE,

Do-overs besides ADRIaN: ran for LED, PASa, and NYah. An almost-mis-do-over: came close to erasing PLEX when "stern" wouldn't fit, then remembered ENGEL (@Moly Shu - I love that you know it from Rammstein and not cozy Christmas scenes.)

@Milford - Nice to see you back!

tensace 10:28 AM  

Another big ugh to all things rapper. Turns out this "song's" lyrics are G-rated. But a quick look at others by him come up with "cocking on your b*tch *ss". A truly lovely expression. The NY Times should be proud.

Steve J 10:30 AM  

Oh, and welcome back Rex. Glad you enjoyed the time off and enjoyed my hometown. It's a fantastic place in the summer.

And thanks again to Treedweller and PG for the guest hosting stints. Always fun to see different voices and perspectives.

Carola 10:32 AM  

@Steve J - Just read your comment on how people would be apt to misspell GOOGOLPLEX - and noticed I just did in my comment. DOH! (I had to leave the 2 doubtful squares blank and get them from crosses.)

retired_chemist 10:32 AM  

Hand up for stern before ENGEL.

Interesting that many found the top half easier. The bottom was easier for me.

evil doug 10:33 AM  

"Is hot, the sheriff?"
"Da, is hot. Rochelle, Rochelle--she had strange journey from Milan to Minsk...."

Evil

John V 10:36 AM  

I confess that when I see David's by-line, I give a sigh. A typically very unhappy experience.

Two Ponies 10:45 AM  

I'm glad I didn't pay for the paper today. I also enjoy my isolation from crap like 51A.

Glad you're back Rex.

jae 11:07 AM  

Me too for top two thirds easy, bottom tough.  I of course did not know SOULJA, was thinking golf for the driver clue, and had AUDIO VIdeo for a while, so there was a lot of staring.  KRYPTON finally opened it up for me.  So, medium?

Lots of zip from one of the first Reggae songs to make it big on the pop charts to a WOE rapper plus a crunchy bottom 1/3.  Also liked SKINNER BOX, NYUK, GOOGOLPLEX... 

Fun Fri.  nice one David!

Stayed overnight in PASO ROBLES a while back (the central coast of CA is beautiful) and noticed the the local TV folks pronounced it ROW BOWLS instead of ROW BLAZE.  I mean it's Spanish isn't it?

Questinia 11:08 AM  

I love David's range.
Hand up for @ Lewis, Google ere GOOGOL and easy top half, medium challenging bottom.
Similarly @ rc for stern ere ENGEL.
Similarly @ ralph for educational AIDS which I stuck by too long cause it seemed so perfect. ROSAS set me straight.
Had dOT ere JOT.

Love, SIENESE and its clue. Also SKINNER BOX.

David is about breadth and I suppose I enjoy the far-flung recesses of one's mind one is expected to go...

AliasZ 11:13 AM  


Word of the day: Paraskevidekatriaphobia.

It is the Greek word for the superstitious fear of Friday the 13th, from the equally irrational fear of the number 13, or triskaidekaphobia.

Its origins are rather murky, but it was on Friday, October 13th 1307, that most of the Knights Templar were arrested, tried and their leader burned at the stake, on the order of Philip IV of France. After this event they were forced underground - or so Dan Brown thinks.

Happy Friday the 13th, everyone.

Over and out.

Anonymous 11:23 AM  

@AZ

Friday the 13th coupled with a full moon! Rare!

Benko 11:28 AM  

I admit to loving thinking of all the people threatened by a 15 letter rap artist.
Oh no, an angry young black man and his newfangled music! Get off my lawn!

mathguy 11:43 AM  

Liked it a lot and not because it had GOOGOLPLEX. Googol and googolplex don't really play a role in serious mathematics. I misspelled it my first time through.

Unusual words, clever cluing, not too many entries I didn't know (9). I hadn't heard of the rapper but would have gotten him if I had known EOS. I got a DNF when I incorrectly guessed EBS.

I'm surprised that more of us aren't complaining about ODOUL. We in San Francisco know Lefty O'Doul well because he managed the San Francisco Seals, our minor-league team before we got the Giants.

Unknown 11:46 AM  

I much more resent needing to know any Kardashian-related trivia than needing to know random rapper names.

And isn't RETAR when you stop working? NYUK!

Rick 11:49 AM  

Naticked on the Sienese/Eos crossing. Had to Googol it.

Sir Hillary 11:53 AM  

@Benko:

Thank you! My thoughts exactly. Next time there's an oldish opera clue, I'm going to deem the genre crap or "music" just because I don't know it or care to.

r.alphbunker 12:00 PM  

@Lewis

Posted your latest PPP™ at runtpuz.org

Please let me know if my program got the answer right. It is consistent with @Sir Hillary's answer

Hartley70 12:03 PM  

Really different puzzle today. Super tough for me. The only gimmes were Adrien Brody, Kefir (Scandinavian mysteries), Odom and Abzug (Hellooo Bella, it's been a while). I struggled through from top to bottom but the last clue did me in. I had to google Souljaboytellem. Are you kidding me? Kinda loved it!

retired_chemist 12:05 PM  

Lefty O'Doul is pretty far from obscure if you follow baseball, or did decades ago. Hall of Famer, career BA .349, notably converted from pitcher in his early career to OF. See link for more.

retired_chemist 12:06 PM  

Oops - that's the Japanese baseball HOF. Anyway....

Anonymous 12:06 PM  

Friday the 13th, Full Moon and David Steinberg= the trifecta of a DNF...but Nooooo!!!

Brutal, but having done a GOOGOLPLEX of puzzles, SAVEd the day!

Lewis- dobLE?

Welcome back, Rex. Really really missed you!

Anonymous 12:15 PM  

Chocolate cookies are a thing -- perhaps they tend to have different names. Archway makes a yummy one, called Dutch Cocoa, for example.

Audiovisual Aids are very much a thing -- that's what those films we were shown in my grade-school in the '60s were called. Has an old-fashioned sound, to me, but there is a company called -- Audio Visual Aids, which has been around for 50 years (per the Web). Per Wiki, this got going in WW II making training films for the armed services, and took off for schools and companies, as well, after the war, though a dictionary site says the term dates back to 1935-1940. Don't know if anyone else finds this interesting, but seeing the term really took me back, and much fun has been made by comedians of those films, esp. the ones for and sex education and dating etiquette. So not an instance of green paint. Perhaps not a particularly scintillating answer, but for me, at least (and I'm sure for certain others), an evocative one.

B

Rookie 12:25 PM  

For "Brat's place," my first thought was "Virginia," which, of course, would not fit. For an instant all I could do was marvel at the timeliness of the Times crossword puzzle.

I have not posted in eons, but I lurk a lot and enjoy what the rest of you have to say. Thanks.

Steve J 12:30 PM  

@Anon 12:15 p.m. (a.k.a. B): Thanks for the info on AUDIOVISUAL AIDS. I'd heard of instructional aids, but not that term. Maybe it was already moving out of vogue by my school years (70s and 80s) or maybe I just didn't hear/pay attention to it when I was a kid.

@mathguy: I hesitated at first putting in LEFTY, thinking knowledge of him may not be that broad. It's a virtual gimmee for anyone in SF, of course.

@Benko and @Sir Hillary: I had the same thought. Nobody goes on at length at how it's not worth their time to remember opera or country or old TV shows, let alone call them "crap", but every time a rapper shows up, there we go. While there's a legit gripe to be had about unusual spellings and the difficulty of inferring names from partially filled answers, the cultural relevance is there, whether one likes the stuff or not. The carping also has more than a faint ring of at least a couple -isms about it as well.

Masked and Anonymo5Us 12:36 PM  

Bottom central got nice and desperate, tryin to make amends for no U's up top. M&A flamed out in the Sienese Jaboy region. But fill was justifiable, to save four U's and the planet KRYPTON.

Drew a pic of a Sienese Jaboy face on my (incorrectly) finished grid. The version where he/she/it is in full ritual gear, of course. And with the foot-long tongue on display... or somesuch. Just glad it weren't my runtpuz that @63 was tryin to work, after bein dumped in the Detroit airport. Demonic runt face masterpiece time.

Where do roofers go, for a nice, refreshin spot of tea and an orange scone? The Retar Nyuk. While there, they would solve this FrPuz, and reflect on their fave weejects. Otis was partial to UNC, whilest Cletus had a soft spot for EOS. All ageed that it paid to keep up with the Kardashians. And then belched happily.

M&A
p.s. I think this Steinberg is a coupla keys short of a full piano. Admire that. Keep it up, dude.

Far Northwester 12:37 PM  

It can be amusing how we (or I at least) justify an answer. After puzzling out Skinner box, I thought huh...that must be an apparatus tanners use on animal hides during the conditioning process.

M and Also 12:54 PM  

p.p.s.s.
A long debate raged, well into the evening at Retar Nyuk, over what MSN meant. Bubba insisted it must be a French sister of Dora. Cletus and Fester preferred the obscure Ford test model theory. All agreed that it really paid to keep up with the Kardashians. They begrudginly broke up the gettogether, when the orange scones ran out...

(Excerpt from M&A's grim roofers tales.)

Leapfinger 1:19 PM  

Katria katria is a vulnerable species of cichlid fish found in Madagascar rivers, so an interesting tie-in: fish and Friday.

However, I thought 'katria' in Greek means 'pure'; perhaps I was Ms-informed. Anyway, dulce et decorum est pro Katria mori.

@r.alph, laughed at your chinnerbar.

Thought of the LE-ending dance, but also of another less-likely known one, MISERLOU. Covered by many, and showed up in both Pulp Fiction and MAD_MEN, but I like the original Egyptian-Turkish-Greek versions. Shan't annoy with a link till I figure out how to embed in this space.

Lewis 1:23 PM  

@susan mcconnell -- good one with RETAR!

@anon12:06 -- yep!

@r.alph -- Yes, and I love how you've made it so there is immediate feedback on the answer. Thank you for that!

GILL I. 1:29 PM  

You know, all you smiley faced RAP diggers singing the praises, I also happened to think MUZAK is crap and every time I hear it, I want to push every single elevator button with my soft fist. Don't even get me started on NewAge Yanni or Zamfir's pan flute!!!
I have my opinions and I'm sticking to them so there!
@M&A...Oh lordy, another good laugh from you!

Mohair Sam 1:35 PM  

Filled the top 6 lines of the puzzle in about a minute. Just now finished the rest (sure got tough).

Double naticked on SOULJ(d)ABOYTELLE(i)M, dOT as good as JOT there. Long as I get the occasional Bob Marley type clue I'll live with the blasted rap clues. I thought there was a rule that all rap clues had to be answered Snoop, Icetea, or DrDre.

Enjoyed the challenge however, typical Steinberg war of the generations - but he's fun. Loved the ONESIE clue. What's KEFIR? Good old Bella ABZUG - loved those hats. Took forever to suss that Catherine was out of Siena.

BONDS before ODOUL here, and therefore EDUCATIONAL before AUDIOVISUAL, talk about stalled!

Nice one David Steinberg, we solved your last NYT effort - but today you whupped us again.

Alex Vratsanos 1:37 PM  

David... what can I say that has not already been said? You never fail to come up with great new ideas, like your A-to-M, Z-to-N Tuesday a few months ago, nor to breathe new life into old ones, such as slightly modifying your grid from 10/18/13 and refilling it, with a staircase of Z's, no less, to create your puzzle from last month.

So Francis Heaney's "Flag Day" Sunday four years ago today; my debut puzzle three years ago today; Susan Gelfand's PLAYING WITH FIRE puzzle two years ago today; your own WINDOWS 8 puzzle one year ago today; and now this, which makes your NYT total a perfect number. I look forward to June 13, 2015!

Fred Romagnolo 1:38 PM  

@Sir Hillary: if we meet in the hereafter 50 years from now, I'm gonna test you on souljaboytellem; Luciano Pavarotti will still be remembered, along with Enrico Caruso from a hundred years ago. David Steinberg is a smart-ass; the world doesn't need any more smart-asses.

Unknown 1:45 PM  

Easy-medium for me, and I'm by no means a youngster. I knew there was a rapper named SOULJABOY and got GOOGOLPLEX right away, which helped. Enjoyed it.

Fred Romagnolo 1:46 PM  

@Steve J: when you were in school it was just called A V, and the only students who were likely to hear it were the A V monitors, a highly coveted position among boys (if that doesn't suggest any ism).

Last Excerpt, M and A's Grim Roofers Tales 1:52 PM  

Early in the evening, the roofers were clearly alarmed by the turnout, for the Retar Nyuk's All U Can Eat Scones Night. Some of this clientele was remorseless eatin machines. Bubba faked findin a roofin nail in his second orange scone. One little old gal immediately switched to the plain scone alternative, but most just shrugged and began to chew their orange scones more slowly.

Otis got on the neighboring tabletop, and performed an impromptu version of SoulJaBoyTellem. This thankfully cleared out most of the C&W crowd. And everybody at the table where Otis had stomped on their scones.

Later, Cletus was inspired to suggest the World's Longest Roofer Tongue competition (tm). Fester's take on that cleared out the rest of the bistro with an audible gasp. He was noticably well-endowed, in that area.

After a few merry courses of Sometimes It's Hard To Be A Woman, the roofer group finished the last of the orangies, and got the rest of the plains in a to-go box. They ambled off into the mist, pausin occasionally for another type of competition. Cuz, you can only rent tea.

Later, they re-smarted up a mite, and came back to the parkin lot to get their truck. All agreed it really paid to keep up with the runtpuzs...

www.xwordinfo.com/Solve?id=4147&id2=630

Leapfinger 2:00 PM  

KUDO, Rex, on surviving [after a fashion] your brush with flying the friendly skies.

Steinberg bylines always rile some members of the community, but I look forward to them, partly because they automatically rile some members of the community. No exception, I thought this one was DELIcious.

Had a MOTLEY assortment of errors, including Germaine Greer before Bella ABZUG, the Hat Lady, Joads before OKIES, and, oh yes, an inauspicious start in the NW with Granpa x GTE, but all was sortable. Had to get past the French St Catherine, Milanese? Viennese? Nope. Googleplex, of course.

Did better with the long black tongue, having seen videos of giraffes with same, so Cousin OKAPI came through. Guessed the SOULJA as a parallel to Sister Soulja, but hadn't a clue that ending wasn't TELLER.

Learned today that BF SKINNER did not actually raise one of his daughters in a SKINNERBOX. The 'baby tender' he invented was a clear-sided temperature-controlled environment, called by some an 'heir conditioner'.

I worked throughout college, mostly as a lab TA, but also doing research assignments for different profs. One of them was a little small fellow who worked on little small algae. [His initials were MG, abbrev for milligram.] One reason I won't forget him is that I was working in his lab one day in Nov '63, when he came in with the news that Kennedy had been assassinated.

Anyway, through him I learned about Spyrogyra, which like Steppenwolf was something else before it was a rock group. Spyrogyra is a filamentous green alga with chloroplasts arranged in a spiral formation. It's interesting in that it can reproduce 3 ways: asexually, sexually *by itself*, or sexually with a partner. When two Spyrogyras produce offspring together, just as with any other two co-parents, they can be considered CO-ALGAS.

[nyuk,nyuk]

Reactions to my MIES en scene and any personal complaints can be forwarded via email.

IBID you a good Friday, one and all.

Sir Hillary 2:03 PM  

@Fred - If I am off this mortal coil in 50 years, you're on. Forgive me if I'm a few years late. Either way, I look forward to the conversation, provided it's over a cocktail or two.

Perhaps David Steinberg can join us if he's similarly situated; then at least you'll be able to see if he's really a smart-ass or just someone you labeled as such because he made a puzzle you didn't like.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm off to have SOULJABOYTELLEM tattooed to the back of my hand.

Z 2:05 PM  

Inspired by @OISK solving puzzles with a far higher percentage of pop culture out of his field of interest, I've decided that I am going to solve puzzles like this, no matter how long it takes.

I know the Kardashians exist and they marry basketball players, but ODOM over SOULJA BOY TELL EM was tough. I also wanted to fit runners bra where SKINNER BOX belonged. It wasn't until post-solve that I finally got how ONESIE fit the clue. D'OH. Putting ADRIEN right above BRODY made that area tough for me, too. A tough slog, but I enjoyed it.

@R.alph - Yep, not a software reference. ROGET gave us a menu of word options, aka synonyms.

@joho - Minnesota has 1,000s of wonderful lakes, Michigan has great lakes.

Welcome back @Milford and @Rex.

AliasZ 2:06 PM  

@Leapy, loved your "dulce et decorum est pro Katria mori."

"Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori, sed dulcius pro patria vivere, et dulcissimum pro patria bibere. Ergo, bibamus pro salute patriae."

Cheers!

Z 2:10 PM  

I have always liked the smart-asses the best. Reminds me of the old saying, go to heaven for the climate, hell for the company.

Leapfinger 2:15 PM  

Love all the squabbling, and I agree with everyone. Am especially taken by the Grim Roofers saga: I know those guys, they have yet to finish painting my eaves and soffits since February.

Apologies for being unusually WORDIER than thou today

Leapfinger 2:25 PM  

@A-Z, I knew I liked you better when you aren't crabby! Mellifluous to be meading like this.

Skol!

Fred Romagnolo 2:36 PM  

@Sir Hillary: Ha ha, the laugh's on you; I have it on excellent authority that tattoos don't survive in the great beyond. By the way, mine's a martini with a twist, up. I doubt that Steinberg will be joining us that early, he's still pretty young. And I apologize to you and to him for the epithet. But, kefir and pacelap? I ask you.

Fred Romagnolo 2:37 PM  
This comment has been removed by the author.
r.alphbunker 2:40 PM  

I telecommute so my main means of communication with the person I work with is email. These are often terse descriptions of problems with the software I am working on.

For a while my other "job" was typing in ~850 puzzles for the Litzing project that David Steinberg leads.

Sometimes, after a bad email day, I submitted some puzzles to David just to get his "Awesome" email response. He was unfailing enthusiastic and appreciative of what I was doing.

Granted his puzzles are tough but I have seen no evidence that he is trying to annoy anybody with them. He just loves putting words together.

Sir Hillary 2:45 PM  

@Fred - Good stuff! Now I'm even more excited, because you and I share a cocktail preference. OK, I'm done for the day...off to watch the World Cup. I'll "see" you here tomorrow and shake your hand 50 years hence. Cheers.

SenorLynn 2:54 PM  

Rex--your 5 glorious days of actual human beings where the sun was-- reminded of an interview with GoogleGlass wearers. They said they wore the device as an interface with the real world. Interviewer did a 2ble take & said, "dude,that's what your eyes are!"
Today's was a Civil War--the North was solid, but was lost below Mason-Dixon line. 2009 is such ancient history for pop/rap. Can't stand people who're famous for being famous. So had to Google those 2.
@Milford, tried to get St Catherine to be SIncErE.

joefrombrooklyn 2:56 PM  

This puzzle felt like a hard Saturday to me. ABZUG crossed with GOOGOLPLEX rendered that entire section impossible for me. SOULJABOY TELL EM, SIENESE, BANTU, EOS, SNAX...for some reason all of these just stumped me today. I also have never heard anyone anywhere ever blame a GREMLIN on any failure. Finally, I had educational aids instead of AUDIO VISUAL AIDS and that was all she wrote. Worst I've done on a Friday in a long time and there was no satisfying click of understanding when I finally looked up the answers.

dk 3:08 PM  

🌕🌕🌕 (3 Moons)

Easy Friday for this lad. 41D was a bit strained.

Mostly my tears are flowing as Rex was nearby and well…. never called, never wrote.

Anonymous 3:08 PM  

This puzzle sucks! Using fill that fewer than 1% have ever heard of, and which can't be figured from crosses...

To Heck with you, Mr. Steinberg

Anonymous 3:08 PM  

This puzzle sucks! Using fill that fewer than 1% have ever heard of, and which can't be figured from crosses...

To Heck with you, Mr. Steinberg

dk 3:09 PM  

Also wanted Bizzaro world 58a

OISK 3:49 PM  

Ugh. I did not get to mention how much I enjoyed yesterday's, one of the most pleasurable Thursdays in a long time. @Z - Yep, I did manage to solve this Friday pop-culture swamp. Got held up for a long time because I had a star (Stern) on top of my Tannenbaum instead of an angel.(Engel auf Deutsch) Never thought of "angel," perhaps for the same reason I had no trouble yesterday with "megillah". Never heard of Adrien Brody, but Zane Grey helped a lot. (The only book I ever read by him was not a Western, but a baseball book!) Also had Panda before okapi, which went with Pastie (in the shower?). Souljaboytellem was just a guess, but it somehow sounded rappy to me. I never heard of "Nilla" either, and dislike product names of many kinds. (include MSN and EOS in that, although I knew those) No, despite slogging through, not much enjoyment for me here. Kardashian's married name? PLEASE !! "Pitcher known as "Blue Moon" " I would have snapped right up! There were signs of David emerging from the pop-culture tar in recent puzzles, but this was a regression, as far as I am concerned.

Anonymous 3:53 PM  

@Oisk
Surely you've heard of "'Nilla Wafers"!

Anonymous 3:56 PM  

EducationALAIDES

Made me forgo radial for BADLUCK for the GREMLIN and don't know onesie so middle and bottom was too tough
DNF

Z 4:20 PM  

I forgot to mention that my first thought at "Animal whose tongue is more than a foot long" was Gene Simmons. His infamous interview with Terry Gross comes to my mind after the testy interview with Hillary made the news.

Watching España/Nederland - Mom's side v Dad's side. I'm rooting for goals.

r.alphbunker 4:30 PM  

@Z
"I'm rooting for the goals" :-)

I am in Santa Fe for a couple of weeks and the World Cup is very much in evidence here. Construction workers and grocery stores have it blaring and people roar loudly when somebody scores a goal. I am used to games with larger final scores so I tend to root for the goals also.

@Lewis
Please email me.

Benko 4:36 PM  

@FredRom: To be fair, they aren't asking about Soulja Boy 50 years from now, but now. The currency of he name is what matters. He's hardly the Caruso or Pavarotti of hip hop. Biggie and Tupac are more likely to still be remembered. We don't remember every single opera singer who ever made a recording, but we do remember the Carusos and Pavarottis.
@Steve J: Exactly. Like the current connotation of calling certain people "thugs", much of the knee jerk reaction against rap seems to have disturbing undertones. (Not referring to Fred from above, sorry the posts are together.)
Go Netherlands! Four goals now!

Benko 4:37 PM  

make that five!!!!!! The Dutch are crushing Spain!

r.alphbunker 4:42 PM  
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Anonymous 4:49 PM  

If this was a Friday, what will a Saturday be like? Even with Googling a lot, it still took me a long, long time. I don't usually pay much attention to the constructors' names and didn't realize until I read the comments here that this was a David Steinberg creation. If I had noticed that when I started, I probably would have just folded up the newspaper and quit right there. After the first pass through both across and down entries, I almost quit anyway. Some of my problems were self-inflicted, though. Like retired_chemist, I just *knew* that 27-D was STERN, and that didn't help. Nor did misspelling GOOGOLPLEX, even when I knew what it was. Win some, lose some.

Milford 4:52 PM  

Wow, what a dethroning that was by Papa Z's team!

GILL I. 5:00 PM  

Que falta de cojonudo Espana! What happened?

ANON B 5:22 PM  

You people live in a different world than I do. Even when I
saw the answers, many meant nothing to me.

Lewis 5:31 PM  

PPP answer: The dance is the PASO DOBLE, a traditional Spanish dance.

And may I take this opportunity to plug So You Think You Dance?, a show I've found entertaining for many years, especially if you can DVR through the commercials. It is filled with beauty in motion, worth, I believe, at least one try.

Steve J 5:36 PM  

Wow. Who would have thought Netherlands would have destroyed Spain 5-1? Mac must be happy right about now.

@Fred: Benko covered my thoughts well. Some of these pop culture figures will become lasting names known well after the people behind them are gone. The Beatles were once dismissed as a flash-in-the-pan unworthy of attention, too. It's what every generation does: you defend your culture against your parents' and grandparents' dismissals, and then you get older and dismiss the culture that comes after you.

And, for the record, I wouldn't ever suggest that people should actually like rap. I like very little of it, myself. I do think there's a problem with the types of comments that say it's so-called music, that dismiss it as having any value at all, etc. That's where the isms come in. Simply not liking that particular style of music is just an issue of personal preference, no isms needed.

Anonymous 5:38 PM  

Never heard of Souljaboy Tellem. Guessed with ODOM/O'DOUL, though I vaguely remember the latter. Had "mafioso" for 1-A until I finally figured out it wouldn't work and changed it "made man." Rest was pretty straightforward.

size 5:51 PM  

Confused by the concept that puzzles should be written so that people can do them fifty years from now. Also curious to go back fifty years and see how much "timeless" culture in puzzles survives to today. Also, surprised at how many people don't know Skinner Box. That's psych 101 stuff.

Z 6:22 PM  

1964. Hmmmm. Beatles had the most weeks at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100, but Oh, Pretty Woman also spent some time there. Brooks Robinson was the AL MVP. Sandy Koufax didn't win the Cy Young like he did in '63, '65, and '66. The Cleveland Browns led by Jim Brown beat the Johnny Unitas quaterbacked Baltimore Colts (coached by Don Shula). My Fair Lady won Best Picture, Hello Dolly won Best Musical while the oft seen Girl from Ipanema won Best Record. Opie and the Lake Tahoe set Bonanza were on TV. Fifty year old pop culture does seem to make an occasional appearance in crosswords.

I wore my Dutch Republic Lion tee shirt instead of my David Villa jersey today, so I am taking full credit for the spanking España received today.

mac 6:31 PM  

Good puzzle, tough for me, but I forgot most of it.
I'm on my 3rd match (watching) today. What a day! I'll plan an orange party when they get into the next round.That van Persie goal was just brilliant.

The result is not THAT surprising. Both Spain and the Netherlands were in the final 4 years ago.

Thank you, Z and Benko!!

mac 6:32 PM  

@Z: Holland is a monarchy, although a pretty loose one.

Anonymous 6:56 PM  

A lot of things about Holland are fairly loose.
:)

r.alphbunker 7:33 PM  

In a stunning upset references to Steinberg beat out MADEMAN and SKINNERBOX by one with SOULJABOYTELLEM finishing a disappointing fourth.

Surprisingly ECOCIDE and COALGAS received no comments.

steinberg(18)
mademan(17)
skinnerbox(17)
souljaboytellem(16)
googolplex(15)
nyuk(11)
audiovisualaids(11)
onesie(10)
brody(9)
roget(9)
engel(9)
eos(8)
sienese(7)
chocolatecookie(7)
odom(6)
kefir(6)
adrien(6)
jot(5)
ishotthesheriff(5)
retar(5)
alton(5)
abzug(5)
okapi(3)
gremlin(3)
krypton(3)
doh(2)
msn(2)
nahs(2)
deli(2)
pacelap(2)
nilla(2)
okies(2)
paso(2)
odoul(2)
closeto(2)
led(2)
zane(2)
edo(1)
ibid(1)
bantu(1)
snax(1)
save(1)
ronco(1)
tee(1)
rosas(1)
ahs(1)
radial(1)
mies(1)
miser(1)
drano(1)
basely(1)
motley(1)
network(1)
blank(1)
wordier(1)
unc(1)
rifle(1)
echo(0)
gouda(0)
slanted(0)
nest(0)
sold(0)
coalgas(0)
racket(0)
coat(0)
oeste(0)
toe(0)
xdout(0)
mci(0)
lit(0)
ecocide(0)

Leapfinger 8:09 PM  

Sorry to mess up your program, @r.alph. I went through some contortions to parse that as CO ALGAS.[at 2:00pm]

Also wondering about counting backdoor mentions, eg, Googleplex w/o an accompanying GOOGOLPLEX.

(can you guess I'm a data validity freak?)

John Child 8:10 PM  

I found this very hard for all the wrong reasons and truly disliked it. Then I looked at the name of the constructor and realized why. I should learn to dig into the archive when a Steinberg puzzle is offered.

Anonymous 8:34 PM  

Vastly incomprehensible fill and the increasingly self-referential blah-blah by Rex. Is there anybody besides me who finds recent late-week NYT crosswords mediocre?

michael 9:14 PM  

Never heard of Souljabetellem and had to google the tellem part. But I am not complaining. I did know O'Doul and googolplex and skinner box and I shot the sheriff and odom and krypton. I don't see why the rapper answer is less worthy than these ones.

But didn't know sienese.

Not a fan of Steinberg puzzles...

Anonymous 9:32 PM  

Had "spinner box."

Like spinning class, I thought.

Now I'm sad.

Anonymous 9:35 PM  

Also missed sienese.

Vienese--yeah, can't spell so good.

Double sad.

Please prove *you're* not a robot.

Anonymous 9:43 PM  

Bernice Gordon seems to like young Steinberg just fine. Does that count for anything?

Robso 10:09 PM  
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Robso 10:11 PM  

"Souljaboytellem?" Who will be next, Mike Shinoda? (Yeah, I don't know him either--just googled a random rap "star.")

r.alphbunker 10:15 PM  

@LeapFinger
:-)

Enjoy this while you can. A high priority for me is to modify the program to detect your posts and analyze them very carefully.

Fred Romagnolo 10:21 PM  

@Benko: I've actually heard of Tupac, but Biggie is a new one on me. No offence taken at ism remark. FWIW I loved the Beatles from the start, but "Swing' is my big era, although my mother thought it was ugly cacophony!

Leapfinger 10:47 PM  

@r.alphaman

Read you loud and clear. I'll just sit here quietly and run up a couple of flow-charts.

And next time I read one of your comments, gonna make sure I put that drink down first. ;^P

ps. You can keep that a lower-case finger, save yerself a keystroke.

Bob Kerfuffle 10:59 PM  

Long day, late night.

Sorry, haven't read anything except to check the grid.

Darned hard puzzle for me because:

27 D, STERN before ENGEL; 39 A, CASA before PASO; 56 A, was thinking correctly AUDIO VISUAL AIDS, but started wring AUDIO VIDEO, saw I was going to be short, took a long time to get back to it. And 51 A was no help at all! (But did fill in from crosses.)

Z 12:22 AM  

@mac - I knew the Netherlands is a monarchy, but did not know who had succeeded Queen Beatrix. I also knew that Spain used to rule the Netherlands, but I did not know if the Lion on my t-shirt had a special name. So I googled "Dutch Lion" and got this Wikipedia page. In my head I had Dutch independence from Spain much earlier. Probably just ethnic pride I picked up growing up. I do wonder if the story I was told growing up in Holland, Michigan (the "van" in so many Dutch names in the US comes from the period of German rule, where everyone listed themselves as "lord" whatever as a poke in the eye to the Germans) is true or just folklore made up after the 1830's emigration to the states.

Fred Romagnolo 12:49 AM  

@Z: Beethoven's grandfather was Dutch and added "van" to the family name; he was very fond of that.

JESSICA 3:04 AM  

I just wanted to express my gratitude and appreciation to prophet salifu for bringing my husband back to me,I was married to my husband for 4 years and all of a sudden he started seeing another lady (his mistress).he started hailing at me and he was abusive.. and he hated me , but I still loved him with all my heart . the situation made me unsettle and not to focus at work .so a friend told me about trying (prophet salifu )spiritual means to get my husband back and introduced me to him ? i did not listen to her and hoped that my husband will come back home . after 9 month of seperation and depression , it got out of hand and my husband came back home to break the news to me that he want a divorce that he is getting married to his mistress .Hmmm it was so shocking to me ,i felt sad and more depressed ,so i contacted my friend again and decieded to try to use spiritual means reluctantly..although I didn’t believe in all those things? I never thought in a million years that i will get my husband back to me a again. but I was proved wrong.after 24 hours, my husband came back and was pleading..he had realized his mistakes..i just couldn’t believe it that we are back together. I am deeply satisfied and thankful with prophet salifu work .if you also want to fix you marriage or relationship email him at (prophetsalifu@yahoo.com) or (prophetsalifu@gmail.com) , his work is for a better life .

Anonymous 3:37 AM  

Under which rocks do these people hail from?

Anonymous 1:34 PM  

DS's latest confusion of a crossword puzzle with a pop culture trivia contest. I would be deeply ashamed of myself if I knew of or cared about SouljaRapper". Why would someone with the intelligence to do the NYT puzzle listen to doggerel written for people who dropped out of high school? Or watch Hollywood movies and TV shows that are consciously designed not to challenge the intellect of a ten year old? I guess it's just another symptom of the world going to hell in a handbasket. (Sigh.)

SOULJA BOY TELL'EM 2:35 PM  

Baby you know that I miss you, I wanna get with you tonight
But I cannot baby girl and that's the issue
Girl you know I miss you, I just wanna kiss you
But I can't right now so baby kiss me thru the phone, I'll see you later on
Kiss me thru the phone, see you when I get home

Baby I know that you like me, you my future wifey
Soulja Boy Tell 'Em, yeah
You can be my Bonnie, I can be your Clyde
You could be my wife, text me, call me

I need you in my life, yeah all day everyday I need ya
And every time I see ya my feelings get deeper
I miss ya, I miss ya, I really wanna kiss you but I can't
Six, seven, eight, triple nine, eight, two, one, two

Baby you know that I miss you, I wanna get with you tonight
But I cannot baby girl and that's the issue
Girl you know I miss you, I just wanna kiss you
But I can't right now so baby kiss me thru the phone, I'll see you later on
Kiss me thru the phone, see you when I get home

Baby I been thinking lately so much about you
Everything about you, I like it, I love it
Kissing you in public, thinking nothing of it
Roses by the dozen, talking on the phone

Baby you so sexy, your voice is so lovely
I love your complexion, I miss ya, I miss ya, I miss ya
I really wanna kiss you but I can't
Six, seven, eight, triple nine, eight, two, one, two

Baby you know that I miss you, I wanna get with you tonight
But I cannot baby girl and that's the issue
Girl you know I miss you, I just wanna kiss you
But I can't right now so baby kiss me thru the phone, I'll see you later on
Kiss me thru the phone, see you when I get home

She call my phone like
Da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da
We on the phone like
Da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da

We taking pics like
Da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da
She dial my number like
Da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da
Six, seven, eight, triple, nine, eight, two, one, two

Baby you know that I miss you, I wanna get with you tonight
But I cannot baby girl and that's the issue
Girl you know I miss you, I just wanna kiss you
But I can't right now so baby kiss me thru the phone, I'll see you later on
Kiss me thru the phone, see you when I get home

rondo 10:41 AM  

First DNF in ages. This Steinberg kid puts out some toughies.

447 = 5 no good, would have stopped after 44

spacecraft 1:03 PM  

Well, here we are again. When I saw the rapper clue, I frowned. When I saw that the entry spans the grid, and that I'd have to get every one of fifteen downs with no cross help, I just said forget it. DNS = Did Not Start. Or, David "No, no, not again!" Steinberg.

I tell you once more, people, if you don't stop peopling your puzzles with rap/hiphoppers, YOU ARE GOING TO LOSE ME. I have better things to do.

3026 = 11: 2 in numerology but 1 in baccarat. Either way a loser. Is there a theme here?

Solving in Seattle 1:26 PM  

I add my voice to the railing of 51A. Never heard of him and I don't listen to rap.
I also cannot f*&^ing understand how Will allowed a Kardashian clue in a NYT cwpuz. What's next, Jersey Shore trivia. Shame on you. Bring back some class.

DMG 2:57 PM  

Not a fun puzzle. Too much rap, too many names! Got CHOCOLATECOOKIE and decided to have it with a cup of tea and left the rest of this thing to others. Maybe it's just a generational thing, but Mr. Steinberg's puzzles mostly leave me cold.

439 = 16 or, as I now understand only 6. Didn't do well there either

rain forest 4:26 PM  

Top half easy, middle left, almost easy, bottom left, pretty easy, but then it got hard. SKINNERBOX was something I knew, as well as GOOGOLPLEX. Fun fact: the original name for Google *was* Googol, but somebody misspelled it, and the wrong name stuck.

Anyway, I managed to finish this beast with my final entry being JOT after considering dot for quite a while.

I admire the construction, and the range, but I can't say I had a great time with this.

So, 124=7, which I think is 7. Card.

Anonymous 5:55 PM  

Well, the world could use more Curleys: nyuk

Anonymous 6:00 PM  

Have "thug life" tattooed on the other, that's ill

leftcoastTAM 6:04 PM  

Damn, no sanfranman59 to give us the best objective rating we'll see. For me, challenging for sure.

Dirigonzo 6:18 PM  

I finished it with no errors, althought there were times I almost quit and had it been another constructor I might have, but I feel an extra challenge to finish DS offerings. @Rex described exactly my experience watching the rapper's name fall into place.

261 is, I believe, a winning 9.

Waxy in Montreal 7:57 PM  

Young Mr. Steinberg, clearly the Rory McIlroy of the crossword constructors, has done it again. Great puzzle - with the much-commented-upon exception of the rapper and, as per @SiS, the clueless Kardashian clue.

208 - NAH

sdcheezhd 8:54 PM  

Had ran for LED and it took awhile to get SKINNERBOX - kept thinking of physical conditioning, something about skin - so those last 6 boxes took about as long as the rest of the puzzle.

Could have had Blue Moon ODOM instead of Lamar and classed up the joint a bit.

Anonymous 9:33 PM  

Looked at the constructor's name, read all the clues, threw puzzle in trash. Voila!
I'll mark that down as finished.

Ron Diego

Prune 4:27 PM  

This contains too many of the things that, for me, detract from a puzzle: vapid celebrity (Kardashians), rap, religious minutiae (SIENESE), entertainment trivia (ALTON, ADRIEN BRODIE, ODOUL), rich-folk trivia (EOS), marketing abuses of the language (SNAX).

I also think that the comparable nerd trivia (SKINNER BOX, GOOGOLPLEX) are a lot to ask, although they're very much in my ambit.

I get a DNF on this. I fought my way through the problems in the SW after about 10 minutes, walked that back to get GREMLINS (wrong), and finally completed ADRIEN BRODY. I couldn't close on the S, and had HIT for LIT in the SE, a more literal interpretation of "blitzed". With the alphabet soup for 51A, I never got the Canon style as eoS, and was holding out a fear that SIAMESE would appear for St. Catherine, that perhaps one of the stooges had said M-UK at some point.

So ... one square wrong, two blank, and quit trying at 24:30 of solving time.

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