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Relative difficulty: Easy
THEME: "GREEN EGGS AND HAM" (57A: Dr. Seuss book ... or a description of the answers to the three starred clues) - starred clues are descriptions of "green," "eggs," and "ham," respectively
Yesterday I was wondering where my Tuesday puzzle had gone. Well, I found it. It was hiding in Wednesday's slot. Did this puzzle in well under yesterday's time (closer to Monday's), and with zero hesitation, except for a very brief moment where I thought the attorney general in question might be BURR and perhaps there was a variant version of the well-known Hawaiian dance called the HULU (there is a website called "Hulu.com," which is great - lots of high-quality recent tv clips and other videos). But I played it conservatively and went with BARR (35D: Attorney general after Thornburgh) and HULA (39A: Dance with a wiggle), which ended up being correct. Today's theme is wonderful - tight, concise, clear, clever. Not much to say but "good job."
Theme answers:
- 17A: *1986 Newman/Cruise film ("The Color of Money") - in the U.S., yes, this is (a kind of) GREEN
- 26A: *Ritzy delicacy (beluga caviar) - this concept is always confusing to me, as BELUGA is a whale, and whales don't lay eggs... but BELUGA CAVIAR comes from the BELUGA sturgeon found primarily in the Caspian Sea.
- 44A: *Showboating type (grandstander) - HAM ... this definition of HAM seems just a teensy bit off. A bad actor would have been nice here, but perhaps that would have been too insulting. The last thing the NYT wants is an angry letter from Rob Schneider (he fits!).
Not a lot more to say about this puzzle on a general level. My sister and family arrive tomorrow and stay through Saturday, so puzzle commentary will likely get briefer for a few days. Also, I leave for a three-week trip to NZ on the 14th. I have people (I do) covering for me on travel days, but I should be coming to you live from Dunedin (or thereabouts) beginning on the 18th or so. Assuming we don't buy the wrong adapter and explode the laptop. I will take those weeks in NZ to lobby for new crossword words - NZ is horribly under-utilized. Various flora, fauna, and related Maori words could really liven up our language. KEA and TUI alone could do big business in our grids, I think. So ... "RPDTNYTCP" goes international in two weeks. Look for it.
List just in...
- 1A: "The aristocrat of pears" (bosc) - whose (absurd) quote is that? Pear in four letters = BOSC. One of the few SC-ending words that isn't DISC or an abbreviation.
- 23A: Vintner's valley (Napa) - started to write in ASTI when I thought 4D: Milk sources (coconuts) had something to do with COCOA...
- 31A: Woodworking tool (router) - ADZ? Is it ADZ? ADZ won't fit. But ... ADZ!
- 33A: Marvelous, in slang (fab) - also, a detergent.
- 36A and 46D: Symbols of industry (ants)(logos) - check it out - an ant logo:
- 51A: Alternative to Gmail (AOL) - AOL is a minor crossword god, and can apparently be clued a bijillion ways.
- 62A: "Never follow" sloganeer, once (Audi) - ooh, a bygone slogan. Those are always good.
- 63A: Gin flavorer (sloe) - it's gin season. Too bad I will be spending most of it in a NZ winter (yeah, it's winter Down There).
- 6D: Disposition pick-me-up (Prozac) - um ... this clue seems wrong, or at least mis-leading. Prozac is not cocaine or no-doz. It is not (as I understand it ...) fast-acting, so "pick-me-up" seems way way off.
- 7D: Label in a bibliophile's catalog (rare) - This bibliophile does not use this label. Not that I don't have some RARE books.
- 9D: Mag mogul beginning in the '50s (Hef) -
easy. He has a good short nickname that you see in crosswords from time to time.
- 11D: Kendo motion (lunge) - is Kendo a martial art? Aha, "the way of the sword." Yes. I would show you video, but I just tried to watch a championship, and it was terminally boring (how is that possible!?), so I'll spare you.
- 19D: Language of Kuala Lumpur (Malay) - Kuala Lumpur used to have the tallest buildings in the world (Petronas Towers), but have since been overtaken by Shanghai and Taipei.
- 24D: Like early night election returns (partial) - wanted PRE-something for a few seconds.
26D: Grill option, for short (brat) - I don't think I saw this; it would have thrown me, despite the fact that I've been eating pseudo-brats on a regular basis this summer (Tofurky does much more than ridiculous fake turkey)
- 38D: Tolkien's The Prancing Pony, e.g. (inn) - I have no recollection of this. Luckily (for someone) the nerd factor on Tolkien fans is so incredibly high that there is a detailed description of this inn over at Wikipedia.
- 44D: Dolphins Hall-of-Fame QB Bob (Griese) - QB when I was a kid. I'm surprised his name doesn't appear more often. A potentially useful six-letter "G"-word.
- 51D: Gelatin substitute (agar) - one of the few ultra-crosswordy bits of fill today. Well, I guess there is SLOE. And EMIT. And A TON. And ALOE and OGLE and EONS and LUTE and IRATE and STYES and OSAGE. Hmm, I guess this puzzle gets a lot of credit for making me forget how much crosswordy fill it actually does have.
Not a real botanist here, but the BOSC pear gets its aristocratic nickname from its long slender neck. It was more a slam on the upper class than a praise for the pear.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed the puzzle and while I agree it was easy, I made a few reasonable errors and spaced them in such a way as to force me to redo several sections. The payoff was worth it.
No worries about getting a letter from Roy Schneider...he passed away in February at 75 years old. Fosse, Jaws, Blue Thunder = bad actor? Seems harsh.
ReplyDeleteBut short wave radio operator = ham. Nice to see Dr Seuss.
I believe the reference was to Rob Schneider rather than Roy Scheider (who, incidentally was dead-pan, not ham). Rob from SNL is still alive and hamming it up terribly as are all those yokels from SNL.
ReplyDeleteanonymous2
Very nice puzzle today - this week is off to a good start. Clever theme, good clues and fill. I agree that grandstander is a bit off, but not offensively so.
ReplyDeleteDoes anyone know if the NYT puzzles can be solved on those reading machines (like Amazon's Kindle)? Do any of them support Across-lite? Inquiring minds...
Agreed. Dwayne Schneider was an awesome super on "One Day at a Time." It was cool how he kept his smokes rolled up in his t-shirt sleeve. Much cooler than Bookman on "Good Day at a Time."
ReplyDeleteanoymous3
Good puzzle! It brought on a twinge of personal regret again, as my dad and Ted Geisel were best friends both at Dartmouth (Class of '25) and afterward... I'm stilll missing the RARE drawing he did for me in the mid-forties inscribed "For Cornelia-- Here is an Hypothetical Lion, Dr. Seuss". It looked like a precursor to the Cat in the Hat, sans hat, sitting up and facing the viewer. If anyone sees it, at auction or anywhere, please let me know?
ReplyDeleteHope Rex and family will have a great visit Down Under!
∑;)
god bless you, anonymous3. If you could come by once a day and do that, my gratitude would be infinite.
ReplyDeleterp
Great little puzzle. Theme actually made me laugh out loud.
ReplyDeleteCan someone explain ANTED? to me. I don't get it.
ReplyDeleteGood puzzle -- fast for me for a Wednesday. Theme was clever, and made the puzzle very easy.
(early mistakes: "Also" for PLUS; almost fell for "soaps", but caught myself, waited, and found OPRAH)
I must say I agree with Rex;
ReplyDeletethis puzzle's one that did not vex.
I enjoyed every single clue;
Please give Daniel his full due.
I'd comment elsewhere, I have the time;
But "Orange" does not have a rhyme!
could somebody explain to me why we are discussing the comedic stylings of martin heidegger? that sein und zeit is an absolute riot, i'll tell you.
ReplyDeleteloved the puzzle today--it's the sweet tuesday puzzle we didn't get to experience on tuesday. (yesterday's puzzle felt very wednesday to me.)
i drew a blank on the prancing pony despite having the initial I in place. shame on me, because i should know that. isn't that where the hobbits met "strider" for the first time? yep, it is.
i had the exact same cognitive dissonance when confronted by "woodworking tool." ADZ! no, too short. aha, it must be ADZE!! still too short. AADZZE? help!
is gin seasonal? i had no idea.
Joon,
ReplyDeleteHere in Franklin drinking gin outside of high summer is Just Not Done. :)
@addie logins
ReplyDeletethe stake in this case refers to the money you put in to start a poker hand, ante, in this case the past tense. You probably got misdirected thinking of some sort of mechanical stake, the type use to kill Dracula.
Since we are speaking of Tolkien, Strider, and Rex's upcoming trip to NZ, I'll risk proving myself a complete LOTR nerd by pointing out an additional Tolkien / NZ connection beyond the obvious that the movies were shot there. In the books, Strider (Aragorn) is one of the "Men of the West," a race for whom the collective term in Tolkien's lexicon is... Dunedin.
ReplyDeleteAgree with all -- very fun puzzle that made me laugh when I got it.
MM
Tuesday? This was the Monday puzzle I was looking for! No problems filling this one out although I, too, was miffed by "showboating type" despite being voted Biggest Ham in my high school class! Great way to start a Wednesday.
ReplyDeleteNice puzzle. Only slips were RAD for FAB, SAMBA for SALSA, and BIDE for PINE (it didn't seem right but sorta fit). Also faster than yesterday's.
ReplyDeleteLots of fun to solve, and a great payoff.
ReplyDeleteBeluga caviar -- yum
Learned two factoids -- Tofurky (thanks, Rex) and BRATS
Definitely agree that this puzzle was switched at birth with the Tuesday puzzle. Lawsuits and paternity tests will no doubt ensue.
ReplyDeleteCoincidentally, I went out last night with some friends to an Irish pub in DC. The hand-carved wooden architecture, combined with the color scheme of the walls and Celtic-style decorations painted everywhere, gave the place a kind of Hobbit-hole-like atmosphere. They also had a small wooden sign behind the bar- "Inn of the Prancing Pony"- which was just like the one used in the movie. Don't know if it was an original or a duplicate, but nevertheless it was a weird example of life imitating crossword!
Cheers,
Ronathan :-)
Really liked this puzzle. I found it much more to my liking than yesterday. I also finished it pretty quickly. Have a great day!
ReplyDeleteFelt like a Tuesday to me too. But a really good Tuesday! Clever theme.
ReplyDelete@Rex
ReplyDeletegrandstanding and ham I agree are just a tad off, unless of course you never saw Willie Mays and his famous "basket" catches during a live game, or Roberto Clemente catching towering fly balls behind his back during infield and batting practice. Happy July 4th and vacation well.
Nice brain workout - not too hard, not too easy. Plus, I love Dr. Seuss. Here's a bit of trivia: at Dartmouth, prior to the freshmen class start, there is a hiking trip and "green eggs and ham" are served, green being Dartmouth's color, and Dr. Seuss being a Dartmouth grad.
ReplyDeleteHard to appreciate the constant chatter about the dayworthiness of a puzzle's difficulty. I happened to find this one quite simple to do, and clever enough with the theme and tie-up.
ReplyDeleteMy first fill was totally wrong: SOAPS instead of OPRAH, but after that, nothin but good guesses.
Didn't learn much, except the Spanish spellings for eight and west.
So ORANGE has no perfect rhyme
ReplyDeleteUnless you cannot take the time
to pronounce "aren't" as I do
Orange you glad? Or do you?
Yeah, a nice pre-Wednesday puzzle. Got 57A:GREENEGGSANDHAM before any of the other theme entries, and wondered how a mere 15 letter answer could encompass all three, let alone in three different ways... Eventually realized it's one answer per item.
ReplyDelete3D: I expected Rex to comment again that "author Silverstein" would have sufficed. But then we'd miss learning of another Silverstein book.
4D: The clue "milk sources" plus the first two letters had me thinking "COW ... COWTEATS!?" the second O led me to the correct kind of milk.
A mini-theme of grade-school geometry in 30D:VOL (L x w x h), 25D:BISECTS, and maybe the right-angle clue for 53:OESTE?
Oh, and why can't a clue like "Key of Beethoven's Fifth" (42A) show up in a harder puzzle, where knowing this bit of musical trivia might actually open up an otherwise inaccessible sector of the grid?... (All but two of Beethoven's 9 symphonies are in major keys, but even a nonspecialist can remember the opening of the Fifth and know that the answer must be something-MINOR rather than something-MAJOR.)
NDE
ooooh, loved it! Smiled through it, laughed when I got the theme answer, and my two favorite children/adult authors-- Shel Silverstein and Dr. Seuss-- together in one puzzle. Heavenly!
ReplyDeleteNot to mention my fastest time ever on a Wednesday (if we're Utah it must be Wednesday). I gave my husband, all three answers and asked him to guess what the theme was and he said it was "showing off"... Makes some sense...
The daily quest for the NYTimes while driving across country takes you a bit out of the way on I-80, usually searching for Starbucks... You wind up in the suburbs (e.g.in Salt Lake City) and see all the Payless, Walmart, Lowe's neighborhoods. And an IHOP... I said to husband: Rex loves IHOP, and he said:"A man of impeccable taste!"
@nde
ReplyDeleteAny 6-letter "key of" answers are semi-gimmees as you can fill in "xMxxOR" so it's a bit easier. Alternatives could be"xFLAT" or "xSHARP" but these are usually clued differently.
And I thought I was the only who considered yesterday's puzzle to be a mid/late-week puzzle. And either my knowledge/ability has deteriorated over the last month or the past Sundays have been much harder?
The NY Sun today has the clue "First name in grinchiness" which I at first thought was "THEODORE" but turned out to be "EBENEEZER." After today's Seuss theme I thought it was a big coincidence, and googled him after reading artlvr's comment on Ted Geisel. Found his name is really THEODOR and that he won an Oscar for a US Army film he did in WWII. How about that?
Liked the theme, good to not endure the puns of late!
PS. Our friend "The Google Guy" posted a friendly comment to us last night, in case you have not seen it.
ReplyDeleteFirst I'll remove the door hinge
ReplyDeleteThen I'll paint it orange
This was the easiest puzzle. The color of money, grand stander & green eggs & ham. There wasn't one thing that I had to figure out contexturally. Now that I said that - Thursday will be unusually hard!!
ReplyDeleteThis puzzle was so easy that I could do it in a car, or on a bar or under a star. I could do it with a pen or near a hen or again & again. This was really one tha must have taken wayyyyy longer to construct than solve.
ReplyDeleteThanks for reminding me of Rhymes with Orange, folks! I like that comic strip and just now ordered Hilary Price's latest book of strips. (Reminds me a bit of Roz Chast's cartoons.)
ReplyDeleteI got the first long answer from just the clue with no crosses and worked steadily southward from there.
ReplyDeleteI had a big problem in Norhtern California with ROUTER/BRAT/LUTE. I went back and forth interchanging BLTS and LYRE for the correct answers for a while and finally arrived at the right fill.
@joon-
Belated congrats on your puzzle. I did the one at Orange's Group a couple of weeks ago and found it solid. Continuing good luck on your puzzling career.
Interesting to learn from Phillysolver that a long neck is a sign of aristocracy. Just saw "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" for the first time (perhaps suggested by the puzzle clue from a few days ago) and was wondering why Maggie kept referring to her unpolished nieces and nephews as 'neckless.'
ReplyDeleteWasn't it a COCONUT palm that Keith Richards fell from not too long ago? Might have been fun to have the Clue cite to that notable event.
Liked the puzzle. It's moving day, so I'm super busy and stressed, but one particular comment on this board made me laugh So Hard I just had to post something. Addie Loggins: Please tell everyone what state you live in and how often you play poker so they can laugh about it too.
ReplyDeleteThis puzzle was very amusing and quickly done, despite my problem. Went to new doc (former one retired), had bad episode of White Coat Syndrome. The doc, who otherwise impressed me favorably, decided to prescribe daily 5 mg dose of Norvasc despite my statement of normal BP readings @ home. I think this was an instance of CYA in his case.
ReplyDeleteI took the stuff reluctantly and it threw me for a loop, causing distressing side effects, so I quit taking it today after 4 days of misery. I'm starting to feel semi-humanoid now, five hours after NOT taking the daily dose of that wretched stuff. So that's my story; thanks for listening.
I would argue that PRESS is not the same as iron. IMHO, ironing involves a gliding motion over the fabric, while PRESSing is just that: bearing down with the iron without moving it to and fro; maybe steaming the material in the process. Good garment construction demands pressing as you go. Yes, I still buy fabric and make clothes; one of my few indulgences, along with dark dark chocolate and expensive cheese.
BELUGA means "white", as in Belarus, white Russia. So we have white whales and white sturgeon.
Plenty of food in this puzzle, I notice; amd one fill I could do without: STYES.
ANTS and ANTED in rather close proxiimity? Well, OK. I'm in awe, as are many of you, of the constructors, and I'm loath to nitpick, espcially considering what might descend upon my own head were I to succeed in having a puzzle published. This is highly unlikely, as I'm afraid even to try to construct.
I had ALOT instead of ATON for a while, but was unwilling to entertain the possibility of the existence of a Zit Master.
@Fergus
ReplyDeleteYes I believe you are correct about the Keith Richards incident and would have made a good clue for COCONUTS.
Also COCONUTS could have been connected with HULA and clued as "dancers of 39ACROSS may use its shells as attire!"
Happy to get our Tuesday puzzle this week, and this one was fun.
ReplyDelete@Bill in NJ, I got the first long answer without any crosses as well, and 57A shortly thereafter so that helped with the other ones.
Got a little stuck in the middle, with titan instead of title at 37A, but vol. fixed that.
I loved reading these two authors to my son, and Allenrichard, you do a pretty good job rhyming like the doctor, it brought back memories!
All of you, save travels and lots of fun over the holiday weekend. I'm staying put, am just working on the menu for my guests. I'll keep you informed!
>Just saw "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" for the first time (perhaps suggested by the puzzle clue from a few days ago) and was wondering why Maggie kept referring to her unpolished nieces and nephews as 'neckless.'
ReplyDeletei believe she also calls them "no-neck monsters" -- and the as-yet-to-be-impregnated maggie is on some level jealous of her fertile sister-in-law, but also (based on mae and gooper's noisy brood) skeptical of/horrified by the idea of the patter of little feet in her life. saw the production here *years* ago with elizabeth ashley, and in a piece of kinda cruel casting, damned if they didn't find kids with decidedly short (non-aristocratic...) necks.
loved the organization/theme of today's puzzle *lots* and solved it in a more than acceptable tuesday time. at last!
;-)
janie
Not much to say about this ho-hum-not-as-good-as-yesterday puzzle. ;-)
ReplyDeleteBut when I got THE COLOR OF MONEY and then GREEN EGGS AND HAM right off the bat, I rushed to fill in the other themed answers.
Let's see... "Showboating type," and it will probably be connected to "ham." A-HA!! SCENE STEALER!!
Well, that was a problem, especially as it fit with ALL the crosses I had at the time.
Yup, some days just aren't Tuesdays.
@alanrichard
ReplyDeleteI agree with Mac, good Dr. Seuss rhythm! Brought back memories.
I not only did it in a car, but commented from a car (while someone else was driving).
The puzzle did not generate controversy but inspired a rhyming mood in many! How cool.
I agree with everyone else's assessment of the puzzle. Usually Wednesdays throw me for a small loop but this one just kept on going with no real roadblocks. I did have "ages" for EONS, "rad" for FAB and "spend" for USE UP but everything else went along just fine.
ReplyDeleteI was wondering what the theme was because I filled in GREEN EGGS AND HAM without seeing the clue. Makes perfect sense now!
I am enjoying all the Seuss homages. My uncle and aunt who live in La Jolla and were neighbors of the Geisels socialized with them regularly. Not sure if they got any personalized drawings, though. My aunt was not fond of Audrey.
BETS, ANTED, THE COLOR OF MONEY
@ miriam b: I'm surprised your new doc put you on a BP medication after only one high reading. I agree with your diagnosis of CYA Syndrome. If you have access to a BP monitor, either at home or a neighborhood store, documentation of a few normal readings should clear that CYA Syndrome right up!
Finally, this week's Newsweek has a bit about the resurgence of sloe gin, due to an English company's (Plymouth, I believe) coming out with a premium version. Here's the link
Dr Seuss is one of those people who seems to inspire just about everyone.
ReplyDeleteHe is truly unforgettable and a national treasure
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ReplyDeleteI just saw Cat On A Hot Tin Roof with James Earl Jones, Phylicia Richard & Terrence Howard, (we were in the 2nd row), - I loved it and they were great. What was really funny was that there were only about 10 caucasians in the audience and 1/2 of that number was my family. They were called "no-neck monsters" because they were chunky kids and they were very annoying. Getting back to this extremely easy puzzle - it was inspiring to me for 2 reasons: I always loved Dr. Seuss and I would read him in my house or with a mouse, and I would read him on a chair or on the stair or I would read him anywhere!!! Also, I love the Marx Brothers and when I saw Coconuts as an answer it inspired me to go to the Marx Brothers site and watch assorted clips: specifically three chairs for Captain Spalding, the lemonade man, and Lydia the Tatooed Lady.
ReplyDeleteOk, so yes, I live in Reno, Nevada. And yes, I play poker, well... several times a week. But in my own defense, a) I play hold 'em, which uses "blinds" rather than "antes"; 2) as ladel surmised, I was thinking of tent stakes (or through-Dracula's-heart type stakes); and third) I was reading the letters as being the past tense of "ant" which just didn't make any sense.
ReplyDelete@Ladel, thanks for the explanation.
@Puzzlegirl, don't you have some boxes to pack or something ;-P
Nice puzzle Mr. Kantor.
ReplyDeleteThe Cat in the Hat was the first book I read,so Green Eggs and Ham came easy. My biggest misstep was being literal and using the AND in GRANDSTANDER. I looked really hard for the missing HAM.
The Southeast section has SAM I AM if you look from different angles.
@doc john: Thanks for confirming my impression. I do have a good monitor at home, amd I brought it in last Monday on my second visit to check its accuracy. Problem was, the memory on the device showed readings which were taken over the weekend while on Norvasc. I protested in vain that the readings were ALWAYS normal BEFORE I took the meds. Now when I go back to see him on the 15th I will tell him that I had to deep-six the stuff or go nuts, and I can show him normal readings taken since then.
ReplyDeleteIn all fairness to him, he really doesn't know me yet, though he's a guy who came highly recommended and really listens and answers questions - a rarity these days. Also, the office BP was really pretty high. I was suffering from jet lag, and that caused me to appear jittery and maybe even affected my pressure. I dunno. Anyway, I'm waiting for this stuff to clear from my system, which according to my internet research could take days. Thank goodness it was a low dose.
Wrong forum? But thanks so much for your input.
Driving through La Jolla a few years ago, I noticed that some of the trees had a Seussian look about them. My son and his wife are both Dartmouth alums. I must remember to ask them whether there's anything on campus to commemorate Mr. Geisel. There should be. There's some notable art work there: Josè Clemente Orozco's 24-panel fresco, THe Epic of American Civilization.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of Dr. Seuss, at Universal's Islands of Adventure in Orlando, there's a kids' area themed to Dr. Seuss. It's as if one has stepped into a Dr. Seuss book. Very very cool. And, you can get green eggs and ham there!
ReplyDeleteI've never noticed any Seussian trees in La Jolla, though, unless you're thinking of the Torrey Pines that are very windblown.
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ReplyDelete@doc john: Could have been the windblown Torrey pines. I'll Google some images and have a look. Of course, as a lifelong denizen of the Northeast (except for three years spent in the Krazy Kat-esque landscape of New Mexico), I find California flora quite exotic.
ReplyDelete@Rex: Tofurky is a new one on me, and the name brought to mind something really offensive. It's a turkey stuffed with a duck stuffed with a chicken, and some misguided soul dubbed this abomination Turducken. Try parsing that.
It offends me on several fronts, as I'm edging toward vegetarianism. They call us folks flexitarians.
Third post and out
@addie logins
ReplyDeletemy pleasure to help. I have been misdirected so many times even a GPS couldn't straighten me out. That's the beauty of the puzzle, you can never let you guard down, they misdirect, you don't know if the clue is a noun or verb, it's what's going to hold off old age.
Tofurky is what those in the industry call a meat analog. There are natural/soy products, then there are natural/soy products shaped to resemble meat products. And it's the latter.
ReplyDeletemiriam b, turducken is wonderful. (Vegetarians (or flexies), you can skip the rest of this, but you should listen to this song.)
Meativores: The birds are deboned, stuffed as indicated, and cooked for a long time at relatively low heat. The duck is really fatty, and the duck fat keeps all three birds super moist and juicy. And because there are no bones, you can slice it like a loaf and each slice includes all birds.
The Salmon family has a good recipe and instructions here, and there's a fantastic song linked at the bottom.
Really liked today's puzzle, sorry I didn't get here to say that earlier,
sg
No clues printed in italics for the syndicated puzzle in the Montreal Gazette - maybe the 6 week delay takes it toll on fonts. However, this Wednesday-disguised-as-a-Monday fare was so easy that they weren't missed.
ReplyDeleteBring on Thursday - please.
Out of habit, I always glance as the theme clues before beginning the puzzle. I knew the title of the Cruise/Newman movie (great hair, Tom!), and I'm well versed in Seuss, so for the first time ever, the first two clues I filled in were the THEME ones. Gave myself a little pat on the back, to make up for yesterday's (Tuesday's) shortcomings.
ReplyDelete8/6 (6 weeks later)
ReplyDelete@Waxy in Montreal: the theme answers weren't italicized (as 57a: Dr. Seuss book ... or a description of the answers to the three italicized clues) or asterisked as Rex (or a description of the answers to the three starred clues) stated in my syndicated paper either. (Portland Oregonian)
Very fun puzzle.
Today's puzzle contains one of my biggest frustrations with puzzle makers: it refers to Masonry as a "secret" society! Masons are NOT members of a secret society. If they were you would not know who they are because they would not be wearing their rings or lapel pins in public; their lodge halls would not have their names and Masonic symbol on the outside of them; they would not have public fund raisers for diabetic equipment for children or have cancer hospitals in connection with universities such as the one in Minnesota; you would not know that quite a few U.S. Presidents, and other legislators, as well as entertainment people have been and are currently members of this FRATERNAL organization. It a an organization with "secret" work as a part of its meetings. Someone who is not a member of the VFW, American Legion or college fraternal organizations cannot be present during their business meetings either, but that does not make them "secret" organizations, does it? So why, why, why do puzzle creators insist on referring to Masonry as a "secret" organization?!
ReplyDeleteThe term "secret society" has taken on its own definition, and perhaps shouldn't be taken as literal translations of the terms "secret" and "society".
ReplyDeleteThere are many organizations with "secret" rituals, etc. (fraternities in college, as you mention, but also the Freemasons, Elks, etc.) That doesn't make them sinister, only that they have some aspects of their "society" that are restricted to members.
Freemasons are especially of interest because so many of our (US) founding fathers were allegedly members and there is so much Freemasonry symbolism in many things we see every day (our dollar bills, etc.)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secret_society
No italics in the Long Beach Press-Telegram either. Which made me think for a while that Ham referred to Laurel.
ReplyDelete