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Constructor: Anthony J. Salvia
Relative difficulty: Medium
THEME: DQ — theme answers are 3 people (1 real, 2 fictional) and a fast food chain, all of whose initials are D.Q.
Word of the Day: DINK (55A: Softly hit ball in tennis) — n.
- A two-career couple with no children.
- A member of such a couple.
[D(ual) I(ncome) N(o) K(ids).]
OR
n. Sports.A drop shot.
[From dink, sound of a weakly hit or dropped ball.]
ORn. Offensive Slang.
Used as a disparaging term for a North Vietnamese soldier or guerrilla in the Vietnam War.
[Origin unknown.]
-----
A straightforward Monday puzzle. No bells and whistles, just a bunch of phrases with one feature in common. Actually, the four "Q"s are at least a bell, if not a whistle, and they lead to at least one nice word in the crosses: BAROQUE (40D: Like the works of Handel and Bach). Other than that, not much to laugh (or cry) about. I rated it "Medium" for difficulty, though honestly I have no idea how difficult it was. I filled some out, and then went downstairs or dinner, and then filled the rest of it out in front of the TV, so whether this would have taken me 3 minutes or 4 (and that's a chasm where difficulty level is concerned), I don't know. I fell into at least one trap — SHAPE for SOLID (44D: Sphere or cube) — and I needed a lot of help to get FLARED UP (36D: Came back, as allergies; wanted it to start RE-) — and I simply couldn't think of an answer for either 23A: Little article accompanying a bigger article (sidebar) or 45A: Plaza displays (parades) at first glance. I have never seen a PARADE in a "plaza." Just on streets. PARADES through plazas makes me think only of communist countries (U.S.S.R., N. Korea, with the precision military marching and tanks and what not).Theme answers:
- 17A: Tilter at windmills (Don Quixote) — I feel like I'm tilting every time I try to read it. Furthest I've got is something like 500 pages. You'd think that if I got that far I could finish. But no.
- 11D: Star of "The Rookie," 2002 (Dennis Quaid) — not his most famous film (I don't think), thus an odd clue for a Monday.
- 25D: Medicine woman of 1990s TV (Doctor Quinn) — the show is called "DR. QUINN, Medicine Woman." This seems important.
- 49A: Place to order a Blizzard (Dairy Queen) — as soon as I got DOCTOR QUINN (which revealed the theme), I went looking for DAIRY QUEEN.
Bullets:
- 19A: City NNW of Oklahoma City (Enid) — In Crossworld, ENID is the OSLO of the U.S., with one exception — if I'd never done a crossword, I would still have heard of OSLO.
- 29A: Biblical objects of multiplication (loaves) — first thought: FISHES?
- 9D: Detest (execrate) —
that's a great verb, even if it is a little too close to EXCRETE for my comfort. - 10D: Think creatively (ideate) — one of my most hated crossword words.
- 27D: Pagoda instruments (gongs) — handy that I only recently learned that a "pagoda" was not a store in the barrio.
- 45D: Argentine dictator who was ousted in 1955 (Peron) — why am I reading words backwards today. PERON has NO REP. ENID wants to DINE. ENOLA is ALONE at the top of the list of famous planes in Crossworld. Etc.
Final dispatch from the Lollapuzzoola tournament this past weekend. I don't know of any other recaps out there — when I learn of them, I'll link to them. Here are the results from the tournament. I feel like I should mention some of my regular readers/commenters who were there, like mac and HudsonHawk and PhillySolver.
I should also mention the amazingly delicious and enjoyable post-tournament dinner I had with Tony Orbach, Patrick Blindauer, and Patrick's girlfriend Rebecca Young. Patrick and Rebecca are now doing some co-constructing, and if the puzzles are anything like they are when they get together, then those puzzles will be ... I want to say "garrulous" or "sassy" or "filled with clues that are hilarious and perfect but so offensive they will never see print." Tony Orbach is the sweetest, friendliest guy you'll ever meet. I have no idea how I'm going to find the strength to go on undervaluing his puzzles, but I'll try. Anyway, that's all about that. For all those who have ever wanted to go to a tournament but thought they weren't good enough: Your Skill Level Is Virtually Irrelevant. If you really like xwords and you can hack your way through even a Wednesday puzzle, you should go. I hope more small, affordable regional tournaments like this start turning up across the country. They're a great way to add to the social dimension of this hobby.Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld
[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter]
PS big thanks to treedweller for filling in for me on Saturday. I know lots of struggling solvers who appreciated the write-up immensely.
Can I really be the first to comment? That's a first. Maybe no one cares, or is still working on Saturday's puzzle.
ReplyDelete@Rex. In your writeup you call this a staightforward SATURDAY puzzle.
I've got a quibble or two. First, the obvious. Even on Monday, DQ is a theme? Gimme a break.
I really don't think you raise cattle by breeding them, most of that happens artificially, and is just what gets things going, the actual raising is a much more complicated process.
Ziti seems like a pretty high-falutin pasta to use for a casserole, aren't about 95% of them made with plain old macaroni?
They have a parades in plazas? OK, I guess.
And, when you ideate, are you really thinking creatively? I think of it more as navel gazing.
@Jim - No such thing as plain old macaroni. Macaroni is general, ziti is a specific kind of macaroni.
ReplyDeleteI think this puzzle has the most straightforward set of clues/answers I have seen in a NYT puzzle, which is OK for a Monday IMO. The D* Q* theme added some interest but, since the theme answers were so straightforwardly clued, it was not much help in solving.
ReplyDeleteHow many others had ACME first @ 15A? I bet quite a few of us…..
Non-puzzle wife is hooked on Blizzards, so our return Sunday afternoon from Houston included a stop at a DAIRY QUEEN. 49A would have been a gimme regardless.
ERMA, EDNA, ENOLA, ELIE, EURO, ENID……. what happened to ERNIE ELS? Weren’t we basically working from Chapter 5 (the E’s) in the Crosswordese – English Dictionary?
I think the constructor’s surname should be the word of the day – Salvia is the genus of the sages. Remarkable plants, these – from herbs used in cooking to traditional Chinese medicine to the Diviner’s Sage salvia divinorum.
From Wikipedia: “ Salvia divinorum can be chewed, smoked, or taken as a tincture to produce intense and profound alternative states of consciousness, and, occasionally, unpredictable behaviors that range from laughter to unintelligible speech. The duration of effects is much briefer than those of other, more well-known psychoactive compounds, typically lasting minutes only.”
I accordingly suggest we name it the official Crossworld Sage. Does not a few minutes of unpredictable behaviors including laughter and unintelligible speech define our enterprise well
On my planet, it is Saturday. But I will calibrate my timetable for you nice people. Monday it is.
ReplyDeleterp
Very amusing, Jim in Chicago! I thought this Monday's puzzle was one of the easiest i've seen -- but that may not be true for all... it hit me just right.
ReplyDelete∑;)
Just a "J' short of a pangram. Lots of lovely letters including the "DQ" which I thought made the theme DAIRY QUEEN.
ReplyDeleteSeemed a pretty normal Monday.
@retired_chemist ... we planted Salvia in the flower beds for the first time this year and it looks fabulous ... tall, bright red sort of torch-like looking. I don't know whether I should run right out there and take bite or not.
@ joho - maybe. Red sage is the Chinese herbal treatment for heart disease and strokes. There is some scientific basis for this.
ReplyDeleteperhaps treedweller, or another horticulturist if we have one, can tell us the species most often used in your area as an ornamental.
Speaking of DQ, where's David Quarfoot been and when's he coming back?
ReplyDeleteJust a nice, solid Monday after my weekend. Still haven't finished Saturday's or Sunday's (got a couple squares left in both and I think I'll just give up on a couple of the (probably Natick-y) crosses that were most likely touched on in Saturday's comments.
ReplyDeleteLoved the DQ theme. Have been there twice since I've been in Miami. The diet has been put to the side during this trip (I think I'm allowed).
An unusual grid for a Monday, with that wide diagonal swash from NE to SW. Ret_chem.'s first para. says everything else I wanted to say, and I have to look into the possibilities of salvia more closely--for our garden.
ReplyDeletesigned, 1/2 of a DINK.
Rex, it was great to eat with you and Puzzle Girl, who, based on her near-miss of the "local" finals at Lollapuzzoola, lives up to her crossword super hero name! I, too, will strive to continue to undervalue your blog! We can always discuss points of a puzzle and come away with a mutual appreciation - hey, we agree that people who say "Like" every other word are insufferable: it's a start! See you on the web, Tony O.
ReplyDeleteYep, good ole Monday puzzle, somewhat like taking dictation. I had no clue about Dairy Queen, though it emerged quickly on the crosses. I guess we should get out more-- but not to fast food joints, surely! At a certain point you start thinking about arteries, blood pressure, and body mass index. Sigh.
ReplyDeleteNow, I am really intrigued about the Sage family. I have a variegated and a plain sage in my herb bed-- the purple blooms in spring are lovely. As soon as I sign off I'll hustle out to the garden and harvest a bunch!
Nice straight-forward Monday. Whenever I see a reference to "Don Quixote," I smile as I remember an episode of Gomer Pyle in which Jim Nabors sings "The Impossible Dream." (here's the link- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r5KeGccP9Jk) I've never read it - I know there is something about windmills in the story, but what is the meaning of "tilter?"
ReplyDeleteCongrats to all who participated in Queens. One of my goals in life is to enter ACPT some day, and this one seems like terrific, low-stress fun!
Easy breezy Monday. I got nothing to add to the above except to say that now I really want a Blizzard!
ReplyDeleteAt DQ why is a vanilla malt $2 and a chocolate malt with chocolate ice cream $3.45? Inquiring minds want to know.
ReplyDeleteThose of you (including Rex) who wonder about my use (for fun) of a text analyzer attempt to predict posters "moods" based on the tone of Rex's (that would be the Rex for whom everyday is Saturday) write up: Please see page 1, below the fold, of NYT's Business Day and the article "Mining the Web for Feelings, Not Facts."
Who can complain with so many qes and xes. Fun Monday.
Easy. Solved this one by answering the down clues in order.
ReplyDeleteThis one seemed to fill itself in. It was like eating potato chips--once going no stopping.
ReplyDeleteI used to complain about Mondays that are too easy--but after Saturday's debacle, I've had a change of heart. Easy can be like balm--or Salvia.
When are these dictionaries gonna, like, learn? The DINKs are from Spaceballs.
ReplyDeleteIs Don Quixote from Quix?
I took longer than normal on this one. Maybe I'm still reeling from Saturday, or maybe it's being in a different time zone. I liked it okay--a little more meat on a Monday is fine with me.
ReplyDeleteMy first thought at the "multipliers" clue was abaci. I looked for a cross to sort out acme/APEX. My first pass at BAROQUE was "baroche". I guess that's a really ornate loaf of bread. Come to think of it, I must have been pretty tired when I did this.
Another DINK member here--I wonder if the percentage is higher among crossword people than the general public.
There are tons of Salvias. At the LBJ Wildflower Center in Austin, it seems every third ID tag adds a new one--and that's just the ones native to our area. I'd be wary of eating any of them at random, though. Given how many are culinary, I doubt they would hurt you in moderate doses, but S. divornum is unique, I think, in displaying significant psychoactive properties. If you happen to be curious about this, just google it. It's the (so far) legal drug of choice among the kids these days.
Hi:
ReplyDeleteWas surprised to see "medium" here, as I had my fastest EVER Monday time (still a slowpoke compared to you speed solvers)and no hitches at all.
I thought the "theme" was week, but the puzzle was fun to do nevertheless.
Happy Monday, everyone
Have you noticed that if you take bl out of gambling, you get gaming? This sounds vastly more respectable and gives me the opportunity to say that I will be gaming in Las Vegas this weekend - at least some anyway. I am one of those little rollers. Other thoughts - I have not finished the Sunday puzzle and I missed the blog yesterday. Don Quixote is another one of those book that I think I read long ago. And I liked the puzzle, if for no other reason, it is not last Saturday's.
ReplyDeleteThe Q in each quarter of the puzzle must have been a construction requirement. For Mondays, themes like Baked Ziti, Bronx Zoo, Bug Zapper, Blind Zipper and Boring Zyzzyva seem appropriate.
ReplyDeleteI hope CrossCan made it back from NYC. The puzzle event this weekend was very rewarding and seeing so many constructors was a highlight. This blog has introduced me to some of the brightest, funniest and nicest people I know, Rex included. Next stop, Brooklyn.
@pednsg
ReplyDeleteIf you read the early chapters of _IVanhoe_ you will get a good description of knightly combat-- the lists, the lances, the war horses, the tilting. (Tilter--one who tilts..in the lists...) Once you read about all the required equipment, you understand why knights needed at least one page; no one could dress himself!
In Don Quixote, the Knight Errant mistakes the windmills for adversaries and attacks...with what results you can easily imagine.
Now, a question for you: what is a "pednsg?"
A bit harder than the usual monday puzzle but it was fun. Had acme at first and I loved sidebar.
ReplyDeleteOf course everyone knows and loves baked ziti... yummm
@r_c, joho, my herb garden is surrounded with purple salvia - a lovely combo when the lavender is up. And behind the toy barn, we've planted Russian sage which cast a lovely "purple haze" in the morning sun. Never thought of smoking either, though.
ReplyDelete@Rex, I, too, have attempted to get through Don Quixote numerous times and have yet to succeed. Did you like One Hundred Years of Solitude?
@pednsg, tilting is a good crossword puzzle word and means "jousting with a lance," in this context, and the clue refers to Don Quixote's taking on of the windmills.
Most depictions of Don Quixote show him with his lance. Picasso's famous Quixote can be found here:
http://images.google.com/images?client=safari&rls=en-us&q=Picasso's+don+quixote&oe=UTF-8&um=1&ie=UTF-8&ei=Na6SSoXsJoTqsQPF1sUO&sa=
X&oi=image_result_group&ct=title&resnum=4
@treedweller
ReplyDeleteYes, you ARE tired. Baroque-baroche-- brioche. There should be a way to create a puzzle beginning with this progression...
I *think* a baroche was a style of carriage. Brioche is a fancy bread roll, but I'm sure you could bake a loaf with the dough.
Guess I will just stuff a chicken with the sage...
I really enjoyed it. I also really enjoy breezing through a Monday, just for the change of pace. :o)
ReplyDeleteLike Rex, I've never been able to completely navigate Don Quixote and I don't think I ever will so it will remain my White Whale.
ReplyDeleteWhen I see DQ, I think of constructor David Quarfoot and wonder what happened to him. I saw reference to him on Wordplay last night.
No complaints about the theme — as yesterday's Diagramless shows, even the most hackneyed type of theme needn't DQ a puzzle. Solving with only Downs I had a somewhat harder time than Anon 10:33 — didn't see that "leaves" could also be 29A:LOAVES and wondered what "gents" were doing in a pagoda (27D).
ReplyDeleteApropos pagodas and s'xeR reading of DINE:A91 and NOREP:D54 — "A dog, a plan, a canal, ..."
9D:EXECRATE always reminds me of "excrete" also, but the origin is unrelated: exsecratus = cursed, from ex + sacr-. Nor is it akin to "excoriate", which is originally to abrade, as skin.
NDE
In swim meets, the kids would be "D-Q'd" (meaning disqualified) for various infractions (not touching the wall with two hands, not doing the right kick for the breaststroke etc).
ReplyDeleteSounds like some people think this theme should be "D-Q'd" but that's harsh. It's Monday, and I think it's well done. (and he says he DID TOO touch the wall.)
Lots of native salvias here including two blue flowered (lyrata and azurea) and a red tropical sage (coccinea). I planted the red variety once and now I can't get rid of it. Salvias are in the mint family (check out the square stems).
ReplyDeleteI thought this was a fine Monday puzzle with its D's and Q's. I had CHEERS and SHOUTS before CHANTS. Also had to reright APEX after changing it to ACME.
We need a DQ--surprisingly there's not a one nearby us in this urban/suburban tropical place.
@joho, ignore the guy in tie-dye and bellbottoms grazing in your garden.
ReplyDeletemoo (or in Hawaii muu)
dk
If I hadn't driven by a Dairy Queen and seen the "DQ" neon sign, I would have found the D-Q theme pretty random.
ReplyDeleteIt was a good Monday puzzle, with some unusual words like baroque, sidebar, and ideate. I actually remember some pretty exciting ideation sessions with an ad agency, so I do like that word.
Another good reason to plant Salvias in your garden is that deer don't eat them, a major issue in CT. For that reason I have several kinds of sage, and also mints (cat mint, hepeta, is a beautiful blue and long-flowering). The regular, culinary sage is great with chicken, pork and veal.
This DINK says hail to the CHEFS.
ReplyDeleteEasy, fast Monday.
Fastest Monday ever (although, hopefully it's due to improved solving skills). I don't mind the really simple themes like this, especially early in the week, if all the other fill is tight. They are better than the once-upon-a-time clever, but now extremely played out themes (or "bullshit" themes, to some).
ReplyDeleteAlso, learned a new word -- EXECRATE, not sure how I didn't know it before, since it seems relatively common, but whatever.
I was hoping for a "The Simpsons" reference regarding Don Quixote in the write up, but no dice.
I didn't realize it was a DQ theme, just a "heck of a lot of Qs and Xs" until I went to Orange's site after I was done. Of course I put ACME, I learned from Rex that when there are two that fit, to use the choice that has more crosswordy letters in it. And then I got carried away with the Qs and put IRAQ for 18D.
ReplyDeleteIt amuses me that crosswords aren't allowed to admit to certain meanings of words. Rex's multiple definitions for DINK it by excluding the first meaning I learned for that word, the one that gets clued "the ____ mightier than the sword."
At least they're allowed in the grid.
I'm still on a Lollapuzzoola high and just got caught up with the blog. What an awesome event! Ryan and Brian (and their wives, Kathryn and Toni) did an outstanding job of putting it together. I'll talk more about it in my post at L.A. Crossword Confidential tomorrow.
ReplyDeleteToday's puzzle was ... okay. If it had been David Quarfoot's, I probably would have liked it better.
@PhillySolver - I'm in the right country. Arrived in Toronto yesterday for my nephew's Bris. Too late for ceremony, in time for food. Good result.
ReplyDeleteHome tomorrow.
@SethG - "Is Don Quixote from Quix" is my favorite line of the month.
Anyone want to organize a tournament in the Pacific Northwest? To dream , the impossible dream...
@Aviatrix - Sorry for giving you the ewwwwws in my late Saturday post. I just couldn't not post it.
ReplyDelete@fikink and Elaine - thanks for the info on tilting! Elaine - pednsg refers to my practice, which is limited to children.
ReplyDelete(@treedweller -- I just noticed that your name is probably parsed tree dweller. I have always read it as treed weller, having something to do with either (1) what a dog might think about having succeeded in excellently chasing someone up into a tree "I sure treed him well" or (2) what I might think of someone who did a good job of planting and caring for trees as in "You really treed my garden well". Ahwhataworldweliveinwithoutspaces.)
ReplyDeleteRespectable Monday puzzle. Easy enough that I pushed right ahead into my one write-over: put CHEERS before CHANTS at 21 A.
ReplyDeleteFor 37 D, ERMA Bombeck, I would call the clue an Olaf, even on a Monday, but my guess is that the title of the work was too good to pass up. Those with more encyclopedic knowledge, weigh in with other authors named Bombeck, if there are such.
@Crosscan - Missed the bris but arrived in time for the food? Sounds like you cut it a bit too close. (Ah, c'mon, somebody had to say it.)
@Bob Kerfuffle LOL that was a good one!!!
ReplyDeleteMonday midday report of relative difficulty (see my 7/30/2009 post for an explanation of my method):
ReplyDeleteAll solvers (median solve time, average for day of week, ratio, percentile, rating)
Mon 6:18, 6:58, 0.90, 26%, Easy-Medium
Top 100 solvers
Mon 3:31, 3:42, 0.95, 41%, Medium
@JC66-
ReplyDeleteI missed your post on my first pass through the Comments as I see you first mentioned David Quarfoot. I'm not sure why he's not constructing puzzles but he is in the Mathematics Department at the University of Utah.
Fun Monday--agree though w @retired-chemist on the too-many E___ fill words. Also agree w @Rex on strange cluing of PARADES...they march; they don't "display." Fell into some traps-CHEERS for CHANTS and CASINO for GAMING but managed to dig out. Does anyone use EXECRATE? As in, I execrate dink shots? I particularly liked: SIDEBAR, BRINE, BAROQUE and fun w Qs and Ds and Xs in general. EDNA St.Vincent Millay lkived for a while about 40 mins from me in Austerlitz and it's worth checking out if you're a fan
ReplyDeleteI would just like to say that you cannot raise cattle unless you breed them! I owned a cow for a few years, a 4-H project. Yes, the artificial inseminator took care of her, but on large farms (and probably on ranches), they keep bulls (for cattle breeding).
ReplyDeleteI remember looking at a book of pictures of bulls to pick out the right sperm donor for my Nilly. Those were the days.
Did the puzzle easily and quickly last night.
@ Bob Kerfuffle,
ReplyDelete(Wish I had thought to make up a fun Blog name; now I'm stuck with the real one)
Isn't one of the JOY OF COOKING authors Ruth? Bombeck Rombauer? I could be misremembering--I've only used the book for about 48 years now. I am sure, too, that you don't expect me to run downstairs and check.
Erma Bombeck was a household name in the 70's--she claimed her family couldn't spell Irma correctly-- so I think most folks would recognize her. Especially those of us Of A Certain Age.
@Chas Bogle
I think people might use "execrable" more often that "execrate." There are so many words that are easier to enunciate if one wishes to express the idea of despising something....
@pednsg
Thanks for the elucidation. I am more used to hearing "Peds xyz" vs just PED, so I tried "P. Ed. 'n' Sarge" among other strange parsings. Like Clark, I also had a silly read of Tree Dweller.
Brains are funny things. I do not go in for speed solving because so often I put answers Down when they are supposed to be Across, or I misread clues. (New glasses soon, maybe a bit more oomph in the bifocal...) And I guess I could try a larger print-out...
(Should my Blog name be TreeKiller?)
I don't think I have ever used the word execrate, and I may never have heard it pronounced, but it somehow came easily. That's what doing crosswords does for you. Just take a look at this puzzle: gratis, eureka, dink, unto, enola, all words I don't think I've used in an English-speaking country (gratis is much more common in Dutch).
ReplyDelete@Elaine - it's Rombauer...I forget her first name.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteHer name is Irma. She's from St Louis.
ReplyDeleteThe phrasing on the MOVIE/Sophia LOREN reference was really awkward.
@anonymous 5:59 Why did I not know that??? I am from St. Louis and my mother had her cookbook.
ReplyDeleteJust read about Irma Rombauer on Wikie... She and her daughter both attended Mary Institute the school I attended for 12 years - I didn't know either of them as i was there a little later!!! I will have to tell my daughter (who is a foodie and also attended Mary I)
ReplyDeleteThe father of a student of mine reread DON QUIXOTE every year. This always impressed me, especially since he was an Army General.
ReplyDeleteI'm also dreaming that one day we'll have a regional tournament Down South.
Fun, fast puzzle.
ReplyDeleteIs it the Parker Posey character in "A Mighty Wind" who keeps talking about her job at "DQ"?
DQ phrases are not easy to think of: "Drawn and Quartered"? "Diagnostic Questionnaire"?
This week's relative difficulty ratings. See my 7/30/2009 post for an explanation. In a nutshell, the higher the ratio, the higher this week's median solve time is relative to the average for the corresponding day of the week.
ReplyDeleteAll solvers (this week's median solve time, average for day of week, ratio, percentile, rating)
Mon 6:18, 6:58, 0.90, 26%, Easy-Medium
Top 100 solvers
Mon 3:25, 3:42, 0.92, 30%, Easy-Medium
Drama Queen?
ReplyDelete@Stan, you're so close! It was Parker Posey, and it was a Christopher Guest movie, but it was Waiting for Guffman.
ReplyDeleteLibby Mae Brown: "I'll always have a place at the Dairy Queen."
Irma Rombauer BECKER.
ReplyDeleteNot even close to Bombeck...except Rom...Beck...
Ah, a mind is a terrible thing to lose. How true that is....
Division Quotient?
ReplyDelete@Stan, but look at this from Wiki:
ReplyDeleteThe 2003 mockumentary, A Mighty Wind, featured The Folksmen, a group described "as a more leftish variation on the Chad Mitchell Trio."
Such synchronicity!
I really liked this, tho I stupidly missed that they were all D Q's! I thought it was just lots of Qs which is super hard to do...so part of me thought it was like the 5 Q's Who, What, When, Where, Why, what, how...
ReplyDelete(But I guess maybe those are called the 5 W's and an H? 4 weddings and an H?!)
@retired_chemist
Ha! I didn't fall into the ACME/APEX trap bec I had one of the letters already.
@joho
I loved all the Scrabble letters and am shocked it's not a pangram.
I went from MINIBAR to WINEBAR to SIDEBAR, then thinking maybe it was SIDECAR! For minibar, tho, that clue would have been oddly vague, intriguing.
@ZJ
again, I'm with you!
EXECRATE seems super hard for a Monday, but maybe I'm alone in not knowing it, except for knowing it enough to be able to put it in.
Is there a name for THAT? ;)
The DQ reminded me of our dearly beloved DK...
@fikink
also love DRAMAQUEEN and that might have been more fun than DAIRYQUEEN, esp for the "fun" DINKS out there.
Interesting that folks are still caught in Saturday, either from the craziness of Karen Tracy's puzzle or the euphoria of Lollapuzzoola...that I like getting almost a contact high from!
(Keep wanting to call it Puzzapalooza tho...and I'm going to try and help rename Crossword West, just to jazz that up a bit. So let's hope this puzzle party trend continues!)
@Rex
Now, like, you can see, like, why I dream of constructing, like, with Patrick and, like, falling all over Tony O!
(No undervaluing here!)
Never considered parsing my name otherwise. For explanation, read "Cavedweller" by Dorothy Allison.
ReplyDeleteOn Saturday, MISPUTT still would have been better than FOOZLE. Yes, I do hold minor grudges.
ReplyDelete@ SethG -
ReplyDelete"Is Don Quixote from Quix?"
It's 1 AM and I just got it! Good one!
@HudsonHawk and @fikink: Thanks for showing me the light! Clearly, my mistake was a "condensation" (Psychology 101) of Parker Posey and the Chad Mitchell Trio.
ReplyDeleteCompletely ignored the theme, and forgot to look for one when done. This was a very easy puzzle. The only real write-over was cheers for CHANTS. I didn't fall into the acme/APEX trap - have done these puzzles long enough to check the crosses before filling in the answer.
ReplyDeleteEnjoyed the comments more than the puzzle, which only ate up about 3 minutes of my day. If I hadn't had the Saturday puzzle to try to finish (which didn't happen - the NW was a complete disaster) I would have had to do some work this morning.
@Crosscan (or @rex please pass along to @crosscan...) YES PLEASE! I'd recommend Portland, of course, for a PNW puzzle tourney. Any progress on this (being from syndication, I realize I must miss a lot)?
ReplyDeleteMy only quibble (and it really is just a quibble) is the lack of a J. Now that I know what a pangram is, I really want to see one in real life. Like at the zoo, or in a puzzle.
@Whitney - nothing new to report. I've had a couple of responses. There'll be news at Rex's if/when there is more to say.
ReplyDelete@Crosscan the system works! Thanks for responding! I'll keep my eyes and ears out for any new news. Fingers crossed :)
ReplyDeleteNice easy Monday here in syndicated land.
ReplyDelete@Crosscan and @Whitney, I second the nomination of Portland for a regional!
ReplyDelete