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Wild Alpine goat / MON 11-10-14 / Video game with paddle / Golf ball elevator / Idyllic garden / Popular satirical news source
Monday, November 10, 2014
Constructor: Bruce Haight
Relative difficulty: Easy-Medium
Theme answers:
- "DON'T MAKE ME LAUGH!"
- "FUHGEDDABOUDIT!"
- "YOU'RE KIDDING ME!"
- "THAT'S RIDICULOUS!"
Marvin Gaye (April 2, 1939 – April 1, 1984), born Marvin Pentz Gay, Jr., was an American singer-songwriter and musician.Gaye helped to shape the sound of Motown Records in the 1960s with a string of hits, including "How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You)" and "I Heard It Through the Grapevine", and duet recordings with Mary Wells and Tammi Terrell, later earning the titles "Prince of Motown" and "Prince of Soul". During the 1970s, he recorded the concept albums What's Going On and Let's Get It On and became one of the first artists in Motown to break away from the reins of its production company.Gaye's later recordings influenced several R&B subgenres, such as quiet storm and neo-soul. Following a period in Europe as a tax exile in the early 1980s, Gaye released the 1982 Grammy Award-winning hit "Sexual Healing" and the Midnight Love album.He was fatally shot by his father, Marvin Gay, Sr. on April 1, 1984, at their house in the West Adams district of Los Angeles. Since his death, Gaye has been posthumously honored by many institutions, including the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, the Rhythm and Blues Music Hall of Fame and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. (wikipedia)
• • •
I assume you all know who Marvin GAYE is. I just made him WOTD so that I could have something nice to listen to while I contemplate this blah puzzle.
This is one of those "From the Vault" puzzles, which, even if it was made yesterday, feels like it was made in some crossword version of "Yore," when themes this basic and fill this banal were thought to be just fine. Okey-doke. Jake. Swell. There's nothing offensive about this puzzle. It's pure filler. You won't remember it by lunch, let alone tomorrow. There's no zing, no "cool," no "clever!" The theme just is. And the fill is … well, not good, but it's probably NYT-average these days, frankly. I do like JAVA. I do like reading about knights (and detectives) on QUESTs. I do like Marvin GAYE. So if I just kinda squint at this puzzle and then allow my mind to wander, I can turn my experience with this grid into some kind of good time. Otherwise, no.
Bullets:
- BOHR (13D: Physics Nobelist Niels) — You'd think after 20+ years of seeing this guy's name in scores and scores of M and T puzzles I'd remember it's not spelled BOER.
- TOTEM (31D: ___ pole) — I found this hard. SOUTH fits. NORTH too. I guess those "Poles" would be capitalized. Honestly, the only "pole" that entered my mind was "fishing."
- STRIP (49A: Undress) — Had the "P" and wanted UNZIP. I didn't think it was right. I just *wanted* it.
- UNITES (44D: Marries) — Really don't like this in a grid that already has UNIFY. UNI- is doing essentially the same thing in both of them. Could've done ULSTER there or … really a million things. It's a freakin' Monday grid that you could refill and refill and refill a ton of different ways. This is why the missteps / clunks are so annoying. FORA? INB? All unnecessary.
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62 comments:
Meh. Nothing stood out in this one for me, other than some reaching in attempt for the pangram (although, I've seen much worse on that front). On to Tuesday.
Nice easy going puzzle, sort of like putting on some old shoes.
In yesterday's discussion of the MILLI-HELEN (the amount of beauty necessary to launch one ship), I mentioned that I first came across this term in the "Journal of Irreproducible Results" more than 30 years ago.
A later (anonymous) poster said that this journal is still in business and can be found HERE
I poked around the site a bit and found this delightful crossword puzzle from 2005.
It's called:
The New York Times Crossword Puzzle from Hell and it's really funny.
Check it out! It's got some wonderful clues including:
-- Burma to Myanmar direction
-- Opposite of forty
-- Color I'm thinking of
-- I'm gonna sock you in the _______, Will Shortz
-- John ________
(Perhaps this puzzle is well-known to longtime cruciverbalists, but it was new to me.)
Enjoy your Monday!
@whirred; that's the funniest thing I've seen in a long time. Had me laughing hysterically.
Solved this one while watching the Pack blow Da Bears out of the water. Nothing was going to spoil my mood. Loved it, and the game. Hi @Carola.
The two DD's in FUHGEDDAABOUTIT kinda of bothered me, just didn't look right, but maybe that's just me. O.K. Monday, I'll take it.
Medium for me and I liked this a lot more than Rex. Thought the theme had some zip and that the dreck count was on the low side.
I had UNIte ( which turned up later...malapop?) before UNIFY.
TWIXT is a fine word
@chefwen and Steve J - check out the author's comments at Xwordinfo for the two Ds and the pangram issues.
I solved across the top, and by the time I got to UTTER and the 6th U, I was suspicious.When I finished and counted a total of 12 U's, I was sure of one thing: if Bruce Haight isn't @M&A himself, he's as close to a clone as never mind.
Saw a few more of those CEREAL BOXES we had recently:
HONEY Bunches of Oats
QUAKED Oats
RAZE 'n' Bran -or-
DRAINS 'n' Bran
Silly Rabbit, TWIXT are for kids!
I know, I know. THAT'S RIDICULOUS! Just let it go INANE ear and OOZE out the other.
@FredRoma, I wish I had another good B-DAY story to tell you!
Thought this was a perfectly fine Monday puzzle, but didn't at all mind hearing some Marvin Gaye, even if not needed for Actual Healing.
Tip for the day: STRIP early and UNDUE late.
Very quick and EZ. No delays but did have to think about the "H" in FUHGEDDABOUDIT.
Liked cluing for QUEST and QUAKES.
CrosswordEASE---IBEX,RIA.
Jack Benny: "THAT'S RIDICULOUS"
Thanks BH.
@Leapy HONEY, EVEN VEND URAL KIDDING AVON to PITA. I need a BDAY. My LULUS are THOR!
I'm with @Steve J on this one. PONG!
FUHGEDDABOUDIT is wrong on so many levels.
1) The other themers all invoke humor in the answer.
2) Ethnic imitations are disrespectful.
3) There is no standard spelling. The H and the last D were arbitrary.
WS should have looked at this word and said, "Surely you jest."
Those of you troubled by FUHGEDDABOUDIT should know that it is the spelling used on a government erected road sign on the Belt Parkway and several other major thoroughfares when you leave Brooklyn - the sign proudly includes the names of the Mayor and Brooklyn Borough President. The spelling here is consistent with the spelling on the signs - and therefore correct (I guess). Maybe we could check the script of "Donny Brosco" for confirmation.
Downs-only report: a near miss, dang it. An official DNF due to looking at 2 across clues.
The bottom half was finished, but the mid-N (QUAKED, UNKIND), the NE (TAUT, BOHR) and mid-W (UNIFY, HIPTO) just wouldn't fall. I had no way to suss out FUHGEDDABOUDIT without crosses (ForGET-ABOUtIT didn't fit), and I needed a couple of a-crosses to nail down the d-crosses. It turned out it was the Q in QUEST that was the linchpin. I had put in a U, guessing UNDUE. At that point I wanted gUEST, but a word that means trembled beginning with gU eluded me. QUEST gave me QUAKED, UNKIND, MAVEN, DONTMAKEMELAUGH, BOHR, TAUT.
The Q also gave me IBEX since I figured TWI-T could be TWIXT if the puzzle was a pangram. Otherwise, TWIsT was possible.
The mid-W was made difficult by UNIFY. I put in UNite, but took it out when UNITES was needed for 44D. Then I was staring at ----Y. All I could think of was marrY, but that couldn't be correct. I needed ONION before it all came together.
Other write-over was Odin > THOR. LULUS was in and out a few times before it finally stuck.
As a downs-only puzzle there was not a lot of sparkle, but there was definitely resistance. 21 min.
Favorite words: QUEST, TWIXT, MAVEN
No favorite down clue today.
No ambiguity about the spelling of fuhgeddaboudit.
See
http://brooklyn.com/faqanswer-102.html
Picture of a sign on one of Brooklyn's highways.
I was thinking the pangram compelled UNIFY w/ UNITE, but I see there's already a Y down there in the ABYSS, not to mention that Chinese money. So that's a fault in this otherwise breezy Monday.
8D must be the most over-the-top overcluing ever.
That's about all I have to say.
Really? "Thor" is the Norse God of war? The internet says this is sometimes so, but Odin and Tyr beat him hammers down.
Hmmm, I think when @Rex got DONTMAKEMELAUGH he decided not to and choose to pan the puzzle. His write-up's theme became THATSRIDULOUS!
The theme made me chuckle my favorite being FUHGEDDABOUDIT which is so New Yawk ...fun!
I do agree with @Rex on UNIFY/UNITES. They shouldn't be in the same puzzle.
I liked the DANCES/BAND cross.
Interesting to see AVER, STATED and UTTER. I think Bruce Haight has something to say!
I say, remember to always GRAB your GRIPS!
If I recall correctly, a friend who is NY Times reporter, Lisa Foderaro, once wrote an entire article on the spelling or misspelling of FUGEDDABOUDIT. This is a New York word, folks, from da boroughs (either Brooklyn or the Bronx, I forget). And Lisa's article quoted a lot of experts on the etymology and I think she came up with a preferred spelling. But the lexicography community does not really formally recognize it, so any puzzle constructor can pretty much get away with anything.
Sorry, left out the H.
A quick google finds me fuggetaboutit, fugedaboutit, fugghedaboutit, fuhgettaboutit, foggetaboutit and fuhgidabowdit. But I guess road signs are the final authority :).
I managed to FUGGEDABOUDIT, but thought 'surely you jest' for the resulting GIP TO. Surely Will wouldn't hit s with another Rom-slur again in such short order!
@Gil I.P., I start to understand the end of your handle! Hell, HONEY, you make it seem almost not worth trying, but trying I am, and trying shall continue to be.
viz to wit:
On reviewing this pleasant grid, it struck me that there were just too many proper names. Besides Niels BOHR and Marvin GAYE, there's the Bard of AVON and lesser lights: Barbara EDEN, Eric IDLE, GENE Kelly, ART Carney, STUB E. Kaye and VENDiesel.
The ladies aren't as well represented, with only JADE Pinkett-Smith and the Cucci-Cucci girl, TARO, who DANCES With Wolves. Then there's the very large AKIN Olajuwon.
From the world of myth and entertainment, there's NIKE, Little LULUS, ALIBI Ike, RIPS Van Winkle and PITA Rabbit; also HONEY Golightly, YUAN Valdez, Arsenic and Old LEIS and SUM & Janet Evening.
Not sure which category suits NCA PRESident ... of thee ICING
I appreciate y'all's not getting THOR ABOUD all this; FORA FOREmost group of COGnoscenti, URAL very tolerant of the resident INANE LUG Nuts.
PS. If relatives of Niels and Marvin were to UNITE in matrimony, would that yield the House of BOHR-GAYES?
FUHGEDDABOUDIT may appear on a road sign w/ this spelling, but IMO, THATSRIDICULOUS, esp. the 'H' and third 'D', which both look AND sound wrong. 'Brooklynese' also encourages the use of "youze", remember?! But I liked its juxtaposition w/ STRIP, a la the BadaBing Club from "The Sopranos". (Did you recall this was Sonny Corleone's catchphrase in "The Godfather"?)
Maybe our MAVEN, Rex was a bit UNKIND in his critique, but I did enjoy his Marvin GAYE references. What a talent; what a tragic end.
Thanks, BH and WS. FYI, in SUM, an okay Monday solve.
Excellent Monday puzzle, nothing to Haight about it.
When I read that "the theme just is" or "nothing stands out" I cringed. We shouldn't be UNKIND. This is a Monday puzzle, and it may be the very first puzzle ever for many people. What in heaven's name does anyone expect the theme or the fill to do for them? Jump up from the grid and perform somersaults or seductive DANCES?
First, what may be considered "not good" or "nothing stands out" for one solver in a certain mood, may very well be tough enough for a new solver: IBEX, TWIXT, QUAKED, YUAN, WAKE vs. WAvE, Niels BOHR, etc. come to mind.
Second, having two 15's and two 14's on a Monday is fun to see. The theme was a cute list "No way!" synonyms, easy enough for a novice to suss out, but varied enough even for jaded old pros like most of us here. Who can FUHGEDDABOUD this little clip? Anything that reminds me of this scene is a welcome diversion.
Third, the fill is entirely appropriate for a Monday, especially when we often complain that some entries are too tough for a Monday. One can't have it both ways, do one? This one is perfect FOR A Monday without anything too tough or too JADEd. I welcomed the clean fill today, the plural of "forum," and the key of the Unbegun Symphony notwithstanding. But no ORRs, OTTs, EELs, ALOUs or ONOs. True, UNITES and UNIFY were a little too close for comfort, but overall the cleanliness of the fill was a pleasure to see.
For some Halloween memories, allow me to offer you this eerie symphonic poem titled "Archipelago Component of the Dearly Departed", Op. 29, by Sergei Rachmaninov.
Thank you, Bruce. And TGIM!
Since I can't spell standard English reliably Brooklyn-ese was highly problematic for me. I had FERGEDDABOUTIT for the longest time making UNIFY and HIPTO impossible to see. I am weaning myself off of the check function - not allowed until Thursday or maybe even Friday. (You don't want to see what this comment looked like pre-spell check.)
It was a late night in the laboratory, racing to get some things done before our first major snowstorm of the season. Even with better weather, I tend to sit out Monday puzzles, but then @Hayley Gold alerted me to her latest webcomic posted at http://acrossanddown.net/ With her own tagline "... because I don't do Mondays ..." it's an amusing look at today's offering.
And of course, this blog is a treasure trove of delightful riffs, including the ersatz crossword puzzle mentioned by @Whirred Whacks, the literary punfest from @Leapfinger, and the expected musical reference from @AliasZ.
Lastly, it can be confirmed that Marvin GAYE, Jr.'s father (and murderer) was Marvin Gay, Sr. What's with the discrepant "e"?
Some of you might remember William Safire (one of Nixon's speechwriters and conservative Op-Ed essayist for the NY Times) used to author the On Language former feature in the Times's Sunday Magazine section. I remember he once took on "fuhgeddaboudit" in one of his essays. I found the link, for those interested.
By the way, some are fast to complain about pangram puzzles whose answers seem forced. Why is it puzzles like today's don't get any comments?
The link didn't appear. I'll try again.
http://partners.nytimes.com/library/magazine/home/20000917mag-onlanguage.html
Interesting comments about FUHGEDDABOUDIT. This is the NEW YORK Times - and this is a NY word. From what I've seen, this is the preferred spelling - which, as someone mentioned, has made its way to the billboards of Brooklyn. Reminds me of the street sign that says "Don't even think about parking here."
Nice regional flavor for a Monday.
Fifty Shades of Monday... GRAB. RIPS. STRIP. LEIS TWIXT AFT. OOZE. PITA.
Otherwise, a fine Monday. It does seem a bit bold to declare at 1a/d and 5a/d that this will be a pangram, but the fill seems Monday easy appropriate to me.
@pmdm, I think because for those of us who appreciate the pangram, here on the blog it's like beating a dead horse when we mention our delight at seeing one. Today's puzzle is a great example of a pangram that doesn't feel forced in any way. Great job, Bruce!
It seems that rex doesn't drink on Sunday nights. He needs to.
This was a Monday puzzle. A fine Monday, with a fine theme and decent fill.
Can anyone find a Monday in the last year that rex liked? He should turn the blog over EVERY monday to the cool nerdy H.S. girl with a better attitude and more interesting things to say.
@AliasZ, the 'Unbegun symphony'?
Bonus point: the opening commercial for the FUHGEDDABOUDIT clip ended with 'FUHGEDDABOUD BOHRing'...
In my earlier comment, I forgot to include Joseph ABOUD.
Hiho, hiho, it's off to work...
"Rex" dislikes a puzzle for its lack of some vague quality, here defined as "zing." Hasn't this kind of thing happened to "Rex" before? How often does this not happen to "Rex"? I won't remember this review by lunch, let alone tomorrow.
Success. By there way, there is an unusual but not rare feature of Rachmaninoff's Isle of the Dead. If you click on AliasZ's link, listen to the rhythm at the opening of the piece. Like the second movement of Tchaikovsky's 6th Symphony, the rhythm consists of five beats. Charles Alkan used that rhythm as did Chopin (in the third movement of his disparaged first piano sonata). It occasionally turns up in rock (usually not for the entire song), as in Cream's Sunshine of Your Love, The Nice's Azrael Revisited and briefly with the Sgt. Pepper's album. My favorite use of a quintuplet rhythm is Bruckner's use of it in the second and third themes in the original version of the last movement of his 4th Symphony.
Here is a link to the Bruckner. The quintuplets show up a little after the 3 minute mark on Download 5. If you are a fan of Bruckner's, this is a wonderful site for listening.
Once again, the link doesn't show. Once again, I'll try again.
http://www.abruckner.com/downloads/downloadofthemonth/November10/>
fun easy puzzle. Nothing more to say
@Whirred Whacks: Thanks for the link to the puzzle from hell. Absolutely hilarious.
@AliasZ: That's a lot of verbiage for "I liked the puzzle, therefore those who don't are wrong."
"Nothing stood out for me" (the actual quote) because nothing really resonated with me. Sure, the theme answers were consistent and reasonably lively phrases, but that personally didn't that outweigh an overall flat experience for me (who's not a novice solver and evaluating puzzles on the basis of appropriateness to new solvers).
There's not an objective standard of what's a good puzzle and what's not. The most-loved puzzles have dissenters; there are people who love puzzles where the consensus is that they're not good. We each have our own impressions and comment on them. Hence the "for me" in my comment. It's hardly cringe-worthy when someone has a different opinion.
Here, here!
Another hand up for UNITE before UNIFY.
@Whirred Whacks: Thanks for the link to the JIR puzzle. But is it actually solvable? Is there an answer published somewhere?
Too easy and I, too, wondered how UNIFY and UNITES made the same puzzle.
Hey All !
Liked this puz overall, agree with the UNIFY/UNITES thing. Like some before, had WAvE in at first, but kept trying to parse YOU (something) VIDDINGME, and knowing it couldn't be correct! Nice pangram, I like how TWIXT took care of the W & X.
To the poster@ Bring back gal Monday, I disagree with calling her a nerd! I think she's a little cutie! (And apparently, tired).
PONG
RooMonster
DarrinV
@pmdm,
Excellent observation on the 5/8 rhythm in the "Isle of Dead" and in Bruckner's 4th. Dave Brubeck's Take Five is perhaps the most iconic of all jazz compositions to use quintuple time.
In modern classical music odd time signatures are more common. Prolific American composer Alan Hovhaness (1911-2000) was famous for having used 5/8, 7/4, and even 13/4 and 19/8, often in the same work. In the last movement of his "Mysterious Mountain" (Symphony No. 2) for instance, in the composer's own words: "...a chant in 7/4 time is played softly by muted horns and trombones. A giant wave in a 13-beat meter rises to a climax and recedes... a middle melody is sung by the oboes and clarinets in a quintuple beat. Muted violins return with the earlier chant, which is gradually given to the full orchestra."
Just listening to the music is much more satisfying than trying to figure out the beat.
@Leapy, you noticed! I was sure you would.
@Roo 1020: "Nerd" was meant as a compliment. I love nerds and I think the world needs more of them. I suspect you might be of a generation to whom "nerd" is an insult.
--BBGM
Blah?!?! "No way, Yuan!"
Bullets:
* Alphabet inclusive. Everybody gets their fave letter.
* Green stone. This, of course, completes the green paint trifecta, jackhammerin "green" into the last three puzs.
* Magic square clues. (See 8-Down)
* Golf ball elevator = TEE. This definitely mooed to m&e.
* Very few weejects (10). In a MonPuz, this is usually bad news for @63, because The Law of Average Word Length dictates that there ergo ain't gonna be many long fillins. Longest entry: UNIFYITES. fave weeject: INB (= INC cousin??), btw.
* Thought-provokin row runs. (See RIPS TWIXT PITA)
* Word ladders: FORA/FORE. Hmmmm... I believe what the runt world needs is a good weeject ladder puz...
* Uge amount of the Rodney Dangerfield of vowels. OK. I'm callin it... thUmbsUp time.
M&A
Four lively spoken-word colloquial phrases seems like a solid place to a build a puzzle from. Rex your review today is balls plain and simple.
@BBGM,
I 'spose so, as I was the nerd who was insulted! But, no grudges here. (Seriously, I left all that silliness behind in High School. )(And the Revenge of the Nerds movies! )
RooMonster
@Bob Kerfuffle 10:08 I don't know if there's a "real" solution to the NYT Crossword Puzzle from Hell (link above), but it would be an interesting challenge to some of the constructors who read the RP blog to see what they could come up with.
p.s.
tic---tic---tic---tic---tic---tic
M&A Extra Special News Bulletin...
Bruce Haight announced today the long-awaited acceptance of his collaboration NYTPuz with PB1 and class of '94 constructioneer Arthur S. Ash. Probably for a Friday.
Editor Sir Will von Shortzmeister predicted that a double-secret-rush-priority-fix-flag on the Haight-Ash-Berry puz's corner problems will insure a speedy release, by 2018. Puz is rumored to contain a theme of PEACE, LOVE, and WEED.
tic---tic---tic---tic----tic----tic
har
I also thought this was a fine Monday puzzle that could be a delight for beginning solvers.
Rex's highlighting GAYE and remarking on BOHR/Boer reminded me of the other homophones I noticed - seemed like quite a lot: UNDUE, TARO, IDLE, LEIS, OOZE, GENE, RAZE, ISLE, SUM, TEE, TAUT, FORE, RIA, and UTTER (if you pronounce it like Wisconsinites). English!
@Chefwen - What a romp! Had fun this morning watching the videos on packers.com.
When I got FUHGEDDABOUDIT, I cringed. Has anyone ever said that to mean "No way!"?
The fill is not ordinary Monday fill so I sort of appreciate that but I agree with everything you pointed out, Rex.
Trolls make me cringe. Meanness makes me cringe. Sick anonymous posts that Rex has to delete make me cringe. That's pretty much it as far as Rexville goes. The rest is just recycled electrons, not much to cringe about.
I liked this puzzle fine. TWIXT is a fun word TWIXT all the other words, for example, but I didn't find the themers "lively." I can see why people love FUHGEDDABOUDIT, but for me it is just hopelessly parochial and over done. Funny in a John Stewart riff on the correct version of pizza maybe, but otherwise tired and past time to be retired by anyone who isn't actually from the Bronx (or Brooklyn or wherever - they're all the same to me). And then we get a bunch of versions of "No!" and "Really?" and "Shut the front door!" Interjections, regardless of length, aren't that interesting to me.
I am generally more forgiving of fill than Rex and this is especially true today. Musical Key clue/answers are not wonderful, but COG, FYI, the END/AFT echo are all better than RRNs, EEL, ERN, RCDs. I feel as though in this puzzle the pangram actually helped the fill in spots. I think TWIXT more than makes up for IBEX and we get the J and the Q in the NW, rather than buried in some obscurity elsewhere. The weejects get an overall thumbs up here.
In short, I disagree/agree with everyone.
🌕🌕 (2 mOOns)
61a sums er up. But agree with @carola.
Off to our Nations capital where the S i got for plays well with others will serve me no stead.
FUHGEDDABOUDIT ruined my chances at Arlington this weekend, completely making HIP TO opaque to me. Oh well. One of the other competitors commiserated that he hoped ACPT's move back to Connecticut would retire the word from any tournament puzzles permanently.
Is the unit for measuring the weight of a skillet a "pan-gram?"
@pangrammonium good one!!!
Bring back Annabel!
@Z,
Nice summation. I agree/disagree/eh with that statement.
RooMonster
Loved the NYT crossword from hell.
I miss hearing from @SanFranMan and @RetiredChemist.
I just told The Closer about the discussion of FUHGEDDABOUDIT. She was born and raised in Queens. Her Uncle would often say "Fahget the numbah," which we believe meant approximately the same thing.
@Leapy, I was also thinking all the U's were @M&A unmasking but he's playing it cool in his remarks!
The puzzle was Monday to a tee, but the comments here always make it worth the effort.
So it's "inoffensive." These days, that's a good thing. I was fine with this one, along with @aliasZ, till I got to that very UN-musical INB. That's fingernails, etc., to me. It just ruined the whole mood. Well, that, and the fact that my Eagles lost last night.
Yet despite OFL's general curmudginess, I give him props for not ragging on the pannie. I was so aware of it that when I got to the SW--as it happened my last corner--I knew there was gonna be a Z. And there was. No big deal; none of the big-counters seemed overly forced. The whole thing was fine till INB. I even enjoyed TWIXT.
Two things: I agree about UNIFY/UNITES--in fact I had UNITE for 27d at first; if I'd done the SW first I would've known not to repeat. And, if you're spelling in the vernacular (FUHGEDDABOUDIT), then Pooh's craving ought to be HUNNY. Just sayin'.
One other w/o: WAvE before WAKE. Same difference, water-ski-wise.
Fun theme, almost good fill, and a great artist who left us way too soon. One clunker entry cost a whole letter grade: B-.
1735: the SUM is 7. Maybe a winner on a bad day?
Nothing objectionable is about right. No harm, no foul. Certainly seems Monday-ish.
Hand up for UNIte and WAvE.
This type of puzzle is exactly what newbies should try if they have trepidation about doing the NYT puz. Nuff said.
3258 = 18 SUM = 9 how does that GRAB you?
It's Monday and we start a new week of decoding with a puzzle that bows to beginners, and provides something for the "pros" to gripe,about. What more could one ask? As my mother would have said, no matter what the constructor does, he'll find himself TWIXT and tween a hard place,! See you tomorrow!
131 A Monday number. Maybe the week will build from there?
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