Japanese mat / THU 3-5-15 / CSA general Stuart / Funny Silverman / Jean-Claude Van Damme film set in 1994 2004 / Kona catch / Jose to friends / Great Wonder Woman cry / Session meeting after legislative dissolution
Constructor: Jim Peredo
Relative difficulty: Easy-Medium
THEME: FALLING BEHIND (38A: Lagging … or a hint to 17-, 19-, 56- and 61-Across) — several Across answers "fall" (i.e. go Down) at their tail end … the parts that "fall" are all synonyms for "behind":
Theme answers:
BABY AL(BUM) (19A: Record of infantile behavior?)
DONALD T(RUMP) (17A: Who said about himself "Women find his power almost as much of a turn-on as his money")
UNAMERI(CAN) (61A: Hating baseball and apple pie?)
GORY DE(TAIL) (56A: Part of a story you might not want to know)
Word of the Day: DRAY (58D: Farm cart) —
noun
a truck or cart for delivering beer barrels or other heavy loads, especially a low one without sides. (google)
• • •
Hey, this works. I wasn't so sure at first. I wasn't having a ton of fun cutting through the grid (even though the fill was OK), and when I saw that BABY AL(BUM) drop I was like "man, didn't we just see this idea? … answers that turn or bend or whatever … this better be good." I had no real hope that it would, in fact, be good. I could see that the Acrosses made nonsense but the Downs made real words—or, rather, that the Acrosses made sense if you threw in the Down bits. But I honestly didn't see the connection that all the Downs had until pretty late, because I didn't get the front part of the revealer until pretty late (3/4 done). This is all to say that when I did, finally, fill in FALLING BEHIND, I did, in fact, have a genuine AHA moment. (I think I'm going to call the opposite of an AHA moment an "AHI moment," as in "Oh … I get it … that's fishy.")
[Profanity, but mostly incomprehensibility, ahead]
So the theme wins—makes a tired concept (bend-the-answer) interesting, and BEHIND ends up having a cool double-meaning (i.e. the part that falls means "behind," *and* comes at the "tail" end of the answer). The overall grid has pretty solid bones, and GALACTIC and (esp.) WE'RE LOST add a little color. Not much to complain about in the fill. Suboptimal stuff is pretty spread out. Things get a mite dicey in the NE (with the two 5-letter prefixes and the French and the two abbrevs.), but whatever bad taste is up there doesn't linger. Very decent Thursday.
Bullets:
45A: José, to friends (PEPE) — José Le Pew?? I had no idea.
62D: Low (MOO) — last letter in the grid were those "O"s, both because I forgot exactly what James DOOHAN's last name was, and because (predictably) I misspelled DIARAMA thusly.
3D: "Hurray" or "alas" (IAMB) — very, very tough clue. I spend much of Tuesday explaining exactly what an IAMB is to my 17th-century lit class, and *I* didn't get this until virtually everything around it was filled in. Unstressed stressed. "Eclipse," "Today," etc. The opposite (stressed unstressed, e.g. "tailor," "panic," "Batter (my heart three-personed God…") is a TROCHEE, which we somehow never see in crosswords.
Well, this is rare for a Thursday: First entry was EBAY. Accidentally glanced at reveal. Considered 19A, and my second and third entries were BABY ALBUM and FALLING BEHIND.
The ambiguity of the reveal and its execution is genius:the last part, the butt, of the phrase is falling, and the part that's falling is a synonym for BEHIND! Ever since the "right on red" puzzle a few years ago, I've been in my fumbling way imagining some kind of bendy funny business like this, but never in my wildest dreams could I have conceived of something this elegant.
Jim Peredo – a galactic success in by book. Hey – did you consider something like WATER GLASS for 61A/63D?
27D, AFT, is a kind of volunteer, huh?
PTERO called. It wants its suffix back from yesterday.
This reminds me of a joke Dad told me once: You know you're gaining weight when, walking along the beach, you feel something brushing up against your ankles, and you turn around to see it's your ass.
This is a puzzle I'm going to remember for a long time. So, so cool.
Really fun puzzle. Had DONALD TRUMP and UNAMERICAN and BEHIND right away so had theme but put in dea for 27d anti-trafficking answer so took time to put in FALLING which when I finally got it really made me smile. Thought SE was hard. Did not know RIYAL (RIAL?) or TATAMI.
This started ho hummy for me. I got the "OK what the hell is this one going to be" Thursday surprise at BABY AL BUM. Wow, I said, I bet this is going to be about rear ends. Yes....!!!looky...there's a RUMP and a TAIL and a CAN as well. I'm so impressed, I do the ONE ARM DROP and my favorite dance the DOA DOOHAN. Don't get me started on the GORY DET. PEU...I want some of that PTERO.
I never made the connection that all the dropping words were butt synonyms, which makes the puzzle, which was a fun solve for me, even cooler. Learned RUMP session, and am kind of scared to Google that. I like TANGLES and GALACTIC. I also like clues that make me think like "fleet" and "low". Overall, the puzzle felt a bit easier than the usual Thursday.
The puzzle has only four double letters, and anything below five is extremely rare, since I began inexplicably tracking this many months ago, and I'm still waiting for a puzzle with zero. I'm wondering if that has ever been done.
I'm not sure, but I believe the grid design might just represent DONALD TRUMP's hair.
Similar to @Lewis, I didn't get the derriere thing until late. I had filled in BABYAL BUM and UNAMERI CAN but didn't see the connection until the central reveal, um, revealed itself. I let out an audible whistle when I realized what was going on. Even then, I couldn't guess the other two FALLINGBEHINDs -- I was expecting themers like HIGHCL ASS or INNE REAR. So when I finally got GORYDE TAIL and DONALDT RUMP, they were delightful surprises.
This is one of those great themes that is very simple in, ahem, hindsight -- look how easily I came up with other plausible answers, and I'm sure this crowd can offer up many more. Yet, someone actually had to think it up without the benefit of hindsight, and its execution was flawless.
Fun puzzle; pretty fast solve. I started in the NW corner and had nothing (SHAZBUTT), but moved on and it came pretty fast. Somewhere along the line the theme emerged and I moved up to FIRSTCLASS,
Rats, I filled in the grid OK, and saw the turning answers, but didn't get the pun on 'behind' until I came here; in some sense, a DNF. I should have thought more, rather than just accepting that the theme was a little lame.
My major problem was thinking the wing prefix must be ALERO. I'd still be thinking that if it hadn't been for 49D (by the way, isn't that clue rather old news?) Also I thought a DRAY was a heavy wagon, not a cart, but dictionary.com tells me I was wrong.
Cute and fun. When I was a kid, we called it a "BUM BUM." Did other people do that? My mother enjoyed getting us to do or say or believe things for her own entertainment, so every once in a while I'll mention something to someone and learn that it wasn't true....like how you aren't supposed to eat red and yellow m&ms together or you will get collymobbles, or how you shouldn't eat the very bottom of a banana because a spider lives there, or if you talk too much in a movie the usher will come and take you away,
Great puzzle, even if I didn't get the bum theme until reading the write up. Bonus!
But can someone explain 62D MOO?
I have never seen RIYAL with the Y before. Tough spelling considering the totally obscure DRAY (unless of course we're talking Yiddish, then we could go with DRAY kop - great expression).
The odd layout of black squares hinted at grid art, but even squinting at it for some time I saw no recognizable figures, only the blueprint of a poorly-designed house or office space with three staircases in it.
Just yesterday we were discussing DROOP and CODA (Italian for TAIL). What are the odds? Also, Polly's sister Terry Dactyl makes a fortuitous reappearance in PTERO.
The sagging rear-end is not the most visually appealing theme, but it opens the floodgates. I liked DONALD with the hanging RUMP, which reminds me: if you are what you eat, what are you if you eat RUMP roast? I once worked with a lady who had a GALACTIC derrière. Her name was Gordiana, but we called her GORY DE TAIL behind her back.
About those other possibilities, from a bottomless vault: lemongrASS (or largemouthbASS), scuttleBUTT, stickitinyouREAR (I mean your HEARING AID), Apple MacinTUSH -- they are endless. Did you know that "The Little Red CABOOSE" was illustrated by Tibor Gergely (1900-1978)?
So much for the FALLING BEHIND. I liked WERELOST, the WEREwolf known for not finding its way back home after regaining its human form. I also enjoyed the ONE-ARM ARMADA, GODPARENTS and DIORAMA. TEABAG is sitting there waiting to be picked, YETI will leave it alone. And who doesn't like James DOOHAN? "Beam me up, Scotty!"
I was going to close with the famous London derrière, but I did that before. Here is instead some cornett and SAG-BUTT music in CMAJ from the collection of dances titled "Terpsichore" by German composer Michael Praetorius (1571-1621).
Beam me up, DOOHAN! went in first, followed by UNAMERICAN and MOO. Thus the theme/trick WOUND up FALLING into my LAP at the outset.
What a great solve w/ TEABAG and TRUMP in the same neighborhood. Who else but The DONALD would be pompous enough to refer to himself in the third person?
Gigantic before GALACTIC was the only writeover. No other GORY DETAILS to report.
Thanks, guys, for explaining PEPE, which I normally associate w/ a certain French cartoon skunk.
@Lewis, your ERMA B. quotoid made my day. Spit up my coffee laughing. Explains why so many doctors' offices have either no plants or artificial silks. Wouldn't want to scare off the patients.
Even the fill was good, esp. liked DOA clue and answer.
Trapped inside today, yet again, due to snow, IAMB getting cabin fever. BUMmer!
Easy Thurs. for me. Started out with Spit instead of STAB and had the Iranian Rials before the Saudi RIYAL but that was about it for erasures. Only other hiccup was PTREO vs. PTERa but DRaP didn't make sense. Apparently PTERa is plural?
Caught the "down turn" part of theme early but the synonym part only dawned post solve.
Very clever, made me smile plus some good fill, liked it a lot!
I will spare you the GORY DETAILS of my sparring matches in Martial Arts last night, except to say that we did do ONE ARM pushups during the warm up. As a result I was "un PEU fatigue" this morning.
When I took a STAB at the northwest corner my brain went on pause. I felt as if I were FALLING BEHIND in my efforts at both physical and mental SELF-improvement. I was sure my ability to solve this puzzle was DOA without a power NAP to recuperate. Fortunately, I had an AHA at AHI and was able to DROP my SELF-doubt and proceed to a one coffee cup solve time.
I liked the transition from fetal life (AMNIO) through old age (HEARING AID).
@L 8:41 AM - Followers of a certain religion sing a carol, "Away in a Manger," which includes the lines, "The cattle are LOWING, the poor baby wakes . . . "
Yet, again another miserable snowy day in NYC, it's only 9:20 a.m. and I've already solved. What to do for the rest of this hideous day? Cute gimmick, but much too easy for a Thursday. There weren't enough theme answers to make this challenging; had there been twice as many, it would have been considerably harder.
Hey All ! Cool theme, bizarre grid. Seems some black squares coulda been taken out?
I caught it trying to figure out BABYA??, already having DONALDT RUMP and UNAMERI CAN, so basically had two Aha moments, one when I figured out the downturn, and another when I figured out the "rear" meanings!
SE corner was a bear! Had WERELOST & SIERRA and that was it for what seems like forever. Finally sussed PEPE, then PEG, then GORYDE TAIL finally jumped out, and was able to finish. Still, a DNF, :-(, as MaO for MOO, DRAm/RImAL. Sheesh! (@LMS shout-out!)
I see the patron ST. ALAG, and the TAN GLES, which are brown HONDAS!
Even though this seems like the third turn-a-corner puzzle we've had so far in 2015 (it's at least the second), I really enjoyed this. The double meaning of FALLING BEHIND really elevated this one.
Picked up the trick very quickly, as the NE corner filled in nearly instantly, giving me DONALD TRUMP and the corner-turn. SW then filled in quickly, giving me UNAMERICAN, and I noticed both RUMP and CAN shared a certain slangy symmetry. The revealer was just icing on the cake.
Super-quick Thursday for me, probably one of my couple fastest. Also one of my favorites in recent memory.
I first penciled in a rebus of "RUMP" after DONALDT and a rebus of "CAN" after UNAMERI. I immediately saw the theme, but didn't catch the "falling" trick for a little while after. This was great Thursday!
This one may rival Jeff Chen's POW from yesterday. A quick solve for me needing about a third of my recent average for Thursday times. Messing around in the NE I managed to get DONALDT and then RUMP finally fell. At that point I had a glimmering of what the theme might be. I got BEHIND long before I got FALLING. TAIL filled in pretty easily but I had to work to get GORYDE. UNAMRICAN was a lucky STAB. Finally I sussed ALBUM after being convinced it was BABYbook. A lot of the long down fill came easily with one or two crosses after having spent the first pass getting maybe 10% of the answers. I must say I appreciated seeing the SHOEBOX DIORAMA again so soon. IAMB wasn't much of a stretch with the MB in place and I dug that it was one of those meta type clues with answers like hardc or esses.
@L, MOO is a lowdown comment from a BUM steer.
@Teedmn from yesterday. Saying "whatever" as a response to almost anything said to you is negative and insulting; in effect, you are saying, "I don't care. What you just said is utterly insignificant, practically meaningless and what you are saying doesn't matter to me at all." If that's your response after giving up in exasperation on a discussion of whether to go to McDonald's or Arby's®, it might be better to say,"Ok, I'll let you choose." I got my step-kids to stop using "whatever" with this rant, I hope it helps you understand how damaging that little word can be, Teedmn.
Terriffic concept and wonderful execution, Jim Peredo. Good lookin' dog too.
Just read all the comments and realize, like a few other people, I didn't see the "behind" synonym theme until I came here. That would definitely have upped my appreciation of the cleverness of this puzzle! (It still would have been too easy, but I would have been tempted to send my compliments to the creator anyway.) Let me send them now, belatedly.
Funny! RUMP had already fallen into place and then I got the reveal - made me laugh. Enjoyed looking for the rest of the rear ends. I loved the triple meaning of FALLING BEHIND.
My kind of Thursday! (Cause it didn't vex me like the last couple). Was unpleasantly surprised to see the "funny Bombeck" and the "funny Silverman" in the same puzzle. Lame. That's the only way to clue those two?
I did not get the trick at all until I thought of FALLINGBEHIND. After which Mr. Trump and the others came into view.
Like Rex, IAMB was an AHA moment. Now I'm looking forward to TROCHEE. If I were a puzzle constructor, I'd submit one that had that word.
Many thanks for the derivation of PEPE (now, where did "Paco" come from, the nickname for Francisco?) St Joseph was the putative father of Jesus because everyone believed he was the father (not at all like "stepfather" where everyone knows you're not the real father).
Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard, by Thomas Gray [1716--1771] The curfew tolls the knell of parting day/ The lowing herd wind slowly o'er the lea ... And, of course, Shakespeare's primary verse is IAMBic pentameter. Is PEPE commonly used in French (Le Pew)? I thought the clue for HEARING AID was particularly clever. TEABAG's was pretty good, too. Does anybody have anything good to say about DONALD TRUMP?
This kinda theme is real hard to do. If U have many themers, yer draggin butts start gettin in each other's way, real fast. Imagine if U tried to make "BEHIND" drag, here. Yikes. Kinda cool, how the constructor built some major floodgates of black boxes, to make everything behave.
Excellent job, Peredo dude. Thanx for a sparkly-fun ThursPuz.
@63: Agree -- nice desperation interlude, in the PEU PTERO RUMP section. Primo writeup. Might start callin U Rex'Bel. har
This is one of those puzzles that make me wince... I wince, thinking - "Now why couldn't *I* have thought of this GALACTICally awesome theme?!" I avoided the reveal, guessing the theme myself, then filled it in to get yet another aha at its cute twist.
No one else had WEbELOST?
I always thought PEPE was short for Giusepe (Italian Joseph), or Seppche in German. (which reminds me of the eponymous restaurant outside of Frankfurt, where they plop down a bowl of soup as soon as you sit down, and where it takes about 10 minutes to pull a beer.
My mom's group of close friends, who meet often for tea, dubbed themselves the TEABAGs.
Thank you, Mr. Paredo - like @lms, I will remember this one for a long time!!
There has been an alarming uptick in spoilage here of late!
ERMA Bombeck herself reminds us that just as not everyone has watched the last Downton Abbey the same night you did, not everyone can always get to every puzzle in chronological order.
Now get off my lawn!! Oh wait...as long as you're on my lawn (and by lawn,I mean snowpack), grab a shovel and clear the sidewalk.
I made the DIaRAMA/DIORAMA mistake as well. NYT told me I still had a mistake and it took me a few minutes to realize that MaO should be MOO. I hadn't looked at the clue, and MaO looked fine as an answer...
My first fill-in was CMAJ, which I briefly changed to AMIN when I tried "bickers" for 24D. This puz was a first for me: the first time I figgered out one of these twisty turners all by myself. Made me so happy, even if it was an easy Thursday. Since we had a clue yesterday(?) about poetic feet, IAMB was somewhere in the front of my mind, as opposed to that part of the anatomy which was today's theme, a somewhat sensitive subject for me. Maybe next time we can have BELLY BUTTON instead.
My first fill-in was CMAJ, which I briefly changed to AMIN when I tried "bickers" for 24D. This puz was a first for me: the first time I figgered out one of these twisty turners all by myself. Made me so happy, even if it was an easy Thursday. Since we had a clue yesterday(?) about poetic feet, IAMB was somewhere in the front of my mind, as opposed to that part of the anatomy which was today's theme, a somewhat sensitive subject for me. Maybe next time we can have BELLY BUTTON instead.
@AndyPiacsek, I just read your late-posted comment about the Wednesday puzzle. I, too, originally thought of Manet as "The Father of Impressionism", but the cross forced me to put MONET, instead. So I did a bit of Googling (I am really bored today trapped inside!), and discovered that not only have Edouard Manet and Claude Monet been given this appellation, but Camille Pissarro, as well. So your gut instinct did not really fail you and NPR is in the clear!
@John Child, @Numinous, @Nancy: We agree. Much too easy for a Thursday. The MGI (the number of squares covered by entries I didn't know minus the number of squares covered by gimmes) was negative 16. Thursday MGIs are seldom negative. The average is positive 13.
Hand up here for finishing the puzzle without getting the puns -- I was thinking, "So, the behind end of the answer is falling? That's kind of lame." But no, it's brilliant, as I discovered from @Rex's writeup.
Thank you @Danp for the explanation of PEPE. I don't think "putative" father means "step" - or it didn't when I worked one summer 60 years ago (before DNA testing, and maybe it doesn't matter) in a welfare office. On forms there was a space for "mother" and one for "putative father." I asked and it was explained that the husband was assumed in law to be the father of the children. That meant the husband had financial responsibility for the children. But the form itself (as well as overheard conversations among the caseworkers) made it clear that the welfare department would not be surprised if "those women" were randomly getting impregnated by random men and most likely had no idea who the fathers of their children are.
@FredR - The Donald bought the Doral resort near Miami, and one of the results was a major overhaul of its famed Blue Monster golf course, which was first unveiled to the masses at last year's Valero Championship, the PGA Tour stop at Doral. The changes Trump paid for made for a much more interesting TV golf viewing experience, in my opinion. As it happens, this year's Valero teed off just this morning.
That's about all I can say positive about the man.
My biggest problem was trying to elongate TATAMI so it would fit into 65A. Me to Jon, does tatami have two t's, it just won't fit. Handed him the puzzle. Maybe if you put it in @66A things will work out a little better for you. I think he then called me a DOOFUS. Oops, damn eyes!
Donald T Rump is the quintissential "moderate Republican:" Old, white, cares only about (his own) money, completely out of touch with anyone but the 1 percent, not terribly familiar with the use of the English language. The one thing I'd give him credit for is not faking religiosity for the sake of hoodwinking poor christianists into voting against their own interests. And the golf course, of course.
My hometown in southern MN had a fairly large percentage of inhabitants who were of Polish ethnicity, with the generation of my grandparents still speaking with an accent. Thus, it was not unusual to hear parents threaten to spank their child "on the dupa", even in my Irish-American home. Not very crossword-friendly, however. (And probably not heard anymore, we can hope).
@Numinous, thanks for the advice. I will try to keep it in mind next time I'm tempted to toss out the "W" word :-).
Polish - dupa; Russian zhawpa; in my multi-cultural family kids were threatened with being spanked on both (either?). Actually, I can't remember being spanked at all, even though I'm sure I deserved it. @Sir Hillary, I didn't think I'd get any kind of positive reply as to TRUMP; you can never tell.
Loved this one. And I finished it correctly, after two consecutive Thursday failures. Almost got beamed down on "Doohan." Didn't recall how to spell his name, and had Doohen and Pime, but changed it correctly. I had a lot of trouble remembering the "funny Silverman" because I don't find her particularly funny, and I have a much funnier friend named Steve Silverman.
This was the best kind of puzzle, with ENORMOUS guesses, GIGANTIC reversals, and a series of GALACTIC AHI (plural of AHA, var.) Although my first thought was for Kissinger, DONALD T. RUMP was a gift I will always treasure. IAMBless'd, indeed.
To tell the truth, I thought the comments would have a lot more Cheeky put-downs. Too bad the spelling is off for Dick Cheinie, but you can almost double-down with "agglutinate". Of course, there's always STRUMMINGLUTES, especially with a FULLMOON, and for @M&A, CINNAMONBUNS.
If anyone is still in a "Low" MOO'ed: 'The cattle are lowing, the baby awakes. The little Lord Jesus, no crying he makes.' from "Away in a Manger
This changing of direction got me into some random wandering around the grid, where I found: I AM BY ALACTIC (an ocean very close to the Atlactic) MANGLE'S ELF (2nd cousin to Wurzel's ELF) Not far from Macon, GA LACTIC ALES
Personally, I'm pleased to have anything slump where I don't have to watch it, but I can see that some could get SAD AT the thought of those droopy drawers, once so TAUT. On the bright side, there may be SAG, BUTT in the Sack the BUTT-SAG don't matter so much.
Have a goodnight, all. Tomorrow I may get some skin art with non TAT AMI.
Thanks,it was very nice to have Pere do, even if Mere don't, un PEU.
Jimmy DOOHAN' low Doo he wobble to and fro Doo he tie 'em in a knot Doo he tie 'em in a bow Doo he throw 'em over his shoulder Like a regimental soldier Jimmy DOOHAN' low [Grade 3]
@FredRom, DT RUMP has a good eye for good-looking women, but that's neither hair nor there.
@Numi, I couldn't agree more about the 'whatever' response. During dinner tonight, the general topic came up of what might be expected from the night's icy precipitation. The 18-year-old present (of above average intelligence, if I say so myself) downplayed the likelihood, and when assured it was predicted, responded with "Says who?" and was truly dumbfounded and abashed that this earned a pretty warm reaction. In his mind, he was just asking the source of the information, and had no idea it could be construed as a challenge. So I'm thinking it's possible that, in some cases at least, young uns just don't conceive of the difference in connotation and reception that goes with choice in wording.
@Ms Tita, I enjoyed your WE BE LOST, but you lost me in your alarm over quote unquote spoilage. The present does inexorably grow out of the past, and if something present relates to a past puzzle, may it not be remarked? Would you want to set a boundary, say, no reference to anything in the past two weeks? Yet, WShortz frequently does edit in both clues and fill that link in some way across consecutive puzzles. Sometimes, mentioning these connections is both perceptive and humorose. Methinks that if these are passing references and not glaringly intentional spoilers (shudder), the non-consecutive solver will just have to suck it up as the cost of doing non-chronological solving.
Fun and very clever. Key to the NE for me was HERA For some rEason I "got" this one and feel good about it despite IAMB and PTERO. Like many, did not see the complete theme until I read the blog.
In the context of this being Not A Big Deal, let me offer this... As part of our unwritten code, like the 3-comment limit, there is an understanding that direct spoilers are to be avoided. Sideways references are fine. ("Hey, didn't we just see a poetic foot this week?")
If you have a comment to make on a puzzle of yore, it's easy...go to that day's post and make it! Most of us subscribe, so we will be alerted to your belated pearls of wisdom. Lord knows, it would indeed be tragic if even one comment were missed. Heavens...think of all the spellcasters we we might miss!
Anyhow, if you tell me which sports teams you follow, the next movie you are dying to see, series finale you have tivo'd, and I will happily illustrate the sequential passage of time to you!
How very Red Queen of you. What I see is that absolutely anything can be outed to be in an unwritten code. Seems that would be binding only on parties who agree to it of their own volition.
I suppose you think you made a point with your last para; it maybe clear to you but looks like mud to me. Whatever you are intending to convey, I don't need it to understand the sequential nature of time -- in the part of the universe we are currently inhabiting.
I reject categorically the tyranny of the many by the few, and would gladly give you back your five minutes. And my three.
Hey, let's go climb a mountain! Better than casting spells.
Can't belive the number of folks above who didn't catch on to the BEHIND synonyms. I started in the NE and got it immediately from the Donald's RUMP, before I even looked for the revealer. It's a well done theme/gimmick, but not nearly so cute and clever as some people are marveling at.
How about "ALERO preceder": CUTL A S S
Not sure that SARAH Silverman is that funny.
Adequate Thursday puz though I generally dislike the gimmicks.
Wow, no fewer than twelve "cheater" squares and not one peep from OFL. I guess some contributors are hands-off. I shall bring a more critical eye to the proceedings.
Theme and execution are fine, especially since all the down fragments are tushies. This trekkie happened to start in the SE with that late great Scot DOOHAN, and before long I was staring at ...MERIC. Filling out the rest of the area left me with UNA- in front of that, so the downturn was easy to spot.
I "fell behind" with hAgGLES instead of TANGLES, and GigAnTIC before GALACTIC. Another RMK (random musical key) caused a frown, but got that remedied.
I agree, the clue for IAMB was pretty deep.
Overall, the presence of all those border black squares was jarring, and OFL's silence on that is totally inexplicable. I'll give it a third straight B-.
Please LEARN form that RASCAL, he’s a ONEARM man, YETI isn’t a BUM, and he’ll do what he CAN. WERELOST in his wisdom, GALACTIC or not, So DROP what you’re doing and do as you’re TAUT: When you’re EDGING on failure and FALLINGBEHIND Start a NEWAGE, the TIMECOP won’t mind.
Fastest darn Thurs. I've done in many moons. Definitely "Easy"-excuse me Mr. Parker. You're wrong, wrong, wrong. Anyway, fun puzzle thanks to Mr. Paredo. Bottoms Up!
Ron Diego, the world's #1 crossword solver on my street _cul-de-sac).
To quote Mad Magazine, "cute, pert, toot, squirt". Or words to that effect.
I think that when a constructor is dealing with themers that have both an across and a down portion, it is difficult, in order to minimize clunky fill, to avoid a grid with "cheater" squares. But I know nothing about puzzle construction. Just conjecture. Also, I don't care how many black squares there are in a puzzle. It's a constructor thing.
Anyway, fun puzzle with a tight theme that "works", and pretty darn good fill. Liked it.
Got food pictures for the captcha. Aced the two soup photos.
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Well, this is rare for a Thursday: First entry was EBAY. Accidentally glanced at reveal. Considered 19A, and my second and third entries were BABY ALBUM and FALLING BEHIND.
ReplyDeleteThe ambiguity of the reveal and its execution is genius:the last part, the butt, of the phrase is falling, and the part that's falling is a synonym for BEHIND! Ever since the "right on red" puzzle a few years ago, I've been in my fumbling way imagining some kind of bendy funny business like this, but never in my wildest dreams could I have conceived of something this elegant.
Jim Peredo – a galactic success in by book. Hey – did you consider something like WATER GLASS for 61A/63D?
27D, AFT, is a kind of volunteer, huh?
PTERO called. It wants its suffix back from yesterday.
This reminds me of a joke Dad told me once: You know you're gaining weight when, walking along the beach, you feel something brushing up against your ankles, and you turn around to see it's your ass.
This is a puzzle I'm going to remember for a long time. So, so cool.
Really fun puzzle. Had DONALD TRUMP and UNAMERICAN and BEHIND right away so had theme but put in dea for 27d anti-trafficking answer so took time to put in FALLING which when I finally got it really made me smile. Thought SE was hard. Did not know RIYAL (RIAL?) or TATAMI.
ReplyDeleteGreat Thursday.
I had MAA for Low, but I guess goats don't low, and I never heard of DOOHAN.
ReplyDeleteI did get a chuckle out of the DONALD T RUMP quote, though.
Enjoyed this one as well. Had to guess the A in DRAY, but it would have been a super-weird word if the A was wrong..
ReplyDeleteWho knew? The Spanish translation of the bible refers to Joseph as Padre Putativo (Step father). PP (pronounced Pepe) is the abbreviation.
ReplyDeleteThis started ho hummy for me. I got the "OK what the hell is this one going to be" Thursday surprise at BABY AL BUM. Wow, I said, I bet this is going to be about rear ends. Yes....!!!looky...there's a RUMP and a TAIL and a CAN as well.
ReplyDeleteI'm so impressed, I do the ONE ARM DROP and my favorite dance the DOA DOOHAN.
Don't get me started on the GORY DET.
PEU...I want some of that PTERO.
I never made the connection that all the dropping words were butt synonyms, which makes the puzzle, which was a fun solve for me, even cooler. Learned RUMP session, and am kind of scared to Google that. I like TANGLES and GALACTIC. I also like clues that make me think like "fleet" and "low". Overall, the puzzle felt a bit easier than the usual Thursday.
ReplyDeleteThe puzzle has only four double letters, and anything below five is extremely rare, since I began inexplicably tracking this many months ago, and I'm still waiting for a puzzle with zero. I'm wondering if that has ever been done.
I'm not sure, but I believe the grid design might just represent DONALD TRUMP's hair.
Simply brilliant, Jim, bravo!
ReplyDeleteI also had fun reading non theme answers with an end drop and found HONDA SARAH, Mustang Sally's distant relative.
Thank you, Jim, for a memorable Thursday!
I'm off to explore another bum related theme, ASSBACKWARDS ...
Factoid: The name PIMA was applied in honor of the Pima Indians, who helped raise the cotton on USDA experimental farms in Arizona in the early 1900s.
ReplyDeleteQuotoid: "Never go to a doctor whose office plants have died." -- ERMA Bombeck
Similar to @Lewis, I didn't get the derriere thing until late. I had filled in BABYAL BUM and UNAMERI CAN but didn't see the connection until the central reveal, um, revealed itself. I let out an audible whistle when I realized what was going on. Even then, I couldn't guess the other two FALLINGBEHINDs -- I was expecting themers like HIGHCL ASS or INNE REAR. So when I finally got GORYDE TAIL and DONALDT RUMP, they were delightful surprises.
ReplyDeleteThis is one of those great themes that is very simple in, ahem, hindsight -- look how easily I came up with other plausible answers, and I'm sure this crowd can offer up many more. Yet, someone actually had to think it up without the benefit of hindsight, and its execution was flawless.
What a blast this was. 10/10
Considering that every time I hear words leave the man's mouth I think, "What an ass," it seems appropriate that my first themer was The Donald.
ReplyDeleteFun puzzle. Was pleased when AHI, not eel, filled in. Is there such a thing as PTEROAHI? Rare, with some Buffalo Sauce, maybe.
Fun puzzle; pretty fast solve. I started in the NW corner and had nothing (SHAZBUTT), but moved on and it came pretty fast. Somewhere along the line the theme emerged and I moved up to FIRSTCLASS,
ReplyDeleteRats, I filled in the grid OK, and saw the turning answers, but didn't get the pun on 'behind' until I came here; in some sense, a DNF. I should have thought more, rather than just accepting that the theme was a little lame.
ReplyDeleteMy major problem was thinking the wing prefix must be ALERO. I'd still be thinking that if it hadn't been for 49D (by the way, isn't that clue rather old news?) Also I thought a DRAY was a heavy wagon, not a cart, but dictionary.com tells me I was wrong.
Yes SIR, a dandy puzzle.
Cute and fun. When I was a kid, we called it a "BUM BUM." Did other people do that? My mother enjoyed getting us to do or say or believe things for her own entertainment, so every once in a while I'll mention something to someone and learn that it wasn't true....like how you aren't supposed to eat red and yellow m&ms together or you will get collymobbles, or how you shouldn't eat the very bottom of a banana because a spider lives there, or if you talk too much in a movie the usher will come and take you away,
ReplyDeleteMy jaw dropped when I got the theme.
ReplyDeleteFirst one I've liked in about a week (I joined rex in thinking yesterday's was a mess). Struggled in SE, and the Y in RIYAL was the last to go in.
ReplyDeleteNot sure why anyone needs to know that but it is now in your brain and there is nothing you can do about it.
Great puzzle, even if I didn't get the bum theme until reading the write up. Bonus!
ReplyDeleteBut can someone explain 62D MOO?
I have never seen RIYAL with the Y before. Tough spelling considering the totally obscure DRAY (unless of course we're talking Yiddish, then we could go with DRAY kop - great expression).
ReplyDeleteThe odd layout of black squares hinted at grid art, but even squinting at it for some time I saw no recognizable figures, only the blueprint of a poorly-designed house or office space with three staircases in it.
Just yesterday we were discussing DROOP and CODA (Italian for TAIL). What are the odds? Also, Polly's sister Terry Dactyl makes a fortuitous reappearance in PTERO.
The sagging rear-end is not the most visually appealing theme, but it opens the floodgates. I liked DONALD with the hanging RUMP, which reminds me: if you are what you eat, what are you if you eat RUMP roast? I once worked with a lady who had a GALACTIC derrière. Her name was Gordiana, but we called her GORY DE TAIL behind her back.
About those other possibilities, from a bottomless vault: lemongrASS (or largemouthbASS), scuttleBUTT, stickitinyouREAR (I mean your HEARING AID), Apple MacinTUSH -- they are endless. Did you know that "The Little Red CABOOSE" was illustrated by Tibor Gergely (1900-1978)?
So much for the FALLING BEHIND. I liked WERELOST, the WEREwolf known for not finding its way back home after regaining its human form. I also enjoyed the ONE-ARM ARMADA, GODPARENTS and DIORAMA. TEABAG is sitting there waiting to be picked, YETI will leave it alone. And who doesn't like James DOOHAN? "Beam me up, Scotty!"
I was going to close with the famous London derrière, but I did that before. Here is instead some cornett and SAG-BUTT music in CMAJ from the collection of dances titled "Terpsichore" by German composer Michael Praetorius (1571-1621).
IAMB what IAMB. Don't try to change me.
More snow, yay!
PS. All puns were intended.
Beam me up, DOOHAN! went in first, followed by UNAMERICAN and MOO. Thus the theme/trick WOUND up FALLING into my LAP at the outset.
ReplyDeleteWhat a great solve w/ TEABAG and TRUMP in the same neighborhood. Who else but The DONALD would be pompous enough to refer to himself in the third person?
Gigantic before GALACTIC was the only writeover. No other GORY DETAILS to report.
Thanks, guys, for explaining PEPE, which I normally associate w/ a certain French cartoon skunk.
@Lewis, your ERMA B. quotoid made my day. Spit up my coffee laughing. Explains why so many doctors' offices have either no plants or artificial silks. Wouldn't want to scare off the patients.
Even the fill was good, esp. liked DOA clue and answer.
Trapped inside today, yet again, due to snow, IAMB getting cabin fever. BUMmer!
Thanks, JP and WS for lifting my spirits.
Thought this was fine and entertaining, but far too easy for Thursday. Gimmick Tuesday anyone?
ReplyDeleteEasy Thurs. for me. Started out with Spit instead of STAB and had the Iranian Rials before the Saudi RIYAL but that was about it for erasures. Only other hiccup was PTREO vs. PTERa but DRaP didn't make sense. Apparently PTERa is plural?
ReplyDeleteCaught the "down turn" part of theme early but the synonym part only dawned post solve.
Very clever, made me smile plus some good fill, liked it a lot!
Fun and elegant puzzle. Donald Trump was the person I thought of with that clue, and since the M was already in please, I made that downturn.
ReplyDeleteOnly things I didn't like were the ACL, GSA, ATF, STD.
I will spare you the GORY DETAILS of my sparring matches in Martial Arts last night, except to say that we did do ONE ARM pushups during the warm up. As a result I was "un PEU fatigue" this morning.
ReplyDeleteWhen I took a STAB at the northwest corner my brain went on pause. I felt as if I were FALLING BEHIND in my efforts at both physical and mental SELF-improvement. I was sure my ability to solve this puzzle was DOA without a power NAP to recuperate. Fortunately, I had an AHA at AHI and was able to DROP my SELF-doubt and proceed to a one coffee cup solve time.
I liked the transition from fetal life (AMNIO) through old age (HEARING AID).
@LMS: Your (dad's) quote made me laugh. Didn't see that one coming!
ReplyDelete@L 8:41 AM - Followers of a certain religion sing a carol, "Away in a Manger," which includes the lines, "The cattle are LOWING, the poor baby wakes . . . "
ReplyDeleteYet, again another miserable snowy day in NYC, it's only 9:20 a.m. and I've already solved. What to do for the rest of this hideous day? Cute gimmick, but much too easy for a Thursday. There weren't enough theme answers to make this challenging; had there been twice as many, it would have been considerably harder.
ReplyDeleteHey All !
ReplyDeleteCool theme, bizarre grid. Seems some black squares coulda been taken out?
I caught it trying to figure out BABYA??, already having DONALDT RUMP and UNAMERI CAN, so basically had two Aha moments, one when I figured out the downturn, and another when I figured out the "rear" meanings!
SE corner was a bear! Had WERELOST & SIERRA and that was it for what seems like forever. Finally sussed PEPE, then PEG, then GORYDE TAIL finally jumped out, and was able to finish. Still, a DNF, :-(, as MaO for MOO, DRAm/RImAL. Sheesh! (@LMS shout-out!)
I see the patron ST. ALAG, and the TAN GLES, which are brown HONDAS!
STAB
RooMonster
DarrinV
Good one, easy. Looked at IAMB and had no idea. Learned something there. Didn't know that DONALD RUMP's middle initial was T-- for tuchus.
ReplyDelete@SusanMcConnell, Oh your Mother sounds like a fun girl!
ReplyDeletePretty perfect puzzle, or PPP, in my book. Your PP explanation is quite interesting @DanP
no time to read the posts. off to our monthly NARFE meeting.
ReplyDeleteFound the puzzle pretty easy. see ya later
Even though this seems like the third turn-a-corner puzzle we've had so far in 2015 (it's at least the second), I really enjoyed this. The double meaning of FALLING BEHIND really elevated this one.
ReplyDeletePicked up the trick very quickly, as the NE corner filled in nearly instantly, giving me DONALD TRUMP and the corner-turn. SW then filled in quickly, giving me UNAMERICAN, and I noticed both RUMP and CAN shared a certain slangy symmetry. The revealer was just icing on the cake.
Super-quick Thursday for me, probably one of my couple fastest. Also one of my favorites in recent memory.
Well, I guess we wouldn't expect anyone to be turned on by his personal charm.
ReplyDelete🌕🌕🌕 (3 mOOOns)
ReplyDeleteI dread Thursdays but not this one. As soon as I lost baby fat for 19a I was off to the races.
Favorite was MOO at 62D
I first penciled in a rebus of "RUMP" after DONALDT and a rebus of "CAN" after UNAMERI. I immediately saw the theme, but didn't catch the "falling" trick for a little while after. This was great Thursday!
ReplyDeleteFinally got my head out of my *** and figured out what was what. Fun puzzle.
ReplyDeleteThis one may rival Jeff Chen's POW from yesterday. A quick solve for me needing about a third of my recent average for Thursday times. Messing around in the NE I managed to get DONALDT and then RUMP finally fell. At that point I had a glimmering of what the theme might be. I got BEHIND long before I got FALLING. TAIL filled in pretty easily but I had to work to get GORYDE. UNAMRICAN was a lucky STAB. Finally I sussed ALBUM after being convinced it was BABYbook. A lot of the long down fill came easily with one or two crosses after having spent the first pass getting maybe 10% of the answers. I must say I appreciated seeing the SHOEBOX DIORAMA again so soon. IAMB wasn't much of a stretch with the MB in place and I dug that it was one of those meta type clues with answers like hardc or esses.
ReplyDelete@L, MOO is a lowdown comment from a BUM steer.
@Teedmn from yesterday. Saying "whatever" as a response to almost anything said to you is negative and insulting; in effect, you are saying, "I don't care. What you just said is utterly insignificant, practically meaningless and what you are saying doesn't matter to me at all." If that's your response after giving up in exasperation on a discussion of whether to go to McDonald's or Arby's®, it might be better to say,"Ok, I'll let you choose." I got my step-kids to stop using "whatever" with this rant, I hope it helps you understand how damaging that little word can be, Teedmn.
Terriffic concept and wonderful execution, Jim Peredo. Good lookin' dog too.
Just read all the comments and realize, like a few other people, I didn't see the "behind" synonym theme until I came here. That would definitely have upped my appreciation of the cleverness of this puzzle! (It still would have been too easy, but I would have been tempted to send my compliments to the creator anyway.) Let me send them now, belatedly.
ReplyDeleteFunny! RUMP had already fallen into place and then I got the reveal - made me laugh. Enjoyed looking for the rest of the rear ends. I loved the triple meaning of FALLING BEHIND.
ReplyDeleteMy kind of Thursday! (Cause it didn't vex me like the last couple). Was unpleasantly surprised to see the "funny Bombeck" and the "funny Silverman" in the same puzzle. Lame. That's the only way to clue those two?
ReplyDeleteI did not get the trick at all until I thought of FALLINGBEHIND. After which Mr. Trump and the others came into view.
ReplyDeleteLike Rex, IAMB was an AHA moment. Now I'm looking forward to TROCHEE. If I were a puzzle constructor, I'd submit one that had that word.
Many thanks for the derivation of PEPE (now, where did "Paco" come from, the nickname for Francisco?) St Joseph was the putative father of Jesus because everyone believed he was the father (not at all like "stepfather" where everyone knows you're not the real father).
Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard, by Thomas Gray [1716--1771] The curfew tolls the knell of parting day/ The lowing herd wind slowly o'er the lea ... And, of course, Shakespeare's primary verse is IAMBic pentameter. Is PEPE commonly used in French (Le Pew)? I thought the clue for HEARING AID was particularly clever. TEABAG's was pretty good, too. Does anybody have anything good to say about DONALD TRUMP?
ReplyDeletethUmbsUp the bUtts.
ReplyDeleteThis kinda theme is real hard to do. If U have many themers, yer draggin butts start gettin in each other's way, real fast. Imagine if U tried to make "BEHIND" drag, here. Yikes. Kinda cool, how the constructor built some major floodgates of black boxes, to make everything behave.
Excellent job, Peredo dude. Thanx for a sparkly-fun ThursPuz.
@63: Agree -- nice desperation interlude, in the PEU PTERO RUMP section. Primo writeup. Might start callin U Rex'Bel. har
M&A
** gruntz **
This is one of those puzzles that make me wince...
ReplyDeleteI wince, thinking - "Now why couldn't *I* have thought of this GALACTICally awesome theme?!"
I avoided the reveal, guessing the theme myself, then filled it in to get yet another aha at its cute twist.
No one else had WEbELOST?
I always thought PEPE was short for Giusepe (Italian Joseph), or Seppche in German. (which reminds me of the eponymous restaurant outside of Frankfurt, where they plop down a bowl of soup as soon as you sit down, and where it takes about 10 minutes to pull a beer.
My mom's group of close friends, who meet often for tea, dubbed themselves the TEABAGs.
Thank you, Mr. Paredo - like @lms, I will remember this one for a long time!!
@Fred: Donald Trump says enough good about himself to more than make up for the lack of positive things to say from everyone else.
ReplyDeleteThere has been an alarming uptick in spoilage here of late!
ReplyDeleteERMA Bombeck herself reminds us that just as not everyone has watched the last Downton Abbey the same night you did, not everyone can always get to every puzzle in chronological order.
Now get off my lawn!!
Oh wait...as long as you're on my lawn (and by lawn,I mean snowpack), grab a shovel and clear the sidewalk.
I made the DIaRAMA/DIORAMA mistake as well. NYT told me I still had a mistake and it took me a few minutes to realize that MaO should be MOO. I hadn't looked at the clue, and MaO looked fine as an answer...
ReplyDelete@Fred R - He's not a spellcaster.
ReplyDeleteMy first fill-in was CMAJ, which I briefly changed to AMIN when I tried "bickers" for 24D.
ReplyDeleteThis puz was a first for me: the first time I figgered out one of these twisty turners all by myself. Made me so happy, even if it was an easy Thursday.
Since we had a clue yesterday(?) about poetic feet, IAMB was somewhere in the front of my mind, as opposed to that part of the anatomy which was today's theme, a somewhat sensitive subject for me. Maybe next time we can have BELLY BUTTON instead.
My first fill-in was CMAJ, which I briefly changed to AMIN when I tried "bickers" for 24D.
ReplyDeleteThis puz was a first for me: the first time I figgered out one of these twisty turners all by myself. Made me so happy, even if it was an easy Thursday.
Since we had a clue yesterday(?) about poetic feet, IAMB was somewhere in the front of my mind, as opposed to that part of the anatomy which was today's theme, a somewhat sensitive subject for me. Maybe next time we can have BELLY BUTTON instead.
@AndyPiacsek, I just read your late-posted comment about the Wednesday puzzle. I, too, originally thought of Manet as "The Father of Impressionism", but the cross forced me to put MONET, instead. So I did a bit of Googling (I am really bored today trapped inside!), and discovered that not only have Edouard Manet and Claude Monet been given this appellation, but Camille Pissarro, as well. So your gut instinct did not really fail you and NPR is in the clear!
ReplyDelete@John Child, @Numinous, @Nancy: We agree. Much too easy for a Thursday. The MGI (the number of squares covered by entries I didn't know minus the number of squares covered by gimmes) was negative 16. Thursday MGIs are seldom negative. The average is positive 13.
ReplyDeleteC'mon, Will! We need more crunch on Thursday.
Hand up here for finishing the puzzle without getting the puns -- I was thinking, "So, the behind end of the answer is falling? That's kind of lame." But no, it's brilliant, as I discovered from @Rex's writeup.
ReplyDeleteThank you @Danp for the explanation of PEPE. I don't think "putative" father means "step" - or it didn't when I worked one summer 60 years ago (before DNA testing, and maybe it doesn't matter) in a welfare office. On forms there was a space for "mother" and one for "putative father." I asked and it was explained that the husband was assumed in law to be the father of the children. That meant the husband had financial responsibility for the children. But the form itself (as well as overheard conversations among the caseworkers) made it clear that the welfare department would not be surprised if "those women" were randomly getting impregnated by random men and most likely had no idea who the fathers of their children are.
Good puzzle, Mr. Peredo.
@FredR - The Donald bought the Doral resort near Miami, and one of the results was a major overhaul of its famed Blue Monster golf course, which was first unveiled to the masses at last year's Valero Championship, the PGA Tour stop at Doral. The changes Trump paid for made for a much more interesting TV golf viewing experience, in my opinion. As it happens, this year's Valero teed off just this morning.
ReplyDeleteThat's about all I can say positive about the man.
My biggest problem was trying to elongate TATAMI so it would fit into 65A. Me to Jon, does tatami have two t's, it just won't fit. Handed him the puzzle. Maybe if you put it in @66A things will work out a little better for you. I think he then called me a DOOFUS. Oops, damn eyes!
ReplyDeleteGot it at DONALD's RUMP.
Thanks for the fun and witty Thursday Mr. Peredo.
Donald T Rump is the quintissential "moderate Republican:" Old, white, cares only about (his own) money, completely out of touch with anyone but the 1 percent, not terribly familiar with the use of the English language. The one thing I'd give him credit for is not faking religiosity for the sake of hoodwinking poor christianists into voting against their own interests. And the golf course, of course.
ReplyDeleteMy hometown in southern MN had a fairly large percentage of inhabitants who were of Polish ethnicity, with the generation of my grandparents still speaking with an accent. Thus, it was not unusual to hear parents threaten to spank their child "on the dupa", even in my Irish-American home. Not very crossword-friendly, however. (And probably not heard anymore, we can hope).
ReplyDelete@Numinous, thanks for the advice. I will try to keep it in mind next time I'm tempted to toss out the "W" word :-).
Thanks for the great Thursday puzzle, Mr. Peredo!
Still don't get MOO.
ReplyDeleteA cow lows, or moos.
ReplyDeletePolish - dupa; Russian zhawpa; in my multi-cultural family kids were threatened with being spanked on both (either?). Actually, I can't remember being spanked at all, even though I'm sure I deserved it. @Sir Hillary, I didn't think I'd get any kind of positive reply as to TRUMP; you can never tell.
ReplyDelete@Fred....What??? You don't like his coif???
ReplyDeleteLoved this one. And I finished it correctly, after two consecutive Thursday failures. Almost got beamed down on "Doohan." Didn't recall how to spell his name, and had Doohen and Pime, but changed it correctly. I had a lot of trouble remembering the "funny Silverman" because I don't find her particularly funny, and I have a much funnier friend named Steve Silverman.
ReplyDeleteHere IAMB, a day late and a RIYAL short.
ReplyDeleteThis was the best kind of puzzle, with ENORMOUS guesses, GIGANTIC reversals, and a series of GALACTIC AHI (plural of AHA, var.)
Although my first thought was for Kissinger, DONALD T. RUMP was a gift I will always treasure. IAMBless'd, indeed.
To tell the truth, I thought the comments would have a lot more Cheeky put-downs. Too bad the spelling is off for Dick Cheinie, but you can almost double-down with "agglutinate". Of course, there's always STRUMMINGLUTES, especially with a FULLMOON, and for @M&A, CINNAMONBUNS.
If anyone is still in a "Low" MOO'ed:
'The cattle are lowing, the baby awakes.
The little Lord Jesus, no crying he makes.'
from "Away in a Manger
This changing of direction got me into some random wandering around the grid, where I found:
I AM BY ALACTIC (an ocean very close to the Atlactic)
MANGLE'S ELF (2nd cousin to Wurzel's ELF)
Not far from Macon, GA LACTIC ALES
Personally, I'm pleased to have anything slump where I don't have to watch it, but I can see that some could get SAD AT the thought of those droopy drawers, once so TAUT. On the bright side, there may be SAG, BUTT in the Sack the BUTT-SAG don't matter so much.
Have a goodnight, all. Tomorrow I may get some skin art with non TAT AMI.
Thanks,it was very nice to have Pere do, even if Mere don't, un PEU.
Does anyone know if UNAMERIC is really a third of TURMERIC?
ReplyDeleteJimmy DOOHAN' low
ReplyDeleteDoo he wobble to and fro
Doo he tie 'em in a knot
Doo he tie 'em in a bow
Doo he throw 'em over his shoulder
Like a regimental soldier
Jimmy DOOHAN' low
[Grade 3]
@FredRom, DT RUMP has a good eye for good-looking women, but that's neither hair nor there.
@Numi, I couldn't agree more about the 'whatever' response. During dinner tonight, the general topic came up of what might be expected from the night's icy precipitation. The 18-year-old present (of above average intelligence, if I say so myself) downplayed the likelihood, and when assured it was predicted, responded with "Says who?" and was truly dumbfounded and abashed that this earned a pretty warm reaction. In his mind, he was just asking the source of the information, and had no idea it could be construed as a challenge. So I'm thinking it's possible that, in some cases at least, young uns just don't conceive of the difference in connotation and reception that goes with choice in wording.
Time for a nightcap. Bottoms up!
@Ms Tita, I enjoyed your WE BE LOST, but you lost me in your alarm over quote unquote spoilage. The present does inexorably grow out of the past, and if something present relates to a past puzzle, may it not be remarked? Would you want to set a boundary, say, no reference to anything in the past two weeks? Yet, WShortz frequently does edit in both clues and fill that link in some way across consecutive puzzles. Sometimes, mentioning these connections is both perceptive and humorose. Methinks that if these are passing references and not glaringly intentional spoilers (shudder), the non-consecutive solver will just have to suck it up as the cost of doing non-chronological solving.
ReplyDeleteFun and very clever. Key to the NE for me was HERA For some rEason I "got" this one and feel good about it despite IAMB and PTERO. Like many, did not see the complete theme until I read the blog.
ReplyDelete@Anarchist...
ReplyDeleteHow zen of you...
In the context of this being Not A Big Deal, let me offer this...
As part of our unwritten code, like the 3-comment limit, there is an understanding that direct spoilers are to be avoided. Sideways references are fine. ("Hey, didn't we just see a poetic foot this week?")
If you have a comment to make on a puzzle of yore, it's easy...go to that day's post and make it!
Most of us subscribe, so we will be alerted to your belated pearls of wisdom.
Lord knows, it would indeed be tragic if even one comment were missed. Heavens...think of all the spellcasters we we might miss!
Anyhow, if you tell me which sports teams you follow, the next movie you are dying to see, series finale you have tivo'd, and I will happily illustrate the sequential passage of time to you!
How very Red Queen of you. What I see is that absolutely anything can be outed to be in an unwritten code. Seems that would be binding only on parties who agree to it of their own volition.
ReplyDeleteI suppose you think you made a point with your last para; it maybe clear to you but looks like mud to me. Whatever you are intending to convey, I don't need it to understand the sequential nature of time -- in the part of the universe we are currently inhabiting.
I reject categorically the tyranny of the many by the few, and would gladly give you back your five minutes. And my three.
Hey, let's go climb a mountain! Better than casting spells.
ReplyDeleteCan't belive the number of folks above who didn't catch on to the BEHIND synonyms. I started in the NE and got it immediately from the Donald's RUMP, before I even looked for the revealer. It's a well done theme/gimmick, but not nearly so cute and clever as some people are marveling at.
How about "ALERO preceder":
CUTL
A
S
S
Not sure that SARAH Silverman is that funny.
Adequate Thursday puz though I generally dislike the gimmicks.
Well, my Oldsmobile looked good on the comment form . . .
ReplyDeleteWow, no fewer than twelve "cheater" squares and not one peep from OFL. I guess some contributors are hands-off. I shall bring a more critical eye to the proceedings.
ReplyDeleteTheme and execution are fine, especially since all the down fragments are tushies. This trekkie happened to start in the SE with that late great Scot DOOHAN, and before long I was staring at ...MERIC. Filling out the rest of the area left me with UNA- in front of that, so the downturn was easy to spot.
I "fell behind" with hAgGLES instead of TANGLES, and GigAnTIC before GALACTIC. Another RMK (random musical key) caused a frown, but got that remedied.
I agree, the clue for IAMB was pretty deep.
Overall, the presence of all those border black squares was jarring, and OFL's silence on that is totally inexplicable. I'll give it a third straight B-.
IAMB TENET
ReplyDeletePlease LEARN form that RASCAL, he’s a ONEARM man,
YETI isn’t a BUM, and he’ll do what he CAN.
WERELOST in his wisdom, GALACTIC or not,
So DROP what you’re doing and do as you’re TAUT:
When you’re EDGING on failure and FALLINGBEHIND
Start a NEWAGE, the TIMECOP won’t mind.
--- SARAH SIERRA ALERO
Fastest darn Thurs. I've done in many moons. Definitely "Easy"-excuse me Mr. Parker. You're wrong, wrong, wrong.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, fun puzzle thanks to Mr. Paredo. Bottoms Up!
Ron Diego, the world's #1 crossword solver on my street _cul-de-sac).
To quote Mad Magazine, "cute, pert, toot, squirt". Or words to that effect.
ReplyDeleteI think that when a constructor is dealing with themers that have both an across and a down portion, it is difficult, in order to minimize clunky fill, to avoid a grid with "cheater" squares. But I know nothing about puzzle construction. Just conjecture. Also, I don't care how many black squares there are in a puzzle. It's a constructor thing.
Anyway, fun puzzle with a tight theme that "works", and pretty darn good fill. Liked it.
Got food pictures for the captcha. Aced the two soup photos.
one look in the "rear" view mirror should have revealed the revealer.
ReplyDelete