Word of the Day: TARBOOSH (15A: Tasseled topper) —
noun
a man's cap similar to a fez, typically of red felt with a tassel at the top. (google)
• • •
As Charlie Brown would say, *sigh*. There's nothing here. I don't get how something this dull gets accepted. I'll give you OUT OF THE BLUE (27A: Unexpectedly) and LOOSE LIPS (12D: Tendency to be indiscreet), which are fine. Not dazzling, not fascinating, not eye-popping, but totally respectable. But then what? What else is there? REAR AREA? HAS A SHOT? IMAGED? This is sauce of an astonishingly weak vintage. It's more tedious than terrible. Nothing's gonna make you angry, but the cumulative mediocrity should make you angry. Or at least mildly disappointed. ITALO BREST DOD OST KOTOS ELI ARAG (!?) APSES IPO DEEDEE ASSAY ESA AMASS YLEM INASENSE ETRADE ONSALE AREOLA. I don't really hate any of that, but it's a serious onslaught of boring and/or undesirable fill. The cluing kept things reasonably tough, respectively Fridayish, difficulty-wise, but the content … I don't know whose idea of a good time this is, but it isn't mine.
What is a "Sugarland"? "ALL I WANT TO DO" was easy enough to get, but hardly seems famous enough to be a marquee Friday entry. In 2015. It hit #18. In 2008. You know what was big: "ALL I WANNA DO" by Sheryl Crow. That hit #1. In 1994. It's so much more popular than "ALL I WANT TO DO" that when you type in "ALL I WANT TO DO…" this is what google suggests:
That first suggestion isn't even how the Sheryl Crow song is spelled, and google *still* wants the Sheryl Crow song (that first result is the first line of the chorus of the Crow song, in case you didn't know). If you're gonna go with a pop culture blast across the bow of a Friday, make it singular, interesting, definitive … not some #18 song that sounds like a much more famous song. Hell, "OUT OF THE BLUE" is a more famous song than "ALL I [queen's English] WANT TO DO"
Very easy for me. One WOE-YLEM and no erasures. Faster than yesterday's which was also on the easy side. Some zippy phrases and not much dreck ( although REAR AREA smacks of green paint) so, liked it more than Rex did and we disagree about the difficulty. Would have liked it more if ran as a themeless on a Wed.
@GILL I. from yesterday. Just saw your late post and jewel does not refer to the singer. Those plastic CD holders are called jewel cases.
Since the puzzle isn't going to offer a decent amount of Thurs eve/Friday morn amusement, I offer this for your consideration: Thursday AM I had to do some sandblasting. Even with all due protection as I was doing it, a shower, a fully submersive bath followed by another shower I'm still scraping sand out of my ears. So, for those of you with well developed schadenfreude, have a ball.
My daily contribution to the well being of the world.
Started REALLY slow, then it started to rock and roll and then came to screeching halt in the NW corner. I guess I'm a little peeved that the most common items police and firefighters have are IDBADGES and RADIOS in that order.
Far from scintillating, but far from the abject bore Rex deemed it. The worst that could be said it was remarkably unremarkable. (Except for REAR AREA. I assume that's where the green paint is stored.)
Clean solve in just over an hour. Like @wreck, I had a slow start. Unlike @wreck, it stayed slow, but at least steady. Like @Wood, TABOOSH and YLEM were new. Unlike @wood, I call them WOEs. KOTOS, too.
Transient wrongness: PolECARS, rent=TORnUP, HASAhope, Start before SEEDS, dEmS before REPS. SAVIOR was something of a Hail Mary, and it mutated to SAbOIR more than once as I worked on sussing REVERB. Short fill was above average.
It was nice to suss STMARYS and the WOES listed above.
Fair cluing; fair crossing; more than fair puzzle. Glad I held on.
With at least three other good blogs about the NYT crossword puzzle, I bid a bittersweet good by to Rex. I certainly learned a lot, and got some entertainment reading the blog over the past few years. But the negativity regularly found in the blog has worn me out. He's out of my bookmarks bar. Thanks to Rex and all the contributors for the blog.
I finished without any outright cheats - checked DOD (I have low self-esteem, obviously), and then didn't check any others, and no googling. I don't keep track of writeovers. I was surprised to find that TARBOOSH is a real thing. Expected to get the razzberry when I put in the last letter.
By the way, all of you who learned TABOOSH -- if that is indeed what you learned, please note that it is a smoking bar in Lancashire, England. No tassles. The hat, on the other hand... or head ... has tassles and an "R" in it.
I wasn't surprised by @Rex's assessment. I kept knowing the answers, which is just wrong for a Friday. They would have made good fill for a themed puzzle or one with some really tough clues, but even TABOOSH, I mean TARBOOSH wasn't hard to get from crosses, or the song I never heard of.
I rather liked it, but it's Friday and and I finished in a short amount of time, so of course it goes in the favorable column. Fridays are usually thrown into the DNF pile, so no complaints here.
Like @Wood TABOOSH and YLEM were newbies for me also. Kept trying to figure how I was going to stretch FEZ into eight letters. Not happening! YLEM stayed because I was sure of my crosses.
Always wanted to make a YULE LOG but never have, maybe this year when brother Mark moves here.
I found it a pleasant challenge. Like others above, I got off to a slow start, with an OST here and an IRE there. The ASTIN x OIL cross got me some traction, and I crept around counterclockwise from there, ending with a hesitant TARBOOSH - also new to me, along with KOTOS and YLEM (I liked the cross with SPELL, as in "That's really a word?").
Pretty cool to learn the word for the primordial material of the universe from crosses in the NYT puzzle. The YL could not be denied, so even though YLEM is truly a WOE, it's redeemed by the crosses.
Good clues for PACECARS and TRIM. Not so good for PURÉE. "Strain to make"? A purée is the result of blending the heck out of something, right? You can strain it after you purée it if you really want to get the large pieces out, ala Gerber for peas (yuck!).
I also did not care for the clue for IMAGED. To have got a mental picture might be to have IMAGINED, but IMAGED to me is a physical process like photography or radiography. The clue should be exactly right, or it casts doubt in the solvers mind.
@jae there were very many clues that were exactly right, in fact making it too easy for a Friday. I agree this would have worked better as a themeless Wed.
ERROL was also a WOE. I know it's a Friday, but should I have heard of him?
Yikes @Rex....You're in a TIT LE PAGE today....! I always seem to be on Mister Victor Fleming's wave SPELL. I like a southern gentleman who has SAVOIR faire and anybody who has TARBOOSH in a puzzle is mighty fine by me. ONUS...REAR AREA? That bodes SEEDS of DARK AGES in my book. My only real huh was ERROL. I had to (dang) Google him. Other than that, I was pleased as a hush puppy slathered in mustard. Thank you VF for some fun....
If you can identify the product being pitched in that classic commercial you are in the majority: A few years ago 70% of Americans could name it based on a similarly vague hint.
Unlike OFL I liked this puzzle very much. Lots of in-the-language phrases, despite REAR AREA, which has had its share of criticism already. I don't know whose clue we got for that answer - WS's or the judge's - but in a military context it's not 'green paint' at all. A missed opportunity...
Either you're showing your age or I'm about to show mine. Back before there were blenders (ahem! There really was such a time), if you wanted to PUREE something you put it through a contraption which looked like a very strong strainer with pieces of flat metal to force the food through.
Rex, you know Google tracks the things you search for and uses an algorithm to come up with the things YOU are most likely to search for. When I type in "All I Want," Google suggests "All I Want for Christmas is You." Neither the Sugarland song or the Sheryl Crow song are even in the top five suggestions. So using Google as a parameter for how popular something is is a flawed process.
I zipped through this last night but came to a screeching in the NW before lights out. This morning that corner became clear. I'm calling it the international corner with ITALO, DANES, BREST, ESTADO, OST and TARBOOSH.
I liked IDBADGES crossing SHERIFF.
What's wrong with HASASHOT? it's a colorful "in the language" phrase.
The only negative I have is REARAREA which made it into my margin.
@steve j today shows us why the comments here have become much more fun than predictably sour old Rex. The REARAREA is indeed the perfect place for storing your green paint.
YLEM...ugh. I googled it and found that Stockhausen wrote a piece called "Ylem." Since he is one of *those* composers who resorted to aleatoric music (because 20th century!), this piece does not disappoint. From Wiki: "The composer held that the music works best "when the players establish telepathic communication with one another (they play with closed eyes) and with a 'conductor' who listens with the utmost concentration from the middle of the hall, but does not take an active part" (Stockhausen 1978, 212). Because, 20th century!
Speaking of music, I think of ELO when I hear "Out of the Blue." Great album that includes the popular "Mr. Blue Sky."
The Sheryl Crowe video is awful. So much possibility with such a great song that paints some wonderful images. But no...she's just out on a sidewalk playing for spare change. Talk about your lame sauce.
I withheld the "area" part from REARAREA for a very long time thinking that it couldn't possibly be it. It was. It sort of typified my feeling on the puzzle. When you have a gamut that flies from YLEM to REARAREA you know you're in for a rough ride.
I completed it and was not angry...so I guess that's a small win.
I'm trying to picture what kind of "officer" wears an ID BADGE. ID BADGEs are those things all the Ford employees wear, or the utility company workers wear. What am I failing to wrap my head around here?
I usually enjoy Fleming's puzzles, but I'm more or less with Rex here. Where on Earth is Abyssia and why are they fighting (can we blame Obama or the Senate Republicans?)? Océanopolis? Must be in France. SPECKLES? Not the word I woul use on a Sunday in the park. Even the Michigan clue threw me. Superior empties through the Soo Locks. The river? Took me every cross. 75% Easy, but the NW and SE were very tough for me.
I hear ya, @Wreck. This was analogous to a bike ride that starts nicely, I notice the birds, the trees, my speed and heart rate are optimal and then I make a turn and realize the nice tailwind I've been unconsciously enjoying is now a headwind--in this case the northwest quad of the puz. Went from all-time best solve time to 44 minutes. Should have known that any Friday would be thus.
The REAR AREA is the area the Rear Admiral is in charge of, where the ONUS is located. The TARBOOSH and LOOSE LIPS that sink ships are restricted to the front.
Judge Vic @xwordinfo tells us that this puzzle was submitted two years ago. True, I have seen more interesting and better polished puzzles by Mr. Fleming even two years ago, but I did like the way the fourteen 8+ entries are spaced out pretty evenly throughout the grid. This one played easy for me, YLEM, the primordial plasma, notwithstanding. The references to interrogation tactics (SPILL IT! TALK!) are no doubt inspired by Judge Fleming's courtroom experiences.
IN A SENSE, ALL I WANT TO DO is go fishing for STRIPED bass. Do you think the fish HAS A SHOT?
oldquOTE -> sidenOTE -> ANECDOTE. Then I was finally able to complete the NW corner and, with it, the puzzle.
Seeing YLEM was like running into a long lost friend. It's been a favorite word of mine since high school (don't ask) and I can tell you it's in my Random House dictionary without having to get up and check.
Yeah, there were some rough spots, but I didn't dislike the puzzle as much as @Rex did.
On @wreck's behalf, I'll nominate IDBADGES & RADIOS as wet-paint.
Other than that, musta been my wheelhouse, as it was relatively-easy-for-a-Friday.
I liked it more because it references two of my mom's signature desserts... Paris-Brest, which is basically a huge, ring-shaped eclair, and YULELOG...the Buche de Nöel is a tradition at our house. My contribution is the meringue mushrooms @chefwen...send me a first class ticket...I'll give you lessons!
@Mr. David H....excellent description of why Rex's Google suggestions screenshots are an idiotic way to make a point.
Enjoyable, easy-ish Friday with some terrific cluing. Rex's rant reflects a serious case of Repetitive Puzzle Syndrome, where it takes a truly remarkable puzzle to provide him with even a scintilla of admiration. Take a break, Rex, then come back and feel the love. Thanks for a very pleasant Friday, Mr. Fleming.
I enjoyed the crunchiness of it. An MGI of positive 53, the highest (hardest) since Friday February 21.
Had a lot of trouble with the lower right. REARAREA is bad. And I don't like the clue for TRIM (A little off?). I suppose that it has to do with "Take a little off the top." But to be an acceptable clue, "A little off the top" should be a stand-alone expression.
Enjoyed the challenge, but, as Rex says, not a lot of fun.
I liked it based on the fact that I learned some new things from it that are actually interesting things to learn. I wish that criterion generally had higher priority in the Times editing.
If you're wondering how YLEM is pronounced, it looks like it rhymes with phylum (with the accent on the first syllable).
I liked the clues for SPELL and SHERIFF, and I never heard of but love TARBOOSH. This makes the whole puzzle worth it for me. I also liked OUTOFTHEBLUE, LOOSELIPS, AND HASASHOT.
Much of this puzzle was too easy for Friday, but some of it had good crunch, so it was an olio, I guess. Not a wow, but for me, nothing like the drudge Rex painted it to be. Overall, a solid blue collar puzzle.
What is a "Sugarland"? asks @Rex. I'm no fan of country music, but I had heard of them - if not the song. So I Googled Sugarland. The song was #1 on the country charts, and crossed over to #18 on the pop charts just over 6 years ago. Certainly qualifying for the clue, and a marquee placement on a Friday. Then for the fun of it I used @M David Hornbuckle's idea and Googled "All I Want to Do" and my first 5 was Sugarland (Ms. Crow, whose song I know and love, finished 7th with "Wanna").
Rex's If-I-don't-know-it-it's-garbage attitude is wearing thin here, maybe I'll follow @Garth. Learned a lot from Rex, great posters here, but his relentless pursuit of his very personal vision of perfection is wearing me out - starting to take the fun out of the solving experience.
Medium hard especially with REAR AREA, SPILL IT, RADIOS. Agree with Rex and @Z as I could never get the flow going but learned YLEM. Good clues for ANECDOTE , SHERIFF and TRIM. No crosswordEASE. Thanks VF.
Ooooo, @Tita, a Buche de Noel! Hawaii is nice but travel is SUCH a drag in the holidays. Why not take a short drive down 7 on December 23rd and come here Little Tita? I used to make this with my Dutch neighbor but I was her second in command. That meant I only got to dust the cocoa on the mushrooms and lift the towels off the jelly roll pans! Oh and I can run the TINES (while they ring) down the icing to give them that woodsy look. I need direction to attempt this again.
Fastest Friday ever for me today. The tasseled topper and the matter were the mysteries for me too, but it's lovely to keep learning. Rex is cranky but I hear it's going to snow again this weekend in Rexland so that'll explain it. Please don't let it reach here. It's still raining in the kitchen from the ice dam dam dams.
I'm with Garth: I'm outta here. Talk about "tedium"? I'll tell you what's tedium: it's reading Rex whine about the puzzle every day. Almost nothing meets his fine standards, and he apparently has some resentment about Will Shortz. You must be a very difficult man to be around, "Rex." I'd hate to live with you or be one of your students. Good-bye!
For 'compulsory courses', I had 'bore' before CORE. Cracked myself up laughing as I wrote over the 'b'. Doesn't take much to amuse me!
@JimC, I agree w/ your defense of PUREE. Instead of using ye olde strainer, I throw it all in the Vitamix blender. Much more efficient.
NW corner constituted a SIEGE for me, too, for the same reasons as you all. Other than that, a fairly easy Friday. I liked the unusual answer, TOREUP, for 'rent'; disliked the word SPECKLES to describe Pointillism because it sounds inelegant whereas the technique is not, IMO.
I will probably never commit YLEM to memory; only hope is that the next time, it is as fairly crossed as it was today. Ironically, I can name every character and the actor who plays him/her on "The Big Bang Theory". Speaking of which, last night's episode was a nice homage to the late actress, Carol Ann Susi, who played Howard's Mom (offstage voice) until she succumbed to breast cancer recently.
TARBOOSH, my butt. Not sure what happened, but could not see RUN LOW, so dnf'd at that crossing.
For what it's worth, I like Rex's snarky orneriness. I think he's funny and I often agree with him. I don't, however, like when the commentators on this blog complain. I understand not enjoying Rex, but I don't understand griping about it. Just don't visit the site; you don't need to make a speech about it.
I agree w/ Garth and Mohair Sam -- Rex's venom against anything that does not meet his idea of perfection has worn thin. So thin that I'm outta here. Good-bye, Rex. I hope something in life pleases you, because crosswords -- at least those in the NYT -- obviously do not. You must be living a very bitter, unhappy life. :-(
Started super-easy in the NE (though I wondered if non-New Yorkers would have a problem with 9A placing the Apollo Theater in HARLEM), but had to fight hard to the finish in the NW.
Consider myself to lean to the scientific side, but I feel the need to look up YLEM!
Classic Rex. "I haven't heard of a [chart-topping hit by a megaband] song, so it's a bad clue." I guess he thinks he is too good for country music. Hey I haven't been to the opera in 20 years, but I don't cry like a baby when someone has "parcifal" in their puzzle. Just because your experience of the world is narrow, rex, doesn't mean an answer isn't "famous enough."
@EvilDoug, When BREST appeared, I figured we'd be hearing from you. But you left LOOSELIPS alone. Don't tell me you are evolving into @VaguelyScurrilousDoug.
It was wise of you not to refer to OUTOFTHEBLUE in some professional context. I think your troll may have been waiting for you under that bridge.
@Steve J: I join the others in finding your REAR AREA/GREEN PAINT quip droll and delightful.
Come back, @Garth, @Stuart Showalter and especially @Mohair Sam, whose comments I always enjoy and often agree with. Problems with Rex? Just don't read him. I just about NEVER do! I come here for the comments of the solvers, to see whether their experiences in solving were -- or weren't -- similar to mine. And when I can't complete a puzzle, I come here to see the solution. Or, when I don't get the gimmick in a trick puzzle, I come here for the explanation. Rex's personal reaction to a puzzle, other than whether it was hard or easy, is completely irrelevant to me.
I know there are other puzzle blogs. One of them even says: "Your thoughts?" But I haven't the faintest idea how to post on them. I've tried and they don't take my comments. (Maybe they take yours?)
For the record, I liked this puzzle OK for the challenge, but certainly didn't love it. And it's CERTAINLY not one I would go to the barricades for, as in leaving this website!
UGH to ANYTHING that has AREA as an answer. Enough already. To whit - all are close I've AMASSED (all from the NY Times):
AREA(s) Geometric figure(s) Flat figure Surveyor's calculation Belt(s) (Sun Belt e.g.) Gray one can cause argument Branches of study (lame) Word after rest or residential Locale Part 2 dimensional extent Gray ____ An integral can compute it Find the ___ (geometry test instruction) Carpet layer's calculation Part of town Scope
And now "room in back, say" Adding "say" doesn't make it any less WEASELLY.
Well @Casco Kid, I AM a commenter on a crossword puzzle blog, so you know I'm not doing to well in the amorous department. I must be slipping to have omitted LOOSELIPS in my antomical observations of today's effort. At least I don't have any YULELOGS coming out of my REARAREA.
@Nancy - Don't read Rex except for his rating. Hmmm, I'll give it a try (do very much enjoy the posters here) - but ain't that like going to the opera and "ignoring" the soprano?
Some of the clue to fill seemed forced. Yes Fireman do have RADIOS but having one is not unique to them. I also find the GOODAT and IMAGED fall into the same forced fill bucket.
Sorry Charlie! YLEM is not a word. at least not common enough to be in my 25-year-old Merriam-Webster Collegiate. I really doubt it is in the similar Random House, either.
I'm kind of with Rex on this one, Though I think it is very likely that he came up with "Tedium" as a rating, and waited for a suitable puzzle to append it to -- one that was, as this was, Medium in difficulty (for a Friday). Medium because you easily get YLEM from the crosses.
I have never heard of a TARBOOSH before. but all the Downs up there were easy for me.
Will really should have reclued APSES (unless he wrote the clue himself). Name one cathedral with four apses. Usually: one, in the rear. Doors and porches in the transepts. I wonder, does the Duomo in Florence have more than one apse? I suppose it's possible.
Surprised myself with a 12 minute time and had no complaints. Then I came here to see Rex b----in' again. Truly off now to find another blog about the NYT puzzle. So tired of the childish whining I find here by Rex, though I do enjoy the comments section.
I'm in complete agreement. Rex's personal axe grinding is what's become tedious. All that I look for in a crossword is "tough but fair" and the NYT and Will Shortz supply this in spades.
@Mohair Sam: Sometimes sopranos are the extremely high-voiced, shrill kind who sing with an abundance of vibrato and cause a sharp pain behind the eyebrows. Rex is a lot easier to ignore. :)
I'm so old I knew that Abyssinia was the same as Ethiopia, and that the rejection Haile Selassie's appeal to the League of Nations for help against the Italian invasion was what made the League irrelevant. So that clues no worse than asking who invaded East Anglia (youda thought the Angles, right? But I guess they did it, and named it, earlier). And it was great to see TARBOOSH in a puzzle, and to learn that AUGERS is not the same as AUGuRS. And that the Spanish get lazy when it comes to writing out the names of American states. And YLEM! (I guess capitalizing Big Bang but not theory was supposed to tell me it wasn't the TV show, but that went over my head.)
But I'm not convinced that my Viking ancestors really wore TUNICs. Or does that mean the football team? Is that what you call those numbered shirts? Thought they were jerseys.
@M. David Hornbuckle: Right you are about how Google works. That said, search results won't be so personalized as to be wildly unreflective of the broader search rankings (you can compare your personalized results with generic results by clicking between the silhouette and the globe icons in the upper right of the search results page). The auto-suggest - which Rex pictured - is more likely to be heavily skewed. It's a poor way to demonstrate a point.
@Z: I have seen police wearing their IDs on their uniforms out there somewhere (though it's not the norm). And you know the NYT stance on clue veracity: If you can find one example out there somewhere, it's good enough to back up a clue as "accurate".
Also, Abyssinia is the early 20th-century name for what's now Ethiopia. Mussolini's invading it a few years prior to World War II was a major event of that era. You may not recognize it under that name, but I'd venture you're familiar with the war.
@Casco: Real Evil Doug (Revil Doug?) = avatar. Evil Doug troll = no avatar. At least for now.
@Mohair: I was also going to suggest skipping Rex's part if it's that tiresome, and just reading comments if that's something you enjoy. Leaving seems a bit harsh if you like what else is going on. (Meanwhile, for others, announcing it to everyone is a whole other story.)
@old timer: Relying on a 25-year-old dictionary is a bit, well, old-timey. YLEM is in my more contemporary New Oxford American.
I enjoyed the process, although I recognized the weaker clues/answers. It's an easy-medium Friday for me when I can get unknowns like tarboosh, ylem and kotos through crosses.
I too found ID badgers, radios (tried ladder) and rear area disappointing, but I liked Simone, augers, Harlem and anecdote a lot.
You can certainly strain something to puree it, I use the mouli legumes often. Ever heard of "strained peas" for babies?
@chefwen: it's a lot of fun to make a yule log, with the mushrooms!
Rex gives us his opinion on HIS blog. I always read it, I don't always agree with it, but why would it annoy me? The whiners annoy me.
Hi,@jberg - thanks for the history lesson about Abyssinia. I also knew it was Ethiopia, so ITALO was a gimme.
I'm having fun googling the people who are posting their manifestos about how they are leaving this blog. @Stuart Showalter posted two (2) goodbyes. That's almost as many posts as the number of puzzles he's commented on in the last year. @denise shows up one time in the last year. If you're leaving, just leave - nobody will notice (@Evil, I did notice when you stopped posting for a while ... glad you're back).
@Old timer, are you channeling Rex when you say YLEM isn't a word because your antiquated dictionary never heard of it? I used to be on the editorial committee of a community newspaper, and I complained about the usage in one article, backing it up with my 30-year-old copy of Strunk and White's Elements of Style. Another member of the committee, a linguistics professor, told me to get a new copy of the book. Language evolves. And when new substances are discovered or hypothesized, they get to have new names. I still gripe about "eke out" suddenly meaning "barely make it" instead of "supplement", but The People have spoken, even if they don't speak too good.
The Greek War of Independence (1821-1829) was waged by Greek revolutionaries against the occupying Ottoman Empire. The town of Messolonghi (Μεσολόγγι) was the site of a long SIEGE by Turkish-Egyptian forces, one of the bloodiest of the War. They have successfully defended it in 1822, but at the end of prolonged and repeated attacks, in 1826 the Greeks abandoned the city. The Turks entered and massacred the remaining population. The event was commemorated by, among others, Eugène Delacroix, in his painting "Greece on the Ruins of Messolonghi". George Gordon, Lord Byron, fighting alongside the Greeks, died there in 1824.
Eventually, the Greeks with the help of Russia, England and France, were able to drive the Ottoman forces out of Greece, and after long negotiations she was recognized as an independent nation in 1932. The town of Messolonghi received the honorary title of Hiera Polis (Sacred City). Lord Byron is commemorated by a cenotaph containing his heart, and a statue was erected in his honor.
The SIEGE of Messolonghi was also commemorated by Gioachino Rossini in his opera "Le SIÈGE de Corinthe".
I hope you'll survive your paraskevidekatriaphobia.
Actually, a great many cathedrals have multiple APSES. Most have aisles in the shape of a cross. If we consider the alter to be at the north (for the sake of discussion), there's an apse there, and one at either end of the cross aisle, at the east and the west.
@JohnChild - Isn't that "Let's give it to Mikey; he hates everything!"... Life cereal, I'm thinking.
We need YLEM for some whilom rhymin' with the Wood formerly known as X-YLEM.
So I think each of us has cooed and gurgled over some angelic-looking infant, when suddenly that small cherub started holding its breath, turned all red and grunty in the the face, and googly around the eyes. For that reason, I was fairly taken by the crossing of IRE and PUREE, whose clues read: 'Face reddener' and 'Strain to make'. The proximity of REAR AREA is just a bONUS ONUS, as ASSAY.
It wood be tasteless to segue to Buche de Noel YULELOGS after that, and tasteless at an time to bring up the Uncle Remus aspects of the TAR-BOOSH Baby.
Today we have GOODAT after the recent TRUE DAT, and it's probably TRUE DAT de DRAGON should be kept in dem DARKAGES. I liked the nod to dear old DOD, I mean dear old DAD, and admit freely I thought PICTS before DANES and adVERB before REVERB.
Some of today's entries were words that had gone in my R ear area and out the L ear area, but I dredged them all up, and that's ALL I WANT TO DO on a Friday. So I enjoyed it, Judge. Yes inDEEDEE.
@oldtimer is perfectly justified. An older (not antiquated) dictionary should be even more likely to include an antiquated term. Continually fascinating to see the conflation of opinion and fact, or even of opinion and observation.
Enjoyed the correction of 'close' to 'clues'... 'to whit'.
@Zeke, am recommending against scraping. Try something with suction or gentle vacuum action. Note the emphasis on'gentle'; do not Hoover your ear canals.
@old timer - YLEM is in my OED and very old Websters International. And it was fun to learn that a physicist resurrected it after finding it while he was leafing through a dictionary. REVERB was new to me. Kept staring at it thinking it meant "to verb again".
Jutes before DANES, geographically they're not far apart (Jutland). A SIEGE is the opposite of a bout (time-wise). I agree that REAR AREA is green-painty, so is HAS A SHOT; shouldn't the clue have "at" in parentheses at the end? I agree that SPECKLES is pretty lame. As to the up-date your references squabble, who can afford to? I have a Webster's Third which is 50 yrs. old, cost a fortune. My Metropolitan Opera Annals only go to 1985. Computer references are gonna have to be it.
I thought the puzzle was pretty decent, although Rex has a point. It isn't memorable. I like when I can give a correct answer to the clue which isn't THE correct answer for the puzzle. Overwrites, IOW, broaden my mind and that's always fun.
The proper challenge on a Friday or Saturday IMO is the cluing. That's the time for tricky and ambiguous cluing. Could have been a bit more of that here, but I guess Will knows his audience and shoots for an appropriate level.
When Rex is negative (as is common) I tend to ignore it, look for the insights he provides, and get on to the posted comments which often contain good insights.
You know what is tedious? People harping on tedious negativity, when all they need to do is skim it and ignore at will.
Either these puzzles are getting easier or I'm getting better at them. I fear it's the former. What is certain is that rex is getting grumpier. Not an easy task.
@dear Aby: har. Would be kinda cool, if her name was Italo... (Perhaps she was chosen for the video, because the song has a false end?) (Another great tune with a false ending: Do U Love Me, by the Contours, btw.)
p.s. fave weeject of the day: DOD. Better clue: {Dud with its tarboosh still on??}
I'm with @nancy and @don. I usually just skim the first couple sentences of Rex's review at this point. I can tell by then if it's going to be a fair criticism or his knee-jerk grumpiness. Today, as soon as I saw him complain about "something this dull" I skipped right to the comments section. I think it's fair when people critique Rex in the comments section. Just like Rex's blog is the place where he can vent about the NYT crossword puzzle, the comments section is the place where anyone else can vent about Rex's blog. That's how the internet works, and I like the democracy.
Way to go, Casco, I didn't think this was easy. I never heard of ylem, (neither did my spellchecker, ) but was sure of "assay," so assay it was OK. Never heard of the song, but "Sugarland," seems vaguely familiar.
Good, fair puzzle of appropriate difficulty, IMHO.
Oh, and I enjoy reading Rex's comments, even though I disagree with him much of the time.
I'm with @Benko - I like the democracy...I'm also with @Questinia - "don't let the door hit you in the REAR AREA." @Fred R. You made me take out my trusty dusty Webster's II. YLEM...right above is the old favorite ylang ylang and right below is the ever present yock. Yuck Yuck.
My Websters Seventh NEW Collegiate Dictionary, 1965 ed. omits YLEM. Good for nostalgia purposes but it might be time to invest in a new edition. I think I'll ask Santa.
I laughed out loud at Rex's rating of Tedium, as it gave voice to my solving experience - it was medium difficulty, tedious solve.
Rex cited 25 entries he found wanting (not terrible, but wanting), and is being roundly criticized for being overly negative about this puzzle. Fine, maybe he was, maybe he wasn't. What I don't understand is how so many can criticize his take without defending any of the things he criticized. YLEM has garnered some (very) faint support, and ALL I WANT TO DO has one supporter. If you feel, e.g., that Rex is unfair in maligning IMAGED, by all means point out how and where he's wrong, not that he's simply wrong for maligning IMAGED. Otherwise, you're not making an argument, you're just complaining. At least Rex makes an argument for his statements.
"I usually just skim ...", i.e. "I don't bother to read or think about what he says, I just assume it's nonsense" is null and void as an argument. Worse, it's insulting.
"At least Rex makes an argument for his statements??!! Here are his statements :"This is sauce of an astonishingly weak vintage. It's more tedious than terrible. Nothing's gonna make you angry, but the cumulative mediocrity should make you angry. Or at least mildly disappointed. ITALO BREST DOD OST KOTOS ELI ARAG (!?) APSES IPO DEEDEE ASSAY ESA AMASS YLEM INASENSE ETRADE ONSALE AREOLA. I don't really hate any of that, but it's a serious onslaught of boring and/or undesirable fill." WHERE is the argument here? His comments translate to "I didn't like the puzzle." There's no argument, only opining.
Anon - The list he presented is the argument for the "cumulative mediocrity" comment and what preceded it. As I said, you like any of ITALO, BREST, DOD, OST, KOTOS... go ahead, make your argument: BREST made me think of breast - it's fantastic!! Couple that with AREOLA and it's a 14yo boy's wet dream!!!. At least that's an argument. Juvenile, but an argument.
I don't take issue with people who disagree with Rex. However, if your only contribution ever is to complain about Rex, call him names, and insult others who comment here, may I encourage you find another use for your time. If you want to come and disagree with Rex every day you will find agreement and conversation if you write, "I disagreed with Rex because...." If, on the other hand, you come by to write things like "rexhole" and "what a jerk" most of the adults here will presume that your moral and social development was arrested somewhere around age 13. If you write "I'm sick of his whining" please add something to let us know you are aware of the irony of whining about whining. Remember, irony and sarcasm don't translate well in plain text.
If you are just wondering (as some commenters today seem to be) what other NYTX blogs are out there, you might want to take a look at the sidebar of the blog where Rex has helpfully listed several other blogs and puzzle sites. Several of them have links to still other blogs. Of course, the NYT hosts it's own blog as well, linked to right from the puzzle page I believe.
Rex qualifies as a "nattering nabob of negativism," to quote Spiro Agnew, a veep of not so recent vintage. I wonder what he would say about Cooper's Leather Stocking Tales or Michener's novels, works which are, in my humble opinion, unflinchingly boring but which are read to this day, apparently. "One man's Mede is another man's Persian," as Franklin P. Adams used to say. Give me H. L. Mencken or Mark Twain any day. Now let me see, where's my Maugham?
Wow, a pretty pedestrian puzzle to make so many announce they are jumping ship (blog). Most of this year, @Rex has seemed more positive than last year, with a few lapses like today. I can't get too upset about - leaving in a snit would mean I would miss comments like @Steve J or @Leapfinger today, plus meringue mushrooms, @Tita? Sounds fun.
I loved the clue for SHERIFF. Thought about putting in "drowse" for 23D but waited, luckily. Got OUTOFTHEBLUE from the first O so that helped.
ERROL Morris had some interesting columns in the NY Times a few years ag, the Op Ed page. I will try to link to one or two (I learned the word "anosognosia" from him, which is almost as fun as YLEM and TARBOOSH are). And his "The Unknown" on Donald Rumsfeld made a relatively big splash when it came out. Talk about an anosognosic!
These are both multi-part articles. Part I on anosognosia was the only one I enjoyed. I read all of the one on the Crimean War photo controversy but it was slow in places. This is somewhat of a "link" experiment so here it goes.
Thanks for all the nice comments! And to Teedmn, ret_chem, suzy, and others who know who you are, you're welcome. I'm truly sorry no one got, or chose to comment on, the hidden haiku in the solved grid, though. Have a great weekend! Go Wildcats (77-76 winners over Explorers today in A-10 quarterfinals)!
Probably no one will read this, but I do have a few points, plus an observation: There was an Italo-Abyssinian War in 1895-96. No one called it Ethiopia then. There was another war decades later, under Mussolini and Haile Selassie.
"Apse" is defined in my dictionary (MW Collegiate, *Tenth* edition) as usu. being a semicircular vault at the end of a church. The ends of most transepts are not semicircular, but rectangular, and usually there are doors and a porch.
No doubt YLEM is in any unabridged dictionary, including the OED. But I believe there should be no *words* not found in a modern Collegiate dictionary. YLEM could have been in my Collegiate (it was coined in the 1940's). But it wasn't included because too obscure
Awful whiny Rex. Number one on the country charts and number 18 on Billboard is fairly substantial; so probably familiar to more than 25%. Maybe OFL is too eastern seaboardedly sophisticated for country music (not exactly my cuppa eithr), but Sugarland was on all the music shows a few years back. Hard to miss. And Jennifer Nettles? Yeah baby.
Tedium? No. DNF? Yes. TARBOOSH is beyond my ken. Or was. OUTOFnowherE was not helpful. STMARie (as in Sault Ste Marie?), then STMARkS also not very helpful. Pure guesses on ITALO- (5 letters ending in O !?) and then ESTADO (Spanish not my forte) were helpful. An ERROL that’s not Flynn?
But I prefer more puzzles like this than like those that OFL and his ilk insist must be filled in several minutes. ‘Nuff said.
I’ll SPILLIT and TALK, INASENSE ‘cause it’s true, I’m not TOREUP, since there’s nothing to RUE. I kissed SIMONE’s LOOSELIPS OUTOFTHEBLUE, then under her TUNIC, the BREST AREOLA, too. It seems that I’m GOODAT it, it’s ALLIWANTTODO!
Fearless one, you been at this too long; you need to take a sabbatical. I suspect it's not the individual puzzles that are "dull"--second day in a row you used that word--but the endless, day-after-day filling in of squares, mind and hand racing to keep those times down. I think when you time-pressure yourself like that, you lose something. I'll see an entry and it'll conjure up a memory. I go ahead and let that memory play out for a bit. It's enriching. If not a nice long vacation, then at least put away your stopwatch for a while. Soak it up. You'll feel better.
I am, for example, a "year of the DRAGON" baby. Every Chinese new year of that creature, employees at the Gold Coast Casino dress up in drag(on) and weave through the aisles to the beat of traditional percussion. It's a lot of fun. A nice memory. See what I mean?
Today's offering was pithy enough to rate medium-challenging. TARBOOSH, KOTOS and YLEM (even though I'm a fan of astrophysics and never miss "Cosmos") were total OUTOFTHEBLUE entries for me; every one 100% forced in on crosses. I really doubted YLEM but there it is. No mistakes and only one writeover: to me, "rent" would be TORnUP, not TOREUP. The cross, REARAREA, was one of the few low points.
One other nit: sure, firefighters carry RADIOS, but so do people in many other occupations. To clue this so specifically borders on the unfair. I don't like it. The flag came LOOSE, but I couldn't quite throw it. A-.
You gotta admit, @Rex certainly inspires controversy and lots of comments, pro and con. I think that is what he is aiming for. Clearly, he doesn't care who, or how many, disagree(s) with him, and so it's futile to whine and complain and call him names. It's his schtick.
Today, I saw the rating, tedium, and then the *sigh*, and just went straight to the comments, which I usually enjoy reading. Really, only 57A caused a pain in the REAR AREA, and I had fun with this one.
Liked the puzzle a lot. Like someone else mentioned when you can fill it all in without any researching, it's a good day. Awhile ago, I decided not to look to closely to Parker's comments. They became tediously tedium. But I do enjoy this blog and many of the other commentators, especially the Syndies. Spacecraft always has something colorful to say, as well as DMG, Seattle and Rondo etal so that makes up for the negativity at the beginning of the blog.
I suspect OFL is making a justly so fairly good profit from the donations and that is why he continues punishing himself.
Anyway, what do I know. I'm just a very handsome, intelligent, witty older gentleman blessed with genuine humility.....waiting to die, so that monuments and airports will be named for me.
Had trouble breaking into this one. finally guessed GOODAT which gave me OUTOFTHEBLUE off the first T. Always amazed when that sort of connection happens-our brains are mysterious things. At any rate, filled all the squares and came here to,see where I was wrong. Only I wasn't! TARBOOSH, YLEM, and even REVERB were right. Still have to look that last one up as nobody explained it here.
On a side note, that purée-ing tool referred to by many above is a Mouli grater. It purses whatever while holding back the skins and seeds. Use it when making persimmon jelly.
@DMG - I think when used as here REVERB is in the studio mix when producing a record (or CD, or MP# or whatever), or even live. Short for reverberation, sometimes caused when an electric guitar gets too close to the amp and/or speaker.
A long time ago, I was solving this puzzle and got stuck at an unguessable (to me) crossing: N. C. WYETH crossing NATICK at the "N"—I knew WYETH but forgot his initials, and NATICK ... is a suburb of Boston that I had no hope of knowing. It was clued as someplace the Boston Marathon runs through (???). Anyway, NATICK— the more obscure name in that crossing—became shorthand for an unguessable cross, esp. where the cross involves two proper nouns, neither of which is exceedingly well known. NATICK took hold as crossword slang, and the term can now be both noun ("I had a NATICK in the SW corner...") or verb ("I got NATICKED by 50A / 34D!")
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130 comments:
Very easy for me. One WOE-YLEM and no erasures. Faster than yesterday's which was also on the easy side. Some zippy phrases and not much dreck ( although REAR AREA smacks of green paint) so, liked it more than Rex did and we disagree about the difficulty. Would have liked it more if ran as a themeless on a Wed.
@GILL I. from yesterday. Just saw your late post and jewel does not refer to the singer. Those plastic CD holders are called jewel cases.
Learned TABOOSH and YLEM. So that's somethin'. NW was a huge blank block at the end, which suddenly flooded in when I finally saw ANECDOTE. Phew.
Since the puzzle isn't going to offer a decent amount of Thurs eve/Friday morn amusement, I offer this for your consideration: Thursday AM I had to do some sandblasting. Even with all due protection as I was doing it, a shower, a fully submersive bath followed by another shower I'm still scraping sand out of my ears. So, for those of you with well developed schadenfreude, have a ball.
My daily contribution to the well being of the world.
Started REALLY slow, then it started to rock and roll and then came to screeching halt in the NW corner. I guess I'm a little peeved that the most common items police and firefighters have are IDBADGES and RADIOS in that order.
Finished. But. Ick.
So grateful to turn here and find Rex hated it even more than me.
Thank you.
Far from scintillating, but far from the abject bore Rex deemed it. The worst that could be said it was remarkably unremarkable. (Except for REAR AREA. I assume that's where the green paint is stored.)
Clean solve in just over an hour. Like @wreck, I had a slow start. Unlike @wreck, it stayed slow, but at least steady. Like @Wood, TABOOSH and YLEM were new. Unlike @wood, I call them WOEs. KOTOS, too.
Transient wrongness: PolECARS, rent=TORnUP, HASAhope, Start before SEEDS, dEmS before REPS. SAVIOR was something of a Hail Mary, and it mutated to SAbOIR more than once as I worked on sussing REVERB. Short fill was above average.
It was nice to suss STMARYS and the WOES listed above.
Fair cluing; fair crossing; more than fair puzzle. Glad I held on.
With at least three other good blogs about the NYT crossword puzzle, I bid a bittersweet good by to Rex. I certainly learned a lot, and got some entertainment reading the blog over the past few years. But the negativity regularly found in the blog has worn me out. He's out of my bookmarks bar. Thanks to Rex and all the contributors for the blog.
I finished without any outright cheats - checked DOD (I have low self-esteem, obviously), and then didn't check any others, and no googling. I don't keep track of writeovers. I was surprised to find that TARBOOSH is a real thing. Expected to get the razzberry when I put in the last letter.
By the way, all of you who learned TABOOSH -- if that is indeed what you learned, please note that it is a smoking bar in Lancashire, England. No tassles. The hat, on the other hand... or head ... has tassles and an "R" in it.
I wasn't surprised by @Rex's assessment. I kept knowing the answers, which is just wrong for a Friday. They would have made good fill for a themed puzzle or one with some really tough clues, but even TABOOSH, I mean TARBOOSH wasn't hard to get from crosses, or the song I never heard of.
I rather liked it, but it's Friday and and I finished in a short amount of time, so of course it goes in the favorable column. Fridays are usually thrown into the DNF pile, so no complaints here.
Like @Wood TABOOSH and YLEM were newbies for me also. Kept trying to figure how I was going to stretch FEZ into eight letters. Not happening! YLEM stayed because I was sure of my crosses.
Always wanted to make a YULE LOG but never have, maybe this year when brother Mark moves here.
I found it a pleasant challenge. Like others above, I got off to a slow start, with an OST here and an IRE there. The ASTIN x OIL cross got me some traction, and I crept around counterclockwise from there, ending with a hesitant TARBOOSH - also new to me, along with KOTOS and YLEM (I liked the cross with SPELL, as in "That's really a word?").
Pretty cool to learn the word for the primordial material of the universe from crosses in the NYT puzzle. The YL could not be denied, so even though YLEM is truly a WOE, it's redeemed by the crosses.
Good clues for PACECARS and TRIM. Not so good for PURÉE. "Strain to make"? A purée is the result of blending the heck out of something, right? You can strain it after you purée it if you really want to get the large pieces out, ala Gerber for peas (yuck!).
I also did not care for the clue for IMAGED. To have got a mental picture might be to have IMAGINED, but IMAGED to me is a physical process like photography or radiography. The clue should be exactly right, or it casts doubt in the solvers mind.
@jae there were very many clues that were exactly right, in fact making it too easy for a Friday. I agree this would have worked better as a themeless Wed.
ERROL was also a WOE. I know it's a Friday, but should I have heard of him?
I thought this was rather easy for a Friday although TARBOOSH and YLEM were unknowns (@chefwen and @Wood).
Yikes @Rex....You're in a TIT LE PAGE today....!
I always seem to be on Mister Victor Fleming's wave SPELL. I like a southern gentleman who has SAVOIR faire and anybody who has TARBOOSH in a puzzle is mighty fine by me.
ONUS...REAR AREA? That bodes SEEDS of DARK AGES in my book.
My only real huh was ERROL. I had to (dang) Google him. Other than that, I was pleased as a hush puppy slathered in mustard.
Thank you VF for some fun....
"Let's get Mikey. He hates everything."
If you can identify the product being pitched in that classic commercial you are in the majority: A few years ago 70% of Americans could name it based on a similarly vague hint.
Unlike OFL I liked this puzzle very much. Lots of in-the-language phrases, despite REAR AREA, which has had its share of criticism already. I don't know whose clue we got for that answer - WS's or the judge's - but in a military context it's not 'green paint' at all. A missed opportunity...
Either you're showing your age or I'm about to show mine. Back before there were blenders (ahem! There really was such a time), if you wanted to PUREE something you put it through a contraption which looked like a very strong strainer with pieces of flat metal to force the food through.
- Jim C. From Maine
@jae: Merci, mon ami....Talk about not being on a wavelength. Yesterday's puzzle had me wringing hands, today's had me singing in the APSES.
Lighten up, Rex (sigh). Your REAR AREA is where your tailor makes sure you have "Room in back."
Rex, you know Google tracks the things you search for and uses an algorithm to come up with the things YOU are most likely to search for. When I type in "All I Want," Google suggests "All I Want for Christmas is You." Neither the Sugarland song or the Sheryl Crow song are even in the top five suggestions. So using Google as a parameter for how popular something is is a flawed process.
I zipped through this last night but came to a screeching in the NW before lights out. This morning that corner became clear. I'm calling it the international corner with ITALO, DANES, BREST, ESTADO, OST and TARBOOSH.
I liked IDBADGES crossing SHERIFF.
What's wrong with HASASHOT? it's a colorful "in the language" phrase.
The only negative I have is REARAREA which made it into my margin.
I enjoyed it, thank you, Victor!
@steve j today shows us why the comments here have become much more fun than predictably sour old Rex. The REARAREA is indeed the perfect place for storing your green paint.
REAR AREA was awful.
Should have been clued "The space between your upper thigh and lower back"
YLEM...ugh. I googled it and found that Stockhausen wrote a piece called "Ylem." Since he is one of *those* composers who resorted to aleatoric music (because 20th century!), this piece does not disappoint. From Wiki: "The composer held that the music works best "when the players establish telepathic communication with one another (they play with closed eyes) and with a 'conductor' who listens with the utmost concentration from the middle of the hall, but does not take an active part" (Stockhausen 1978, 212). Because, 20th century!
Speaking of music, I think of ELO when I hear "Out of the Blue." Great album that includes the popular "Mr. Blue Sky."
The Sheryl Crowe video is awful. So much possibility with such a great song that paints some wonderful images. But no...she's just out on a sidewalk playing for spare change. Talk about your lame sauce.
I withheld the "area" part from REARAREA for a very long time thinking that it couldn't possibly be it. It was. It sort of typified my feeling on the puzzle. When you have a gamut that flies from YLEM to REARAREA you know you're in for a rough ride.
I completed it and was not angry...so I guess that's a small win.
I'm trying to picture what kind of "officer" wears an ID BADGE. ID BADGEs are those things all the Ford employees wear, or the utility company workers wear. What am I failing to wrap my head around here?
I usually enjoy Fleming's puzzles, but I'm more or less with Rex here. Where on Earth is Abyssia and why are they fighting (can we blame Obama or the Senate Republicans?)? Océanopolis? Must be in France. SPECKLES? Not the word I woul use on a Sunday in the park. Even the Michigan clue threw me. Superior empties through the Soo Locks. The river? Took me every cross. 75% Easy, but the NW and SE were very tough for me.
I hear ya, @Wreck. This was analogous to a bike ride that starts nicely, I notice the birds, the trees, my speed and heart rate are optimal and then I make a turn and realize the nice tailwind I've been unconsciously enjoying is now a headwind--in this case the northwest quad of the puz. Went from all-time best solve time to 44 minutes. Should have known that any Friday would be thus.
The REAR AREA is the area the Rear Admiral is in charge of, where the ONUS is located. The TARBOOSH and LOOSE LIPS that sink ships are restricted to the front.
Judge Vic @xwordinfo tells us that this puzzle was submitted two years ago. True, I have seen more interesting and better polished puzzles by Mr. Fleming even two years ago, but I did like the way the fourteen 8+ entries are spaced out pretty evenly throughout the grid. This one played easy for me, YLEM, the primordial plasma, notwithstanding. The references to interrogation tactics (SPILL IT! TALK!) are no doubt inspired by Judge Fleming's courtroom experiences.
IN A SENSE, ALL I WANT TO DO is go fishing for STRIPED bass. Do you think the fish HAS A SHOT?
More later. Hey, it's Friday!
oldquOTE -> sidenOTE -> ANECDOTE. Then I was finally able to complete the NW corner and, with it, the puzzle.
Seeing YLEM was like running into a long lost friend. It's been a favorite word of mine since high school (don't ask) and I can tell you it's in my Random House dictionary without having to get up and check.
Yeah, there were some rough spots, but I didn't dislike the puzzle as much as @Rex did.
Careful, everyone, it's Friday the 13th.
I found it pretty easy, except for the NW. Like others, ANECDOTE was my breakthrough up there.
Guessed at the ASSAY/YLEM cross, because I couldn't imagine it being anything else.
Enjoyed the duplicate clues for SPILLIT and TALK.
At first, I misinterpreted the clue as Petal pusher and thought of rOOT. Ha!
I won't remember anything about this puzzle by next week, but it was a fun solve today. Thanks, VF.
Took a while to get going but then "aha" and "yes" and so forth. In the end I liked it better than Rex.
Stared at TARBOOSH for the longest time before giving up and coming here to discover it was correct.
On @wreck's behalf, I'll nominate IDBADGES & RADIOS as wet-paint.
Other than that, musta been my wheelhouse, as it was relatively-easy-for-a-Friday.
I liked it more because it references two of my mom's signature desserts...
Paris-Brest, which is basically a huge, ring-shaped eclair,
and YULELOG...the Buche de Nöel is a tradition at our house. My contribution is the meringue mushrooms
@chefwen...send me a first class ticket...I'll give you lessons!
@Mr. David H....excellent description of why Rex's Google suggestions screenshots are an idiotic way to make a point.
Thanks, Mr. Fleming!
Enjoyable, easy-ish Friday with some terrific cluing. Rex's rant reflects a serious case of Repetitive Puzzle Syndrome, where it takes a truly remarkable puzzle to provide him with even a scintilla of admiration. Take a break, Rex, then come back and feel the love. Thanks for a very pleasant Friday, Mr. Fleming.
I enjoyed the crunchiness of it. An MGI of positive 53, the highest (hardest) since Friday February 21.
Had a lot of trouble with the lower right. REARAREA is bad. And I don't like the clue for TRIM (A little off?). I suppose that it has to do with "Take a little off the top." But to be an acceptable clue, "A little off the top" should be a stand-alone expression.
Enjoyed the challenge, but, as Rex says, not a lot of fun.
I can't hate it--I saw some areola.
I liked it based on the fact that I learned some new things from it that are actually interesting things to learn. I wish that criterion generally had higher priority in the Times editing.
@stevej -- Perfect on REARAREA.
If you're wondering how YLEM is pronounced, it looks like it rhymes with phylum (with the accent on the first syllable).
I liked the clues for SPELL and SHERIFF, and I never heard of but love TARBOOSH. This makes the whole puzzle worth it for me. I also liked OUTOFTHEBLUE, LOOSELIPS, AND HASASHOT.
Much of this puzzle was too easy for Friday, but some of it had good crunch, so it was an olio, I guess. Not a wow, but for me, nothing like the drudge Rex painted it to be. Overall, a solid blue collar puzzle.
What is a "Sugarland"? asks @Rex. I'm no fan of country music, but I had heard of them - if not the song. So I Googled Sugarland. The song was #1 on the country charts, and crossed over to #18 on the pop charts just over 6 years ago. Certainly qualifying for the clue, and a marquee placement on a Friday. Then for the fun of it I used @M David Hornbuckle's idea and Googled "All I Want to Do" and my first 5 was Sugarland (Ms. Crow, whose song I know and love, finished 7th with "Wanna").
Rex's If-I-don't-know-it-it's-garbage attitude is wearing thin here, maybe I'll follow @Garth. Learned a lot from Rex, great posters here, but his relentless pursuit of his very personal vision of perfection is wearing me out - starting to take the fun out of the solving experience.
Technically fine, not a lot of three-letter crap, a few interesting clue/answers but the solve was like watching paint dry.
Medium hard especially with REAR AREA, SPILL IT, RADIOS.
Agree with Rex and @Z as I could never get the flow going but learned YLEM.
Good clues for ANECDOTE , SHERIFF and TRIM.
No crosswordEASE.
Thanks VF.
Ooooo, @Tita, a Buche de Noel! Hawaii is nice but travel is SUCH a drag in the holidays. Why not take a short drive down 7 on December 23rd and come here Little Tita? I used to make this with my Dutch neighbor but I was her second in command. That meant I only got to dust the cocoa on the mushrooms and lift the towels off the jelly roll pans! Oh and I can run the TINES (while they ring) down the icing to give them that woodsy look. I need direction to attempt this again.
Fastest Friday ever for me today. The tasseled topper and the matter were the mysteries for me too, but it's lovely to keep learning. Rex is cranky but I hear it's going to snow again this weekend in Rexland so that'll explain it. Please don't let it reach here. It's still raining in the kitchen from the ice dam dam dams.
I'm with Garth: I'm outta here. Talk about "tedium"? I'll tell you what's tedium: it's reading Rex whine about the puzzle every day. Almost nothing meets his fine standards, and he apparently has some resentment about Will Shortz.
You must be a very difficult man to be around, "Rex." I'd hate to live with you or be one of your students.
Good-bye!
For 'compulsory courses', I had 'bore' before CORE. Cracked myself up laughing as I wrote over the 'b'. Doesn't take much to amuse me!
@JimC, I agree w/ your defense of PUREE. Instead of using ye olde strainer, I throw it all in the Vitamix blender. Much more efficient.
NW corner constituted a SIEGE for me, too, for the same reasons as you all. Other than that, a fairly easy Friday. I liked the unusual answer, TOREUP, for 'rent'; disliked the word SPECKLES to describe Pointillism because it sounds inelegant whereas the technique is not, IMO.
I will probably never commit YLEM to memory; only hope is that the next time, it is as fairly crossed as it was today. Ironically, I can name every character and the actor who plays him/her on "The Big Bang Theory". Speaking of which, last night's episode was a nice homage to the late actress, Carol Ann Susi, who played Howard's Mom (offstage voice) until she succumbed to breast cancer recently.
Thanks, VF and WS.
A fine Friday from his honor. Quite easy for me. Happy Friday the 13th, all.
See you in Stamford in a couple of weeks.
TARBOOSH, my butt. Not sure what happened, but could not see RUN LOW, so dnf'd at that crossing.
For what it's worth, I like Rex's snarky orneriness. I think he's funny and I often agree with him. I don't, however, like when the commentators on this blog complain. I understand not enjoying Rex, but I don't understand griping about it. Just don't visit the site; you don't need to make a speech about it.
I agree w/ Garth and Mohair Sam -- Rex's venom against anything that does not meet his idea of perfection has worn thin. So thin that I'm outta here.
Good-bye, Rex. I hope something in life pleases you, because crosswords -- at least those in the NYT -- obviously do not. You must be living a very bitter, unhappy life. :-(
Did anyone else notice the AREOLA so close to the BREST up there above the REARAREA? "Second sex" indeed.
--evil
Hey anon@12:47am: did you mean "than I?"
And while you're leaving, don't let the door hit you in the REAR AREA.
Agree with most, Medium overall.
Started super-easy in the NE (though I wondered if non-New Yorkers would have a problem with 9A placing the Apollo Theater in HARLEM), but had to fight hard to the finish in the NW.
Consider myself to lean to the scientific side, but I feel the need to look up YLEM!
Classic Rex. "I haven't heard of a [chart-topping hit by a megaband] song, so it's a bad clue." I guess he thinks he is too good for country music. Hey I haven't been to the opera in 20 years, but I don't cry like a baby when someone has "parcifal" in their puzzle. Just because your experience of the world is narrow, rex, doesn't mean an answer isn't "famous enough."
@EvilDoug, When BREST appeared, I figured we'd be hearing from you. But you left LOOSELIPS alone. Don't tell me you are evolving into @VaguelyScurrilousDoug.
It was wise of you not to refer to OUTOFTHEBLUE in some professional context. I think your troll may have been waiting for you under that bridge.
@Steve J: I join the others in finding your REAR AREA/GREEN PAINT quip droll and delightful.
Come back, @Garth, @Stuart Showalter and especially @Mohair Sam, whose comments I always enjoy and often agree with. Problems with Rex? Just don't read him. I just about NEVER do! I come here for the comments of the solvers, to see whether their experiences in solving were -- or weren't -- similar to mine. And when I can't complete a puzzle, I come here to see the solution. Or, when I don't get the gimmick in a trick puzzle, I come here for the explanation. Rex's personal reaction to a puzzle, other than whether it was hard or easy, is completely irrelevant to me.
I know there are other puzzle blogs. One of them even says: "Your thoughts?" But I haven't the faintest idea how to post on them. I've tried and they don't take my comments. (Maybe they take yours?)
For the record, I liked this puzzle OK for the challenge, but certainly didn't love it. And it's CERTAINLY not one I would go to the barricades for, as in leaving this website!
UGH to ANYTHING that has AREA as an answer. Enough already. To whit - all are close I've AMASSED (all from the NY Times):
AREA(s)
Geometric figure(s)
Flat figure
Surveyor's calculation
Belt(s) (Sun Belt e.g.)
Gray one can cause argument
Branches of study (lame)
Word after rest or residential
Locale
Part
2 dimensional extent
Gray ____
An integral can compute it
Find the ___ (geometry test instruction)
Carpet layer's calculation
Part of town
Scope
And now "room in back, say" Adding "say" doesn't make it any less WEASELLY.
Not close, clues. I didn't catch the typo and automatic correction.
Well @Casco Kid, I AM a commenter on a crossword puzzle blog, so you know I'm not doing to well in the amorous department. I must be slipping to have omitted LOOSELIPS in my antomical observations of today's effort. At least I don't have any YULELOGS coming out of my REARAREA.
--evil
It's not me. I quit posting here weeks ago.
evil doug @ 1103: Ha! Apparently you didn't...
@Nancy - Don't read Rex except for his rating. Hmmm, I'll give it a try (do very much enjoy the posters here) - but ain't that like going to the opera and "ignoring" the soprano?
🌕🌕 (2 mOOns)
Some of the clue to fill seemed forced. Yes Fireman do have RADIOS but having one is not unique to them. I also find the GOODAT and IMAGED fall into the same forced fill bucket.
My gripes aside I loved 9a.
Sorry Charlie! YLEM is not a word. at least not common enough to be in my 25-year-old Merriam-Webster Collegiate. I really doubt it is in the similar Random House, either.
I'm kind of with Rex on this one, Though I think it is very likely that he came up with "Tedium" as a rating, and waited for a suitable puzzle to append it to -- one that was, as this was, Medium in difficulty (for a Friday). Medium because you easily get YLEM from the crosses.
I have never heard of a TARBOOSH before. but all the Downs up there were easy for me.
Will really should have reclued APSES (unless he wrote the clue himself). Name one cathedral with four apses. Usually: one, in the rear. Doors and porches in the transepts. I wonder, does the Duomo in Florence have more than one apse? I suppose it's possible.
Surprised myself with a 12 minute time and had no complaints. Then I came here to see Rex b----in' again. Truly off now to find another blog about the NYT puzzle. So tired of the childish whining I find here by Rex, though I do enjoy the comments section.
I'm in complete agreement. Rex's personal axe grinding is what's become tedious. All that I look for in a crossword is "tough but fair" and the NYT and Will Shortz supply this in spades.
@Mohair Sam: Sometimes sopranos are the extremely high-voiced, shrill kind who sing with an abundance of vibrato and cause a sharp pain behind the eyebrows. Rex is a lot easier to ignore. :)
Doh, I went of the misdirect AGAIN! I didn't realize there was an @EvilTwin.
Well, my take-home lesson today: Be the BEST parody of yourself you can possibly be, and the world won't know the difference.
I'm so old I knew that Abyssinia was the same as Ethiopia, and that the rejection Haile Selassie's appeal to the League of Nations for help against the Italian invasion was what made the League irrelevant. So that clues no worse than asking who invaded East Anglia (youda thought the Angles, right? But I guess they did it, and named it, earlier). And it was great to see TARBOOSH in a puzzle, and to learn that AUGERS is not the same as AUGuRS. And that the Spanish get lazy when it comes to writing out the names of American states. And YLEM! (I guess capitalizing Big Bang but not theory was supposed to tell me it wasn't the TV show, but that went over my head.)
But I'm not convinced that my Viking ancestors really wore TUNICs. Or does that mean the football team? Is that what you call those numbered shirts? Thought they were jerseys.
Off to work on my sunburn.
@cascokid, Remember what I'm always telling you:
On the Internet, nobody knows you're a dog, BUT on Twitter, everyone thinks you're a sockpuppet.
--@cascodog
P.S. BTW: walkies!
@M. David Hornbuckle: Right you are about how Google works. That said, search results won't be so personalized as to be wildly unreflective of the broader search rankings (you can compare your personalized results with generic results by clicking between the silhouette and the globe icons in the upper right of the search results page). The auto-suggest - which Rex pictured - is more likely to be heavily skewed. It's a poor way to demonstrate a point.
@Z: I have seen police wearing their IDs on their uniforms out there somewhere (though it's not the norm). And you know the NYT stance on clue veracity: If you can find one example out there somewhere, it's good enough to back up a clue as "accurate".
Also, Abyssinia is the early 20th-century name for what's now Ethiopia. Mussolini's invading it a few years prior to World War II was a major event of that era. You may not recognize it under that name, but I'd venture you're familiar with the war.
@Casco: Real Evil Doug (Revil Doug?) = avatar. Evil Doug troll = no avatar. At least for now.
@Mohair: I was also going to suggest skipping Rex's part if it's that tiresome, and just reading comments if that's something you enjoy. Leaving seems a bit harsh if you like what else is going on. (Meanwhile, for others, announcing it to everyone is a whole other story.)
@old timer: Relying on a 25-year-old dictionary is a bit, well, old-timey. YLEM is in my more contemporary New Oxford American.
I enjoyed the process, although I recognized the weaker clues/answers. It's an easy-medium Friday for me when I can get unknowns like tarboosh, ylem and kotos through crosses.
I too found ID badgers, radios (tried ladder) and rear area disappointing, but I liked Simone, augers, Harlem and anecdote a lot.
You can certainly strain something to puree it, I use the mouli legumes often. Ever heard of "strained peas" for babies?
@chefwen: it's a lot of fun to make a yule log, with the mushrooms!
Rex gives us his opinion on HIS blog. I always read it, I don't always agree with it, but why would it annoy me? The whiners annoy me.
Badgers??? We don't need no stinkin' badgers! ;-)
Hi,@jberg - thanks for the history lesson about Abyssinia. I also knew it was Ethiopia, so ITALO was a gimme.
I'm having fun googling the people who are posting their manifestos about how they are leaving this blog. @Stuart Showalter posted two (2) goodbyes. That's almost as many posts as the number of puzzles he's commented on in the last year. @denise shows up one time in the last year. If you're leaving, just leave - nobody will notice (@Evil, I did notice when you stopped posting for a while ... glad you're back).
@Old timer, are you channeling Rex when you say YLEM isn't a word because your antiquated dictionary never heard of it? I used to be on the editorial committee of a community newspaper, and I complained about the usage in one article, backing it up with my 30-year-old copy of Strunk and White's Elements of Style. Another member of the committee, a linguistics professor, told me to get a new copy of the book. Language evolves. And when new substances are discovered or hypothesized, they get to have new names. I still gripe about "eke out" suddenly meaning "barely make it" instead of "supplement", but The People have spoken, even if they don't speak too good.
Oh, and nice catch on the APSES.
@ED - I knew the second post at least was not yours because of that "to." You would never make such a mistake.
The Greek War of Independence (1821-1829) was waged by Greek revolutionaries against the occupying Ottoman Empire. The town of Messolonghi (Μεσολόγγι) was the site of a long SIEGE by Turkish-Egyptian forces, one of the bloodiest of the War. They have successfully defended it in 1822, but at the end of prolonged and repeated attacks, in 1826 the Greeks abandoned the city. The Turks entered and massacred the remaining population. The event was commemorated by, among others, Eugène Delacroix, in his painting "Greece on the Ruins of Messolonghi". George Gordon, Lord Byron, fighting alongside the Greeks, died there in 1824.
Eventually, the Greeks with the help of Russia, England and France, were able to drive the Ottoman forces out of Greece, and after long negotiations she was recognized as an independent nation in 1932. The town of Messolonghi received the honorary title of Hiera Polis (Sacred City). Lord Byron is commemorated by a cenotaph containing his heart, and a statue was erected in his honor.
The SIEGE of Messolonghi was also commemorated by Gioachino Rossini in his opera "Le SIÈGE de Corinthe".
I hope you'll survive your paraskevidekatriaphobia.
Agree. Life's too short(z) to trifle with the poisoned musings of a self-anointed wanna-be king who is perpetually jacked up on his own goofballs.
Actually, a great many cathedrals have multiple APSES. Most have aisles in the shape of a cross. If we consider the alter to be at the north (for the sake of discussion), there's an apse there, and one at either end of the cross aisle, at the east and the west.
@63: Gooooodmornin, Sunshine! Admit it. U gotta luv YLEM. PRIMOrdial. Think U mighta lost a few customers, when U dissed Sugarland, tho. Debustagut.
TARBOOSH. KOTOS. TUNIC. Thought so... We ain't got enough Stuff, in our attic, yet.
Put ITALO in, as soon as I glimpsed ___-anybody War. Those dudes were evidently pretty scrappy.
TORE UP was a great old rockabilly tune by Sleepy LaBeef. The 45 is in my attic.
Thanx, Judge Vic.
M&A
** gruntz (no cats) **
@JohnChild - Isn't that "Let's give it to Mikey; he hates everything!"... Life cereal, I'm thinking.
We need YLEM for some whilom rhymin' with the Wood formerly known as X-YLEM.
So I think each of us has cooed and gurgled over some angelic-looking infant, when suddenly that small cherub started holding its breath, turned all red and grunty in the the face, and googly around the eyes. For that reason, I was fairly taken by the crossing of IRE and PUREE, whose clues read:
'Face reddener' and
'Strain to make'.
The proximity of REAR AREA is just a bONUS ONUS, as ASSAY.
It wood be tasteless to segue to Buche de Noel YULELOGS after that, and tasteless at an time to bring up the Uncle Remus aspects of the TAR-BOOSH Baby.
Today we have GOODAT after the recent TRUE DAT, and it's probably TRUE DAT de DRAGON should be kept in dem DARKAGES. I liked the nod to dear old DOD, I mean dear old DAD, and admit freely I thought PICTS before DANES and adVERB before REVERB.
Some of today's entries were words that had gone in my R ear area and out the L ear area, but I dredged them all up, and that's ALL I WANT TO DO on a Friday. So I enjoyed it, Judge. Yes inDEEDEE.
TARBOOSH is a nice followup to this week's BABUSHKA.
Factoid: In 1910, central HARLEM was about 10% black; in 1920 it was 33%; and in 1930 it was 70%.
Quotoid: "If you don't have a leg to stand on, you can't put your FOOT down." -- Robert Altman
@oldtimer is perfectly justified. An older (not antiquated) dictionary should be even more likely to include an antiquated term. Continually fascinating to see the conflation of opinion and fact, or even of opinion and observation.
Enjoyed the correction of 'close' to 'clues'... 'to whit'.
@Zeke, am recommending against scraping. Try something with suction or gentle vacuum action. Note the emphasis on'gentle'; do not Hoover your ear canals.
Going out to find a blackcat now.
Thank you, Vic Fleming!! I, too, am off to find another
NYT puzzle blog.
p.s.
Yep. Just as I remembered it; tears the tarboosh off the dump.
For all U opera fans…
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ffssmVtApHE
M&A
Is the confessional in a church referred to as the synapse?
I stopped reading Rex a long time ago. I just come for the comments.
@old timer - YLEM is in my OED and very old Websters International. And it was fun to learn that a physicist resurrected it after finding it while he was leafing through a dictionary.
REVERB was new to me. Kept staring at it thinking it meant "to verb again".
@M and a Rockabilly,
At some point, that young lady will have to draw breath.
Didn't know there was another NYT puzzle blog. Redirect me, please, and I will gladly jump off the tedium of Wrecks for another see-worthy carrier.
Jutes before DANES, geographically they're not far apart (Jutland). A SIEGE is the opposite of a bout (time-wise). I agree that REAR AREA is green-painty, so is HAS A SHOT; shouldn't the clue have "at" in parentheses at the end? I agree that SPECKLES is pretty lame. As to the up-date your references squabble, who can afford to? I have a Webster's Third which is 50 yrs. old, cost a fortune. My Metropolitan Opera Annals only go to 1985. Computer references are gonna have to be it.
I thought the puzzle was pretty decent, although Rex has a point. It isn't memorable. I like when I can give a correct answer to the clue which isn't THE correct answer for the puzzle. Overwrites, IOW, broaden my mind and that's always fun.
The proper challenge on a Friday or Saturday IMO is the cluing. That's the time for tricky and ambiguous cluing. Could have been a bit more of that here, but I guess Will knows his audience and shoots for an appropriate level.
When Rex is negative (as is common) I tend to ignore it, look for the insights he provides, and get on to the posted comments which often contain good insights.
You know what is tedious? People harping on tedious negativity, when all they need to do is skim it and ignore at will.
Thanks,Mr. Fleming.
Either these puzzles are getting easier or I'm getting better at them. I fear it's the former. What is certain is that rex is getting grumpier. Not an easy task.
@dear Aby: har. Would be kinda cool, if her name was Italo... (Perhaps she was chosen for the video, because the song has a false end?) (Another great tune with a false ending: Do U Love Me, by the Contours, btw.)
p.s.
fave weeject of the day: DOD. Better clue: {Dud with its tarboosh still on??}
M&A
@jberg, re tunics, @leapfinger, re "Face reddener," @M&A, re scrappy Italos and KOTOS in the attic - Still laughing!
I'm with @nancy and @don. I usually just skim the first couple sentences of Rex's review at this point. I can tell by then if it's going to be a fair criticism or his knee-jerk grumpiness. Today, as soon as I saw him complain about "something this dull" I skipped right to the comments section.
I think it's fair when people critique Rex in the comments section. Just like Rex's blog is the place where he can vent about the NYT crossword puzzle, the comments section is the place where anyone else can vent about Rex's blog. That's how the internet works, and I like the democracy.
Sounds like a RICER, little different from a strainer, i thought the clue was a little off
@Masked and Anonymo5Us
The Y in YLEM comes from an upsilon. That's pretty darn close to a U . . .
Way to go, Casco, I didn't think this was easy. I never heard of ylem, (neither did my spellchecker, ) but was sure of "assay," so assay it was OK. Never heard of the song, but "Sugarland," seems vaguely familiar.
Good, fair puzzle of appropriate difficulty, IMHO.
Oh, and I enjoy reading Rex's comments, even though I disagree with him much of the time.
I'm with @Benko - I like the democracy...I'm also with @Questinia - "don't let the door hit you in the REAR AREA."
@Fred R. You made me take out my trusty dusty Webster's II. YLEM...right above is the old favorite ylang ylang and right below is the ever present yock.
Yuck Yuck.
Last Silver Tarboosh@2:23: Did you mean "if her name WERE...?"
retired chemist @ 1341: So it's not the jerk who's the problem, it's the people complaining about the jerk. I see.
My Websters Seventh NEW Collegiate Dictionary, 1965 ed. omits YLEM. Good for nostalgia purposes but it might be time to invest in a new edition. I think I'll ask Santa.
I was successful at solving, in relatively quick time for myself.
And so one reason I read Rex - and these comments - is to make sure my ego is sufficiently deflated after solving, especially on a late week day.
I did like YLEM, to be sure, but it arrived only courtesy of crosses.
I laughed out loud at Rex's rating of Tedium, as it gave voice to my solving experience - it was medium difficulty, tedious solve.
Rex cited 25 entries he found wanting (not terrible, but wanting), and is being roundly criticized for being overly negative about this puzzle. Fine, maybe he was, maybe he wasn't. What I don't understand is how so many can criticize his take without defending any of the things he criticized. YLEM has garnered some (very) faint support, and ALL I WANT TO DO has one supporter. If you feel, e.g., that Rex is unfair in maligning IMAGED, by all means point out how and where he's wrong, not that he's simply wrong for maligning IMAGED. Otherwise, you're not making an argument, you're just complaining. At least Rex makes an argument for his statements.
"I usually just skim ...", i.e. "I don't bother to read or think about what he says, I just assume it's nonsense" is null and void as an argument. Worse, it's insulting.
Now, back to me ears...
@Tita - Ticket is in the mail.
"At least Rex makes an argument for his statements??!! Here are his statements :"This is sauce of an astonishingly weak vintage. It's more tedious than terrible. Nothing's gonna make you angry, but the cumulative mediocrity should make you angry. Or at least mildly disappointed. ITALO BREST DOD OST KOTOS ELI ARAG (!?) APSES IPO DEEDEE ASSAY ESA AMASS YLEM INASENSE ETRADE ONSALE AREOLA. I don't really hate any of that, but it's a serious onslaught of boring and/or undesirable fill." WHERE is the argument here? His comments translate to "I didn't like the puzzle." There's no argument, only opining.
Anon - The list he presented is the argument for the "cumulative mediocrity" comment and what preceded it. As I said, you like any of ITALO, BREST, DOD, OST, KOTOS... go ahead, make your argument: BREST made me think of breast - it's fantastic!! Couple that with AREOLA and it's a 14yo boy's wet dream!!!. At least that's an argument. Juvenile, but an argument.
@Benko - Who said this was a democracy?
I don't take issue with people who disagree with Rex. However, if your only contribution ever is to complain about Rex, call him names, and insult others who comment here, may I encourage you find another use for your time. If you want to come and disagree with Rex every day you will find agreement and conversation if you write, "I disagreed with Rex because...." If, on the other hand, you come by to write things like "rexhole" and "what a jerk" most of the adults here will presume that your moral and social development was arrested somewhere around age 13. If you write "I'm sick of his whining" please add something to let us know you are aware of the irony of whining about whining. Remember, irony and sarcasm don't translate well in plain text.
If you are just wondering (as some commenters today seem to be) what other NYTX blogs are out there, you might want to take a look at the sidebar of the blog where Rex has helpfully listed several other blogs and puzzle sites. Several of them have links to still other blogs. Of course, the NYT hosts it's own blog as well, linked to right from the puzzle page I believe.
Rex qualifies as a "nattering nabob of negativism," to quote Spiro Agnew, a veep of not so recent vintage. I wonder what he would say about Cooper's Leather Stocking Tales or Michener's novels, works which are, in my humble opinion, unflinchingly boring but which are read to this day, apparently. "One man's Mede is another man's Persian," as Franklin P. Adams used to say. Give me H. L. Mencken or Mark Twain any day. Now let me see, where's my Maugham?
Best,
john
I agree. Mean-spirited all too often. And I don t recall any of "Rex's" puzzles being very good at all. Good bye.
Bill Butler has a very civilized and educational NYT xword blog, for those interested. nytcrossword.com.
What's a "Reuner"? I guess someone attending a reunion? But I can't seem to find it in any online dictionary.
Wow, a pretty pedestrian puzzle to make so many announce they are jumping ship (blog). Most of this year, @Rex has seemed more positive than last year, with a few lapses like today. I can't get too upset about - leaving in a snit would mean I would miss comments like @Steve J or @Leapfinger today, plus meringue mushrooms, @Tita? Sounds fun.
I loved the clue for SHERIFF. Thought about putting in "drowse" for 23D but waited, luckily. Got OUTOFTHEBLUE from the first O so that helped.
ERROL Morris had some interesting columns in the NY Times a few years ag, the Op Ed page. I will try to link to one or two (I learned the word "anosognosia" from him, which is almost as fun as YLEM and TARBOOSH are). And his "The Unknown" on Donald Rumsfeld made a relatively big splash when it came out. Talk about an anosognosic!
Thanks, VF for the puzzle.
Errol Morris on Crimean War Photos
Errol Morris and Anosognosia
These are both multi-part articles. Part I on anosognosia was the only one I enjoyed. I read all of the one on the Crimean War photo controversy but it was slow in places. This is somewhat of a "link" experiment so here it goes.
Not a ricer. It is called a food mill. Still have the one my mom bought in the 50s to puree baby food.
Thanks for all the nice comments! And to Teedmn, ret_chem, suzy, and others who know who you are, you're welcome. I'm truly sorry no one got, or chose to comment on, the hidden haiku in the solved grid, though. Have a great weekend! Go Wildcats (77-76 winners over Explorers today in A-10 quarterfinals)!
Judge Vic
Rex Parker's "tedium" assessment explains (to me) why I was able to fill it all out without resort to the internet.
Do you like your tedium
Rare or medium?
I said it first.
Not quite a haiku, though...
too easy for a friday . . . ylem? nevah hoird of it
Agree.
Probably no one will read this, but I do have a few points, plus an observation: There was an Italo-Abyssinian War in 1895-96. No one called it Ethiopia then. There was another war decades later, under Mussolini and Haile Selassie.
"Apse" is defined in my dictionary (MW Collegiate, *Tenth* edition) as usu. being a semicircular vault at the end of a church. The ends of most transepts are not semicircular, but rectangular, and usually there are doors and a porch.
No doubt YLEM is in any unabridged dictionary, including the OED. But I believe there should be no *words* not found in a modern Collegiate dictionary. YLEM could have been in my Collegiate (it was coined in the 1940's). But it wasn't included because too obscure
Awful whiny Rex. Number one on the country charts and number 18 on Billboard is fairly substantial; so probably familiar to more than 25%. Maybe OFL is too eastern seaboardedly sophisticated for country music (not exactly my cuppa eithr), but Sugarland was on all the music shows a few years back. Hard to miss. And Jennifer Nettles? Yeah baby.
Tedium? No. DNF? Yes. TARBOOSH is beyond my ken. Or was. OUTOFnowherE was not helpful. STMARie (as in Sault Ste Marie?), then STMARkS also not very helpful. Pure guesses on ITALO- (5 letters ending in O !?) and then ESTADO (Spanish not my forte) were helpful. An ERROL that’s not Flynn?
But I prefer more puzzles like this than like those that OFL and his ilk insist must be filled in several minutes. ‘Nuff said.
102 = 3
Hidden Haiku?
ERROL HASASHOT
I’ll SPILLIT and TALK, INASENSE ‘cause it’s true,
I’m not TOREUP, since there’s nothing to RUE.
I kissed SIMONE’s LOOSELIPS OUTOFTHEBLUE,
then under her TUNIC, the BREST AREOLA, too.
It seems that I’m GOODAT it, it’s ALLIWANTTODO!
--- SHERIFF DEEDEE SPECKLES
Fearless one, you been at this too long; you need to take a sabbatical. I suspect it's not the individual puzzles that are "dull"--second day in a row you used that word--but the endless, day-after-day filling in of squares, mind and hand racing to keep those times down. I think when you time-pressure yourself like that, you lose something. I'll see an entry and it'll conjure up a memory. I go ahead and let that memory play out for a bit. It's enriching. If not a nice long vacation, then at least put away your stopwatch for a while. Soak it up. You'll feel better.
I am, for example, a "year of the DRAGON" baby. Every Chinese new year of that creature, employees at the Gold Coast Casino dress up in drag(on) and weave through the aisles to the beat of traditional percussion. It's a lot of fun. A nice memory. See what I mean?
Today's offering was pithy enough to rate medium-challenging. TARBOOSH, KOTOS and YLEM (even though I'm a fan of astrophysics and never miss "Cosmos") were total OUTOFTHEBLUE entries for me; every one 100% forced in on crosses. I really doubted YLEM but there it is. No mistakes and only one writeover: to me, "rent" would be TORnUP, not TOREUP. The cross, REARAREA, was one of the few low points.
One other nit: sure, firefighters carry RADIOS, but so do people in many other occupations. To clue this so specifically borders on the unfair. I don't like it. The flag came LOOSE, but I couldn't quite throw it. A-.
You gotta admit, @Rex certainly inspires controversy and lots of comments, pro and con. I think that is what he is aiming for. Clearly, he doesn't care who, or how many, disagree(s) with him, and so it's futile to whine and complain and call him names. It's his schtick.
Today, I saw the rating, tedium, and then the *sigh*, and just went straight to the comments, which I usually enjoy reading. Really, only 57A caused a pain in the REAR AREA, and I had fun with this one.
210 = 3 Dang.
Liked the puzzle a lot. Like someone else mentioned when you can fill it all in without any researching, it's a good day.
Awhile ago, I decided not to look to closely to Parker's comments. They became tediously tedium. But I do enjoy this blog and many of the other commentators, especially the Syndies. Spacecraft always has something colorful to say, as well as DMG, Seattle and Rondo etal so that makes up for the negativity at the beginning of the blog.
I suspect OFL is making a justly so fairly good profit from the donations and that is why he continues punishing himself.
Anyway, what do I know. I'm just a very handsome, intelligent, witty older gentleman blessed with genuine humility.....waiting to die, so that monuments and airports will be named for me.
Ron Diego, La Mesa CA.
Had trouble breaking into this one. finally guessed GOODAT which gave me OUTOFTHEBLUE off the first T. Always amazed when that sort of connection happens-our brains are mysterious things. At any rate, filled all the squares and came here to,see where I was wrong. Only I wasn't! TARBOOSH, YLEM, and even REVERB were right. Still have to look that last one up as nobody explained it here.
On a side note, that purée-ing tool referred to by many above is a Mouli grater. It purses whatever while holding back the skins and seeds. Use it when making persimmon jelly.
Odd number 0099, but it's a winner, I think,
@Ron Diego - touche and well put.
Don't be dyin' anytime soon.
@DMG - I think when used as here REVERB is in the studio mix when producing a record (or CD, or MP# or whatever), or even live. Short for reverberation, sometimes caused when an electric guitar gets too close to the amp and/or speaker.
@Burma Shave scores again!
To rent is to TEAR UP, it was rent means it was TORN UP. If Joe TORE UP the curtain he rentED the curtain. I don't get rent = tore up
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