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Relative difficulty: Easy-Medium
Theme answers:
- FREEDOM OF THE PRESS / DEPRESS
- HUEY LEWIS AND THE NEWS / RENEWS
- BEHIND THE TIMES / AT TIMES
- JUST FOR THE RECORD / PRISON RECORD
- WHAT IN THE WORLD / SMALL WORLD
- THE CHECK IS IN THE MAIL / DEAD MAIL (I don't know this term; I know "dead letter"/ dead letter office)
- FIRST PAST THE POST / GOALPOST
nounnoun: skeg; plural noun: skegs; noun: skag; plural noun: skags
• • •
Theme became clear very quickly, given the 16-square gimme HUEY LEWIS AND THE [NEWS] (1D: Hit band heard on the soundtrack of "Back to the Future"). It was just a matter of figuring out what part of their name was going to be rebused. Worked my way down the length of the answer to find that it was the very end that would be squished. FREEDOM OF THE [PRESS] is a bit spot-on for a theme answer containing newspaper names. Usually, constructors try to come at theme-related words in oblique, non-theme ways, if possible. BENCH [PRESS] would be a good example for a puzzle like this. Or FRENCH [PRESS]. You get the idea. A non-news-related PRESS. But in this case, that obliqueness is probably not essential. I nearly got Naticked by LAST IN (54D: Part of LIFO, to an accountant) / WTO (67A: International commerce assn.). I have no idea what LIFO, though I eventually inferred it was "LAST IN, first out." Is that right? Ha, it is. That one's new(s) to me. And WTO ... I mean, yes, World Trade Organization, but there are so many damn 3-letter agency initialisms that they get muddled in my head. WMF, IMF, WWF, WWE, etc. But I guessed "T" and "T" it was. I've also never heard the phrase FIRST PAST THE [POST] (107A: Like a simple-majority voting system). Seriously. It's ... horse-racing? Clearly, despite HD RADIO and ELI ROTH and SHONDA Rhimes, this one is playing in a cultural world slightly behind and a little to the side of me. These things happen.
SANTA HAT crossing SAINT NICK near its top is pretty cute. DETECTO is a funny scale name (29D: Big name in medical scales). I mean, it's telling your weight, not solving a crime. Oh, I invented a new term today. It's called the "ick line." Please see the row that begins with 80-Across to see what I mean. When it's coast-to-coast junk—it's an ick line. OOXTEPLERNON is the paradigmatic ick line.
Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld
P.S. RADIO is in the grid (HD RADIO) and clues (107D: Most music radio stations). This fact doesn't make me nearly as mad as the answer to 107D: FMS. Come on, man. Use it in a sentence you can't the end.
[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]
Sure I can - The FMS said YEWS at the TEAKS.
ReplyDeleteThe most impressive part of the puzzle? CC's ability to clue "strap on "
ReplyDeleteMy Minnesota friend and neighbor @Zhouqin (C.C.) Burnikel scores another success. @Rex's review hit many of the puzzle's characteristics, so no need for me to reiterate.
ReplyDeleteI was amused to read that Chinese brides are often dressed IN_RED (46-Across), and could almost swear that C.C. has used the same word/clue in a recent puzzle of hers that I solved elsewhere. Then again, my memory on this could be faulty.
@rexparker New Jersey has a newspaper called the Bergen Record, which is now owned by Gannett.
ReplyDeletei enjoyed it, but found it super easy, setting a new personal best by over 15min. played like a super sized tuesday for me.
ReplyDeleteDETECTO was the only one i had to guess at, not knowing ETES and COLETTE
My last name has been the source of endless joviality to my adolescent students, so I will take STRAP ON as an exhortation. I'm trying kid, so NO PROB. I agree with OFL that the ick spanners are worth noting, and deriding. Let's make that a thing. I live in California and ARCO stations are generally toilets without toilets. I'm a Shell man, myself. FIRST PAST THE POST is news to me, also. Wanted GOAL Line but I'm still waiting for that big old Sunday Centerville Line to hit my driveway. What, they forgot to stuff in the Parade? Number set clues are fun, like 52D: "Three before seven?" My favorite from recent history referenced the seven letter set that begin and ends in "S." I spent some serious solving time ascending MT. WTF. How does one access HD RADIO? Help me here. Constructors are objects of respect for this lowly solver.
ReplyDeleteIn addition to the Bergen Record, cited by @Imfromjersey, there's the Greensboro (N.C.) News & Record, The (Stockton, Calif.) Record, the (Wichita Falls, Texas) Times Record News, the Statesville (N.C.) Record & Landmark, . . . . There are quite a few more small dailies with "Record" as part of their name.
ReplyDeleteEasy puzzle. Fun for a former newspaper reporter.
If you had gone to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_newspapers_in_the_United_States and searched you would see 77 hits for "record". Ten of those are "recorder", so the other 67 seem to all be "record". At least one is just "The Record", no place name like "The Cadiz Record" or "The Gladwin County Record". Suffice it to say not exceedingly rare.
ReplyDeleteI hit within a few seconds of my personal best (I would say "my record" but so confusing!), so of course I thought this was one of the easiest ever. But I can see how a few answers out of one's wheelhouse would cause major slowdowns. Like Rex, I didn't find the theme particularly challenging to suss out or all that clever, but then it is nice to have a puzzle that I find very easy so I have the brief illusion I am actually smart.
Mostly easy for me too. I did get briefly hung up in the DETECTO/ COLETTE/ETES/LAST IN area, but the rest went pretty smoothly. Well, SKEG was a WOE.
ReplyDeleteSome zippy theme answers plus some fun fill (PATOOTIE, PASTICHE...)...liked it.
C.C. also did the LAT Sat.
I rarely agree so completely with @Rex, but today, all I can say is, "Ditto!"
ReplyDeleteAs some have already pointed out, this puzzle was on the easy side. I usually find C.C.'s creations more challenging. Still, I enjoyed this one.
Agree with @jae about the fun fill; who could not like PATOOTIE?
My false steps included tbaR before UBER and Soso before SLIM.
As a retired lawyer I enjoyed the clue for JANEDOE. And HDRADIO sounds interesting. Where can I find it?
One advantage of printing a puzzle is that you can put in a dot for a rebus and spell out RECORD or whatever in the margin.
I am 30 and I found First Past The Post to be one of the easiest. But I follow British and Canadian elections closely and the term is used in that context more often than in American politics. Check Is In The Mail was the hardest. What's a check?
ReplyDeleteCheque...
DeleteCheque...
DeleteYeah, thought I RECALLed that FIRST PAST THE POST was British.
ReplyDeleteThis county is crisscrossed by FM'S (Farm-to-Market roads).
Guess what FIFO stands for! Ways to handle inventory....
Our local paper is the Times Herald Record. Thought this was well-constructed with long themes across and down, but a bit of a slog to fill in which could have used SUN, SENTINEL, MERCURY, etc..
ReplyDeleteFor the record (ha, ha, get it?) The Record, formerly the Bergen Evening Record, is a right-wing rag which supported Chris Christie for re-election.
ReplyDeleteOk. I've made my living here admitting things that I would normally just keep to myself. I guess since I'll never come face to face with most of you (unless you go to the ACPT) I somehow feel braver. I had the gorgeous PATOOTIE in place (hi, @jae and @Trombone Tom), and I think because of this interference, the only word that came to mind for the HUEY LEWIS band was "blowfish." Yeah, yeah, I know. But Patootie rhymes with Hootie. That's my defense. That and I don't have "cool" taste in music. Heck – I still don't understand why "We Built This City" is so bad. I mean, I nod my head knowingly, in agreement, when people bring that up, but I'm just being a Good Music Appreciator Wannabe. A fake.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, RENEWS led me out of the hell-hole.
Here's another embarrassing moment this morning: 63A "Pinch-hit" for" – STOOD IN. It took me forever to realize is was past tense. I swear I think I'd say John pinch-hitted for Rodney last night and never give it another thought. So sue me.
Aside from PATOOTIE, another big smile moment came with DETECTO and its clue "big name in medical scales." Talk about your desperation – hah! Ok, it's all pretty obscure, but we'll try to slip it past with the "big name in _ _ " deal. I. Love. These. Clues. They always tickle me. Bet @M&A appreciates'em, too.
Big name in camshaft locking plates - COMP
Big name in drywall joint compound – USG
Big name in Muse's mind – Huey Patootie and the Blowfish
Big name in BOCCE ball sets – St. Pierre
Two erasures – "Mealy" before MOTOR and "Motrin" before ANACIN.
Agree – the SANTA HAT/SAINT NICK cross is good. And there are his HO HOs over in the east.
Rex – second highlight behind PATOOTIE was your nerd-world version of a playground taunt: Use it in a sentence you can't the end. That's really good! I can just see you sticking your tongue out. Funny how eschewing punctuation so nails the phrase.
Nice job, CC. Now to deal with the mysterious BIOMASS I noticed last night on the bottom shelf in the fridge, way in the back. Cue Jaws cello music.
Dead mail is more often referred to as dead letter mail, mail that cannot be delivered to addressee.
ReplyDeleteClever idea for a puzzle, and solid execution. I learned FIRST_PAST_THE_POST, and loved the clues for JANE_DOE, PUTT, BETA, AESOP, and TENANT; I also loved the two longest answers. Cluing is an area where this constructor has made steady improvement over time. I like that the newspaper names in the longer theme answers are preceded by THE. C.C.'s notes indicate that she had to REDO the entire puzzle for Will -- Thanks for putting in that effort, C.C.!
ReplyDeleteStill, it's not even Halloween yet -- it's too early to be thinking about Christmas with those two Santa answers. I'm glad those tree answers didn't include fir or pine. In every day, in every way, let's keep Christmas OOO (out of October)!
Did little Colette really pinch-hit Figaro on the stern during recess? Sounds like the mean sort of one-two schoolyard punch we should be guardian against.
ReplyDeleteIt has taken huge huge out-of-this-world amazingly huge restraint to avoid mentioning the TPS/PATOOTIE cross, but out of respect for this delicate crowd, that I have the greatest huge bigger-than-life respect for, I'm just too classy to bring it up.
ReplyDelete@Lewis - great catch. I missed that. And admirable restraint, buddy.
ReplyDeleteI displayed restraint yesterday with the 17A/5D cross.
First past the post is totally legit and current, part of the discussion of how different voting systems create different political dynamics. Generally contrasted with proportional or instant runoff systems. I guess it does come from horse racing, but now purely electoral. Think its from the UK.
ReplyDeleteFirst past the post is totally legit and current, part of the discussion of how different voting systems create different political dynamics. Generally contrasted with proportional or instant runoff systems. I guess it does come from horse racing, but now purely electoral. Think its from the UK.
ReplyDelete@Lewis and @Loren Muse Smith. Your respective restraints are an inspiration to us all!
ReplyDeleteAgreed on the SANTAHAT SAINTNICK cross, especially since my first instinct on the down entry was to look for SANTA... Continue the mini-Xmas motif with HOHOS ... though not as repetitive as yesterday's HAHAHA and DADADA.
As I compose this comment, 22 have preceded it. None have complained about the 79D 94A cross (TOSH and SHONDA). Anyone who like myself is not familiar with the two names is in real trouble. Why not guess K? or T? Obvious they are fairly well known for Mr. Shortz to allow the cross. But for someone like myself, it's a killer.
ReplyDeleteWhile I can't remember them offhand, I seem to remember rebus puzzles with fairly long rebuses. Was there ever a puzzle that had BLANK rebuses? Perhaps most of the puzzles in the back of my mind had long rebuses that were represented by a picture of something. Seems odd to me that a puzzle would be rejected because of the length of the rebus, unless it was an ugly rebus.
Except for natick at TOSH/SHONDA, a full 20 minutes off my Sunday average. Like @seanm, this played like a big Tuesday for me. Enjoyed the theme and rebuses a lot.
ReplyDeleteLoved this one. Also a personal best here (under an hour). Shanah Tovah to all. Here's to good puzzling in 5777!
ReplyDeleteLoved this one. Also a personal best here (under an hour). Shanah Tovah to all. Here's to good puzzling in 5777!
ReplyDeleteI hope I'm not offending Lewis or anyone else, but what is TPS?
ReplyDelete@George Barany:
ReplyDeleteAre you from Minnesota????!!! And BFFs with the constructor!!!!
You are amazing!
So; just how close to New Jersey is New York? The county that you enter going west across the George Washington bridge is Bergen County. In Hackensack, people read the Bergen County RECORD. and I thought Hackensack was the high school of that famous one-hit wonder: Leslie West of Mountain
ReplyDelete@Charles Rosenzweig: TP=Toilet Paper. As a verb it means to "decorate" the trees near someone's house by festooning them with the product. "He goes out every Halloween and TPs the houses that don't give him treats."
ReplyDeletePersonally, I listen to several radio stations. Some are AMs but most are FMs.
So; just how close to New Jersey is New York? The county that you enter going west across the George Washington bridge is Bergen County. In Hackensack, people read the Bergen County RECORD. and I thought Hackensack was the high school of that famous one-hit wonder: Leslie West of Mountain
ReplyDeleteTPS crossing PATOOTIE: another kind of paper jam.
ReplyDeleteNot trying to be picayune, but... One of these days, @Loren's gonna get in trouble and wind up arrested. Then we can make signs to picket the hoosegow: FMS Free Muse-Smith
ReplyDeleteWith luck, no gas will be torn.
I wouldn't brag about being Enyor Garbage, but I guess it's a case of reverting to type.
ReplyDeleteHi folks, two weeks ago I encountered the same issue as I am encountering today: the puzzle is correct, the rebuses are all correct, but neither the NYtimes iphone app or the web app will recognize the puzzle as completed. I asked this two weeks ago of this community and got... crickets.
ReplyDeleteSeriously, I know this is basically a comment board to boast about your times to each other, but can anyone lend any wisdom about this issue? I can find nothing online anywhere else.
Rex? Anyone?
All I can say is that my iPhone app recognized that my puzzle was correct, once I changed the r to t in DETECTO/ETES. Not really the right forum to ask a NYT app tech support question. In your app, go to account on the home screen, scroll to the bottom and click on feedback.
DeleteI made the exact same error, and will therefore double recommend checking for an r in that space.
DeleteNot a bad Sunday...which is about as complimentary as I'll ever get with a Sunday. But I did like that the rebuses were long and different, even if they were really predictable placement wise.
ReplyDeletePoints off for Random Playground Retorts™ and Random Directions Between Random Cities™. Just missing Random Roman Numerals™ for the trifecta.
Just a FYI, there are NO alternatives to Twinkies. Whenever I'm in the mood to poison myself with sweet goodness in the form of comfort food and wrapped in equally terrible plastic wrapping, Twinkies is my go-to poison. HOHOs are okay, but they are not a suitable substitute. Speaking of...
Clever little misdirect with STOODIN (Pinch hit for)...with "hit" being past tense. I had STanDIN for to start and was pretty sure I was right about that. Once I saw PATIO and saw that STanDIN wasn't going to :ahem: stand, I started to question DORAL...because I don't know what that is. So the entire mid-section was a bit gnarly without a SKEG, dude.
My last square to fill was POST. I know what a GOALPOST is, obvs, but FIRSTPASTTHEPOST...?? Whatever happened to 50% plus one? Or something like that?
Finally, I knew LIFO because of my days as a waiter and having to go into the walk-in and get stuff out. LIFO keeps things from rotting. I believe there is also a FILO and a FIFO, probably not a LILO. I could be wrong, and I've always had a hard time with picturing each one of those scenarios, but I knew LASTIN first out because I actually had to do that.
@Charles, TPs is present tense for TP. And TPing is a prank from yesteryear involving festooning someone's yard with toilet paper.
ReplyDeleteThis one was easy except for entering "godly" for "upright." Even though I figured it should end in a newspaper name. Took awhile to come up with the cross. I liked it! My only complaint is for Mr. Will. Two easy ones in a row...
Loved it. Breezy, lively, and original, with some delightful cluing. My faves were HASTE (1A); AESOP (83D); LEVEES (112A, though very easy) and the BOHR quote (75A.) Didn't like the JANE DOE clue quite as much as @Lewis. But I DNF and didn't realize it. I did the puzzle last night and was planning to come back to the (NEWS) cross that was baffling me, but I forgot. "Extends in a way" (87A) was a subtle enough clue that I didn't see what RE- was going to be, though I knew it would be some sort of newspaper. And have I ever heard of HUEY LEWIS AND THE NEWS? Surely you jest. Another band with a silly name. (Though I loved the movie). So if I'd come back to this, I'd probably have come up with the last rebus square sooner or later. But I didn't. At any rate, this was a very enjoyable Sunday for me -- much better than most.
ReplyDeleteThis one was medium for me. Each of the three diagonal sections was easy in its own right, but there were so few gateways between then, and I found them generally tough -- took about a minute for COLETTE to pop into my mind, I wanted ICED coffee with some kind of rebus, etc.
ReplyDeleteAs many have said, PATOOTIE makes the puzzle all by itself, really nothing more to be said. As for FIRST PAST THE POST -- as a political scientist, I'm very familiar with the term, only -- that's not what it means! It a simple plurality system, not a simple majority one, as you do not have to get a majority to win, only more votes than anyone else. In France, you have to have a majority to win -- so if no candidate does, they have a second election. In the US, Canada, Britain, not so, we are first past the post. (The Electoral College is the only exception). OK, that's enough rant.
Also, I put my own PRISON RECORD right there on my resume, so you don't need a background check to uncover it. But that's just me. (And Angela Davis -- I once heard her give a talk with an introduction that focused on her professorships, books, etc. -- the first words out of her mouth when she got up were "You left one thing out.")
That's enough -- got to go fix one of the SEGs of my SKEG.
@CFG, if you don't get some better suggestions, try this:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.nytimes.com/crosswords/index.html
At the bottom right, you'll see "Contact Us" under Feedback, where you can describe your problem precisely. There's a fair chance you'll just get a boilerplate response, but it's a first step, if you're willing to persist. A while back, when I had a major problem with the site, I discovered that if you phone the 800 number, it's possible to get connected directly to the tech department. (You might have to insist; don't let the operator relay the Q&As back and forth.) With a temporary change of pw, the tech can view your setup while you both have it open and see exactly what the issue is.
Good luck.
PS: Did you try clicking on 'Reveal wrong answers' to see what the apps wanted?
Very, very easy. Only one overwrite in the entire grid: dEmo before BETA.
ReplyDeleteTheme is pretty good, but probably not good enough to justify FMS and TEAKS, let alone SKEG and DETECTO and NOPROB.
It’s still a fairly nice puzzle – probably the 167th best puzzle from the past year. I just really wish DETECTO, in particular, could have been eliminated.
To tweak Germany’s attempt at the funniest joke in the world: Five LAYS potato chips were walking down the street, and one was a SALTED.
@CFG On my NYT iPhone app I hit More --> Rebus --> enter the rebus --> More --> Rebus. Time consuming, but gets the job done.
ReplyDeleteRe LIFO/FIFO these are fond memories from coding computers decades ago. LIFO (Last In First Out) is a "stack" in the program. FIFO (First In First Out) is a "queue" in the program.
@Anonymous 10:06, I find you can avoid the second More-Rebus by tapping any other square on the grid.
DeleteI liked the theme and a rebus puzzle is always a treat so thanks, C.C.
ReplyDeleteI was glad my accounting background finally came into play with LIFO. @NCA Pres, when dealing with food, wouldn't FIFO be the better choice? FIFO would mean the oldest product would be used first, while LIFO seems like a lot of stuff would be thrown out due to rot/freezer burn. At home, we practice rotation so the new box of crackers goes behind the older one in the cupboard.
At my workplace, we use neither method - we use Std. Cost - when a cost changes, everything gets changed to the new cost and an inventory adjustment is made, up or down, to account for the gain or loss in value. But dry cleaning/laundry parts are not prone to rot so it doesn't make any difference in product quality.
This was a really easy Sunday - usually there is some spot that I just can't, for the life of me, suss out, but today that didn't happen. Probably because my husband has watched the silly TOSH show and SHONDA Rhimes was a familiar name.
@LMS, I agree on @Rex's exit line; I had to read it a couple of times but once I parsed it, I appreciated the added snark the run-on quality gave it. And I think I will start looking for "ick" lines.
@CFG: Check to make sure you are online (live internet connection) at the exact moment you complete the puzzle. If you are not (even for those couple of seconds), the NYTimes doesn't register that fact that you completed the puzzle. Even if you establish a connection after you have completed the puzzle, the NYTimes still does not register the completion. There is something about being live online when you actually fill in the last cell that triggers the message to the NYTimes, and I have not found a way to do that retroactively. More than once this glitch has ended my solving streak.
ReplyDeleteSo, this MAY be the problem. Or, it could be gremlins.
ReplyDelete@NCAPrez --
The "Trump National Doral Miami" is a well-known golf course and is owned by. ... Guess who?
Like many others, Mrs. 'mericans and I finished this puzzle in (for us) record time. Usually we jump around the puzzle at first, filling in what we can. This time we filled in the whole northwest (from 87A through 9D) before straying elsewhere.
ReplyDeleteThis puzzle must also have come close to setting a record for French-related answers (ACTE, BERET, COLETTE, ETES, PASTICHE), so those were gimmes for us.
We DNF, however, because we were Naticked by the RIEL-DORAL crossing. We know the currencies of Thailand and Viet Nam, but not of Cambodia. So we had "JumboThON" -- as in eatathon, hackathon, marathon, skiathon, or telethon. WHAT IN THE WORLD is a "JumboTRON"?
And as for DORAL, we don't play golf. We did look up and its full name, which is the "Trump National Doral Miami" golf club. Bleah!!
Like OFL, we also almost Naticked at the TOSH-SHONDA crossing, but guessed right with the shared "H".
LIFO reminded us (unpleasantly) of its counterpart, FILO (or FOLO), which is our typical situation at the baggage collection point.
We did like the quote from Niels BOHR, however: "Anyone who is not shocked by quantum theory has not understood it." Too true. If you're not familiar with it, read up.
Finally, in answer to @NCA President, I hear you buddy. I feel the same way about Tastykake.
ReplyDelete'Mericans --
A Jumbotron is one of those huge tv-like screens in ball parks.
'merican - JUMBOTRON is the large video display in a football stadium
ReplyDeleteSince you're in Paris, what's the translation of "Vous etes ici"? I would've expected ETES to be clued "Summers in Nice"
Vous êtes ici = You are here.
Deleteêtes = are (pronounced "et")
étés = summers (pronounced "ehtay")
The pronunciation is different due to the accents (which don't show up in the crossword)
@loren -- HAH! I had that same restraint yesterday as well!
ReplyDeleteInspired title, puzzle almost as good with its creative theme phrases, PATOOTIE, SWANSON, SALSA BAR, et. al. On Sundays, to make things more interesting, I proceed cross by cross (no skipping around the grid), so this one was more challenging than usual, with its limited entry points to neighboring SEGments. I briefly strayed off into politics with HUEY nEWton and sighed with relief that I knew an upright is a GOALPOST, because FIRST PASS THE ??? was a complete MYSTery to me.
ReplyDelete@George Barany, re: IN RED - I think the clue had to do with wearing that color to a Chinese funeral, a NO-NO.
I like rebuses (or is it rebi?) Rebbes, L'Shana Tova! Mazel tov, ZB.
ReplyDeleteMore like that: The Chron, The Call, The Trib. And all in @Rex's 5-and-under club.
Squeezed in the 4-6 letters, with a bit of unsightly spillage. I'm a paper solver - would all letters auto fit to the box if done online?
Fav of the day - Seeing 'camel' two days in a row..
!! Possible multiple PC alert !!
@Nancy from yesterday - I thought if one googled Moms Mabley and Camel, the joke would show up. Not true, alas. I'm not a reliable joke teller, so here's what I recall (imagining her indelible, marvelous gravel voice):
Moms is picked up at a bar by a fine lookin' man, who asks her if she'd like a ride in his swanky car. She's having a swell time, until he pulls over and asks, "Are you a Chesterfield or a Camel?" Moms says, "Whaddya mean, am I a Chesterfield or a Camel??" He replies, "Are you gonna satisfy or are you gonna walk the mile?"
Corny, but I loved it. And her.
@George, @Carola. Red is the most auspicious color throughout Asia. In the Subcontinent there's an adage that "sugar is sweet, red is beautiful." Brides wear red, but to do so at a funeral is equivalent to dancing on someone's grave.
ReplyDelete@Loren Muse Smith - Good question. Apparently someone in 2004 declared We Built This City the worst rock song ever and it became a thing. You might find this 'Oral History' (just a long compilation of disjointed quotes, really) interesting.
ReplyDelete@CFG - It looks like @CFXK has the answer. I can't imagine solving on a phone, I prefer paper and pen, but have found that on an iPad that it is better in multiple ways to solve in a third party app like PuzzAzz than the NYTX App.
@billocohoes - You are here, as on a map in a mall or for tourists.
26 minutes with multiple interruptions from puppy and spouse, so definitely easy. I had the whole NW filled and noticed how segmented the puzzle is, three puzzles with the barest of connections between them. I also had an issue coming up with PRISON (RECORD) because that's not a thing. One might have a criminal record and I often see popular references to the mythical "permanent record," but PRISON (RECORD) not so much. Yeah Yeah, I know it is a thing. I just don't think it is a thing.
@CFG, I too use the NYT crossword app on my iPhone and I have NOT had the same problem. I would consider deleting the app and installing it again. Also I seem to remember complaints about an update in the past so I've avoided them. Beyond that, I've got nothing so I'd do what @Leapy suggests and contact the Times.
ReplyDeleteA rebus Sunday!! Be still my heart. Yes, it's cluing is straight forward, but any rebus is entertaining for me. Thank you CC for springing the rebus from it's Thursday prison.
The rebus answers are pretty long and to answer the question as to why that matters, it doesn't on the app, but the print solvers have to make teeny tiny letters fit in the squares. RECORD must have been a toughie today. On the app, one can let the device "sweat the small stuff".
I am with @Nancy on this one. Enjoyable and easy but I had a DNF too. Never heard of Shonda Rhimes (Rhonda Shimes?) and couldn't figure out GoalPost for "upright." I was thinking pianos. Or virtue. So I had Noble there. Haha. Favorite clue was the "Hare Loss" one. Nice way to sneak Aesop in yet again. As for long Paper Jam rebuses, how 'bout "Journal" or "Constitution"? Happy Sunday y'all.
ReplyDeleteI took a restaurant management class many years ago and learned about inventory accounting systems including LIFO, FIFO, and the putrid but not uncommon FISH.
ReplyDeleteFirst In, Still Here!
A bit of a nit on the GOALPOST clue. While it is one goal post, it is referred to as "the uprights" i.e. plural. Never the "upright." And, that is because there are two upright posts. So the clue is misleading and incorrect.
ReplyDelete@CFG - one more possibility, if you are using a less-common or older device/browser, then it may be a bug in the app. When developers create websites, apps, etc., it's impossible for them to make sure that every bit of functionality works the same on every device out there, especially rarer/older ones.
ReplyDeleteHey All !
ReplyDelete@'mericans... ARGH! French! That answer gave me the famous one letter DNF! Had ErES/DErECTO. Ouch. DETECTO, DErECTO, potay-to, potah-to.
Good puz overall, funky black square pattern, resulting in stand-alone East and West centers. Eliminate black square before 45A/before 81A, and that would open it up a bit. And that might've alleviated Rex's OOXTEPLERNON. Just sayin. :-)
Had SALad BAR in first, and thinking why did the clue say specifically Mexican restaurant? *Headslap* Having nous for ACTE didn't help. pkg-CTN only other writeover.
Most of puz NO PROB, so relatively easy. Alot of first guesses correct. Interesting how theme answers are symmetrical, but Rebus squares aren't.
And there's a POTTY to go with the TPS and PATOOTIE! (APT?)
NERDIER...
RooMonster
DarrinV
ReplyDeleteLots to love in this Zhouqin Burnikel puzzle besides the PAPER JAM rebus phrases. Of these I enjoyed WHAT IN THE WORLD, although I couldn't come up with a well known paper by that name (does US News and World Report count?), FREEDOM OF DEPRESS, and THE CHECK IS IN THE MAIL. Although I must say, the latter expression seems BEHIND THE TIMES. Who in this day and age still mails checks? I also liked the PUTT, POTTY, PATIO and PATOOTIE cluster, reminding me that PASTICHE is not to be confused with pistachio, or the pine nuts in PESTO.
What I did not like at all were the two isolated puzzles in the NW and SE, bordered by 9D and 87A, and by 38A and 107D respectively. Each one is connected to the center diagonal section by only two words: COLETTE / ICED LATTE, and SAINT NICK / ST.RAPON, respectively. (Who is this ST.RAPON? Never heard of him.) Those are rather large areas to be so segregated, making filling them easier for the constructor, but restricting the flow of the grid for the solver. Rather regrettable, I thought.
Also, a quintuplet of INs: IN RED, LAST IN, STOOD IN, WHAT IN THE WORLD, and THE CHECK IS IN THE MAIL, and triple TOs: LEND TO, CAME TO and TO DO. It seems repetition is no longer a bug, it's a feature.
-- I wonder what PAPER JAM on toasted English tastes like.
-- My, my, my, DELILAH, why, why, why, DELILAH?
-- TOSH is a synonym of bushwa.
I'm a de facto
Private DETECTO
Sitting erecto
To taste my PESTO:
"Si, è perfetto!"
Let me leave now with the Scherzo movement of the Symphony No. 1 in B-FLAT Minor by Sir William Walton. Explosive energy, tremendous sense of humor and great fun -- not unlike today's puzzle.
@Teedmn...I might have mentioned how much trouble I have picturing those FILO/LIFO/FIFO scenarios. And yes, I guess you are right in that FIFO is probably how restaurants manage their perishables. Putting that shipment of eggs in behind the eggs that are already there means that those already existing eggs went in FIRST and should be taken out before all the others.
ReplyDeleteUgh. Sounds like one of those obnoxious GRE questions.
I had a hard time finding the error that kept me from recording the solve. Everything checked out, well, nearly everything. The error was difficult to see on the iPad screen. I actually had PRES instead of PRESS in the rebus square. Took me eight or ten minutes to find that but even with that added time, I got this one out in two thirds my Sunday average. Here is where I agree with @Rex that this was easy.
ReplyDeleteI've noticed that nearly all y'all like the PATOOTIE answer. I wonder how many here have seen Rocky Horror Picture Show. It was very popular as a cult film for a long time. Anyway, try this version of a PATOOTIE for a blast from the past. I had to laugh reading the comments there, someone mentioned that "Frank N Furter had Meat Loaf in the freezer".
@NCA Pres, I had STanD IN too. I was trying for PATIO but the a kept if form being until I had more crosses. Finally, it dawned on me that the clue was past tense (would that be valiumed?)
Off the top of my head, TOO, TO and TO got repeated a little TOO much. Didn't really bother me, just sayin'. I reckon this is pretty well up to CC's usual excellent standard. No googles today so I'm feeling a bit better about my skills.
A bit of a slog to complete, and for that reason I was not thrilled with today's puzzle. It's interesting that no one has come up with a paper called the WORLD. My local paper is the PRESS Democrat, but I cannot recall any WORLDs that are still in business. When I was a kid, an important New York paper was the WORLD Telegram and Sun, but it is no more.
ReplyDeleteOh! One just came to mind. The Omaha WORLD Herald.
@billocohoes: I tried answering from my iPhone, but that never seems to work. So @Z beat me to it.
ReplyDeleteForgot to add something else to the bathroom bunching of BIOMASS, PATOOTIE, POTTY, and TPS:
The abbreviation "WTO" stands for at least three international organizations. The original WTO was the World Tourism Organization, an agency of the United Nations "responsible for the promotion of responsible, sustainable and universally accessible tourism". Then there is the better-known World Trade Organization. But the one with the best web site, hands down (as it were), is the more recently created World Toilet Organization.
To quote from http://worldtoilet.org/ (check it out!), the "World Toilet Organization was founded on 19 November 2001 and the inaugural World Toilet Summit was held on the same day, the first global summit of its kind. We recognised the need for an international day to draw global attention to the sanitation crisis –- and so we established World Toilet Day on 19 November." Perhaps Will Shortz should re-run this puzzle on the 20th.
You have to admire an organization that comes up with the slogan, "Together let's raise a massive stink for sanitation on UN World Toilet Day!"
ReplyDeleteHaven't read the comments yet. Did anyone notice the pic of PAPERboi. A great character from the very fine new comedy "Atlanta" on FX.
ReplyDelete@AliasZ, I still send checks all the time through the mail(s). My landlord requires it. Was so hoping you'd post the famous aria from Samson and Delilah (with either Rise Stevens or the great Shirley Verrett) or even a snippet from the chanteuse Dalila), but Sir William will do. I always look forward to your posts. Keep 'em coming.
ReplyDeleteSuper CC-cool. A SunPuz with a "newspapers that have denounced Trump" rebus theme! @RP: I say the ends justify the means here, as far as rebus entry lengths. Do what M&A do:
ReplyDelete1. Online: type in the rebus entry's first letter. Usually that works.
2. On paper: write in a number and circle it. Write the number and full rebus entry, at the puzpage bottom. Them SunPuz squares are hardly big enough to write in TWO rebus entry letters, even.
Other choice bullets:
* PATOOTIE. Diminutive var. of PATOOT. So… better clue: {Rear endette??}.
* STOODIN. Was certain this was an error. till @muse cleared that one up. (yo, @muse)
* HDRADIO. Oh, yeah? Learned somethin, there. At first, it was gonna be M&A's staff desperation pick (sorta like a "color radio" claim.)
* BOHR. I'm sorry, CC … no bohring entries are allowed anymore, in the puz.
* NERDIER. This pup's clue comes down pretty day-um hard, on Comic Con folks. I, personally have never gone to Cons, but have been re-visitin my Uncle Scrooge comics collection, of late. Just enjoyed the one about a single bottle cap totally screwin up Shangri-La's economy. So … NERD all over m&e, if U want … cut them Con-goers some slack. snort.
* TOSH/SHONDA. Could not get their crossin H, from their crosses.
* FMS. Not HDS? Confuses the M&A. … fave weeject, on account of resultin controversy.
* ADE = fruity drink. har
Thanx, CC. Real fun SunPuz. Especially liked THECHECKISINTHE4 themer (yo, @RP. I decided on sendin U c-rolls, instead.)
Masked & Anonymo6Us
ReplyDeleteI don't know any newspapers called World, but how about the one where Clark Kent and Lois Lane work? ;-)
@old timer: Le Monde (The World) is a French newspaper. Does that count?
ReplyDeleteMy favorite newspaper name is that of the (now sadly defunct) Memphis Press-Scimitar. Always imagined the slashing blade of First Amendment truth! I don't see it working in a rebus, though.
ReplyDeleteEnjoyable and easy enough that I didn't have time to get annoyed with the puzzle as I often do on Sundays.
ReplyDeleteOkay, so while I may not mail checks much these days, there are still times that I do. I mailed one for school taxes last week. The other options were to take time off work to stand in line at Town Hall or to pay a hefty credit card processing fee.
Having toured the local Frito-LAY plant and tasting an unSALTED potato chip, I guarantee that you can eat just one. Totally tasteless. Different story after salting, of course.
@jae - thanks for mentioning Netflix's "The Get Down" a while ago. I'm two episodes in and like it a lot.
Ugh. I'm surprised by all the luke warm feedback. I look forward to doing my Sunday puzzle at a nice leisurely pace. And at least one aha moment when I suss out the theme. This week's theme revealed itself instantly, and was not remotely clever. Then a strictly mechanical process to, like everyone else, complete in record time. Bummer. Oh well, only 7 days to the next, certainly more challenging, Sunday puzzle.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Marushka, for providing the joke. I'm sort of underwhelmed by it -- maybe you have to have been there to appreciate it -- but thanks for satisfying my curiosity all the same.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed this one immensely until the very end. I couldn't fill in "boasts" because I was trying to reflect the opposite corner that had a rebus in it. Thought that was a hard and fast rule in puzzle construction- that the puzzle reflects, mirrors itself. Am I wrong here? Also "haste" -1across is not a rebus where it's opposite corner 115across is -"dead mail". Definitely tweaks my OCD. Anyone else with me.?
ReplyDeleteAnd "strap on" raised an eyebrow-not really how you apply a seatbelt and a little bawdy...
The juxta of TPS and international toiletries that @'mericans treated us to with his WTO findings reminded me of something I came across that seems, um, apropos. The topic was one that affects world travelers in a most striking way, yet rarely comes up for discussion: the variability in TP characteristics among different nation-states. The two snippets that stuck to memory were (a) England, where one side of TP is smooth and the other absorbent, so it behooves the user to have the smooth side at hand, or risk being smeared; and (b) Russia, which is extremely rough, and consensus was you might as well use sandpaper and be done with it. Would be pleased if anyone can either corroborate the preceding, or add to the sample size.
ReplyDeleteI also remember reading in The Tightwad Gazette about one very thrifty gentleman who would re-roll 2-ply TP into two 1-ply rolls that the rest of his charmin' family was forced to endure. I can only surmise he had time on his hands.
Welcome.
This was one of the more enjoyable Sunday puzzles in a while. What's not to like? Well, according to Rex, we had a rebus too long - too bad the constructor didn't include THE (Philadelphia) Inquirer just to drive him nuts.
ReplyDeleteRare day that we loved an easy puzzle. Got the rebus too quickly off HUEY and FREEDOM. But cluing was so good, theme so solid . . .
The TV in this house is for sports and news, so the 'H' in SHONDA/TOSH was dangerous - but only TOSH sounded like a name to us after an alphabet run. The comments about the gimme-for-us LASTIN inform me that I'm one of the few here who took Accounting 101 in college, I'm surrounded by Liberal Arts majors (and a couple of mad scientists - Hi George B).
@'mericans in Paris - God yes! Tastykakes are their own food group. Important that you do NOT read the nutrition label however.
Great Sunday Zhouqin Burnikel and Will.
A lot of people could learn a thing or two about constructing by solving today's puzzle. Just read the comments People enjoyed it. The fill was light and as entertaining as the theme. I didn't hear anyone complain about slogging through tedious material. There wasn't much to get out of it as a solver but I did enjoy it and it took up little of my time. ZB is a talented constructor. Like I said people could learn from her.
ReplyDeleteActually, "first past the post" is precisely not a ***majority*** voting system, simple or otherwise. It is a plurality voting system, i.e., you win if you have more votes than anyone else, even if it is not a majority of the votes cast. Phrase is used in UK, for the way they elect their members of the House of Commons. It distinguishes UK from, e.g., France, where there is a run-off if no one gets a majority in the first round of voting.
ReplyDeleteI lost many minutes due to one overlooked error, 115A as DEAS MAIL. So dumb. Probably added a good 10+ minutes to my time, which is not frustrating at all. Argh.
ReplyDeleteIn addition to the RADIO leak, CHECK from one of the themers appears in 88A, though in a different sense of the word. Black mark?
ReplyDeleteOn that note, I thought for sure there was a "?" at the end of "Black mark uncovered in a background check" ... I was so proud of the IRISONRECORD answer I came up with that gave me a DNF.
(When one questions constructor judgment — but pupil's a black mark, and an iris only surrounds one, as I said to myself at the time — it's a good indication to think again!)
p.s.
ReplyDeleteClue of mystery poster child …
"Vous ___ ici".
har. Man, M&A was a DEADMALE duck, upon delivery of that there clue. We won't even encroach upon the bounds of desperate restraint (yo, @Lewis), and get into its crossin DETECTO entry.
Re: fridge BIOMASSes. Early tip-off: stink. Unfortunately, this often does not offer clues to precise location of the fridge BIOMASS. Some therefore prefer, in a crowded fridge situation, to wait for the second-tier reliable tipoff: inter-shelf ooze. If yer shelves have ridges at the ends, however, U may then be forced to wait for the third-tier tip-off: HD RADIO waves, visibly emitting from fridge BIOMASS ground zero. Example:
TUTSI TOSH ARCO OTRA, SHONDA …
M&Also
@Leapfinger - 40 years ago, TP in England was basically wax paper and pretty awful. Now, it's just like US. TP in South Africa all had puppies quilted into each sheet, which seemed most perverse.
ReplyDeleteNothing to add today. Rex's review covered most of the bases.
ReplyDeleteI liked the puzzle. Pretty grid design. The NW and SE may have isolated chunks, but I kinda liked it. It was different and, as Rex said, different is good. Liked the long, long theme answers. Liked PATOOTIE. Glad to see SHONDA Rhimes get her crossword debut.
And this week I caught up on the new tv show Atlanta, which (as Alan_S spotted) gives us PaperBoi, the character Rex posted a photo of above. Great show; highly recommended. (Lots of good new tv this year!)
I also like the new term "ick line." I hope that the term won't prove too useful.
p.p.s.s.
ReplyDeleteAsked my Uncle Cletus, who had been in France once, to theorize on what "Vous ETES ici" might mean. After askin who the HD I was (he remembers old stuff much better), he said, with utter confidence:
"Yer summer's crotch itch". QED. Not a very classy SunPuz entry, then, tho…
Was also gonna ask him about DETECTO, but he had gone back to the Panthers game after the drug ads, so I hated to bother his concentration. Guy knows a lot about scales, tho, I'd bet. Big fishin enthusiast, and lots of crappies, around these parts. My theory: DETECTO knife, used in scalin fish. But, I de-guess.
I still say that CC Burnikel is one of my fave constructioneers. How does she dream up all these clever theme ideas? I'm feelin the burn ikel.
M&Also again.
**gruntz**
I can swear in four languages, but til now, never knew that PATOOTIE is synonymous with ass!
ReplyDeleteI thought it just a cute nonsense word. So when I refer to one my grandchildren as "cutie PATOOTIE," I am actually making a reference to his/her ass? Does this make me the Donald Trump,of grandfatherdom?
The rebukes (rebi) were easy enough, but the proper names did me in, so a DNF.
ReplyDeleteFinished while I was at a slow open house today. Like Rex, got the trick at HUEYLEWISANDTHEnews being a SF Bay Area/Santa Cruz resident. From there a pretty easy solve except for MYST (gotta thank my kids for helping me remember that) and the last entry in the NW, where the clue for HOE had me looking for another newspaper name for a trice.
ReplyDeleteLiked PASTICHE, haven't seen that in a while. as for 1820SCH's question, no it does not make you the DT of grandfatherdom. The first definition of PATOOTIE is a girlfriend or pretty girl. So you're OK. BTW the DT's are what we'll suffer from if The Trump becomes POTUS. Just sayin'.
@Stone Colonial House,
ReplyDeleteNo, you ain't Trump.
If you calleda girl a "promiscuous teenager" in your 1st Public Defender cast a girl who was asking for it, like Kathy Shelton, and then laughed because your client past a polygraph and then said you were forever an unbeliever in them,
if you called Gennifer Flowers a liar who then produced a audio tape from Bill trying to convince her to deny the affair,
if you called Paula Jones a liar who was then given a settlement to resolve the lawsuit,
if you called Monica a "stalker" until the dress showed up,
you are totally good.
If you did the above, your just a Hillary. Rest easy.
@Quasi -- "Journal"? "Constitution"? "y'all"? Are you, by chance, a (fellow) Jawjuhn?
ReplyDeleteEntertaining overall!
ReplyDeleteHey there @M&A, your Uncle Cletus (glad to see him back!) was off just a skosh about "Vous ETES ici". It actually translates to "Yer summer's PAST ICHE". A little rash, but given it's now October, it's quite suitable, and in one swell foop, we have our Sunday classy restored.
ReplyDeleteBergen Record is a large daily newspaper in northern NJ, just for the record....
ReplyDeleteWithout trying to be John Greenleal Wittier:
ReplyDeleteI'm very fond of Barbara Frietchie;
She always scratched when she was itchy.
My false step was 87 across putting in "reups" as the answer instead of renews. I was thinking military. At that point I didn't quite have the theme and thought it was something about delivery services. With other clues being mail and post, UPS made sense to me. Couldn't make sense of Huey Lewis and the Ups though! Ugh...
ReplyDeletePoli sci major here. FIRST PAST THE POST was the first thing I thought of when I saw the clue...it's what gave the rebus away. Some of the answers felt a little dated, especially OUTED...? Am I wrong?
ReplyDeleteI'm PRESSed for time today, so: good rebus theme, pretty easy to solve, gotta love any grid with PATOOTIE, lots of threes with attending dreck; I'd give a B, or a first down. DOD is TINA, but not that one. FEY is that charming combo: funny AND hot. Happy Columbus day tomorrow--and GO EAGLES!
ReplyDeleteReminded me of my childhood - slightly dysfunctional. When putting away the new groceries my mother always said to "FIFO" the bread. I had no idea it was an accounting term. And my father always said "You bet your sweet PATOOTIE." I guess to be polite?
ReplyDeleteMYST LAYS?
ReplyDeleteHEY, JUSTFORTHERECORD, at the free ORGY I played
with DIS HOE JANEDOE, ASIF she CAMETO get laid.
ASIRECALL her SLIM beauty
I’d TRY to AIMAT her PATOOTIE,
you SEE, I STOODIN BEHINDTHETIMES that I PAID.
--- SID “SWINDLE” MCGEE
Good theme, nicely done, helped in getting a clean solve--except...FIRSTPASTTHEPOST is not an apt answer for "Like a simple majority voting system". All of the other themers are straightforward and right-on. That one isn't.
ReplyDeleteA voting system is not a race. A campaign is like a race, but a voting system is a process for gathering and counting preferences. Maybe a nit-pick, but its my nit-pick, and I'll stick with it.
Also in the SE, the last letter in was the "H" in the SHONDA/TOSH crossing. Never heard of any of them. Just made a good guess.
As usual, this Sunday exercise took extra time to wade through, and, as always, it was part slog and part fun.
Today's fun-to-slog ratio: 1.O (10 points total; 5 for fun, 5 for slog. Rates as Good.)
Nice Sunday puzzle today with a tight rebus theme and many good clue/answer combos. Don't you just hate it though when a commenter points out that a word in some answer also appears in the clue to some other answer (radio). I mean, who really cares? Plus, you got PATOOTIE in there.
ReplyDeleteIn another instance, if Americans spelled "cheque" correctly, the other silly little objection wouldn't be a nit to pick.
On another Canadian note, FIRST PAST THE POST is the method by which MPs are selected in our political system. We're currently considering proportional representation, preferential ballot, and maybe some others in an attempt to not have a government form a majority with less than 50% of the votes. I think the US should consider something different from the Electoral College (what does that mean, anyway?) It's possible that in the November election one of the nominees will achieve that dubious distinction. Again.
Good puzzle, C.C.
Even though this is a Gimmick puzzle, and I dislike them, this one wasn't bad. Probably because the gimmick wasn't a strain on the rest of the grid. Anyway, I liked it enough to finish it.
ReplyDeleteI will forgive a MN constructor for paper jamming so many letters into one square. At least they were all different. Couldn’t find room for Journal, Tribune, Picayune, Dispatch, or Bulletin?
ReplyDeleteASIRECALL, all of my OLDSCORES were settled at the time. Even a coupla JANEDOEs.
I’ve been a Talking Heads fan for a long long time, so it’s nice to see that yeah baby TINA Weymouth finally gets some recognition.
BTW the HD in HDRADIO is not for Hi-Def. It stands for Hybrid Digital. One station on that in this market is Radio Heartland from MPR, but if you’re not close enough to their tower to receive the HDRADIO signal, streaming is your best bet. I recommend you all try streaming Radio Heartland. Satisfaction guaranteed.
NOPROB with this puz. And C.C.’s puzzles are no BOHR.
A rebus puzzle even I could like.
ReplyDeletePut me in the camp that rooties for PATOOTIE.
Had rOE before DOE.
There is a newspaper in Coos Bay (Oregon) called The World.
If you put AM instead of FM, you get a really odd answer for the election question. Just sayin'.
Was looking for "The dog ate my homework." ;-)
Diana, Lady-in-Waiting for Crosswords
The Bergen Record.
ReplyDelete@Conrad: most are FM, or were you just having us on? I think of it like botanical names of plants - never plural.
ReplyDeleteI depend on putting myself to sleep with the weekend puzzle for most of the week; this one I finished in a half hour, so add me to the group who got fastest time ever on this. It was a fun half-hour, though.
It felt like it took cien anos to finish this poorly constructed and ultimately not-fun puzzle. CC will go on my list of don’t bother constructors
ReplyDelete