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Relative difficulty: Normal Monday (maybe slightly on the easy side)
Theme answers:
- BILLY CRYSTAL (20A: Actor who has hosted the Oscars nine times, a number second only to Bob Hope) (Why is that trivia appended to the end of the clue??! Weird. Adds nothing.)
- RAUL JULIA (36A: He played Gomez in 1991's "The Addams Family")
- JOHN CANDY (41A: Comic actor who was an original cast member of SCTV)
nounnoun: amatol
• • •
I felt slower than I ended up being, largely because I drew a total blank on an important, corner-rounding word: AMATOL. I just don't know what that is. Or didn't. I've seen it. I'm sure it's been an answer before. I had a small inkling of the letter involved ... but one of them was a "Y" (AMATYL?), so I didn't put anything in until I got all the crosses, and at least one of the crosses (ORIENT) didn't come easily. I basically had to go elsewhere and then loop back around and fill that eastern section from below. I also had CARA before CARO, and ICON before INFO (54D: Help desk offering) (I think my brain was thinking "desktop"). I also completely blanked on SANDY (32D: Devastating hurricane of 2012). Utterly. Totally. Five-letter hurricane = IRENE. After that, I'm out. And then the -ING suffix on PARTYING (39D: Spring break activity in Miami Beach or Cabo) eluded me completely because I was thinking of something very beach-specific (PARTY BOAT?), and so once again, Acrosses to the rescue. And still, my time was 2:50, which is something close to dead normal.
Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld
[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]
Hmm, BOBHOPE would've fit the theme as well. Finished sub-5 for like the third time ever. Needed the crosses for AMATOL as well.
ReplyDeleteI totally thought of Haircut 100 when I hit the reveal, and it served its purpose with that gender mashup in the themers. I'm no constructor, but have thought of a theme using guys with feminine first names: You know, Leslie, Meredith, Joyce, Ornette. etc. Just throwing that out there. Nice Monday effort with very little junk.
ReplyDeleteI hit that NEO CON cross reference early and thought, not again! But all is well.
Now to baseball, JOLTIN' Joe DiMaggio was married to Marilyn Monroe. Top that! Seriously, I was lookin' at his stats and he was one of the greatest hitters in the history of the game. Among his many all time records, he has a career strikeout to home run ratio of 1.02. He never had 40 strikeouts in a season. Today, according to my phone, 140 MLB batters have fanned 40 or more times and we are not yet to the middle of June.
PARTYING became a verb form in the 70s, I'm guessing. Any etymologists out there?
Beginning at 10D, I'm calling that a facial grid spanner. Feel free to use any of this stuff. No need for credit.
On the easy side of medium for me too. Amusing and pretty smooth, liked it.
ReplyDeleteI liked this puzzle by @Dan Margolis (how could I not, with LAB as the final entry?), and am glad that @Rex did too (and isn't SANDY the name of his wife?). I'm a bit curious how the information about Miami Beach or Cabo adds value to the PARTYING clue. UVULA just above UVEA was an interesting juxtaposition. AMATOL is not an alcohol, as one might suspect from the name, but rather a portmanteau word from ammonia and and the toluene part of TNT (trinitrotoluene). SUDS is an upgrade over yesterday's SUDSES.
ReplyDeleteThe CARO clue refers to this famous Verdi aria (clip of @Maria Callas). I'll leave it to others (hello @Larry Gilstrap) to reminisce about JOLTIN' Joe, but can't help sharing this clip of @BILLY CRYSTAL taking an at bat in a Yankees uniform (BTW, his last name could be used in a chemistry-based theme as well!)
On other fronts, it was a pleasure to meet (or remeet) a number of regular readers of this blog at Sunday's Minnesota Crossword tournament, which was a big success. Congratulations to all of the participants, especially the various winners, and much appreciation for the quality puzzles that were offered, with many of the constructors (alphabetically, @Chris Adams, @Victor Barocas, @C.C. Burnikel, @David Liben-Nowell, @David Hanson, @Tom Pepper, @Andrew Ries, and @Jeffrey Wechsler) personally appearing.
Appropriate that EVIL scrambles into VILE.
ReplyDeleteMany folks say JIvE when it's JIBE.
Be careful how you clue ORIENT.
Is that all a NEO-CON is? I've heard them described with a whole lot more VILE terms than simply that....
Some other good stuff today--UVULA, UVEA, MOAN, RIFT, OBSTACLE, PUNY, GRIN, DAUB--seems like we've had a run of better than average Mondays.
@felix fortinbras- good call on Bob Hope. I didn’t think of him. And he qualifies as an actor. So people like Ralph Lauren, Buddy Holly, Pete Rose, and James Joyce wouldn’t work with this group. Or Babe Ruth.
ReplyDeleteAnd speaking of Yankees, JAM JAR feels yankee-ish to me this southern girl. The only time I use the word JAM (and it’s just in my head) is when I’m in the aisle considering all the choices. JAM is better than jelly ‘cause it spreads better. I buy JAM. But once it’s home, it’s “jelly.” So I have a top shelf full of jelly jars in case I have to save something like bacon fat or that last bit of buttermilk because your son needs the container for target practice.
PARTYING went in with no problem. Buncha SUDS-fueled SANDY, BERSERK BEASTS waking up on someone’s floor squinting around the room looking for their keys and ID. For their phone so they can check the date.
I liked JOLTIN over ALARM.
@Live Vile – I always mess up and say “jive” when it should be JIBE. I think you called me out on it once, but you put it under the veil of some kind of joke.
And 38A could've been clued “____ Horny.” Ahem.
If you put some loose powder on your LASHES before the mascara, they look thicker. At least that’s what I’m telling myself. Your day is now complete.
Thanks, Dan. Enjoyed it.
This comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteNot bad but coming on the heels of yesterday's cross-reference disaster could maybe have been placed better on another day or another week.
ReplyDeleteI like the cross of ARTY and PARTY, the answer BESERK, and I learned AMATOL.
ReplyDeleteWhat a simple smile-producing theme, one I've never seen before, and with a perfect revealer. Even after doing puzzles for so many years, I'm still amazed when a brand new theme pops up, considering the sheer number of published puzzles. Now, if up the road, someone comes up with a Girl Meets Boy puzzle (MEG RYAN, JAMIE LEE CURTIS, JENNIFER LAWRENCE), it may be a very good puzzle, but won't get the originality points that this one has. Props on that, Dan, and thank you for an enjoyable start to the week!
This was delightful, a nice palate cleanser from yesterday, though AMATOL sticks out for its Monday inappropriateness. Another SUDS(es) appearance.
ReplyDeleteSince the clueing for ORIENT and ORIENTal have been a topic of discussion on the blog I just thought I'd check on the latter's status as the province in the Democratic Republic of Congo. I lived in the district of Bas-Uele which was part of that province. Colonization led to some pretty intense politics of divving up geographical administrative units and naming them. ORIENTale (as it's called in French) has flipflopped in an out of being an acceptable name for that province four times. The name was used to designate its location in the East. I'm sure 10 years from now we will have similar flip flops in the meanings of terms that are now considered derogatory and those that are not.
ReplyDeleteBas Uele (+7 other districts) before provinces were created -> ORIENTale -> Stanleyville (- 3 districts that became a separate province)
-> ORIENTale -> Uele (+ 2 others) -> ORIENTale -> Haut-Zaïre -> ORIENtale -> Bas-Uele + 3 others
Just puts in perspective the problems we have here in New York City with geographically nonsensical groupings based on politics.
Really, really did not like AMATOL. Not a word I've ever heard, am likely to hear again or am ever going to work into casual conversation. For that and for BERNE I am less fond of this puzzle than most so posters so far. I also always resent AMAJ and it's ilk.
ReplyDeleteI do like the theme.
DALIOLEOLEALI.
ALIENs the second movie was my all time favorite scary movie. I went by myself and sat in the front row and unrepentantly screamed in ALARM when the ALIENs popped out every time it seemed safe.
ReplyDeleteAs for BESERK crossing BOYMEETSGIRl, I immediately thought of that link that someone posted a few days back to the manifesto written by the Isla Vista Killer. Ugh. Now that was an EVIL VILE view of women.
Thankfully we have OLÉ OLÉ and PARTYING to counterbalance the EVIL VILE ALIEN in the puzzle. I had no In grad school, we always had to circle dance to the OLÉ OLÉ OLÉ OLÉ "hot hot hot" song ar least once per party. I had no idea how many OLÉ OLÉ, OLÉ OLÉ OLÉ, and OLÉ OLÉ OLÉ OLÉ songs there are. I found a Bollywood style Indian OLÉ OLÉ song and discovered that Dezi Arnez's "Babalu-Aye" included OLÉ OLÉ OLÉ OLÉ.
And, Loren, I believe I was wearing a pair of Levi jeans at the time....
ReplyDeleteFinished the puzzle but didn't understand the theme. Didn't know what a rom-com was...then realized it stands for romantic comedy???
ReplyDeleteWe stubbed our toe twice in two days!!
Same difficulty with the explosive. Also sat with "mesa" too long before fixing it.
ReplyDeleteI didn't remember the Aladdin prince's name, so the HALE-ALI cross was a bit of a hairy moment for me. "In fine fettle" really means nothing to me, and I don't quite know how HALE fits at the answer to that clue. Hmph. Othat than that, AMATOL was really the only "wha?" moment for me. I have no idea what AMATOL is. Probably out of place for a Monday.
ReplyDeleteI did enjoy the theme and concur on the "ah hah!" moment when the revealer revealed itself. That's good stuff. JOHNCANDY might be a stretch as I haven't met someone named CANDY in... man, ever? But hey, good enough. That was one of those good, fun themes that is genuinely enjoyable. More of that, NYT, thank you!
Nice Mon. puzzle. I imagine that this fun grid might be very satisfying for the novice solvers.
ReplyDeleteLike @chefbea I did not know what a rom-com was until it became clear later.
I am surprised at how many names fit the theme. Having a name like that must make for a lot of mistakes on those last-name-first forms.
@Nate - I've never met a CANDY, and I could only think of three, and they are all men (Moldanado and Cummings from baseball, and a character in Of Mice and Men).
ReplyDeleteFWIW -- We have our very own CANDY at the Central Park tennis courts. So, yes, it is a girl's name.
ReplyDeleteAre there really all those OLE, OLE, OLE, OLE songs out there, @Aketi? I had no idea.
You notice I'm not talking about the puzzle. That's because I found it dullsville, with just about no thinking required.
AMATOL on Monday... with that as the start of the week, what will Saturday bring?
ReplyDeletePARTYING is a debut, go figure. Speaking of debuts,@jae thank you for the 12/21/1996 suggestion. I just did it last night on the tablet. It was 1:18:02 to a clean grid so a great solve. That NE corner was a bear. That one section had three complete unknowns so I was able to whittle it down to two squares. While I couldn't be completely sure I really felt it had to be the two I picked and I got the "congrats" immediately. Interestingly I just did a Friday from 1/7/1994 by none other than Fred Piscop. This one got me in the NE to the tune of three squares. If you haven't done it already you might want to give it a try.
ReplyDeleteYeah, nice revealer, so a fun puzzle. Speaking of which, I'm still puzzling about that picture of Barney Frank @Rex put in. Is it meant to suggest that romcoms can also be boy-meets-boy or girl-meets-girl? If so, too subtle by half.
ReplyDelete@Nate, I'm not sure what a fettle is, but I think it's some part of a horse, and if they're fine, then the horse is healthy, i.e., HALE. I think there should be a club where we get together once a month to work these old expressions into our conversation, just to keep them alive.
JIBE is also what you do on a sailboat to make the boom come flying across and hit you on the head. Trust me on this one. I don't think the two meanings are related.
Very good for a Monday puzzle. I never heard of anatol. ENYA is one of those puzzle only words/names. I am sure nobody here ever heard of her except from her appearances in many daily and Sunday puzzles.
ReplyDelete@Kenneth Wurman.. I love Enya...even have a CD of hers!!!
ReplyDelete@Aketi (6:54) -- I'm wracking my brain trying to figure out what "problems" we have in NYC due to "geographically nonsensical groupings based on politics." The Upper West Side?? Tribeca?? Carnegie Hill?? Do we have any geographical groupings at all, nonsensical or not, based on politics? I can't think of any. I'll probably kick myself three times over and say Duh, when you tell me the answer. But as of now, I'm completely baffled.
ReplyDelete@ Nancy, some of the school districts and some of the voting districts are bizarre. Then there is the redistricting of the PSAL high school sports teams so that they ping pinged between the end of the line in Queens and the end of the line in the Bronx.
Delete@jberg,
ReplyDeleteYou might be thinking of a horse's fetlock. Fettle is just a synonym of health.
Had some trouble because I tend not to remember actors or singers names. Watch them and listen to them but often forget their names in between. So, didn't get RAUL JULIA and since close to AMATOL had some trouble in that area.
ReplyDeleteGreatly miss JOHN CANDY. When getting the theme recalled gospel singer CANDY Christmas, who I might not listen to very often but remember the name as I thought it was made up considering what she does. But her first name is indeed CANDY and her married name is Christmas, afaik.
Overall, liked it.
@Lewis
ReplyDeleteRe: Girl meets boy
You could add Etta James, Olivia Newton John, Jennifer Lawrence and, of course, RCA Victor to your list.
An ADEPT Monday puzzle with an original theme and solid fill. A welcome change of pace after yesterday's cross reference calamity.
ReplyDeleteHAVEI looks like the name of a foreign city and JAMJAR is a man who lives there and occasionally cries OLEOLE.
@lms - loved your take on 38a.
Oops, forgot Shari Lewis.
ReplyDeleteHow does one distinguish between jam, jelly, preserves, and marmalade?
ReplyDelete@Jelly Roll Morton, I'm damned if I know.
ReplyDeleteCheck Wikipedia, idiot.
ReplyDeleteFeck off, alla yas.
ReplyDeleteWell, this is much better! I finished quickly and cleanly, even knew JOLTIN Joe! I learned AMATOL, and had fun, once I saw the theme, waiting to see who would be next to show up. By the way, RAUL JULIA is awesome in "Pretty Woman."
ReplyDelete@jberg, the idea is to yell "Jibe ho," and then maybe think about sheeting in a bit to control that boom. Clearing the cockpit, especially when loaded with children, is frowned upon. You probably know that.
Didn't know AMATOL at all and needed the crosses to guess JOLTIN. So a Mondayish time of 12 minutes for me, and my record is 8. Glad OFL liked it.
ReplyDeleteJust spent some time with a CANDY. I think back in the day almost every girl whose last name was Kane or Caine got that nickname, though their real first name was not Candace. Most of them probably gave up the CANDY once in high school, or college at the latest. There was a CANDY Kane in my Junior High.
I miss John CANDY for sure. He his big break as part of the SCTV show, before moving on to SNL as so many SCTV alumni did.
Does anyone remember humor?
ReplyDeleteI've only been on a large sailboat once, in the Pacific Ocean, and was taught to duck low if there was a JIBE coming. I also learned that a sailor will avoid a JIBE if possible, by coming about instead. Still, sometimes if the wind is at your rear, a JIBE cannot be avoided.
ReplyDeleteHa! HA! Rex clamoring for more female constructors, then takes pot shots at today's mini constructor, who is, wait for it. An 11 year old girl!!
ReplyDeleteTough guy Rex bullying an 11-year old girl.
What a dirt again wussy. QED
@Kenneth Wurman, when I'm working on one of last week's KOANs, I like to put on an ENYA CD. It's a chill pill for the ears.
ReplyDeleteThis was easy but I liked it. The theme was sweet and the themers weren't overly obvious. I liked RAULJULIA best, but JOHNCANDY hits the poignancy note.
It's always a good idea to throw one curveball into the Monday mix to make sure the experienced solvers are staying awake. AMATOL did the job today. Quit nodding off @Nancy!
Dan Margolis. Cool-soundin name. He should stick around and do lots more puzs, with a name like that. Is Margolis by any chance an obscure girl's name? That'd be somethin.
ReplyDeleteWish I had a name that sounded that cool. M&Agolis … marvolis.
Primo run of silent letter RIFFS for the finales, with GNAT & KNOTS. And a pretty decent "I" count today, at 12, btw. Actually, that's just sorta a setup, so M&A can say "HAVE I, will travel". har
Theme is one of them neat dealys where U are bewitched into findin other primo unused examples. Reveal is perfectomundo. Rodeo. Send in the clowns.
M&A collateral theme damage challenge: Find someone famous with two unisex first names as their full name. Example: PAT RILEY, or some such. Except find a better one.
Impressive weeject stacks, in the NE/SW. staff weeject pick: HAJ. Could conceivably be a boy or girl's first name. HAJ HAVEI. That name has a nice ring to it. HAJ MARGOLIS … even better.
monpUzthUmbsUp.
Thanx, Mr. Margolis. Smooth #2.
Masked & Anonymo5Us
p.s.
PuzEatinSpouse and M&A kinda extra-enjoyed this here puztheme, as today happens to be our 41st gettin-hitched anniversary. Just sayin.
**gruntz**
(Fave Margolis: Stuart, as Jim Rockford's shifty pal Angel.)
DeleteMargolin.
DeleteIs AMATOL sort of like amyl nitrate?
ReplyDelete"Candy" was one of my favorite books growing up!! Lol-- and let's not forget Candy Darling, the Warhol starlet. Fun Monday Mayhem, with perhaps a faint nod to Joan Crawford in "Berserk"? Lots to chew on today!
ReplyDeleteMals @ 11:08 ~ I think you're confusing Raul Julia with Hector Elonzado (sp?) as the actor in "Pretty Woman."
ReplyDeleteThe biggest danger for sailors is an accidental JIBE, when the boom sweeps across the deck without any warning. This can happen if there's an unexpected wind shift or change in the boat's heading.
ReplyDeleteSailors have been killed by the boom hitting them in the head during an accidental JIBE. The enormous forces generated can also bring down the whole rig, boom, mast, sails and all. Not good. I'm always as nervous as a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs when running downwind and constantly remind crew to be on the alert for an accidental JIBE.
Easy enough puzzle, but presumably this is directed at an educated audience - at least to grade school level?
ReplyDeleteA GNAT is a tiny, irritating FLY of no specific species.
It might be prey for an itsy bitsy spider but it can't be a spider.
Different subphyla entirely. Maybe this is nit-picking, but I believe the Magic School Bus covers the difference between arachnids and insects, so Grade 1 level knowledge?
Remember Candy O?
ReplyDeleteI knew a girl named CANDY Kaine, yup. Maybe we should all just have token names until we reach sixteen, when we can choose our own names. I'm perfectly happy with what my parents named me but I'm just sayin'...
ReplyDeleteAnd I know at least two songs about girls names CANDY. The Boss's Candy's Room and Morphine's Candy. And oh yeah, Iggy Pop's Candy. Maybe a more popular song name than actually found out in the wild.
AMATOL - if I came across that somewhere, I would suspect it of being a GeriTOL rival rather than an explosive; I had no idea.
Nice sophomore NYT puzzle, Dan Margolis.
@m&a -- Congrats to U!
ReplyDelete@jc66 -- Love RCA Victor - hah!
AMATOL was a popular explosive combination in World War I and World War II. Apparently, the warheads on the German V1 and V2 rockets used amatol. Just a historical perspective.
ReplyDeleteOldfloppy
ReplyDeleteAmyl Nitrate is a barbiturate.
AMonium Toluene is a bitch. Kind of like Michael Sharp who did indeed take a cheap shot at today's mini puzzle's constructor who is in fact a little girl.
@Anon 1:13, the clue is biter, not spider. A GNAT can be an itsy bitsy biter, so yeah it works, even for 1st graders.
ReplyDeleteThanks to Dan Margolis, This Monday offering was a PENNE FOR our thoughts! OLE! OLE!
ReplyDeleteTeedmn, Did Candy Kaine like her liquor? ;-)
ReplyDelete@Various Anons Saying that SEXT as an answer from an 11 yo girl has an ick factor isn't exactly trashing the 11yo girl.
ReplyDelete@Kenneth Wurman a quick Wiki check: ENYA has sold 26.5 million records in the US and 76 million worldwide, which puts her ahead of some less popular artists such as Aretha Franklin, Bob Marley, Nirvana, and The Police. I personally have two Bob Marley records, one by The Police, and four by Enya.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous3:05
ReplyDeleteHe said it was an ew factor, but the point iservice it was a criticism.
He supposed to be tested champion for all things distaff. Now all of sudden he gets moral and indignant.
If Fox News had made a similar observation about the puzzle he call them patronizing or prudish.
No praise for the city structure tor, just a judgemental "ew".
Come on.....
Anonymous3:05
ReplyDeleteHe said it was an ew factor, but the point is, it was a criticism.
He's supposed to be the champion for all things distaff. Now all of sudden he gets moral and indignant. Spare me. His love of the prurient is well known. He brags about his smutty pulp novels for Heaven' sake.
If Fox News had made a similar observation about the puzzle he'd call them patronizing or prudish.
No praise for the constructor, just a judgmental "ew". That should have women lining up to submit puzzles to the Times. Just the cause he was pushing, that is flogging to death, with links to that piffle by his gal pal Laura was it?
But by all means, anon, stick up for him. I'm guessing you're a creep too.
Candy is often a nickname for Candace or Candice -- I'm pretty sure I've seen Ms. Bergen of "Murphy Brown" fame referred to familiarly as Candy.
ReplyDeleteSandy was a "superstorm" not a hurricane
ReplyDelete@ "M&A collateral theme damage challenge: Find someone famous with two unisex first names as their full name. Example: PAT RILEY, or some such. Except find a better one."
ReplyDeleteNot sure if Tracy Morgan is better or not but its all I've got. You're welcome and happy gettin-hitched day.
I have a cousin Candy so...there's another.
Nice puzzle - thanks D.M.
Please, nobody name their daughter Candy.
ReplyDelete@Bill L. -- yep. An excellent one! TRACY MORGAN is a showbiz dude, like the rest of today's theme subjects. Knew there had to be at least one great example out there. Well found.
ReplyDeleteThanx,
M&Agolis
Real classy Michael, real classy.
ReplyDelete@Evil Vile wearing Levis - Live and Let Live.
ReplyDeleteAs for Neo-Conservatives - Mostly I call them "not conservatives."
@M&A and PuzEatinSpous - Congrats.
Finally - @Anonymice who can't understand what they read - If you actually read what Rex wrote on Twitter about SEXT in the mini you might notice that he didn't criticize the constructor. He, for the first time in minutes, criticized the people editing the puzzles.
@Z
ReplyDeleteNO. He didn't. Give lick Sharp's balls somewhere else.
L
@old timer: re. JIBE:
ReplyDeleteYou remind me of a wonderful piece in the Blue Hill Times many many years ago entitled "how to sale". After a long paragraph describing "attack" for turning around, it went on with: "there is another way to turn around, it is called a jibe. There are only 2 commands for a jibe: the 1st is 'Lookout' and the second is 'Duck', and you do not pause between the two."
Puzzle - bleah. I hate names. Knew 1 of 3, Billy.
@anon 12:45. Thanks for catching my error.
ReplyDeleteWas Sandy a hurricane? I thought that it lost its windspeed upon making landfall, thus technically not a hurricane.
ReplyDeleteThe comment by @Teedmn about Candy Kaine reminded me of kids I went to high school with: Smoky and Rocky Mountain and, yes, their sister, Candy.
ReplyDeleteSandy was a Cat 3 hurricane when it went by my house. Not everybody lives in New York.
ReplyDeletePUNY OBSTACLE
ReplyDeleteLADY, when BOYMEETSGIRL they RESORT to PARTYING alone,
they’ll UNDO buttons and PEEL FOR a GRIN and a MOAN.
--- IONA DALI
The cluing for 13D (& 21 Military hawk) had me for a moment until I realized it was a compound answer with 21D.
ReplyDeleteSure didn't feel like a Monday to me. NEO CON?? I'm guessing that's short for "neo-conservative." Whatever. Apparently they advocate the use of AMATOL (?) so I know this much: I ain't one.
ReplyDeleteIs JAMJAR a thing? I doubt it. They're Mason jars, and they hold jelly (made from only the juice of the fruit), JAM (juice + crushed bits of the fruit) and preserves (whole or halved fruit in juice).
Then we have the RMK at 22-down, and various other flotsam in the fill. The strangely kind tone of OFL's post makes me think he's buddies with today's constructor. Normally he'd rip this grid a new one.
Plenty of DOD candidates this time around, including one in the clues (Sigourney Weaver, honorable mention). JULIA Roberts has worn the sash numerous times; let's go with CRYSTAL Gayle today.
I too wish that Bob Hope could have wormed his way into the theme, but...it is what it is. Bogey.
Fun with some Monday crunch: AMATOL and RAULJULIA (great actor).
ReplyDeleteAffectedly creative is ARTY? Okay.
Neat theme.
Yes, @Lefty, I've seen ARTY, as clued, in lots of puzzles and it always puzzles me, too. I don't believe I have ever heard someone call somebody "arty." Artie, yes - ARTY, no.
ReplyDeleteDidn't find the puzzle difficult, but did think some of the answers were a bit crunchy. I'm thinking of a commenter who recently wrote about being a newbie solver. He/she was thrilled to complete a puzzle and grok the theme. Methinks this puzzle would daunt a newbie. I mean, even @Rex didn't know AMATOL.
Off to read more comments.
Diana, Lady-in-Waiting for ARTY, skyey comments
Easy yet curiously enjoyable Monday puzzle, with a never-seen-before theme and a perfect revealer. The fill was just fine, although when I wrote in AMAJ, I just knew that @Spacey would be less than pleased.
ReplyDeleteMy mother used to save JAM JARS for canning purposes, although she also used Mason jars. She also made jam.
The use of the word ORIENT, as clued, makes me think of one of the more distasteful words I've heard used: orientate. Anyone here ever say that? Orientate this!
Anyway, good start to the week.
I actually got the theme before filling in the revealer. Girls’ names as last names, very ARTY.
ReplyDeleteSaw an episode of Laugh-In recently that was TINYTIM’s debut. Ah, what passed FOR humor 50 years ago.
A double dose of OLEOLE with no SvenSven or LenaLena.
LADY Gaga could bat her LASHES at me any day. Yeah baby. Or Natasha Khan aka Bat FOR LASHES, who opened FOR Depeche Mode a coupla years back. Surprised OFL didn’t linl on of her videos, hipstr that he thinks he is.
No real IRE from me. Always like when BOYMEETSGIRL.
Just testing to see if my avatar comes up this time.
ReplyDelete@Lady Di, @rondo--
ReplyDeleteArtsy and artsy-fartsy, but not arty.
@Lefty (& @Rondo)
ReplyDeleteBelieve it or not, I looked in my trusty OED and there it is, with a quote from G. Orwell!, ARTY. Pretty much as clued.
I looked for artsy, too, as I've seen that before in puzzleland as well. Nope. Not as a stand-alone entry. It is listed under "art," as in artsy-craftsy. I, too, recognize artsy-fartsy. Much more common to my ear than ARTY.
But as stand alones, ARTY and artsy are not in my peeps' lexicons. Yeah, what do they know?
Lady Di - Stay skyey
@Lady Di--
ReplyDeleteI had looked up ARTY in my trusty M-W, and it is defined consistent with the clue, but I didn't care for it. ARTsY is also in M-W, but it defers to ARTY. Still don't care for it.
@Lefty - I say nae to ARTY as well. Obviously, the powers that be haven't asked for our expert opinions. Sometimes the world just isn't paying attention.
ReplyDeleteLD