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Ogden Nash's two-l beast / MON 9-18-17 / Start end of Greek spelling of Athena / ex of marla ivana informally
Monday, September 18, 2017
Constructor: Tom McCoy
Relative difficulty: Easy
THEME: color-bodyparted — themers follow that basic pattern:
Theme answers:
- WHITE-KNUCKLED (20A: Visibly tense)
- GREEN-EYED (32A: Extremely jealous)
- RED-HANDED (44A: In the very act)
- YELLOW-BELLIED (56A: Deplorably cowardly)
Europa, in Greek mythology, the daughter either of Phoenix or of Agenor, king of Phoenicia. The beauty of Europa inspired the love of Zeus, who approached her in the form of a white bull and carried her away from Phoenicia to Crete. There she bore Zeus three sons: Minos, ruler of Crete; Rhadamanthys, ruler of the Cyclades Islands; and, according to some legends, Sarpedon, ruler of Lycia. She later married Asterius, the king of Crete, who adopted her sons, and she was worshipped under the name of Hellotis in Crete, where the festival Hellotia was held in her honour. (britannica)
• • •
This seems like a theme that's been done, but not with these words, or in this exact way, I guess. YELLOW-BELLIED is the only one I really like. The only one that stands strong alone. RED-HANDED needs somebody who's been "caught," WHITE-KNUCKLED needs to ditch the "D" and then put itself before "RIDE," and GREEN-EYED needs "MONSTER" to be anything close to plausible. I never got a good solving rhythm going—felt like I was all over the place, and also solving my way through mud. But then the clock said 2:39 which is a well-below-average time for me. Weird.
Wife is annoyed at how frequently KNEEL is clued in relation to knighthood (21D: Prepare to be knighted). "Where's the Kaepernick clue!?" Good question.
Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld
[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]
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122 comments:
@Rex, at least for today's @Tom McCoy puzzle, ERIC (18-Across) was not clued as "Ivanka's younger brother" [as in the December 16, 2016 puzzle; link is to your review with particular attention to the closing paragraph].
I'm mostly a Monday/Tuesday solver, and I blew through this one in 5:51, which is significantly faster than I've ever done before. So yeah...this is probably the easiest NYT puzzle I've ever seen.
Jeez, Michael! Your Trump Derangement Syndrome is entertaining to watch. But it's made you become unhinged. Sad.
I must be getting the hang of tablet solving. This came in at what I would consider my average time on paper for a Monday. The reason could just be that this was super easy. Off the top of my head I could list 10 across entries that I never read the c!ues for because the downs just dropped in. EUROPA was the standout of that group. I'll still be at the firehouse tomorrow so Tuesday's puzzle will be done on the tablet as well.
Always nice to come to a crossword blog and be bombarded by someone's political hatred. RUBIO disgusts and offends? Some people need to grow up.
Grow up, Rex.
When I want puerile political commentary I'll watch CNN.
I come here for crossword puzzle commentary.
THOU is you in some Bibles, certainly not all of them. How about those folks who are LILY LIVERED or BLACK HEARTED or BLUE BLOODED or ORANGE SKINNED? They get no respect?
Hey, nice enough Monday effort. When I finish quickly, I credit my burgeoning intellect, not the simplicity of the puzzle. That's my story and I'm sticking with it.
ENERGY drink, ENERGY BAR, pep pill, performance enhancing drug, etc. That's a food group? A Diet Coke gives me the jangles. What do real athletes eat for an ENERGY boost? I'm guessing Daniel Murphy of the Washington Nationals eats sunflower seeds, based on what I saw tonight.
As some of the commenters here remind us, being "political" apparently means criticizing conservative viewpoints and/or politicians, or even just questioning the trappings of blind "patriotism". (Cf. The blackballing of Colin Kaepernick, as hinted at in this post, despite the continued employment of at least half a dozen far worse QBs in the NFL.) I'd call it the conservative version of political correctness, except that I'm also told only liberals can be PC.
Totally agree re the "cute" nickname. We're way past the point where that's funny, if it ever was. Thanks for this blog. I almost stopped solving at that point. Going anonymous because I don't feel like being trolled.
4:49. Personal Record and first NYTX in less than 5:00.
I totally fell for the misdirect on 2D and put in “schwa” for ALPHA. Bet we’re legion this morning.
Rex – I agree a little bit on the GREEN-EYED needing a monster, but not enough to worry about it. I disagree on the WHITE KNUCKLED needing any certain noun, though.
We waited, white knuckled, to see if her energy bar would come back up again this year as she sang the aria.
Tom honored the silentness of the K in KNUCKLE with the K in KNEEL. That this pleases me kinda hints that I need more hobbies.
Fair point about the KNEEL – SIR cluing, by the way. When else would we kneel? The proposal clue has gone quiet recently. I sometimes kneel to talk to a little kid so everyone watching will think I’m all good with kids and stuff even though they frighten me.
On IDED - I think a lot about adding ED to truncated forms of words. Maybe it’s because my students (and bajillions of others) cheerfully use the apostrophe now to mark plurals and eschew it to mark contractions, I’m kinda liking using it for these problematic verbs:
After Eric id’ed the perp, he was hogtied and carried off.
After Eric ided the perp, he was hogtied and carried off.
After Eric ID’ed the perp, he was hogtied and carried off.
After Eric IDed the perp, he was hogtied and carried off.
I’ve said here before, “mic” is even more problematic ‘cause you can’t just treat it like picnic or panic:
Rubio was micked and ready to speak when the crowd began to pelt him with pitas.
Rubio was mic’ed and ready to speak when the crowd began to pelt him with pitas.
Rubio was miced and ready to speak when the crown began to pelt him with pitas.
Rubio was mic’d and ready to speak when the crowd began to pelt him with pitas.
Rubio was miked and ready to speak when the crowd began to pelt him with pitas.
Can you imagine the loss of dignity at being hogtied? What could you say? Snort derisively and tell everyone you've been hogtied by better people than this before?
Hard not to see GATED and think “blue-blooded.”
Those of you who have donated to my classroom books – thanks so much. I’m already designing lesson units for them!
Tom – nice one. The epitome of what a Monday should be. Glad Will oked this one.
Easy solid Mon. Would have been easier if I hadn't tried power before ENERGY. Liked it.
@Loren, why would poor Eric be hogtied for doing the right thing :)? Your lists are thought-provoking. I vote for IDed and miked. No need for apostrophes. Being miced sounds like a horrible form of execution.
Good Monday puzzle. Very easy, which is good for newbies. But I do think that every puzzle, even on Monday, should have at least one "?" clue and this one does not. Will Shortz, please add that to your checklist.
The clue for 14A "two-l" beast has maybe a little misdirect with the sans serif font used by the NYT. It could be a capital i, not a small L. Why should we readers be forced to accept fonts that need context to distinguish between a capital l and a small l? English is already hard enough!
No problem for me with all the themers. Liked them.
These group-think snowflakes who throw around the labels "nazi' and "Hitler" are too easy to trigger. Not even a challenge anymore.
@rex -- "This seems like a theme that's been done before", IMO, is something that shouldn't be said unless it can be backed up. It places undeserved doubt on the constructor's creativity. Give Tom credit here for coming up with a theme that's never been done before, which is not easy to do. Perhaps the puzzle you were thinking of was one (7/16/07) in the New York Sun by Byron Walden, with the theme answers LIGHT FINGERED, TIGHT FISTED, RIGHT HANDED, and WHITE KNUCKLED. It does have a similar ring, but it's quite different from combining colors and body parts. That was an unfair knock, Rex.
The theme was cute and Monday perfect -- and new. Some nice answers for me were GNASH, AMALGAM, and ABYSS. With RUBIO and THE DONALD in the puzzle, we could have had an entirely different theme if that RED HANDED had been SMALL HANDED.
Don't forget the latest label of the lazy snowflake mind - "white supremacist".
Yes, no more "idiot nazi", and white supremacists. And while we are at it, let's firebomb the terrorist Antifa group, and remind DeBlasio and the rest of the "tax more and spend even more" left that socialism is anti-American. Oh heck, let's just euthanize everyone who might have an alternative viewpoint to Rex. This is exactly why I come to a crossword blog. Orwell would be proud.
That's hilarious-"lazy snowflake mind-" HAR! Unless you didn't mean to be ironic, anon@6:05? Even more delicious on the heels of the ubiquitous TDS reference, this time from Whirred.
@Loren, thanks for clueing us in to the website. I have gotten as far as doing the math, which works out to be fair for the donors, though I have no idea what normal OH would be for something like that.
THEDONALD has always been a cute and amusing nickname. Cute and amusing because it came from the lips of Ivana. One of those ESL unique-isms that enrich our language. Lighten up, people.
KNEEL definitely got the side-eye from me this time, not because the constructor/editor failed to twist it into a new way to say TAKEAKNEE (Rex, why baseball knowledge and no football?) but because we've seen it so darn many times lately. Constructors, please retire it. Bring back ACNE if you want, to preserve the tired-fill balance.
Lots of themers, easy to grok, easy to fill, fun for a Monday. Two thumbs up (both mine).
Rex:
Anyone who admires AMOROSA cannot be a white supremacist. :D
Rex's blog, Rex's perogative to express his political views. You don't like it, slither away to an alt-right puzzle site and compare word search times.
Easy Monday. But I prefer @JoeDator's answer for 11D.
Nice easy Monday with no fill that felt forced to make the theme work. Good job Mr. McCoy.
I esp. liked the clue for ether. Better than the usual tired ones. Retiring "old number" wouldn't break my heart.
Left wing anger seems so rabid, childish, and predictable. Rex seems to have gone off the deep end today.
We must KNEEL and pray for all those whose hearts are all-consumed with hate.
A good puzzle to share with any friends who have been intimidated by/reluctant to try the NY Times puzzle.
Clean, easy, and with an immediately comprehensible theme.
Also, LLAMAs are cute.
Wow, looks like I missed a dinner party yesterday while I was immersed in paint yesterday both figuratively and literally. At various points of the day my KNUCKLEs were "white dove", "fossil" and finally "constellation." I love Latex paint since it cleans up better than oil based.
@Rex, I hope you don't GNASH your teeth so much that you need orthodonture. There is a reason why I love Martial Arts. It provides a useful outlet for rage over the things I can't change so I can move on to those that I can. And notice things that are humorous, like RUBIO crossing HOGTIE. And no, I would not really want to see anyone, even RUBIO, actually HOGTIEd in real life.
The combo of EGGS, DYES, and TRAY brought back nostalgia for the era when my son was young enough to enjoy holiday craft projects. Of course PELTED dove down into that region which did remind me of the clean ups when mischief ensued.
@Larry Gilstrap, nice list of additional themers. Benjamin Moore has 12 different colors that are labeled Lily something ranging from shades of pale yellow to green to lilac to red.
I like how Sharp refers to yesterday's drive by cheap shot at Shortz as a "joke". Need any further proof of how much of a disingenuous coward this guy is?
Nice tolerance displayed, hypocrite.
I should have remembered to skip Rex's commentary when I saw "The Donald" in the puzzle. For eight years (and continuing), we still see Obama and Sasha in the puzzle (sorry about that Malia and Michelle---your names are not as puzzle-friendly). I cheerfully fill in their names and give it no second thought even though I didn't like their politics at all. It surprises me to see all the angry old men (and usually it is men) these days. I thought the puzzle was fun and well-constructed. It was much better than the usual Monday.
I just don't get it. Why isn't the elitist ideology of college teachers and Hollywood actors winning elections for us?
Hand up for easy Monday puzzle!! Thought maybe the colors had to do with a flag...which country has those colors?
Okay, we get it.
White people bad, everyone else good.
But if you exterminate the white people
where will the money come from to feed
everyone?
No Thinking Required.
Rex, you need help please see a therapist.
@anon. 7:40 you might not win elections but you get plenty of Emmy awards
While you were doing a crossword I was attending a pro football game in a small soccer stadium on a college campus in Southern California. And guess what? It suddenly dawned on me that Number Six on the green team was none other than Smokin' Jay Cutler, who according to some authorities is actually a house cat who went to Vanderbilt and plays quarterback. For three or so hours I was in the same space as he was, and I can tell you that he really didn't care about that fact one way or another. That's so Jay!
@notafanofnazifans 6:55. The Nazi's killed six million Jews and five million ethnic minorities. Comparing these alt right losers to them is offensive to the memories of all those who fought and died to keep the Nazis from taking over the world. Read or watch Band of Brothers and get back to me.
I like Tom McCoy's intelligent puzzles but this one felt a bit too crosswordese for my taste, even on a Monday. I disdain this tendency now to OK abbreviated verbs such as "OKed" and "IDed." I'm talking about in crossword puzzles, not in real life. OKAYED always worked fine for me. It is in the same realm as UIED, but not quite as bad. Not a fan of ANTED either @LMS.
I noticed someone quite beloved and learned here used an apostrophe the other day to pluralize a word ending in Y. Is that now acceptable? Even from professors?
WHITE KNUCKLE is a term used often in AA for people who stop drinking without using the Program.
GREEN EYED feels like an outlier to me. Green with envy does not mean your eyes are suddenly green, does it? Speaking of Seven Deadly Sins, LUST seemed like another subtle dig at the POTUS. As was HUN?
Kinda liked GREEN EYED TRAIT and ABETS RED HANDED. Cute Monday. Another day of politics bashing - I'd rather party.
What was this, a valentine to the Repugs? Awful.
ID'd and mic'd. I feel GREEN-EYED stands on its own just fine as an allusion to the Shakespearean phrase. Appreciate being reminded of the ESL provenance of THE DONALD. It seems Czech regularly eschews both definite and indefinite articles. Maybe translates as that DONALD.
I'm sure this wasn't lost on such an astute and not-at-all-condescending student of history such as yourself, but didja know that there was a whole period of time, years even, when there were real honest to goodness Nazis but the Holocaust hadn't happened yet? When they were still building their political power but something might have been done to stop them before millions died? Surely that cannot have any bearing or analogy to current events.
It's so lazy. It's so simple-minded. And it's always used smugly and importantly by Anonymice who think they are saying something extraordinarily interesting and/or drawing blood. Bill O'Reilly, or whoever came up with this awful epithet, is not the be-all and end-all of political pundits. Quote Twain or Mencken or Will Rogers or someone with something to say. If you must quote a conservative, choose George Will or David Brooks or William F. Buckley. But this is absolute drivel.
Half a dozen is being extremely generous to the QBs in the NFL.
He even won the game in the clutch. Game-winning drive in the last two minutes. That's very not Jay of him!
nobody mentions only the ether between lust and the Donald?
@Loren, I love your belief that legions of us would just naturally say 'schwa' -- you have great faith in our level of erudition!
How about "He became EDed" =- i.e., started to need Viagra?
@chefbea, I like the idea of a flag, but can't think of a country; if we left out the yellow it could be Italy, and we could have something about a pizza margherita for the revealer -- only the symmetry wouldn't work.
And as @Larry Gilstrap notes, THOU in the King James version is simply a translation of something in another language. "You to a Friend" would be better (but too hard for a Monday), or "You to Shakespeare."
And just to be picky,WAGE and salary are different things. Is the salary of sin death?
A solid Monday offering. Neither great nor awful. The presence of AMALGAM raised its level of elegance a tad.
As I filled in THE DONALD, I suspected that )1 Rex would launch into a rant, and that 2) the trolls would come out of the woodwork. Some things on this blog happen like clockwork.
RUBIO does seem to appear frequently these days in the grid but I imagine it's due to his abundance of vowels more than his political leanings. I guess a crossword is like an ink blot in that it lets you see want you want to see in it.
I see a strange looking person with green eyes, red hands, white knuckles, and a yellow belly.
Wow, came to a crossword blog, and a shitfest of political dick holes broke out.
You're all wrong, and all right. No one cares about your politics. Take it to a political blog.
Just trying to do puzzles and enjoy commentaries about wordplay. Fast solve, but used mostly downs.
@Davis 2:36. Kaepernick is blackballed because any team that hired him would lose a lot of fans. The NFL is in decline already. It's not p.c. It's all about $$$$
@chefbea - There are 9 flags that use only the colors white, green, red and yellow, including Suriname, Togo and Tajikistan.
http://www.flagid.org/found.asp?qa=0010000&ci=r,v,w,y
@anon 9:13 Yeah that's what these guys are plotting from their parents' basements
Oh? Where do you go for your news? FOX & Breitbart, eh? SAD!
You are so right: Marco Rubio needs to grow up.
Wait even Rubio is unacceptable now ? Dude is completely unhinged.
The "conservative approach to political correctness"? That's usually called fascism.
I thought for sure Rex's music video was going to be "GREEN-EYED Lady" by Sugarloaf. But then I went to look for one. What I found was awful and clearly not produced by the band's label. I'm including it just so a) you'll get a cringe-worthy laugh and b )because if you don't know the song, you should. Great backbeat and one of the best non-Jimmy Smith Hammond B3 solos out there. Here's the URL:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xc1PHk9FhIk
And, how great would it have been to see a Sugarloaf/Mountain concert?
More posts opposing your right to an opinion on your own blog today. Better to comment later in the week when the beloved "uneducated" don't show up here.
Would you actually *want* a challenge? Because it's been my experience that you Trumpies can't hold your own in an argument. Your tiny brains explode, and you cry and go home. Cowards.
Oh? What's a non-lazy way to describe a misguided sense of superiority built upon racial hatred?
I finished this very quickly and thought it was fine. The themers were fair as written, in my opinion; I coukd see them all standing just as they are. But then, I'm pretty easy-going.
Loren won't tell you, so I will. She needed $787 for her books and as of this moment, has just $259 to go. If you'd like to help, go to donorschoose.org and search for Deliver us from Dickens and Hawthrone. As a bonus, you get a very thoughtful description of her students.
@Aketi, we'd never have a dinner party without you!
I'm editing a deadly manuscript this week: it's case studies used in sport physiology and poses questions such as: Jim, who's 5'8" and weighs 260 lbs., needs a full health assessment. And then the poor student has to interpret all sorts of measurements (I'll spare you details). Is it any wonder I'm here posting on the blog rather than working? (Before anyone wonders about me posting on my employer's dime, please note I'm free-lance.)
Okay, into the breach . . .
How on *earth* does Orwell further your argument? If you've read his work, you've seen that he was clearly against totalitarian regimes (like the Trump administration) and would certainly not appreciate you Trumpies trying to silence dissent and push for some creepy, retro form of "patriotism" (i.e. jingoism). Try reading-- it's fun!
Jesus. What is WRONG with you Trumpies? That's the sickest thing I've heard in a long time, even under this sick and racist administration.
Why don't you start your own blog instead of trying to shame dissent into silence?
You poor, misguided individual. Firstly, I am not a "Trumpy". I am also not a white supremacist, or a nazi. Actually, I am Asian, and I emigrated to this country (legally). Orwell ostensibly wrote his dystopian masterpiece about a totalitarian regime, but to restrict it to that simplistic description is naive. He would be just as mortified by universities restricting free speech to those that only represent a certain world view. Or worse yet about students who claim to be "tolerant" but resort to violent confrontation against those who want to peacefully gather and represent their views (no matter how repulsive they may be to some). Our armed forces have fought and died to defend our core values but people like you would stomp on them to serve your agenda. Orwell's 1984 may be a specific story about a totalitarian regime in which similarities exist with the current administration. But his message is just as applicable to those on the left that don't think twice about oppressing the freedom of those on the right to express their opinions. That is the difference between you and me; you may read, but I read and learn. Try it sometime, it's fun.
So if the crossword puzzle gets political, should he just skip that day?
For kneel how about prepare to administer fellatio?
Ah yes, it's so lazy to call things what they are when you could invent pleasant euphemisms like "America first" as dog whistles in a failed attempt at plausible deniability.
Orwell was a socialist. Sorry to disappoint you.
Hey All !
Nice, easy MonPuz, not sure why Rex was so TESTY and railed against it. Colors + body parts. Simple. Good fill, nice words, like GNASH, AMALGAM ABYSS.
I see the NUNS made it back. Only hold up for me was APEX or Acme. Write in first letter A, then wait on crosses. Felt like a PRO solving this.
YELLOW BELLIED reminds me of "Back to the Future".
I object to FEDEX without including UPS. It's the right wing media. (That's about as valid an argument as the political stuff...)
NEAT COW
RooMonster
DarrinV
Orwell was anti-oppression, that's the point. Clearly over your head.
Against my better judgment I'm going to ask @Anon 11:24
In what way is the Trump administration either a regime, or totalitarian?
He's a buffoon surrounded by sycophants and cretins. he's not suited for the office, by training, intellect or temperament. He's so flawed I almost pity him.
He is not however a dictator. Or a Nazi. or the leader of a totalitarian regime. Using ridiculous hyperbole to criticize him does those who oppose his presidency--- an office he won in our beautiful if flawed democracy-- do our side a disservice. It also hurts the argument that needs to be made when faced with real totalitarian states. And Nazis. It's important to keep perspective. Mr. Trump is not, and will not be the end of our republic. Take a breath. Raise some dough ( kale if you like)field a credible candidate in `18. But please, refrain from the ludicrous claims.
Peace
The interesting thing about the Colin K martyrdom is that absolutely no one blames the Niners for letting him go. Instead they blame other teams for no picking him up. Colin has inspired other players to KNEEL during the Anthem and they still have their jobs because they are still making a contribution to the team. Such was not the case for K and the Niners.
Wow-cow. This grid has the cleaner than snot fillins. [COW is the moo-cow eazy-E MonPuz clue winner by default, btw.] fave fillins: AMALGAM. FEDEX. THE DOPA [with a runt-roll [aka super loop] to the east, where 11-D turns into 25-A].
Theme is amazin, in the sense that four well-known colored cadaver parts will fit symmetrical-like into the grid. Would BLUEBLOODED work as a themed? BLUENOSED? There is somethin called a BLUE-TONGUED skink, btw. Hey, just tryin to work a lil more vowel-respect into the litter of themers. On another tack: BROWNNOSED mighta been a hoot to include.
Can't believe @RP didn't gush over HOGTIE. Any dude that features HOGCALLS in one of his own puzs has just *got* to go for this. I think we lost him at THEDO(PA)NALD, sad to say. I see nuthin wrong with rUbio, btw.
staff weeject pick: ONS. Has it all. Ow de speration. Patrick Berry Usage Immunity. Henry Hook even used it once; U didn't mess with the Hookmeister, dudes and darlins.
Thanx, Mr. McCoy. Great MonPuz solvequest.
Masked & Anonymo4Us
This is what I don't want from a puzzle maker: avoiding words or names because they might offend. And that includes Hitler.
Calling someone a "disingenuous coward" while posting as anonymous is ironic, to say the least.
"Caestulus" would also fit in 11D.
Enjoyed the puzzle, although very easy.
The political commentary, not so much. Especially those who perpetuate false dichotomies ("if you object to any criticism of Trump, you must love Trump; if you criticize Hillary, you must love trump; etc."). Sloppy, lazy thinking. Tiresome. Pervasive.
So explain it, then. Why would a socialist who was anti-oppression to the point where he picked up a gym and went to war against fascists in Spain be against antifa and socialists? Do you really think he'd be in support of a man like Trump? You need to read his work beyond Animal Farm.
*picked up a gun
Enjoyed the puzzle very much; I abhor Trump and all he's done and all he stands for, but his presence in the puzzle doesn't bother me at all. Nor is the presence of his children and his wives a problem for me.
Waiting to see COVFEFE in a puzzle. Would Will pass it?
I look forward to Mondays and Tuesdays, because the puzzles are usually easy and have fun themes - today's was no different. Yay for AMALGAM and the themers, and yay for eggs being underneath YELLOWBELLIED as the only natural follow-on is "sapsucker".
@LMS - you put words and examples to my ongoing struggle with "mic" - I no longer feel alone in my confusion. Laughed at @Thomas' comment on "being miced". Brought quite a visual to my mind.
I'm annoyed at people who are annoyed with variations of TRUMP in the puzzle but think CHE and MAO are fine.
First I never said he would be for Trump. Read my post carefully. I implied that he would be as much against the oppression displayed by the intolerant left as he would be against the intolerant right. He specifically address freedom of speech in 1984 (I never mentioned Animal Farm), and while he is referring to the oppression inflicted by Big Brother, he was vocally against oppression in any form. The book in its literal form discusses governmental oppression against a people who have no freedoms. Today, we have powerful forces (on the left and right) that would happily subjugate the rights of those who dare to disagree with them. My post is about oppression in all its form and the danger it poses. That is something Orwell would fight against, socialist or not. But then again, we have embraced technology that allows "debate" by those who would hide behind an "anonymous" tag, so I expect no improvement anytime soon.
And now, having proven myself a hypocrite by posting political in a crossword blog, I will stop, and apologize to those who have come to this site for the right reasons (like I used to).
This is some D- trolling abalani500. F, really, when you factor in the lack of effort.
What alternate timeline where Reagan lost did you come from? I want to go there.
Everyone but white dudes: We want equal opportunities and maybe to not get shot all the time.
White dudes: Oh my god they want us all dead.
I'm casting back to when I first heard of THE DONALD. I can't remember. It was well before his stint with reality TV, which I never paid attention to. Back when he was till married to Ivana, for sure. Maybe it was his well-publicized divorce with Ivana that launched him into the limelight that even reached us in the Midwest. Odd that we would spend any time thinking about some rich NY real estate persona but there it is.
This was a really easy Tom McCoy puzzle. I'm not always on his wavelength but I ended up with a new Monday record, though not quite to @Z's level. 5:16 and I don't think I can write and look at the clues any faster than that. We left-handers have a slight handicap, needing to lift our arms to see half the clues. That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it.
Yes, @LMS, "miced" does look messed up. Micced? (Pronounced "mik-sed" :-). ) I'll stick with "miked".
Hillary is now blaming Will Shortz for her loss to Trump.
This new COMMENTS section is confusing. I used to
be able to go to where I could make a comment with
one click. Now I had to scroll all the way down.
Please help.
Very easy puzzle, considering the relative lack of crosswordese a great Monday for beginners . Nicely done.
@Rex - If memory serves me correctly, one of the first puzzles we ever completed was a NYT Times Sunday puzzle the very THEME of which was then President Bill Clinton who'd just been re-elected. The puzzle editor would have been Will Shortz. Just sayin'.
@Anonymice - The above does not mean I'm a Trump supporter, I am not. Don't yell at me.
Grrr. Oh that Trump! I have a real job . . . stocks are at all times highs. . .
Wait, what?
Fuck you and your politics douche bag crawl back in your academic hole and shut the fuck up
Nice write up! Keep it coming! Love to see all the pissed off supporters of he-who's-name-shall-not-be-mentioned. I constantly forget that somehow ~30% (they say) of our country supports the bafoon.
What's a bafoon?
bafoon
/ba.foon/
a shitty drummer; one who cannot keep a beat.
Bafoon: Like a buffoon, but more simian. (Nash: instead of normal nen an wimmian.) I love this wird as new vocab.
To paraphrase Old Time Rock n Roll
"Call me a Nazi, call me what you will,
Say I'm a racist, say I'm intolerant.
Today's people ain't got the same soul,
I like that old timer White Supremacy.
Ow!"
@Teedmn 1:25 -- "The Donald" was first wife Ivana's nickname/pet name for him/it. I don't remember ever seeing/hearing the term again after they got divorced, and it struck me as a very dated puzzle answer. It probably should have been qualified with a "once" or some other indicator that it was from the past.
I for one love Rex's disdain for the Russian-planted, ivory-towered, white supremacist who sits fatly in a chair he doesn't deserve, and I enjoy it when his repulsively cutesy nickname is out of the crossword puzzle.
And I said so on my entry for this puzzle as well.
The right reasons? No, that's not an attempt to enforce political correctness at all. Move along...
@Devin W
Are you referring to the same pollsters that predicted a Hillary landslide?
@chance,
OH wait, you were serious. Let me laugh even louder.
So today's USAT and NYT had answers of "gates/ gated" re: "exclusive/ wealthy" communities/neighborhoods, plus "runway asset"/"graceful bearing" for "poise."
Not the first time clue answers have repeated, but still....
So today's USAT and NYT had answers of "gates/ gated" re: "exclusive/ wealthy" communities/neighborhoods, plus "runway asset"/"graceful bearing" for "poise."
Not the first time clue answers have repeated, but still....
Oh say, I haven't seen it brought up, but I sure thought WHITE-KNUCKLED would have elicited a whole lot of RACE DIN. Anyone know whether BROWN SKIN people ever describe their selves as WHITE-KNUCKLED, or how they feel about BROWN-NOSED? Feel free to nextrapolate on to the YELLOW-BELLIED Asiatics. Anything to get a little spark to all these tinder young feelings, eh?
Y'know I hadda come here to say that -- anywhere else, I'd have been BLACK-BALLED (Hi, @Davis! ;D)
Found on the cutting-room floor:
ORBS afflicted by recurrent stye: PINKEYED
Hadn't had any in months: BLUEBALLED
Next time y'all want an early A.M. ORGY, please supply the ENERGY_BARS. And remember, EUROPA LLAMA with a RIATA.
Well PROpaGATED, Mr McCoy. TRAY NEAT and SPRY, and not AT ALL MESSY.
SOCKET Toomey
Sure, let's comfortably fail to take them seriously and ignore the chants of "Jews will not replace us" and the trending hashtag "#GastheSynagogue". Nothing to worry about.
So happy to have fulfilled my promise and fled to Guatemala
Hello every one out here
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Tried "sleazeball" today with the entry "trump" and it didn't fit either place????????
ETHER ORBS
The GREENEYD NUNS had LODES of fun
as they RACEDIN to the ORGY so MESSY
with FITS of POISE to KNEEL and HOGTIE boys
and REDHANDED, LUST after each TESTY.
--- ERIC RUBIO
Looks like some constructors are--belatedly--at last trying to clean up their fill. Though not a huge fan of RACEDIN, I commend Mr. McCoy's efforts in this regard. As for 11-down...I'm gonna follow my Grandma's advice: "If you can't say something nice..." etc.
This was very easy; a simple theme not even requiring a reveal. By far the most annoying feature was having to search for the syndicated puzzle because Lazybones left it on Sunday. Again. *sigh*
No apparent DOD, so I will stretch to include the star of the film "ABYSS." Mary Louise Mastrantonio. In that flick she was ultra-hot. L O V E Y O U W I F E
I want to award a birdie for this one, but there's...him. Par.
I agree with @Spacey - the deLorean didn't want to help me find Syndieland.
Monday easy and Monday themed. Didn't even remember the D was in the puz. Why does 37 down have "even with a hotel" in the clue? Sounds like it was changed. Not that I'm GNASHing teeth or anything...
Diana, Lady-in-Waiting for Crosswords
The theme answer that is missing is Orange Hair
Well. I think it has been two weeks since I last commented. I was not in a snit; I was in the hospital with an abdominal aortic aneurysm, something I wouldn't wish on anyone. The doc said that following surgery I'd feel like I'd been hit by a car. He was wrong. More like a bus.
Anyway, here I is for a straightforward but enjoyable Monday puzzle. Little resistance, but clean as a whistle, and even through the fog of Tylenol 3s, I flew through it.
Seems like the blog is devolving into much back and forth between left and right, and I can't help but think that the only reason for this is the existence of that guy in the White House. His presence has infected everything in the US. It doesn't bother me that he is in the puzzle (nor Rubio, who invites little respect, for that matter), but his nickname in a puzzle? Come on!
So, I have returned (for the benefit of those who may have noticed), and I shall stay.
From Syndication Land:
It's easy to find this blog even when the link is not updated. Just look at the puzzle number. Today it was 0918. Then google Rex Parker September 18, 2017. I liked the image this puzzle provoked. It made me imagine some guy with white knuckles, green eyes, red hands and a yellow belly. I wondered what he'd been up to.
Well SOCKET to me, colored body parts. Not bad, kinda lackLUSTer. First heard of 11d back in the 1980s when he ran a team in the USFL and landed Herschel Walker to play for that team. Of course, the USFL failed and lost perhaps hundreds of millions due in large part to THEDONALD’s big and bad business ideas. Enough about that. Really easy puz.
The search for a yeah baby today leads me to the GREENEYED lady, lovely lady, child of nature, friend of man.
I suppose a person could be all four themers at once. That’d make a body rather TESTY.
Welcome back to our Canadian cousin - hope you're healing continues apace, and all is skyey from now on.
Lady Di
@rainy - glad you're back with us and hope you fully recover from such an ordeal. I'd post a gut-busting joke for you, but that doesn't seem appropriate just yet. Welcome back!
I'll second that. Welcome back. (Definitely did notice your absence.)
I missed a few days and I 'm just getting caught up here. The puzzle was too easy and lacked sparkle. No amount of color in the themers could make up for that.
The NYT should cease any neutral or positive reference to Trump or anything related to him. THEDONALD isn't just a bad joke anymore. He is a national and international disgrace.
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