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Straight-kneed military movement / TUE 3-6-18 / Core-strengthening exercise performed on all fours / Resource in Mesabi range / Relating to element #76
Tuesday, March 6, 2018
Constructor: Bruce Greig
Relative difficulty: Medium
THEME: animal + gait — theme answers follow the pattern [animal + type of leg locomotion]
Theme answers:
- FROG MARCH (16A: Forced walk with arms pinned behind the back)
- CHICKEN RUN (24A: Hit 2000 animated film set on a farm)
- BEAR CRAWL (34A: Core-strengthening exercise performed on all fours)
- TURKEY TROT (50A: Old ragtime dance)
- GOOSE STEP 60A: Straight-kneed military movement)
n.
• • •
I think the theme is a very reasonable one, BEAR CRAWL notwithstanding. The grid construction needs work, though. This is a low 74 words. Additional black squares in the NE / SW corners probably would've allowed you to come in much, much cleaner. I mean, I see you got cheaters up there (and down there) (the black squares before 9A: BALD and after 65A: ERGS, respectively), but they clearly weren't enough. You get away with it OK in the SW (though SOUTHER's not great), but BOSONS / OSMIC is yeeeesh. A little rough, esp. for a Tuesday. I had a good second or two of panic as I wondered what letter went there (I've heard of BOSONS, so ... bingo). [Relating to element #76] is really not the kind of clue you want to encounter on Tuesday, or ever.
It took a while for the puzzle to earn back my trust after foisting ABBÉS on me right off the bat. It was the first clue I looked at (1A: French clerics), and I filled ABBÉS in immediately while shaking my head and going, "Oh, god, no, not one of These puzzles..." But the puzzle did make it back. Back to neutral, anyway. A decent theme, not ideally executed, with a grid that could've used rebuilding, but resulted in an overall tolerable fillscape. In conclusion: CATWALK, I'm telling you.
Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld
P.S. also this
 |
| ["The term [...] is nowadays heavily associated with Nazi Germany."—wikipedia] |
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133 comments:
What Rex is saying is that BEARCRAWL should have been CATWALK, in case you missed it.
In the north I had an OBAMA/OPRAH write over quickly followed by a RILEY/ RICCI one. Both were easily fixed.
Judging by the xwordinfo lists SOMA ought to be pounded into my memory. However that run of Sundays it has shone up in relatively recently were all puzzles I didn't do because I hate Sundays. Still none of this amounted to a speed bump just a standard Tuesday solve.
@John Child, thanks for the 2/13/99 suggestion. Even on the lap top it was more than five minutes faster than the one @jae suggested. Still not an easy solve and an enjoyable balm to the early week doldrums.
This was a very easy puzzle. I never really noticed the themers, so BEARCRAWL was just fine by me.
So "nowadays" the GOOSESTEP is "heavily" associated with Nazi Germany? How about it was "always" associated with Nazi Germany. You know who else GOOSESTEPs? College marching band drum majors. Oh and the North Koreans love that stuff. Have you ever seen videos of it? Crazy! The best part about the GOOSESTEP is that it looks so f***ing stupid.
In reflection, I'm surprised at how much of this was unfamiliar to me, both fill and themers, and still it played like a Tuesday. I have yet to be arrested, so FROG MARCH was new, as were CHICKEN RUN and BEAR CRAWL for reasons already discussed. Dana Point hosts a traditional TURKEY TROT 5K every Thanksgiving. I never ran it; very hilly around those parts. Most Drum Majors I have seen either High Step or strut. GOOSE STEP looks painful, but living in a totalitarian society is no stroll in the park, I imagine.
Ooh!, that OSMIC/BOSONS mash up in New England left me with a questionable square. Should be a name for that. Both seem vaguely familiar. Never heard of a SOUTHER, a very uncommon wind direction in this part of the world.
I associate ROONE Arledge with ABC Sports. Remember Jim McKay and The Wide World of Sports? I grew up on that Saturday afternoon staple. The cultural diversity and global perspective awakened an interest in the world outside my little town. Thanks to both of you!
Medium works for me. Same issues as @Rex et. al...SOUTHER, OSMIC...but still a pretty good Tues. GOOSESTEP, however, was cringy.
Is paddle as in dog paddle a gait? Homer just paddled down the sidewalk until he got to Moe's.
I dunno — CATWALK doesn’t actually describe humans moving in some way; its WALK is a WALKway, not a locomotor verb. So it doesn’t fit as well as the others.
Then again, got my record Tuesday ever, 4:41, so maybe I’m biased in favor of the puzzle as it is.
Doesn't one have to (BEAR)CRAWL before one (cat)walks? That omission didn't bother me one bit. And who are the people who parade on catwalks, hmmm? Not cool cats with Gauloises cigarettes drooping from their lips, fingering their saxophones.
This puzzle ran as a typical Tuesday for me, and I liked the cluing, for the most part. Not a perfect construction, but pretty darn good, IMO. Didn't know which was the 76th element (which would be a nice name for a sci-fi flick), so that caused a bit of a delay. But the rest provided just the right amount of resistance. (Resist!) I'm RELIEVEd. PURRING, even.
I've always been curious why ALFALFA isn't spelled ALphALpha. Was it spelled that way once? If we simplified that spelling, there's a whole lot more that could stand updating. I spent a week in Filadelfia one nyte.
My big complaint is that the balance between avian and other fauna was rather skewed. Yesterday we got a monkey. But today it was four -- count 'em, four! -- birds (not including EGG) and just one mammal (not including the famous humans, of course). At least we got an amphibian and that reptile we've all been waiting for: (g)ASP!
Nice to see Mrs. 'mericans given name as an answer today.
SEE ya later, ELLO, ELLO, ELLO!
Follow-up question. How in the world does somebody fill in a grid like this in 4'41"? Even if I knew all the answers from the get go, I couldn't type them in that fast, especially without making an error. Do you speedsters have some kind of audio input device that lets you dictate the answers into a microphone?
The run of CHICKEN RUN isn’t a locomotor verb either, so CATWALK could have balanced out that outlier.
Ended up with BOrONS crossing OrMIC, didn’t know either one so it seemed like it could work. NOT!
A DNF on a Tuesday, shameful. Also wanted fields and slay before STAB and FORTES won out at 26A and 23D, obviously I was forced to correct those early into the game.
On to Wednesday.
@Ron S. Did you retire early?
OK, before everybody corrects me, clearly I can't count. There are two mammals in today's puzzle (I forgot about the BOARS). But yesterday the count was more balanced, with three mammals (if one includes a cartoon version of one), three birds (one of which is mythical), and one reptile. Just sayin'.
I liked the theme and the puzzle. Solved right on top of my average, actually six seconds faster than average. I had SEALCRAWL for a while, which is an exercise I have done before at boot camp and thought was a clever addition but MRI was a layup and ruined that. Agree that SOUTHER was weak. Also had YEARN for CRAVE off the bat which slowed me down in the SE. One of these days I am going to take Rex’s grid and type it in as fast as I can just to see what time I get.
Neat little theme. I have to agree with @Graham that “cat walk” describes not a gait but rather a place. “Duck walk” would be better, but it wouldn’t fit. So therein lies my only issue: the RUN of CHICKEN RUN also represents a place and not a method of moving from point A to point B. I see lots of dog runs between here and work, but not a lot of dogs running.
I didn’t know BEAR CRAWL, either. “Crab crawl” is more familiar to me.
A horse crow-hopped once, and my daughter fell off. And there’s the duck walk.
Loved the clue for SIP – “Bit of a draft?” If you squint, “nip” could work, too. Ok – maybe sans the question mark. But still.
@chefwen (and @Larry G) – me, too for guessing “ormic/boronic.” So I had a dnf.
I don’t care one whit which plural you use – fancy foreign one or Englishized one, but it’s always hard when there are both in one grid. I was kinda expecting “togae” following ABACI.
@Banana – fine. Whatever. I’m done. You’re joining my husband et al – people who I won’t get into a linguistics argument with because it’s too frustrating. It’s like I think we’re playing rock/paper/scissors, and he keeps making a thumbs-up gesture and thinking it’s a viable option.
Bruce – congrats on your debut!
I knew bear crawl because of some some fitness classes I took last summer. It’s more difficult than it sounds.
I prefer John Cleese’s version of the goose step. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iV2ViNJFZC8
"Nice!", echoed my brain at TOUSLE, ATTACHE, DOCENTS, and FORTES. "Cringe" went my sensibilities at the aggregate of FROGMARCH, MAIM, and GOOSESTEP. "Hah!" popped out at learning that the TURKEY TROT, a fast dance done to ragtime music, was taken over in popularity by another possible theme answer, the FOX TROT. And up went my fist with a big "Yes!" and "Way to go!", directed toward the constructor, after my completion of a well done debut. Looking for more from you Bruce, and congratulations!
Flew through this one. Noted the theme and got a bit of help from it, but did mostly downs today.
It felt hard while doing it, but I was still under my Tuesday average, so medium seems right. To the commenter above, 4:41 is very good but not suspiciously so. I managed 5:55 this time. My best Tuesday is nothing next to the masters of xwording but the iPad app tells me I got a 3:47 on a Tuesday once, so yeah, 4:41 is in the realm of doable. I'm sure Rex's best is much faster. Fast fingers help.
ASP on a Tuesday, COBRA on a Monday. Y = VI.
SOUTHER, ELLO, OSMIC. These words somehow seem unfulfilled.
Yesterday we had one themer that was laughably less well-known than the others. Today, we have the same with BEAR CRAWL.
The first listed use for OSMium in per Wikipedia is in fountain pen nibs. Stock up now before the price soars!
Fell down the same rabbit hole as did others,, borons for bosons. Probably should have come up with the latter since I have heard of the Higgs boson god particle.
I'm pretty sure a Cockney is saying "Hello" when he greets someone. It just sounds like "ello" so that answer kind of annoyed me. Yes, it can be spelled that way in books using dialect with an apostrophe in front but that doesn't mean the Cockney is thinking in his head ELLO. Just as an Aussie isn't thinking the word is "G'day" -- he knows in his head the words are "Good Day." It's what we hear, not what the person is "say, say, say"ing. (That song was mentioned on Jeopardy last night and none of the contestants got it. But since we'd had it here the other day I did.)
I have no problem with GOOSE STEP being used here. It does call to mind NAZIS and a lot of other "awful" things but that doesn't mean it doesn't belong in the NYT puzzle. Some of those twitter friends of Rex's really annoy me. They act like they are liberal and progressive but they espouse the most totalitarian attitudes about language and appropriate behavior. That is called censorship. They make my BARE skin CRAWL.
I’m continually amazed at how quick Rex is to suggest these little tweaks to other people’s puzzles. Example: “Use cat walk“ instead of “bear crawl.“ Well, OK. But there’d be a domino effect. One little edit echoes throughout the grid and changes everything.
Critics gonna criticize. Get over yourself, Rex! It ain’t your puzzle!
Got chicken, turkey and goose right away...thought the others would be some kind of fowl...but no.
Good puzzle. I agree with Rex on the BEAR CRAWL. But as to the GOOSE STEP, it's origin goes back to 18th century Prussia as a parade step. Russia took it up in the 19th century, the Soviets and Nazis used it in the 20th, and now it is part of military parades around the world. In the 1980 Olympics in Russia it was used to carry in the Soviet flag. Rather common nowadays. Only in the US is it so strongly associated with the Nazis. Probably in Britain and France, too, for that matter.
Hey All !
No one sees the two puzzles? Highly segmented center, with only two little squares from North to Center, and Center to South. Like, just a sayin observation. :-) (Shout out to @Annabel!)
I did like this puz. Congrats to Bruce on his debut. Of course I'm jealous. :-) Also, got 100℅ correct! WooHoo! Originally had a Z for the S in the BOSINS/OSMIC cross, but when I got OZONE, I changed that to the S. Something in the ole brain said there can't be two OZ__ elements, is there? Sometimes the thought process is a mysterious thing. Plus I believe I've heard of BOSONS and not BOzONS. (BOZOS, sure...)
Light dreck, nicely filled open corners. The NW was toughest for me, maybe because of ABBES. A fair TuesPuz TOUSLE. (Har, isn't it TUSSLE?)
OOZED POISE
RooMonster
DarrinV
If you forget bad things from the past, such things are bound to repeat themselves. So, like some others commenting here, I have no problem being reminded of the GOOSE STEP, especially given the trends in European politics today. For me, it did not ruin what I thought was an excellent constructor's debut.
No conversation about the GOOSESTEP is complete without mentioning the legendary 1940 British propaganda film "Doing the Lambeth Walk," which was released in theatres during the height of The Blitz.This two minute short consists of footage from the Nazi propaganda film "Triumph of the Will" re-edited to show goose stepping Nazi soldiers dancing like Rockettes to the popular music hall tune "The Lambeth Walk."
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=6bo6_YNRpDw
Excerpt from "Springtime for Hitler", from Mel Brooks' The Producers (1967):
Springtime for Hitler and Germany
Winter for Poland and France
Springtime for Hitler and Germany
Come on, Germans, go into your dance!
I was born in Dusseldorf, and that is why they call me Rolf
Don't be stupid, be a smarty, come and join the Nazi party
Springtime for Hitler and Germany
GOOSESTEP's the new step today
Bombs falling from the skies again
Deutschland is on the rise again!
The problem with CATWALK would have been that it is not an kind of motion with an animal name in it. All of the theme entries in the puzzle are positions that a human being can assume and imitate, and happen to have an animal name in them.
A CATWALK is a bridge. So, no, it would not have fit the theme better than BEAR CRAWL.
Oh, and the puzzle was not merely neutral. It was very good, especially for a Tuesday. Four stars from me.
@lms,I guess I went for avian exclusivity over animalian diversity. So in the interests of diversification I found a vid on 10 animal walks that includes additional mammals, an arachnid, an arthropod, a reptile, and a hybrid in addition to the DUCK and the BEAR. There is already a WALK, and a CRAWL in the puzzle, bit one could add hops, leaps, and rolls as well as sneaking and crouching,
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=14BjRxE7f1o
1) The duck WALK I learned is the torturous one in the vid, not the Chuck Berry version
2) I don’t know If my Physical Therapist would approve of the BUNNY HOPS that I seldom did anyway. Not kind to the knees.
3) SNEAKING APE is a common drill as an entry to single leg take downs (didn’t know it had a name), but could possibly be changed to APE SNEAK to fit the theme.
4) I routinely do the CRAB WALK, but I’m not familiar with your crab CRAWL. Anything involving crawling is usually harder, but maybe scorching across the floor on you butt wouldn’t be so bad. It certainly would be better than the military CRAWL which I think is the same thing as the SEAL CRAWL mentioned by @J I
5) Never did the HORSE WALK but did do the HORSE stance (a lot).
6) I’ve done the CHAMELEON. It would not work as a themer because it doesn’t describe the movement. We called it the alligator CRAWL with an added push up.
7) SCORPION is another fail as a themer but something that’s done all the time in BJJ.
SCORPION LEAP is a variation of the SCORPION but it would work as a themer.
8) CROUCHING TIGER (aka alligator crawl see above comment ) could work by calling it TIGER CROUCH
9) BEAR CRAB ROLL (aka four point drill) is a staple of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu
10) MONKEY ROLL, looks like a variant of the head stand drill in BJJ
As several have pointed out, catwalk is not like the theme entries, which are ways of moving. Rex usually complains when theme entries don’t quite fit, but here he wants one that would have been wrong. Go figure.
Crossing something atomic with something sub-atomic seems like something one only does in a Boston suburb. I guessed right even as I wondered what sub-atomic particles had to do with being a boatswain.
I see we have an ARK for all the animals.
Anyone else consider non-theme animals just sitting there motionless as faults? C’mon EAGLET and BOARS, get moving.
@Matt G & @relic - See @LMS, paragraph one. I’d argue having two themers be a place rather than a motion would be an improvement since having just one seems like a break in the pattern.
From yesterday:
I saw the Lempel every Monday comment and thought, “ACME might have something to say about that.” I love being right.
And on that note -
Q. “What do student lawyers do in moot court?”
A: Argue cases that are moot. Specifically, not actually at issue or in a venue with direct real world application. Essentially argue things unnecessary to argue.
No, I wanted ELEPHANT WALK with Elizabeth Taylor and a DUCK WADDLE.
I guess I need to read more because I didn't know what a FROG MARCH was.
BOrONS/OsMIC. A Tuesday screw up.
I thought this Tuesday puzzle was just right. When the printer spits out the puzzle, I immediately feel sorry for the constructor...terrible Tuesday reputation and all. This one had a bit of class what with ABACI ATTACHE FORTES and POISE. The BARRIO[S] I used to live in New York (98th and Broadway). Then we have the LIES MAIM IRE STAB PIT ACT to go with the GOOSE STEP. I ADMIRE DOCENTS and the work they do. My mom was one at the Governor's Mansion here in Sacramento and I liked ROPES hanging in there with RODEO.
A debut? Fine job Bruce Greig.....please Come back.
I was really hoping @Rex would post a Chuck Berry video.
I found this much tougher than a typical Tuesday. The BOSONS / OSMIC cross is a killer, and the entire NW took me a long time.
Decent theme, especially for a debutante. Congrats, Bruce!
Ditto to @Larry Gilstrap regarding ROONE Arledge. For me, he will forever be the man who brought us the crew in pale yellow blazers, be it Jim McKay, Howard Cosell, Keith Jackson, Frank Gifford, Chris Schenkel, Bill Fleming or countless others.
The BEARCRAWL is a key exercise in my weekly session with a trainer. The idea is to move the opposing hand and foot simultaneously forward. Instead, I inevitably end up moving the same-side hand and foot together, so it looks more like a giraffe walk. Very humbling.
@LMS’s objection to CHICKEN RUN is obviated by the clue mention of the film. The punny “RUN” of its title refers to an escape attempt.
Very cute! I ADMIRED the constructor's creativity in coming up with the theme and the vivid examples. Curious about the origin of FROGMARCH, I found this citation: "According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the term originated in the 1870s in England, in reference to the practice of carrying an uncooperative prisoner between four men, face downwards with each man carrying one limb so that the prisoner was spread out like a frog."
The grid did, however, evoke some unpleasant images: BEAR-->MAIM-->CRAWL and GOOSE-->OOZED--STEP (we live near a lake favored by migrating waterfowl, resulting in the lakeside walking path being covered in ....well, it won't pass the breakfast test, but you really need to watch where you STEP).
One hesitation: was "one of two" an Ami?
What did a 16-year-old exchange student in Germany in 1963 most miss and CRAVE? "Barbara ANN" and hot fudge sundaes.
Oh the ignominy of having a DNF on Tuesday. My last letter in was the "Z" of BOzONS/OzMIC -- and it was wrong. I don't know my particles any better than I know my elements, but it seemed like one might have named an element after that great fictional city of Oz. Oh well.
When I saw "Core strengthening exercise performed on all fours", I wanted BEeR CRAWL. Look, when you've got a beer belly, the first thing you'll want to do is strengthen that core. Right? But with a cross as easy as ACEY deucey, it was a mistake I didn't make.
I found this harder than most Tuesdays -- probably because I didn't know CHICKEN RUN the animated film, never heard of a FROG MARCH (I'm quite happy to say) and didn't know BEAR CRAWL either, though perhaps I should start doing them. The strength of my core is nothing to write home about. Tennis develops many things, but the core isn't one of them.
Hemingway says that "grace under pressure" is courage, not POISE. But I kinda think that POISE is more accurate, if not as heroic.
I ADMIRED the clues for TOGAS, SIP and OPRAH. Nice Tuesday.
@jae, from yesterday - Thank you for the recommendation of the 1999 puzzle. I have an 8-hour plane flight ahead of me tomorrow and am counting on it to see me through :)
Yep, that S in BOSONS/OSMIC definitely DNFed me on a Tuesday. Too sciencey at the crossing.
Both chicken run and cat walk do not fit the theme as Rex states it, i.e. a gait. A chicken run is an enclosed area for chickens and a cat walk is a platform.
@birchbark -- I loved your "unfulfilled" observation!
Am I the only one who skips over the really long comments?
But it is his blog!!!
I happened to solve this in a way that got me the bird-themed themers first, and made me think they were all going to be types of birds - both getting my hopes up and actually slowing me down a little.
Hand up for the OSMIC/BOSONS natick. A top notch Tuesday in my book.
Will @Rex come here to take back his ill placed criticism of BEARCRAWL now that CATWALK has been thoroughly debunked?
I do not consider it a DNF if I have the puzzle all filled in and don’t get the happy tune. If it’s ok to make changes as you’re doing the puzzle, it should be ok to make one(or more) last change. It’s a DNF if I can’t find the mistake or just give up.
@Aketi (8:30) -- I looked at your list of exercise and martial arts movements and immediately thought: Bad Sushi Restaurant.
@GILL (9:18)-- Think your ELEPHANT WALK would have been great.
Thanks, @Anon 8:11, for reproducing Mel Brooks' wickedly clever lyric from "Springtime for Hitler." That man can really do it all.
I'd have finished this in record time if I hadn't put in BOrON. It took forever to correct that.
BEARCRAWL made me laugh out loud as I hadn't heard of them either until my kid went to Officer Candidate School. That was one of the exercises they were forced to do every day. Since OCS puts up videos on their facebook page - I can ASSERT they are indeed a thing.
I think it's a bit inconsistent to have four things people do, and one that was far as I know they don't. I'm looking at you CHICKEN RUN.
LMS — THANK YOU for that laugh-out-loud-almost-sprayed-my-coffee-across-the-room moment when I read your rock/paper/scissors/thumbs-up comment. Cheered my morning right up!
Know that you are so very often appreciated.
Question for you DNF-ers: do you just stop when you go over your average time? Or not put in a word unless you absolutely know it to be correct (I’m thinking BOzONS/OzMIC instead of BOSONS/ OSMIC, neither of which I ever heard of, but was willing to accept whichever worked. Or do you not go back and change a letter/word if it no longer fits with a subsequent cross? Or do you solve on paper, and so don’t get the feedback from an app? Or does getting the “almost there” feedback constitute a DNF? I’m not being snarky, I really want to know what rules you play by. I really enjoy the “puzzle” aspect of fitting words together and entertaining a possible alternate answer; otherwise, it’s just a just of trivia questions.
BEARCRAWL remains memorable for me, mainly as a punishment in football/athletics. Nothing like crawling for 100 yards in the hot-ass Texas sun, across a rocky, dusty practice field, because some numbnuts were cutting up on the bus after a loss. I don't really associate CATWALK with movement - it's an object.
Is OOZED really a synonym for 'trickled'?
P.S. I must say I really look forward to reading some of you frequent posters: LMS, because you are almost always funny, and seem to care about language as much as I do; Larry Gilmore, because I grew up in Covina and can relate to your references; ‘mericans in Paris because I appreciate that you solve together and enjoy thinking of you actually being in Paris; chefwen, aketi, Nancy, Gill, and so many others, just for always being here and having something thoughtful to say. Thanks all, you make my day!
I'd heard stories growing up (from family who were there before hitting the high seas for America) that Mussolini tried to have the Italian troops goose step but they just couldn't get the hang of it. So I googled it after this puzzle and found a newsreel of Il Duce parading the troops past Hitler. The English narrator comments that if the Italians weren't going so slow and could kick a little higher, Hitler might think he's in Berlin.
To his credit, he did get the trains to run on time (another story I heard frequently).
@Mary McCarty - Online I differentiate between typos and mistakes. I hit the check puzzle feature in whatever app I’m using and if it was just fat finger syndrome I won’t count it as a DNF. I generally solve the NYTX in the paper, so no feedback. If I DNF in the paper it will usually be a situation like today, where I end up guessing between an R and an S for BO-ONS. Today I guessed right, but it kinda sorta feels like a DNF because it was a pure guess. Every once in awhile I will discover a DNF post solve because of some comments here. The one that sticks in my mind was “chocolaty” crossing “Paul Ryan” where “chocolate” could have worked and why couldn’t Paul Rean be a politician’s name. I may or may not mention those sorts of DNFs depending on the relevance to the broader conversation.
BTW - I think some apps have settings where you don’t get feedback until you indicate you’re done. If they don’t they should. Then if you hit finished and don’t get the music you know it’s a DNF.
These questions have undoubtedly been asked before, but I'd appreciate hearing what DOOK stands for, and why the weekday print edition does not state a theme. It appears from the comments that the online versions do. I may be wrong about that, but in any case, thanks in advance.
OARED - are you kidding? It's a word a four-year-old might use, not an adult familiar with the English language.
FOXTROT? HORSEFLY? TURTLERACE? BUCKPASS? DOGGO?
Yep. Lotsa possibilities. Everybody's probably got a fave. Desperate CATWALK lovers sure appear to be especially PURRING along, today. har
Nice debut, Mr. Grieg. Congratz and keep up the good work.
staff weeject pick: DES. Easiest thing in that FROG-STOMPIN NE corner. Even tho it's where yer RODEO is at, either OSMIC or BOSONS probably needed to go walk a cat over to Friday.
Really liked the 7-stacks, which are probably always a welcome sight to TuesPuz-level solvers. Also luved the central weeject stack.
Thanx for the fun, Bruce G. Docent puz.
Masked & Anonymo3Us
@Blackeyedsusan
A DOOK is when two or more words appear as one in the squares of the grid. It originally came from DO O-K, as in A job well done. It looks like DOOK. Another example, GO ON (Clued as Continue, e.g.) looks like GOON. I forgot who coined it, Z?
None of the puzzles themes are stated. Like no titles except on Sunday. You have to figure out the theme on your own. And, in the NYT, (other papers/publications may vary) Sunday-Thursday puzs are Themed, Friday-Saturday are Themeless.
I believe it was also Will Shortz who started putting constructors name in print, before it was just the editor. I might be wrong on that, though. Anyone confirm? (Or deny...)
RooMonster
@ron steenblik Some people solve on computer, where they can touch-type, leading to much faster solve times. I solve on an iPad, where having to look for the letters as I’m typing slows me down. I’ve considered trying it on computer, but I like to enjoy the solving process a bit, not just surge through trying to beat the clock. Different strokes...
Dear CrossMom, thank you for that. I hunt and peck on an iPad and the process is slow, but I agree enjoyable. I see, however, that some of the speed-demons say they complete the x-word on an iPad and still log times of under five minutes. Maybe they use blue-tooth connected keypads? By the way, I can't decide which is better: skipping over letters already in the grid (which requires looking at it), or writing over letters already entered.
CATWALK isn't just a place, but a movement. if you've spent much time in a modern dance class, of course. here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nlik6YDG088
and if you do the BEARCRAWL with a 4 year old on your back it's a Pony Ride. one can do similar in a G or R rated fashion with your significant other in the cat walk.
@Mary McCarty - I solve at runtpuz.org, where you get no hints that you are close, or wrong, or right. Once you think you are done, you can click on check solution. Then it will tell you if you are correct. Any further tinkering after that counts as a DNF for me - except as notes by @Z if it is a typing error rather than a comprehension error.
My rationale there is if I were solving on paper, I would not accidentally write a
'v' instead of a 'b'.
I ditched the NYT app for this very reason - I don't want to be told how I'm doing until I'm ready to submit the solution.
Congrats to Bruce on the debut. I enjoyed the theme and the puzzle overall in spite of the OSMIC / BOSONS cross which I managed to get right only because of a lucky guess.
In a grid with an animal theme, it seems inelegant to include animals, such as BOARS and EAGLET, that aren't themers.
And speaking of that EAGLET, too bad BALD couldn't have found a spot directly overhead.
Five dollar words: ALFALFA, TOUSEL, ATTACHE, and BARRIOS. Nice.
@Birchback, enjoyed your comment about unfulfilled words. You might add ERGS and OARED to the list.
Hmmm. Rex's review of the puzzle includes the word "catwalk" 8 times even though it's not even in the puzzle and would not have been a consistent themer for reasons that others have already pointed out.
I had PERES for 1 across which fit beautifully with REALTORS for 3 down, and then I froze trying to figure out if there was some obscure key in Florida I couldn’t pull up.
Some days I are dummerer than others.
@anon/11:31
recall how the West got its Dark Age: the violent Rednecks (Goths, of course) of the day destroyed the advanced civilization of Rome. kind of sound familiar? we got 1,000 years of stupid. may haps we will again.
As for GOOSESTEP...the North Korean Army is still marching in that same manner!
BOSONS, no that's a position on a ship, must be BOzONS crossing OzMIC. What BOzO came up with that answer? Mm hmm.
My Jewish co-worker, when told about the GOOSE STEP kerfuffle, said, "So what, it's a thing, isn't it? The puzzle isn't saying "do it"!"
Congrats, Bruce Greig, on the debut. Even though I have a bit of EGG on my face...
Failure due to BOSONS / OSMIC. Bad construction. I’ve gone my entire life and never used or seen these words. I don’t know if it’s possible to rewrite this quadrant to avoid these esoteric words.
@ Joseph Michael
@Z already beat us to punch in pointing out the inconsistency in having BOARS & EAGLET in today's puzzle, considering the theme. But you both missed ASP.
As for, CATWALK it's already been pointed out numerous times that it falls into the CHICKENRUN category, so would be a legit replacement for the more esoteric BEARCRAWL.
1) @Stuart Showwalter - Are you lacking in self awareness or of any understanding of irony? Or both? Critics gonna criticize. Get over yourself, Stuart(REX) ! It ain’t your blog (puzzle)!
2) People who cling to the idea that Cat Walk has been debunked: Exactly how is Cat Walk any different than Chicken Run? I know it's fun to point out how Rex is wrong, but you gotta make some sense.
@Ron Steenblik and @Crossmom - I can get down near 4:00 on many Monday Newsdays on my iPad. If it weren't for the inevitable fat finger syndrome I could probably break 4:00 consistently. I've mentioned it before, but I was stuck with 6:00 for the NYTX Monday being an unpenetrable wall for a couple of years, then all of a sudden it wasn't. Now if I ever break 10:00 on a Saturday...
@BlackEyedSusan and @Roo - I can't take credit for DOOK, which I think replaced GOAT (Go At) but is still sometimes called a TOAT (To A T). It could have been a regular, it might have even been someone who no longer regularly comments. Heck, it might have even been an anonymous poster asking "Help! What is a DOOK?" I do think I may have been the first to use RRN for Random Roman Numerals since they were a recurring rant theme of mine. @ACME coined Malapop for those times when a wrong answer ends up appearing somewhere else in the puzzle. @Lewis came up with PPP but it meant something different then.
@Joseph Michael - Only 8 times? If he had managed 9 I would have said he was making a joke, being hyperbolic, pulling our leg, using it as an excuse to post a cheesy 90's video. But at only 8...
I don't always do Tuesday puzzles but am glad I solved today's. Bruce Greig, hope to see more of your work.
I lean pretty PC and don't mind being called a SJW, but objections to GOOSE STEP strike me as, erm, a bit too sensitive. Maybe since I'm a historian, and I teach, read, and write about past unpleasantness nearly every work day, I'm inoculated against such things.
@LMS, congratulations on a successful conclusion to the strike. To quote an old labor tune, "The Union makes us strong!"
@ LMS: Yay for West Virginia teachers. Is Health Insurance incluced?
No.
Congratulations, Mr. Greig. Notable "firsts" are always nice, as is your finished product. @jae, unless I missed it, your "dog paddle" comment got no reaction, but wouldn't the swim stroke it's named for qualify it as a themer? @Roo Monster, I'm not sure about who came up with DOOK either, but I'd have bet we have @Lewis to thank. (@andy, FWIW, I don't skip over *all* long posts -- just the ones that I suspect a lot of others do, for what I suspect are the same reasons.)
I did this puzzle earlier but didn't have the chance to say that I disagree with Rex - it was easy if unremarkale & not exciting
Seemed like a typical Tuesday. I'm a chemist and I usually hate the chemistry clues -but OSMIC falls into the "loathe" category. Never heard of BEARCRAWL but everything else seemd okay.
@Mary McCarty....Welcome to our daily bread.
The pen vs pencil and the paper vs tablet is an interesting on-going comment thread on this blog. I, personally, would rather put on my galoshes, wade through 10 feet of snow and weather frost bite, CRAWLing my way to the newsstand to get a NYT puzzle section, than do a puzzle on what I call the Techie Tablet Paraphernalia Phenomena.
I have tried doing the puzzle (just to see what its like) on both my MacBook Air and on my iPhone. HAH! Fat finger syndrome as @Z likes to points out, takes over and I just end up getting frustrated. To each his/her own.
I started out doing the puzzle in newspaper and I've switched to downloading and using the poor dead tree. I don't want some robot telling me or singing to me or whistling at me that I'm an idiot who has a mistake somewhere. Much prefer to see the errors of my ways by coming to this blog.
Hope you come here often...!
@Stuart, Just read your blog. You're such an interesting thinker. Why do you waste your time tilting with Rex? Come here and share your observations about what the puzzle brings to mind.
SNAKE DANCE? MOUSE PAD? RAT TAILS? ANT ELOPE? BEE TRED (sp?). OTTER POP? WAL RUSH? Seen enough? … yeah, thought so.
@muse/Carl: Yay teachers. And hopin all yer other dreams also eventually come true …
M&Also
@Z - you left out Casco - a plausible but wrong answer that fits with other plausible but wrong answers leading to a snarl that takes forever to unravel. I don't know who coined it as it was already in use when I found the blog, but it was named in honor of former regular Casco Kid.
It feels to me that having the blog moderators on board has diluted the life out of the comments. A few vulgar trolls were unpleasant but it feels like a certain playfulness was also lost. Posting now knowing that every word is being scrutinized is not enjoyable.
So thank you to all the wimpy whiners.
Now when we walk into Baskin-Robbins there is only one flavor.
Let's see if Big Brother allows this comment.
@kitshef, I never found CascoKid's mistakes plausible at all. His mind worked in marvelous but mysterious ways.
@Two Ponies....Aye frijoles...you were called every name in the book! You miss that?
I got thick skin, but after a while, trying to avoid the dog caca on the sidewalk is more than tedious.
Thank you moderators!
@Two Ponies:
"a certain playfulness was also lost"
well, did you really absorb my observation about the cat walk as pony ride??? think about it.
This week's relative difficulty ratings. See my 1/2/2018 post for an explanation of my method. In a nutshell, the higher the ratio & percentage, the higher my solve time was relative to my norm for that day of the week. Your results may vary.
(Day, Solve time, 26-wk Median, Ratio, %, Rating)
Mon 4:15 4:09 1.03 60.3% Medium-Challenging
Tue 4:03 5:26 0.74 3.4% Very Easy
My 10th fastest solve time of 452 Tuesdays and the 5th lowest Tuesday ratio (0.74). My only write-over was meSONS before BOSONS. OSMIC didn't come to mind in that section either. I count only 6 proper nouns in this one (7, if you count WBA). Breezy Tuesday.
93 comments and no one has mentioned this, but ... ACEY-DEUCEY is not a card game. It's a variety of backgammon. I've never played it myself but definitely heard about it from my three career-military uncles. It was big in the barracks.
That was the clue, not the puzzle. And aside from the aforementioned SOUTHER (I went for a misspelled sorocco first) and the POC BOARS, the latter was decent enough.
@kitshef -- OSMIum also has an important use in phonograph needles, so it's definitely worth trying to corner the market.
@Z You think @Rex might be making jokes sometimes? You can't be serious, can you?
@Loren, is it really over? None of the stories I can find online mention health insurance.
@LMS, I hope congratulations is in order, but also wondering if health insurance is included.
@Mary McCarty. Welcome.
I’m actually quite flattered that you included this frequently cheating amateur on your list with others who have far better memories and standards than I have. I always solve on the iPad despite not being able to type well because I can lie down in bed and write upside down which is not something you can do with a pen. I never look at my average times because I don’t care and because the timer doesn’t stop if I fall asleep on my iPad mid solve. I time my solves by how many cappuccinos I can sip. If I’m not busy and feel like I have time for a two cappuccino solve, I try not to cheat from Sunday through Thursday. I prefer two cappuccino solves on slow work days. If I only have time for one cappuccino or it’s a Friday or Saturday I allow myself almost all forms if cheating except the reveal letter option on the iPad.
@Gill I, turn off the sound and ignore the robot.
@Nancy I would have LOLled at your bad sushi restaurant comment but I have a wad of cotton in my mouth thanks to a cracked tooth that had to be removed today. Sushi actually sounds like something soft enough to eat, unlike some of the other dining options on my list. Monkey Rolls would definitely be too chewy for me today.
@Carola, I always misheard the song lyrics as Bob Moran for the longest time and still liked the song anyway.
@Jberg
I played ACEY-DEUCEY in high school, back in the mid 50's and we always used a deck of cards. For what it's worth Wikipedia shows both variations, so I think the clue's legit:
Acey Deucey (card game) - Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acey_Deucey_(card_game)
Acey Deucey, also known as In-Between, Sheets or Maverick, is a simple card game that involves betting. Contents. [hide]. 1 Rules. 1.1 Regionally specific rules ; 1.2 Aces. 2 Strategy; 3 Variations; 4 In popular culture; 5 See also; 6 References ; 7 External links. Rules[edit]. Before the action, each player must add their ante ...
Acey-deucey - Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acey-deucey
Acey-deucey is a variant of backgammon. Since World War I, it has been a favorite game of the United States Navy, Marine Corps, and Merchant Marine. Some evidence shows that it was played in the early 1900s aboard U.S. Navy ships. The game is believed to be rooted in the Middle East, Greece, or Turkey, where there ...
I'm an award winning card player and can indeed affirm that there is a card game called ACEY-DEUCY.
@jberg, Acey-Deucy is a variant of stud poker where aces and deuces are wild.
I am an award winning scientist and yet I could not identify most elements by their atomic number without looking at the periodic table. And I know boson only from crossword puzzles.
Ah, but they are just words.
Are we afraid of words?
BTW congrats to Bruce Greig for successfully navigating the treacherous waters of a debut on a Tuesday.
One of the most claustrophobic grids I have ever had to deal with. It felt like I was solving nine mini puzzles, and the middle one was just too much for me. I've been grading puzzles every day for months now, and I think this is the first time I'll take away points from one for making me feel trapped in a narrow passage. Weird.
A fair theme. It is funny how CHICKENRUN was the constructor's least favorite entry, for me it was the strongest because it was the only one I was actually familiar with. FROGMARCH? Not a clue. BEARCRAWL what? TURKEYTROT? I had only known Foxtrot. I guess GOOSESTEP is the term for the Nazi-style military marching. Cool, but not cool. To be fair, the theme was very consistent and the answers were gettable from the clues. So good.
The fill is also fair when you look at the words individually, but the fill was so constraining it created some unfortunate ditches. Almost every corner had one word that made you go "WTF?" ELLO, DOCENTS, ROONE, ABBES, ACEY... And since these parts were so disconnected it became a hassle over and over again.
Good debut, very good clues for a Tuesday but this puzzle could have been a much better one if the constructor weren't so ambitious.
GRADE: B-, 3.1 stars.
@mericans in Paris-
Sorry to be so late to the party, spent the whole day skiing and am just catching up. "Alfalfa" is so spelled because it came to us from Arabic, where "al" is he definite article and the rest of the word is represented in a logical and phonetic way.
So, "alfalfa" is, of course, a fine way of expressing the English term, "the falfa".
I think the moderating of comments sucks.
Yes....Words hurt. Look at a pups face when you yell at it.
I was so proud of myself for remembering SIROCCO...
OMG! Two crossing science clues! Why on earth wasn't the devisor forced to redo that corner with a bunch of names from the entertainment industry or sports, which everyone is expected to know. The editor should be shot! Hung drawn and quartered and then goosestepped on!
@Two Ponies (4:39) -- I find myself absolutely GOBSMACKED by your comment because
1) There's as much "playfulness" on this blog as ever there was -- lots and lots and lots of playfulness!
2) I, for one, have not changed a single comma of what I've written -- nor even once thought of changing a single comma -- since blog moderation began. I write what I write and I never self-censor. And because my great joy in life doesn't consist of attacking other people and because I try to treat others the way I would like to be treated myself, I would be extremely surprised if I'm ever zapped by the moderators.
What's gone missing on the blog since moderation began is neither "playfulness" nor "life".
It's snark, viciousness, bile and gratuitous cruelty. Thank God it's gone. I join @GILL in thanking the moderators for wading through a lot of disgusting muck so that the rest of us don't have to.
I thiught the cross between BOSONS ans OSMIC was not one that any ordinarily literate person could hope to solve without consulting Google ( which I did, and did).
@Nancy - AMEN
Aunt Clara loves the moderating.
Larry Tate - Despite your snarky comment, I think anyone with any sense of decency appreciates the moderators removing the nasty and filthy comments by the cowardly and puerile anons!
I gladly join the “thank you moderators” group.
Me, too! (join the "thank you moderators" group).
Thanks also to @pabloinnh for the cool explanation. I was trying to be a bit funny (playful?) in my post, especially my rant about animal balance, but I have been genuinely perplexed by the spelling of alfalfa. I would never have guessed that the term comes from Arabic, though I suppose I could have looked up its etymology. When I was first exposed to Arabic, I found it very harsh sounding. But over the years I've gotten more used to it, and can make out some individual words. So I'm always interested in learning of its words that have made it into English.
Why is it so many people believe if they haven’t heard something it must be esoteric or obscure? Has the world really become that egocentric?
Thanks to all who set me straight about ACEY-DEUCEY. My gambling days are behind me, so I guess I'm out of touch.
“Ello” is wrong. Cockneys say “allo”. Never “ello”.
BALD EAGLET EYE
SEE the CHICKENRUN across the road,
ORE be STOPPED while in the ACT.
ORE SEE a FROGMARCH with a toad,
A CITE to SEE upon impact.
--- HENRY “ALFALFA” OSMIC
About medium for a Tuesday, largely due to my never having heard of the first three themers. FROGMARCH? All I could think of, from the clue, was walk the plank. MARCH came easily enough, but I needed every cross for the rest. Things got better when I replaced zit with EGG.
Then: what is your definition of a (movie) "hit?" If CHICKENRUN was a "hit," how come it's brand new to me? And BEARCRAWL? If you say so. Sounds more yoga-ish to me. Do bears crawl? I guess when they're newborns, like humans.
Taking on seven-stacks in "all-four[s]" corners is ambitious, but our rookie nearly pulls it off. OSMIC would be rough any day; this early it's pretty brutal. I bet he tried to make OSRIC work but just couldn't. I'm a fan of unforced-looking high-Scrabble crossings, so OOZED/OZONE is a plus. DOD RICCI gets top center billing--as she should. I was going with par, but on reflection those open corners make this a par-5, so: birdie.
Would say medium-challenging because of BEARCRAWL, OSMIS, and peculiar cluing for LIES and FORTES.
Otherwise an average and pretty solid Tuesday.
Erm (ha)... OSMIC, not OSMIs.
For me it seemed a tad, merely a tad, tuffer than the avg Tues puz. Perhaps that's because Mr. W is on day 4, and counting, of his sad and perilous trek thru the land of "Updating Windows 10 - turn off your computer now and stand on your head in the corner until Bill Gates tells you to do otherwise." We are on technical expert #5. Well, not we - he. His final answer - "GET NEW COMPUTER NOW."
Or maybe it was difficult because I could stand to learn what a BEARCRAWL exercise is and toughen up my "core." Can't say that I remember seeing anything resembling a BEARCRAWL at the gym - does one need to growl or paw at the air whilst performing thusly? Twood be entertaining to watch.
As for entertainment, the puzzle did so - especially when I made some inroads and resisted the desire to "peek and cheat." A clean solve was the result.
Har, @Spacey, zit on one's face. Not as noticeable as egg, but just as annoying.
Diana, Lady-in-Waiting for Crosswords
I thought it was an excellent puzzle, particularly for a debut. Well done.
Maybe it's my chemistry background, but BOSONS and OSMIC were gimmes here. On that, Osmium is the most dense element on Earth, and has always fascinated me. As an example, a regulation Olympic steel shotput weighs 16 lb. If it were made of pure Osmium, it would weigh over 44 lb. Are ye not fascinated?
So, a nice theme requiring no revealer, and I saw no dreck. Besides the themers there were some other good answers (TOUSLED, LEISURE, DOCENTS and BARRIOS come to mind), and a few cute clues. Again, good job, Mr. Greig.
I finished this with OSMIC POISE. CHICKENRUN? If they say so. Same with BEARCRAWL. Wrote over Obama with OPRAH. Not exactly an ALLSTAR performance.
I woulda gone with musician J.D. SOUTHER as did OFL. Not that often I like his musical picks. I had an old SOUTHER, Hillman, Furay 8-track. Purchased at River Valley Trading Company, BROKERS of fine music, stereo and smoking equipment. Thanks Greg, wherever you are.
Killed last month’s Harper’s puz in just over an hour after finally getting to it. The next one is due out soon. @D,LIW, you should have it via email by now.
Looks like I’ve got Ms. RICCI circled as yeah baby today.
Nice Tues-puz to be ADMIRED.
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