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Pioneering photojournalist Jacob / FRI 6-22-18 / Polish-language film that won 2014 Oscar / Big espresso purveyor since 2001
Friday, June 22, 2018
Constructor: Andrew Kingsley
Relative difficulty: Medium (5:53) (I'm tired and I've had a bit to drink, so it might be slightly easier)
Word of the Day: Jacob RIIS (8D: Pioneering photojournalist Jacob) —
Jacob August Riis (/riːs/; May 3, 1849 – May 26, 1914) was a Danish-American social reformer, Georgist, "muckraking" journalist and social documentary photographer. He is known for using his photographic and journalistic talents to help the impoverished in New York City; those impoverished New Yorkers were the subject of most of his prolific writings and photography. He endorsed the implementation of "model tenements" in New York with the help of humanitarianLawrence Veiller. Additionally, as one of the most famous proponents of the newly practicable casual photography, he is considered one of the fathers of photography due to his very early adoption of flash in photography.While living in New York, Riis experienced poverty and became a police reporter writing about the quality of life in the slums. He attempted to alleviate the bad living conditions of poor people by exposing their living conditions to the middle and upper classes. (wikipedia)
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| in a purple state |
LAPEL LIZARDS sounds like a band. A band that might open for SAPIENT FUTON. I had a bunch of trouble witih short answers during he first half of the solve, and then virtually no trouble with the second half. Just couldn't get RODE or SOAR, even after a couple of crosses, so the NW took longer to fill in than it should've. Wrote in MPAA for RIAA (15D: Pirate-fighting org.). RIAA remains an initialism that I routinely forget. Biggest hang-up of the day by far was, weirdly, ATE IT (10D: Wiped out). Had that final "T" and wanted only SPENT (perhaps because that was how I was feeling and continue to feel, man I can't wait to be asleep...). And the "E" from SPENT worked for EDIE, which I *knew* was right (18A: Actress Sedgwick of Warhol films). Wanted SAPIENT (a word you learn in high school and promptly never use again), but couldn't figure out how a word could end -EIT. Much later, I found out it was not a word. It was two words. After that, not a hitch, except for UZIS (57A: Action film weapons). I got it easily enough, I just hate it. Ironically, I also hate UNARM. But I hate the latter as a word (the word is "disarm"), whereas I hate UZIS because guns suck. Good night.
Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld
[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]
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98 comments:
Easy-medium with the NE being the medium part. I had EVite before EVENT which made the long downs in the NE tough to see. I also briefly tried @Rex spent before ATE IT.
I’m currently rewatching the re-edited 4th season of Arrested Development (the re-edited version is much easier to follow) which could could have been a clue for GOB.
Solid Fri., liked it.
ALL NATURAL ANAL crossing IN A HOLE is why I subscribe.
Would someone be so kind as to explain 55D? "Passes, in a way" is the clue for LAPS. What?
Got stuck at the end on the ATEIT / TIME crossing. Wanted to enter MIME for the across.
Loved the puzzle. Don't love ATTS as an abbr for attys. And this is not just because I am an atty.
I was cruising along enroute to a good solving TIME as I'd just figured out the clue for that entry to "finish" in the NE corner. "Try again" popped up and I wasted several minutes hunting down a misread of the word "practice" as "patience" in the 32D clue. This made RUSH the obvious answer. Why or how anyone would HAG a photo on Facebook Book I don't know but RUSH was written in stone. A careful rereading got me RUST and TAG.
I don't count this as a technical dnf because on paper the words are much more legible. The reading aspect of these damn bifocals are always the minimum needed to read.
Soon I'll be retired and won't have to do these things on the phone.
@Nancy, how did you do on the plain old CAR entry? I know you hate anything having to do with cars in a puzzle but this was really a book/movie category.
When this thing lurched out of the printer, I noticed that pack of three stacks on the sternum and wondered. Kind of hard to hide, but no harm, no foul. This was not a difficult solve, for me, anyway. I read some folks complaining about an easy puzzle; did it ever occur to you that you're just getting more SAPIENT? That's what I'm going with.
When stuffy and ANAL coincide, seek medical assistance. Trying to eat breakfast here!
Cloudless desert skies and minimal light pollution make for great STAR GAZING conditions. I notice that the waxing moon is getting cozy with Jupiter this evening, and will be even cozier tomorrow, appearing in a night sky near you.
Hate that whole Red State/Blue State over simplification. I guess we have to dumb it down for the cable TV watchers. Who came up with the Crips and Bloods analogy for the complexity of voters' party preferences? Now, it seems that the whole electoral process might be compromised. I sure hope not.
I have studied and taught Shakespeare, whoever that might be, but have not read Sappho. Not big on translations, for the most part. As for the Bard of Avon, I question biographical criticism applied to an author we really don't know that much about. I see EROTIC as sexual. Shakespeare's Sonnets do express fond sentiments toward a beloved, sometimes male and sometimes female. Also, let's not ignore the voice of the naive persona and the identity of the perceived object of the affection. We all express love for a benefactor, at least for the record. 14A seems a bit matter of fact, but I'm open to other opinions.
Lola was a mainstream hit played on many radio stations. It was released in 1971 and I don't remember any furor about the premise of a boy's sexual awakening with a lover with a deep voice and big hands. That seems odd, considering the subject matter. They were called The Kinks, after all.
Happy Solstice to one and all.
Theme words for this puzzle:
- Homoerotic
- Anal
- Lizards
- (Wrist)
Lapping someone in a footrace or car race on a track is passing them.
MIME for “Show of hands?” killed me. I refused to think it was wrong.
Easy especially for a Friday but a DNF at mIAA.
Liked cluing for WRIST and UNARM.
Thanks AK.
This gave me plenty:
* Toughness -- Last night, before bed, after filling in a third, I was stuck, IN A HOLE, flummoxed by tricky cluing and things I didn't know.
* Triumph -- This morning, immediately upon waking, kazam! Filled the rest in in one splat.
* Answers to like: POST RACIAL, PURPLE STATES, DRAFT KINGS, STARGAZING, SAPIENT, WHIR.
* Clues which brought an instant thumbs-up: HUME, PURPLE STATES, ALL NATURAL.
* TIC neighboring TIC in the north, LOG by LOG in the south.
* Realizing that BEST and PASTE, clued as totally unrelated, can, as verbs, mean the same thing.
* Overall freshness, no feeling of RUST.
Christmas in June! Thank you greatly for this, Andrew!
@Questina - Guffaw. How did I miss that last night as I solved?
@Deep Mac - in case you aren’t reading this on a smart phone, @TonySaratoga is correct. If I race a 5-minute miler on a track they will pass me at least twice before they finish, so she LAPS me twice.
Uh, Hand up for mIME before TIME. I finally got out of that invisible box, though.
14:17. Not too shabby. I’ve no idea where this is on my easy to challenging scale, TIMEwise, but it felt very easy in the west and medium in the east, so, easy-medium. I thought the clue for FUTON was very college. PURPLE STATE is fine shorthand for discussing what’s happening in the run ups to elections, but I agree that the whole red/blue/purple thing is a bit reductionist and high schoolish. Before I sussed out was going on there I had rURaL a STATE (not really noticing that extraneous “a”) and said to myself, “huh, rural states tend to be right of center. What’s this all about?” Then I saw SAPIENT and it started to make sense.*
A fine Friday offering.
*I just proof read and my iPad “corrected” sussed to dissed. Huh. As if I need any help being misunderstood.
Already some edgy comments this morning! Personally, I never go there and find such thoughts distasteful. Right. To all the ANAL HOLE inappropriateness, I need to point out the LOG LOG dropping down side by side there at the, well, at the bottom.
“Trademarked repellent” – so MIMEs aren’t trademarked, but you can bet your sweet bippy that would repel me from any kind of show. When I found out that I wasn’t the only one who didn’t like them, I was at once relieved and surprised. Hating something on your own before realizing you have to because all the cool people hate it really validates the hate. Other things I was surprised to learn people hated, too: Christian Laettner, Jane Austen, free-verse poetry, balloons, John Cage.
Rex – I couldn’t disagree more about UNARM vs disarm. If someone is pointing an UZI at me, I want the policeman (Denzel Washington in my little vignette) to UNARM him quickly and decisively. This involves viper-like speed and violence that leaves uzi guy with his cheek smashed into the ground. To disarm him, Denzel would smile and tell a cute little joke. Wink. Wiggle his eyebrows.
Ok. ALL NATURAL (“lacking hormones”). This is weird and probably really uninteresting, but that has never stopped me before from running my mouth here. Just skip this whole paragraph if you you’re so inclined. Yesterday Koko the gorilla died. I saw this on Facebook right as my daughter and I were going in to see a movie. I was beyond devastated and really, really struggled not to fall apart. I couldn’t even tell my daughter I had read about her death. So then I started wondering about being so emotional all the time – the tears are right there ready to fall at any given moment. So then I started wondering if it was a hormone thing and if I needed to start taking them ‘cause maybe all mine are gone. So then I pictured my best friend in Chapel Hill (people, please don’t get insulted at the following stereotype) – Leslie P. who was ALL NATURAL. Peasant skirts, that crystal rock thingy for deodorant, Birkenstocks, hairy legs, Patchouli, Tom’s toothpaste… That was Leslie, and I adored her. I pictured myself all natural like that, adding to this the spectacle of letting my hair grow out and leave it uncolored so it’s grey and long and parted in the middle and my ears stick out ‘cause it’s really thin and limp. And I decided that I’m still a fakey pencil skirt panty hose kinda person, so I’ll just not ask anyone about hormone therapy. This whole stream of thought happened I swear between the time my daughter and I found our miraculously comfortable recliners (that we were forced to choose as we got our tickets -when did *this* practice start?) and the first of the 19 previews. That’s my Koko ALL NATURAL connection.
Anyway – it wasn’t ‘til after I solved that I understood the clue was talking about meat.
RIP, Koko, you kitten-loving, Mr. Rogers-loving, Robin Williams-loving, gentle, beautiful soul.
Just so no one is confused, like @Z, obviously I had "mime" before I got TIME off ATE IT. I shouldn't have capitalized it in my post, but I'm too lazy to go back and fix it.
Easy but a slog with the cluing. Without hormones is "all natural"? So animals and plants are unnatural? And a better answer for a society which is said to be "colorblind" would be "delusional", which fits. Best thing about this one was the stacked "TIC"s. We have two guest rooms and haven't owned or seen a futon for over 30 years so that's far from a thing I'd think of; I don't think most people out of their 20s would either. "Ate it" was just horrible. Some fun long answers, but they didn't much alleviate the boredom. At least not much time was wasted this morning.
Found Wednesday’s puzzle harder than yesterday’s or today’s. This seems to be happening a lot lately, where Wednesday is the hardest weekday puzzle.
IM INdeCENT before IM INNOCENT. Boy, do those share a lot of letters.
Mrsshef and I travel to some odd places, where DEET is recommended. It does a real number on watches and boots, which makes me wonder what it does to flesh.
If it starts with an f and is a place where guests sleep, the answer should be "floor", which is always, in my experience, more comfortable than a futon.
Liked this one a lot, just enough resistance to be satisfying.
Pride month continues! I was surprised to see that HOMOEROTIC is a debut, but realized when @Rex pointed it out that I’d seen it in a different puzzle recently. Wanted screen time before VIDEO GAMES - that has appeared a couple of times before.
LOL @questina.
Very challenging. (5 hrs, 43 min) but I was unconscious, so maybe only challenging.
Same here.
I know, right?!
Sonnet 52
So am I as the rich whose blessèd key
Can bring him to his sweet up-lockèd treasure,
The which he will not every hour survey,
For blunting the fine point of seldom pleasure.
Therefore are feasts so solemn and so rare,
Since seldom coming in the long year set,
Like stones of worth they thinly placèd are,
Or captain jewels in the carcanet.
So is the time that keeps you as my chest,
Or as the wardrobe which the robe doth hide,
To make some special instant special blest
By new unfolding his imprisoned pride.
Blessèd are you whose worthiness gives scope,
Being had, to triumph; being lacked, to hope.
The longest New Testament book in my Bible is JOHN not LUKE.
I don't think the Earl of KENT was a servant.
22 across answer PAR is plain wrong. Golfers not drivers try not to go over
So wanted PrizE instead of PLACE (34A) and ?????tiMES for VIDEOGAMES (11D) that the NE was a total disaster. SAPIENT is also a tad too far out of my wheelhouse.
Oh, well -- can't win them all.
Same. Also had ISAW for IMET and was 100% sure I had the lyrics right. Took a while to unravel the mistakes
So odd that the snigger-inducing cross of ANAL and IN A HOLE earns plaudits for cleverness when the straightforward placement of UZI earns scorn.
Sorry that Rex was only lukewarm about this -- I thought it was a lively, engaging, rewarding, and terrific puzzle!
Agree with @jae that it was very easy with the exception of the NE. Much too easy for a Friday, I would say.
While I've never given it a lot of thought, I had the vague impression that SAPIENT as in homo sapiens meant "thinking". If it means "wise", our species is misnamed.
I wondered if I was going to be put up on the COUCH or the FLOOR (23A). To me, a FUTON isn't all that much better than the FLOOR. In many ways it is the FLOOR.
11D. Way to go, parents!!!
I don't see ANAL as "stuffy" taken to an extreme. I see ANAL as "rigid" or even "obsessive" taken to an extreme.
Two days ago, this would have been a lovely puzzle.
I was bitchin' in my head that this was far too easy for a late week puzzle, when I suddenly struggled for an extra five minutes or so to finish it after putting in MIME for "show of hands" (as others have done) and refused to budge. Time actually makes more sense as Mime involves a lot more than just hands. I do think of DEET whenever I see a MIME. Shoo, scat, begone! Or like Dustin Hoffman in Tootsie, I might just knock one over. (The mimes at the end of BLOW UP however are priceless.)
I've heard of someone saying "Unhand me" when you grab 'em by the... elbow, but I'm not sure I'd like someone to UNARM me.
Enjoy this gorgeous Friday everyone, and remember "...summer's lease hath all too short a date."
Fun to solve with all those nice longer entries. Easy, except for that mIME, who slowed me down for a bit, and an alphabet run at DRAFT?INGS x ?AT.
So after going—ahem—ballistic over the mere mention of firearms in a puzzle earlier this week, Rex goes out of his way to justify the gratuitously gay references two days running.. Nice job of politicizing even the freaking crossword puzzle...
@Natraj Sitaram 8:41 AM
I think in this clue "driver" is the golfer. He/she is driving the ball with a driver club.
@LMS, I'm 62 and retiring gradually. I've cut back my hours and am retiring from the bottom up. The first thing I did was to pile up all the skirts, heels, and black "work pants" and drop them off at Good Will. I'm retiring from the bottom up. All natural fiber slacks and flats. Eventually I'll send a message and get a jacket that says, "I Don't Care."
The puzzle killed me early and completely. Wanted to drop in whirr because I've convinced myself that it has two Rs. Onomatopoeia-wise, it should. Reluctantly threw in salts for margarita garnish because never in my entire tipping life have I ever seen anything but a lime. But we have a lime tree and make them the way they're supposed to be made, not from some jug of neon pop (born on the east coast) with a lemon (why?) for a garnish. So many clues for lemon, why insult the margarita?
Hey All !
Nice FriPuz. Easy in spots, tough in spots. Did online today, so used the Check feature to move things along quicker.
LOLed at Rex's band names. Good stuff. Also agree about the funky grid. Odd, for a themeless. Strange sameness twice with TIC TIC and LOG LOG.
Was laughing at CAR also, picturing @Nancy going "Ugh". :-)
WHIR IN A HOLE
RooMonster
DarrinV
Can't wait to see ALLOEROTIC in a puzzle. Not yet in common language, I guess. Would that would be the living in a postsexual world?
Ran through the West fairly quickly, but came to a screeching halt in the East, not helped by mistakenly putting KYRA at 18A.. Finally SAPIENT and FUTON gave me a wedge into that area. "Show of hanlds" was a tricky clue. Wouldn't ALL NATURAL mean having the correct body-produced hormones, not the lack of them? Oh well, I bow to the constrctor of a challenging puzzle.
I know people are upset but I'm glad there has been all the gay words in this week's puzzles. Homo-sexuals have a very difficult time and we should be helpful and supportive of them so that they can feel included too. Next week the puzzle will be back to normal I'm sure.
Got everything except the NE. "ATEIT" for "wiped out" is horrible. And "TIME" for "show of hands" is almost as bad. Good puzzle design, lousy clues.
Sports clues are sometimes a real problem for me. Even though there are a limited number consonants that will make _at an actress' name none of them made sense to me so DNF at that crossing.
Other than that it was a good themeless.
All of the innuendos have been covered to no need to go into that.
If even the thought of an Uzi sends you shrinking in fear I can only guess that you live a life free of any threats. Good for you.
Mostly what I feel right now is utter sadness to hear about Koko.
My day is ruined.
@puzzlehoarder and @Roo -- I did fine with CAR, and thank you both for asking. While I'm not a Stephen King reader (not liking horror and all), I sort of knew through the zeitgeist that "Christine" is a CAR, just as I know that "Cujo" is a dog. I'm fine with CARS, as long as I don't have to 1) identify them or 2) explain how their transmission works :)
I come here every day and I've never minded the critique however warranted/right on, slanted/shaped by the bloggers political/societal sensibilities - the state of solving bit however is getting mildly tiresome for me, just solve the damn puzzle, don't care if you've had 1 cup of half caf or 2 cocktails or what time of day or night it is, if the sun was in your eyes, etc.
Way easy for a Friday. Zero cultural references I didn’t know, first time that’s ever happened on s Friday.
@Warren Peace 9:59AM
You do realize the answer was LIMES, right?
Medal, e.g. is a terrible clue for PLACE. The verb, to medal, at something does not require e.g., and PLACE makes no sense as an answer to the noun MEDAL. I had PRIZE until I got long downs, then PEACE before PLACE. I had a great Friday time until getting slogged down here.
I'm hoping next week can be all engines in the puzzle. Rocket engines, race car engines, big locomotive diesel engines. Oh and aircraft engines especially large radial piston engines like the R-3350 Turbo Compound and the R-4460 Wasp Major. Of course, the grid would include all the accessory features like superchargers and magnetos and so forth. I think everyone is going to enjoy it!
Me too! I thought I was so clever writing MIME for a Shoe of hands it never occurred to me it could wrong.
Wanted the answer to wise to be some play off sage like sagacious but that didn’t fit. Once I got sapient things opened up. Once again Rex invokes bodily states and bad habits to excuse diminished performance.It’s getting to be a bit old. Hey, LMS what have you got against free verse poetry?
Hey Rex, if drinking dulls your senses, please subtract 30 seconds from your time, take an aspirin and don't gripe.
I thought it was an excellent Friday puzzle. Tough, very tough, but in the end doable.
I am fine with OFL telling us when he did the puzzle and how his late-night drinking affects his ability. Personally, I am sober as a judge when I do them, early in the morning having (a) walked out to the sidewalk to retrieve the Times and our local rag, (b) skimmed the local paper and read the comics, and (c) settled into my comfy chair in the living room.
I said "sober as a judge" with a smile, for back in the day I went to many a party where our local judges were invited. Some of them were hilariously unsober.
Gotta say, it's amazing how many commentators grouse about clues they did not get at first. Kinda like OFL, often. I liked that clue for TIME, tricky though it was. And ALL NATURAL. Refers to meats from animals that have not been fed hormones. Milk. too. Even our non-organic local milk brags that its cows (also local) have not been given hormones, no doubt intended to increase production of milk.
Had "Acts" before LUKE who also wrote Acts. And "Mass" before BEST. Last long entry to fall was DRAFTKINGS which was in the news fairly recently.
Unarm is a word; disenjoy is not.
Superb, for a themelesspuz. But what rose way way up above all else for M&A was that there TIME clue. Magnificent beast of a clue (yo, @Z). Brilliant. {Show of hands?} = TIME. Makes m&e just wanna go out and celebrate the existence of wordplay -- get hopelessly shnookered up, like @RP. Yell "show of hands" a lot to bewildered barflies.
Well done, Mr. Kingsley.
On the other side of the aisle, we have the clue for crossin entry ATEIT. As in, {Wiped out} = ATEIT(?!?). This puppy makes absolutely no sense to the M&A. "@RP got wiped out on booze" ?=? "@RP got ate it on booze"?
"M&A wiped out that plate of cinnamon rolls" ?=? "M&A ate it that plate of cinnamon rolls"? No. Don't get "it".
Now, on to the mandatory UNARM coverage that y'all've been waiting for. Better clue: {Spot to splatz on some deodorant, informally??} = UNARM. Admired the desperation of UNARM, until I realized that it …
1. Is in the Official M&A Help Desk Dictionary.
2. Has four-time Patrick Berry Usage Immunity (out of 19 total Shortzmeister-Era appearances)!
3. I Don't Care Do Uzi?
Lotsa great long ball fillins. Faves: INAHOLE [with primo ANAL pin-placement (yo, @Q)]. LIZARDS. IMINNOCENT. PURPLESTATES. TELEPROMPTER.
staff weeject pick: KAT. Good to see some actress take the heat off of Krazy in these lil krosswords. Luvly central weeject stack, btw.
Thanx for the fairly easy FriPuz solvequest and that TIME clue, Mr. (Draft)Kings-ley.
Masked & Anonymo4Us
**gruntz**
WRIST to TELEPROMPTER, to this is going to be an easy Friday.
Same MIME as the rest.
Uh oh. UZIS and HOMO and ANAL In the crossword. Heads will explode. Best laugh so far @Questinia. She only appears here when something vital needs to be said.
Favorite way - so far - to clue AIRE. So only 1% for the gaziilionaires ? Pretty soon it will be 50% The rest of us schmos will be the poor AIRES.
@Loren. I immediately thought of you when Koko went on to animal heaven. Although he's not in the animal kingdom, I will also miss Charles Krauthammer. I always thought him a brilliant man - particularly when he was with Inside Washington. I came to admire him even more when he was very verbal about "Mr. Leader of the free world's questioned IQ."
ALL NATURAL.. That's the only way to go. The way God intended. I equated one of the difficult changes I experienced as the same feeling as having hot flash baby blues. I used the cry when watching The Roadrunner.
@Warren Peace...You did mean LIMES, right? Your Margarita story gave me a smile. Another good use for your limes is a good Daiquiri. No bananas need apply.
The answers in this puzzle were just left of center enough to keep surprising me, so I enjoyed this solve. It's ridiculous that I didn't see the meat connection for ALLNATURAL until LMS noted it. It's my preferred choice as are Birkenstocks in the summer. I was stuck ruminating on the years between 50 and 60.
I didn't waste much time changing mIME to TIME, but PURPLE held me up a bit as did DRAFT_INGS. Sometimes I forget that the NYT isn't staid any longer and I didn't see HOMOEROTIC coming.
Another hand up for MIME before TIME. Also wanted INDEPENDENTS before PURPLE STATES.
Liked the puzzle overall, though it does have a lot of three-letter words and seems kinda easy for a Friday. Lotsa nice long entries and clever clues.
Glad to see HOMOEROTIC following yesterday’s gay flag in support of Pride Month and the upcoming LGBTQ parades. With more and more celebrities coming out of the closet, parade watching might include some STAR GAZING.
My only real annoyance with the puzzle is PARM. I guess it’s short for PARMESAN, but I have never heard or seen such a word. What next? VEAL SCAL? CHICKEN CACC?
Show of hands was my favorite clue.
I hate digital clocks.
No surprise that I also solve on paper.
Anon @ 10:44 HA! Thanks. I totally gave up and assumed! Nothing like a good self-righteous rant that makes you look like an ass.
Hey there @M&A, ATEIT as clued refers to Wiped Out as failing at something. Roo wiped out on the ski course. Roo ATE IT on the ski course. See, no actual eating involved. :-) (No cinnamon rolls were harmed by this clue.)
I had IMINNO_ENT and kept parsing it IM IN NO _ENT. What the heck? I'm in no dent? bent? sent? tent? Har. With that tricky PLACE clue, it was a toughie.
RooMonster
@lms. I think Rex meant that he likes the word disarm better than unarm. Bold of me to assume so. Venus de Milo is disarming.
A driver can certainly be a golfer histting his driver!
More accurately, lapping someone in a foot race or car race is passing them when they are already behind you — you’ve gone fast enough to put them a full lap behind.
As noted Anonymous-ly unthread, King Lear's loyal servant should be "FOOL." Kent is by no means a servant. He is a retainer.
@Roo Help Desk: Thanx U kindly, sir. Sorta like "wiped out" = "ate snow", or somesuch.
Or maybe … that'll teach m&e, not to eat while on the ski course. [So far, M&A has never ever tried to ski, tho.]
Some puzs are just more fun than LIZARDS IN A HOLE. QED.
M&Also
My big hold-up today was in the central section. No idea on the fantasy sports site though the thought that DRAFT might be a part of it did cross my mind. And assumed the Polish movie would be IDA from the ID_ but didn't want to assume (it's Polish, right?) and having left POST-RACIs_ to see if it turned out to be POST-RACISM or POST-RACIST, gah, how about neither?
I finally wrinkled my nose at 40A, got ALF, and filled in the rest. I'll agree with @Rex that UNARM didn't feel right but crossing great things like RUST (as clued), TANTALIZING and STARGAZING, I'll take it.
Nice job, Andrew Kingsley.
I had no misdirect for MIME as ATEIT was already in place. ATEIT must come from surfing or skate boarding. I've become fairly familiar with it's cluing but I still didn't get it instantly.
With TI_E in place it still required a little thought to come up with TIME. It's interesting that WRIST is at 1A. Besides from your own hand your WRIST also holds the hands of your watch.
@Joseph Michael:
My only real annoyance with the puzzle is PARM. I guess it’s short for PARMESAN, but I have never heard or seen such a word.
here in Effete New England, in any Italian restaurant (and there more of them then Chinese), you order 'chicken parm'. and you don't order man-eh-cotti. you order managot. if you don't want to be thrown out.
Thought VOTE was a good answer for 'show of hands?' for a long stretch. Figured parents were not restricting 'RODEOGAMES', so I went back for another look. Had COUCH, then FLOOR before FUTON. Confidently wrote in AWARD for 'Medal, e.g.', but had to revisit it after reworking it to _ _ A _ E. I know I'm ANAL, but there are a GOB of words that could fit that grid. And another TSAR...?
King Lear, Act V, scene III
KING LEAR: This is a dull sight. Are you not Kent?
KENT: The same, Your servant Kent: Where is your servant Caius?
KING LEAR: He's a good fellow, I can tell you that;
He'll strike, and quickly too: he's dead and rotten.
@The Bard
wrong interpretation, by either you and/or the constructor. in context, Kent is not a servant person, but a lower class peer; he's an Earl. that's just the way they talked way back then. we think.
Or 3) know that FOUR ON THE FLOOR MEANS a rhythm pattern used in disco and electronic dance music.
Sorry all of you FUTON haters - if you stay overnight at my house, you'll have your choice of the FUTON in the library or the day bed with trundle in the sewing room. The FUTON has a beautiful, antiqued metal, sleigh frame and pulls out to be a full sized bed, definitely not on the floor. When not being used as a bed, it serves as a couch in my library. Of course, you can always opt to sleep on the floor. I'll even throw in one of sleeping pads we use for tent camping.
Although an Earl, he still served. He also, when banished, disguised himself as the servant Caius:
KING LEAR
What dost thou profess? what wouldst thou with us?
KENT
I do profess to be no less than I seem; to serve
him truly that will put me in trust: to love him
that is honest; to converse with him that is wise,
and says little; to fear judgment; to fight when I
cannot choose; and to eat no fish.
KING LEAR
What art thou?
KENT
A very honest-hearted fellow, and as poor as the king.
KING LEAR
If thou be as poor for a subject as he is for a
king, thou art poor enough. What wouldst thou?
KENT
Service.
KING LEAR
Who wouldst thou serve?
KENT
You.
KING LEAR
Dost thou know me, fellow?
KENT
No, sir; but you have that in your countenance
which I would fain call master.
KING LEAR
What's that?
KENT
Authority.
KING LEAR
What services canst thou do?
KENT
I can keep honest counsel, ride, run, mar a curious
tale in telling it, and deliver a plain message
bluntly: that which ordinary men are fit for, I am
qualified in; and the best of me is diligence.
KING LEAR
How old art thou?
KENT
Not so young, sir, to love a woman for singing, nor
so old to dote on her for any thing: I have years
on my back forty eight.
KING LEAR
Follow me; thou shalt serve me: if I like thee no
worse after dinner, I will not part from thee yet.
Dinner, ho, dinner! Where's my knave? my fool?
Go you, and call my fool hither.
@Banana D, thank you for the warning. I shall keep it in mind the next time I venture out for an Italian meal in the Effete East. Meanwhile in Chicago it’s still chicken parmesan, though I have heard “managot” bandied about.
Maybe I'm just on edge lately (I am) but did anyone get the impression that this puzzle was full of subtle digs at Barack Obama (IDEALISTIC, PURPLE STATES, POSTRACIAL, TELEPROMPTER) and others that ranged into full-blown conspiracy theory (HOMOEROTIC - https://www.thenation.com/article/whats-behind-rights-obama-gay-conspiracy/ and LIZARDS - https://www.metafilter.com/113034/Brief-Overview-of-our-Reptilian-Overlords).
Do you have a point?
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 3:43 4:30 0.83 6.2% Easy
Tue 4:37 5:26 0.85 18.0% Easy
Wed 6:46 6:39 1.02 58.4% Medium
Thu 10:48 9:47 1.10 66.7% Medium-Challenging
Fri 9:14 12:55 0.72 13.1% Easy
I was really in the flow of the constructor during this solve and that's unheard of with an AK puzzle. I averaged over 18 minutes on 4 previous AK Fridays, so this one was a real surprise for me. I was prepared to slog my way through when I saw the constructor. Then again, I was under 9 minutes for his last Friday puzzle (April 2017), so maybe old dogs can learn new tricks after all.
The NE was the toughest for me because I went with spenT off the T from FUTON and then 'palm' off that p for "Show of hands?". And I can never remember EDIE Sedgwick without a cross or two. But it all came together eventually.
There's lots of great stuff in this puzzle, including pretty much every one of the longs. It's easy to accept a less than optimal center section for the trade-off. I liked a lot of the cluing with "Brit discussing American politics" a highlight.
Stuff I learned:
- ALDER is guitar wood
- KENT was Lear's servant's name (my Shakespeare is very weak)
- A Polish-language film won an Oscar relatively recently (I've got proud blood from that part of the world)
- I can't even keep up with Rex if he's drunk, tired and frustrated by a recent solve
Yes, some have argued an Earl cannot be a servant. The King is served by all beneath him. And, Kent posed as a servant after being banished.
The clue that was questioned was 60a. Kent was Lear’s loyal servant.
Wow ... classic @LMS and @M&A posts today ... both had me LOLing (or should that be LingOL?)
@Banana Diaquiri ... I think you mean that order "chicken pahm" in New England
@Deke 10:52AM
You've got some good ideas there. I think I speak for everyone when I say I'd also like to see FUELPUMP, CONNECTINGROD, INJECTORNOZZLE, and CAMLOBE, in addition to BELLEXTENSION and ROOTSBLOWER.
Challenging for me.
Hand up for INdecENT before INNOCENT.
Anyone else notice "switchhitter" has the same number of letters as PURPLESTATES? Both swing left and right?
On the PARM discussion, see the Peyton Manning Nationwide insurance commercial. If Peyton uses it, it must be OK.
ALERT for EVENT made the E and NE more difficult than it should have been. I also didn't want to give up on MIME, but I knew AME IT was not correct. So I went through the letters in that upper right-hand corner until I got TIME. *sigh* You think I'd know by now.
Almost put KYRA when I saw an "actress Sedgwick" clue, but then remembered that she was probably like 4 when Andy Warhol was active.
UNARM is not a word - agree with @Rex here. It's DISARM.
Otherwise, not a difficult Friday but enjoyable.
Hoo Boy. Searching before posting saves me lots of embarrassment.
@M&A - Skiing is definitely the most common ATE IT usage. My prefer term for wiping out on a hill, though, is “yard sale,” as in your ski gear is now scattered about the hillside and you’ll gladly accept cents on the dollar for the equipment that’s failed the skier.
I agree w Natraj completely
Awkward
Yup, that was the killer misdirection for me as well. Ouch!
@sanfranman59:
I think you mean that order "chicken pahm" in New England
not really. that's Boston Cockney, which extends up the coast a bit, but not into the backwaters where I grew up.
Yup. Stalled me forever because I was convinced MIME was 100% correct.
Wow! I found this Friday puzzle to be really difficult. Hardest puzzle in a long time for me. I cheated and cheated. In retrospect, I think that the clues were all fair and good.
IDEALISTIC EDGE
IS ‘HOMOEROTIC’ ALLNATURAL?
I’MINNOCENT, in a SENSE straight.
But LUKE TANTALIZED me so masterful,
TOLET me reach a PURPLESTATE.
--- ALF HUME
Tell us, Rex, how you really feel about HOMOEROTICism and guns, such as UZIS. Can you LADLE it on any thicker? Tiresome when it never ends. At least you seem to have moved on from instances of AFRO.
Only one trouble spot, but it was a dandy. My guests went from sleeping on the couch to the FloOr to the FUTON. I SENSE that I need to treat guests better. Thought ATEIT was very apt, especially for surfers.
Do not care for KAT Denning’s humor on that show, or any other character for that matter; 30 seconds on a click-by is plenty. So the late-week EDIE gets a yeah baby today.
This wasn’t the BEST puz ever, but I’ll bet @spacey gives it a PAR.
The NE was a bear, for sure. That T at #16 was the last letter in. Running the alphabet, I settled on T as the only one that yielded something real in both directions. Studied those clues till I got a headache; finally saw the "show of hands" on a clock. The other direction, however, continues to make no SENSE to me. Wiped out = ATEIT? Mayhap in the SENSE of surfing: "He wiped out; he ATEIT." Is that it? I dunno. Tell you this: it's the toughest two-way clue set I've ever seen.
The other sections were a bit easier--not to say a snap. I'd call it a SLOG but for the connotation that a SLOG seems like more trouble than it's worth. This puzzle, IMHO, was worth plenty. I learned that KENT can be more than a mild-mannered reporter, and that swing STATES (that's what they're called--but there's "swing" in the clue) are PURPLE. Never heard that one. Wanted IDIDNTDOIT--which fit!--instead of IMINNOCENT. Yeah, medal = PLACE, that was another brute of a clue. NE was a flat-out beeyatch. As for UNARM, I have given up on that one. With a sigh.
KAT Dennings is far from "broke," and wins DOD honors. I am duly TANTALIZED. This week we seem to be on a string of birdies; that continues today despite PAR appearing in the grid.
Love the comments today - they really made me laugh - and the puzzle's mention of The Plague, my favorite book.
Pretty challenging but I made it through okay. I don't like the tech lingo too much or the ancient Roman history, but I managed via the crosses. The NW corner where I normally start is where I had the most trouble.
Very good Friday puzzle. Nice downs, some great clues (the one for TIME is priceless, a bit of crunch and some easier sections = medium (though I'd been drinking, I was tired, I wasn't feeling well, my cat was on my lap, so maybe a little easier).
25 years ago, I was an 8 handicap, but now that I've had two shoulder surgeries, an osteoarthritic ankle and am 72, PAR for me is only a theory.
UNARM makes me think of Venus de Milo.
Liked this effort.
Mostly pretty easy 'till I hit a couple of unknowns, and of course I had PRIZE instead on PLACE for my medal. And never heard of DRAFTKINGS - thought it was a "spot" like a sports bar or website club. I mean, sports, and then sports once removed, is not going to be in my province.
And our house has been crawling with repair peeps and inspectors.
Otherwise, a fun puzzle.
Diana, Lady-in-Waiting for Crosswords
DRAFTKINGS would be a better name for a brewery than a gambling site. Thus another dnf since I went with DRiFTKINGS, which I guess made less sense.
Yeah, the DRAFT of DRAFT KINGS did me in. PPP's can be a pain, but this is the one that that hurt.
EDIT - The NE corner is where I normally start and where I had the most trouble today. Must give the astrolabe a tune up...
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