Surfin 2008 rap song / MON 7-16-18 / Approach respectfully in modern parlance / Place to see town while painting town red / Hit 2017 computer-animated film

Monday, July 16, 2018

Constructor: Erik Agard

Relative difficulty: Challenging (for a Monday) (3:36)


THEME: "COCO" (60D: Hit 2017 computer-animated film ... or a hint to 20-, 27-, 49- and 58-Across) — Theme answers are all two-word phrases where both words start "CO-":

Theme answers:
  • COUNTRY CODE (20A: Start of an overseas telephone number)
  • COUNTERFEIT COIN (27A: Faux money)
  • COMPLETE CONTROL (49A: What a micromanager would like to have)
  • COME CORRECT (58A: Approach respectfully, in modern parlance)
Word of the Day: CORONET (47D: Princess' headwear) —
noun
  1. 1. 
    a small or relatively simple crown, especially as worn by lesser royalty and peers or peeresses.
  2. 2. 
    the band of tissue on the lowest part of a horse's pastern, containing the horn-producing cells from which the hoof grows. (google)
• • •

Didn't care much for this one. Cool to see "COCO" clued this way for the first time, but the themers (with the notable exception of COME CORRECT) were kind of blah, and the revealer in a weird position, and ideally there would've been no other "CO-" words in the grid at all besides the ones in the themers (but we've got COO, COARSE, and CORONET). The theme type is pretty old-fashioned. I mean, it's fine, I just expected much better. Bizarre to me that you'd go back to the "SWAG Surfin'" well so soon (5A: "___ Surfin'" (2008 rap song))—and again on a Monday. Most of the fill was pretty dull, though there the grid has its moments. SELF-CARE is nice, and pretty current/modern (at least I hear the term much, much more now than I did, say, 5+ years ago) (38D: Tending nto one's own well-being). Enjoyed MUMBAI and RAITA. As I suggested above, COME CORRECT is very original, though I don't know about "modern parlance"—I know it almost exclusively from '80s-'90s hip-hop (and a quick google shows it still has musical currency). Whatever, cool concept. Would've enjoyed ROOFTOP BAR maybe on a different day of the week, or with a non-"?" clue. Here, nothing said "BAR" to me, or even "TOP," so I had to hack it with crosses. Lots of crosswordese (EERIE, ETON, ETAL, et al.). Never like POOP in my grid, no matter what the clue. By no means a bad puzzle, but not for me.


The clue on TALE was completely baffling to me. Now, I can see it—the whole idea that fishermen (always men?) tell lies about the one that got away or whatever. "Fish story" is even a general term for a far-fetched story. But the way it's clue, I really thought the dude was bringing something home ... and mere TALE didn't really cut it for me. I had -ALE and still nothing. Also really wanted the term PILE ON, which very much fits the clue (9D: Add even more criticism) ... just not the number of boxes in the answer. I also just couldn't remember CORONET. I had the COR- and could think only of CORONAS, CORONAE ... maybe COROLLA? ... I dunno. I feel like CORONET was a brand of dishware when I was growing up. Or disposable dishware, or something, is that right? Whoops, nope, that's Chinet. Sigh. Anyway, CORONET, it's just a crown, sans any fancy jewels I guess. Hmm. OK, I'M OUT.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]

97 comments:

jae 12:22 AM  

Medium-tough. I’m kinda with @Rex on this one.

Ryan Dunn 12:54 AM  

Minor nit...

If it is RELATIVE difficulty, you don’t have to put FOR A MONDAY.

:)

...ryan

Moly Shu 12:56 AM  

Came here for the inevitable Clash video of COMPLETE CONTROL. Nope, not today. It is on the obscure side so.......
On the last tour my mates couldn't get in
I'd open up the back door but they'd get run out again. #lyrics
@Z, 5 days and counting.

Harryp 1:11 AM  

To me, this seemed like a Medium Monday, and only 45Down NEYO caused a problem. I had NE_O with the Y in there, and removed it till it was last to be filled in. At that point NEYO looked to be the best choice, so I reentered the Y and got the happy tone. I will surely google NEYO, and I hope to remember whoever, because that combination of letters is sure to be around for a while.

RAD2626 1:16 AM  

Liked puzzle a lot. Clean and clever. CO CO better than just C C. Wonder if CC’S was originally clued as a revealer. Liked STORIES crossing with TALE even if clued differently. Really good Monday puzzle.

sanfranman59 1:23 AM  
This comment has been removed by the author.
Larry Gilstrap 1:39 AM  

Is it even possible to rig an election? I was the runner-up for the Wittiest Senior in high school and I'm pretty sure Frank Alvara leaned on the yearbook staff. RIP! No hard feelings!

Much respect for the constructor. I have seen him in action at ACPT and he seems like a very nice young man, and then he wins the whole thing. Kudos! The theme seemed a bit ho hum, but I see by the calendar on the wall that it is Monday.

Don't trash Yoko ONO! Just don't!

Oddly, I haven't heard or seen OPEC in my news feeds since...? I got no axe to grind.

In Scottish dialect, yoked means married. I reluctantly went to a COUNTY Fair once and saw a team of OXEN get yoked and hooked up to a cart. Huge, beautiful animals, with a slightly reptilian eye thing going on. They won the West.

Anonymous 1:48 AM  

Both COMPLETE CONTROL (awesome Clash song) and LEAN IN (huge recent best-selling book) should've been way better clued.

Anonymous 2:13 AM  

SIR POOP
NOBEL FBI GAP
AMEN

chefwen 2:21 AM  

COCO, Labradoodle extraordinaire, see avatar, is strutting around like a movie star tonight, well, she does that anyway.

Cringed when POOP showed up, breakfast test fail.

Super easy Monday. Onward!

tbd88 3:01 AM  

Coronet was paper towels. Rosemary Clooney sang the jingle: "Extra Value is what you get, when you buy Coronet."

'merican in Paris 3:37 AM  

It was a Monday, which I played as themeless. A bit faster than Monday average for me: 4.3 Rexes.

I first tried "zero one OnE" in answer to 20A ("Start of an overseas telephone number") as that is the international access prefix (i.e., the number one composes before one dials the COUNTRY CODE) when dialing an overseas telephone number from the United States. All but around 24 countries of the world use "00" as a prefix. Fortunately, the "+" feature on CELL (mobile) phones has made it unnecessary to remember which prefix to use when calling from such a 'phone.

Judging from the confusion I have encountered over the years from U.S. visitors when trying to call back home, my guess if you were to poll Americans with the question, "What is the USA's COUNTRY CODE for foreign telephone calls?", perhaps 5% would know the answer as "1". Just about everybody else in the world when they give out their telephone number to callers overseas will begin it with their country code, using a plus sign to so designate it -- e.g., "+33" before a number in France. That plus means, "preceded by whichever prefix you use in your country".

[rant] Not so with US-based companies and organisations. Even the World Bank, an international institution that should know better, gives out its main contact number as (202) 473-1000. That has real consequences. I was on a conference call a couple of years ago in which the World Bank techie who set up the call gave out the dial-in number as a 10-digit number without the prefix "+1". I knew to add the +1, but half the callers from other countries took the techie at his or her word, dialed the number as given, and never connected to the call.[/rant]

Otherwise, over here there is a new SWAGger in the step of the French, as their team won the coveted World Cup (of soccer) yesterday evening, only the second time since the series began. For those UNFAMILIAR with the event, these competitions take place only once every four years, so they are a really big deal. OUI.

And that's the straight POOP, FYI. AMEN

BarbieBarbie 5:48 AM  

Kind hearts are more than CORONETs, as the aphorism goes... since you hadn’t heard the word, @Rex, let me recommend one of the funniest movies ever made, “Kind Hearts and CORONETs,” starring Obi-Wan.
I agree with this review. I appreciate EA, but meh. Maybe that’s a Monday thing.
Weird clue for ROOFTOPBAR.

Alexander 6:24 AM  

I really wanted BAIT for 15A.

“I didn’t catch any fish, but there’s still some bait we can eat”

Anonymous 6:26 AM  

I loved it!

Hungry Mother 7:14 AM  

I used to return with fish from the market. Who says COMECORRECT? I guess “Trump him” would be the opposite (sorry for the Bridge reference). Theme ignored, but a quick solve.

kitshef 7:16 AM  

Easy but not good.

Erik Agard is starting to remind me of early David Steinberg. Before DS really figured it out, he tended to include 1-3 irritatingly stupid things in the name of hipness in every puzzle. Things like, say, COME CORRECT. Or NEYO.

Very weak execution of the theme. COUNTRY CODE is absolutely solid. COUNTERFEIT COIN is a little weak – why would anyone bother to counterfeit coins? – but OK. COMPLETE CONTROL is just green paint. COME CORRECT is awful. So, one good themer, one middling, two poor.

Jon Alexander 7:16 AM  

As I worked my way down the grid, I honestly thought 27D (CCS) was going to be referenced in the revealer...

ghthree 7:43 AM  

I remember June 11, 2002. The clue for 5D was "Princess topper." I had CO----T. I confidently wrote CONSORT, while mentally chiding the good grey Times for mild ribaldry. The answer was CORONET. :-).

RooMonster 8:24 AM  

Hey All !
A COOL CONCOCTION of a puz. Even though COCO is a movie I strangely haven't heard of. Helped me change my COUNTERFEIT Cash to COIN. Two other writeovers, seeya-IMOUT, ova-ROE.

Could have changed CCS/CNN to either CIS/INN or CAS/ANN to get rid of revealer dupe. Lots of threes for those who track 'em, 25. Lots of F's (4) for me who tracks them. :-)

Other CO- answers not a big nit like Rex. If you can get clean fill, then what the hey. I say clean fill, but someone might point out all the Abbrs. (well, like I will now) FBI, III. MRI, CNN. FYI, ATL, ACLU, CCS, AMP, PIC, LOL, ETAL, TRI. Just sayin'.

But, I did enjoy this not-super-duper-easy MonPuz. Made you think for a couple of answers. 2.75 Rexes. AMEN.

SOFAS GAP
RooMonster
DarrinV

Baffled 8:25 AM  

Does anyone else have a problem with the clue for 55A: “This might be of INTEREST,” on a memo, and the answer is FYI?!

mathgent 8:29 AM  

Nice lively Monday. But a boatload of Terrible Threes (23).

Suzie Q 8:42 AM  

This theme and revealer had Zero meaning to me. Coco? Whatever.
The clue for rooftop bar was fine even if Rex didn't see that painting the town red usually (always) involves alcohol.
Also, I doubt many of the ladies object to the word fishermen.
I think most of us would rather have lunch overlooking the lake than sit in a boat trying to catch lunch.
If you need a medical clue for CCs blood is not a good clue. If you need blood you need it by the PINT.
@ kitshef said it best. "Stupid things in the name of hipness."

Unknown 8:52 AM  

My first car: a 1968 Dodge Coronet 440.

Jack 8:54 AM  

I really liked today's puzzle and thought it was pretty easy. Only clue I didn't like was poop. Everything else was easily filled in by the crosses.

RobertM 8:59 AM  

COodos to Rex for slipping COol COncept into the write up.

GHarris 9:05 AM  

Whenever a grid has three unknowns (at least to me) and I still get it all without a hitch it's a good day.

Unbaffled 9:16 AM  

No, because it is for your information.

QuasiMojo 9:31 AM  

Forgive me, I am a big fan of Mr. Agard, but this one seemed sloppy and lazy. In order to get his Coco theme (never heard of the flick): I prefer Koko), we had to endure such overused stale fill such as EMO and ONO and CCs, MRI, and the dread III. My memory of working with a micromanager is that they did in fact have complete control, hence the misery. Hoping tomorrow is a better day. Yours truly, Scarlett

GILL I. 9:35 AM  

This was Monday? And why can't I remember that BOMBAY changed its name to MUMBAI...?
I'm not up on my animated films anymore since the young uns flew the COop. COCO was new and I didn't like it very much. COME CORRECT looks so wrong. I had to look it up and yup, the SWAG group have managed to COUNTERFEIT the English language once again.
RAITA is nothing but tzatziki unless you add some mint which makes it tastier especially if you're having lamb kabobs.
I've only been to ROOF TOP BAR's in Mexico. They don't care if you fall off. Here in the USofA, liability issues would mean a 30 foot wall around the roof and warning signs all over the place. Warning....drinking may be harmful to you and may impair your judgement.
I'm going into the @kitshef corner.
@chefwen....COCO is COMPLETELY adorable....Unlike this puzzle.

Nancy 9:36 AM  

COME CORRECT? COME CORRECT????? Would someone like to use that in a sentence for me?

With all this really weird modern slang lurking in so many puzzles -- slang that you can't convince me even the Millennials use -- I'm beginning to feel that I'm not just from a different generation, but a different planet altogether. Ugh.

Oh, and then there's I'M OUT. Who says that to mean "Later"? You might say "I'm outta here". More likely you'd say I'M OFF. The right clue for I'M OUT would be "This hand is too rich for me."

The rest of the puzzle is...serviceable. A ho-hum, green-paintish theme and very easy fill. @kitshef said it all for me.

michiganman 9:39 AM  

I enjoyed this puzzle. Good Monday.

I'm surprised Rex was so concrete he had trouble with TALE.

To those offended by POOP: As clued it is a legitimate non-scatological reference. You made it dirty in your own mind. To desensitize yourself say it repeatedly aloud. It's fun!

TIT (21D) The tits, chickadees, and titmice constitute the Paridae, a large family of small passerine birds which occur mainly in the Northern Hemisphere and Africa.

Pete 9:43 AM  

Gotta say, loved COME CORRECT despite never having heard it before. Post solve Google shows it to fill a gap in the English Language - a descriptive, nuanced, and forceful two word phrase replacing an entire paragraph. Now if someone would just come up with a term for when you're walking and some is walking directly at you, you move to the right because we're Americans and that's what we do but the idiot waking at you moves left, directly at you, then you both reverse to avoid a collision only to put you in danger of another so you just stop and "just go around me, OK?". We need a word for that.

Hungry Mother 9:53 AM  

@Pete: MIRROR?

G. Weissman 9:53 AM  

Come correct this lame crossword answer.

Anonymous 9:58 AM  

How about "circumstep"

Mohair Sam 10:04 AM  

@Kitchef - Well said.

Dad 10:16 AM  

Sheesh, lighten up Francis(es), don't know the correct plural for Francis but this joint was lively and came correct for a NYT Monday.

A Millennial 10:26 AM  

@Nancy - Gauntlet picked up.

"When you're going to complain about millennials as if they're some some subspecies you can safely ignore at best and belittle in the main, you better come correct. We out-number the 65+, out earn them, pay for their Social Security and Medicare, just as you did when you were 30 for your parents and grandparents. We're not some group of monsters out to ruin your life by not being clones of you in taste, language, experiences or desires. We're your children and we love you, even though you've become closed minded and intolerant in your old age."

Lewis 10:35 AM  

Not so easy to come up with genuine in-the-language phrases of two words, both beginning with CO -- at least for me. Props to Erik for that, and for making a puzzle that I think a beginning-level solver would enjoy, which is what Monday is all about. Actually the theme answer beginnings are COU/COU/COM/COM, kinda cool.

Betty Danger 11:02 AM  

I thought this was a perfect Monday puzzle--a little challenging for a first-time puzzler but still fun for the puzzle crowd.
It didn't occur to be to be offended by poop until I came here.

jjpennyless 11:05 AM  

There is probably no better way to signal a closed mind than to complain about "stupid things in the name of hipness." I'd prefer the puzzle contain a few more stupid things in the name of hipness and maybe a skosh fewer stupid things in the name of ostentatiousness.

jberg 11:06 AM  

@Lewis-- that COU COU thing threw me off, as I decided 49A must start with COuPLE. Aside from that, my only problem was remembering that it was RAITA, not RAInA, even though I've made it many times. And having no idea about NEYO.

I agree with @Rex, not Mr. Agard's best.

Canon Chasuble 11:09 AM  

A major disconnect between clues at 41 across and 53 down. Mother Teresa won the Nobel Prize for Peace, but it was issued from Oslo, NORWAY, not from Stockholm, SWEDEN.

Anonymous 11:14 AM  

Easy peasy, lemon squeezy!

Shocked to see Rex's time, as I kept this one under 3 minutes (but not quite record territory), even with a couple of careless slip-ups and bouts of brain flatulence. The infinitely fair crosses mitigated any and all challenges.

Anonymous 11:26 AM  

How about "circumstep" ?

Lewis 11:52 AM  

My five favorite clues from last week:

1. Six for dinner? (10)
2. Tiny brain? (7)
3. "Hummina, hummina" (6)
4. Things drawn by eccentric people (6)
5. Water cooler? (4)


WORD LENGTH
WHIZ KID
OH BABY
STARES
BRIG

Joseph Michael 11:58 AM  

Thought at first this was a boring C alliteration theme reinforced by 27D. Was glad to see that it was actually a CO repetition, which made it slightly less boring.

Not familiar with the COCO animated film so the revealer didn’t pack much of a punch and just left me feeling sorry for the neglected Ms. Chanel.

Liked PILE IT ON best as a cool in-the-language phrase. Nice that it has been piled up in a vertical stack.

When I see entries like TIT and POOP in a grid, it always serms like the constructor’s inner ternager trying to sneak in dirty words.

Due to the lackluster theme and heavy dose of crosswordese (and that includes you, Mr. Three on a Sundial), I can only give this one two STARRS.

Sgreennyc 11:58 AM  

Rex would have liked ROOFTOP BAR on a different day of the week? What does that even mean? I think he's a complete jerk.

Sir Hillary 12:00 PM  

COuldn't COtton to this one. COca COla was COld COmfort. COldplay COncert would have been more fun.

Banana Diaquiri 12:05 PM  

@A Millennial:
pay for their Social Security and Medicare, just as you did when you were 30 for your parents and grandparents.

well, except, as a cohort, y'all voted higher than predicted for the Orange man dedicated to killing off the 65+ in pursuit of making the rich ever richer.

here: https://www.brookings.edu/blog/fixgov/2016/11/21/how-millennials-voted/
"Overall, Trump won one-third of young voters, a greater number than pre-election polls suggested he would. Notably, 32 percent of these young Trump supporters were excited by the prospect of a Trump presidency while only 18 percent of young Clinton supporters reported being excited about their candidate."

doesn't give a warm and fuzzy feeling from the geezers. he'll take away the freedoms and safety net that you'll need in due time. bet on it. your not always the smartest guys in the room.

Masked and Anonymous 12:24 PM  

Coo-coo MonPuz. [Hey -- another potential COCO themer!]
staff weeject pick, then, just has got 2 B = COO. [Which has some POOP in it, too boot.]

25 weejects!?! This large amount surprised the M&A a bit, as there are no big stacks of em in any one place. And the Agardmeister splatzed the first themer into row #4, which pretty much automatically excluded weeject stacks from the NW and SE.
Come to think of it, there are some nice weeject stripes, be-deckin rows #5 and # 11, tho. Sooo … ok.

Findin a fave moo-cow eazy-E MonPuz clue was a hefty challenge. {Three on a sundial} = III is pretty darn friendly. {Wolf Blitzer's channel} = CNN is also real neighborly. But I'm gonna go with {Ringo of the Beatles} = STARR, as it gives away more letters.

Agree that this pup was sorta feisty, for a MonPuz, but that's always ok by m&e.
Also agree that there's a slight splatterin of eerier-than-POOP stuff in the fillins. Sure didn't know NEYO. Or SWAG Surfin'. Or RAITA. Or much about Twitter handles. All that was scattered enough that it didn't mangle the nanosecond COmbat COunt very much, at my house. [Hey -- another potential COCO themer! Even more desperate than COMECORRECT? Thought so.]

Thanx for the MonFun, Mr. Agard.

Masked & Anonymo4Us

A Millennial 12:27 PM  

@Banana

I used COME CORRECT in a sentence for Nancy. I mentioned Social Security. That shouldn't trigger a diatribe.

I am likely more liberal than you. I despise Trump as much as I possibly can. I do, however, avoid insulting people I don't know for no reason at all. You, unfortunately, don't. You are guessing I'm among some ill defined group of people who voted against Trump by only 2:1 rather than 2.2:1 that pollsters expected. Only 18% of young people who vote for Clinton were "excited" about her? From this you surmise that I'm to blame that Trump got elected somehow? I'm 35, hardly young. I voted for her, and I wasn't "excited" about her. She was a deeply flawed candidate. I'd say she was the infinitely superior candidate, except, in my opinion, both would have to be on the same side of acceptable to permit direct comparison.

If I had to guess why many conservatives think liberals are smug, arrogant, intolerant assholes I would proffer you as my hypothesis. You give us a bad reputation.

Odd Sock 12:29 PM  

@ A Millennial 10:26,
For a subspecies you express yourself rather well.

Anonymous 12:40 PM  

I just watched the jaw-dropping Trump-Putin press conference in Helsinki. Trump wrapped up the USA in gift paper and handed it to Putin on a silver platter. We are now a wholly owned subsidiary of Russia.

Anonymous 12:49 PM  

Have to step in during my lunch to say to @Rex that Chinet is a high brow paper plate. I believe you are thinking of Corelle dinnerware which I have to believe was made by Owens-CORning.
I'M OUT!!!

Anonymous 12:50 PM  

I actually thought this was the easiest crossword I've ever done in nyt. And I am by no means an expert at them. I actually thought I was on the wrong puzzle since I did it online for.yhe first time today. There really wasn't a single challenge on the whole board. Not a humble brag btw, just wondering if I'm the only one? This was like a USA today puzzle.

Unknown 12:54 PM  

As soon as I saw that I put the first album on!

Anonymous 12:54 PM  

Major???

Reasonablewoman 12:58 PM  

I agree with MichiganMan. The dirt is in your own mind. The words as used today are A-OK.

Banana Diaquiri 1:06 PM  

@A Millennial

I didn't, and don't, say anything about you, the individual. but it was you who choose to self identify as "A Millennial". birds of a feather and all that.

beyond the %-age who voted for Orange man vis-a-vis Crooked Hillary, there's the more important number: turnout. here's that number: http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/05/12/black-voter-turnout-fell-in-2016-even-as-a-record-number-of-americans-cast-ballots/ft_17-05-12_voterturnout_millennialnew/

millennials are 20 points below the Boomers. which surprised me, even. I expected, and thought at the time, that Orange man won because Boomers have stopped caring. they haven't. millennials got all googoo eyed over Bernie and Jill. here's a factoid you can look up: if Johnson (or someone equivalent) hadn't been there, Orange man would likely have won the popular vote, and more electoral votes. the Johnson vote was a Trump vote, and his count was about 4 times Stein's.

read @anon 12:40. man up and take responsibility.

Teedmn 1:08 PM  

Like many here, I liked that the theme was COCO rather than the simpler CCS. Hand up for not knowing COME CORRECT or SWAG Surfin'. PIC crossing MIC looks neat. It reminds me of a billboard I saw yesterday advertising one of those edible fruit bouquet companies: picnicible (the billboard had the word in different strengths of print so you would know that it was picnic-ible, but my brain still tried to pronounce it as picnissible.)

This is fine for a Monday, thanks Erik.

Masked and Anonymous 1:21 PM  

p.s.
ROOFTOPBAR was actually a kinda neat almost-but-not-quite-made-up entry.

@Anonymous @12:40pm: har
Are U applaudin Trump's awesome presidential presents? … Or are U perhaps applaudin the primo timeliness of today's COMECORRECT puz entry, to sorta celebrate the suckin up that evidently went on during that unusually oh-so-private meetin in Hell-sinky? Thank heavens there was time for him to gargle, before the news conference. We can maybe only hope there is a COCO Tape.

M&Also

A Millennial 1:50 PM  

@Banana - Nancy specifically referenced millennials in her diatribe against COME CORRECT, hence my chosen name. I in no way appointed myself spokesperson for an entire generation, you did assigned that to me. So yeah, stop doing that.

And please, being consistent within a single damned sentence would be of great value to you if you want people to not think you're an idiot. Ref: "if Johnson ... hadn't been there, Orange man would likely have won the popular vote, and more electoral votes. the Johnson vote was a Trump vote,.. " So, had Johnson not been there Trump would have won both a majority of both the popular and (even) electoral votes, but a vote for Johnson was [in effect] a vote for Trump? Seriously? Do you know how more works in an election, or even what it means in standard English?

I am a millennial but not responsible for Millenials, I'm not black, but even if I were I would be responsible for only one black person showing or not showing up to vote. As I am also a woman, "manning" up would be difficult for me, and it's not something I think is particularly a good thing to do in the first place.

Anoa Bob 2:00 PM  

Computer-animated films and 80-90s hip-hop lingo are definitely UNFAMILIAR territory for me, but I managed eventually to piece it all together.

On the plus side, ROOFTOP BAR STORIES put me into a pleasant reverie about annual treks into Mexico that a group of us used to make every
Thanksgiving. We would hire a bus to take us from Texas down to San Miguel de Allende, a colonial era city that is an artist colony and cultural events center.

It was an overnight trip and when we would arrive mid-morningish the next day, several of us would go to a local watering hole, El Gato Negro (the Black Cat), to have a ceremonial first drink. The bar was either ultra-cool with tons of personality (lots of colorful local characters; the walls and ceiling were completely covered with pictures and posters of Marilyn Monroe) or it was a filthy piss-soaked dive. One's opinion depended largely on how many drinks had been consumed.

One option was to carry our drinks up to the ROOFTOP BAR where a splendid view of much of the city could be had. Much better air quality, too. Good times.

This was in the 90s, so can't say for sure that El Gato Negro is still there. It'd be a shame if it isn't.

Banana Diaquiri 2:12 PM  

@A Millennial
but a vote for Johnson was [in effect] a vote for Trump? Seriously?

not what I wrote, by a long shot. a vote for Johnson was a vote for Johnson. However: absent Johnson (or the equivalent) on the ballot, those that voted for Johnson would, with high probability, have voted Orange, not Crooked Hillary or not voting. I thought that bit was obvious. the same, in the other direction, for Stein. BUT the Johnson vote was nearly 4 times Stein. if you look at the by-state vote tallies in the wiki, you can see that Johnson votes moving to Trump (in the absence of Johnson), would have given Trump both more popular votes (enough to win the popular) and electoral votes than Crooked Hillary. Stein's votes weren't enough in any Orange state to flip it, so to that extent Crooked Hillary losing isn't on Stein.

to make it easier, here's the table: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_presidential_election,_2016#Results_by_state

as it is, and widely known, 78,900 (near as anyone can tell) votes in PA, MI, WI made Orange man Our Dear Leader. is that all Millennial's fault? no. but the simple fact is, Millennials didn't turn out to vote. given your assertion, and widely held belief, that Millennials preferred Crooked Hillary, then one might conclude that so few votes in those states should/could have come from Millennials taking the time to vote. the act of not voting is a vote for The Winner. that's just the way it works.

sanfranman59 2:18 PM  

Reposting with corrected stats ...

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 4:54 4:30 1.09 71.5% Medium-Challenging

This didn't feel like a Monday to me. Rap, hip-hop and contemporary R&B represent big holes in my knowledge base, so SWAG (5A) and NEYO (45D) were all crosses. RAITA (64A) was another blind spot. I think 3 WTFs is very unusual for me on a Monday these days.

But even aside from that, the theme is just terribly boring. The answers themselves are just blah and I didn't even know what COME CORRECT (58A) was until I Googled it post-solve. Apparently, it's a thing.

I also didn't like being reminded that I need to LEAN IN (4D) more and more. Thumbs down from me. Bring on Tuesday.

White Rushin 2:25 PM  

In re: @Anon 12:40
Ha-Ha-Ha, all you silly Republicans. Serves you right. Close the borders, but Russia is OK. So what they meddled in our election. Maybe that's why Trump cowtowed to them, because it was the meddling that got him to the White House.

Republicans will never look down on Trump. He can do anything, and they'll have an excuse as to why it was good. Anybody, anything, anyshmuck as long as it's not a Democrat. Sad, really.

SouthsideJohnny 2:28 PM  

Is there such a thing as fisherpeople ? How do we correct this egregious error ? Perhaps " men and women who fish", however sometimes children fish as well. Let's go with "men, women, boys and/or girls who fish". We can never have too much political correctness in the Old Gray Lady, nor from the person who reviews their crossword puzzles, lol.

Unknown 2:38 PM  

Re NEYO -- me, too.

Nancy 3:14 PM  

Good grief, @A Millennial 10:36. Why don't you take that enormous generational chip off your shoulder and then re-read my 9:36 comment? (Everyone here is invited to do the same, btw.) You'll see that it's in no way a put-down of Millennials. That I have in no way "belittled" them. I don't say -- or even remotely imply -- that they're a "subspecies" or "a group of monsters out to ruin [my] life". Where on earth do you get these conclusions from, anyway? Am I not entitled to think that COME CORRECT is really weird modern slang without being called "close-minded and intolerant." Who's the one throwing shade now, @A Millennial? (And see how readily I accept those phrases in modern slang which use language in a new and interesting way -- even though they weren't coined by my generation. Modern slang like "throwing shade", which I love.)

As far as your disingenuous statement "we are your children" goes -- No, @A Millennial, you are emphatically not my child! I have to tell you that I choose "my children" a lot more carefully than that.

Bob Mills 3:23 PM  

Very easy for me, but I still liked it. "FYI" means "for your information," which is OK for "this might be of interest."

GILL I. 3:25 PM  

@Anoa Robert...You're talking my language, amigo.
El Gato Negro is a Cantina. Iconic as hell and a must do if you're a visitor. The bar is still there (I hope).
I LOVE San Miguel de Allende. My husband and I almost bought a "casita" there back in the late 80's. I think asking price was something like $30,000 and it came with all the Mexican charm one would want. Time to kick me arse for not having done so.
When I worked for Mexicana, I would take travel agents on "fams" and first on the list would be the cantinas in Guanajuato.
By chance did you ever stop in "La Cucaracha" or "Las Perras?"
The travel agents loved them; I found them too full of "Americanos" - regardless, the atmosphere was straight out of Pancho Villa fun. Dirty as hell, but fun!

pabloinnh 3:40 PM  

@























@SouthsideJohnny-I'd say the word you wan is "fisherfolk" as in "The simple fisherfolk were disturbed by the oil rig being assembled in their quiet cove." Handy word.

@GILL I-Agree that "Coco" is a total hoot and a new take for me on El dia de los muertos. Saw it on a plane and enjoyed it even then.

@A Millennial-Interesting discussion, but I take issue with your assertion that 65+ is "old age". It isn't, and I wish you the best of luck in finding that out.










south

Paul Rippey 3:54 PM  


I was happy to see the comment by @BarbieBarbie mentioning the movie Kind Hearts and CORONETs which my wife and I just watched this week on MUBI dot com. It's an excellent and very funny movie, with a super script and perfect cast. That is, until near the end, when Dennis Price and Joan Greenwood use and repeat a racial epithet that feels shockingly out of place and sucks the air out of the room. It isn't necessary in any way to the plot. and there doesn't seem to be any malice in its use. It's the way the characters might have spoken, just a casual insult to about a billion people. It's good to stop and notice how shocking it is these days. We really have come a long way in the last 60 years.

Kind Hearts and CORONETs contrasts strongly with the movie COCO, the revealer, in which Pixar didn't shy away about making a movie about Mexicans, a group towards whom casual racism is accepted practice by one of the two major parties in the US. But Pixar did such a good job, including turning the acting and a lot of the direction over to Mexicans, who know better than anglos like me what is offensive and what isn't.

And that reminds me of the conversation started by @Rex a few days ago about "El Cheapo". I wouldn't use that expression in front of my Mexican neighbors across the street, so I won't use it at all, just like I wouldn't inflict my bad British accent on my English friends and say By Jove, Cheerio.

Pat 4:00 PM  

Oh Banana is there any subject you won't blather about?

GILL I. 4:19 PM  

@Nancy...I was about to come to your defense (heaven forbid...I'd look like an ass because you sure as hell don't need me to tell @ Millennial that she could never be your child)...Oh, Lordy...thank you for the laugh, @Nancy. Besides...I think you're ADORBS.
@Paul Rippey. You'd be surprised at the sense of humor (most) Mexicans have. I'm betting if you used EL CHEAPO in a fun way, your neighbor would laugh out loud. You really don't need to tippy toe.

DigitalDan 4:32 PM  

How did I go through over 73 years of life and never hear the term "COME CORRECT?" I guess I know the answer to that, but I'm OK with it.

A Millennial 4:34 PM  

@Nancy: "COME CORRECT? COME CORRECT????? Would someone like to use that in a sentence for me?

With all this really weird modern slang lurking in so many puzzles -- slang that you can't convince me even the Millennials use -- I'm beginning to feel that I'm not just from a different generation, but a different planet altogether. Ugh."


How could anyone possible come to the conclusion above that you were outraged by COME CORRECT? How could anyone think you were perhaps putting down the Millennials by saying evey they wouldn't use that modern slang that weird. When Millennials make you feel that you are from a different planet than they, that's not slandering them just a bit? That you're not saying we had a perfectly good planet all along but these kids ruining it with all their jazz talk and funky dancing?

BTW, how is Throw Shade any more or less weird in terms of modern slang than Come Correct, except that you know and like Throw Shade and didn't know Come Correct? Come Correct certainly has been around longer. Did you even look up what it means before you posted your comment? You have a problem with a term that means to approach people with respect, to have taken the time to know what you are talking about, to have learned all the facts possible before getting into a discussion with someone? You have a problem with people coming up with a term for that? I can't see why people don't have that tattooed on their foreheads. Come Correct or go away. I'm off to get mine.

@pabloinnh - 65+ just came from a population breakdown I found to make my argument (you know, the looking up facts part of the discussion). I didn't say 65 was old, just that when the 65+ get old we'll be there for them.

pabloinnh 4:55 PM  

@A Millennial-Thanks for the clarification. My bad. Hope my boys, who are both millennials, will be there too.

Warren Howie Hughes 5:11 PM  

"Who knows what EVIL LOOMS in the hearts of men, the Weaver knows!"

Jeff B. 5:14 PM  

Just weighing in that I enjoyed seeing 'come correct', a term I used to hear frequently, probably around the 90s. Interesting that the term and the millenials-boomers argument could get so heated. I'm not taking sides though I'm the a boomer who's the father of millenials, depending on how they're defined. Either way, with out country being embarrassed (and put at risk) internationally, there's no doubt that many more people in all categories need to show up and vote.

Banana Diaquiri 5:22 PM  

@Pat

this isn't a refereed journal, after all. it's just a blog. anyone can blather about anything, modulo naughty words. I don't think I've ever done that; though many's the time it was warranted.

BarbieBarbie 5:34 PM  

Aaack, @Paul, I have to admit I haven’t seen it in years. The same thing spoils a lot of Marx Brothers movies.

Anoa Bob 5:53 PM  

@Gill I., did some further snooping and found that Cantina El Gato Negro is still in business and pics and descriptions can be found in several guide books. I even found a picture taken on the ROOFTOP BAR, circa 2015. I don't recall the iron railing, though. Kinda spoils the view.

Aketi 6:15 PM  

Late to the commentariate even though I finished the puzzle soon after it was available last night. So I decided to watch the Disney movie COCO movie instead of the dystopian foreign sci-fi series I’ve been binging on and thoroughly enjoyed it.

Unknown 7:38 PM  

I don't understand the poop clue. Can anyone enlighten me?

BobL 8:55 PM  

The correct term is "fisher".

Pete 9:13 PM  

@UNKNOWN Dope as in information as in poop.

Z 10:27 PM  

6:00 was once this impenetrable wall. Now 5:17 seemed slow (for a Monday.

thefogman 8:40 AM  

Your standard Monday offering.

spacecraft 9:58 AM  

This is MONDAY??? Not to me. OFL complains about SWAG (Surfin') being "old;" I needed every cross. Never heard of it. NOR of COMECORRECT. Sounds to me like...well, never mind what it sounds like. Just another totally UNFAMILIAR expression in this grid. Boy, talk about not in yer wheelhouse! There's someone called "NEYO??" There's a dish called "RAITA???" On a MONDAY yet??????

NOR did the fill fill me with much joy. Three on a sundial? OUTATE? The whole thing was just...ugh. I understand Mr. Agard is a champion constructor--and solver--but this one goes down as a double-bogey on my scorecard. At least there's a tried and true DOD: I'll take all of ELLA.

Burma Shave 10:00 AM  

COARSE EGO

TROY:
“Are you UNFAMILIAR with the TALE of COMPLETECONTROL,
to TRI the SELFCARE PACE that some direct?”
ELLA:
“SIR, I’MOUT to PILEITON, long AGO I let the STORIES roll,
ONO, I don’t EVER RACE to COMECORRECT.

--- TERESA STARR

thefogman 11:35 AM  

What did Paul, George and Ringo say when they met John's new girlfriend?

ONO!

rondo 11:47 AM  

Maybe @WAXY in Montreal will chime in today?
I don’t want to PILEITON, but I didn’t think too much of it. +/- 25 threes was not compelling. Was willing to concede CCS as a revealer until COCO showed up. Erik mighta been able to earn some ad revenue if he’d stuck Coca Cola dead center. I actually had ptS in there before CCS became necessary, and I looked to see if the byline was for Ms. Burnikel, whom I may see tomorrow.

We called COUNTERFEITCOINs “slugs” back in the day. I remember finding a bunch of discarded electrician’s slugs that worked in the pay phone (remember those?) on the corner next to the café. We didn’t call Jenny for a good time, but someone had scrawled a name and number in the phone booth and we talked to a young lady in the nearest town. She was not particularly amused, but we did chat for a while. The STORIES we can tell about 50 years AGO.

Tennis player COCO Vandeweghe gets a yeah baby today.

Not much else to say, IMOUT of here.

rainforest 2:14 PM  

There are some modern slangy phrases that I like, but COME CORRECT will not be one of them. It sounds vaguely Mafia-ish. "I tell you what, Vinnie. You COME CORRECT and I'll make sure you get whole".

Well, even though I dislike that phrase, it's OK in a puzzle, I guess, and it works as one of the themers today.

Overall, a decent Monday puzzle which offered a little more resistance than usual, but one over which I had COMPLETE CONTROL.

leftcoastTAM 2:35 PM  

Lots of bite in this Monday puzzle, something of a "hot dog contest".

Needed crosses for several answers:
SWAG
NEYO
RAITA
COMECORRECT
CORONET

So much for the UNFAMILIARs and the COCO-fest.

Yes, AMEN, relatively challenging.

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