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Relative difficulty: Easy / Easy-Medium, harder if you've never heard of LIMP BIZKIT (2:53)
Theme answers:
- BATTERY TERMINAL (17A: Anode or cathode)
- GOLDEN GATE (27A: Iconic San Francisco bridge)
- CANNERY ROW (50A: Steinbeck novel set in Monterey)
- TAKING A BACK SEAT (65A: Letting others occupy the spotlight)
Limp Bizkit is an American rap rock band from Jacksonville, Florida. Their lineup consists of Fred Durst (lead vocals), Sam Rivers (bass, backing vocals), John Otto (drums, percussion), DJ Lethal(turntables), and Wes Borland (guitars, backing vocals). Their music is marked by Durst's angry vocal delivery and Borland's sonic experimentation. Borland's elaborate visual appearance, which includes face and body paint, masks and uniforms, also plays a large role in the band's elaborate live shows. The band has been nominated for three Grammy Awards, have sold 40 million records worldwide and won several other awards. (wikipedia)
• • •
Five things:
- 73A: 1800s president nicknamed "His Accidency" (TYLER) — that dude is smack dab in the middle of "presidents I don't know anything about. Clue may as well have just said [One of them there US presidents]
- 63D: Cut (down) (PARE) — weird how something so simple can be mildly confounding. I looked at this, had no idea, and just filled it in from crosses
- 11D: Relative of alcopop (WINE COOLER) — in the 80s, we did not have "alcopop," but we definitely had these things. Very big with the kids who wanted to get drunk but didn't like the taste of booze.
- 55A: Daytime store window sign (OPEN) — pretty presumptuous clue. Some stores are OPEN after sundown
- 34A: Response to "Who wants to go?" ("I WILL") — I prefer this "I WILL":
Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld
[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]
Generic Monday puzzle. This was a Monday puzzle which I finished in Monday puzzle time. Monday puzzles occasionally delight, occasionally annoy, but are usually just there. This was one of those.
ReplyDeleteThe theme is flawed for the reasons Rex mentions. If you wanted to really do AIRPORT you would do: OVERPRICED PARKING, TERMINAL, STANDING IN LINE, TSA SCREENING, LOUD ASSHOLE TALKING ON HIS CELL PHONE ABOUT SALES QUOTAS, GATE. Something like that. Though I'm not sure it all fits.
Wasn't it just a few days ago we were talking about the ILLINI?
LIMP BIZKET I knew of, but didn't know the album title, so it took some crossings. I wonder if men suffering from ED find that name offensive.
Cardinals, Bills, Browns, Jets all won today. I wonder what that parlay would have paid in Vegas?
Totally agree with you re: airports. There is always that moron in line yelling over the phone...
DeleteNice Monday puzzle on the heels of a tedious Sunday. The AIRPORT is indeed the place one finds the TERMINAL, then the GATE, and then the ROW, and the SEAT. Theme and revealer work for me.
ReplyDeleteI am really struggling to come up with an example of anyone saying I LIED. Feel free to chime in, but checking my Bible, my Shakespeare, my Twitter, and my memory of personal experiences. Nope! Nobody. Please prove me wrong.
I rarely correct OFL, why bother? He doesn't read these ramblings. I predict he is going to get reamed, and rightfully so, by people who own SEWing machines, buy patterns, and "make clothing." I'm not talking about darning socks here. I'm talking about creating innovative and original pieces made with love and pride.
Speaking of which, COCO Chanel's haute couture fashion designs are more revered than her fragrances or he cosmetics. Or, so I'm told.
Characters in TV crime dramas often say I LIED. Yes, people still SEW clothing, and even if they didn't, factory made clothing is still SEWn.
DeleteNice write-up, Rex. I had some of the same hesitations, but I also muddled through. I have heard of Limp Bizkit, but I didn’t know how it was spelled, so I had to rely on the crosses, which were easy enough. Enjoyed it, thought it was a good Monday puzzle.
ReplyDeleteMedium. Solid Mon., liked it. ...and I did know LIMP BIZKIT but it took a couple of iterations to get the spelling right.
ReplyDeleteMy time was about average, perhaps better than average, but it felt as if there was a bigger PPP count than normal for a Monday, with the real and fictional names ADELE, BEENE, CANNERY ROW, COCO, EISNER, ILLINI, LARA, LEAH, MR T, PRYNNE, OVID, RITA, and TYLER; the corporate or organizational names ATARI, (Kit) KAT, LIMP BIZKIT, PEZ, PLO, and TCBY; and the geographical names ERIN and GOLDEN GATE. And that's not even counting the clues, such as 32D ("Distinctive feature of Mr. Spock") that reference a PPP.
ReplyDeleteBecause of its heavy reliance on PPPs, not a GEM, IMHO.
One thing that slowed me down was 4-down. Since when did "ON THE QT" morph into "ON THE DL"? Doing a search on Google (which I did not use to get the answer), the first term is led by entries in standard dictionaries. The latter is dominated by entries in the Urban Dictionary, such as "Meaning on the down low a turm [sic] used mostly by black homosexuals who are in the closet or the down low." Uh huh.
Oh, wait. I see that "ON THE DL" was a track on an 1992 album produced by the alternative hip-hop band, The Pharcyde, on their debut album, "Bizarre Ride II the Pharcyde". Good to know.
My one moment of glee was slotting in BATTERY TERMINAL without crosses. One thing I've noticed the more I do crossword puzzles is an ability to match up words or phrases to the number of squares, often without counting. I can't think of how that skill might be transferable in other parts of life. Laying tile, perhaps?
Rows and seats? There was a theme to his puzzle?
ReplyDeleteAs for His Accidency, President TYLER... well, if you don't know the story of "Tippecanoe and Tyler Too", then you should quit posting any comments about American history. Seriously, don't give us any BS excuses about "obscure" American history. Just effing quit.
Rex – I liked your write-up and like your writing style; it’s reader-friendly. I have to agree about the SEAT and ROW deal. By the time I get to whatever gate, it’s so crowded that you can’t even discern a ROW of seats. But then that flight’s people board, and I can find a seat with the next flight’s people. And wait for my flight, the one after that, ‘cause I usually get there several hours in advance ‘cause what if there’s a problem with my ticket or a traffic jam or I get a flat or the remote lot is full or I have a wardrobe malfunction or the zipper on my suitcase breaks. It’s exhausting living life as a worry wart.
ReplyDelete@Tom Az – yeah, those loud phone talkers seem to congregate in the morning to get their territory assignments, ensuring that wherever I go I can hear about the sales meeting or what the doctor said about her cousin’s co-worker’s mother’s thyroid. These people should be chased down the street with a baseball bat.
I misunderstood “alcopop” and was thinking it was some kind of laced sucker. So I was thinking “jello shot.” Overrated, by the way. I was bitterly disappointed. Even after the eighth one. I was the student who both liked the taste of alcohol And wanted to get drunk. This resulted in hilarity like watching a Carolina game in a dorm room, all of us festooned (reasonable at the time), with toilet seat covers around our necks for good luck. Or calling Warren Martin (UNC player) at 1am to ask about how he thought the game went. He was always an heroically good sport.
@Robin – I’m vaguely familiar with that slogan but don’t know the story, either. Or the moniker. I guess obscurity is in the eye of the wheelhouse owner.
Had to solve on my phone ‘cause my *&^% computer is grumpy. I. Hate. Solving. Electronically. I can’t get that aerial view, the forest, as it were, just being shown one clue at a time. It feels like eating a bouillabaisse, blindfolded, one little morsel at a time. So it takes a while to figure out what I’m eating. Hate it hate it hate it.
Jacob - nice little Monday stroll. On a moving sidewalk. Me walking obediently on the left wondering if there’s a shoe store in the airport in case my (new) sandal breaks.
You describe using a seat in an airport but don't think it's in an airport??? (Does Rex sit on the floor in an airport?)
DeleteOther than TAKe the BACK SEAT instead of TAKING... I had no problems with this one. Catchy little theme for a Monday.
ReplyDeleteEnjoyed seeing my old neighbors the ILLINI again. We used to say “Stay off of I43, It’s Friday night and the ILLINI will be on the road up to Door County for the weekend”.
@‘mericans from yesterday, still haven’t tried POI, however, we are putting tile into the kitchen and considering using it for grout. We think it will work. I’ll let you know.
@chefwen "It’s Friday night and the ILLINI will be on the road up to Door County for the weekend”
DeleteI always heard the official term was "FIBs".
@Loren, et al., Tyler was the first vice president to become president following the death of the president. As there was no precedent (groan), there was damn near a Constitutional crisis. A lot of it was a matter of confidence/chutzpah, and opponents of his ascension having no matter solution to the matter.
ReplyDeleteThis was perfectly pitched for a Monday, neither too hard nor easy for a beginner. Jacob came up with a high percentage of clues that require the brain to be engaged yet not confounded. I think it's just as hard to come up with clues like this than it is to compose clever wordplay clues. And the theme didn't just elicit an "Oh." There was that next step where the puzzle held your hand and guided you from the car to just before takeoff. I'm not a beginning solver, and maybe there are some out there who can confirm (or contest) what I'm about to contend: I believe this puzzle, so perfectly pitched, would make a beginner not only happy for the accomplishment of completing a NYT crossword, but even more so for having earned a well-fought victory.
ReplyDeleteVery well said. I am neither a beginner nor a particularly skilled solver and I found this quite satisfying. I read clues and typed in letters, skipping around until I was done. No writeovers. I liked the long entries. It still took 13 minutes. I know that would be a long time for some but OK with me.
Delete(BTW, I could do without the 1/4 done, 1/2 done..... pop ups.)
Almost fillled itself in except for the band, which I’d heard of but didn’t know the exact spelling. Nice Monday.
ReplyDelete46A: “Water Under The Bridge” singer ADELE; the 4th (and final) single released from her album “25” peaked at #26 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in February, 2017.
ReplyDeleteWe are the mediocre presidents
ReplyDeleteYou won’t find our faces on dollars or on cents
There’s Taylor, there’s Tyler, there’s Filmore, and there’s Hayes
There’s William Henry Harrison
“I died in thirty days!”
@Z from late Sunday
ReplyDeleteYou wrote "Let me suggest, though, that looking up answers doesn’t really help improve solving skills. Toughing it out and RETHINKING PLAUSIBLE ALTERNATIVE MEANINGS* of clues helped me far more. These days I only look up answers as an absolute last resort when a puzzle has defeated me."
I really like this approach. It is why I hate "?" clues so much. Don't hold my hand.
*Caps mine.
SEWing is what you do to make clothes (also toys, curtains, whatever). @Rex, I’m curious about your wardrobe- assume it consists entirely of knitted onesies? Perhaps welded armor?
ReplyDeleteWhen I ask someone “do you SEW?” I’m not asking about mending.
Good puzzle.
ONTHEDL as clued was news to me, since the DL in that phrase the way I know it means "disabled list". It's a poor day when you can't learn something.
ReplyDeleteIf you started at the bottom and got ROWS and SEATS you probably thought the revealer had something to do with an auditorium.
Any puzzle with TWIT is OK with me. Perfectly acceptable Monday.
Good thing I know my body parts: I had Geoffrey BeAne crossed by DATA at 3 down, which gave me "eldow" at 1 across.��
ReplyDeleteILLINI! A word I'd never heard before a few days ago comes back, and so soon.
ReplyDeleteYou go to the TERMINAL and find your GATE. Look for your assigned ROW and take a SEAT. Hope the TWIT TAKING up the ELBOW room gets a LIMP BIZKIT for his MEAL.
ReplyDeleteLet's see: WINE COOLER COCO AND ADELE. 3 of my favorite things in a ROW.
I thought I might try and speed solve this Monday. You know, just for the fun of it and see what this is all about. It took me 8 min. and some change and I was so focused on my time that I didn't bother to be amused by the puzzle. I had to finish before I could enjoy this fresh easy Monday. My only hang-up was trying to remember if the LIMPs had a Q in their name.
Not a wince to be found. The clues were rather enjoyable. I'm also glad we had ILLINI the other day. I remembered Champagne was somewhere in Illinois (they have good taste) and it ended in I, so....voila.
I wonder if Jacob Stulberg's wife is named LEAH.
@TomAz. You forgot PERSON WHO THINKS BOTH ARM RESTS ARE HIS and OVERPRICED EVERYTHING.
ReplyDelete@Rex, You arrive at the terminal, go to your gate, and then find your row and seat. Not only are these things found, they're listed in the order found. PERSON WHO THINKS BOTH ARM RESTS ARE HIS comes next.
Great Monday puzzle.
Hey All !
ReplyDeleteFirst line: ELBOW FROM TWIT. Har. How can you not like a puz that starts like that?
Didn't notice till reading Rex that the theme was in proper order steps. Nice. Adds more of a purpose to the theme. Agree AIRPORT is a touch plain as a revealer. Maybe could've given us a 15 with BIG JET AIRLINERS, or something. Just a WEE STIR FROM me. :-)
Did have a writeover, glARE-STARE. But, In order that one might get SO AS TO, was able to change it. Liked the two admissions, I WILL and I LIED. And ILL IN I. EPIC.
Was hoping the two long Downs were part of the theme, but they were good nonetheless.
TALK TO NO NAME
RooMonster
DarrinV
I often skip Monday puzzles but I’m glad I didn’t l. This was hardly a challenge but it was fun to fill out. I assumed “alcopop” was some sorta genre of music. It doesn’t pop up on my autocorrect either. When I was a WEE thing we drank Boone’s Farm Apple Wine which tasted like fruit juice. But came back up like BATTERY acid.
ReplyDeleteI may have this wrong but I think Tyler was the first president to get married in the White House. Or at least to hold his wedding there. He also annexed Texas.
At the GATE - ROW can determine when one finds ones SEAT
ReplyDelete(Where one is in line to board)
Ah, the good old days, Boone's Farm and Annie Green Springs.
ReplyDeleteTyler was the first Vice President to become President, thus the "Accidency" label. Amazing that someone like Rex, who is allegedly well educated, has little knowledge about the presidency. Probably how we wound up with the likes of Trump.
ReplyDeleteOn the DO? Never heard of.
DeleteDL=Down Low
Delete@S.Green: I, uh, don’t think Rex voted for Trump.
DeleteA little uneven for a Monday. I like the TERMINAL >> GATE >> ROW >> SEAT sequence, but AIRPORT doesn't really work for me, for the reasons @Rex noted. I also don't like the SEAT themer being so literally a SEAT, even a metaphoric one. The other three are more repurposed.
ReplyDeleteThe fill is quite clean, so TIPTOP marks for that.
LIMPBIZKIT -- LOL, haven't thought about them in a long time. Their frontman Fred Durst seemed like such an a-hole back in the day, ginning up supposed beefs with other bands and basically inciting a riot at Woodstock '99.
BOARDING PASS would have worked as the revealer, with the clue, "Where to
ReplyDeletethe last words of ..."
Put "trick" in right away at 1A (Something up one's sleeve). 23A brought up the old Eire/ERIN conundrum. Thought I nailed 35A with "SO that" (missed the redundant "that" in the clue). A few more misdirects than I like to see in a Monday that should otherwise have been ripe for the taking.
ReplyDeleteEnded up closer to average than best, and that is always a sad result.
SOASTO? SOASTO? What? Did this just slip by everyone unnoticed? “Clean, no wincing” hardly describes any puzzle with SOASTO. Personally, I felt zinced as I filled in that dreck.
ReplyDeleteHis Accidency was one of the reasons we finished second at Trivia last week (we went with Ford). The speed round was 20 or so presidential nicknames. We missed 5 and lost by three.
The ROW and SEAT are in the airplane, not the ones in the waiting area. Now, if you want to argue that the airplane is still at the AIRPORT I’ll not argue. But if you think the SEAT being referenced is inside the TERMINAL you haven’t grokked the theme.
@michiganman - I’d be on board with no ? clues after Wednesday. Early week puzzles are meant to be easier and accessible to newer solvers, so a little hand holding is to be expected.
Delightful comments so far today. A less delightful puzzle. @TomAz, our lead-off BATTER today, sums it up perfectly in his first paragraph.
ReplyDeleteYes, @'merican, I wanted ON THE QT, too. But when I couldn't find a S.F. bridge with a Q in it, I gave up on the idea.
I thought that "alcopop" was some kind of modern rock band music. I thought: "What with LIMP BIZKIT, this is too much pop music in one puzzle." Imagine my surprise when WINE COOLER came in. Could WINE COOLER actually be the name of a pop band or pop singer? There are weirder names, after all, in the world of pop music. Like LIMP BIZKIT.
ILLINI is back. And now I know how to pronounce it.
To and fro(m), ebb and flow, anode and cathode -- lots of indecision here. But it was a neat construction; I did share @Rex's reaction to AIRPORT as the revealer.
ReplyDeleteI could say lots about Tyler, Harrison, Tecumseh, and the Battle of Tippecanoe -- but I won't, we've had enough already.
@Chefwen, I grew up in Door County, and believe me, we were happy to see those ILLINI coming. I suppose we'd have been even happier if they stayed home and just sent their money, but we were happy all the same.
My five favorite clues from last week:
ReplyDelete1. Phone tapping targets (5)
2. Military leader known for being chicken (10)
3. One who's got game, but shouldn't (7)
4. Make rent (6)
5. What isn't legal for copying: Abbr. (3)
ICONS
GENERAL TSO
POACHER
TATTER
LTR
Enjoyed the puzzle. Agreed with Rex on the Row and Seat clues (things on an Airplane, not particularly things in an Airport without a bit of a stretch.) Particularly appreciated the Alison Krauss version of "I Will." Thanks for that.
ReplyDeleteWell, I finished without the happy music and had to figure out my errors, which were several. I had dolT before TWIT, because I just filled in the acrosses and didn’t bother to check the downs. I didn’t know if LIMPBIZKIT was with an S or a Z; PEZ said Z, but when you’re on the hunt for errors, everything is fair game. I also misspelled Mr. BEENE’s name; I was sure it was BEaNE. So while I “finished quickly,” I didn’t finish well. I am amazed that the ILLINI, who so befuddled the masses a bit ago, reappeared; I hope folks don’t find us as challenging as the first time around. And hey, they won on Saturday, beating Rutgers. Mr. Mal says that may be their last win for the year. Oh how the mighty have fallen, though to be honest, it’s been a long time since they were mighty. Sort of like the tribe; still here, small but working hard in places like Peoria and Bloomington.
ReplyDeleteThe theme was okay but I rarely care about the theme this early in the week. I just like a nice brisk jaunt around the grid to get my brain perking. This did the job.
I didn’t even think about ‘row’ and ‘seat’ not being in the airport until Rex pointed it out. But I thought being on the ‘down low’ was a reference to being secretly gay.
ReplyDeleteCould be. "Pssst. I'm gay. Keep it on the down low."
Delete@Quasi (9:01)-- Once again we had the same reaction to something in a puzzle -- in this case to "alcopop". Once again, great minds and all that. Wondering if @OISK had/will have that reaction too?
ReplyDeleteI love, love, love the many colorful rants today against airline travel -- too many to single out. Keep 'em coming. At one point in the past, when I was filled with fury about an especially abysmal flying experience, I sought out cyber-support on the Internet. I found a site called "airlinerage" that provided me with all the impassioned anti-airline sentiments that anyone could have hoped for. I took "airlinerage" to be a word similar to "vicarage" or "lineage" and pronounced it that way in my head. Only afterwards did I realize it stood for "airline rage".
Z’s Beanie Baby Reminder
ReplyDeleteFashion dude clue -> BEENE
Baseball dude clue -> BEANE
Fashion clue starting with B trying to get you to fill in BEENE so the constructor can laugh at you -> Eddie BAUER.
————
Air Travel Rant.
@Nancy, yes we often think alike, perhaps because of our literary backgrounds. My airline animus reached new heights recently when a flight was canceled and they texted me only an hour beforehand to alert me to the fact. I had already driven an hour to get to the airport by then. Of course no one calls anymore.
ReplyDelete@Nancy If you really want to know who I am just click on my name and all will be revealed. No, I am not Jewish, not that there's anything wrong with that. Mel was referring to himself. And no you didn't see me in "The Fantastix" as I joined the cast 8 years into the run. I love your posts.
ReplyDeleteI am so disgusted with air travel that I have sworn off of it.
ReplyDeleteThe last time I flew was to Belize. I thought that at least I was still on the same continent and could walk home if I had to.
Best Monday time for me. Thanks for last week's rundown, @Lewis!
ReplyDeleteHow do you think clothes are made, Mike, if they aren't "SEWn"? Jeez.
ReplyDeletePuztheme worked ok by m&e. The plane is still in the airport, when U find yer assigned row and seat. Either that or yer slow ass is probably splatzed against the rear wall of the plane, following a jet take-off.
ReplyDeleteVery solid MonPuz. Weak link: Missing a crucial vowel. Its only meager mention was in StUlberg.
staff weeject pick: WEE.
fave "some decoding may be required" entries: SOASTO. ONTHEDL. LIMPBIZKIT.
fave moo-cow eazy-E for some folks MonPuz clue: {Like this type} = ITALIC. [In the printed puzversion only. Clue letters are displayed in italics.]
Honrable mention to @RP's clue for TYLER: {One of them there US presidents}. har!
Thanx, Mr. St0Ulberg.
Masked & Anonym0Us
for those who felt their monpUz was missin somethin real important...
**gruntz**
I recall some chat show years ago where ONTHE Down Low meant: closeted gayness by married, i.e. straight, guys in the black community. wasn't abbr. to DL, at least then. not synonymous with discreet, ya know. something entirely different. so let's go look what the innterTubes has to say... and we have a winnaa!!! https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=downlow
ReplyDeletesorry 'merican, I missed that part of your comment. sigh.
ReplyDeleteLook folks. In case you're new to this blog or just not paying attention. Rex is cranky! Rex is always cranky. He is a curmudgeony conservative old crab in the body of a middle aged liberal. He complains. That's just what he does. On a Monday, there's not much material so he complains about sewing. Get over it. Or read elsewhere.
ReplyDelete@oldactor: I clicked on your name, went to your profile page, and realized I'd been there before when I saw "Topsy Turvy" listed as one of your favorite movies. (It's one of my faves, too, and I bet 95% of the country never even heard of it, much less saw it.) I would have remembered I'd been to your profile page if I had a memory like everyone else. But, of course, being me, I'd forgotten. Anyway, since you don't have an email address posted there, let me thank you here for your very nice comment and also say that, with the exception of Laurel and Hardy, we would seem to have very similar tastes in films.
ReplyDeletep.s.
ReplyDeleteMoo-cow MonPuz version of @RP's TYLER clue: {One of them there TheY-aLso-sERve type of presidents?}.
M&A Get-A-Clue Desk
Close to a sub-six Monday for me, which makes it easy in my book. It was a fine Monday puzzle. I had a couple of writeovers, first putting in BIsKIT and shooting daggers with a glARE. But the long acrosses went in swiftly which always helps one's time.
ReplyDeleteI smiled to see the ILLINI fight their way back into the grid. And I will give American Airline props for the gingersnap BIZKITs they give out as the alternative to a MEAL. I appreciated the oddness of seeing SO AS TO coagulate, a three-word DOOK, nice.
Thanks, Jacob, I didn't have to say RATS at all today.
@Dora the Ex-Explorer (11:47) -- My nomination for the wittiest misery-of-air-travel comment ever made.
ReplyDeleteAlso, @Alexander (6:55) -- was that ADORBS mediocre presidents verse written by you? If so, kudos.
I wish! It’s a verse from an old episode of The Simpsons (I Love Lisa, 1993!) where they’re putting on a school play for President’s Day
DeleteMy favorite bit of presidential trivia involves His Accidency, John Tyler. Our tenth president, from 1841-1845, he has living grandchildren.
ReplyDeleteRex, Being that yours truly is an octogenarian, I am almost embarrassed to admit, yet doubtless aware of what a LIMP BIZKIT is! :-(
ReplyDeleteRex - Thanks for linking Alison Krause - Her version of "I Will" is just the best.
ReplyDeleteTomAz, "Cards, Bills, Browns, Jets" all won their NFL games yesterday and you're wondering what that parlay would have paid? So enlighten us, as we haven't the Vegas notion? ;-)
ReplyDeleteHad to get around LIMPLIZARD. The Z, egad. Don't know either, only recognize the names.
ReplyDeleteThis shouldn't bug me, but it does. To say SEWing = making clothes is like saying welding = making a car. SEWing is a relatively minor step in the entire process.
ReplyDeleteIt’s time I said this. I’m Irish. My whole family lives in Ireland and there is NOT ONE OF US that calls our country Erin. Not effing one. Eire, sure, but Erin, nuh-uh. You want this in your puzzle, say something about Ms. Brokovich, not my home
ReplyDeleteWe are all terribly sorry.
DeleteHad to Google it I guess there isn’t a band called LIMP LIZARD.
ReplyDeleteFile as fog has truly got his Irish up and hopefully today's Xword constructor has learned the ERIN of his ways?
ReplyDelete@WHH
ReplyDeleteI thought you were going to say @FaF was really EIREd.
JC66, Actually,Upon reflection, I prefer your spin on it...Touche! :-)
ReplyDeleteCool! I might get to be in one of those absurd debates about stupid stuff here...but I feel I've been called out, so...
ReplyDelete@Z (2:07)...are you saying that a bunch of pieces of material that are NOT sewn together would still qualify as "clothes"? Seems the sewing part is pretty crucial in those becoming clothes. Just sayin'.
@Nancy:
ReplyDeleteIt's rstewart@rgv.rr.com. Keep it on the DL
Here's a simple suggestion regarding all these negatives on "row" & "seat" in reference to the "airport":
ReplyDeleteRead the clue.
"Where to find the ends of [the themers]." - When you are going to fly, you "find" the appropriate terminal, then "find" your gate, then "find" your row to stow your carry-on, then "find" your seat. And you "find" all of these at the "airport."
Teapot.
Well, I have made my own clothes, my kids' clothes, Christmas stockings, pillows, slipcovers. And while there's a lot involved, I gotta say that it all gets subsumed by the term SEW. While pinning the pattern, marking and cutting it take time, the lion's share goes to the sewing process unless you are being really anal and trying to limit 'sewing' to pressing the pedal. Once the pattern is cut, you sit at your machine, pin, baste, trim, slice open darts, sew, pin, sew, rip out a bad seam, change the bobbin, sew, work on button holes, hand hem. It’s laborious and while I guess there are those out there who would nit pick and say that pinning isn't sewing, most folks who say they sew their own clothes mean what I described.
ReplyDeleteI’m so glad I stopped by late because it is sheer serendipity to find Alison singing “I Will”. That was a special tune for me and a fellow in college so it’s brought back some nearly 50 year old memories. Lovely.
ReplyDeleteI knew LIMPBIZKIT so this puzzle was a cinch. DL was in my ken as well but I really stopped by to see what @Nancy had to say about those two!
I'm SEW over this debate.
ReplyDelete(Da dum dum)
RooMonster
I was one of those who jumped to ONTHEQT, so when I got to the iconic bridge, I thought, "Well, it ain't that iconic, but it does have a Q in it: CARQUINEZ." Good thing that didn't fit. Anyone else from the Bay Area have that initial impulse?
ReplyDeletehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carquinez_Bridge
Dora,
ReplyDeleteSomeone already has correctly identified your comment as the best (by miles) of the day but its so good I feel obliged to second that sentiment. Thanks, you made my night.
@Z,
Really?
Roo Monster, Your "Sew over this debate" had me in stiches! LMAO!
ReplyDelete@David Schinnerer - Knit sweater. Just saying.
ReplyDelete@David Schinnerer. First, you spin the yarn. Then maybe you dye it. Then you weave the cloth. Then maybe you dye it. Then you cut it. Then you sew it. Sewing is a small part of the process.
ReplyDeleteWith GOLDEN GATE and CANNERY ROW, I was sure I was looking for a San Francisco theme. I was certainly willing to believe there was a ferry terminal or something there called BATTERY TERMINAL, but TAKING A BACK SEAT completely threw me for a loop.
ReplyDeleteGreat puzzle, great flow, great progression through space and time.
ReplyDeleteFor me, this was a Tuesday or Wednesday-medium. DNF because I had FROs instead of FROM. EPIC fail and now I feel like a TWIT. I BETA pay attention next time...
ReplyDeleteProblems with this one. #1, the clue for ITALIC was printed in the same font as all the other clues in my paper. Thanks for nothing, Las Vegas Sun. Crosses locked it in, fortunately.
ReplyDeleteOther nose-wrinklers:
--> I know as little about fashion designers as I do about rap acts. With BEE_E I had to deal with...what? O_THE__ seemed to want ONTHEQT, but 27a just HAS to be GOLDENGATE, so...?
--> And what's with "Who wants to go?" "I do!" would be the answer to that. NOT IWILL. "Who'll stop the rain?" Now's the time for IWILL.
--> So the answer to 4d would seem to be ONTHEDL. Post-solve, I looked this up; turns out it means "on the down low." Never heard of it. Stupid expression; "ONTHE" followed by two adjectives. Weird. Although I guess not much weirder than using the first and last letters of QuieT.
--> I know as little about rap acts...wait, have we been here? That whole thing had to go in cross by cross. Its counterpart at 11d was no picnic either; I have no idea what "alcopop" is.
--> Until I read @anon 5:32, I agreed with OFL about the first two themers vis-à-vis the last two. But that argument sort of makes sense, using the word "find" in a more literal sense. Still, though, two parts of the building and then two parts of the plane...
I did the thing, and most of it seemed solid, fill-wise, but the solve felt uncomfortable with those WOEs. At least we leave the grid on an up note: DOD Liv TYLER. Hey, you know what RAP anagrams to?
PAR.
GOLDENGATE OPEN
ReplyDeleteILIED about a LIMPBIZKIT in a TALKTO CLEAVE TOO her agin,
SEW I will be TAKINGABACKSEAT SOASTO RELAY Miss PRYNNE.
--- TYLER EISNER
Have not read comments, but I suppose you might "find" your ROW and SEAT assignment at the GATE of an AIRPORT TERMINAL. Would rather see a sports injury clue putting someone ONTHEDL.
ReplyDeleteAs I was doing this puz the clinic waiting room music was playing ADELE when I was filling in her name. Different song than the clue.
Never cared for LIMPBIZKIT. TALKTO me, don't yell.
Let's see now, LEAH ERIN RITA COCO ADELE KAT LARA, your choice, NONAME is wrong. And that's before a handful of last names.
IWLL call this puz OK, but not RAVE about it.
Solved this about a mile away from CANNERYROW.
ReplyDeleteStuff in my wheelhouse for a variety of odd reasons. Bought a "slang" book some years back, and ON THE DL was in there. Knew Hester from high school lit. I've learned of many a designer like BEENE from crosswords!
One never, ever, knows how Ireland will spell its name from day to day. Bet its some kind of drinking game in a pub.
Ha - the ILLINI are back. And have known the BIZKIT for a long time, but never sure of the spelling of that, either.
Now, a kitKAT or a TCBY for a prize? Certainly not just one PEZ.
Diana, Lady-in-Waiting for more RAVE reviews
it's
ReplyDeleteapostrophe needed
DLIW
LIMP BIZKIT has to be the answer of the day.
ReplyDeleteSurprised to see the ILLINI back so soon and on a Monday.
Thought the common saying was ON THE QT instead of the DL. DL? Okay, I guess.
The theme? Good.
Easy-medium and interesting.
The only place I ever hear of ONTHEDL is in pro sports when they talk about a player on the disabled list - e.g. "Shea Weber is on the DL and isn't expected to be back with the team until the new year."
ReplyDelete