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Relative difficulty: Easy (8:37, but with an error that it took me another 1:19 to find)
Theme answers:
- SWEET AND SOUR (23A: Sou'wester) ("sou'wester" anagrams to "sweet" and "sour")
- HEART AND SOUL (28A: Late hours)
- PEACHES AND CREAM (45A: Peace marches)
- TAR AND FEATHER (62A: "After Earth")
- RIGHT AND WRONG (77A: Growth ring)
- STAND UP AND CHEER (97A: Trade punches)
- STOP AND STARE (11A: Prostates)
• • •
Did anyone else in the whole wide world write in YIPPIES for 96D: Quaint demographic grouping both because you would never in a million years associate the word "quaint" with YUPPIES and because you didn't know the at-least-slightly esoteric word CUESTAS (100A: Hills with gentle slopes on one side and steep slopes on the other) and thought CIESTAS sounded verrrry plausible (like "siestas," only ... in hill form)? No, just me? Man, that was annoying. I don't mind CUESTAS so much as I mind the ridiculous clue on YUPPIES. Actually, I just hate the word "quaint" here, as well as the fact that there is nothing in the clue to point directly at YUPPIES. Just "a grouping." Boring and boooo. CUESTAS compounds the problem, but the origin of the problem is in the exquisitely bad YUPPIES clue. Super annoying. When I realized I had an error (but had no idea where) I put the prime suspects into a line-up. BACHATA checked out. WINDOW ROCK (79D: Arizona capital of the Navajo nation) and HEADSPRING (78D: Gymnastics flip) seemed pretty unimpeachable. APOLUNE looked like a very strong candidate for puzzle-ruiner, because that word looks ridiculous the more I look at it (80A: Farthest point in an orbit around the moon), but the crosses looked like they worked. I was not entirely sure about ENE (76D: Suffix with methyl), but with "moon" in the clue the "LUNE" part of APOLUNE had to be right. So that left CIESTAS. And ... guilty! J'accuse, CIESTAS!
Five things:
- 11D: "C'mon, be serious" ("DON'T PLAY") — I was mildly unsure about this one, as it seemed almost too colloquial, but I've heard it some (primarily in rap / hip-hop contexts), so I just went with it
- 40D: Japanese dogs with turned-up tails (SHIBA INUS) — I know the breed, but spelled it SHIBU at first. This answer makes me worry that constructors will think INUS is a viable stand-alone answer. Please never put INUS in your puzzle, thanks.
- 15D: Dulles designer (EERO SAARINEN) — Full-name! EERO, gettin' the DeeLuxe treatment today. Really thought he had an umlaut somewhere in his name, but apparently not. Some Finnish design guy does, doesn't he? Well ... it's not Alvar Aalto, so I don't know who the hell I'm thinking öf.
- 22A: Get a ___ on someone (READ) — went with BEAD, a wrong answer that is actually plausible
- 47D: 47D: Part of a Mario costume (RED HAT) — so there's this concept in crossword construction called GREEN PAINT ... which could just as easily have been named RED HAT: a phrase you can imagine someone saying that lacks the coherence to stand alone. Like, say, ENTER A ROOM ... a recognizable English phrase that one might use, but as a crossword answer, errrr no. Green paint. Red hat. No dice. Oh, actually, RED HAT is a pretty prominent software company, so ... if that were the clue, that might take RED HAT out of the realm of GREEN PAINT. If you follow ...
[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]
Easy-medium. This was the second puzzle this week that I finished without grokking the theme. So, after many nanoseconds spent staring post solve, the AHA hit. Somehow, not quite as clever as the Thurs. puz, yet I did like it.
ReplyDeleteDefinition of hero: A person admired for outstanding and noble qualities.
ReplyDeleteCHE, a hero? Really, Erik?... or is it it Will's definition...
Che's claim to fame was condemning thousand of Cuban's to a firing squad. Gleefully. Here are some of his quotes: "We executed many people by firing squad without knowing if they were guilty."
"We don't need proof to execute a man." Hero?
Here are a few that he deemed worthy of his firing squad or imprisonment in some of the vilest conditions imaginable.
Homosexuals
Jehova's Witnesses
Those that drank to excess
Playing loud music
Disrespecting authority (His and Fidel's)
That's for starters.
Go take a gander at the Documented Victims File of those he ordered executed. If my Dad were still alive today he would tell you how Che and his minions came into his business in Havana and took his Cuban accountant by horrible force, beat him to a pulp in the street and dragged him bleeding and practically naked into an American car. I know, because I was there to see it. This loyal, wonderful man was executed and his head was severed and sent in a box to his house for his wife and children to see. Why? Because at one point in his life, he was a Batista supporter. Don't even get me started on him. Those are just a few real stories, my friend.
So it's cool to wear his image on a t-shirt? So Hollywood glamorizes this Stalin would be murderer?
Please explain. Also explain why, in this world today, you'd ever think he was a hero
I didn't bother to do your puzzle.
Thanks for this reminder, Gil. My two best friends all through elementary and junior high were sons of Cuban refugees who lived next door to me. When Castro ousted Batista, I learned so much shocking information from listening to my friends’ parents talking to my parents. That period in history started me down my road as a human rights advocate. Only wish I had more capability to change the world Appreciate your passion.
DeleteThanks GILL for your much needed clarification. I too am appalled by the misguided ascension as “hero” this villain receives today. Unbelievable.
Delete62d Pad alternative = Tablet, 75A Not able to catch something = Obtuse, and I was too obtuse to recover from those, so DNF. Otherwise a walk in the park.
ReplyDeleteI only wish TABLET were the answer rather the indelicate word chosen. The boxes for 62D remain blank on my completed puzzle. I’m too much of a lady to fill them in.
DeleteTampon isn't an indelicate word. It's something almost every single normal, healthy woman uses. Just like period And menopause. Just normal parts of life.
Delete@Gill - Thank You
ReplyDeleteI also had CIESTAS/YIPPIES. I didn't take the time to find the mistake. I just checked the whole grid and said, "Oh, it's 'YUPPIES'".
ReplyDeleteYep. Same. But tried the U after about 10 minutes of checking everything else
DeleteHahaha...I totally thought Yippie as my first instinct, but then thought "there is no way yippie is a possible answer outside my own brain". Glad to see I wasn't alone. And sigh...we could use a few more Abbie Hoffman's in the world right now!
ReplyDeleteI mostly agree with Rex on this one. Once I got the trick, the rest of the puzzle was just sussing out anagrams, which I find tedious. I did admire the two-word bit though, and understood it to be a feat. But tedious nonetheless.
ReplyDeleteLiving in Arizona made WINDOW ROCK a gimme for me. Yay me. (to adapt @Nancy's phrase from yesterday: residing in one particular place is not (necessarily) an achievement, either). (unless you've got a view of Central Park, or the Eiffel Tower, or something like that).
Did not know APOLUNE.. I wanted the generic APOGEE but that of course didn't fit... is APOLUNE a rocket science portmanteau? Didn't know CUESTAS, either, and couldn't really infer it since all I know is 'quanto cuesta' which has nothing to do with hills. But I dropped YUPPIES in on just the Y.. "yippies" never occurred to me. No idea on BACHATA either, got it only on crosses.
This was one of those puzzles that was more admirable than fun.
@GILL I.: I hear you, I appreciate where you are coming from. When I first read the clue I was thinking "hero to Cubans" and I guess, more specifically, "hero to Cubans sympathetic to the revolution and its nationalist totems." But as worded, the clue contains no qualifiers; "Hero" is just identified by where he/she is buried. As such, I think your criticism is justified. Clumsy clueing, it seems.
Too bad I didn't note what time I started this puzzle. It was so easy I could have bragged about how I finished it in such a short time!
ReplyDeleteTook me quite a while to get the theme. I was getting the theme answers from crosses without having any idea of the theme. I was thinking that I’d need to come here to get it. Then, after about the third one, the penny dropped. It didn’t make it any easier, though. Yet another puzzle with a nifty gimmick.
ReplyDeleteFair review today from Rex.
@Gill I: I am touched and saddened to read what you wrote. I confess that I didn’t really give much thought to the Che clue, but I will be aware of its meaning to you (and I’m certain many others) from now on. What you described was horrific. I was an adolescent when Castro wrested control from Batista, and I remember how Fidel went from a hero in the eyes of most Americans (as I recall it) to a communist enemy very quickly. I remember reading that Che was Fidel’s second in command then, but, truthfully, as a young teen-aged kid growing up in NYC, I just wasn’t all that interested in politics or communism.
Sorry, no. It was obviously YUPPIES, and not YIPPIES. Maybe it's my age but when I hear about a reference to a "quaint" demographic category, I think of POSSLQ (go look that up!).
ReplyDeleteAPOLUNE was technically correct, but oy, really? Google that, and it's not like a NASA or other science website shows up in the first 50 hits. If it's not a reference to APOGEE, then the usual term or the outer point of an elliptic orbit is APOAPSIS.
Anyhow, I had no great feelings about this CW. The time was no great shakes. Finished in medium time. Did seem like there was a lot of 3-letter chop for a Sunday.
BTW: I may give up on commenting here. The catch is really getting in-your-face nasty.
I was looking at the Y_PPIES-C_ESTAS crossing. Yippies came to mind but CUESTAS seemed more like a real word than CiESTAS. And YUPPIES seemed a better choice.
DeletePOTUS might consider CHE a hero.
Didn't care for Pad/TAMPON, Breakfast test and all that.
Breakfast test
DeleteWhat does that mean ?
Is it the sort of thing you want to see when you’re doing the crossword while eating breakfast. The term is a quaint reminder that people once did the crossword in an actual newspaper that was delivered in time for you to read it at breakfast.
Delete@GILL I. - You didn’t miss much.
ReplyDeleteNot a big anagram fan, too tedious, don’t even like daily jumble, I usually get the answer before I try to unscramble those letters. A few unknowns didn’t help BACHATA, APOLUNE, BLACULA, CUESTAS, I guess that’s it.
Sorry Erik, enjoyed you more on Jeopardy than I enjoyed this puzzle.
Ernesto Guevara clued as a "Hero"? I doubt the dozens he put a bullet into the back of their heads would agree.
ReplyDeleteWow! This was constructed by the Jeopardy guy with the enormous afro (was it a wig?). Was it a coincidence that this appears the same week as Erik's Jeopardy appearances aired?
ReplyDeleteOn the show he told Alex that he hated Beatles clues. So I guess as the ultimate insult to Beatles fans (and all music lovers) he includes Yoko Ono as an answer (musician ??!!!&&#@!)
Thanks for the info: knew the name Erik Agard from somewhere but my memory failed me. And still think Yoko is/was more visual than musical.
DeleteDidn’t get the anagram bit until nearly the end, although I saw the AND pattern early on. As a result, I read all the theme clues as “common pairs.” That’s just as well because Jumbles and CryptoQuotes battle for last on my “Favorite Newspaper Puzzles List.” I see the artistry of the construction, but it did nothing for me as a solver. I imagine others, especially the Scrabble players, will love it.
ReplyDeleteNot to negate anything @Gill I wrote, but Batista was a dictator raping his country for personal profit. Torture, murder, and close ties with organized crime are all well-documented. And he was propped up by the US because he was “anti-communist” and, oh yeah, influential Americans also profited from his kleptocracy. So a megalomaniac with support of the army seized power in an undemocratic way and then used the power of the state, foreign business interests, support from foreign countries, and organized crime to brutally maintain power. Whoever the particular players were, it is historically unsurprising that the rebellion was bloody and brutal. Whoever the particular players were, the overthrowers of a corrupt regime will be viewed as “heroes” by those the regime oppressed and people sympathetic to those the regime oppressed. Finally, it is historically unsurprising that for the “heroes,” “All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others.”All sadly too predictable but apparently not easily avoidable. Machiavelli wrote Il Principe over 500 years ago and we still do the same old crap and make the same old mistakes. Cuba, Vietnam, Iran, now Afghanistan and Yemen. BiPartisan fuck-ups following the same failed pattern and getting the same unintended result that then takes 50 to 100 years to overcome. My suggestion, if the government is discernibly corrupt and nasty to its own people, do not prop it up no matter the short term business or political pressures. Anyone telling us we have to support a corrupt regime is either a liar or a fool or both.
TL;DR - The CHE clue got an arched eyebrow for a far different and less personally visceral reason here.
"History is written by victors"
DeleteAttributed to Winston Churchill
Not just you Rex, I also went down on YIPPIES x CIESTAS.
ReplyDeleteHey now, curling has mixed doubles, too!
ReplyDeleteJeff Chen humorously noted a number of different characteristics common to Eric's work, and one of them result in the title Eric the Esoteric, perhaps the reason Eric's face has been the recipient of cream pies (refer to the comment he made, last Monday or Tuesday, during the Jeopardy "interview" section after the first break. I think that's a fair complaint. An I wonder if this had been a Chen puzzle whether Mr. Sharp would have hurled vehement venom at the puzzle instead of voicing polite complaints. Just wondering.
ReplyDeleteI figured out the puzzle theme fairly early on (amazingly) and it did help me continue my solve. But I am not a fan of cryptograms, so the theme answers for me were unclued X and Y answers. With absolutely no humor. After finishing an Eric puzzle, I often want to throw a cream pie at him. Not today, but almost.
Did not get the anagrams but almost finished the puzzle!!! Loved that it was by Erik...wish he had stayed on Jeopardy!!! Loved watching all last week!!
ReplyDeleteYippies was the common name for the political group founded by Abbie Hoffman and Jerry Rubin, the Youth International Party. I would not call it a demographic group any more that I would call the Rotary Club a demographic group.
ReplyDeleteYuppies, on the other hand, was a popular and informal designation of a demographic group, Young Urban Professionals, during the 1980's. It was a play on the term Yippies. It is "quaint" insofar as it is a niche informal category using word-play that is not much in use any more except as an old-fashioned or out-of-date term used with one's tongue planted in one's cheek.
I'm totally with @ GILL.I on this one.
ReplyDeleteRight next to the clue I wrote "Hero? To who?"
I hope Erik isn't one of those kids who mindlessly wear that t-shirt.
So many less serious topics give rise to cries of tone deaf accusations. I hope this puzzle gets the criticism it deserves.
He even included Fidel and Raul.
@ Kenneth Wurman (6:59am): Except, as we all know, Yoko Ono was (is) the anti-Beatle.
ReplyDelete@GILL I Thank you so much for your comment. I, too, was disgusted at the reference to him as a hero and hated putting his name there. This is how miseducation is perpetuated, through careless references, and I'm very glad you called Erik and Will out.
ReplyDeleteIn these sensitive times, are we really defining KOWTOW in a pejorative sense instead of the profound act of reverence whence it originated. Or, are the Chinese big enough boys to take it?
ReplyDeleteHope you're kidding.
DeleteKowtow
1.
act in an excessively subservient manner.
2.
historical
kneel and touch the ground with the forehead in worship or submission as part of Chinese custom.
Guess it's OK to have an answer presented as it is currently used in the language.
Same error as Rex. I had to laugh at my mistake. I’ve been around for both of them. Once I caught on to the theme it wasn’t too bad otherwise.
ReplyDeleteWelll...I enjoyed the puzzle and it was a good distraction from the very sad news out of Pittsburgh. Before moving to NJ that synagogue and that neighborhood were our home for six years. Very hard to see Tree of Life in the news for such a horrible reason. So thanks, crossword puzzle, for taking my mind off it for a while.
ReplyDeleteI had Yippies at first as well, but thought it so ancient as to negate quaintness (remember the old farts during Occupy calling people "hippies"; cracked this Occupying old fart up every time). Yuppies is definitely quaint. They went out with boxy Volvos.
ReplyDeleteChe ain't no hero. Neither is Guy Fawkes, kids. Read history.
Red Hat was a Linux distribution which became a huge software company. Good stuff.
I also ignored the anagrams and went with _____AND_____ only.
And I loved having Eero's full name in there.
Overall pretty much an uninspiring puzzle.
Who else wasn’t surprised rex had nothing to say about a clue calling a certain mass murderer a hero? He sees anything relating to the right and he has a full meltdown, including temper tantrums and running to his safe space.
ReplyDeleteI loved this puzzle. The anagrams sped it up for me. Put peaches and cream in off two letters. I have to agree with Gill on Che. I’m not for banning anyone but to clue him as a hero seems unnecessarily provocative and wrong. One hiccup here: I’d never heard of apolune or Shiba Inus so got that u cross on the third try after i and a. I guess that’s technically a DNF though I did hear the happy music without cheating. Would’ve been wrong had I solved on paper. One piece of trivia: As per xword info, the last time tampon was an answer in the Times xword was May 15, 1971. The editor was Will Weng and the clue was “plug for a wound.” We’ve come a long way baby.
ReplyDeleteMaybe the '71 clue had this in mind:
DeleteMedical Definition of Tampon. Tampon: A pack or pad that is used to stop or collect the flow of blood or other fluids. A tampon may be made of cotton, sponge, or another material.
Hi all! Got back Friday evening from most of the week in Rome, where the EATS are meant to much slowly. No BOLTing your RAGU there. Left when it was SUNNIER and warm; returned to much cooler (~50 F) and cloudy.
ReplyDeleteMrs. 'mericans took the iPad, so I was puzzleless. We did this one together, and completed it pretty quickly. Grosked the theme with PEACHES AND CREAM. Only tough spots were the TBS-BACHATA-ANTI crossings and the APOLUNE-SHIBA INUS crossings. CUESTAS and STARS' POT (favorite of STONERs?) also held us up for a bit.
Liked @TomAz's comment: "residing in one particular place is not (necessarily) an achievement, either. (unless you've got a view of Central Park, or the Eiffel Tower, or something like that)." Check.
DONE.
Oh, by the way to my fellow boomers, it was Paul that broke up the Beatles, not Yoko. Unlike Ringo, George, and John, Paul didn't want to share the proceeds of his solo works. It's that simple.
ReplyDeleteI'm never an anagram fan, but I thought this was a pretty nice puzzle, with some surprising crunch for a Sunday. Sadly, I had a Natick/DNF due to the APOLiNE/SHIBAILINiS cross -- didn't know either one (or that the latter is two words). Other than that, I tip my hat and wish Erik had kept going on Jeopardy. But mega-congrats for going as far as he did.
ReplyDeleteI filled in CHE without giving it a thought but I really appreciate @Gill I.'s comment (taken with a touch of @Z's).
A total waste of a Sunday. Save the anagrams for mel taub or silvestri. Nothing fun or clever anywhere. Theme answers could have been clued much more cleverly like herbal milk for peaches and cream and fixed gaze for stop and stare or stuff like that.
ReplyDeleteI got stuck trying to fit something other than INTERSECT because we already had SECT. Finally just assumed this quasi-repeat was OK for some reason and went on. The theme though, did not seem like a theme. Never played any form of MIXED DOUBLES (tennis or otherwise) and still cannot understand how that “game” applies to the theme. The well known phrases are anagrams of the clues. However the clues are not well known phrases nor do they relate to their well known crossword phrases so to me the theme breaks down miserably. That said, though, constructor’s skill in finding anagrams that work is impressive. Fairly easy themekess fir me.
ReplyDeleteSTAN THE MAN. With Brooks Robinson, one of my two favorite baseball players. One of the top ten players of all time, but read an article about him – any article – and it will focus on what a good person he was.
ReplyDeleteWhen I got HEART AND SOUL mostly from the crosses, I really wanted to figure out the theme. I was actually a little disappointed when I did. Not very disappointed, just a little.
Biggest thrill was filling in EERO SAARINEN off the first A. That’s what crosswords will do for you.
M&A gets immunity to put INUS in puzzles.
@Rex, you are thinking of Ernő Rubik, and it’s not a a pure umlaut but a double acute; think of it as an accent acute + umlaut.
There was nothing “quaint” about Yippies. I remember reading Abbie Hoffman’s “Steal this Book” (after stealing it, of course.) I too could not believe Yuppies was the answer though so I put in Yankees! There are still plenty of Yuppies around. Today we call them Hipsters or Trustafarians. :)
ReplyDeleteGILL what an amazing post. How awful. Thanks for telling us. People tend to romanticize villains. I challenge Wrik Agard to compose anagrams out of “Heroes and Villains” (Beach Boys, not Beatles.)
Erik is def smart but TRACTS are neatly carved-out lots on a plat, not CHUNKS of land. And when whole sections of your puzzle are filled in with AND over and over it’s too easy even for a Sunday.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteNow that apolune has been revealed, there are an infinite number of others. Apo (planet or star name here). Apomars, apouranus, apovenus, etc.!
ReplyDeleteYUPPIES was an instant get for me. Never heard of YIPPIES. Sounds like something Anakin would say during podracing. To me the term is quaint for people from before I was born, aka before the 90s. Y'all are just old.
ReplyDeleteHey All !
ReplyDeleteI also questioned the clue on CHE as I filled the answer. The ole brain said, "Hero? I thought he was an asshole." Apparently, he was. I had no idea @Gill, that you grew up in such a horrible time and place. Happy you made it out.
WARNING: Not Safe For Breakfast following rant - On a side note, what I would love to do to these non-feeling murderous despotic dick heads, is a scene from Sin City, the noir movie, where one "bad" guy goes after a really bad guy and cuts his arms and legs off. Then just leave them. (And I'm not a violent person.) /rant
As for the puz, did like the theme, did figure it out after failing at that on Weds and Thurs. The odd man out, as it were, is STAND UP AND CHEER. Sure, it's a thing, but doesn't seem to pass Rex's stand-alone test. Plus it's three parts, not two.
Should've taken @M&A's advice, When in doubt, use a U, at that ridiculous cross of SHIBAINUS/APOLUNE. Never heard of the dog, SHIH TZU, yeah, but this one? And if it's not APOGEE or EPOGEE, then GEE, I'm stumped. Oh well. Also STARShOT, even though COh made no sense.
But after all those nits and complaints, still enjoyed solving this puz. Fairly easy for a Sunday. THE EGG probably the best clue/answer.
SHEESH
RooMonster
DarrinV
I liked the MIXED DOUBLES answers and coming up with the anagrams but I don't know that the revealer and the title did a great job of describing what was going on. I got the theme at SWEET AND SOUR but had to get crosses for every one in order to fill in the AND phrases, which I enjoyed.
ReplyDeleteSHIBA INUS (HUH?) crossing APOLUNE killed me today. APO as in APOgee and LUNE as in moon should have been sussable but U is such an uncommon choice in vowels that it was the last one I thought of and I ended up hitting the reveal button (drawback of solving online - cheating is too easy). And I remember seeing CUESTAS before, as clued, but couldn't dredge up the word so I had Rex's CiESTAS crossing YiPPIES (which started out as hiPPIES, they being more "quaint" than YUPPIES).
Nice long downs in EERO SAARINEN and STAN THE MAN, WINDOW ROCK, BLUE JACKET, ALMOND COOKIE, etc. This was nice, thanks Erik.
This is a ridiculous theme. Crosswords are not cryptics. If I wanted anagram clues I would solve a cryptic.
ReplyDelete@GILL
ReplyDeleteThanks for your moving post.
I got the theme at HEART AND SOUL, went back and mopped up SWEET AND SOUR, and enjoyed seeing. how quickly I could anagram the rest. DNF at APOLiNE x whatever that dog is. Had to play vowel roulette in order to get SAAR?N?N right. I never could have come up with CUESTA from the definition, but once I had enough crosses, I remembered it from a previous puzzle. Reading Tony Hillerman helped me with WINDOW ROCK.
ReplyDeleteRed Hat Society. Check it out. 20 year anniversary.
ReplyDeleteI thought the cluing on YUPPIES was quite apt. That term was coined decades ago, and it reads as more demographic and less ideological than hippies, at least for me. My real problem was HEADSPRING, which makes much more sense as "handspring".
ReplyDeleteWell, he's a hero to Colin Kaepernick...
ReplyDelete"Come again?" HUH? "Oh, quit being silly!" POOH "Jeez!" SHEESH
DeleteDid no one notice that 78D gymnastics flip is a handspring not a headspring. Head is correct in the puzzle but not in gymnastics nomenclature.
ReplyDelete
ReplyDelete@Z --
I'm confused somewhat about what your post is trying to say about Che. Certainly you're right that the Batista regime was intolerable and was justified in being replaced. Also it's not surprising that it was replaced by extremists with totally uncivilized behavior.
But the fact that Batista was bad in no ways justifies a replacement with a regime that may be worse for the country and many of its citizens. So say it simply: both regimes were terrible. The fact that supporters of each viewed their leaders as "heros" isn't surprising, but it does not make them so to the rest of the world. So I agree, the clue needed qualification.
Inu is Japanese for dog. So Shibainu is, well, Shiba dog. Just called Shiba in Japanese. Japanese doesn't have plurals, so the plural of inu is inu. There is no such word as inus in Japanese, or in English. If you consider Shibainu to be an English word, then the plural is Shibainus, but inus on its own...no.
ReplyDeletePretty fast solve. Only slowdown was in mid-west with no knowledge of SHIBAINUS. Share Rex's critique on that one!
ReplyDeleteTheme revealed itself about halfway through although most could be filled in without that help.
Instead of MARIO clue, how about LOW IQ VOTER WEAR?
ReplyDelete@Wm C— I think that’s what @Z did say. See his opening comment, where he agreed with everything Gill said.
ReplyDelete@TomAz—. Apogee isn’t generic— it means farthest from Earth (geos in some classic language).
Where’s @Nancy? Anagrams and tennis!
In my neighborhood people do talk about “yuppification,” but maybe it’s just my fellow geezers using the word.
Clue: Anagram in four letters. Answer: BLEH ! I ignored the theme and just guessed phrases with AND. Aside from that, the puzzle was mildly entertaining. Living in Ariz. for 10 years helped get 79D, and xwords favorite architect was a gimmie at 15D. My knowledge of Japanese pooches begins and ends at AKITAS, so as far as I knew SHI BAINUS might be some sort of Asian frankfurter. Only hitch was wanting HANDSPRING at 78D. Now to battle with the dim Capcha images...
ReplyDeleteThemer for SunPuz trainees:
ReplyDelete{Am} = M AND A.
@Roo: Yo. That there rule saved M&A's bacon, on YUPPIES.
@kitshef: Yo and har. "M&A Usage Immunity" kinda sounds like a scary precedent. Brings out the apprehension, IN US.
@RP: yep. M&A normally prefers more humor, in a SunPuz-length theme. But this sure was a well-made puz...
staff weeject picks: NON AND ONO. Anagram: NO NO NO.
Cute theme idea. M&A lost precious nanoseconds, tho, stubbornly starin at his first filled-in themer, which was HEARTANDSOUL. Eventually got the drift -- and knowin the theme mcguffin definitely helped, with the rest of the puz solvequest.
Thanx for the CUESTAS and POOH, which probably anagrams to somethin real cool, Mr. Agard. [Probably somethin even cooler than {Upset achoos}.]
Masked & Anonymo12Us
p.s. Where's our @muse? Busy with the Halloweenie decorations, perhaps? As one spook to another: miss U when U ain't hauntin the Comment Gallery, missy.
**gruntz**
Also had YIPPIES, couldn't find my error until I came here. Agree with Rex 100%
ReplyDelete@TubaDon -- I'm curious about your Captcha struggles. All I get is a little "Please prove you're not a robot" box that I click to check and off it goes. I wonder if has something to do with cookies or ad-blockers or something...?
ReplyDeleteDoes Erik know all the PPP and arcane info, or does he Google some of it and then challenge us to know it without Googling? It wasn't just the basketball players first name and the racer's first name and the talk show host's first name turning up in what was for me the hardest part of the puzzle -- the SW. It was also the campy vampire film. Not to mention the SHIBA INU, who I'm pretty sure has never turned up in any MSG Dog Show I've ever watched -- and I watch them all. The only Japanese dog I know is the Akita.
ReplyDeleteWas YUPPIES ever a "demographic grouping"? I mean when the census form came around back then, was there ever a place to mark YUPPIE? Where could you find the most YUPPIES, anyway? NYC? San Francisco? Berkeley?
I'll have to read y'all to see what you thought of the "pad"/TAMPON clue/answer. I'm assuming that the TABLET I incorrectly wrote in was a deliberate trap. But a voice from one of the SHEs on this blog: Women who use "pads" do not generally walk around saying: "I need to buy some pads today." No one would know what the bleep they're talking about. They would use one of the manufacturers' names. In any event, this clue/answer does not pass my particular breakfast test. Look, we all have different breakfast tests, right?
I see that 4D brought some pain to one of my blog pals. So unnecessary and so clueless to clue it that way.
I did like the anagram theme, though. Very well constructed. But oh the arcane info required to thoroughly enjoy (not to mention finish) the puzzle.
My take on PAD/TAMPON: I'd already filled in the 'T' and my first reaction to the clue was, "Oh, that would be funny if the answer was 'tampon', but I doubt a constructor would do that" and entered 'tablet'!
ReplyDelete@Nancy, you slay me. Yuppie stands for Young Urban Professional. They were and are in every city. I seriously doubt Berkeley had many! Lol.
ReplyDeleteGot BACHATA on crosses - I'd never heard of it before today. APOLUNE/SHIBA INUS was a Natick for me - ironic, since I know where Natick is and actually know people who live there. Never heard of APOLUNE (wanted APOGEE or ABHELION, neither of which worked), and the crossing U was a guess - I put in I. Wrong.
ReplyDeleteI got the anagram theme very quickly, and occasionally used the clues to help fill in the answers, and I enjoyed some of the clues (IMMUNE, STAN THE MAN Musial!), but the unfamiliar stuff made it less fun than I hoped. I dredged up CUESTAS from some faint recess and was able to complete the puzzle except for that SHIBA INUS/APOLUNE crossing. Feh.
@MaryJane (8:59) -- You're last sentence made me chuckle. @OfftheGrid (8:44) -- Looks like we have the same breakfast test.
ReplyDelete@jberg (11:58) -- Thanks for missing me. I've been lying awake beginning at 5:30 a.m., then belatedly getting back to sleep, and then sleeping much too late for a few days now. Didn't wake up the 2nd time this morning until almost 10. I did love the tennis fill. All I cared about for the first five minutes or so of my solve was getting enough crosses to figure out 3D -- which was my favorite clue in the puzzle and which I couldn't figure out on my own. My curiosity was killing me. (And BACHATA, you were no damned help at all.)
@Kenneth Wurman -- Amen to your Yoko Ono comment!
@CaliMarie -- You're right, of course. It was the YIPPIES who were at Berkeley. Sorry.
ReplyDeleteI still maintain that Young Urban Professionals weren't really a "demographic group". It's too amorphous a definition -- one that can't readily be agreed on or counted in a census.
My 12:50 comment. Meant to type "Your".
ReplyDeleteIf you go to the ER with a bad nose bleed they will stop it by placing a nasal tampon in your nostril.
ReplyDeleteShiba Inu is a very cute dog. They look like foxes.
I remember Yippies as being the Antifa of the 60's.
Yuppies were rich kids in Polo shirts, deck shoes, and chinos.
When I think of Mario (which I rarely do) I think of that mustache.
Fill your puzzles with Idi Amin or other villains of history if you want but never bill them as heroes. That's beyond insensitive.
It's inexcusable.
Amen re Stan the Man, hero of mine along with Say Hey Willie, Tha Mick and Yogi.
ReplyDeleteThem were good old days.
Especially liked 6D (Stan the Man) and 18A (bachata). Dancing is a hobby and I went to a ballroom dance last night and actually danced a bachata. Didn't know it was Dominican, though, so I needed a couple of crosses to get it.
ReplyDeleteAgree with others that 62D did not pass my breakfast test.
Like @mmorgan, I filled in Che without thinking about it, so I also really appreciate @Gill I's moving comment.
@Anonymous 10:16,
ReplyDeleteWell, calling us old is not an insult. Everyone is whatever age they are with no control over it. But there's this; I am 71. Do you have a guarantee that you will reach that age?
As I cruise the blog I am eating some roasted tomato & kale soup from the health, local food, organic food emporium. It is good. I don't think I've had kale before. It has a nice earthy taste that makes me think of stuff I see when I hike. It seems OK with the tomato support but I don't think I would like it on it's own. And certainly not in a smoothie.
All the PPP in the SW was easily gettable from crosses so seemed very fair to me.
ReplyDelete@Gill I - What a horrible thing to witness, especially as a child. Thanks for telling us. Totally agree on Che and the fools who revere him. Obviously Will and/or Erik are in that crowd.n
ReplyDelete@Z - According to "The Good Place" there is a "Museum of Human Misery" in Hell. In that museum there is a "Hall of Low-Grade Crappiness". One of the exhibits there is a likeness of the first man to call Ultimate Frisbee "Ultimate", he's also the first white man to wear dreadlocks. The "Ultimate" thing brought you to mind (Don't know about the other).
Lots of easy fill, and I was "sure" of a few theme answers early. I was wary of filling them in too soon though, as I hadn't grokked the theme yet and feared it might involve transposing letters or something. Good AHA moment when I finally realized they were simply anagrams of the clues.
ReplyDeleteI'm kind of surprised at some of the animosity shown here for anagrams. Devoted puzzle fans who don't enjoy anagrams. Bizarre to me.
Also odd...the complaint that the themes weren't "clever" or "funny." OMG! Coming up with these things is an amazing accomplishment as they are. Going another level and making them clever puns or bon mots as well? Impossible. And if it was possible… Do we want to waste that mind constructing crossword puzzles? Better that mind should be simultaneously curing cancer and diabetes.
The clues are not "doubled (?)". The answers are DOUBLES so the clues, being anagrams, are MIXED DOUBLES.
ReplyDeleteHello, it’s time to thank you..all of you. Long and arduous chemotherapy leaves me very sick very often. Mind you, I am not complaining about that...I’m grateful for the time medical cleverness grants me. It’s just time to tell you that many Sunday mornings are saved by you and your pals. I have lost the ability to whip confidently through the crossword and that is actually nice too. I no longer fret over my lack of knowledge of current popular music or TV stars. Savoring is good and it distracts me from scary political vitriol and from physical pain. I’m sure that many others join me in thanking you...You are doing good even when you don’t know it. Love, Elizabeth
ReplyDeleteNot bad. Not great. Acceptable. Finished in about average time for a Sunday.
ReplyDeleteThanks to those of you who put up with my rant this morning. I rarely and I mean rarely am bothered by anything in a puzzle. You can put all the MAO's and AMIN's and even CHE in my crossword, I'm not offended. Just don't ever glorify them.
ReplyDeleteThere was a glamour of revolutionary heroes in the 60's but that he remains the iconic emblem of ignorant idealist in this age, stuns me.
@Z. Good post. Yes, I could tell you horror stories of Batista as well. The beat goes on.
@mohair,
ReplyDeleteGlad to see you back.
I kmow it's typically poor form to comment on someone's appearance, but have you seen Agard's hair? Its basically a neon sign that says look at me. Pay attention to me. So too with using tne term hero for Che. GILL more than ably explainz why such a designation is offensive. But Agard thinks counter cultural signs-- absurd afro, Che, hipster glasses--- make him edgy and interestin i say they mark him as asad sheep, following trends and values which are all but bankrupt.
As for Shortz, hea old enougb to know better.
One man's hero is another man's villain.
ReplyDeleteCHE > Trump ?
Discuss...
Hola GILL I, and thanks for your story. My first and only Spanish prof in college was from a family that got out just as Fidel was getting in. He somehow landed in far upstate NY, never got the details. He was a true gentleman and a wonderful teacher, never spoke a word of English in class and I didn't know he could until he talked to my folks during Parents' Weekend. Made sure I went to Madrid my junior year. I owe him a lot. Never know when you're going to need CUESTA.
ReplyDeleteToday I learned SHIBA INU. I don't expect I'll ever see it again. Ditto APOLUNE.
Have been to the DR but BACHATA was news to me. But I do love me some anagrams and thought these were good.
Great comments section today.
Also, Red Sox.
Breaking News Today (NY Times): "IBM to Buy Red Hat, the Top Linux Distributor, for $34 Billion"
ReplyDeletePretty expensive green paint. What did Erik Agard know that we didn't? Some insider trading with his Jeopardy winnings, perhaps?
IBM just announced that it's acquiring REDHAT for $34 bilion
ReplyDelete@Gill I.—You did not “rant”; your post was thoughtful and moving. Like most of you, I could not believe my eyes when I saw CHE clued as a “hero”. I don’t mind seeing the names of despicable people in the crossword, but I do mind how they are clued.
ReplyDeleteOn another note, thank heavens Rex explained the theme because it went shooting right past me. I confess my ignorance. However, I found the puzzle easy because it was no problem to figure out the theme answers as they are common phrases.
@Mohair Sam; Ultimate Frisbee became Ultimate because the international governing body for the sport, World Flying Disc Federation (recognized by the International Olympic Committee) and its member associations (Ultimate USA in the United States) are not affiliated with Wham-O corporation, which owns the Frisbee registered trademark. Frisbee is just one brand (albeit the most well-known) of flying discs. A number of different brands are used in sanctioned competitions. The federation neither exclusively uses Frisbees nor has any licensing agreement with Wham-O for use of the name. Therefore, it is prohibited from using the word Frisbee in the name of the sport. The dropping of Frisbee from the name was not a capricious decision by some white man sporting dreadlocks, but necessitated by law once the sport was formalized and organized under a set of international rules maintained by a governing body.
ReplyDeleteI do think there may be a place in the "Museum of Human Misery," however, for people who make glib and uninformed judgments.
Rex, you gotta play some classic Nintendo! The red hat is iconic, as was Mario head to head with Bowser the other day.
ReplyDeleteIt bothers me when a clue is also an answer. ie, 31 across clue is MESSes up and 110 across answer to Imbroglio is MESS. Too picky? Even with different meanings of the word, I don't think that was really 'allowed' in the past.
ReplyDeleteYeah, went down the Yippee/ciesta rathole and since I was working on paper never got an alert that I had erred. Also thought cross of apolune and shimbai nus which I had wanted to be shiatzus ((isn’t there a Japanese dog with a name something like that?) was rather unfair. Btw, Eric and Will are not the only ones to glorify Che. So did Hollywood and much of the media.
ReplyDelete@Kitty: If the clue and/or answer make you want to regurgitate your Cheerios, then it fails the breakfast test.
ReplyDelete@Luigi - The glib and uninformed comment was from "The Good Place" (a TV Show). I actually don't give a fig about "Ulimate" or how it was named. I was taking a fun shot at my old Buddy @Z who has reminded us here on occasion that it is called Ultimate and not Ultimate Frisbee. Once again some jerk lacking a sense of humor decided to attack me because they miss the joke. This is the reason I rarely post here - I stopped by to give support to Gill and have some fun with @Z and I find myself wasting time answering a humorless troll.
ReplyDeleteBut thanks for the lesson on sport naming. I wonder if "The Good Place" is being sued by Whammo?
I knew some of the trivia, but at least a few were total stumpers. The tiny crossing downs were helpful. Cuesta College is a Community College located in San Luis Obispo, CA, an area known for its hills and coastal cliffs, so no problem. One nit: the dog 40D crossing the moon and orbit point 80D left me with an empty square for a while. Circled it and walked away.
ReplyDeleteI aspired to be and had many close friends who were YUPPIES, I didn't make enough money. We also never had PUPPIES. We were DINKs, Double Income No Kids so we could keep up with their lifestyle.
Not that it matters, I do not like anagrams and I like to do puzzles. I am good at solving crosswords and bad at seeing anagrams. My brain associates groups of letters as words, and letters out of order as chaos. Jumble throw me into exasperation.
@ Mohair Sam: Now I understand. The Trump defense: I'm just retweeting what others have said. I bear no responsibility since I did not say it myself.
ReplyDeleteAnd then the ad hominem (in this case, "troll") toward anyone who would correct the false statement.
Thanks for clarifying.
@Luigi - You must have a sense of humor. The joke was on the choice of the word "Ultimate" - there was no "false statement" about the history of the name, it was the choice of the word they were mocking. Again, I saw the barb as a way to needle good old Z.
ReplyDeleteIf you still don't get it or have further complaints call NBC - they wrote the line - I'm busy making America great again.
@Elizabeth (2:50 p.m.) -- I sometimes think of my puzzle/blog habit as a rather hedonistic indulgence at a moment in history when the world seems to be going to hell in a handbasket. Your beautifully written comment is extremely touching and meaningful to me and I'm sure will be to everyone here. If this blog provides you with a diversion from the ordeal you're going through right now, then it probably has more real value than any of us know. I hope your medical situation will turn around completely in the very near future, that you'll be able to get off the chemo, and that you'll be able to enjoy every day of the week with or without the help of the Rexblog. The very best of luck to you.
ReplyDeleteI have never commented on this blog before, but I feel I have to say something about "Pad alternative" and its answer. Surely there must have been some other way to fill the 62 Down area without resorting to a woman's feminine product. A little more taste, please???
ReplyDeleteKitty: You’re too much of a lady to write the word ”tampon”? What is wrong with you? Breastfeeding. Vagina. Did I shock you?
ReplyDeletePardon my ignorance - please define PPP for me?
ReplyDeleteNever in my life had I heard of a fur shed. Then I googled it. Shudder.
ReplyDelete@Gil, thank you for enlightening me.@Kitty I thought tampon was hilarious, but I get it
If you've seen the movie Poltergeist more than once, you would remember the neighborhood was Cuesta Verde.
ReplyDeleteThanks GILL. I was shocked with the clue as well. Will Adolph and Idi be clued as a hero next?
ReplyDeleteNice to see DIANA Taurasi get some love.
ReplyDeleteGood on ya, Erik. We wondered about your puzzles on Jeopardy.
Way to represent the younger xword generation!
A fairly easy Sunday. One writeover: for pad alternative I went tech (what, ME? Going tech??) with TAblet. The actual answer evokes the previous sentiment.
ReplyDeleteDespite the WTF-ness of SHIBAINUS, CUESTAS and WINDOWROCK, I didn't have a whole lot of trouble today. Crosses were fair, there wasn't too much detritus in the fill, and once onto the "McGuffin," the theme was a piece of cake. Makes for an all-around birdie.
DOD DIANA Taurasi: you go, girl!
Good Sunday morning, and welcome to "standard" time - the time frame we use for only 36.5% of the year (19 weeks out of 52). At least you got some extra sleep.
ReplyDeleteNot that the extra hour helped me understand the solve whilst I was solving. I got it, but didn't really get it. Anagrams, huh? I'll have to go back and look at that. (And I always do the Jumbl - it got me started in puzzledom.)
But all the "and" phrases were in my lexicon, so 'twas easyish.
Of course I, who doesn't remember (or know) names for s*it, didn't know that particular DIANA. And last night, solving in an anthology, the moon goddess was someone else - I already forget who. And speaking of s*it, shouldn't that be the answer for 112-down? Really? (Yeah, take that, TAMPON, you little French plug you.)
Reader alert - the following I a digression: So here's the car story, Part One. As Rita Rudner would say, it's a blue car. But it started out as a red car. Where I (mostly) live, everyone goes to "the lake" for vacations; which is a joke 'cause there are 1,000 or more lakes you could throw a rock at nearby. Anyway, we have a beach place - in Calif. Whenever we stayed there the last few years, I would rent a car. Mr. W finally convinced me to buy a Calif car - and to get "what I really wanted."
I looked about for a while (at home in Washington), every time I was in a parking lot or near a car dealership. I finally realized that when I looked in the parking lot, my own car was the one I liked best. No, not the deLorean - I don't take that to the Safeway, only to Puzzle Futureland. "Twas my sweet Honda Civic that made me smile. This was all in late September.
Off to a dealer I went, who "promised high" and "delivered low." "Sure we have the model you want. Oh, sorry, we almost do. We have a model that's $2K less expensive, but it actually is $2K more for you. Why go thru the hassle of Calif licensing a car registered in Wash? - we'll pay the shipping. No - we'll charge you $1.3 for shipping." The only honest thing he said was that the licensing process in Cal would be a nightmare. I finally walked out the door. (to be continued?)
Lady Di, not the DOD but in the driver's seat
SHE SEAS SECT SWEETANDSOUR
ReplyDeleteSTANDUPANDCHEER or STOPANDSTARE that way,
but DON'TPLAY RIGHTANDWRONG with troubles.
TAKE NAPTIME with both PEACHESANDCREAM today,
you'll be ONESTEP closer to MIXEDDOUBLES.
--- DOC AAHS
Fairly easy, finishing in the APOLUNE/SHIBAINUS area. I guess the view of who's RIGHTANDWRONG determines who's a hero; start with torched villages in Viet Nam or 1945 A-bombs.
ReplyDelete"STANDUPANDCHEER" was my H.S.'s school song. An original not used anywhere else, TTBOMK.
Didn't APOLUNE used to hang around with Prince? Har.
Nod to DIANA (LIW). Yeah baby.
Better than usual Sun-puz. NAPTIME.
I’m calling a natick on APOLUNE (new to me) and SHIBA INUS (ditto). I’ve never heard of either, I guess that’s on me, despite having all sorts of doggy knowledge and having grown up in the space race/moon landing area.
ReplyDeleteFun and games! Twin anagrams! CHE! Can't overlook STAN THE MAN, still my hero. Re that tag, this blog reflects so much of the US who are triggered by labels like "socialist" and Communist. Too much, man. CHE and the Castros were/are heros to Cubans because they overthrew the murderous, corrupt, fascist dictator Batista. As @Rondo and someone else up there says, it depends on your perspective. Too complicated, and inappropriate to elaborate here.
ReplyDeleteI caught onto the theme at the first themer, and then pretsaty well rolled from there. The only entries that were new to me were APOLUNE and WINDOW ROCK. As a middle school Principal, I had a lot of experience with ROCKs and WINDOWs. Har. However, I did know SHIBA INUS - cute and feisty dogs that are hard to train, but fiercely loyal. Well-crafted puzzle, relatively easy.
@Lady Di - looking forward to part 2 of your saga.
@rainforest: There are over two million Cubans who live in the United States. I doubt you'd find a handful that would deem CHE a hero.
ReplyDeleteThat they, as well as millions more, were thrilled with the overthrow of Batista, there is no doubt. Batista was just as you claim.
Now go look up some history and see what Guevarra truly was. To say he was a murderer is tame. To say he was a point blank hero is worse.
There is very strong evidence that Fidel, himself, had a huge hand in arranging Che's assassination.
He might have been a hero to SOME who never suffered under his tyranny but to make it sound like he was to all is quite horrible.
Back to the future.
Just in case mmorgan 12:19 PM is still reading comments on this. You have a blogspot logon ID, so you don't have to go through the authenticating yourself ritual that that those without an ID apparently have to do. Someone else explained this some time in the last month.
ReplyDeleteERIK,ARE YOU A COMMUNIST?
ReplyDelete