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Stern competitor once / FRI 1-25-19 / Big name in cookware / Longtime Yankee teammate of Sandman / Where TV's Flo waitressed
Friday, January 25, 2019
Constructor: Zhouqin Burnikel
Relative difficulty: Easy-Medium (5:05)
Word of the Day: ADP (43A: Payroll service co.) —
Automatic Data Processing, Inc., commonly known as ADP, is an American provider of human resources management software and services. As of 2010, ADP was one of four American companies to have a AAA credit rating from Standard & Poor's (S&P) and Moody's. (wikipedia)
• • •
[64A: Reveler's cry => "LET'S PARTY!"]
Then there was the "what? ... oh ... oh yeah, that's pretty cool" feeling of letting the clue for SOCIETY kinda wash over me (39A: Upper crust). Then there was the harrowing near-trauma of not one but two total-guess crosses. NE- / -OREY had me guessing "C" solely because COREY was the only name I could make from -OREY (that, and COREY Pavin *kinda* rang a bell). And then there was EMM- / -DP. Even though I've seen ADP before, it's such a horrible boring bad corporate initialism that there's no way I'm ever going to remember it. And as for EMMA, I just *could not* figure out what the clue was on about: [31D: Top name in a Social Security Administration list every year from 2014 to 2017]. It was the "a SSA list" bit that confused me. I think of social security as something you collect. When you're older. I don't think of SSA as a keeper of *baby name* records. I mean, it makes sense. but the vague "a list" left me at sea. As with COREY, I guessed EMMA just because EMMA is a name. I thought maybe EMMY or even EMME (is that someone?) but in the end I just went with the odds (i.e. the most common name I could make). And, bingo! So I was pretty fast, and I guessed right twice. So the adrenaline rush of near-failure and the quick completion kind of offset my annoyance at having to guess in the first (and second) place. Whole thing felt uneven but not unsatisfying.
Five things:
- 23A: "Planet Money" producer (NPR) — wrote in CNN, ugh. Having NPR and IRA Glass in the same grid should be illegal based on too much on-brandness, NYT.
- 44A: Figures by a float (PARADERS) — even though my first thought was a *parade* float, PARADERS ... was not a word I considered, or would consider in ordinary conversation, I don't think.
- 1D: Draft pick (STEIN) — you 'pick' the *container* ... of your 'draft'? This feels odd.
- 18A: Possible reply to "Who's responsible?" ("NOT I") — and then there's the possible reply to "NOT I," which is of course NORI.
- 50D: Lacking face value (NO PAR) — shoot all the --PAR answers into the sun. Well, both of them: NO and his brother AT. Also all weird bridge answers, while you're at it. Bye bye, ONENO! See ya, TENACE! Not sure why I'm going after bridge, since it didn't do anything to me. Not today, anyway.
Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld
P.S. I love baseball but that's an Awful lot of four-letter baseball names: MAYS and then *stacked* AROD / RYNE. Lots of people aren't so conversant in sports, so crowding a small area with names from the *same* sport seems a little mean
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108 comments:
I don't know if I'm sulking more because I DNF'ed because of the multiple Naticks if you don't know CALPHALON (you mentioned RYNE and ADP), or because you weren't grumpy enough about the risk of multiple Naticks (I also had to guess the NEC/COREY cross). As my 69-game streak came to an end, my only consolation was, "At least this one will enrage Rex too!", but then you called it >sob< "Easy-medium"....
Easy. Smooth, but way too easy and a bit meh.
When my business travels took me to the east coast back in the late ‘80s I remember IMUS, Soupy Sales, and Stern had the morning, midday and afternoon (drive time) shows respectively on WNBC radio.
What does "(today's constructor accounts for two of those)" mean?
Medium for me. First in: TRUE TO SIZE, which for its satisfying length was surprisingly low on yield for crosses, with just CRAMP, MELS, and ATE. I got much more out of AS IS in the opposite corner, with that A getting me DATA and its Downs, and solved my way around clockwise, finishing up with SCAM ALERT x AUGUR.
Do-overs STout before STEIN, vowel correction in CALPHeLON.
Help from previous crosswords: MELS, RYNE. No idea: COREY, ADP.
Workshop corner: BORES x SAWS. Column of Doom: ATE BAD APPLE. Poliical arena: ENACTS x SENATE; ELECTS x SENATE RACE over the post-election "LET'S PARTY!"
My scary cross was AD- / CAL-HALON. I feel like these company names might be too obscure for a crossword because I've, you know, worked and used kitchens my entire life and never encountered them.
I gave this one five stars, two days in a row, maybe in an extra good mood because I got the baseball answers even though I only wake up to watch the game once a century when the Cubs are in contention. Not a whole lot of wordplay in this puzzle, but the general knowledge answers were things I knew, or sort of knew (or guessed correctly like OFL). That’s enough to make me happy. And a bonus: @eero ono at the end of yesterday’s comments, letting me know I’m not as old as the last Civil War Vet: there was only one generation (Geraldine) between OONA and Oona.
Very fast time for a Friday, but I am certain that others had no idea of the Cross of 33Down and 43Across (P). CALPHALON crossing ADP is natick territory, and I had to run the alphabet just for that. It ruined this perfectly good puzzle for me. Yeah I know others are going to say the knew both, but that is how i feel about that ugly cross.
Sports clues are great for me, because I like sports so they are generally gimmes. Perhaps, lots of people aren't so conversant in _________, so crowding a small area with names from the *operas, European rivers, 1940's singers, NYC subway lines, chemical suffixes, Broadway, etc.* seems a little mean.
No problem filling this Friday, but I pity the youngsters. I watched a few episodes of Flo, followed baseball, and read, yes read Playboy Magazine when SHEL Silverstein's cartoons and writing were regularly featured. I grew up near Pasadena, so floats were big, but even with that, PARADERS seemed like a stretch. Hell, I even RAN TRACK in high school, and that is exactly how we described our participation. Sure, I wince at cluing stuff from Star Wars and Game of Thrones, etc. But, puzzle culture spans lots of decades. I'm done.
Mrs. MALAPROP was created in 1775 and has found a new home on Twitter. People humorously mangling the language precedes her, I'm certain. Any favorite examples? Archie Bunker comes to mind.
I have listened to NPR radio for decades and appreciate the breadth and depth of what is broadcast. And now with the podcast and streaming elements, the resources are nearly endless.
Somebody named EMMA becomes our first woman President in 2064, I predict.
No comments up yet, moderators must have gone to bed early.
Had a little difficulty in the NW but managed to pull in all together without a cheat. Doesn’t happen often on a Friday or Saturday, so I’m pretty chuffed.
It’s been ages since I’ve had to use an ICE SCRAPER, another thing to be grateful for. The damn things always seemed to snap in two when you were only half finished with the job.
It’s Birth Month around here so “LET’S PARTY” is in the lingo. Woo Hoo!
@Calman Snoffelevich – let me get his in before we have a serge of answers to your question: so far this year, 2.5 puzzles have been constructed by women, but that figure represents actually only two women and not three because the “2” part of 2.5 are Zhouqin Burnikel puzzles.
Rex, I always use the full word malapropism,too, but the truncated form didn’t cause me any undue constipation. I love me a good MALAPROP. Larry – my all time favorite was NC State’s Charles Shackleford who looked straight into the local news camera and predicted he’d make it in the pros ‘cause he could shoot with his right or left hand. Said he was amphibious. Later Valvano noted that in the NBA Shackleford could afford to buy himself a big aquarium to live in.
I enjoyed ME AGAIN, too. Kept remembering the Ray Stevens song, It’s Me Again, Margaret. I didn’t link it ‘cause songs about mastication have a kind of astigmatism attached to them.
Ok. But I did link this one, and I know I’ve linked it a lot, sorry, . . . but if you haven’t seen this Wake County Animal Shelter ADOPT-A-PET video and you’re so inclined, it’s really worth a look. Our dog, Tucker, came from this shelter. People who devote their time and energy to helping animals are angels; the defecation it must take is just beyond my apprehension.
I’ll take IRA and NPR (Ira uncovered David Sedaris) and CNN and MSNBC all day long. I saw a picture this morning on CNN of a car either a TSA agent or a traffic control guy is living in ‘cause he can’t afford to put gas in his car. This mess we’re in is unpresidented.
CC – nice medium-hard Friday offering. Crunchy enough to wet my appetite for a tougher Saturday.
What’s the rule on usage? No one says STUPES. If it hasn’t been used regularly for 100 years it needs to be edited out.
If we're going to put up with Super Bowl years, Harry Potter trivia and obscure popes please allow for perfectly good terms in bridge. Thanks.
This one had only a handful of gimmes for me, and was filled with what I call "Wha?" clues, clues that either ask for a piece of knowledge that I don't know, or that yield enough answer possibilities to bar me from putting any one of them in the grid yet. And so my solve became a matter of patience and faith. And lo, eventually, some of those answers I thought I didn't know, it turns out I actually did, and the possibility-rich wha's became ahas.
This is the first legitimate "highly unusual" double-letter count puzzle of 2019, with 4, where anything under five is rare indeed.
Three things I loved in the puzzle: The word STAVED, the clue for ESCORT [Arms provider?], and the rhyming neighbors ADOPT-A-PET and TETE-A-TETE.
@LMS, Glad I wasn’t sipping my coffee when I read your post.
About the only thing that went right with the car my husband rented for our ski trip was that it had an ICE SCRAPER. So at least I could see out the windows when it slid in snow because it was not an SUV, did not have four wheel drive and did not have snow tires. Haha. After two fails in renting cars suitable for ski trips my husband has finally ceded that responsibility to me.
STUPES? How many centuries ago was that used?
A couple of WAGs and I was back on the street, very quickly. We saw many statues of ELCID when we spent four months in Spain in 2003, immersed in Spanish learning.
Except that Ira Glass's show is not produced or distributed by NPR. It is produced by his own production company and distributed by PRX (Public Radio Exchange). NPR and PRX are two distinct and unrelated entities. It is true that both entities sell and distribute programs to independently owned and operated public radio stations. But NPR is not an umbrella organization for the other production/distribution entities. It is just one (though certainly the largest) among several.
Some days I am cautious before writing my answers but today I went with my first instinct just to see how often I was right. I was shocked at how often my lucky guesses were correct today. The style of this constructor must be sinking in.
Great malaprops from @ LMS to go with your coffee and donut.
Too many acronyms today but otherwise good fun.
Pretty easy, and surprisingly dull.
N.P.R./A.T.M./N.E.C./T.B.A./A.D.P./C.E.O.
STUPES is, well, INANE. No one says STUPES. Nor ATTA way. And none of the longs were sufficiently groovy to justify STUPES and DABS AT and NOT I and ME AGAIN and PARADERS and an obscure COREY and NO PAR and the acronym fest.
@LMS, The video made my day and it's only 7:30. Thank you. I volunteer at a shelter (no-kill) and it is the best use I've ever made of my time. It was nice to see the cause highlighted in the puzzle today.
Well, wish I could do that one again. Also grateful I no longer need an ice scraper in the car. Ran a race in TN one November. Had to use a credit card to scrape the frost off of the rental car when I got up (early) to drive to the start.
Next month is spring training. Love the baseball clues.
LMS FTW!
STUPES and PARADERS aside, this was a good and fun puzzle. Easy for me, but that's luck not skill, I think: just a lot of stuff I knew without hesitation and could drop right in. Got LEAD STORY and CALPHALON just off the EL CID. ADOPT A PET and TETE A TETE; ICE SCRAPER and SENATE RACE. TRUE TO SIZE took me a couple crosses but EAGLE SCOUT was another gimme.
I understand how some people might be put off by the puzzle -- 3 baseball names and a golfer, and nary a TV actor to be found anywhere. That shoe's been on my other foot many times, so I get it. The last Z. Burnikel puzzle, in fact, was very much that way for me.
So go figure. Today, I'm all smiles.
Shouldn’t AROD have been indicated as an abbreviation? I put in ALOU first since it wasn’t. Kept thinking Stern was the German magazine, then maybe a department store so put in SAKS. Never heard of the radio TV stuff.
I’m amazed at Rex’s time. This one took me five times as long. Too much trivia that I did not know. Bring me another Stein.
This is my idea of what the puzzle experience should be every day. It brought my brain great joy, as does any Friday that I can actually finish.
I commented a few days ago - but my comment didn't appear - that if @Rex was really concerned about the lack of women-constructed puzzles published in the NY Times, he should make an effort to help nurture women who are interested in learning to construct puzzles. He's in an academic setting, he could easily start a group and encourage and instruct them. Instead he's doing nothing but keeping score.
If this approach does anything at all (which I doubt it will), it will be to encourage the publishing of puzzles for the sake of keeping score. Rex will then tear them apart and do nothing but discourage the unready constructor.
More women publishing puzzles needs to come from a community-wide process of involving and training women. To say that it needs to begin at the end (publishing) is like saying more (fill in the blank) need college degrees to succeed ... why aren't colleges giving them out.
Easyish here (@Patrick O’Connor - we’ve all been there), but the stacked baseball players in the SW arched my eyebrow, too, so I toted up the PPP and it came in at a not excessive 21 of 72 for 29%. The problem is that of the 15 answers in the SE, 9 are PPP. I am not surprised that when we see complaints about the puzzle that corner is being mentioned. EL CID, ADP, SHEL, COLA ( Pez clue), AROD, RYNE, RIGA, EMMA, CALPHALON. Yowzer.
Interesting bugaboo with MALAPROP. To my ear adding the “ism” is akin to adding “ate” to “orient,” It’s an unneeded syllable that actually adds potential confusion since “ism” often indicates something is systemic (SOCIETY suffers from racism, individuals are bigots for example). To me the incorrect MALAPROP is sounds correcter.
@Eliza - Seriously. It’s not as if we see anywhere near as much bridge as we do old baseball stars (today’s cropped retired in 2016, 1997, and 1973 for an average of 24 years retired from baseball). I love baseball, but a little variety is a good thing.
Don Imis, now there's a guy who could write a book on how to crash and burn your career in one easy move. What was he thinking?
Mr. Burnikel has been a NYT crossword constructor twice sine Rex started counting?
What are YOU doing besides criticizing Rex's criticism?
This Tuesday level difficulty. Waste of time. Baseball stuff is so commonplace in these puzzles that everyone should know then already. Who is IRA glass? If he is on the radio, his audience is probably 0.00001% of Stern. Why not use 401k alternative or George's less famous brother.
@Quasimojo AROD was indicated as a nickname as a teammate of Sandman (Nickname of Unanimous Hall of Famer Mariano Rivera !!)Congrats MO !
I was always ready to jump all over IMUS, but I have to say, now that he’s gone I really miss the guy.
@Woman Commenter 8:18
Rex has nothing to do with how NYT puzzles get published. Will Shortz, who is the Editor for the NYT Crossword decides if he likes a puzzle enough to run it. That's it. It's all Will's opinion, basically. Gender doesn't even enter into it.
But Willie Mays played 22 years and was an all star 20 times.
To much baseball. Given I know NONE. I got most by crosses but would have DNF-ed were I not enough of a cooking need to know calphalon instantly. Never heard the name/word (?) Tyne in my life.
Ellen S: If you were confused yesterday, so was I. The answer to your question was no.
Today, I'm a little put off by the PPP, which made the puzzle a bit of a slog for me.
The second big corporate job I had outsourced payroll/HR to ADP. When you get a check from them every week for ~3 years, you remember the acronym forever. This puzzle was easy and fun. I only disliked Stupes and had ran a race for ran track until senate race was clearly right, racing twice in a day gives you a cramp so no go there
Both of my parents said "STUPES", usually referring to my brother and myself after we had done something, well, stupid. Not quite a hundred years ago, but getting there. Made me a little nostalgic.
"MALAPROP", "malapropism", either sounds fine to me. Our town list serve abounds in them, usually by people trying to spell something they've heard. Just lately a woman said that she was selling a "wheel barrel". Wonderful stuff.
Just right for a Friday. Atta way, ZB!
MAYS had 20 seasons as an All-Star, but in 1959-1962, there were two All-Star games per season.
@Anon at 8:24: his name is Imus. He was on the air in the largest US radio market for FIFTY years. In fact, he was the longest tenured DJ in the history of planet earth. Pretty INANE observation on your part, and certainly inaccurate.
@Women at 8:18: why is it necessary for a high percentage of puzzles to be created by women ? If someone want to construct a puzzle, they can. It doesn’t matter if they are black, brown, blue, white, male, female, cis, trans . . . It is interesting that humans, for some strange reson, feel compelled to engineer useless and unnecessary outcomes in almost every endeavor.
Today is a great example of Rex at the top of his game - he is SO MUCH BETTER when he provides thoughtful insight, both positive and negative than when he focuses all of his energy on something of no real social or political import (note that when he does have a hissy fit about something totally insignificant, he and Trump act very similar- just a few days ago, the Donald reiterated is delusional assertion that he won the popular vote - he just doesn’t realize that nobody on the planet gives a damn, lol).
CC has a little something for everyone and @Carola nicely showed us how. No thunder left for me to steal.
I don't think I've ever hear STUPES uttered but I think it's kinda cute in a SWEAT PEA sorta way.
My two biggest head scratchers today are the two things I know something about: Cooking and care products. For 33D I had the C from EL CID and without batting an eyelash, scooted in CUISINART. Not to sound all snooty but CALPHALON won't last you a sauce worth its butter. Spend good money on good French cookware. Everyone should at least have a Le Creuset in their kitchen drawer.
The other thing that bugged me no end was 41D. PANTENE is a lousy hair care product. (Don't buy the shampoo - it's stinky) and L'Oreal is skin care. Do buy it- especially the night cream!
My sister and I were crowned the queen of MALAPROPisms. Talk about mangling the English language. I still do it and am not the least bit ashamed. Tica was talking about colleges in the car on our way to EL CID territory and she told anyone who would listen that she was applying to Ambush university. She didn't get in.
CC. You are fast becoming one of my favorites; I really look forward to your enjoyable puzzles. Except for the PANTENE ugh, I had fun. I also learned that Steven Spielberg was an EAGLE SCOUT and that's no easy feat.
What a great way to clue SCAM ALERT!
What a great way to clue EAGLE SCOUT!
What a great way to clue TBA!
I had to read the byline several times to convince myself that this puzzle, with its clever, crunchy, misleading cluing, was by the same ZB whose cluing I've found so boringly on-the-nose in the past -- usually in early-week puzzles. This is on a completely different level. In fact, it's as though it was clued by a completely different person. Kudos.
TRUE TO SIZE got me into the very challenging NW. I thought of the wonderfully clued CRAMP (2D) right away, but was afraid to write it in. And I had SCAM ALarm before SCAM ALERT and RANaRACe before RAN TRACK, giving me aSCORa for the "arms provider". Was there such a company that made guns or ammunition? When I finally did get ESCORT, I thought the clue was a stretch. An ESCORT provides you with one arm, not two "arms". I imagined an urbane and elegantly dressed man holding out both his arms and saying: "Choose!"
And, FWIW, I Naticked on the ADP/CALPHALON crossing. I had ADC/CALCHALON. That's one of those mistake-types that I can't bring myself to see as a "real" mistake. I just pronounce the puzzle "Solved!" and move on. Anyway, challenging and enjoyable.
Pretty dull, I have to say. MALAPROP is fun to read, say and think about, but nothing else really popped for me. NW was the hardest area.
In response to @LMS's Charles Shackleford story, my favorite sports-related MALAPROP comes from Chris Slade, a very good linebacker for the 1990s Patriots. Asked about the team's on-again, off-again performance, he said something to the effect of, "Yeah, we're like Heckle and Jeckle."
Hey All !
A CC FriPuz! LETS PARTY!
Was ME AGAIN a nod to being back? Har.
Liked puz AS IS. Didn't BORES me. Had some odd words, but that's a Friday for ya. Started out slow like a normal FriPuz does for me, but then got easier as I went. Which isn't how it goes most times, even when I get answers, the crosses still won't come into the ole brain. So that was a nice change.
Couple writeovers, sen-ATF (thinking Senate, passing bills), RYan-RYNE, TZo-TZU, CeLPHALON before seeing ME AGAIN.
Overall a nice puz. Knew ADP, as that's the company our company uses for pay checks. Liked BAD APPLE, good song by Guns-N-Roses also.
Going into Dunkin DONUTs now for breakfast. Later!
PARA NO PAR
RooMonster
DarrinV
I'm just an average solver and this seemed like Monday-Tuesday puzzle to me. Friday is usually my favorite day.
Certainly agree re malaprop(s)(isms). Shackelford’s was classic. Yogi had sum two. Pitchers and catchers report <three weeks.
CC loves baseball and I'm sure if she gets a puzzle on the day pitchers and catchers report, it will be practically a New Years Day theme, so I would have been disappointed not to see names/terms from the game.
As an alternative clue for 27A I (supportively) offer the following:
Shelf containing printouts of Rex's blog posts
@Quasi -- I also thought that A-ROD should have been clued as an abbreviation. But I loved the way MAYS was clued. No one who ever saw him play will forget #24.
@GILL -- I seriously need your "best products" advice. Not your cookware advice -- that I couldn't care less about. Seen one pot, seen them all, that's what I say. No -- the night cream and the shampoo advice. Please tell me...
1) Does the L'Oreal night cream have any smell at all? I mean any. Whether it smells like perfume or like cold cream, I can't stand either one. Can you hold the jar right up to your nose? Thanks so much! If it's completely odorless, I'll try it.
2) I use PANTENE 2-in-1 shampoo and conditioner, which I alternate with PERT PLUS 2-in-1. (I read somewhere that you should never use just one shampoo; that your hair gets too "accustomed" to it; that you should alternate). But in any event, what is wrong with PANTENE? And what shampoo do you use and recommend? I will most certainly try it. Thanks, GILL.
The MALAPROP clue should have been so much better. Something like "this clue is one, for all intensive purposes."
Another super fast time for us. And ZB usually gives me fits, while hubby really likes her puzzles. Just about everything was in our wheelhouse. At 33D we actually went into the kitchen to check how to spell CALPHALON on our knife block (yes, I know they’re more famous for pans). I keep wanting to put an e in there somewhere. And I think half of my paychecks in my working life had a big old ADP printed on them so that was a gimme as well. Agree on most comments about STEIN, MALAPROP, ATTA, and STUPES. Thought EMMA had its peak in the early 2000’s, right after the baby (that you practically never saw) in FRIENDS was named that. We sure had a ton of them in our old neighborhood 15 years ago with all variations of EMMA, EM, EMMie, etc. @ Rex, loved the write up. Thought you nailed it with your gamut-running description! Similar experience for me due to the STEIN, MALAPROP, etc. mentioned above. Hubby thought it was all easy and delightful.
Sure MALAPROP sounds/feels wrong but the clue refers to the person, not the usage. 'Language blooper' is meant to be read as 'a/the person who bloops the language', hence MALAPROP, and not MALAPROPISM. Before anyone jumps in, I agree that it still feels odd, but that's how I think the constructor would rationalize/explain his thinking regarding the person.
AROD isn't an abbreviation, it's a nickname. Like "Sandman" in the clue.
@Nancy....hahahahah. I use L'Oreal Age Perfect (no odor as far I can detect). Been using this for eons. It is age perfect for my age which never seems to get younger so it's really a lie but I'd like to think that I'll wake up and still be alive and that botox is probably the only way to go.
The ad people for PANTENE and that god-awful Pert have sold you the Brooklyn bridge.
Thanks for the laugh since I'm now off to the dentist who will probably extract some teeth and sell me on $2000 implants. Then off to see my PCP who informed me I have Plantar Nazi(itis) - there's a MALAPROP for you - and all because I RAN TRACK for years and now I'm paying for it. Watch out you marathoners!
I own a set of Calphalon pots, and at present I have a cramp in my right biceps, so it sort of felt like the puzzle was taking place in my apartment. This was a good Friday workout. Having Sandman and Sandberg in the baseball clues was witty. And I actually liked Stupes. Good job, 2.5, let's party!
Today's playlist:
Emma by Hot Chocolate
Sweet Pea by Tommy Roe
Take Good Care Of My Baby by Bobby Vee
Society's Child by Janis Ian
One Bad Apple by the Osmonds
Sunglasses At Night by Corey Hart
Walk Like An Egyptian by the Bangles (If you want to find all the cops/
they're hanging out in the donut shop)
I've Got Your Number by Peggy Lee (You ain't no Eagle Scout/you're all at sea)
Calphalon is one of the most ubiquitous brands of cookware. They even sell it at Costco.
@Ken, okay if you say so. Lol
@Nancy, thanks for backing me up. I’m afraid my knowledge of the Yankees dates back more to the Bucky Dent and Lee Mazzilli days. I only know A-Rod from crosswords.
I think STUPES is adorbs -- and a badly needed word today. I've never used it, but I'm gonna start doing so.
My solving experience was made much easier because I happen to have a CALPHALON pan. As far as I know, they were the first to make heavy cast aluminum pots, which made quite an impact at the time. Also, I had ME AGAIN by the time I got to it, which ruled out Cuisinart. (@Gill, I do have some Le Creuset as well, but these days my top choice is old-fashioned black cast iron, well seasoned and never washed. Nothing like it.)
@Loren, thanks for modeling all the MALAPROPs. Dropping the ism didn't bother me either, but it did make me think about why we would never say someone committed a Spooner. I suppose because the latter sounds like a real word.
Re the clue for 34D, "Group spoiler." The Jackson Five would disagree.
Easy except the NW which stumped me for quite a while although MELS and ATE were the first answers in. Finally guess SCAM would start 1A, and thinking back (a long ways!) to my teen years I guessed EAGLE SCOUT (I only made Life), and finished (agonizingly) with 14A. My only NIT is that CELs (at least before digital tech) were indeed shot with a camera after they were drawn.
I usually don't finish this constructor's puzzles, but today I did - so thank you, ZB!
Larry Gilstrap at 2:27 a.m. wrote “Somebody named EMMA becomes our first woman President in 2064, I predict.” First woman President not for another forty five years ? That’s a bold prediction. I’ll take the under.
LMS: love your sign avatar. My favorite sign was on sidewalk in front of small store “Ears pierced while you wait.” Twas before cell phones/cameras or I’da snapped it.
Hope your appetite dries out, and perhaps a serge of defecation will relieve the constipation, less you become apprensive of masticating president...whew.
That’s Ms. Burnikel: https://www.crosswordtournament.com/2016/constructors.htm
But I’m guessing the same meaning you are
Speaking of malapropisms, politicians are not exempt from them. Here are a couple I've come across:
"The police are not here to create disorder; they're here to preserve disorder." -- Richard Daley
"Republicans understand the importance of bondage between a mother and child." -- Dan Quayle
@Jamie C 10:33
...all intensive porpoises."
Har.
A few years ago, I had to put together a kitchen from scratch. I looked at all the brands of cookware from the expensive non-stick CALPHALON skillets and all other options. The best skillet around is one of the cheapest: Lodge seasoned steel. Cast iron is good, but heavy and unwieldy. The steel ones are so good, the kitchen supply stores won't stock them,
.
I knew OFL would make note of the sex (sexes?) of today's constructor (s). (I forgot there was a pair). Great riff on NORI, @Rex.
A perfect Friday puzzle. So hard, you think you will ne'er succeed, yet doable in the end, with some effort and imagination (ESCORT for "arms provider!!! Though usually only one arm, not two).
Seems to me MAYS and AROD are so well known they are crossword-worthy even for those who do not follow baseball, RYNE, not so much, though for all I know, Yankees fans would know him, and this is the *New York* Times.
Clear themeless seed entry: LETSPARTY. Zhouquin, U rascal. Don't go start to leavin all yer best puzs in the beer STEIN.
Was medium-feisty, at our house. Stuff that burnt my nanosecond muffins:
1. Wanted MARCHERS instead of PARADERS, for far too long down the solvequest route.
2. Didn't know PANTENE and CALPHALON much at all.
3. TRUETOSIZE is sorta inferrable, but was a mystery, while in-progress.
4. EMMA as clued was kinda out there in social society left field.
5. Chinese philosophers. [See weeject section.]
RANTRACK was ok by m&e. Despite me wantin RANARACK (in the pool hall), cuz I didn't stick with it,for over 1 or 2 nanoseconds. No harm, no foul, Saints fans.
staff weeject pick: TZU. When in Chinese philosopher doubt:
* start it out with TS- or TZ-.
* pick U for yer vowel.
* One of our schlock flick picks this Thursday nite [a long story, why it weren't Friday this week] was: "Big Trouble in Little China". Didn't have very much philosophy in it, tho. Soooo … I digress, I guess.
Thanx for the feisty fun, CC darlin. Real glad it's UAGAIN.
Masked & Anonymo4Us
**gruntz**
I’m sure I called people STUPEs when I was in fourth grade. ADP and CALPHALON were no Natick for me as I used to have stock in the former and have two skillets from the latter. (Not as good as AllClad, but they’ll do. Le Creuset is way too heavy for me.)
But, has anybody ever said ATTA way?? Certainly not in my hearing.
Does Shortz read these comments?
Thank goodness for all those people who review clothes at online retailers' sites - I buy almost all my clothes online and I have very particular likes and dislikes as far as how long things are (I like cropped, falls-at-the-waist tops). You can't go by how it looks on the model even taking into account how much taller and thinner most models are than I am. I'm convinced that the sellers tailor the clothes on the model to look better because I will see how long the sweater is compared to the sleeves on the model but when I get it, the ratio is completely different (something that shouldn't be dependent on who is wearing it). So I read reviews very carefully before buying because such discrepancies are often revealed in the comments. TRUE-TO SIZE is a phrase you see a lot. (I always wonder why there are manufacturers making clothes not TRUE-TO-SIZE and then labeling them wrongly.)Is there anyone here in the business of producing clothing model shots who can confirm or debunk my theory on what the models wear as opposed to what we non-upper-crust types get?
My upper center was the last to fill and for a while I had BO___ for 24A and tried to make BOgus work grammatically with the clue.
STUPES was a common DIS when I was younger but I haven't heard it for ages.
I couldn't remember for sure if the cookware was CALPHALON or CeLPHALON and the cross at 36A wasn't helping - MEe__IN or MEA__IN? RIGA helped solve that dilemma.
CC, I always enjoy your themeless puzzles, thanks.
@LMS---I'm in the midst of cleaning out my basement--so I've been watching some daytime TV. If you want to get depressed, look at the junk on TV in the afternoon. I switched to ESPN and watched an interview show. The topic was NCAA basketball and the host was interviewing Boeheim, Coach K, and Roy Williams. Although they are serious competitors, you could tell that they are good friends. I kept thinking, "Jimmy V should be here." Thank you for the story about him---classic.
Great puzzle!
As best as I can tell, Mrs. Malaprop's name is a play on "malapropos" (French mal à propos), meaning, yep, inappropriate.
I once shopped around a Sunday-sized puzzle with "Advice from Mrs. Malaprop" as the theme. I thought it was a hoot, but no one picked it up, so what do I know?
One rejection letter, not from NYT, said that words like ORGASM and SUPPOSITORY in the grid were verbotten. The former was clued "To practice safe sex, protect against ___" with the answer being HARMFUL MICROORGASMS. I'll leave SUPPOSITORY up to your imagination.
@Teedmn - This article about Marilyn Monroe’s dress size is actually an answer of sorts to your question. Likewise, we bought our tall, skinny, son some clothes that were made in Vietnam. He’s normally a medium but the large and extra large clothes were perfect for his 6’1” 160lb. frame.
@jberg - Spooning is a thing and one who spoons could be a spooner, lso the “ism” has a purpose in “spoonerism.”
@Anon10:36 - I think you are correct.
@What? - I don’t think he even reads Rex anymore unless something specific brings him here.
I remember sports coaches saying ATTAWAY in high school.
If you do crosswords regularly, you should know that any 4 letter Yankee is usually AROD.
I think Rex is trying to shame NYT into positive action in seeking women to create and submit puzzles. Nothing wrong with that. But at the same time (and perhaps more successfully) he may be shaming women into doing the same. If he starts shaming male constructors into sex change operations, I will say he has gone too far.
STUPES --NO!
True To Size - great
I had “Marchers” for 44A - and I was so blindly confident that this was correct. Definitely slowed me down.
@Anon 8:57 and @Southside Johnny, I'm not sure you understand what I'm saying. I DON'T think the NYT should run puzzle constructed by women just so they can run puzzles constructed by women. THAT would offend me. And obviously I understand that Rex has nothing to do with what runs you stupes (kidding, just wanted to get it in usage).
What I'm saying is that if he's going to push this agenda, then instead of just harping, do something real.
Whew! Overall pretty do-able, with little chunks of very easy and very tough interspersed throughout the puzzle. That made for an enjoyable challenge. Thanks very much,!
STUPES was kind of stupid.
TRUETOSIZE is regularly seen by online shoppers.
I honestly don't care about the gender of the puzzle constructor, as long as the puzzle is fun and challenging and the clues are fair. I'm not sure why this is a recurring theme on this blog. Is race an issue as well?
MEAGAIN was fantastic! Made me laugh.
My dad called stupes "stupes" all the time. After the DNF yesterday on the impossible (for me) cross of Lando with Desi, I was delighted to fly through this one, probably my fastest Friday ever. I enjoyed it, but there were too many product references, and crossing a product acronym, ADP, with some kitchen company I have never heard of is unacceptable cluing. Acronyms should never be crossed with obscure clues. Even on Fridays. But ADP produces my salary checks, so I solved happily!
@Oisk. I love when you comment because I know there is going to be something you've never heard of and call it "Unfair."
CALPHALON has been around since probably IMUS was born. They were the first to come out with what they called durable non-stick pots and pans. They did, and they were hugely successful (and still are) if you cook using non-stick pans. If you scratch the surface (and that usually happens after about 5 years of wear and tear) then you need to toss them. Expensive gimmicks. Do you cook? If so, go with the tried and true Cast-Iron that will last you an eternity (like my 40 year old has) or stainless steel French or the big bucks "all-clad copper." Your children can inherit them and pass them on down to the great greats. If you don't have children, and you don't cook, then feel free to ignore this advertisement.
Your friends and apron clad SWEET PEA, GILL I
@GILL I.
well... the durability of CALPHALON depends. the original version, anodized inside and out (no coating inside), have lasted me at least 2 decades. sort of. the pots have de-anodized a bit, but the skillets and sautes are still as smooth as a baby's bottom. the difference is: using pots like SS, toss in the salt before the water is at least simmer, causes an electrolysis reaction with the anodization. no one makes fully anodized pots any more. Vollrath makes such skillets. you can't do a real sear on any non-stick.
I can't recall ever running into a truly difficult CC puzzle and today was no exception. This was a quick but fun and entertaining solve.
That 1A clue could mean either "noise" or "fraud." My first guess was "MENATWORK." It fits perfectly but MELS and ATE instantly disproved it.
In the NE DATA went right in but the 10D clue made me think BAGEL and for a second I questioned DATA until ODES made DONUT obvious. Likewise ATM allowed me to change ADOPTIONS to the correct ADOPTAPET. That kind of harmless fun was to be found throughout the puzzle.
Thanks to the recent ubiquity ot TFAL I tried to spell 33D as CALFALON. When that fell short it was SHEL to the rescue.
While CCs' puzzles may not be challenging they usually aren't boring either and today's was a good example.
@Z - for future reference, you totted up, two t's, not toted up, one t, the PPP numbers.
Jack and Jill toted a pail up the hill.
Z totted up the PPP for the puzzle.
The tot in tot up is pronounced the same as the tot in little kid, not like the tot- in total, even though it comes from total.
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I completely agree with @ Amelia. If I had not known it was a CC puzzle, I would have guessed Patrick Berry which is my highest compliment. Areas that look insoluble and then fall with an AHA moment and smile. Terrific puzzle. Virtually no junk.
@Anon6:30pm - Makes total sense. Unfortunately, I found dictionary support for my usage. To be clear, I also found dictionary support for your usage of totted. At Dictionary.com I got different results depending on whether I put in “toted” or “totted.” Evidence 1,764,897 of why I’m now a prescriptivist. And to be clear, I’m pretty sure I’ve used both to mean “totaled or counted” without really pondering if there is a difference.
@Banana: I also have a decades old anodized sauce pan that has de-anodized. It's an Anolon. I'm loathe to toss it because it renders the best omelette this side of the Mississippi.
PANTENE and CALPHALON are known because of good AD REPS. You're wasting good money buying them.
Oops - left out a “not.”
Chipped away at the last three days all day today. Pneumonia laid me out all week and broke my continuous streak of almost half a year, dang it! So I really have no idea whether this was hard or easy but am just happy I was able to solve!
The lady knows what she is talking about.
Cuisinart stainless steel and Lodge cast iron.
Everything else is junk.
Other than RAN TRACK and SWEET PEA (it’s SWEE’ PEA, if Popeye memory serves), I thought this was great. CALPHALON and ADP are both well known to me (and CALPHALON is ubiquitous - Costco sells sets of it, for goodness sake). RYNE and AROD are both inferrable from the crosses, and A-Rod, too, was ubiquitous for many years. Loved ADOPT-A-PET. Not too much resistance from the grid - I enjoyed it.
@Z, thanks for the link. Size deflation in women's clothes and shoes (the opposite effect from grade inflation) is well-known. I take that into account when I'm shopping. It's the disconnect from the photos and published dimensions that irk me.
When someone buys a pattern and sews their own clothes - something I occasionally do - the sizes on paper patterns still correspond to the old 1940's standards, so I sew clothes 6 sizes "larger" than my retail size.
Airymom, I saw that interview and also thought V shoulda neen there. He’d a-been welcome.
Hope you’ve seen ESPN 30 for 30 show on V and ‘83 Wolfpack, who somehow beat Phi Slamma Jamma in finals. Excellent production in fine series.
PS: zamatter of fact, the three are good friends: each of Boeheim and Williams very ably assisted K in USA’s quests, successful, for olympic gold, in separate years.
33 down reads "Big name in cookware." Big name? BIG name????? You have got to be kidding. A big name where? Nowhere I have EVER been. This cannot POSSIBLY be a "big name." This creates the most totally unfair 100% Natick I've ever seen, and it ruined an otherwise fine puzzle for me. CALPHALON. Who knew?? DNF.
While I'm curmudgeoning, I second the sentiment about bridge terms. Nothing wrong with them. Of course, you have to have a *brain* to play bridge.
Sorry, @Spacey et. at., CALPHALON was a gimmee, along with much, much of this puzzle. And even I knew the baseball peeps, I of the "no sports" mentality.
I never did get the Pez container I wanted as a kid - Mom said it cost too much for so little reward. Reward? Reward? I would still have that dispenser - oh how I coveted them!!! (We got the candy in TINS, tho.) So now they have COLA flavor - huh. Right up there with the velvet shoes we "couldn't" afford. (Probably true, but still...those shoes...)
And no griping about two NPR clues!!!! My one and only media staple. We have three NPR channels in Spokane, and I'm a proud supporter of same. Three. Separate. Channels. Including the first-in-the-nation KPBZ - an all public radio remix station. If I can put up with never-ending clues about the coach of some long-ago football team, we can have 2 NPR clues. so there
Diana, Lady-in-Waiting for Crosswords, and more NPR
Cast iron? Spare me. There's a reason 90% of cookware sold is non-stick and restaurant supply stores sell nothing but inexpensive aluminum skillets.
DNF for MEAGAIN. I knew it did not AUGER well when I hit the SW corner. 33D and 63A were LOSTON me. I had a BRAIN cramp and went with CALtHALOc and RYcE. Another INANE Natick SCARs an otherwise good solve. Like one BADAPPLE in the barrel. NOPAR for this one. Double bogey is what it gets. LETSPARTY anyways. TGIF everyone and TAKECARE.
Thanks Lady Di for the sentiment. The cold/flu continues to have the edge, though.
There were a few tough spots in this puzzle, and one where I DNF. For 31 Down, I was thinking of a name *in* the SSA, and I was thinking, it can't be EMMA and so I entered EMMs. Never thought of babies' names. Coincidentally, when my daughter was pregnant, I suggested EMMA as a name if it turned out to be a girl. I didn't know it was so popular. Anyway, she got named MacKenzie, and after three months she *looks* lie a MacKenzie.
I must have heard of CALPHALONE somewhere, because it went right in. EAGLE SCOUT took some time because I was thinking of a place name. Never heard of TRUE TO SIZE, but I guess that's where you get actual sizes, ie, 12, 14, 16/34, etc. rather than just SML.
Liked the puzzle, as I do all of Ms. Burnikel's.
My God, I just had a 6-part test to verify that I'm not a robot.
PS - AUGUR, not AUGeR
AROD ESCORT
It’s MEAGAIN, my dear SWEETPEA, LET’SPARTY TETEATETE,
make DABSAT DIS CRAMP above my knee, and then ADOPTAPET.
--- COREY STEIN
For the clue 'does *nothing* at all for' I thought BaRES was perfectly acceptable. Until it wasn't. That was the one write-over.
Any of the many EMMAs will do.
Love ya CC. LETSPARTY.
CC designed this one with a nice variety of the elusive, medium, and easy crossed in helpful ways to make it a fun and fair Friday.
Got CALPHALON because my spouse knows these things--and a lot more.( Lucky me.)
NW corner, as is often the case, was most resistant.
@Suzie, @Gill I, the original OLD Wagner and Griswold cast iron beats today's Lodge stuff hands down. Scour your local 2nd hand dives for some.
Don't despair if they seem too grungy; they can be bead-blasted and resealed from scratch.
I wouldn't make a pot roast in anything else!
KSPS in my burg in the Columbia Basin.
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