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Relative difficulty: Easy-Medium (6:41)
Word of the Day: NAME DAY (8D: Catholic celebration) —
noun
• • •
Found this mostly quite easy, though PEEK IN was PEEKED (wrong verb tense!) and PEEK AT at first (20A: Take a furtive look), and PILFER was BUFFET (!) (32A: Lift). Can't airborne things be "buffeted" by the wind? Did I make that up? Ugh, it looks like maybe I was thinking of "buoyed" or "borne" or some other "B" word. Also had MESSIER before MANGIER (38D: More shabby), which caused some minor grief, but only minor. Otherwise, no problems. I've barely heard of NAME DAY, but crosses weren't too hard to come by. The clue on MISADD is very clever (28D: Totally screw up?) (get it, because when you MISADD you "screw up" while "total"-ing... eh? eh? please clap). It doesn't make me like MISADD as fill, but it's clever.
Today we've got a four-day solo male constructor streak going. Gotta go back seven years to find an equivalent streak for women. Oh, and here's a little thread I wrote about how the NYTXW's partner site, xwordinfo, uses deceptive charts to visually misrepresent the data on women constructors. Have a nice day.
Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld
[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]
41A DIVOT — I thought it was the hole in the turf — it is both the hole and what comes out of the hole — did not know that — woulda thunk English is rich enough to have different words for each.
ReplyDeleteEasy-medium. Had some trouble spelling VINCENTE and also had PEEKin before AT, other than those a pretty smooth solve. The puzzle was also smooth and solid with a bit of zip, liked it.
ReplyDeleteThis might be my fasted Saturday if I kept track of such things. I’d prefer to remain ignorant of speed because I’m easily distracted by a dog kiss or ringing phone or twitter alert, but sometimes it’s hard to avoid the time clock ticking away on the upper left of the screen. Tonight I was pretty zippy.
ReplyDeleteThat’s not to say the puzzle was easy. I hadn’t realized ORGANICMATERIAL was found on Mars. Yippy, what kind!? I hope it isn’t a bit of that mother in “Alien” because Mars isn’t far enough away. GHOSTGUNS is new to me and perhaps a bit too cutesy since I assume a bad guy has filed off the serial numbers for nefarious reasons. MENDEL and DDS were nicely tricky. I don’t associate NAMEDAY with the Catholic religion, although I do know Greek and Russian Orthodox practitioners who celebrate it with much more fanfare than a birthday.
Lastly, I really don’t get Rex’s love affair with MISADD. I understand his point, but the concept fell flat as a clumsy pancake for me. It was my least favorite entry. “Peabrain” rings my bell tonight and it’s much easier to work into a conversation.
Even w/Rex’s explanation I still don’t get it....
DeleteLiked GHOST GUNS, MENDEL had a good clue, and this was a good Saturday puzzle.
ReplyDeleteThanks Mr. Johnson.
No, organic material is the go to term. Misadd was brutal, and kept me from getting this one 100% on my own. 27 minutes is dirtslow but I’m knew and got the first 90%, so I’m pretty proud of myself.
ReplyDeleteI was flying through this Saturday faster than usual, but barely beat my average after a clunky time with PILFER, VESPERS, MICAH, DELPHI, PEC.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Rex that the highlighting in the women:men ratio chart is horribly misleading, but also agree with the commenter who said it would be interesting to know the number of crossword submissions made by women vs. men. As a mostly oblivious male, I appreciate Rex pointing out not only the disparity in number of puzzles constructed by men/women, but also when clues/answers are overly masculine.
I think the idea about counting submissions is this: if the number of submissions from women is also much lower than men, one might be tempted to think, "Oh that's the reason, publications match submissions, the NYT is doing the best it can, everything's fine." But that's wrong. The challenge then should be to find a way to boost submissions from women. Find out why so few women are submitting, and do something about it. By talking about the issue as a submission vs. publication issue, it misses the point.
DeleteNot easy medium for me, more medium difficult, especially in The SE. Seedier at 38D, spaT at 51D, REz at 54D and God only knows what else I had screwed up down there. It took two of us to straighten that mess out, but we did it.
ReplyDeleteCouldn’t believe my four time a week golfer didn’t get 41A, even with the V in place, I’m sure he’s had his share of them.
I filled in misadd with no crosses. Please clap.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Greg, for what was a lovely spar, fairly smooth for Saturday save for some turbulence in the SW. There's a MINI-theme of double E's (5), and getting the answers to UNE, MISADD, and DST brought genuine "Hah!"s and thumbs-ups due to the witty clues.
ReplyDeleteEven funnier for me, though, was going with BIG TOES for a bit, for [They're chewable but not meant to be eaten]!
Organic material can be found in unsettling places: the bottom of your purse, behind the couch, in that space between the storm glass and regular glass part of a window. .
ReplyDeleteSomething holding up the works: cheese
DAR. We have readers here who’re probably DAR members. You will have your annual Christmas luncheon. If you want to stand out in the group picture, don’t wear your Christmasy red sweater. Every single woman will be in a red sweater. And as don ye now that gay apparel, you’ll be thinking how festive and clever it is. It’s not; it’s tired and predictable. Go with a nice winter white. @Gill- go with your green velvet gauchos.
Ok. So speaking of wearing things, one bright moment in this tough week of helping my mom navigate the waters of her new life sans Dad, I was able to help my nephew concoct his senior prank. He plans to run for Sr class president, and he’ll get it ‘cause, well, he just will. So the plan is to purchase 200 heart-shaped pins with “I ‘heart’ the class of 2020” that they’ll wear on their last day. They’ll buy an extra large one for their principal- a good sport and popular guy. At the assembly, Cale will do his speech and end with thanking the principal for his support for their four years, exemplified by his proudly walking around all day with a gigantic heart on for their class. I’ve coached him to act confused and then abashed when he “gets” why people are laughing. Ok. Bad idea. But we were laughing so hard we couldn’t breathe.
Meaty. Hmmm. Does this descriptor pose a problem for vegetarians? Do they yearn for a cheesy topic of discussion? Does a pescatarian seek out fishy discussions? Maybe a vegan gravitates toward nutty topics? An herbivore is just busy rummaging around for the brownies and Cool Ranch Doritos.
Whenever I catch one of our dogs actually eating a dog toy, I swat him swiftly and smartly on the nose.
@Lewis- if anyone is flexible enough to chew on your big toe, it’s a yoga dude!
Congrats to - Auburn. You owned us last night.
Re swatting the dog. Let the cat do it. It’ll save you a lot of grief from those for whom things go right over the head. (Cue swishing sound as palm passes over the pate)
DeleteHey, Obsolete has the same number of letters as OUTDATED. Just sayin’.
ReplyDeleteYes you can be buffeted by the wind, but it doesn’t mean lifted. It means being whacked over and over by those little strong sideways gusts.
I agree with Easy-Medium, though not with the six minutes part. This was a very enjoyable puzzle. I love the ones that go round and round. The South was harder than the North, probably because Obsolete.
Obsolete seems to be a better descriptor than OUTDATED, IMO. I guess VCR is "outdated" but only because of this WikiDiff description:
ReplyDelete"As adjectives the difference between obsolete and outdate is that obsolete is no longer in use; gone into disuse; disused or neglected (often by preference for something newer, which replaces the subject) while outdate is (british|rare) old-fashioned, out of date; outdated."
VCRs would still be going strong if it weren't for technology replacing it. My SO's leisure suit is OUTDATED. His Blackberry™ is obsolete.
GHOSTGUNS...what a weird thing to have in a puzzle.
And yet another day when the MINI puzzle contains a spoiler of sorts for the main act: ISITSAFE and ITSSAFE. Actually doing the mini ahead of time helped me fill that right the heck in. Thanks, Joel.
Ya know, I've been doing the puzzle for a few years now and I've seen Kyle's brother IKE clued a bunch of times. I can't recall ever seeing Stan's sister SHELLY. (Or, as their father says it, SHELLLEEE.)
ReplyDeleteYes Barbietwice, I had obsolete first as well.
ReplyDeleteFrom Ghost Guns to Tree Stand; interesting juxtaposition from the deer's POV.
It always amazes me how much a degree in the Arts teaches one about religions as well as things biblical and mythical. There are so many degrees which require calculus that I just let that one fill by crossing.
Good clue for Mendel.
Got stuck at 39A trying to come up with a 5 letter word for bird turd.
ReplyDeleteNot sure I've ever been so thoroughly bamboozled by a clue as I was by DDS's "Degree that requires the study of calculus". I'm not sure if I knew there was a dental meaning of 'calculus' before this puzzle or not, but I certainly didn't think of it until I was correcting the very last square.
ReplyDeleteSomehow convinced myself a BSS was a degree, which meant the English county just *had* to be sURrey, so MRTOAD can't be right for that down, so... oof. Really threw a wrench into that section. But a fun challenge to overcome.
That was my toughest section too. DDS clue was brilliant... And I DID know that calculus has a dental sense. Thought for sure it had to start with M.
DeleteRN here - For future reference, calculus can also refer to a kidney stone
DeleteMost golf courses have signs for the golfers that say "Replace your DIVOTS" if you do, the grass will grow, otherwise you need to fill in the hole you've made with some grass seed and fertilizer.
ReplyDeleteThere are several clever clues that had me for about 2 1/2 Rex's. The only one I didmt like was for DST. I actually solved the puzzle during the second half of the Duke game. My heart was in my throat, and I had to turn the tv off for a while. My heart rate now is coming back under 100! What an exciting game.
I am not offended by words in a crossword puzzle-ever. If you string a few of them together to make an offensive sentence, then, of course, I would understand someone being upset.
I don't care if they are all made by women or men, whoever has the amazing talent to make the best puzzle should be in the NYT. If it really is a factor, then the submissions should not contain the constructors name--may the best person get published.
Faster slog than usual, maybe a slow jog. Bring on Sunday!
ReplyDeleteI see what you did there @LMS - hilarious and I bet @chefwen will think so too!
ReplyDelete@N.Bonaparte, Guano. LOL at your comment. Really appreciated how the first go-around of the clues caused despair, then s l o w l y started to cheer. Just what I expect from Saturday. So good to have baseball back.
ReplyDeleteNice teamwork, Bonaparte and yanni!
DeleteLiked this, nice and crunchy. I had no idea why Mendel is “Peabrain?” . Looked it up, and I see that Gregor Mendel (who I’ve never heard of) did experiments with peas or something in the 1800s. I’m always happy to learn new things, but I’m wondering — is he reasonably well known?
ReplyDeleteYes. Very much so. The scientist who founded genetics.
DeleteLearned about him in 7th grade biology. Never forgot him.
DeleteI really, really liked the fabulous cluing in this puzzle, the best being the surprising DDS at 33D. But the ones for IT GUY (30A); DOG TOYS (33A); PSST (50D, not hard but cute); and DIVOT (44A) were also clever. However, I have a couple of complaints -- one a really big one:
ReplyDeleteThere are a million ways one can "totally screw up" and 99.99999% of them have absolutely nothing to do with MISADDing (28D). A terrible clue/answer.
And I don't know how "Well, that was weird" translates to OK, THEN (43D). Here's how I would use OK, THEN: You say: "If we go to the 2:30 movie, we'll get out at 4:30 and we'll be too early for dinner, but if we go to the 4:30 movie, we'll get out at 6:30 and we're right across the street from the restaurant" and I say "OK, THEN." No weirdness given; no weirdness received. That was a terrible clue/answer too.
But still, an enjoyable puzzle despite my two big nits.
Did you get that adding is to "total" ?
DeleteOKTHEN is akin to allrightythen, which appeared a while back in relation to Ace Ventura.
Someone does something awkward, uncomfortable pause, OKTHEN, move on...
Very nice puzzle with plenty of fun via clever misdirection.
ReplyDeleteMisadd might be a clumsy word but I loved the clue.
Viagra has taken on a mini theme because of this mornings' comments. Between @ Lewis chewing on toes and @ LMS with her "heart on" story things are getting steamy.
I had sword as my statue feature at first but I laughed when @ N. Bonaparte suggested bird poop.
I really enjoyed remembering the Eat Me scene from Animal House!
Good one Greg Johnson. Thanks.
I thought this puzzle seemed easy but it wasn't fast, maybe faster than average but not fast. I got stuck with tIFf crossing "talk" in the SE (RATS), Rex's MessIER, 49A was Mop, 33D was the NTH degree (I thought I was so clever getting that tie-in to calculus right off the bat) which meant 39A was a horse, not a STEED. And misreading the clue for 22A as belonging to 23A meant that _E_DEL was trying to fill in "Como es ___?" What a peabrain I have, eh?
ReplyDeleteI'm still polishing my fist on my sleeve for getting SET ME FREE from the TM.
Greg Johnson, GREAT JOB, thanks.
I don't understand why as a solver I should care at all whether the constructor is make or female or whether the clues are politically or socially correct. As long as there is no vulgarity I.e. the use of schmuck or putz, why does any of that matter? It's a puzzle. It's not an op ed piece. Have fun. Solve it. Why bring in all this ancillary stuff?
ReplyDeleteIf vulgarity is your red line, it rules out anything pertaining to pop culture or politics. Or do you "know it when you see it?" I say let it all in.
DeleteAs for gender inequality... I think crossword authorship is a weird place to focus. Fix the really endemic problems and the rest will follow.
Oops. MISADD brought "a genuine Hah!" to @Lewis, so I re-thought the clue to see what I missed. Lewis is never wrong. Totally!!!! It's a pun!!!! Didn't pick that up while solving. My bad. Thanks, Lewis.
ReplyDeleteEasy Saturday. Some odd stuff... "name day"?...
ReplyDeleteMy aunt, uncle, three first cousins and innumerable cousins once and twice removed live in County DURHAM. My sister studied Medieval and Renaissance Literature at DURHAM University. I have visited DURHAM many times. Why did it take me so long to come up with DURHAM?!?
ReplyDeleteMostly enjoyable. Not fond of the clue for MINI, and this is now the second time I have heard ‘calculus’ used in a dental sense – both times in the NYT crossword.
@LMS, good one on the nose swat.
ReplyDelete@Hartley70, re: "Aliens", I know! I've seen so many of those movies that somehow I have internalized that they are real. I find myself filled with dread after one of those movies and have to tell myself they. aren't. real.
I’m glad Shortz doesn’t heed Sharp. Never heard of ghost guns before and I like learning things.
ReplyDeleteMendel's pea studies were to genetics what Mendeleev's periodic table was to chemistry.
ReplyDeleteBoth famous
Why, I just thank my lucky stars that we little ladies have big, strong, macho Rex to stand up for us. WhereEVER would we be without him?
ReplyDeleteI liked the Mendel clue, even though he threw out the data that didn’t confirm his theory of genes operating in binary mode. I can never think about Mendel without also thinking about how Barbara McClintock’s Jumping genes theory showed how genes do operate outside Mendel’s boxes.
ReplyDelete@Lewis and LMS, the odd things you often make me think about too early in the morning when my brain is still foggy! I’m also bored because my previously good knee needs a rest from BJJ and lots of TLC with ice packs and PT exercises that I don’t feel like doing. So now I started obsessing about who can easily put TOEs in their mouths. Babies can also do it with ease and their TOES are so cute that it doesn’t skeeve me out. I’ve even witness parents sucking on their baby’s TOES without getting sleeved out. I’m pretty sure my BJJ professor could suck on his toes with ease if he were so inclined. With the general gnarly state of adult TOES that I witness up close and in my face when training, I can’t imagine why any adult would want their TOEs anywhere near their mouth. Sometimes, however, you get bent into positions where body parts that don’t normally connect end up smashed against each other. I have had near misses of other people’s TOEs near my mouth, but until this morning I never considered the possibility getting bent into a position where my own TOE might get shoved into my mouth. So I tested the threat and found that I took a huge amount of effort touch to my nose with my left TOE so I think it’s unlikely that any of my training partners could bend me into a position in BJJ where it
could end up in my mouth. My right TOE has even less chance of inadvertently ending up in my mouth since I could only get it within 18 inches of my nose. Now I can eat breakfast with peace of mind.
Yes, Mendel is very well known.
ReplyDelete@Dorothy Biggs (7:52) -- Re: Obsolete vs OUTDATED. I beg to differ. As long as there is even one dyed-in-the-wool tech-averse Luddite like me left in the world, the VCR will never be obsolete. To me, having almost -- but not quite fully -- mastered its intricacies, the VCR player is new technology.
ReplyDeleteOh, Rex, get over yourself. It's a puzzle, not a political manifesto.
ReplyDeleteThis was easy for a Saturday puzzle. My time was only 25 seconds over yesterday's solve. 1A was a gimme which always helps to set a good pace.
ReplyDeleteI had a couple of write overs. The first was SLAKES/SLAKED. That was just a simple case of forgetting the tense of the clue by the time I recognized the entry word. The other was DER/DAR. It's been awhile since I've studied Spanish but I did get the consonants right on the first try.
Opening credits -- a living room in provincial America. Typing sounds, close up of blogger's screen: "Hard to think of anything duller than discovering ORGANIC MATERIAL on Mars..." Pan out slowly behind blogger, green organic ooze coming in through the window and sliding along the floor toward the desk. Blogger, oblivious, chuckles at some mot juste or another. Then danger music, etc.
ReplyDeleteThe rest is Oscar material, starring Will Smith as a guy with a past who figures it all out and does something about it. 30 minutes before the closing credits, intense music. He goes down to the basement and finds the old wooden case he'd sworn he'd never open again. Inside, a matched pair of GHOST GUNS, a gift from ... flashback to a better time. The TREE STAND, the old man's guiding words. And now he can do what needs to be done, just like the old man said so long ago.
My mother calls (or lately, texts) every March 19, the feast of St. Birchbark and my NAME DAY.
@Nancy: I think by claiming that the VCR is still new technology to you, you sorta prove my point. One day it will cease to be and will be replaced by newer technologies. (It already has, but I digress).
ReplyDeleteObsolescence is defined as the replacement of something for something newer...and while you insist it’s new to you still, it must have replaced something else that had become obsolete...like sitting around waiting for HBO to replay that movie they were running for the month...at 2am.
I think TV and cable is still around...so it isn’t outdated, it’s just becoming obsolete because of the streaming technology.
Whether you continue to hold onto your VCR with white knuckled fists, it has become obsolete...just not, in your case, outdated.
I attended Catholic grade school (and the old school kind, at that!), high school, college, and law school, and I have never heard of the term "name day". Yes, every other day seemed to be the "Feast of St. Whomever", but I never once heard those days referred to as "name days".
ReplyDeleteDitto for me. I had an academic career from grade school to law school in all-Catholic institutions and never heard 'name day'. Live and learn, I guess.
DeleteThis wasn't easy for me but I enjoyed it all. It wasn't loaded with unheard of (to me) proper names and the cluing was primo.
ReplyDelete@Lewis leads us off with the image of chewing his BIG TOES and @Loren with her gigantic heart on. What a pleasant and heartening way to start my morning. No velvet for this gal.
Very religiously...what with NAME DAY VESPERS MICAH DELPHI. My husband is Catholic and so is practically everyone in Spain. NAME DAY is big. GILL I AIN"T a saint. (sigh)
I always thought Paris was the City of Trees. Sacramento has been anointed the name as well. Some GROCER thought it more charming to call us Tomato Town.
Learned about GHOST GUNS and that MENDEL did something with peas . Didn't even dawn on me that this was all aggressive dude-nessy. Twas a MEATY puzzle.
So I’m sitting on the couch, cup of tea, big picture window revealing a beautiful sunrise and doing my crossword. Finished in 16 minutes which, I only mention, because often a Saturday is 16 hours for me. Life is good.
ReplyDeleteI found this really fun and easy. THEN...I make the “you should know better” mistake of reading Mike’s take. (Record scratch...)
“I don’t mind weapons in my puzzles”...okaaaay. I “don’t mind” them, but only if they are the RIGHT weapons which, of course, none exist. And heaven forbid if the NRA or political despots, or people with different political views or bunny teasers or cat confusers are included. (Ok, made those last two up) But in the real world, these things exist. So if they show up in a puzzle, so be it. We are (mostly) adults here.
And haven’t we gone over, ad nauseum, the obvious conspiracy of Will Shortz PURPOSELY DENYING women the opportunity to get their puzzles published in the NYT??
Wow, What torture it must be to be Michael.
Damn, it was such a nice morning. I need to go confuse my cat.
So...I was all prepared to be outraged over the Ghost Guns thing, "Who knows this blah blah blah." Then thought, "Google NYT gho..." From a 2018 article:
ReplyDelete“Ghost guns are a real and dangerous menace,” Gurbir Grewal, the attorney general of New Jersey, said in a news conference in Camden where he discussed the case. “They offer criminals, convicted felons, terrorists, domestic abusers, people who we all agree shouldn’t access firearms, the ability to access them.”
Good to know. I vote yes for useful information.
Forgot to say that @LMS really had me laughing about the dog toy.
ReplyDeleteVery funny. You and @chefwen are going to have to go into hiding someone calls PETA on you! Ha!
If Rex isn't pranking us with his review, then I fear he's lost all perspective. But EITHER way, IT JUST AIN'T RIGHT. This is an excellent puzzle, with interesting answers, clever clues, and minimal dreck.
ReplyDeleteAfter 3 dnf in a row, any Saturday I can finish is a good puzzle! Only snag was Ike and OK then, the former completely unfamiliar, the latter badly clued. Finished the puzzle, the Mets are 1 and 0, 63 and sunny, it's all good .
ReplyDeleteThank you LMS, Lewis and others for making this fun reading today. And your persistent, perspicacious positivity. Today we have a terrific puzzle with appropriate Saturday level clueing and no junk fill to mention. So rather than celebrate that, we get gender and fragile PC politics in the review.
ReplyDeleteJust read an article this morning about the last remaining blockbuster in Bend, Oregon, then came straight to this puzzle. When riding a tour bus through western Ireland, a clue came up about peat and bog. How does the puzzle know?
Nancy, I hate to tell you this, but the DVD technology that replaced the vcr is also obsolete/outdated:)
I am going to meditate on sea otters swimming through forests of sea kelp...
Thank you @Rube for your support of having fun.
ReplyDeleteWhen I read the 1A clue, I just knew Rex would have a hissy fit. Too bad he can't enjoy his work more.
Hey All !
ReplyDeleteOK THEN. Commenting before reading everyone, if repeated stuff, just look away. :-)
Puz didn't adversely affect me the way it did Rex. Thought Greg did a GREAT JOB. Figured it must be easy, as I got a time of 22:02, and that was with not rushing, and being kind of sleep deprived, as my personal ride guy went to the Golden Knights hockey game yesterday, and managed to keep the car till 5AM! I caught a cat nap or two whilst waiting.
Got a kick out of some old sayings I used to say, like "It's BEEN real", and OK THEN. Even I'D BET was a throwback. Not OUTDATED, but a welcome remembrance.
Great clue for MISADD, and ITGUY. MEATY gave me a chuckle. Another one from the past, I used to say that to describe sexy women. (And Yummy, too) (Don't hate me for those, I know in these extreme-PC times, that's a no-no, but when you're young...)
Writeovers, TREEbliND-TREESTAND, sworD-STEED, bigamY(har)-HERESY, dyslexiced PAgnEA, (which wanted me to want zYgote first for DYNAST), diNGIER-MANGIER. And even with all that, still 22 minutes. IT JUST AINT RIGHT! :-)
So an enjoyable SatPuz, with a neat looking center swath of black squares. No RATS or GRIPEs to be had, just a OH GOOD puz.
IS IT SAFE to SET ME FREE?
RooMonster
DarrinV
Sometimes guns are triggered by people, other times people are triggered by guns.
ReplyDelete@Dorothy Biggs and @Nancy...what is this squabble about VCRs? The clue mentions “movie rental stores”. Movie rentals today come in DVD, Blueray and direct streaming. There are still rental kiosks like Redbox and Blockbuster but NO stores (except I hear there is at least one in Alaska). The concept of a store now ito specifically rent movies is “outdated” and I guess it could also be obsolete but not having to with VCRs!
ReplyDeleteI thought the puzzle was great and have absolutely no problem with GHOSTGUNS nor did I detect overt MALENESS in the puzzle (as a female)
LOTS of writeovers, often a sign of a great but tricky Sat puzzle. Like OFL I had peek at before PEEKIN and MANGIER took a while (I had "dingier" written in). Took a while for MICAH to appear, as a result.
ReplyDeleteI got DDS on crosses, and said to myself, "There are so many courses of study that require calculus you will never use." Had to come here to see the joke (some calculus is on your teeth). One of my daughters is a psychologist, and had to take calculus all over again for her degree -- A completely different course from in high school, because there are far more sets of tricks in that field than can be taught in a single year, and calculus really is a big bag of math tricks. Some aspects of it could be taught to a bunch of bright sixth graders.
OH, @LMS, I am so delighted to have you back, and there was a big grin on my face when you SLYLY riffed on a thread from a previous day.
Longtime reader, first-time poster:
ReplyDeleteIJUSTAINTRIGHT that some folks think that we've found life on Mars, because we haven't.
ORGANIC MATERIAL is not necessarily evidence of life. To quote:
"Organic molecules contain carbon and hydrogen, and also may include oxygen, nitrogen and other elements. While commonly associated with life, organic molecules also can be created by non-biological processes and are not necessarily indicators of life."
Link: https://mars.nasa.gov/news/8347/nasa-finds-ancient-organic-material-mysterious-methane-on-mars/
Let me also say how much I appreciate all of your comments every day! Doing Xwords is even more fun because I feel like I'm part of a community.
These are just crosswords. Why are people wasting time writing about them? Wait.
ReplyDelete@ianf - By the time science info makes it to the NYTimes, much less to the puzzle page, any relationship to science becomes tenuous at best.
ReplyDeleteOrganic Molecules in the chemistry sense, which you're referencing, is any compound containing Carbon. Organic Matter, or Organic Materials are any life form, or the remains there of. They've found methane on Mars. Methane is an Organic Molecule, and depending on how it was formed, can be Organic Matter or not. Cows produce methane from digesting grass, and that makes that particular methane organic matter, methane produced by water interacting with rocks is not organic matter.
There is some science which leads people to believe the methane on Mars may be of organic origin - it varies seasonally, i.e. it may be produced by the decay of something that grew in the summer. It also may not be. There are other organic molecules on Mars that are more complex than methane, and would be less likely to have been produced abiotically.
You are right though, there is no evidence of Organic Matter on Mars. Unless, and I'm looking at you Area 51, they're keeping something from us.
@emily, don’t get what?
ReplyDelete@ Emily
ReplyDeleteThe clue is "TOTALly screw up?"
TOTAL as in ADD UP.
@Wendy, if you ever took a biology course you'd get the peabrain clue. Very well known. If not, then you probably wouldn't.
ReplyDelete@Brian - Not as lazy as auto-antonyms. Using the same word to mean its own opposite has got to be the laziest language thing ever. Me, I sanction Rex's take on guns and would sanction those who oppose him (just being illustrative - disagree all you want).
ReplyDeleteCan someone please explain why toe is the third of three x’s?
ReplyDelete@Jamiedvm
ReplyDeleteTic Tac TOE
Difficulty on the Candy Scale: marshmallow top, nougat bottom. Many tasty morsels: HERESY, MR TOAD, SLAKED, PILFER, VESPERS, DURHAM, GRIPE, IS IT SAFE, DYNAST, and, my favorite, OK, THEN.
ReplyDelete@Nancy, perhaps the puzzle's usage of "OK, THEN" is a regionalism. I almost burst out laughing, as I could just hear my sister-in-law saying it - after hearing or witnessing something so bizarre that it's otherwise beyond comment and all one can do is move on.
@Loren - Thanks for my “laugh of the day”.
ReplyDeleteI'm here late again, so there's not much more to say. I figure there are GHOST GUNS, there are burner phones, and lots of other stuff like that, so it's good to know about them.
ReplyDeleteHardest part for me was miscounting the squares and trying to put in IT JUST isn't fair, then changing isn't to is not when I saw my error. That really blocked the SE for me, since I also was trying to shoot my deer from a TREE bliND.
@Loren, your avatar is pretty neat, but what really impressed me is that you got your comment to run right after @Lewis's. Did you bribe a moderator?
Stuck Dingier in there where mangier belonged- set me back 10 minutes. Gave me Dinah as a prophet....Didn't know Vespers or PEC DECK, so had a hard time backing in. :(
ReplyDelete@JC66 - I just caught up on the cat controversy yesterday and have to believe the guy still hasn’t accepted he erred. Like you, I get why someone with that experience would jump to that conclusion, but “I’m sorry” requires error recognition.
ReplyDelete@jberg - I really doubt any bribing is needed during the 6:00 am hour on a Saturday. When do those two sleep?
@Rug Crazy - Hand up for the prophet dInAH, seemed like a shore thing to me.
See the U S A, in your Chevrolet.....
DeleteAnyone offended by this puzzle needs to seriously reevaluate the sensitivity of their triggers (no pun intended).
ReplyDeleteThanks for your permission to disagree. How generous of you to bestow a right I already possessed. You are the best. MWAH!
ReplyDeleteold timer @12:42, I'm guessing that if your daughter took calculus on her way to her psychology degree that she is in psychometrics or in experimental psychology. I was in the latter and took more grad school courses in multivariate statistical analysis than in any other topic.
ReplyDeletemulder @1:15, thanks for your clear and concise explanation. Nicely done.
Don't be a stranger.
I'm Jewish and never heard of NAME DAY, either. ;-)
ReplyDeleteGuns without serial numbers, GHOST GUNS. Common enough they have their own name. Shouldn't this clue be applauded? If it's to change, we need to be reminded what sort of world we live in.
ReplyDeleteOh, and here's a little thread I wrote about how the NYTXW's partner site, xwordinfo, uses deceptive charts to visually misrepresent the data on women constructors. Have a nice day.
ReplyDeleteThis is the most hilarious thing I've read in I don't know how long. The FBI should investigate.
With STEED at 39a I was hoping PEEL would show up somewhere. My Name Day just passed on March 19th. I didn't make the traditional pasta dish this year: spaghetti with bread crumbs and anchovies (delicious!). Actually I never heard it called Name Day either. It was always just St. ___'s Day.
OK, then. Everyone have a good night. Sunday's puzzle awaits...
should be "total screw up", would be just as clever, yet more apt for the word play. Total is an add, totally is never used in any way with adding
ReplyDeleteI see that @teedmn did the same thing in my one area of errors and that was the nth/horse cross instead of DDS/STEED. Made just as much sense with everything else around it blank. Otherwise clean and quick for me at three Rexes.
ReplyDeleteLike OFL said, ITJUSTAINTRIGHT without a proper yeah baby, so . . . ELLE MacPherson.
Not terribly challenging, but OKTHEN.
Obviously, OFC has never met DOD ELLE MacPherson. OKTHEN. How does that mean "Well, that was weird!"? One other nit: how many NEONS can there be? It's an element. It's collective. Pluralize it? ITJUSTAINTRIGHT.
ReplyDeleteI thought this was going to be tougher than it turned out. Completed the NW half (except for NE corner), then went looking for a start in the SE area. And whoa, there it was: 36 in both directions: instant gimmes--nice long ones too--that you don't expect on a Saturday. DELPHI soon followed, and I finished up in the SW with GREATJOB.
Not a true Kinks expert, I never heard of SETMEFREE. Maybe I should've; it was certainly my era, but maybe it was just a "hit" across the pond. Hand up for PEEKat instead of IN; the only writeover. Made the grid look a little MANGIER. I agree, easy-medium for the day. Seeing GHOSTGUNS in a crossword doesn't bother me; seeing them in school (24 arrests so far this year in Clark County!) does. What are these kids thinking?? Anyway, score it a par.
OKTHEN, GRIPE
ReplyDeleteDoing a GREATJOB seems OUTDATED,
so SETMEFREE from this SAD plight.
ISITSAFE to say CEOS hate it?
‘TIL they do, ITJUSTAIN’TRIGHT.
--- VINCENTE “IKE” RYDER
EITHER OAR
ReplyDeleteVIAGRA TESTED,
MENDEL MEATY.
“OHGOOD I’DBET.”
“OKTHEN, EATME.”
--- MICAH DURHAM, DDS
I am a Tibetan Lama, and I never heard of Name Day.
ReplyDeleteLoved the puzzle. Strafed the NW and didn't slow down too much for the rest. I thought OK THEN was hilarious, said right after someone has said or done something truly outlandish, while looking at his/her feet wide-eyed. Perfectly descriptive.
ReplyDeleteI agree that the VESPERS/VINCENTE cross just opened up the whole puzzle. The clue for DDS was wicked, as were the ones for MISADD and PILFER.
I guess I rate it at easy-medium mainly because it's Saturday.
Darn close, I mean really darn close. Just one or two dumb blanks in the mid-west. GYM being on of them - sheesh. (Beats head against wall wearing gym shoes.)
ReplyDeleteDiana, Lady-in-Waiting for Crosswords
An extended break before coming back to finish this one today. Satisfying solve after a Friday frustration.
ReplyDeleteLast letter in was the E in PANGEA. Mulled over E vs. I, and VINCENTE cross took care of that one.
The two grid spanner acrosses were good ones and helpful.
GHOST GUNS, MR.TOAD, and DAR, are new ones, and why is DST clued as "Nonreligious observance"? Didn't know that "kelp forests" were SEA OTTERS' homes. OKTHEN.
EITHER you get'em all or you don't.