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French politico Marine Le / THU 4-4-19 / Cognac age indicator / Feature of cajun country / Iconic introduction in cinema
Thursday, April 4, 2019
Constructor: Lewis Rothlein
Relative difficulty: Easy (untimed, morning clipboard solve)
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| my actual annotated puzzle, shown in its natural clipboard habitat |
Theme answers:
- [YOU] CAN'T TAKE IT WITH (16A: Saying suggesting that worldly possessions should be enjoyed)
- "[BOND], JAMES" (25A: Iconic introduction in cinema)
- ["DO] AS I SAY, NOT AS I" (36A: Instructor's remark after making a mistake)
- ["NO] MEANS" (48A: Insistent refusal)
Twyla Tharp (/ˈtwaɪləθɑːrp/; born July 1, 1941) is an American dancer, choreographer, and author who lives and works in New York City. In 1966, she formed her own company Twyla Tharp Dance. Her work often uses classical music, jazz, and contemporary pop music. From 1971 to 1988, Twyla Tharp Dance toured extensively around the world, performing original works. In 1973, Tharp choreographed Deuce Coupe to the music of The Beach Boys for the Joffrey Ballet. Deuce Coupe is considered to be the first crossover ballet. Later she choreographed Push Comes to Shove (1976), which featured Mikhail Baryshnikov and is now thought to be the best example of the crossover ballet.In 1988, Twyla Tharp Dance merged with American Ballet Theatre, since which time ABT has held the world premieres of 16 of Tharp's works. [...]Tharp attended Pomona College in California but later transferred to Barnard College in New York City, where she graduated with a degree in art history in 1963. (wikipedia)
• • •
OK so now that that overall evaluation is out of the way, let's talk about the own goal, the shooting self in foot, the colossal unfathomable embarrassing bad decision to clue PEN as 42D: French politico Marine Le ___. Actually, I'm not sure "bad" or even "negligent" quite captures the nature of this clue. At this point, the deliberate inclusion of a nationalist eurosceptic anti-immigration white politician who has waged an alarmingly successful ("de-demonization"!) campaign to clean up the image of her father's anti-semitic white supremacist party ... the deliberate inclusion of her name part (name part!) over the infinite other clues one might have come up with for the ordinary English word PEN ... it's unfathomable except as a strategy of trolling, an alarmingly amoral tone deafness, or an expression of fandom. Did none of the young puzzbros in the editor's employ flag this? Say "hey ... maybe not ... this?" I mean, as my friend Finn points out, PEN's counterpart PENCIL is right there in the grid, just waiting for a cross-reference. And PEN crosses CAGE. Surely you could've done something cute and puzzly with that. Some kind of same-clue thing ... or something. Literally anything.
OK, back to the rest of the puzzle:
Bullets:
- 9D: The way (HOW) — The answer I had here at first rhymes with HOW ...
- 32A: What one gets after many years of work (OLD) — ??????? One gets this after many years of anything
- 40A: Like a sleeper cell? (ON SILENT) — Very nice. Thumbs up. Appreciative clapping.
- 53A: Part of some Hebrew men's names (BEN) — wanted BIN here but that is Arabic. Good thing I knew the crosswordesey golfer (O'MEARA). This corner was a little tough to get into because, as I said earlier, I forgot a themer was in here, and also SOFA had a tricky clue (37D: Sleeper that never dreams) and I am not confident about my German words (43A: Head: Ger. = KOPF).
- 13A: ___ Duncan, Obama education secretary (ARNE) — speaking of crosswordesey names, we got a bunch of them today: ARNE CATE GIA and O'MEARA are frequent repeaters. Learn 'em and love 'em. Or at least learn 'em.
P.S. woke up to find roughly half of the #NYTXW response to this puzzle on Twitter was about that stupid PEN clue. Which was predictable. Which is what makes me think the provocation is quite intentional.
[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]
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103 comments:
Not a Thursday PR, but half of my average time today. I picked up on the Ian Fleming line first and grokked the theme. Sailed through from there. Lotta fun.
Bravo to @Lewis! This was a Thursday theme I haven’t seen before. He takes the beloved rebus to a new and trickier level and I needed that revealer to see what the heck was going on. This is everything a Thursday should be. It took me longer than usual and I enjoyed every minute.
There was lots of PPP fill I didn’t know too. NAST, OMEARA, KANE, and IAGO and CONEHEAD from their clues. Thankfully I knew ARNE, ANNA, PEN, WALDO and LOTT. I loved seeing TWYLA so soon after the Fosse puzzle. That name might be trouble for some, but for me it’s unforgettable. I’m thinking, could dance be the new baseball? YES, I vote YES!
It’s made me wonder if there is something in the air here in Rexworld. We’ve now had two regulars publish stellar Thursday puzzles in the NYT recently. It won’t be easy to forget @Nancy’s black hat or @Lewis’s SQUARE ONE and I don’t plan to try.
I reacted the same as OFL. Loved the puzzle, one of the best of the year, but winced at 42D.
Just a guess here, but, with 42D, is WS attempting to rebuke the notion that the NYTXW is a lily-livered liberal institution?
I thought "you can't take it with you" was about NOT amassing worldly possessions/obscene wealth?
Use or share them, because you can’t amass them.
Oh how cool that this is our @Lewis and that it’s such a terrific idea! BACK TO SQUARE ONE, literally. That last missing word is the word in square one. The first one I got was BOND, and I whooped. Seriously delighted.
These are harder to come up with than you would imagine. I thought of:
MANKIND MUST PUT AN END TO WAR BEFORE WAR PUTS AN END TO
LIES BEGET
IT ISN’T WORTH
THE TRUTH AND NOTHING BUT
Zion Williamson is a ONE AND D
Ok. The last one doesn’t work.
It’s on my bucket list to be a goddess pulled in a chariot by peacocks. In a non-ironic way.
I can’t be the only one who went “margin” before PENCIL. I always doodle in Japanese, hoping against hope that someone will glance over and be deeply impressed and then ask about it in a break. It’s my plan to act all Oh was I really doing that? I hadn’t realized it. And then I’ll leave in my chariot pulled by peacocks.
Ok, but here’s where I really felt smart, even without kanji characters in my margins – my first entry for 50D was “onera.” I mean, talk about an in-your-face asshole show-off plural. But I wrote it in. Resenting myself for knowing it and resenting people who use it. They’re up there with the data-is-always-plural grammandos. But then I always Always notice when someone says beg the question to mean raise the question. The good news is that thanks to listening to a Great Course by my new bestie Anne Curzan, I’m learning to be less strident and whiny as I try to walk the line between hippy linguist and person who hears every single “mistake” someone makes.
I saw a cartoon once whose caption was Doctors Without Border Collies and I was really mad that I hadn’t thought of that first.
We’ve gone from YES, WE CAN to, well, to this. Obama was a smooth dude. TRUMP IS PECU
Who gives a rat's ass about Pen? I just like to puzzles!
Standing O, @Lewis! Excellent and fun theme. Fair opening to it via the WALDO clue. Just wish the PEN clue had used the suggested clever interplay with CAGE or PENCIL.
Loved it. Even after figuring out the ‘rebus at the beginning’ you aren’t done. Still need to figure out the loop. Great concept well executed.
Sixteen answers ending in “A” – more than 20%.
I also hated the clue at 42D, for a more general reason. Don't use a partial unless you have to.
A nice three-square themer would have been [DO]SI.
You've got to
[Go] where you want to
[Do] what you want to
[With] whoever you wanna do it
- The Mamas and the Papas, Go Where You Wanna Go
Agree completely with Rex about PEN.
But, I'm afraid Rex has become the boy who cried wolf with his continual complaining about the crime of clues that just make him feel bad.
So now that we have an actual offensive clue, is anyone still listening?
Loved every bit of it. Great fun, Lewis.
When I saw the puz was from @Lewis I knew I would DOOK on it. ;)
Just in case anyone was wondering I am also a Very Superior Old Pale. I don’t tan well. A fair excuse for wearing floppy hats in the incessant Florida sun. No one would confuse me with BOND. This aging white guy wasn’t offended by seeing PEN, since I studied her father in French class no less in high school and college and often read about her in the NYT and other papers today. She is a world figure whether you like her or not. It’s the word “politico” that struck me as out of place. Can’t we just say politician anymore? I realize politico has a long lineage in our language but do they use that expression in France? Knowing sage Lewis, I suppose they do. I saw his name in the puzzle today and thought to myself hey I know that guy... but from where... lol. It finally dawned on me as I got to the end of the puzzle. So many of the clues sounded like his comments here. Gracious, courteous, well thought out, and fair. And clever. Kudos! Props! Bravo! I’m jealous man! Keep ‘em coming. Live and Let Live would have been a good themer. Hey Rex, why is your printed puzzle pink? My dead tree NYT is always a gray lady. PS, @Carola from yesterday. You’re welcome! Glad you agree.
@Teahag, It means don't worry about holding onto your money. Spend it cause, "you can't take it with you."
Wow @Lewis, cool.
I started off with a whole lotta gimmes that came in very quickly, and then I just had to stare and stare for a very long time to figure out what was going on (after I went down three or four wrong paths, such as thinking I had to keep going back to square one of the whole puzzle). Finally got it from _JAMES. Cute! Lots of work and lots of time, but lots of fun — terrific puzzle!
After seeing the clue for PEN, I couldn't wait to come here to see the outrage, and I was not disappointed!
This was a clever idea for a puzzle, and well executed. Bravo to the constructor.
Agreed on the LePen clue. What a stinker.
007 always introduced myself, "Bond... James Bond" another return to square one!
The Uchida product line LePen is a completely acceptable alternative clueing even if the whole name LePen were in the puzzle:
https://www.penaddict.com/blog/2018/1/26/marvy-lepen-marker-pen-review
Lots of good colors and precision nibs.
It’s about using the money you amass in life, and enjoying the spoils of your hard work (i.e. YOLO)
Another stellar performance by one of this creative crowd.
Loved the trick and it feels original. Just when you think you've seen it all something fresh pops up. Thanks @ Lewis!
It’s interesting how vocal the resistance to tone-deaf and outright insensitive clueing is. I’m guilty of it myself (I believe that vulgar, N-word spewing, misogynistic Rap artists should be totally unwelcome - However I seem to be a minority of one in that regard). The clue for 36A seems a little off-kilter. An instructor usually teaches via lecture - thus, in response to a (verbal) gaffe the phrase seems inside out. Should be “do as I do, not as I said” (a nit, granted, but it came quickly to mind for me at least).
Wonderful, creative puzzle. Great start to my day. Thank you, Lewis.
Rex, this was a great puzzle—fun and interesting to solve.
What is with you? So Marine Le Pen was in the puzzle. Big deal.
Would you also object if “Huck Finn” was an answer because Mark Twain used the vernacular of his time in the book?
Your search for correctness is absurd and boring at this point.
Lots of fun and quite gettable. At first I thought Rex was going overboard on Pen but he wound up convincing me it was a bad and unnecessary clue.
Wow, @Lewis. This one should be framed. You and @Nancy are fast becoming my favorite Thursday duo constructors.
Got the YOU at CAN'T TAKE IT WITH...so, like another sane human, (except for Le PEN) I went looking for the other YOU's. DO AS I SAY erased the thought. I knew I had to be careful. I was in no way going to look at the reveal because I wanted to figure this puppy out all by myself.
Got stuck at 8D. I had BAIL (OUT) and figured OUT JAMES OUT might be something in a cinema lexicon. Ah...dear, sweet BOND. Cute.
Saw PEN and knew gaskets would be blown. It did the last time she appeared. She's pretty scary but at least she wasn't clued as a hero.
Had a few problems with the proper names. I always want to spell Blanchett's name with a K. One Google...KOPF because I don't know German. So, Mein KOPF means My Head? (kidding).
When I finally got to BACK TO SQUARE ONE, I clapped with glee. I went back and looked at everything and thought super, super, super idea.
TWO TERM LOTT SENATE YES WE CAN and the #Me Too NO MEANS NO. (are you listening, Biden?) Only one CONEHEAD.
Kudos, Lewis.
MYO what a great rebus. Really enjoyed the solve.
Loved the casco
{One of a 1970s TV family} MEATHEAD --> CASCO
Details are here.
Hooooooo baby was this puz fun! The clue for 53A confused me as BEN is part of one Hebrew name (Benyamin), but BEN is part of a phrase said when calling someone to the Torah (male or female). Anyone have clarity on this?
Oh and thinking about that pos French nationalist...even if you needed to use LEPEN as an answer, you could go with the brand of illustration markers (Le Pen) - esoteric? Yes. Possible to avoid fascism? Also yes.
My only complaint is SHOOKON...it. It's like listening to one of those endings of a Beethoven symphony where they back and forth between the V and I chord and end on the V without resolving it. The weight of the tension that creates gets heavier and heavier until someone goes to a piano and plays the final chord. I've seen grown men reduced to tears over that. SHOOKON is that equivalent. It's "SHOOK ON IT." You shook on IT. Ugh.
In my first apartment in NYC, the person living in ONE-G was friendly...except for her yappy dog.
I agree with the cluing on PEN and am also beginning to think that WS is trolling. Maybe one day JF will write a tell-all book about his days in the office with WS. I bet there are some great stories about how the editing staff arrived at specific clues just like this one.
Lovely puzzle, but DNF for me -- I thought about spinning tumblers as acrobats, as drinking vessels on a lazy Susan or maybe being fashioned of clay on a potter's wheel -- but components of a lock just never occurred to me, and I had no idea about Tyne DALY (my fault there, Tony and Emmy winners are certainly crossworthy). But I enjoyed the puzzle so much I hardly noticed.
I saw right off the bat that 1D could be BAYOU, but then I looked for YOU rebuses elsewhere. Plus I wanted Juno and the Paycocks before HERA, an era compounded by my initial misreading of the clue number for ARNE as 15 - so lots of writeovers up there in the NE.
Le PEN bothers me a lot, but her name in the puzzle doesn't. Anyway, she's nicely balanced with Obama and his Sec'y of Ed, with the hapless Trent LOTT somewhere in between.
Congratulations, @Lewis! Hope we'll see more from you soon!
This puzzle was brilliant, just brilliant! Overall not too hard, not too easy: exactly right for Thursday IMO. Only after finishing did I decide to check the author, wondering who had created such a perfect entry, and was delighted to find it was in fact @Lewis. If I could have only two NYT x-words on a desert island, they would be this one and @Nancy’s “black hat” masterpiece.
On top of the great theme (all very much in-the-language phrases, outstanding revealer), lots of top-notch cluing for fill: place where beads are made (SAUNA), what goes above and beyond (EAVE), House rules may not apply here (SENATE), in addition to others already mentioned. And I love the name TWYLA!
So, OK—PEN. She and people who support her exist. They need to be effectively countered. Can we please just do the actual work of convincing those who might find their messages appealing to think and act otherwise, instead of having a hissy-fit or fainting spell at the mere mention of their names? Maybe WS and the NYT are trying to nudge us in that direction when they do something like this in the puzzle. If so, I salute them! @Rex’s reaction reminds me of a story during the 2016 election to the effect that college students felt they needed to go to a “safe space” after seeing Trump’s name scrawled on a sidewalk. That sure helped a lot…
Regarding 42D, there is a Japanese brand of pens/markers (made by Marvy Uchida) called LePen. Clue accordingly.
Let me play Devil's Advocate on PEN. Is she a disgusting, bigoted, nasty piece of shit? YES. However, she was in the news quite often during the elections in France, and there is no judgement in the clue (suggesting support rather than derision). Carping on this would be like complaining to the NYT that they put her name in a news article. I believe that like newspapers, crosswords should be impartial observers of life and culture. I'm tired of SJWs getting offended by every fart answer in a puzzle.
I think we can all agree that if anyone deserves a chariot pulled by peacocks it is @LMS. Wearing a tiara.
[insert @Z’s entirely predictable rant opposing nazi’s in the puzzle and his utter disdain for people without nuance]
I learned here that if it’s the grid blame the constructor, if it’s the clue blame the editor.
I had a real chuckle at 9D. Knowing that @Lewis is a Yoga Master makes it obviously “tao.” This misdirection briefly made me doubt my basic phlebotomy. Nice one.
Nicely done puzzle. With all the offense at Rex’s PEN reaction everyone seems to have glossed over, “...I like this puzzle. The idea is clever and the execution neat.” Rex doles out praise far less often than Biden makes a gaffe, so high praise from OFL. I agree with Rex.
BTW - @LMS - My team tied for first for best team name at trivia this week. Zionara Duke!.
Great puzzle but for 12D, I don’t think dumbstruck = aghast.
@iamjess (yesterday) - too busy to post yesterday- but great catch. Actually, awful catch in the whole “biological warfare is awful” way, but I totally missed that until you pointed it out.
@jberg - ARNE Duncan drank the kool-aid. I uttered “Duncan is an idiot” on a monthly basis.
@r.alphbunker - Where you been?
Perhaps I’m the only one who found this hard... lots of names I was unfamiliar with. Maybe this played harder for non-Americans like me. Still enjoyable though. No problem with Pen as clued, it is after all a crossword clue and not an endorsement of a person’s views which would be problematic. Here in Europe we get exposed to the views of people we disagree with all the time, so you get used to it!
Fabulous puzzle yielding a stellar (not STARLESS) solving experience! I got hung up (pun intended) on the 40A/37D cross, two sleepers that I couldn't grok. Probably because of my recurring insomnia.
Just sooo many great clues here, sooo many great re-directions, and I had a blast solving it. My favorite misdirections were 24D (I had pOSter before MOSAIC) and 45D (I had google before PENCIL).
With all that delightful cluing and a fun Thursday trick, why oh why go with that hideous clue for 42D? It would be like cluing "ump" as "Last three letters of current US President" or some such. An unelegant and jarring blot on an otherwise absolutely delightful and enjoyable Thursday puzzle. Thank you so much @Lewis!!!
[Wow} just! Lewis indicated to me in an email recently that he would have a puzzle in the NYT that he thought I would enjoy -- and, [boy] oh, did I ever! A clever, completely original trick that baffled me from the very first theme answer. And the very, very tough cluing helped protect the theme. "I will wear my heart upon my sleeve" rang such a loud bell, but who the heck said it????? Did his name begin with a DO? At one point I thought I was dealing with musical notes. But YOU didn't fit. And why was there an extra unnecessary letter in 8D -- which I thought was simply BAIL?
Finally I went to the revealer -- where I should have been from the get-go -- and all was at last clear. As soon as I read the clue I knew the answer, and all the other answers made sense.
My favorite was BOND, JAMES BOND. BAIL seems complete within itself, so BAIL BOND is really well camouflaged. And look at the clue: "Iconic introduction in cinema." That could be anything!!! Masterfully disguised. A crunchy beauty of a puzzle with a really huge Aha Moment. Loved it!! Kudos, Lewis!
Beautiful puzzle from @Lewis. Original theme, fun entries, no junk. High marks all around.
007 in the puzzle two days in a row -- woo hoo!
Anyone besides me hear/see BAILBOND and immediately think of "The Bad News Bears"?
Yes, Mme. Le PEN is a well-known world figure and therefore fair game in a puzzle. It is quite hilarious, though, the lengths to which Will Shortz will seemingly go to make a point about...what exactly? Aside from what the woman herself stands for, the clue turns a normal word into both a proper noun and a partial. @Z -- For today at least, you may want to have a modified acronym just for this one entry: PPPP (Partial Proper Political Provocation).
10-D reminds me...Last Friday, I saw David Kwong's "The ENIGMAtist" in Manhattan. Absolutely astonishing. I highly recommend it to any and all puzzle lovers.
What ... Mikey likes it? Well so do I. Great clues, the French woman aside. A lovely idea well executed. Thanks @Lewis.
Yo, @Lewis. Great ThursPuz.
@RP: Possible points off, on yer clipboard solvequest: The first of the rebus squares appears to have U in it. The second one looks like it has JIM in it. M&A can let the first one slide, tho. Hey how do U get the black squares to turn pink?
staff weeject pick: ATT. Only weeject today that can do a back-to-square-oner [ATTA].
fave fillins abounded. CONEHEAD & KOPF. ANACONDA & SNAKEOIL. YESWECAN & NOMEANSNO. PENCIL & almost PEN. ENIGMA. MOSAIC. AGHAST. KNOBBED… Day-um nice rodeo, @Lewis.
In case @Lewis is feelin too highly praised, M&A'll toss in ... RETIES: har.
This was kinda a toughie theme to noodle out, at our house. One tends to lose precious nanoseconds, when yer "friendly-lookin" little openin NW corner has rebus meat tucked into it. M&A finally had to wander off in desperation and find the revealer's clue, which of course helped a lot. Like @RP, I tried parkin just a luvly U in square#16, due to its general overall attractiveness.
BONDJAMES was also tough, becuz it's only 6 letters long, which don't exactly sing out "Themer". And TAJ's clue didn't help m&e out with its "J" worth a flea flick. SALA didn't help much with TAJ's "A", either. etc.
@Muse darlin: Chariots pulled by peacocks tend to move awful awful slow. Speakin of bein mighty slow … M&A was near-flat baffled by yer "PECU" word. Since it was tied to "TRUMP", I have temporarily reasoned out "Peculiar, with the liar part assumed". Do I win a free chariot shotgun ride orwhat? At least get to trail behind it, in a sled pulled by budgies?
Thanx and congratz, Mr. @Lewis. I infer from yer puzrepertoire to date that your mind operates at a ThursPuz level of shiftiness. A primo way for them gears to turn, my son.
Masked & Anonymo3Us
**gruntz**
I abhor Marie le Pen as much as the next guy, but I am beginning to weary of these rants against names that Rex finds offensive. She’s a major political figure and fair game for a puzzle, especially one that also includes the Obama reference YESWECAN, which might, I suppose, offend some Trump supporter somewhere.
I like the clue for PEN. Would you rather see "writing implement that uses ink"? Marine Le Pen's politics (like our president's) are hateful and disgusting. Having her name in a crossword puzzle is just having her name in a crossword puzzle. So let's all chill, consume mass quantities, and later retire to our sleep chambers. Sensor rings anyone?
Surprised nobody has mentioned that Trent Lott is also in the puzzle, talking about right-wing politicians with racially dubious views.
I really enjoyed this solve. Thank you, Lewis
A bit of trivia: Richard Thomas's parents, who had a dance school in NYC, taught Twyla Tharp, among others. (Richard Thomas = John-Boy Walton)
Why do you consider the inclusion of Le Pen as a provocation? Don't you think that if we are going to fight fascism we must be aware of who the fascists are? Being included in a grid is not necessarily an endorsement. You are great at completing puzzles Rex, but you are also an idiot.
@Sir Hillary-yep, BAILBOND leads straight to "Chico's Bailbonds" and Walter Matthau. That's a big smile.
What a great puzzle, and so interesting that the two best Thursdays in memory have been folks here in our little community.
So for smoothness, originality, wit, and clever clues, I'm saying that @Lewis joins @Nancy in the coveted THURSDAZO! award.
Enhorabuena. Y mas, por favor.
Great puzzle except for 18D. Had RAJ but 16A filled in the T.
A really good puzzle that I do have some nits about, but there's no reason to write them here other than to feed my ego.
But I will comment about clueing, since that is a topic so many seem to respond about vehemently.
What should distinguish a NY Times puzzles from other crossword puzzles? A more difficult question to answer than it would seem. One goal of the puzzle is to result in extending the puzzle solving universe, which is why early week puzzles are quite easy. I guess another goal would be to educate. And I guess another would to provoke thought.
It does no good to head one's head in the sand and ignore what's wrong in the world. (In my opinion, that's one of the ways we got Trump. Apologies to his supporters.) So while I can see why it is annoying, I can also see why clues that remind us of the evil that lurks in this world would be appropriate. And I can see why some would object to such clues.
So my preference would be to include all types of clues, even those that might aggravate a large number of persons. I do think they should be reminded of the evil in then world so they will possibly do something to correct the problem. (On the other hand, is that not the reason that precipitated all too many atrocities?)
Myself, I would fight strongly against caving in to any group because members of the group shout loudly. My choice might be to banish stuff like hateful racial epithets while making sure everyone knows who uses those hateful words. So I would have changed today's clue to "Racist Marine Le ___" which itself could be a problem.
There's no great solution, but silence to me is inappropriate.
Hey All !
Damn, Lewis! Now this is what a puz should be! A literal Revealer, nicely themed puz, with a Rebus! Haven't read Rex yet, but if he didn't like this, then I believe he's beyond help in seeing great puzs.
Fav themer was BOND, JAMES BOND. Har. That also contributed to my DNF, as I couldn't get BAIL OUT out of the ole brain, which had said brain wondering what the hell OUT JAMES OUT meant. That ANNA/NAST cross got me too. Natick Lewis! :-)
Did get stuck in other spots (cage not immediately leaping to mind, KOPF pretty funky, TRE foriegnly clued [thought "triangolo" was some new fangled shape I'd never heard about]), but overall a very nice puz, with that large center white area that couldn't have been easy to fill, but came out squeaky clean.
Very impressive, Lewis. Makes me appreciate why my puzs keep getting "No"s.
YOU BOND DO NO
RooMonster
DarrinV
Marine Le Pen is awful but also notable, so I see no problem with referencing her in the puzzle.
It seems like Rex sees inclusion in a x-word puzzle as some sort of honor, or at least endorsement of the subject. I'm not sure where this view comes from and I hope it doesn't catch on. Or maybe it already has and I'm in the minority here?
Very warm appreciation to @Hartley, @GILL, @webwinger, and @pabloinnh for their flattering shoutouts to me on this, one of @Lewis's biggest days. As grateful as I am, however, I feel compelled to point out that Lewis creates his own grid, as well as coming up with the concept and the clues. I couldn't create a grid if my life depended on it. So you have to say that Lewis is the "whole package" whereas I am only part of the package. But I really love you all for your generous praise and kind words and I thank you.
The puzzle isn’t “endorsing” anybody by the mere mention of a word. But some of us don’t want our puzzles casually littered with neofascists — whose rise is enabled by their mainstreamification — especially when it’s a common English word like PEN. PEN! There are thousands of more innocuous ways to clue it, including two that tie into nearby entries!
Gary, keep bemoaning “political correctness,” an ignorant term that shows you have no regard for the humanity of others, as if you’re not one of the first people to say “white men is not a slur!!!”
HOW/The way is your first bullet and I still don't understand the clue at all. HOW does that work?
I loved loved loved the theme - absolutely brilliant! Well done Mr. Rothlein! More like this please.
Getting the theme answers was great fun but the general fill was a bit of a trying task/SLOG for me. I counted 11 proper names - 12 if you include ALVA. I was not particularly offended by 42D but had the same thought as most here, that it was a terribly convoluted clue for an extremely common three-letter answer. Never heard the expression “just for YUKS” but I’ve been known to YUK it up just for grins or laughs.
Was not familiar with ONEG or VSOP which I now know stands for Very Superior Old Pale. I’ve never tried cognac in my life but that is such a cool sounding description that I may have to do so. It brings to mind something satisfying and soothing. I’m thinking of adding a sampling of Old Pale to my bucket list just to see if it’s true. If there are any experts here who can suggest a good affordable label choice for an uninformed first-time taster, I’d appreciate the advice.
@LMS your cartoon reference reminded me of one of my all-time favorites from The Far Side. The sheep are having a cocktail party and no one knows how to act until the Border Collie arrives to get things going. How I miss the genius of Gary Larson and his surreal gift of creating humor by linking human traits with animal behavior.
@Gary H 10:49-- Guess you haven't been around here much. Every puzzle is expressly constructed to include (at least) one clue/answer guaranteed to send Rex and his army of Twits into a spluttering rage. It's quite fun to watch.
Bravo, @Lewis, this is a most excellent puzzle! The theme was inspired and well-executed and fun to figure out.
@MJT - HOW you did something is the way you did something. HOW did you get out of the locked room? By climbing out the window vis a vis I got out of the locked room by climbing out the window.
So, did our beloved @Lewis write the PEN clue, or did Will change it in order to piss off OFL? I do think Will does this sometimes.
I join the crowd in praising this brilliant Thursday effort. Got it before I found the Revealer. But I did somehow leave the BOND square blank. The technical DNF saddens me a bit, but missing out on the BOND James [BOND] saddens me more.
I'm on the same page as Rex right down BOND JAMES BOND being the last last and most confounding thing to fill in. I was totally on an MGM Lion wavelength.
I don't agree with objections to the inclusion of Marine Le PEN, I just wish it had been clued as 'Fascist troglodyte Marine Le ___'
See Rex? Troglodyte. I made very, very sure not to come across as a misogynist to even the most zealous SJW. ...even though she is
Also...
NOMEANSNO
I too like the clue for pen. Fresh for a tire bit of fill.
As for her politics, who cares? Why should we have any say in French politics? Besides, Ms. le Pen was soundly beaten in the last national election. And even if she weren't so what? If she's duly elected that's what the people want. Seems to me the height of arrogance not to mention horribly anti-democratic to stifle political speech.
@MJT: As in: "This is HOW it works" = "This is {The way} it works".
I assume @RP wanted TAO instead of HOW, for {The way}, btw. Cuz TAO rhymes with HOW, and TAO is "the way to total oneness with the letter U", or somesuch, in Taoism.
M&A Help Desk
Come on Rex. Moore, Roger Moore?
Like many others, I just don't give a damn that the crossword answers sometimes are unpleasant people. So what? Shall we ban these words/ideas/people from ordinary conversation? Anyhow, on to my real gripe; REBUS answers. OK, I've gotten used to two letters in one square, but three? FOUR??? Why not put the whole puzzle in one big square? Sorry, rant over. Not a bad puzzle and I liked the theme, but please. Satisfy this old man and go back to one letter per square; that's what makes it a crossword. (Oh, that and the words, you know, crossing...)
@Lewis! A Thursday puzzle! I couldn't wait to see what you'd come up with...and wasn't surprised that it was such a treat.
Row 3 quickly got me BAYOU x YOU CAN'T..., soon followed by WALDO x DO AS I..... So, easy so far...except where were the missing last words going to turn up? Only when I worked out the delightful BOND, JAMES did I see that we had to circle around to the start. Thanks to remembering OMEARA from previous puzzles, NO MEANS went right in, and then the terrific no-more-crosses-needed reveal. So satisfying. Among the many other pleasures of the grid, my favorite was ANACONDA morphing into the parallel SNAKE OIL. Who knew? :)
Fantastic job @Lewis. Even after I got the trick (which took a few nano-seconds) it still put up a fight. The last themer I got, and my favorite is [BOND]JAMES.
Really loved it, Thanks for the fun.
@MJT:
Show me HOW = Show me THE WAY.
Congratulations, @Lewis, on getting POW over at xwordinfo.com!
I needed almost all the crosses for 16A before I got my first theme answer and like Rex, I couldn't imagine what more the theme would entail so the revealer was necessary and very apt.
Sign me up with the "out JAMES out" HEAD-scratching (hi @Gill I and @Roo). "P.D." came to mind also, making just as much sense. I had the same aha moment Rex describes. Luckily, the revealer noting there were 4 theme answers and the nice symmetry meant 48A gave me no trouble.
Some very clever clues, such as for 37D,SOFA, 45D's PENCIL, 9D's HOW = The way, 4D's SENATE, 22D's TKO. (All downs, hmmm).
Thanks, Lewis, great job!
Did everyone else assign a dumm in front of KOPF once 43A filled in?
@a.com. Ben is Hebrew for son of.
@IT 8:54 AM
While part of a familiar phrase, the object "it" is not included in the answer as clued:
"The terms of the deal sounded great, so we [Agreed to] it.
"The terms of the deal sounded great, so we [SHOOK ON] it."
Strange ideas today. 2008 election stolen? Will or Lewis or both were just trying to "piss off" Rex? How many of you stay up late, after normal people are in bed, cruising the conspiracy theory websites?
Some months ago, MAO was in a puzzle, and no one complained.... because the overwhelming majority of his millions of victims were Chinese?
@Whatsername: Well....you're kinda speaking my language. Probably the two most well known VSOP cognacs are Remy Martin and Courvoisier. My dad, ever the food and wine snob liked a snifter of Remy every night after dinner. He hid the bottle afraid his heathen children would try a sip. It's good. It will light your tummy on fire but it goes down the gullet with some finesse.
Now, if you're a bit of a cheapo like me, you might like a brandy instead. I fell in love with this rot-gut stuff that all the morning workers in Madrid would drink before taking off to build stone walls. It's called Fundador. You could buy a bottle for about 10 pesetas. Now it's a bit more expensive because the Spaniards got all snooty and wanted to best the best.
Give it a try after you've had a nice meal. You will never forget the taste..... :-)
Hera
Arne
Gia
Kane
Lott
Nast
Ben
Alva
Erie
Daly
Taj
Waldo
Anna
Twyla
Iago
Omeara
Great puzzle. Last (and in my opinion the best)entry was Bond. And then to come here and find out this is @Lewis! The cherry on top. Agree with the thinking that something is happening here with two great puzzle s by two regulars. Thank you both.
@GILL I 1:38-- B. Streisand would agree:
When in Spain for reasons I don't explain
I remain enjoying a brew
Don't deplore my fondness for Fundador
You know how a Fundador can lead to a few
(from the song "When In Rome (I Do As The Romans Do)")
So many kind comments, which have warmed my heart, but more importantly made me think that I was on the right track in fulfilling my ultimate goal in making a puzzle -- creating a satisfying and enjoyable solve. Thank you for that. And, on top of that, my quickest Thursday solve ever!
I assure you that you are not a minority of one in that regard.
Wow. So much fun, humor, and ahas. Had to look up 2 first names and still dnf because of BOND. Did not think of something I knew.
If you are going to be got, that's the way to get got. Congrats @Lewis.
ONEA - Nice change from draft status cluing .
HOW EAVE HERA SHOOKON SENATE all well clued. Liked NAST across from KANE. And the best answers were all themes.
@LMS
Too too clever. Send a selfie from the chariot. I'm sure WV has some peacock farmers. Fun to watch but be careful where you step - including decks. TRUMP IS PECU indeed.
@who ever sent the mommas and the papas: Well done.
Lewis,
This was great. Just wonderful. You should be as proud as a peacock, with or without a chariot.
I think 42D is objectionable only because it's a dumb partial when there are so many other options.
This debate over what's acceptable in cluing reminds me of the trigger warning debates in higher ed. I'm dyed in the wool liberal who lives in Berkeley, but must the puzzle be a safe space for everyone? Like it or not, Le Pen is an important figure whom we ignore at our peril.
BTW, there is a non-fascist clue even for the full LEPEN:. Back in the 80's, there was a brand of slender, felt-tipped pen named "Le Pen." How about "Frenchified 80's writing implement"?
Good gravy, @Joe 3:00. I had no idea diva Barbra would EVER have her lips pass through a Fundador....I'm incredibly happy for some strange reason. I love the stuff and yet the cognac snobs will run me to the ground.
You and @Lewis have made my day... (I'm so easy to please)......Cheers!
@GILL thank you so much for the recommendations. My purse and palate are firmly in the cheapo, rotgut category so I’ll be on the hunt for some Fundador.
Congrats to our @Lewis!!! This was an absolute jewell. Yes, many other options exist for 42D, and yet as a couple folks point out, we must be vigilant against pure evil in the world. As long as NYTXW does not glorify evil (as one in a “world leadership role” tends to do) and includes the rare fact-based clue recognizing evil’s existence (how often does AMIN show up?) I can abide it without a rant.
Today my one and only absolute “stopped in my tracks” spot was 9D. Sheesh! My brain refused, just flat refused to believe that could be anything other than tao. So that was the very very last corner I completed. I was AGHAST at having tripped over such a sparkling misdirect, and like one who, lacking bootstraps with which to pull myself up, simply RETIES the shoes that would not show her the “way,” and SLOGS on, I finally sussed out HOW to unravel the ENIGMA.
The theme, technically was easy. Got the NW, because since 1A could not be “bling,” I assumed BOAS, knew ARNE and that made the BAYOU rebus easy. 16A then, was obvious, with a head-scratch wondering “why no second YOU?” Imagined immediately that all themers were going to relate to something simply being left off at the end. Nope, not exactly. BOND, JAMES...was my last one due to my issue in the NE. So, the penultimate area for me was at the bottom not from difficulty, just the flow of this beauty of a puzzle being easy. When I hit the BACK TO SQUARE ONE, though, my mind went literal on me again and I finished and had to figure out what the 1A/1D square has to do with the theme answers!!! When i got the AHA moment, I did in fact give a small whoop of joy! And that real “aha” moment is so satisfying! Just such a sparkling and enjoyable gift of a puzzle today. WooHOO🎉
Easy-medium. Cute, clever, liked it. Nice one Lewis, congrats on POW from Jeff!
I loved this puzzle — so clever and satisfying! Thank you, Lewis!
@lewis, nice puzzle.
@LMS and M&A, the image of the two of you in chariots, one with a peacock and one with a team of budgies made my evening.
Yeah, I threw up a little in my mouth with the marine clue.
Also, I scored a win with BJAMES! What the heck kind of an iconic introduction is that?
NOW I see it was a rebus that wasn’t programmed as a rebus. I feel cheated!
@Lewis - You puzzle was only topped by your comment here. FTW!
I agree totally with Rex about the "Pen" answer and the clue. It could easily have used so many clues, some witty.
But if Will Shortz et al., were going to put in Marine Le Pen, why not use a clue like "Fascist Marine Le" or any other choice words. She should not be normalized in a puzzle like Thomas Alva Edison.
And by the way, how is citing a slogan of Barack Obama's campaign akin to sourcing a European far-right Islamophobe? And two weeks after 50 Muslims were killed by a white nationalist in New Zealand?
Uncouth, untimely, and just plain bad, not to mention insensitive to the majority of the world's people.
Other than that, a fun puzzle.
My favorite puzzle this year. Great idea, and great execution. Maybe @Lewis and @Nancy should join forces to give the rest of us a great puzzle from constructors we feel like we know. Knowing that this was made by @Lewis was as big an "Aha" moment as BOND,JAMES BOND
Ben can be the start of a name as in Bentzion and Benjamin. Ben means son. When someone is called up to the Torah their name plus been meaning son of plus the father's name is traditional. A woman should really be "bat" meaning daughter of.
Loved this one, because figuring out the theme is only half the battle...had to discover where the theme was hidden too. Bond James Bond was probably the last one I figured out, and it was a great moment. Was a bit of a struggle to get there too.
So, I did get KOPF right away, and thought the NOGGIN clue was a subtle reference to it. Boy, was I wrong.
Compared to you guys, why am I so slow at solving these XW’s? Maybe I like to savor them.
I shake my head when someone says they got stuck in the NE, SW, etc. corner and cry, but finish puzzles like these in under 10 minutes.
I check Rex when I find a fun one or a stupid one, to see what everyone thinks about it.
This was a fun one.
This is only the second time I’ve commented. I’m a day late, so I’m trying to catch up.
Love everyone’s comments. Nice to see the enthusiasm.
Lol Rex... you and all your leftist, holier than thou people go berserk about the Pen clue but if there’s something that you agree with that’s clearly wrong, no one bats an eye 😂😂
@Lewis, I loved every second of this and got everything except the Bond reference--I couldn't figure out why anyone would say "Out, James, out".
More,please!
Who figured out that you were our @Lewis?
So my clue list was littered with a giant X, one circle, and 2 question marks. The giant X wasn’t big enough to match OFL’s rant on Marine Le PEN; I just knew it was coming, so I’ll have nothing more on that except to say she’s a world figure and fair game though we coulda done it with a Bic. The circle was for yeah baby CATE Blanchett and the question marks were for GIA Scala and ANNA Wintour, yeah babies in their own right it seems.
BOND, JAMES BOND. What a gimme.
Great puz even with the rebusiness.
Yeah, all bent outa shape over PEN but not one word about LOTT?? Methinks OFC would be better off easing off on offensiveness, if he's not gonna give equal time. Me? I had no idea who this French chick was, or what she did, yet I too wondered why the constructor bent over backwards to avoid a simpler clue...just because it's Thursday? Strange.
Almost missed the BONBJAMES thing; had BAIL out and thought that maybe "Out, James, out!" was some sort of famous scene that I didn't remember. But then that wouldn't be an introduction, would it? Then the aha! hit, and it was considerable.
I'd never call this one easy. Speaking of ONE, we have three (!) of them in the grid: BACKTOSQUAREONE, ONEA, ONEG. Okay, that last ONE is a dook of sorts but still...it's not the loneliest number today!
Weird cluing interspersed with gimmes made for a kind of lurching solve; head scratching here, writing in a fifteener there. I'd never call this easy, but or Thursday I guess it's about medium. Love the rebusiness; love DOD GIA Scala, and love shooting birdies. Congrats, @Lewis: you just scored ONE.
First of all, this puzzle is a prize winner. Way to go @Lewis! Secondly, having not read @Rex, I noticed all the references to Marine Le PEN and so I decided to go read him. Mistake! I can't believe the outrage because someone in the news with whom @Rex doesn't agree is an answer. Yes, she is disgusting, but she's someone we all should know if only to make comparisons to Trump, as I guess @Rex would absolutely lose it if he were ever to appear. Hell, he'd have a cow if a clue read "Never _____ your partner's ace".
Moving on, if you're going to have a rebus theme, this is tops. So clever, with a an absolute gem of a revealer. I had a lot of fun with this, all of it, even with the entry about what is mightier than the sword.
forest, rainforest.
Misinterpretation of the revealer, BACKTOSQUAREONE: Square 1?, that lonely "B" up in the NW corner? Didn't make any sense, but plodded on anyway.
Found three of the four rebuses and filled in all but two squares correctly: The U in YUKS/SAUNA (settled on A, for SAaNA and YaKS) was the first. The second, the rebus BOND, forgot to deal with it and inadvertently left it blank. Inexcusable.
Very clever theme and many tricky clues/answers throughout.
NOMEANSNO YUKS
YOUCAN’TTAKEITWITHYOU, but YESWECAN have fun,
So DOASISAYNOTASIDO, or else it’s BACKTOSQUAREONE.
--- WALDO BOND
Yes, he is!!!
Yes, he is!!!
The people who are jumping on Rex (and others) for objecting to PEN are missing the biggest point: There's zero reason to take a self-contained common noun, PEN, and clue it as a partial *and* as a partial proper noun.
Lesser point: Clueing it to bring a fascist into the puzzle is also objectionable -- note that she's a person with dangerous views, not simply "right of center." Also note that RP didn't criticize the inclusion of Trent Lott. He doesn't have a knee-jerk negative response to pols who aren't progressive, nor do most people. Again: Major difference between fascist and right of center/GOP.
His opposition to MARA (3-18-19), clued "Presidential retreat," was similarly misunderstood. He was very clear about this: It isn't a prez retreat. Only Camp David -- owned by the US and available to every US prez -- is that. Mar-a-lago is a profit-making entity owned by the current prez, who is illegally making additional money from it *because* he's the prez.
I'm speaking up not to defend RP -- he can do that himself, if he wants to -- but to implore everyone to pay attention. Respond to what people -- not just RP but everyone -- actually say/write, not what you hastily perceive. Not paying attention is part of the reason why the world is in such bad shape.
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