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Pretentious in modern lingo / TUE 4-30-19 / Patron saint of lost causes / Youth-oriented Condé Nast publication / Believe it as retort
Tuesday, April 30, 2019
Constructor: Erik Agard
Relative difficulty: Medium (3:49)
Theme answers:
- CHEAP TRICK (17A: *Rock and Roll Hall of Fame band with the hits "The Flame" and "I Want You to Want Me")
- HEADSLAP (4D: *Relative of a facepalm)
- BODY DOUBLE (58A: *Actor's stand-in)
- LONG JUMP (39D:*Track-and-field event)
Jude, also known as Judas Thaddaeus (Greek: Θαδδαῖος; Coptic: ⲑⲁⲇⲇⲉⲟⲥ; Syriac/Aramaic: ܝܗܘܕܐ ܫܠܝܚܐ),[5]was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus. He is generally identified with Thaddeus, and is also variously called Jude of James, Jude Thaddaeus, Judas Thaddaeus or Lebbaeus. He is sometimes identified with Jude, the brother of Jesus, but is clearly distinguished from Judas Iscariot, the apostle who betrayed Jesus prior to his crucifixion. Catholic writer Michal Hunt suggests that Judas Thaddaeus became known as Jude after early translators of the New Testament from Greek into English sought to distinguish him from Judas Iscariot and subsequently abbreviated his forename.[6] Most versions of the New Testament in languages other than English and French refer to Judas and Jude by the same name.The Armenian Apostolic Church honors Thaddeus along with Saint Bartholomew as its patron saints. In the Roman Catholic Church, he is the patron saint of desperate cases and lost causes.Saint Jude's attribute is a club. He is also often shown in icons with a flame around his head. This represents his presence at Pentecost, when he received the Holy Spirit with the other apostles. Another common attribute is Jude holding an image of Jesus Christ, known as the Image of Edessa. In some instances, he may be shown with a scroll or a book (the Epistle of Jude) or holding a carpenter's rule. (wikipedia)
• • •
Apparently FAKE DEEP has currency right now as a phrase. It doesn't feel like "modern lingo" to me—just a phrase anyone might've said at any point in the last, say, forty years. But I'm assured by my self-described "zillennial" friend Jenna that it's very much a thing right now, and I trust her. From my old-ass POV, it just seemed like a random phrase whose meaning was obvious but whose stand-alone cred seemed wobbly. Also, I hope I'm not the only one who got HEAD- at 4D: *Relative of a facepalm and wrote in HEADDESK. I mean, I was Certain that was right. HEADSLAP is practically the same thing as a facepalm, and certainly HEADDESK is more a "relative" if we are judging relatedness by how relatively modern-slangy the terms are. HEADSLAP is old school. Not complaining here, just wishing the answer had been something it ultimately wasn't. Alas. Again with the CRIT today? Shudder. Maybe I'm just too close to the world of that abbr., but it makes me cringe. I love NINA / SIMONE so was very frustrated to have struggled to get her today because the song used to clue her is not what I think of as iconically hers. It's iconically Screaming Jay Hawkins'. Her version is Great, as is virtually everything she does. This, for instance, is my favorite song:
But when I see the title "I Put a Spell on You," this is what I hear:
SZECHUAN is a great-looking word. I had PAPA before PAPI—last letter in the grid! That's one that requires confirmation from the cross. I keep looking at AND SOON to remember what the clue was, only to remember, "oh right, it's AND SO ON" (23A: Et cetera). I never even saw the clue for WAY until someone just now asked me what the hell it meant. This is my main frame of reference:
Good day.
Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld
[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]
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76 comments:
This puzzle took me over twice as long as my usual Tuesday time because I had HEADSLAM instead of HEADSLAP, and I was stumped by UTE_. I finally figured out that it had to be something other than SLAM, and when I had successfully solved the puzzle, I Googled UTEP and saw that it was an abbreviation for University of Texas El Paso. So I guess I learned that today.
I liked it!
After all, with CHEAP TRICK, SZECHUAN, GULLIBLE, BODY DOUBLE, HEAD SLAP, ROYGBIV, and MAY I CUT IN how can you not?
Some of the best food out there hails from Szechuan, and Szechuan puts French “cuisine” to shame. Not that that is difficult to do.
Quick, fair, a little resistance and the devilishly clued PAPI – no indication of foreign-language-ness there – and I had to enjoy it. Not that I didn’t want to.
Thanks, Erik. It’s what I expect on a Tuesday.
Mark, in Mickey’s North 40
Medium. Cute, smooth, a couple of zippy themers, liked it.
Nice Tuesday puzzle, despite the cross referencing. The solve was worth a SHOT, eventually. I might even have a DOUBLE SHOT before retiring.
It's really none of my business, but cutesy family names for relatives rankle me inwardly. If POPI is your loved one, I apologize. Not gonna die on this hill.
Moving on, I grew up in a Bible teaching church, and as a result I know more about the scriptures than most practicing Christians. Bible gardens for $100, Alex; what is Gethsemane? How come there are only two in this category? Help me here.
The transitive verb is LAY which needs a direct object to complete the action of the subject and verb. Lie, not so much. In Southern California, we go to the beach and lay out; speaking my regional dialect.
BBC did the Shakespeare canon years ago and Othello was played by Anthony Hopkins, yes,in dark face, and IAGO was played by Bob Hoskins and I can't imagine any better production, ever. The latter is so insidious and lovable.
I'm no musician, but music is a big part of my life. Bill Withers's music is an outlier. His vocalizations are unique and his lyrics are eccentric and raw, even after all these years. "I know, I know, I know, I know..." like 27 times. Definitely worth listening with fresh ears.
Not much to comment on. Theme meant nothing to me even after finishing the puzzle, and ebb after Rex's comments.
But wow, fast, as in, really easy. Second fastest Tuesday solve in the past 16 months.
Only troubles were from trying to enter POPS instead of PAPI, and UNDERSTUDY instead of BODYBOUDLE.
Super easy Tuesday puzzle. Had to think a little with the “see 31D, with 44D, see 38A, AND SO ON. Hate those kind of clues.
Only one write over DISk before DISC. Took a minute to grasp the theme after finishing.
SZECHUAN, my favorite Chinese cooking.
I thought maybe the fact that the themers intersected other themers was what made the "shots" "GROUP / SHOTS"
Well duh. GROUP crossing SHOTS kinda gives that away, yeah?
@Unknown -- "Szechuan puts French “cuisine” to shame. Not that that is difficult to do."
OK, them's fighting words. My guess is that you've never been to France, and especially never gotten out into the countryside to sample France's varied cuisines, or seafood, wine and cheeses. It can also be a personal thing, I admit. I like SZECHUAN (great puzzle word) and Hunan better than some of the other Chinese cuisines, but after a week of Chinese meals (in China), it takes me six months before I can face Chinese food again. Indian, on the other hand, I never tire of.
I liked all the good, straight-forward, and often fresh, words in the puzzle, especially those at the far end of the alphabet like UMBER, VEERS, VIAL. I didn't really grock the theme, but now that @Rex has explained it, OK, fine.
My hold-ups were MA_ crossing RO_GBIV. I finally decided it had to be a Y for yellow, but I had a mistake elsewhere in the puzzle, which added another 10 minutes to my solve time on the IPAD. As will have been the case for many, I suspect, I had a hard time accepting UTEP, and for awhile tried to make UTEx work. (I agree with @Rex: there isn't much of a difference between HEAD SLAP and face palm, at least not in how I perform it.) No, my mistake turned out to be a stupid one: spelling the lady's name REEcE instead of REESE.
Always nice to see OAT in a puzzle, even though it tends to be over-used. Cold milk over OATs, dressed up with nuts and fruit, has become my daily breakfast. ATE some this morning. Like Indian food, I don't tire of it.
Thanks for the great music videos, @Rex. I, too, am a FAN of the late, great NINA SIMONE, but also Screaming Jay Hawkins.
Nice to see an old video of Billy Joel, who can always be counted on for EDGy lyrics. I wonder how many classical music lovers out there are aware that he is also a composer of Chopinesque piano music. Here is a link to a piece from his album, Fantasies & Delusions, performed by Richard joo.
@Joe Dipinto called it – of course these are group shots since there are four kinds of shots in both corners. Two themers cross each other, and the two reveal words cross. My cup runneth over. This is a terrific puzzle, and I don’t give a fig that the theme is “tired.” The trick (where both the first and last word of a common phrase can hook up with a third word) fascinates me. Hard not to think of other possibilities. Blood bank, big screen, foul up…
Rex – When I was at Carolina, the department right next to Linguistics was Comp Lit. I’m just finishing Anne Curzan’s Great Courses (The Secret Lives of Words), and she mentioned this woman, Connie Eble, and I was like, I know her and looked her up and bam - there she was listed with Carolina’s faculty and I remembered where her office was and that she taught lit CRIT. That’s what everyone called it. So anyway, I immediately felt a like a bit of a big shot since I know someone who was mentioned in a book. It’s kinda the cousin of seeing the local tv weatherman out in the wild and saying Hi. Being associated with anything on screen or in a book makes me feel proud. Important.
I bet some people went with “tilt” before LIST. Not me, since, brag brag, I worked on a boat. A tub. And we had a hacksaw hanging on a hammer that was our warning that the boat was starting to list. And it was always listing.
@Larry – yay for using LAY intransitively. I’ma come stand over with you.
I have never heard anyone say FAKE DEEP, but I really like it. How does it work? Like,
A: Man, that self-appointed transitive/intransitive pedant is FAKE DEEP.
B: WAY.
Erik – nice, easy-breezy Tuesday. Don’t let the CRACKPOTS get you down.
ANDSOON is a DOOK!
There were a passel of little things to like in this puzzle. The mini-theme of double E's (6). ALOHA/WONKA/ACCRA/BUBBA/NINA. The matching LIST/GIST corners. And that clue for QUITS [What to call it when it's over].
The theme wasn't exciting to me, but it was impressive, coming up with all those SHOTmates that made phrases and then crossing them, and on the NYT app, when they all turn yellow, it's beautiful to look at. The puzzle is so smooth that I found it to be calming.
I was amazed that this was a NYT debut for GULLIBLE, and surprised that it was also a first time for HEAD SLAP and LONG JUMP. No surprise at FAKE DEEP.
No long shot that I liked this offering from Hot Shot Agard -- thank you sir.
Quick, but not easy today. I hemmed and hawed, but got ‘er done. Fun challenge.
Quick fill but never got the theme. And PAPI definitely should have been clued as foreign.
Did not get the theme while solving, which always disappoints me.
Easy, yes. Never even saw the clue for ROYGBIV, which is a good thing as the mnemonic I learned was VIBGYOR.
Saw Cheap Trick and Peter Frampton at Wolf Trap … 2015, I think it was. I really went for Cheap Trick, and they were great (though I still miss Bun E. Carlos), but Frampton knocked my socks off.
Any puzzle with (Big) PAPI has to make you smile, because David Ortiz, greatest clutch hitter in Bosox history, and world champion hugger. Wishing he would un-retire.
Meanwhile, I'm waiting for an absolutely fresh and original NYTXW. Maybe each clue could be in a different language, or randomly numbered, or no vowels, something like that.
Good smooth fun, EA. Only complaint here is that it was over too soon.
I was breezing along (for me) and then had to take a DNF when I naticked at SZECHUAN FAKEDEEP crossing. I ran the alphabet in my head and still nothing. Had to do a reveal for one lousy letter. Oh well.
I am continuously amazed that Rex can find something to crit about any puzzle and am disturbed when his criticisms are so baseless such as complaining that two is not a group while missing the obvious fact that the themes crossed each other. Always a critic never a (fill in the blank). I just wish there was a way to get to Loren Muse Smith’s commentary without having to wade through Rex’s negativity (@LMS hint hint starting your own blog). Loved the dunk mug shot today!
@Hungry6:49 --
Did you see my message to you early yesterday afternoons?
Generally easy and fun. Had a dnf because I went with refs for 8d and face deep for 9d. Didn't help that those answers rendered 17a nonsensical since I never heard of the band and often band names make no sense. @Rex how can you get Nina and not immediately know Simone? Is there any other Nina?
I needed Rex's explanation to understand the theme. From the arrangement of the theme clues, I fully expected the crossed clues to be related in some way. Now that I understand... that's barely a theme worth bothering with.
This puzzle was neither good nor bad for me, but with a lot of false guesses. I had "Pops" then "Papa" before PAPI. "And more" before "AND SO ON". "Understudy" before BODY DOUBLE. "Mouth" before CHEEK. "Bear" before LION. "Tamu" before UTEP. "Omber" before UMBER.
GOT AT seemed like a feeble answer for 32A: Intimidated, and ROYGBIV is barely a mnemonic. But those aren't major criticisms. There was nothing here that I felt strongly about one way or the other.
My word of the day would be RAND. I wasn't familiar with this name for the South African currency.
I dunno, there are Lit classes, but are there Lit Crit classes? What, exactly, would be the difference. I mean, like, dontcha look critically at literature in a Lit class? Maybe instead of looking at literature you’d only look at the criticism? Nah. That’d be FAKE DEEP.*
@Unknown7:47 - Rex mentioned it and discounted it. Sometimes things go swoosh. It happens.
What’s with Blogger going with the “Unknown” appellation? This has occurred to people before (@numinous had issues once upon a time) and I don’t think we ever got to the bottom of the problem.
Solved this as a themeless. It’s a good themeless. Totally missed the theme because I was looking for something more from Agard. Like Rex, this is a let down based on my expectations rather than on the actual thing. For most constructors I’d have been giving two thumbs up.
*Forgot to add my note - I had a buddy way back when who never read the actual text but would delve deeply into all the esoteric commentary. Seriously. Like reading Rex but never doing the puzzle. I had a phrase for him that I stole from Roseanne Barr, “a special kind of stupid.”
I also come here for Loren Muse Smith's commentary. Hey, @Loren Muse Smith, I took a class called Modern Grammar with Connie Able at UNC. As you probably know, she is a linguist who studies slang. Always wondered what a linguist was doing in the English Dept. Maybe it was to teach that grammar class, which was one of the ways doctoral students could fulfill the philological requirement.
Meh. Kinda boring. Typical for a Tuesday, I guess.
I thought the puzzle was just OK. Liked the unusual placement of themers. Didn’t really understand the theme until I came here, and now completely agree that the GROUPs are the four words in each cross.
Among my least favorite language things are mnemonics that are more cumbersome and harder to remember than what they supposedly mnemonize, and ROYGBIV is clearly Exhibit A for such. Who even needs to remember the order of colors in the rainbow/spectrum, and who can fail to do so just by visualizing the transitions from one to another? Not to mention that the “I”, standing for indigo, represents a non-existent hue in contemporary color science. My recollection is that Newton and some of his contemporaries wanted the visual color sequence to correspond to the aural scale in music, with its seven intervals, a concept having no empirical basis.
Of more significance and interest is the distinction between violet and purple. The former is definitely a spectral color sensation produced by monochromatic light of the shortest visible wavelengths (just below ultraviolet), while the latter is produced only by combinations containing both long (red) and short wavelengths. (All spectral hues can be duplicated by combinations of wavelengths, but purples require them.) The fact that most people see some “red” in pure violet light remains a challenge for modern color theorists to explain.
🤭
@Z - your 2nd post reminds me of our book club member who would never read the book, but would comment on what the rest of us had to say about the book.
Would like to have seen VODKA- as one of the themer lead-ins.
I liked the theme, good 'aha' moment on realising what it was. Puzzle much better than Sunday and Monday.
Like @Z, I solved this as a themeless. After which, I hadn't a clue what the theme was. Had to come here to find out. Now that I see what the theme is, I don't feel that the revealer made it especially clear -- not that it really matters.
WAY means "believe it!"??? Surely you GIST. And what a CHEAP TRICK to cross it with the rainbow mnemonic. Non-visual me had to actually picture a rainbow in my head, figure out that R=red and O=orange and that G=green and that yellow was the most likely color to come between orange and green, especially with blue and violet waiting in the wings and then add a Y to my WA to get WAY. What a roundabout WAY to get WAY, by the WAY.
FAKE DEEP was equally annoying as modern lingo, but at least it's intuitive. WAY is not intuitive. In spite of the polite but fusty phrase from my own youth that no one ever says anymore, MAY I CUT IN -- a sop to the long-in-the-tooth solver? -- I found the puzzle aggressively youthful, as I find many of Agard's puzzles. I'd like to borrow from Stephen Colbert's wonderful word "Truthiness" and call Agard's seeming enchantment with the latest textspeak and Internet slang: "Youthiness".
I threw in Frou Frou before Fake Deep, which is way new to me. That held me up big time. And didn’t know the rainbow thing. Where was I when all of you were learning these mnemonics? I’ve never heard of any of them, such as this and the one for the Great Lakes. I did learn about every good boy who deserves fudge. But is that a mnemonic? This one had no meaning to it. And would seem way hard to remember. I wish Rex had put up a video of Jane Oliver singing “I’m Always Chasing Rainbows.”
Lit Crit is def a thing. Why diss it? We used to say it that way when I was in college. Back when we had to type our essays on clackety Olivettis. I majored in Literature in college. Not English or Comp Lit. And we had to take a couple of Lit Crit classes. There is a distinction. In Literature classes you read the works themselves. Sometimes more than once. Lit Crit is more about how these works fit into the history of literature or the canon. You would read Van Wyck Brooks, Foucault and Lacan, at least back in my day, and discuss the meanings of the text. Less so the intent of the author. Or how it made you feel. And rarely how it was written. I took it all with a grain of salt and a brace of aspirins. That’s my two cents.
Thanks Erik Agard for a fun Tuesday puzzle even if it made little sense to this superannuated solver.
And so is GO TAT.
Strange sort of puzzle. I've come to expect strange from Erik; I got it.
PAPI made me smile. I always go looking for the smile. I called my Dad PAPI and I also call my husband PAPI. It's a sweet name - unlike BUBBA. Apologies to those of you named BUBBA, but does anyone take you seriously? On the other side of the CHEEK, Watson is fun to watch swing that ball.
Back to the premise of the puzzle..... Didn't see where this was going; for some reason, didn't care. The puzzle was dancing all over the place - a long word here, a long word there, I wanted someone to CUT IN. NINA SIMONE to the rescue. She's delish.
SZECHUAN cuisine is just fine - nothing more. The problem is that every single dish begins to taste the same. It is all ginger, garlic, chili peppers and sesame seeds. ON EVERYTHING. Eating it twice a year is good...maybe. French cuisine, on the other hand.....I'll take it every day. Hi @mericans in Paris.
FAKE DEEP was new to me and using WAY as a retort is kinda cute. I like learning new things and trying to sound like I don't live in a cave.
Sunday, Monday and Tuesday (so far) have not done much for moi.....I hope hump day comes shining through.
I really enjoyed this puzzle! Came in 13 minutes below my Tuesday average, so I guess it was fairly easy, but really enjoyable.
I can’t believe Rex didn’t comment on how clean this fill is, as he’s been reacting very strongly to some ugly fill and this is pretty damn clean of you ask me.
The theme didn’t resonate completely with me while solving, and seeing it spelled out here helps. I did think that when used as a verb, “group” can just mean “combine” and the number of things *in* the group, whether 2 or more, isn’t really relevant?
I struggled most with ROYGBIV, which I’d never come across before, but it fell into place when I solve the downs. Same for ___CHUAN which I knew had to be SZECHUAN but my mind had forgotten about the Z, so I was confused as to why it has three letters open still :)
All in all an entertaining puzzle, and solved within my morning commute. Fun!
Bubba hit best recovery iron shot I’ve seen, 170 yds out, in pines, hooked wedge 40 yds, to land on green and win Masters playoff 2012.
@"PAPI should have been clued as foreign" - You know there are Spanish speaking people in America, no? Tons of them. Hell, we have an island or two full of them, American citizens all. Call their father PAPI.
@GILL - I have a dog named BUBBA, and the question isn't does anyone take him seriously, but does he take me seriously, and the answer is no. We have a severe deer overpopulation here, as well as a severe overpopulation of self-important assholes in Expeditions with Bambi Bars with no respect for anyone or anything, so we have a severe road-kill problem here. Either on their own, or with the help of coyotes, they manage to drag themselves deep into the woods were Bubba and I walk to die. Bubba likes to find them, or what's left of them. This past winter, we went 8 days in a row where he would triumphantly bring me a leg, and when I say a leg, I mean a leg from toe to either scapula or pelvis. Convincing him to give up his trophy frequently involved bribery. Now he just finds something, drops it at my feet and looks at me expectantly for his treat. Because that's what he's trained me to do.
I loved this one. Maybe my favorite Agard puzzle so far. It was fun to solve and then go back to figure out the theme.
Rex can call this a "dad puzzle" all he wants but when a grid has way (as clued), TMI, and fake deep it feels full of youthiness (Hi @ Nancy).
I totally agree with @mericans re: French food. It's my favorite in the world and you know the French must love their cuisine because who else would go through so many steps to achieve perfection.
Papi reminded me of the Seinfeld episode with Papi and Jerry's couch.
More Tuesdays like this please.
What in the world does Rex mean by HEADDESK?
I spent too much time trying to figure out if there was an easy way to put an X into this puzzle, but couldn't come up with one. I liked it anyway, though -- even though I'd have thought FAKE DEEP was a football play (American football, that is).
I had Id est before I MEAN, and paused to admire the commonly-abbreviated-Latin-phrases minitheme, before MOOD made me take it out. And I found the cross of FAN and FOND just adorbs.
As @pablo points out, PAPI is no longer a foreign word in New England.
What I learned today: raw UMBER is not in the rainbow.
My only hangups were aMBER and my continual confusion with GyST.
My only "complaint" is that PAPI is a nickname for dad in a different language. It would have been nice to have been clued that way. "Nickname for the hermano of the family" or something like that.
Apropos of nothing, I read somewhere once (and I'm not going to look it up again) that if the light spectrum were to rap around, the linking color would be pink. But it doesn't rap around, so technically "Pink" as a color of light does not exist, it's made up. We see it in pigmentation, but not light.
FWIW, LMS entries are TL;DR for me. I do recommend she just start her own blog since she's basically got one going here anyway. Get it over with already.
@sue t. - I got hung up at the same point. My first instinct was HEADDESK, so HEADSLAM seemed plausible. So I learned a thing, too.
FAKEDEEP? My internetting skews young but I’ve never come across that one. Deep fakes? Now those are scary stuff.
I liked the intersection of chewing tobacco’s CHEEK with ICK. Very apropos.
@'mericans 3:58 AM
Well, I admit I only spent a week in Monaco and Nice; the offerings were nothing to write home about. I like food, not sauce. That's just me.
When I saw that this was an Agard, I was thrilled and thought it would be difficult. But, no, vintage EA yet Tuesday easy- for me! I find myself in tune with Mr. A much more often than with , say, BEQ.
Loved it. As @LMS observed, clever, skillful construction. Agard is a master. And speaking of Masters, how about Tiger exemplifying the word? Love him or or don’t, but he is undeniably one of the most tenacious and devoted athletes in the world, and exemplifies the word “Master.”
The lie-LAY discussion made me chuckle. I am the progeny of English teachers and learned to diagram sentences at an early age, and was blessed or cursed to have some spectacular English teachers during my school years. Mrs. Nellie Roenker, 7th grade was the absolute best, and had such engaging idiosyncrasies that endlessly engaged the evil minds of my junior high class . Her entire wardrobe consisted of shirtwaist dresses with which she sported a variety of sparkly elasticized sequined belts at the waist. She accessorized with a seemingly endless supply of layers and layers of necklaces made of strings of dried corn dyed brilliant colors. She was a task mistress for sure, and naturally the butt of rude 7th grade “corn” jokes, but all these years later, I am so grateful for her lessons and her perseverance. I once won quite a sum of money when one of the tax lawyers with whom I worked bet me he was the only person who could diagram a particular sentence from the Internal Revenue Code. Ha! He had no idea that al I had to do was I channel my inner “ Nellie.”
Fast forward to today and to the plight of my daughter (turning 40 in June) who never learned diagramming in her early schooling. Her “grammar” knowledge consisted of writing in a journal on a daily basis through the 5th grade and having the teacher correct writing style and grammar with only red marks. So, being the “meanest mother in the universe,” I insisted that we do some extra language homework so that she would actually learn grammar. And now a teacher, she has reported that her school system in California teaches grammar; what a relief! My daughter thanked me the other day for my efforts on her behalf. She said she would have had to do hours of study to be able to teach her 5th and 6th grade grammar study if it had t been for my insistence. Proof that if you live long enough, it is possible that your children will actually appreciate you.
Today I spelled SZECHUAN correctly, on the first try, learned FAKEDEEP (had no idea), had PoPs before PAPI, and came in about half my Tuesday time. A great start to the day.
Hey All !
Where's the X for the pangram? C'mon Erik, I was all happy when I saw the Q, Z, and J, but no X. STUNned, one might say. :-)
I did find a spot for the X. 27A could be LAX, and then change a few other answers to make it work. Just sayin'.
Nice puz, couldn't figure out the theme, though. Disappointed in myself for that. Words that precede SHOT. Had to call it QUITS (fun clue) and come here to see what was up.
ROYGBIV, yep, know it. FAKE DEEP, nope, don't know it. Who comes up with these (OATH) phrases?
AND SO ON clued instead of as AND SOON. Odd. AMOK can be a DOOK. AM OK. Man, do you feel alright?
Yeah, I AM OK.
BUBBA UMBER
RooMonster
DarrinV
@Wm C: sorry, missed your comment yesterday. Yes, my handle here comes from that state park. Many years ago, I passed the park on a family trip and read the history of the name. I was teaching computer courses in the early days of email, gothers, and such. I picked “hungrymother” as my login ID for some applications. This is also the base of my main email address. Elsewhere I use “computingdoc” as an ID and base of other email accounts. I lease a server which supports many of my domains, so I have a myriad of email addresses. I’m known as “Wild Bill” on FaceBook and in some running and kayaking circles. .
The revealer didn't reveal anything to me. Had to come here to see what it was all about. Took a long time to fill in without any fun answers or joy. Dislike. Was hoping for a more angry response from Rex. Oh well, there is always tomorrow.
So now I know what a BODY SHOT is. At first, I was thinking photography. Then I checked the Urban Dictionary and oh boy was I wrong. Anyone have some salt?
About the French vs. SZECHUAN debate. While less true today (except, according to Bourdain, in the countryside), French food was/is about the necessity of sauces to mask the fetid smell of putrid meats. Nothing in history tells me, at least, that any Chinese cuisine was developed that way.
I knew WAY from my gen Z son, but FAKE DEEP was new to me. PAPA proceeded PAPI.
@Pete, “because that’s what he trained me to do” made my day. My cats gang up on me and train me too.
I love Erik's puzzles & look forward to them - but this one, with some old stuff & some new stuff, left me disappointed.
@Nancy at 8:44 AM -- "I'd like to borrow from Stephen Colbert's wonderful word "Truthiness" and call Agard's seeming enchantment with the latest textspeak and Internet slang: "Youthiness".
I nominate that the best comment of the day, if not the week.
@GILL I and Runs with Scissors -- Hey, Gill! I agree with you, RwS: sauces, especially bad sauces, can be overdone. Often they are a sign of a restaurant that relies too much on the tourist trade. I am seeing two positive trends in France: the rediscovery of regional cuisines, such as Corsican and Basque, and continued experimentation with influences from other Mediterranean countries, particularly Italy, Morocco, and Spain.
Thanks, @merican!
This is why I come here. I was also wondering about "GROUP" and now see, thanks to you all, that the arrangement of the themers/reveal raises this puzzle from ordinary to brilliant.
I WAY liked this puzzle. 42D was my favorite answer - I needed all of the crosses and then realized I had used it in that fashion many times, trying to sound hip and cool in my 20s.
My co-worker and I were both in ignorance of FAKE DEEP - he thought at first it might be FAKED EEP. I haven't asked him yet if he knows HEADdesk. I certainly didn't. Cute but I don't think I'll be using it any time soon. On the other hand, I'm prone to picking things like that up. Way!
My eye keeps falling on 11D, MAYICUTIN, and my brain hears it sounding like execution or electrocution. Brain going AMOK.
Thanks, Erik, nice Tuesday.
Sorry y’all. I meant Jane OlivOR. @8:45am
If you want to hear a powerful Nina Simone song that will twist up your guts, google “Nina Simone Mississippi Goddam”. I'll try to send a link but it's easy enough to google. https://www.google.com/search?q=noina+simine+tennesee+goddamn&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=en-us&client=safari
p.s. I really like the Mississippi Goddam version that is 4:59 minutes.
I need the help of a kind, sweet moderator. It seems that my comments don't always get posted. They're innocuous so I don't believe they could get censored. Now I see that @Nancy has had the same problem. Am I doing something wrong? Is there a glitch? Just wondering.
Thanks.
@GILL I
As one of the moderators, I can tell you that, in order to be efficient, I "publish" your comments just upon seeing your name, without first reading them, as I do @Nancy's and all the other regulars. The other moderators probably do the same.
The problem must lie elsewhere.
Gill
I have had same difficulties, to the point of exasperation/quitting. Sometime go to “web version”, whatever that is, but tire of running robot maze.
To steal (and slightly mangle) a quip from one Merlin Mann (whose subject was a movie critic), and apply it to Rex: He has never seen a crossword he enjoyed as much as his review of it.
I thought this puzzle was cool. PAPI is an underwear brand that I buy occasionally (TMI!). I have to use the colors of the rainbow as a mnemonic to remember ROYGBIV.
@QuasiMojo -- back when I worked at Sam Goody's record store in Rockefeller Center, they had regular in-store autograph signings by current artists; Jane Olivor was among them. Her big hit at the time was a slow version of "He's So Fine". Seems like she withdrew from performing for extended lengths of time.
Dear moderator. Thank you. Might I add, job well done by all of you. Thankless job, I'm sure.
Yes @Joe DiPinto, she suffered from severe stage fright. But she made a come back tour a few years ago. I remember that Sam Goody’s!
I always hear WAY as in "No WAY!" "Yes, WAY! But small quibble, maybe the newest generation leaves off the yes. Billy Joel isn't my favorite, but he sure can do a catchy tune, there's a marvelous interview with him on NPR's "Here's the Thing" that is well worth searching out.
In my world face palms and HEADSLAPs look completely different.
Easier than Monday. Never heard of FAKE DEEP.
Easy Tuesday for me; fastest yet.
"I Put a Spell on You" is definitely one of the incomparable NINA SIMONE's best known songs. Her take is different from Screamin' Jay Hawkins. Both are classics. Thanks to Erik for including NINA!
headdesk origin and meaning.
Mississippi goddam
@Gill I, @Nancy, @ghthree, and @unknowns - Huh, seems like Blogger is messing with people. Hopefully this is just a minor hiccup, but Blogger is old software that Google seems to not update much. I wonder if Rex will be forced to move to another host at some point.
Lots of hockey terms. Check out this version of Bill Withers Ain't no Sunshine https://youtu.be/jLsye_LJ_Ks
I love Bill Withers too
He is much under appreciated
Probably too late, but here is head desk from the web:
Urban Dictionary: headdesk
www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=headdesk
1) The act of head butting a desk/keyboard in frustration when something on the computer freezes/takes forever to load up/generally buggers up. 2) Also done in response to a person making a stupid comment.
Oh, and liked the puzzle. Easy for me, using crosses to correct spelling of Chinese fare.
i have read you blog maybe 10 or 20 times
you always seem so negative, not really happy with the puzzle
kind of a downer
MAYICUTIN?
Pay no attention to the OFC behind the curtain: this is one beautiful puzzle. The theme and centrally located revealer work just fine. How much more could you throw in there? BANKOUTSIDE?? Four sets of DOUBLE SHOTS: that's remarkable enough, being paired off to form perfectly recognizable phrases. One wonders what it would take to impress you-know-who. m.
He does concede that there's a lot of fun fill; that's true. SZECHUAN! ROYGBIV! (What's next, WAJJMAJ?) And nary an RRN or an EKE to be found. My search for a nit to pick could turn up nothing worse than PAPI--but that has David Ortiz immunity.
All this plus a DOD stage so crowded it requires a GROUP SHOT. The winner? Why not she whose entire name is there: NINA SIMONE? Done. Eagle--and a tap-in at that.
The "never find anything good about a Tuesday puzzle" rule is obviously still in effect.
I find the author's puzzles becoming much more accessible - I liked it.
Oh - there was a theme?
Really liked this one, especially how the themers GROUPed two shots into one answer. Maybe a common theme type, but well done here. Plus they cross all over the place.
I firmly believe that I coined WAY as a retort in a Chemistry class in 1982 when a student said "no way" to my announcement that the lab the next day would be carried out individually rather than in pairs. I should engrave a plaque.
My local grandson calls me PAPA (as opposed to my other grandchildren in Ontario who call me Grandad because in both cases the other grandfathers claimed "Grampa", dammit), and I prefer that to PAPI. Anyway, Ortiz is "Big PAPI".
And this puzzle, without being FAKE DEEP, is a big success. Come back Erik, AND SOON.
WAY
to go, Tuesday puzzle
No CHEEK required in this writing - had a good time.
lady di
LION' LYES
AIN'T it a HEADSLAP why he CONSULTS
with a SIREN WAY too quick,
AND_SOON he's FAKEDEEP in results:
IMEAN what a CHEAPTRICK
--- TROY RAND
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