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Relative difficulty: Easy (2:47—personal best Tuesday time)
Theme answers:
- TEE SHIRT (17A: Souvenir from a concert tour)
- ROUGH RIDER (21A: Cavalryman under Teddy Roosevelt during the Spanish-American War)
- BUNKER HILL (32A: Revolutionary War battle in Boston)
- GREEN SALAD (42A: Leafy course)
- CUP OF COCOA (54A: Hot order with marshmallows)
Tim Bergling (Swedish: [tɪm ²bærjlɪŋ]; 8 September 1989 – 20 April 2018), known professionally as Avicii(/əˈviːtʃi/, Swedish: [aˈvɪtːɕɪ]), was a Swedish electronic musician, DJ, and songwriter who specialized in audio programming, remixing and record producing.At the age of 16, Bergling began posting his remixes on electronic music forums, which led to his first record deal. He rose to prominence in 2011 with his single "Levels". His debut studio album, True (2013), blended electronic music with elements of multiple genres and received generally positive reviews. It peaked in the top ten in more than fifteen countries and topped international dance charts; the lead single, "Wake Me Up", topped most music markets in Europe and reached number four in the United States.In 2015, Bergling released his second studio album, Stories, and in 2017 he released an EP, Avīci (01). His catalog also included the singles "I Could Be the One" with Nicky Romero, "You Make Me", "X You", "Hey Brother", "Addicted to You", "The Days", "The Nights", "Waiting for Love", "Without You" and "Lonely Together". Bergling was nominated for a Grammy Award for his work on "Sunshine" with David Guetta in 2012 and "Levels" in 2013. Several music publications credit Bergling as among the DJs who ushered electronic music into Top 40 radio in the early 2010s.Bergling retired from touring in 2016 due to health problems, having suffered stress and poor mental health for several years. On 20 April 2018, Bergling died by suicide in Muscat, Oman. He was buried on 8 June in his hometown of Stockholm. His posthumous third album titled Tim was released in 2019. (wikipedia)
• • •
As for the fill, it was OK, though it's kinda wobbly or at least questionable in a number of places. I really want to question AVICII, who was a huge force in the musical world, it's true, and whose name was all over even non-music media a few years ago, after his untimely death, but I would stake my vast blogging empire on a bet that a significant majority of NYT solvers will have little to no idea who he is. It's weird to introduce him to the NYT solving world on a Tuesday (as I suspected, AVICII is a debut appearance). His name is a hilarious outlier, compared to everything else in the grid. It's the only answer I can imagine even a casual solver's not knowing. Well ... there's also MT ADAMS (what the hell?), but at least there, the clue pretty much hands you the answer (50A: Washington peak named after the second U.S. president). I don't know that AVICII is good fill. I am always happy to see the puzzle branch out in terms of its regular fields of interest, and AVICII's popularity is certainly sufficiently substantial (if not with the typical NYTXW-solving crowd), but ... it feels like it was crammed down in that corner just 'cause. Just to get a debut answer in there. You mean I gotta endure UVEA and EFILE and SNOCAT because you desperately wanted to be the first to drop AVICII? On a Tuesday? Feels weird. Like it's not here for good reasons. And I'm saying this as someone who (sorta kinda) knew the name (stored it away after all the obits rolled out). I mean, if you need him, by all means use him, but if you don't ...
I got slowed down a few times, nowhere worse than at the very end, by a cruddy little federal agcy. (61D: U.S. consumer watchdog, for short) (FTC). That's the Federal Trade Commission, right? Ugh, I would avoid fed agcys. when possible—it's just an alphabet soup, and no one's ever happy to see those answers. But if you needed one, why not go with the FDA (an agcy. whose name is way way way more familiar to me) and then just change MOONS to MOODS? You'd get I DID at 63A, which I like better than INIT, even if I SEE is very nearby (so you'd get two "I ___" phrases in close proximity). Actually, all the fill down there could be totally reworked, and maybe should be. None of it is exactly shining. Anyway, sorting that little answer cost me many seconds. I also wrote in ON THE QT before ON THE DL (7D: Hush-hush), ST. PATTY before ST. PADDY (23A: March parade honoree, colloquially), and needed all the crosses for the ugly legalese HERETO (35D: Regarding this point). But again, theme works fine, and I can't really complain about "difficulty" if I set a personal record, so as Tuesdays go, I'm not mad.
Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld
P.S. [24D: Song that can't be sung alone] (DUET) ... "Can't" *Can't*? Everyone who has ever sung "Islands in the Stream" in the shower begs to differ.
[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]
A Tuesday puzzle that was easier than most Mondays. Every entry was a “gimme”. Well, except for AVICII, but that filled itself with crosses.
ReplyDeleteEasy-medium. Not the smoothest path to a par on a par four, but the score card only shows the number, not how you got there. Liked it except for AVICII which I was sure was wrong. Evan explains why he used it in his Xwordinfo comments and Jeff explains why he gave the puzzle POW in-spite of AVICII.
ReplyDeletePretty good theme, disappointing theme but we did beat our Tuesday record.
ReplyDeleteAlso a personal best for me. I've never heard of AVICII and boy did that look wrong going in.
ReplyDeleteThe FTC was created in 1914 and its fiscal year 2019 budget was roughly $306 million. It has important antitrust and consumer protection authority and is the leading federal regulatory agency on privacy issues. “Cruddy little federal agency” doesn’t quite seem to capture all of that.
ReplyDeleteThe FTC **was** an important antitrust and consumer protection authority.
DeleteGolf is in the midst of the PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup playoffs, so this theme is sort of timely?
ReplyDeleteCan't really agree with you on either today's theme or yesterday's. Sure, yesterday's was a bit insider-ish, but I thought it was fun and even a tiny bit helpful (not that helpful, really, the puzzle as a whole was too easy for that, but still). Today's by contrast felt useless, a gimmick to be noticed long after I'd solved the whole shebang. And CUP OF COCOA and GREEN SALAD were both too high a price to pay for that theme in my opinion.
ReplyDeleteMonday and Tuesday switched again. Puzzle partner beat me to the finish line for the second time in his puzzling career, I guess it helps when you play golf three times a week.
ReplyDeleteST PADDY brought on a little sniff, it’s been five years since we had to put 17 year old “PADDY the Wonder Cat” down, still miss him.
Avatar made it into the puzzle also in the shape of a cup of COCO. Well done.
I, like Rex, had ST PAttY. Why is is it PADDY? It's not Saint PaDrick. Dumb holiday anyway.
ReplyDeletePaddy is from the Irish name Padraig. Patrick is just the Anglicized form.
DeleteFelt solid to me, woke my brain right up, and I liked the progression from tee to cup, though if it described my golf game, the first three theme answers would have started with TEE to account for my whiffs. Thank you for this little journey, Evan!
ReplyDeleteA post solve gaze found some interesting connections. SNOCAT near the GLACIER, PIGS in the same row as ATE UP, HAIRS by SPRITZ, and MELON crossing BALL.
Then my eyes rested on GLACIER, and I imagined a puzzle where a letter would be lopped off the end each time it re-appeared in the puzzle, giving a visual of it shrinking, then I quickly diverted to more joyful thinking -- the glee of a ST PADDY parade, the calm sweetness of a CUP OF COCOA.
A former Bostonian, appreciated Bunker Hill blazing across the grid. And Rough Rider is fun, too. Not a golfer (I can drive, but the fine art of putting eludes me, as does geometry), I see this was well done but it didn't hit my sweet (puzzle) spot.
ReplyDeleteIt would have been faster if I hadn’t had TaRA for a lonnng time. I almost resorted to red letters before admitting to myself that there was definitely an error there. I used to tell my students to assume there is an error when they proofread an exam or a computer program. If one is sure that they are right, tis super hard to find a fault.
ReplyDeleteWho the fuck ever heard of AVICII?
ReplyDeleteI golfed yesterday. I'm golfing today. I did this so fast I still missed the theme.
ReplyDeleteA puzzle that allowed me to feel (relatively) young and hip, as I knew both CARDI B and AVICII.
ReplyDeleteHad no idea what the revealer meant and had to visit worldplay to find out.
I’m not the best golfer. Let’s just say if I ever went TEE to ROUGH to BUNKER to GREEN to CUP, that would be the best hole I’ve played in my life. Need about three more ROUGHs, another BUNKER, a LAKE and another GREEN.
It would have been more helpful if the clue for AVICII were simply "Random letter string."
ReplyDeleteMy brother always finds more balls than he looses and courses use divers to find them in water hazards, so...
ReplyDeleteAVICII looks like a war criminal.
ReplyDeleteBefore I got the front end of Avicii I thought we were dealing with some Roman numeral. How does one get famous for making mix tapes of other peoples' music? Maybe I'll listen to the video Rex posted.
ReplyDeleteJelly beans and M&Ms is a weird way to clue dye.
I didn't get the theme until the revealer so that was fun. I'll take any fun I can get from a Terrible Tuesday.
Not into Electronica or EDM, but I do read the paper almost everyday and AVICII was pretty famous and then the whole suicide/mental health thing was all over the place and the name does what a Pop Star Name is supposed to do, so no problem here. Well, I did briefly wonder about an X being needed, but then realized I was thinking of Charli XCX. I know nothing of her music, either, but have got to respect the randomness of her Roman Numerals.
ReplyDeleteAnyone else want paint instead of SALAD? SALAD is okay, GREENs is okay. GREEN SALAD makes me yawn just typing it.
@Randy - Way to represent the men and women of FTC.
ST PADDY wagon anyone? I know I know, how stereotypical. Still, for too many American celebrants it is just another excuse to get throwing-up drunk.
AVICII makes me wonder if we’ll ever see another puzzle by @MAS. We haven’t had a good quad stack on a Saturday in forever.
@Anonymoose: The Irish version of Patrick is Padraig. Hence, Paddy.
ReplyDeleteNifty puzzle.
ReplyDeleteMy parents were avid golfers. Dad was pretty good. He would always win a turkey. It never looked like the Butterball's you get here; it was always scrawny and still had feathers on it.
I've tried my hand at golf and @kitshef and I could hold hands through the ROUGH to BUNKER. I lived in them.
Why is the PIG always maligned? In a PIGS eye or when PIGS fly. Who comes up with these?
PADDY is a slang term for an Irishman. It's also a field where rice is grown. AVICII I knew but don't know why. CARDI B is about the only rapper I know because she thinks Jay Z can bring Colin Kaepernick back to the NFL. (I read that somewhere). And so it went.
Really nice Tuesday. No groans nor moans. Well...GREEN SALAD is kinda dull but certainly eatable.
So first the BALL is in the ROUGH and then it's in the BUNKER and then it's on the GREEN and then finally it's in the CUP. Sounds like my golf game, only better. My BALL's progression would be more like ROUGH... THE FAIRWAY OF ANOTHER HOLE TO THE RIGHT (after big slice)... UNDER TREE... IN TREE... FAIRWAY BUNKER (but at least now it's the correct fairway)... UNDER WATER...NEW BALL...NEW FAIRWAY... PICKED UP AT MY EXASPERATED BROTHER'S INSISTENCE.
ReplyDeleteSuch a cute idea for a puzzle. If only I'd had to do some thinking. Any thinking at all. But I didn't. This puzzle could have been an eagle, but instead, alas, I'd rate it a double bogey.
Um, no, Rex, the golf ball actually *can* be found, and often is, in all those places. I’m really not sure why you think it’s “rare.” It’s not. Trust me.
ReplyDeleteLuckily, I didn’t even notice AVICII.
Mt golf ball typically makes the following stops on just about every hole:
ReplyDelete-- TEETOTALER
-- OBNOXIOUS
-- TEENAGER
-- RIVERBOAT
-- ROUGHANDTUMBLE
-- TRAPPISTMONK
-- PONDEROSA
-- COLLARTAB
-- GREENDAY
-- GREENHORNET
-- GREENLANTERN
-- GREENGROCER
-- POCKETKNIFE
-- WATERBUFFALO (from being thrown)
Lather, rinse, repeat. 17 more times.
I can't imagine a less thrilling theme for someone like me who loathes golf. TEE Shirt is a stretch. Google it. 99% of the time it's T-shirt. I'd like to meet these fascinating people who collect CELS. Green Salad is green paint or just redundant. Who orders a yellow salad? Wasn't there a clown called ZITS? I'd rather have MOUNT Adams if the clue doesn't indicate an abbreviation. How often is the word TSarDOM ever used? Dumb. I didn't like this puzzle in case you couldn't guess. I'll let the others REGALE us with a litany of its assets. Or maybe I'm just pissed I put in UREA instead of UVEA. ARICII sounded good. I had ARICA training on my mind. "Wake me up when it's over..."
ReplyDeleteMs Nancy
ReplyDeleteWe always referred to golfer you described as BIPSIC (ball in pocket sulking in cart).
@Z
ReplyDeleteViz last night. No, anon's point was that Rex's third place finish was less impressive than meets the eye. He and his wifer were closer to 6th place than first.
As for math being hard. It was you who misunderstood a mathematical concept, by failing to understand rankings. that is, you used the 8th place score as the number that Rex would've needed to finish in the 8th. That is a category error, because, as was pointed out, the score he needed to actually finish 8th was simply 1 point less than 7th.
The original poster made a gross arithmetic mistake; your mistake was a lack of comprehension.
Reading the blog after commenting, I see a lot of other people did what I did here. Made fun of their own golf games. Remember my saying quite recently that tennis is a hedonist's game and golf is a masochist's game? That's because golf is so humbling. You may have an opponent, but essentially you're playing against the golf course and the golf course always wins.
ReplyDeleteI have never known a golfer who didn't make fun of his or her own game. And in my entire lifetime of playing tennis and knowing hundreds of tennis players, I have known maybe four tennis players who actually made fun of their own game. Maybe not even that many. I've known a lot more who think that if they caught Federer on an off-day, well, he'd better watch out. The expression that's used for those who overrate their games and talk about their "prowess" ad infinitum is: "He's a legend in his own mind."
BTW, did I ever mention that I was a pretty good tennis player? :)
Never heard of AVICII, but that song is a terrific one! How could the song be so familiar but not the artist? BECAUSE THEY NEVER SAY THE SINGER OR SONG TITLES ON THE RADIO ANYMORE!!
ReplyDeleteAND GET OFF MY LAWN!!
Awww, that's mean, @Crimson (9:18). But I won't take offense. Tennis is/was my real sport and that enables me to laugh off any snarky put-downs of my golf game. As you'll see when my 2nd comment (this is my 3rd) goes up on the blog.
ReplyDeleteAVICII was the best answer in the whole puzzle just to see all the squares on this blog flipping out. Hahaha.
ReplyDeleteAvicii was absolutely the best answer. I knew it straight off (and I'm 58). And this as opposed to Artie Shaw yesterday...
DeleteIt's more likely a bogie on a Par 3 than a par on a Par 4 hole. Though, it could be a birdie on a Par 4.
ReplyDeleteWhy would anyone like a crossword that takes 2 minutes and 47 seconds ?
ReplyDeletePublic Service Announcement re. St. Patricks Day : Do not decide that it's a good idea to go on the wagon from New Years Day to St. Patricks Day and then do your "normal" celebration of that day. A proper St. Patricks Day, esp. in Chicago, requires something akin to Spring training. Learned this the hard way.
@Z - you may think you know nothing of Charlie XCX's music, but I bet if you Google Boom Clap you will at least recognize it. You may have to wait for the chorus, though.
ReplyDelete@various - GREEN SALAD as contrasted to egg salad, potato salad, fruit salad etc.
Speakin of golf scores, reminds of quote attributed to the then-Mrs Woods, in reply to cops’ inquiry as to how many times she struck hubby with that 9-iron: I dunno, put me down for a 5.
ReplyDeleteI have no interest in golf, but the puzzle was OK, and the revealer was fine. As some anonymouse said already, Rex is just wrong -- the ball can be any of those places, although one would prefer it not be in two of them. (I said no interest, not no knowledge.)
ReplyDeleteI never heard of AVICII and needed every single cross; I had AVICI_ before i looked at the clue for GLACIER, and was expecting to put an S in that final square. All the same, as @Rex points out, the guy was pretty famous, so those calling him "a string of random letters" are being a little silly. And if you can't be a musician by mixing tapes, then John Heartfield, the collagist, wasn't an artist.
I also want to defend GREEN SALAD as an actual type of salad, as opposed to potato salad, beet salad, fruit salad, and many others. I'm sure that at least once I've read a recipe for some dish which advised me to "serve with a GREEN SALAD."
On the other hand, the clues for RISES and MT ADAMS were too boring for a Tuesday. Even "peak in the Presidential Range" (referring to the one in NH) would be better.
I moved to Massachusetts from Wisconsin in 1964, and was taken aback to learn that there are no PTAs here, but rather PTos, parent teacher organizations. Someday that should show up in a puzzle.
@Z from yesterday. Thanks for the explanation -- both incisively clear and hilarious!
ReplyDeleteAvicii was a gimme for me - I enjoyed his music despite not liking other EDM/electronic stuff. I very much appreciated seeing it in today's puzzle. I had more trouble with TEESHIRT and STPADDY than anything else. Lost a lot of time stumbling over the NW corner before I looped back to it with crosses.
ReplyDeleteLOL at AVICII's Wiki article talking about all his "singles" releases. Do record labels still release "singles" for the radio? Does anyone listen to the radio anymore? I have two kids who are 19 and 23...I can't remember the last time they listened to a radio. Maybe on Spotify they chose a "radio" playlist, but other than that. And no, I've never heard of him either. Gotye, yes. Avicii, no. I did like the song linked though and may look into his music further.
ReplyDeleteMy biggest nit to pick was the theme clue wording: "Sports item that can be found AT the starts of..."
First, the double entendre for "starts" doesn't work (if it was supposed to at all), but more importantly second, none of the places mentioned is a GOLFBALL to be found "AT"...you find a golf ball ON the tee (box), IN the rough, IN a bunker, ON the green, and IN the cup. You might say the ball is "at" the edge of the green, "at" the lip of the cup, etc., but nowhere would anyone find a golf ball AT any of those places. So to me, the entire conceit of the revealer falls apart.
Rex's solution, to make it a progressive sequence of events on a par 4 (or par 3 -- or even 5 if you get lucky) hole: You hit the ball off the tee into the rough, out of the rough into a bunker, you dig out of the bunker onto the green, and one-putt your way into the cup. It seems to flow quite naturally that way...but "AT" is hamfisted, IMO.
I know MTADAMS from my days in Cincinnati. Arty, hilly area that I would have loved to have lived in when I was going to school there. Ended up in Norwood.
Rex nails it without a rant. Nough said.
ReplyDeleteNote to Rex: Although it is not uncommon for "Islands in the Stream" to be sung as a solo performance, it is much better as a duet - ESPECIALLY in the shower.
ReplyDeleteAVICII - I'd heard that ('Wake me up") before thought it was just another country recording ear wormish and unremarkable, surprised to learn what Rex put out this morning about this young man.
ReplyDeleteMonday easy (Easy Monday easy, even) with the necessary grimacing fill to create that fast of a speed puzzle for expert solvers, but not as bad as could be I guess. I'm an avid golfer since the days when ARNIE Palmer was Tiger Woods, too bad there really wasn't more golfy terminology used in fill as there is a ton of it, so the puzzle seemed a rather lazy creation to me.
To a long-term and proficient golfer (I seem nearly alone in that role here as we golfers read WSJ not NYT) this puzzle was meh, mailed-in, created on the inside panel of a cereal box. (For those knocking golf, I can tell you it is easier to do surgery well than play golf well).
I'll go out later for one of my 6 out of 7 days on the course and will see TEE, ROUGH, BUNKER, GREEN, and CUP with my GOLFBALL, I am certain.
Then I will NOT have my gin NEAT - tonic and tiny GLACIERs will join it in the glass, not the CUP.
Evan Kalish scores a hole in one with this entertaining GOLF tribute that tells a story with a happy ending.
ReplyDeleteYes, it was pretty easy to solve, but it is Tuesday and the fill managed to be simple without being annoying
WAKE ME UP is a song I’ve heard a million times. I appreciated learning that the artist was AVICII, a name destined for crossword puzzles.
@Quasi, if I’m ordering from a menu that includes potato salad, beet salad, and pasta salad, I would appreciate the option of simply having a GREEN SALAD :-)
Phrase of the hour: ON THE DL
Wired article on CrossWorld.
ReplyDeleteHey All !
ReplyDeleteDo you eat a GREEN SALAD on ST PADDYs Day? Or is that just GREEN Paint?
Fun puz, never got into GOLF myself. Used to work at a course whilst in high school. They had a driving range where I would try to hit the ball. Either hit the ground before the ball, or topped it and it just rolled off the TEE. There was a part-time retired gentleman who would drive the ball-picker-up cart, who saw me struggling and gave me some pointers to be able to hit the ball. So at least I was able to hit it. My farthest was a sail just over the top of the 200 yard marker. One in a million hit!
Did like the puz, easy, not Rex easy, 8 minutes and change here. Fun circuitous path to the CUP. I seriously don't think Evan wanted AVICII that bad as Rex claims. He should know as being a constructor. Sometimes you need an odd name/entry just to be able to fill a section and not have worse garbage in there.
@amyyanni
Tip to improve your short game, Mini-Golf! It's all about putting, and you can have fun while practicing.
@SuzieQ
You've never been to Las Vegas to see these DJS? The "famous" ones get some ridiculous payment Ike $250,000 a night to "perform". Man, did I pick the wrong line of work!
SPRITZ PIGS
RooMonster
DarrinV
I see Avicii has some real fans and defenders today. I did watch the video and am officially a "Get off my lawn" oldster. I truly don't get the appeal of a pseudo-psychological folk rock song with flashes of fireworks and Avicii working a sound board to a huge crowd of wild teenagers. Oh well. I tried.
ReplyDeleteI come from a family of golfers and all I can say is that golf courses are lovely places and I am a great caddy.
Anyone who uses ONTHEDL as the generic 'hush-hush' better be careful where they say it. especially if it's about that big bruiser next them in the bar. at least, according to an episode of one of the 'Law and Order' shows. 'on the down low' means (concealed) sex between black guys, at least one of which is married to a female.
ReplyDeleteIf you’re singing alone in the shower, you can’t be singing a duet. You may be singing a song like “Islands in the Stream” that was ahit performed by a duet, but you’re singing solo.
ReplyDelete@Z -- Good article. I'm sure it isn't "progressive" enough for some, and too "progressive" for others, but I think it makes a lot of great points without veering into polemics. Thanks for the link.
ReplyDeleteAppreciated reference to FDR. Theme part of shared cultural knowledge. Enjoyable.
ReplyDeleteHave to admit I was somewhat gobsmacked to finish the puzzle and read OFL's review and not see him go off the rails, even slightly, by a puz featuring the favorite game of our Golfer-in-Chief. I guess he was going so fast and so pleased by his own proficiency that he just forgot.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, @Nancy, if you're looking for the golfer that never makes fun of his own game, he lives in the White House. Word is he never cheats, but his caddies are frequently accused of aiding and abetting.
Nice Tuesdecito. Learned a new crossword-worthy name in AVICII, always a useful thing. Thanks for the fun, EK.
@QuasiMojo says he "loathes golf." Well, I play nearly every day, and I can guarantee that I loathe the game exponentially more than you do. And @the redanman, just FYI, I don't read the WSJ.
ReplyDelete@RP: Yer vast bloggin empire is safe, by m&e. Had no idea, on AVICII. Learned somethin new, there. Got er from the crossers ok, tho.
ReplyDeletefave fillins: WEIRDER. SPRITZ. GLACIER. GRILL with an E.
staff weeject pick: DOM. Other neater stuff that could be suffixed by DOM: Con. Ran. Bore. Puzzle.
Pretty reasonable theme. From M&A's personal golfballin experience, main themer missin is: WOODSMAN. [And, in that case, the golfball may well *still* be there, @RP.]
Puz was about a par, for the M&A Tuesday course. Coulda been a low-nanoseconds contender, (sorta) like @RP, had I known AVICII.
Thanx for the fun, Mr. Kalish.
Masked & Anonymo6Us [xwordinfo.chen ain't workin, so U-count is an est.]
a real sweetie:
**gruntz**
WEIRDER than usual. 98% Monday level. Was UVEA/AVICII cross intended to average it out to a Tuesday level?
ReplyDeleteIn the comments Venn diagram, I'm at the intersection of:
ReplyDelete- admiring the progression from TEE to CUP.
- being the genetic anomaly, in a family of golfers, with no interest and no ability. Main memory: trooping after my parents around the course barefoot and stepping on a bee in the ROUGH's clover patch.
- defending GREEN SALAD. @kitshef and @Joseph M, and let's not forget Jello SALAD, a Midwest staple.
- having a blank space where AVICII should have been filed.
Help from previous puzzles: CARDI B. Favorite cross: SPRITZ ZITS. Favorite singleton entry: SLACKS. Loved that according to the clue they're now "semiformal pants." I remember when they used to be just regular pants.
I grew up across the street from a golf course, looking at the fairway between the 3rd and 4th holes. Never played a game, ever. I'm pretty sure I wouldn't be very good. My husband is relatively athletic, has good hand-eye coordination - before he met me, he sold his golf clubs for a dollar a club and threw in the bag because he was so bad at the game, or so he reports.
ReplyDeleteBut I liked the idea for this theme and thought the progression was fun. Unlike others, I set no Tuesday personal record - the NW had me completely baffled except for ART. I considered PTA for 1A but the clue just seemed shady. And the clues for 1D and 2D. Can't explain it.
Then there's the carne Adobo I threw in at 51D because I assumed 58A's I_EE would be clued _____ fixe. Yeah, I know, "read the clue" is part of the basic instructions for crossword solving. I'm working on it :-).
Evan, thanks for introducing me to AVICII (it makes me think of Da Vinci).
And thanks to everyone who expressed sympathy yesterday for my being stranded at LGA Sunday night. As I mentioned off blog to @Nancy and @JC66, I may have been miserable on my tile floor bed, but my proximity to the American Airlines help desks allowed me to be placed on standby at 4 AM, putting me at the #1 slot for the first flight out. Lo and behold, I got on and was home yesterday morning. So it all ended as well as could be.
@jberg - apparently not clear enough.
ReplyDelete@anon9:25 - Even if we were to accept that “closer to eighth,” was meant as “closer to finishing eighth” rather than “closer to the 8th place finisher’s score” you (or they) STILL got the arithmetic wrong, since it is closer to finishing 6th. Trying to reparse the meaning of a phrase is a neat trick, but admitting that the initial point was wrong (and a little mean spirited) would have been a better trick.
@kitshef10:14 - no doubt.
@Joaquin10:57 - no doubt.
@Dorothy Biggs - Streaming services like Pandora and Spotify favor singles over albums. It is common now for artists to trickle out tracks from upcoming albums. The single is alive and well, even if 45 r.p.m. records have not had the same resurgence as L.P.s.
@Sir Hillary - As a frequent Shortz critic it was a good reminder of what he did for the crossword puzzle. If he consciously chose to diversify the inner circle he’d probably last another 20 years. I fear, though, an ignoble end could be his fate.
@mmorgan, you made me laugh. I bet you're pretty good at golf by now though. As for my questioning "green salad" I know it's an improvement over most of the bleccch served at salad bars and in restaurants now. I guess I'm just recalling when it was a "salad of greens" or perhaps I'm imagining that. Come to think of it we used to have Green Grocers, which would not be green paint, so I take back my complaint and will turn over a new leaf.
ReplyDeleteZ,
ReplyDeleteYou clearly don't understand mathematics. Or rankings. The phrase closer to...means just what i said it does. No reparsing necessary. Try a math class and maybe conceding error once in a while.
This puzzle was nicely put together, tho' I don't golf, watch it or care much about it. On Avicii: cross/cross/cross/cross/cross/cross/ and there it is. Shouldn't have been a problem, even if you never heard of him. Mt. Adams is the second-highest peak in Washington; where has it been keeping itself, puzzlewise? On the DL, apparently. I liked the near-rhyme of Napoli/Natalie.
ReplyDelete♪ If I write happily
'Best wishes from Napoli!'
Don't cable me snappily
To tell me we're through ♪
But more importantly: Hey I'm famous! I'm quoted in the last paragraph of the Wired article Z posted. Without attribution -- hmm, I'll have to contact the author about that.
↓
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From the Wired Article (re: Erik Agard's pot puzzle of June 2):
Even “Stoner's Film Festival” had its detractors. “Should have been used for rolling paper,” one solver sniffed in a comment. “And to think I thought that things were starting to look up for Sundays.”
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My comment on said (sadly unoriginal) puzzle. I don't think I sniffed while typing it:
♪ Sittin' downtown makin' a Sunday crossword
One toke over the line ♪
Right. This puzzle must have seemed cutesy-clever back in 1971 when it was first submitted to the Times. It didn't age well. Should have been used for rolling paper.
And to think I thought that things were starting to look up for Sundays. Wrong.
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Fast and easy puzzle. Surprised and pleased to see Avicii in the grid; I listen to a lot of his stuff as workout music. If EDM is not to your liking, do at least try listening to the lovely, bluegrass-inspired Hey Brother:
ReplyDeleteHey brother! There's an endless road to rediscover; Hey sister! Know the water's sweet but blood is thicker; Oh, if the sky comes falling down, for you; There's nothing in this world I wouldn't do.
And yes, I am pleased to be 60 and know his name; a petty ego-booster but I'll take it.
Thank you @Z for the link; very interesting read.
@Z 11:05
ReplyDeleteInteresting article, thanks. (@Joe d, loved your quote even before I knew it was yours.)
No one should ever drink a cup of cocoa. Cocoa should only be drunk from a mug!
ReplyDelete@Nancy 9:37 - "I have known maybe four tennis players who actually made fun of their own game".
ReplyDeleteIf you had known me, you could boost your total to five. I had decent tennis skills, but when given options for which shot to attempt, I would usually pick the one with the highest degree of difficulty. While it occasionally resulted in a satisfying winner, the percentages made it a losing strategy. Also, when faced with a less skilled opponent, I was quite adept at playing down to their level.
I no longer play, but I still have recurring dreams about tennis, which never end well. Often the court turns into some sort of obstacle course, or I am playing with a spatula instead of a racquet. Highly frustrating.
I can't imagine the kind of nightmares golfers must have.
@Joe DiPinto, I was hoping for some Shirley Bassey from you...
ReplyDelete"Natalie, Natalie
You are young
You are free
You don't love him
And it could never be
He is all I live for
Send him back to me."
@Quasi -- My Shirley Bassey knowledge starts and ends with the 007 theme songs. @jc66 -- I see you were at Lollapuzzoola. I should have gone this year.
ReplyDelete@Z - thanks for the link.
ReplyDelete@Joe DiPinto - You were too kind to Stoner's Film Festival, which I called "a crumple-it-up-burn-it-and-dissolve-the-ashes-in-acid failure".
In addition to the Paddy/Padraig connection, "Patty" is the spelling for the nickname of Patricia.
ReplyDelete@Speedweeder (2:43) -- Were you forced for physical reasons to give up tennis when you really, really didn't want to? I gasped when I read your post just now because the recurring tennis dream you had is exactly the recurring tennis dream I had...for years.
ReplyDeleteAll the years I played -- 56 of them -- I seldom, if ever, dreamt about tennis and I'm pretty sure that the rare dreams I had were extremely pleasant. Then, in the first year I had to face that I really couldn't/shouldn't play anymore, I began to have the same recurring dream you had. Obstacles that prevented me from getting to the court to play: thick underbrush, ravines, mazes, mud, my front door won't open -- you name it. The obstacles varied from dream to dream but the result was always the same: by the time I got to the court, my hour was over and my partner was gone. When I very reluctantly decided to give up tennis the following year, the dreams continued. They continued, in fact, for at least 3 or 4 more years. Maybe more. Finally, finally they stopped. I guess my unconscious finally accepted reality.
I'm pretty sure I've never discussed my dreams with anyone. But if your dreams, like mine, were the result of being unable to play, I can't begin to tell you how interesting I find them and how much they resonate with me.
MT ADAMS is one of the most spectacular mountains in the continental United States. As many Washingtonians have pointed out, if it were in any other state it would be its own a national park. At least by now you can drive most of the way there on a narrow paved road (used to be lengthy gravel).
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't be as good at manufacturing shots out of the woods if I didn't have so much practice hitting from there.
ReplyDelete@mmorgan et. al.
ReplyDeleteYou may or may not have listened to or have been listening to Revisionist History Podcasts from THE Malcolm Gladwell. I quite enjoy him and his presentations. If you want to hate Golf, listen to Season 2, Episode 1 'A Good Walk Spoiled" - He hates golf and wants you too, to do so after his presentation. He claims RICH People love Golf, but his view is only from L.A. and an American perspective. (L.A. should be darned happy there are private clubs to provide some greenspace other than that of the Hollywood Elite in the Hills.
It's a beautiful presentation, but right from the start just riddled with egregious errors and falsehood perpetuation, just tons of each. I recommend it to golfers and #haters alike
He rags on CEO's with bias-laden associative rather than cause-effect data presented in such a way as to create a Golf Catastrophe sort of presentation.
I'm not certain if a hyperlink will work, but here is the address: http://revisionisthistory.com/episodes/11-a-good-walk-spoiled
IF it doesn't work 'Malcolm Gladwell' 'Revisionist History' season 2, Episode 1.
Re: NYT & WSJ - I read both Op-Ed pages and articles from each and do among others both X-words daily.
Cheers, just shot 77, G&T on the glacierettes
Speaking as one of the few solvers under the age of 30, I loved having Avicii as an answer and got it right away! Now you all know how I feel when there's some obscure reference to the 60's.
ReplyDeleteTotally unrelated to today's puzzle but perhaps of interest to one or two commenters here, I just read the following in a book, “Children of Ruin” by Adrian Tchaikovsky: “Disra, is this a pet? Have you been using mission resources to breed domestic… octopodes?” Another brief
ReplyDeletetwitch and [Disra] Senkovi knew his superior had been looking up the plural and settled on the most awkward-sounding one.”
The author is a Brit; if I ever go to one of his book signings, I'll have to ask if he follows Rex!
@Nancy 5:01 - I wasn't forced to quit tennis completely, but nagging minor injuries caused me to take a break, and I just never went back. The dreams started before I stopped playing, but probably after I noticed my skills declining. It didn't help that my tennis buddies were 20 or more years younger, and were still improving, while I was having difficulty maintaining my aggressive serve and volley game. I had been accustomed to being one of the stronger members of the team and didn't like feeling like I was a liability rather than an asset.
ReplyDeleteVery interesting that you have similar dreams. It sounds like you don't even make it to the court, whereas I get there only to deal with incredibly adverse conditions. One time the court consisted of a subway entrance, with half the court at street level and the other half underground. Often I have a defective racquet, or the balls are meatballs that keep disintegrating, or something equally ridiculous. In the most recent occurrence, my racquet broke off at the handle on the first shot.
One reason I haven't gone back to tennis is that I discovered pickleball. It's much easier than tennis, both in learning curve and demand on the body, but it has a similar appeal, and many of the tennis skills transfer over. I particularly like that my overhead smash, which had become unreliable in tennis, is awesome in pickleball.
I'm sorry to hear that you had to give up the game that you loved. I know I always thought I would be playing tennis my entire life. At least we still have crosswords!
@speedweeder -- no offense, I hope, but the descriptions of your tennis dreams have me rolling on the floor. I especially like the one about playing with a spatula-racquet. Very Alice-in-Wonderland.
ReplyDelete@Joe - no offense taken, I'm happy to provide some amusement. I don't recommend the spatula racquet, I always end up double-faulting.
ReplyDelete@Speedweeder -- Just caught up with your last comment. Like you, I hoped to play tennis deep into my dotage, after which I would croak on the court at age 85 without ever knowing what hit me. Alas, I was not destined to be that lucky. (Though that was my plan at age 35; at the advanced age I am now, 85 doesn't seem like it's all that old anymore.)
ReplyDeleteI just watched some of a video of pickleball to see if I think I could switch to that as you have. I think that my issue of a leg that all of a sudden just "gives" with no pain and no warning and if all your weight is on it when it happens, you're going to fall, would be the same in pickleball. Much less running but, still, sudden sharp movements and lunges where you're moving to a stimulus and can't be thinking about keeping yourself in balance. I think it might be a bit easier and safer for me than tennis, but not enough easier and safer. But it's great that you can play it and play it well -- I'm sure it completely fills both the athletic and the social void left by giving up tennis. You're lucky.
@Nancy - Yes, I agree, falling would be an issue. Every so often someone does fall, and it's scary, even if they yell "I'm OK" and pop right back up.
ReplyDeleteI do count myself lucky to be in reasonable working order at age 65, not to mention above ground and above room temperature. I never take it for granted.
You're right about the social aspect. Pickleball games are relatively short, and we rotate opponents and partners after almost every game, so I find it more social and less cutthroat than tennis. It's also much more easy to accommodate mixed skill levels, as long as you refrain from picking on the weaker players.
I'm sorry that it doesn't appear to be an option for you. I think you'd like it.
HERETO HAUL INIT
ReplyDeleteA MT.ADAMS SNOCAT
is a NEAT ROUGHRIDER, I’ll wager,
up PATHS of FROST so that
it RISES right up the GLACIER.
--- ELROY SPRITZ
OK, this should settle a long-standing argument. If in relatively newspeak we have BFFS, then in our baseball oldspeak we do not need to revise RBIs to RBI [R(s)BI]. Exact same concept. Otherwise change the newspeak to BFsF. Where were the grammar police on BFFS?!? You just can’t have it both ways! TIRADE complete.
ReplyDeleteGot the theme after the fully spelled TEESHIRT and then ROUGHRIDER. Playing a lot of GOLF will help in that regard.
Held off on ONTHEqt knowing it might finish DL. Don’t athletes go ONTHEDL?
TYRA and NATALIE are both INIT for yeahbabyDOM. CARDIB not so much.
In the last month I’ve played at least 108 holes. Can’t trash a GOLF puz.
As for golf v. tennis: the latter is a sport for people who are IN SHAPE. That left me by the wayside way back. Any old fart can play golf, which I used to with mixed results. Let's say, that rare shining moment amid a slew of bogeys and worse. But those moments are why we keep coming back.
ReplyDeleteProps to the theme today for tracing the *course* of a GOLFBALL through one exciting hole. Nice sand save, dude. Applause also for co-DODs NATALIE and TYRA. For the fill? Not so much. As it happens, I did the downs in the SW, and when I looked at 59 across I saw a conglomeration of letters I thought impossible. Yet none of the downs would budge--fortunately. I am no less than astounded to find that this is an actual NAME. Go figure.
@M&A: your "estimate" (who are you kidding?) of 6 U's was spot on. This puzzle pretty much traced the PATH of the play: The fill was often ROUGH, but he got out of the BUNKER OK and made par.
Start with a NEAT thematic sequence of GOLF terms from TEE to CUP, sprinkle with familiar crosswordese like PTA, AWE, and SEC, throw in a couple of fairly obscure but inferrable proper nouns like AVICII, URDI, and ASADAM, and you have a recipe for a pretty decent Tuesday puzzle.
ReplyDeleteURDU, not URDi, of course.
ReplyDeleteDouble typo (comment fixes): URDU, not URDI and ASADA, not ASADAM.
ReplyDeleteAnother week where Mon and Tues got turned around, IMEHO. You got that on the DL.
ReplyDeleteMore than a GOLF clap here.
Diana, Lady-in-Waiting for the foursome to pass
The word GOLF should never be used as a verb. Rinse, repeat. It is a sport/pastime like tennis, badminton or basketball. Even the term "golfer" makes me squirm. Consider that a nit, or rather a *NIT*. I'm sure that those of you who like to go tennising, or who have tennised would agree.
ReplyDeleteBut what a game is golf. Today's puzzle reminded me of a memorable hole in a match where I went ROUGH, ROUGH, ROUGH, ROUGH, CUP on a par five where my competitor went FAIRWAY, GREEN, GREEN, GREEN, CUP. I ended up losing the match, dammit, but that hole was a huge triumph.
That memory makes smile, as does this puzzle. About AVICII, I loved his hit song, but had no idea what his name was, and that was the only slowdown in the puzzle. Liked it.
But @Rainey - if you go bowling, do you bowl?
ReplyDeleteLady Di
@Lady Di - the thing is, bowling has always been bowling. I think it derived from "bowls", which of course is another term for lawn bowling. See, it's a gerund. I play golf. I don't play bowling. I certainly don't play bowl. Somehow the distinction is much clearer to me than to others.
ReplyDeleteWell, Rainey, if bowling is a gerund so is golfing.
ReplyDeleteHe likes to bowl. They like to golf. I'm going to golf this afternoon. Tomorrow, I'll bowl.
Diana, Picking Nits whilst Waiting to Golf or Bowl