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Relative difficulty: Easy-Medium (2:49)
Theme answers:
- HOCKEY NIGHT (4D: *Leafs-watching time, maybe) (because the Leafs are short for the hockey team the Toronto Maple Leafs) (also because "HOCKEY NIGHT in CANADA" is "a branding used for Canadian television presentations of the National Hockey League" (wikipedia)
- TIM HORTONS (18A: *Restaurant chain known for its coffee and doughnuts)
- SAYING SORRY (27D: *Important step after erring)
- MAPLE SYRUP (62A: Pancake topping) (??? I associate this with New York and the U.S. northeast, where I live, and where the MAPLE SYRUP supply is ample)
Hockey Night in Canada (often abbreviated Hockey Night or HNIC) is a branding used for Canadian television presentations of the National Hockey League. While the name has been used for all NHL broadcasts on CBC Television (regardless of the time of day), Hockey Night in Canada is primarily associated with its Saturday night NHL broadcasts, a practice originating from Saturday NHL broadcasts that began in 1931 on the CNR Radio network and continued on its successors, and debuting on television beginning in 1952. Initially only airing a single game weekly, the modern incarnation airs a weekly double-header, with game times normally at 7 and 10 p.m. (ET). The broadcast features various segments during the intermissions and between games, as well as pre- and post-game coverage of the night's games, and player interviews. It also shows the hosts' opinions on news and issues occurring in the league.The Hockey Night in Canada brand is owned by the CBC and was exclusively used by CBC Sports through the end of the 2013–14 NHL season. Beginning in the 2014–15 NHL season, the brand is being licensed to Rogers Communications for Sportsnet-produced Saturday NHL broadcasts airing on CBC Television as well as the Rogers-owned Citytv and Sportsnet networks. Rogers had secured exclusive national multimedia rights to NHL games beginning in 2014–15, and sublicensed Saturday night and playoff games to CBC. This sub-license agreement runs through the end of the Rogers deal with the NHL. (wikipedia)
• • •
Worse, probably, is the fill, which is ultra-throwback stuff. Too often, you see the kind of short fill that used to roam wild across the grids of North America before constructors got more conscientious about this sort of thing (and software helped them bring it down to a bare minimum). SSA DDE ENE EPI ONA HEB TRALA ELEA EROO (oof, EROO), this is the kind of stuff I'm talking about. OCASIO gives you a little frisson of currentness, and the clue on STUTTER is timely and interesting (50A: Early challenge overcome by Joe Biden), but too much of the fill here is a slog. This one ticks all the boxes for your run-of-the-mill crossword, but it's got a long way to go before it's got that Monday Zing that I like so well. Pretty sure this is the constructor's debut, so some rough patches are to be expected, and I do look forward to seeing zingier work in the future.
Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld
[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]
Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld
[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]
Leonard Cohen was Canada’s greatest gift to America.
ReplyDeleteThat’s a funny way to spell Neil Young.
DeleteWhich one of you commenters is really Joni?
DeleteI fell face-first into the same trap as I’ll bet 90% of solvers did. With ___AWA in place for 8A, and knowing it would be a capital, I splatzed in TARAWA with complete confidence. I think that was my only overwrite on an otherwise smooth solve.
ReplyDeleteI will say the theme played no part in my solve other than the occasional pause to wonder what it would be, without success. It’s been 27 years since a Canadian team won the Stanley Cup … maple syrup I associate with Vermont … and SAYING SORRY?! Not something I think of as Canadian. TIM HORTONS on the other hand – yes, that screams Canada to me.
Funny, the Tarawa line. Good one.
Delete90% seems high - I'd never heard of Tarawa, so thanks for that for future crosswords.
DeleteCanadian teams haven't won the Stanley Cup in a while, but Canadian players make up a plurality of NHL Rosters. 48% vs USA's 24%.
Easy-medium. I’m one quarter Canadian so this was delightful! SAYING SORRY gave me a chuckle. A fine debut!
ReplyDelete...and speaking of Canada, when everything gets back to what ever normal turns out to be, I highly recommend the Rocky Mountaineer train trip from Banff to Vancouver. A great vacation.
Agree!
DeleteNice try at a MAPLESYRUP REPO, Rex, but I'll wager CANADA migh have a titch more available than even NYS. LOL!
ReplyDeletePretty typical Mondee fare with nothing to love or hate. I just can't get all worked up about it either way.
Oh, well...
đ§
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RBG, Ocasio-Cortez, and Biden references all packed into a Monday seems pretty good to me. Not one overt fascist or racist clued in an innocuous way.
ReplyDeleteGood on the Leonard Cohen, Rex, but...yes, maple syrup and maple sugar candies (never been in a duty free store? )...and what about poutine, Neil Young, butter tarts, Schitt’s Creek, BTO (Bachman Turner Overdrive), Caesars, Nunavut, Joni Mitchell, Anne of Green Gables (and PEI), Bobby Hull-Goldie Howe-Maurice Richard-Gretzky, the RCMP, the Guess Who, Neko Case, k. d. lang, the Raptors, Steve Nash, John Cabot (Giovanni Caboto), and...so much good clueing that could’ve been. Oh, well...I’ll hold out hope for Thursday, July 1, 2021–Canada Day! (Let’s figure it out, eh?)
ReplyDeleteGordie Howe? Wayne Gretzky?
DeleteYes—all thumbs...and something strange happened to punctuation and spacing. SAYING SORRY.
DeleteI liked this one a lot. Never been to Canada, so don’t know Tim’s joint. I’m saying sorry about not knowing frequent Canadian apologies. That said, the crosses were fair. So next trip to Canada, I now know where to find doughnuts and what to say when I spill the coffee in the MAPLESYRUP on HOCKEYNIGHT.
ReplyDeleteBOXSEAT and XIN give me several nanoseconds pause. I had the squad member spelled aCASIO so Ba_SEAT and _IN vote marking took some time. I justify my slowness by saying XIN looks made up.
Maybe owing to the fact that I live half time in the rainy city of Vancouver BC (and the other half in Oregon, btw), and because I love Hockey Night in Canada, Tim Hortons, CANADIAN Maple Syrup, and the generally "nice" ("I'm sorry") culture in Canada, I really enjoyed this one!
ReplyDeleteDo Mondays really need an involved, complicated theme? Nah. Nothing wrong with a little light CANADA referencing. But to assert that CANADA is not strongly associated with MAPLESYRUP is absurd. New York state might be too, but if so I've never heard of such a thing. Vermont, sure.
ReplyDeleteI don’t time myself but this is right up there with my quickest solve - I just filled it in. Not a bad puzzle - but as a tribute I agree with Rex - it seems to be wanting for a special Canadian holiday or day of importance to be published on. Although with the left slant I figured he would eat it up regardless.
ReplyDeleteLiked all the themers fine. Living upstate we spent a lot of time across the border - in the early 80s the trip was usually for the Bradors that weren’t available in NY. Horton’s and hockey night were gimmes although there’s better doughnuts. Liked the non-theme BAKE SALE, ALIENATE and APRICOTS. With so many long entries the Monday grid is bound to show some glue most of which Rex identified.
Enjoyable puzzle - nice way to start the week.
Much neighborliness going on in this lovely debut. ARABS and TORAH peacefully co-existing, APRICOTS and MAPLE SYRUP adjoining (and they make a good combo, if all the recipes in Google with the two are any indication), and even a close-by pair of palindromes (OSO and TUT). All this in a puzzle celebrating Canada, our northern neighbor, with fondness.
ReplyDeleteAdd to this a trio of words I adore (SCENARIO, ENIGMA, ARCANE), plus a pair of recurring patterns, which pleases my affection for constancy (SCENARIO / REPO / TIO / OCASIO / OSO and OTTAWA / ENIGMA / ISSA / CANADA / ELEA / ARIA / OVA / WANDA), and the love-fest continues.
Thank you, Emma, for a crisp, snappy, good-vibe start to the week!
Canada produces 85% of the world's MAPLE SYRUP.
ReplyDeleteAnd almost all is from Quebec. Hose that!
DeleteVery nice start to the week. My sister lives in Toronto and would like to shelter members of the family as refugees from politics, broken healthcare, and Covidiots. One of my favorite races was the Detroit Marathon, which ran over the bridge and back through the tunnel linking USA and CANADA. My wife and I spent 8 weeks of total immersion French at Laval University in Quebec City. We made good use of the weekends by traveling to different areas, including tent camping all by ourselves in the woods. Although not on my diet, I ate pancakes, drowned in MAPLESYRUP every Sunday morning on the way back.
ReplyDeleteOh Canada! Lots of Canada connections for us. We had a guest at our summer resort who was a big shot in Canadian Bell and when he stopped visiting and bought a house in the area, we let him continue to us our waterfront. To repay our kindness he gave a weekend in the corporate suite in Montreal, along with hockey tickets which were next to the glass and the press box. Another time he found tix for the Rolling Thunder Revue at the Forum. Nice man.
ReplyDeleteWe've spent fun time in Quebec City and far north of that whale watching. I've even sung in Parliament with my college choral group, first time ever for caviar after. Lots of great Canadian memories, so the puzzle may have been somewhat pedestrian, but I really liked it.
And sorry, @Cristi, any list of great Canadians that doesn't include Stan Rogers is woefully incomplete.
So thanks a lot Emma. Nice of you to share my granddaughter's name, eh?
Maple syrup is derived from maple trees. Maple trees do not know what state or country they're in. The idea that maple syrup from Vermont is any better than maple syrup from anywhere else is a marketing ploy. Thus maple syrup is "associated" with Vermont. The association with Canada seems OK for a crossword puzzle. I use maple syrup made in northern Michigan. It's very good but not better or worse than Vermont or Canadian maple syrup.
ReplyDeleteLived in MI for 30 years and loved Michigan maple syrup. Now living in North Carolina and can only get Vermont maple syrup. Who knew?
DeleteQuÊbec is famous for its maple syrup production. Canada is also the world's largest exporter of maple products.
ReplyDeleteAren't eggs OVA no matter where they are? (37D)
ReplyDeleteNope. Only in a Labrador Retriever’s ovaries.
Delete"Wobblier was MAPLE SYRUP, which I've never associated with CANADA"
ReplyDeleteRex, I could not disagree more! I live in New York State (City, in fact) and while I do love a New York maple syrup, Canada takes their maple syrup far more seriously than any American:
"The Federation of Quebec Maple Syrup Producers (French: FÊdÊration des producteurs acÊricoles du QuÊbec, FPAQ) is a government-sanctioned private organization that regulates the production and marketing of maple syrup in Quebec. As of 2011, the FPAQ produced 94% of Canadian maple syrup and 77% of the world's supply."
"The FPAQ maintains a strategic reserve of maple syrup, officially known as the International Strategic Reserve (ISR) and also referred to as the Global Strategic Maple Syrup Reserve. The reserve is operated as a government-sanctioned cartel to control global maple syrup prices and supply, and has been called 'the OPEC of the maple syrup world' by The Economist.[7][8] A barrel is worth about $1,200 or $2.88 per pound which is 10-18 times the value of U.S. crude oil."
(from the Wikipedia page for FPAQ)
So yes, please disabuse yourself of this notion that Maple Syrup is no more special to Canada than any northern American state. Not only is it incorrect, but the truth is far more interesting and entertaining!
I had HOCKEYFIGHT briefly before it all filled in. Overall played easy; Would have been a record time if not for a typo.
ReplyDelete@Emma, thx for kicking off the week with a fine Mon. effort! Sorry we didn't have rain in Vancouver to coincide with your excellent puz. :)
ReplyDeleteGood start in the NW and never looked back, altho had an adventure down south. Still, av. time, so all was well.
For one living in Vancouver, I had some laughable mini-blunders: got "hockey", but couldn't suss the rest of the phrase; misspelled 56D "aspec", so had "raen" for "weather often associated with Vancouver" (actually had some sun today); misspelled "sumas" (a Wash. St. city just over the border) and "alines", so had 71A "san-da. Finally remembered "LGA" and revisited the clue for 71A … d'oh; fixed "aspic" to get "rain", and Bob was my uncle. LOL
New: 33D "she"; "Yeats" (as clued); "aria" (as clued).
Hazy: "LGA".
Fav clues/answers: "anyone"; "enigma"; "saying sorry"; "arcane"; "aspic".
WOTD: "Hopi"
L'sOTD: Hebrew / Hopi
SOTD: "Ottawa", "Montreal" and 'Toronto" sing “O Canada”
FOTD: "Canadian maple syrup"
Add a tbsp. of "maple syrup" to my coconut yogurt everyday.
Flew from Vancouver to "Pearson" airport in Toronto and bused down thru Niagara Falls to Williamsport, Pa. for the '96 Little League World Series. "YMCA" was often played between innings throughout the tournament, likely due to its international popularity. It was fun to go thru the motions while singing it.
y.d. = p.g. -5
Peace Paix ׊ָׁ××ֹ× Salam Paz ÎĩΚĪÎŽÎŊΡ Pax Sipala đ
So the Canucks come grace a Monday. I say Doubler Double Timbits to TIM HORTONS.
ReplyDeleteHell hath no furry like a woman's corn. I like the MAPLE SYRUP BAKE SALE SCENARIO. A little WANDA fish, a side of some APRICOT brandy to go with the old HEN slathered in ASPIC. All of this might give you the Poison SUMAC.
I love Vancouver but I never say eh.....
I had great fun with this one. Highly recommend a trip to a sugar shack in Quebec (post-COVID). While I don't think Tim's donuts are anything to write home about, I have a positive connotation with both the coffee shop and the hockey player. And just yesterday I was talking about "sorry" with a friend - I think the fun there is both that Canadians are said to apologize often (e.g., when they bump into you) and that "sorry" is pronounced differently in Canada than in the U.S.
ReplyDeleteMy usual Monday complaint is that they're just too easy (when sometimes Wednesday's puzzle is impossibly difficult for me) and this was indeed a fast solve... but certainly an enjoyable one. Happy Monday, all!
I understand all the arguments about why it's ok to associate maple syrup with Canada, but I associate maple syrup with Vermont, so the theme clanked a bit for me. And, I'm sorry, but I also happen to think Vermont's maple syrup is "the best", even if that means I'm just a sucker for marketing. Also don't know that donut/coffee chain, and thought hockey night had more to do with school sports than pro - like Friday night football here - so the theme just didn't click for me today. Not saying anything was wrong, just saying I didn't connect with it.
ReplyDeleteGotta love RBG,Biden, and Ocasio-Cortez . Keep it Politically Correct. Nice work.
ReplyDeleteLook up the Great Canadian Maple Syrup Heist. Over some months,thieves took off with 3,000 TONS of syrup, worth $18.7M Canadian. It took a fair amount of time to notice that it had been taken from the strategic maple reserves in Quebec. I don't think it was ever solved.
ReplyDeleteSAYING SORRY is Canadian?? I missed noticing the asterisk, so I wouldn't have associated this answer with the theme if I hadn't seen it mentioned on my way down to the comment box.
ReplyDeleteI often say "I'm sorry" and I'm not Canadian. Bet you do too.
Not much to say about this rather meh, not especially interesting puzzle other than if the theater box office offers you a BOX SEAT, don't take it. They are anything but "premium". People sit in them to be seen, not to see. The first and last time I ever sat in one was for "The Odd Couple". It was the inside BOX SEAT -- even worse. It was a great show and, alas, I saw almost nothing of the first act. But the one good thing about a BOX SEAT is it's a good spot from which to scout the orchestra section. I sneaked down to an empty (and very good) seat in the front orchestra for the second act and all was well. When I eventually saw the movie, I finally got to enjoy all the jokes in the first act.
SHE-crab is a bizarre thing I have never heard of, but ultimately what killed us here was HEM; had AROO and just didn't see that HAM was the wrong entry for that down, spent a good couple of minutes reviewing everything in the puzzle before checking. Friday time was shorter than this!
ReplyDeleteI’m sorry, but I laughed at SAY SORRY. There’s nothing more CANADian than apologizing for apologizing.
ReplyDeleteI don’t think anyone has mentioned The Barenaked Ladies or Gordon Lightfoot, yet.
One of my dear friends, a Yemeni-American reading/ESL expert, starts her day with TIM HORTON’S coffee. Nothing quite encapsulates the Dearborn experience better than a scarved Yemeni-American with a deep fondness for coffee from a CANADian doughnut shop teaching teachers how to teach reading better.
ERIC Clapton was in the news along with Van Morrison this weekend for being a COVID ass. Sigh. The “he’s over-rated” crowd took the opportunity to go from “he’s over-rated” to “no- actually he sucks.” I’ve been convinced on the “over-rated” contention but doing something stupid in a crisis time should be looked at as a one-off.
@oceanjeremy - I think the topic came up the last time we flung MAPLE SYRUP around, but thanks for the reminder that CANADA has an International Strategic Reserve of the stuff. I will sleep better tonight.
@Cristi - I’m SORRY for being that guy, but Neko Case was our contribution to the The New Pornographers. AC Newman, OTOH, is from CANADA.
@anon7:17 - the “in the lab” is a hint that we’re looking for the scientific/Latin term.
@kitshef - đđđ
Theme worked for me...not a lot of strong cultural refs for Canada but these top my list. Marginally harder puzzle for me than a Monday which is a steo in the right direction.
ReplyDeleteTerrific clue for hockey night. I liked seeing AOC and RBG, but other wise a little dull on the clues and fill.
New constructor, yes? Good job.
Most folks from can-nah-Dah, are too polite to call Rex out for being a hoser, eh? But me and my brother Doug are not. Sore-ee, not sore-ee.
ReplyDeleteTime to go get a two-four of Molson and some back-bacon. Good day, eh?
Fun and cute theme! I firmly associate maple syrup with Canada so also take umbrage at "Wobblier was MAPLE SYRUP, which I've never associated with CANADA". Delighted to see TIM HORTONS, which I miss dearly - was just telling my brother about how people in MA are obsessed with Dunkin's to which he said "Isn't that just a worse Tim Hortons?"
ReplyDelete(Missed opportunity with ISSA instead of RAE -- today would have been a good day to clue in Carly RAE Jepsen, my favorite Canadian!)
I lived in Montreal for almost 2 decades, so perhaps I'm a little biased, but I got a kick out of this one! Perfectly bubbly for a Monday, with the added bonus of getting both AOC and RBG in there. Great start to an otherwise grey morning!
ReplyDeleteI have three jars of homemade maple syrup from friends and family who tap their own trees in their Minnesota backyards. When someone wants to give a Minnesota-themed house guest gift, they take wild rice and maple syrup. Vermont, Canada, eh? (I also have a tiny vial of black walnut syrup which someone gave us, haven’t had a chance to try it because we don’t do pancakes at home very often, but it sounds intriguing.j
ReplyDeleteI can drive to Canada in 6 hours and yet I've only been there three times. Twice to Winnipeg, and a week spent skiing at Whistler-Blackcomb. Someday I'd like to explore more of it. Someday, when's that going to happen?
Emma Craven-Matthews, congratulations on your debut NYT puzzle and thanks for the Canadian tribute.
@kitshef, thank you for the Tarawa giggle!
Like many, I didn't realize that MAPLE SYRUP was associated with Canada until I noticed how many Canadians, especially Quebecois, self-identify with it and assume we share the association. They have interesting traditions built around making MAPLE SYRUP, such as sit-down brunches in the syrup house (where they cook down the sap into syrup). It adds some color to their undisputed command of the macro-economy of maple sugar (see @Oceanjeremy 7:21).
ReplyDelete@Michiganman (7:14), it is true that a tree is a tree. But there are regional differences in MAPLE SYRUPs, not unlike wine, which I learned from a blind taste test of our local Minnesota MAPLE SYRUP vs. some from Quebec to see "whose was better." The syrup from Quebec had a redder color, was darker and stronger-flavored. Ours was, shall we say, more urbane and evocative of something just over the horizon. They were both delicious.
Here in the St. Croix River valley, starting in late February and into early March, we see lots of blue bags collecting sap from maple trees. It flows best when the nights freeze and the days start to thaw, sort of a pumping caused by changing temperatures, as I think about it.
Also, I listened to Leonard Cohen's "Songs from a Room" last evening while cooking up some Italian sausage and hash browns for supper. Should've had some MAPLE SYRUP with that.
And don't forget Canada's other gift to the U.S. - Alex Trebeck.
ReplyDeleteMy five favorite clues from last week
ReplyDelete(in order of appearance):
1. Mystery writer, for short (4)
2. Response to an air offensive? (5)
3. Classic British rock group (10)
4. Move to a later date, say (4)(6)
5. Study pills (8)
ANON
BLEEP
STONEHENGE
TIME TRAVEL
PLACEBOS
@GHarris:
ReplyDeleteLeonard Cohen was Canada’s greatest gift to America.
Nah. Prohibition booze. the wife is, distant with the border closed, friends with progeny of one of the families that kept us drunk all those years.
@jae:
I highly recommend the Rocky Mountaineer train trip from Banff to Vancouver.
failing that, keep an eye out for the 'Smithsonian Channel' show 'Mighty Trains' which has an episode on that train.
there are, if memory serves, a few Tim Horton's here in the USofA, but I forget where.
the most famous Canadian I know of is Mike Holmes.
Took the Rocky Mountaineer for our 50th anniversary and it was fabulous. Recommended for all over a certain age. Great food, wonderful scenery and delightful company.
DeleteGreat. Now I have a craving for sugar on snow.
ReplyDeleteMaple syrup is a complicated thing. Basically, it's sugar, with flavor from micro-nutrients stored in the root system. At the start of the sugaring season, the sap flow contains very little of the micro-nutrients, but the proportion of micro-nutrients grows as the season progresses, changing the nature of the syrup. This gives rise to the grades of Golden, Amber, Dark, and Very Dark. These are based primarily on color, but correlate very well with intensity of taste. Amber is by far the preferred product, as it has a mild taste. Dark & Very Dark are un-consumable unless you're some sort of Maple Syrup snob susceptible to the come-on of an Artisanal Syrup Producer (Ass-Pee) from Brooklyn with an ironic beard who insists that true Maple Syrup lovers only use Very Dark syrup.
ReplyDeleteTim Horton was a truly great defenseman with the Maple Leafs for many years. Died at 44 when, very likely drunk, he crashed his car on a late night trip to the venue of his next game. Sadly, his family never benefitted much from the success of the business, as his wife sold out to his partners after his death.
ReplyDeleteI would have loved it if they had "Spruce Beer" as an answer. I lived in Montreal for a time in my 20's and I found it a delightful drink -- a cousin to root beer, but spruce-y. I forget the other carbonated beverage they used to sell along similarly exotic lines (for American taste buds). Was it MAPLE?
ReplyDeleteYeah, TIM HORTON'S is all over the place up there. I would also see Van Houtte coffee all the time with the mustachioed logo. That may be more of a Montreal thing, along with viande fumÊe (yum!).
I don't know that SAYING SORRY is a such a big thing up there in the sense of actual apology, as much as, "Excuse me, I didn't catch that?" But the thing that stereotypically stands out is the super-rhotic pronunciation: not Sah-ree but Soar-ree. It's almost as stereotypical as the -out thing they do.
Cracked a barrier in my Monday solving time.
Starting at 1A and working the crosses, there were two partials and a suffix; which did not bode well. Things improved after that, and it was fun. Plus I learned a couple of thing: Pepsi and coke are both COLAS! And, less snarking, that ARS LONGA quote comes from Hippocrates—I’d have bet money it was Horace. Maybe it was he who translated it into Latin.
ReplyDeleteNothing against the theme—and even though my dad made his own maple syrup in Wisconsin, and my wife, famous for SAYING SORRY, is from Delaware, I can accept both things as Canadian. But two things did bother me: A) the first two I got both referred specifically to maples— the name of the hockey team and the kind of syrup. But the others had nothing to do with it. Either link all four or make them all different, I say. B) LGA and RAIN have CANADA-related clues; for me, at least, that dilutes the theme.
I’ll take it though; and clueing SAYING SORRY by the Canadian stereotype was a nice change-up.
Congratulations to Emma on her NYT debut. I know we have quite a few Canadians on this blog so a fun and enjoyable one for them. For me pretty much just played as a themeless.
ReplyDeleteThe only time I ever crossed the northern border was to spend a week in the Banff area. I don’t recall MAPLE SYRUP being particularly memorable or ANYONE SAYING SORRY more than usual. What I have always remembered was that the restaurants didn’t bring water unless you asked for it and they served french fries with gravy, the thought of which to this day makes me gag. But the National Park is a place of spectacular beauty - soaring mountain peaks, serene lakes, free-roaming wildlife, and endless breathtaking alpine vistas. Unforgettable memories that have stayed with me for a lifetime.
SAYING SORRY is Canadian. I’m sorry, makes no sense
ReplyDeleteFirst (ever?) DNF on a Monday. I remember the hockey player Tim Horton, but not the business. And I thought it was HTTP - don't know what HTMP is. So I had tithortons. Not THAT absurd.... T. I. Hortons. Why not?
ReplyDeleteThe reference to "Ocasio" was at least partially balanced by DDE....There must be Republicans in the solving community, but they seem able to withhold political comments from a Crossword blog.
Not only a DNF today, but two in a row, as yesterday had a Hip-hop name crossing a Star Wars role...
Liked the salute to Canada, despite my failure to finish.
Given the theme and the season, it feels like time for a Canadian Christmas Carol
ReplyDelete@Pete- LOL touchÊ
ReplyDelete@Whatsername.....You're taking about Poutine. I believe it was invented in Quebec. Typically it's made with VERY crispy French fries, cheese curds and a beef gravy. I love the stuff. I've also had it with pulled pork!
ReplyDeleteWow. Okay. If you’re not familiar with the people from CANADA apologize too much meme just go over to YouTube and type in something like “Canadian Apology.” This was decently amusing (from CANADA’s version of SNL), but there are others. Colbert’s riff on learning how to say F#$& You in CANADian is not strictly on point, but is pretty hilarious.
ReplyDeleteI have to agree that TIM HORTONS are not the best donuts, but that’s probably because they are owned by Burger King these days and used to be merged with Wendy’s. Just like fast food burgers are not the best burgers, fast food donuts are not the best donuts. My impression of Main Street Canada is an intersection with 2 banks and 2 donut shops.
@Pete said Maple syrup is a complicated thing. Basically, it's sugar,... - Yep. Personally, I can’t stand any of the authentic MAPLE SYRUP. Just thinking of pouring that stuff on pancakes or waffles makes my teeth ache. Nevertheless, I’m definitely on team Vermont Maple Syrup is Overrated. My favorite authentic syrup (as opposed to colored corn syrup) is the vanilla bean syrup made by a local restaurant.
Nice shout out to Canadian puzsolvers.
ReplyDeleteSAYINGSORRY seemed the least Canadian of the themers, to m&e. TIMHORTONS must be very Canadian, as it wasn't a restaurant I knew about at all. And I have been to Canada a hand-full of times. fave: Vancouver Island.
Holy moly, what a nice mess of longball extras: BAKESALE. BOXSEAT. STUTTER. APRICOTS. SCENARIO. ALIENATE. OCASIO. ENIGMA.
Altho, tough rides for a MonPuz rodeo: OSO/TIMHORTONS & SHEL/ELEA.
UNPIN-EROO. yee-har
Well, and looky at that fine litter of weejects! 28 of the semi-primo lil runts to choose from. staff weeject pick has gotta go to XIN. Better clue: { ___ and OIN' (Tic Tac Toein')??}.
fave moo-cow eazy-E MonPuz clue: {"Hell ___ no fury …"} = HATH. Right outta the chuteroo.
Thanx for the fun, Emma Craven-Matthews darlin. And congratz on yer debut. Lookin forward to several future Craven-Crosswords.
Masked & Anonymo4Us
**gruntz**
Forgot to ask earlier, but are the Toronto Maple Leafs the only example of the plural of "leaf" being, you know, "leafs"?
ReplyDeleteHard for me to throw a snowball from my house without hitting someone who taps trees. NH maple syrup is OK too.
"There must be Republicans in the solving community, but they seem able to withhold political comments from a Crossword blog."
ReplyDeleteNew around here?
Hardly!!
DeleteThis comment comes from a newly-minted Canadian citizen, after growing up in the US, so specifically Canadian things still stick out to me. I thought this puzzle was pretty on the nose with regard to (stereo)typical Canadian stuff.
ReplyDelete1. "Hockey Night" is absolutely something that's said here. Just about zero people outside of the broadcast booth call it by its entire name.
2. How do you NOT associate maple syrup with Canada? We produce 85% of the world's maple syrup, it's one of our biggest exports, and we even have a "strategic emergency maple syrup reserve" like the US has for oil.
3. Tim Hortons in Canada outnumber Starbucks about 5-to-1. They even outnumber McDonalds. There are more coffee shops per capita in Canada than anywhere else in the world.
4. The other thing Canadians do more than anyone else is eat mac-n-cheese. I'm kinda surprised that "Kraft Dinner" didn't show up in the puzzle, eh?
@TTrimble:
ReplyDeleteNew around here?
yet another example of their grievance complex. "I won, I won, I won!!", spake The Orange Sh!tgibbon (not my coinage, but I cleave).
Not at all.
DeleteUnlike OFL, I enjoyed this puzzle and especially all the connections to Canada. Although I live in Texas I spent a few years living just south of Vancouver and took in the Canadian experience from Washington state via CBC.
ReplyDeleteActually, I liked all the Canadian info offered up in the chat here. Reassuring to know that Quebec has a maple syrup strategic reserve.
@Z ERIC Clapton, great guitarist though he is, should not be looked at as a first time offender with his Covid comments. His racist rant regarding immigrants changing England comes to mind. There are many Canadians who could have replaced him in this puzzle, Neil Young, and Joni Mitchel are first to come to mind, both with four letter first names.
That said, enjoyed the puzzle. Thanks, Emma!
I've always wanted to check out a Tim Hortons. There's one at the Jamaica Station on the LIRR, but I almost never have occasion to be at that station. I don't think it would feel the same as going to one in Canada anyway. One thing good about it being in a crossword puzzle: you don't have to remember if it has an apostrophe or not. (But...why doesn't it?)
ReplyDeleteI though this was totally enjoyable.
Weather-appropriate selection for those in NYC today
For a puzzle with a largely US audience, that answer (as it appears in the grid) felt wobbly. Wobblier was MAPLE SYRUP, which I've never associated with CANADA. The maple leaf, sure, but the syrup, yeah, we've got that in ......... Costco.
ReplyDelete@kitshef 12:15. No Tarawa today, but at least you got TRALA at 51 D. Sorry.
Nice debut, Emma Craven-Matthews. Sorry. I assume that the Craven side is the Canadian part of your family. Sorry. Also, you missed a chance to clue Issa as the extremely right wing and morally challenged nut job Darrell who got returned to the U.S. Congress by the voters of Orange County, CA three weeks ago. That would have got Rex in a lather. Sorry
But a cute and enjoyable Monday for me. Keep it up! Sorry.
This is another in a string of fun puzzles. I think the low point was a couple of Sundays ago. Since then I’ve enjoyed every one.
ReplyDeleteFor those who don't associate maple syrup with Canada, I highly recommend looking up the Great Canadian Maple Syrup Heist, which is maybe the most Canadian story I know... and I curl, so I know a lot of Canadian stories, eh?
ReplyDeleteTo associate maple syrup with New York and not Canada is like associating pastry with Austria and not France, simply because you sometimes eat strudel.
Also, I went to a bonspiel in Vancouver in 2017 (aka Canada 150) and there was a Canada-themed costume contest. My team of southern tourists went as lumberjacks, as did about six other teams. But the winning team was the board game Sorry, with the skip as the board and the other three as pieces. And for those who don't believe that stereotype: at that same bonspiel, I accidentally hit someone behind me in the locker room with my broom... and she turned to me and said "Oh, so sorry!" without any hint of irony.
(The runners up in the costume contest went as Kraft dinner, which I also would have liked to see in this puzzle... possibly over "Hockey Night" which feels like a long partial to me.)
Hey All !
ReplyDeleteRex's MAPLE SYRUP screed is hilarious! What a hoser. Thanks to previous commentors for all the SYRUP info. Good stuff.
Also, thanks to all for explaining the SAYING SORRY themer. But still a bit unclear on is it because they are always SAYING SORRY, or the way they pronounce SORE-Y? One needs to go oot and aboot.
EROO - Me online. đ
Isn't XIN some famous Asian person's name? Or is saying"Asian person" offensive! Who knows these days. Asian! WooHoo! I said it again!
No RexPlaint on high black square count. 44 of 'em. He complained about 40, but not 44. Selective bitchery.
Decent CANADIAN puz, eh? Congrats on the debut Emma. Go get yourself some donuts and coffee at TIM H's. Don't we have a few of them in the states?
No F's (C'mon CANADA, where's the F love, eh?)
RooMonster
DarrinV
@GILL (10:56) Fascinating. After all these years I never knew it had a name. I just remember it was served everywhere, even at a Kentucky Fried Chicken. That was in the late 70s, and it’s surprising how often I have thought of that when digging in to a pile of fries with ketchup. Thanks for the explanation, but adding cheese curds to the mix? Not helping. đ¤ĸđ
ReplyDeleteAlex Trebek. He was a pretty nice gift from above too.
Oh and that moose in the writeup today, that’s another thing I will always associate with CANADA, the biggest dang moose I’ve ever seen. Come to think of it, probably the only one I’ve ever seen. But all kidding aside, he was a magnificent creature, downright regal looking in his utter disdain for the puny gaping humanoids.
the reason Tim Horton's donuts aren't that great is because they are cake donuts not yeast donuts. Got nothing whatsoever to do with who owns them.
ReplyDeleteLewis. Great clues this week. Nice seeing them again.
ReplyDeleteI guess Canadians overuse "sorry" like we overuse "thank you." When the waiter brings me the glass of wine I ordered, I say "Thank you." I'm not thanking him or her for doing their job, I'm just saying that I noticed that my wine had arrived. It's a convenient sound to make.
I'm trying to break my habit of thanking the clerks at the grocery for bagging my stuff and putting it in the cart. They usually make believe they didn't hear me.
An orgy of Terrible Threes, 20 in the columns alone, 28 total.
I really enjoyed this neighborly puzzle, and the comments of reminiscence are an added bonus. Here I am, living in a border state (which is also, by the way, the #4 MAPLE SYRUP producer in the U.S.), and I've never been. Need to do something about that, but I'm not sure when the ETA can be. Meanwhile, I join the admirers of BAKE SALE, ARCANE, SCENARIO, APRICOTS, and ENIGMA and appreciate this Monday puzzle that left me with a smile.
ReplyDelete@Nancy 8:54 - I second your opinion on BOX SEATs, One season, my husband and I had them for our season subscription to the Lyric Opera of Chicago. The box had 4 chairs in two row, but unnumbered, so the first people there got dibs on the front seats. When both couples arrived at the same time, it was practically like HOCKEY NIGHT, with barely disguised body checking. One season of this was enough for us.
Yikes! Forty four black squares give this grid a constricted feel that could ALIENATE many a solver. Not much space left after themers go in so we get a lot of 3s (28) and 4s (too lazy to count). Kind of lets the STEAM out of any enthusiasm for this one. Maybe the grid architecture could have used some REORG.
ReplyDelete@Z - Hate to ruin the rest of your life, but you gotta give up vanilla. You know why it's only made in Madagascar? Because it's hugely a manual process, and the Madagascar people are the people poor enough to be willing to do the work. They can grow the beans almost anywhere, you just need people willing to work for $0.01 per hour. Slave labor in China? - too expensive. So unless your local home-made syrup is made from FDA approved chemicals, you cant eat it, as you gotta stop supporting the industry. Which will make it even less able to pay their workers, thereby ruining their lives.
ReplyDeleteFor those of you that were not aware of just how appropriate the theme answers are in this puzzle you should LISTEN to Mike Myers love letter to his homeland...Canada. You can watch an interview on YouTube with Jimmy Fallon where the book is discussed. During the interview Mike said, “I think the Canadian motto is probably ‘Sorry, eh’?” Pronounced “sew-ree.” Seriously, the book was humorous for sure but had a lot of history and other very interesting information!
ReplyDeleteThx, @Emma; it wasn't raining in Vancouver yesterday, but it sure is now. Right on schedule (or shedule). LOL
ReplyDelete@kitshef 10:47 AM - hadn't seen this before, thx :)
@TTrimble 11:09 AM đ
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0
Peace Paix ׊ָׁ××ֹ× Salam Paz ÎĩΚĪÎŽÎŊΡ Pax Sipala đh
This puzzle gave this Canadian a smile this morning. I’m sorry, I can’t help but find the usually American-centric clues so annoying - endless references to colleges, college mascots, college sports teams - and am often led astray by forgetting those “-or” spellings (color, labor) instead of “-our”. I was JUST thinking a few days ago, that if I were ever to try my hand at constructing, this would be my theme - and voilà . So perhaps I’ll wait for July 1. Or Thanksgiving, next October, eh? Congrats and thank you to Emma Craven-Matthews.
ReplyDelete@TTrimble - Sorry, but Sah-ree is a traditional Indian garment
hoser (one of limited intelligence and little education), loonie ($1 coin), toonie ($2 coib), depanneur (Convenience store in QuÊbec), Anglophone (Canadian whose native tongue is likely not French), Francophone (Canadian whose native tongue is French), tuque (quintessential Canadian cap), block heater (overnight plug-in to keep a car engine from freezing when the temperature is way below 0 Celsius), guichet (QuÊbec bank's 5-digit branch code), stook (bale of hay or straw, in the Prairie Provinces), Gotchies (underpants; also gonchies or gitch in the west), resto (restaurant, in QuÊbec), porch climber (hooch), parkade (parking garage), serviette (napkin), Newfie (Newfoundlander), Robertson Screws (Canadian -- mostly -- boat-building fasteners), ketchup chips (tomato-sauce-flavoured snack found generally only in Canada), Nanaimo bar (ice cream cookie treat named for a Vancouver Island city), Saskatoon berries (blueberry-like fruits for which Saskatchewan's largest city was named), on the pogey (Receiving governmental financial help)
ReplyDeleteAll these terms and more are in https://www.amazon.com/Canadian-Xwds-2/dp/B08P8SJ5HW/
@Z....You don't have to pour MAPLE SYRUP on waffles or pancakes. They have wonderful other uses. My friend who lives in New Hampshire, sent me some authentic stuff...came in one of those ceramic containers that looks like it originally contained some hootch. Since I never eat waffles nor pancakes, I used the stuff in all kinds of recipes. My favorite use of MAPLE SYRUP is for a bourbon and bacon jam recipe. @chefwen sent me one and I jazzed it up a tad. I also puree it;, slather it on some toast; keep it in the fridge in a little jar for up to a month, and I'm one happy camper....Makes a good Christmas gift.
ReplyDelete@mathgent, It is impossible to overuse "Thank you". Who hurt you?
ReplyDelete@Colossus of Rhode (11:28) -- In Austria, C of R, you've selected perhaps the only country on earth that compete with the wonderfulness of French pastry. Austria is NOT only strudel. Austria is, for me, primarily the sacher torte and the Imperial torte. Not that I've ever been to Austria, but there used to be a charming Viennese dessert place on the UES. Want to look at some mouth-watering Austrian desserts? Here they are!
ReplyDeleteOh, @GILL, you cook everything, it seems, and all of it sounds wonderful! Especially when you're adding bourbon or rum or brandy to it :) I wish we lived on the same coast so that you could cook for me. (Actually, I wish we lived on the same coast even if you didn't cook for me.)
@Nancy re: Austria -- That was kind of my point. Austria *does* have some fine pastries just as New York and Vermont make some fine maple syrup. But to associate pastries only with Austria and not France is rather odd, as the primary stereotype of pastries are French pastries.
ReplyDeleteLikewise, the stereotype of one who drinks maple syrup straight out of the bottle belongs to Canada.
Aawwww, laid back and easy seems a perfect way to celebrate our northern neighbor and a Monday puzzle. Among the many gifts sent south we should celebrate also Louise Penny whose Inspector Gamache has become a regular household guest in past decades. From Still Life in 2005 through this year’s All The Devils are Here the extended family of Three Pines characters have grappled with issues great and small while leaving a tasteful trail of corpses in this outstanding mystery series. And the puzzle was good for Monday, though I missed Canadian Tire as an expected entry as well as Overwaitea Food that never fails to amuse me in the foreign names category Alex!
ReplyDeleteNever thought of NY as a major producer of maple syrup, but ok. Vermont, yes. Ohio, where I was born and have lived a few times as an adult, has excellent maple syrup as well. Canada - of course. Wasn't there a big scandal a couple of years ago when tanker trucks of maple syrup from Canada were hijacked or something? And the syrup is super-expensive? I'll have to look that up later.
ReplyDeleteBtw, Burton, Ohio, used to have a frozen custard stand on the town square which had a hot fudge sundae with maple frozen custard. My mouth still waters thinking of it. They still have a maple festival. So does Connecticut, where I learned all about maple syrup production while chaperoning a class trip with my young son. The real stuff isn't cloyingly sweet. (I invented a Hot Buttered Rum using pure maple syrup instead of sugar - I claim it, but feel free to try it.)
Poutine would've been a good addition to the puzzle, maybe later in the week. And moose. I loved seeing road signs in Canada saying, "Caution" with an outline of a moose. I have wonderful memories of the International Peewee Hockey Festival in Quebec City, along with the Winter Festival, also thanks to my son. It feels like you are in the Arctic at the top of the world.
At an outlying ice rink in the countryside, I was so proud of myself for straining my brain and tapping my 2 years of high school French to order an egg and cheese sandwich for breakfast - and actually getting what I ordered without comment from the young, French-only speaking girl at the snack bar.
Two regrets: I didn't try the poutine and didn't go see the sled dogs. Make it three - I didn't buy an Inuit sculpture.
As for "Sorry," I don't know about that but Canadians are famously polite. Caution: in ice rinks, not so much, especially on the ice!
Other than that, a great T-shirt goes through different U.S. presidents, ending with our current one " T----...made me want to be Canadian! "
This is very long - sorry! - newbie
Miss Manners,
ReplyDeleteCorrect!!! it is impossible to say thank you, please, or your welcome too much.
But may I suggest that asking someone "who hurt you?" is impolite, unless you are a friend, confidante, priest or cop.
@Egsfor s at 11:27 sent me to the fridge where I dug out the Costco maple syrup jug and found this text on it: “ INGREDIENT: 100% pure organic maple syrup.
ReplyDeleteIMPORTED BY:
COSTCO WHOLESALE CORPORATION P.O. BOX 34535, SEATTLE, WA 98124-1535 USA
1-800-774-2678. WWW.COSTCO.COM
Certified by Ecocert Canada
# 91472
Refrigerate After Opening
Newboy - Louise Penny and Inspector Gamache are the best! - newbie
ReplyDelete@thfenn & rex
ReplyDeleteeverybody knows the best maple syrup comes from Massachusetts.
Pro tip: never buy "Grade A." Always go for B, much richer flavor.
With global warming, maple syrup production in new england is declining.
@Gill I 12:43 - True. But given the other ingredients wouldn’t a simple syrup made at home do just as well? I think there are lots of sticky bun recipes that call for MAPLE SYRUP as well. If I were ever to pay for the “good” stuff it would be for sticky buns.
ReplyDelete@Whatsername - Ever put gravy on your mashed potatoes? Ever have cheesy mashed potatoes? The difference between those dishes and poutine is primarily one of texture.
I have probably mentioned this before, but a local butcher/food truck/restaurant here in Western NC has a dish they call “poutine.” Fail. Instead of a good brown gravy they use a “demi-glaze, spicy aioli.” No. Just No. To be clear, as food truck fries go the dish isn’t awful. But it is not poutine.
The mention of Kraft dinners reminded me of Barenaked Ladies again. If you look real close you can see me in one of the crowd shots (row LL I think).
@mathgent - I agree with @anon2:45, it never ever hurts to say “thank you,” even if it is just for someone “doing their job.” I stopped reading pissy reviews online (so many bad service reviews are really “I behaved like an ass and the staff wouldn’t tolerate it”) and decided being especially nice to people “just doing their job” is a worthwhile endeavor and maybe compensates for some of the hell others put them through.
@11:59 - Not that you actually care, but the solution to worker exploitation is to stop exploiting workers. I think the economists more or less agree that stopping worker exploitation doesn’t actually raise prices but does lower profits, which is why we need things like unions and government regulations. As for that vanilla syrup, I’d be surprised if they used vanilla from Madagascar since that wouldn’t be cheap. But maybe they do.
@Newboy 2:53 PM
ReplyDeleteThe Maple Treat is what I've been getting from Amazon. 1 L jug lasts me about two months. Didn't know it had to be refrigerated, tho. Thx for the heads-up. :)
"Rain" early this a.m. in Vancouver, but now nothing but Blue Skies do I see. đ
Took in the curling event at the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics.
Peace Paix ׊ָׁ××ֹ× Salam Paz ÎĩΚĪÎŽÎŊΡ Pax Sipala đh
@Z:
ReplyDeleteI think the economists more or less agree that stopping worker exploitation doesn’t actually raise prices but does lower profits
What most right-wingers, whether actual capitalists or their wannabe acolytes don't get is that they're viewing the world through 19th century glasses: they remained convinced that the only way to make money from their physical capital is to exploit labor. There is some reason to see why they think that way. It's always been true that fiduciary capital accepts no sovereignty; it moves unchecked to wherever it prefers, it's just that these days, movement is only a mouse click away. Given that fact, two of the three legs of the elementary production function parameters (land, labor, and capital) are out of their control. The interest rate is just a given, so all contenders in any sector of an economy have to pay the same for the physical bits and pieces of production; none can gain an advantage in those areas. So, let's squeeze labor in order to see a profit.
The 21st century problem is grossly different: the amount of labor in nearly all production, outside of some service sectors, has been falling for decades. As machines replace humans in production, something happens. That something is quite simple: the only way to make money is to keep them thar machines running 24/7/365, in order to drive down average cost. Chew on that a minute. Another corner of the problem is that as the amount of labor share diminishes, so does labor wages.
We now have the collision of the immovable object and the unstoppable force. The capitalist must maximize output in order to score a diminishing profit (because there is less exploitable labor embedded in output) per unit of said output. On the other hand, as less and less labor is earning wages due less employment, aggregate demand falls, thus making it impossible to consume the maximized output from capital.
It is a puzzlement.
I almost - not quite -- beat 10 minutes today. And I was trying. Day 43 is in the books. I feel like I accomplish something in the realm of my chosen field - International Relations - every time I learn about Canada. But really, I don't.
ReplyDeleteIssa Rae, though, guys. My fave!
I agree with the Louise Penney fans!
ReplyDeleteA fine tribute to the 51st state.
ReplyDelete♪He was sittin' in the lounge of the Empire Hotel
ReplyDeleteHe was drinkin' for diversion
He was thinkin' for himself
A little money ridin' on the Maple Leafs
Along comes a lady in lacy sleeves
She says "Lemme sit down
You know, drinkin' alone's a shame, it's a shame, it's a cryin' shame
Look at those jokers
Glued to that damn hockey game..." ♪
As a hockey player’s mom, this puzzle was lots of fun and a great way to start the week. At first when I got HOCKEYNIGHT, I was thinking Hockey Night in Boston, but then 8A Capital made no sense...and voila it came to me, adult hockey, and down the ice I went! We always stocked up on TIMHORTONS and lots of MAPLESYRUP, too. And spent a few CANADA Day weekends at Tournaments in OTTAWA, one where we spent much of the night standing outside during a fire drill. Bonus in today’s NYT sports there’s a wonderful article, Hockey Off the Grud and Amid the Glaciers by Gerald Narciso. C’mon, Rex...there’s more to sports than baseball...đ
ReplyDeleteMAPLE SYRUP was a gimme, having listened to The Mothers’ Just Another Band From LA album forever.
ReplyDeletePart of the refrain from the song Magdalena:
“I work so hard
Don’t you understand
Making MAPLE SYRUP for the pancakes of our land”
The rest requires parental discretion....
We have a Tim Hortons in New Jersey. The maple glazed donuts (or doughnuts) are excellent (and you can’t get that at Dunkin)
ReplyDelete@Z
ReplyDeleteI saw you!
Har, not really. Just a bunch of Rando white guys.
RooMonster If I Had A Million Dollars, I'd Buy The NYTXW Guy đ
As a Canadian I found this delightful... We take our representation where we can get it, and our stereotypes are inoffensive and accurate haha. Pretty shocked that Rex claims to be unaware of how inexorably linked maple syrup is to our national identity. Vermont and New York are bit players on the global scene, my friend. Quebec is far and away the world leader in production, the government has a national syrup reserve - true fact!
ReplyDeleteDarn. I only got to see the Rex aftermath on this one,
ReplyDeleteas I am a Sunday only crossword.
As an expat, and big hockey fan, got a big kick out of
the solve and the comments.
I can see how the references might be pretty hard to parse
for American readers, and non nor'easters.
The SORRY thing is often pointed out not just for
its CDN humility, but also for the very CNAJUN sounding
SORE-eee as opposed to the more American SAHR-eee.
HNIC is a CDN institution and emotional touchstone.
I probably spent more Saturday nights watching hockey
with my family, than many other more notorious activities.
I grew up watching and idolizing the amazing Tim Horton.
Hall of Famer, 4 time Stanley Cup Champ, 6 time All Star,
Top 100 All Time Honoree, Double Sweater Retiree, and
dear family friend.
While known mostly for his glorious Trahna years,
he also played 3 years of minor league hockey,
and his final 5 pro seasons in American cities:
Pittsburgh, New York, and Buffalo.
The Tim Hortons chain became ubiquitous after I moved,
but is so revered on the national landscape, and is
part of so many small town minor hockey rituals.
It is often humorous to me that so many next-gens,
only know the name from the coffee, not the legend.
Good Day, Eh!
DM.
A bad Monday puzzle makes my ASPIC. Fortunately, this one was pretty good, even though Rex TUT-TUTted it. I give it high MARCs.. Take a bow Emma Craven Matthews, You’ve URNed it.
ReplyDeleteNever heard of TIMHORTONS, but I remember a chain called FDR (Frank de Rice) that specialized in Italian cuisine. They had a huge STEAM table with rows of pasta pots sunk in; every eight minutes they'd start a new pot so that at any time, there'd be pasta done just right. And their meatballs were to die for.
ReplyDeleteI say sorry all the time, but of course with the shorter O. Sounds better than "Excuse me." And MUCH better than the Trumpian "Pardon me."
This is a diamond in the rough. XIN is awful, but I don't know how you get around it. ALIGNS/LGA is an interesting choice over ALIENS/LEA. Ah, of course. ALIENATE is already in the grid. Nice sidestep.
ELEA is hardly Monday fare, but we'll take it. ISSA Rae for DOD. A debut worthy of a follow-up, this time sanded down a little. Birdie.
Looked up TIM HORTONS after solving, and found they are in CANADA - so apt. Wonder if we'll hear from our neighbors to the north about their coffee.
ReplyDeleteCoffee (made at home, of course) is one of my companions whilst solving a lovely Monday.
Diana, Lady-in-Waiting for a second cuppa
Let’s hear it for CANADA! ..... ANYONE?....... anyone?..........
ReplyDeleteSORRY, just kidding. I like Canadians.
TIMHORTONS is a big sponsor of women's curling in CANADA. They also have/had a shop in St. Paul MN in the same building where the MN Wild hockey team practices.
ReplyDeleteAlexandria OCASIA-Cortez for yeah baby.
Puz? Coupla dozen 3s. Meh.
SCENARIO ALIGNS
ReplyDeleteIn OTTAWA, CANADA it’s no quirk,
ANYONE gets a BOXSEAT for the fight,
for the MAPLE Leafs SAYINGSORRY won’t work,
they’ll ALIENATE Senators ONA HOCKEYNIGHT.
--- TIMHORTON
I have to say it -- Lewis is condescending.
ReplyDeleteMaple Syrup ... I think "Canadian". I've never been in a Canadian "trinket shop" where I did not see bottles and cans of maple syrup piled high. Then there was the "Great Canadian Maple Syrup Heist" of 2011-2012 when nearly 3,000 TONS of syrup was stolen from a Quebec warehouse belonging to The Federation of Quebec Maple Syrup Producers (which produces 70% of the global supply). Great caper. But the "saying sorry" didn't click with me.
ReplyDelete