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Mail lady on Pee-wee's Playhouse / SUN 11-15-20 / 1989 Tom Hanks black comedy / Keto adherent e.g. / Republican politico Reince / Small bird with complex songs / Seasonal song with lyrics in Latin / Lipa Grammy-winning pop artist
Sunday, November 15, 2020
Constructor: Caitlin Reid
Relative difficulty: Easyish (9:01)
Word of the Day: LIENOR (49A: Bank, at times) —
: one holding a lien against the property of another (merriam-webster.com)
• • •
There aren't any real low points, except LIENOR, ouch ... and I thought ALIENOR was bad (weirdly, I've seen ALIENOR more than I've seen LIENOR, I'm almost certain). Those three letters between "L" and "OR" were an Adventure, for sure. I had LENDOR (?) and LESSOR (!?) before eventually getting the whole answer from crosses. Otherwise, nothing awful in this puzzle. Also, nothing very exciting. I kinda liked [Barely afloat?] for SKINNY-DIPPING, but that's about the only answer that I remembered fondly after I was done. I'm realizing now why I assumed there'd be a theme (besides, you know, the obvious, i.e. that it's Sunday and the puzzle has a title): two of the long Acrosses have "?" clues. In addition to the SKINNY-DIPPING clue, there's the corresponding, symmetrical clue on COURT REPORTER (27A: Hearing aid?). Speaking of "?" clues, 1-Across gave me more trouble than just about anything in the grid (1A: Round number? = BARTAB). It's a fine clue, just anomalously tough. Also tough for me:
Tough for me:
- 25D: Bring down (LOWER) — got the "L," wrote in LEVEL
- 19D: Mudbug, by another name (CRAWDAD) — got the "CRAW," wrote in CRAWLER (?)
- 41A: First attempt (FORAY) — Had no idea that the concept of "first" was built in. I hear "first FORAY" and "initial FORAY" a lot. Those are redundant? Huh.
- 78D: Golfer Jordan who won the 2015 U.S. Open (SPIETH) — after a while I recognized the name, but I try really hard not to pay the least bit of attention to this exclusionary country-club "sport" that is beloved by some of the worst people on the planet. If you never put a golf clue in a puzzle again, I would not complain.
- 79D: Republican politico Reince (PRIEBUS) — ok this wasn't "tough for me," just hilarious to me, literally laughed and thought "omg that guy ... remember *that* guy?" Is he still someone? What an embarrassment.
- 85D: Prepare to deplane (UNBELT) —LOL I have never called it that. I unbuckle my seatbelt, but my need to save breath on syllables has never driven me to utter anything as stupid as UNBELT.
OK, XXOO BYE.
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130 comments:
Easyish works for me. Started in the NW and just kept going, with no real hang ups. As @Rex said, this was fine, liked it.
LIENeR/JUNe did me in
I couldn't figure out the theme, so.. oh there isn't one? I don't feel quite so dumb.
Even Jeff Chen at xwordinfo.com kinda agrees with Rex about this (which isn't often so).
AWLS crossing AUGERS is a handyman's delight. But maybe it would be neat if, since AUGERS was clued as "Boring things", AWLS had been clued as "Holey things".
Here in British Columbia there is a town named Agassiz, pronounced "ag-ah-see". So every time good old Andre (86 down) shows up in a puzzle, I start typing in the answer only to run out of room for the final Z.
For 44 down "Pluto, e.g." I typed in DOG. Which made 44 across DUDS. No!... it's GOD, the palindrome of Mickey's Pluto.
I was going through this with not too much trouble until I hit the Midwest section and took quite a while to get everything straight, beginning with MARES NEST feeding down to SYNCED with FADE, TEC, and DELETED SCENES in between. DELETED SCENES seems like a negative extra to me, but it all worked out in Average Sunday time. I can say that I liked the challenge, and that is why I like crossword puzzles anyway.
I happened to be up at this hour, and I actually thought Rex would like it, too - oh well, should've bet safely that he wouldn't. I liked this, but you all know I like pretty much all of them. Yes, it was not too difficult. Thank you for the diversion, Caitlyn!
Hey, I'm not huge into golf, but IMO, that was an unfair swipe.
My wife asked me how rare is a themeless on a Sunday, and I said, "Rare." Never done one I can recall, on a Sunday. At first, I thought the theme would be memes. Perhaps we can shoehorn a theme... about DELETEDSCENES from a TRICKORTREAT B-movie that involved a COURTREPORTER who went SKINNYDIPPING on PLANETEARTH during a SLUMBERPARTY; THATSOK if you don't like Halloween B-movies, Christmas is coming up, ADESTEFIDELES!
@Rex, you might want to rethink your comment on 78D, my husband plays golf two to three times a week, he does not belong to a country club and he is one of the best persons on this planet.
Puzzle was fine but I sure did miss a theme, kinda ho-hum. I did like TRICK OR TREAT and SKINNY DIPPING.
On to the LA Times.
So now anyone who plays or watches golf is a bad person? Do you think Rex has any idea how many public courses there are for most people who can’t play at a country club? It’s such a ridiculous statement and I don’t even play golf! Country clubs have tennis courts too. Why is Agassi okay? What’s next, no more clues about club sandwiches?
As my mother (who started puzzling with Farrar) would say, “It was just putting letters into boxes.” Nothing special. But enough interesting long answers that it wasn’t a chore. A pleasant diversion at 2am, lights turned down to dark blue and purple, pensive jazz playing, and the wind hollering outside.
Ditto @chefwen. My husband became a golf enthusiast after we moved to the US from Mexico. Never belonged to a club, but plays in public courts any time he can (even in Chicago’s harsh temperatures). He looooves it and has convinced me to [kinda] play with him a few times.
It’s fun being out there on a nice day, driving the cart and drinking a cold beer...
I would rather see a puzzle like this every Sunday if the alternative is a crappy themed like we've been getting. In fact I thought this was a fine puzzle with nice longs and clever cluing.
I look forward to the Sunday themes, so kept trying to foist a theme onto this one. Eventually, I realized that there was nothing there, just empty calories, like a box of Melba Toast. I mean the box itself ... the actual Melba Toast would be more exciting. I’d enjoy this puzzle on a Wednesday or Thursday, but not on a Sunday.
So now Rex's deranged leftest biases extends to attacking golf? Twenty five million Americans play golf. Why, because President Trump plays golf? He also eats Big Macs. Should I expect a diatribe on McDonalds next?
This was so disappointing...kind of like those puzzles you fill in just to fill time... which, now that we have our phones, have gone they way they should have...away! And this is a NYT Sunday puzzle? Sad.
Ditto @chefwen and @andrea. I play with a senior group 2 x a week. Public courses. Fees less than $35 for 18 holes, cart, range balls. How elite. 48 guys retired, aged 65 to 84. IMO Rex actually overboard on this just because he who shall not be named plays the game.
I agree, it was just a puzzle that took some thinking. Bonus: No Simpsons clues.
"Theme schmeme"? So disappointed. Did not do this puzzle; the theme's the thing. Please have themes. Lame game.
The theme was stolen by Dominion Voting Systems. It's hidden away in the sub-basement of Comet Pizza, carefully guarded by Antifa activists.
Amen.
It’s rare that I do - but I agree with Rex on this one. Large Sunday grid - 21 x 21 of extended Friday and Saturday. Good puzzle or not - it completely throws well deserved shade on the solve. Further - actually giving it a trite little title is a total f u to the crowd like the middle fingers sticking up in the top and bottom black areas of this grid.
I’m on my way to church - it’s what I do on Sunday. Hoping mass is still on and they’re not playing bingo - that’s reserved for Friday nights.
First, golf. My Father-in-law (who is a wonderful person) loves the sport and has said essentially the same thing (I still watch even though...). The Masters is one of the most beloved tournaments in golf. It’s played at a club whose co-founder is noted for saying “As long as I'm alive, all the golfers will be white and all the caddies will be black." This club admitted its first women members in 2012. Golf is now to Trump what the violin is to Nero. I remember attending a holiday function at our local Country Club and discovering it could be held there because the most awful of School board members was a member.
In short, while hardly anyone who loves golf is an awful person, Rex is factually correct when he writes that it is the beloved sport of some of the worst people around. This has been true for a long time. I don’t know that it is worse than other sports, but it’s been pretty obvious to me all of my adult life that golf is singular in having people who publicly revel is being despicable.
@Evan Birnholz, who has to churn out a 21x21 every week, has a different take on the Sunday themeless. I see both sides and really don’t know where I stand. Every 21x21 grid should be “startingly good” and too often don’t rise above meh. This has nothing to do with the theme question. @Evan’s are frequently better than what the NYTX puts out which just shouldn’t be so (i.e. drawing from the multitude should result in better puzzles than just drawing from an individual). So why are the NYTX Sundays so sloggy so often?
Hand up for dOg before GOD and for thinking LIENOR is one of the ugliest words ever conceived. Lienee doesn’t have the same odoriferous reek about it. I did know that FORAY had an initial quality implied. It still hadn’t occurred to me that it is often used in redundant phrases.
A foursome of amateur golf enthusiasts were playing their weekly round. They were on the 10th green which happened to be within easy sight of a road. A funeral procession happened along and one of the group stopped mid-putt, took off his cap and stood silently while the procession passed. One of his friends remarked on his thoughtfulness and he replied, "Well, she was a good wife."
@Caitlin, that was a perfect Sunday puz; many thanks! :)
Haven't sussed the theme yet. Okay, just had a look; it says "Theme Shmeme". I guess that means, no theme?? or did I miss something. In any event I loved the tricky clueing on some of the long crosses.
Started in the NW and made slow, but steady progress throughout. No major sticking points. Ended up ten minutes under av., so slow and steady got the job done. Really enjoyed the whole experience.
New (or sorta new): "Weir" (as clued); "Greta Gerwig"; "Dua Lipa"; "Reba" (as clued); "Tim"; "Burbs" (as clued); "crawdad" (as clued); "prim" (as clued); "dieter" (as clued); "smh".
Fav. clues/answers: "bar tab"; "crash course"; "naturals"; "court reporter"; "sugar coat"; "deleted scenes"; "eraser"; "silt"; "skinny dipping"; "shoe store"; "crater"; "warm spell"; "luau"; "rare".
Corrected: 3D "dry rot"; 88D "slice"; 72D "gormand".
Hey Jude - The Beatles
The McGuire Sisters - Sugartime
y.d. -4
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My Pearl-clutcher was a PRIG and TIG seemed like a fine name for Mr Gunn.
Baseball "is beloved by some of the worst people on the planet." One such person even lobbied to throw out the first pitch of the most recent season. So ... no more baseball clues or answers.
Very enjoyable...sometimes we all need a confidence booster....
I actually felt intelligent until I read Rex’s review..
Once again Rex proves that if it isn't in his personal wheelhouse it must be anathema to the world. Go back to your comic books, I don't think anyone plays golf in those.
Really @Z, what are you saying ? "Drawing from the multitude should result in better puzzles than just drawing from an individual" ? Not if you consider constructing as an art form, as I do. Should the "multitude" produce a superior product than a Mozart or a Renoir ?
Your golf argument is kinda stupid to but I don't feel like going into it.
BINACA. Haven't seen it in ages. We used to have that in the house when I was growing up, and I remember well the time when someone in our family accidentally applied BINACA as if it were Visine. I don't remember who it was. I just remember it wasn't me.
I think most of the pleasure of this puzzle is in the cluing. For example, SKINNY DIPPING for "Barely afloat" -- good one. I also kinda liked WEB SITES for "Some surfing destinations". There are other cuties in there, but these may serve to represent.
Speaking of cuties. I'm going to imagine that many commenters, given what I estimate the median age to be, will not have heard of DUA LIPA. She's pretty popular with the younger set, and ON GOD from yesterday, that lass is smokin' if you ask me. Pretty self-aware fashion sense as well. Anyway, that's her real name and she hails from Albania. I was vaguely wondering "two lips?" when I first heard of her, but no. Seeing her on the YouTube series Hot Ones (the idea is to have a celebrity interview whilst eating hot wings that get progressively hotter, and it's surprisingly good) didn't lower my opinion of her one little bit, nosireebob.
Allow me to head an inevitable question off at the pass: SMH means "shaking my head".
I love how Rex included a suggested time range for solving: somewhere between 10 minutes and 45 minutes. Making sure that his is before the rest, and also that upper bound -- anything beyond that and you poor SAP! Honestly, I don't think I would have gone out on that thin ice. It's not needed to make his point. Just another way for Rex to alienate people (as if he needs more), probably unwittingly in this case.
Yeah, the golf. Listen, I'm impressed: the name SPIETH occupied maybe a single synapse of my brain and I had to back into it, so for someone who makes an effort to ignore golf, that's pretty good. Anyway, of course Rex isn't saying and didn't say that everyone who plays golf is a terrible person. But he did throw some shade there, and surely he knew this would
get some people's DANDER up (that's from yesterday as well), but he went for it anyway. That's just a skosh away from being -- what do you call it? -- a troll. Well, it's your column, Rex. You sort of have a point, but SMH.
I think the title was a definite clue that this might be a themeless. That's what I thought, and lo and behold, I was right. Pretty easy for a Sunday, with no trouble at all except the MARESNEST down which wanted to be something involving a morass, and the mess of trying to get that straightened out was amusing for its irony.
My favorite had to be TEENSYWEENSY. That's just fun.
Agree with OFL that some awful people play golf. In fact, I'm in favor of not having any clues involving sports at all, because some awful people play them too. Ha ha. Too easy to find things to anger us, if you look hard enough. I've had some wonderful fun playing Bob Golf, because we are awful and there were adult beverages involved and it got dark. I will not play with either of my sons who hit the ball miles farther than I do, even in my dreams.
I was not insulted by the lack of a theme, CR. Some people seemed to take that personally, but I'll just say thanks for the fun, which was certainly adequate for a Sunday morning.
The comments interest me more than the puzzle. That said, my reaction to the puzzle was that it was just a puzzle and deserves me hatred from me.
Mike Sharp: If you guess that no one will complain too much about a concession to idealessness, take a hint from okanaganer and read Jeff Chen's comments about today's puzzle. Personally, I have not found a Sunday themeless much different from a Sunday themed: the PPP in either tends to trip me up. Those types of entries don't exercise my mind because they are just impossible for me to come up with. I doubt Shortz will make any changes helpful to what's been suggested which is too bad.
Living in Yonkers, I would say there are a lot of both private and public golf courses around Westchester and NYC. The public courses (one of which is in Yonkers and one which straddles its northern border) of course are not restrictive concerning who plays there. Many of my school mates (mostly white) were caddies so they could pick up some money. I suppose one's attitude to the sport is colored by your life experience. True, it is cheaper to shoot baskets on the street with a home made court or hit some balls in a sand lot (if you can find one), or to congregate in one of the many free parks, but I never thought golf was the sport of rich people. (Ironically, because of a "country club) close to where I lived, I erroneously thought of tennis as more of a rich person's sport.) But I suppose my point should be this: if you are bothered by golf clues because some people associated with the sport are not nice people, just about any topic should bother you. (Football, anyone?) The allowable topics would be rare indeed.
To me, it seemed remarkable for how unremarkable it was. I set a set a new personal record, but it doesn't really feel deserved. On the plus side, it didn't have a ton of crosswordese (especially for a Sunday). But, it didn't have much snap, crackle, crunch. Looking at the grid, it seems like it could have had some more interesting cluing.
RE: lienor/alienor
I've worked in finance/banking for decades. I can't say I've heard lienor (lienholder would be the term of art), but lienor would be understood.
Alienor is a completely different concept. I'm not an attorney, but I can say it's never used in finance, and it looks like it's currently not used in law either. It exists only to fill grids.
how 'bout Mississippi having FOUR not three short i's??!!!
I worked with a guy once who was a champion-level player on New York City public golf courses. His idea of a high-risk activity was to play for money when he didn't have the funds to pay if he lost. If he then lost, the winner would take his golf shoes which he would return when he could pay up. Nobody at this level could afford to have two pairs of golf shoes - and the premier players wouldn't dream of stepping on the course in sneakers. It was a great self regulating mechanism. And, yes, Rex, you don't have to be a snotty republican to play and enjoy golf. Christ - you should know that: you live in upstate New York, where most of the courses are public and quite reasonable.
Well, I was happy to see Johnny WEIR in the puzzle, and I loved the clue for SKINNY DIPPING.
On the downside, we have an unbelievably stupid clue for SILT and the absence of a theme, which is normally Sunday’s only hope for glory. Without a doozy of a theme, Sunday is just an oversized Tuesday.
Slumber Party Massacre II was much better than the original, for anyone interested.
Easy Sunday. We watched “Frances Ha” last night, so GRETA was a gimme. Add me to the list of those that look for more zip in my puzzle.
Didn’t Obama play golf regularly. I’m retired on a fixed income and I play with two of old guys every week. It’s my only sanity in these insane times. I guess I must be a rich white racist by definition.
I did this in the cold and wind while feeding birds so I was pleased that I was able to solve it without much trouble. Themeless puzzles don’t bother me. I’m not an anti-golf snob. I just don’t follow or play it.
@Coops 8:44 - pronunciation clues are always awful, because of regional variances, but for me, that fourth "i" is pronounced as a long e, not a SHORT I.
Don't mind the occasional Sunday themeless. Doesn't make it any less of a puzzle, imo, unless the post-solve analysis is taken into account, in which case the "puzzle within a puzzle" element isn't there. No biggie in this case, as I found the long acrosses to be fine and dandy.
Like @Rex, re: "lienor", had the "l" and "or"; but unlike Rex, the "ien" came right away. Every now and then, I get something he doesn't.
@Rex, even tho the review was not glowing, the XXOO was! Nice way to say, bye. :)
For "crawdad", had the "cr" and the "awdad" seemed apt. A good guess, since I didn't really know "mud bug". Reminded me of crawdadding at the local creek as an 11 yr. old.
Liked "unbelt".
Jordan "Spieth" is currently tied for 52nd at this year's Masters. Used to love to golf; don't grok why one would judge any activity by its participants, tho. Yes, work needs to be done to open the sport up to all. Some thoughts on how to do so: here: "Jack Nicklaus for years has called for major changes to the game of golf. In his words, the game is “not accessible, affordable or time effective.” Nicklaus goes on to say that 20 per cent of women and juniors have disappeared from the game. Both public and private courses have lost members with the number of golfers in decline or stagnating since 2000, despite the Tiger Woods factor." (Dennis Begin)
@Colin 1:09 AM
I thought "memes" too, but quickly dismissed that idea. LOL
@The Joker 7:19 AM 😂
___
"Pearl-clutcher" I've seen a few times, but didn't know the def.; thought maybe "miser" or some such. Would never have come up with "prim".
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Lender to loaner to lienor. No "wows" at the end. Forgettable.
I'll go with TRICK OR TREAT as a theme for the puzzle, or better, TRICK and TREAT: no Sunday theme + so many fun-to-write-in answers: IVORIES, SUGARCOAT, ADESTE FIDELES, SKINNY-DIPPING, MARE'S NEST, PUMMELS...I'll stop there, but based on the pleasures of this puzzle, I don't think an occasional Sunday themeless is such a TERRIBLE IDEA.
@Joaquin - Baseball has its fair share of nasties. It also has Jackie Robinson Day. Golf was arguing about the right to exclude women this century. Baseball at least tries on occasion. Golf only changes when they might lose money if they don’t.
I haven’t closely read the replies, but I will note that what I have read are all of the “some nice people play golf” variety. Sure. Also doesn’t negate what Rex wrote.
@JC66 late yesterday- Ah! No. And I bet we get more golf comments than we got Davis comments.
Mostly agree with Rex.
Some Good people on both sides of golf argument heh heh.
I find it interesting that Rex says this will provide diversion for solvers for between 10 and 45 minutes after going out of his way to say it took him 9.
I agree with Rex today. Some of the clues were clever and made me smile but that doesn't make up for a timeless Sunday.
I always thought JUDE was a female.
Ah, watching golf is the best. The hushed tones of the announcers. The whack of the tee shots, the tinkle of ice cubes in the glass of the viewers at home, who cannot possibly be entertained without some mind-altering substance.
I am the daughter of a PGA pro. I have a love-hate with the game - it will roach your back and ruin the environment. But I'm proud of my 80 year old dad who up until last summer was still teaching his doctors occasionally in Topeka. Now I live in a whole town full of a-holes who play this silly game. I'm sitting here staring at a set of fuzzy Calloway club covers -- my mom's -- wishing I could go to the driving range - but it is still raining and the Governor shut everything in our fair state down for some 2 weeks.
And now I'm watching the Masters on CBS. Tiger looks great. An American is leading.
I didn't know the Jordan in today's puzzle, and I got totally stumped by Lienor. I had Liener and June. Gaaah, makes me want to club something for sure. SMH = So much Hate.
I admit I was disappointed from the outset knowing that this would be themeless--that's what Fri and Sat are for. Then the first thing that I get hit with is my BARTAB. Not even a drink to soften the blow first. In fact, there were no libations to be had even with SLUMBER PARTY, SKINNY DIPPING, ADESTE FIDELIS, TRICK OR TREAT, and wedding RITES. Lots of reasons to party, but must be a PRIM affair only serving TEA (LEAVES).
Despite its lack of theme and teetotaler mindset, I admit I enjoyed the puzzle. I thought it a pretty easy and snappy grid with broad appeal and some fun clues. That said, please don't do it again. Sunday = theme please.
@HarryP 1am
Just in case you didn't get it, DELETED SCENES are extras on DVDs and sometimes during credits. Or maybe only deleted takes during credits. In any case, they can still have a negative quality, I guess. A good clue I thought.
@Coops 844am
Three short if you count the sound. Four if you count the size.
Easy smooth. Not even a PPP look up or guess. Recognized Fidelis as fidelity of some sort. Never knew the Xmas Carol in Latin. Were some written in Latin originally? I thought they were mostly English or German. I really have no idea. Not my department.
Golf. like most sports and types of exercises, are overly praised and overly trashed. It's a sport in itself. Rex is having fun. Big wah. Praise golf all you want, but quit piling on. You can even tell me how why you like Priebus so much if you want.
I am ok with ONE themeless Sunday. Few slog worst Sunday ever comments made so far. So good.
Perfect clue for WREN.
DIETER next to UNBELT captures the cycle pretty well.
DELETED SCENES: My all-time favorite is the musical number, "This Bulging River," from "Waiting for Guffman." Every single actor and musician on their game, in character yet unable to hide their talent. The song ties well thematically to the rest of the film, funny and a little poignant. I wonder why it didn't make the final cut.
This played like a themeless for me. What?! Oh...never mind.
What kinds of people play Frisbee Golf?
Best part was the themelessness.
No crap made-up entries
The last "i" isn't short.
Welcome back rex.
Not sure who that imposter was over the past few delightful days.
UNBELT..... said no one ever
First I’ve heard of FORAY as the initial effort as Rex noted, so that was something at least. No surprises during the slog after the AcrossLite highlighted prompt. Have to agree with OFL that today’s SLUMBER PARTY wasn't actively bad, just meh, so bland for so long!
I wish I could feel more excited about this puzzle. It had some nice things in it, but on the whole it felt bland -- neither very interesting nor very challenging.
If only it could have all been on the order of TERRIBLE IDEA -- a wonderful answer to "Many a dare, in hindsight." "You betcha", I thought to myself when it came in. COURT REPORTER, WARM SPELL and DELETED SCENES were nicely clued. SKINNY DIPPING is a nice answer, but almost a gimme.
The answer that gave me the most trouble was SHORT I -- especially in a section where I didn't know DUA or REBA. And what on earth is SMH at 98D? I hate these text abbrev clues. BTW, FWIW, and IMHO I hate these text abbrev clues!!! There. I've said it.
OTOH, the NW was much too easy. How about "Something you might tickle" for IVORIES? And "She gave us________", picking the first name of one of her animal characters for BEATRIX. Flat on-the-nose cluing made this section very dull. It got better, but the NW tends to tee up one's feelings about the entire puzzle. Gotta make it interesting -- especially on a Sunday where there's so much real estate lying ahead.
The TEENSY WEENSY spider went up the water spout. Down came the rain and offed the golfers out. Geeze, Rex....way to get exclusionary country-club sorts to feel like schmucks. Both my parents played and neither had orange hair. You would've liked Dad....he drank a lot.
Neither LIENOR nor get out of bed...that is the question. My BARTAB runneth over.
So we get a SHMEME puzzle. Did it tickle my IVORIES? Won't SUGAR COAT this...but not really. I want a Sunday theme I can chew on. Something my GOURMET wannabe soul that can grab me by my SKINNY DIPPING derriere. Instead, I get an easy Friday with lots of words.
My occasion to stay up late is not a SLUMBER PARTY. The last one I went to, I think I was 13. The girls thought it was hilariously funny to freeze my training bra. I'll stay up late because I can't sleep.
@Nancy from yesterday.....Vincent Price. @kitshef has an incredible memory. Vincent was one of the sweetest, funniest and smartest person I ever met.
Also....To those of you well wishers to my friend Betty Boop (I gave her that nickname)...I'm still in the dark but I know she'd be thrilled that people who don't know her are wishing her well. Thank you, amigos.....
Mostly straightforward but the west was a real MARE’S NEST, least of all because it contained MARE’’S NEST. TECS anyone?
I'm with @Carola on liking this. Just a few TEENSY-WEENSY write-overs, but this ended up about 15 minutes faster than my normal Sunday random solve. I liked the two "Quick study" clues, with 18A being an "aha". And the equally clever misdirection below it, "Line delivered in costume" for TRICK OR TREAT. "Some movie extras" = DELETED SCENES. "Barely afloat?" = SKINNY DIPPING.
As the title says, Theme, Shmeme. Who needs it?
Caitlin Reid, thank you for an entertaining Sunday puzzle.
@Nancy, har, OTOH. I'm SMH at your wit.
@GILL -- I answered you and @kitshef re Vincent Price on the blog yesterday, but my comment got lost. Normally I just re-post it, but I had cut and pasted a subsequent comment by the time I realized it never went up and I no longer had it available to re-post. I believe I commented on @kitshef's terrific memory and the fact that yes, I now remembered the fact that you knew Vincent quite well and thought he was great. I also confirmed that he was the correct answer to my "Mystery" host quiz.
I also sent good wishes for your friend in the same post. I repeat them now: I hope she will make a full recovery. Betty Boop???!!!
It turns out that crosswords are also loved by some of the worst people on the planet. I therefore refuse to further acknowledge them.
I thought dog at first, too :)
Agree, my worst/last completed section. Never heard of mare's nest and am wondering at etymology as makes no literally sense.
I thought memes at first, too!
Review schmeview
🧠🧠
🎉🎉
Agree with all those points! Loved BARTAB, LUAU, and SKINNYDIPPING.
LOL
This!
Country Club and golf are not synonymous. For example, Palm Springs California area has over 100 golf courses. Most are not private. The Country Club attitude you properly despise is not the sport of golf.
Today was my second FORAY into the rarefied air of having completed a Sunday puzzle with zero help or “cheating”. I never heard of the term “MARES NEST”, or the HURT movie, the (Latin ?) phrase ALLA breve, the DUA dude (dudette ?) or the Gerwig filmmaker - so I really had to slog my way through pretty much each and every cross to bring home a winner’s trophy today.
I didn’t bother trying to discern a theme because sometimes they just become a hindrance when they are not straightforward or easily discernible - I just plugged and jugged and was able to make a few lucky guesses here and there.
@R. Giuliani (7:08) “The theme was stolen by Dominion Voting Systems. It's hidden away in the sub-basement of Comet Pizza, carefully guarded by Antifa activists.”
Absolutely right! You should sue!
Obscure names and terrible cluing. Horrible puzzle.
Ditto, and that's the problem with these stupid PPP clues. What the hell is a "prim" anyway?
My first thought was "no, Sundays HAVE to have a theme" and my second thought was "Rex is not going to like this". It might be my fastest ever Sunday puzzle, I'm not sure because I never time myself, but this one deprived me of my "lingering Sunday morning" feeling.
Ran into the "irregardless" argument in another blog and this Merriam Webster entry was brought up. It's very funny and I think it's just the sort of thing that puzzlers will appreciate.
https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/is-irregardless-a-real-word-heh-heh
OMG. WOE? WOT?* SMH. [DUA?!?]
Nice Mirror-image Jaws of Themelessness, I'd grant.
Pretty good job on the fillins. Very eazy-E Sunday solvequest, at our house.
Some feisty clues, right outta the rodeo chute, such as: {Round number?}. But also lotsa near-gimmes.
Thanx for yer efforts, Ms. Reid darlin.
Masked & Anonymo12Us
*WOT = Where's Our Theme.
theme dose:
**gruntz**
Sorry, I've played golf my entire life, and if you're you are not willing to admit that it's sexist and elitist, you are lying to yourself. It's a fun sport, but come on, it has a lot of problematic areas.
Wow, only two trips for me on an otherwise breezy but totally enjoyable Sunday! Went for Medusa before ATGENA and dog before GOD for Pluto. That’s sort of funny to me because one of the frequent typos I make is mistyping “dog” for “god” just as I often hit “hte” for “the”. Go figure.
Took me a couple minutes of checking go over the completed puzzle to truly believe we had no theme. Feeling like a real champ today after Saturday and Sunday with no scars to show for it. Feel as if I deserve a reprieve though because Friday nearly did me in for some crazy reason. That’s all I have time for.
Worse than a giant Wednesday puzzle: a giant USA Today puzzle (as in the memorable NYTimes description of USA Today: a "download of the brain you already have"). Just for the record: the only time I ever do a USA Today puzzle is during taxi and takeoff, as I'm sitting there doing the puzzle from the newspaper I picked up in the United Lounge. Thankfully, this hasn't happened for a while, as my employer has banned all travel since March.
Bullshit comment on golfers and the game. Been reading this blog for years and this is the first time you pissed me off. I play golf every week and am a decent human being.
@kitshef 9:19 AM
Hands up for the long "e" terminal "i" in "Mississippi". However, I had friends from Mississippi in the Navy, who had unique ways of pronouncing the word, some of which didn't necessarily include a long "e" sound at the end, even to the point of elision.
@Unknown 12:12 PM
Wow, what a great article! Thx for the link. :)
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Peace ειρήνη Paix Frieden Paz Maluhia Pax 🕊
Here’s some crosswordese 🙄 fer ya : MEH
😴🥱😴
Still, it Sunday. Some of us finished/endured it and all things are looking rosier.🌈🤸🏽♀️🌈 so “that’s okay.”
✌🏼❤️✌🏼
@Nancy, @Southside Johnny
I don't expect anyone to read all the comments, particularly mine (8:26), but SMH is an internet abbreviation for "shaking my head". And DUA Lipa: well, I didn't exactly say what she did for a living, but she's a pop singer and something of an It Girl. I think she's pretty good relative to the genre, although like the majority of such performers, she makes extensive use of Auto-Tune, which as a general thing is overdone IMHO. (I don't even know what Justin Bieber sounds like in his natural voice anymore. Not that I care.)
Z: Perhaps the discussion needs to be put into perspective. Sharp claims that golf is "exclusionary country club "sport'". This seems to say the golf is not really a sport. I would disagree even though I hardly like it. And I would very much disagree with the characterizations that it is exclusively country club although some of the course are indeed run by some nasty (my own judgment) country clubs. Public courses do exists and not all country clubs are exclusionary - although entry fees might limit who can afford to play at them. I would say this is a case where Mike has made an observation that is true in some cases to this very day and followed the observation with another one that certainly is true. Intentional or not? That's not the point. The generalization (which makes a good point) perhaps extends the truth a little too far.
Agree. I solve on paper so still not sure that maresnest is correct.
Sometimes known as the South Shore Country Club, the South Shore Golf Course and its adjacent South Shore Cultural Center are among the cultural and social crown jewels of the city's African-American community. The golf course is open to all -- it's very common to see entire families using it together. Its delights transcend the enjoyment of golf itself; it's an expanse of green, shaded tranquility with a panoramic view of Lake Michigan, a respite from the often harsh, stressful cadences of the streets that surround it. Meanwhile the Cultural Center hosts performances by locally and internationally famous artists -- jazz artists, poets, actors, actresses, the list goes on. And in the summertime (at least when there's no pandemic -- hopes and prayers that those days will return!), arts and music festivals are held on the Cultural Center's grounds. Nothing "bourgie" or "elitist" about this at all.
Classical music and Grand Opera have been the virtue-signaling "high culture" bastions of privileged European elites for centuries. This "art form" has actively promoted religious intolerance, white supremacy, oppressive gender, class, and ethnic stereotypes, militarism, and more. Hence, we hereby DEMAND that no further references to this obsolete bastion of cultural imperialism and white male supremacy ever again be included in a crossword puzzle.
@TTrimble (1:32) -- Ever since I began commenting on this site, I've made it a point to try and make as clear as possible my initial and unique response to every puzzle. To avoid having either my immediate opinion or the scope of my knowledge influenced by anyone else's reaction or explanation. This means writing a comment before reading anyone else's.
Living on the East Coast, as well as not being an early riser, also means that, were I to read all the other comments, there wouldn't be anything left to say by the time I got here. There are usually between 30 and 50 comments already posted by then. If 6 out of my 7 of my most provocative thoughts for that day have already been said by one or more people, I absolutely don't want to know that. I'd only be dissuaded from writing anything at all.
I do read earlier comments, but only after I've written my first one. So now I know the meaning of SMH. But I didn't while I was solving the puzzle -- which is what everyone should know about my actual solving experience.
@irregardless link
I often say here that ugly looking and ugly sounding words are still okay words. I think people who complain about the sound of this word couldn't be more mistaken. The word itself tells you its ear-regardless.
@DaS 1247pm
But would you be a decent human being if you didn't play golf?
No time -- just wanted to say that it was nice of them to put Pluto in today's clues after leaving him out of the planetary mnemonic the other day; and that I thought crossing AWL with AUGER was a nice touch.
The note says it's a themeless, but I guess some people don't read them.
Well thanks to @TTrimble, I now know that SMH is "shaking my head", which is much more sensible than my own imagined meaning which was "shut my hole", which I still kind of like.
Also am reminded by the Pluto discussion of the age-old question, if Pluto is a dog, what exactly is Goofy?
the thing about golf: those who play seriously are, by legend, scrupulously honest. we've spent the last four years having to see the most craven person on the planet cheat at everything, including playing golf all by his nibness. https://golf.com/lifestyle/celebrities/how-why-president-trump-cheats-golf-playing-tiger-woods/
@jazzmanchgo 2:27 PM
What a wonderful, upbeat post! I've taken the liberty to add links here for the golf course, and here for the cultural center. Bless you and the progressive community you've shared with us. 🙏
Peace ειρήνη Paix Frieden Paz Maluhia Pax 🕊
@MetroGnome:
This "art form" has actively promoted religious intolerance, white supremacy, oppressive gender, class, and ethnic stereotypes, militarism, and more.
not to mention compositional complexity and nuance of expression. both qualities of white supremacy.
golf is no more a sport than competitive knitting.
@Nancy
Fair enough, and thanks for letting me know. I'll keep this in mind as I read you in the future.
@Nancy 2:45 PM
Totally agree! My first post of the day is intrepid and unbiased. I then read Rex's writeup and every other comment throughout the day, taking all into account for additional posts.
@albatross shell 3:25 PM
I'm ok with it irregardless of how it sounds. Not so sure about "unregardless", tho. Spellcheck liked the former, but not the latter. 😉
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Peace ειρήνη Paix Frieden Paz Maluhia Pax 🕊
SMH - has a lot of interpretations, many of which mean basically the same thing.
Shaking My Head
Slapping My Head
Smacking My Head
Scratching My Head
So Much Hate
Screening for Mental Health
Sacrament Most Holy
So Much Hell
Sex Might Help:)
Lienor crossing with Juno is just mean. Had LienEr, and thus, June. Spent so long trying to figure out the mistake until I gave up. The NYT really doesn’t want young people to like the puzzle :(
These rancorous "conversations" we've had lately make me long for the good old days of arguing about the plural of octopus.
@Graham:
The NYT really doesn’t want young people to like the puzzle :(
Considering I had to learn the Greek and Roman gods in either high school or junior high school (vis. middle school), which puts Juno in about the lowest part of my brain stem, 'young people', if their taught as rigoursly as we geezers were way back when, have a distinct advantage. OTOH, if they've just been in the OFL's comic book classes, may haps not so much.
IOW, if one has had a catholic education (original meaning) of recent vintage, it's not a hard entry.
Hi Taylor,
One small rejoined to Rex’s assertion.
I don’t believe your tank was empty. On the contrary, I very much enjoyed your puzzle.
If it matters, I’ve been solving the New York Times crossword for longer than he’s been alive.
Golf exclusionary? Hell no! You all would be shocked at how often a team from Compton or Watts has won the California High School Golf team championship, or an individual title. Shocked I say!
Between Reince (Reinhold) Priebus (that’s a double) and Jordan Spieth, I get confused about the i before e except after c convention (guess it doesn’t apply to proper names) . Sharp’s meltdowns after seeing those two names make it all worthwhile.
@bocamp
0 for me too.
I'd been thinking a little about SB and SB posts during my self-imposed quarantine, and wanted to contact you the other night to share some thoughts, but didn't see a direct email. So instead I tried to leave a comment on your blog, but that didn't work either because the software simply wasn't accepting any means that I tried using to identify myself (e.g., email and name) in order to leave a comment, and so I gave up.
Anyway, I noticed something interesting. It might be well known to everyone but me, but have you (here I include whoever reads this) noticed that when you hover the cursor near a user's name at the top, a finger appears, and then when you click, the post is hidden but leaves only the name? Click again, the post reappears.
When I discovered this, it seemed to me that this simple observation might lead to a resolution of the "SB problem". The idea is that if someone wants to post about SB, then go ahead with the usual warning at the top, but (and this is important) agree to talk *only* about SB in that comment. In other words, don't embed SB comments within larger comments. That way, as soon as an SB-hater sees ***SB Alert***, they could immediately hide the post from view and not wonder whether they're missing something else besides SB.
In other words, they could throw out the "bathwater" without worrying about any "baby".
I also think a little self-discipline (such as what you've been exhibiting recently) could help. It would be nice to discuss on occasion things more substantive than "I got QB!" or "Congratulations!", or at any rate, cut down on progress reports (except in the quiet form you've been using, like "-3" without further commentary). Talk more about the words, for instance. Also, keep the number of SB-related posts per day down to a lowish number.
We used to have a friendly and supportive subcommunity here. It's been a while since I've heard from Pamela and Barbara S., for instance. And certainly SB was tolerated by the mods (in other words, we won the right). And it was tolerated by a decent faction of regulars not involved in SB, although there have been others who consistently voice their displeasure.
It's really not in my interest to irritate or upset people here. But you and I and others enjoy this, and it seems that with a little thoughtfulness and reasonableness together with the simple "muting" trick noted above, we can arrive at a peaceable solution which might be acceptable to others here as well.
I thought Agassiz at first too!
Signed, fellow BC-er
You really expect us to spend our time on the blog clicking on all your posts to make them disappear? Today and tomorrow and the day after that? Until the end of time? You think this is a good compromise? I think it's a complete joke and very inconsiderate. Please say you're not serious.
@Nancy, @Gill I. Memory is a funny thing. I remember Gill talking about Vincent Price, but you would be amazed how often someone asks me on a Monday what I did that weekend and it takes me five minutes to figure it out. I remember the capital of every nation on earth, but constantly forget my brother-in-law's last name.
@Unknown 6:14 PM
Ditto that :)
@TTrimble 👍
Sorry about the WordPress blog glitch; it may be because I haven't upgraded to one of the paid options.
Unfortunately, the "hovering/muting" trick doesn't work for me. Nevertheless, as much as I'd love to be able to discuss the the sb words (both included and omitted), I'm reluctant to tempt fate here. Imo, just the sight of those sb alerts is offsetting, per se. I'd still prefer to go the email digest route. @Barbara S. has my email addy, and I hereby give her permission to share it with you (or anyone else who's interested), provided she's ok with that. We could discuss the issue in more depth via email. Wdyt?
Peace ειρήνη Paix Frieden Paz Maluhia Pax 🕊
@Say it
I don't "expect" "you" to do anything re SB posts, if you even know what those are. We're free to post comments about SB; that's already been well established. Skip past them, do whatever the hell you want. My comment was much more about establishing a norm for SB-ers to help reduce friction and which would make it as easy as possible for the haters to ignore them.
@Kitshef (7:44) -- You remember the capital of every nation on earth? You were truly born to play "Jeopardy".
But, yes, I have that kind of quirky memory, too. I can't remember what I had for dinner last night or the theme of yesterday's puzzle. I fill a glass with fresh, cold water and then leave it sitting in the kitchen. But I remember every lyric of every song in every Broadway musical that I listened to before the age of 35. I can recite poems -- some in French, yet! -- that I learned in high school. Memory is such a funny thing, isn't it?
@kitshef....I forget my brother-in-laws name too...But there's a reason for that..... :-)
@KnittyContessa Hey Jude is John singing to his son Julian. That makes it especially sweet.
@Wit – Actually it was Paul singing to John's son Julian.
Apparently the constructor doesn't understand it early. This is stolen from https://nyxcrossword.com/2020/11/1115-20-ny-times-crossword-15-nov-20-sunday.html "The term “mare’s nest” has two meanings these days. More commonly it refers to a confused mess, although this usage is really an error, confusion with the idiom “rat’s nest”, which has that meaning. The correct usage of “mare’s nest”, dating back to the 16th century, is to describe a hoax, a promising discovery that turns out to be next to nothing."
First and last post from me. I come for the (mostly) witty banter among solvers, and a distraction from current events.
As one of the 70+ million who voted to re-elect Trump, your veiled snarky comments are not needed. Why alienate half of your readers?
Over the last year as a conservative, I have endured censorship from Big-Tech, and have seen things with my own eyes that defy MSM reports. Go ahead and laugh. Look down on me. Call me uneducated, racist, Kool-Aid drinking, xenophobic.
When they begin to censor your words... come talk to me then. Its only a matter of time.
Your side calls for unity. Where in the hell was that for the last four years? Utter Hypocrisy.
I agree with chefwen’s golf response. People with your thoughts on golf are fully without merit. I know so many wonderful people who play golf, and also contribute more to society than you apparently do.
Yes I took golf up in my forties. I loved it. I worked as an ICU nurse at the time. The golf actually relaxed me. I was a good golfer I won a few tournaments in my day. I still play now.30 some years later. Still doing the Sunday Times Crossword as well. I miss the tougher ones.
Re golf, I'll just say one thing: show me another sport where a player calls a penalty ON HIMSELF!!
This puzzle has two bad spots: the title and the SE corner. If you have no theme, just leave the thing untitled. Putting THEME SHMEME up there seems like beating your own chest. Not cool.
And that PPP-laden SE, culminating in SHORTI. Ugh!! But that said, the rest of it was pretty impressive. Much more openness than I'm used to in a big grid, with way more long answers. Easy-medium, and with that much long stuff that's a feat. SALMA Hayek takes a turn at DOD.
Well now, we did have TRICKORTREAT not that long after the Halloween stuff went back to the attic, but THATSOKAY. It's still themeless. Birdie.
HADN'T SLEEP (WHO ASKS?)
Of COURSE IT's hearty, DAMN NATURAL and gripping:
a SLUMBERPARTY WHEN there's SKINNYDIPPING!
(WOULDILIE?)
--- BEATRIX PRIEBUS
OFL is soooo misguided about golf. Most golfers are not of the 'exclusionary country-club "sport"' ilk. My COURSE membership this year cost $400 and I played more than 40 rounds, so < $10/round; hardly exclusionary.
Anyway, this themeless was just fine. As compared to the lackluster themed Sundays of late, this puz was sparkling. Lotsa good clues and long answers. a Sunday themeless is not necessarily a TERRIBLEIDEA.
Why not give BEATRIX Potter a yeah baby? THATSOKAY by me.
A Sunday TREAT.
Yeah, and Einstein breaks it twice.
Why are there different tournaments for males and females. Don't they both play the same courses?
I liked the puzzle, and I knew there wouldn't be a theme, which kinda made it fun, especially with "no Simpson" clues.
I agree with Will's description of the constructor - lots of fun word play for a Sunday. The PPP must have been in areas I've heard of.
Now...back to studying the periodic table and Greek gods.
Diana, Lady-in-Waiting for Crosswords
I think today's themeless puzzle was Will Shortz's revenge for Rex's mean comments about the quality of recent Sunday puzzles. Rex, never criticize him again! I really miss the themes.
What the heck is SB?
Appreciate your efforts Rex. The last four years has been a black eye on us golfers. I love the game, the walk, the strategy, the competition, the camaraderie and so much more. When I too skip my duties to play, it’s not as satisfying for sure. But for me and my blue collar friends, it is something we enjoy spending our time on and wish the game was viewed and appreciated for the personal challenge it is.
Am I the only one who doesn't read W.S.'s paragraph B4 each puzzle? If you missed it in the title, the paragraph DISCUSSES its lack of a theme.
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