.png)
For two, in music / MON 4-5-2021 / Hip-hop producer who founded Aftermath Entertainment / Put on hold / Home of many a courthouse / Nevada city on the Truckee River
Monday, April 5, 2021
Constructor: Zhouqin Burnikel
Relative difficulty: Easy
THEME: Take That — Theme answers all end in words that can be used in an expression starting with "take".
Theme answers:
Word of the Day: POODLE CUT (34A: *Hairstyle popularized by Lucille Ball) —
This was a perfectly sweet little Monday, and I flew through it, until I got stuck on the center left for a really long time. I'm not sure what it was, something about the combination of vague-ish clues (and me confusing PASSing and FOLDing) and not knowing what an SST is. Also had HOP IN for YOU IN? for the longest time, which didn't help. We have both NANA and PAPA, and SLEAZEs are known to PUSH. Is LOCAL DIVE really a term? I mean, I've definitely been to local dives, but I don't know that it's really a term in its own right? I don't know.
- ACID TRIP (16A: *Certain psychedelic experience)
- POODLE CUT (34A: *Hairstyle popularized by Lucille Ball)
- LOCAL DIVE (44A: *Cheap neighborhood bar)
- TAKE THAT (63A: "So there!" ... or what you can do to the ends of the answers to the starred clues?)
- INFIELD HIT (9D: *Bunt single, e.g.)
- COUNTY SEAT (29D: *Home of many a courthouse)
Word of the Day: POODLE CUT (34A: *Hairstyle popularized by Lucille Ball) —
Made popular by actresses like Peggy Garner, Faye Emerson and Lucille Ball, the poodle cut was given its name due to the fact that the permed, tight curls closely resembled the curly hair of a poodle.
• • •
Spring has sprung and it's time for another August Monday! Happy belated Easter and Passover to everyone who celebrates! Did you eat lots of jellybeans and/or matzo? I skipped Passover this year--I know, I know, but it's hard to keep it by yourself, and I didn't get to go to a seder because I had too much homework. Next year in non-pandemic times!This was a perfectly sweet little Monday, and I flew through it, until I got stuck on the center left for a really long time. I'm not sure what it was, something about the combination of vague-ish clues (and me confusing PASSing and FOLDing) and not knowing what an SST is. Also had HOP IN for YOU IN? for the longest time, which didn't help. We have both NANA and PAPA, and SLEAZEs are known to PUSH. Is LOCAL DIVE really a term? I mean, I've definitely been to local dives, but I don't know that it's really a term in its own right? I don't know.
The theme was a typical Monday, can't really complain, can't say a lot. I'm currently doing this writeup with my friends and they are complaining that there wasn't enough "pun B.S." in the longer answers, which I think just means they should be doing British crossword puzzles instead. "Psychedelic experience that's less than basic?" could be a good ACID TRIP clue. And "Bar, or perhaps coral reef?" for LOCAL DIVE.
I have just been informed that "Bar, or perhaps coral reef?" is "B.S." and "less than nothing." I think the moral of the story here is not that Zhouqin Burnikel made any construction mistakes, rather that my friends enjoy making fun of every crossword clue.
.....And that's what I talk about when I don't have much to say about the theme! On to bullets :)
Bullets:
[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]
Bullets:
- WII FIT (18A: Nintendo game featuring balance exercises) — What a trip down memory lane! I remember standing on the balance board at around age 12 getting told god knows what about my weight, then trying and failing to make it across the virtual tightrope in the tightrope walking game. Good times.
- TATER (68A: Item that may be baked or mashed, informally) — It was criminal to not clue this with simply "Tots."
- RAPS (23A: Performs like Iggy Azalea) — Interesting choice of rapper. That's all I'll say. Anyway I'm gonna go listen to some Angel Haze now.
- PINA (13A: ___ colada) — And getting caught in the rain!
[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]
[Follow August Thompson on Twitter]
Save And Share :
69 comments:
I guess I am too literal. I kept trying to understand the theme, as “take that...cut”. “Take that seat”, take that trip”, etc.
It really should be “take a”… Then it makes sense. “Take a seat, take a cut, take a hit, take a trip.”
Honestly, I didn’t get the theme until I realized the “a” part!
I also got hung up in center-left, which was a weird nexus of hard in an otherwise unusually easy Monday. ADUE was weirdly hard, and I’d never heard of POODLECUT, and with both of those opaque I was floundering a bit. Got it and came in at an only slightly slow 5:53, but given that I got the first five rows filled entirely off of acrosses it was a pretty gruesome finish.
Easy-medium. I’m gonna go with what August said about this one....”can’t really complain, can’t say a lot”...
Thought vinegar was acidic and acetic was one who practiced self-denial, usually for religious reasons. Oh ascetic. Never mind.
Does August construct crosswords or just blog? If they construct, how can one get in contact?
A fun, little Monday puzzle. I did wind up with a mistake at 23A, I wouldn’t know Iggy Azalea if he sat on my lap and just guessed at tAPS. Never noticed that 17D DEtIDED made no sense. Oh well. Onward.
Good one C.C. Keep ‘em coming.
Nice to see a bonus theme answer at 27D (I PASS).
It seemed like there was a high concentration of abbreviations and the like, such as CGI, LCD, FTC, ATL, SMU, ULTA, ZER, PSST . . . (although for the most part it’s all pretty standard and Monday-acceptable). Not much true dreck, very low on foreign crap and other esoterica/trivia - Well Done !
CC’s puzzles impart a certain feel. As soon as I began solving this, I thought, “Ahhh, CC again,” and I’m thinking that if I hadn’t seen her name before I started, I would have guessed this puzzle was hers.
And what is that feel? To me, it’s comfort from realizing right away that there are no hitches, no awkward spots in how the answers interweave, and somehow being certain that the entire puzzle will be like that. Comfort from seeing from the start that the clues are well thought out and somehow knowing that they will be throughout. Just the overall feeling that you are in good hands, not from one who is trying to get something over on you, but rather from one wanting to give you a good solving experience.
A true artist is one who is so conversant in the mechanics of the art, that those mechanics become one with the artist’s personality, and that personality shines. To me, CC’s puzzles shine with CC, and reveal her to be giving, clever, and delightful.
It feels like it’s been too long since I’ve had a dose of CC, and may that “Ahhh” return soon, please! Thank you for this, CC!
Iggy's a woman. Hi August, enjoyed your write-up. And the puzzle. Feeling ready for Monday, now.
Very easy, but I missed the theme as I went along. The names were almost too much for me, but I eked through them.
Thank you @Zhouqin, for this crunchy Mon. puz to start the week off with. :)
Med solve.
Love bunt base hit attempts; fun to watch how the INFIELDers cover the bases – do the outfielders backup the plays, how do the umps move into place. It's orchestral; everyone plays a part.
How Much Is That DOGgie In The Window ~ Patti Page
___
yd 0
Peace ~ Empathy ~ Kindness to all.
Something simply had to be done to get ZER out of this grid. If ULTA could be thrown out too, so much the better.
CC normally does quite easy Mondays, so it was odd (and nice) to get a little more challenge. ULTA, DR DRE (as clued), ADUE (or A DUE, not sure), ACETIC and WII FIT were all a bit outside normal Monday range.
Mama’s mama is Granny, by the way. PAPA’s mama is NANA.
Really odd clue for ORCA, as lots of whales eat squid (most notably sperm whales) and ORCAs eat lots of things other than squid.
Well I'm going to start with the I before E CHIEF and the E before I HEIST conundrum. I wish someone would make up their mind.
A nice Monday. Why am I thinking egg salad sandwich? Maybe deviled eggs?
I see LOCAL DIVE and I think Archie Bunker's Place. Add a little SLEAZE and a side of GRIM.
I've never been on an ACID TRIP. My trips are abroad.
My MALARKEY runneth over.
No MALARKEY here - just a solid Monday. Interesting theme with the interlocking - pretty wide open idea but the chosen themers were fine. Difficulty level was more midweekish but the fill was so smooth it was an easy solve.
Enjoyable puzzle to start the week.
What @Mr. Alarm said.
Yes, easyish, except that I spent an annoyingly long time tracking down a mistake (a typo).
@chefwen, @Lewis
Sorry, I'm confused. Who is CC? What I see is that the constructor's name is Zhouqin Burnikel.
According to M-W A DUE can me together or separately. In notation it's written A2. Almost sounds like MALARKEY to me which was the high point for me. POODLECUT second. Or maybe INFIELD HIT second as a nod to the season.
I know what @Lewis is talking about. The look of the filled in grid and the feel of the clues were indeed masterful, without being flashy or glib, with several places to misstep. DElay-DEFER Seed-STEM ACidIC-ACETIC.
The theme mas solid and may have benefited by a bit more flash.
Just the kind of Monday I like, read the clue, write in the answer, try to find the connection before you hit the revealer, fail, see the revealer, say aha!, and bang you're done. Delightful.
Thanks for the fun, CC. Charmingly Crafted.
“Things you can TAKE.” I liked it. And always one for the visual, I admire the symmetrical interlace of the themers and revealer. So pretty when you click on the revealer and the theme answers turn pale yellow.
I did make some goofy mistakes, though: ACidIC for ACETIC, which seemed like a travesty so close to ACID TRIP (not that it would have been any better if the two answers had been far apart), Class for CASTE (which destroyed no less than 4 down answers), and LingER for LOITER. That last error spawned riP for LOP, which in turn made it impossible to see LOCAL DIVE. Talk about dominoes falling. Happily the mess didn’t last very long, but I don’t usually tie myself in this many knots on a Monday. Oh, jeez, and another howler was OmAha for OHARE. So much MALARKEY. Really, is there another puzzle easier than Monday’s?
I liked POODLE CUT, ADUE and AHAT in their central flanking positions, the YOU IN, PAPA? row, SLEAZE and RADIANT among others. DRDRE looks like another EIEIO.
Today’s excerpt is by ARTHUR HAILEY, born Apr. 5, 1920.
“But then I get to thinking of our mortality and human weakness, remembering there has never been power with purity—anywhere. If you want to be pure, you must stand alone. If you seek to do positive things, achieve something, leave the world a mite better than you found it, then you must choose power and throw some of your purity away. There’s no other choice.”
(From In High Places)
Still tired?
What a dumb write-up.
A CUT above the usual Monday, I thought: clever, with that short and sweet, right-on-the-nose reveal. A reveal, I definitely needed, having failed at finding any commonality among the theme answers. I thought it was great how the TRIP, CUT, SEAT, HIT, and DIVE changed their meaning once they were "taken." And we also got DERiDED, RADIANT, MALARKEY, and the humor - now that decades have passed since the actual experience - of the delivery room "instruction" - more like an order, as I recall.
For many if not most people, 1A sets the tone of the puzzle. So if you don't want people to think they're doing a TV Guide puzzle, don't, for heaven sake, clue DOG as "animal that barks". I mean really.
It got better after that, I guess, but just barely.
Last week was a tough week from Thursday on. Sunday wasn't all that tough by comparison, but some unfortunately-placed initials presented me with a DNF. So I suppose I should have been happy with today's mindless snooze-fest that offered no resistance: A puzzle that gave my little gray cells a chance to get some much-needed rest.
But I never am happy with such a puzzle.
Hey All !
Zipping through like a normal MonPuz, then the ole brain decided to shut down. What happened? Agree with the left-center toughie crowd. Had IgnITE for INCITE messing me all kinds of up. Had SENDS, but thinking of changing it to ShipS. The SMU/YOUIN cross not immediately seen, either.
NE threw me off also, with eldEr in for CHIEF. Also @a bunch of us - ACidIC for ACETIC. Ended up doubling my usually MonPuz time. Dang.
As the themers came into view, thought the theme was about taking drugs! ACID TRIP, CUT, HIT. Har. But then realized there were "Take a" innocuous phrases. But where's HIKE? BREAK? TWO? (Well, you TAKE TWO, not TAKE A TWO. 😁)
Nice puz, still unsure why it was so tough.
Other writeovers, LOllEd-LOITER, egg-HAM, veIN-MAIN.
Good one @CC. Don't stay away so long next time.
@TTrimble 7:50
In case 20 other people didn't answer yet, 😁, @Zhouqin goes by @CC Burnikel in other venues except NYT. Will wants people to use their real names.
Three F's
RooMonster
DarrinV
All vinegars have acid after all, but is it always ACETIC?
Only write over: SeEd for STEM. Yeah, I know, mostly called a pit, but this is a XWord. After all.
So what CC is saying is that we are all a bunch of takers? How rude.
@Mr. Alarm - i had the same pondering going on. I guess it works because the indefinite article is usually assumed in crosswords.
@chefwen & @amyyanni - Iggy Azalea is a woman. Iggy Pop not so much.
@TTrimble - CC Burnikel and Zhouqin Burnikel are one in the same. I imagine she goes by CC for reasons similar to why I go by “Z.” Other crosswords do not insist that her byline read “Zhouqin.” Also, I believe she runs the LATX equivalent of RexWorld, as well as being friends with many of the constructor types that do and have commented here, especially the Minnesota contingent.
I have a better clue for 1A. "Animal that barks and is sometimes named Fido."
Begging your pardon, a nit--one in the same is a corruption of the correct phrase, one AND the same.
My favorite clues from last week
(in order of appearance):
1. Quite a job, you have to admit? (7)
2. Long way around town? (3)
3. He or I, but not you? (7)
4. Mistake? (5)
5. Catch with a throw (5)
DOORMAN
BUS
ELEMENT
STEAL
LASSO
Pretty standard Monday fare, not THAT there’s anything wrong with THAT. Nothing to RUN ON about but any crossword which starts out with a DOG and then gives me a POODLE gets my vote. I like that we got five themers and being in both crosses and downs is quite impressive. This would be an outstanding puzzle for beginning solvers.
Should be a phenomenal basketball game tonight. PSST, I’m RADIANT about having picked these two teams for the championship matchup. Even President Obama didn’t get both of them right. I may have go LOITER with the SLEAZE at my LOCAL DIVE to celebrate.
@anon937am
Vinegar is in the definition of ACETIC. So yes I guess.
Easy? DNF center left for me. Maybe I should try sudoku.
@Mathgent's comment (9:59) had me rolling on the floor.
Turns out, vinegar acid isn't just ACETIC
"Red wine vinegar tastes of tartaric acid, the structure-building acid in wine, and apple cider vinegar has the green apple flavor of malic acid. " here: https://www.finecooking.com/article/the-science-of-vinegar
Although, reading the whole article, these other acids are secondary. (Took a while to find that, btw)
Mammy Yokum has spoken.
CGI crossing WIIFIT? Downtown Natick for me!
Otherwise, reasonably peppy Monday.
I guess 1A could have been clued “God of dyslexics?”
One way for a faithless person to reach base is an INFIdelHIT.
I thought this was a good, tight Monday puzzle, and I was a bit slower than my norm. Thanks CC.
This theme is perfect if you're Borat.
For 1A how about "Animal passing as human online in a famous New Yorker cartoon." Perhaps not Monday-level, though.
"On the Internet..."
While doing this puzzle & not racing through it, I kept thinking "Oh no, it's Monday"!
@CC; sorry I misidentified you as Zhouqin earlier – I forgetted! 😔
@August, thx for the write-up! I think "Coral reef" would have been a fun clue for LOCAL DIVE; what do your friends know, anyway. 😉
@TTrimble (last eve.) 👍
@jae
Got it. What a trip! Finally grokking "Whoa" girl broke it open in the battle of Frisco Bay. 😊
@Barbara S. 11:57 AM 🐶
___
td pg -5
Peace ~ Empathy ~ Kindness to all 🕊
On South Padre Island,TX the "local dive" is named the "Corral Reef". I find that amusing.
I "took" the wrong way almost everywhere I could today. I thought DOG was never going to be clued as 1A was so I put in FOX and expected 3D would be Xmen. (The college faculty head said, PSST, it's DOG.)
Off to the next section where I lost a lot of Altitude at 5D after having a PINA Colada. Just my FATE, tribal leader was an ELDER. I had to use CGI to change that reality.
It got a bit less bumpy after that, with only the popular ACidIC (which works so much better for me with the clue) and thinking maybe the FcC was keeping us safe from all of those TV and radio scams.
CC, you got me on a Monday. Thanks!
I resisted putting in DOG because that seemed too easy even for a Monday. Thankfully the rest of the puzzle had a little more crunch! Impressed with how smooth it was given the number of themers.
bocamp: See your posts refencing "yd #" and/or "td pg #" Would it be impertinent to inquire wth? Thank you.
After last weeks drubbing, I'm happy to start this week off right. Are we the only ones who got absolutely destroyed yesterday? There were more than a few PPPs we were unfamiliar with, on top of a few words, and the theme answers were not easy to suss out.
Anyway, for today - not our fastest time, but we spent 3 minutes checking the puzzle because we had "DEtER" instead of DEFER. We figured it out without running an actual check. Dumb mistake, I think we were just trying to go TOO fast!
We also spent an extra minute or two in that section because I first put bbb, then seC after getting the C, then stupidly TTC without realizing what we did (filling in DEtER). Silly time wasters!
Enjoyed it. Fun, easy theme, requiring just as much thinking as I like for a Monday.
@Anon10:02 - From ūnus et īdem. No need to beg my pardon, “and” is the accepted version. And yet,... the eggcorn version seems to be understood just as well so I’m not going to lose any sleep (or probably use it correctly next time because I will probably have forgotten that “in” isn’t right by the next time I use the phrase). This is also in part because the “ it doesn’t make sense to use ‘in’” argument seems pretty nonsensical to me. Small words like “in” are far more flexible than that argument would have us believe, as is our ability to understand the implied. Still, “and” is the accepted version.
@Anonymous 2:31 PM
Not at all impertinent. See below for the answer to your question: 😊
___
**SB alert**
It's Spelling Bee shorthand – an innocuous means of sharing daily results with those who care.
td = today
yd = yesterday
p = all possible pangrams found
g = genius level
pg = pangrammatic genius (coined by @TTrimble)
-# = number of words remaining to be found
0 = QB (Queen Bee): all acceptable words found for that day's SB (Spelling Bee)
___
td pg -1
Peace ~ Empathy ~ Kindness to all 🕊
I think I've been doing too many crosswords. I stared at 1A, thinking, "now who barks?" Seal and dolphin are too long, and it says 'animal' so it can't be elm; do eels bark? Only then did I think, "Oh, it's Monday, it must be DOG."
Count me among those who didn't realize the need to put in an "a,"so I was thinking "hit that? pass that? Seems pretty lame to me," until I came here and August explained it to me. Dh!
On the controversy over 1A, DOG. Is there a technical term in puzzle-making for a "double misdirection"? I eliminated *dog* at once, and since this was a Monday I figured it couldn't be more complicated than a seal. When I couldn't figure out any species of seal with three letters, I deferred to the end. So to me the clue for 1A was actually pretty clever.
Anon. i.e. Poggius
We oldsters do puzzles to stay hip to current culture. Iggy Azalea is a female performer. I had trouble w/ gen zer (?) kinda get lost after Gen Xer...
Cool CC MonPuz. Its SW corner gave M&A the ZER-hars.
Also pretty good standard word with rear ends theme. Certainly has lotsa possibilities: TAKE A KNEE, TAKE A BREAK, TAKE A NUMBER, TAKE A HIKE, TAKE A HINT, TAKE A CHANCE, TAKE A LEAK and better stop right there, etc.
staff weeject pick: No contest -- gotta be ZER. ShortZmeistER Era debut weeject, btw.
fave moo-cow eazy-E MonPuz clue: {Animal that barks} = DOG. So big a gimme, that it actually threw a lotta solvers, accordin to previous Comment Gallery recounts. har
Yep. That SW corner was ULTA-weird. Heckuva length to go to, to save SLEAZE. M&A would rework that there corner here, but I am always loathe to mess with a corner that has any precious U's in it. Must. leave. well. enough. alone. ,dude.
Excellents to @August, for her primo blog write-up. Superb bullets. And yep there is always room for TATER tots. And MALARKEY, bien sûr.
Thanx for your TAKE on all that stuff, CC.
Masked & Anonymo5Us
**gruntz**
I agree with @Nancy - the clue and answer fir 1A had me shaking my head. Loved @mathgent’s improvement of it.
Solid puzzle other than that - I was on quite a streak of getting every across but finally ran out of steam.
@Anon i.e. Poggius - and others
*Patting myself on the back*
Put DOG in immediately, as I know of only thst DOGs and seals bark. MonPuz, so confident in my DOGgy.
But, I can see the potential misdirection. You have to shut your ThursPuz-SunPuz brain off.
RooMonster Always Seems Like My Brain Is Shut Off Guy
Rex should try to get some youngsters for his Mon/Tue proxies. Possibly people born in this century. Otherwise what’s the point? These two have aged out.
@RooMonster 5:14 - don't forget about muntjacs. DOGs bark on Monday. Seals bark on Wednesday. Muntjacs bark on Saturday.
@Poggius - ditto on why DOG was elusive. Maybe I should cut back on tough puzzles.....speaking of which...@bocamp - I got it also, but man what a struggle! NW was last to fall after I figured out what hypocrisy was all about.
Since an elm grows bark can it be said to bark? If 1A on Saturday is clued as “it barks” I’m slapping “elm” in. 🤣😂🤣
@kitshef - Muntjacs are definitely the pewits of barking animals.
Dang @kitshef
Another barker. Who'd'a thunk?
But thanks for that, saves me from the preemptive "what in tarhooties is a Muntjac??" when (notice I didn't say "if") it appears (@Z) in a crossword near you.
The stuff one learns here...
Roo
Getting six themers plus a reveal in a 15X15 and making it all come off smoothly, plus working in some interesting supporting fill, was impressive. [Not to self: Having two of the longer themers being Downs helps; doing all themers and reveal as Acrosses would have made things much more difficult.]
oldactor@1:04 PM, hey neighbor, nice catch on South Padre Island's Coral Reef bar being a LOCAL DIVE (44A). I've been to just about every watering hole on SPI, some of them more than once, but never went into the Coral Reef. A relatively small shut-in space with low ceilings and heavy cigarette smoking kept me out of that one. I prefer the ones with open air options.
Well said. I love the fact that C.C. came to the USA from China and learned the language for crossword puzzles better than many native-speakers!
How did August not post a link to the music video for Take on Me???
@iamjess
Why didn't you?
@JC66
Touche.
AWMAN. You couldn’t EDIT out ZER? ULTA? FTC? I won’t LYE. This ONE is a RUNON disappointment.
Well, I KNEW 21-down couldn't be ACidIC--because ACID was already in the grid! Of course, acidic is the better word for the clue, but there you go.
It does seem that something could be done about that SW corner, what with ULTA and ZER, but that's why I don't construct. For SLEAZE, I guess I can "take" a little MALARKEY. Family mini-theme with PAPA and NANA. Strange, mine were Nan-nan (don't ask) and Grammy. And my PAPA was always Daddy, even after I was long grown, or occasionally Father. OTOH, my own kid calls me Dad. But I RUNON.
DOD will be CELINE, of course, but an honorable mention to Janis Joplin (PEARL). Not much else to say about this; a good Monday. Birdie.
I didn't think it was ALL THAT easy. More like a Tues/Wed cross. And now I see it's by CC. Which just makes me want to go to a crossword tourney again. Now I hear we may be wearing masks every winter. Gahhhhhhhhhhh!
What would my Gramma say?
Diana, Lady-in-Waiting for Crosswords
(she would say that if the wind changes your face will freeze like that)
MAIN AGENDA
Who SENDS a DOG to the LOCALDIVE
to TAKETHAT POODLECUT and clip?
CASTE your INCITE into overdrive;
it's THAT SLEAZE on an ACIDTRIP.
--- DEAN O'HARE
Monday with enough bite to keep in interesting.
TAKE should be followed by an A, I think. TAKE A CUT? Okay, like take a cut of the money from a HEIST.
Word of the day: WIIFIT.
Moderator: How do I post an icon along side of my commenter name or ID?
Post a Comment