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Brand of school supplies known for its dazzling rainbow designs / TUE 5-18-21 / Khan who founded Khan Academy / Old battle clubs / Sleep preventer in fairy tale / 2016 film starring amy adams as linguist who communicates with aliens / Heavy metal fan
Tuesday, May 18, 2021
Constructor: Margaret Seikel
Relative difficulty: Easy-Medium
Theme answers:
- SPOILED BRAT (18A: Rotten kid)
- HEADBANGER (23A: Heavy metal fan)
- LISA FRANK (34A: Brand of school supplies known for its dazzling rainbow designs)
- THERAPY DOG (49A: Certain emotional support animal)
Lisa Frank is an American businesswoman, the founder of Lisa Frank Incorporated, headquartered in Tucson, Arizona. She is known for producing whimsical commercial design for school supplies and other products that are primarily marketed to children. (wikipedia)
• • •
[this video is, uh, frank]
This is one of those days where I wish there was crowdsourcing data so I could see how familiar each answer was to the solver population, or see where solvers were solving most slowly. I would bet my kingdom, whatever that is, that LISA FRANK is the least familiar thing in the grid. Worse, it's abutting probably the next least familiar thing: SAL Khan. I've definitely heard of Khan Academy, but SAL!? LOL, OK, sure, SAL. I don't mind not knowing short stuff like that, but here, sitting atop the most obscure thing in the grid, it just creates awful proper-noun problems. New / non-household names are fine, but You Must Handle Them Properly. The nail in the coffin here is the execrable fill linking LISA FRANK and SAL: SSS (!?!?!) (32D: Radiator noise). There's no lower fill entry than SSS. OK, maybe EEE, but after that, it's SSS. And I thought maybe a radiator HUMmed. Throw in the ugliest French pronoun (ILS), which is immediately adjacent to all this, and. you have the kind of awful, ugly blotch that you absolutely don't want on your breezy early-week puzzle. What was the rest of the puzzle about? Sausage? If you say so. Anyway, if you set the LISA SAL SSS fiasco aside, you've got a perfectly serviceable, absolutely average Tuesday on your hands.
[Frank Ocean]
I wish LINK was doing something here. That is, I wish wordplay were somehow involved. As it is, it seems like SAUSAGE could've done the revealer work just fine on its own, so really LINK is just here to provide rotational symmetry with SPOILED BRAT. Maybe I'm supposed to believe that SAUSAGE is the thing that LINKs all these answers, but ... that seems a stretch. The very definition of a theme is a LINK among answers, plus the revealer clue already directs you to which answers share the sausage feature, so LINK remains basically unemployed at the figurative level. I can't believe someone hasn't made, or isn't about to make, a puzzle with this same revealer where words for sausages are embedded inside two-word theme answers and literally "link" those two words together. Actually, that would be tough to pull off, but at least the word LINK would be pulling its weight instead of just sitting there flapping the breeze. I loved THERAPY DOG because I love therapy dogs. I'm so jealous of my wife because of the THERAPY DOG that visits her classroom several times a year. I know my university has, in the (prepandemic) past, brought in THERAPY DOGs for the students during finals week, but no one's ever brought one straight into my classroom for me to hug endlessly, ignoring all other creatures in the room until such time as someone physically pried me away from the dog. That, I can safely say, has never happened. Some day...
 |
| MAIZIE! |
Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld
P.S. Counterpoint(s)!!:
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| [if you like books, esp. old romance / horror paperbacks, you should definitely follow Rebecca on Twitter] |
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155 comments:
I used to live in a place with steam heat, and SSS was the most benign of noises from the radiators. Worse -- and much more frequent -- were the 3am BANGERS.
If Tuesdee puzzles have a rep for being the worst of the week, then this one doesn't know how to Tuesdee. It's too good for that.
Seriously, four themers and a revealer - all of which are cute and clever. Can't help noticing an international flair, as well!
Even the fill managed to avoid any eye-area activity (roll, side, twitch).
Had no idea on some of the PPP - SAL Khan (or his wrath) and LISA FRANK because last time I had to buy "school supplies" was 50 years ago - but crosses put them out of my misery.
Overall, very impressive sophomore effort, Ms. Seikel. I look forward to more from you.
He who SMELT the GENIE NET, dealt the GENIE NET.
🧠🧠
🎉🎉🎉
Hand up for being annoyed by SAL, SSS, ILS, but LISA FRANK?! I loved it. It was all the rage when I was in elementary school (90s). I mean, if you were a girl without a rainbow-tiger-unicorn folder, you weren’t cool. Also, it seems to be making a comeback, as I now see 30-something women nostalgically carrying around LISA FRANK folders. Good stuff.
(I always get a good chuckle when @OFL goes on a tirade against something he hasn’t heard of but that is REALLY POPULAR to a demographic different than his own.)
Sorry, Rex, but Lisa Frank is *ICONIC* for people of my generation. Ask any American millennial and they will 100% remember the technicolor nightmare that is Lisa Frank rainbow-crazy school supplies. I drop references to things looking like "they're straight from a Lisa Frank binder" all the time if they're ostentatious, kitschy, and multicolored.
This one's one you! :)
Margaret shows her constructing chops on this one by making its difficulty Tuesday-level despite those lots-of-white corners. Indeed, the lowish number of black squares (34) is more typical of a Thursday or Friday puzzle – and yet, this still feels like a Tuesday. Bravissimo!
She also did a bang-up job of coming up with theme answers where the sausage word takes on a non-sausage meaning. Your next challenge, Margaret: hide WIENER or KIELBASA!
I like the two AE words together in the second row, and I liked the clever theme, which, as far as I know, has never been done before, and I thoroughly enjoyed solving this. Thank you, Margaret!
I know that meatless burgers are hot at the moment, and if you are into meatless, or trying meatless, let me suggest two meatless sausage brands that have, IMO, a terrific flavor. If you like spicy, try No Evil’s “The Stallion”, or less spicy, try Field Roast’s “Italian Garlic and Fennel”. (No money was exchanged in the making of this comment!)
I'm a child of the late 80s/early 90s. Lisa Frank was *wildly* popular for young girls during that time. I remember begging my mom for Lisa Frank folders and pencils and stickers every September during elementary school. (For what it's worth, my husband is the same age as I am, and he has only the vaguest recollection.)
I had hSS/hAL at first so that took some time to track down when I didn’t get the happy music. Otherwise very fast even without knowing LISAFRANK either as a kid or a parent. Blanked on MINOS but it dropped into place easily enough from the downs.
Shook my head when i saw ALGAE after the recent ALGE or whatever it was. I do wish that we could standardize on a single spelling per word per crossword editor (and in this case today’s should win).
Who is the guy in front of the flag? I don't think it is Lisa Frank or Sal Khan. Samuel Stan Sanders, maybe?
I’m with Rex on this one - never heard of the school supplies lady, so I was stuck with the Dark Matter entry crossed by a French word that I could only guess at (ILS), and a made-up word I could only guess at (SSS). Not really a lot of fun to be had in that section. The rest of it was Monday-easy. I wonder if I will ever evolve to the point where I enjoy sussing out foreign and made-up stuff - which for all intents and purposes (what does that even mean, anyway ? - oh well, I digress) are little more than random letter strings to me. Aren’t there literally puzzles without any clues at all for people who enjoy that sort of thing ?
Agree with Rex on one thing, which is the hardest part of the puzzle was the LISAFRANK, SAL, SSS Cross(es). But I’m not going to be critical of LISA FRANK as an entry just because I never heard of it. Seems pretty well-known to many of a certain generation. I’ll have to ask my no longer school age daughter if she ever owned any of their line.
Everything else fell easily into place.
Sometimes wish I had a therapy dog. My son has two (2)! Coonhounds and they are the opposite of therapeutic. Among other non-therapeutic pets I can add our cat (we have a mutual understanding to leave each other alone) and our three lizards, all of whom hate humans (rightfully so, I s’pose): Bearded Dragon, Mali Uromastyx, Panther Chameleon. If it weren’t for my California King Snake, Elvis, who loves me, I’d start to get a complex.
My solve was similar to @Rex's (but probably took 4 times longer) in that I tore through the top and then LISAFRANK slowed my access to the lower portion. I worked around it, came back and finished with the aid of the downs. I differed from @Rex in that it didn't bother me. In fact I thought it added some spice and made the puzz more interesting.
I have to pass on the comment made by Charles Nelson Reilly over on WordPlay, to wit: “Andouille agree that we never sausage a meaty puzzle? Let’s be frank.”
Lisa Frank was married to James Green and has two sons, Hunter Green and Forrest Green. I suppose if she had daughters, they would be Fern and Kelly. Good to be introduced to the ancestor of Rainbow Butterfly Unicorn Kitty. https://youtu.be/U4VbR45xy0w
Can someone explain the MLK Day answer?
Oof. It’s Monday.
Love the Barney Frank picture.
I don’t have any lofty expectations for Mondays or Tuesdays, but I do expect the theme answers to be things I’ve heard of. LISA FRANK fails to meet even that modest expectation. That ten-letter themer in the middle just screams for Anne FRANK, doesn’t it?
SAL Khan crossing SSS would otherwise have been the low point.
So the one themer that will make 75% of solvers go 'huh'? is in the spot where the worst fill is. If you are going to mess up your grid, don't do it for a vanity entry.
@Annonymous (6:51am) - Barney Frank, a former US Representative from Massachusetts
The Lisa Frank thing is absolutely generational. I went to school in the 90s and it was among the easiest answers in the puzzle for me.
I enjoyed the clue for "phlegm" as well.
So......was ANNE ever considered as an alternative for LISA FRANK?
Identical experience to Rex. 4:10 pre-coffee solve, with 30 seconds on the final squares to go down: LISAFRANK / SSS / ILS / SAL. Sounds like an overwhelming population know Lisa Frank, so all is forgiven. Enjoyed the EMBASSY / MACRAME / ACCRUES stack in the SW.
Identical experience to Rex. 4:10 pre-coffee solve, with 30 seconds on the final squares to go down: LISAFRANK / SSS / ILS / SAL. Sounds like an overwhelming population know Lisa Frank, so all is forgiven. Enjoyed the EMBASSY / MACRAME / ACCRUES stack in the SW.
LISAFRANK was one of the easiest parts for me, but I didn't finish the puzzle because of SAL/NCAA...I just couldn't figure it out, which is weird!
A little on the slow side today, not unusual for my Tuesday solve. I found the theme useful for some of the answers.
Barney Frank
SAUSAGELINK is a perfect revealer for this puzzle. The four themers are linked as they are all types of sausages. I’m not sure what’s confusing about this.
I’ve never heard of LISAFRANK either, but it was very easy to figure out. Obviously the last name was FRANK (because sausage) and the LISA part was obvious. This is why I am The Greatest Crossword Solver in the Universe, and why I am banned from all competitions because I make everyone else look bad. I got banned from the Xword WinterNationals in 2012 because I won it while repeatably bench-pressing 240 lbs. At the 2017 World Championships in Prague they handicapped me by making me wear a blindfold and handcuffs and escape from a burlap sack during competition and yet I still took the top three medals. I’m now banned from that too.
Were you in grade school in the 90s-00s? Too bad for you. I was in my late 20s and boy that was the greatest time to be in your 20s. We’ll never see the likes of that era ever again. Millennials, I might be your father. Ask your mom about it.
There are a lot of kinky sexual undertones to this puzzle if you look for them.
On sausages: nothing to say.
On Minos:The Minoan civilization is particularly notable for its large and elaborate palaces up to four stories high, featuring elaborate plumbing systems and decorated with frescoes. The most notable Minoan palace is that of Knossos, followed by that of Phaistos.
Archaeologists have now enough evidence to believe that the reputed Minoan Civilization was severely damaged and affected by the eruption of Santorini Volcano, which destroyed their fleet.
To Rex's point:
"This is one of those days where I wish there was crowdsourcing data so I could see how familiar each answer was to the solver population, or see where solvers were solving most slowly."
I've always thought this would be amazing and quite easy to pull off with the right software. You record each solver's entry, letter by letter, then compress or expand each solver's times to make them all last an equal amount of time. The result is an evolving image of the grid as it is being filled in, all solvers at once, with each individual entry being a fractional impression equal to 1 divided by the number of solvers. So, we could watch as the grid is slowly, fitfully filled in and we would see the entries that were banged in without hesitation and those that took solvers some time to figure out.
I agree with Rex this would be very cool and insightful.
And, yes, LISA FRANK is familiar to me with two daughters born in the 90's.
Since I had never heard of LISA FRANK, I looked her up in Wiki and found out there's a good reason many of us have never heard of her:
"Frank is 'notoriously elusive and private.' In a 2012 interview video with Urban Outfitters, the company agreed to obscure her face."
My thoughts: Perhaps if you prefer to remain elusive and private, it's best to give your company a generic name rather than naming it after yourself.
Lisa Frank is incredibly iconic for 90s kids and is in back in now, too! Incredibly easy answer for me.
OK, LISAFRANK is a total stranger. Our two boys never teased for any of her school supplies, or anyone else's that I can think of. "School supplies" were things they needed for sports. So, out of the loop there, but knew ILS and winced when I filled in SSS and everything else was straightforward enough.
Why the hate for LINK? I thought it was used well doing double duty as a noun and a verb. Fine with me.
No THERAPYDOGS during my teaching career, although I understand my former high school is now encouraging their use, and that's a good thing.
Nice Tuesdectio, MS. Muy Satisfactory.
Totally with REX today!
The unknown Lisa Frank didn't bother me as much as trying to figure out what a "party hose" could be.
A Tuesday with a little meat in it. Yay.
I had no idea who Lisa Frank was but after the puzzle I looked it up and showed my wife a picture of a Lisa Frank tiger and she absolutely gushed. "Lisa Frank! Every girl wanted a folder like that growing up!"
Well damn.
Puzzle was easy until the SW. Got in trouble there had to search a couple words to get me through it. Before that I was on pace to make a new personal record.
Happy to see Sal Khan mentioned. He's the only reason I passed math classes.
I had hSS and hAL. Seemed reasonable. Oh well. Never heard of LISA FRANK but clearly lots of people have.
First time poster here. I cheated on today's puzzle and still DNFed. Never heard of LISA FRANK, but it seemed legit. I haven't spoken French in a while, but ILS was a sure thing. That left the Kahn Academy founder and the radiator noise. Hiss didn't fit, so I thought maybe hss? Hal Kahn seemed feasible and sounded about right, but even after multiple reviews of the puzzle I didn't hear any happy music. That's when I cheated and Googled Hal Kahn, who was a professor at Stanford who died two years ago. I literally thought "Oh, how sad that the founder of Kahn Academy died. How did I not know this?" It never clicked that this Hal Kahn and that SAL Kahn were not the same person. Glad to know that Sal is still alive and kicking.
Another cute, early week puzzle. Revealer was a little flat - but overall theme fine. Loads of short glue - didn’t like MON or ILS. Our house had steam radiators when we bought it so I can verify that SSS is a thing.
Didn’t know LISA FRANK - we had two boys during those years - but the crosses were easy enough to back into it. Liked the little volleyball sub theme.
Enjoyable Tuesday solve.
I almost had a DNF in the LISA FRANK area, after having no trouble anywhere else. I didn’t know SAL either (where’s the pizza guy from “Do the Right Thing” when you need him?). I did OK with ILS and SSS, but had the damnedest time with MON and CAN, of all things. I WANTED “Mem” for M.L.K. Day (because the day memorializes him) and I really wanted “tureen” for the soup container, but when that wasn’t going to fly, I thought maybe our old friend “urN”, repurposed for minestrone? I also had a difficult relationship with GOLF TEE. I had GO__TEE and for no explicable reason, started to get fancy: GOod TEE? GOld TEE? Old dear. When you hear hoof beats, think horses and not zebras. So I had to contend with that central fiasco at the end, but apart from that I had a smooth solve.
And learned a lot. In addition to LISA FRANK and SAL Khan, “Roy G. Biv” as a mnemonic for the prismatic COLORS and the expression “Nothing but NET!” were new. I’d heard the word HOOSIER but was shaky about what it meant. We got YESES again! Liked the two volleyball clues, as it was the only team sport I was ever (even marginally) good at in high school. Also liked the reference to TAI chi, a wonderful practice that I wish I’d stayed with after taking several courses. Smileworthy were SANTA as the answer to “seasonal delivery driver?” and GENIE as “spirit in a bottle”.
I don’t know why PANTY or PANTies always strikes as a bit naughty (hi @JOHN X). Immaturity, I guess, or an affinity with Monty Pythonesque humor. And accompanying the word today we got REAR, ASS and CAN. I liked STOOGES crossing ASS, and ACCRUES crossing EMAILS. I liked the fishiness of the trio ROE, COD and SMELT. And I liked the inclusion of IRELAND and ISLE (where was the emerald?).
Today’s quotation is from LIONEL SHRIVER, born May 18, 1957.
“There is one province in which, sooner or later, virtually everyone gets dealt a leading role--hero, heroine, or villain.... Unlike the slight implications of quotidian dilemmas that confront the average citizen in other areas of life ... the stakes in this realm could not be higher. For chances are that at some point along the line you will hold in your hands another person's heart. There is no greater responsibility on the planet. However you contend with this fragile organ, which pounds or seizes in accordance with your caprice, will take your full measure.”
(From The Post-Birthday World)
So how often do I have to leave a section of the puzzle and come back to it later on a Tuesday? Just about never, I'd say. But this one had me temporarily stumped in the SSS/SAL/LISA FRANK section. And, not having the theme yet, I was also hesitating on HEAD-what? for the heavy metal fan. HEADBANDER? HEADBANKER? HEADBANNER? It's HEADBANGER -- but I didn't yet know that. I'm also from a part of the country that doesn't call SAUSAGES "bangers".
I have no idea what LISA FRANK makes. I just know that she/it wasn't making it back in the day when I was buying school supplies. Just as with HEADBANGER, the theme -- once I knew what it was -- helped me out greatly here.
What marvelous un-Tuesdayish cluing! Early-week puzzle-makers who dabble in Dullsville should check out the clues for PEA (45A); CLAPS (9A); BCC (48A); COLORS (33A) and AGREE TO (11D). There is [almost] no such thing as boring fill if it's clued with imagination, wit and style. A very, very good Tuesday puzzle that I really enjoyed and that gave me a bit of a run for my money.
Thx Margaret for a smooth, interesting Tues. puz! :)
Med solve.
Worked from the top down, finishing with the 'A' at TAG.
New to me was LISA FRANK, and had forgotten ARRIVAL.
Good to see volleyball; my fave participation sport.
Did MACRAME with my students in our arts & crafts class.
Christmas all year round at my place, so SANTA is seen/heard all over.
Here Comes SANTA Claus ~ Gene Autry
@A (8:20 PM) yd eve. 👍
___
yd 0
Peace ~ Empathy ~ Kindness to all 🕊
Roy G Biv / Colors / Lisa Frank. Wink wink, theme within a theme. Sausages linked together to form a less colorful but tasty main theme.
Geez, dee-lightful stuff.
Took a while to remember going to Target to buy Lisa Frank notebooks and folders for the female of the offspring. But it was fun reeling it in.
Learned something new today. Roy G Biv: Red Orange Yellow Green Blue Indigo Violet ... Visible colors of the spectrum.
See They Might be Giants https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uRP1KcSfg5A
We listened to them a lot during the Lisa Frank years.
@Gil from yesterday, har, thanks but it wasn't my first time at the rodeo.
@Lewis, Charles Nelson Reilly! Thanks.
Hand up for being the wrong demographic for LISA FRANK and for thinking the fill around the supplier was suboptimal. I wasted many precious nanoseconds there, including wanting GOld TEE for some inexplicable reason. Also not overly fond of SAL Khan of all the plausible SAL clues. Clearly LISA FRANK is crossworthy, but when you have a PPP themer please keep the surrounding fill clean.
@ralph.bunker - Are you reading this? Did you notice @DeeJay’s request?
I have Stories of Your Life and others on my armrest as I type, so cluing ARRIVAL by the movie made from that short story was a gimme here. And the movie is superb. Ted Chiang isn’t as prolific as some writers, but everything he publishes is top notch. Also, it seems to me that the crosses are much cleaner, so even if you’re not a huge Amy Adams fan you’re not going to stumble much there.
Otherwise, a fine Tuesday puzzle with a Tuesday typical theme.
Thank God for LISA FRANK.
I thought AGREETO was a musical term.
@Lewis (7:04) -- THE Charles Nelson Reilly?
@Snoble (7:05) -- Really??? I guess LISA FRANK is into COLORS. Does she make crayons?
@Barbara S - Inexplicably great minds think alike. I briefly had MIdaS before MINOS so apparently I just have gold on the brain today.
Concerning the word LINK as an unnecessary "flapping in the wind" appendage to the revealer, it describes the shape of the SAUSAGEs in the themers--they are all long and skinny--as opposed to round and flat, which would be, not a SAUSAGE PANTY, but a SAUSAGE PAtTY.
@nancy -- I'm assuming, though I don't think the commenter has ever made it clear.
Strong agree
The holiday always falls on a MONday.
Hey All !
Three-letter DNF today. Dang! Carelessness on two of them, YELPEs/COs (oof), MINas[for Midas]/AMNIa, and also PArTY/rGO even though rGO was an unknown. Yikes.
But, a good puz. Male here who graduated in the late 80's, so LISA FRANK nowhere near my radar. However, wouldn't go on a tirade about it. 😁 Just shrugged and said OK, and moved on.
Could've changed SSS/SAL to PSS/PAL. Even though technically it's Post-Post-Script, PPS, not Post-Script-Script, PSS, so maybe not!
Fun clue for SANTA. I'm going to let my beard grow long when I get older, and become a SANTA. Heck, I've already got the gut...
Writeover HEADBAshER for HEADBANGER before getting theme. Har. BAshERs and mash? Is that even a food item?
@pablo
Is COD and CAR pronounced the same up there innh? ☺️
One F
RooMonster
DarrinV
Brats, Bangers, Franks, and dogs/hot dogs are all types of sausages that are encased in long tubes, usually pig intestine, with a twist going between each sausage forming a link between them. I think the revealer works fine this way.
👏
Rex, sorry, if we’re going to allow women constructors we’re going to enter territory unfamiliar to YOU. Every woman knows Lisa Frank. Her folders were a thing, for quite awhile. We all had to have them when we were 11. Now do you hear us complaining about sports references that are to us totally incomprehensible?? Ha, the shoe is on the other foot now and even on you Res, it appears to pinch!
Impossible to filter out Aga Kahn, and Ali Kahn, and James Kahn.
And, no, never ever heard of a LISA FRANK. Expected Crayola or the like,
Is he MINOS, or MIdaS?? Always a flip of the coin.
Last time I ran across the acronym, DL meant 'down low' which itself is a euphemism for 'gay piece on the side of a married person'. At least, it was then.
Sorry, @Lewis and @Nancy - Charles Nelson Reilly died in 2007.
Head scratchers for me: party hose? Roy G. Biv?? Khan Academy??? Loop in on the DL???? Also never seen genee spelled like this. And yeses??
I forgot to mention my nomination for the most deviously clued answer in the puzzle. I had ?AG for the "underwear irritant, at times" and was baffled. Could it be SAG? I mean if your underwear doesn't support you, that can be pretty irritating, right?
OTOH, I'd much rather be less supported rather than more supported -- since more supportive underwear can do more than irritate. It can actually HURT. But SAG was certainly a possibility.
I didn't think of TAG because of the "at times" part of the clue. I mean if a TAG irritates you even once, you'll simply remove the tag, right?
But wait. TAGS are really, really hard to remove. The close stitching means you can't simply take the whole thing out -- as though it had never been there in the first place. You have to cut most of it out, leaving only the part with the stitching in place. Which ends up being five times more irritating than the original tag. Right, ladies?
The more I think about it, the more I realize that TAG was extremely well-clued.
I never heard of Lisa Frank, but probably I'm too old.
MLK Day is celebrated on MON
Our radiators always went SSS, but yes, they also BANGed.
I much prefer English crosswords to French or Spanish crosswords. Put another way, I want the entries to be in English, not another language. So even though I studied French in college, ILS annoys me. But LISA FRANK did not bother me, even though the name is unfamiliar to me. What is more bothersome is that HSS or SSS can imitate the sound of a hissing radiator. Still, thumbs up on the puzzle. But I hope Margret hones her skill as a constructor. I'm confident.
Z, I think you misinterpreted me yesterday. The tighter the theme, the better the puzzle (I guess). Yesterday's theme was foreign words (ugh) that translate to YES. If the foreign languages somehow had something in common (other than being foreign), I concede the theme would have been more elegant, which is good. But I do believe it is valid to have a distasteful reaction when a person complains about a something like that in a manner that can seem overly verbose or over the top. I think my point is Sharp's observation was apt but complained about a non-essential feature in a way that turns some off. I was not trying to discredit the concept. I was trying to point out that when one basically turns something small into something big, how one communicates is important. (And I guess I did not communicate properly.) Some might say it's making a mountain out of a molehill. Some might say it's creating a problem where nne exists. I might opine that the vehemence factor may be the overlying factor. What really bothers me is that the good can get lost up in the words. That is unfortunate.
I was in school in the 70s/80s and I can tell you that Lisa Frank was absolutely a thing. The definition should've said it was targeted at school-age GIRLS, though, not just children. There was never a Lisa Frank design that any boy (in small-town Texas, anyway) could be caught dead with, lest he be pummelled for being 'queer'.
And before anyone balks at that statement, that's not hyperbole. Kids from grade school on up were beaten by their classmates for even "looking queer" - and, I might add, the teachers/faculty would often conveniently "not notice" it was going on until the kid was soundly beaten.
I sincerely hope that things are better now for LGBTQ+ kids than they were for me back then. Nothing like living the entirety of your school years in abject terror of being "found out."
Yeah, anyone who thinks that it's a choice or can just be "prayed away" is fooling themselves.
WOO, sorry for that rambling - but the puzzle was actually pretty nice, especially for a Tuesday. When I saw all the white space, I wondered how you could have that many long answers in a Tuesday grid, but it just fell into place nicely.
I'll admit to being flummoxed in the middle, not because of LISAFRANK (I got Frank right away, but had to search through cobwebs to remember LISA) but because of the French radiator issue. Still, both LISA and FRANK are inferable names common enough to get even if you don't know the brand.... not like ENZI/ZONA from the other day.
Charles Nelson Reilly was an American actor, comedian, director, and drama teacher known for his comedic roles on stage, film, and television. Wikipedia
Born: January 13, 1931, South Bronx, New York, NY
Died: May 25, 2007, Beverly Hills, CA
@Nancy:
I mean if your underwear doesn't support you, that can be pretty irritating, right?
Well... near as I know, about half the population wear underwear that has nothing to support? Not to be confused with 'control top' undergarments, of course, that's just compression. I wonder if someone will get the bright idea to make a version that supports those cute thingees that dangle off the back of Redneck pickup trucks? MAGA?
@Roo. Do you solve the Mini? If not I suggest you do today's, a treasure trove.
i challenge anyone to find a photo of lisa frank that isn't the one of her wearing a purple turtleneck. also embassy row by pavement would have been a nice vid to post today.
I think the SSS/SAL/LISA combo would only annoy you if you were into speed.
While it was perhaps not ideal, it was a small price to pay for what was otherwise a delicious puzzle.
Spent more money on Lisa Frank paraphernalia than I care to remember. While I’m a great admirer of Sal Khan.
This looks like a fun place to wake up in when you have a hangover.
@Lewis - In the most friendly manner possible, may I suggest that you never again urge a young lady to "Hide Wiener or Kielbasa". Sexual harassment lawsuits are sure to follow. Also, who are you trying to kid with Kielbasa?
@Trockmn - MLK Day is a holiday that always occurs on Monday (MON)
And as a mid-30 year old, I'm very familiar with Lisa Frank. Actually loved that answer most in this grid.
@OffTheGrid
Har! I did, I was going to mention it, but wasn't sure how without spoilers. Sad that the regular puz had less. 😆
Also, put me in the SSS camp of radiators. My grandparents had one, but it was more like SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS, CLUNK! Har, sometimes woke you up at night!
Kinda surprised some of y'all haven't heard of Roy G. Biv. It was a mnemonic taught to me in school. COLORS of the RAINBOW, Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, Violet. Wait, why didn't y'all go on a three paragraph tirade about it? 😉😂🙃
RooMonster SSS Guy
most federal holidays were moved to Monday years ago as a way to ensure Three Day Weekends. MLK Day is not unique.
Once again, @JOHN X's comment is a hilarious treat.
I got hung up in exactly the places Rex did. But mine was compounded by my blithe insertion of L in MAlES (old battel clubs are made up of guys, right?) and my search for my error kept missing the incongruity of AlCRUED. Dumb.
I haven’t read the comments yet so if I’m repeating what others have said, I will delete this.
There’s a lot of confusion in the world of dogs that make a difference in people’s mental and physical health. I don’t think most people care but part of the confusion can lead to some dangerous situations. There are SERVICE dogs, who are owned by the person they serve, who can go anywhere their person can, are covered by ADA, and who need respect from people they encounter. There are THERAPY dogs that serve others. They’re the ones to whom Rex refers; they are well-trained, tested up the wazoo, and then registered with a registry that provides $1-2 mil in liability insurance. They can only go WHERE THEY ARE INVITED.
And then there are people who don’t bother to train/test/register but take their dog to schools and nursing homes anyway; that’s risky because very expensive accidents can happen with the best dog. So should someone trip over your dog and break and ankle, the bill will be on the owner. And there are people who buy “doctor” letters claiming their dog is a SERVICE dog and then proceed to take their dogs places they don’t belong. And there are people who have registered THERAPY dogs who claim they are SERVICE dogs and, again, go places they aren’t allowed. Very few THERAPY dogs are trained to the level of service dogs and when they misbehave in a restaurant or airplane, it casts a negative image on all working dogs.
Emotional support dogs are a third category. Sure, THERAPY dogs provide emotional support FOR OTHERS, but generally, the term emotional support dogs refers to animals who provide support to their owner and thus aren’t therapy dogs as I’ve defined above. Some emotional support dogs are service dogs covered by ADA. Others probably aren’t; they haven’t received the training that would make them welcome everywhere or the owner doesn’t have a diagnosis that would indicate the need for such a dog.
I am part of the largest Therapy Dog Registry in the country: Pet Partners (I’m an evaluator). I cringe when I see untrained “therapy dogs” visiting at libraries or nursing homes exhibiting all the signs of distress with the owner blithely ignoring the signals. Such situations call into question the utility and behavior of ALL therapy dogs.
I’ve rambled on way too long so I’ll quit here. But I think it’s important that folks know there are important distinctions here, distinctions that affect the safety of all.
Off my soapbox.
Cute, fun, fast.
🤗🧩🤗🤣
@J-Dip 957am 🤣🤣🤣 You took the words right out of my mouth and the food right out of my stomach.
@Anonymous 951am Look no further than @Joe Dipinto's link.
To the "every woman knows LISA FRANK" crowd: your arguments are even more strident than Rex's "...I have never heard of this" or "...that LISA FRANK is the least familiar thing in the grid" comments. It works both ways, you know. 😉
What did the French cabbie say in 1950 when asked what the fare from Montmartre to Place Vendome would be?
I wanna Lisa Frank, maybe two.
I liked the puzzle and finished it quickly despite being Frankly unaware of Lisa. Thanks Margaret Seikel.
Easy. Hand up for no idea about LISA FRANK but the rest was cake. Pretty good Tues., liked it.
Let me be perfectly FRANK...you could knock wurst me over with a weiner....Well, maybe not a weiner
A nice frijoles frescos Tuesday. I love BANGERs with a little mash. The Brits will always add a little mashed PEA. And....if you SMELT it like @Frantic does, then "He who YESSES might be a MINOS ASS.
OK, so I really had fun with this. BUT, BUT...a TAG is an underwear irritant? Getting my PANTY up my REAR ASS is an irritant. To hell with the TAG.
Love me some THERAPY DOG and it crosses STOOGES.....Our two...Curly and Moe...
Hand up for not knowing LISA FRANK but I knew it had to be some sort of hot dog. It was.
My SSS runneth over.
Loved this! LISA FRANK was the bomb for my 30 something daughter back in the day!😂😂
@pmdm 9:38 - well, they are all European languages, so that makes it a little tighter. And they are all, along with English, in the seven most-spoken languages in Europe - only missing Turkish and Italian.
@RooMonster 10:18 - I learned VIBGYOR, rather than ROY G BIV.
@RooMo-
CAR and COD are pronounced the same, almost, in Boston, but nor up here.
Except for that final D thing, but you knew that.
I'm with you on folks not having heard of gold old Boy G. Biv. One of the few things I remember from Jr. High.
50 year old cis female here and I knew Lisa Frank immediately which helped me get a new PR for a Tuesday. Is this how people who know poetry and opera and 1950s TV shows feel all the other days of the week? Must be nice!
A top-of-the-line Tuesday, I thought - a cute idea so nicely realized and a solid line-up of interesting Downs. I'm not of the right generation, either kid- or mom-wise, for LISA FRANK, so I'm with those who had to work at that area for a bit. I liked the connection of GOLF TEE with LINKS and winced at HEADBANGER x YELPED (why can't I remember to close the cupboard doors over my counter?)
@JOHN X 7:46, thanks for the laugh!
@Nancy 9:29, I did write in sAG, thinking of some items in my drawer that I've hung onto for too long. But yes, TAG, is far better. All hail the individual who figured out how to print the label info on the inside of the garment, rendering the TAG superfluous.
**Spoiler alert re: the Sunday puzzle:** Last night I picked up Mary Wesley's novel Part of the Furniture, which begins with a young woman running down a blacked-out London street during the Blitz. Imagine my surprise when I turned to the second page and read: "Then there was the distant crump of guns and simultaneously the sound of bombers droning up the Thames...."
I agree with Rex 100%. it wasn't just Lisa Frank, but the cross with Sal Khan (who sounds like a great guy when I googled him, and I'm glad I learned about him) and then the "sss." The rest of the puzzle was easy peasy for this newbie.
anon 10:21,
Sorta kinda. Last year half, not most, of The federal holidays were on a Monday. This year because the 4th is close enough, they'll be 6 on a Monday.
Obviously New Years, Veterans and Christmas, day move. They'll be six until 2025 when it dips back to 5.
Thought this TuesPuz was a clear wiener.
Especially enjoyed the deja-vusosity of the YESES reveal.
staff weeject pick: SSS. @AnoaBob Alert: SLOC! [Steam Leak Of Convenience]
How'bout DODD-FRANK? It had some dazzlin anti-greed designs.
Didn't know that there LISA-FRANK act, but she didn't slow m&e down much.
Thanx for the fun, Ms. Seikel darlin.
Masked & Anonymo1U
**gruntz**
Wow, I missed the Lisa Frank craze too. I graduated from HS in 1987 so I guess it started right after that. I love your commentary about SAL. I also had no idea that was the Kahn academy founder's first name. You make me laugh every day.
@Frantic Sloth wrote It works both ways, you know. Yep! For Sure! Absotively! PPP giveth and PPP taketh away. I spent the 90's with high schoolers and three young sons. I totally missed LISA FRANK
@crayonbeam - Yah. I almost started writing "why not SAL Mineo" and stopped myself because is a 1950's-60's film star really an improvement? There is the Do the Right Thing SAL, baseball player SAL Bando, muppet SAL Minella, the SAL 9000 from 2010:Odyssey Two, SAL Paradise from On the Road, the recently defunct (thanks MLB) South Atlantic League (which made an appearance in Bull Durham I think). What there doesn't appear to be is a good non-PPP SAL clue.
Eire mini-theme up top with AER Lingus, ROE & Co. Irish whiskey, IRELAND, BANGERs, COD and (Irish) SETTERS, who brought their buddies the THERAPY DOG LABS. Workplaces where white coats are worn
Same reaction as Rex to LISA FRANK and SAL, which could easily be hAL, making the radiator sound HSS. Showing my AGE, or reason for a Tuesday demerit? Still, not an ANNOYing HEADBANGER.
Mostly cute and breezy. A little heavy on the POC. Liked seeing MACRAME, and ILS crossing ILS (in EMAILS). Not feeling Rex’s ILS ire. I like the way it sounds.
Crossings TEE PEA and TEN CAN could use a spellcheck.
PANTY, fishNET, REAR, and ASS could use a room at the INN.
It’s Rick Wakeman’s birthday. Gotta run so no link, but there’s always @Joe Dipinto’s offering from 12:35 yesterday.
Thanks, Ms. Seikel, it was fun - no LIE!
ROY G. BIV is right up there with HOMES in my mnemonics lexicon.
Been watching lots of 'The Dodo' channel on YouTube with all kinds of wonderful DOG stories. Tho many of the vids are of rescue DOGs, it's amazing the THERAPeutic effect on the families who take in these beautiful souls. Also, a big 👍s up for all the working THERAPY DOGs out there. 🐶. Reminds me of @Barbara S.'s 'Half Broke' (Of Horses and Healing) article from last Tues. 🐎
white LABs
@Malsdemare (10:28 AM)
Thx for your excellent post and your work with THERAPY DOGs! 🐶
@ironst8 (8:12 AM)
Welcome aboard! 😊
___
td pg -3
Peace 🕊 ~ Empathy ~ Kindness to all ~ Woof 🐶
SAUSAGE LINK is great in this puzzle for a reason @Carola started to mention -- there are lots of golf (link) answers in this grid! Either crossing or stacked on the actual themers: GOLF TEE, golf CLAPS, golf SPIKES, an EAGLE, maybe even a SPLASH from a shot landing in a water hazard. I love a sneaky double-theme!
@Z I like a little, actually a lot, of SAL de Mer on my Boeuf a la Poire.
Speaking of radiators, when I was an acting student in NY in the 50s, I lived in a cold water flat on East 54th.
In the winter I often woke up in the morning to find the water in the john frozen solid. It was brutal but I only paid $38 rent. After a few years radiators were installed and rent went up to $80. In the wee hours of the morning when the heat came up the clanging of the pipes was absolutely MUSIC to my ears. The most beautiful sound in the world. BTW I hear that apt. now rents for $1500.
@Malsdemare. I appreciate your remarks about the different categories of "help animals" and the difficulties involved.
@Frantic Sloth, I did not take any single comment or comments taken together that there is an “every woman knows Lisa Frank.” I think the general consensus is that most females who were elementary school age in the 90’s knew who she is, SOME males of that age group know, and many of us who purchased said school supplies for their daughters likely knew. I think everyone can agree it’s understandable that one would NOT know who Lisa Frank is. I tend to liken it to when I am faced with the question of “what is the key of [insert famous work]. I ALWAYS need crosses for those yet no one comments “who the hell knows this other than musicians or music aficionados,” but in many ways that is like PPP to me. I think the larger issue in this case was the SSS and Sal/Hal crosses that made for a potential dnf (and which could have been prevented.
I'm imagining a video game. You are in a dimly lit room, which is slowly filling up with water. To escape, you must find the LINK to the next room. Wait, what's that in the corner? Yes, a kielbasa! You pick it up, there is a bright flash, and the room gets dark. When your vision is restored, you see a sunny room with a small fire in the corner, slowly spreading toward you...
And so forth.
My daughter was 14 when the 90s began. She certainly had pencil cases, etc., with unicorns and rainbows on them; but as a city girl she traveled around by subway, and mostly bought her own supplies, so if they were LISA FRANK, I never knew. (She did love "They Might Be Giants," though.) But I thought, well, woman constructor, she probably took the kids shopping, so it's a wheelhouse thing -- fair enough. It seems I was right. It did slow me down, though.
@Kitshef and others, I think you'd probably have second thoughts about using Anne FRANK to clue a type of sausage.
@Nancy, I think BANGERS is British, not a different region of the US. At least, I learned the word from reading Wodehouse's schoolboy novels. Now I've got an English step-inlaw (I think that's the right term), and she says things like "bangers and mash" all the time.
My favorite answer: PHLEGM.
Least-favorite clue: "Opposite of WSW" (It's Tuesday, you can make it a little harder, and there are so many obscure carbohydrates to choose from).
I believe I learned ROY G. BIV from crosswords, sometime in the last two decades. My problem is that it does not seem like an inherently memorable name, so I could never see it as a good mnemonic. Obviously it works for many, though, so that's fine.
And it's nice to be back! Now things are opening up, we decided to take a 3-day weekend in the Berkshires. Blissful! But no xwords. (OTOH, I learned lots of interesting things about Edith Wharton and Norman Rockwell [individually, not as a couple.])
Rare that Rex and I agree on much, but today... we're soulmates. My formative years were the 1980s and I've never heard the name Lisa Frank. My kids (and I) use Khan Academy frequently but Sal was a complete mystery. And SSS? SSS? The sound of the clue indicates its reception.
Not a child of the 80s, neither of my children are children of the 80s. I got LISAFRANK right away. Who knows....
@Malsdemare 1028am I, for one, (of probably several here) am grateful for your soapboxing. It's important information, IMHO. Drives me nuts whenever I see someone just go up to a service dog - uninvited and not welcome - and try to pet it or otherwise initiate contact. Grr. 🐶
@Z 1144am Right! And let's not forget Mac SAL, Pot SAL, Tuna SAL, and Chick SAL.
Why is it always food with me?
@SSSSal 1227pm So, we are agreed then. I didn't name the person I quoted because the point I was making was generic.
@Lewis Thanks for passing the comment from wordplay. Best chuckle of the morning
For what it's worth, one of Malsdemare's scenarios veered into the world of torts and it's far from certain what will happen in a purported tortious action. That is to say, just because someone trips over your dog, even a dog whose bona fides have been forged, it is far from certain that the owner would be liable for the fall or any resulting injuries. It's also worth noting that no matter how genuine the dog's credentials are, the owner is not indemnified against any occurrence, hence the liability coverage she mentioned.
I'm curious whether the registry is actually underwriting the insurance as she claims; methinks they aren't.
bokamp,
I'm curious, do you believe dogs have immortal souls?
Fortunately, my wife had heard of LISAFRANK, so she got it with only a few crosses. I would have been pretty stumped there.
Similar sentiments - breezed through everything, but stuck as SSS/SAL. Try hSS/hAL first, didn't work, got it right the second try. So, a soft DNF? Whatever you would call it. Not something I felt bad about, though. What an obscure person to attach HAL to, especially for a Tuesday, and ESPECIALLY for crossing with "SSS" onomatopoeia. It's Tuesday, and that's where the crux is...? Just. Why? If you're stuck with SSS as a constructor, please, please, just make the crosses not so difficult. It's an easy enough solution without having to reconstruct a bunch of answers.
Anyway, easy to complain. We both still enjoyed it. I have no problem with puzzles being a little easy or hard for a given day. Much like a good movie with a bad ending, I'll try to keep in mind that I did in fact enjoy 90% of it.
@jberg → My problem is that it does not seem like an inherently memorable name, so I could never see it as a good mnemonic
I have to mentally go through the colors of the rainbow to remember what the mnemonic for them is.
Re Lisa Frank. The only reason I was able to dredge that one up was probably because I was surprised at how overpriced a spiral notebook and folder could be. But for Rex's complaint (and the white man substitute of Barney Frank), here's a name from an Erik Agard puzzle in The New Yorker's "lightly challenging puzzle" of a couple of weeks ago:
Director of the 2018 Kenyan lesbian romance “Rafiki”
Wanuri Kahiu
So, ya know. Lisa Frank. At Target.
@jberg, There's a pretty good documentary on Amazon Prime - Edith Wharton: The Sense of Harmony. I recommend it (but then I'm a pretty diehard fan).
@anonymous 1pm. Point taken. But my understanding is that someone can still sue and necessitate getting an attorney even if it isn't legit. Pet Partners' does not underwrite their own insurance; some giant company does that. I don't know about others. Therapy teams pay a registration fee that goes towards the insurance. To have a claim actually accepted, you'd better have followed all the rules: been invited to the facility, have your dog on appropriate leash, and so on. Still, if your dog knocks down someone in the memory care unit, it’s a huge relief knowing you're covered. I've had ten dogs over 30 years serve our community with no incident but we've had some very close calls. In one instance, a memory-impaired man picked up my 80lb malamute by her collar and lifted her front feet off the floor. Why she didn't at least growl is beyond me. I certainly don't train my dogs to take abuse, and while it is horrible to contemplate what could have happened, the insurance was there to protect us.
Anyone doing therapy work without insurance is nuts. I'll also add that I carry an additional huge liability policy.
And in case anyone's still reading, here's one of my biggest concerns with people who pretend their therapy dog is a service dog and eligible to go anywhere. When therapy teams are invited somewhere, issues like extreme fearfulness and allergies are controlled. There are announcements that a dog will be in the area, and in the case of children in classrooms, parental permission is necessary. If you take your uninvited dog someplace, you can trigger horrible allergic reactions or terrify some person. It’s about respect, folks. Your adorable therapy dog isn't a service dog.
Now I really will shut up.
@anonymous 1pm. If I'm expected to go someplace after death, my dogs had better be there.
No problem with Lisa Frank, but had a sister that was RIGHT in the right age group for it. However, had a fail with the first _AL name that made sense was HAL, and certainly HSS seems like a noise a radiator could make.
@Mals - thanks for PSA. It’s always nice to learn something new.
@Anonymous (1:00 PM)
DOGs manifest so much soul, it just seemed to suit better than 'animals.' The answer to your question is: YES! 🐶
Coincidence (in a way) of the day: after I finished writing "these beautiful souls", I had a sense that I might hear from you. That was just an afterthot, tho; not intended to stir the pot.
I think it was @Anoa who cautioned me to stay away from metaphysical arguments, so I doubt I'd have anything to add to what I've said, other than: let's agree to disagree and leave it at that. :)
___
pg -2
Peace 🕊 ~ Empathy ~ Kindness to all ~ Woof 🐶
Joining the chorus on Lisa Frank. I can absolutely see how she’d be mindwrenchingly difficult for someone who doesn’t know her. I slammed her into the grid without hesitation and with a massive smile on my face, however. Might have been a bit rough for a Tuesday, but I’m not going to enjoy an answer more this week and have suffered through more than enough 1960s television clues and other such fossilized drek to get my nine letters in the sun. A harder answer that favors people under fifty, especially people under fifty who aren’t white men, gets a pass.
Not only do all those 30 something women know Lisa Frank but, their moms probably do as well. I'm one of those moms and I definitely remember buying those school supplies for my girls. I also know Sal Kahn because I'm in education. I blew through this puzzle.
Malsdemare,
Wow. I appreciate that you like dogs. But I invite to re-read your response to me. In your scenario a dog knocks someone down and you're only thought is about potential exposure. May I suggest that if you or your dog, tardive dyskinesia or even a stiff breeze is responsible for knocking someone down in a memory care unit, first help them up. Then wonder why the hell your dog knocked them down. THEN about whether your insurance is up to snuff.
As for the dog not growling. Isn't the dog trained not to growl, bark, bite or otherwise hurt someone? You say the man lifted the dog's front paws off the ground? How far? Did the collar choke the dog? I'm guessing the reason the dog didn't growl was in fact that the dog wasn't hurt.
@Joe Dipinto (1:49 PM)
Yup, I've had some mnemonics I've had to reverse engineer and tweak or completely redo, but ROY G. BIV isn't one of them. It's such a whacky name, it just stuck. Different strokes … 🤔
___
0
Peace 🕊 ~ Empathy ~ Kindness to all ~ Woof 🐶
Totally missed the theme on this one and the Lisa Frank fad (?). I had no idea who the latter was and am not fond of SSS. Those are three letters, not a word, whereas HISS actually is. @Lewis, you know how to form the superlative, but don't get the gender right? Bravissima. Although by the time Americans start paying attention to gender in other languages, those languages' users might have found ways to avoid gender altogether.
@SSSSal - I mean, somebody literally wrote “Every woman knows LISA FRANK,” besides all the others merely implying it.
@Julia Child - Isn’t it sel de mer? Google translate wasn’t that helpful. Putting in “sal de mer” did return “sea salt,” but reversing the translation returned “sel de mer,” so I don’t know if Google actually thinks “sal de mer” is legit or if it just thinks I’m stupid and gave me what it figured I wanted.
@2:38 - I think you missed the point twice, the dog was being handled inappropriately and, despite that, if the dog had responded to the mistreatment the dog and the organization might have endured negative consequences if they hadn’t been insured. The entire point of liability insurance isn’t really to pay judgments, it is to pay for the lawyers.
For anyone interested in service dogs I highly recommend the documentary film Buddy, a moving look at six dogs and the people they help. I found this trailer, and it may be that the whole film is online. I know some people don't like subtitles, but I'd say this is a film that's worth watching even if you're subtitle-resistant.
That LISA FRANK stuff looks vaguely familiar - one of those times that I am happy I had boys. It was Pokemon if it was anything, but mostly they didn't care. Got her from the crosses.
@Mals...I loved your dog story...maybe because I love the 4 paws wag-a-tail ilk.
Many moons ago, I used to take the San Francisco BART to the East Bay. I'd leave at the same time just about every day. At this same station, I'd see a blind man with his two Dobermann's. I knew enough not to pet them and it didn't help that I was somewhat scared of that breed. After about the 10th ride or so, I walked up to the man and began a conversation. I asked him why he chose Dobermann's to guide him and care for him. He told me that he wouldn't be able to live without them. Then he went on to tell me that people who don't know better would be reluctant to come up and pet them. After several more meeting up with him at the station, I asked (timidly) if there was ever an opportunity for me to pet them. He said "yes, "come sit next to me on the train." I did. He asked if I was ready....I said yes. He then gave the command "OK." The dogs looked me in the eye and began wagging their tails. I hugged them, they almost licked my face. It was the sweetest moment of my life and I no longer feared the Dobermann. The training involved for these animals is insane......My hat's off to the people that breed these special animals.
Anon 3:17 -- You are absolutely right, my goof!
on the subject of mnemonics, for those of a certain age and health insurer, here's a Tip of the Hatlo Hat to get you through your next Wellness Visit. near the start of the visit, the health care critter will state 3 (or, sometimes, 4) words. sometimes s/he will fess up that they'll come around again on the guitar, sometimes not. either way, you'll asked to regurgitate said words some time later in the visit. just to prove you're not demented. the clock drawing, too; for that I don't have a trick. for the words, take the initial letters of the words, and make a new word. this is clearly easier in one of the words starts with a vowel, but even for all consonants, just make a near word or just an obvious mnemonic. you should, unless you're already feeble minded, be able to recall the words attached to each letter. et viola`, another year not sent off to the Happy Camper Rest Home.
@DeeJay - I’ve long feared that the NYTXW app is collecting data on me in some way. Maybe I don’t care too much if a machine knows when I’ve had a bad day crossword-wise. But I have had creeping fears that somebody, somewhere is laughing at all the non-words and proper nouns I desperately try on the Spelling Bee game.
Check out the Lisa Frank Lloyd Wright house: https://architizer.com/blog/practice/details/why-fallingwaters-psychedelic-makeover-is-good-for-architecture/
Oh, anonymous, you're kidding, right? You can't imagine the ways a perfectly trained dog can knock someone down, generally but not always, someone movement or balance impaired. They walk into the dog, bend down to pet and fall over, grab dog in process of falling, trip on a paw, get overly excited to see the dog, all of which in the eyes of the world are, the dog knocked her down. It's never happened to me, but the work involved in visiting a busy place involves knowing where your dog is every minute, both physically and emotionally, paying attention to the person you are interacting with, and monitoring the environment for the situation that might lead to a fall. We also need to be aware of people who may be afraid, people who try to lure the dog to them, other distractions. And of course liability is far from my mind. My first response is put the dog in a down stay so I can help the person and summon help. And then we both get very small so folks can do their job. We PRACTICE this, along with hugging walls in crowded facilities, going quiet when things get nutso, and so much more. Don't judge until you've tried this.
@Z. Nah. Even the glib point about lawyers is all wet. The lawyer in a tort like that is gonna get 40%. So no, the liability insurance is to protect parties from exposure to tortious actions.
And I didn't miss the point anytime. Maldenmare has an attachment to dogs which, (admittedly is from a distance) that would appear disordered. That is she has elevated the dogs to a station and status that, however wonderful they are, they don't merit. They are not human. No matter how much she dotes on them, No matter how much time, energy and emotion she expends with them and on them, no matter how much training she provides, they are animals. They have no immortal soul. They are not human. They are not our equal and they do not command the same regard that humans do.
I say this as a dog person. A dog person who regardless of weather, health, time or personal discomfort takes my two dogs to run free every morning. Before I head to work, before I bathe, before I do anything save brush my teeth and get clothes on, I'm out the door with them. And for them. The dogs are the center of my daily life. It comes at a cost. It takes time to get to suitable place. I have to make sure the one doesn't inadvertently hurt the other ( age disparity), my truck is a running joke. I do it all for the love of those dogs. In fact, I just paid for a splenectomy for the "sweet girl." I'll put my devotion to my dogs up against anyone's.
But I do not believe the dogs are children, or fur babies, or that they have therapeutic powers beyond what everyone knew as a six year old after seeing Lassie Come Home. I will grieve their death. Bitterly. I will not however see them in the hereafter. They do not have immortal souls. Malsdemare, I think, believes she will.
She has ideas that are frankly fringe. Or flat out wrong. Her understanding of insurance for example gives me pause. And frankly, any lawyer, or advocate, or competent arguer might question her account of the memory-compromised man's interaction with her dog. Maybe it's as she says. Maybe, like a lot of people with an out-of-proportion attachment, she was unable to properly assess the situation owing to the deformed sensibility. It's a theory. Maybe it's wrong. Maybe it's not. But surely, I haven't missed the point. You're being churlish because you don't like the point I'm making.
Wow! Anonymous has determined, from a couple paragraphs written about pet therapy, that I have a disordered attachment to dogs. I shall turn in my credentials and go seek help. I’m so grateful for his perceptive diagnosis. I shall now go and sin no more.
Serves me right. I violated my first law (in addition to promising to shut up and then unshutting up): don’t engage the anonymice.
@Mals
You're right, don't feed the trolls.
I think Roy G. Biv works okay as a mnemonic for COLORS. I just think it's a solution looking for a problem. Who needs to remember the colors anyway? Besides, it's a bit arbitrary to categorize the COLORS into those seven. The three biggies are red. green and blue. I believe all the other COLORS in Roy G. Biv can be produced by different combinations of those three.
bocamp @2:23 PM, I don't recall that particular admonition, although I do think that discussing/arguing some question for which there is no answer that will be convincing to all parties is likely to produce more heat than light, especially questions concerning politics and religion.
I think SSSS is the longest S string to appear in a NYT xword and then maybe only once or twice. Usually S strings appear in a bottom row or right column where they can facilitate crossing plurals of convenience (POC). Today's string only enabled EMAILS, so some missed opportunity there. I think the SSSS got a leaking tire sound clue.
Yikes! I was wrong. xwordinfo.com says SSSS has appeared 16(!) times during the Shortz era, the last time in 2012. It got the leaking tire type clue 11 times, radiator sound two times, cooking sound two times and air hose sound once. I think the best clue was "Not a good sound for a balloonist".
The SSSSS string has appeared only once in the Shortz era. It had a snake sound clue and it appeared in a right hand column where it enabled all five crossing POCs! Maximum value for that puppy.
@Mals - JC66’s advice is excellent!
Checking back near the end of the day to see if there was any hazing or welcome rituals for new posters. Thanks for the welcome @bocamp (11:32 AM)!
Agree 100% with: "I cannot overstate the degree to which I have never heard of this" with Sal and SSS it just felt like more of a sucker punch than a fun challenge. For once I agee with Rex: really bad editting.
Don't like to see those who share anonymously generalized, stereotyped and labeled disparagingly. Anonymous, Unknown, non-Blue, Blue, what does it matter? I trust the mods to weed out the trolls and other inappropriate stuff.
@Anoa Bob (5:46 PM)
Amen to less heat and more light! :)
@ironst8 (6:13 PM) yw 👍
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Peace 🕊 ~ Empathy ~ Kindness to all ~ Woof 🐶
Honestly, SSS sounds more like someone calling a cat than the sound of a radiator. The grid was ok overall but that clue was a total disaster.
**SB**
0! QB! It happens so rarely that I just had to gloat. Good luck to all seekers.
@anonymous 4:04 You have an attachment to the hereafter, which (admittedly is from a distance) that appears disordered. You have elevated your mortal life by assigning to your pile of flesh
an immortal soul. You think you will see humans (but not dogs)in the "hereafter". You have an out-of-proportion attachment to "heaven", a place that doesn't exist. It's a theory based on your own deformed sensibility. Your ideas are frankly fringe.
@Barbara S
Mazel Tov!
@Barbara S. (7:31 PM) 👍
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Peace 🕊 ~ Empathy ~ Kindness to all ~ Woof 🐶
The “how am I supposed to know Lisa Frank” rant is right up there with the “nobody knows princess Leia’s Last name” rant from a few years ago.
Well, I don’t know squat about sports or politicians, so welcome to my world. Only the sports and Pol clues happen EVERY FREAKING DAY.
"I'll put my devotion to my dogs up against anyone's" says Anon 4:03.
Well, paws down to that! I sure don't want him as my human; I want Malsdemare! I love my current human, Mals, but were I ever to lose her, you'd be my absolute first choice. I know our souls would mesh. And, yes, @Anon 4:04 -- I do have one!
JC 66 ,malsdemare
Ok. First JC 66
Why am I a troll? Because I have an unpopular opinion? Because I don’t have a name? Yep JC 66 identifies you. So to dispense with that! Call me KD 67.
Male,
Oh my.reread my posts. I make no claim that my assessment of yogis correct. But, some of your responses are telling. Your post of 5:04 is telling.
I never mentioned sin. Yet you glibly post about going and sinning no more. That is, as you know, from the Gospels. And I suspect indicative of the fact that you know your attachment is disordered. It is a common problem amping Christians. A disordered desire is, off course, not a sin. Acting on a disordered might b be. That you have conflated desire with sin per se, once again, underscores your mistaken ideas about the world.
As I said earlier, I’ll say a prayer for you. But I’ll say twice as many as the dogs under your care. I sincerely believe you don’t have the mental acuity to know what’s best for them.
As one of the other says..
Peace and good will to all
Cleo,
I assigned my pile of flesh an immortal soul? Heaven is a theory based on my theories?
Do you have a newsletter? I’d be eager to read more of your theories.
Post the deets. Thx!
@ KD 67
If that's how you post, I wouldn't consider you a troll. As @Anon, that's exactly what you are.
Thanks to JC66, Cleo, Z, others. @Fido, if you can live with two malamutes, you can be my fur baby any time.
Malsdemare would seem to be in very good company:
If there are no dogs in Heaven, then when I die I want to go where they went. – Will Rogers
You think dogs will not be in heaven? I tell you, they will be there long before any of us. – Robert Louis Stevenson
I've recommended it before, but anyone interested in the subject should read "The Art of Racing in the Rain" -- narrated by a dog and one of the most gorgeous and moving novels in recent memory.
Nobody posted this song? For shame.
On the SAL front, let's not forget Sal Tessio of "The Godfather" films, played by Abe Vigoda. Probably good for a Friday or Saturday clue.
i'm not trying to get my share of the $75 the NYT paus a constructor, but the middle of the 5/18 puzzle really irked me, and I wondered if i could improve it.. i think i did:
24D NYSE (Wall st.)
28A YOD (10th Hebrew letter)
32A DSL (router preceder)
32D DNR (life ending letters)
34A ANNEFRANK (WW2 victim/author)
34D AJC (Israel lobby)
35D NOA (actress Nathalie Kelley role in :The Beauty and the Baker")
37A EMAJOR (key for "Change the World")
44A MACCA (Paul nickname)
None of the larger down words change, and the only long theme change is from LISAFRANK to ANNEFRANK.
I think the paranoids are after you! And I'm with you on the Bee. If I had a fine for every time I entered *MACHE* I'd be rich. My favorite ding today was. Spoiler alert. ANTITAXATION. Did not pass muster....
Radiators don’t go SSS. Snakes do. 32D should be: Serpent’s sound. FRANK and DOG are not breakfast-variety LINKs so the theme is clunky and flawed. Too much cheap three-letter glue. At least Burma can have some fun with 64A…
I really don't understand the beef with "links" in sausage links. Maybe it isn't American terminology?
Sausages are made in "chains" with each individual sausage being a "link" in that chain. Each of the theme answers are singular so that fits perfectly.
METER INN REAR
MR.,I AGREETO BANGER fast,
‘tho the CLAP’S the PRESENT PASSed,
with GENIE dressed scanty
whilst I SMELT her PANTY
I YELPED, “I’ll just PASSBY this ASS.”
--- MARSHAL MINOS
After the BRAT and the BANGER I knew this was a SAUSAGE fest. I probably bought some of that LISAFRANK stuff of rainbow COLORS for my daughter without realizing it. 22 threes are a bunch. Not much here to ANNOY, but not much there there.
I never heard of LISAFRANK either, but had a pretty good guess there. So all's well.
Hey @Foggy - you never heard the old radiator in my old (1911) house. SSS, SSSS, SS, SSSSS. All winter. Oh yes.
This put me in the mood for some "bad for you" food(s).
Diana, Lady-in-Waiting for Crosswords
The SAUSAGE theme works fine, but I get more of a kick out of CAN, REAR, ASS and a PANTY to cover up.
CAN’t help but note that by the time we get down here to the bottom of the line, most of the gas tanks from five weeks ago have been pretty well used up . So we do what we CAN.
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