Nice to see Zhouqin Burnikel's name back on the byline again. Feels like it's been a while, and her work is always solid, often dazzling. I really like the mirror-symmetry grid here (feels unusual for a Monday), and the theme is simple but also deceptively tight—I didn't really notice the consistent food angle in the theme answers until I was going over them post-solve. A lesser puzzle would've been content to give you a bunch of plural noun colors, but this one gives you a much more focused grouping. This is low-key fancy, and I dig it. No bells and whistles—just a tight theme, clean fill, cool-looking grid. It's a model Monday in that regard. I found the puzzle very easy except (predictably) in and around the two proper nouns I didn't know. I try not to know *any* "TV journalists" if I can help it, so I needed most of the crosses to get ERICA (27D: TV journalist), she only slowed me down a little. The real slower-downer today was DENNY Hamlin, who, now that I mull his name over, I have probably heard or seen mentioned here and there on some ESPN-showing TV screen in the gym. DENNY Hamlin really sounds like a baseball pitcher ... who am I thinking of? I think I'm conflating DENNY McClain (Tigers pitcher who won absolutely every award imaginable in the late '60s) and Harry Hamlin, who did not play baseball that I am aware of (unless there was a friendly game among lawyers in "L.A. Law" that I missed). I had -ENN- and since the clue involved racing, I went straight to PENNA ... which is how I remembered the name of Brazilian Formula One legend Ayrton SENNA. Anyway, NASCAR and Formula One are very different. Not knowing the first or last letters of DENNY cost me a ton, since each of those letters was the primary means of descending into the bottom portion of the grid (The "D" is the front of DID LAPS (42D: Worked out in a pool) and the "Y" is the front of "YES, LET'S (43D: "We should do that!"), both of which I struggled with). In the end, still a pretty normal Monday time.
I thought VISAGES was just a fancy word for faces, not the expressions *on* faces (46A: Facial expressions). "She made weird VISAGES at me" does not sound right. "Her face ran through a gamut of VISAGES." Can't make it work. I think it needs qualifiers like "sad visage" or "visage of cheerfulness." Oh well, it's not like I struggled there. Just kind of head-tilted and squinted at the clue. I also mis-Latined the plural of "stratus" at 9D: Low-altitude clouds (STRATI). I went with STRATA (plural of "stratum"), which still feels right. "Stratum" is a sheet or layer, whereas "stratus" is a sheet or layer ... of clouds. Roughly speaking. Let's see ... CABAL before CADRE (4D: Close-knit group) ... and that's it for trouble spots. Very nice amuse-bouche of a puzzle to start the week.
Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld
P.S. Please allow me to extend my sympathies to all the LEN's out there who were really disappointed by the answer to 6D: Man's name hidden in "reliableness" (ELI)
Easy-medium. I didn’t realize how tight the theme was until I read Jeff’s comments at Xwordinfo. Apparently there are not a lot of foods that end in a color plural.
Is there some advantage to having your name show up in 6D vs. 7D?? Why is Rex extending his sympathies to all the LENs out there? Did he just not see LEN in 7D or am I missing some kind of joke? Again.🙄
Nice CC Mondee for all the same reasons Rex mentions.
Can't stop seeing YESLETS as one word meaning wee affirmatives.
Best unanswered question: Did Rex notice the 7D clue?*
Most improved clue over last week: 5D (SPRIGS).
Least improved clues over last week: Those for ORSO ACHY OSLO STEMS.
Hardest obvious natick guess: P in SPORCLE.
Favorite food: HASHBROWNS, crispy but not too crispy.
Least favorite: EGGWHITES, I mean why isn't it whip cream on that pie.
*I'd say he knows. Rex is often very clever in what he doesn't say. He would not like that style of clue, but might appreciate the double usage. So only an indirect mention.
I love C.C.’s puzzles and this one fit right in. Monday easy, as it should be, but she threw in a few unMonday answers, such as SPORCLE, VISAGES and PLACEBO giving a little Monday crunch.
First puzzle I've done in ages with hardly any skips and not a single wrong answer. It really flew along, and I don't ever play for time (in fact, I love to linger over a nice juicy puzzle), but being a Monday it wasn't going to last long. I didn't even see half of the down clues, but all in all very solid!
This, like all of C.C.’s puzzles, is a breath of fresh air. So junk free it feels like it’s breathing. Beautifully constructed, using the left/right symmetry to accommodate theme answers that are 15, 9, 10 and 10 long. Cluing that is Monday-appropriately easy, yet smart enough to keep the brain engaged. A fresh and clever theme that makes me think, “That is so cool! I never thought about that before!” All imbued with a calmness that makes whatever is roiling inside of me settle down.
C.C., thy name is quality. I’m extraordinarily grateful for your work and for today’s lovely puzzle.
FYI, from C.C.'s notes in XwordInfo and WordPlay: "My husband does not have a robust appetite due to cancer. He does love a small bowl of fruit salad every day. MANDARIN ORANGES are the #1 ingredients and inspired this puzzle."
Now this is a Monday that knows how to Monday. for reasons that have been cited.
FWIW, I read OFL's LEN comment as, sorry Len, it could have been you, but CC went with ELI.
Champion Craftsmanship from CC, as usual. Around these parts she would be known as a "pro from Dover", which I think dates back to the original MASH novel. Anyway, it's high praise, and deserved.
My five favorite clues from last week (in order of appearance):
1. Fit on a hard drive (4)(4) 2. Correction for a wild pitch (8) 3. III, e.g., in "Richard III" (3) 4. Words after "The end"? (6)(5) 5. Place to take breaks, for short? (3)
CAbal before CastE before CADRE, ngoS before ORGS.
Love me some HASH BROWNS. Those from DENNYs are not exactly healthy, but as restaurant HASH BROWNS go not too bad for you.
While I appreciate the Simpsons clue for TERRI, the one and only TERRI for me is TERRI Nunn, lead singer for Berlin. In 2015 Berlin performed with the B-52s at Wolf Trap. She is still totally fetch. The final encore was, confusingly, Somebody to Love (Jefferson Airplane), but she nailed it.
Thx @ C.C. for this crunchy Mon. puz to start off the solving week. Really had fun with it! :)
Med solve, but seemed a bit tougher.
Had a fairly good start in the NW, but made the mistake of putting CABAL in at 4D, which hid MANDARIN from me. Circled around the puz and ended up at DENNY and VISAGES in the middle.
Coincidence of the day: just finished a hard-boiled EGG and MANDARIN ORANGE prior to starting the puz.
Drove a John DEERE wheat combine in the Palouse ('70s).
Good Monday theme. Colors that, with the right modifiers, become foods. I liked the themers as two acrosses and two downs. It gave the grid an architectural look, which I think left-right symmetry tends to do anyway. We’re getting a lot of these lately and I’m becoming a fan.
I’ve always liked the word VISAGE or VISAGES, in this instance centrally placed. It gives the notion of “face” such authority. (And one of its meanings is “facial expression”). There’s Shelley’s “…Near them, on the sand, Half sunk a shattered VISAGE lies…” (“Ozymandias”)
And from Hamlet: “We are oft to blame in this, ‘Tis too much prov’d, that with devotion’s VISAGE And pious action we do sugar o’er The devil himself.” (Act III, scene i)
LEN really has nothing to worry about. He’s hiding in 7D AND 24D. I found IRKING an amusing word. And YESLETS – Definition: A series of “Yesses” said timidly, tentatively or quietly (sorry, @Frantic, but you stole my joke!). It’s good that DEERE and SMEAR are so near. And this is the second day in a row where some version of ACHY has been clued as being the result of exercising. Are they trying to discourage workouts?
Family nostalgia: BEET GREENS will forever bring to mind my mother who never met a vegetable she didn’t like and had a particular fondness for BEET GREENS. And ACHOO is just so my sister. Whenever she sneezes, she says – quite distinctly – the word ACHOO as part of the sneeze. I don’t know how (or why) she does it but it makes me laugh every time.
Today I have an excerpt from the work of BENITO PÉREZ GALDÓSZ GALDÓS, born May 10, 1843.
“If I had been born under this sun, I would have been a guerrilla today and a beggar tomorrow; and friar at dawn, bullfighter in the afternoon and majo and sacristan of nunneries and abbot and fop and smuggler and highwayman ... Spain is the country of naked nature, exaggerated passions, energetic feelings, good and evil, loose and free, from the privileges that struggles bring, from continuous warfare, from never resting ... I love all those fortresses that history has been building, so that I may have the pleasure of climbing them; I love the tenacious and stubborn characters, to antagonize them; I love dangers, to undertake them; I love the impossible, to laugh at logic, facilitating it; I love all recklessness, to launch myself into them, driven by the curiosity to see if I emerge safely from their deadly whirlpools…” (From Cadiz)
Denny Mclain was certainly one of the best. In 1968, the year the Tigers won a very exciting world series** against St. Louis and Bob Gibson (another great), McLain won 31 games with 28 complete games. Imagine that. Which brings me to a rant. One of the things that has ruined baseball is the frequency of pitcher changes during a game. I doubt that many modern pitchers could even throw a complete game.
**Mickey Lolich was the pitching star in the series, winning 3 games. Each was a complete game.
Nice to see the grid so junk free - it’s also a touch refreshing to see Rex at least have to pause for a millisecond over some PPP (in this case a NASCAR driver).
SPORCLE was the outlier for me - never heard of it, I checked it out - way too much information overload for me. As far as I can tell - it’s not really popular trivia (there may be some there that I overlooked), it’s more hard-core statistical regurgitation (and clickbait abounds everywhere). No clue how popular the site is, but it’s obviously not for me.
I didn’t even discern that there was a theme (I actually forgot about it) until I read REX - there isn’t really anything that ties those entries together except the presence of colors (and I guess food). Maybe that is a desirable quality in a theme - lurk in the background and be seen but not heard, lol. And don’t put a lot of strain on the grid that leads to linguistic gymnastics in order to come up with sufficient fill.
only quibble- ACHe is just as true as ACHY, but easy write-over with Chicken Little. only clue that was visited more than once. and what the hell is a SPORCLE? not the site, which it must be, but the derivation of the 'word'.
Nice little MonPuz. Tried the Downs first idea, then went to the Across themers to see if I could get them from what I had. Was still a quick puz. I like to slow down on a MonPuz, I like reading all the clues, even if an answer auto-fills, I still look at the clue. I just heard a gasp from the speed solvers on that statement!
@Anoa Bob might have problems with this, as all themers are POCs, along with a lot of other words.
Two writeovers, award-MEDAL, PaRE-PERE.
Had a buddy joke with me every time we had MANDARIN ORANGES for lunch in high school. "Man, Darrin, these oranges are great!" Ah, the simple things in life.
Have never, ever heard the word SPORCLE before today's puzzle, and it is a word that evokes spam-type processed meat, not quizzes. "I'll have the sporcle sandwich with a side order of fries."
Michiganman, Every MLB starter could throw a CG. The Phillies have had two pitchers do in the last month. Teams have made the decison that lower pitch counts and the advantage of a new pitcher the third time through the line up is simply more desirable than a complete game. As for McClain, meh. Yeah he has 28 CGs in 1968. Which tied him for 2nd place. TIED for SECOND. He only had 105 complete games in his career. The list of the top 100 all-time leaders in Complete Games ends at 231. I have no idea how much farther down the list he falls, but it's certainly fair piece. As for the rest of his `68 campaign, again, meh. He was 5th in ERA, 10th in K's, 10th in WAR. He won a lot of games, but then, so did the Tigers. No-one uses a pitchers wins as the gold standard metric anymore. McLain's `68 season is often help up as one such reason. Now, care to comment on his embezzlement, drug trafficking and racketeering convictions? Or were you one of those sniffers who had him sign an autograph at that 7-Eleven he used to loiter outside of in Sterling heights?
Rex, the Senna doc you pictured is superb. If you want to see what might be the best sports series going, check out Drive to Survive, on Netflix. It's what sports programming should be and so seldom is.
@kitshef 706am Stop trying to make "fetch" happen. It's not going to happen.
@bocamp 725am "Drove a John DEERE wheat combine in the Palouse ('70s)." If I had a nickel for every time I've heard that, I'd...er...have a nickel.
@Barbara S 729am Now I wanna start a game where we find all the LENs in the grid every day. No biggie on YESLETS. I realized too late that I should have said "bite size". 🤷♀️
I hope @Z happens by with an explanation for Rex's LEN thing. Since they're the same person and all.
Nice enough puzzle - but not her best. Thought the color theme was flat - but tight enough and well constructed to allow for a smooth solve. Overall fill solid - some short gluey stuff with the grid layout. Liked the center - with HELENA so prominent. Hand up for disliking the double up of 6d and 7d. By definition are Frisbees DIScS? No idea on SPORKLE - thought it was those half fork half spoons you get on a plane.
I'd forgotten to look at the constructor's byline as I so often do, but as soon as I got to the clue "Opposite of buys" I thought: "This can only be by that ZB woman." (Or that CC woman, as so many people here call her). I looked -- and sure enough it was.
The next time I'm having trouble sleeping (as I so often do), I should pick up one of her puzzles. It'll put me to sleep in no time. It never fails to amaze me how, with so many possible ways to clue a given answer, she always picks the dullest and/or the most obvious.
I could recognize fewer that half a dozen names in the top 100. couldn't find a list that included years pitched, but would be willing to bet that almost all were before 1960.
IBM Watson is an 'AI' computer, which was programmed, allegedly, to play Jeopardy!. the 'allegedly' because it isn't at all clear that the info-bank and Watson were created independently. anyway, it beat the All Time Champs in a series of episodes years ago.
it's just a massive relational database which it searches superfast. mostly being targeted at medical diagnosis these days. IIRC.
as to M$, Blue Screen of Death and Bob fit your description. both failed.
I have to disagree with Roo about the alleged POC's. MANDARINORANGE(S) could have been clued as a singular, reducing 13D to AD. In the other 3 theme answers the S is integral to the name and not really a plural.
@jberg - Wow. I never knew the microsoft debugger was called Dr. Watson. IBM’s Watson is entirely different.
@Frantic Sloth - It’s entirely possible Rex just missed LEN sitting there right next to ELI. It is also entirely possible that he hates the use of malapop* clues, and so decided to highlight his dislike by adding a snide P.S. I don’t think there is any hidden joke there beyond Rex being snide.
@Anon9:01 - Using any public figure as a hero is wrought with potential heartbreak. Having a great deal of athletic talent does not come with a requirement to be a good human being. McLain was a great pitcher but not the kind of person most of us would want over for a Saturday barbecue. How great were he and Bob Gibson in 1968 at pitching, though? MLB literally changed the pitcher’s mound to give hitters an advantage in 1969 because of them. Without all our current metrics and understanding about the impact of fatigue on pitching execution McLain and Gibson, and their colleagues, were dominating hitters while, in Mclain’s case, starting 41 games and pitching in 336.0 innings. Compare that to Kershaw who, at the same age, had his career max of 33 starts while throwing 227.7 innings and winning 14. In case the implication is lost, McLain averaged pitching into the ninth. Kershaw averaged getting pulled in 7th. “Wins” are a much more meaningful stat when the starter is getting 24+ outs a game as opposed to the best starter in the game only getting 20 outs a game. Leaving 1968 for a minute, the most impressive single Win by a pitcher was not Don Larsen, it was Jack Morris in game 7 of the 1991 World Series. And he did it at age 36 (which is part of what makes it so impressive).
*malapop - Having a wrong answer early in the puzzle turn out to be the correct answer for a clue later in the puzzle.
Nancy, thanks for your comment (9:19). I was flabbergasted that everyone seemed to like this puzzle. What a sad effort it is.
When I do a puzzle, I go through every clue and write in the gimmes. If two of the gimmes intersect, there's my foothold. A typical puzzle will have seven or eight gimmes. Some weekends have only one or two. Today's had 47 gimmes, 61 % . That's got to be a record even for a Monday.
For those interested in these type of things, Denny Hamlin is technically NOT a NASCAR Champion. He has never won the NASCAR Championship. He has won many, many, many races but is not considered a NASCAR Champion because he has not won the year long Championship.
Oh, the memories. Dr. Watson isn't a debugger, as that term is used by coder/developers, just a crash logger. Real debuggers are used by coder/developer in testing their code interactively (more or less), and have been for decades built into the Integrated Development Environment (IDE) of the coder/developer's choice. Unless, of course, the shop mandates the IDE. Folks have quit shops, or refused to sign-on, if the house IDE stinks.
Anonymous 9:29, Sounds like yo aren't much of a fan. I mean you only recognize fewer than 6 of those names? Cy Young, Walter Johnson, Bob Feller, Tom Seaver, Warren Spahn, Left Grove are surely familiar to just about anyone who's watched or listened to more than a handful of games. So, for instance You nver heard of Grover Alexander? I mean they made a Hollywood movie out of the guy and the president of the United States was made a punchline for that role. Never heard of that? Hmm. Ok. How about Carl Hubbell? The guy who struck out Babe Ruth, lou gehrig, Jimmie Foxx, Al Simmons and Joe Cronin in succession? It was in the All-star game. The announcers bring up ever year. Every year. As for CGs being a phenomenon of an earlier era, yeah, that's' what I wrote earlier this morning. But they were still plentiful in the 70's. Seaver's already been noted but Steve Carlton and Phil neikro threw them regularly. So did Jim Palmer and Bert Blyleven (this is a nod to Michigan Man's Dutch heritage). Ever heard of Nolan Ryan? In half the years of the 70s decade, Ryan threw MORE than 20 Complete Games. Michigan man however wrote an absurdity when he mused that he doubted " that many modern pitchers could even throw a complete game." The fact is all MLB pitchers could. And many still do. There's been 19 this season to date. there'll be more.
Re Bob Gibson, RIP: Kirkjean shared anecdote last week on occasion of Willie Mays’ 90th bday. Willie had invited McCovey to dinner, and McCovey brought along, unannounced, Gibson, who was wearing glasses. Thus Mays at first didn’t recognize Gibson, then welcomed him, of course, and said Bob, I didn’t know you wore glasses. Gibson said yes, but not when on mound. Mays replied You’re gonna kill somebody !
Z, Thanlks for the tip, but my heros arent public figures. And McClain is not even close to a graet pitcher. Take a way his two good season and he's a 500 pitcher 76 wins and 73 losses. With an ERA closer to 5 than 4. He was an incredibly ordinary pitcher who thrived for two seasons--one of which is universally acknowledged as the year of the pitcher. You were on much more solid ground a couple of months ago when you were banging the drum for his teammate. Lolich was a great pitcher, though not nearly as good as you believe.
PS. Don't believe me? Check out Bill James's list of the most undeserving MVP's. He has McLain's win in 1968 at #0 all-time. Fact is, even at his absolute peak fluke year, he wasn't the best.
Crimson devil--Nice story. Did you happen to see that famous San Franciscan Nancy Pelosi's tweet wishing Willie Mays a happy 90th last week? It was sweet. Of course the picture she used was of Willie McCovey, but hey, what does that matter, right?
Good to see peace in the village after yesterday. The right kind of fun, light-hearted entry from the right constructor to restore harmony. Everything about it was delightful.
Is it National Retiree Day?
Wake up Achy in Boca, scramble some Egg Whites, wander around to find your reading Sporcles (think you might be needing an eye Test), sit down to Read the paper. Meh, more foolishness. Phone rings on the land line, it's that guy who Sells plots and Urns again. Just hang up or tell him the Heirs will take care of that.
Call Len and Eli, see if they wanna shoot a round. Maybe in an hour Or So. Another day in paradise.
I don't think this theme hangs together *that* well. You have one self-contained food item (mandarin orange); two components of larger food items (beet greens and egg whites); and a style of preparation (hash browns).
Plus, orange-the-color is actually named for orange-the-food-item. So that one feels a bit like cheating.
Wasn't Denny Laine a member of Wings? (♪ Denny Laine, the barber, shaves another customer ♪)
@Anon 9:36 I agree with your disagreement. 😆 I was just pointing out that @Anoa Bob gets annoyed with a lot of POCs, and there seemed to be a bunch. BEET GREENS does need the S (even though I haven't heard of it, Collared GREENS, sure), as does HASHBROWNS. MMM, HASHBROWNS. 👍😁 "Excuse me, can I have one HASBROWN?"
A pleasant Monday and very well done. I actually had to study the grid for a bit to figure out what the theme was, but I liked it. My only complaint is the clue for 42A. In the world of NASCAR, Denny Hamlin would not be referred to as a champion. He’s won a number of races but has never attained the Cup Series championship.
For anyone interested, HBO will be showing what looks to be a revealing documentary about the origins of the opioid epidemic in this country. Titled The Crime of the Century, the PILOT episode is scheduled to air tonight at 9:00 Eastern.
Z. Nop[e Grover Alexander in the 1926 World Series is the absolute standaerd for World Series pitching excellence. After throwing a CG in game 6, he came out of the bullpen in game 7 with the bases loaded and HOFer Tony Lazzeri at the dish. Pete got Lazzeri, then retired the Yankees in order in the 8th. Then started the 9th by getting Earl Combs ( RBI champ that year or the year before) and mark Koenig. He walked Ruth. Another HOFer, Bob Meusel came to bat with Gehrig on deck. But babe decided to swipe second. He was caught stealing. To my knowledge the only Series to end that way. Anyway, Old Pete was 39. Almost every baseball historian puts this effort as number 1. And Mattewson's 3 shoutout wins (CGs obviously) in the 1905 WS as the greatest piching performance over the course of a World series.
SPORCLE is a legitimate trivia web site, hosting various types of quizzes on a wide range of subjects. Users can submit quizzes of their own and have them published on the site.
The quizzes use many different formats, and most have a time limit. They also have traditional puzzles like Crosswords and Sudoku. The crossword puzzles are typically very easy and may not follow typical construction "rules" that have evolved over the years.
You do not have to register or log into the site to play quizzes.
The name is derived from the words "sports" and "oracle".
SPORCLE also hosts live pub quizzes in various locations.
The main issue with SPORCLE is their site is heavily loaded with ads which can bog down some browsers and can intrude on the user experience.
Easy and cute. Maybe it's because I spend a lot of time thinking about food, but I saw the theme early. Thus, I anticipated the HASH BROWNS but was so flummoxed at the idea of Swiss chard being a "salad base" that I needed all kinds of crosses for my beloved BEET GREENS. A baby beet green salad? Not around here. Sauteed only. I tried to see if the layout implied some grid art: a refrigerator?
@albatross shell 2:36 - Re: "EGGWHITES, I mean why isn't it whip cream on that pie." As a born and bred and resident Dairy Stater, I can only wholeheartedly agree. Except...I find that meringue instead of a top crust on a straight-up rhubarb pie is surprisingly pleasing.
The joke around here is that you and Z are the same person. As for musings, far be it from me to proscribe yours. But, of course I have the same prerogative and when I see one as silly as yours about MLB pitchers and their ability I'll muse publicly about its inanity.
I missed the color part of the theme - thought someone at DENNY’s intended to order a healthy breakfast but couldn’t resist a side of HASH BROWNS.
Solved on paper but it felt like the easiest puzzle ever. I immediately noticed PLACEBO and embarked on a tentacle hunt. Alas, only bagged a single SPORCLE. Is SPORCLE on the menu at @Z’s PLACEBO and Tentacle? The Burnikel Special?
Don’t know about Rex, but I missed LEN, along with a bunch of others. Tried to make it a bit more challenging by doing the longest entries first, but only SPORCLE had to wait for crosses. At least everything passed the breakfast TEST today. I was surprised Rex didn’t rail about the product placement at 1A/1D.
data CG %-age went from (1904) 87.6 to (2014) 2.4 and in between the number of games played (154 to 162) and number of teams (16 to 30) went up a lot, so total games about doubled. still, the CG has become a relic of the past.
@Carola 1107am Rhubarb has become my favorite pie, but I have never tried a topless rhubarb or a topless meringue rhubarb pie. Intriguing suggestion. Hmm... how about a bottomless? My rhubarb is ready to pull.
Anonymous 11;35, What polemics. Michigan man made an erroneous assertion--That today's pitches can throw complete games. I countered saying that not only could they, they do. I also noted why the CG is rare. That's in my first post. Check for yourself. The question isn't whether there are a lot less Complete games these days-0- of course there are--the question is why. I assert that it's tactical and strategic. It has little to do with pitching ability. As for the stats, thanks. I can't be sure of course, but I'm guessing I know them better than you. It is part of my business to know them.
Yeah, like a stern VISAGE. Of course it can mean "expression". Of course the word need not be substitutable for (facial) "expression" in every single instance.
The real challenge for the folks at IBM would be to create a Watson-like brain that can do what our wet-tissue brains do, running on the same number of joules. Good luck doing that!
Very fast Monday by my standards. (I'm glad it's Monday and no longer Sunday with the hideous and stupidly reductionistic claptrap of yesterday's commentary. "Birthing persons", indeed.)
Oh, hey, @Roo: Did you know that spaghetti is a plural form? "Hey, waiter, there's a hair on my spaghetto!"
SB: td 0. The alphabetical last is not very uncommon, but it's sometimes hard for me to see it; it was my last entry. yd: still 3 to go; haven't given up.
Yesterday's Acrostic went by pretty smoothly. I had to look up the name of the author of the quotation because the way her last name was spelled looked like a typographical error! Her deep study of primate behavior has held up very well over the years, it seems (I'm coyly avoiding saying her name in case some people are working or planning to work on the acrostic).
@michiganman - Where I grew up we said “if you ain’t Dutch you ain’t much” only half jocularly. But, yeah, some anon thinks you and @Pete and probably a few others are actually me.
@A - Sporcle sounds like something made from fish entrails. Maybe we’ll give it a fancy French name and make it a delicacy, Les SPORCLE de Rye avec champignon.
@10:51 - I can see why you thought that, but I meant “wrought.” Going for an implication of artistic pathos as a hero tumbles to the earth.
@10:46 - Does a flash of greatness make the greatness less? If Denny McLain is a poster child for anything, it is that managerial over use combined with a hard lifestyle is a certain recipe for shortening a career. No 24 year-old is going to get 41 starts, pitch into the 9th in just about every game, or throw over 200 pitches in a game (he might have been 23 when he did that) in 2021. I’m curious, who did Bill James list as more deserving of the MVP in 1968? Certainly no hitter.
@11:00 - I didn’t see those games. You may have noticed that I find most self-avowed baseball experts to be less expert than they think, but I cannot even begin to opine on how great a single win in 1926 might have been. I will offer that ending on a caught stealing isn’t necessarily an indicator of pitching prowess and walking Ruth? But okay. I do lessen Mattewson’s accomplishment compared to Lolich’s. I think it is pretty well established that the standard deviation is shrinking. That is, while the greatest are no greater in any real sense than the greats of 1905, the worst player on a team in 1968 will be better by far than the worst player in 1905, and this has been more or less true throughout baseball history. In other words, the 5th hitter Mathewson was facing would have been a bench player when Lolich pitched and never make it out of the minors in 2021 (or something like that - not being exact here) Still, neither Mathewson or Lolich’s feat is going to happen today because not even MadBaum will be allowed to start three World Series games.
Pretty good MonPuz. Had all yer food/color groups. Did seem like a fairly easy puz solvequest, even for a Monday. Did have one ?-marker clue, at least. Luv that E/W puzgrid symmetry, btw. And thUmbsUp for the polar weeject stacks.
staff weeject picks: ELI & LEN, the reliableness twins. Cute -- but not feisty -- shared clue.
moo-cow eazy-E MonPuz clue: {Change for a five} = ONES. honorable mention to @Nancy's choice of {Opposite of buys} = SELLS. Her comment mighta unloaded a bit harsh on CC there, tho -- since typically about half a puz's clues ain't the constructioneer's. But certainly entitled to her own opinions. … And peace on Earth, good will to puzmakers and puzsolvers.
Kinda admired the IBM/IMAC startin pair. Other fave sparklers included: VISAGES. USHERIN. YESLETS [better clue: {Runty indications of agreement??}.] SPORCLE [Had heard tell of it, but didn't remember what it was]. PLACEBO.
Thanx for the fun, CC. Always cool to see a MonPuz with no moo-cow revealer. Good job. U are still one of my fave constructioneers. And congratz on the POW award. And all our best wishes to Mr. CC.
Easy/Easy for me. Set a personal record for Monday and beat Rex's time comfortably for the first time I can remember. Guess it was just on my wavelength!
Z, the alias theory isn't mine. And I don't its any other anonymous either. Could be wrong there. Of course a flash of greatness is less than prolonged greatness. You're being difficult. McLain had a great 1968 season. But he didn't come close to the triple crown did he. Koufax's 1965 and 1966 seasons, just two and three years earliet were vastly better. And Steve Carlton's 197s season, four years hence was better too. The point is, contrary to your claim, Denny Mclain was not a great pitcher. Frankly, I'm gobsmacked that this is hill you want to die on. Have you actually gone to baseball reference? I was in error earlier when I said save for the two good years he was barely a 500 pitcher. Turns out he was literally a 500 pitcher: 76-76. He was average arm in all but two campaigns. As for diminishing Matthewson's achievement. Please. You've picked an unbelievably bad pair of years to compare. Matthewson was facing Socks Seybold in the fith spot. Lolich was facing the (ahem) immortal Mike Shannon. There aint a Sabrematrician on earth who has Shannon as the superior player. I'm not a self-avowed baseball expert. But others think I have knowledge. The BBWAA for instance.
@Z- I have suggested that you and michiganman are the same poster. I’ve no idea about Pete or anyone else. Simple question. Have you ever posted under the name michiganman ? I’ve yet to hear you deny it. Cheers.
@anon 12:39p - I love the nostalgia of the early years - Mathewson, the Big Train, three fingers etc - but it’s a losers game comparing these guys across eras. Remember - these guys pitched in the dead ball era where the home run leaders typically had around 10 or less for a season and they never had to pitch against players of color. If we are trying to qualify McLain against others - at least use the great Gibson, Seaver or even Tiant that year.
Nancy @9:19 AM, I think Monday puzzles are mostly clued in the simplest, most straightforward (and hence dull and uninspiring to experienced solvers) way. I believe that is the editorial policy designed to attract new solvers, maybe even some who are learning English as a second (or third or...) language, and not necessarily the constructor's choice. It's been my experience that the clues are where editors are most likely to make changes and so without first-hand knowledge it's uncertain who gets credit or blame for clues.
I would say that two of the themers, HASH BROWNS and BEET GREENS, are plural in their base form*, i.e., they make little or no sense in the singular. I can't say the same for the other two. Both MANDARIN ORANGE and EGG WHITE are singular in their base form and they both need a letter-count boosting plural of convenience (POC) to fill their slots. Playing fast and loose like that with themers, the heart and soul of a themed puzzle, is a major demerit for the puzzle in my book and that, along with a slew of other plurals of convenience, make this a POC assisted if not POC marked puzzle.
*By base form I mean the form of a word or phrase that cannot be reduced further. Remove any letters and the word or phrase becomes nonsensical or its meaning is completely changed, or it loses its standing as a word and becomes, for example, an abbreviation.
The POC is one way to boost the grid filling power of a word or phrase over its base form without adding anything much of value or interest to the puzzle. There are a number of other ways to do this that are what I call letter count inflation (LCI). They all are non-nutritive fill, so to speak. They just make it easier to fill the grid.
Right at my average Monday solve time so... a Monday puzzle on a Monday! Only one write-over: Rex's STRATa
I missed the food dimension to the theme answers so I went looking for a revealer to tell me what else besides colors tied the theme answers together. Failing that, I was shocked to see Jeff Chen had given this POW until I read the write-up and found the food. I did notice the mirror symmetry about the time I found HASHBROWNS in the grid. Nice.
The church cookbook my mother-in-law's church published lo, these many years ago, has a killer recipe for rhubarb torte with meringue topping. Possibly a literal killer - you have to cut the sugar in half if you want to survive, and it calls for nine eggs, whites for the meringue, yolks for the filling. But it is delicious!
Son Volt, I did in fact. Re-read the thread. Seaver has more than twice as many 231 complete games as McLain's 105. Tiant threw 187. Steve Carlton 254. These are Mclain's contemporaries. And each his superior. McLain was never even the best pitcher on his own staff. As for comparing players from different eras, it may be a loser's game, but I make a nice living at it. Won some hardware too. Glad the public disagrees with you.
Son volt. I just reread your -post more carefully. Please refrain from directing me. Your imperative "remember- these guys''. Is gratuitous. I am quite sure, quiet sure, that I have forgotten more about the dead ball era than you'll ever know. For starters, The Big Train pitched roughly 40% of his career after the dead ball era. And his second league MVP was well into the live ball era. But these are piddling trifles. the point is not only do people compare players of different eras, it['s one of life's great pleasures.
Oh by the way Son Volt, Z's point about the 5th hitter Christy Matthewson faced would be on the bench and not comparable to the 5th hitter Mickey Lolich faced in the 68 world series. Yeah, I mentioned earlier that hitter was Socks Seybold. He led the AL in Homeruns in 1902 with 16. Not Ruthian, but a lot more than 10. And to Z's point about standard deviation. Well that shoots that theory in the rump doesn't it. Unless his argument is that the league leader in 1902 couldn't play in 1968.
And Z,
Your query about who Bill James said should be MVP... you said "certainly no hitter." And I know why you said it. But your response underscores your misunderstanding of the goings on. In fact James does name a hitter as the deserving MVP: Carl Yastrzemski
@M&A (12:09) and @Anoa Bob (1:16) -- You've both nailed the reason why I've so assiduously avoided turning in any puzzle that could possibly be considered for a Monday slot. If the puzzle editor felt compelled to, say, change my clue for SELLS to "Opposite of buys," I'd go hide myself under a turnip in total embarrassment and would not emerge again for at least a week.
@nancy, I hesitated to put SELLS in, even on a Monday. Maybe a "put" or some other way of trading stocks? Maybe some four letter way of saying I don’t buy it? Nope, just sells. Next...
Better SELLS clue: {Does that bear thing, even when not in the woods}.
SELLS has been an answer many times, in the NYTimes Monday x-word. Clues used during such festive events: * Opposite of buys (2 times) * Vends (2) * Hawks * Is a winner, as a book * Markets (2) * Disposes of
Yer mileage on which ones rate turnip-divin may vary.
@albatross shell - All hail rhubarb! The first stalks are showing up this week at our local farmers' market, and I have my pre-order in, so as not to miss my chance. Happy baking!
IBM/Watson reminded me that Ira Flatow and Matt Ginsberg discussed Dr. Fill last week on Science Friday. If you’re interested you can listen to it here.
I normally print out the puzzle from the Replica Edition and solve it in ink. But for Mondays these days, I save paper by solving it in my head. Today, I only needed the Down crosses to get TERRI, BOP, KENNY, VISAGES, SPORCLE and HEWN.
@1:48 - Yastrzemski? Sorry, but your team can’t finish 4th and have an MVP. Even if Yaz was the best player that year (10.1 WARP is pretty damn good), McLain’s 8.5 WARP was more valuable that year. This goes to the Mike Trout argument. He is often one of the best if not the best player, but he’s never been all that “valuable.” That’s not entirely his fault, but Trout has never been the difference between a good season and a great season for his team. McLain’s best season was most definitely the difference between winning the pennant and finishing second again.
And I think Socks Seybold v Mike Shannon exactly proves my point. Drop Shannon into 1905 and he would do at least as well as Seybold, but in 1968 Shannon is just a solid power hitter.
@12:39 - I can tell you exactly when I realized that the BBWAA’s opinions should be ignored: 1987. Not a single thing in the intervening 24 year has changed the low esteem in which I hold the BBWAA. There are exceptions in the group, but as a whole I ignore everything they do. Yes, that most especially includes just shaking my head over their HoF voting.
Was there a crossword today? 😇😇😇
BTW - No, I have never posted as @michiganman or @pete, nor am I really Rex, nor are any of the other inane conjectures about who I am posted here by @anon true. My email is available in my profile if you’re curious, as several have been over the years.
Is SELLS really the *opposite* of buys? They refer to the same thing, a transaction, this for that. You can't have a buyer without a seller and you can't have a seller without a buyer? The opposite of buys is more like "doesn't buy" or "stands pat" or perhaps even "saves rather than spends". The say the opposite of love is not hate, but rather indifference.
@Z - You sure? I know most of the time my posts were actually mine, but one or two of them were really, really stupid and I've come to believe that maybe you posted them, rather than me. If you say not, I guess I'll believe you. Maybe michiganman did them. He's pretty fishy if you ask me.
I'm really irked about one of the comments above: "This can only be by that ZB woman." - I thought that an extraordinarily rude way to address anyone, much less the constructor of this puzzle. We all know that it's the editorial team that has the final say on clues, so blaming her for specific clues is knowingly inappropriate. If anyone is responsible for dumbing down clues on a Monday it's the editorial team. One may not like her puzzles, but to be so condescendingly dismissive if them is rude. CC is among the most respected of constructors, is 4th in Jeff Chens POW winners list, with only Eric Agar having a higher percentage of his puzzles receiving a POW.
LOL! Z, you are hilarious.The BBWAA grieves your loss of confidence. We do however demand correct stats, and I’m afraid your WAR for Denny McLain is incorrect. His WAR in 1968 was 5.4 not 8.5 as you state. Yaz’s was 10.1. That’s a whopping 4.7 difference. In fact all, the difference in the world. Oh, and the Tigers’ next MVP, Willie Hernandez? Yeah, he’s 6 places in back of McLain.I’m 1084 Cal Ripken was the clear MVP. His WAR was 4.4 better than Hernandez’s. Almost double in fact. (4.8 to 9.2) Take the loss Z. Really.
I have a hunch that Z and his sock puppets as well as the mice who accuse him and michiganman et. al. are all the same person. If that’s what retirement is then I think I’ll keeping working a few more years. 😂
@Lewis, thanks for the constructor notes. Hoping for the best.
Lots of folks got creative today in their spare time - thanks to @Lewis, @Roo, @M&A and many others for extending the entertainment!
@Frantic, @Barbara S, your YESLETS are adorbs! Agree on ‘bite size’ because the ‘wee’ yesses would be ayelets. ;-)
@egsforbreakfast, enjoyed your alternate offerin’s!
@albatross, @Carola and @Teedmn, rhubarb pie/crisp/torte has been my favorite since I first had it in college. It’s hard to find fresh rhubarb in the deep south, but I got a delicious pie at Fresh Market last week - mmmmm!
@Anoa Bob, good explanation re the Monday cluing, and sympathies for the POC marks.
@Joe Dipinto, SPORCL the blue violin guy is new to me but anyone being rebellious and trying to increase the appeal of ‘classical’ music gets my approval!
Speaking of which and as a balance to the baseball talk, check out this amazing improvisation on Happy Birthday by Venezuelan pianist Gabriela Montero, whose birthday is today. You may know of her from her performance at Obama’s inauguration with Itzhak Perlman, Yo-yo Ma and Andrew McGill. She has been doing these real-time improvisations since she was a very small child.
@anon 6:54 - the average baseball fan doesn’t give a damn about the BBWAA after seeing them bungle decision after decision for years. An organization that was formed for the noble and necessary reason to provide the media access to the ballpark to do their work. Since no one reads sports writers any more and press boxes are huge they’ve been bastardized into a group who gets to determine awards and accolades with little to no oversight. A guy with some ethics and balls like Le Batard tries to make things interesting and gets hammered from a bunch of old white guys who can’t make up their mind about what to do with the steroid era.
Even worse are the losers who choose not to cast a ballot for the HOF and conceal their identity behind some bs rule. I’m assuming they’re the same ones who hold grudges against players like Rice and Albert Belle for all these years because they weren’t nice to deal with.
Sun Volt, Thanks, you nailed it. Are you available next month for a meeting? I’m sure you have much to teach us. Just post your deets and we’ll get back to you. ( How do you feel about Dick Allen? He’s the guy who most feel aggrieved about)
@JC66 (8:22 PM) I think you're remembering @TTrimble's post from 11:51. I'm glad for both of you and for @bocamp, but I'm stuck at -1 and gOiNg CRAZZEE!!
@6:54 - Baseball Prospectus lists McLain’s 1968 WARP at 8.5. Where are you looking?
@Son Volt 7:57 - Now that sounds like me. Especially the Lebatard shout out. 👍🏽👍🏽
@A - What? No position on the BaseBall Writers of America Association? Not even a plaint about them being the BBWAA and not the BWAA?
@7:19 - 🤣😂🤣😂 - I highly recommend retiring early if you can afford it. I had colleagues who worked well past my current age and I always wondered what the F they were thinking. I realize lots of people cannot afford to retire early, and some people need to work to keep themselves busy, but somehow I never miss my 50-60 hour work weeks.
Rex shouldn’t mocify his criticism based on his familiarity with the constructor. He should try reviewing without looking at the name - like a blind taste test.. This one needed more theme elements and it badly needed a reveal. Too thin. Even for a Monday. Take the Pepsi Challenge Rex for fairness and consistency in your reviews.
Not getting the lack-of-revealer criticism here. As we go through the solve we meet MMANDARINORANGES, then EGGWHITES. Let's see, food plus color. What else do you need? Was thinking of Rhode Island Reds...but there was no corresponding gridspanner in the south. Themers running both across and down; not bad for an easy Monday.
Yet as easy as it was, it still cost me two writeovers: one at the very popular STRATa, the other a confusion over my Jessica homonyms. BIEL or BeaL, either is DOD worthy. I wrote in the latter at first.
The grid flows, with the tightest areas being west central and east central. Even there, though, a long themer takes you out into the open. If you insist on finding a nit to pick, you can have the triple O__O entries in the E/SE: OTTO OSLO ORSO. But if that's all you can come up with, give the lady a birdie. At this rate she's liable to shoot about a 52 (couple of eagles in there).
A long time ago, I was solving this puzzle and got stuck at an unguessable (to me) crossing: N. C. WYETH crossing NATICK at the "N"—I knew WYETH but forgot his initials, and NATICK ... is a suburb of Boston that I had no hope of knowing. It was clued as someplace the Boston Marathon runs through (???). Anyway, NATICK— the more obscure name in that crossing—became shorthand for an unguessable cross, esp. where the cross involves two proper nouns, neither of which is exceedingly well known. NATICK took hold as crossword slang, and the term can now be both noun ("I had a NATICK in the SW corner...") or verb ("I got NATICKED by 50A / 34D!")
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116 comments:
Easy-medium. I didn’t realize how tight the theme was until I read Jeff’s comments at Xwordinfo. Apparently there are not a lot of foods that end in a color plural.
I liked it and Jeff gave it POW.
Puzzle Good. Three letter crosswordese hidden in longer word clues - tired and trite already.
Len was there too!
Is there some advantage to having your name show up in 6D vs. 7D??
Why is Rex extending his sympathies to all the LENs out there? Did he just not see LEN in 7D or am I missing some kind of joke? Again.🙄
Nice CC Mondee for all the same reasons Rex mentions.
Can't stop seeing YESLETS as one word meaning wee affirmatives.
🧠
🎉🎉.5
Possible different approaches:
17A. Fella tauntin’ citrus
29A. Job of a fella at a weddin’
56A. Set down a Peep
MAN DARIN’ ORANGES
USHERIN’
PLACEBO
Great Monday puzzle. Thanks Zhoukin Burnikel
Can't tell if the PS is a joke somehow, but 7D has the same clue as 6D with the answer of LEM...
Best unanswered question: Did Rex notice the 7D clue?*
Most improved clue over last week: 5D (SPRIGS).
Least improved clues over last week: Those for ORSO ACHY OSLO STEMS.
Hardest obvious natick guess: P in SPORCLE.
Favorite food: HASHBROWNS, crispy but not too crispy.
Least favorite: EGGWHITES, I mean why isn't it whip cream on that pie.
*I'd say he knows. Rex is often very clever in what he doesn't say. He would not like that style of clue, but might appreciate the double usage. So only an indirect mention.
I love C.C.’s puzzles and this one fit right in. Monday easy, as it should be, but she threw in a few unMonday answers, such as SPORCLE, VISAGES and PLACEBO giving a little Monday crunch.
Don’t retire yet C.C. We need more.
First puzzle I've done in ages with hardly any skips and not a single wrong answer. It really flew along, and I don't ever play for time (in fact, I love to linger over a nice juicy puzzle), but being a Monday it wasn't going to last long. I didn't even see half of the down clues, but all in all very solid!
b-but LEN is right there next to ELI and with the same clue...
Super easy (like under 3 minutes) Monday puzzle. Had to pause a second for the DISK vs DISC decision.
This, like all of C.C.’s puzzles, is a breath of fresh air. So junk free it feels like it’s breathing. Beautifully constructed, using the left/right symmetry to accommodate theme answers that are 15, 9, 10 and 10 long. Cluing that is Monday-appropriately easy, yet smart enough to keep the brain engaged. A fresh and clever theme that makes me think, “That is so cool! I never thought about that before!” All imbued with a calmness that makes whatever is roiling inside of me settle down.
C.C., thy name is quality. I’m extraordinarily grateful for your work and for today’s lovely puzzle.
FYI, from C.C.'s notes in XwordInfo and WordPlay: "My husband does not have a robust appetite due to cancer. He does love a small bowl of fruit salad every day. MANDARIN ORANGES are the #1 ingredients and inspired this puzzle."
Ah Rex, my first team was the Tigers. Denny McClain, the incredible hurler and wild child. Great memory. Puzzle is too.
Now this is a Monday that knows how to Monday. for reasons that have been cited.
FWIW, I read OFL's LEN comment as, sorry Len, it could have been you, but CC went with ELI.
Champion Craftsmanship from CC, as usual. Around these parts she would be known as a "pro from Dover", which I think dates back to the original MASH novel. Anyway, it's high praise, and deserved.
Super quick today. Just about as fast as I could type. Yay, Monday!
My five favorite clues from last week
(in order of appearance):
1. Fit on a hard drive (4)(4)
2. Correction for a wild pitch (8)
3. III, e.g., in "Richard III" (3)
4. Words after "The end"? (6)(5)
5. Place to take breaks, for short? (3)
ROAD RAGE
AUTOTUNE
ACT
NIGHTY NIGHT
ERS
Yes, that’s a CC Monday. Easy and fun.
CAbal before CastE before CADRE, ngoS before ORGS.
Love me some HASH BROWNS. Those from DENNYs are not exactly healthy, but as restaurant HASH BROWNS go not too bad for you.
While I appreciate the Simpsons clue for TERRI, the one and only TERRI for me is TERRI Nunn, lead singer for Berlin. In 2015 Berlin performed with the B-52s at Wolf Trap. She is still totally fetch. The final encore was, confusingly, Somebody to Love (Jefferson Airplane), but she nailed it.
Thx @ C.C. for this crunchy Mon. puz to start off the solving week. Really had fun with it! :)
Med solve, but seemed a bit tougher.
Had a fairly good start in the NW, but made the mistake of putting CABAL in at 4D, which hid MANDARIN from me. Circled around the puz and ended up at DENNY and VISAGES in the middle.
Coincidence of the day: just finished a hard-boiled EGG and MANDARIN ORANGE prior to starting the puz.
Drove a John DEERE wheat combine in the Palouse ('70s).
Love SPORCLE quizzes.
___
yd 0
Peace ~ and Good Health to all 🕊
Good Monday theme. Colors that, with the right modifiers, become foods. I liked the themers as two acrosses and two downs. It gave the grid an architectural look, which I think left-right symmetry tends to do anyway. We’re getting a lot of these lately and I’m becoming a fan.
I’ve always liked the word VISAGE or VISAGES, in this instance centrally placed. It gives the notion of “face” such authority. (And one of its meanings is “facial expression”).
There’s Shelley’s
“…Near them, on the sand,
Half sunk a shattered VISAGE lies…”
(“Ozymandias”)
And from Hamlet:
“We are oft to blame in this,
‘Tis too much prov’d, that with devotion’s VISAGE
And pious action we do sugar o’er
The devil himself.”
(Act III, scene i)
LEN really has nothing to worry about. He’s hiding in 7D AND 24D. I found IRKING an amusing word. And YESLETS – Definition: A series of “Yesses” said timidly, tentatively or quietly (sorry, @Frantic, but you stole my joke!). It’s good that DEERE and SMEAR are so near. And this is the second day in a row where some version of ACHY has been clued as being the result of exercising. Are they trying to discourage workouts?
Family nostalgia: BEET GREENS will forever bring to mind my mother who never met a vegetable she didn’t like and had a particular fondness for BEET GREENS. And ACHOO is just so my sister. Whenever she sneezes, she says – quite distinctly – the word ACHOO as part of the sneeze. I don’t know how (or why) she does it but it makes me laugh every time.
Today I have an excerpt from the work of BENITO PÉREZ GALDÓSZ GALDÓS, born May 10, 1843.
“If I had been born under this sun, I would have been a guerrilla today and a beggar tomorrow; and friar at dawn, bullfighter in the afternoon and majo and sacristan of nunneries and abbot and fop and smuggler and highwayman ... Spain is the country of naked nature, exaggerated passions, energetic feelings, good and evil, loose and free, from the privileges that struggles bring, from continuous warfare, from never resting ... I love all those fortresses that history has been building, so that I may have the pleasure of climbing them; I love the tenacious and stubborn characters, to antagonize them; I love dangers, to undertake them; I love the impossible, to laugh at logic, facilitating it; I love all recklessness, to launch myself into them, driven by the curiosity to see if I emerge safely from their deadly whirlpools…”
(From Cadiz)
Only saying this because Rex is a Tigers fan: it’s spelled “McLain”
In addition to putting in CABAL first, I also put in WASTES for 23D. Never heard of SPORCLE but got it from the crosses.
Denny Mclain was certainly one of the best. In 1968, the year the Tigers won a very exciting world series** against St. Louis and Bob Gibson (another great), McLain won 31 games with 28 complete games. Imagine that. Which brings me to a rant. One of the things that has ruined baseball is the frequency of pitcher changes during a game. I doubt that many modern pitchers could even throw a complete game.
**Mickey Lolich was the pitching star in the series, winning 3 games. Each was a complete game.
Wake up Rex...
Nice to see the grid so junk free - it’s also a touch refreshing to see Rex at least have to pause for a millisecond over some PPP (in this case a NASCAR driver).
SPORCLE was the outlier for me - never heard of it, I checked it out - way too much information overload for me. As far as I can tell - it’s not really popular trivia (there may be some there that I overlooked), it’s more hard-core statistical regurgitation (and clickbait abounds everywhere). No clue how popular the site is, but it’s obviously not for me.
I didn’t even discern that there was a theme (I actually forgot about it) until I read REX - there isn’t really anything that ties those entries together except the presence of colors (and I guess food). Maybe that is a desirable quality in a theme - lurk in the background and be seen but not heard, lol. And don’t put a lot of strain on the grid that leads to linguistic gymnastics in order to come up with sufficient fill.
only quibble- ACHe is just as true as ACHY, but easy write-over with Chicken Little. only clue that was visited more than once. and what the hell is a SPORCLE? not the site, which it must be, but the derivation of the 'word'.
Hey All !
CC shows us the FRUITS of her labor. ☺️
Nice little MonPuz. Tried the Downs first idea, then went to the Across themers to see if I could get them from what I had. Was still a quick puz. I like to slow down on a MonPuz, I like reading all the clues, even if an answer auto-fills, I still look at the clue. I just heard a gasp from the speed solvers on that statement!
@Anoa Bob might have problems with this, as all themers are POCs, along with a lot of other words.
Two writeovers, award-MEDAL, PaRE-PERE.
Had a buddy joke with me every time we had MANDARIN ORANGES for lunch in high school. "Man, Darrin, these oranges are great!" Ah, the simple things in life.
No F's
RooMonster
DarrinV
Have never, ever heard the word SPORCLE before today's puzzle, and it is a word that evokes spam-type processed meat, not quizzes. "I'll have the sporcle sandwich with a side order of fries."
Michiganman,
Every MLB starter could throw a CG. The Phillies have had two pitchers do in the last month.
Teams have made the decison that lower pitch counts and the advantage of a new pitcher the third time through the line up is simply more desirable than a complete game.
As for McClain, meh. Yeah he has 28 CGs in 1968. Which tied him for 2nd place. TIED for SECOND. He only had 105 complete games in his career. The list of the top 100 all-time leaders in Complete Games ends at 231. I have no idea how much farther down the list he falls, but it's certainly fair piece.
As for the rest of his `68 campaign, again, meh. He was 5th in ERA, 10th in K's, 10th in WAR. He won a lot of games, but then, so did the Tigers. No-one uses a pitchers wins as the gold standard metric anymore. McLain's `68 season is often help up as one such reason.
Now, care to comment on his embezzlement, drug trafficking and racketeering convictions? Or were you one of those sniffers who had him sign an autograph at that 7-Eleven he used to loiter outside of in Sterling heights?
Rex,
the Senna doc you pictured is superb. If you want to see what might be the best sports series going, check out Drive to Survive, on Netflix. It's what sports programming should be and so seldom is.
@kitshef 706am Stop trying to make "fetch" happen. It's not going to happen.
@bocamp 725am "Drove a John DEERE wheat combine in the Palouse ('70s)."
If I had a nickel for every time I've heard that, I'd...er...have a nickel.
@Barbara S 729am Now I wanna start a game where we find all the LENs in the grid every day. No biggie on YESLETS. I realized too late that I should have said "bite size". 🤷♀️
I hope @Z happens by with an explanation for Rex's LEN thing. Since they're the same person and all.
Re Lolich: and the third on short rest !
What a nice write-up for such a nice puzzle.
But a very sad constructor's comment on the genesis of the puzzle. Hopefully a battle that will ultimately be won. My prayers go out to her.
Nice enough puzzle - but not her best. Thought the color theme was flat - but tight enough and well constructed to allow for a smooth solve. Overall fill solid - some short gluey stuff with the grid layout. Liked the center - with HELENA so prominent. Hand up for disliking the double up of 6d and 7d. By definition are Frisbees DIScS? No idea on SPORKLE - thought it was those half fork half spoons you get on a plane.
Enjoyable Monday.
I'd forgotten to look at the constructor's byline as I so often do, but as soon as I got to the clue "Opposite of buys" I thought: "This can only be by that ZB woman." (Or that CC woman, as so many people here call her). I looked -- and sure enough it was.
The next time I'm having trouble sleeping (as I so often do), I should pick up one of her puzzles. It'll put me to sleep in no time. It never fails to amaze me how, with so many possible ways to clue a given answer, she always picks the dullest and/or the most obvious.
Nice puzzle, but I never noticed the theme. Usually on a Monday I'd stop at the end to figure it out, but forgot to do so today.
Is there really a legitimate website called SPORCLE, or is this some elaborate phishing attempt?
Rex is always going for speed, and doesn't read the clues unless he needs to -- so my guess is he got LEN from crosses and never noticed it.
Also, IBM created Watson to pop up on your screen when there was a Windows failure -- but what does Jeopardy have to do with it?
Wait a moment! That was Microsoft, not IBM - so now I don't understand the clue at all.
@9:01
here: https://www.baseball-reference.com/leaders/CG_career.shtml
I could recognize fewer that half a dozen names in the top 100. couldn't find a list that included years pitched, but would be willing to bet that almost all were before 1960.
@jberg:
IBM Watson is an 'AI' computer, which was programmed, allegedly, to play Jeopardy!. the 'allegedly' because it isn't at all clear that the info-bank and Watson were created independently. anyway, it beat the All Time Champs in a series of episodes years ago.
it's just a massive relational database which it searches superfast. mostly being targeted at medical diagnosis these days. IIRC.
as to M$, Blue Screen of Death and Bob fit your description. both failed.
I have to disagree with Roo about the alleged POC's. MANDARINORANGE(S) could have been clued as a singular, reducing 13D to AD. In the other 3 theme answers the S is integral to the name and not really a plural.
IBM created and owns Watson. Watson famously played Jeopardy many years ago. Clue is correct.
@jberg - Wow. I never knew the microsoft debugger was called Dr. Watson. IBM’s Watson is entirely different.
@Frantic Sloth - It’s entirely possible Rex just missed LEN sitting there right next to ELI. It is also entirely possible that he hates the use of malapop* clues, and so decided to highlight his dislike by adding a snide P.S. I don’t think there is any hidden joke there beyond Rex being snide.
@Anon9:01 - Using any public figure as a hero is wrought with potential heartbreak. Having a great deal of athletic talent does not come with a requirement to be a good human being. McLain was a great pitcher but not the kind of person most of us would want over for a Saturday barbecue. How great were he and Bob Gibson in 1968 at pitching, though? MLB literally changed the pitcher’s mound to give hitters an advantage in 1969 because of them. Without all our current metrics and understanding about the impact of fatigue on pitching execution McLain and Gibson, and their colleagues, were dominating hitters while, in Mclain’s case, starting 41 games and pitching in 336.0 innings. Compare that to Kershaw who, at the same age, had his career max of 33 starts while throwing 227.7 innings and winning 14. In case the implication is lost, McLain averaged pitching into the ninth. Kershaw averaged getting pulled in 7th. “Wins” are a much more meaningful stat when the starter is getting 24+ outs a game as opposed to the best starter in the game only getting 20 outs a game. Leaving 1968 for a minute, the most impressive single Win by a pitcher was not Don Larsen, it was Jack Morris in game 7 of the 1991 World Series. And he did it at age 36 (which is part of what makes it so impressive).
*malapop - Having a wrong answer early in the puzzle turn out to be the correct answer for a clue later in the puzzle.
Nancy, thanks for your comment (9:19). I was flabbergasted that everyone seemed to like this puzzle. What a sad effort it is.
When I do a puzzle, I go through every clue and write in the gimmes. If two of the gimmes intersect, there's my foothold. A typical puzzle will have seven or eight gimmes. Some weekends have only one or two. Today's had 47 gimmes, 61 % . That's got to be a record even for a Monday.
For those interested in these type of things, Denny Hamlin is technically NOT a NASCAR Champion. He has never won the NASCAR Championship. He has won many, many, many races but is not considered a NASCAR Champion because he has not won the year long Championship.
Oh, the memories. Dr. Watson isn't a debugger, as that term is used by coder/developers, just a crash logger. Real debuggers are used by coder/developer in testing their code interactively (more or less), and have been for decades built into the Integrated Development Environment (IDE) of the coder/developer's choice. Unless, of course, the shop mandates the IDE. Folks have quit shops, or refused to sign-on, if the house IDE stinks.
Anonymous 9:29,
Sounds like yo aren't much of a fan. I mean you only recognize fewer than 6 of those names? Cy Young, Walter Johnson, Bob Feller, Tom Seaver, Warren Spahn, Left Grove are surely familiar to just about anyone who's watched or listened to more than a handful of games. So, for instance You nver heard of Grover Alexander? I mean they made a Hollywood movie out of the guy and the president of the United States was made a punchline for that role. Never heard of that? Hmm. Ok. How about Carl Hubbell? The guy who struck out Babe Ruth, lou gehrig, Jimmie Foxx, Al Simmons and Joe Cronin in succession? It was in the All-star game. The announcers bring up ever year. Every year.
As for CGs being a phenomenon of an earlier era, yeah, that's' what I wrote earlier this morning. But they were still plentiful in the 70's. Seaver's already been noted but Steve Carlton and Phil neikro threw them regularly. So did Jim Palmer and Bert Blyleven (this is a nod to Michigan Man's Dutch heritage). Ever heard of Nolan Ryan? In half the years of the 70s decade, Ryan threw MORE than 20 Complete Games.
Michigan man however wrote an absurdity when he mused that he doubted " that many modern pitchers could even throw a complete game."
The fact is all MLB pitchers could. And many still do. There's been 19 this season to date. there'll be more.
Re Bob Gibson, RIP: Kirkjean shared anecdote last week on occasion of Willie Mays’ 90th bday. Willie had invited McCovey to dinner, and McCovey brought along, unannounced, Gibson, who was wearing glasses. Thus Mays at first didn’t recognize Gibson, then welcomed him, of course, and said Bob, I didn’t know you wore glasses. Gibson said yes, but not when on mound. Mays replied You’re gonna kill somebody !
Average Monday solve for me. Learned SPORCLE. Like Rex and others, had CABAL before CADRE; also DANNY before DENNY.
My mechanic would be Sparky rather than OTTO.
Beet greens not close enough to Swiss chard to be in my salad bowl, but MANDARIN ORANGES, yes! Nicely placed food coloring.
Could be another name hidden in 7D: “End of the man who brought down Al Capone?”
@Barbara S. 7:29 am - Good catch on LEN's uncredited twin brother.
@Nancy 9:18 last night – Ah, I get it. You have a Rodgers, or two. :)
Z,
Thanlks for the tip, but my heros arent public figures.
And McClain is not even close to a graet pitcher. Take a way his two good season and he's a 500 pitcher 76 wins and 73 losses. With an ERA closer to 5 than 4.
He was an incredibly ordinary pitcher who thrived for two seasons--one of which is universally acknowledged as the year of the pitcher. You were on much more solid ground a couple of months ago when you were banging the drum for his teammate. Lolich was a great pitcher, though not nearly as good as you believe.
PS. Don't believe me? Check out Bill James's list of the most undeserving MVP's. He has McLain's win in 1968 at #0 all-time. Fact is, even at his absolute peak fluke year, he wasn't the best.
Crimson devil--Nice story. Did you happen to see that famous San Franciscan Nancy Pelosi's tweet wishing Willie Mays a happy 90th last week? It was sweet. Of course the picture she used was of Willie McCovey, but hey, what does that matter, right?
I think you mean fraught with potential heartbreak.
Good to see peace in the village after yesterday. The right kind of fun, light-hearted entry from the right constructor to restore harmony. Everything about it was delightful.
Is it National Retiree Day?
Wake up Achy in Boca, scramble some Egg Whites, wander around to find your reading Sporcles (think you might be needing an eye Test), sit down to Read the paper. Meh, more foolishness. Phone rings on the land line, it's that guy who Sells plots and Urns again. Just hang up or tell him the Heirs will take care of that.
Call Len and Eli, see if they wanna shoot a round. Maybe in an hour Or So. Another day in paradise.
I don't think this theme hangs together *that* well. You have one self-contained food item (mandarin orange); two components of larger food items (beet greens and egg whites); and a style of preparation (hash browns).
Plus, orange-the-color is actually named for orange-the-food-item. So that one feels a bit like cheating.
Wasn't Denny Laine a member of Wings?
(♪ Denny Laine, the barber, shaves another customer ♪)
SPORCL(e)
@Anon 9:36
I agree with your disagreement. 😆 I was just pointing out that @Anoa Bob gets annoyed with a lot of POCs, and there seemed to be a bunch. BEET GREENS does need the S (even though I haven't heard of it, Collared GREENS, sure), as does HASHBROWNS. MMM, HASHBROWNS. 👍😁 "Excuse me, can I have one HASBROWN?"
@Nancy
Dang, *insert cat fight sound here*.
RooMonster Non-In-Depth Baseball Knower Guy
A pleasant Monday and very well done. I actually had to study the grid for a bit to figure out what the theme was, but I liked it. My only complaint is the clue for 42A. In the world of NASCAR, Denny Hamlin would not be referred to as a champion. He’s won a number of races but has never attained the Cup Series championship.
For anyone interested, HBO will be showing what looks to be a revealing documentary about the origins of the opioid epidemic in this country. Titled The Crime of the Century, the PILOT episode is scheduled to air tonight at 9:00 Eastern.
@Anon 9:29. I'm not Dutch (where did you get that?) and I'll muse anything I want.
Z. Nop[e Grover Alexander in the 1926 World Series is the absolute standaerd for World Series pitching excellence. After throwing a CG in game 6, he came out of the bullpen in game 7 with the bases loaded and HOFer Tony Lazzeri at the dish. Pete got Lazzeri, then retired the Yankees in order in the 8th. Then started the 9th by getting Earl Combs ( RBI champ that year or the year before) and mark Koenig. He walked Ruth. Another HOFer, Bob Meusel came to bat with Gehrig on deck. But babe decided to swipe second. He was caught stealing. To my knowledge the only Series to end that way.
Anyway, Old Pete was 39. Almost every baseball historian puts this effort as number 1.
And Mattewson's 3 shoutout wins (CGs obviously) in the 1905 WS as the greatest piching performance over the course of a World series.
SPORCLE is a legitimate trivia web site, hosting various types of quizzes on a wide range of subjects. Users can submit quizzes of their own and have them published on the site.
The quizzes use many different formats, and most have a time limit. They also have traditional puzzles like Crosswords and Sudoku. The crossword puzzles are typically very easy and may not follow typical construction "rules" that have evolved over the years.
You do not have to register or log into the site to play quizzes.
The name is derived from the words "sports" and "oracle".
SPORCLE also hosts live pub quizzes in various locations.
The main issue with SPORCLE is their site is heavily loaded with ads which can bog down some browsers and can intrude on the user experience.
Easy and cute. Maybe it's because I spend a lot of time thinking about food, but I saw the theme early. Thus, I anticipated the HASH BROWNS but was so flummoxed at the idea of Swiss chard being a "salad base" that I needed all kinds of crosses for my beloved BEET GREENS. A baby beet green salad? Not around here. Sauteed only. I tried to see if the layout implied some grid art: a refrigerator?
@albatross shell 2:36 - Re: "EGGWHITES, I mean why isn't it whip cream on that pie." As a born and bred and resident Dairy Stater, I can only wholeheartedly agree. Except...I find that meringue instead of a top crust on a straight-up rhubarb pie is surprisingly pleasing.
Michigan Man,
The joke around here is that you and Z are the same person.
As for musings, far be it from me to proscribe yours. But, of course I have the same prerogative and when I see one as silly as yours about MLB pitchers and their ability I'll muse publicly about its inanity.
I missed the color part of the theme - thought someone at DENNY’s intended to order a healthy breakfast but couldn’t resist a side of HASH BROWNS.
Solved on paper but it felt like the easiest puzzle ever. I immediately noticed PLACEBO and embarked on a tentacle hunt. Alas, only bagged a single SPORCLE. Is SPORCLE on the menu at @Z’s PLACEBO and Tentacle? The Burnikel Special?
Don’t know about Rex, but I missed LEN, along with a bunch of others. Tried to make it a bit more challenging by doing the longest entries first, but only SPORCLE had to wait for crosses. At least everything passed the breakfast TEST today. I was surprised Rex didn’t rail about the product placement at 1A/1D.
Thanks for the appetizing offering, Ms. Burnikel.
enough polemics: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Complete_game
data CG %-age went from (1904) 87.6 to (2014) 2.4 and in between the number of games played (154 to 162) and number of teams (16 to 30) went up a lot, so total games about doubled. still, the CG has become a relic of the past.
@Carola 1107am
Rhubarb has become my favorite pie, but I have never tried a topless rhubarb or a topless meringue rhubarb pie.
Intriguing suggestion. Hmm... how about a bottomless? My rhubarb is ready to pull.
Anonymous 11;35,
What polemics. Michigan man made an erroneous assertion--That today's pitches can throw complete games. I countered saying that not only could they, they do. I also noted why the CG is rare. That's in my first post. Check for yourself. The question isn't whether there are a lot less Complete games these days-0- of course there are--the question is why. I assert that it's tactical and strategic. It has little to do with pitching ability.
As for the stats, thanks. I can't be sure of course, but I'm guessing I know them better than you. It is part of my business to know them.
Yeah, like a stern VISAGE. Of course it can mean "expression". Of course the word need not be substitutable for (facial) "expression" in every single instance.
The real challenge for the folks at IBM would be to create a Watson-like brain that can do what our wet-tissue brains do, running on the same number of joules. Good luck doing that!
Very fast Monday by my standards. (I'm glad it's Monday and no longer Sunday with the hideous and stupidly reductionistic claptrap of yesterday's commentary. "Birthing persons", indeed.)
Oh, hey, @Roo:
Did you know that spaghetti is a plural form? "Hey, waiter, there's a hair on my spaghetto!"
SB: td 0. The alphabetical last is not very uncommon, but it's sometimes hard for me to see it; it was my last entry. yd: still 3 to go; haven't given up.
Yesterday's Acrostic went by pretty smoothly. I had to look up the name of the author of the quotation because the way her last name was spelled looked like a typographical error! Her deep study of primate behavior has held up very well over the years, it seems (I'm coyly avoiding saying her name in case some people are working or planning to work on the acrostic).
@TTrimble – re the Acrostic, I did a double take on the author's name too. I thought for a second they had somehow omitted an entire answer!
@michiganman - Where I grew up we said “if you ain’t Dutch you ain’t much” only half jocularly. But, yeah, some anon thinks you and @Pete and probably a few others are actually me.
@A - Sporcle sounds like something made from fish entrails. Maybe we’ll give it a fancy French name and make it a delicacy, Les SPORCLE de Rye avec champignon.
@10:51 - I can see why you thought that, but I meant “wrought.” Going for an implication of artistic pathos as a hero tumbles to the earth.
@10:46 - Does a flash of greatness make the greatness less? If Denny McLain is a poster child for anything, it is that managerial over use combined with a hard lifestyle is a certain recipe for shortening a career. No 24 year-old is going to get 41 starts, pitch into the 9th in just about every game, or throw over 200 pitches in a game (he might have been 23 when he did that) in 2021.
I’m curious, who did Bill James list as more deserving of the MVP in 1968? Certainly no hitter.
@11:00 - I didn’t see those games. You may have noticed that I find most self-avowed baseball experts to be less expert than they think, but I cannot even begin to opine on how great a single win in 1926 might have been. I will offer that ending on a caught stealing isn’t necessarily an indicator of pitching prowess and walking Ruth? But okay. I do lessen Mattewson’s accomplishment compared to Lolich’s. I think it is pretty well established that the standard deviation is shrinking. That is, while the greatest are no greater in any real sense than the greats of 1905, the worst player on a team in 1968 will be better by far than the worst player in 1905, and this has been more or less true throughout baseball history. In other words, the 5th hitter Mathewson was facing would have been a bench player when Lolich pitched and never make it out of the minors in 2021 (or something like that - not being exact here) Still, neither Mathewson or Lolich’s feat is going to happen today because not even MadBaum will be allowed to start three World Series games.
Pretty good MonPuz. Had all yer food/color groups. Did seem like a fairly easy puz solvequest, even for a Monday. Did have one ?-marker clue, at least. Luv that E/W puzgrid symmetry, btw.
And thUmbsUp for the polar weeject stacks.
staff weeject picks: ELI & LEN, the reliableness twins. Cute -- but not feisty -- shared clue.
moo-cow eazy-E MonPuz clue: {Change for a five} = ONES. honorable mention to @Nancy's choice of {Opposite of buys} = SELLS. Her comment mighta unloaded a bit harsh on CC there, tho -- since typically about half a puz's clues ain't the constructioneer's. But certainly entitled to her own opinions. … And peace on Earth, good will to puzmakers and puzsolvers.
Kinda admired the IBM/IMAC startin pair. Other fave sparklers included: VISAGES. USHERIN. YESLETS [better clue: {Runty indications of agreement??}.] SPORCLE [Had heard tell of it, but didn't remember what it was]. PLACEBO.
Thanx for the fun, CC. Always cool to see a MonPuz with no moo-cow revealer. Good job. U are still one of my fave constructioneers. And congratz on the POW award. And all our best wishes to Mr. CC.
Masked & AnonymoUUs
Less easy than today's NYTimesPuz:
**gruntz**
@Ann Howell (3:48 AM) 👍
@Anonymous (11:06 AM)
Thx for the SPORCLE shoutout; didn't know the basis for the name. It really is quite a nice site, in spite of the ads. :)
Fond memories of listening to the '68 World Series (from Haarlem, Netherlands) featuring the epic Gibson/Lolich game 7 battle. ⚾️
@TTrimble (11:51 AM) 👍 for SB
Ditto the acrostic comment. Hi @Joe Dipinto (12:06 PM)
___
td 0
Peace ~ and Good Health to all 🕊
Easy/Easy for me. Set a personal record for Monday and beat Rex's time comfortably for the first time I can remember. Guess it was just on my wavelength!
@Joe Dipinto (10:52)
"(♪ Denny Laine, the barber, shaves another customer ♪)"
FTW!
Z,
the alias theory isn't mine. And I don't its any other anonymous either. Could be wrong there.
Of course a flash of greatness is less than prolonged greatness. You're being difficult. McLain had a great 1968 season. But he didn't come close to the triple crown did he. Koufax's 1965 and 1966 seasons, just two and three years earliet were vastly better. And Steve Carlton's 197s season, four years hence was better too. The point is, contrary to your claim, Denny Mclain was not a great pitcher. Frankly, I'm gobsmacked that this is hill you want to die on. Have you actually gone to baseball reference? I was in error earlier when I said save for the two good years he was barely a 500 pitcher. Turns out he was literally a 500 pitcher: 76-76. He was average arm in all but two campaigns.
As for diminishing Matthewson's achievement. Please. You've picked an unbelievably bad pair of years to compare. Matthewson was facing Socks Seybold in the fith spot. Lolich was facing the (ahem) immortal Mike Shannon. There aint a Sabrematrician on earth who has Shannon as the superior player.
I'm not a self-avowed baseball expert. But others think I have knowledge. The BBWAA for instance.
@Z- I have suggested that you and michiganman are the same poster. I’ve no idea about Pete or anyone else. Simple question. Have you ever posted under the name michiganman ? I’ve yet to hear you deny it. Cheers.
@Z - I’d wager a lot of money that you’re the same guy, not that there’s anything wrong with that.
I’m guessing Rex just didn’t see the clue on 7D, which can happen on a Monday, which is why he apologized to the LENs.
Not only were the LENs remembered, they inspired the clue writer to use the word “reliableness” instead of the far more common “reliability.”
Delightful combination of color and food, not difficult but so enjoyable to complete over a leisurely breakfast.
@anon 12:39p - I love the nostalgia of the early years - Mathewson, the Big Train, three fingers etc - but it’s a losers game comparing these guys across eras. Remember - these guys pitched in the dead ball era where the home run leaders typically had around 10 or less for a season and they never had to pitch against players of color. If we are trying to qualify McLain against others - at least use the great Gibson, Seaver or even Tiant that year.
Nancy @9:19 AM, I think Monday puzzles are mostly clued in the simplest, most straightforward (and hence dull and uninspiring to experienced solvers) way. I believe that is the editorial policy designed to attract new solvers, maybe even some who are learning English as a second (or third or...) language, and not necessarily the constructor's choice. It's been my experience that the clues are where editors are most likely to make changes and so without first-hand knowledge it's uncertain who gets credit or blame for clues.
I would say that two of the themers, HASH BROWNS and BEET GREENS, are plural in their base form*, i.e., they make little or no sense in the singular. I can't say the same for the other two. Both MANDARIN ORANGE and EGG WHITE are singular in their base form and they both need a letter-count boosting plural of convenience (POC) to fill their slots. Playing fast and loose like that with themers, the heart and soul of a themed puzzle, is a major demerit for the puzzle in my book and that, along with a slew of other plurals of convenience, make this a POC assisted if not POC marked puzzle.
*By base form I mean the form of a word or phrase that cannot be reduced further. Remove any letters and the word or phrase becomes nonsensical or its meaning is completely changed, or it loses its standing as a word and becomes, for example, an abbreviation.
The POC is one way to boost the grid filling power of a word or phrase over its base form without adding anything much of value or interest to the puzzle. There are a number of other ways to do this that are what I call letter count inflation (LCI). They all are non-nutritive fill, so to speak. They just make it easier to fill the grid.
Right at my average Monday solve time so... a Monday puzzle on a Monday! Only one write-over: Rex's STRATa
I missed the food dimension to the theme answers so I went looking for a revealer to tell me what else besides colors tied the theme answers together. Failing that, I was shocked to see Jeff Chen had given this POW until I read the write-up and found the food. I did notice the mirror symmetry about the time I found HASHBROWNS in the grid. Nice.
The church cookbook my mother-in-law's church published lo, these many years ago, has a killer recipe for rhubarb torte with meringue topping. Possibly a literal killer - you have to cut the sugar in half if you want to survive, and it calls for nine eggs, whites for the meringue, yolks for the filling. But it is delicious!
Thanks, CC, and best wishes to your husband.
Son Volt,
I did in fact. Re-read the thread. Seaver has more than twice as many 231 complete games as McLain's 105. Tiant threw 187. Steve Carlton 254. These are Mclain's contemporaries. And each his superior. McLain was never even the best pitcher on his own staff. As for comparing players from different eras, it may be a loser's game, but I make a nice living at it. Won some hardware too. Glad the public disagrees with you.
Son volt. I just reread your -post more carefully. Please refrain from directing me. Your imperative "remember- these guys''. Is gratuitous. I am quite sure, quiet sure, that I have forgotten more about the dead ball era than you'll ever know. For starters, The Big Train pitched roughly 40% of his career after the dead ball era. And his second league MVP was well into the live ball era. But these are piddling trifles. the point is not only do people compare players of different eras, it['s one of life's great pleasures.
Oh by the way Son Volt, Z's point about the 5th hitter Christy Matthewson faced would be on the bench and not comparable to the 5th hitter Mickey Lolich faced in the 68 world series. Yeah, I mentioned earlier that hitter was Socks Seybold. He led the AL in Homeruns in 1902 with 16. Not Ruthian, but a lot more than 10. And to Z's point about standard deviation. Well that shoots that theory in the rump doesn't it. Unless his argument is that the league leader in 1902 couldn't play in 1968.
And Z,
Your query about who Bill James said should be MVP... you said "certainly no hitter." And I know why you said it. But your response underscores your misunderstanding of the goings on. In fact James does name a hitter as the deserving MVP: Carl Yastrzemski
@M&A (12:09) and @Anoa Bob (1:16) -- You've both nailed the reason why I've so assiduously avoided turning in any puzzle that could possibly be considered for a Monday slot. If the puzzle editor felt compelled to, say, change my clue for SELLS to "Opposite of buys," I'd go hide myself under a turnip in total embarrassment and would not emerge again for at least a week.
@nancy, I hesitated to put SELLS in, even on a Monday. Maybe a "put" or some other way of trading stocks? Maybe some four letter way of saying I don’t buy it? Nope, just sells. Next...
Got my best Monday ever, I think, at 4:09! I was doubly happy when I saw I was only a minute off Rex's time
p.s.
Better SELLS clue: {Does that bear thing, even when not in the woods}.
SELLS has been an answer many times, in the NYTimes Monday x-word.
Clues used during such festive events:
* Opposite of buys (2 times)
* Vends (2)
* Hawks
* Is a winner, as a book
* Markets (2)
* Disposes of
Yer mileage on which ones rate turnip-divin may vary.
M&A Help Desk
@albatross shell - All hail rhubarb! The first stalks are showing up this week at our local farmers' market, and I have my pre-order in, so as not to miss my chance. Happy baking!
IBM/Watson reminded me that Ira Flatow and Matt Ginsberg discussed Dr. Fill last week on Science Friday. If you’re interested you can listen to it here.
I normally print out the puzzle from the Replica Edition and solve it in ink. But for Mondays these days, I save paper by solving it in my head. Today, I only needed the Down crosses to get TERRI, BOP, KENNY, VISAGES, SPORCLE and HEWN.
@1:48 - Yastrzemski? Sorry, but your team can’t finish 4th and have an MVP. Even if Yaz was the best player that year (10.1 WARP is pretty damn good), McLain’s 8.5 WARP was more valuable that year. This goes to the Mike Trout argument. He is often one of the best if not the best player, but he’s never been all that “valuable.” That’s not entirely his fault, but Trout has never been the difference between a good season and a great season for his team. McLain’s best season was most definitely the difference between winning the pennant and finishing second again.
And I think Socks Seybold v Mike Shannon exactly proves my point. Drop Shannon into 1905 and he would do at least as well as Seybold, but in 1968 Shannon is just a solid power hitter.
@12:39 - I can tell you exactly when I realized that the BBWAA’s opinions should be ignored: 1987. Not a single thing in the intervening 24 year has changed the low esteem in which I hold the BBWAA. There are exceptions in the group, but as a whole I ignore everything they do. Yes, that most especially includes just shaking my head over their HoF voting.
Was there a crossword today? 😇😇😇
BTW - No, I have never posted as @michiganman or @pete, nor am I really Rex, nor are any of the other inane conjectures about who I am posted here by @anon true. My email is available in my profile if you’re curious, as several have been over the years.
I meant DENNY 😀
Is SELLS really the *opposite* of buys? They refer to the same thing, a transaction, this for that. You can't have a buyer without a seller and you can't have a seller without a buyer? The opposite of buys is more like "doesn't buy" or "stands pat" or perhaps even "saves rather than spends". The say the opposite of love is not hate, but rather indifference.
@Z - You sure? I know most of the time my posts were actually mine, but one or two of them were really, really stupid and I've come to believe that maybe you posted them, rather than me. If you say not, I guess I'll believe you. Maybe michiganman did them. He's pretty fishy if you ask me.
I'm really irked about one of the comments above: "This can only be by that ZB woman." - I thought that an extraordinarily rude way to address anyone, much less the constructor of this puzzle. We all know that it's the editorial team that has the final say on clues, so blaming her for specific clues is knowingly inappropriate. If anyone is responsible for dumbing down clues on a Monday it's the editorial team. One may not like her puzzles, but to be so condescendingly dismissive if them is rude. CC is among the most respected of constructors, is 4th in Jeff Chens POW winners list, with only Eric Agar having a higher percentage of his puzzles receiving a POW.
@Pete- LOL
@Z/Michiganman- We totally schooled that punk. Nice !
LOL!
Z, you are hilarious.The BBWAA grieves your loss of confidence. We do however demand correct stats, and I’m afraid your WAR for Denny McLain is incorrect. His WAR in 1968 was 5.4 not 8.5 as you state. Yaz’s was 10.1. That’s a whopping 4.7 difference. In fact all, the difference in the world.
Oh, and the Tigers’ next MVP, Willie Hernandez? Yeah, he’s 6 places in back of McLain.I’m 1084 Cal Ripken was the clear MVP. His WAR was 4.4 better than Hernandez’s. Almost double in fact. (4.8 to 9.2)
Take the loss Z. Really.
Pete,
Z his been caught many times in, how shall, we say, the divergence from truth.
Surely his word is not sufficient for you, is it?o
I disavow the 5:28 comment. That was not written by me.
I have a hunch that Z and his sock puppets as well as the mice who accuse him and michiganman et. al. are all the same person. If that’s what retirement is then I think I’ll keeping working a few more years. 😂
@Lewis, thanks for the constructor notes. Hoping for the best.
Lots of folks got creative today in their spare time - thanks to @Lewis, @Roo, @M&A and many others for extending the entertainment!
@Frantic, @Barbara S, your YESLETS are adorbs! Agree on ‘bite size’ because the ‘wee’ yesses would be ayelets. ;-)
@egsforbreakfast, enjoyed your alternate offerin’s!
@albatross, @Carola and @Teedmn, rhubarb pie/crisp/torte has been my favorite since I first had it in college. It’s hard to find fresh rhubarb in the deep south, but I got a delicious pie at Fresh Market last week - mmmmm!
@Anoa Bob, good explanation re the Monday cluing, and sympathies for the POC marks.
@Joe Dipinto, SPORCL the blue violin guy is new to me but anyone being rebellious and trying to increase the appeal of ‘classical’ music gets my approval!
Speaking of which and as a balance to the baseball talk, check out this amazing improvisation on Happy Birthday by Venezuelan pianist Gabriela Montero, whose birthday is today. You may know of her from her performance at Obama’s inauguration with Itzhak Perlman, Yo-yo Ma and Andrew McGill. She has been doing these real-time improvisations since she was a very small child.
@anon 6:54 - the average baseball fan doesn’t give a damn about the BBWAA after seeing them bungle decision after decision for years. An organization that was formed for the noble and necessary reason to provide the media access to the ballpark to do their work. Since no one reads sports writers any more and press boxes are huge they’ve been bastardized into a group who gets to determine awards and accolades with little to no oversight. A guy with some ethics and balls like Le Batard tries to make things interesting and gets hammered from a bunch of old white guys who can’t make up their mind about what to do with the steroid era.
Even worse are the losers who choose not to cast a ballot for the HOF and conceal their identity behind some bs rule. I’m assuming they’re the same ones who hold grudges against players like Rice and Albert Belle for all these years because they weren’t nice to deal with.
@Barbara S
Took me into the 2nd quarter tonight, but I got QB* with the same last word as you.
*Is QB the equivalent of a complete game?
Sun Volt,
Thanks, you nailed it. Are you available next month for a meeting? I’m sure you have much to teach us.
Just post your deets and we’ll get back to you. ( How do you feel about Dick Allen? He’s the guy who most feel aggrieved about)
@A (7:23 PM)
Thx for the wonderful Montero vid. :)
@JC66 8:22 PM 👍
___
Peace ~ and Good Health to all 🕊
@JC66 (8:22 PM)
I think you're remembering @TTrimble's post from 11:51. I'm glad for both of you and for @bocamp, but I'm stuck at -1 and gOiNg CRAZZEE!!
@Barbara S
Oops, my first mistake this year. 😂
BTW, if I can do it, you can.
@Barbara S. (8:52 PM)
Thx, and 🤞 for you! :)
___
Peace ~ and Good Health to all 🕊
Today is Monday. Puzzles are supposed to be easier.
@6:54 - Baseball Prospectus lists McLain’s 1968 WARP at 8.5. Where are you looking?
@Son Volt 7:57 - Now that sounds like me. Especially the Lebatard shout out. 👍🏽👍🏽
@A - What? No position on the BaseBall Writers of America Association? Not even a plaint about them being the BBWAA and not the BWAA?
@7:19 - 🤣😂🤣😂 - I highly recommend retiring early if you can afford it. I had colleagues who worked well past my current age and I always wondered what the F they were thinking. I realize lots of people cannot afford to retire early, and some people need to work to keep themselves busy, but somehow I never miss my 50-60 hour work weeks.
Oh, BaseBall Writers of America Association. I thought you were unwisely ignoring the baseball decisions of BABAWAWA
Rex shouldn’t mocify his criticism based on his familiarity with the constructor. He should try reviewing without looking at the name - like a blind taste test.. This one needed more theme elements and it badly needed a reveal. Too thin. Even for a Monday. Take the Pepsi Challenge Rex for fairness and consistency in your reviews.
Not getting the lack-of-revealer criticism here. As we go through the solve we meet MMANDARINORANGES, then EGGWHITES. Let's see, food plus color. What else do you need? Was thinking of Rhode Island Reds...but there was no corresponding gridspanner in the south. Themers running both across and down; not bad for an easy Monday.
Yet as easy as it was, it still cost me two writeovers: one at the very popular STRATa, the other a confusion over my Jessica homonyms. BIEL or BeaL, either is DOD worthy. I wrote in the latter at first.
The grid flows, with the tightest areas being west central and east central. Even there, though, a long themer takes you out into the open. If you insist on finding a nit to pick, you can have the triple O__O entries in the E/SE: OTTO OSLO ORSO. But if that's all you can come up with, give the lady a birdie. At this rate she's liable to shoot about a 52 (couple of eagles in there).
GET ONES LAB TEST
A CADRE of NANAS said, "My DEERE,
YES,LET'S us TEST what we SELLS and peddle,
TERRI and HELENA VIES for headgear,
WHILES ERICA's ILK URNS us a MEDAL.
--- DENNY PEROT
The colorful edibles might make a good breakfast or brunch--for somebody maybe.
VISAGE is a good word and SPORCLE is oddly amusing.
Nothing really to stew about here.
@Burma Shave --
Okay, you’ve rhymed it, but can you translate it please?
This was as easy as a Monday. Oh wait - it IS Monday. Just can't keep the week straight anymore. Didn't see CC until I was done - good Flag Day all!
Diana, Lady-in-Waiting for Crosswords
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