Word of the Day: Rebecca LEE Crumpler (52D: Rebecca ___ Crumpler, first African-American female physician) —
Rebecca Lee Crumpler, born Rebecca Davis, (February 8, 1831 – March 9, 1895), was an American physician, nurse and author. After studying at the New England Female Medical College, in 1864 she became the first African-American woman to become a doctor of medicine in the United States. Crumpler was one of the first female physician authors in the nineteenth century. In 1883, she published A Book of Medical Discourses. The book has two parts that cover the prevention and cure of infantile bowel complaints, and the life and growth of human beings. Dedicated to nurses and mothers, it focuses on maternal and pediatric medical care and was among the first publications written by an African American about medicine.
Crumpler graduated from medical college at a time when very few African Americans were allowed to attend medical college or publish books. Crumpler first practiced medicine in Boston, primarily serving poor women and children. After the American Civil War ended in 1865, she moved to Richmond, Virginia, believing treating women and children was an ideal way to perform missionary work. Crumpler worked for the Freedmen's Bureau to provide medical care for freed slaves. [...]
She later moved back to Boston to continue to treat women and children. The Rebecca Lee Pre-Health Society at Syracuse University and the Rebecca Lee Society, one of the first medical societies for African-American women, were named after her. Her Joy Street house is a stop on the Boston Women's Heritage Trail. (wikipedia)
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This was a solid and enjoyable puzzle overall, which I rarely used to say about a puzzle featuring triple (or quad) stacks. I guess the software / wordlists have gotten a lot more, uh, robust in the past decade, allowing constructors to achieve these constructing feats with a lot less concomitant garbage. Often the crosses on big stacks come out quite poorly—you can definitely see a difference today, in terms of grid taxation, between the upper stack and the lower stack. Things look really good up top, with hardly a thing to make you wince, whereas down below, I'm kind of wincing all the way from WETV through OTOE ORIEL AAS APBS ETS to LES, with even TESSERAE seeming like a bit of a 1-point Scrabble tile cop-out (though I do like the word, weirdly, and mosaics are fun to imagine, so I'll let TESSERAE pass). You can kind of feel that the bottom stack is struggling a little with SLEEVELESS DRESS—soooo many Es and Ls and Ss, just an avalanche of common letters, which generally make grids easier to fill; and yet the short crosses down here are still wobbly. So yeah, in general, things are far nicer up top than down below, which is iffy all the way up to the middle of the grid in the east (EST LSAT BASRA TSAR ETTA AIME). And yet, as I say, it remained pretty enjoyable throughout. SLEEVELESS DRESS has the virtue of being a very real thing, so the E- and S-ridden desperation of it all doesn't come through that strongly. Plus, CARE TO ELABORATE is a 10/10, and ATHLETIC APPAREL at least passes by without incident. Plus, any opportunity I get to remember Hedy LAMARR is always appreciated.
I really liked how this one opened up for me. Blanked on the Bryson book, so started in on the short crosses (which is generally how I attack a long-answer stack). Only took me two crosses to see the Bryson title. There's something slightly exhilarating about not knowing some long answer, getting just a couple of crosses, and then realizing, "ooh, there it is."
This top third of the puzzle then came into view pretty quickly, and I generally liked everything I saw. Dropping "THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E." straight through the heart of the grid gave me the whooosh feeling I really look for on a Friday—all sections of the grid all of a sudden become available. It's like Christmas morning! Well, I guess we didn't often play RUSSIAN ROULETTE on Christmas morning growing up, but you get the idea.
I think I was lukewarm toward the bottom third of this puzzle firstly because the top third was so good, so the bottom just paled by comparison, but secondly because my entree to the bottom third, my in-word, my greeter, if you will, was a completely gratuitous Trump clue: 41D: Trump is named in it (EUCHRE). Don't do that. Don't use that guy in your little cutesy tricksy clues. The clue is clearly worded in such a way as to make me think of the awful man. True, I saw through the awful man to the card game very quickly, but still, a half second thinking about that *&%^ is a half second too long ... the stink lingers. I'M not EASY when it comes to that jackass. And then we get Yet Another Harry Potter Clue just two answers over? (39D: Jason who played Lucius Malfoy in Harry Potter films = ISAACS). Yeah, the puzzle lost some goodwill down here for sure. But on the whole, the puzzle holds up. It's 2/3 good, so, majority good, so, good.
Some things disappoint, some don't. Having cheato in a puzzle is an example of the former; Rex's response, the satisfying latter. Other than that, very fine Friday. Oh, and having never cracked a Harry Potter book, those clues elude me (but I seem to be learning). TGIF. I only have a handful left before retirement. 😃
It’s a feat alright, double triple stacks plus mid-grid spanners, and well-executed, with some stellar entries among those spanners, and the remainder of the puzzle relatively clean. Daniel has the touch when it comes to building a grid, IMO, from puzzle one to this, his eleventh.
But I want more than an impressive grid. I want a good solve. And man, I got it. Just like I want a grid looking like this to be – no quick slapdowns on the spanners, enough toughness on their crosses to make revealing them gradual, leading to satisfying yeses when they hit me, yeses with kapow.
Fireworks in a work of beauty – just a stellar Friday. Thank you for all you put into this, Daniel!
I don’t have the same warm feelings for this puzzle as Rex has and you probably know why. Triple 15 stack at the top and 2 of the answers are PPP and one of those two is THE BACHELORETTE? And then you make the middle 15 Down also PPP. No. Just no. I don’t care if the fill is clean, I want a word puzzle, not Celebrity Jeopardy. And then, having been deprived of any cleverness in the north, we get a perfectly fine entry like ATHLETIC APPAREL and clue it with Product Names. Basically, this entire week has been a series of the lowest form of crossword, wholly devoted to pop culture trivia and largely devoid of clever word play. I was a little surprised that ACER made a puzzle without Apple Product Placement happening. At least we didn’t get a StanAngRobert clue for LEE.
And before someone rises to the defense of THE BACHELORETTE - Please, no. If you love it, fine. For me it is fingernails on chalkboard and just thinking about is like the feeling you get when you hit your funny bone, only the whole body version.
Late Yesterday Follow-Up @Barbara S - Yah. But I always come back to the idea that they are choosing to pay that price. $400 million can buy a lot of privacy but for whatever reason she chooses to be famous. Maybe some of that is beyond her control, but not all of it.
@TJS - 😎 - I don’t actually track such things, but my sense is that we agree more than we disagree, like a 60/40 split, it’s just that what we agree on is less interesting to write about.
@Joe Dipinto - 🤣😂🤣 I read that whole post imaging a church choir providing backing vocals.
Any puzzle that starts with a Bill Bryson book will put me in an even better mood, so this one made me smile all the way through. The AT runs right through home territory here, hikers are common sights, and the Brysons used to live in our local college town. I had his daughter in class (top notch runner, and tiny) and met his wife but not the great man himself. I think I've read all of his books and wish there were more.
So a very fun start, and then THEMANFROMUNCLE shows up, Fond memories of that one too. THEBACHELORETTE bothers me not at all, one of those "reality" shows I've never watched, probably because they have nothing to do with "reality".
And the EUCHRE answer was a relief--yay, it's not about him! We toss him down the oubliette at our peril, I' afraid. Vigilance still needed.
Only nit here is ALEGLASS. I drink a lot of IPA's, and have never asked for one. Another pint, please, and this time use an ALEGLASS. Uh, no.
Long answers filling in nicely, references to stuff I like, even ORIEL shows up to remind me how long I've been doing these. I had a fine old time and was sorry to finish.
So thanks for all the fun, DL. Damn Lucky to find this one today.
Wow, I blazed through this on wings of fire, poised to blast my previous Friday record, and then got inexplicably bogged down in the morass around EUCHRE, SWAP, SOUP and the WAR part of WAR SONGS. That probably wasn’t a problem area for anyone else, but man, I couldn’t get it together for the longest time. When I finally did, I ended up with a decent solve time but not the record-shatterer I was hoping for.
I got several of the grid spanners with no crosses and a couple more with only one or two helping letters. I thought each of the upper spanners paired nicely with each of the lower. For A WALK IN THE WOODS you might wear ATHLETIC APPAREL (think hiking). When you’re CALLed ON THE CARPET, your accuser might demand that you explain your transgression by asking icily, CARE TO ELABORATE? The star of THE BACHELORETTE probably swans around in a whole wardrobe of SLEEVELESS DRESSes (although I’m surmising, having never watched it). I also liked the cross of THE MAN FOM UNCLE and RUSSIAN ROULETTE. Fighting THRUSH was mighty dangerous work, and our heroes Solo and Kuryakin, never knew if they’d come back with their lives.
Loved the clue for SEA (Head for a cow, horse or lion?). Thought DEARY was an odd spelling (I’d use “ie”). IMEASY is DOOKY. Here’s the ORIEL window Henry VIII had built for Katherine of Aragon when they were still Henkath and before he broke her heart and created Henanne.
Today’s passage is by RICHARD POWERS, born June 18, 1957.
“We found that trees could communicate, over the air and through their roots. Common sense hooted us down. We found that trees take care of each other. Collective science dismissed the idea. Outsiders discovered how seeds remember the seasons of their childhood and set buds accordingly. Outsiders discovered that trees sense the presence of other nearby life. That a tree learns to save water. That trees feed their young and synchronize their masts and bank resources and warn kin and send out signals to wasps to come and save them from attacks. “Here’s a little outsider information, and you can wait for it to be confirmed. A forest knows things. They wire themselves up underground. There are brains down there, ones our own brains aren’t shaped to see. Root plasticity, solving problems and making decisions. Fungal synapses. What else do you want to call it? Link enough trees together, and a forest grows aware.” (From The Overstory)
I had to work at this and the challenge was lots of fun. This will be a different experience for anyone who knew A WALK IN THE WOODS or THE BACHELORETTE or both. I knew neither and had to go elsewhere first and come back. Especially since the short crossing Downs up on top were quite perplexing. "Enter the picture" for ACT seems a bit misleading to me. Where's the entering? You enter the picture when you're CAST. You can also enter the picture when you hear your CUE. But once you ACT you're already in the picture, it seems to me.
LL BEAN is a "claim to fame"? Is that all you got, Freeport ME? Condolences.
Couldn't remember THE MAN FROM UNCLE off the top of my head -- even though I once watched it religiously. All that was coming to me was MISSION IMPOSSIBLE, which didn't fit.
Moving on down: I had Dorothy LAMouR before I had Hedy LAMARR, which is...dumb. Dorothy would have been pretty miscast as Delilah. Unless it was a spoof, of course, with Bob Hope playing Samson.
Before I saw SLEEVELESS DRESSES, I wanted SLEEpEr something-or-other. Isn't that what everyone's been wearing for the past year?
Triple stack puzzles are among my favorite types as long as the short Downs are challenging. This puzzle, which I thought was very well-crafted, met that criterion and I enjoyed it a lot.
If not my fastest Friday, it has to be close to it. Start off with a complete gimme spanning the grid at 1A, and throw in a grid-spanning down in THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E., and another with RUSSIAN ROULETTE and basically the whole grid is laid bare.
When given a choice, I always OPT SIN.
An absolutely beautifully filled grid, let down by lack of challenge in the cluing.
From yesterday's blog (late) -- Don't miss @Joe Dipinto's hilarious "explanation" to me about a certain celebrity couple. It's an absolute classic and a real hoot to read.
@Barbara S - the cross of S_AP and _AR Songs - that one little square, probably took me 45 seconds. It was my only holdup on the day. Wanted BAR SONGS, which made me question my S_AP crosses. Then thought maybe EAR SONGS. CAR SONGS? OAR SONGS?
I did get THE MAN FROM UNCLE right off (yay!) but I found this difficult and challenging and was thrilled to finish it. So of course it was deflating to see Rex rate it Easy-Medium. Whatevs.
United network command for law enforcement. Friday night 9pm NBC.david McCollum. Robert Vaughn. Leo G Carroll. Does not get better. I don't think any of them was more than 5 ft 6 in.
I don't get 24D. The answer is of course LINE but the clue has got to be better...so many alternatives.
As for Trump, why not? It provides entertainment value thinking of all the possible answers like Lawsuit, indictment, Mueller report, ...
Nope - not for me. I don’t need grid spanning trivia stacks. CARE TO ELABORATE is the best thing here - I’ll even take THE MAN FROM UNCLE - but reality TV and more kiddie lit garbage?
Here’s hoping we get a proper late week puzzle tomorrow.
As a longtime euchre player, I can't agree with your Trump tirade. That word belonged to euchre (and other card games) long before he despoiled it, so I loved seeing a clue that reclaimed it to its rightful place.
We have ORIEL today. Can OSIER and ETUI be far behind?
If I wandered over to my bookshelf (very casually, kinda sneakily, humming tunelessly) to see the exact title of Bryson's book, is that cheating?
Great quote, Barbara S. Everyone should read The Overstory--especially those who liked A Walk in the Woods. The Overstory is so moving. So informative. So insightful. So important. Loved the woman scientist who didn't know that she had become important and famous in the science world while she was out in the forests, continuing her work, thinking no one was listening.
@Lewis....My "THE" runneth over. Well....this wasn't exactly A WALK IN THE park......Nosireebob....it was the WOODS. I tip-toed everywhere. Danced a bit on THE CARPET, felt a little sorry for THE BACHELORETTE left in the lurch while Mr. Bachelor secretly romps with the girl next door. Such is life. Did I like this, you ask.....Well, yes. I did! I did a LICK at the STEAKS and the BEEF LOIN but the SOUP was MORTAL. By the way, I don't get MORTAL (40D) as a plaything for a Greek God. How do you play with a MORTAL? So many national anthems are WAR SONGS? I always thought they were about GOD and all the good he/she does - or maybe I'm thinking about Jesus? Nice work-out. I even managed to get names I've never heard of. @Joe Dip from yesterday. Good one. Green paint story?
@ Teresa 7:14 Exactly. I thought it was a wonderful misdirect. But you know rex, only "certain" answers are acceptable . . . .
Getting AWALKINTHEWOODS right off the bat made this I believe my fastest Friday ever.
@ Z, yes there were a lot of proper nouns, and tv shows at that, but you know what, it didn't bother me. I love the long crosses, and if it takes some proper names to make it all work, that's a fair trade. or SWAP.
The only one I didn't care for was the actor in the Harry Potter series. I've rsigned myself that Harry Potter is going to be found in our puzzles for years to come, but this felt wat too esoteric, even for a Friday. Still, easy to infer from just the I and the A.
Pretty quick for a Friday, but I love me those long luscious 15-spanners, including THE BACHELORETTE. (I feel bad for people who are triggered by such answers. That includes the word "Trump". It's immediately clear that it wasn't going to refer to "The Donald" [not my coinage, and I don't cleave], so really, just relax. It's only a matter of remembering the name of a card game. EUCHRE is a cool-looking word.)
We may be hearing from others today about POC. Didja know that another plural form for KOAN is just KOAN? That's typical for Japanese loanwords. (Oh, also, in case you didn't know, that's a two-syllable word.)
I don't wince at ORIEL. In fact, there's something about that word I find pleasing. As far as I'm concerned, it's welcome anytime in my puzzle. (OTOH, that workhorse OTOE really needs a rest.) Cheering on LAMARR and TESSERAE -- for the latter, I was at first thinking of something to do with TESSElations, before snapping to.
I guess the ISAACS-ARC cross isn't a Natick, but no way I could tell you the name of the Malfoy actor unaided, nor do I read comic books, and I'm not sure what picture I should form for "ARC reactor". Although: this did lead me to read, with interest, about the ARC (Affordable, Robust, Compact) fusion reactor, a theoretical design for a nuclear fusion reactor.
There are so many things Rex/Michael writes that completely annoy me, are totally out of line, and are deeply offensive to anyone with any sense of decency and right.
Therefore, Will Shortz should permanently ban the following words from all crossword puzzles: Parker; Park; Parka; Parquet; Rex; Roi; Rey; Michael, Mike; Mic; Mick; Michelle; Michaela; Sharp; Sharpe; Sharpie; Sharpen; Sharpener; Sharpshooter.
Right now, I'm feeling as sentimentally "AWWWW" about trees as I normally feel about warm puppies. Thanks for that eye-opening quotation, @Barbara S (8:16). If it's true and not completely anthropomorphic, it's really remarkable.
Another hand up for thinking DEARY is misspelled.
Wouldn't it be wonderful if most national anthems were PEACE SONGS?
Read Bryson's I'm a Stranger Here Myself and don't know why I stopped there because I loved it, but I wasn't prepared for 1A. First long answers to go in were The Bachelorette (what else would have a diamond ring) and then Russian Roulette. This of course led me to the assumption that something Ette would be going on and briefly, problems ensued.
Got down to Products of Under Armour … and thought Impossibly Tight Spandex Pants, which didn't fit. Next problem was having the third and last S's in 57A (Certain Summer Attire), leading to the belief it was either Shorts or Shirts. Don't Care To Elaborate on the next 25+ minutes.
It is enough to say that after many trips up, down, and across our little hero (only in her own mind) prevailed, standing triumphantly atop the stacks, shouting at the heavens, "It was Euchre! I have found it."
I call on many to assume that we already know a lot of you either love or hate something mentioned in this puzzle. We get it. Please don't feed the trolls. Crews are still working on clean up from earlier this week.
Haha - Rex is a whiny child about the lead suit in a game of Euchre, but ignores the blatant intolerance directed toward about half of a billion people (SLANT) - which is kind of weird since he usually has enough energy to multi task when it comes to the Department of Bitching and Moaning. Today was ripe for a multi-faceted harangue from OFL.
I don't know he statistics on how many national anthems are WARSONGS. But the one a lot of Americans think is our anthem, the one they actually sing, God Bless America, is not a war song. God Save the Queen is not a war song. Then there's the case of Slovenia:
God's blessing on all nations, Who long and work for that bright day, When o'er earth's habitation No war, no strife shall hold its sway;
Who long to see That all man free No more shall foes, but neighbours be.
Seven grid-spanners - that's what I'm talkin' about! Okay, SLEEVELESSDRESS is a little green painty, with excess s-ness, and THEBACHELORETTE is...well...let's just say that the apt description is a MIND TAX and move along.
The point is I really liked this one. Only problem was it was over too soon for the Fridee, but it was fun while it lasted!
Not letting the Circus Peanut ruin my day because I'm off to see the Wizards of Odd (friends) - so later, dudes!
I couldn't find who said it above but it's right on. The trouble with reality shows is that there's no reality in them.
Thanks to Nancy for directing me to Joe DiPinto's delightful piece late yesterday about celebrity couples. I didn't care much for the ones he mentions, though. Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston were my ideal.
Hey All ! Nice themeless. Triple stacks we haven't seen in a bit. Plus two mid crossing 15's. Nice.
@Lewis, noticed the THE fest, thinking it was a mini-theme. Then thought there'd be an ETTE in the lower third, so much for consistency! 😁
Trump is used in many card games, Spades, Hearts, EUCHRE, Bridge... For the love of everything holy, get over the fact you hate DT, and just use the word as it's intended. Agree with the people who wondered why Rex didn't go on a six paragraph rant about SLANT, even though it's clued inoculously. Remember the SLOPE rant?
Anyway, did enjoy the puz. Title could've been "THE ETTE". Har.
I'll do this as a "Me, too," for getting off to a quick start with A WALK IN THE WOODS; faltering at?ARSONGS, where I needed to do the alphabet run all the way to the W; first writing in LAMouR for LAMARR (after confirming that "Leontyne" didn't fit). I smiled at the puzzle's telling me "I'M EASY" down there in the opaque-to-me EUCHRE area, as if there were appended a silent "You thought."
For me, Jason Isaacs as Lucius Malfoy is one of the best actor-character pairings ever.
I started off fast, throwing in A WALK IN THE WOODS, and adding CALL ON THE CARPET with a few crosses. I was reluctant to put in the non-thing ALE GLASS, but GENA made it inevitable.
LL BEAN is probably the right answer for 4D these days, when people will travel long distances to shop. Especially weird since it's a company most famous for its catalog (although it prospered initially because it was a good place to pick up fishing supplies on your way north). But a better answer would be The Desert of Maine.
Like @Nancy, I had LAMouR before LAMARR. I didn't even think about who she actually was until the crosses showed I was wrong -- just "female actress starting with LM..." That's the danger of doing too many crosswords.
@kitshef, as you probably know, The Star-Spangled Banner is set to the tune of a BAR SONG of its time, "To Anacreon in Heaven." So you weren't so far off.
I agree with Rex, it was a pretty good exemplar of the multi-grid-spanner genre.
@Unknown et al on Bar Songs. Wouldn't that be awesome! How much of an opportunity has America lost with the Star Spangled Banner when we could've been hoisting mugs and singing 99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall before sporting events? The sponsorship money lost by the NFL alone are heartbreaking. The National Anthem, brought to you by Bud Light!
@Barbara, I'm so curious. What does this reference, "... built for Katherine of Aragon when they were still Henkath and before he broke her heart and created Henanne."
@Strunk, We probably don't agree on a lot but that's still a dam fine and impressive list of rexonyms.
My 2¢: The use of The Former Guy's name in a clue gets a rant while RUSSIAN ROULETTE as answer gets a silly remark is, IMO, a bit odd.
Also - I have always believed our own national anthem should be changed to "America the Beautiful". Rather than celebrate WAR as our current anthem does, it celebrates beauty and brotherhood. And it's easier to sing.
This was my fastest Friday by far. I saw the Bill Bryson book and thought, “It can’t possibly be this easy,” but it was. I’ve never seen THE BACHELORETTE, but I’ve been called on the carpet in my day (most memorably by the president of the University where I taught!) and I loved THE MAN FROM UNCLE. Good time today.
“The Overstory” is absolutely lovely; I think I initially saw it recommended right here. There have been several books that made from this blog to my bedside table. It’s lovely having well-read friends.
@JD, “I’m a Stranger Here Myself” was the only Bryson book I didn’t like. Perhaps I should reread it; maybe I missed a deeper meaning. But it seemed to me to be a lot of walking and not much of anything else. But “The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid” should be required reading for anyone who grew up in the Midwest in the 50s.
Blew this one in the SW. I've seen the "Harry Potter" film but misspelled ISSACS. Don't know anything about Iron Man, so that was no help. Then the clue on 41 Down totally threw me, as I figured it wasn't about the Odious One but it stuck in my brain. And I've barely heard of EUCHRE. Ah, well...
"the whoosh feeling I really look for on a Friday". Not here. I don't want any whooshes on a weekend puzzle. I want desperation. I want to feel like I achieved something upon completion. Not today.16 minute fill.
@Z, agreed. I even agree on your take of this whole week. Could we possibly not award POWs until the week is over. I hate the lowered expectations every morning. I guess it's Chen I have to deal with.
In the D.R. this is the 3rd week of no alcohol served in bars after 3 PM. It's absolutely hysterical how the bars get around this. Bribery is a very under-rated civic virtue.
Our national anthem doesn’t celebrate war, it celebrates the fact that our standard never fell despite a terrible bombardment in battle. That isn’t celebrating war, it’s celebrating the indomitable spirit which allowed the Stars and Stripes to continue to fly over the fort and the men who were defending our country against invaders.
@JD - I read your comment "Impossibly Tight Spandex Pants, which didn't fit." and thought that was TMI, then realized you were trying to fit the WORDS into the puzzle, not yourself into the spandex.
Got 1A instantly and the whole top of the puzzle filled in so quickly, I took my foot off the gas and the bottom half went slower. Rex's comments may exonerate me.
@JD - I read your comment "Impossibly Tight Spandex Pants, which didn't fit." and thought that was TMI, then realized you were trying to fit the WORDS into the puzzle, not yourself into the spandex.
Got 1A instantly and the whole top of the puzzle filled in so quickly, I took my foot off the gas and the bottom half went slower. Rex's comments may exonerate me.
It’s been kind of a mediocre week for crosswords but this outstanding Friday made up for the lack of luster to this point. I stared at the blank grid, relishing all those wide open spaces and couldn’t wait to dig in. It did not disappoint. Loved the added bonus of the long down. I think every TEEN girl of that era was madly in love with David McCallum, at least for a little while.
I desperately wanted INDICTMENT at 41 down. Every day I check the news hoping, hoping, this will be the day.
The Overstory is a novel but its main character is based on the real-life forest ecologist, Suzanne Simard, and her work. She first published her findings in the late 1990s in the journal Nature. I don't know enough about the subject to know whether her conclusions about trees and their interactions within forests are correct, and there's still controversy about her work. But I think also a growing acceptance as time goes on.
@JD (9:57) In what's undoubtedly an example of humor known only to myself, I was riffing on yesterday's "Bennifer" and applying it to Good(?) King Henry and his paramours.
Literally none of the Gen Alphas are TEENS yet. The oldest ones are 11 this year. Garbage clue that had me wondering if there was a rebus in 23D for too long.
Of all the things that people get bent by on this site, Rex included, why doe RUSSIANROULETTE get a pass. Russian roulette has to be one of the most tragic things imaginable. Two people in a battle to be the first one to commit suicide, but it gets a free pass from Rex, Will, and most of the posters.
I REEEEEEALLY struggled with this one. I'm 34, so I've never heard CALLONTHECARPET (seems like that's a generational thing...maybe regional?), nor AWALKINTHEWOODS, so the north was a slog for me.
ATHLETICAPPAREL felt weaksauce. I somehow had a typo on BIPOD (had BIPID) so I could not see CARETOELABORATE. Really messed me up.
SLEEVELESSDRESS might be real...but only in the way that, say, short sleeve t-shirts are. If you say t-shirt, I automatically assume it's short-sleeved. Same goes for sleevelessness and dresses.
ALEGLASS is not a thing. Never heard of ORIEL (it amazes me how much crosswordeses I still DON'T know). I think of LICK as belonging to rock, not jazz. BEEFLOIN made me gag, but not as much as reading the word Trump.
Been without wifi due to a fallen tree, but I broke down and used the phone hotspot today. Very happy to find this fine offering from Daniel Larsen. Also happy I couldn’t remember the Bryson title so I got a bit more exercise in.
Totally disagree with OFL about the EUCHRE clue - it just made me look forward to the time when the name fades and the word lives on.
My WALK IN THE WOODS was slow but steady - just a few stumbles: teND before MIND, TrUtH before TOUGH. With the two P’s in I really wanted ATHLETIC suPPORTS.
MORTAL seemed incomplete. Just a couple of days ago I saw a bit of a Star Trek rerun which had Greek god Apollo attempting to force the “mere MORTALs” of the Enterprise to worship him. Turns out Greek gods aren’t that smart.
The US national anthem may be a WARSONG, but it’s the only one I know of that ends in a question.
Seeing THE MAN FROM UNCLE almost made THE BACHELORETTE worthwhile. Here’s another UNCLE from a famous musician who is 79 years old today.
I’m sure a grammarian could explain to me why “Much of Gen Alpha, now” correctly results in TEENS. Much TEENS? Feels like it should have been clued as “Many in…” Or answered as TEENAGED or something. English is convoluted enough that I’m sure it’s probably correct as is, but it still grates to my ear. Other than that, some impressive long answers, and a reasonably fun and challenging solve.
Where’s LMS? I hope she saw today’s mini with 4 palindromes! LOVED “Man from U.N.C.L.E”; my fave was Ilya, and my BFF & I met him at a book signing, offered him a can of Coke, retrieved the can when he left, and “preserved” the remnants in glass vials. We eventually tossed them out when they grew mold and we grew up. That’s pure fandom!
Yes, Trump is an awful man. He's also a real person who is a historical figure and a significant name in U.S. and world affairs. Hence, his name is 100% appropriate in a word PUZZLE, whether or not it would be so in an ideological PAMPHLET.
Meanwhile, the TSAR was a pretty "awful" tyrant, wasn't he? RUSSIAN ROULETTE is an "awful" game, and I'm sure the mere implication of suicide would actually be considered a "trigger" in today's walking-on-eggshells classrooms, as would a mention of that cisgendered/heterosexist TV show THE BACHELORETTE, to say nothing of those horrible WAR SONGS that represent the national anthems of so many countries.
Gee -- if we're going to excise anything potentially "horrible" or -- Jah help us!-- "offensive" from our list of acceptable clues and answers, we're not going to end up with much of a puzzle, are we?
Yay! I finally took a walk in the woods by the shore! But then I got called on the carpet by the bachelorette, Gena. “Mind,” she said, “don’t lick the sea. It taints your tongue and makes life tough.”
“But Gena,” I said, “I’m easy! I’ve bee(n) flo(w)in’ and playin’ Russian roulette and singin’ war songs! And I’m wearing my worn athletic apparel! “
“Would you care to elaborate?” asked Gena. “What I see you wearing is a sleeveless dress.”
“Oh, Gena,” I said, “I detect a bias against fantasy. Please, let’s enjoy our steaks and ale for we are mortal and may soon join The Man From UNCLE, alive in memory only.”
(This is a test. I got a new iPad and somehow everything google is screwed up, including my nom de blog. I may now be identified as someone other than Tale Told By An Idiot. We will see.
A pleasant day in the Northwest with a grid to match. Rather A Walk in the Woods here compared to the drought, heat or tropical anomalies being suffered by most posters. May the weather and the puzzle both improve in coming days.
Loved the clue for SOUP, but agree with @Z that PPP has been reaching a mass that threatens the ARC reactor. Trivial pursuits + the tiny 3&4 letter crosswordese glue = 🥴👎🏽
@MarthaCatherine my hand I up to second your appreciation of @Barbara's daily quote. The Overstory is quite simply brilliant. We should have listened to Mother Nature! (Or at least the NOAA website?)
@Joe Dipinto: Loved your Bennifer tale from last night.
@Conrad (6:47) I award you the prize for best comment of the day. I’m still chuckling.
@Joaquin (10:01) I agree America the Beautiful would be an inspiring anthem, as have others in the past: At various times in the more than one hundred years that have elapsed since the song was written, particularly during the John F. Kennedy administration, there have been efforts to give "America the Beautiful" legal status either as a national hymn or as a national anthem equal to, or in place of, "The Star-Spangled Banner", but so far this has not succeeded. Proponents prefer "America the Beautiful" for various reasons, saying it is easier to sing, more melodic, and more adaptable to new orchestrations while still remaining as easily recognizable as "The Star-Spangled Banner". Some prefer "America the Beautiful" over "The Star-Spangled Banner" due to the latter's war-oriented imagery; others prefer "The Star-Spangled Banner" for the same reason. While that national dichotomy has stymied any effort at changing the tradition of the national anthem, "America the Beautiful" continues to be held in high esteem by a large number of Americans, and was even being considered before 1931 as a candidate to become the national anthem of the United States. Wikipedia
Sure Sure. bAR SONGS > WAR SONGS. But is there really any question that all COVID Era National Anthems were Sea Shanties?
@nyc_lo - I think with this kind of clue there’s a lot of assumed verbiage. What (m)uch of Gen Alpha is comprised of, now” - I’m not saying I like it, just that this much stretching is sometimes expected of solvers. Maybe we should call these “Yoga Clues.”
@Tim - In as much as all the Gen whatever is bullshit, I don’t really care. But you seem to be correct that Gen Alpha is generally accepted to be people born no earlier that 2010 (and some put it at 2013). It is Gen Z who are now TEENS.
@TJS - Since Chen and I are on completely different wavelengths about what makes a puzzle good I never bother to read him. I will say that, unless tomorrow eschews being a PPP fest, I will end up agreeing with his take this week.
I have thoughts on RUSSIAN ROULETTE that would be sure to send the comments somewhere else so I deleted them. You’re welcome.
@MetroGnome is on to something. To appease Rex and all of the others who are distraught, saddened or otherwise triggered by the fact that there are evil people in the word who do evil things, or those who simply cannot abide by the fact that some people exist who have ideas contrary to their own, maybe the New York Times should no longer edit and publish original works and simply recycle puzzles that have appeared in People Magazine and TV Guide. They seem to manage to be able get through the week without sending the Rexes of the world into a deep and prolonged depression.
@Teresa - I too spent minutes thinking of a lawsuit that fit for the Euchre guy. (Haha there are so many!)
@Conrad you pointing out Russian roulette and the Euchre guy combo made me let the unpleasant (45)image fade and gave me a small smile. Russian anythig and 🤡 🚮 🤡 equals 🎯 👍🏽 🎯
@Tim - Good one. Yes, Euchre as verb means to cheat. Good one. Another smile.
Oh, the puzz. Yes it was pretty good 😊 But this Euchre/45 stuff is more fun. 😜
@jberg - the Desert of Maine has to be one of the weirdest roadside attractions out there. We even spent the night at the campground to go all in on it.
I realized today that I neglected Marc Anthony in the Bennifer chronology. J-Lo wedged him in after Ben and before A-Rod, and now he too has been spotted comforting her in her post A-Rod doldrums. She's certainly spoiled for choice – all her exes are panting after her.
I liked this puzzle. None of the grid-spanners were duds, imo, which is no mean feat when there are eight of them. "The Man From U.N.C.L.E." was my favorite TV show back in the day – I saw every episode of all four seasons. Season 1 was excellent, 2 was even better, 3 was horrible, and 4 recovered somewhat. The reason Season 3 was horrible was because "Batman" had premiered that year to great success and the U.N.C.L.E. folks tried to emulate it with cartoony story lines and a campier vibe. (The equally silly "Girl From U.N.C.L.E." debuted simultaneously.) It didn't work, the ratings tanked, so they tried to go back to basics with Season 4, but the damage was done and it got cancelled halfway through.
Thx @Rex for the Hedy LAMAAR link; what a fascinating and talented individual. Bless Alexandra Dean for researching her life, then writing and directing 'Bombshell: The Hedy LAMAAR Story'. I'll be watching it today on Prime Video (Canada). (hi @Derek M (9:46 AM))
As a bonus, I found another 'Bombshell' (streaming on Crave (Canada), where "A group of women take on Fox News head Roger Ailes and the toxic atmosphere he presided over at the network." ___
Enjoyed THE MAN FROM UNCLE back in the day. (hi @Mary McCarty (10:54 AM))
Played a lot of Bid EUCHRE in the Navy. It was big with the guys from the Mid-west.
Agreed; nothing can spoil a useful word like 'trump'! (hi @MJB (8:49 AM))
Learned TESSERAE from many years of xword solving.
@Barbara S. (8:16 AM)
Thx for the Powers quote; got the ebook on hold. :) (hi @MarthaCatherine (8:55 AM) / @Malsdemare (10:03 AM) / (Newboy 11:32 AM))
@Anonymous (8:57 AM)
Played lots of 'trump' card games, including bid EUCHRE, bridge, whist, spades, etc.. Also played lots of samba (canasta var.) with the grand-aunties. Don't recall 'trumps' in either canasta or samba … it's been a long, long time, so I may be wrong. I think of the latter two as meld games, along the lines of pinochle, which I played far too much of in college. LOL
@Greater Fall River Committee for Peace & Justice (9:27 AM)
I knew it was going to be a good day when I read the clue for one across. Bill Bryson is one of my favorite writers. It’s nice when you can drop in a 15 letter answer without any other letters.
I love that Bryson book, I read it twice, so that went straight in. I love all his books, especially the Australia one. Isn't funny when you don't say a phrase or think about something for 50 years and on the day you say that name or word, it appears in the crossword? For me that happened with The Man From UNCLE. My son and I did a jigsaw puzzle about pop culture in the 60s 70s and 80s. After it was done, I looked at them all and I said "I don't even know what the Man From UNCLE is!" Ha, and now it's in the crossword. Jigsaw Crossword - Puzzle Worlds Colliding.
The arc of production was pretty much the same with "The Avengers". On this side of the pond we only, mostly, got Mrs. Peel and Tara King. The loss of Mrs. Peel spelled the end of good episodes. The wiki likely has the answer, but IIRC, early 60s Brit teeVee was on videotape, and these were re-used without regard for posterity. Never saw an Honor Blackman episode, alas.
That’s not cheating. Anything in your personal library is fair game. I was happy to see a grid-spanning gimme with that answer, in my library and one of my more pleasant memories. Nice to get a quick start on a Friday puzzle. The bachelorette also dropped quickly.
The huge problem with "America the Beautiful" as a national anthem is this line, "God shed His grace on thee". It transforms a song into a prayer, a no-no.
The lyric “God shed his grace on thee” is an assertion, not a prayer. But even if it were, so what? There’s no prohibition against public prayer. There no prohibition against government sponsored prayer.
@DevoutAtheist 4:35. Heaven forbid I ever try to convert an atheist to anything other than what you believe, and I won't. But...the word God can be anything you want....The Big Bang Theory, the Cosmos having a field day, "That's the way the cookie crumbles" quote.....Or maybe, just maybe, something bigger than we are. We really don't know, do we? Give God any name you want but "it" did shed light on us. When you look at our universe and, and, and beauty (if you can)....don't you wonder why we're here? Proselytizing rant over....sorry! As you were.
Others have mentioned it, but I feel like piling on since it is such a clear factual error - literally 0% of Gen Alpha are TEENS right now. The oldest members of that generation are 11; the youngest haven't even been born! I'm so annoyed that no one corrected such an easily verifiable piece of information. It's not like it would be hard to change the clue. Took me way too long to fill that in... my brain knew it must be teens, but I kept saying, "But that cant' be right..."
@Devout Atheist, I have no opinion one way or the other, but did grow up pledging allegiance every morning to "one nation under God." I think it was added in the '50s.
@DevoutAthiest (4:35) - Two problems with your position: 1 - The line you quote is not a prayer, it is a statement; and 2 - The final verse of our current anthem:
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just, And this be our motto - “In God is our trust,” And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave.
Well, may be. 'God', in normal usage, connotes some sort of being that 'controls' the course of existence, perhaps even to benefiting some and punishing others. The alternatives you list aren't of that type, just the exercise of the known, and perhaps a smidgeon we don't yet know, laws of physics; IOW, a 'power' having no interest in or interaction with the meat sacks on this blue marble. Some times referred to as The Blind Watchmaker.
@JD -- One minute the nation wasn't under God and the next minute it was.
I was in fifth grade at P.S.6 and had been reciting "one nation indivisible" for years. That was the Pledge -- the good Pledge, the right Pledge, the true Pledge. Who would even question such a thing? Then one day I walked into class and our teacher, Miss Immediato, informed us that the Pledge had been been changed. What apostasy! I mean who would dare to change the Pledge?
Congress, it seems.
Worst of all, the scansion of the Pledge was being ruined. "One nation indivisible, with liberty and justice for all" scans. "One nation under God, with liberty and justice for all" doesn't scan. My 11-year-old ear cared about such things even back then.
I spent the rest of my P.S.6 years irritated with Congress for mucking up the "real" Pledge. Then, when I went on to a high school where the Pledge was not recited every day, I sort of forgot about it.
If you grew up with "one nation under God", I'm sure it will seem correct to you. As for me, I've never completely adjusted to such a sudden and arbitrary change in 1954. It still sounds like Congressional propaganda and overreach to me.
Hmm, The founnding document of the country, The Declaration of Independence says there’s a God. And it is from him that we are endowed with certain unalienable rights. But, yeah, you do you Devout Atheist. 🙄
Enjoyed the wise open spaces here despite the PPP. THE Bryson book was inferable with a few crosses. But if you know nothing of UNCLE or watch so little TV you never saw a BACHELORETTE ad, then I get your pain. Not at all easy for me. Things improved when I got the vertical spanning UNCLE show. I was thinking of a series of books for too long.
Hand-up for LAMouR.
@Anon 1012am I see your point, but I also see that the flag's survival was a sign the battle was not lost and the celebration was because of a victory in battle that was part of a war. So I trust you can see that point also.
I believe that belief in God, god, or gods that are real and creator of the world and acted in human history and demands belief and tributes from us and is accurately portrayed by any of the world's religion is horse's ass nonsense. However god as a concept can be very useful to believer or non-believer alike. It speaks to many things in our "mortal soup".
Also, I think between the Greeks and Romans and Shakespeare, there must be many plaints about mortals being playthings of the gods.
And if you make anything a meaningful statement of patriotism- Anthem or Pledge - you should make it neutral to believer or non-believer alike. I would not ask a religious American to deny his belief nor should he ask me to deny mine. Otherwise it is exclusionary and becomes a religious test.
I knew OFC would take off on that "He-who-shall-not-be-named" clue. I think Larsen (or perhaps even Shortz!) put it in there just to get his goat. BTW, there's no t**** in canasta.
Fifteen stacks are crossword acrobatics, often requiring ATHLETICAPPAREL. But strangely, they make solving easier along the way, most of the time. I wanted THEBACHELORETTE immediately, but that B bothered me, as LLBEAN was difficult to see. After solving the surrounding area, of course it became clear. (If I get an idea for a long answer, I double-check along the crosses, picking less-used letters.)
I am always pleased when a favorite actor, whose career seems to have seen better days, re-emerges with a new gig, as David McCallum did with Ducky on NCIS. Good for you, dude! I liked him way better than Vaughn.
Surprised that vegan OFC didn't rail about mini-theme STEAKS/BEEFLOIN. DOD is my DEARY Sela WARD. Sorry, GENA and Hedy LAMARR, honorable mention this time.
THEMANFROMU.N.C.L.E. went for AWALKINTHEWOODS having WORN ATHLETICAPPAREL to play RUSSIANROULETTE with THEBACHELORETTE, “I’MEASY just LICK THE barrel.”
I had LAMouR at first. LAMouR, LAMARR, who knew? And my look after was teND before MIND. And mETV before WETV. TAINTS the cleanliness of the grid. All those long answers make good fun.
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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114 comments:
Re 41D: Let. It. Go. You’ll be happier, really.
Some things disappoint, some don't. Having cheato in a puzzle is an example of the former; Rex's response, the satisfying latter.
Other than that, very fine Friday. Oh, and having never cracked a Harry Potter book, those clues elude me (but I seem to be learning). TGIF. I only have a handful left before retirement. 😃
It’s a feat alright, double triple stacks plus mid-grid spanners, and well-executed, with some stellar entries among those spanners, and the remainder of the puzzle relatively clean. Daniel has the touch when it comes to building a grid, IMO, from puzzle one to this, his eleventh.
But I want more than an impressive grid. I want a good solve. And man, I got it. Just like I want a grid looking like this to be – no quick slapdowns on the spanners, enough toughness on their crosses to make revealing them gradual, leading to satisfying yeses when they hit me, yeses with kapow.
Fireworks in a work of beauty – just a stellar Friday. Thank you for all you put into this, Daniel!
I don’t have the same warm feelings for this puzzle as Rex has and you probably know why. Triple 15 stack at the top and 2 of the answers are PPP and one of those two is THE BACHELORETTE? And then you make the middle 15 Down also PPP. No. Just no. I don’t care if the fill is clean, I want a word puzzle, not Celebrity Jeopardy. And then, having been deprived of any cleverness in the north, we get a perfectly fine entry like ATHLETIC APPAREL and clue it with Product Names. Basically, this entire week has been a series of the lowest form of crossword, wholly devoted to pop culture trivia and largely devoid of clever word play. I was a little surprised that ACER made a puzzle without Apple Product Placement happening. At least we didn’t get a StanAngRobert clue for LEE.
And before someone rises to the defense of THE BACHELORETTE - Please, no. If you love it, fine. For me it is fingernails on chalkboard and just thinking about is like the feeling you get when you hit your funny bone, only the whole body version.
Late Yesterday Follow-Up
@Barbara S - Yah. But I always come back to the idea that they are choosing to pay that price. $400 million can buy a lot of privacy but for whatever reason she chooses to be famous. Maybe some of that is beyond her control, but not all of it.
@TJS - 😎 - I don’t actually track such things, but my sense is that we agree more than we disagree, like a 60/40 split, it’s just that what we agree on is less interesting to write about.
@Joe Dipinto - 🤣😂🤣 I read that whole post imaging a church choir providing backing vocals.
Not sure I agree with OFL about the EUCHRE clue. I thought it was nice to see "The Former Guy" in close proximity to RUSSIAN ROULETTE.
Who wasn't secretly hoping for some sort of lawsuit for "Trump is named in it"? Be honest.
Really nice to see my old friend ORIEL today.
Any puzzle that starts with a Bill Bryson book will put me in an even better mood, so this one made me smile all the way through. The AT runs right through home territory here, hikers are common sights, and the Brysons used to live in our local college town. I had his daughter in class (top notch runner, and tiny) and met his wife but not the great man himself. I think I've read all of his books and wish there were more.
So a very fun start, and then THEMANFROMUNCLE shows up, Fond memories of that one too. THEBACHELORETTE bothers me not at all, one of those "reality" shows I've never watched, probably because they have nothing to do with "reality".
And the EUCHRE answer was a relief--yay, it's not about him! We toss him down the oubliette at our peril, I' afraid. Vigilance still needed.
Only nit here is ALEGLASS. I drink a lot of IPA's, and have never asked for one. Another pint, please, and this time use an ALEGLASS. Uh, no.
Long answers filling in nicely, references to stuff I like, even ORIEL shows up to remind me how long I've been doing these. I had a fine old time and was sorry to finish.
So thanks for all the fun, DL. Damn Lucky to find this one today.
@REX, DJT is a vile, evil (see what I did there) man but chill. Get upset by SLANT if you have to rage.
F- off. He's scum and a wannabe fascist who attempted a coup in our country. Nobody should be "letting that go".
@Teresa - Well, I was hoping for an indictment not a lawsuit, but I guess that would be OK too.
One major thing stuck out to me Gen Alpha are not teens yet - this age group started in 2010 - the oldest are turning 11
Wow, I blazed through this on wings of fire, poised to blast my previous Friday record, and then got inexplicably bogged down in the morass around EUCHRE, SWAP, SOUP and the WAR part of WAR SONGS. That probably wasn’t a problem area for anyone else, but man, I couldn’t get it together for the longest time. When I finally did, I ended up with a decent solve time but not the record-shatterer I was hoping for.
I got several of the grid spanners with no crosses and a couple more with only one or two helping letters. I thought each of the upper spanners paired nicely with each of the lower. For A WALK IN THE WOODS you might wear ATHLETIC APPAREL (think hiking). When you’re CALLed ON THE CARPET, your accuser might demand that you explain your transgression by asking icily, CARE TO ELABORATE? The star of THE BACHELORETTE probably swans around in a whole wardrobe of SLEEVELESS DRESSes (although I’m surmising, having never watched it). I also liked the cross of THE MAN FOM UNCLE and RUSSIAN ROULETTE. Fighting THRUSH was mighty dangerous work, and our heroes Solo and Kuryakin, never knew if they’d come back with their lives.
Loved the clue for SEA (Head for a cow, horse or lion?). Thought DEARY was an odd spelling (I’d use “ie”). IMEASY is DOOKY. Here’s the ORIEL window Henry VIII had built for Katherine of Aragon when they were still Henkath and before he broke her heart and created Henanne.
Today’s passage is by RICHARD POWERS, born June 18, 1957.
“We found that trees could communicate, over the air and through their roots. Common sense hooted us down. We found that trees take care of each other. Collective science dismissed the idea. Outsiders discovered how seeds remember the seasons of their childhood and set buds accordingly. Outsiders discovered that trees sense the presence of other nearby life. That a tree learns to save water. That trees feed their young and synchronize their masts and bank resources and warn kin and send out signals to wasps to come and save them from attacks. “Here’s a little outsider information, and you can wait for it to be confirmed. A forest knows things. They wire themselves up underground. There are brains down there, ones our own brains aren’t shaped to see. Root plasticity, solving problems and making decisions. Fungal synapses. What else do you want to call it? Link enough trees together, and a forest grows aware.”
(From The Overstory)
I had to work at this and the challenge was lots of fun. This will be a different experience for anyone who knew A WALK IN THE WOODS or THE BACHELORETTE or both. I knew neither and had to go elsewhere first and come back. Especially since the short crossing Downs up on top were quite perplexing. "Enter the picture" for ACT seems a bit misleading to me. Where's the entering? You enter the picture when you're CAST. You can also enter the picture when you hear your CUE. But once you ACT you're already in the picture, it seems to me.
LL BEAN is a "claim to fame"? Is that all you got, Freeport ME? Condolences.
Couldn't remember THE MAN FROM UNCLE off the top of my head -- even though I once watched it religiously. All that was coming to me was MISSION IMPOSSIBLE, which didn't fit.
Moving on down: I had Dorothy LAMouR before I had Hedy LAMARR, which is...dumb. Dorothy would have been pretty miscast as Delilah. Unless it was a spoof, of course, with Bob Hope playing Samson.
Before I saw SLEEVELESS DRESSES, I wanted SLEEpEr something-or-other. Isn't that what everyone's been wearing for the past year?
Triple stack puzzles are among my favorite types as long as the short Downs are challenging. This puzzle, which I thought was very well-crafted, met that criterion and I enjoyed it a lot.
If not my fastest Friday, it has to be close to it. Start off with a complete gimme spanning the grid at 1A, and throw in a grid-spanning down in THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E., and another with RUSSIAN ROULETTE and basically the whole grid is laid bare.
When given a choice, I always OPT SIN.
An absolutely beautifully filled grid, let down by lack of challenge in the cluing.
From yesterday's blog (late) -- Don't miss @Joe Dipinto's hilarious "explanation" to me about a certain celebrity couple. It's an absolute classic and a real hoot to read.
Hoping for a conviction…justice for all.
@Barbara S - the cross of S_AP and _AR Songs - that one little square, probably took me 45 seconds. It was my only holdup on the day. Wanted BAR SONGS, which made me question my S_AP crosses. Then thought maybe EAR SONGS. CAR SONGS? OAR SONGS?
I did get THE MAN FROM UNCLE right off (yay!) but I found this difficult and challenging and was thrilled to finish it. So of course it was deflating to see Rex rate it Easy-Medium. Whatevs.
I’d like to see him play but with the rule slightly modified to improve the probability of “winning.” Five bullets, on empty chamber.
United network command for law enforcement. Friday night 9pm NBC.david McCollum. Robert Vaughn. Leo G Carroll. Does not get better. I don't think any of them was more than 5 ft 6 in.
I don't get 24D. The answer is of course LINE but the clue has got to be better...so many alternatives.
As for Trump, why not? It provides entertainment value thinking of all the possible answers like Lawsuit, indictment, Mueller report, ...
Thx Daniel for a most entertaining puz! :)
Easy/Med solve.
Got an excellent start with the top 1/3 and slowed only slightly thereafter.
Ended with the three spanners at the bottom.
No major holdups.
Enjoyable. :)
___
yd 0
Peace ~ Empathy ~ Health ~ Kindness to all 🕊
Nope - not for me. I don’t need grid spanning trivia stacks. CARE TO ELABORATE is the best thing here - I’ll even take THE MAN FROM UNCLE - but reality TV and more kiddie lit garbage?
Here’s hoping we get a proper late week puzzle tomorrow.
Oddity of note: The appearance of the same word four times in a themeless puzzle. Odder still: It occurs in the top three rows!
As a longtime euchre player, I can't agree with your Trump tirade. That word belonged to euchre (and other card games) long before he despoiled it, so I loved seeing a clue that reclaimed it to its rightful place.
We have ORIEL today. Can OSIER and ETUI be far behind?
If I wandered over to my bookshelf (very casually, kinda sneakily, humming tunelessly) to see the exact title of Bryson's book, is that cheating?
Great quote, Barbara S. Everyone should read The Overstory--especially those who liked A Walk in the Woods. The Overstory is so moving. So informative. So insightful. So important. Loved the woman scientist who didn't know that she had become important and famous in the science world while she was out in the forests, continuing her work, thinking no one was listening.
@Lewis....My "THE" runneth over.
Well....this wasn't exactly A WALK IN THE park......Nosireebob....it was the WOODS.
I tip-toed everywhere. Danced a bit on THE CARPET, felt a little sorry for THE BACHELORETTE left in the lurch while Mr. Bachelor secretly romps with the girl next door. Such is life.
Did I like this, you ask.....Well, yes. I did! I did a LICK at the STEAKS and the BEEF LOIN but the SOUP was MORTAL. By the way, I don't get MORTAL (40D) as a plaything for a Greek God. How do you play with a MORTAL?
So many national anthems are WAR SONGS? I always thought they were about GOD and all the good he/she does - or maybe I'm thinking about Jesus?
Nice work-out. I even managed to get names I've never heard of.
@Joe Dip from yesterday. Good one. Green paint story?
Never played EUCHRE, so no idea. Wanted, of course, bridge or whist. How about canasta?
@ Teresa 7:14 Exactly. I thought it was a wonderful misdirect. But you know rex, only "certain" answers are acceptable . . . .
Getting AWALKINTHEWOODS right off the bat made this I believe my fastest Friday ever.
@ Z, yes there were a lot of proper nouns, and tv shows at that, but you know what, it didn't bother me. I love the long crosses, and if it takes some proper names to make it all work, that's a fair trade. or SWAP.
The only one I didn't care for was the actor in the Harry Potter series. I've rsigned myself that Harry Potter is going to be found in our puzzles for years to come, but this felt wat too esoteric, even for a Friday. Still, easy to infer from just the I and the A.
United Network Command for Law and Enforcement
although one wonders about the 'and'?
Pretty quick for a Friday, but I love me those long luscious 15-spanners, including THE BACHELORETTE. (I feel bad for people who are triggered by such answers. That includes the word "Trump". It's immediately clear that it wasn't going to refer to "The Donald" [not my coinage, and I don't cleave], so really, just relax. It's only a matter of remembering the name of a card game. EUCHRE is a cool-looking word.)
We may be hearing from others today about POC. Didja know that another plural form for KOAN is just KOAN? That's typical for Japanese loanwords. (Oh, also, in case you didn't know, that's a two-syllable word.)
I don't wince at ORIEL. In fact, there's something about that word I find pleasing. As far as I'm concerned, it's welcome anytime in my puzzle. (OTOH, that workhorse OTOE really needs a rest.) Cheering on LAMARR and TESSERAE -- for the latter, I was at first thinking of something to do with TESSElations, before snapping to.
I guess the ISAACS-ARC cross isn't a Natick, but no way I could tell you the name of the Malfoy actor unaided, nor do I read comic books, and I'm not sure what picture I should form for "ARC reactor". Although: this did lead me to read, with interest, about the ARC (Affordable, Robust, Compact) fusion reactor, a theoretical design for a nuclear fusion reactor.
Have a good day, y'all. Be kind to your neighbor.
There are so many things Rex/Michael writes that completely annoy me, are totally out of line, and are deeply offensive to anyone with any sense of decency and right.
Therefore, Will Shortz should permanently ban the following words from all crossword puzzles: Parker; Park; Parka; Parquet; Rex; Roi; Rey; Michael, Mike; Mic; Mick; Michelle; Michaela; Sharp; Sharpe; Sharpie; Sharpen; Sharpener; Sharpshooter.
Let it be done.
Loved the puz. Sailed right through it. Just the right amount of crunch.
Right now, I'm feeling as sentimentally "AWWWW" about trees as I normally feel about warm puppies. Thanks for that eye-opening quotation, @Barbara S (8:16). If it's true and not completely anthropomorphic, it's really remarkable.
Another hand up for thinking DEARY is misspelled.
Wouldn't it be wonderful if most national anthems were PEACE SONGS?
Read Bryson's I'm a Stranger Here Myself and don't know why I stopped there because I loved it, but I wasn't prepared for 1A. First long answers to go in were The Bachelorette (what else would have a diamond ring) and then Russian Roulette. This of course led me to the assumption that something Ette would be going on and briefly, problems ensued.
Got down to Products of Under Armour … and thought Impossibly Tight Spandex Pants, which didn't fit. Next problem was having the third and last S's in 57A (Certain Summer Attire), leading to the belief it was either Shorts or Shirts. Don't Care To Elaborate on the next 25+ minutes.
It is enough to say that after many trips up, down, and across our little hero (only in her own mind) prevailed, standing triumphantly atop the stacks, shouting at the heavens, "It was Euchre! I have found it."
I call on many to assume that we already know a lot of you either love or hate something mentioned in this puzzle. We get it. Please don't feed the trolls. Crews are still working on clean up from earlier this week.
Thank you Z. I agree. Too much PPP.
Haha - Rex is a whiny child about the lead suit in a game of Euchre, but ignores the blatant intolerance directed toward about half of a billion people (SLANT) - which is kind of weird since he usually has enough energy to multi task when it comes to the Department of Bitching and Moaning. Today was ripe for a multi-faceted harangue from OFL.
I don't know he statistics on how many national anthems are WARSONGS. But the one a lot of Americans think is our anthem, the one they actually sing, God Bless America, is not a war song. God Save the Queen is not a war song. Then there's the case of Slovenia:
God's blessing on all nations,
Who long and work for that bright day,
When o'er earth's habitation
No war, no strife shall hold its sway;
Who long to see
That all man free
No more shall foes, but neighbours be.
Lyrics: France Prešeren (1800-1849)
Seven grid-spanners - that's what I'm talkin' about!
Okay, SLEEVELESSDRESS is a little green painty, with excess s-ness, and THEBACHELORETTE is...well...let's just say that the apt description is a MIND TAX and move along.
The point is I really liked this one. Only problem was it was over too soon for the Fridee, but it was fun while it lasted!
Not letting the Circus Peanut ruin my day because I'm off to see the Wizards of Odd (friends) - so later, dudes!
🧠🧠
🎉🎉🎉🎉
I thought at first that anthems were BAR songs, so that slowed me down a hair!
Uh... eight.
How on earth could I forget Napoleon Solo and Ilya Kuryakin??
Must be my horizontal tendencies. 🤷♀️
Good puzzle. Crunchy, sparkly, smart cluing.
I couldn't find who said it above but it's right on. The trouble with reality shows is that there's no reality in them.
Thanks to Nancy for directing me to Joe DiPinto's delightful piece late yesterday about celebrity couples. I didn't care much for the ones he mentions, though. Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston were my ideal.
Hey All !
Nice themeless. Triple stacks we haven't seen in a bit. Plus two mid crossing 15's. Nice.
@Lewis, noticed the THE fest, thinking it was a mini-theme. Then thought there'd be an ETTE in the lower third, so much for consistency! 😁
Trump is used in many card games, Spades, Hearts, EUCHRE, Bridge... For the love of everything holy, get over the fact you hate DT, and just use the word as it's intended. Agree with the people who wondered why Rex didn't go on a six paragraph rant about SLANT, even though it's clued inoculously. Remember the SLOPE rant?
Anyway, did enjoy the puz. Title could've been "THE ETTE". Har.
One F
RooMonster
DarrinV
Lol — another miserably unhappy person heard from. That anger‘ll eat up your insides.
Bravo for the Lamarr clip. What a fascinating figure she was.
I'll do this as a "Me, too," for getting off to a quick start with A WALK IN THE WOODS; faltering at?ARSONGS, where I needed to do the alphabet run all the way to the W; first writing in LAMouR for LAMARR (after confirming that "Leontyne" didn't fit). I smiled at the puzzle's telling me "I'M EASY" down there in the opaque-to-me EUCHRE area, as if there were appended a silent "You thought."
For me, Jason Isaacs as Lucius Malfoy is one of the best actor-character pairings ever.
Despite the horrid SE corner, I survived. All this crap trivia is getting boring.
I started off fast, throwing in A WALK IN THE WOODS, and adding CALL ON THE CARPET with a few crosses. I was reluctant to put in the non-thing ALE GLASS, but GENA made it inevitable.
LL BEAN is probably the right answer for 4D these days, when people will travel long distances to shop. Especially weird since it's a company most famous for its catalog (although it prospered initially because it was a good place to pick up fishing supplies on your way north). But a better answer would be The Desert of Maine.
Like @Nancy, I had LAMouR before LAMARR. I didn't even think about who she actually was until the crosses showed I was wrong -- just "female actress starting with LM..." That's the danger of doing too many crosswords.
@kitshef, as you probably know, The Star-Spangled Banner is set to the tune of a BAR SONG of its time, "To Anacreon in Heaven." So you weren't so far off.
I agree with Rex, it was a pretty good exemplar of the multi-grid-spanner genre.
@Unknown et al on Bar Songs. Wouldn't that be awesome! How much of an opportunity has America lost with the Star Spangled Banner when we could've been hoisting mugs and singing 99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall before sporting events? The sponsorship money lost by the NFL alone are heartbreaking. The National Anthem, brought to you by Bud Light!
@Barbara, I'm so curious. What does this reference, "... built for Katherine of Aragon when they were still Henkath and before he broke her heart and created Henanne."
@Strunk, We probably don't agree on a lot but that's still a dam fine and impressive list of rexonyms.
@Gill, The soup was mortal 😂. Thank you!
Clocking out til later.
My 2¢: The use of The Former Guy's name in a clue gets a rant while RUSSIAN ROULETTE as answer gets a silly remark is, IMO, a bit odd.
Also - I have always believed our own national anthem should be changed to "America the Beautiful". Rather than celebrate WAR as our current anthem does, it celebrates beauty and brotherhood. And it's easier to sing.
This was my fastest Friday by far. I saw the Bill Bryson book and thought, “It can’t possibly be this easy,” but it was. I’ve never seen THE BACHELORETTE, but I’ve been called on the carpet in my day (most memorably by the president of the University where I taught!) and I loved THE MAN FROM UNCLE. Good time today.
“The Overstory” is absolutely lovely; I think I initially saw it recommended right here. There have been several books that made from this blog to my bedside table. It’s lovely having well-read friends.
@JD, “I’m a Stranger Here Myself” was the only Bryson book I didn’t like. Perhaps I should reread it; maybe I missed a deeper meaning. But it seemed to me to be a lot of walking and not much of anything else. But “The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid” should be required reading for anyone who grew up in the Midwest in the 50s.
Fun solve.
Blew this one in the SW. I've seen the "Harry Potter" film but misspelled ISSACS. Don't know anything about Iron Man, so that was no help. Then the clue on 41 Down totally threw me, as I figured it wasn't about the Odious One but it stuck in my brain. And I've barely heard of EUCHRE. Ah, well...
"the whoosh feeling I really look for on a Friday". Not here. I don't want any whooshes on a weekend puzzle. I want desperation. I want to feel like I achieved something upon completion. Not today.16 minute fill.
@Z, agreed. I even agree on your take of this whole week. Could we possibly not award POWs until the week is over. I hate the lowered expectations every morning. I guess it's Chen I have to deal with.
In the D.R. this is the 3rd week of no alcohol served in bars after 3 PM. It's absolutely hysterical how the bars get around this. Bribery is a very under-rated civic virtue.
Our national anthem doesn’t celebrate war, it celebrates the fact that our standard never fell despite a terrible bombardment in battle.
That isn’t celebrating war, it’s celebrating the indomitable spirit which allowed the Stars and Stripes to continue to fly over the fort and the men who were defending our country against invaders.
@JD - I read your comment "Impossibly Tight Spandex Pants, which didn't fit." and thought that was TMI, then realized you were trying to fit the WORDS into the puzzle, not yourself into the spandex.
Got 1A instantly and the whole top of the puzzle filled in so quickly, I took my foot off the gas and the bottom half went slower. Rex's comments may exonerate me.
@JD - I read your comment "Impossibly Tight Spandex Pants, which didn't fit." and thought that was TMI, then realized you were trying to fit the WORDS into the puzzle, not yourself into the spandex.
Got 1A instantly and the whole top of the puzzle filled in so quickly, I took my foot off the gas and the bottom half went slower. Rex's comments may exonerate me.
It’s been kind of a mediocre week for crosswords but this outstanding Friday made up for the lack of luster to this point. I stared at the blank grid, relishing all those wide open spaces and couldn’t wait to dig in. It did not disappoint. Loved the added bonus of the long down. I think every TEEN girl of that era was madly in love with David McCallum, at least for a little while.
I desperately wanted INDICTMENT at 41 down. Every day I check the news hoping, hoping, this will be the day.
The Overstory is a novel but its main character is based on the real-life forest ecologist, Suzanne Simard, and her work. She first published her findings in the late 1990s in the journal Nature. I don't know enough about the subject to know whether her conclusions about trees and their interactions within forests are correct, and there's still controversy about her work. But I think also a growing acceptance as time goes on.
@JD (9:57)
In what's undoubtedly an example of humor known only to myself, I was riffing on yesterday's "Bennifer" and applying it to Good(?) King Henry and his paramours.
Literally none of the Gen Alphas are TEENS yet. The oldest ones are 11 this year. Garbage clue that had me wondering if there was a rebus in 23D for too long.
Totally agree. It's time to take back the word. The Cheeto doesn't own it.
Totally agree. It's time to take back the word. The Cheeto doesn't own it.
Of all the things that people get bent by on this site, Rex included, why doe RUSSIANROULETTE get a pass. Russian roulette has to be one of the most tragic things imaginable. Two people in a battle to be the first one to commit suicide, but it gets a free pass from Rex, Will, and most of the posters.
I REEEEEEALLY struggled with this one. I'm 34, so I've never heard CALLONTHECARPET (seems like that's a generational thing...maybe regional?), nor AWALKINTHEWOODS, so the north was a slog for me.
ATHLETICAPPAREL felt weaksauce. I somehow had a typo on BIPOD (had BIPID) so I could not see CARETOELABORATE. Really messed me up.
SLEEVELESSDRESS might be real...but only in the way that, say, short sleeve t-shirts are. If you say t-shirt, I automatically assume it's short-sleeved. Same goes for sleevelessness and dresses.
ALEGLASS is not a thing. Never heard of ORIEL (it amazes me how much crosswordeses I still DON'T know). I think of LICK as belonging to rock, not jazz. BEEFLOIN made me gag, but not as much as reading the word Trump.
Been without wifi due to a fallen tree, but I broke down and used the phone hotspot today. Very happy to find this fine offering from Daniel Larsen. Also happy I couldn’t remember the Bryson title so I got a bit more exercise in.
Totally disagree with OFL about the EUCHRE clue - it just made me look forward to the time when the name fades and the word lives on.
My WALK IN THE WOODS was slow but steady - just a few stumbles: teND before MIND, TrUtH before TOUGH. With the two P’s in I really wanted ATHLETIC suPPORTS.
MORTAL seemed incomplete. Just a couple of days ago I saw a bit of a Star Trek rerun which had Greek god Apollo attempting to force the “mere MORTALs” of the Enterprise to worship him. Turns out Greek gods aren’t that smart.
The US national anthem may be a WARSONG, but it’s the only one I know of that ends in a question.
Seeing THE MAN FROM UNCLE almost made THE BACHELORETTE worthwhile. Here’s another UNCLE from a famous musician who is 79 years old today.
I’m sure a grammarian could explain to me why “Much of Gen Alpha, now” correctly results in TEENS. Much TEENS? Feels like it should have been clued as “Many in…” Or answered as TEENAGED or something. English is convoluted enough that I’m sure it’s probably correct as is, but it still grates to my ear. Other than that, some impressive long answers, and a reasonably fun and challenging solve.
Easy-medium. It would have been easy if I hadn’t stuck with please ELABORATE for a tad too long. Solid but kinda meh, liked it.
Where’s LMS? I hope she saw today’s mini with 4 palindromes!
LOVED “Man from U.N.C.L.E”; my fave was Ilya, and my BFF & I met him at a book signing, offered him a can of Coke, retrieved the can when he left, and “preserved” the remnants in glass vials. We eventually tossed them out when they grew mold and we grew up. That’s pure fandom!
After THE BACHELORETTE in the top and RUSSIAN ROULETTE in the middle, I spent too much time looking for an ETTE in the bottom stack.
@BarbaraS -- Thank you for the quote. I loved that book.
One more quick peek before I leave.
@Barbara, Har!
@Burtonkd, Double har!
@Malsdemare, I don't think there was a deeper meaning. But I'm looking for reading material. Which of his books was your favorite?
The USAmerican national anthem is set to the tune of an old drinking song, so you're quicker than you think!
Yes, Trump is an awful man. He's also a real person who is a historical figure and a significant name in U.S. and world affairs. Hence, his name is 100% appropriate in a word PUZZLE, whether or not it would be so in an ideological PAMPHLET.
Meanwhile, the TSAR was a pretty "awful" tyrant, wasn't he? RUSSIAN ROULETTE is an "awful" game, and I'm sure the mere implication of suicide would actually be considered a "trigger" in today's walking-on-eggshells classrooms, as would a mention of that cisgendered/heterosexist TV show THE BACHELORETTE, to say nothing of those horrible WAR SONGS that represent the national anthems of so many countries.
Gee -- if we're going to excise anything potentially "horrible" or -- Jah help us!-- "offensive" from our list of acceptable clues and answers, we're not going to end up with much of a puzzle, are we?
And who can forget the WAR SONGS battle of the bands in "Casablanca"?
Tale Told By An Idiot said:
Yay! I finally took a walk in the woods by the shore! But then I got called on the carpet by the bachelorette, Gena. “Mind,” she said, “don’t lick the sea. It taints your tongue and makes life tough.”
“But Gena,” I said, “I’m easy! I’ve bee(n) flo(w)in’ and playin’ Russian roulette and singin’ war songs! And I’m wearing my worn athletic apparel! “
“Would you care to elaborate?” asked Gena. “What I see you wearing is a sleeveless dress.”
“Oh, Gena,” I said, “I detect a bias against fantasy. Please, let’s enjoy our steaks and ale for we are mortal and may soon join The Man From UNCLE, alive in memory only.”
(This is a test. I got a new iPad and somehow everything google is screwed up, including my nom de blog. I may now be identified as someone other than Tale Told By An Idiot. We will see.
A pleasant day in the Northwest with a grid to match. Rather A Walk in the Woods here compared to the drought, heat or tropical anomalies being suffered by most posters. May the weather and the puzzle both improve in coming days.
Loved the clue for SOUP, but agree with @Z that PPP has been reaching a mass that threatens the ARC reactor. Trivial pursuits + the tiny 3&4 letter crosswordese glue = 🥴👎🏽
@MarthaCatherine my hand I up to second your appreciation of @Barbara's daily quote. The Overstory is quite simply brilliant. We should have listened to Mother Nature! (Or at least the NOAA website?)
Don’t we think the constructor was playing on the meaning of euchre to cheat or trick ?
@Joe Dipinto: Loved your Bennifer tale from last night.
@Conrad (6:47) I award you the prize for best comment of the day. I’m still chuckling.
@Joaquin (10:01) I agree America the Beautiful would be an inspiring anthem, as have others in the past: At various times in the more than one hundred years that have elapsed since the song was written, particularly during the John F. Kennedy administration, there have been efforts to give "America the Beautiful" legal status either as a national hymn or as a national anthem equal to, or in place of, "The Star-Spangled Banner", but so far this has not succeeded. Proponents prefer "America the Beautiful" for various reasons, saying it is easier to sing, more melodic, and more adaptable to new orchestrations while still remaining as easily recognizable as "The Star-Spangled Banner". Some prefer "America the Beautiful" over "The Star-Spangled Banner" due to the latter's war-oriented imagery; others prefer "The Star-Spangled Banner" for the same reason. While that national dichotomy has stymied any effort at changing the tradition of the national anthem, "America the Beautiful" continues to be held in high esteem by a large number of Americans, and was even being considered before 1931 as a candidate to become the national anthem of the United States. Wikipedia
Sure Sure. bAR SONGS > WAR SONGS. But is there really any question that all COVID Era National Anthems were Sea Shanties?
@nyc_lo - I think with this kind of clue there’s a lot of assumed verbiage. What (m)uch of Gen Alpha is comprised of, now” - I’m not saying I like it, just that this much stretching is sometimes expected of solvers. Maybe we should call these “Yoga Clues.”
@Tim - In as much as all the Gen whatever is bullshit, I don’t really care. But you seem to be correct that Gen Alpha is generally accepted to be people born no earlier that 2010 (and some put it at 2013). It is Gen Z who are now TEENS.
@TJS - Since Chen and I are on completely different wavelengths about what makes a puzzle good I never bother to read him. I will say that, unless tomorrow eschews being a PPP fest, I will end up agreeing with his take this week.
I have thoughts on RUSSIAN ROULETTE that would be sure to send the comments somewhere else so I deleted them. You’re welcome.
Never put Trump in a NYT crossword puzzle - it's an oxymoron
@MetroGnome is on to something. To appease Rex and all of the others who are distraught, saddened or otherwise triggered by the fact that there are evil people in the word who do evil things, or those who simply cannot abide by the fact that some people exist who have ideas contrary to their own, maybe the New York Times should no longer edit and publish original works and simply recycle puzzles that have appeared in People Magazine and TV Guide. They seem to manage to be able get through the week without sending the Rexes of the world into a deep and prolonged depression.
@Teresa - I too spent minutes thinking of a lawsuit that fit for the Euchre guy. (Haha there are so many!)
@Conrad you pointing out Russian roulette and the Euchre guy combo made me let the unpleasant (45)image fade and gave me a small smile. Russian anythig and 🤡 🚮 🤡 equals 🎯 👍🏽 🎯
@Tim - Good one. Yes, Euchre as verb means to cheat. Good one. Another smile.
Oh, the puzz. Yes it was pretty good 😊 But this Euchre/45 stuff is more fun. 😜
Yay, Rex and all!
🎯🤸🏽♀️🎯
@jberg - the Desert of Maine has to be one of the weirdest roadside attractions out there. We even spent the night at the campground to go all in on it.
I realized today that I neglected Marc Anthony in the Bennifer chronology. J-Lo wedged him in after Ben and before A-Rod, and now he too has been spotted comforting her in her post A-Rod doldrums. She's certainly spoiled for choice – all her exes are panting after her.
I liked this puzzle. None of the grid-spanners were duds, imo, which is no mean feat when there are eight of them. "The Man From U.N.C.L.E." was my favorite TV show back in the day – I saw every episode of all four seasons. Season 1 was excellent, 2 was even better, 3 was horrible, and 4 recovered somewhat. The reason Season 3 was horrible was because "Batman" had premiered that year to great success and the U.N.C.L.E. folks tried to emulate it with cartoony story lines and a campier vibe. (The equally silly "Girl From U.N.C.L.E." debuted simultaneously.) It didn't work, the ratings tanked, so they tried to go back to basics with Season 4, but the damage was done and it got cancelled halfway through.
Here's a Season 4 Episode with a tie-in to the puzzle, sort of.
Thx @Rex for the Hedy LAMAAR link; what a fascinating and talented individual. Bless Alexandra Dean for researching her life, then writing and directing 'Bombshell: The Hedy LAMAAR Story'. I'll be watching it today on Prime Video (Canada). (hi @Derek M (9:46 AM))
As a bonus, I found another 'Bombshell' (streaming on Crave (Canada), where "A group of women take on Fox News head Roger Ailes and the toxic atmosphere he presided over at the network."
___
Got
A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail
(audiobook) on hold at my library.
Enjoyed THE MAN FROM UNCLE back in the day. (hi @Mary McCarty (10:54 AM))
Played a lot of Bid EUCHRE in the Navy. It was big with the guys from the Mid-west.
Agreed; nothing can spoil a useful word like 'trump'! (hi @MJB (8:49 AM))
Learned TESSERAE from many years of xword solving.
@Barbara S. (8:16 AM)
Thx for the Powers quote; got the ebook on hold. :) (hi @MarthaCatherine (8:55 AM) / @Malsdemare (10:03 AM) / (Newboy 11:32 AM))
@Anonymous (8:57 AM)
Played lots of 'trump' card games, including bid EUCHRE, bridge, whist, spades, etc.. Also played lots of samba (canasta var.) with the grand-aunties. Don't recall 'trumps' in either canasta or samba … it's been a long, long time, so I may be wrong. I think of the latter two as meld games, along the lines of pinochle, which I played far too much of in college. LOL
@Greater Fall River Committee for Peace & Justice (9:27 AM)
Love the lyrics from the Slovenian anthem! :)
@RooMonster (9:42 AM) / @TTrimble (9:01 AM) / @A (10:41 AM)
Agreed re: 'trump'.
Roo, I never got 'trumped' in hearts, but got 'dumped' on from time to time. 😉
@jberg (9:56 AM)
Also started out with Lamour. :)
@Joaquin (10:01 AM)
Amen to 'America the Beautiful'!
@Anonymous (10:12 AM)
You make a good point!
@Whatsername (12:15 PM)
Excellent anthem analysis!
___
td 0
Peace ~ Empathy ~ Health ~ Kindness to all 🕊
I knew it was going to be a good day when I read the clue for one across. Bill Bryson is one of my favorite writers. It’s nice when you can drop in a 15 letter answer without any other letters.
I love that Bryson book, I read it twice, so that went straight in. I love all his books, especially the Australia one.
Isn't funny when you don't say a phrase or think about something for 50 years and on the day you say that name or word, it appears in the crossword?
For me that happened with The Man From UNCLE. My son and I did a jigsaw puzzle about pop culture in the 60s 70s and 80s. After it was done, I looked at them all and I said "I don't even know what the Man From UNCLE is!" Ha, and now it's in the crossword. Jigsaw Crossword - Puzzle Worlds Colliding.
The arc of production was pretty much the same with "The Avengers". On this side of the pond we only, mostly, got Mrs. Peel and Tara King. The loss of Mrs. Peel spelled the end of good episodes. The wiki likely has the answer, but IIRC, early 60s Brit teeVee was on videotape, and these were re-used without regard for posterity. Never saw an Honor Blackman episode, alas.
That’s not cheating. Anything in your personal library is fair game.
I was happy to see a grid-spanning gimme with that answer, in my library and one of my more pleasant memories. Nice to get a quick start on a Friday puzzle.
The bachelorette also dropped quickly.
The huge problem with "America the Beautiful" as a national anthem is this line, "God shed His grace on thee". It transforms a song into a prayer, a no-no.
Heck yeah!
The lyric “God shed his grace on thee” is an assertion, not a prayer.
But even if it were, so what? There’s no prohibition against public prayer. There no prohibition against government sponsored prayer.
@DevoutAtheist 4:35. Heaven forbid I ever try to convert an atheist to anything other than what you believe, and I won't. But...the word God can be anything you want....The Big Bang Theory, the Cosmos having a field day, "That's the way the cookie crumbles" quote.....Or maybe, just maybe, something bigger than we are. We really don't know, do we? Give God any name you want but "it" did shed light on us. When you look at our universe and, and, and beauty (if you can)....don't you wonder why we're here?
Proselytizing rant over....sorry!
As you were.
Others have mentioned it, but I feel like piling on since it is such a clear factual error - literally 0% of Gen Alpha are TEENS right now. The oldest members of that generation are 11; the youngest haven't even been born! I'm so annoyed that no one corrected such an easily verifiable piece of information. It's not like it would be hard to change the clue. Took me way too long to fill that in... my brain knew it must be teens, but I kept saying, "But that cant' be right..."
@Devout Atheist, I have no opinion one way or the other, but did grow up pledging allegiance every morning to "one nation under God." I think it was added in the '50s.
@DevoutAthiest (4:35) -
Two problems with your position:
1 - The line you quote is not a prayer, it is a statement; and 2 - The final verse of our current anthem:
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto - “In God is our trust,”
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave.
@GILL I.:
Well, may be. 'God', in normal usage, connotes some sort of being that 'controls' the course of existence, perhaps even to benefiting some and punishing others. The alternatives you list aren't of that type, just the exercise of the known, and perhaps a smidgeon we don't yet know, laws of physics; IOW, a 'power' having no interest in or interaction with the meat sacks on this blue marble. Some times referred to as The Blind Watchmaker.
@JD -- One minute the nation wasn't under God and the next minute it was.
I was in fifth grade at P.S.6 and had been reciting "one nation indivisible" for years. That was the Pledge -- the good Pledge, the right Pledge, the true Pledge. Who would even question such a thing? Then one day I walked into class and our teacher, Miss Immediato, informed us that the Pledge had been been changed. What apostasy! I mean who would dare to change the Pledge?
Congress, it seems.
Worst of all, the scansion of the Pledge was being ruined. "One nation indivisible, with liberty and justice for all" scans. "One nation under God, with liberty and justice for all" doesn't scan. My 11-year-old ear cared about such things even back then.
I spent the rest of my P.S.6 years irritated with Congress for mucking up the "real" Pledge. Then, when I went on to a high school where the Pledge was not recited every day, I sort of forgot about it.
If you grew up with "one nation under God", I'm sure it will seem correct to you. As for me, I've never completely adjusted to such a sudden and arbitrary change in 1954. It still sounds like Congressional propaganda and overreach to me.
@JD:
That whole thing was created by a kids' magazine writer. Not in the Constitution or from the Founders.
@Anony 7:28. You lost me at the "meat sacks on this blue marble". .... .
I will raise my "Elohim" to your meat.....deal?
Hmm, The founnding document of the country, The Declaration of Independence says there’s a God. And it is from him that we are endowed with certain unalienable rights. But, yeah, you do you Devout Atheist. 🙄
Enjoyed the wise open spaces here despite the PPP. THE Bryson book was inferable with a few crosses. But if you know nothing of UNCLE or watch so little TV you never saw a BACHELORETTE ad, then I get your pain. Not at all easy for me. Things improved when I got the vertical spanning UNCLE show. I was thinking of a series of books for too long.
Hand-up for LAMouR.
@Anon 1012am
I see your point, but I also see that the flag's survival was a sign the battle was not lost and the celebration was because of a victory in battle that was part of a war. So I trust you can see that point also.
I believe that belief in God, god, or gods that are real and creator of the world and acted in human history and demands belief and tributes from us and is accurately portrayed by any of the world's religion is horse's ass nonsense. However god as a concept can be very useful to believer or non-believer alike. It speaks to many things in our "mortal soup".
Also, I think between the Greeks and Romans and Shakespeare, there must be many plaints about mortals being playthings of the gods.
And if you make anything a meaningful statement of patriotism- Anthem or Pledge - you should make it neutral to believer or non-believer alike. I would not ask a religious American to deny his belief nor should he ask me to deny mine. Otherwise it is exclusionary and becomes a religious test.
It’s just… trivia.
That is the craziest f’ing “proof” of God that I’ve ever heard.
Agreed!
He’s an ignorant, loudmouth, yellow belly traitor who the Founding Fathers would have hanged from the tallest tree in Washington DC.
That’s two good ones in row!
PS - I like how Trump got EUCHREd at 41D
I knew OFC would take off on that "He-who-shall-not-be-named" clue. I think Larsen (or perhaps even Shortz!) put it in there just to get his goat. BTW, there's no t**** in canasta.
Fifteen stacks are crossword acrobatics, often requiring ATHLETICAPPAREL. But strangely, they make solving easier along the way, most of the time. I wanted THEBACHELORETTE immediately, but that B bothered me, as LLBEAN was difficult to see. After solving the surrounding area, of course it became clear. (If I get an idea for a long answer, I double-check along the crosses, picking less-used letters.)
I am always pleased when a favorite actor, whose career seems to have seen better days, re-emerges with a new gig, as David McCallum did with Ducky on NCIS. Good for you, dude! I liked him way better than Vaughn.
Surprised that vegan OFC didn't rail about mini-theme STEAKS/BEEFLOIN. DOD is my DEARY Sela WARD. Sorry, GENA and Hedy LAMARR, honorable mention this time.
An enjoyable, but not very TOUGH, solve. Birdie.
CARETOELABORATE?
THEMANFROMU.N.C.L.E. went for AWALKINTHEWOODS
having WORN ATHLETICAPPAREL
to play RUSSIANROULETTE
with THEBACHELORETTE,
“I’MEASY just LICK THE barrel.”
--- LES LEE LAMARR
Agree with @Spacey on the long answers. At first I was daunted, but I know not to be afraid of the long answers - they often provide many clues.
And names. Even when I know one, I often have the problem that LAMARR presents...how to spell?
Not AWALKINTHE park, but no quicksand in the WOODS either.
Diana, Lady-in-Waiting for Crosswords
Fun puzzle, handicapped by four nasty and unnecessary pissers. OFL continues his role as Poster Child for the Lunatic Fringe.
I agree with @spacey via @Diana. The long ones, especially stacked grid spanners, help set up patterns of clues and answers.
Why do I confuse Hedy LAMARR and Dorothy Lamour? Maybe because both were lovely dream girls from many years ago.
Felt good to get the unknown mosaic tiles, TESSERAE (crossed by BASRA, which apparently has survived through fourteen centuries!).
Didn’t feel good, though, to not finish cleanly with the MAN FROM UNCLE. Bungled some crosses there.
I had LAMouR at first. LAMouR, LAMARR, who knew? And my look after was teND before MIND. And mETV before WETV. TAINTS the cleanliness of the grid. All those long answers make good fun.
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