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Guinness classification / TUES 6-29-21 / Daft Punk or the White Stripes / "Downtown Abbey" title / Sorcerer's concotion
Tuesday, June 29, 2021
Hello! It’s Clare for the last Tuesday in June. Hope everyone had a great month and is surviving this insane heat wave. The AC in my apartment was off for a period today, and I thought I might just melt. Although, watching the track and field Olympic trials that just wrapped up put things in perspective and made me feel a tad bad about my complaining. Imagine running 25 laps around a track when it’s 105 degrees. No, thank you! I’ll stick to mainly staying indoors to study for the bar and venturing out into the 100-degree, humid weather only when it’s absolutely, positively necessary.
Anywho, on to the puzzle!
Relative difficulty: Challenging
Theme answers:
Misc:
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- THE JACK (in the) BOX (17A: Toy with a spring, literally)
- THE NIP (in the) BUD (24A: Put an early stop to, literally)
- THE BE (in the) WAY (31A: Interfere, literally)
- THE UP (in the) AIR (40A: Undecided, literally)
- THE PIE (in the) SKY (48A: Unrealistic, as wishes, literally)
- THE BACK (in the) DAY (55A: “Years ago …,” literally)
Tamil is a Dravidian language natively spoken by the Tamil people of South Asia. Tamil is the official language of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and an official language of the two sovereign nations, Singapore and Sri Lanka. In India, it is also the official language of the Union Territory of Puducherry… One of 22 scheduled languages in the Constitution of India, Tamil was the first to be classified as a classical language of India and is one of the longest-surviving classical languages in the world. (Wiki)
• • •
You know it’s a rough puzzle when you have to sit there for 10 minutes thinking about what the theme was and how to explain it. Besides, it makes for a fairly boring theme when, after you get the trick, you can write in the first word of all the theme answers. And all those words are “the” — I don’t particularly like seeing “the” in the puzzle at all, let alone six times. The only nice thing I can say about that theme is that at least as much as people overuse “literally,” it was refreshing to see “literally” be used in the correct way in the puzzle.
With 17A, “Jack” is in between “the” and “box” in the sense of the puzzle construction, just like with the toy, where the “Jack” is actually inside of the “box.” But, that’s the only theme answer where this is really the case. An argument could be made that for 46A, the “pie” is actually in “the sky,” but I’d say that’s flimsy. It just seems like there’s no rhyme or reason with the answers that were selected for this theme, and some uniformity could have helped tie everything together. My least favorite of the theme answers by far was 31A. I’m not entirely sure why, but I had a visceral reaction when I saw THEBEWAY in the puzzle — it looks and feels ugly.
On top of the theme, I found a lot of the fill to also be challenging. It felt like it skewed toward a puzzle later in the week or, at the very least, to an older generation. That’s fine, but it made for a particularly hard solve for me when I didn’t know the JACOB K. Javits Convention Center (18D), STACY Keach (23A), Timothy LEARY (30A), Willy LEY (34A), Norman MINETA (52A), or TOD Browning (63A). I stalled a fair amount in the southeast corner because of MINETA and TOD and the long downs — 43A: "Can we move forward?" as IS IT A GO, in particular.
With 2D: Release, as a trailer, I never got it out of my head that the clue was referencing a movie “trailer” and not a vehicle, so I got stuck there. I don’t think anyone in history has ever called something an ENOTE (8D: Online memos). They’re “notes” — adding an “e” to the front of something doesn’t make it a real online thing. I really disliked 24D: It goes up during takeoff for TRAY. The TRAY on a plane goes up before takeoff — not during takeoff. (I’m pretty sure everyone has heard those announcements a million and one times from flight attendants.). Also, I don’t think anyone in the last decade — at least — has used the slang REEFERS (38D).
I guess if I’m looking for something nice to say about the puzzle… I liked the words ELIXIR (32D) and TOXIN (9D) because they felt fresh. The clue/answer for 29A: Greek god whose name sounds like a zodiac sign as ARES (or, “Aries”) seems a bit fun. And, as someone with running-induced ASTHMA, I did get a bit of a chuckle out of 46D: It can take your breath away. (That is, admittedly, some dark humor on my part.)
Overall, though, this puzzle felt like a slog to me. To put it in perspective, I’d rather go study for the bar for four hours than do this puzzle again.
- This may be a small gripe, but I think that Kamala HARRIS (36A) could be clued for her own accomplishments, rather than her place next to a man.
- I’m not sure what it says about me that my first thought (and one I couldn’t get out of my head for a bit) for 32D: Sorcerer’s concoction was “poison” rather than the much more benign ELIXIR.
- Well, I really can’t think of anything more to say about this puzzle. So, to get back to the track Olympic trials, everyone should watch Sydney McLaughlin set a world record in the 400m hurdles. Her run was incredibly impressive. [The race starts at 2:31]
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144 comments:
I was down to either Mineta or Moneta for Norman. And frankly, not sure how many people remember the Secretary of Transportation under Clinton/Bush. I certainly didn't. But that's not my main gripe. Had M*neta from the crosses, but why would they cross the 2nd letter with either Ticks or Tocks? (Clock sounds). My rational was that if it was ticks, they clue would be something along the lines of "Rover riders" or "Lyme vectors" to avoid the Natick. So I figured there was no alternate clue and wend with tocks. If in print... I'd be bummed. With the app.... that was my first change and done.
Perhaps this bothered me more than it should have.
Side note: Trays don't go up, tray tables go up. The trays don't come out until meal service.
Yes some tricky answers for a Tuesday.
The Red Baron is usually the go to clue for AIR ACE, but for some reason the legendary Canadian Billy Bishop is little known outside of his home country. He only had 72 "kills" compared to the Red Baron's 80. (Note that the more well known American Eddie Rickenbacker had 26.)
Guilty pleasure: visiting the US, I loved to order the Broccoli Bowl from JACK (IN) THE BOX. Not sure if they still offer that.
Claire, talking about the heat, in my western Canadian town today we set an all time record: 42 C / 108 F. (And I don't even have AC!) But the city I grew up in (Kamloops) was 45 C / 113F. And a smaller town, Lytton, hit 48 C / 118 F. Until yesterday, the hottest temperature ever recorded in Canada was 45 C / 113 F. So just crazy times.
As opposed to the usual satisfaction I feel when I figure out the theme, this puzzle just felt annoying.
What the hell was that?
Challenging for me too, over 20 minutes on a Tuesday is slow for even me! The long downs were fun, UNHITCH had a Thursday clue, no idea who Mineta or Tod are. But the straightforward theme was fun to grok and covered enough real estate to make it fun!
Pretty much exactly what Clare said accept that I took a more positive view of the theme: some well meaning person try to spark interest in cryptic puzzles. A struggle in the SE to get the less than satisfying IS IT A GO. Wondering i f TOCK was as good as TICK, and finally noticing UGH had evolved into ICK so I could get on with my life.
And today's review brought to you by Rex Jr.
Took me 8 minutes longer than usual. This was pretty tough for a Tuesday 😅
Tough. Took more than a few nanoseconds (@M&A looking forward to your return) to wrap my head around the theme answers.
...So I’m with Clare, @Chefwen and @Unknown 2:16 (annoying) on this one.
Tough Tuesdee.
I didn't mind the theme, but Clare has a point about all the THEs.
The fill seemed piped in from a bygone era like this puzzle was sitting in a file cabinet for a while.
Again, didn't particularly mind that, but it's noteworthy that even *I* noticed.
I had "potion" before ELIXIR, because I always imagine the latter being peddled by a snake oil salesman from the rear of a Conestoga wagon. IMO potion is righter for a sorcerer.
I'm not moved.
🧠🧠
🎉🎉
Thx Alan; loved your puz! :)
And, thx Clare for your writeup. Here's to cooler days and nights for all of us. ⛄️
Tough solve. Felt more like a Thurs. to me.
Found it hard to parse the themers. Didn't fully grok them until post solve analysis. Very clever.
Despite my difficulties, really enjoyed this puz immensely!
Fresh, smart and crunchy.
___
yd pg -1
Peace ~ Empathy ~ Tolerance ~ Health ~ Kindness to all 🕊
Is today Thursday?
Wasn't crazy about the theme for reasons Clare stated well. Can we clue ESTES as other than _____ Park, Colo? It's a great place, but this cluing was used very recently. How about _____ Kefauber or Billy Sol _____?
Basically, what Clare said. I also didn't know any of the names (except HARRIS) and that made the whole thing a lot harder than it should've been. It took me a while to get the theme and even once I did I still tripped on THEBEWAY in particular because I wanted it to be GET rather than BE (being in the way doesn't imply interfering to me - you could just be there by accident, whereas getting in the way suggests agency).
I quite liked EMBARK, JINGLE, and ELIXIR, because they are nice words. Had no idea on the clue for JINGLE though. Otherwise I was underwhelmed by the theme and didn't find much to enjoy in the rest of the fill. Eight minutes slower than my average Tuesday and a whopping 20.5 slower than my fastest. Clearly I am not a super quick solver at the best of times but it was definitely an outlier for a Tuesday, especially coming after yesterday's similarly challenging Monday.
This is more rebus-like in the original sense of a rebus, and I liked it. I'm suddenly reminded of an (apocryphal?) exchange of letters between Frederick the Great and Voltaire that consisted of rebuses; one version of the story is told here. Voltaire's response is breathtaking.
Yes, I also found this a little harder than your ordinary Tuesday, and I'm not surprised that a younger solver like Clare would find this challenging. LEARY and STACY were immediate, JACOB and MINETA less so, and TOD I didn't know at all. Oh Christ, PACINO as Best Actor in Scent of a Woman. An over-long movie which is, as far as I can make out, essentially a star vehicle for PACINO who is extra shout-y throughout, even by PACINO standards. Well, okay, maybe he did take great pains researching his part. Still, the movie is so over-the-top (e.g. where Frank Slade drives the car, his big fat speech with the bit about the flamethrower, etc., etc.). Clearly I'm not in the target audience for that sort of thing.
I really liked the cluing for BEANBAG (Shape-shifting seat).
A nifty and smart puzzle, and a nice way to begin the day.
yd pg -8 (I think).
This is the type of theme that has been done a lot, but I don’t care. For me, it’s still fun to figure out the theme answers after getting the trick. And newer solvers, who this puzzle is for, will by definition not have seen this type of theme much or ever, and thus it’s fresh for them. So, editors, good choice, I say, for accepting this!
I think this is tougher than the usual Tuesday puzzle. There were clues/answers that experienced solvers like me will pop right in because we’ve seen them often, but may not be easy when hardly or never seen before – SAGE, SEE, NIB, ACH, EBB, MER, and HIT (with their clues). There were nine names; I knew six of them, but that number might be lower for younger solvers.
You don’t want to discourage inexperienced solvers, but you don’t want to pamper them either. A tough puzzle like this doesn’t come around very often. And if they’re few and far between, I think it’s good to throw in a little tough love, to keep the ego in check and whet the determination.
Finally, Alan is a pro. His skill shines through in the construction, cluing – the overall execution. That comes with talent and experience, and this is, after all, his 130th NYT puzzle. I sure had fun with this, and, IMO, it was quality through and through. Thank you once again, Alan!
Aw, I kinda liked it. When the theme contributes to the solve, I'm in. Sorry you are in the midst of bar prep, Clare. Study as much as you can in the month left. Makes the months of waiting after a lot easier if you can assure yourself you did your best.
Wonder if we could rename yesterday THE BACK DAY? Or what THE PIE SKY might look like?
I love Clare’s entries in this blog, but I’d pay a good chunk of cash just to read Rex’s take on this steaming pile of poop.
Overly difficult — but largely because of the £#¢k¡ng proper nouns. Tons of three-letter bull crap. The grid shape really demands it. My solve was three times slower than my usual Tuesday speed.
I didn’t hate the theme itself (not even that every theme answer started with “THE”). It’s everything else that really peeved me.
I suppose I’d have been less angered if it weren’t a Tuesday puzzle. But which day should this have run? It’s still more difficult than a Wednesday. If it had run as a Thursday the difficulty would have been warranted, but the “trick” insufficient for those of us that love a funky Thursday. Not hard enough for a Friday, that’s for sure.
No, this puzzle should just have been reworked until there were fewer trivia / proper names answers. The grid should have been reshaped for less choppy crappy fill. Maybe an oversized grid could have helped?
Not sure. All I know is I didn’t like this.
I'm sure someone texted Norman Mineta at 10:01 last night and said, "Hey, you're crossword famous!"
I'm in the @bocamp camp. I liked the puzzle, enjoyed the gimmick and didn't find it excessively challenging for a Tuesday. I remembered MINETA but not his first name so I wasn't sure of it until I got a few crosses. I didn't know TOD Browning, but I didn't have to because I didn't read the clue until after I got the happy music. I agree about the cluing for TICKS -- if you didn't know the former Transportation Secretary it could have gone either way. But I love @Paolo's "Rover riders" clue for that.
Well, all I can say is....
If your spelling of ELIXIR was a little shaky, entering -ER instead of -IR, you just found yourself (literally?) pissing in the wind.
@ Paolo (12:45am)
Meal service?
Meals served on trays?
I guess you haven't flown in a while.
Nope, Rex. I thought this one was very easy, and I enjoyed the theme. Even though I knew that every answer would start with "the" I had to do a little mental jog to get the word in the middle. Liked that. Also liked the crossing of Stacy and Spacy. My only hangup was 58A, where I entered Lord instead of Earl. Took me a little while to find that problem, since my search for the flaw took me through all the acrosses, starting in the NW, and then pretty much had to run all the downs before I saw the problem at 53D, "WLB." Over all a good way to start a Tuesday.
Wow, a theme that has a law student running for the stacks and looking forward to studying for the bar exam. That’s a pretty memorable achievement. This one had the potential to generate not only a classic, but possibly a Guinness world record “Rex Rant”. I’m glad that I at least learned that I can turn to Willie LEY in the event that I have a sudden urge to do a little bit of reading up on rocketry. This could well be a theme-lovers delight, however for me they just sapped my energy and enthusiasm - so a DNF was actually more enjoyable than slogging my way through the remainder and I conceded defeat.
It’s interesting how the Xword dynamics play out sometimes - today we have a puzzle that is sending a crossword-proficient law school student heading for the hills, and someone like myself (in theory at least, I’m in the target demographic for Tuesdays ability-wise) and I threw in the towel. Obviously, an inordinately small sample size - but the puzzle was a turn off for the two extremes at least in this example. The Times usually runs puzzles with themes about 5 days a week - so there is certainly a large and enthusiastic contingent of fans out there who must enjoy the extra challenge even toward the beginning of the week. Tough balancing act for Shortz and Co. I reckon.
Pretty hard - would have been a medium Wednesday. And that's despite "THE" providing several free spaces. Some of the difficulty was in the proper names -- not ideal. But some was the more desirable hard cluing.
potion before ELIXIR
hErb before WEED
TTrimble: couldn't agree more about Scent of a Woman. Almost ruined Al Pacino for me. Self-important, overblown, hammy movie. My former son-in-law thought it was one of the best movies ever. No wonder my daughter divorced him.
33% longer than my average Tuesday and, seriously, why cross an obscure proper name with a clue that has two legitimate answers, particularly when TICK has multiple meanings but TOCK has only one?
Needless to say, it bothers me more because I guessed incorrectly (and got a Tuesday wrong for the first time in years and years and years), but even if I had guessed correctly it's still bad constructing/editing, particularly for a Tuesday.
Liked something a little tougher early week. Neat theme - but agree the THEs glommed things up. Some of the clueing did seem from BACK IN THE DAY. The trivia was fill in easy for me - but could see it holding some back. Loved the NW stack - DATA SET, UNHITCH and ONE RATE and REEFER x WEED cross adjacent to ESTES.
Enjoyable Tuesday solve.
A MUST SEE
The first paragraph of Clare’s review nailed it.
Or the brand of rockets with gunpowder popular among 7th graders in the 70's.
Apparently there are 2 versions of the Oscar Meyer wiener JINGLE.
I wish I was... and I'd love to be....
I liked it - a lot. I knew all the names and all the other PPP. Of course, that's because I have something in common with this puzzle - we both skew old.
I did have a brief moment of "Is today Thursday?", but when you're retired and skew as old as I do, there are a hundred reasons why you might not know what day it is.
Agree with you 100%!
Harris's largest political accomplishment is becoming vice president. It's that position that's clued, not the fact that the president she serves with is a man and it's further supposed to lead us to think she's the natural successor for the next president because, look, Biden did it. Unwittingly, you're essentially minimizing her role in the Biden/Harris campaign by saying this was not her accomplishment but his that's being clued. Honestly, I don't think very many people voted for Biden at all, they voted for "Not Trump" and Harris, so she was arguably a larger part of their win than he was.
I imagine The The loved this puzzle.
I’m pretty sure REEFER was dated slang when I was in high school. I wouldn’t be surprised if it was dated slang when REEFER Madness came out in 1936. Probably best to watch that movie stoned.
I agree that crossing a vowel in a Secretary of Transportation with an answer that can literally correctly use two vowels is cruel and unusual natick punishment. It could have been worse. We could have gotten his middle name (Yoshio). Three vowels that could be anything! Natick City Here We Come! Hey, there is an airport named after him! (BTW - I guessed right! Clearly because I have superior solving talent. Har!)
It’s been awhile. Shortz has been slacking off. But today was definitely a return to “Tuesday is going to tuezz.” How Arbesfeld looked at six THEs in the puzzle and thought it would be a good solving experience is beyond me. Yes, it’s a nifty little idea, but there is literally no way to execute it in an interesting way. Again, it could be worse. the answers could have been more literal, TJHAEBCOKX anyone?
I've been hanging out with WEED smokers since the mid 1970s, and never once have I heard someone refer to marijuana cigarettes as REEFERS. Maybe that was before my time?
I did not know the Red Baron was involved in the Artificial Intelligence RACE. Germany was way ahead there, I guess.
TeD before TOD, the unknown cabinet member, all made ITS A GO go slow.
MILIEU nice answer for setting.
STACY crossing SPACY was pretty good, but some people might go the other way on that. In any case I hope it wasn't a metoo situation.
I also so thought UNHITCH crossing 2 theme answers at the H's in 2 THE's was nifty.
Only a lone double POC.
Pain in the ass Tuesday, but well done. The themes all work literally as meta THE blank (in the) blank, or maybe the blank (in-between the) blank.
Remember:
You'll be in the PIE SKY
When you die
If you buy buy buy
Life insurance.
WEED REEFER NIP BUD LEARY
And ECTOmorph is about body types. I did not know.
Norman MINETA is very well known out here. The son of Japanese immigrants, he became mayor of San Jose, served in Congress, and was in the cabinets of two presidents. The airport in San Jose carries his name.
The fact that this theme has been done many times is no THEFLYOINTMENT for me. First of all, I don't remember having seen it before even though I've been doing this damned thing for more than thirty years. But even if I had, the themers were lively and fun to figure out. I particularly liked THEBACKDAY and THEUPAIR.
REEFERS might be the worst answer I've ever seen in the NYT crossword
Theme answers were obvious. It was the inability to suss out the order of the phrases without getting the crosses that caused the struggle.
Missed Unhitch for a long time. Wanted WWI Ace. Endomorph. Debit wasn't long enough off the Duo. Couldn't remember Mineta. A Fixed Fee refers to final price. A rate would be referred to as a Fixed Rate. You could have one rate and go long on hours to blow up the fee. That's the lingo. Those not toiling on billable time might quibble.
But I digress. Did Reefer ever have a plural?
Fun started when The broke and a-HAs started.
Drop your Tuesday expectations and think how much you might've enjoyed this if it were a Thursday. Not a lot of junk and loved Unhitch, Jingle, Spinet, Milieu. Less the puzzle than the scheduling?
Was hoping Rex would post the White Stripes doing Seven Nation Army (pound that one through your ear buds at the gym).
https://youtu.be/0J2QdDbelmY
Good writeup Clare, thanks!
The combination of age (advanced) and taste (unaccountable) made this one easy and fun for me. I puzzled over how THE JACK BOX worked, but THE NIP BUD cleared that up, and I really enjoyed anticipating what the rest of the expressions would be. Unlike @Clare, I particularly like THE BE WAY: after entering THEB, I wondered how in the world there was going to be room for a full phrase in just 4 more squares. No WAY! But there was.
@TTrimble 6:33 - I loved your comment on "Scent of a Woman." I've retained nothing at all about the movie except for "scenery chewing."
I absolutely agree that MINETA/TICKS is a bad cross, but my logic was that clocks go tick-tock, while watches (and bombs) go tick ... tick ... tick.
Now that I think about it more, most clocks nowadays go tick tick tick, too. Tick-tock seems specific to a pendulum clock.
Caught on to the theme with the first one at 17A, and breezed through the top third in a couple minutes, but got stymied at 31A trying to think of an "in the" phrase that fit.
My grave mistake was then moving to the Down clues, entering TRICK for 41D, and being too suspicious of the puzzle's level of trickery, entering HARKS for 50D (Watch sounds) followed by HINDI for 50A. But then 52A became a problem and I was pretty sure the transportation secretary was MINETA, as I've been through the SJC airport more than a few times. It took a bit of time to unravel all those mistakes, and I ended up with one of my slowest Tuesday times since I stopped solving on paper.
I think we can all agree now that the MINETA/TICKS cross was a bit of a Natick.
Yes, Clare reminds us that she finished law school, but so what? She's justifiably proud of that. And soon she will learn that the practice of law has nothing to do with the hoops that law school puts you through. It reminded me of when I was studying for the bar and the Barcelona Olympics were going on. Very distracting.
Took me a bit to grok the theme, and yes, once you get it, the THEs fill themselves in. Still, it was nice to see something different. And folks, if you didn't like today's puz, there's always tomorrow to look forward to . . . .
I'm pretty sure no one who's studied textiles or done batiking of fabric thinks of batik as DYE. Dyeing the fabric is only the first and next-to-the-last step in creating batik. It's more about the wax resist. But I'm obsessing over the plans for my next trip to Bali to create more batik, so there's that.
A solid Thursday in my book. Theme resolved quickly for me, but that didn't stop me from having to slog through this puzzle. The proper noun fills were the least of it.
Excellent, tricky cluing in general. (If the theme hadn't resolved itself fairly easily, this would have escalated to a hard Friday solve.)
You are reading Rex’s blog
Jay, having survived four years of law school and failed the bar exam several times, I totally understand why Clare mentions that gigantic part of her life. I tell people "I was married four times and took the bar exam five times. Or vice versa. I never can remember which."
Hmmmm I’m not getting the hate today. Agree the clues tilted weirdly old, and there were several names I didn’t know. But they were easy to get from the cross fill. I finished in under 8 mins…. Probably a minute longer than my typical time, but nothing weird. Also, if you’re studying for the bar, presumably a huge number of your law school friends are are taking the NY bar this summer….. at the Jacob Javitz center? I have no idea who that person is, but I know the name of the the place because all my NY friends talked about it in relation to the bar exam.
@Brainpan813 --
As a lifelong Republican, my Biden vote was mainly an anti-Tump vote: DJT is simply a terrible person, IMO, though it was a bigger stretch for. me to go for liberal Hillary in 2016.
As to Clare's point that Harris shoul've been clued as to her achievements rather than as a Biden running mate, I disagree for a couple of reasons: first, few outside CA would've known who a former state Senator or AG there was; and second because I think it a fair chance that Biden would not have won with a white-male VP beside him. I think it likely that Harris' presence on the ticket, as the first African-American and Asian-American and female VP candidate in history was a major reason for the record percentage-turnout in 2020 .... she undoubtedly pulled a MUCH higher than normal percentage of these voting blocs to the polls than a normal white-male running mate would've for Biden, and maybe was a major contributing factor to Biden's win.
While I get Clare's point about the multiple THE's I thought this was a terrific puzzle. While I didn't exactly remember MINETA's name, I recognized it once I had all the consonants. I think for a Tuesday they might have crossed it with "Might give you Lyme Disease". I found it easier than average and didn't think the proper names were a problem.
@TTrimble thanks for the Voltaire story. I don't think I've seen it before. Once upon a time my French was pretty fluent, but figuring out a rebus in a foreign language, especially one you haven't spoken full time since you were 16 was too tricky for me!
Well, @Unknown, we don't all agree that TICK/MINETA was a natick. My watch is tocking? It makes tock sounds. TICKS is really quite obvious.
Alternate clue for REEFERS. Sea creatures living among coral formations. No? Whatever...
Hey All !
Lots of THENAMESPUZ again today, but all in the Acrosses. Or THEALLACROSSES. The Downs were name free.
Had sloGan first for JINGLE, luckily the G is correct for both, so got BEANBAG regardless. Figured out the theme fairly quickly, I've seen other puzs (not crosswords) with similar gimmicks. Agree with the crunchiness of the puz today.
Random stuff: Got crossing BARs in the bottom-center. MILIEU a cool word not used enough. Kept wanting IS IT AGe for IS IT A GO, even though it made no sense. Nice double meaning on clue for ICE AX. New clue for ECTO: "___1, license plate in 1984's Ghostbusters".
Other potential themers:
THETHROWTOWEL, THEJUMPLAKE, THEFILLBLANK, THEDANCENUDE. 😁
One F
RooMonster
DarrinV
What great fun! And to have such a puzzle on a Tuesday is a gift. It's all wordplay all the time and I got a good deal of extra pleasure by trying to fill in the theme answers with as few crosses as possible.
The only really hard one for me was THEBEWAY (be in the way) because I really wanted THEBUTTRE (butt in there), but it didn't fit.
A shout-out for the TRAY clue (24D) which I expect to see in Lewis's favorite clues later in the week.
If you loved this as much as I did and you're not already into Cryptic Crosswords, there's a whole puzzle universe awaiting you that you may really enjoy. Of course this is only one type of clue that you might find in a cryptic, but each kind of clue there is designed to make you think OUTTHEBOXSIDE. Got that?
Thanks, Alan, for a playful and most enjoyable puzzle.
Tod Browning also directed “Freaks”, which was sometimes part of a midnight double feature with “REEFER Madness”.
Lewis, give up the shtick, this puzzle stinks!
For example, no one has ever used the term “reefers”, as a plural, to refer to marijuana cigarettes, i.e. joints. Reefer means marijuana, not a specifically rolled version and then especially not plural. Just one example of the crappy cluing to go along with all the flaws pointed out with the ungraceful and inconsistent theme.
Yuck.
I not sure if this got mentioned but since we are back to Voltaire again I will.
That recent clue about it's against the law to lie under it reminded me of Voltaire's quote something like: The law in its infinite wisdom makes illegal for the rich man as well as the poor man to sleep under a bridge. Crane's bridge would not fit. Span would have, but I knew what was intended.
There a lot to agree about this puzzle. The very first clue may trun newer solvers off. As well as the PPP if not in their wheelhouse. The first three letters are the same in each theme entry, and there are a lot of them. Perhaps a crumb for the newer solvers but an annoyance for the more experienced. The final judgment? That is where the disagreements will take over the front stage. For me, the puzzle left a frown on my face.
Thanks for cluing me into the 400 hurdles race. Agree this puzzle was a slog.
So much hate for this puzzle. It's so sad. When people don't enjoy cryptic-style cluing as much as I do, I feel as though I've been/am:
THEKICKEDTEETH
ADIFFERENTLIVINGWORLD
THEAVOICEWILDERNESS
I almost began my first comment by saying "There will probably be some who hate this puzzle", but then thought: "Nah, they just couldn't".
For those of you who loved it, thanks. You're APORTSSTORM.
Challenging for a Tuesday. Back in the day was a good theme answer as many of Clare's unknowns were from way back in the day (Jacob, Stacy, Leary, and Ley). Unfortunately the Tamil & Mineta answers kept me from seeing Is It A Go as four words. For those of us who are vowel memory challenged that are was tough.
Good luck on the bar exam Clare.
I enjoyed the challenge of figuring out the theme answers. Somehow, the fact that the words were not in their usual order made it harder to think of them.
As for the fill; well, I can remember when Jacob JAVITS was a Senator from New York, and I once heard Norman MINETA speak (though I still needed a few crosses for him). The man who introduced him gave a little of his personal history. He spent several years of his boyhood in a Japanese-American internment camp in Wyoming. The interned boys had a Boy Scout troop, and invited other troops to visit for joint activities -- but only one troop in the state would do it. One of the members of that troop was Alan Simpson, and he and Mineta became friends. Years later, Mineta was a Democrat in the House of Representatives, and Simpson a Republican Senator. They cosponsored the law that formally apologized to the internees, and worked together on other legislation.
I do realize, though, that if aren't the AGE of Methuselah, you might have trouble with some of these names.
REEFERS does sound terribly old-fashioned, but the answer and clue are not wrong. I think some people here are interpreting REEFER as a mass noun synonymous with weed, but it may also refer to an individual cigarette which pluralizes as shown. (The term I would hear is "joints", or sometimes "jays".)
@Anonymous 7:32AM, @Carola
Thanks; your comments were much pithier than mine. I just rewatched the big speech scene. I'm not going to link to it, but suffice it to say it's James Rebhorn lobbing one puffball after another. Instead of saying quietly into his microphone, "Security."
Glad everyone else thought this was difficult. I wasn't sure if I was just slow this morning since it took me Thursday time to solve this puzzle. The theme and theme answers weren't difficult once you got the trick, but it was really hard to get into. Lots of toss-up answers Endo/Ecto, Lord/Earl, Hey/Sup, ticks/tocks ect. I had to rely on a lot of Crosswordese to solve this one.
I'm sure if you knew the names this could be Tuesday tough, but as a millennial I had no shot at Norman Mineta or Tod Browning of 1931's Dracula. I don't get what's so hard about putting in more relevant cluing, especially on early week puzzles which are explicitly supposed to be for newer solvers.
Like one other person mentioned, I had "ELIXER" for the longest time. That meant I was PEEing in the sky. Finally saw the error of my ways.
I enjoyed this one, but can see it left many THEDOWNDUMPS. Theme helped the solve, that's fun, and I thought the fill was easy. I skew old, I suppose (short of THELIFEFASTLANE), but for whatever reason thought it was clever and zipped through it.
Easy but fun puzzle - better, I suppose, for older generations. Thanks, Alan!
inre REEFERS: Perhaps it is the centennial of the last usage of this. Or it is the junior xword editors trying to subliminally convince their boss that they don't touch the stuff.
Perhaps tougher than some fill in the blank Tuesdays, but I didn't ever get slowed down today. I see Clare's point about 6 "THE"s, but like others, didn't notice until finished. The theme phrases all look like they mean something right at the edge of my knowledge.
JACK BOX - a container for stolen goods
NIP BUD - reefers rolling paraphernalia
UP AIR - when your hot air balloon is warm enough for takeoff - "We've got up air!"
BACK DAY - Lat sessions at the gym
PIE SKY - aerial skateboard trick megafail.
UP AIR - the moment before pie sky
BE WAY - somehow related to EMBARK. Or text speak for late, but arriving soon.
ENOTE about MINETA/TICKS: note sure if there were different clues in different editions, but the printout was "Watch sounds". I eventually decided that you'd need a pretty big watch to make a "tock" sound.
@kitschef - not too many clocks these days do either...
a Lyme disease clue would have been triggering for some.
Spot-on writeup, Claire. Even though I knew most of the names, I was still tripped up many times. And not in the LEARY way!
Interestingly enough, I just sang the Oscar Meyer JINGLE yesterday. Don’t ask!
I’m not understanding the cut-and-paste theme. If I were to state it (as much as I understand) I’d put it this way: In common phrases the connecting words "in the" are removed from the original position, "in" is dropped, and "the" is preserved and placed a position at the start of the phrase. But I don’t understand how the word "literally" transforms “nip in the bud” into “the nip bud”, or the other answers. I enjoyed the puzzle and figured out how to answer the theme clues, with not too much trouble. But usually I’m able to pin down the theme. If anybody…?
I don’t think the theme is trying to get into the literal weeds over the way the word literally is misused. (And there's some contradictory advice out there: According to the book "Common Errors in English Usage", the word "literally" is misused when it's "used as a synonym for actually". However, Websters defines "literally" as 1) actually, and 2) virtually. The OED defines "literally" as 1) to indicate that some metaphorical or hyperbolical expression is to be taken in the strongest admissible sense: "'virtually, as good as'"; [and] 2) "completely, utterly, absolutely."
If people paid more attention to "REEFER Madness" all those many years ago, and until now, we wouldn't have Sleepy Socialist Joe as President, and the country going to Hell in a handbasket. Creeping debauchery accelerates over time, just like Delta Covid in unvaccinated counties.
Challenging for a Tuesday. I didn’t get the theme right off so it seemed clunky but now I can see where it might have been fun if I had understood it to begin with. Still, having to work to figure it out kind of takes a lot of the joy out of the solve.
WEED crossing REEFERS was intriguing. I remember both from BACK in THE DAY.
@Adam, if literally means in a literal sense, then the word Jack is a in literal sense "in" The and Box?
I had a DNF. Put TAMuL and didn’t know MINETA and thus just could not see ISITAGO. Long time since that’s happened on a Tuesday.
Tougher than the usual Tuesday puzzle but I welcomed it.
Hated it.
Don't know if they still use the term but when I was in the Navy long ago in the previous century, the refrigerated storage compartment onboard ship was called the REEFER.
Some people steep WEED in alcohol, say rum or vodka, and then call the THC laced concoction an ELIXIR.
I learned that MILIEU has one L, not two.
Keeping with the 60's vibe of WEED and REEFERS, here's the Moody Blues' "Timothy LEARY".
Sucked.
If anyone asked, "Whose got reefers?" they would have been kicked off the bus.
Easy, fun, clever, a Tuesday jewel, no flubs. Why disliked by many is a puzzle. Probably for the same reason puzzles I can’t fathom are applauded. “A mystery”, as Handel once wrote on a different subject. And Clare - trying to emulate Rex is not a good career move. You should thenipitbud (Autocorrect has fun with this).
I occasionally go back in the archives and solve a 90s puzzle. After filling in PACINO and STACY Keach I stopped to check the date. I sincerely thought I had opened a puzzle from the archive.
What an odd mix. The theme was easy to figure out from THEJACKBOX. Knowing that THE would go at the beginning of all the themers was no fun. That should have made it a breeze to solve but I struggled a bit.
Overall, it was kinda dated, kinda fun.
Who the heck says ENOTES?
Well everything I wanted to sing about and to gripe about has been put in the BOX with JACK. Do I sing "pop goes the weasel?"
Here's my gripe.....Why didn't you clue TIMON as the meerkat in "The Lion King?" Instead you give us some old moldy Shakespeare....And then, you give us PACINO in that pretty awful "Scent of a Woman" when you could've mentioned the best movie ever, "Serpico." OK, so I have my little foibles and I'm allowed to and I get over them so I move on.
What did you sing about, you ask? Well, it was a Tuesday that made me do a little more thinking than usual. I like to think on a BACK DAY...it makes the NIP BUD MILIEU a conundrum I can't quite put my finger on. So there's that. Plus, when you do these at 3 in the morning, you need something to keep you alert and happy.
Is there anyone who gives a s*it what anybody else's solving "time" was? I mean, if that's basically all you have to say, why not take a day off and let us read the posts of people who might have something original to say. I know crossword puzzle solving is a popular pastime for us self-absorbed types - but it might be beneficial to ask before posting something, "could anybody else possible care?" I don't know anybody here personally but the only everyday poster who is almost always interesting and refreshing is "Nancy" - (a fellow New Yorker: it figures!)
Thank you for confirming that I wasn't just being dim or grouchy with this puzzle. I didn't care for it much at all.
I knew MINETA of course. All the same, super-slow for a Tuesday. I'm thinking there must be a great rebus puzzle lined up for Thursday, to explain why it did not appear then.
'
Clare's current occupation brought back memories. Some Boalt students had the clever idea of coming down to Stanford Law to post an ad for a summer subtenancy in Berkeley. I grabbed it and was given a room with a view of the Golden Gate Bridge. Spent many a pleasant hour studying for the bar, though I also had a bar review course in San Francisco to attend. Many a pleasant hour too, making out with a Stanford ex-roommate's girlfriend, at her view apartment in Tiburon. I crossed a lot of bridges that summer. Ate too much bad food on Berkeley's Northside, and dramk too much beer at the Albatross, so conveniently located on my way home from class. The summer ended, I took the bar exam and headed off to a Vista job in Tacoma, and a final draft deferment.
(I think the girlfriend ended up back together with her ex, BTW -- the reason we totally lost touch with each other). In any case, it was a very pleasant summer, and very relaxing -- I knew that if I studied methodically and went to class every time, I was highly likely to pass the Bar, and did.
I don't understand all the hate on this easy but fun puzzle.
Great 400 meter race - thanks for the link !
Poe's law observed at 10:55AM. Fun to read that post with the voice of the fulminating fellow from Down East who opens and closes REEFER Madness, minatory finger pointed squarely at the viewer.
What @Joaquin said, almost exactly. I agree with him so much that I sometimes wish he lived next door and not on the other side of the country, as he seems to be a man of superior intelligence and wit, i.e., he agrees with me most of the time.
Anyway, I'm in the easy and fun because of age crowd today.
Saw a photo once of Bobbby Hull with no shirt on, and the caption was "The perfect ectomorph".
Yep.
Today's timely word is TICKS, which are super-abundant in the area this year. My town's list serve has multiple postings about how bad things are and what solutions might be. Someone suggested that what needed to be done was to "stop the breading!". I suspect this might be counterproductive, as it would lead to decreased tick consumption.
FT fans may remember the "reefer" "roofer" confusion of someone trying to be cool. Well I did anyway.
Caught the trick early and the rest was smooth as a smelt. Fun Tuesday.
Bigsteve46,
Tastes vary. My opinion is in stark contrast to yours. I almost always find jberg's comments worthwhile. Anoa Bob very frequently has interesting things to say. Gill's comments are usually fun. As for posting times, I don't recall seeing it here a lot. I agree its a bore to hear anyone drone on about where they had trouble or how this cross enabled that solution. But it's an open forum. That means I'm subjected to several folks here I find utterly insufferable.
♪ Lipstick on her reefer
Waiting for a match ♪
This puzzle has the dubious distinction of containing not one but *two* Herb Alpert titles:
Bean Bag
Rise
My first look at the clues had me wary of PPP, but the crosses took care of the ones I didn’t know. I was surprised to see STACY Keach - I was thinking why not go with the more current STACY Abrahms, but now that I looked him up I see he’s been active as recently as 2020, with 30 films and 50 TV shows/films since 2000. Impressive, especially for someone who just turned 80.
I knew MINETA but not necessarily the spelling, so potential Natick (Natock?) at TICKS, but MoNETA looked off. Speaking of off, this one goes tock tick.
Turned out pretty easy and was fun to watch the themers emerge.
@TTrimble, thanks for the link to the Andreas Kluth site. I poked around and found a quote from Yuval Noah Harari that reminded me of yesterday's Rousseau.
@albatross shell, don’t forget to take a HIT.
@RooMonster, nice themers. Re downs - what about JACOB and ESTES Park?
Anyone care for some German archival footage of the actual Red Baron?
TIMON TAMIL. This was fine for a Tuesday (granted, I was 1:18 over my average Tuesday solve) but I was shaking my head at the names by the time I got to TERI Hatcher.
17A, weird how the brain works, I got the answer by the clue, had a mental image of a Jack in the Box, noticed the IN THE was missing or misplaced but still sounded in my head THE JACKpot. This skewed my parsing of the theme which meant that I thought THE NIPBUD was odd and made no sense of THE BEWAY. And then, suddenly, it all made sense and I filled the rest in easily.
2D, I loved the mental morphing from a movie trailer to a tow-behind trailer, and the clue for ASTHMA was pretty good, as Clare points out.
Nice one, Alan.
Hate hate hated "Reefers" -- I've heard "Reefer" in singular in the context of "Reefer Madness" and assumed it was a synonym for "weed" like "ganja" or "Mary Jane," never knew that it was referring to a joint. Also HATED "Mineta" crossing "Ticks" -- 50D - "Watch Sounds" could be Ticks OR Tocks, and I didn't know the name of the obscure political figure to confidently pick the I or the O. I guessed right but this was the last square I filled in the puzzle.
Should have been a Thursday puzzle. Hardest Tuesday I can remember.
@A 12:57PM
Wow, thanks for that! Yuval Noah Harari: clearly this is a man who has understood.
@Billy 9:54
Maybe it depends on where you grew up I have definitely heard and seen reefers plural. And why would reefer mean marijuana the substance rather than a rolled cigarette? Linguistically unlikely.
@Sisyphuss 7:10, Thanks for the chuckle
Thought the rebuses made it fun. Why object to "the"s when they are part of a puzzle within the puzzle? The names did make it overly difficult inspects for a Tuesday
Agree with whomever commented that trays go up before take off, not during. sos that crossed with unknown Ley stumped me.
I once returned a nice Bulova watch because it tocked when it was supposed to TICK.
ENOTE (and other E-words of its ilk like ECASH) is the type of crosswordese that I can now get immediately because I expect it from the clue, but exists nowhere outside the dictionaries of desperate XW constructors. At least ETUIs and ERNEs are actual things.
What an incredibly nice thing to say about me, @bigsteve46, and I thank you most sincerely for it. It makes me feel very happy. I do agree, though, that there are a great many delightful commenters here -- too many to name -- whose comments are amusing and/or enlightening and whose individual "takes" on the puzzle I generally look forward to reading. And most have a "voice" that's unique. If I scroll up from the bottom, thereby not seeing whose comment I'm reading until after I've read it, 87% of the time I know exactly who wrote it. At least I do for the "regulars".
Then there those who make comments like this: “ And Clare - trying to emulate Rex is not a good career move.”
Like, who wants unsolicited snarky advice that is irrelevant to their actual career and even were it not is condescending and obnoxious.
As for why is reefer mean marijuana, not a rolled cigarette? Hi would weed mean marijuana, not a rolled cigarette? Why would ganja mean marijuana not a rolled cigarette? Why would joint mean a rolled cigarette and not loose marijuana? Cause things mean different things. But, believe you me, not one looked at that clue and thought it would be reefer. They got it via the crosses but still. And it was merely an example of the poor construction overall of the puzzle.
@TTrimble 12:35 - Yep. I wasted at least 7 nanoseconds debating between “nice one” and fremdschämen. Thanks for the link, too. Because I wasted at least 3 nanoseconds wondering what E.A.P. had said about REEFERS Madness. I was familiar with the concept, didn’t know someone had been credited with naming it.
This was as easy as rolling a REEFER. But I would have preferred something like "Lyme carriers" for TICKS.
Thewhatworld was that. “The” x six = 18 automatic fills. Thanks for the effort Alan& Will, but a bit basic even for Tuesday. And thanks for a fair & nice critique Clare.
Could another guy please pipe up to explain once again why Clare was wrong to wish Kamala Harris be clued independently of a man? I'm not sure all of us women fully understand.
@okanagener thought we were smoking until we saw the Lytton record. Here we watched the Ironman CdA at a balmy 104. Watched the winner set a new course record from our maple shaded perch...amazing in so many ways—sorta like today’s THESLAPFACE puzzle. Aren’t we glad that climate change is a media propagation?
Because VP is Harris's greatest, most current, and thus most widely known achievement. Pick your battles, and the best clue for a Tuesday. That being said, Clare can wish whatever she wants.
But I'm a woman and I see you've asked for a man's opinion. So we'll wait for that answer.
Sure. I don't believe anyone is suggesting that Clare was wrong - she was just expressing a preference. If someone stated that she was in fact out of line, you may want to ask that individual to explain him or herself. The comments that I have seen simply indicated that Harris may not be as well known if clued as the former AG of California or perhaps as a summa cum laude graduate of some university or law school - and that the clue is accurate and appropriate as it appears in the puzzle. Please feel free to let me know if you have additional questions or require further clarification.
I'm a man, and I second what @JD said.
Becoming the first African-American, Asian woman to achieve the office of Vice President is something to be proud of. Claire isn't woke, she has insomnia.
Pabloinnh @12:44 PM, ahem... An outdated personality theory based on body types, called a somatotype theory, had three basic forms, ectomorphs, mesomorphs and endomorphs. Former hockey great Bobby Hull could have been the poster boy for mesomorphs. An ECTOmorph would be tall and skinny while an endomorph would be more round and soft.
I just now saw that Bobby had a brother, Dennis, who also played pro hockey. He's a bit taller than Bobby but I doubt that he would be an ECTOmorph. I would be surprised if any pro hockey players would be ECTOmorphs.
For what it's worth, the quote about both the poor and the rich being forbidden to sleep under bridges seems to be from Anatole France.
@Anoa Bob-Well you're exactly right, of course, and I have been misremembering that photo since I saw it decades ago. The fact that it showed the great Bobby Hull in his prime is a clue to when that might have been.
Also an example of how a faulty memory can sometimes give you a right answer.
Thanks for the correction, and the next time I'm so certain of an old memory I'll have to do some fact-checking.
@Wm C
Harris is Indian
The clue casting director was only hiring for the name HARRIS. So actually Kamala beat out a lot of guys to land the gig. Though now Julie is pissed at her.
Well guys, thanks for stepping up to the plate and explaining it to me. I must be that dense. See, I thought that there just might be a difference between two clues, "who plays the same role to Biden as Biden played to Obama?" and say "The first Asian (dudes, India is in Asia) American, African American woman elected to national office?" I'll leave it to you to figure out the difference between those two clues. Hint, one references her by the man she serves, one directly highlights her accomplishments. Kind of what Clare said. Kind of what many, many people are oblivious to.
Clue was 'watch sounds'
India, also called The Subcontinent, along with Indonesia and a host of smaller countries are generally typed as South Asian. Which is to say, not China or Korea or...
In the final analysis, there are just two continents: the one that runs from France to the Bering Sea as well as south to the Cape of Good Hope and the one that runs from the Arctic to the Antarctic. One need ignore splits in the land masses that are manmade, of course. Australia is just a big island, which is how is was classified in my elementary school days.
@pabloinnh (12:44) - Thx for the kind words. Sounds like I'd be better received in NH than I was here in SoCal, where I was greeted with "There goes the neighborhood" signs.
@ewe – Actually, no. Your clue focuses strictly on her being a woman and her ethnic background; no accomplishments are highlighted. The clue in the puzzle refers to the position she has and the work she does.
@Every 6:00. Glad to hear that we finally agree on something - the second sentence in your post is accurate.
@Every woman, everywhere, I see your point and only disagree with one part of it. She doesn't serve Biden. She serves the people of the United States.
Every women,
You’re more than welcome little lady. Glad to have helped you.
Bobby Orr was a physical specimen. The question isn’t whether he was a mesomorph or an ectomorph. ( there’s no question ) but rather why pscychology ascribed personality to body types. If ever there were a bankrupt pursuit, psychology is it,
Heck, psychologists make sociologists look like rocket scientists. That’s a heck of a trick.
Every woman,
Patsy Mink would like a word with you. Ya know, owing to your claim about the first Asian woman elected to a national office.
Anyway, you sound fun. Did you go to Smith? Kalamazoo?
Guinness says this is the worst theme ever.
I would strongly argue with the concept that there are only two continents.
Only Europe and Asia have no natural demarcation. The fact that humans were fairly easily able to split North and South America and Africa and Asia is proof. And Australia and Antarctica deserve continent status.
@7:09
So, tell us what you think of phrenology? Psychologists, if nothing else, have proven that their skill at directed influence is effective in selling us particular toothpaste and politicians.
Phrenology?Bunk.
What do you 7:09 think of phrenology?
I certainly know why so many did not enjoy this one; it seems to have been constructed by someone in my age bracket! So for me (and possibly others whose adult memories include the 70s) it was easy including the theme.
I got all the “THE JACK BOX” letters from the downs knowing what the referenced toy was supposed to be. After seeing the order in the answer the theme became crystal clear at the next theme entry. But I have to agree with Claire that the first theme answer was the only one that made any sense at all in context of my understanding of the theme. Since the phrases were all well known, it was easy to fill them all in.
And while I noticed the high number of proper names, since I knew them all it wasn’t a problem. For a change. Thankfully. I truly struggle with many of the daily puzzles that skew young especially in music, but am always happy to learn and appreciate constructors like Mr. Arbesfeld who so skillfully crafted the downs to be (in this case) Tuesday-accessible. That’s art. Thanks for a (to me) very enjoyable Tuesday solve with even a theme that skewed old-as this one certainly did.
@anon 7:09-
Totally agree that Bobby Orr is an amazing physical specimen, but he is not Bobby Hull.
Always nice to see other people making mistakes too.
The clue for 33 Across should read "I wish I were an Oscar Mayer wiener...", e.g. The grammar of the original jingle was correct.
TTrimble -- did you see that Dick Cavett was on the comment thread in your Voltaire link?!!?
It was a bit more challenging but not bad. This seemed much more like a Thursday puzzle with the missing "In" and having "the" come before "in" for all the "in the" phrases. But once you see the pattern it is not hard.
@George
I did see that name, but wasn't convinced it was really him.
SPACY AGE
IBET BACK in THE DAY
when LEARY your BUD had seed,
REEFERS would BE THE WAY
to HIT UP a BAG of WEED.
--- TERI ANN PACINO
Not bad. I would have liked a reveal of sorts down the centre. Something like THEFILLBLANKS which is essentially what the puzzle’s gimmick is about once you get it.
I don't know why so many people are THEDOWNDUMPS about this puzzle; I liked it. Sure, the theme got kinda old kinda RAPIDLY, but the fill is pretty good. And we have TERI Hatcher for DOD! Also the difficulty rating, what's up with that? The only hesitation I had--and it was brief--was accepting ONERATE as an answer for "A fixed fee." Not the best entry, and certainly poorly clued. The rest was clear sailing.
A whole mini-theme exists: WEED REEFER LEARY TOXIN ASTHMA--and oh yeah, a shoutout to yours truly with SPACY! IBET THENIPBUD could also be included!
A very special honorable mention to Kamala HARRIS, for all of it, Veep and pre-Veep. She could very well become our next President, and that would be a good thing. (Relax, Joe, I meant in the next election!) I better get out of the politics thing and THEBACKGROOVE. Birdie.
THENIPBUD - nobody else thought of Barney Fife?:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OSyueBoC9mE
The ultimate answer is of course theproofpudding, a perfect 15 grid spanner.
THE most nominated yeah baby, TERI Hatcher.
Awfully full of PPP today. pushing 50% if only counting acrosses.
This may be a small gripe, but I think that Kamala HARRIS (36A) could be clued for her own accomplishments, rather than her place next to a man."
You mean...under Willie Brown?
More a Thursday difficulty level. Clare, don't imitate OFL with the Lunatic Fringe level remarks. Addled Joe and doofus Harris are equal in accomplishments: none.
Fairly weird IN THE oddest way. I caught on, but couldn't care. Why, why why I asked.
OTOH, I do like @Rondo's PROOFPUDDING(the) idea. And I also agreed with @Spacey's comment re the WEED/REEFER/LEARY etc. theme. Oh the "spacey" 60's.
P p p perhaps tomorrow will have more crosswords, less trivial pursuit.
Diana, Lady-in-Waiting for crossWORDS
I'm sorry that Rex wasn't here to do his expected commentary on 24-Across. I notice that nobody else commenting was bothered by it. (Love the Barney Fife reference!)
Clocks can tock.
Watches only tick.
No tocking allowed.
Shhhhhhhhhh!!!!
Not really a Tuesday puzzle. I think most of us are pretty agreed on that. But I do like a challenging puzzle like this one that isn’t of Saturday difficulty. Didn’t finish it cleanly (but came very close except in the SE), and enjoyed the challenge.
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