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Major exporter of nutmeg / SUN 9-19-21 / Three-time Pro Bowl wide receiver in the New York Jets Ring of Honor / Like the Mideast exclave of Madha / Rude Boy singer to fans / Obie-winning playwright Will / Figure on Italy's 2000-lira note
Sunday, September 19, 2021
Constructor: Peter Gordon
Relative difficulty: Easy-Medium
Theme answers:
- THOROUGH FAIRIES (from "thoroughfares") (23A: Meticulous magical beings?)
- PANAMA-HAITI (from "Panama hat") (32A: Like some cross-Caribbean flights?)
- DOUBLE DIARIES (from "double dares") (50A: Journals of a certain stunt performer?)
- SHOULDER HAIRINESS (from "shoulder harness") (68A: Possible reason for refusing to wear a tank top?)
- BOOKS ON TAIPEI (from "books on tape") (85A: Means of learning about Chiang Kai-shek?)
- POLKA IDIOTS (from "polka dots") (99A: Inept dancers at Oktoberfest?)
Albert Lee Toon Jr. (born April 30, 1963) is a former professional American football wide receiver who played for the New York Jets of the National Football League (NFL) for eight seasons. A two-time First Team All-Big Ten pick at the University of Wisconsin, Toon set several school football records for the Wisconsin Badgers. The three-time Pro Bowl selectee played his entire NFL career with the Jets (1985-1992), leading his team and the league in receptions during the late 1980s. He is considered to be among the Jets' all-time greatest wide receivers and overall players in franchise history. (wikipedia)
• • •
The BEEFIER clue is insane (Like the Rock vis-à-vis any of the Stones). Why, why would you do that? I know you really (really!) wanted to do some kind of Rock / Stones mash-up, but a BEEFIER clue seems an odd venue in which to showcase that bit of wit. Do people really watch "Two Broke Girls"? Actually, bigger question, is that still on the air? I feel like if something gets on CBS and does OK it just runs forever and ever and ever by inertia and no one really notices. Or, millions of people notice, but somehow, culturally, no noise is made, despite the falling trees (er, episodes). CSI is also in this puzzle, in case you're wondering who's paying for promotional puzzle consideration (probably not, but it's a good conspiracy theory). "Two Broke Girls" ran for six seasons, I am told (again, by Wikipedia). The point is, I know BETH Behrs about as well as I know AL TOON (if BETH Behrs is famous, then maybe you should be seeing about getting her *last* name into the puzzle—*that* would be original). Yesterday I thought the NRA was the IRA and today I thought the NBA was the NRA (79D: Org. that bestows the Community Assist Award). I also thought DAHS were DOTS because a. who the hell knows Morse Code, seriously, and b. DAHS is the dah-umbest looking non-word, I just can't accept it despite knowing it (exclusively from crosswords) for decades. Btw, Morse Code is made up of "dots and dashes" which are also known as "dits and DAHS" (because "dots and dashes" was such a mouthful?). Other things I didn't know: that people ate CAMEL (115A: Dish at a traditional Bedouin wedding), or that Missy Elliott was ever in an R&B group before her solo success—these last two ignorances made the SW corner a little harrowing, but only a little.
Despite being an ENG professor, I did not suspect ENG at all as the answer to 81D: Liberal arts sch. major. What an oddly phrased clue. First, "sch.", yuck. Second, you can major in ENG practically anywhere. I did, in fact, go to a liberal arts college, but they have that major at big universities, it turns out. You could just say [Liberal arts deg.] or [... maj.] or whatever abbr. you need to clue the abbr. that is ENG. Hey, we all know ENG is short for ENGlish, right? Just checking I assume we're all on the same page, but you never know. Speaking of explanations, "doodles" are (I'm assuming) labradoodles, though I think of those as bigger dogs, not LAPDOGS (8A: Small doodles, perhaps). Maybe there are mini versions. Oops, nope, looks like *any* dog crossed with a poodle immediately becomes some kind of "-doodle" (or a "-poo"). Woof. Stop doodling dogs! Just adopt a mutt. Or get a PULI, they at least look awesome (32D: Hungarian herding breed). A STETSON is (I guess) made of felt, which is what that clue's all about (124A: Felt on the head?). The 'Hoos are UVA (a back formation of the school's yell—so dumb, esp. when you are already the Cavaliers, just be the Cavs, so much less Seussian than the 'Hoos). The TERPS are of course the Maryland Terpsichores. That's enough trivia for today.
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118 comments:
Did you know that BEEFIER and "youngER" have the same number of letters? I mean, isn't everyone younger than the Stones?
I hated that clue and answer. Inauspicious start, but not to worry. It got worse from there. Looks like SHOULDERHAIRINESS was the marquee answer. I'm not sure if it's hilarious or just hairious, but either way this theme left me cold and just a tad cranky. Well, I might have started out being cranky, but that's not the point here, people! Focus!
This just struck me as another Sundee dinner of milquetoast and Diet Fresca with a side of haggis à la mode. "Huh?" you might say.
Exactly.
Not my cuppa, but I can imagine its appeal for others.
Notes and nits:
UPROSE? If you say so.
RIRI and Astro walk into a bar...Rut Roh.
DERMA E? What does that even mean?? And what's with all these skincare products being so letter happy. Retin-A, DERMA-E, Tretin-X.
GGGGGGG LooEEEEEEE
I wanted Connecticut at 13D (GRENADA) because come on - it's the nutmeg state! And so what?
I bet 38D has an issue with the position of 19D...can you guess why?*
This I know for sure: SWEAT SIT can only lead to the worst, raging case of SLOP ITCH known to man.
*Nobody puts MESSI in the corner!
Enough of this. Good day.
🧠🧠.5
🎉🎉
Well, I learned some new stuff today:
Thomas Jefferson and John Tyler were both AIRES; and apparently, all donuts are TORUSes.
Also, if I am invited to a traditional Bedouin wedding I do believe I will be sending my regrets. I don’t ride, smoke, or (most of all) eat CAMELs.
Rex. Hilarious again. Can anyone account for this? Anyone?
Eh. Who cares? It's a blast. "Stop doodling dogs!" And the CBS and Jets/AL TOON bits. Good stuff!
The Terps are of course the Maryland Terrapins, or was I confused by your final comment? A terrapin is a type of turtle found in Maryland.
Everything Rex said. "I fell into a burning ring of honor"... LOLOL. I never spent a second wondering who ALTOON was-- sports dudes I never heard of: there's a zillion of them.
POLKA IDIOTS reminded me of COVIDIOTS. There are a bunch camped out at a street corner nearby, with a giant banner reading "No vaccine passports! Resist tyranny!"
Wow, it seemed to take me forever to finish this one. But that's partly because I'm still struggling with using the %*&#$@ NYT site xword page (since those %*&#$@ cancelled the .puz files!!.. okay, no more rant).
But I'm pleased to announce after a week of plugging away at it, I have hacked the NYT web page to be almost as good as Across Lite. It's still a clunky interface: so often I type away then realize it's going in the wrong direction and I've just obliterated a completely different answer. But I have made a block of code that will make the puzzle into a screen filling layout. With a decent size monitor, no scrolling necessary except on Sunday. If anyone's interested I can post it; it's not terribly hard to deploy. You just install a plugin (a "javascript injector") and paste the code, then each day you click the plugin's button to run the code. Sounds risky but is not; trust me. (he he he) No really, it's safe.
Terpsichores? Please tell me that was dry humor. Enough to make a terrapin pull his head into his shell.
Mediumish. I poked through this one because I was really enjoying it. I caught the theme FAIRly early so I was trying to figure out the base phrases as I went along. Got a chuckle out of BEEFIER.
Fun, slightly crunchy solve, liked it a bunch!
The annual University of Maryland all male production of Swan
Lake is absolutely not to be missed. If you at all like classical dance and are in the area late April to early May you really should make a point of seeing it.
Ugh, another typical NYT Sunday PPP slogfest. Despite so many to work around, successfully parried and thrusted till the very end.... thought "Thom" the most reasonable answer to what I thought was a natick at 97, but turns out I hadn't read the clue carefully enough, and "Wielder" was not someone's surname, but a common noun (though capitalized which was what threw me off). My bad.... sigh....
Agree with Rex that the theme was better than what we have a right to expect anymore...
Playwright ENO crossing potato company ORE-IDA was a Natick that could’ve been made a bit easier by simply cluing with the musician Brian instead.
We have a Small Doodle in the house right now, her name is Mango. She had her first visit to the vet last week, his first words were “look at those paws, she’s going to be 60 lbs at least”. She won’t be a LAP DOG soon.
I have ridden on a camel, don’t think I want to munch on one.
Loved THOROUGH FAIRIES and POLKA IDIOTS. Fun Sunday.
POLKA IDIOTS made me LOLOL.
Thx Peter for this wonderfully challenging double 'i' extra'vaganza! :)
Very tough solve.
Leisurely traipsed thru this one, enjoying every moment of the adventure.
In so many ways, I wasn't on the right wavelength, and it soon became something between a laughing matter and having the gauntlet throw down before me.
I always love a battle and this was one to the end – the end being the NW, all the way to Minnesota.
The biggest roadblock to that whole section was not being able to see the 'meticulous magical beings', due to having first, TIME BOMB, then PIPE BOMB, and finally after nothing was making sense for those magical beings, nor for the Rock and Stones, I hit on FIRE BOMB. Everything clicked after that. Had I thot for a few moments about the meaning of 'incendiary', that section would have come together nicely, and instead of being a 'very hard solve', it would have been just a 'tough solve'. lol
The cluing was wicked, and all the better for that. Love it!
Great mind-stretching opportunity; thx, again, Peter! 🤔
___
yd pg -3 (one-hr. time limit) (p of 0 = 95%)
Peace ~ Compassion ~ Tolerance ~ Kindness to all 🕊
You can get a camel burger at Dave's Gourmet Burgers in Schenectady, they're delicious! Other exotic burgers on the menu: Kangaroo, Python, and Alligator.
After THOROUGH FAIRIES fell very early, I thought this was just adding the EE sound to the end of a phrase, and I wasn’t disappointed. I love add-a-sound tricks. Was prepared for the usual Sunday whining and complaining. But then I got DOUBLE DIARIES and PANAMA HAITI and saw that Peter was adding two I’s, I was stunned. I had to stop and walk over to the window. Got some more coffee and just stood there to take this in. Adding one thing is, well one thing. But adding two letters. . . I was immediately reminded of one of my all-time favorite BEQs (spoiler alert – this link shows the completed grid. It ran July 22, 2012.) And Brendan? Someday? If you acknowledge that my RABBIT WAR ARENA, which took me all day to come up with since I don’t code and stuff, coulda been a contender, my life will be complete.)
So then POLKA IDIOTS materialized, and I was beyond delighted. (If you ever need a mood elevator, just POLKA with someone. You can’t help but smile.) And Then SHOULDER HAIRINESS. Most excellent fare. But then. . . THEN – the reveal!!!!! I’ve cut back on my exclamation points, so I’m telling you – my aha moment was jump-on-the-yellow couch stuff. Man oh man is this a fun puzzle. I’m going to go stand over with @bocamp.
So, in the spirit of the theme, you could argue that when Rihanna is in a recording studio, she’s putting down RIRI TRACKS. Amirite?
Rex – I’m here to attest to the fact that any dog, regardless of size, will cheerfully try to be a LAPDOG given the opportunity. (R.I.P., Beverly Ann, my 185 lb newfie.)
SWEAT SIT – riding a school bus with pleather seats back to school from the Homecoming Parade on a beastly hot October day. Next to a first-grader named Vision who inventoried for me each piece of candy she collected from the float candy throwers.
YOU LOSE shares the grid with LOOSE. Ok. So last Monday, I got a new student with his own personal security guard. That &%$’ll flat wake you up. No heads-up or explanation. Just bam here’s this new guy who did something that requires a little extra precaution. He was very quiet and polite, which at first seemed even more menacing. Hannibal Lecter was the epitome of politesse, right? Anyhoo, I was working with him, and he wrote, “. . . loses its value. . .” I looked at the words (correct loses and correct its) and then looked at him. Said, What. You in honors or something? He paused a minute and said, Yeah. We kept looking at each other. I said Sawubona, buddy and explained this Zulu greeting that means I see you. He heard me, he got it, we’re good. He’s actually a lovely, bright, amenable kid.
Medium-challenging for me. Hand up for DotS before DAHS and youngER before BEEFIER. Didn't know the "2 Broke Girls" person, had titMICE before DORMICE and ncs before CSI. That last threebie made a whole lot of mischief. But any solve without Sergey and Larry is a good solve.
So many plusses on this one for me. A theme that kept me guessing until I uncovered the revealer and thus a theme that added to the puzzling aspect of the puzzle, to my joy. A perfect revealer – it nailed its job of explaining the theme, and as a bonus it employed wordplay, also to my joy; it justified the theme so that nothing felt random about it; and was a most lovely phrase to boot.
The level of difficulty felt Sunday-perfect, IMO, equivalent to that of puzzles in the Wednesday / Thursday range. Also, care was taken with every clue, and for a Sunday, that is an arduous process.
Finally, it taught me DORMICE (which my whole life I’ve thought was “door mice”), and I learned “horology” as well.
With so many plusses, I couldn’t help but highly enjoy this while going through it, and afterward. The whole time I felt like I was in good hands. Thank you, Peter!
Theme was OK to me. Really liked POLKA IDIOTS. Really hated PANAMA HAITI - the clue just seemed off for this.
The TERPS are not “traditional rivals” of the ‘Hoos. When Maryland left the ACC for the Big Ten conference over a decade ago, the rivalry fizzled. @Rex noted that UVA is called the ‘Hoos from their chant. They are the Cavaliers and are also called the Wahoos, so it is a little deeper than just that. There must be a more accurate way to clue TERPS (like “Maryland player, for short)
Agree with @Rex on BETH and AL TOON. The main difference between these and Sebastian STAN (recent answer) is that many of us have seen one of his shows or movies recently (even if we did not know his name) rather than these two who we probably have never heard of before and would have little way of knowing
Had DAts for DAHS which kept me from seeing DARKISH for the longest time. Kept trying to get DARKeSt to fit.
Neat enough theme - just too much of it for me to support a Sunday sized grid - maybe a Wednesday? Liked PANAMA HAITI and POLKA IDIOTS best. Fill was solid - some esoterica as is the norm from Gordon. GRENADA and MARCONI stuck out in the top and cool to see SWAYZE and THOR.
Nearly every professional sports team has a version of the Jets’ ring of honor. Baseball teams retire numbers - hockey teams hang banners etc. AL TOON was a a great Jet and borderline HOFer - apt fill for the NYTXW.
My sister went to ELMS in the late 70s - I visited twice while seeing the Dead in beautiful Springfield.
Enjoyable solve to start - but faded in the end.
Meh-dium solve. Cute theme - I especially enjoyed BOOKSONTAIPEI and POLKAIDIOTS - although technically this would be an "extra pair of eyes." I did not understand the bio and the reference to the partial phrases, since there are several partial phrases; if this is an attempt at sarcasm or misdirection (I kept looking for some trick), it was a poor atttempt - I even tried writing them all out to see if together, they created a phrase. After reading the bio several times, I still don't get it; I must be dense. Other bugaboos: NW corner was filled with PPP. DARKISH, UPROSE?
Re TERPS: Rex's musings about the 'Hoos etc. left me shaking my head. The Maryland Terpsichores? FWIW - and I know TERPS would never be clued this way - the rivalry between the Maryland Terrapins and the Johns Hopkins Blue Jays is considered the greatest in college lacrosse.
On the other hand, I enjoyed the references to wireless radio and telegraphy (33D, 110D), and the clueing for STETSON and TELEPORT. Rex, you'll have to accept the fact that Morse code will find its way into puzzles, just like Shakespeare often shows up. (Yes, I'm equating Morse code with Shakespeare, at least for crossword puzzles! I don't enjoy Shakespeare but appreciate his importance in Western literature.)
BTW, telegraphy and Morse code were considered the "Victorian internet":
https://www.computerhistory.org/revolution/networking/19/406
https://www.amazon.com/Victorian-Internet-Remarkable-Nineteenth-line/dp/162040592X
A big 'woof' to all the LAPDOGS and 'doodle' lovers out there! 🐶
Forgot about the extra 'H' in OH HENRY! bars; was thinking O'HENRY!, so that was one more obstacle in that area.
Participated in a few CARPOOL arrangements back in the day.
Praying for TAIPEI and Taiwan to remain part of the free world. 🙏
POLKA and Oktoberfest reminds me of an SB word (dirndl) I missed recently (hi @TTrimble).
___
td pg -6 (p of 0 = 95%)
Peace 🕊 ~ Compassion ~ Tolerance ~ Kindness to all ~ Woof 🐶
Got up early, left my reading glasses in the bedroom, didn't want to retrieve them and wake up my wife, found a pair of not my reading glasses, and spent a lot of time moving my printed puzzle closer to and farther away from my nose, so this one took (almost) forever.
Trying to start in the NW was useless and I wound up in the SE, where I ran into Mr. Revealer. Since I had HAITI up in the NE, removing the I's gave me HAT, which I backformed to PANAMA hat, thought that was pretty neat, and I rode off madly in all directions.
I learned Morse code in the Boy Scouts, strictly a dits and DAHS approach at the time. Dot-dash still sounds funny to me. I think it's quicker to say "dah" than "dash", so for me at least this was the best answer.
Truly an excellent Sundazo. Almost as much fun as reading the comments explaining TERPS to OFL. Thanks for a Perfect Gem, PG. Well done you.
Panama Haiti does not work for me. Don't all people pronounce it HATE-IE not HAT-IE?
SHOULDER HAIRINESS made me laugh. Other than that it was a big meh for me. 2
I will be the Morse Code pedant this morning. 🤣 Sangamo Husband is an old amateur radio guy and had to learn it in days of yore to get his license. The difference between dot/dash and dit/DAH is pedagogical. The dit/DAH folks claim it is best to learn using sound not shape and the dit/dah more closely recreates what you hear. (He still quite fluent which is useful in movies, etc. The Morse Code intro to RKO Radio Pictures says . . . RKO Radio Pictures.)
Stumbled a bit over TOTUS & DAHS, but regained my balance enough to do a little happy dance. Good Sunday stuff. Listening to Will and Lulu talking about meeting up in person Tuesday at the Library of Congress. Really hoping for more real events in the future. Virtual needs to take a rest. Happy Sunday. Going to take in some baseball; it will be over soon.
@Sangamon Girl, 8:41 AM: I've been a ham radio operator for almost 45 years, and use CW (Morse code) almost exclusively. Please send a CQ and howdy-do to your husband!
What zany fun! POLKA IDIOTS! How can you not love it?! That and THOROUGH FAIRIES were by far my favorites.
The way he's usually depicted, you could definitely say ESAU had SHOULDER HAIRINESS. (But sheesh, Eliphaz? What an obscure way to clue him.)
To my mind, ALTOON (AL TOON) is just crying out to be extended to ALTOONA, and that in turn is fertile ground for a limerick. Any takers?
The idea of TRUTH SERUM is one of those things I found weirdly fascinating as a kid. A drug that could make you tell the truth! Has a kind of Get Smart feel to it (and in fact TRUTH SERUM was used as a plot device in a few episodes, e.g., Maxwell Smart accidentally ingests some and tells Chief exactly what he thinks of him and his organization). Needless to say, the actual application of it has a DARKISH history.
Off-topic (I WISH I knew a way to make this relevant to the puzzle): I just ran across this this morning and felt like sharing. About a woman named Jocelyn Bell Burnell. Some of you will know about her and some of you won't. If you don't, and if you're like me, you will find her story saddening and enraging and inspiring all at the same time. Here. It would be a great basis for a Hollywood movie.
yd 0
td pg -2
Easy-medium?????? Nononononono. Very hard.
85% of the way through my solve I still had no idea what the theme could be and thus no idea what the theme answers were doing. Had all but the NW corner, SW corner, a few random squares, and a little bit in the SE filled in when I finally hit the revealer and it all fell into place. Nice OH! moment.
Inelegant at RIRI, RADII and ITISSO - only the themers should have a pair of Is. Less bad than it could have been because they are all downs. Worse than it could have been because two of them make plausible entries without the Is - RR and RAD.
@Okanaganer - there is still a way to get .puz files if you use Chrome. You don't seem to have an email listed, but if you email me I can forward you the directions.
Wasn’t thrilled with this one, but your review makes me look at it with a fresh pair of eyes. I thought some of the clues were a bit obtuse, so took me longer than usual to get through it. Seeing that you found it easy-medium (I was guessing you’d rate it as medium-difficult) makes me feel like a polka idiot, which is appropriate since I had trouble with that section.
Excellent puzzle. I got DOUBLEDIARIES first and maybe another one and still could not figure out the theme. Surprised EMINEM would be a “mentor” for anyone. Sorry, not into rap at all. Didn’t know BETH or RIRI , though I surmised the latter was Rihanna. I had ADman before ADREP, DotS before DAHS, GETSmad before GETSORE, and NrA before NBA. Hesitated a minute for OHHENRY, misremembered how to spell OH. Finished the puzzle with one cup of coffee, so not that tough. I never time myself and I never speed through it. I am more of a leisurely solver, and that’s OK with me. Very enjoyable - thanks Peter Gordon
Ah, the terpsichorean muse. "Let my inspiration flow," as Jerry Garcia put it.
Or was it terrapin?
When you bite into a CAMEL burger, you can literally taste the anger of the beast. It is a dish to be chomped, not chewed. With apologies to @Megafrim (6:03), I speak from the sort of experience that can't believe it's in this predicament yet continues to chomp until the plate is clean.
More difficult than usual for me, mostly because of the PPP that I am too old for! E.G., Beth Behrs, Sista, Eno, Al Toon,Dana Bash, et al. But I really enjoyed the theme, clues and all, especially shoulder hairiness. I had to use Google which I usually don't do. Enjoyed it and enjoy every Sunday. Thanks, PG.
Since when does anyone “pick” the WILD CARD teams? Aren’t they determined by a set of rules? NCAA “at large” selections perhaps, but seems a stretch. Anyway, better than average Sunday IMO.
Hey All !
Memory puz of lost family. My Dad died last month from Covid/pneumonia, and the BEEFIER clue had me realize... Keith Richards is still alive.
Also, my Grandfather was 100% Polish, and always had POLKAs playing at his house. I wouldn't call him a POLKA IDIOT, of course, but all POLKAs sound the same!
Anyway, @albatross' bringing out my sensitive side aside, 😁, thought this was a neat puz. Adding I's to get wacky phrases. (It always tickles me when Rex says "wacky", not sure why. Maybe because I think he enjoys puzs when he says that, even if his write-up is non-glowing.) Hadn't a clue (har!) what was happening with the theme, so just kept on going until I got POLKA IDIOTS, said, "Hey, if you take out the I's, you're left with POLKA DOTS. Is it an I-less theme?" And sure enough, 'twas. Some funniness/wackiness ensued.
Although, DOUBLE DIARIES misses the mark, for me. I get the themer clues were doing double duty, which is awesome, describing the actual answers whilst incorporating the non-I phrases. But it still misses.
Finally get a 21x21 puz, after last two SunPuzs of 22x21. FRESH! Har. Was surprised to learn EMINEM was a mentor of 50 Cent (which you have to pronounce "fiddy"). Always thought OH HENRY bars were just OHENRY. Oh well. Wanted fedora for STETSON, too short, so then put in porkpie. I can hear the people screaming, "not the same hat!" Found troubles in the North, with both BEEFIER (yes to youngER first), and LAPDOGS, crossed my DERMA E (what?) and GRENADA (who knew that's where nutmeg comes from?) Also, do people put ONIONs in Guac?
BOOKS ON TAIPEI the HAHAHAest for me. Low blocker count, more entries for your money. Or maybe just longer entries, anyway. Yeah, cause more blockers gives you more words, IDIOT. You need a FRESH brain, sometimes, Roo. What? Talking to myself? NOT SO! Or IT IS SO. CLEAN UP, aisle 6. 😁
Five F's
RooMonster
DarrinV
Surprised no one has mentioned this. I am married to a UVA alum and believe me it is the ‘Hoos. Not sure I have ever heard him refer to the team as the Cavaliers, much less the Cavs. Maybe it’s a generational thing (he’s no spring chicken).
Can anyone explain what DOUBLE DIARIES is supposed to mean? Is there a stunt performer named Double? The clue can’t relate to the word “dares” because none of the other theme clues refer to the pre-two-I’s word. Very confused.
Rex always gets mad when he does not know some name. It wrecks his puzzle solving time. Al Toon is a pretty famous Jet that I knew and I like the Giants.
I loved this puzzle. My Natick in this one was 19D and 22A. I had an i instead of an e. I never took Italian in school and have no interest in soccer. BTW, I grew up living near Natick MA and always chuckle when I see the term used.
@Ben. Refers to a stunt double
@Ben – "Stunt double", i.e. stuntman who performs for actors in scenes where the actor is supposed to appear to be doing the stunt him/herself. As opposed to "body double", who stands in for an actor because of appearance/measurement similarities (as a corpse in a scene maybe, or when the character is shot from behind).
I had no idea of what the denouement of this peculiar puzzle would prove to be -- but I completed it anyway. What didn't annoy me confused me. And vice versa.
The Rock (whoever they/it/he/she is) is BEEFIER than the Stones? Who knew? Who cares?
No!!!! There are three DOTS in an "O". Not three DAHS. Everyone knows that. You can say IT IS SO -- but that doesn't make it so.
Who on earth is "Mr. Owl" and how should I know what he considers a "treat"?
Have you ever seen more singers in a puzzle? Or more brand names?
Bet you didn't guess the revealer. Bet no one did. An extremely weird one, as revealers go. It would have been nice to know what in the world was going on while I was solving the puzzle.
As far as the theme answers and how they related to the clues: Some were completely forced like THOROUGH FAIRIES and DOUBLED DIARIES. Some were passable like POLKA IDIOTS and BOOKS ON TAIPEI. And two were almost worth the price of admission: PANAMA HAITI and the very funny SHOULDER HAIRINESS.
Odd and confusing, but never a bore. And when I finally understood what the heck was going on, I had to admit it was better than I initially thought.
Sonwr GOTSORE yesterday only to GETSORE today? Ok.
Rex,
Nah. The ring of honor bit can be attributed to,misdirection, after all, all the players in Canton are also in their team’s Rings. Opof Honor.
Also, you missed a chance to,rant against the large you call garbage, and worse.
Mr. Toon was one of the very first players to publicly acknowledge the reason he was retiring as owing to concussions.
A and TTrimble. From last night,
Nope. You’ve both misunderstood man. He isn’t a body discrete from his being or soul. It’s all of a piece. Yours is a variant of Gnosticism, an error so old and tired I won’t get into it. But the current tans maddened is a poisonous fruit of the same error.
What a rubbish puzzle. Really not fun. Just a miserable slog. Not clever. Not interesting. Terrible cluing. Too obscure at times.
I’m in total agreement with @Lewis. Thank you, Peter Gordon, for a terrific puzzle, just right for a lazy Sunday morning.
I’ve eaten CAMEL, at a restaurant in Nairobi called the Carnivore. It tastes about how you would expect. Very leathery. I tried it just to try it, and need not do so again.
Not only can you major in ENGlish at a big university, you can major in physics at a liberal arts college! Crazy, right?
So yeah, the “Liberal arts sch. major” clue was off.
@Ttrimble and @bocamp
I’ve been trying to figure out what “td pg” and “yd” are for a while. Can you help?
Even after I finished this, I was still looking for the theme. It wasn't a "sound change" theme - THOROUGH FAIRIES had an E sound added but DOUBLE DIARIES was all over the map with sound changes so...what gives?
I finished at the revealer and failed to actually read it until later. How clever, such nice finds! Great job, Peter Gordon.
My early memorization of the Greek alphabet (when I first started doing crosswords in my teens. Older crosswords used the Greek alphabet much more frequently than today's, believe it or not, or maybe it was just the caliber of puzzles I was exposed to) came in DOUBLE handy today.
POLKA IDIOTS, SHOULDER HAIRINESS are the best, IMO.
39D, AIR power, is that a military thing? Not a phrase that brought AIR to mind, though AIR brakes, certainly.
I thought Buddy's buddy was bIll [Clinton], har.
I don't know what I thought STETSON hats were made of, but I was not going in that direction when I started naming off felt hats. That was one of the few wordplay clues, along with 8A's "Small doodles, perhaps" which I had as puPpieS for too long. I could not come up with a guacamole ingredient that started with I but decided to be patient. Too patient, which is not something I'm usually accused of being.
This was a fun Sunday, thanks Peter.
I loved this puzzle.
@Nancy, 10:10 AM: My wife had the same reaction to Mr. Owl. As a sage (of course! with academic cap and all), Mr. Owl was asked how many licks does it take to get the the Tootsie Roll center of a Tootsie Pop? He starts licking and counting, but quickly bites the Tootsie Pop to get to its caramel Tootsie Roll center. So, "... the world may never know."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PYpTd-r6oe0
(I consider this a classic TV commercial, but that's just me...)
As for Morse code "O", it definitely is 3 dashes or 3 dahs, but not 3 dots. But all Morse enthusiasts I know will enunciate it as "dah dah dah," not "dash dash dash."
Sonwr = So we.
Spelling Bee shorthand:
td = today
yd = yesterday
p = pangrammatic (found all pangrams)
g = genius (highest public rating)
-n = still looking for n words to achieve Easter egg level of Queen Bee (QB) which is finding all possible words
td pg 0
I just want to laud the use of The Beths in this post, "Future Me Hates Me" is a killer song and they may be my new favorite band.
I usually find redeeming clues somewhere in puzzles I dislike, but once I got UPROSE - a word nobody says never anywhere no how while "rose up" exists in our lexicon- I was so full of animus at the constructor for the rest of the dreck forced into the puzzle I am sure I missed appreciating the few odd nice clues.
I lay the blame on the editor here: allowing *two* Greek letter clues in the same puzzle that simply require knowing the Greek alphabet in order? Having GETSORE and BRASS in a Sunday puzzle after yesterday's puzzle had GOTSORE and BRASSHAT with substantially the same cluing? Similarly repeating BONE for shape of a canine ID tag when it appeared a couple of days ago?DARKISH for "poorly lit"? Not catching that WILDCARD is not a post season tournament pick, but rather something inherent to a playoff system? These are all editing errors.
This was a slog for me and I didn’t appreciate it even when finished. I needed to come here to equate eyes with “i”, so now I like the puzzle a bit better. ALTOON was the most difficult answer. I can’t believe DAH replaced dot. I don’t want to know who RIRI is. I would find a way to avoid using UPROSE. You know, something like ROSE UP.
It wasn’t too easy, which is the worst Sunday disappointment for me. I got to mess around with it for an acceptable amount of time and luckily I could come here to understand POLKAIDIOTS. Thanks, @Rex!
Stunt Doubles - the term used generically for the stunt performer who doubles for the star. I didn't like the phrasing of the clue, either - it could have been fixed just by taking out "a certain" in the clue. They aren't certain performers, when referred to as a generic class.
Great puz
I felt like the theme was a little bit of a head scratcher--Shoulder hairiness? for Shoulder harness.... Hmmm. But the puzzle was tough enough, but overall getable. Had AMoRE instead of AMARE at first (so RoDII) but after careful review spotted the problem and popped in RADII to get the happy music. Overall a fun puzzle! Enjoyed HAREM pants, STETSON, eating CAMEL, AZURE, TORUS, and BRASS. I thought the apartment was a flaT and the Guacamole ingredient was lemON before ONION (I know it's classically lime, but you can make it with Lemon too), so that north central part was the last to fall for me. Great Puzzle Peter, thank you for a fun Sunday Puzz!!! --Rick
@Moksha (10:44 AM)
**SB Stuff **
Abbreviations we use related to the NYT Spelling Bee:
td = today; yd = yesterday; pg = pangrammatic genius (all pangrams found + genius level of the puz)
@TTrimble was yd 0 (meaning 0 words left to find in yesterday's SB puzzle, iow, Queen Bee for the day). He is td pg -2 (two words left to find), and will most likely be 0.
I was yd pg -3 and finished td pg -6.
___
Peace 🕊 ~ Compassion ~ Tolerance ~ Kindness to all ~ Woof 🐶
@Nancy (10:10). The O’s aren’t dots. Try “spelling” SOS in MorseCode.It’s “ dot...dot..dot..dash..dash..dash..dot...dot...dot” The letter S gets the dots.
It seemed like every other clue or answer involved a proper noun, so this was my least favorite kind of puzzle. I almost quit early on, but TELEPORTed my way through the grid and somehow managed to complete it. I felt like I HAD TO.
Liked THOROUGH FAIRIES, SHOULDER HAIRINESS, and POLKA IDIOTS, but not a whole lot else. Trying to erase from my mind the image of people eating camels. What do you do with the hump? And what’s that Dorito doing in the punch bowl?
Seemed like an EXTRA PAIR OF EYES might have been a more apt revealer, but what do i know? I’m just a MEATBAG with a ballpoint pen.
Aye aye!
When I was a food writer many years ago, I wrote a piece featuring a recipe for roasted CAMEL's hump that a reader had sent me. The ed titled it "You'd Walk a Mile for This". I got letters asking where they could buy one, but near as I can tell, nobody walked that mile.
Inspired. Speaking of TERPSichore, I don't know who the Muse of Crosswords is, but she certainly smiled on Peter Gordon with this one - which left me agog and shaking my head over "How did he come up with this?" I started in the NE corner, so PANAMA-HAITI was my first one - I noted the 2 extra I's, and (solving in the mag) circled them. So, at the end, I had 6 PAIRs OF EYES giving me their NEW LOOK - my kind of fun (to each her own).. I loved the idea of the THOROUGH FAIRIES, would enjoy reading tell-all stunt DOUBLE DIARIES, and thought SHOULDER HAIRINESS was laugh-out-loud funny. Lots more to like, too, from DORMICE to LAPDOGS, TRUTH SERUM to TOOTSIE POPS...terrific Sunday, loved it.
In betting, one could "pick" a WILD CARD team to win the tournament.
I don’t agree with Rex. He rates this as one of the better Sundays in a while. But it isn’t. He’s just getting soft. That can happen when you hope for something to get better for a long time and you just tell yourself things are improving just to feel better. The gimmick is rather clever but the trouble is most of the themers fell flat. Only half of them were okay. And what is the reveal about? Just a common phrase describing the removal of the two I’s? Too bad there wasn’t a movie or song with that title to tie into it. There is an EP by Brooke Waggoner entitled Fresh Pair of Eyes but that’s about it. And nobody knows that so it would not be a good clue. If people knew it you could clue 116A as “2007 EP by Brooke Waggoner… or a homophonic hint to this puzzles therme”. Alas, it is (was) not to be and sadly we are left with yet another mediocre Sunday offering.
Mr Owl and tootsie pops
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=mQYu-LtKuyc
@Moksha
(Great handle by the way. "Liberation".)
A couple of people have already responded to your query and I assume answered to your satisfaction. We abbreviate in order to be somewhat unobtrusive, because a number of commenters have signaled their irritation with SB talk. I hope one day to talk more openly without people getting irritated.
Anyway, you may or may not know that around here, @bocamp is the SB-er non pareil, and the -6 for td just means he's putting himself under strict time constraints and also ignoring tools like nytbee.com. He is very modest about his strengths and accomplishments. :-)
Another Sunday slog. Another clean grid. As always a crosswordese marathon to endure.
Does anyone remember laughter?
😆
No one ever, ever said, "My car is dirty, I am going to water it (down)." (Water (down) as a clue for HOSE (down)).
ENO and OREIDA was a total Natick for me. Never heard of either. So many possible letters might have been correct. Though OREIDA is a clever name for a brand of potatoes.
I haven't heard dit and dah for dot and dash since 5th grade.
Villager
Another inane rant from an alleged English professor.
Beefier than average SunPuz. I I enjoyed it.
staff weeject picks: ITE/ENG. Interestin, becuz they coulda also been the (not necessarily any better) pairin of: ITA/ANG. ITT/TNG. ITI/ING. And ITA don't necessarily hafta be clued as a partial [which is evidently a Mr. Gordon nope-nope].
Maybe ITI got ruled out, on account of its pair-of-eyes aroma? … nah … cuz U already got yer RADII [RAD] & ITISSO [TSSO] pairs of them pups goin on.
Any puz with stuff like ECLIPSE, WILDCARD, and TRUTHSERUM in it scores a lotta points on the M&A scale.
fave themer: POLKAIDIOTS. Seems kinda harsh, at first glance. But I'm sure Mr. Gordon intended it only for folks who polka to (pick one):
* Heavy metal music.
* Rap music.
* Disco music.
* "Lone Ranger" theme song.
* "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly" theme song. [dance mix]
* Donald Trump hummin any of the above.
* Or somesuch [enter yer own fave here].
Thanx, Mr. Gordon dude. Took II to tangle, here.
Masked & Anonymo11Us
**gruntz**
That's not funny
I took the DOUBLE DARES as one kid to another. “It’s only 20 below 0, I double dare you to stick your tongue on that metal post”. DOG may be stuck in between DOUBLE and DARE. Grade school days in Wisconsin.
Sorry, New York, but I never heard of AL TOON.
Slog for me. Too many uniknowins.
Funny stuff again today from Rex. I particularly loved “of course the Maryland Terpsichores. It’s of course Praetorius, but with a twist.
Don’t know I’d call this one the best Sunday this year, but I’m with OFL on 1A/1D. Most famous BETH I know is from Little Women. Maybe if Marmie could’ve given poor BETH more porridge she’d have gotten BEEFIER.
However, my failure in the NE led me tripping down to the revealer, with a decent number of entries but mostly white space for the themers. So I put on my FRESH PAIR OF EYES and hied back to the POLKA IDIOTS. (BTW, Peter’s grid AMASSES a lot of esses in that bottom row, and the right column, too. At least I got the E’ER I wanted from yesteday.)
I got a kick out of all the themers (had to do a DOUBLE take to get DOUBLE DIARIES - duh, not just any old stunt performer but a stunt DOUBLE). SHOULDER HAIRINESS went in with a sense of amused skepticism akin to how I felt yesterday about PORN. I HAD TO try hard not to think of the imagery of the hairy tank top wearer.
I can still hear Mr. Owl rolling HIS rrrr’s. Doesn’t really fit in with “Talk like a Pirate Day” though.
Arrrrgh! My inner pirate convinced me MESSI was wrong, so I ended up with AMARI, which didn’t seem right but it’s been a long time since high school. My only DEFEAT. YOU LOSE, HONE.
I learned GUS is short for August. Seems like one of @LMS’ anti-kangaroo words.
My word of the day is UPROSE. The image of the constructor’s PROCESS coming to terms with that ugly bit of reality is priceless!
Finally, what does an ONET OTEN scale measure?
having a strange/severe case of deja vu this AM.
As soon as I saw t"thorough fairies" I thought I must be doing a syndicated puzzle. At several other answers, theme and otherwise, and the reveal I was sure I'd done the puzzled before. Came here rethinking I would see comments about this and maybe an explanation of why it seemed so familiar when it was today's puzzle.
Did anyone else feel that some of it was very familiar?
Isn't all Fresca diet?
The cavaliers, having been the colonizing toffs who introduced slavery to Virginia, I prefer to be known as a Hoo. As for those Maryland Terps, I guess they must be good dancers.
I'm pretty sure that today's specialty puzzle by Alex Eaton-Salners titled "Takeaway Crossword" ran today because, as the title suggests, it requires the exact opposite "editing" to solve as today's crossword.
BEEFIER??????? that's why I gave up leaving that section mostly blank. c'mon Man!!!!!!!!
@JC66
I don't know about you, but I really enjoyed Takeaway Crossword. It took me a few minutes just to grok the rules, but once that was settled, I found it a delightfully twisted. One thing I didn't figure out was the significance of the highlighted answers (which wasn't essential to getting the happy music; therefore I didn't try too hard, I admit).
I'm guessing this was a tough puzzle to construct.
I hated this puzzle.
@TTrimble
I'm enjoying it, too. Had to stop half way through, but I'll get back to it in a few.
We definitely used tue phrase “hose down” growing up in NC - mainly it was to wash something. Agree that the clue could have been better though.
As for Ore-Ida, I always think of their frozen fries or tater tots.
@A (2:34) ONET OTEN scale measures anagrams.
Thank you! Cranky as well on this guy.
preface: i understand the theme as well as all the answered clues in the puzzle in general, i just didn't like it.
yesterday i had a hard time, but i really liked that all the answers were things i knew/had heard of and made sense. so the struggle was worth it and i felt victorious and satisfied. (and only had to google two names i think.) unlike some saturdays where it's just too hard for me and even when i figure out an answer (or have to google it) i think "uh...is that a thing?" or "okay, i guess..." and there's no reward for the slog.
and that bored, annoyed, confused feeling was today, unfortunately. i know (or at least it seems) many people here don't care for the sunday, but it's my favorite and i look forward to a long solve and mixed bag of clues and a fun theme, served over tea with bagels or donuts. but today...no. of the themers, only BOOKS ON TAIPEI really works for me. books on tape, and books on taipei. i like it. double diaries was ok. the rest of them suck. what do thoroughfares or shoulder harnesses or polka dots have to do with anything? nothing. didn't even notice panama haiti was part of the theme until i read the blog.
and then, too many unknown words or crappy clues. beefier? really? doodles are not lap dogs. amana is a big microwave maker? if you say so. (don't they know any other appliance brands?) radii? sigh. dahs? (i remembered "dits" but nothing else beyond dots and dashes.) uprose? cool. scrim? whatever. al toon, eno, terps, dana, beth, utne, fido, elms, derma, messi...never heard of 'em. never heard of sista either, despite being a long time missy elliott fan, but at least that was something appealing to me to learn.
oh well. it's out of my system now. looking forward to next sunday instead!
Check this out: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_Jets#Ring_of_Honor As the WikiPedia disambiguation page -- (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ring_of_Honor_(disambiguation) -- says: "Ring of Honor also refers to an honor given by several North American sports teams to the best players and coaches in their histories, usually consisting by that person's name being permanently displayed on the facade of a stadium balcony and/or the retirement of their jersey number." It's the facade of the upper deck (or balcony) of many football stadiums which displays the numbers which have been retired, and they player they were retired for. That facade forms a "ring" as it winds around that upper deck.
@Conrad and others, i too had dots, younger, and titmice before i remembered a titmouse was actually a bird. (one of our favorite end-of-episode production company logos is a titmouse who says in a deep, flat, manly voice "chirp.") and like @Lewis i also could have sworn it was doormouse not dormouse so it still took me a long time to guess correctly. well, TIL.
@Matt +1. the greek alphabet gets me every time, but i just don't care enough about it to memorize it. lazy clues & fill for those, imho. and the only "gimmes" in this puzzle for me were the repeats from yesterday, which wasn't exactly satisfying to uncover.
@TTrimble from the peanut gallery: as a fellow SB enjoyer, i very much appreciated the reveal/explanation of the cryptic letters and numbers at the end of some posts as i too had been wondering for a time. i wouldn't be opposed to discussion of the bee, if it were about the day before. (i.e. discussing monday's bee on tuesday's crossword blog.) because i like to solve it right before bed, and would not care to read any spoilers.
@Anon 1:26 & @Trey - you're both right. that was a bad clue i forgot to mention because of all the other things i didn't like today XD "water down" means to dilute. "hose down" means to rinse off or wash. thus, they aren't synonymous in the way the clue suggests.
@chefwen not to mention an iconic scene in one of my favorite movies, a christmas story. :)
Flick : Are you kidding? Stick my tongue to that stupid pole? That's dumb!
Schwartz : That's 'cause you know it'll stick!
Flick : You're full of it!
Schwartz : Oh yeah?
Flick : Yeah!
Schwartz : Well I double-DOG-dare ya!
Ralphie as an Adult : [narrating] NOW it was serious. A double-dog-dare. What else was there but a "triple dare you"? And then, the coup de grace of all dares, the sinister triple-dog-dare.
Schwartz : I TRIPLE-dog-dare ya!
Ralphie as an Adult : [narrating] Schwartz created a slight breach of etiquette by skipping the triple dare and going right for the throat!
ps, i also enjoyed the show double dare as a 90s kid.
I liked this theme and thought most of the themers were cute, especially THOROUGH FAIRIES, BOOKS ON TAIPEI and POLKA IDIOTS, which was the first one I got, having sunk to the bottom of the puzzle before I UPROSE to finish the rest. Or almost. I had a DNF, fatally Naticked by the ENO/OREIDA cross. And I really could have kicked myself because Will ENO was in a puzzle in mid-August. I solve, but I do not learn. I don’t know if ORE-IDA products are sold in Canada, but I don’t buy them, so no help was forthcoming from there. But onward and upward. I happily await tomorrow.
I thought BEEFIER and that Rock/Stones clue were hilarious. Hand up for temporarily forgetting there are 2 Hs in OH HENRY! Loved the clue for HADES (The land down under). I really related to MON and PANICS being side by side in the grid. Who didn’t panic on Monday morning when their homework wasn’t done? I thought “Some post-pollution efforts” was odd for CLEANUPS. Surely you’re CLEANing UP the pollution. I took forever giving up I SUpPose in favor of I SUSPECT and, boy, did that ever mess up the SE corner for a while. And I really wanted both PROCESS for “Series of steps” and STETSON for “Felt on the head?” but just couldn’t see how to get them. Crazily, I thought the “Nobody puts Baby in a corner” line must be from “Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?” and I really wanted the speaker to be Bette Davis. And last but not least, my favorite word in the whole puzzle was EPIGRAM. Probably because I can resist everything but temptation.
Oh, and here’s a little something for TTrimble (9:01):
There was a young man from Altoona
Who swam in a southern laguna
He found it too warm
And he cursed up a storm
‘Cause his trunks were of cozy vicuna
My brain stopped working. Finished the whole puzzle misreading it as a "homophobic hint" as opposed to a "homophonic hint," all the time thinking "HTF did a homophobic hint pass editorial review?" and "Rex is going to have a conniption." Only saw my error when the answer didn't appear homophobic at all. But thinking about the homophobic hint the whole soured the solving experience somewhat.
Sangamo Husband (N9DS) says QSL. 73
Hilarious and apt @Frantic!! ROFLMAO!!
@Colin and @Mary M. -- Right you both are. The DOTS are the "S"s, not the "O"s. I did know that -- it was a sloppy mistake on my part and I may have been distracted by the mysterious "Mr. Owl."
@Colin -- your link didn't end up in blue, alas, but I probably can find the "Mr. Owl" commercial on my own if I choose to. I probably will hoose to: you've made me curious. But not till after dinner.
@Barbara S.
Brilliant!!!!! Actually, the rhyming with Altoona may have been harder than I anticipated, but you certainly UPROSE to the challenge. You're an artist!
0
Agree with @Rex today, and enjoyed his deep dive into AL TOON land - or wherever it was he went. I didn’t have much trouble until the very end when I wanted extra PAIR OF EYES. I got that we had “a pair” early on, but was trying to make it about the pronunciation of the “I-a” or the “a-I” sound but alas it was just the “extra” letters. And I pursued “extra” rather vehemently because I found the theme’s letter addition anything but “FRESH.” Certainly vintage. But I’ve had fresher two day old dougnuts than this!
The whole thing felt as stale as my two day old doughnuts. Think I’ll put on my ten-x beaver STETSON and URGE ON those in agreement, and hope fail to ROIL to such dangerous degree
that ensuing damage to property could cause later commenters to question what E’ER occurred that they UPROSE so?
Even the word play was a bit flat. In fact the clever writings today are much more entertaining! So often, you all absolutely make my day! Thanks!
I also first thought I saw "homophobic" rather than "homophonic" but I thought wait, that can't possibly be, and then looked again very carefully.
Villager
Who are the Maryland Tersichores? Not the Maryland Terrapins for sure…
@TTrimble, so glad you issued the invitation that lead to @Barbara S’s uprising, and Barbara, I’m glad you couldn’t mount resistance. It was a tightly woven work of art.
I wondered about the origin of the limerick (and why it seems only those educated in the UK can compose good ones), so of course went to etymonline.com. I share this unnecessary informaton confident it will go unnoticed at this late hour.
“limerick (n.)
type of nonsense verse of five lines, 1896, perhaps from the county and city of Limerick in Ireland, but if so the connection is obscure. Often (after OED's Murray) attributed to a party game in which each guest in turn made up a nonsense verse and all sang a refrain with the line "Will you come up to Limerick?" but he reported this in 1898 and earlier evidence is wanting. Or perhaps from Learic, from Edward Lear (1812-1888) English humorist who popularized the form. Earliest examples are in French, which further complicates the quest for the origin. OED's first record of the word is in a letter of Aubrey Beardsley.
The limerick may be the only traditional form in English not borrowed from the poetry of another language. ... John Ciardi suggests that the Irish Brigade, which served in France for most of the eighteenth century, might have taken the form to France or developed an English version of a French form. ... The contemporary limerick usually depends on a pun or some other turn of wit. It is also likely to be somewhat suggestive or downright dirty. [Miller Williams, "Patterns of Poetry," Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University, 1986]
The place name is literally "bare ground," from Irish Liumneach, from lom "bare, thin." It was famous for hooks.”
Maybe the Irish Brigade developed the limerick whiling away the 18th century in France?
Ardent football fans of a certain age remember the great Al Toon. Also, apparently Rex wasn't a boy scout or else he wouldn't have a problem with dits and dahs.
Frantic Sloth--you are now officially my favorite reviewer. You don't hate everything, like SOME people. Even though this puz was a stinker.
Yeah, somebody dropped the ball on the Terps clue. I know. I am a former Terps fan, not a traditional one.
Worst puzzle ever.
PROCESS REHUNG
She KNELT TO URGEON at HIS thighs,
but she'd GETSORE at HIS SHY size,
ISUSPECT BETH will pull
some ERECT DOUBLE talk WOOL
UP and over a FRESHSETOFEYES.
--- HENRY "PAPA" MARCONI
I did think 1a was hilarious, but my BEEFIER beef is about everybody's favorite themer, POLKAIDIOTS. At the...Oktoberfest?? Wrong country! I've been to the 'Fest, and there was plenty of dancing---but NOT the polka! Editor! Where you at? The entry itself is beautiful. just badly clued.
Overall a lot of fun, and hardly a fill mishap (but UPROSE? I'll buy ROSE UP...). Birdie.
Doesn’t know Al Toon but “ There's an American artist, John Altoon, who was married to actress Fay Spain, whom I know from supporting roles in a couple of Mamie van Doren films”. LOL. I’m amazed Rex and I are able to solve the same puzzles (although it’s becoming clear why it takes me a bit longer!)
We were wondering if anyone was going to call Rex on this boo-boo. Terpsichores? Seriously.
Re: Morse code. My father did communications in his tank battalion in WWII, tapping out messages that affected people’s lives on a unit strapped to his leg while riding in the forward keep. The dots and dashes are called dit and dah because that is the “sound” that it makes in your head when tapping Morse code. Dit is short and dah is long, just like a dot and dash in print. For example, consider SOS: dit dit dit dah dah dah dit dit dit. Just because something is old/obsolete and you know nothing about it is no reason for you to denigrate it.
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