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Relative difficulty: Easy (esp. if you are a Gen-Xer who used to watch SNL in the '90s and early '00s)
Theme answers:
- "DAAAAA BEARS!" (17A: Classic line from the Superfans sketch on "S.N.L.")
- "SCHWEDDY BALLS" (24A: Classic line from the Delicious Dish sketch on "S.N.L.")
- "WE'RE NOT WORTHY!" (49A: Classic line from the Wayne's World sketch on "S.N.L.")
- "MORE COWBELL!" (60A: Classic line from the Blue Öyster Cult sketch on "S.N.L.")
Mirin (味醂 or みりん, Japanese: [miɾiɴ]) is a type of rice wine and a common ingredient in Japanese cooking. It is similar to sake, but with a lower alcohol content and higher sugar content. The sugar content is a complex carbohydrate that forms naturally during the fermentation process; no sugars are added. The alcohol content is further lowered when the liquid is heated.
• • •
But at least it's possible to enjoy the theme. The fill ... wow, it is truly bygone and in desperate need of clean-up (I don't really get why the team of experienced editors doesn't provide more fill polishing in cases like this, but oh well). When I put in ANAÏS, very early, a little warning light went off. Obviously ANAÏS Nin is crossworthy, but she's also old-school crosswordese, and as constructing programs have gotten more common over the years, and fill has consequently improved (somewhat), ANAÏS has drifted from puzzle prominence, to the point where you hardly see her anymore. [UPDATE: bizarrely, this is untrue; it *feels* true, but there are more 2021 appearances of ANAÏS so far (four) than there were total appearances of ANAÏS in 2001 (grand total: two). How is the era of constructing software making crosswordese reliance worse?? Annnnnnyway...] I worried that a bevy of old names and terms were going to come barreling into the grid ... and I wasn't wrong. "Bevy" may be an understatement. OLA EST (both suffixes??) IIS (grim), IWO ORR OSRIC (OSRIC is the real tell ... if ANAÏS hadn't set off the alarm, OSRIC would have), SRIS plural, ININK ANO FEU INA. The SE corner is truly baffling. EENIE BAAED YALIE ... all in the same tiny corner. It's like some "how many YALIEs can we stuff in a phone booth" college stunt, only in this case YALIEs (fittingly) are moribund repeating crossword terms. No, seriously, how do you go with EENIE / BEA over ERNIE / BRA?!?! How do you *choose* EENIE? Even that tiny, effortless change immediately improves the overall quality of the section. It's like no one really thought any of this through, or cared enough to try. There's just a "well, these answers have all been in grids before, so ... we're good!" attitude here. Very disheartening.
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| Very grateful to @hazelnym for this meme based on my Monday puzzle write-up |
And IMPULSION, wtf?! I had the first part of the word and thought "Well they clearly mean IMPULSE ... don't they? This can't be ... IMPULSION ... is it? That's not a word. It must be IMPULSSSE ... like DAAAAA BEARS but with esses..." COMPULSION is a word, IMPULSE is a word, I have no idea what IMPULSION thinks it's doing, please don't wave dictionaries at me, it's rotten. On the other hand, I loved WRAP SKIRTS and RICE WINES. I'm surprised we don't see MIRIN in the puzzle way more often. Wait ... [again, checks notes] ... we've *never* seen MIRIN in the puzzle!?!?!?! How is that even possible? MIRIN is a staple in this household. Hi there, hey, hello, constructors!? Yeah, here's a never-used (5) just waiting for you to invite it into your grid(s)! I promised you, it's good. "MIRIN: Better than EENIE!"
ReplyDeleteI have no problem with the theme. Even though the skits are old, they should be familiar, even to the letter-Gens. I'll bet that most millennials are familiar with the catchphrases even if the original shows were past their bedtimes.
@Rex's contention that "SCHWEDDY BALLS" doesn't belong because it's a product and not a line sounds distinctly prosecutorial.
The puzzle itself was easy despite all the crosswordese. My big mistake was filling in 11D without reading the clue. It had to be IMPULSIve, right?
These themes are an ad for a show that hasn't been funny for decades. Why was this worthy to run. The show jumped the shark years ago. Methinks nut xword has finally jumped the shark
ReplyDeleteHasn't been funny for decades? Watch the Squid Game song by Rami Malik from a few weeks ago or any of the alien abduction skits with Kate McKinnon. Yes, SNL is hit-or-miss, but it has always been that way. I think we tend to forget the misses that served as bookends to the memorable ones of yore.
DeleteFAMEN @Trey 7:13 am. I have been watching SNL since its first season and enjoy the changing cast and changing focus of humor. I am a Boomer and find the current cast incredibly creative snd talented.
DeleteI am also a boomer and I agree with this comment !
DeleteMan, I was just staring at IMPULS_ _ _ and brain was trying to parse it with the clue and all I could think of was IMPULSETO….I hadn’t looked at the Grafton clue yet, but that made it EIS (German for ice), but seriously IMPULSION?! Oof
ReplyDeleteTheme was fine but I kinda agree with Rex that it seems very specifically geared to children of the late 80s early 90s…in my wheelhouse, but I can imagine it being trouble for a lot of people
These lines - anything spoken by an actor is a line - are all so old because it's been 20+ years since SNL has been cutting-edge. Or even funny.
ReplyDeleteAy dios mio...What to do when you've never really watched SNL? I don't have them, but now I want to scratch my SCHWEDDY BALLS. Can I do that? Should I WOOF or YAP? EENIE MEANY RICE WINE CIDER. Which way do I go?
ReplyDeleteHow did you manage to finish this when you've spent your entire life going out to dance or dining or drinking on a Saturday night and never watching SNL? you ask. Well, I did. I tossed a coin and I won. I figured out all the AAAAA's in those BEARS and I even rang the COW BELL. And because it's @joho and because she's a rock star, I rather enjoyed not knowing what I actually knew.
Yay me......
Joho! Who used to comment here regularly, and whose comments radiate with kindness...
ReplyDeleteThose lively theme answers, Johanna, jiggled something in my head and got me thinking all over the place. When I saw ASKS, my brain shouted “SAKS!”, a lovely cross for LIVE FROM NEW YORK. When I saw CLAD beneath FUDD, my brain hurled out the image of FUDD CLAD in a WRAPSKIRT, and now I can’t unsee it; it is my eyeworm for the day. Try, anyone. Try to unsee it once you see it.
And my brain still wouldn’t shut up. It realized for the first time ever that the anagrams SRI and SIR are both honorifics. Then, worst of all, when I saw FEU, my brain suggested Johanna’s response to today’s creation: “Regrets? I’ve had a FEU, but then again, too FEU to mention.” (Sorry.)
So, Johanna, this was a hoot for me. Thank you, JF, for such a buoyant puzzle!
Enjoyed the puzzle, but it is really a “wheelhouse” puzzle if there ever was one. Luckily for me, I have seen enough SNL in the old days to know all these answers (but maybe not how to spell SCHWEDDY or how many As for the first answer). BTW - in the skits the team name is said both regularly (DA BEARS) and with more As, with the later seeming more like a toast to the team or something. My only write-over was YiP for YAP
ReplyDeleteUgly slog here. SNL is well past it’s prime - and a classic moron who’s never been puzzle worthy included after what happened last week? Gets the record for the use of the AA combination. Add the adjacent SRIS and SIR and you’re just shitting on a Wednesday.
ReplyDeleteNope - not for me.
(Don’t Fear) The Reaper – the subject of the MORE COWBELL skit - is one of my favorite songs. I’d bet more people know BOC from that one skit than from hearing their music.
ReplyDeleteI’d heard all the themers, although I only know SCHWEDDY BALLS from the ill-advised relaunch of Match Game last year.
Easiest Wednesday ever. Either my ability to solve has undergone a quantum leap, or this has just been a complete ‘wheelhouse’ week and I'm due for a major fall.
Well, I feel for those who have never been SNL fans, but I had fun and that's really all that matters.
ReplyDeletePlus, I'm pretty sure all themers were fairly crossed.
My guess is that PPP is off the charts, too. That NW corner alone, which has 4 or 5, could mean bad news for @Nancy's wall once everyone has their turns.
BBWWAAAAHAHAHAHA! You're in my wheelhouse now, all you smart people - please remember to clean up after yourselves before you leave. 😁
🧠
🎉🎉🎉
Thank you for posting the R.E.M. tune, which auto-played in my head as soon as I wrote in that answer.
ReplyDeleteMy second favorite skit is Bass-O-Matic. (First favorite is in rather bad taste, from the early years and involves skiing.) SNL has had some good bits of late, e.g., the Titanic iceberg, many of the political skits, anything with Kate or Maya. But then, perhaps I am easily amused...
ReplyDelete...as this is a fun puzzle that brought some grins and memories. Remember Gilda's Emily and Roseanne characters? Happy times😊 😂.
Agree Bassomatic a classic, as were Gilda’s Emily and Roseanna. Have actually used Emily in oral court arguments….Prof Clouseau too, for that matter.
DeleteBraves beat Astros! Worked the puzzle while watching the game, and the puzzle seemed easy, easy, easy. An easy-peasy flashback.
ReplyDeleteHidden diagonal word clue for today's grid: Paid for play.
In deference to those unfamiliar with SNL (raises own hand) I had “downs” for 65 across. The answer was wrong but the concept worked.
ReplyDeleteHey All !
ReplyDeleteEither a super easy puz, or I just got lucky. Did y'all know Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream came out with a SCHWEDDY BALLS flavor? I believe I have the container. Can't check as I get back home later today.
So, this is @joho? Nice! Where did she go? I always enjoyed her comments.
I finished this puz in 7 minutes and change, not a #humblebrag, just seems slotted on the wrong day. Or, as Rex said, I'm of the certain age that knew (or at least seen online somewhere) all the sketches. Was a fan of the Wayne's World movies. And who could forget Chris Farley as the Chicago superfan? DA BEARS, DA Bulls.
LIVE from Pennsylvania, its Wednesday Morning! Har.
Thanks for the well wishes YesterComments. Anxiously awaiting this year to be done. Is it me, or are the years starting to suck more each year?
Three F's
RooMonster
DarrinV
IMPULSION was enough to kill this puzzle for me. Not. A. Word.
ReplyDeleteNever watched SNL. Themers had to fill in.
ReplyDeleteReally really really bad puzzle. And I generally like them all—even the ones everyone pans. Just terrible.
ReplyDeleteIf this is the direction the Times Crossword is going, I think we all should consider finding another way of spending our time.
ReplyDeleteAnd spending our money...
DeleteFun write up, Rex!
ReplyDeleteNot a fan. If you don’t know a couple of the themers, they are not discernible and seem like random jumbles. Rex pointed out many examples of the sub-par fill. DAAAAA is atrocious and may be the front-runner for Made Up Word of the Year. If this is in your wheelhouse and you enjoyed it, great. Definitely not for me though.
ReplyDeleteBoomer here, been an SNL fan from year 1. I ended up with my fasted Wednesday time ever. Big smile with this puzzle, despite all the aforementioned questionable fill.
ReplyDeleteWhen I saw DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAABEARS I didn't have a good feeling about the puzzle. It turned out OK but isn't a favorite. I caused most of my own trouble, actually. I had rOOF for dog bark so had SCHrEDDYBALLS. I probably saw that sketch back when Jesus wore knickers but it was not familiar to me. I had to Google to get the W. (Doh! WOOF) MORECOWBELLS? No idea at all. So I only knew 2 of the themers. I can watch SNL at a time of my choosing on HULU. The first show of season 47, with Owen Wilson hosting, and the most recent with Jason Sudeikis, had me laughing a lot. Yes, we all loved the heyday of the late '70's but to write off everything since is just nonsense.
ReplyDeleteWe went from staying up late to watch SNL to recording SNL to watching particularly incisive SNL bits on the various news shows we watch. Somewhere along the line I missed SCHWEDDYBALLS and can only imagine the context, which I think I'd rather not do. Other than not knowing "Alice in Wonderland" as an OPERA and being reluctant to write in IMPULSION, everything else was a read-the-clue and write-it-in exercise.
ReplyDeleteNice clue for ANO, which avoids all those translation references. The OSRIC clue didn't bother me, it's the only instance of OSRIC I know. See also ANAIS. Unique is memorable.
Thanks for a nice Wednescecito, JF. Remembering the fun stuff on SNL is Just Fine with me.
I resisted IMPULSION, too. The clue was a noun so the answer couldn't be IMPULSIve. It seems a sloppy and unnecessary alternative to IMPULSE. Why does English do this?
ReplyDeleteThx Johanna; just what a Wednes. puz should be, a bit crunchy, but not too hard! :)
ReplyDeleteMed.
Haven't watched SNL in ages; could only recall, WE'RE NOT WORTHY.
Had distant relatives (John Michener and Sarah Moore) who were married in the home of William PENN prior to sailing for America in the late 1600's. Dad, sis and I attended the family reunion near Doylestown, Pa. in '68 before I embarked on my European adventure.
Looking forward to season 3 of 'The Mandalorian'– featuring Baby YODA – in 2022.
Used to do xwords IN INK. It's pretty much all digital now.
Anyhoo, a most enjoyable adventure today. :)
@Eniale (5:14 PM yd)
That's pretty much what I thot, too, but since it was the correct answer to the cryptic clue, I Googled it and came up with this: this. Didn't realize how long Lake Washington is.
@jae
As you indicated, a relatively easy Croce Freestyle, except for the 'trendy figurine' crossing the 'guarantor'. Didn't help that I had the 5th letter of the singer's name wrong, so, 2 cell dnf. Fun puz, nevertheless. See you next Mon. :)
___
yd pg -1
Peace ~ Compassion ~ Tolerance ~ Kindness to all 🕊
As a baby boomer, and someone who hasn’t watched SNL since the Belushi/Ackroyd days, this puzzle was a slog. Finished but did not enjoy it.
ReplyDelete2D: Songwriter Mitchell, composer of Hadestown. She’s the ANAIS who matters now. (An amazing show, the last thing I saw before lockdown last year.)
ReplyDeleteI found the theme answers virtually impossible, even with many of the crosses. I haven't watched Saturday night Live on a regular basis since 1984, and even then, I was never a big fan. I have absolutely no idea what any of these skits mentioned are. And I knew the one about the bears only because it's become common vernacular, I didn't even know it came from Saturday night Live. IMPULSION became IMPASSION because I have really never heard the word impulsion, and impassion seemed plausible if not perfect. And when COUPS was emissive because of the incorrect cross 24A was only vaguely inferable. This was a ridiculously Niche puzzle, and while I finished it, I had no certainty about many of the theme answers. All in all, I'm really grumpy after this.
ReplyDeleteIMPULSION, with an example off the web from July of this year.
ReplyDeleteI mean, seriously, even if it hasn’t been around for 500 years you gotta expect somebody is going to use IMPULSION because English. I had both the arched eyebrow and the “you know it’s probably fine” reaction within nanoseconds of putting in the terminal N.
Regarding yesterday’s late transliteration discussion. “Preferred” is preferred over “correct” since,…, well, you guys figure it out.
I don’t know where I saw this but somebody nailed it: The best SNL is the SNL from when you first watched it to about your early 20’s.
Oops - Tense Problem.
ReplyDeleteI mean, seriously, even if it hadn’t been around for 500 years you gotta expect somebody is going to use IMPULSION because English.
Gen Xer here with kids and therefore knows that ANAIS Watterson from Gumball is how to clue this name today.
ReplyDeleteThe complete and utter gibberish of the theme answers is fairly crossed in every instance-- so there's that. But I mean, really!!!
ReplyDeleteSince I expect that this ridiculous puzzle will produce an interesting blog today -- one that thoroughly explores the pros and cons of and the love and hate for SNL -- I think I'll jump in here myself.
It's my theory that SNL is probably similar to popular music: that what you feel is the "best" era is the era of your own formative years. But in my case, my era WAS the best era. It was the era of Eddie Murphy and Chevy Chase, with Dan Ackroyd and Jane Curtin headlining "Weekend Update" and the best and funniest line that SNL ever produced: "Jane, you ignorant slut!" I continued to watch when Steve Martin came along with the inane pointy-headed sketches (were they called "Coneheads"?), but the show already seemed to be getting dumber. Within a year or two I had completely stopped watching. Yes, indeed, the show WAS becoming dumber. If at some point between then and now SNL reversed course and became more sophisticated and wittier, I wasn't around to take note.
The bottom line? I suspect it's a good thing I wasn't there to witness DAAAABEARS, SCHWEDDYBALLS and MORECOWBELL. They all sound perfectly dreadful.
I should have read your comment before I posted - I said the same thing! Nothing is funnier than the SNL that you got to see as a teenager.
DeleteWHAT! No CONSUMEMASSQUANTITIES? No WEDONTCAREWERETHETELEPHONECO? No JANEYOUIGNORANTSLUT?
ReplyDeleteSo we have a puzzle with a bunch of SNL references. I get all the beefs about that, as well as all the beefs about the fill and whether the theme works, but still think everything here was fun and fair play.
IMPULSION needs a little bit of wiggle room, but it's not a fail.
CIDER and donuts and baked ALASKA are faves. And TOO many WMD definitely can put you INA funk, so that's a cute little center.
It's Wednesday. Some crunch, some memories, some humor, some stuff to relate to - I liked it.
My heart leapt up in happy anticipation when I saw the constructor's name, remembering her previous puzzles and her comments here and so expecting some witty wordplay in the theme. It just happens that I've never seen SNL, so the phrases were....puzzling, all right, but, without the fond memories to go with them, more random than fun.
ReplyDeleteHello, everyone. Wanted to share a framework for puzzle evaluation and an opinion.
ReplyDeleteFramework: Puzzle enjoyability is a function of four variables:
A. Overall theme and content of theme answers
B. Clues for theme answers
C. Content of fill answers
D. Clues for fill answers.
Obviously, there's more than that, but that's the point of a framework -- simplified lens for analysis!
Anyway, I just wanted to raise my hand and say -- for some reason, I found D today to be unusually enjoyable. Not the fill itself, but the clues for the fill.
Your mileage may vary. But Johanna, if you approached this puzzle saying "C has to exist, and C quality exists on a spectrum, but it can only be so good... so I'm going to be damn sure to make D as enjoyable as possible"; congratulations from me, you succeeded.
As Roseanne Rosannadanna would say, "Well, Rex, it just goes to show you, it's always something — if it’s not one thing, it's another."
ReplyDeleteIf the puzzle doesn't skew young, it's too old. Or if it has words you are unfamiliar with, they aren't real words. Or if it isn't filled with crosswordese, it's too Scrabbly.
Yep. It's always something.
I did this on my phone last night as a distraction from trying to come up with that final five letter SB word.
ReplyDeleteBefore coming here this morning I couldn't remember what the theme was which is surprising given how colorful it was.
Reading the comments made me have to check out the constructor's comments. Apparently she used to comment here but that was either before my time or I've forgotten.
ANAIS felt like a blast from the past. I'm not surprised that IMPULSION is a debut. The south end of that word was a slow down.
@RooMonster, I'm sorry for your loss.
yd -0
I've never watched SNL, though occasionally someone emails me a clip; but MORE COWBELL and WE'RE NOT WORTHY have passed into the language (or maybe were already there?). They could have just been clued as "common phrase." So while I found the solving experience annoying, I did manage to puzzle it out, which is the point after all.
ReplyDeleteWhat I liked most is BAAED down at the bottom, a reminder of the AAA... motif. At least, that's what it would be if this puzzle were an OPERA.
Other than the themes the hardest part was ACE -- I thought 'topper' meant a prefatory phrase, so I put in A la (as in chicken a la king; just figured there must be an a la queen dish out there somewhere.)
UNLET sounds like a miniature international organization.
Ha! I hated the sloppily executed SNL theme as much as you did, Rex, but from a different generational perspective. To me, a classic SNL line is “I’m Chevy Chase and you’re not.” I had quit watching the show long before any of these “classic” lines were delivered.
ReplyDeleteNowadays everything about the show strikes me as stale, stale, staaaaale. Which demonstrates the weakness of the puzzle: What’s “classic” to people who think it’s cool to repeat catchphrases from one generation is merely dated to everyone else.
Note to @Nancy - You nailed it with this observation: " ... the best and funniest line that SNL ever produced: 'Jane, you ignorant slut!'"
ReplyDeleteThe line itself, the context, and the delivery still make me laugh whenever I see it.
Here's one:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c91XUyg9iWM
Unfortunate timing for Alec Baldwin.
ReplyDeleteDowns has the same number of letters as IN INK which is how I feared I would have to solve this puzzle. I haven't watched anything but the politcal sketches and the occasional musical number someone has linked elsewhere in years. To my surprise I discovered that I'd actually watched a clip of the hilarious "SCHWEDDY BALLS" skit, and that I've heard both "WE ARE NOT WORTHY" and "MORE COW BELL" without knowing their origins. So in the end the puzzle actually took me a little over half my average Wednesday time.
ReplyDeleteUnlike Rex, I thought the OLA/EST pairing was funny.
Hi, Rexites!
ReplyDeleteJust want you to know that you and Rex are all dear to my heart. This was the first blog I ever participated in. This is where I met Andrea Carla Michaels who encouraged me to construct. And many other incredible people who I consider to be friends.
Today's puzzle isn't Shakespeare (except for OSRIC!).I just hope it brings back some fun memories and a few smiles or even laughs.
Please look up Christopher Walken in his census skit where his wife is a cougar. That has me on the floor everytime.
Just wanted to pop in to say you all are not forgotten nor ever shall be.
This one puzzles me. While I sped through it (as a regular SNL viewer (since its first season), I thought the theme too narrow and the fill not always helpful enough for a non-viewer to finish. I guess Mr. Shortz is also a SNL fan?
ReplyDeleteThat’s really all I can say, fine if you were in the “house o’ wheels” (second nod to @eggs for breakfast) and know all the schtick from the show, but tough as nails of you don’t.
I never watched the show so the puzzle meant nothing to me. No amusement, just bafflement. Even if the crosses are fair, if a puzzles theme entries don't elicet enjoyment, the puzzle seems to fail the solver. But in a case like this, the puzzle should hit well with long time viewers of the show. Wine some, lose some, and I lost today.
ReplyDeleteIn general, when I don't respond to a puzzle I get my laughs from here. Sometimes from the overstated complaints in the write up (my reaction) to the comments posted by solvers. So a comment like the one from Joaquin makes the day worthwhile. If you don't take things too seriously.
By the way, I never thanked Babara S for taking the time to compose her rather long poem. Quite enjoyable
The later 00s to early 10s of SNL, the time when I was in high school and college, were incredibly good (D*** in a box, anyone??). We were lucky to spend our adolescence with such an amazing cast, even as it changed. But I think older folks slept on that era. Makes sense - SNL seems to have the biggest impact when you're young. I enjoy it now, but not like I used to...
ReplyDeleteLand Shark!
ReplyDeletestaff weeject pick: My iimpulsion iis to pick IIS.
faves: WRAPSKIRT. RICEWINES. ALASKA. FUDD. EENIE & MEANY.
Thanx for the memories, @joho.
Masked & Anonymo5Us
**gruntz**
@George - I like your framework. I would add a fifth variable - diverseness of entries, but maybe that’s just me.
ReplyDelete@joho - 👋🏽
@Trey 713am and @CDilly52 1029am - I'd like to join you on that bench.
ReplyDelete@Joaquin 1026am I believe you managed to find the funniest example, too! For those unable or unwilling to copy/paste.
@joho 1040am Sorry I missed your regular participation - I'm too new to know, but I trust our @GILL and @Lewis! Christopher Walken Census Skit
As far as mostly enjoying SNL from one's youth, it helps if you've never grown up. I've heard tell.
As a Chicagoan, I can confirm that it’s DA BEARS or maybe DAA BEARS but never DAAAAA BEARS.
ReplyDeleteNevertheless, I enjoyed the spirit of fun with which this puzzle was constructed, with one Emmy going to MORE COWBELL and another to SCHWEDDY BALLS for Funniest Memory.
I agree that SNL ain’t what it used to be, but Weekend Extra with Colin Jost and Michael Che is still worth watching. These days I record the show so I can skip through the (often many) unfunny parts to get to the good parts.
My little dog wanted to YIP instead of YAP and my something catchy was a BIB before it became a WEB, but overall the puzzle was EZ PZ enough to feel like a Monday. A clue like “How some will solve this puzzle” is asking for trouble. I can’t imagine what Rex’s first response might have been.
🦖🦖🦖🦖🦖
ReplyDelete🎯🎯🎯🎯🎯
@joho (10:40 AM)
ReplyDeleteWonderful post! :)
@puzzlehoarder (10:14 AM) 👍 for 0 yd
I also was missing a 5er, which I found with fresh eyes this a.m. before embarking on today's. :)
___
yd 0 / td pg -2 with a few minutes left on the clock (got a 1 & a 5er to go) 🤞
Peace ~ Compassion ~ Tolerance ~ Kindness to all 🕊
Easy. Somehow, without ever hearing Daaaaa Bears or Impulsion and having not regularly watched SNL since the first two seasons when you had to hand crank the TV to get it started, I managed to finish this in a personal-record-breaking-Wednesday of 10 minutes and change … 1.5 passes.
ReplyDeleteImpulsion was good. Sounds like the title of a low budget Hitchcock knockoff from in the '50s.
This is not bragging as some dog in the manger will invariably point out (can you brag about 10 minutes?). My usual Wednesday time is at least 15 - 25 minutes, depending on PPP and how many typos I have to hunt down.
I think I saw the Schweddy Balls and More Cowbell skits as anniversary show clips on YouTube at some point. We Are Not Worthy was being tossed around a lot back in the day.
@Jon Alexander, I like Impulseto. It could be a musical term. Maybe for someone who stands up and play a solo no one was expecting. She played it impulseto! It was amazing.
Glad to see I fully agree with this review! PR’ed on the puzzle (2:22!!!) but I think it’s because I was in such a rush for it to be over. These lines are so tired, we as a culture have moved on! Plus I’d venture that SNL’s audience remains pretty heavily Gen X, so if you’re really going to do this theme, why not update with more recent notable lines that will probably reach a similar audience? Suggestions include: THISCLUBHASEVERYTHING, MYHUNGRYBOYS, or even LAZYSUNDAY would be slightly more recent!
ReplyDelete@Frantic -- Many thanks for the Walken "census" SNL sketch link. As you'll see from my attached Wordplay Blog comment below, I couldn't find it on YouTube and was instead directed to a Betty White/Tina Fey "census" sketch -- which I loved. I liked this one a lot, too, though not quite as much as the other one -- which I thought was both zippier and a bit more credible. Or a bit less INcredible, as the case may be.
ReplyDeleteHere's my comment on Wordplay -- written to our very own @joho who had responded to my comment there:
@Johanna -- OK, here's a progress report on my reaction to the sketches you recommended. (Or, as you might want to call it, "Wednesday Update".)
I saw the Chris Walken extended MORE COWBELL sketch and didn't crack a smile. It seemed way overlong, very repetitive, and (to me) crashingly unfunny. (Pun intended.)
But, being a glutton for punishment, I went looking for the Christopher Walken "census" sketch. I could find no such clip. What I found instead was a Betty White/ Tina Fey "census" sketch. (I love both those ladies.) The sketch was crisp, brisk and faced-paced, surprising and unexpected and absolutely hilarious. I'm glad I got to see it.
Just wondering how many frogs I would have had to kiss to see it the first time around?
Never watched SNL regularly, but somehow I've seen many of their great skits involving Belushi, Chevy Chase, Eddie Murphy, Steve Martin, and a few others who don't immediately come to mind. I just watched YouTube videos of the four bits in the themers. The only one I really liked was the SCHWEDDYBALLS skit, not for the grade-school testicle references, but for the interplay of the two hosts of the TV show.
ReplyDeleteSince I hadn't seen any of the skits before, the themers didn't bring back any memories, and the rest of the puzzle didn't do much for me, either. It was cluttered with Terrible Threes, 23 of them, beyond the statutory limit of 20. But I was happy to see the appearance of the incomparable Mel BLANC.
.” We generally prefer puzzles with playful themes rather than straightforward subjects.”
ReplyDeleteFrom Xword “NYT crossword submission guidelines”.
Nuf said.
As usual The Onion has nailed it:
ReplyDeleteSaturday Night Live
1/31/09 9:58AM
NBC
11:30 p.m. EST/10:30 p.m. CST
If you are 34 years old, you can stop watching SNL now. Thank you for your years of support.
Or this one from 2005:
Teen Reports Saturday Night Live Has Sucked Since Chris Kattan Left
4/27/05 3:00PM
AUGUSTA, GA—Once an avid fan of Saturday Night Live, Tom Simms, 16, said Monday that the live sketch-comedy institution began a downhill slide after Chris Kattan exited the show in 2003. "They don't do funny stuff like Mango or the Roxbury guys anymore," said Simms, who, from 1998 to 2004, watched SNL whenever he had a babysitter or could sneak downstairs after his parents fell asleep. "After Kattan left, the show stopped taking chances." Simms' older brother Joel and his uncle Kurt agreed that SNL's quality has declined, but linked the show's suck-points to the departure of Jim Breuer and Joe Piscopo, respectively.
Easy-medium. I knew the quotes (except for SCHWEEDY BALLS) even though I stopped regularly watching SNL in the early ‘80s. So the medium part was staring at SCH... and not trusting IMPULSION. Liked it more than @Rex did. I miss @joho’s comments here.
ReplyDelete@Mals and Roo - my condolences also.
As a life-long lover of SNL, the theme brought me great joy and a faster time than Mon or Tue this week.
ReplyDeleteOTOH I agree it was bygone (aging), and I didn't love the cold open answer. In defense of the SCHWEDDY BALLS answer, wasn't MORE COWBELL no more than a repeated line in a single sketch? So the 4 themers were 2 sketch series and 2 one-off sketches?
The joy of the SNL memories was deeply tarnished by IMPULSION. Runner up ugly awkward answer is UNLET.
As for SNL, it got me through the last 4 years, especially the send up of the press conferences. Oh, and if you haven't seen Chadwick Boseman or Tom Hanks in the Black Jeopardy sketch - go watch it now!
Ciao!
Wow. I am reeling from the fact that many commenters did not like this puzzle! Rex says it is targeted to GenXers but I dunno, I’m square in the middle of Boomertown and I was familiar with ALL these skits/lines. @Off the grid, you really should watch More Cowbell…hilarious!
ReplyDeleteWhile I DO look back fondly at the early SNL skits (I was 20 when it started), unlike @Nancy I do NOT think it has dumbed down since the “old days”. Btw, was the line “Jane you ignorant slut” or was it Shana? I know the skit was a take off from Point/Counterpoint with Shana Alexander and James Kilpatrick but I’ll have to Google it now to see whether they went by that name.
Again @Frantic captured it for me…some people never grow up and I guess I’m one of them!
If you hang around with dressage riders you'd hear IMPULSION bandied about endlessly.
ReplyDeletePretty egalitarian puzzle. I had one short period of watching SNL regularly, but was never enough of an aficionado that I could recite lines (OK, with the exception of “Well, isn’t that special?” from The Church Lady). I knew the program’s opening line and I sort of knew WE’RE NOT WORTHY once I had a few letters (Dana Carvey again). But as others have mentioned, the crosses were so fair – even easy – that I had no problem solving the puzzle.
ReplyDeleteI liked FABLE and RUMOR side by side. And good old OSRIC – I think Hamlet calls him a water-fly. My record stands unblemished of choosing incorrectly between YAP and YiP.
@pmdm – Cheers!
yd -2 (I thought one was a proper noun, the other – short – I would have thought of on a good day)
td pg -8 (in progress)
My favorite posts this morning.
ReplyDeleteGeorge (10:10)
Frantic Sloth (11:11)
I’ve watched the show sporadically over the years so I knew DA BEARS (but not DAAAAA) and of course the classic opening line which is still used. The other themers might as well have been in a foreign language for all I knew. Still, it did bring back some nice moments from the early days. The worstEST memories of ALASKA however, as I will forever associate that beautiful state with the grating voice of a certain VP candidate. Like fingernails on a chalkboard.
ReplyDeleteI think @Z and @Nancy nailed the love/hate attitude toward SNL. It depends on what age you were when you started watching as to your favorite era. For me, no one will ever measure up to Chevy Chase, John Belushi, Dan Ackroyd, et al. but IMO the show is still a contender. Kate McKinnon alone is WORTHY of watching. She can imitate anyone, pure genius.
Very fun and easy theme that made me think fondly of many old SNL skits. These days I just watch whatever seems promising on You Tube. Generally the Cold Open, Weekend Update and a skit or two. I think there is some very funny stuff and some not so funny, just like in the early years.
ReplyDeleteI was surprised when I looked up IMPULSION to find that there is a use that is specific to horses and dressage:
The classical dressage trainer Nuno Oliveira described impulsion as, "...a mental and physical state of the horse to obey the rider's demands as fast as possible, to move forward, and to maintain his forward impulsion without support from the aids..." and ""Impulsion means to maintain the energy within the cadence." ...
If you change your belief system you redo your CREDO. I just like the sound of it. …… Never mind.
Thanks for an amusing puzzle, Johanna Fenimore.
I watched SNL when it debuted, but stopped watching regularly a few years later. Now I Tivo it and watch the cold open, the musical guest and weekend update Sunday AM. The point is, only familiar with DA BEARS & LIVE FROM New York.
ReplyDeleteStill, very fast solve for a Wednesday.
it would seem reasonable to carp about SNL from just one point of view: the first decade or so birthed a raft of actors who made a decent, sometimes spectacular, career in films. not so much since. whether that correlates to the spottiness of episodes is another matter. I would vote for the quality of the writers' room. and in that regard, Fey was the last of the exemplary group.
ReplyDelete@Nancy 1147am You're welcome, and in response to your "how many frogs" question, a crap ton. Personally, I have always found the ratio of not-funny to funny to be about 2 to 1. Not great odds, but when you hit on that special one, all others melt away. (I liked Tina and Betty more, too.)
ReplyDeleteIronically, the era covered by the puzzle was one when I could rarely stand it, so I stopped watching regularly for a while. 🤷♀️
For my money, the "Tina Fey era" and the last few years have been a vast improvement and I agree with others that Weekend Update has usually been the most consistently funny part of the show.
Natalie Portman
ReplyDelete@Anon1:04 - Only one of the top five box office earners are from the first decade, although there are three more in the top ten. The link has the top 30 box office earners, and it is an impressive list.
I WERE NOT WORTHY of this theme. I remember DA BEARS and LIVE FROM... but that's about it. So I go looking for something else to chew on....
ReplyDeleteLooks like DA BEARS just got inflated until its letter count matched its symmetrically opposing counterpart MORE COWBELL. Just add As until the numbers match.
Plenty to see for us POC (plural of convenience) watchers, with several being the two-for-one variety, where both a Down and an Across share a single, letter-count boosting S. Non-nutritional filler, so to speak.
I remember the counting out jingle from long ago, the one containing a disparaging racial epithet: EENIE MEANY miney moe, catch a [insert epithet] by the toe. If he hollers, let him go. EENIE MEANY miney moe. Always surprised when EENIE shows up in a NYTXW puzzle as it has 30 times in the Shortz era.
SCHWEDDY BALLS? That's funny? Is it a testicles joke? SRISly? Even my inner 14 year old doesn't think that's funny.
@Nancy, having read your posts for awhile now it does not surprise me that you did not find the More Cowbell skit funny because you are not a fan of rock music, and I do NOT mean this in a mean way at all. For me, the guitar and general musicality (is that a term) of Fear the Reaper is such that it is ludicrous to think that the use of the cowbell was critical to its success as a hit song. Walken’s deadpan seriousness about “we need more cowbell” coupled with Farrell’s silly cowbell histrionics (reminiscent of early Steve Martín movements) made the skit laugh out loud funny to ME, but I am a rock fan and maybe that is why it tickled my funny bone.
ReplyDeletePS…I’m sure that you don’t dislike some rock music but my hunch is that Blue Oyster Cult would not be in your “like” list.
@Zwhatever:
ReplyDeletewell, I did type ' the first decade or so' and 'a decent career'. rather than slog through the link you posted, I'll just walk through the wiki page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Saturday_Night_Live_cast_members sorted on 'Time on SNL' and consider anyone who was in cast for any time from 1975 to 1989 (the 'or so') bit and rings a bell in my lower brainstem memory.
Chase
Aykroyd
Belushi
Curtin
Radner
Murray
Franken (may be not so much as a Hollywood star, I'll concede)
Murphy
Piscopo (ugh. turned into Right Wingnut)
Louis-Dreyfus
Belushi (the other one)
Crystal
Short
Downey
Wayans
Lovitz
Miller (another Right Wingnut whacko)
Carvey
Harkman
Stiller
Meyers
Why wacko if you lean right? Leftists are rational intelligent people? Have you been awake the last 10 months? Now a crossword gets political?
DeleteI lean right so it probably won't be
Delete@burtonkd - very humorous!
ReplyDelete@Z 2:00 - I would think the box office would need to be inflation-adjusted. Against 2000s box office grosses, even the likes of Star Wars and Jaws look anemeic.
and, the just misses, 1990:
ReplyDeleteRock
Schneider
Sweeney
Farley
Spade
not a bad vintage, what?
Urge to merge………………………..emulsion IMPULSION?
ReplyDeleteHad no IMPULSION to toss this against Nancy’s wall, even not knowing any of the themers except MORE COWBELL. Got a smile early on with @Roo’s favorite letter at 1A/1D. Another chuckle thinking of an ogre as a MEANY RASCAL
But the really funny thing happened on the way to the duel - I got my RIC’s confused and had yoRIC instead of OSRIC. Which gave me WE’RE NyT WORTHY. Perfect! Alas, dear yoRICk also turned my Indian honorifics into oRIS. File another one under YKTD - “you knew that, dumbass.”
Friends got me into SNL when it first aired. I agree that it always had its highs and lows, but those first years had some great highs, due in no small part to the amazing talent of Gilda Radner. I continued to watch sporadically, and am happy to see more great talent in recent years.
Music link coming in separate, “catch-up” post.
I'm with @Whatsername - Kate McKinnon is amazing and she's had some nice film roles too. Kate as Rudy Guiliani, scary-good.
ReplyDeleteMichael Che is also a favorite of mine. There's still good stuff on SNL; I've watched more of it in the last 5 years than ever before(and I'm a tail-end Boomer.)
Thanks, Johanna, for a fun Wednesday and for coming back to visit us.
Missed the discussions Monday and Tuesday and wanted to share some thoughts. Don’t worry mods, no spoilers - that was a funny post, BTW. “Write obliquely.”
ReplyDelete@Malsdemare, I’m so sorry about the loss of your sister Joyce, and for the struggles your other sisters are enduring.
@Roo, my sympathies for the loss of your Grandma. Tough times for you recently.
@egs, so sorry you’ve lost your best friend. Safe travels for all of you.
Here’s hoping more joyous times lie ahead for all!
@GILL, what a great story about your Mom and her friend (presumably their remains were ashes by that point) being shot out of a fireworks cylinder. (Before I saw your post I was actually wondering if it would be appropriate to suggest something of the sort to @Mals.) I see @JD and @Frantic are kindred spirits in appreciation of your family’s unusual sendoff!
I played a famous piece at a service Sunday, Nimrod from Elgar’s Enigma variations. It’s beautiful music, but I tend to think of it as overdone. Well, Saturday at rehearsal tears came to my eyes as I thought of the tragic loss of a friend during the pandemic. Elgar: 1, @A: 0. I can almost see @GILL’s fireworks soaring during this rendition.
@Anoa, interesting link about green burials. I was really expecting something like a sky burial. Learned some things about cremation, like ashes creating a non-nutritive “salt lick” when underground. They did say cremation is greener than a traditional burial.
@Nancy, so happy you enjoyed the Holmes! I had a feeling it would be up your ALLEY.
@kitshef and @anon - Maybe I’m not understanding the argument. I’m not saying early SNL alums did not have some great careers. I’m saying that plenty of post 1989 SNL Alums have had some great success. We have Adam Sandler, Will Ferrell, Robert Downey, Jr, Kristen Wiig, Jason Sudeikis, Chris Rock, Tina Fey, and Amy Poehler in the top 15 of that list. Even if you have only seen one of these movies like I have the fact remains that IMDB does have a list of Adam Sandler’s 42 best movies. Personally, I’ll take Continental Divide over all 42 of those movies (although I did like 50 First Dates), but let’s recognize that SNL has been a pretty good springboard for many post-SNL careers.
ReplyDeleteAlso agree that wading through that link with all the ads is burdensome, but it was the most recent one I found. There was a similar list from 2012 that was less annoying to read, but struck me as a little dated.
I agree that adjusting for inflation would make for a more accurate ranking, but this was good enough for the point I was trying to make.
@Beezer - 👍🏽👍🏽👍🏽 - I agree with your breakdown.
@Frantic 11:11....Hah! Now I wish I hadn't always gone out in my hay, hey, oy vey times of dancing the fandango tango and drinking some fine scotch on Saturday. I would've stayed home and watched a "Census Skit" or two with my husband, the Bobcat"....!!!!! Was SNL the one with the "one ringy dingy, two ringy dingies"? I remember that one. Now I tend to be in bed by 9 or 10 at the latest. I'll have to see if I can stay up and watch one or two....I need a laugh.
ReplyDelete@A 3:10. I don't understand why some people don't want to talk about death or what they want done with their remains. I mean, we all have to go...why not in a blaze of glory? No cemetery for us....expensive and...besides, I want my alcohol filled body scattered and tossed in a forest where the squirrels and foxes and mice and deer can take in the aroma of my scattered ashes.
Cheers.
I watched SNL from almost the very beginning, when I was 14. So this theme brought back some great memories for me.
ReplyDeleteI think the greatest thing to evolve from the show, was the Blues Brothers movie. Watched that with my older brother, who was a middling successful rock guitarist in the 1960s, and he erupted with delight every time a rock or blues star would do a cameo. "Aretha Franklin!" "Donald Duck Dunn!"
[SB yd 0; final word was the longest!]
@Beezer -- I had no idea that the COWBELL skit was based on a real rock group and a real song, and that the real song actually featured a COWBELL. At least that seems to be what you're saying. Would I have liked the skit better if I'd known that? Probably a little, since I do appreciate satire and skewering, but not a whole lot more.
ReplyDeleteFWIW, I actually was really into the song and the highly infectious acoustic playing of the song...sans COWBELL. Which made the COWBELL infinitely more annoying to me, as it was interfering with music I was enjoying. The song had the musical feel of many of my favorites from back in the late '50s and the '60s: traditional and urban folk.
I enjoyed today's puzzle. The SNL clues made it much easier then usual for me. Sure, there was some messy fill, but when isn't there?
ReplyDeleteGlad to learn about Mirin.
Blue Öyster Cult is widely credited as the first band to play ümlaüt röck. They were from Läwn Güyland.
ReplyDeleteAnyone who saw "Henry and June" will never forget "Anais", if only for the way they had Henry Miller aggressively mispronounce the name over and over and over. Honestly, this is the only thing I remember about the movie.
ReplyDelete@Nancy - Which made the COWBELL infinitely more annoying to me - Yep, and so also poking fun at studios “improving” songs. The cowbell doesn’t even sound much like a cowbell in the original, just some sort of percussion instrument.
ReplyDelete@Joe Dipinto - Huh!? I did not know that. When I think of Ümlaüt Röck I immediately think of Mötley Crüe. Something else I just learned is that Spın̈al Tap uses a “metal ümlaüt” over the N and no tittle over the i (thanks copy and paste). Which reminds me that Tommy Lee was so much into big tittles that he made an infamous video tape.
And now I really wish Yes was spelled Yës.
Here’s a terrible, dastardly, horrible crossword faux pas: using crosswordese in a crossword puzzle. The shame of it. Again, I’m too stupid to know that I should hate this puzzle which I just enjoyed. Been solving for 6 months. Maybe I’ll graduate to being a crossword snob soon.
ReplyDeleteA sari is a wrap dress, not a wrap skirt!
ReplyDelete@Z – I know, I'm surprised to read now that Mötley Crüe formed in 1981. I thought they were around earlier. But I used to get them mixed up, namewise, with Mott The Hoople, who did first surface in the early '70s.
ReplyDeleteI suppose non-TV-watchers must expect to DNF. Sorry bout that.
ReplyDeletepg -7
@bocamp re isthmus: Humph. Okay.
ReplyDeleteMORE COWBELL -- I'll just say that the "Don't Fear The Reaper" came out when I was the right age to go deep with it. I mean, really clean harmonies, gentle distortion, cowbell just as God intended. It needs cowbell -- it does not need MORE COWBELL. That is why the skit is funny.
ReplyDeleteAnd, you know, if you pay close attention they're talking about death. I mean "Forty million men and women everyday" is so much to even think about.
So is "C'mon baby," now that I think about it.
Also, I don't fault the five "A's" in DAAAAA BEARS. But it would be cool if the "S" were in a half-size square, since it's almost an inhaled staccato the way they say it.
Thanks, @Joho, and thanks for stopping by. I adored this puzzle because it was so much fun to solve. SCHWEDDYBALLS is memorable, being my absolute favorite themer of all time.
ReplyDelete@Joe D and @Z, Ümlaut Röck röcks! Thanks for the link - love Yës’ Ründabüt.
ReplyDeleteSo has anyone figured out an end-around for us people who only like solving on AcrossLite?
ReplyDeleteRecord for Wednesday for me. Way faster than Monday. Gen Xer, but not an SNL fan (I can't stay up that late - go figure)
ReplyDeleteI agree that the fill was garbage and many of the answers were not good (IMPULSION, YALIE, DAAAA...) it didn't slow me down because there were enough easy crosses
@Borgia
ReplyDeleteEmail me and I'll forward @Kitshef's work-around.
Never would have known the MORECOWBELL SNL reference if it weren't for taking my son when he was little to a drum competition at Guitar Center and one of the contestants was wearing a shirt from a percussion manufacturer that said 'More Cowbell'. He though it was funny and when we got home I tried to find it on line but all that kept coming up were the SNL clips of that sketch and shirts derivative of it. While a cheesy clue, it brought back a fond memory.
ReplyDeleteThis Wednesday played so easily to me that my time was better than the majority of Mondays. I think I'm with @Frantic Sloth in having a pretty adolescent sense of humor, so all those SNL skits and lines have stuck with me, not forgetting to mention also (to name but one example) Colon Blow*, played with exquisite straightfacedness by Phil Hartman, coupled with the incredible visual of many thousands of cereal bowls erupting below him.
ReplyDeleteThe Blue Öyster Cult song is pretty kick-ass, but it took the SNL skit to bring to my attention its not exactly overstated but still undeniable COWBELL presence, and I tip my hat to the acumen of the writers for picking up on that one detail and running with it.
There is frequently something funny about mustaches, and the DAAAAA BEARS skits don't overlook that detail either. Years later, Will Ferrell would sport a terrific porn 'stache**.
Mel BLANC, with his Elmer FUDD among hundreds of others. His voicings enriched my life, totally. If I should ever meet any of you in person, feel free to ask me for my Marvin the Martian impression.
OSRIC! Brings to mind the psychedelic band Ozric Tentacles***. "Ozric" is said to be an old Viking name meaning 'divine energy'.
Other notes:
How is it that I've gone all these years without being aware of Southside Johnny and his influence on e.g. Bruce Springsteen, Jon Bon Jovi, and many others? (You don't suppose that @SouthsideJohnny...) Anyway, heard him on Sirius XM yesterday and had to look him up.
dbyd -1
yd 0
td 0
Recent notes on SB by @okanaganer and @Barbara S. have been very on point. Gnashing my teeth over the -1.
*Don't judge.
**Mustaches are not just funny, but fun. I have a youthful face, but on suitable occasions have grown a mustache, which is some great brambly affair that ages me about 20 years. It's like a costume party.
***Placebos, whatever, indeed.
Extreme Cowbell
ReplyDeleteUltimate Cowbell
ReplyDelete@GILL 341pm The "one ringy-dingy, two ringy-dingies" (as well as "Mr. Hoover? Mr. [checks notes] Jedgar Hoover?") was Lily Tomlin's telephone operator Ernestine. Not 100% sure it debuted on Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In, but that's where I first saw it. We're so freakin' old. 🤣
ReplyDelete@TTrimble 852pm You're sweet to give me the benefit of any doubt, but "adolescent" seems too mature for me. Zygotic, maybe?😉
😉
ReplyDelete@TTrimble, I have a Marvin the Martian impression also, but I've been told it sounds more like Kermit the Frog than Marvin :-).
ReplyDelete@Frantic Sloth
ReplyDeleteI think you're a genius. An inchoate genius, but still, a genius.
@Zygotic
My god, you are relentless!
@Teedmn
There is a kinship! Now I want to seriously try my hand at Kermit (which is, weirdly, the name of my paternal grandfather -- or close enough, it was Kermith).
@Z - I don't care about the SNL argument one way or t'other. But I do think comparing movie grosses over the course of fifty years and not adjusting for inflation is basically useless.
ReplyDeleteTo give credit where it’s due, the voice of Elmer Fudd that we all hear in our heads was actually Arthur Q. Bryan. Blanc occasionally subbed in for him on various shorts and did a fairly good impression of him, but Bryan was the original. Nobody could “kill da wabbit” like he could.
ReplyDeleteOh come on.
ReplyDelete“a season that did not used to exist”
Keats would have a fit.
After many years of checking in, I think I’m finally done with Rex Parker. If you can’t find pleasure in this crossword, then something’s wrong. If you’re going to nitpick over EENIE instead of ERNIE, rather than celebrating BAAED (Made ewe cry?) — which was brilliant! — then I believe I’ve had enough of the negative vibe. You’re not this pessimistic, Rex. At least you didn’t used to be. Critique is one thing, but if DAAAAABEARS doesn’t make you laugh (I thought it could use a few more “A”s myself; the more drawn out the more hilarious it is) then Im just on a different wave length. Try to lighten up. Find the joy in life, my friend. Best of luck to you.
ReplyDeleteLet's see...you give me a super-gimme NW corner with the un-lovely UNLET (!), plus five (5!) A's in a row--and you want me to CONTINUE?
ReplyDeleteTWIN BANE
ReplyDeleteWE'RENOTWORTHY, NOT at all,
WE ARE RASCALs BEA rejects.
WE can't HIDE our SCHWEDDYBALLS
ORR IMPULSIONs for some SECTS.
--- TRENT & OSRIC FUDD
Don't know why OFL considers this aimed at Gen- something. This boomer knew all the themers. Yeah DAAAAABEARS got carried away, but George Wendt and the boys did stretch it out sometimes. Unlike the Joe Montegna version.
ReplyDeleteMeg RYAN of course.
And yes, it's still "LIVEFROMNEWYORK' at the end of the cold open sketch.
There isn’t a whole lot to do about this one, except maybe put it back in moth-balls. Sorry.
ReplyDeleteI didn't think t was that bad - but with the "silly" spelling I guess you could do anything. Love SNLL.
ReplyDeleteDana, LIW
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