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Abolitionist Thaddeus / WED 12-15-21 / Bacteria-inhibiting drug / High-end Italian scooter
Wednesday, December 15, 2021
Constructor: Jessie Bullock and Ross Trudeau
Relative difficulty: Easy (untimed, but I would've set a personal Wednesday speed record for sure)
Theme answers:
- BAD INVESTMENTS (19A: Speculations that don't pay off) ("no returns" on your investments)
- ONE-WAY TRIPS (25A: Journeys for people who are relocating) ("no return" tickets)
- SERVICE ACES (44A: Some court winners) ("no returns" of serve)
Adela Nora Rogers St. Johns (May 20, 1894 – August 10, 1988) was an American journalist, novelist, and screenwriter. She wrote a number of screenplays for silent movies but is best remembered for her groundbreaking exploits as "The World's Greatest Girl Reporter" during the 1920s and 1930s and her celebrity interviews for Photoplay magazine.
• • •
A lot of labor goes into producing this blog every day (Every. Day.) and the hours are, let's say, less than ideal (I'm either solving and writing at night, after 10pm, or in the morning, before 6am). Most days, I really do love the writing, but it is work, and once a year (right now!) I acknowledge that fact. As I've said before, I have no interest in "monetizing" the blog beyond a simple, direct contribution request once a year. No ads, no gimmicks. Just here for you, every day, rain or shine, whether you like it or, perhaps, on occasion, not :) It's just me and my laptop and some free blogging software and, you know, a lot of rage, but hopefully there's illumination and levity along the way. I do genuinely love this gig, and whether you're an everyday reader or a Sunday-only reader or a flat-out hatereader, I appreciate you more than you'll ever know.
How much should you give? Whatever you think the blog is worth to you on a yearly basis. Whatever that amount is is fantastic. Some people refuse to pay for what they can get for free. Others just don't have money to spare. All are welcome to read the blog—the site will always be open and free. But if you are able to express your appreciation monetarily, here are two options. First, a Paypal button (which you can also find in the blog sidebar):
Rex Parker c/o Michael Sharp
54 Matthews St
Binghamton, NY 13905
I'll throw my Venmo handle in here too, just in case that's your preferred way of moving money around; it's @MichaelDavidSharp (the last four digits of my phone are 4878, in case Venmo asks you, which I guess it does sometimes, when it's not trying to push crypto on you, what the hell?!)
We went back and forth on whether she should add more black squares to make the grid look more plausibly fillable (that's a Lot of white space), but in the end we decided not to crowd the jumping (or hanging?) Olive with more black squares, and instead just to leave the card as is, with the idea that the cats are exploring a grid that is ... under construction. Anyway, this card is personally meaningful to me, and also, I believe, objectively lovely. I can't wait to share it with snail-mailers (and oh, what the hell, if you are a PayPal / Venmo donor and you want one too, just say so in the message). Please note: I don't keep a "mailing list" and don't share my contributor info with anyone. And if you give by snail mail and (for some reason) don't want a thank-you card, just indicate "NO CARD." Again, as ever, I'm so grateful for your readership and support. Now on to today's puzzle...
• • •
The nice feature about this puzzle are the longer answers in the NW and SE. Oh, and then a couple more long Downs in the NE and SW. TEEN CRUSH is probably the highlight of the long-Down parade, but LOCAL PRIDE and LORD IT OVER are also nice. The only hesitations I had when solving this one came with the PRIDE part of LOCAL PRIDE and the CRUSH part of TEEN CRUSH, and truly those were mere hesitations, not actual struggles. I just needed a cross or two to get that sweet, "oh, right!" moment. ADELA Rogers St. Johns is the kind of ancient crosswordese that I would normally bark at but in this otherwise clean grid, she seems more like an old friend than a gruesome apparition. Thus ends the longest ADELA drought (2017-2021) of the Shortz era, or any era since the '40s. The previous ADELA drought record (Shortz era) was ... the last one (2014-2017). For comparison: ADELA appeared nine times in 1997 alone. And back then she had clues like [Daughter of William the Conqueror] (!?!?!) and ["Passage to India" woman] (ADELA Quested). I used to get ADELA confused with ADELE a lot, back when the most likely ADELE clue was stuff like [Designer Simpson] or [Fred's dancing sister] (Fred Astaire, that is).
It took me a few beats to come up with HOST (43A: Large number), and I had a FOCI vs. LOCI dilemma in my head for a few seconds (59A: Centers of activity), but I knew what SULFA drugs were, so sorting that last bit out was no problem. I also balked at 21D: Shortest month of the year (MAY) until I realized the clue wanted shortest name length, not shortest time period. Clever. Overall, a very pleasant breeze, this one. I could've done without the spitting at 7D: Expectorated (SPAT), but otherwise, no real complaints. Take care. Seriously, take care: omicron is spiking like crazy here in central NY (see the news re: Cornell from yesterday). Other regions are having similar outbreaks. Please assume it's all around you and act accordingly. You mean a lot to me. Sorry for the mushiness. I haven't slept much. See first paragraph, above. Also, see you tomorrow.
Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld
[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]
Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld
[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]
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90 comments:
Well, not the breeze for me that it seems it was for Rex. (Maybe I'll lay blame to carting 400 lbs of garbage to the curb for am pickup just before tackling the grid.)
I found it a totally satisfying Wednesday run. I made it through the grid a little speedier than the Wed norm, but my focus had to stay strong throughout to keep the pace going. Content includes just enough word play to work up a modest sweat.
Good theme, but revealed itself a little too quickly
Problem with 29D: Nothing can ever be IDIOT PROOF because idiots are so ingenious.
My only major writeover was the kealoa at 43A. Couldn't decide between alot and aton. Surprise! It turned out to be HOST! That briefly made TEEN CRUSH hard to see, but other than that as easy-peasy as @Rex said.
A weird combination of easy in most places and blank-grid-tough in the West, for me, resulting in a completely average solve time for a Wednesday.
I can’t explain it well, but this grid gave me the same kind of joy that a good Friday themeless does- bouncy and all over the place, only tied together with a really great theme. A joy to solve.
If you didn’t read Trudeau’s blog essay about crossword construction as self hypnosis, go and find it (there’s a link in Wordplay). Best, best wishes to him during and after his surgery.
This was just the way I like my early week puzzles super easy and get them out of the way quickly. I should really say it's how I usually like them. Every once and a while a Wednesday will rise up to a late week solving level and that's always a welcome surprise. Most of the time I'm just too busy in the early week and I just knock the puzzles off on my phone.
Even with the slow down of the phone solving this came in at my on paper average for a Tuesday. Whatever little resistance I encountered in the upper half completely disappeared in the south.
The last three days for the SB were all -0. Yesterday's was the easiest I've ever seen.
The revealer gave me a good AHA moment, my goal for every puzzle. Wonderfully clever.
This was, for me, a theme that didn’t help my solve, but as soon as I got the reveal and the theme became clear, well, that was a beautiful moment for this lover of wordplay. Using three different meanings of NO RETURN, beautifully tied together with the perfect reveal – well, that’s clever and boggling. The kind of marvelous wow that I only find in crosswords, and beautifully executed here. Sweet!
I loved the [Shortest month of the year] misdirect, the trio of abutting L’s and I’s in the middle section, and I found that the three theme answers each had a companion word in the grid: SERVICE ACES had SET (and they cross!), ONE WAY TRIP had ROAD, and BAD INVESTMENTS had UGGS.
So, much to love, for me. Ross, my heart is with you, and wishing you a smooth recovery* To the two of you, thank you for that wow moment and sweet journey through the grid.
* In Jessie's puzzle notes (in Word Info and WordPlay) she tells us that Ross is, as we speak, recovering from his eighth operation for a rare and painful genetic disorder called Schwannomatosis.
I liked the way "return" had different meanings in each of the theme answers.
Good use of 3-letter words. I count 8, with only 2 abbreviations or partial words (NEO and LSD). I am not counting PEE in that list, as this answer was more word-play and PEE is the spelling of a letter in the alphabet
A clever theme. Did not use it in the solve, but nevertheless I enjoyed it.
Lots of overwrites: cubANoS before HAVANAS, keY before CAY (add it to the kealoa list), ontaRio before ALBERTA, SpEncer before STEVENS, and most costly, LOok down on before LORD IT OVER, which was “confirmed” by the ALLS and ROOT.
ALIT/SILTS/SLIT was cute.
ALL'S well in the world.
Though I never keep time, this "wheelhouse special" had to be my fastest Wednesday ever. And @Rex flashes a whole lot of heretofore hidden humanity. What a nice change!
@GILL from late yesterday I think I knew all that, but it's nice to have confirmation, so thank you, my friend. 😘 P.S. Keepin' the EEs until you tell me to stop.
Puzzle:
Wow. This was pretty easy for the Wednesdee. Almost ridiculously so with all those remedial fill-in-the-blank clues. What the hell? Not really a complaint, but it's always shocking to me when I speed through a grid.
The theme and revealer work well if a tad on the ho-hum side. For me, though, the stars were LORDITOVER and IDIOTPROOF.
Which reminds me...
Today's Pronouncement:
Nothing should be declared IDIOTPROOF until I've had a crack at it.
.5🧠
🎉🎉.5
Factoid about ONE WAY TRIPS. To rent a U-Haul from San Francisco to Dallas costs between $4700 and $7050 depending upon the type of vehicle. It costs between $650 and $854 to go from Dallas to San Francisco.
I'm back from a terrific visit to Hamburg (and Bremen); if you ever have the chance to hear a symphonic concert in the "Elphi," don't miss it!
Speaking of musical events (and yesterday's puzzle), I always enjoyed Louis JorRdan and Leslie CarRon in the classic film GRIGRI. :-)
Hidden Diagonal Word (HDW) clue for today:
ACE (4 letters--I realize the clue is "out of bounds," since ACE is in the grid as part of 44A)
Like BarbieBarbie, I kept drawing blanks down the west side today, so it felt more difficult for me than for some others, including Rex. But in the end, I finished much closer to my best Wednesday time than to my Wednesday average.
As a diagonals fan, I loved the Q stack in the 12/11 puzzle. Here's how it looked on the grid:
_ _ Q U E
_ Q U E _
Q U E _ _ I would clue that mini-stack, collectively, as "Whaaaattt?!"
Answer to today's HDW clue:
NAIL (begins at 53D and moves NW)
Favorite three diagonals from grids while I was away:
1. Start of iconic soup jingle (12/2): MMM
2. Mailer in a mailer (12/4): SASE
3. Rollins College athletes--or, British seamen of old (12/5): TARS (oddly enough, TARS was actually an answer the next day, 12/6, clued as "Covers with black goo"
One final note--the 12/6 grid also had this diagonal delight, which I would clue as "Mother's exhortation to picky child":
_ _ T
_ A _
E _ _
_ A _
_ _ T
Ok, I'm done
Très bonne idée....ONE WAY TRIPS through my tulips. Remembering buying shoes that didn't fit only to see the SORRY NO RETURNS sign. I'm sure the hapless, poor homeless lady I gave them to, used them well.
I liked this...from ALLS to AFTS. From AUDEN to ADELA. From ACRE to AREA. I ATE UP the whole enchilada.
Remembering my ride on the back of a VESPA in Rome. A very handsome waiter offering me a lift back to my hotel because my car rental wouldn't start. My ONE WAY TRIPS throughout my life....never looking back or regretting any decisions I made..... My Dad who smoked H.UPMANN and not HAVANAS and my UGGS still sitting in my closet with mud encrusted on the soles.
I'm back to my mask avatar. I never stopped wearing one. I know too many people who have come down with COVID. I'm sure everyone knows someone who has. My friend's husband died of it. He was as healthy as they come and refused the vaccine - thinking he'd never get it. He did. My husband would most likely not survive this - so....I take all the precautions I can. Please....do the same. Wear a mask. This will pass eventually.......
I struggled with LORD IT OVER, even after I had most of the crosses. That just sounds weird - does anyone really say that ? It’s definitely not an expression that I have ever heard before.
I’m also confused by ALIT for “Landed” - I searched a couple of dictionaries for second or third definitions, but didn’t unearth anything. I’ll probably do a head slap if someone explains it to me.
I thought there were enough speed bumps to move this to mid-week appropriateness- ADELA and AUDEN are not exactly mainstream, for example. If you are not familiar with X-men, then it’s just parse the crosses until you get something plausible, which turned out to be WOLVERINE (I wonder if that is a villain’s name, or maybe the superheroes saved The OSU from the fiendish, evil plot of a Michigan grad student).
yd-2(-10 pts) I took a DNF. I know -spoiler-*, but never would have gotten -spoiler-**
I rarely achieve Queen. If I get down to about -6 (or fewer if total is lower) I can be pretty sure there are 2 or 3 I'd never get. Settle for G and usually a few more.
*APACE
**CALLA
It was definitely Monday-like but cute theme and slick fill for the most part. Loved the ALBERTA/TEEN CRUSH stack and WOLVERINE. Add STEVENS, WILLA , AUDEN and you have me hooked.
Couple of unfortunate SNITS - UGGS, PEE, ADELA etc but overall clean and nuanced. Thought the ALIT/SILTS/SLIT mash up in the center was neat. ALBERTA always makes me think fondly of Banff and Stompin Tom and Ian Tyson - it’s such a cool place.
Enjoyable Wednesday solve.
Okay. The best I got for the ROAD riddle is it’s referencing a map. Is that it? That was my last answer and that’s the best I got but it feels like I’m missing something. Fully prepared for a better explanation and a D’Oh slap.
With SULFA as the cross we need a less kealoa clue for LOCI. That clue works perfectly fine for fOCI and if you don’t do drugs SUfFA is every bit as likely as SULFA, turning that letter into a coin flip. SULFA is not a term I’ve ever heard. Is it fairly common? I see it is an antibiotic and most doctors I’ve been to prescribe antibiotics by saying, I’m going to prescribe an antibiotic followed by the reminder to follow the instructions and take them all even though I (or the kids) will start feeling better before the drugs are gone. Once in awhile they may have named the specific antibiotic, but it feels like that was atypical.
Otherwise, a fine Wednesday. The nose wrinkled a little at HAVANAS. Does that have to have a cigar clue to justify the S? I know there are Little HAVANAS in some big cities, but is there any other town or city by that name? Anyway, thx @Anoa Bob for pointing out the POC so now I can’t unsee them.
Looking back on the grid to see if anything else stood out and now I see LIT/ILT/LIT through the middle. Nothing wrong with it, it just feels a little like the constructors were cheating. As for the theme, I thought the long downs were livelier than the theme answers. The theme works fine and as has been pointed out, all are different RETURNS than the RETURN in the revealer. So a solid theme. I just like IDIOT PROOF and a WOLVERINE playing with a PERSIAN CAT more than BAD INVESTMENTS and ONE WAY TRIPS.
Don't usually keep track of time when solving, but this one started flowing so smoothly, I let my coffee cool a bit rather than stop to take a sip. Smiled at ONE WAY TRIPS, as I certainly had one in July. Do not miss crazy Florida at all. And ppl here in Decatur definitely wear masks, cheerfully (well, in a 'we're all in this together' manner). Thanks for your caring words, Rex. One of my 2 cats became enamored of a toy mouse around 4 am so that was...er, interesting. 🐈🙄
@SouthsideJohnny. ALIT is a regular visitor to crosswords but doesn't get much respect in Googleworld. One reference described is "a rare past tense of alight". The airplane gently ALIT on the runway. i.e. landed. Spellcheck rejects ALIT, don't know about the Bee.
@Z. A ROAD follows the terrain going up and down hills, yet does not move. Reminds me of "What is always different, yet always the same?" (there may be multiple answers)
SULFA was a gimme for me. It's one of those words it seems I've always known. Just another example of widely varying wheelhouses.
A cute, varied, and imaginative collection of things that offer NO RETURNS. I didn't see the theme coming and I liked it when the revealer came in.
It was easy, though. There was no answer that gave me any trouble at all, although 29D provoked curiosity. What can there be in this world that's "un-screw-up-able"? Please tell me quickly and I'll go out and buy it. Oh, IDIOT-PROOF -- of course! The answer satisfies completely but not the Thing itself. Because, Dear Reader, when you're a Luddite like me, nothing is "idiot-proof". Any manual that uses the term -- I'll know to avoid the item. Things that really are "idiot-proof" like books and spoons and hangers would never feel a need to use the term.
As POCs go, SILTS is as bad as it gets, with AFTS a close second. And really, do you have to clue SET (46D) as though we're all a bunch of blithering IDIOTS? But mostly a very pleasant if not very challenging Wednesday.
I usually dislike Ross's puzzles. This puzzle was an exception. I actually liked it a whole lot. Completed it without one reference look-up, which is not the reason why I liked it but nevertheless is significant for me on a Wednesday.
By the way, Lewis references an essay by Ross linked to the XWordInfo.com site. My feelings about Ross are certainly much different after reading it. How sad. And to be saddled with such pain at such an early age. Please do read the essay. And, for what it's worth (not much), his issue was not self-inflicted (which is the case with many who contracted COVID. (And I have no intentions of negating the sorrow expressed in a comment such as Gill composed.)
Hey All !
Very well put together grid. A nit (of course) is the cross-referenced ACRE and AREA. Just clue them separately. No reason for it. Just sayin'.
65A was eveS-eenS-AFTS. Funnily enough, IDIOT PROOF got me the F to get AFTS.
Fell (almost) for the Shortest Month misdirection. Had ARC, and almost took it out to put in FEB, but held my ground. Then got the Downs through the RC part of ARC, and got a genuine "Ah!" moment seeing MAY. Even let out a little "Heh, nice one." 20D, NEO, c'mon, just clue it as a Matrix clue. Had _TT__ for ATTIC, and with the clue, toyed with hTTps, which I'm sure those devious constructors were going for.
I could change my name to sound like a cousin of ICE T - ROO T. Har. I amuse myself. 😁
yd 0!!! (Don't care if y'all said it was the easiest in a while, still got it! 😁)
Two F's
RooMonster
DarrinV
@Z 836am Road Riddle - Fully expected it to be just me, but maybe it's just us. Like @OffTheGrid 852am, I imagined a road going up and down a hill. Sincerely hoping there's a better explanation out there. If not, that's one crap riddle.
A close-to-perfect pick-me-up mid-week puzzle! I don't think it was as easy as a Monday one. Agree with the nod to cute longer responses in the down columns and really enjoyed the theme.
-- CS
This seemed like a joyless exercise to me. Nothing to stop and think about, except for the fact that I have never heard anyone say "teen crush" or "local pride".
"A full day of final examinations". At the college level, doesn't that amount to handing them out, reading a book for half an hour, and collecting them ?
Thx Jessie & Ross, for this fun Wednes. offering! :)
Easy +.
Top to bottom solve with NO RETURNS.
Very smooth sailing with no hitches along the way.
Enjoyed the journey! :)
ALBERTA Bound ~ Gordon Lightfoot.
'Für Elise' ~ Valentina Lisitsa with Seoul Philharmonic
@JD 👍 for QB yd
@albatross shell (3:46 PM yd) 👍
@puzzlehoarder 👍 for recent run of 0's
@BEE-ER (8:20 AM) 👍
@Anonymoose (8:42 AM)
Pretty sure SB likes ALIT.
___
yd 0 / (missed this one last Wednes. and this one Mon.
Peace ~ Compassion ~ Tolerance ~ Kindness to all 🕊
Parallel Rexxworld experience here, as my early morning greeter was my cat Fenway, who had been lying on our bathmat waiting for me to get up and do something about his empty food dish. After that I zipped through the puzzle with ADELA the only glitch, having seen ADELE too much, otherwise no problems at all. Some of us had a bit of a slow down on the west side, which reminds me that we just saw the new West Side Story and enjoyed it very much. Took a lot of self control not to sing along with all the songs.
Sitting here with my first-ever hearing aids in and listening to the clock ticking reminds me a little of how new things looked after cataract surgery. Oh brave new world, that has such sounds and sights in it.
Hand up for not seeing the theme connection and being surprised and delighted by the revealer. Wicked smooth Wednesdecito, JB and RT. Lots of Jazzy Bits and a nicely Revealed Theme. Thanks for all the fun, sorry when it was over too soon.
@Anonymous 8:53
I believe the most famous use of Sulf in M*A*S*H was from the episode "Where There's a Will There's a War" where the question where's the sulf arises. The answer is in the kiving room between the end tables.
It's a famous punchline in sitcom history.
@Southside Johnny & @Anonymoose - I put ALIT in the search bar at Merriam-Webster and it took me here. I’m sure my perception is skewed by crosswords, but “alighted” seems the less common variant to me. Also maybe because the past tense of “to light” would never be “lighted,” but always “LIT.” I LIT the candle, not I lighted the candle. Yeah yeah, alight has nothing to do with “to light,” but that’s how I hear it.
@OffTheGrid - D’Oh. And I live in the mountains so I really have no excuse.
Nope, nobody would say lighted.
*The happy couple strolled down the lighted path as evening darkened to night.
*Milo the Adventurer led the way with his lighted torch.
*The technician extinguished the lighted fuse seconds before the fireworks started.
*In the dimly lighted space—the windows are shrouded by black curtains—Mr. Copperfield bounded from game to game.
As it happens Ateup Ledge & Beige are notable as the first law firm to allow casual Friday in the 70s, brought about with the advent of leisure suit. And it was the leisure suit industry that coined the phrase Sorry No Returns, Try Giving It To Your Brother-in-Law.
Yes, this puzzle should've been flipped with Monday. Brie Larson was Wednesday fare. No matter though, fun was had because this team delivers the smooth.
Again for me, a 3-letter word gave some pushback, Down With for Had. I was stuck on the idea of being good with something, like yeah I'm down with it. So there was a little aha on a tiny word. Nice.
@Frantic, Today's Pronouncement 🤣.
@bocamp, Thanks!
I’ve heard the riddle before but the answer was stairs. That works better IMO. @Blue State Blues- Supposedly U-Haul named Gavin Newsom its salesperson of the year.
IDIOTPROOF. Remember Keefer's line in Caine Mutiny about the Navy? A system designed by geniuses to be run by idiots.
I would have preferred the three long acrosses to have been unclued but related to SORRYNORETURNS. The fill was easy enough to figure them out. That would have been fun.
The pair at 16A and 17A are unclued but no fun.
This is no great puzzle but it is better than Jeff Chen's POW on Monday.
Sweet anagram of William Shakespeare.
@Z, I believe SULFA based drugs are used when people are allergic to traditional antibiotics, I.e. the “cillens,” to use a totally non-medical term.
Yep…this played like a Monday for me but thought it was delightful!
What do you get when you cross Julia Louis-Dreyfus with a Sumo wrestler? I don't know, but I'd be very courteous to him (or her). Also, wouldn't a Citizen of Muscat be a Muscateer?
I went to see if ALIT was just olde-timey for alighted, only to find out not so much. Maybe very olde-timey, or maybe not. I checked some of the early 19th century citations, and they were all in Latin or an abbreviation up through the 12th page of citations. I'm sure someone, somewhere, at some time wrote a poem where "a lark alit upon the branch" just because alighted didn't scan, but that's it, and all claims of foul are hereby approved. Unless you're Martin H, but we don't care about that case.
What a fun and breezy Wednesday this was! No need to RETURN for a refund. It went down as smoothly as an icy cold ALE with a big head of FOAM. Try as I MAY, I couldn’t find a single BAD thing. Jessie and Ross, you have plenty to CROW about HERE … and I’m hoping ALL goes well with Ross’ surgery today.
@Rex: ATE UP the CAT pic. Thanks for sharing.
Post Covid Booster report: Mild soreness in the arm with some worse than usual brain fog this morning but nothing like the first and second rounds.
@GILL (8:15) Right there with you on the mask wearing. I’m to the point where it feels weird not to wear one.
Nice, easy WedPuz. A name or two I didn't know, scattered here and there, but overall a nice, smoooth solvequest.
fave sparklers: IDIOTPROOF. WOLVERINE. PERSIANCAT. LORDITOVER. AIRRAID. Lotsa longballs, as only a 72-worder puzgrid with 4 themers (countin the revealer).
staff weeject pick: PEE. Rhymes with wee. And hopefully no returns, on the pee.
Also, cool APT anagram clue.
Thanx for gangin up on us, Jessie darlin & Ross dude. Primo job.
Masked & Anonymo5Us
**gruntz**
Easy-medium. It took a while to see SERVICE ACES and SORRY, and for some reason I had SILTy before SILTS (misread the clue?). Solid Wednesday with some fine long downs, liked it.
@bocamp - Re: Croce’s 667 SW - I knew the NYPD car model because my daughter drives a hybrid one and when I was researching battery life for her the NYPD came up as having them in their fleet.
@TJS 9:20 - Where I went the profs didn’t even stay in the room.
@Pete - It’s good to realize the limits of your tools and how the questions you ask matter. I think this is a far more descriptive chart of the relevant prevalence of ALIT vis à vis alighted. Your chart doesn’t quite drive home that neither is much used. And if Ngrams included crosswords I have to wonder if your chart would flip.
@Anon9:42 - Do you know the difference between an adjective and a verb? And we cannot ignore your lack of reading ability. I use to think you always misquoted me just to make bad faith arguments, but you do it so often that I’m convinced you’re just a poor reader. Maybe you should take a remedial class, your local GED program probably offers one.
@Beezer - Could be. Like I said, I don’t especially recall a doctor ever much naming the specific antibiotic, although now that I’ve walked the dogs it occurs to me that it does seem like we paid for a fair amount of amoxicillin when the lads were lads.
I liked it less than Rex, and than many of you. The big issue is SORRY... It's not related to the theme answers, just put in to make the revealer the right length. You're probably sorry after a bad investment, but jubilant after a SERVICE ACE. Other than that, it was just the easiness -- I saw BAD INVESTMENT right away, but had to check about 5 crosses before I put it in, thinking it was too literal.
And the clue was "centers of activity." fOCI are centers, LOCI are just places.
It's just SUMO, but this is America, so I guess people do add "wrestling" to it. Sad.
But I did learn that pique can be a noun. I got SNITS from the crosses, but was puzzled until I looked it up.
And then there's 22A. It's been a lazy year, so my 2020 tax return is still sitting here waiting to be filed. It starts with "Name." But if we're meant to skip over that preliminary stuff, it starts with "Line 1." I actually wrote that in (didn't look at the form until I was finished), thinking it was going to be some kind of trick, until HAVANA forced me to change it.
There's a pattern of stainless steel cutlery named LINEA, but I guess that would be a bit obscure.
@Lewis, I keep forgetting to mention it, but I enjoyed your Universal puzzle a few days ago.
Well I'm smarter than any of you and did this puzzle in practically no time at all. Like the rest of you, unfortunately, I've got nothing better to do than to write self-aggrandizing drivel on this site every day. (Just kidding) (or not) - rbloyce@gmail.com
@Z - As I said, I wanted to see if ALIT was old-timey for alighted. I already knew no one in their right mind said anything but landed.
Also, SULFA drugs were the first effective anti-microbal drugs. They had a brief reign as the miracle drugs of the 20th century until the real miracle drug of the 20th century, penicillin, came along and people figured out how to mass produce it.
Z,
Oof. Maybe you need the GED bud. My expmaples ere ajectives. Stop emabrrassing yourself.
@Beezer 10:06 - sulfa antibiotics have been around a long time, and often when someone has an allergy to an antibiotic, it is to a sulfa drug (right behind the penicillins). They have some common uses (like urinary tract infections), and are generally cheap, but in my experience the allergies are often reasons that they are not use, rather than the reason that they are used.
@Z @Beezer, I know Sulfa drugs because my son is allergic to them. I found this out when he was 6 years old. As soon as I gave it to him, his face turned beet red, he started sweating, and his eyes got bloodshot. Both kids had frequent ear infections. This was in the bad old days when pediatricians would prescribe antibiotics without a second thought. They've stopped doing that.
@mathgent, Give yourself a mathgent today.
@Gill-fleur -- 'Pass'? No. But it will stabilize eventually.
Bless you and your muddy UGGS.
@Z 8:36 - I missed your initial post, or would have commented on this earlier - SULFA is a class of antibiotics, of which there are many types. The trade name of the most common one is Bactrim. They are named such due to sulfur in the molecule.
I blew through this at the speed of light. Lots of great entries and none of them held me up; even knew SULFA, though I have no clue why. Maybe because I'm a doctor's kid and nurses' sister? My life has been spent around the medical profession and some words just hang around my brain until they're needed. Who knows?
Hand up that nothing's IDIOTPROOF. Don't we wish it were so! LORDITOVER brings my mom to mind—despite being raised in the rarified world of money, she was, blessedly, quite disapproving of people who looked down on others. ALIT is a lovely word, brings to mind butterflies and birds coming to rest on delicate twigs and flowers.
@Lewis, thank you for the link to Ross's essay. What an admirable man! And the peek inside the mind of a crossword constructor was illuminating.
@Z, I say this with a smile and a tender voice: Would you kindly dismount from your 18-hands-tall steed?
Thank you, Ross and Jessie. My only complaint is that it was over too quickly.
I liked almost everything about this puzzle, from the themers to the revealer to the long downs. Especially liked IDIOT PROOF standing beside PERSIAN CAT and the William Shakespeare anagram. Nice job, Jessie and Ross.
What to do when you end up with 12D in your grid? Clue it as a “difference between icky and picky.”
My only nits were the LOCI/SULFA cross (UGGS!) and the existence of AFTS. “We partake of high tea in the afts,” said no one ever. Also felt the clue for 16A was amiss since there are many AREAS that do not consist of ACRES, such as the laundry area in the basement.
A Millennial romance: having a TEEN CRUSH on SIRI.
The one BAD INVESTMENT I can recall was a an 'Amway-like' pyramid scheme. I was never very good at selling things, other than shoes and PET Milk (both of which pretty much sold themselves) lol. Most of my INVESTMENTS (which I contributed to on a monthly basis, starting at an early age) were in low-med risk mutual funds. Even tho they took a beating in '08, they bounced back big time from '09 on.
Just this A.M. gave SIRI a 'command' to speak louder on my HomePod mini. Just increasing the volume level, in general, doesn't increase her speaking volume.
@RooMonster 👍 for 0 yd
@JD (9:45 AM) yw :)
@jae (10:27 AM)
Lol, that was one of the few words I got right in that section (not because I knew it for sure, but it just sounded right for a car). Like the far-reaching benefits of your research; it's one of the reasons I research things I don't know, esp related to the many xwords I do. :)
___
td pg -1 (timed out)
Peace ~ Compassion ~ Tolerance ~ Kindness to all 🕊
Lots to like - the clever play on 4 kinds of RETURNS and the fine array of long Downs made this one a pleasure to solve.
An APT moment of doubt: "What word starts with IDI...?!"
For the Badger volleyball fan, a WOLVERINE is a conference rival from Michigan. For any other volleyball fans, the NCAA national semifinals are tomorrow night, broadcast on ESPN. At 6 CT the #4 Badgers face undefeated #1 Louisville - about whose attacks one really can say, SORRY NO RETURNS. Will be tough.
Help from previous puzzles: ADELA, with a smile - hadn't seen her in a long time.
Well I was fairly washed up on the sulfa v. Penicillin derivatives. Apparently sulfa antibiotics are still used for certain kinds of infections (including fungal) and actually have more adverse side effects than penicillin based drugs but the scant percentage of folks allergic to penicillin are at grave risk of its use. Anyway…I just know doctors ALWAYS ask if you are allergic to penicillin.
Right. Who cares?
@Anon 9:52 – Yes. Google the "riddle" and you will get 5,000 entries that say the answer is stairs. Not a single one that says road.
It's official: cluing and editing the NYTimes puzzle is not an idiot-proof job.
I always thought IDIOT-PROOF meant PROOF there are IDIOTS. So PETA went after Beethoven because 'Fur ELISE'. QED.
Love that ALBERTA was clued with Michael J Fox, both of which make me go all gooey inside. Cuppla years ago, MJF was seated not far from me at a graduation ceremony in Dook Chapel, and it took the physical restraint of 3 close relatives to keep me from sidling over and going all Marty McFly on him. Sometimes I can act SO DOPA.
Today I totally ATE UP winding up on a LEDGE with BEIGE PEE
Shall point out the obvious that there's only ONE WAY to TRIP and that's _down_. And don't anyone think you can TRIP me _up_
Nice RETURN on INVESTMENT
@Nancy. Your list of IDIOTPROOF things cracked me up. I’m picturing the book covers for:
The Complete idiots Guide to Reading Books
The Complete Idiots Goide to Using Spoons.
The Complete Idiots Guide to using Hangars.
You know a lot about your standing in the eyes of the person that gives you one of those titles for Christmas.
Puzzle was smooth and easy and I ATEUP it. Thanks Jessie and Ross, and good luck with the surgery.
My reaction was, this puzzle is too Easy for a Wednesday. But the themers were indeed very well done. It does seem to me that a TEEN CRUSH is almost always a case of unrequited love, while a typical teen finds a partner whose love is real, if (in my day) usually unconsummated. The interesting thing for me, as a dad, was to find that while each of my daughters had at one point or another a steady boyfriend, none married their TEEN CRUSH. They waited, and two of the three eventually found the perfect man to be the father of my grandchildren. So it all worked out.
I was glad to see ADELA Rogers St. John, the world's greatest girl reporter, who was an accomplished and prolific writer. One of my favorite books, written relatively late in life, is her memoir of her father Earl Rogers, "Final Verdict". Her stories are well-told, and when I expressed an interest in going to law school, older relatives asked if I wanted to be like Earl Rogers, who was the Los Angeles lawyer they had grown up hearing about in their youths. It's a great book, and worth finding.
ACRE IS a Unit of AREA. The clue doesn't claim it's the only one.
My favorite posts this morning.
TJS (9:20)
jberg (11:01)
Pete (11:09)
JD (11:13)
Joe Dipinto (11:58)
@Anon 9:42/11:10 No one here knows what you're talking about, because it's nonsense. Your 9:42 post can only be interpreted as relevant if one assumes your use of "lighted" somehow refers back somehow to alighted, but lighted is your context is not related to alighted. And yes, it is an adjective, alighted is a verb. Hence when @Z said you don't know the difference between an adjective and a verb he was correct, assuming he made the same "that idiot must have misread that we were talking about lighted, not alighted", so yes, your reading comprehension leaves a lot to be desired. As does your typing. Or spelling. Or both.
I'll look for you ova the bkfst table, using hangars out on the tarmac
"Is down with" = HAS, 5A. Then I misread 32A's clue as belonging to 36A. I had __V_ in place at 36A and thought "boast" would be "haVe". I figured having HAS/haVe in the same grid would be the discussion point du jour. Only in my mind...
This was a very nice set of theme answers, thanks Jessie and Ross!
And my heart LEAPs with joy to see multiple @Leapfinger visits in a row!
I really liked the theme. However it solved too fast by a factor of about 3 (6 minutes for me).
I worked with a guy who went to high school with Michael J Fox in Burnaby (suburb of Vancouver) BC. Evidently he was just Mike Fox then. I always thought he was born there!
Yes the best we can hope for is IDIOT RESISTANT.
[Spelling Bee: yd 0; dbyd (Mon) -1, missed this word for some silly reason.]
Ahhhh...My funny, smart, favorite tulip, @Leap for joy, is back here. My day is grandiose now and my BEIGE PEE didn't runneth over.
@JD 11:13...Not only am I allergic to Sulfa drugs, but you give me penicillin and my eyes pop out as well. I have very few allergies to food, but I'll probably die of anything a doctor will give me to try and save my life from the travesties of germs. I'm still alive - so there's that!
I never ever had a TEEN CRUSH. I was, though, crushed by a teen named (of all things) Brock Chester. He was handsome as you could get and the start athlete. My girlfriend set me up with him on a blind date and he didn't say two words to me all night..... I think I talked non-stop so that may have made his LOCI FOAM at the mouth.
Please, everyone....wear a mask and stay safe.......
Very enjoyable. Slipped down nicely for me.
Is service ace a phrase that gets used much? I’ve only ever heard/used ace, presumably because the serve is the only time an ace is possible. But this might be a case of where you’re from.
@Z
I agree with you about lighted-lit. Until I found out I was mistaken. He lighted a cigarette. How yucky sounding. Researched and found is was correct and even preferred. That was 20 or 30 years ago.Then I noticed it time and time again. So today I check it out and find this:
https://www.quickanddirtytips.com/education/grammar/lit-or-lighted
I feel like I am in some kind of time warp because I can't remember the last time I saw LIT in an a passed through an editor publication. It's still LIT to me. But apparently to most people too. Maybe I have been reading too many English or Canadian mysteries. Mavbe book editors are behind the times. Anyway interesting history of usage between the two.
Surprised @Nancy didn't like it more with SET SERVICE ACES and the triple love(d) clue.
I thought the unlikely to be gotten theme made for a fine reveal.
I had trouble with the West by failing to grasp some obvious stuff. But got it all straightened out in average Wednesday time cause the other 2/3 was easy.
ROAD works just like stairs so no complaint. I did consider bOAt briefly. Tied to dock or anchored. Ocean, wave or river? Same river twice and all, but a river only goes down. Unless it rains or the snow melts.
ALIT SILTS SLIT SIRI TIS okay by me. Wish @Z would get over his letter obsessions. Just like DOD-DODD but better.
@jberg -- Thank you!
Yep, "lit" for all of those.
@jberg 11:01 am. Funny that your comment started with “I liked it less than Rex…”
Funny because I was think of starting my comment “I liked Rex less than it….”
Why is there an IT in LORDITOVER? doesn't seem to match up with the clue to me.
My SULFA story ended when I found my lips ballooned if I took an anti-diarrhea drug (it was a very bright yellow, don't remember the name); for the last 60 years I've always included sulfa in my list of allergies.
@GILL Me too; been wearing masks routinely for shopping etc since March '20, but for travel and perhaps now for shopping too I wear the biggie, N95 or KN95. I find my face feels kinda weird because I pull my chin down somehow; asked my sister if she does it too and she does! Anyone else?
Re LIT and many other irregular verbs - they're steadily disappearing nowadays. The sun shined , not shone; he dived in, not dove.
td pg -1
Ran into the same fOCI/SUfFA issue and came here to confirm I wasn’t the only one :)
@Nancy - I can think of any number of idiotic things people could do and have done with your 3 item list🤣
Stacks of books do not ladders make.
Don’t use a wooden spoon to push down unprocessed fruit in your vita mix (ask me how I know).
Metal hangers conduct electricity, nuff said.
@Leapfinger (12:03) -- There's a Dook Chapel???!!!
@burtonkd and @egs -- :D
@leapy -- Overjoyed to see you here! Hang around for a spell, will ya?
AARGH!! Names, Names, Names!!! Always kill me. 35A 'City without wall poet', WTF?? 'Writer Rodger St John'?? WTF???? 'Cather who wrote O Pioneers'?? WTF???
Everything but the obscure names was easy. I have PhD in engineering, not English Lit. Are the constructors really this well read, or are these just words that fit the grid?
@Albatross Shell - Preferred by whom? Apparently editors of books you read but not books I read. Now, of course, the next 10 times I see it it will be “lighted.” I did like your link and her Ngram chart because I didn’t know you could limit the search that way.
@Pete 11:09 - Didn’t mean to imply that you wouldn’t use “landed.”
@Larry - Yep.
@Eniale & @JD - Yikes! That would get me to remember the word.
@Malsdemare - ? Unless you referring to the shot I took. Yeah, but he gets so so so tiresome.
Mask update. Out and about buying xmas gifts today. Downtown was not busy for 10 days before Xmas. We have a mask mandate here and people were largely abiding by it. Saw a few people on the sidewalk without a mask, but everyone indoors was masked. This was a marked contrast from my weekend in Florida a month ago where I walked into supermarkets a couple of times and was one of about three people wearing a mask. To be completely candid, where I buy groceries has good mask wearing, but I’ve been in other stores in the same chain in other parts of town where there was low mask compliance.
easy...even though i didn't know AUDEN, ADELA, or STEVENS. had bRag before CROW. yes...easy...until i spent quite a long time searching for an apparent error having gotten no happy music. and i couldn't find it. so i had to cheat here which almost never happens, certainly not on a wednesday. the only word that looked weird to me was SUFFA, but when i googled it i saw "Suffa® is a flowable fungicide for the control of a variety of diseases in Citrus, Field, Fruit, Nut, Ornamental, Turf and Vegetable applications" so i thought, okay, that's right...now what else am i missing? never heard of SULFA or LOCI so that one L did me in. oops!
@M&A "i see said the blind man, pissing into the wind, it's all coming back to me now..."
I used to play Boggle, too, and am among those who were most impressed with this puzzle. It took me longer than usual to finish, but was well worth the time. Bravo, Trenton!
Puzzle of the week. So far…
I can't believe it. OFF mentions almost every long fill EXCEPT the undeniable star of the show and its clue: "Un-screw-up-able" for IDIOTPROOF. Not a word about the one spot that made this mess worth doing.
Yeah, mess. I groaned when I saw the byline, thinking "Wait for it." Nor did I have long to wait: LINEA. No, Mr. T., that clue won't fly. The tax form lines are numbered, not (ADD-ON! Grrr) lettered. Also, how many SILTS can there be? This is carelessness I've come to expect from this guy. Just throw any old thing in there; it'll be good enough.
I agree about the Monday-ness. If it weren't for IDIOTPROOF and DOD JULIA, I'd probably hang out a bogey, but par it is.
HELP CAY OLAY
"WILLA guy have PROOF it burns,
or be APT to LORDITOVER me?"
"SORRY, there MAY be NORETURNS
after BAD ONEWAYTRIPS to PEE."
--- ALBERTA SIMS-STEVENS
Neat, clean, and clever, and a relatively easy piece of work.
In addition to the theme and reveal, especially liked certain longs and shorts in the fill. To wit:
LORD IT OVER and IDIOT PROOF.
NEO-, MAY, and ADELA.
Much that is good and nothing that is bad here.
Any many, many happy returns to all.
Diana, Lady-in-Waiting for Crosswords
The corners are in the PAST.
In my off and on relationship with Rolling Stone, I was subscribing at the time JULIA Louis Dreyfuss posed nude for the cover. Yeah baby.
Agree with @spacey re: LINEA, at least on the 1040. If memory serves, the MN form has a LINEA, B, C and D. But they are not the first lines to complete.
JULIA was my grandmother's name, so OK.
@Diana, LIW :
“... many happy returns to all”. Neat.
Diana -- or “neato”. Whatever, I got your idea.
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