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Thick liquidy clump / WED 12-29-21 / Van Gogh's art dealer brother / 1980s fad items advertised as the gift that grows / Stereotypical lumberjack feature / Lettered awards show host / Lettered home on the range when no one's home
Wednesday, December 29, 2021
Constructor: Simon Marotte and Victor Fleming
Relative difficulty: Medium
Theme answers:
- EMMY EMCEE (17A: Lettered awards show host?) (M, E, M, C)
- CAGEY ENEMY (30A: Lettered adversary in a battle of wits?) (K, G, N, M, E)
- EMPTY TEPEE (49A: Lettered home on the range when no one's home?) (M, T, T, P)
- EASY ESSAY (65A: Lettered school paper that's a snap to write?) (E, Z, S, A)
Lohengrin, WWV 75, is a Romantic opera in three acts composed and written by Richard Wagner, first performed in 1850. The story of the eponymous character is taken from medieval German romance, notably the Parzival of Wolfram von Eschenbach, and its sequel Lohengrin, itself inspired by the epic of Garin le Loherain. It is part of the Knight of the Swan legend.
The opera has inspired other works of art. King Ludwig II of Bavaria named his castle Neuschwanstein Castle after the Swan Knight. It was King Ludwig's patronage that later gave Wagner the means and opportunity to complete, build a theatre for, and stage his epic cycle Der Ring des Nibelungen. He had discontinued composing it at the end of Act II of Siegfried, the third of the Ring tetralogy, to create his radical chromatic masterpiece of the late 1850s, Tristan und Isolde, and his lyrical comic opera of the mid-1860s, Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg.
The most popular and recognizable part of the opera is the Bridal Chorus, colloquially known as "Here Comes the Bride," usually played as a processional at weddings. The orchestral preludes to Acts I and III are also frequently performed separately as concert pieces. (wikipedia)
• • •
I'm trying to remember the last time I saw [Lohengrin's love] as a clue. Turns out it's only been about four years or so, but you used to see it all the time before "Frozen" came out and absolutely took over ELSA cluing duties. [Lohengrin's love] simply adds to the conspicuous bygone feel of this puzzle. This puzzle coulda run when LOU Bega was dominating the charts or even when Miss ELLIE was all over the TV airwaves. AMY ADAMS and SWOLE are about the only things connecting this thing to the 21st century. The fill is plain and bland and overfamiliar. I'm looking for highlights and not finding any. The only thing that stood out to me about this puzzle, besides its thematic inadequacy, is that western section, which for some reason was 10x more difficult than the rest of the puzzle (very easy). Most of the clues in there just didn't add up. I had LAY AN EGG, but even those "G"s didn't help. The SHOE clue was baffling (27A: It's a little longer than a foot), and I was imagining the "bit" in 36A: Bit of bar food as something much smaller than a WING. ONE UP is confusing when you make golf the context, since being ahead actually means having a stroke count *under* the other person's. Any other sports context would've worked fine for that clue, but ugh, golf, sure. I took "Shout-out" as something ORAL so "HI MOM" didn't occur to me for 28D: Shout-out from the stands (since it usually comes in sign and hot "shouted" form). And of course the one answer I knew in that section (LOU) led me straight into a sinkhole—having the "L" in place at 27D: Muscled, slangily (SWOLE), I wrote in BUILT. But my limited speed failings aren't the real problem here. The weak theme and tepid fill, that's the problem. GLOOP—that just about sums it up. Hoping for better results tomorrow. See you then.
Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld
Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld
P.S. there are much better CESARs than this puzzle's misguided and harmful "celebrity dog trainer." Actor Romero, Labor leader Chavez, French film award, etc. So many. It's bad enough we hunt wolves nearly to extinction; to willfully misunderstand them in order to promote systems of human dominance is really too much, man (thanks to reader Thomas B. for this reference):
It concerns me that many mainstream trainers are still promoting ideas that have long been rejected by the very experts who study this topic most. Any training ideology that relies on your being a "pack leader" or an "alpha" instead of a loving parent to your dog is misguided. The fact that this myth has persisted for so long in the face of science that shows otherwise means that there is much work to do to enlighten the public. (Zak George, HuffPo, 2017)[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]
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97 comments:
EZ-medium. No real problems with this one, LOU was a WOE and soy before OAT were about it. Not that interesting, unless I’m missing some meta “tie it together” aspect, which @Rex also missed?
Swole? Gloop? Feh.
The theme was okay. Don't like EMCEE because the answer spelt out is a literal sounding of MC == Master of Ceremonies. No artistry there. And I think there could be more fun in the theme answers; KGNME is the best of the lot.
I have always liked XPDNC as == expediency. Spot on, phonetically.
[Spelling Bee: Tues 0, my last word was a hail Mary (Me: "There's no way this is a word" and then shocked when it was accepted). For 2 days in a row, none of the dictionaries I could find actually had an entry for this; only redirects.]
Clever enough. Theme vaguely interesting. Took a bit of a delay finding the W in the SWILE-WING cross. Kept getting distracted running through the alphabet. rING as in onion? dING as in dong? WING doh!
@Z
Reminds me of Oh em gee. I see it as clever not ugly. Always room for a surprise and a bit o' wit. Beauty is in the I of the beholding. And most of those spelt letters are words in the dictionary themselves. Not todays but that earlier puzzle. Optimal be damned. Wit wins out.
I had problems in the same area as OFL, AND unlike Rex, I didn't know Mr. Brega. It took a long time, but the words slowly came to me. I admit to spending a fair amount of time trying to convince myself that an "oboe" was only a "little" longer than a foot.
Didn't hate it as much as OFL.
For a moment I was sure it was Monday, until I looked at my calendar. Too easy!
In match play golf, you are ONE UP if you have won one more hole than your opponent. So the clue sort of works. However, it’s not really that appropriate for stroke play.
@Rex covered all of my complaints. Just not a lot of fun here but I did like LAYANEGG. Is Dallas (TV show) going to be a new thing?
Note to self: Okay, one last time -- ELSA is the "Frozen" woman and also the "Lohengrin" love interest. iLSA is the woman in "Casablanca". Remember them because "Frozen" and "Lohengrin" both contain the letter E. "Casablanca" doesn't, but its translation, "White House", contains an I.
How did Rex not mention the biggest issue?!
ENEMY is a three syllable word, and EVERY dictionary agrees: It is EN-uh-me. That is, N-uh-me.
The second and third syllables do not sound like letters.
The only way this works is if the M were part of the second syllable to give you EN-em-ee (N-M-E). But it is absolutely NOT part of the second syllable.
It’s a slight change in pronunciation, but it’s wrong as is.
First I want to say that this puzzle is junk free, something that can get lost in the playing-with-words fun of this theme. Props, Simon and Victor, on a well put together grid.
Then, I learned from reading Jeff Chen that this type of wordplay is called making “gramograms” or “grammagrams”, and a quick Google reveals many words besides those in today’s theme answers that qualify. Some big ones too, like “expediency” and “excellency”. I like “anemone” and “escapee”, and I especially like “arcadian”.
So, while in a gramogram state of mind, I saw that ELLIE could have been clued [Lettered Ewing matriarch on “Dallas”?] (Hi, @Rex!) and ACEY could have been clued [Lettered ___[deucy?].
After yesterday, I did enjoy having KALE share the puzzle with ATMS and SALES. And I smiled when I saw the Boggle-style GLOP coming out of GLOOP.
You two gave me a bit of bite – always appreciated – along with this lovely side of wordplay. UROK in my book. Thank you for this!
Pretty breezy Wednesday for me, and I liked the "lettered" theme more than Rex. A quick online search produces some indication that the P in empty can be silent.
There is a nice "lettered" magazine title, the palindromic ELLE, which appears as a Hidden Diagonal Word (HDW) starting/ending (like I said, it's palindromic) at 32D/46D. Also, the LEE (Author Harper) in 38A shares its L (or is that ELLE?) with a diagonal LEE.
The ONE UP answer is ok for "stroke" play in golf, which is how we think of golf being scored. A better golf scoring clue for that answer would be "A hole ahead, in golf," which would indicate "match" play. If you start a match and Player A wins the first hole, either by one stroke or five strokes, Player A is ONE UP and Player B is ONE down.
I guess by NYTX standards we now have 27 letters in the alphabet, A-Z and now EMP.
I hated seeing that fraud Cesar Millan in the puzzle.
Lots of ‘sound’-related difficulty today.
Debated TSKS versus TutS, and decided TutS sounded more click-like. WRONG.
I don’t really get the clue for TEXT. I’m guessing it is supposed to refer to the sound of an arriving TEXT. Mine sound like a pip. Mrsshef’s sounds like a fanfare. Neither is remotely ding-y. I went with rafT at first. WRONG.
And I’m sure I’ll be the leventy-seventh to say I don’t pronounce ‘EMPTY’ like ‘M-T’.
Strangest experience was trying to figure out the “celebrity dog trainer” clue. I felt sure I must be mis-reading one of those words, as it did not seem possible that they could all go together.
Interesting to see an appearance by ELSA of Brabant - which, btw did make the list of alternative ELSA clues that was posted in the comments on Monday. The theme gimmick just did not register for me - so I had to parse together most of the theme entries strictly from the crosses, which turns the whole adventure into a bit of a slog. A lot of the non-theme stuff did seem easy-ish for a Weds (especially south of the equator).
I’m not of fan of cluing a letter of the alphabet (Greek, or otherwise - OMEGA) as if it is something other than simply a letter. The Times seems to use that ploy quite a bit. Not quite sure what is meant by “traditional medicine” in the clue for ALOE - isn’t ALOE used in “alternative medicine” or whatever “non traditional” medicine would be ? Perhaps I’m missing something on that one.
It’s hard to believe in retrospect that CHIA PETS once actually rose to the level of fad - as opposed to just quietly fulfilling its slot as a reality uninteresting novelty (like a pet rock - although some may characterize those as a fad as well). Novelty/fad is in the eye of the beholder I suppose.
This became TDS fairly quickly - maybe our cryptic friends will get more enjoyment? SB allows both TEPEE and TEePEE. I’ll agree with Rex on the overall fill - nothing ugly but no splash.
We ate KALE last night and discussed it’s use in yesterday’s puzzle with my wife - for all you haters she told me that it also has aphrodisiac qualities. Still would like to see ELSA clued as Christie’s character from Five Little Pigs.
Not big on this one - maybe if it included these guys
Thx Simon & Victor, for a very enjoyable Wednes. puz! :)
Med.
The 'lettered' theme helped me drop EMMY EMCEE right in, but didn't help at all with the remaining themers.
Quite a feat to come up with four long answers all comprised of distinct syllables representing 'letters' of the alphabet. They kinda look like something you might see on vanity plates: MEMC; KGNME; MTTP; EZSA.
Liked it; a fun romp. :)
@okanaganer /Eniale
Finally got my final 6er from dbyd. Like @Eniale, I was quite familiar with the archaic word; maybe from old xwords, certainly not from Eng. lit, afaik. lol
___
yd 0* (problem was, I was looking for a 6er when it was a 7 I needed.)
@okanaganer 👍 for 0 yd
Peace ~ Compassion ~ Tolerance ~ Kindness to all 🕊
Horrible. Theme and fill. That’s all.
@Anon 4:56 is quite correct. If you’re a hole ahead in match play you’re one up, but it doesn’t work for stroke play.
I’m not sure but I think most people don’t pronounce the P in EMPTY. Maybe it’s a regional thing.
I don’t really disagree with Rex’s take on the puzzle, but it was not an unpleasant solve.
SWOLE? Is that short for swollen? Maybe bloated? I have a few thigh muscles left over from my days at the gym and I don't want you to look at them and admire its SWOLE.
OK...what else? I can't undo seeing GLOOP. Would you say your thick pea soup is Gloopy? I suppose if you don't like peas, you'd say it. Moving right long.....So I guess tumps are hills? I hate climbing any tump, it makes my saddleback knolls all sore.
But did you like this? you ask....Well, it was fine. A tad on the easy side and a bit old timey rhymey. Can I say that? When I saw MEMC I sorta gave it the stink eye. Oh....one of those I thought.
Only one person says BAM and that's Emerill Lagassi. Wham Bam Thank You Ma'am .
For you "empty" doubters, when we were kids we used to say, "Point to your head and say the abbreviation for mountain". On reflection, it wasn't very funny then either.
Agree that this one felt a little flat, outside of the SCAR/SCAB conundrum, not much pushback. I liked GLOOP crossing LOP, couple of fun words. KALE and ELSA got so much airplay yesterday they came back for an encore. At least there was no SYRUP.
Nice enough Wednesdecito, SM and VF. Sorta Missed being a Very Fine experience, but fun enough, for which thanks.
ONE UP (in terms of golf) would have better been termed “Ahead a hole”. In match play, there are 18 points available - one per hole. If you win a hold against your opponent, you get a point. If you tie a hole, each player gets a half point. If you are leading by one hole at any point; you are ONE UP (and your opponent is thus down one)
This puzzle felt slower to me than it was. Theme answers did feel contrived.
Well, I for one enjoy a good old-fashioned puzzle. And I like Lohengrin — beautiful music, that one. Also, fond memories of reading with my kids William Steig’s two illustrated books written entirely in gramograms. One was CDB; I forget the title of the other. I recall a picture of a boy handing a girl a flower with the caption APONE4U.
Well, I'm starting to see why Tuesday was the POW. Geez, this sucked !
"lettered" meaning composed of letters ? I mean, we are doing a crossword here, right ? Do we need to be reminded of that ?
Trying to figure out how we got from dog training to "willfully" misunderstanding wolves. Just another thing that Rex gets worked up about ? I think if you came across a pack of wolves in the woods, misunderstanding them would be the least of your concerns.
OMG.
Rex.
is.
so.
tiresome.
Coming up with the themers made me have to think-- and I like that. There's a good balance between not being able to guess the theme answers without crosses and then getting an "Aha" from just a few crosses.
I thought all the clues were eminently fair except for CAGEY ENEMY. When I had the "C", I sort of wanted something like a CHESS ENEMY. "Battle of wits" implies an intellectual contest, whereas that CAGEY ENEMY may just be hiding in the broom closet waiting to mug you. He could be dumb as an ox...and still be CAGEY.
What fabulous cluing today! Best clue for SHOE (27A) I've ever seen. Wonderfully playful clue for LAY AN EGG (4D). Also liked the clues for BOAT (5A); and HILLS (16A). A nice breezy puzzle that was fun to solve.
I agree with Rex that this theme did nothing for me, especially with awkward answers like CAGEY ENEMY and awkward cluing. Why do the clues keep referring to the answer as "lettered"? The answer isn't in single letters.
I really didn't like this one.
52A, OAT Milk, isn't that this century, too? Anyway, decent Wednesday. Woe to me for being a Broadway Geek, tossed down Tony EMCEE instead of EMMY. Last Hump Day of 2021.
Hey All!
OK puz by me. Never did figure out the theme. I don't consider that a DNF. Your mileage may vary. 😁
I thought the clue for SHOE was very funny! LAY AN EGG was good also.
dOg-eared until it didn't work. LOP-eared is the second -eared down the line. Since I am no longer a limo driver, I basically stopped shaving, and now have a BEARD like a lumberjack. It grew like a CHIA PET. Har.
Shout-out to my mother, "HI MOM!" 😁
yd -3, should'ves 1
No F's (ITS OK... Not!)
RooMonster
DarrinV
Nice little BoJack Horseman reference at the end there to continue Aaron Paul theme from the other day! Such an excellent show.
I say Emp-tee and agree with @okanaganer on Emcee. Consider the host with existential malaise, an an Empty Emcee, "And the Oscar goes to ... wait, who really cares?"
Circa is a good word. It's one of those you read but may never hear anyone say.
Cagey Spar & Mess, LLP. Three lawyers who broke off from Dewy Cheatem & How, and and started their own firm. Don't go there.
shunn.net/bee/latest
Lettered because you can pronounce the theme answers by saying the letters only. See Rex if you cannot get the letters. The pronouciation of EMPTY skips the P completely and the pronouciation of ENEMY shifts the consonant sounds a bit. But all would be clearly understandable in conversation. En em ee (N M E) is 3 syllables.
Sorry for my typo in SWOLE-WING last night.
ONE UP has a specialized golf meaning, but it also has a generalized sports meaning which it doesn’t lose during “stroke play” (seriously golfers?). I get why golfers here are pointing out how they were fooled, but misdirection is the name of the game, so this is actually the “better” clue.
Hand up for EMPTY having a silent P. Thinking about it, the P is not silent in “tempt” but is silent in “tempting.” Is it something to do with the second syllable that makes it silent? Again, this is the kind of thing we need @LMS around to explain.
@TJS - So you didn’t actually read the link? Short version - “alpha dog” in a wolf pack is a myth. Applying the “alpha dog” concept to dog training is poor dog training and can actually result in unwanted behaviors. I have a relative who travels around training dogs and training people to train their dogs. What she does wouldn’t make good tv but does result in well trained dogs and happy pet owners. Her opinion of the CESAR guy is less polite than Rex’s.
If you don’t already know my opinion of this theme concept you haven’t been reading my rants. I feel like I’d just be repeating myself.
As 2021 comes to an end, I'd like to say that doing the puzzle brings me a small amount of happiness almost every single day.
Did you mostly enjoy it?..during this year that brought so many so much misery?
Now think back and guess how many nytxw puzzles Rex liked in 2021. 1? 2?,..I do seem to recall a Friday puzzle a few weeks ago that he liked, but beyond that I can't remember any. Zero.
Every day after I solve, I come here to see what fickle reasons he will have for disliking it. Then I like to read how much fun the majority of solvers had.
If you pan 99 out of 100, maybe it's not the puzzle's fault?
So, to this great group, I wish you all a better 2022, and I wish for the puzzle to satisfy Rex a little more.
I came to the blog today just to see how mean rex could be in his write-up, and to see when Z would begin mansplaining a concept that has already been answered a few times.
Neither disappointed. (Although Z clearly is not a golfer, as nobody uses the term ONEUP in golf unless it's match play. No one. And match play is pretty rare.)
@Z, I pronounce all those Ps. I guess it sounds like Temp-ting. I also say HumPty DumPty, but not every day. Most other consonants I elide because I hale from Pennsylvania, but P has a special place in my heart.
What the f—k do you know about dogs, Rex? Do you own a previously-abused Staffordshire Terrier? State some credentials or experiences or just shut up. Stop the social commentary about things you know nothing about or research on Google for three minutes. Many of Cesar’s techniques have been proven to work with troubled and past-abused dogs. Sick of you. You are so negative. Wake up with a chip on your shoulder in the middle of the night. Live a pessimist lifestyle. Just a cranky old codger. I am outta here permanently. Done with your negativity.
I won't claim GLOOP is not a word but in my nearly 75 years I have never seen nor heard it before today.
Some of us need a refresher course in Joaquin's Dictum. Some of the pronunciations aren't exact. They're just hints.
I enjoyed finding the four expressions and there was some sparkle. Good puzzle for me.
Thanks to Nancy for helping me see the cleverness in the clue for 5A. A sound is a body of water.
A better Cesar.
Wishing all a Happier New Year… even Rex the grouch.
It’s kind of unfortunate that so many people see the world only in black and white (or only in the extremes) and become so vested in their opinion (anchor bias?) that they refuse to acknowledge the possibility that the truth MAY lie somewhere in between. I have heard the term ONE UP in stroke play hundreds of times - as in So and So is ONE UP with 4 to play - if she plays the last 4 in one under, she will most likely win the tournament.
Some of you really sound foolish sometimes.
I don't know what's worse, @Rex being "mean"* or being eager to see how "mean"* he is each day.
*@Rex isn't mean.
Absolutely loved the clue for ICEMEN.
Why I'm not a speed solver: from Rex's descriptions of his solves, it seems like he relies on pattern recognition as much as knowing the answers to clues. Today, when faced with __OE and just a glance at the clue, I decided an obOE was possibly a tad longer than a foot. While I was congratulating the constructors on a new clue for such musty crosswordese, I took a look at the down clues and realized bI MOM wasn’t going to work. Guess I'll just have to stick to my old clue/answer method of solving.
I liked it OK, despite the obscure celebrity clues. And I'm with @Nancy on CAGEY. I hadn't figured out the theme yet when I got to that clue, and really wanted to put in CAnnY. Fortunately, I was ALL SET, but couldn't think of anything suitable starting with NL, so I left it to the crosses.
And I've had enough experience not to put in 'soy' without crosses.
@Lewis, I like your list of examples, but what do you do about that N in ANEMONE? Am I missing something?
I do have to disagree with the clue for 62D. I spent a lot of time raking this fall, but I never managed to leave NO leaves. They keep blowing in.
@Z, No, I didn't read the link. Why should I? I was commenting on Rex' ability to turn any reference, such as "dog trainer", into some sort of societal shortcoming, like "promote systems of human dominance". I don't have to dive deep into the "science" to find Rex laughable.
@jberg -- I think it's supposed to be NMNE. They're playing a little fast and loose with the sounds, I guess, but it's still close enough for my enjoyment.
Literally fell asleep in the middle of solving this one, but I liked it more than Rex. I'll just add a nit about AMY ADAMS. All the ways to clue her and you use a Disney movie? Pfft.
@pabloinnh 827am Your childhood joke reminds me of an "old favorite" of mine, only I was an adult when I heard/used it for the first time and it involves the word "image". The head was also a key component.
I'm thinking OAT is the new soy.
@JD 938am 🤣 All of it.
And, just for the record, none of my P's are silent. (Hi, @JD 1012am!)
GLOOP was poop.
🧠
🎉🎉.5
Late comment, so this has probably already been said, but the golf clue is wrong, wrong, wrong. ONE UP is used to refer to match play, not stroke play. And ONE UP has nothing to do with strokes, other than the fact the number of strokes on each hole determines the winner of that particular hole.
I agree with @Rex on this one.
Help from previous puzzles: SWOLE. No idea: CESAR, ELLIE.
may be, likely, not the first, but... ONE UP is not true in stroke play, which is how the clue is stated. ONE UP is scored in match play, i.e. you're ONE hole UP on your (sole) opponent. hear endth all I know about sports.
An MEMC’s EZSA about a KGNME’s MTTP sounds like it might be an interesting read. In the meantime, it makes for a fun, though EZPZ gramogram theme. Lots of good clues (SHOE, BOAT) and surprising words (GLOOP, SWOLE), and not an OREO or EEL in sight. Kudos to Simon and Victor.
Traditional medicine is “Take aspirin, as needed, and get plenty of rest” not “Have some ALOE” so the clue for 69A seems a bit off. I also don’t think of HITMEN as traveling in packs (although I don’t actually know any hitmen, so maybe they do). And if you call a NARC “Buster,” well, you won’t be making friends.
The Dook of the Day is HIMOM, which could be either a title of respect for a Himalayan leader or a rare citrus fruit.
@Z:
Do you not get the difference betwixt misdirection and flat out wrong??? Any clue about golf, in its many forms of play (do you know Nassau, for instance), is 'accurate' for any form??? Really??
Here's a primer: https://golfcollege.edu/popular-golf-tournament-formats/
There'll be a quiz in the morning.
Rex pointed out that 33D ELLIE is a sort of false flag themer, but didn’t notice I that 7D ACEY is one as well.
RE: Millan
"In September 2021 it was reported that in a lawsuit it was alleged that Milian's pitbull allegedly killed Queen Latifah's dog and Millan allegedly attempted to cover up the incident by telling his staff that they were to tell the actress that her dog was hit and killed by a car."
the wiki
real good guy.
Puz was a Q-T. fave themer was M-E-M-C. Also, was relieved that P-P-N-V didn't come up.
staff weeject pick: LOU. Had no idea, Bega-wise. SWOLE was of very little assistance -- woulda maybe been neater, if it was SWOIE, yieldin I-O-U. Surely swoie is slang for somethin, if U dig deep enough… yep, well -- bingo … swoie is "yours", in Polish. QED.
Some mighty Q-T but non-E-Z clues, in this rodeo:
* HITMEN = {Ice pack?}.
* SHOE = {It's a little longer than a foot}.
* LAYANEGG = {Fail miserably, unless you're a chicken}. har … luv them clues with disclaimers.
* BOAT = {What travels on sound waves?}. O, I-C! … As in Puget Sound, I reckon.
* NARC = {Buster}.
GLOOP. har
Thanx for gangin up on us, S-M & V-F.
Masked & AnonymoUUs
**gruntz**
@TJS - 'Trying to figure out how we got from dog training to "willfully" misunderstanding wolves.' You sure have a funny idea of "trying to find out". Where I come from, deciding you don't have read the supplied documentation be cause you already know your take on things isn't "trying to find out". It's arrogantly trying to not find out.
TJS
Don't fall for his fallacy. Today that certain someoone is using the fallacious appeal to authority. He posted a link to something which is--for the sake of argument--true. but, as you not, it is not the question at hand. That's falalcious. And he does it daily. Don't buy into.
Your point is correct, and as youv'e noted and I've demonstrted, yet to be reasonably challeged.
Liked it. EZ and enjoyable. 🤗👍🏽🤗
🦖 makes good points as always.
My favorite comment this morning.
Lewis (6:45)
@Frantic 😀
@mathgent, If I understand you correctly, we are in disagreement over answers as hints and falling under Joaquin's dictum. Clues can be hints, but not answers.
OK, regarding the supposed aphrodisiac qualities of kale — no report on whether that proved to be true last night? :-)
I thought I'd add my two centavos or maybe 500 Euros to the Cesar Milian discussion.
My take:
I think people either hate him or love him. I'm the love him group
He has been accused of animal cruelty, using inhumane training methods blah blah blah . By the way, the Queen Latifa incident has yet to go to court....Of course he will defend his pet pit bull - who, by the way, died from old age recently ....I think the dogs name was Junior. He had (I think, the mother of junior) that had been used as a calming dog to other dogs. He also wanted to show the world that pit bulls always got a bad rap and that they could be wonderful pets.
Anyway, This man is still one of the world's most prominent dog training expert. He has helped untold wayward dogs; saved thousands from being "put down" and has shown us dog lovers a trick or two with bad behavioral issues. The PETA group at one time tried to have him removed from his show - only to reconcile with him when he invited some of the members to his "dog" ranch and show them how much he loves these animals....They are now, supposedly, best friend with each other.
A lot can be said about any controversial person. There will always be the he said/she said. Why not sue someone powerful and rich for millions is you can. A nip in the leg or even a bad bite should do it - even though you provoked it. Biting or killing another animal is ugly....but the incident is still up in the air. Believe what you want.
Because I've watched his show and loved it - the fact the he is a huge supporter of spay/neuter; incredibly anti puppy mills and trying to get the "pure bred only" mentality out of peoples head - makes him a champ in my book.
I don't return money - so sorry if this bored you or that you hate dogs......
I’m late today thanks to multiple family dramas demanding my attention. What a MESS! Since my phone has stopped dinging and I haven’t had a TEXT in the last hour, I TAKE it they’re ALL SET now. Some days you wish your opinion was not quite so valued. OK, glad I got that off my CHEST.
Thought the puzzle was OK, about RITE for a Wednesday, EASY but no SLAM DUNK. Interesting discussion today on the ONE UP possibilities. My first attempt- that’s uh/temp/t - was EAGLE. Then I realized that was two up, so changed it to BIRDY knowing it was probably wrong too. That’s about the extent of my knowledge in the AREA of golf.
@Z (9:45) since you asked, I say tempt and tempting the same … which is to say sounding the PEE. Same for prompt, preempt, exempt, etc.
@57stratocaster (9:53) “I wish you all a better 2022.” Amen to that and right back atcha.
Wouldn’t HI MOM usually be a shout-out TO the stands, not FROM the stands? I think it would most often be used by a graduate or an athlete shouting to Mom, who is watching in the stands. I guess Mom can be a graduate or an athlete getting a shout-out from a kid in the stands but much less frequent.
SCAr before SCAB kept me from the happy music but quickly saw that rEAT had to be wrong.
Theme was definitely meh for me, but agree with other posters about some great clues, especially for SHOE. Also like the clever crossing of ABE and BEARD. Didn’t know he was the first prez to sport one. Some of his successors’ beards - Martin Van Buren, maybe? - were doozies. Anyone know who was the last prez to have one? C’mon, Joe, let’s see some mutton chops like the old days!
Hi,i'm Alex and new here, just back to crosswords finally with time for a leisurely morning. have been looking forward to Rex's commentary on head scratchers and total blank fails. he's a bit more acerbic than I recall but erudite as ever. I have been taken aback a bit by some of the vitriol- if you dont like Rex's take, why raise your blood pressure? trolling is now a recreational sport?
anyway fun to see all the varied positie comments and takes.
ps. agree on the dog training, perpetual two year olds. trying your patience but filling your heart.
@Wanderlust:
I guess you don't watch much sports on the teeVee... if you did, you'd see, nearly every game, a shot of knuckleheads holding up placards which say, and yelling, 'HI MOM!!!'. juvenalia lasts a long time.
Answering my own question, looks like B Harrison was the last to have a beard; Taft was the last to wear a mustache. Of the gazillions of men who ran for the Democratic nomination in 2020 or the Republican nomination in 2016, only Ben Carson had a beard, and a tiny one at that. Wonder when someone will try it?
Oh, and Martin Van Buren preceded Lincoln and had just mutton chops, no beard. Oops.
The do you say it or not P question has reminded me of my alphabet name for a home pregnancy kit--PC.
Pee and See.
@Shackfu. Peace Out!
I hear one up in golf all the time. “He’s got a one shot lead with 2 holes to go.” “He’s one up with 2 to go.”
In regard to Cesar Milan, I prefer positive reinforcement (ie clicker training) when it comes to animals. Karen Pryor has written books about it.
And if a wolf saw you walking in the woods, it would most likely leave you alone....most wolves fear humans (and who can blame them).
I did not know CESAR Millan, never heard of him. The clue and answer seem to be a match and that's all that's needed for the puzzle. What he does or what he's done is irrelevant for the puzzle.
Okay, so I'm from another era, another century, but I quite liked this puz. Had to run the alphabet till I got to HITMEN crossing with YOGAMATS.
@Kitchef, 7:19, the trouble with TSK is that it's impossible to transliterate a sound like that, but if you don't try to say "tisk" and instead place the tip of your tongue right behind your front teeth and then suck in, it really does produce a kind of click.
At the bottom of our hill, we've been iced in for 3 days (can't even go for a walk, so it's worse than being locked down!). How's it been for @bocamp and @okanoganer?
@Alex (1:27) Hey, hello and Happy New Year!
Hey, does anyone know if ONE UP is correct?
RooMonster Wise Ass Guy
@Eniale my sympathies; being iced in is a pain! We have had record cold in southern interior BC, snow every day, but the walkways are mostly shoveled by late morning. And at least there's produce in the stores now! (that was the problem a month ago).
Going for a Covid test tomorrow; have enough of the symptoms to qualify. I was with 5 close family for xmas, all vaxxed, and no other contacts for weeks, so optimistic!
@Bad Mouse - How you got, Any clue about golf, in its many forms of play (do you know Nassau, for instance), is 'accurate' for any form? from what I wrote is beyond me. The misdirection is that ONE UP is used in sports to mean "ahead by one," including by people playing golf. So the use of "golf" in the clue specifically leads the most knowledgeable about golf astray because it suggests the specialized sense of match play, not the general sense. This is not the first, nor will it be the last, time Shortz and company have written clues that specifically irk experts. Boaters, chemists, mathematicians, and I'm sure others I'm forgetting, have had similar days of being fooled by their own expertise. But these clues are not wrong, the experts are just focused on the specialized usage, forgetting that language users torment the language in all sorts of ways.
Back to the "mpt" letter combination - M-W shows the same pronunciation for "tempt" and "tempting," but listening to the sound file to my ear the "P" is the merest suggestion in "tempting."
@Gill I - I think good trainers are especially bothered by this individual because he's been given a large platform to spread debunked theories about the best way to train dogs. It's possible to love dogs and still be a poor trainer because the trainer's training model is faulty. He is hardly the only trainer using these methods, but he's the most visible and so the most scrutinized. I don't know the specifics of the case where the dog died, but when somebody says his training techniques often result in undesired behaviors this is exactly the outcome they are warning against.
@Eniale (3:34 PM)
Thx for asking; haven't had any new snow since the original dump last week. Vancouver's in the midst of lower temps than I can ever recall; even cold indoors with full heat, but toasty with fleece blanket and toque. All the best to you down south. 🔥🪵
@okanaganer (4:57 PM)
🙏 for no Covid.
___
td 0*
Peace ~ Compassion ~ Tolerance ~ Kindness to all 🕊
I know nothing, zero, about golf and have never seen it played, so the ONEUP answer worked for me!
Reminds me of a t-shirt worn by our young actor when he was in HS: "Yay, sports, do the thing, get the points". Brave kid. Filed a harassment suit against a gym teacher who called him a "ballerino" (which he was, but not the way this guy said it)
and made him do extra laps, along with a female classmate who was already a pro bike racer, who really got called some things by the same a**hole. Of course the suit was found to be "without merit". By the district. We were so fed up by then. Grr. Moved away soon after!
Puzzle was OK. Just. Not really wowed by the themers, actually wrote the last one in with no crosses. So no fun aha moments.
Lost a few nanoseconds remembering the character from Dallas but blanking on her name. Well, it was a long time ago. And not so long, Monday, maybe?
Never heard of the dog guy or LOU, but crosses took care of both.
The PT combo is an interesting unvoiced situation. The P exists as a tiny, very tiny, phonemic puff before the T. Try saying tem-ting, without the P. You should hear the difference, but it's small enough that a word like MT is easily understood without it. Basically, in listening we fill in sounds we don't hear or mentally correct sounds we do hear, otherwise dialects and accents would entirely defeat our comprehension. That's why you can say, "Ima go" and everyone understands.
Also why if you learn another language (or teach English to speakers of other languages) it's super helpful if those things are actually spelled out, really speeds up listening comprehension.
The moment when the bottom dropped out and I found myself in queasy free fall was when I read the phrase "celebrity dog trainer".
My first thought was that my wheelhouse had become irretrievably detached from the ship of the NYT Crossword and this was the farewell message from the ship as it sailed on without me.
But I couldn't help speculate. Is a CDT one who trains the dogs of celebrities? Or is it a dog trainer who has somehow become a celebrity, and if so, how did that happen? Or is a CDT a trainer of dogs who are celebrities?
I could have researched this but my next thought was that I wished there was a CDT in my neighborhood, where owners routinely let their dogs offleash in on-leash areas, fail to pick up dog poop or pick it up and then leave the little bag of poop on the path, and let the dogs wander into prohibited areas such as bird refuges.
And my last, and "lettered" thought on the subject is, celebrity dog trainer? GTFO.
A b c d goldfish?
L m n o goldfish.
O s e r d goldfish.
M n o fish. C d e d b d feet?
You're welcome.
Easily my worst puzzle solving experience in 2021. Brought out all the feelings that are the opposite of why I do these things. It made me itch, mentally. Should have stopped when I filled in "YESES" with one S. Kept saying, this can't be right. Looking at the puzzle again... trying to find something I liked... nope, nothing. Good night !
I haven't heard that one for over 70 years when my dad, after whom I am convinced Dad jokes were named, would keep my younger brother and me supplied with new material to try on our friends, who never seemed to appreciate them the way we did. Thanks for the memory
Just a bad, bad theme 👎
Never got the theme until the end. I finished unassisted, but it was slower than average. Unremarkable, but innocuous and perhaps a bit dated.
Rex Parker, you make me laugh! Thank you for making all my troubles with this puzzle feel much more justified. I was happy to finish it but it was an unfair unfun struggle (mostly)
I liked this one. But I take Rex’s point about 49A and the P sound in EMPTY.
I've been going to the gym for years and years, but I'm still not SWOLE.
Apt that the answers repeat their sounds, as once again - IT'S GROUNDHOG DAY. Have a happy one, SyndieCats.
Diana, Lady-in-Waiting for Crosswords
Before the ENEMY showed up I was hoping for a sly bumbler - CAGEYBEE! Now that's wacky.
The complete AMYADAMS, yeah baby.
Quite uninteresting EZ SLAMDUNK.
DYED EASY
He ESPIES the HITMEN,
ONE CAGEYENEMY he knew,
“ALL RITE, I’m ALLSET then”,
CESAR said, “TSK, TSK, ETTU?”
--- EMMY LOU ADAMS
A dad thing, said to me many moons ago, about a customer ordering breakfast:
FUNEM?
SVFM.
FUNEX?
SVFX.
FUNET?
SVFT.
OK, MNXNT.*
So yeah, lettered things are not new at the Space station. Not too bad of a Wednesday, it takes up the, uh, space. Par.
*Have you any ham?
Yes, we have ham.
Have you any eggs? etc.
My sweetheart and I watched Groundhog Day starring Andie McDowell and Bill Murray last night. Such a great romcom. Lots of com with a decent dash of rom….
The NW quadrant and down through the West made for some tough going, but persistence paid off. ME and MC opened things up first, followed by KG and NME(!), ET and TP, EZ and SA. A bit of a MESS. For fill, WING and ONEUP were the last to go.
Note on Groundhog Day :
For me, and presumably for many others, Groundhog Day has become a metaphor for the social psychology of the pandemic : the sameness of the days and their fading into one another, their collapsing into a dulling everydayness---when it can become difficult to be sure of the day of the week or month or the gathering of friends. I expect this feeling and its reality will be with us for some time to come.
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