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Relative difficulty: Easy
Theme answers:
- DRAWERS OF CHESTS (21A: Artists sketching pectorals?)
- HONOR OF MAIDS (33A: Vow to remain mum about hotel guests' secrets?)
- FOOT OF FLEET (52A: Small distance covered by a naval armada?)
- MAN OF RIGHTS (73A: Boxer lacking a left hook?)
- PLENTY OF HORN (89A: What brass band music has?)
- ABSENCE OF LEAVES (107A: Tree feature in winter?)
- COMMAND OF CHAIN (14D: What a dog walker and a strong-willed pooch might vie for?)
- BROTHERS OF BAND (45D: The Bee Gees' Barry, Robin and Maurice Gibb?)
The Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) is an African-American civil rights organization based in Atlanta, Georgia. SCLC is closely associated with its first president, Martin Luther King Jr., who had a large role in the American civil rights movement. // On January 10, 1957, following the Montgomery bus boycott victory against the white democracy and consultations with Bayard Rustin, Ella Baker, and others, Martin Luther King Jr. invited about 60 black ministers and leaders to Ebenezer Church in Atlanta. Prior to this, Rustin, in New York City, conceived the idea of initiating such an effort and first sought C. K. Steele to make the call and take the lead role. Steele declined, but told Rustin he would be glad to work right beside him if he sought King in Montgomery for the role. Their goal was to form an organization to coordinate and support nonviolent direct action as a method of desegregating bus systems across the South. In addition to King, Rustin, Baker, and Steele, Fred Shuttlesworth of Birmingham, Joseph Lowery of Mobile, and Ralph Abernathy of Montgomery, all played key roles in this meeting. The group continued this initial meeting on January 11, calling it (in keeping with the recent bus segregation issue) a Southern Negro Leaders Conference on Transportation and Nonviolent Integration when they held a press conference that day. The press conference allowed them to introduce their efforts:
- communicating what they had included in telegrams sent that day to applicable members of the Executive branch of the U.S. government (President Eisenhower, Vice President Nixon, and Attorney General Brownell)
- sharing an outline of their overall position regarding the restrictions against the "elementary democratic rights [of America's] Negro minority"
- and providing a short list of concerns they wished to raise with "white Southerners of goodwill".
On February 15, a follow-up meeting was held in New Orleans. Out of these two meetings came a new organization with King as its president. Shortening the name used for their January meetings, the group briefly called their organization Negro Leaders Conference on Nonviolent Integration, then Southern Negro Leaders Conference. At its third meeting, in August 1957, the group settled on Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) as its name, expanding its focus beyond buses to ending all forms of segregation.
• • •
I also don't quite understand some of the fill decisions. In particular, I don't get why you'd got with TUBI, a proper noun that is also a company that is also a thing many solvers won't be familiar with, when the perfectly good TUBE and TUBA would've slid right in there. TUBI has only one potential way to clue it, whereas TUBA has many and TUBE, well, the possibilities are endless there. Is the idea to be novel? With your short fill? Needlessly? In manifestly exclusionary ways? I get that you want to seem "current," and I have no problem with TUBI if you need TUBI, but you absolutely do not need TUBI here and I don't get why it's a better choice than the more ordinary words with more interesting cluing possibilities. I also don't quite get SCLC, an initialism I've never seen before and one that has not been seen in the grid for *twenty-seven years*. I wanted SNCC (pronounced "snick" ) here, because, well, I've heard of SNCC (Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee), and it's also a civil rights org. of the mid-20th century. And it's been in the puzzle a dozen or so times in the Shortz era. But even SNCC I don't think is *great* if you can go with *words* instead of *initialisms*. I couldn't even infer what SCLC stood for. I figured it was Southern something Legal something, but only one of those was right. I'm happy to learn about the org., and again, I think that if you absolutely need SCLC to hold a corner together, then go for it, but this is a tiny and very flexible corner, and you absolutely do not need SCLC. For example:
Now, I'd get rid of SCAD in the singular too, if I could. It's just ... not a thing you'd say. One SCAD? No. I'd also clue J'AIME as the name JAIME, but that's another issue entirely. I guess there was probably some idea of making the grid more diverse or inclusive, which is normally a great instinct. But regular words > initialisms almost every time, esp. when the initialism is not universally familiar. And zero appearances in 27 years suggests it's not the most widely known initialism. These are small issues, in many ways—the crosses were ultimately fair, so who cares, I guess? I'm just expressing a preference for solid non-proper-noun words, in general. You can write more interesting clues for these, and they're gonna be more widely accessible as well. If you feel differently, well, clearly at least some people agree with you!
I think I said "Really?" out loud at the "I" plural EUCALYPTI. I'll take it from ABACI, I suppose, but it seems absurd in the longer answer. I think they're just called "eucalyptus trees," or even "eucalypts," though there is one instance of EUCALYPTI (italicized, i.e. in Latin) on the "Eucalyptus" wikipedia page. Loved the clue on BALD EAGLE (38D: Benjamin Franklin famously considered it " a rank coward" with "bad moral character") because it is hilariously unexpected (far funnier than any of the themers). Also liked seeing ENBIES, although ... hmm ... not sure how I feel about the clue including the word "nonbinary" when ENBIES is derived from the initials of "nonbinary" (i.e. N, B). I guess I'm OK with it, but generally you wouldn't clue initial-based answers using the words those initials stand for. [National Organization for Women, for short] is not an acceptable clue for N.O.W., for instance (albeit an extreme instance). But I'm just happy to see ENBIES at all, so clue shmue, today it's fine. I forgot CORN POPS existed. Do CORN POPS exist? (they didn't cover this in my Cereal Ontology class). I had the CORN and then ... no idea. Wanted CHEX, sorta, but that seemed too niche a cereal for a star like Woody Woodpecker to get involved with. Looks like they do indeed exist. Another Kellogg's product (to go with SPECIAL K earlier in the week). I like the FEE (from ADFEE) and FIE and FOE are in this puzzle, and that GOGO crosses GOOGOO. Sometimes weird little seemingly coincidental details like this can add a little dash of charm to the grid. I also just like the word BORDELLO (82D: Red-light district establishment). It just sounds cool. Fun to say. Olde-timey. So much more melodious than "whorehouse" or "brothel." Aside from SCLC, the only thing that was at all unfamiliar to me was this Thomas GAGE guy, whose name I've probably seen before (71A: Thomas ___, British general at Bunker Hill). I just can't keep all the generals of all the wars of all the wars straight. I just ... can't. But if the crosses are fair, it's fine: I'll deal. See you tomorrow (or next week, if you're one of those Sunday-only people :)
Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld
P.S. hey it's time for another installment of the Boswords Crossword Tournament—the next one takes place next Sunday, Feb. 6. Here's the deets from tournament co-director John Lieb:
Registration is now open for the Boswords 2022 Winter Wondersolve, an online crossword tournament which will be held on Sunday, February 6 from 2:00 to 5:30 p.m. Eastern. Solvers can compete individually or in pairs and will complete four puzzles (three themed and one themeless) edited by Brad Wilber. To register, to see the constructors, and for more details, go to www.boswords.org.
See the website for more details—John made a little video that explains everything very effectively. If you've never done a tournament before, they can be quite fun, and if you solve the NYTXW regularly, then the answer is yes, you are "good enough" :) You can compete as pairs in this one, so if you're at all reluctant to go it alone, grab one of your nerdy friends (or parents, or children). This should be a fine, fun way to spend a winter's afternoon.
Unlike so many Sunday slogs, I really enjoyed this one. In fact, I had a SCAD of fun (and also was glad to learn that SCAD is an actual word, having used it only in the plural form my entire life).
ReplyDeleteCongrats Nancy (and Will) on this terrific puzzle!
Finally! A Sundee with some fun wordplay. I don't think I'm being biased because our @Nancy is a co-creator either. This is my kind of jam - switcheroo play on words, creating funny puns which aren't immediately obvious, but are wholly gettable and rewarding with a little effort. Not a pushover, not a slog - sweet spot, baby!
ReplyDeleteI'm trying to remember the set up to the frayed KNOT punchline. Does it have something to do with a rope walking into a bar? @GILL? @Z? You're the bar & pub people - what say you?
All the themers were strong, but I'm gonna say my fave was COMMAND OF CHAIN because dog.
As for the fill, I'm guessing that ENBIES was provided by Will, while AUDRA has @Nancy written all over it.
FOOT OF FLEET had me imagining someone out on the briny measuring with a yardstick or tape measure and how absurd is that? Just enough to make me laugh, that's how.
Perhaps there were a couple of over-easy entries that I noticed at the time, but can't locate now; however, in an otherwise entertaining and large grid that's basically a nano-nit.
Thanks, @Nancy & Will - a delightful ride!
🧠🧠
🎉🎉🎉🎉
@Z Take that Dordle nonsense and GTFO. 🤣🤣 Are you daft, man??
Wonderful theme, and it just screams “Nancy”.
ReplyDeleteFunny thing is, the rest of the puzzle screams … whatever the opposite of Nancy would be.
- “Duh”, in modern slang
- Audience for Cocomelon, the most-viewed YouTube channel in the U.S.
- Streaming service acquired by Fox in 2020.
- Fictional character who says "I will take the ring, though I do not know the way"
- Nonbinary people, informally
- 2000s Fox teen drama
- Something unleashed in a denial-of-service attack
- For sure, for short
- N.H.L. team with five championship-winning seasons in the 1980s
Very easy … I think my only overwrites were SbLa before SCLC (my initial entry, oddly enough, though while writing it I figured I would have at least one letter wrong), pOle dancer before GOGO dancer, and GO ape before GO OFF.
[Correction: I also had eXED before AXED and EUCALYPTs before EUCALYPTI, so had to change eBECs to ABACI.]
Easy-medium. TUBI was my last entry. I caught the theme about a third of the way in so the bottom half went more quickly than the top. Pretty smooth and mildly amusing. Liked it.
ReplyDeleteI thought this was a great Sunday puzzle, and all the themes were pretty terrific. I liked it a lot.
ReplyDeleteA few answers stuck out for me:
STROHS (70D): Does that still exist? I used to drink that stuff in high school.
WNBA (37A): I had to look this up. I didn't know women could play basketball, yet here they have their own professional league. Well good for them, I say, it's about time. Out of curiosity I'd like to see a game, if that were only possible.
KNOT (88A): With a punch line like "I'm a frayed KNOT" you just know that the joke has to be great, and it is, although I can't repeat it here because it's very sexually graphic and sacrilegious, among several other things. I heard it in a Florida prison so trust me it's a real hoot.
ENBIES (43A): I didn't understand the clue at all, so at first I mistakenly put in ALIENS and then FREAKS but finally I looked it up and then I felt bad about that. I just don't know these things.
SCLC (13A): Rex, oh Rex, how can a paint-by-numbers lefty like you have never heard of the SCLC? Are you aware of any American history prior to 1980? Same with generals, like their boy GAGE (71A). You should know them all. Just read about the Union Army of the Potomac's dysfunctional high command during the U.S. Civil War; it's good stuff. Writers have been milking that for over a century now.
Rex, I've said this many times but you should take me up on my offer to treat you to a long weekend at a Dallas whorehouse. You can call it a BORDELLO if you want to be melodious, they'll know what you mean. They'll teach the teacher some new definitions of "moist." No one will recognize you when you eventually get home with your new collection of loaded 9mm pistols stuck in your big Texas belt with a giant NASCAR buckle and one pistol stuck down in one of your new armadillo cowboy boots ("That thar's my safety, pardner" you'll likely drawl in a slurred voice while chain-smoking Marlboro Menthol 100s through a fat wad of chaw), as you show off your new tattoos to everyone. Don't bother with a mask; COVID will be the least of your worries.
Today's my birthday! Dig me!
I actually enjoyed the theme; nice puzzle Nancy and Will. Liked GOGO crossing GOOGOO.
ReplyDeleteBaffling Ben Franklin comment on BALD EAGLE. They're pretty run of the mill predators. At our summer cabin we had regular visits from them, after catching fish they often fly to one of our Birch trees, which happens to angle conveniently horizontal, and take their time with their meal. Here is my video of one of those meals from a Sunday morning. Right after we finished breakfast!
[Spelling Bee: Sat. so far pg -1 (pretty respectable considering there is a ton of answers) but the missing word is a 9 letter... yikes!]
Ben wanted the Wild Turkey as the National bird so he had a slight bias against the beautiful Bald Eagle!😎If you want to see a just hatched Eagle pip check out nefleaglecam, parents Samson and Delilah. Second pup should hatch today or tonight.
DeleteNice, solid Sunday.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Nancy and Will!
I knew folks would be gushing over this puzzle. Thankfully we have @Rex to be objective. I found it to be a typical Sunday puzzle. Not awful, not great.
ReplyDelete
ReplyDelete@Frantic, I hope I'm not the twenty-seventh but the joke is:
A piece of string (or rope) walks into a bar. The bartender says "Get outta here; we don't serve pieces of string." So the piece of strings leaves. Once out of sight he ties himself into a knot and frays his ends. Then he walks back into the bar. The bartender eyes the piece of string suspiciously and says, "Say ... aren't you a PIECE OF STRING?" To which he replies, "I'm a frayed knot."
😄 thanks!
DeleteThis felt old-time in a good way.
ReplyDeleteFamiliar and cozy, unpretentious and clean. Ok, not all of the themers were top CHEST, but the puzzle works and the solving was good fun. Not much more you can ask of a Sunday.
Job well done Nancy and Will, the reckoning of day has come.
Puzzle was a nice little romp with some decent fill, but had one of my bugaboos with 6 down "Subject for Laozi" as TAO. There are two different romanization systems for Chinese, the older Wade Giles system and the newer, and now ubiquitous, Pinyin. Here, the puzzle gives a clue in Pinyin--Laozi (zi, or 子 is a honorific), so the answer should be DAO which is the pinyin spelling. If they want TAO, the spelling in Wade Giles, they should use Lao Tzu in the clue, which corresponds to that system.
ReplyDeleteEveryone knows that.
DeleteWell, I liked it. A lot.
ReplyDeleteLOL: In our household, our dog Teddy has COMMANDOFCHAIN - an "alpha" dog, he is.
Nancy, congratulations - nice job, Nancy and Will!
"I'd also clue J'AIME as the name JAIME, but that's another issue entirely."
ReplyDeleteSo something like, say, "____ Lannister, known as The Kingslayer in Westeros"?
I wrote this before reading Rex or any comments:
ReplyDeleteHuh? Hmm, no idea. Weird clue. Oh, wait… I got it — nice! Then huh…. Hmm, no idea. What does that strange clue mean? Oh! Wait! I got it…. Ha!! Great answer! Oh, there’s the theme, ha, nice, I got it.. but what a about this one? No idea… oh wait, wow, that’s great, hahaha!
Rinse and repeat a bunch of times. And then some more. Wow, Nancy and Will, thank you for a wonderful puzzle! This sparked lovely memories of when a Sunday puzzle was almost always a fun journey of challenge and discovery and revelation.
Thx @Nancy & Will; very enjoyable Sun. puz! :)
ReplyDeleteEasy-med.
Loved the theme (and it really did help with the solve). :)
Worked steadily thru this one with no major holdups.
Only concerns were ENBIES / EMIR (bc aMIR) and SCLC / CDS. Went with what made the most sense; correctly, whew!
Being a cord-cutter, TUBI is a staple for me.
Have a tough time remembering DAFOE or DeFOE. The AIR cross came to my rescue.
All-in-all a RADIANT construction and fun romp. :)
@okanaganer 👍 for 0 dbyd
Yes, those were some tricky ones! 🤔
___
yd pg (24:45) / Wordle 4 (1 over after 17; albeit easy mode)
Peace ~ Compassion ~ Tolerance ~ Kindness to all 🕊
I think a case of more is not always better. The word switch here is not my idea of a good time but I did get the occasional chuckle. The theme is dense OBVI and elegantly structured (I like the long down themers) it’s just a lot to deal with in an oversized grid. ABSENCE OF LEAVES was my favorite.
ReplyDeleteOverall fill is solid especially the mid length downs - CORN POPS, BALD EAGLE, BORDELLO etc are all nice entries. So much theme here that anything unknown to me was easy to back into with crosses - see ENBIES, THE OC, SCLC. I’m sure I’m in the minority but I loved the ABACI x EUCALYPTI cross.
The OILERS was bittersweet to see with the surprise passing of the great Clark Gillies this week.
Enjoyable enough Sunday solve.
When I saw TUBI, I thought: what in hell is this???? So I went back to the "Finished Grid" for this puzzle in my Starred email file. What Will and I submitted was TUBA/ADS. We had nothing to do with this clue or answer!!! It must have been the NYT's bright idea.
ReplyDeleteI tried to copy and paste that submitted grid here as proof, but I couldn't do it. If someone with my email address can figure out how to copy it for the blog, I can send them that email. But I am guiltless.
Haven't had breakfast or coffee yet. I'll come back and read 'all and chat with y'all in, maybe, an hour and a half.
@okanaganer: legend has it that Ben Franklin much preferred the turkey over the bald eagle for the US national bird symbol, but he was outvoted.
ReplyDeleteGreat way to start the day. And congrats @Nancy, am very impressed.
ReplyDeleteThought it was fun, and elegant, having two X of Y answers as long downs. Hunted throughout for FAMEOFHALL, with so many ways to clue that ("Monty's game show problem"?). But no problem with any of those chosen.
Never knew Ben Franklin's take on the Bald Eagle, also amusing. And am floored that OFL would have an issue with SCLC, particularly the first Sunday after MLK day, regardless of where anyone might be on a political spectrum. Lol, consider offense TAKEN.
Fun, accessible, and engaging - just what I want from these. Great puzzle, thanks.
Knew TUBI and SCLC (I thought SCLC was pretty widely known, and we just passed MLK Day so you might have heard it recently). Got GAGE after at first only pulling HOWE for 4 letter British generals.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed the frayed KNOT and LAGER puns that rounded out the punny theme.
Enjoyable puzzle, not too hard but enough to chew on to keep me happy for half an hour!
Hey, Rex, SCLC is a little more significant than "enbies". Sorry if it hasn't shown up in your comics class. Apparently you have neither read or viewed anything related to the civil rights history of this country if it doesn't relate to gay or women liberation. Truly astonishing, "Professor".
ReplyDeleteOf course I am probably biased, but I thought this was a thoroughly enjoyable Sunday offerring. Thanks to @Nancy and Will for a satisfying start to the day.
What’s the answer for “sweetie?” Jim
ReplyDeleteDon't know why Rex thought it was a good idea to embarrass himself by displaying his lack of knowledge of Southern Christian Leadership Conference. Another example of his egotistical "if I don;t know it, it can't be any good" world view.
ReplyDeleteThis. Week in and week out. For most proper nouns, culture things he doesn't know, it's just a petty, selfish argument. For this, I'm embarrassed on his behalf.
DeleteWhat’s the answer for “carpe dime?” Thank you. Jim
ReplyDeleteI have to express my irritation with @Rex today. I just turned 75 and am probably as far left as anyone - the only presidential candidate I ever voted for that I mostly agreed with politically was Angela Davis. So I was alive while Martin Luther King was active and I still remember the day he was killed - I was in Boston at the time and the city was a powder keg quieted by James Brown. Anyway, the SCLC clue was a gimme for me and I knew what the initials stand for. I don’t care that @Rex didn’t know enough about a great man’s history - in spite of his leftist persona on the blog - but to spend as much time excoriating a completely legitimate clue is ridiculous.
ReplyDeleteWhile I’m at it, I also find @Rex’s inconsistencies with respect to clues/answers hard to rake. We shouldn’t have clues about Harry Potter because of the politics of the author who created him but clues about misogynistic Rap artists are fine. Today’s example: BORDELLO is a cute word even though it’s sole purpose is the exploitation of women. Even though I’m about as far politically from the NRA or Hitler or some Rap artists as I could possibly be, I wouldn’t suggest banning them from puzzles. Consistency please.
End of rant. I really liked the puzzle because I got the theme early and the theme helped my solve.
— Jim C. in Maine
I got the theme at DRAWERS OF CHESTS. That one, ABSENCE OF LEAVES, and COMMAND OF CHAIN were my favorites, bringing such vivid images to mind (I've walked that pooch; they usually win). BROTHERS OF BAND and FOOT OF FLEET weren't quite as evocative but HONOR OF MAIDS had me imagining the cleaning staff taking an oath of discretion, fun.
ReplyDeleteI did find this pretty easy, but hard isn't what I look for in a Sunday puzzle. Humor in the theme and clues is what Sunday needs, and this one delivered.
CORN POPS - this must have been the cereal that offered, for a box top and one dollar, to send you a woodpecker toy (doll, statue, ???). I just remember that whatever it was, I wanted it really badly. This was mid- to late-sixties and my Dad said he would give me a quarter a week and then we would mail in the box top with my four quarters and wait for my reward, (which never came, :-( .) But I remember waiting eagerly for that quarter every week. I don't remember eating CORN POPS!
I will agree with Rex that TUBI was a total WOE.
Nancy and Will, very nice puzzle, as usual. Thanks for a fun Sunday.
@Nancy - We believe you.
ReplyDelete@Frantic Sloth - Well, if someone is going to say rosaries for me I figured I should earn it (If you did not read Saturday’s late comments sharing this has people calling me “evil”).
I had SpLC because they are the org sending me fund-raising mail every month. I do find it ironic that people I’m pretty sure have accused Rex of virtue signaling having a conniption over him not remembering SCLC.
GAGE is filed in my brain as “Not cAGE.” I’m just glad his first name ain’t Nicholas because I’m pretty sure some synaptic misfiring would occur.
As is my all too frequent plaint, this is a fine Sunday theme that doesn’t land because of the NYTX’s timid sense of wacky. DRAWERS OF CHESTS just screams “give me a ribald clue” but we get artists. Just artists. HONOR OF MAIDS also has possibilities. ABSENCE OF LEAVES could easily be about a dinner party where everyone is still there for breakfast. But no, just trees. The point of word play is the “play.” The play is the thing. But instead we get a perfectly okay TUBa changed to a “who cares” TUBI.
Speaking of the play being the thing, I watched the latest Macbeth on AppleTV last night. 👍🏽👍🏽👍🏽👍🏽👍🏽
**Wordle** - Shot par today.
FH
ReplyDeleteYeah, definitely on the easy side; but enjoyable.
I just wish they'd clued CORNPOPS with some reference to Joe Biden's alleged facing down of a local gang leader.
FH
ReplyDeleteFranklin wanted the turkey to be our national bird. Not many people know that (Michael Caine allusion).
Pleased to hear you are enjoying cryptic crosswords. As a life-long enthusiast I recommend you check-out The Guardian crossword (its online and free at www.theguardian.com/crosswords). Maybe start off with an archived one by the legendary Araucaria. Cheers, Wendy
ReplyDeleteDisappointedly easy. Trivial theme answers. (I’m channeling Rex?) Fill was a slam it in there, no puzzling required.
ReplyDeleteAlways appreciate a theme I can get by mid-solve that helps me get other answers. This one did that and made me grin, if not ear-to-ear. COMMAND OF CHAIN is my favorite.
ReplyDeleteGlad to know TUBI, and that Shortz inserted it. Means we might be seeing it again.
SCLC is well known, perhaps to we are a tad older than Rex. Or were history majors.
It's a good day to be a 49er fan. Congrats.
@anonymous, @grumpypants, The irony of this blog is that Rex is astonishingly narrow-minded and judgmental. Am debating tuning out, but I like the comments of most of the community here. This is my dilemma (not that anyone should care…)
ReplyDeleteSame
DeleteLOL sure
DeleteOn the plus side: no Potter, Dune, or GoT material. Thank you for that. Haha.
ReplyDeleteCorn Pops still exist; I'm looking at a box of them now. But Corn Pop, OTOH. was a BAD DUDE, just ask Uncle Joe, he loves to tell that story, among other tall tales.
ReplyDeleteGeneral Gage is familiar if one has gone to Boston and done the Bunker Hill thing, as well as from basic American history.
Sorry, Rex, SCLC just rolled off my tongue, since I was a teenager in the sixties when MLK was active and assassinated.
Had to go to a memorial service (not COVID related) so got a late start on the puzzles. Pleased with the puzzles and very happy with the puzzles. Nice job, Nancy. And you were right to make TUBA the entry, not the ugly TUBI.
ReplyDeleteI will be picky. The theme is a common phrase "X of Y" which you enter into the puzzle as "y of X" which I liked a lot. Too bad the title was not derived from a common "X of Y" phrased and then reversed for the title. That would have been truly inspired. At least to me.
Oh YAY...And to think I had almost given up hope for a fun Sunday puzzle....
ReplyDeleteThe cluing and the theme answers were drop dead primo and funny and different and amusing. Did I LEAVES anything out? Speaking of the ABSENCE of them, this was one of my favorite's today. Well...I like them all. I'll admit the FLEET OF FOOT is something I've never heard of but who's counting?
There were a few things I didn't know. Don't get me started on TUBI or SCLC...I'm afraid my GOGO boots got up and GOO GOOed out the door, running into the Bunker Hill dude called GAGE...Doesn't matter....I'm having too much fun.
So I get to Benjamin F and wondering why a BALD EAGLE is a bad moral character. I mean just look at @okanaganer 2:01's little video of the EAGLE eating a still alive fish! That fish looks like Goldie Hawn after having her lips sucked up and out. It's cute. The only thing I remembered about our national emblem is the Ben wanted the ugly turkey to be the representative of this USofA. Glad no one listened to him.
I also learned about ENBIES. I hadn't heard that word before. Would my favorite all-time contestant, Amy Schneider, be considered ENBIES. I want to invite her over for a drink in my KNOT bar (Hi @Frantic) and pick that brilliant brain of hers.
Hey we also have JOHN X to liven things up and provide our daily HAH! You're on a roll today......
@Nancy and Will...This was really enjoyable and I'm not saying it because I just love @Nancy. (Will I'd probably love you too but we've never met). I'm saying it because It's true...I only wish all Sundays were like this...
KUDOS, you two!
Easy and enjoyable. My favorite phrase was the joke of MAN OF RIGHTS, with COMMAND OF CHAIN right behind; I also admired the wit of the change in word meaning in some of them (e.g., DRAWERS, CHESTS, HORN).
ReplyDeleteDo-over: iMam. Help from previous puzzles: YOLO. No idea: TUBI, ENBIES.
Nice solid theme, no real LOL's, but lots of yeah, that's a nice one moments. and that's not a bad way to spend some time on a Sunday morning.
ReplyDeleteKnew about Franklin and his preference for the turkey, which he thought was singularly American. Also knew SCLC. although not instantly.
Was most happy to see GAGE clued as the general and not as a measuring device. There are folks here that post on our local listserv about the reading on the water level GAGE at the town beach, and it's one of those fingernails on a blackboard things for me. Also don't want to hear about "alternate spellings". It's just awful.
Nothing wrong with finding out what a TUBI is. I have also seen more episodes of Cocomelon than I would have without a four year old granddaughter. Also more than I wish I had seen.
A Sunday is actually too substantial to be a Sundecito, but this had that feel for me. Well done, NS and WN Now Someday We Need to know how you guys do it. Thanks for the fun.
PS-Would really love to read of the actual adventure os John X and OFL in Texas. I'd pay a dollar for that.
OK, Rex, it wasn’t the most original theme but it was definitely an enjoyable Sunday. The best and worst of the themers to me were the two downs - COMMAND OF CHAIN is great (and anyone with an energetic pup can relate) but BROTHERS OF BAND … meh. (Has anyone seen the Bee Gees documentary, BTW? I hear it’s great.) Also liked PLENTY OF HORN and HONOR OF MAIDS. Look forward to hearing more from @nancy on themers that didn’t make the cut. There are a SCAD of OPTIONs.
ReplyDeleteSo glad to hear you and Will didn’t submit TUBI and you’re right to be angry that the NYT changed it. It led to a technical DNF for me because I thought the “Bar necessities, at times” were JDS - as in, you need a JD to be admitted to the Bar. And TUBj made as much sense to me as TUBI. Stupid change, NYT!
OVERSHOE - tendency that got Imelda Marcos into trouble?
Congrats, Nancy and Will! This was great fun.
Hey All !
ReplyDeleteGo Left, veer right, do a uey? = PHRASE OF TURNS
Fun pun puz. Loaded with F's, which is awesome! INFUSED one might say. Finally found F fun! Har.
Favorite is DRAWERS OF CHESTS, as it's funny, and the DRAWERS changes pronunciation. PLENTY OF HORN is a good 'un, too.
ENBIES is a who? Not up on my alternate gender thingabobs. RETINUE was pulled from some cob-webby place in the ole brain and dusted off. Had elixir first for POISON. Eh, either one works! Thought about 90210 for THE OC at first, thinking how bold and daring putting numbers in only one non-theme answer was. JUST RELAX was neat to find.
Couple writeovers I can remember, GOOGly-GOOGOO, Slew-SCAD, ncaA-WNBA, iMam-aMIR-EMIR, EON in, EON out, EON back in, and shake it all about. Think that's about all.
Keep seeing MANO FRIGHTS. Har.
That's it KIDS. Time to say FAA FAA.
yd -a whole bunch, should'ves -a whole bunch (brain refused to help!)
Seventeen F's (Record F's!)
RooMonster
DarrinV
Frodo was a fictional character?
ReplyDeleteCould have saved myself a lot of trouble had I known that.
Hmmm ... why could I only think of Sugar Pops? Because that's what Corn Pops were called back in my cereal munching days (60's). Had the catchy jingle "Sugar Pops Are Tops!"
ReplyDeleteTubi or not Tubi? I vote not... along with @Nancy. Still a fun Sunday puz.
Forgot to mention that it was ironic that the boxing themer was a MAN OF RIGHTS but the boxer named specifically in the puzzle was a woman (LAILA).
ReplyDeleteFound it too be a very fair - it’s nice when the grid isn’t laden with WoE-type entries in almost every section. Event the items that pushed the boundaries didn’t color too far outside the lines - say JAIME, ENBIES, SCLC, RETINUE, GAGE, maybe TUBI (although I am hardly a cord-cutter and I got that one) - that is pretty impressive for a large Sunday grid.
ReplyDeleteThe generic type of clue for OP EDS has been done before - today’s was pretty good as well. Someone already gave thanks for the lack of GoT, Dune, Potter and other such nonsense and I second the motion - I’ll also express gratitude for a Sunday without being exposed to some creepy rap artist. Also grateful for the lack of quasi and made-up words (although EUCALYPTI may look suspect - apparently it’s legit).
Off topic - nice job by the NFL making the fans in Green Bay sit for four hours in like negative degree temperatures to watch the football team implode (or get whipped I guess, if you’re a Niners fan). No possibility of a 1 PM start on a sunny day anymore as the greed and lust for TV money trumps everything).
It seems that many of you are eager and delighted to criticize @Rex. He made SCLC word of the day and included a fairly lengthy write up about it. He also said, "I'm happy to learn about the org., and again, I think that if you absolutely need SCLC to hold a corner together, then go for it,........". He deserves an apology.
ReplyDeleteFolks of a certain age (like me) instantly knew “SCLC” which had far more influence and currency than “SNCC” which was also an important but less broad based than the SCLC.
ReplyDeleteJust enough things I knew to keep me going and enough pushback to keep it engaging. Had done the acrosses and was working on the downs when I got to 89D and Plenty of Horn came into view for the aha. Things went relatively quickly from there. Plenty and Absence of Leaves were my favorites.
ReplyDeleteWhat I used to have in the fall when my family would disappear when I needed help raking: Malice of Absence (kidding, I enjoy the raking, it's a Zen thing).
Columns With Angles, best clue. Yeti Woo & Abaci, Certified Public Accountants.
Tubi is Fox Corporation offering free movies to teens (with ads because only Wordle is free). No doubt, it's completely innocuous.
I know General Braddock from the French and Indian War. If anyone doesn't know him they might be a Communist. I, like Rex, was thinking of SNCC. Then I remembered Southern ____ Conference but struggled there. Kept wanting B for Baptist.
@JohnX, thank you for "drawl in a slurred voice while chain-smoking Marlboro Menthol 100s through a fat wad of chaw)" while your wife is frying pork chops in bacon grease and yelling, "Get that smug look off your face I know where you been.""
You are all so enormously sweet and I love you all, too! Thanks for your mostly glowing feedback today and for your valued friendship every day. I must say, though, that the comment that most made me laugh -- not exactly a complete rave -- was @kitshef's 12:20 a.m. howler. Because it does really "get" me.
ReplyDeleteThese are the exact clues that would have had me gritting my own teeth. But do you send a talented collaborator back to the drawing board because he couldn't manage to avoid including some pop culture while embedding 8 (!) lengthy theme answers in an oversized grid? You do not! You smile sweetly and thank him sincerely and decide that you and all of your friends will manage to make their peace with FRODO and ENBIES. As for TUBI, along with the ridiculous clue for KIDS -- you can blame them both on the NYT.
Southside Johnny,
ReplyDeleteThe NFL did what now? They forced fans to,attend a game? How’d they do that? As for fans suffering at the game, plenty seemed very happy to sit in those temps. Ticket prices for a set were average ping over $300, significant,y above face value.
Fact is, were Lambeau bigger, another 20,000 people would’ve gladly filled those seats. And at the market price.
What’s more the NFL,is doing the public a favor by scheduling that game at night. Sure Prime Time means more dollars, but of course that’s because there are more people watching. And as I’ve noted many times, Americans crave football.Especially the NFL. Why shouldn’t the league enable as many people as possible to see the game? Lots of folks are busy with errands, cleaning, shuttling kids around on Saturday during the day. At nigh? A hell of lot less of all that.
You’ve got an animus against the NFL, but your reasoning is embarrassing.
Not as embarrassing as Rex not knowing SCLC, but pretty humiliating just the same.
Z, who’s we?
You don’t speak for the blog.
@okanaganer 201am Thank you for that beautiful video of the majestic bald eagle. (And if that's your backyard, with that view, color me green!) I confess, I had to turn it off soon after the devouring began. Despite appreciating all things "nature", there's something about watching a creature react to being eaten alive that I just can't watch.
ReplyDeleteIt's an empathic-type thing. Don't ask.
@Conrad 626am Thanks, bud! You're No. 1 (not 27th)! 😉
@Z 915am Way to double down, dude. 🤣 And at the risk of incurring the wrath of people who are so much more worthy in their piety than I could ever hope to be, I also knee-jerked SpLC instead of SCLC. So, move over on that bench of evil.
Is your Wordle a par 3, 4, or 5?
@GILL 1015am OMG! 🤣🤣Thank you for the Goldie Hawn analogy! Oddly enough, that makes me feel better.
Meant to mention that NONE TAKEN reminds me of Tony (Ricky Gervais) in Afterlife, currently running its third and final season on Netflix. Highly recommend it - especially if the extreme ends of an emotional rollercoaster are your thing. He's just brilliant.
@Another Anon 1044am Hear! Hear!
Beg to differ with Rex. "SCLC" was, indeed, commonly used during Dr. King's time. In face, as SNCC became more radical in its perspective and clashed increasingly with what its leaders considered Dr. King's accommodationis agenda, they began referring to King's organization as "SLICK" -- an intentional pun on the abbreviated name.
ReplyDeleteZ
ReplyDeleteWho the hell is having a conniption?
I see some people are surprised that Rex doesn’t know a major, major player in the civil,rights movement.
But setting that aside, his strange ignorance—-Rex explicitly says he’s never seen the initial s SCLC before— is not a matter of bad memory, it’s rank ignorance. And Rex does virtue signal. It’s annoying.
@AA - A) I don’t think Rex cares, 2) In as much as Rex does care is the reason he doesn’t read the comments much, Γ) I always find these criticisms at what other people don’t know slightly self-indulgent - personally I appreciate the honesty because what each of us doesn’t know far far exceeds what we do know.
ReplyDelete@Anon10:25 - My immediate thought was that Woody was the SpokesPecker for SugarPops™️ and the name change to CORN POPs was later, but I didn’t care enough to check.
@amyyanni & @SouthsideJohnny - I was on Twitter last night as that game ended. The gleeful schadenfreude directed at Aaron Rodger’s was a sight to behold. His self-outing as a RWNJ (or at least susceptible to RWNJ propaganda) combined with displaying a willingness to lie has sullied what had been a shining reputation. Apparently COVID kills reputations, too. Here are some of the best:
We all thought Aaron had a shot, which has happened before.
That Green Bay offense could have used a shot in the arm.
The only thing Rodger’s hates more than science is playing the Niners in the playoffs.
Rodger’s will respect that we all did our own research before commenting on this game.
There was lots more (and lots of variations on these) but you get the idea.
For some of us (especially cord-cutters) TUBI is an asset:
ReplyDelete"Tubi is the leading free, premium, on demand video streaming app. We have the largest library of content with over 20,000 movies and television shows, the best streaming technology, and a personalization engine to recommend the best content for you. Available on all of your devices, we give you the best way to discover new content, completely free.
Yes! Tubi is a free (and legal) video streaming application. To keep our service free and legal, we include ads, which monetize the content that our partners, such as MGM, Lionsgate, and Paramount, provide to us!" (tubitv.com)
___
td pg (13:53) / Wordle 4 (finishing at one over for the first 18)
Peace ~ Compassion ~ Tolerance ~ Kindness to all 🕊
Z,
ReplyDeleteYou sure have a lot of opinions about the NFL for someone who watches one game a decade. Either you do watch the games and formed an opinion, or you didn’t watch the game and are mouthing someone else’s opinion on Green Bay ‘s offense .
Poor form to come for SCLC within one week of MLK day (that initialism stands for Martin Luther King, in case that was unfamiliar to you). Otherwise, spot on as usual.
ReplyDeleteBOTNET ?????? Please explain!
ReplyDeleteFinished with one error. Had I'M OLD instead of I FOLD for Declaration by one who's done playing
ReplyDeleteLiked the title (which I did not know) “turns of phrases” better than the theme. Title is more satisfying theme answers. How did 🦖 put it? More elegantly than my critique: plain and boring.
ReplyDeleteNice to get some background info on SCLC and IMHO cryptics have far more zip and challenge than the current word fad….
🤗
🦖🦖
@Frantic Sloth - **Wordle** - I think 4 guesses is what was agreed upon as “par.”
ReplyDelete@SouthsideJ 10;35... I was, (and now I am) a BIG fan of the Niners. I stopped watching football when it became too political and mean. Seeing so many footballers get hurt or maimed for life and the "So What?" attitude, made me give up even caring to watch.... UNTIL last night. When the Niners won (at last) fair and square, I let out a neighborhood whoop de doo. It was a wonderful game and I'm crossing fingers they win Super Bowl.
ReplyDeleteHi @Nancy....Kudos again, amiga....
@Frantic 11:05...I know, right? I mean look at the poor little fishy trying to breath. The lips, the lips! Why do people mutilate their lips? A fish has the right to, but no humanoid does....
In the immortal words of Ronald Reagan… “Well Nancy” … you’ve done it again! Another super Sunday. A fun but solid theme and YES, I had many aha moments. You and Will are DEF a pair to DRAW to. Well, OBVI.
ReplyDeleteI started making a list of the clues I especially liked but there was such a SCAD of them that I’ll let it suffice to say the cluing in general blew me away. I caught myself wondering which constructor wrote what clue, which added a whole other level of enjoyment, and the ABSENCE of OVER much trivia was downright refreshing.
But the highest praise I can give this puzzle is that I was able to fill the entire grid without needing to look up a single answer. There were areas where I had trouble and had to keep going back, sometimes to fill in only one square at a time. But that’s the beauty of a well constructed crossword, that you can solve it one square at a time. It entertained me but didn’t bore me. It challenged me but didn’t discourage me. Not too hard and not too easy. Pretty much JUST RIGHT.
Thanks Will and Nancy. I routinely eschew the Sunday slog and JUST RELAX, but this was a lot of fun.
Fun puzzle with a perfect title. Congrats to Nancy and Will. And thanks for the chance to JUST RELAX and enjoy a Sunday solve.
ReplyDeleteFavorite themers were COMMAND OF CHAIN, DRAWERS OF CHESTS, and PLENTY OF HORN (the latter reminds me of the SNL “More Cowbell” sketch).
Favorite clue was for the three-letter word YES as the finale of “Ulysses.” Also liked Ms. West’s definition of SEX and Mr. Franklin’s view of the BALD EAGLE.
The phrase “No offense” is almost always accompanied by an offensive comment of some kind. My response would best not be printed here, but it’s usually a far cry from NONE TAKEN.
Enjoyed the puzzle, probably PLENTYOFHORN was my favorite themer.
ReplyDeleteBiggest laugh was reading @Roomonster celebrating the abundance of Fs.
I suspected they were there for a reason.
@Anon 11:27 For the 27th time, please take a reading for comprehension course. How in your addled mind does '"I was on Twitter last night as that game ended", followed by a list of what people on Twitter said about the game' in anyway imply that @Z watched the game or that he was commenting on the game? He was on Twitter. Maybe he was also watching the game, or playing ping pong or having sex or any of a billion other things, but you don't know that. You are a moron.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations to our @Nancy for today's puzzle. I don't mind fill like TUBI and this confirms my suspicion that the editors deliberately change entries to amp up the difficulty. Sundays are late week in my opinion and need all the teeth that they can get.
ReplyDeleteI found the NE corner to be particularly challenging and the vertical themer there really helped out.
@Nancy, this puzzle didn't have a single car reference. Was that deliberate on your part or just a FORTUNE OF WHEEL?
yd pg-6
AMEN to @kitshef and others who could enjoy the dad joke theme and forgive the fill added by editors. An OBVI attempt to broaden the base to TUBI streamers bingeing on missed episodes of THEOC? MAN OF RIGHTS was an answer I would like to have seen clued as Billy Budd?, but that’s probably just my Melville obsession.
ReplyDeleteSCLC was a gimme--but what the hell is a BOTNET?
ReplyDeleteYep. I'm 75.
Enjoyed the puzzle, probably PLENTYOFHORN was my favorite themer.
ReplyDelete@Roomonster celebrating the abundance of Fs was my biggest laugh of the morning.
I suspected they were there for a reason.
From yesterday
@Z Yes, I also loved the Ancillary Justice series!
@Debbie 11:37
ReplyDeleteHahahahaha
Sunday usually doesn't use down clues for the themed clues. Does anyone have some examples of previous Sunday puzzles with some down themed clues?
ReplyDeleteI really liked Nancy and Will’s puzzle. Even though the themer pattern was clear at DRAWERSOFCHESTS, I always needed a few crosses to get any idea what was happening in each themer, so I was entertained throughout.
ReplyDeleteLots of stuff that hit home with me. My 4 year old granddaughter is universally called GOGO, although her real given name is Golden. She loves COCOMELON, which has a bit of a dystopian mind control feel to me. I can see two BALDEAGLES sitting on top of the post office across the street as I write this. I know Carla Stroh of the beer family.
Frayed KNOT jokes are pearls of string. When THEFAM dines out on a budget, we have to watch our magnitude of orders, especially when it comes to CORNPOPS.
Thans for a really enjoyable Sunday Nancy Stark and Will Nediger.
The CHAIN/COMMAND entry was pretty forced. Very few people walk a dog with a chain. Most use a leash made of nylon or leather. There is such a thing as a leash made from a length of lightweight chain (to discourage chomping onto the leash) but these are not widely used.
ReplyDeleteBeing a Child of the Sixties, SCLC (Southern Christian Leadership Conference) is a near gimme. Took the first S to get it, but the org. was a Big Deal bag than. SNCC, OTOH, was viewed by the White Segregationists as a terrorist org.
ReplyDelete@okanaganer:
It's well known, well to some, that Franklin wanted the turkey. True fact.
@Keith D:
@Rex is astonishingly narrow-minded and judgmental
But, that's his job. Once again - a blog like this that just praised every bone headed xword wouldn't be much fun. Yes, at times, he has to dig deep for the ore.
I enjoyed it! Reading a pretty good book now called "The Maids" about an autistic hotel maid whose naivete and unfailing honesty get her framed for murder. So HONOR OF MAIDS tickled me.
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteI fell asleep in my chair last evening, but woke after midnight excited to have a go at Nancy and Will’s latest creation. I finished in one hour and one minute which is about my usual Sunday time having thoroughly enjoyed myself! The theme was just tricky enough to confuse me at the start and I loved that it was used horizontally AND vertically. I don’t recall seeing that before on a Sunday or maybe ever. I can’t ask Nancy because she has no memory. LOL! Clearly mine isn’t so sharp either. My favorite themer was COMMANDOFCHAIN, so clever and I do love dogs but less when they pull. PLENTYOFHORN, ABSENCEOFLEAVES get second and third place, but honestly they were all great.
TUBI did me in so I had to cheat and didn’t get the happy music though how I missed BITS is beyond me. I had entered TUNI so it’s my own darn fault. I liked that there was a shout out to AUDRA. Now that girl can sing!
Congratulations to the constructors!
Of course I’m biased but I thought this puzzle was terrific. Yeah, it was easy, but it wasn’t so easy that answers filled in themselves. And the clues were a hoot. I loved the beer clue (STROHS, my partner’s favorite beer for years) and the clue for YAMAHAS. The answers were fun: RETINUE, BOTNET (I wanted BOTwar), NONE TAKEN, HONOR OF MAIDS, (In a hotel? Yeah, right!), RADIANT, JUST RELAX. COMMAND OF CHAIN was the last to fall for me, primarily because I had SpLC (Southern Poverty Law Center seemed to be a reasonable product of MLK). Nice job, Nancy and Will.
ReplyDeleteAnd THIS! I can’t believe it! Yay me!!!!
Wordle 218 2/6
⬜⬜⬜⬜🟨
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
@Every single human alive... 1156am Thank you for saving me the effort of having to say that. But, allow me to add that I think the term you're looking for is "maroon". Otherwise, I see a spike in your future. Unfortunately.
ReplyDeleteWordle 218 3/6
⬜⬜🟩⬜⬜
⬜🟩🟩⬜⬜
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
So, I guess this is a birdie? After the 2nd try, the answer could have been anything. Lucky guess!
Record for my son and me! 27 minutes on a Sunday, first time under 30. Enjoyed it. I agree that about 1/3 of the themers didn't quite land... could have made the title more obscure and put "phraseofturn" in the puzzle.... But overall, great puzzle, all getable. Thanks Nancy and Will! --Rick
ReplyDeleteI finally was able to finish a Sunday. The last 2 months, the clues just seemed really hard. Thanks Nancy for a fun Sunpuz. They have been total slogs lately, at least for me.
ReplyDeleteThere is a wonderful museum in Atlanta called National Center for Civil and Human Rights. I highly recommend it. Avoid the Coca Cola museum in the same area. The Civil Rights museum is fabulous.
Wordle 218 3/6
⬜⬜⬜🟨⬜
⬜🟩⬜🟨⬜
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
Momentous day for the crossworld. Anticipated the comments as much as unearthing each themer! Congrats to everyone, everywhere.
ReplyDeleteTUBI did me in, and I'm embarrassed I couldn't see IDS as bar requirements. Glad @Nancy tried to submit ABS.
ReplyDeleteBut I enjoyed the puzzle, and even though it is a bit chilly in Central Florida today, my dnf did not reduce me to one who is DISCONTENT of WINTER.
@Malsdemare. BUY A LOTTO TICKET TODAY!!
ReplyDeleteOBVI. har
ReplyDeleteNE corner was the toughest, at our house. Mostly becuz of SCLC, JAIME, AUDRA. But a least the crossers were mostly fair -- with a slight stink-eye directed at SCAD.
Cool theme. Has lotsa possibilities for humor, lets U have a shot at figurin out each themer, and the rascals all will turn on U, eventually.
M&A extra themer's clue: {Kind of hero the Hulk is, obvi?} = *.
staff weeject pick: IDS. In order to save the luvly, desperate TUBI. TUBA woulda been no good, as then U got ADS & ADFEE as obvi neighbors. TUBE is fine, but EDS ain't too overly great.
ENBIES is a debut word, in these parts. Kinda ok with it, fairness-wise, as U can dig it out of the "NonBinary" part of the clue. Opens up an awful lotta neat new slang possibilities -- like BIEENS for "BotNets".
fave themer award goes to: HONOROFMAIDS. Hot-el humor.
fave fillins included: JUSTRELAX. EUCALYPTI. BALDEAGLE. STAIRWAY. GOOFF crossin GOOGOO.
Thanx for gangin up on us, @Nancy & Will N. Good job.
Masked & Anonymo4Us
p.s.
* = ACTION, OF COURSE.
**gruntz**
@Nancy & Will
ReplyDeleteThank you both for a fun Sunday with a few chuckles (HONOROFMAIDS and PLENTYOFHORN faves here).
Had EUCALYPTs and was thinking, huh, is that a class or order or something but got fixed by ABACI. Don't think I've ever seen a single galosh before and it reminded me of, um, older folks may remember, rubbers as footwear. Side note, Nate the Great always wears his rubbers when it rains, soooo funny to read that aloud with students (or grand kids, if you have 'em).
My first destination for a return trip was "home" so that kinda slowed down the midwest. Liked the pun for LAGER.
Wordle must be easy today:
Wordle 218 3/6
⬜⬜⬜⬜🟨
🟨🟩⬜⬜⬜
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
@Roo
ReplyDeletePhrases of turns 🤣😄🤣!!
@Every single human … - 🤣😂🤣 - If the maroon actually read they could probably even piece together what I was watching instead of the NFL since I mentioned it my first comment. Speaking of Twitter, that’s also where I found Dordle…
ReplyDeleteDordle 5&4/7 CARRY&ALTAR
⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ ⬜⬜⬜⬜🟨 EXIST
⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ 🟨⬜⬜⬜⬜ THONG
🟨⬜⬜⬜🟩 🟩⬜🟩🟨⬜ APTLY
🟨⬜⬜⬜🟨 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 ALTAR
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ CARRY
zaratustra.itch.io/dordle
**Fair Warning** Unlike Wordle, Dordle allows you to keep playing. That this is a bad thing is unarguable.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteFor SBers
ReplyDelete@Z 1:19
DeleteTried it, considered sending it in
ReplyDeletei forgot to mention that I loved learning ENBIES. One of my grandchildren has recently chosen they/them as their pronoun so knowing there's a term is useful.
Comments today have been especially fun to read. We can thank our beloved Nancy for that. And the eagle video? Absolutely superb. As one living with large predators, I wasn't fazed one whit by the gore; it's SOP in this house. And, as one living with large predators, COMMAND OF CHAIN struck home, even if my leashes are made of saddle leather.
And I'd buy a lottery ticket but I've been exposed to COVID, so in quarantine until I get my results, and maybe after that.
In related ENBIES/non-binary news: see 49A, "Over-poetical?" for OER. Worst clue I've seen in a long time. Pretty much the NOW example Rex gave.
ReplyDeleteOh...I meant to ask....I also saw that you didn't have one single clue for a car but ay frijoles...you had OKRA!
ReplyDeleteWas the Will or you? It's probably @Nancy because we all know how much she loves it...HAH!
@GILL 1141am Right! I should add that I have nothing against - in fact, I love - Goldie Hawn. She and the other slaves to the "outer beauty" masters of Hollywood are stuck between Scylla and Charybdis. Grow old, lose work. Bad "work", lose work and open yourself up to heartless criticism. It's a no-win situation. Oh dear, don't get me going! LOL!
ReplyDelete@Z 119pm Either you're playing SB more than the "never" you claim or your linking to a Tweet by someone else that you read. How dare you?
Thanks, @Nancy and Will, this was fun. Cottoned on at the beginning with DRAWERS OF CHESTS, which immediately brought to mind Salvador Dalí. I loved the absolute looniness of FOOT OF FLEET. And I keep misparsing MAN O’ FRIGHTS as the younger brother of the great stallion, Man O’ War. MAN O’ FRIGHTS shied at everything and never got near a racetrack. Speaking of DOOKS, GOOFF has to be one of the great ones.
ReplyDeleteI was happy to see AUDRA McDonald, JUST RELAX, BALD EAGLE, ARACHNID and NONE TAKEN (as clued). I thought DO A FLIP was particularly appropriate, given the theme. I had a brief spot of bother in the middle east at the GAGE/LAILA/BOTNET stack. LAILA Ali is in the puzzle a lot and I should never be in doubt about her name but somehow today I was. Anyway, the downs sorted me out, and I ended up with a personal record for a Sunday – yay!
It was hard to think up worthwhile alternate themers. The only one I liked is:
Christmas? TIME OF NICK.
Rex wondered about crossword conventions in relation to the 43A clue containing “nonbinary” and then the answer being ENBIES (NB in or implied in both). I wondered the same thing about 49A “Over-poetical?” = OER. I’m not particularly doctrinaire about such things but I wonder about the decision-making process that goes in to using or rejecting such clue/answer pairs from a constructor’s point of view. Any thoughts, @Nancy?
Wordle: Got it in 3 today. After 10 holes, I’m at par (4).
SB: yd pg-4. It was a monster. Missed an obvious 4-letter word, got the singular of something without also getting the plural, and missed two other perfectly good words. (And that’s why I keep playing every day. Plod, plod, plod.)
Yeah, quit using proper nouns, unless it’s JAIME, which is way way better than J’AIME according to the Rex Parker Rules for Clues, which state “foreign words are not OK unless they are words ‘everyone’ knows, by whom I mean not just me, but the other 26 kids in my 7th Grade Spanish class.”
ReplyDeleteMy hope would be that a proper-noun JAIME would be clued as a Control Agent.
I believe that Corn Pops do exist today but did not exist when they were repped by Woody. They used to be called Sugar Pops. Do I have that right, or mixed up? Sugar Pops were tops.
Cute idea, fun to do but themers felt inconsistent and a couple of clues contained the answers, which should never happen. Edit Fail on that one.
And it's there I met my nemesis
ReplyDeleteIn her father's licensed premises ...
Before doing the puzzle each morning, I check my mail, and after that, I tend to look for whatever songs have been running through my head. Today, for some reason, it was the songs of (the late) Andy M. Stewart, who wrote and performed with Silly Wizard that then went out on his own. I became a huge fan when he made multiple appearances at the old Sebastopol Celtic Festival. Wherever he went, there went I. The song that most ran through my head this morning was "The Parish Of Dunkeld", but close behind was "The Errant Apprentice, telling the story of a lad from Derry in the North of Ireland, who joins the army to please his girlfriend. She marries a Turk. Finding this out, the new enlistee deserts. Hilarity ensues, though the lad concludes that a scimitar in the hands of a Turk is a "passion limiter".
I bring this up because the songs of Andy M Stewart often make use of clever wordplay, and that is just what I expected from Nancy and Will. It was a joy, though I had a DNF thanks to ENBIES, which for all I know could be anbies, as EMIR and amir are equally valid. Perhaps @Nancy can explain. I have heard of "non binary" but never ENBIE. And I myself have never met a person who is truly nonbinary. They identify almost always as male or female, and some have surgery to change their apparent sex. The majority simply remain men or women who are straight, gay/Lesbian, or bisexual. The latter is usually as nonbinary as it gets, though I suppose anatomically intersex people are even more nonbinary.
In any case, ENBIE is ridiculous, for if the word must exist, it should be "enbee" like Seabee, pronounced only one possible way. ENBIE for all I know could be pronounced En Bye.
Half of the themers were good and half were so-so. The editor is giving the green light too easily.
ReplyDeleteGreat Sunday puzzle. Thanks @Nancy & @Will
ReplyDelete@pabloinnh
You should get M&A to help you in the fight for the missing U in gauge.
In case you're serious, Happy Birthday @JOHN X
According to Wikipedia:
ReplyDelete1950 - CORN POPS
1951 - Sugar CORN POPS
Later- Sugar Pops
1978 - Sugar CORN POPS
1984 - CORN POPS
January 2006 - POPS
A Few Months Later - CORN POPS
And also from Wikipedia,
Between 1959 and 1967, the mascot was Woody Woodpecker.
@Frantic Sloth 1:35 - 🤣😂🤣 - It’s calmer now but complaints about SB wordlist omissions are still more common on Twitter than here. And, as you see, not just from the xword types I follow on Twitter. Medicos, scientists, sports analysts, reporters, musicians, ultimate players, sci fi writers, Rex, basically every category of human I follow has opined on SB omissions. I generally withhold comment on the SB on Twitter but its broad popularity amazes me. Did everyone love spelling tests in grade school?
Lovely puzzle, even elegant, I might say. Only thing I didn't know was BAE: never heard of it, but after looking it up, it seems I should have. I can only reinforce what some sage commenter said earlier today: there's always going to be stuff where you going to say, "How can anybody NOT know that??"- and vice versa .. in fact, as I age, VERY vice versa!
ReplyDelete@Barbara S -- I cannot tell a lie: I clued OER and I clued it exactly that way. (I didn't remember cluing it, natch, but I just looked it up in my email file.) I guess I decided to go with a somewhat ungrammatical clue (adjective instead of adverb) instead of a slam-dunk clue. Wrong decision? I suppose I could have (and maybe should have) clued it via Wordsworth or some other lesser-known poet.
ReplyDelete@oldtimer -- FWIW, I have never heard of ENBIES either. Frankly, I would have been deliriously happy had it not been in the puzzle. But do see my 11:01 explanation of why I never once opened up my mouth about it.
Fun puzzle. Of course Rex hated it
ReplyDelete. Just like he hates Shakespeare comedies
@Z 208pm It's almost comical how every new player of SB seems to think they're the only one to find these words. The sooner they grasp that the only criteria used for the "acceptable" list is Sam Ezersky's whim, the sooner they'll either relax into it or give up entirely. I fall in the middle and still do it, but in zombie mode, as in I no longer care when I have to "cheat". And yes, I loved spelling tests (and bees) in grade school, but I think you already know that's not exactly what the SB game is, Mr Pants. 😉
ReplyDeleteFranklin did not propose the turkey for the national bird, although he did compare it favorably to the bald eagle. Here is what the Franklin Institute says about it.
ReplyDelete@BarbieBarbie-well @Zjust posted the definitive list, of course.
ReplyDeleteFor me it was
Kel-logs Sugar Corn Pops
Sugar Pops are tops!
so the sugar was in the song, which made it scan, and then disappeared, probably for marketing reasons.
Anybody remember Sugar Smacks?
Heads up to @Z and any other Dordle players: I played seven games and on Game 7 I got a word that had been used in Game 2. (It was also on the same side of the grid.) Just so you know – repeats may happen.
ReplyDelete91 instances of "yes" in Molly Bloom's Soliloquy which begins and ends with YES.
ReplyDeleteDear Nancy,
ReplyDeleteKudos on your puzzle.
I thought 1A was the best clue of them all!
Jeezus, the way rex took apart your puzzle, heck, I'd like to see him put up his work for public consumption!
@Nancy I've always assumed that the NYT sneaks in product placement clues in place of a constructors original clue. TUBI for Tuba for example. Or whatever the product is that they're required to subtly highlight.
ReplyDeleteEven if ECHOLOCATE had been on the SB list for yd., you'd still have to get all the others for a QB. When this happens, just take a moment to feel superior and then move on. That's what I do.
ReplyDeleteNaomi Osaka update. That legend got bounced out of the Australian Open in the third round. A 24 year old in her prime lost to an unseeded player.
ReplyDeleteBut yeah, I was a maroon for challenging the description of her as a legend. And spoiled.
Nice puzzle Ms.Stark and Mr.Nediger
@Frantic 1:35. Yes...I love Goldie as well. She's bubbly and smiley and ooey gooey in a nice way. I just wish the aging actresses and (some) actors just age with grace. No need to gain 100 pounds or pucker your lips to oblivion. The other pet peeve are the face lifts that make you look like a "slit" eye moron.
ReplyDeleteAnyway...This is brought to you by a BALD EAGLE eating a live fish.....And her name wasn't Wanda.
@Gill & Frantic
DeleteRe aging with grace...
Grace and Frankie?? Jane and Lily and Sam and Martin aging beautifully and often laugh out loud hilariously. Jane is 84 and they are finishing the 7th season and then making a movie. We enjoyed this a bit at a time during these pandemic years.
Nancy,
ReplyDeleteYou just called Wordsworth a lesser known poet. Indefensible.
A bit too easy for my blood. I agree pretty much with Rex, although SCLC was not a problem for me. I really enjoyed how Rex went off on Tubi. All n all, a mediocre solving experience.
ReplyDeleteBEE-ER (3:33 PM)
ReplyDeleteExactly!
___
Peace ~ Compassion ~ Tolerance ~ Kindness to all 🕊
@Nancy (2:19 PM)
ReplyDeleteI was thinking of the possibility of cluing OER with something like "above, poetically." That eliminates the use of "over" in the clue and the variation OER in the answer, *but* it also does away with the delightful double entendre in "over-poetical." I think you made the right choice. I think entertainment value outweighs convention every time. [And, tee hee! -- your editorial comment about William W.]
@pablo 2:48p - lol Sugar Smacks caused a bunch of arguments in my house in the 60’s. My mom always claiming they would rot out teeth and dad seemingly bringing them home to mess with her. When we were cleaning the house out after my father passed a few years ago we found an unopened box of Sugar Smacks in the back of the pantry with Spock from Star Trek on the front.
ReplyDeleteThey were sweet no doubt but got so soggy in milk I didn’t care for them much. Thanks for jogging my memory.
Amiga @Smith 4:12...Jane has had more done to her body that would probably take care of the cost for a homeless shelter. I don't think there's a body part on her that hasn't been tweeked. I'm pretty sure Lily is the genuine article.
ReplyDeleteNow for someone aging with grace...just look at Sophia Loren. No cosmetic surgery involved. And no BALD EAGLES.
@Son Volt- I avoided the sogginess problem by eating them right out of the box by the handful. Of course this was before we worried about the dreaded Sugar Rush that now makes children bounce off walls. Also, Sugar Bear was a cool mascot.
ReplyDelete@GILL (1:35)-- Whoever constructs the grid creates all the fill -- other than, of course, the theme answers, which are decided on before the grid is constructed and then are carefully embedded.
ReplyDeleteSo poor Will, I fear, must take the "blame" for OKRA being in the puzzle at all.
After which my goal, assuming OKRA is a word that I'll be cluing and not him, is to try to make the clue as interesting and as palatable (pun intended) as I can for this jaded OKRA audience:) It's not always possible -- there not being a hell of a lot of ways to clue OKRA when you stop to think about it.
Looks like an easy set with Wordle and Dordle today
ReplyDeleteDordle 3&4/7 ||STORE&BLARE||
🟩🟩🟨⬜⬜ ⬜⬜🟨🟨⬜ ||STEAM||
⬜🟨🟩⬜⬜ ⬜🟨⬜⬜⬜ ||PROUD||
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 ⬜⬜⬜🟩🟩 ||STORE||
⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 ||BLARE||
zaratustra.itch.io/dordle
@McD, I strongly question the idea of the NYT pushing a Tubi, a Fox product. I cringe at the thought.
ReplyDeleteStarted this Saturday night by accident (my NYT app lets me access after a certain time the night before) and after slogging for a while I thought 'typical Saturday struggle' only to see that I had started the Sunday! It was not as easy to me, especially the ENE with all of the names, literature, and foreign words. The theme was easy, though and helped out a lot.
ReplyDelete@JD I don't really know the TUBI product but am I crazy thinking that the NYT does product placement in the crossword?
ReplyDeleteWhy does Stays out all night? = CAMPS require a question mark? Isn't that literally what it means?
ReplyDelete@pabloinnh (4:46 PM)
ReplyDeleteAre you sure that Sugar Bear didn't croon about Sugar Crisp? Or is that another later or earlier name for Sugar Smacks?
Regular reader, infrequent commenter, but I must say what a delight it was to turn to my husband and say "Now THAT was a fun Sunday" only to learn that Nancy was a co-creator of the puzzle! I always enjoy her comments, so I guess it's no surprise that we would love a puzzle of hers... well done Nancy!!
ReplyDelete@JOHN X: I’m just now reading comments but better late than never. Happy birthday to you!
ReplyDelete@Southside Johnny: I share your distaste for the night games in the middle of the winter. Those fans are going to show up no matter what but brrrr.
From reference.com about Honey Smacks/Sugar Smacks:
ReplyDeleteIn its early days, a variety of characters appeared on boxes of Sugar Smacks cereal, including Cliffy the Clown. Cartoon character Quick Draw McGraw was a featured mascot for a spell. In the 1970s, a colorful frog given the name Dig ‘Em was introduced as the cereal’s mascot. The original Dig ‘Em was also featured in commercials and became popular with kids. The frog’s popularity was so broad that Kellogg’s was forced to bring the character back after retiring him in 1986. During Dig ‘Em’s absence, The Smackin’ Brothers and Wally Bear were used as cereal mascots. Dig ‘Em’s appearance has changed over the years to appeal to each new generation of children.
The original formulation for Sugar Smacks was packed with sugar. The cereal contained a whopping 56 percent of sugar by weight at its debut. In its most recent formulation as Honey Smacks, the cereal contains 15 grams of sugar per serving.
As for Post Sugar Crisp/Super Sugar Crisp/Super Golden Crisp/Golden Crisp - Sugar Bear was the mascot and Wikipedia relays that it was a mere 51% sugar by weight. Yum. Now where did I leave my dentures…
@Anon5:55 - The Sunday and Monday puzzles are available online at 6:00 pm eastern the day before. All other puzzles are available at 10:00 pm eastern the night before.
Sugar Smacks had that creepy frog as the mascot. Why I can remember that and nothing else is truly a mystery!
ReplyDeleteAnd Pops were still being made recently, unsure if they still are. Remember the commercials, "Gotta have my Pops".
And, they f you haven't tried S'mores cereal, get on it! Sure, sugary, but hey, no one gets out of life alive.
RooMonster Cereal Savor Guy
Fun, easy, breezy.
ReplyDeleteRex, your curmudgeonly but defensible pickiness has gone too far this Sunday.
We liked it! Puns were cute if not grammatically perfect. Zero complaints
Nancy, so obvious!
Deletere Sugared Everything-
ReplyDeleteThanks to all for patching up the holes in my memory.
very sweet of everyone.
Ha, @Z, Dig 'Em! Forgot the name. Thanks for the history.
ReplyDeleteSugar Bear sounds like a 70's pimp. Har.
Roo
Is there any truth to the rumor that Dig ‘Em went on to a STARTURN as Pepe the Frog?
ReplyDeleteI'm surprised no one else mentioned YES crossing SEX (66D, 70A) I loved that pairing! (Molly Bloom and Mae West).
ReplyDelete6A: A “Browser window” is not a TAB. A browser window may contain one or more tabs. That would be pmb like clueing “book” for PAGE.
ReplyDeleteDear Rex and Companion Puzzle Lovers,
ReplyDeleteI appreciate you puzzle geniuses and I turn to Rex for answers to the obscure clues and even some tricky themes which we normal mortals may not have figured out even after the solve!
I liked this puzzle but join with some others who were surprised that our brainiac leader was not as familiar with the SCLC as he was with the SNCC..
Maybe it’s an age thing but the SCLC is the better known to me.
it was founded in 1957 by icons like Ralph Abernathy and Dr. Martin Luther King Junior. Dr. King was elected its first President.
The SNCC started more than 3 years later and avoided Dr. King’s hope that the SNCC would become the student wing of the SCLC.
Presumably, the leaders were concerned that they would be overshadowed by the more famous and powerful leadership of Dr. King.
The SCLC is still active and I think the SNCC has faded away.
In any event it gives me the opportunity to get in my best “touch of fame” story.
On approximately November 13, 1964 I had the thrill of meeting and shaking hands with Dr. Martin Luther King Junior at Duke university.
I assume I won’t be able to top that experience as it isn’t likely very often that one winds up meeting and shaking hands with a legend and a man after whom we have properly named and observed a national federal holiday!
Some of my smart aleck friends have asked if I have any personal shared experiences with Abe Lincoln. presumably that’s because of my age and their disrespectful and jealous natures, but my Dr. King touch of fame moment will likely always hold first place.
Defender
Tom Silverman
tom@silvermanlawoffices.com
I was a grad student in Boston in 1967 when MLK was killed. Learned a lot during those years that shaped the rest of my life. I was involved with people in SCLC, SNCC, and SDS. Criticism of Rex for his tendency to dis things as unimportant if he does not know them is spot-on. In the word today, if you are unable to understand and prioritize the fight agains racism, fascism, imperialist wars, and environmental destruction, you need to learn in order to help humanity survive.
ReplyDeleteSo this General Thomas Gage -- a distant forbear of mine---
ReplyDeleteElizabeth Gage
I enjoyed it. And I was taught a new definition of “boor”.
ReplyDeleteActually 93.DOWN, NHL team with 5 championship seasons on the 1980s OILERS is incorrect.They won 4 Stanley Cups in the 80s not Five. In 1989, Calgary Flames won the Cup which which be the 89-90 season, so technically your clue is incorrect
ReplyDeleteAnd now I'll hear that woodpecker in my brain all day...
ReplyDeleteToday was one of those "oh wow - I'm done already" days. Nice little bunch of backwards sayings.
Diana, LIW
GENTS OPTION?
ReplyDeletePOOR is THE HONOROFMAIDS
with BORDELLOs as NESTs.
HOES ATTRACT SEX fiends, it's SAID,
not JUST DRAWERSOFCHESTS.
AMEN.
END.
--- JAIME NOLTE
Three days from now marks seven years that this consciousnessOFstream has produced at least one verse each day. Still no word on the book rights.
ha ha ha HA ha. ha ha ha HA ha. hahahahaha. Vaguely remember CORNPOPS; did not remember Woody shilling for them.
ReplyDeleteI thought the wackiest was PLENTYOFHORN, but then I was a trumpet player.
That area approaching the SE has a SCAD of Os - POOR HOOF GOOGOO GOGO LOON GOOFF WOO.
A mad craze with CROSS FAD in the corners.
AUDRA McDonald. YES.
Plenty easy KIDS.
Knowing what the SCLC was is something that reasonably educated people should know, whether or not they lived through the 1960s when it was in newspaper headlines frequently. We celebrate MLK Day, but if the schools aren't teaching about the SCLC, then what the heck are they teaching? Rex: UYou should have known it. It was the easiest clue in the puzzle.
ReplyDelete@Rondo - good one - even tho the ear worm has been awakened...
ReplyDeleteLady Di
"Pete's life before and after joining the Beatles?"*
ReplyDeleteAh, the old turn of phrase. Amusing, if ever so faintly. It checks the box for Sunday. (Yeah, I wanted CORN Chex too. Don't even remember CORNPOPS.) Since Chex is one of the few cereals NOT wheat-based, that's about the only kind I eat--though my taste runs to the cinnamon variety.
Just saw an installment of Muhammad Ali's life on TV, fascinating. His fightin' daughter LAILA has been DOD before, and repeats the title today.
As smooth as you can expect a 21x21 to be; birdie.
*BOTH WORLDS OF BEST