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First K-pop group to perform at the Grammys / FRI 2-18-22 / Offers a fist in a way / Something drawn by an invisible horse outside Disney's Haunted Mansion / Deep-fried Japanese pork cutlet / Belgian Expressionist James / Beyonce song with the line I got my angel now / Tibetan ethnic group / One side of a classic late-night feud
Friday, February 18, 2022
Constructor: Aimee Lucido
Relative difficulty: Medium (Challenging-Easy)
Word of the Day: Peace Bridge (14A: Fort ___ (Peace Bridge terminus) (ERIE)) —
The Peace Bridge is an international bridge between Canada and the United States at the east end of Lake Erie at the source of the Niagara River, about 20 kilometres (12.4 mi) upriver of Niagara Falls. It connects Buffalo, New York, in the United States to Fort Erie, Ontario, in Canada. It is operated and maintained by the binational Buffalo and Fort Erie Public Bridge Authority. (wikipedia)
• • •
I think what eventually happened was that I mentally stuck in DAPS at 1A: Offers a fist, in a way and finally saw PIANO, but before that, yeeeeesh. The clues were all written in a way that omitted some element I needed ... the "click" element. [Soft] ... oh "Soft in music!" I see ... now. Ugh. As for [Keyboard symbol], first, I wanted a piano (!!!!!?) keyboard for some reason, but even after I imagined a keyboard like the kind that my fingers are typing on right now, I couldn't make any sense of --R-W. Words like THROW and SCREW were interfering. And there are a million damn "symbols" on this keyboard! As for DEBTS, the answer there is so dumbly straightforward that I would never have guessed it in a million years. I also had no idea what was supposed to follow NANO- at 18D: Small-scale study, for short, but that's a separate, more manageable problem, really. At least I could come at NANO- from another direction, whereas I was (for a time) completely trapped up there in the NW. Once I got that corner sorted, though, things clicked right over the zoom-zoom Friday fun. OSH to STREETS to TEA to ANODE to the whole SE corner, which behaved very differently than its rotationally symmetrical cousin (done in seconds, no resistance at all). Once I started moving and the longer, cooler answers started opening up, the puzzle got a hell of a lot more enjoyable.
I have to say that BRAIN FART does nothing for me. I know it's supposed to be naughty or edgy or something ("Ooh, look at the Gray Lady ... so UnGrayLadylike ... te(e)-hee!"), but I could do without FART in my puzzles, as I could do without all things scatological and all bodily fluids besides blood, thank you very much. I don't even like SPIT in my puzzles—maybe if you clue it as the thing that turns meat, SPIT is OK, but ... please no shit or piss or vomit etc. I realize the BRAIN FART is a metaphorical fart but ... look, it doesn't bother me so much as it fails to produce the delight that a similarly original colloquialism might produce in that same space. This is very much a matter of *my* personal taste. But yeah, I'm not 8 years old, so I'm not hugely entertained by farts. Occasionally funny in real life, not so welcome in my puzzle. Bring on the sex stuff, the swear words, I am very liberal on those fronts (for the most part). But anything even vaguely (even metaphorically!) scatological kinda spoils the solving mood for me. But my feelings here are clearly not in line with the way current crossword winds ... are blowing ... and that's OK. The puzzle has probably been overly prim in the past, in every way, and if the cost of loosening up is that I have to contend with the occasional fart, then so be it.
The absolute winningest answer of the day was BODICE-RIPPERS (37A: Steamy period pieces). That's the point at which I got that great Friday Feeling—the excitement that comes from an exciting answer that just rips open the puzzle. I was also a big fan of BOXED WINE. I don't drink much BOXED WINE and I don't read BODICE-RIPPERS at all but I do like to drink and read "trashy" fiction so I am still very much in sync with the vibe of this puzzle. I also enjoy the music of Dana Elaine OWENS, a.k.a. Queen Latifah, and have since college:
- 11D: Field that involves blood, sweat and tears? (FORENSICS) — I think I don't quite get this. Or ... I do. Is the idea that blood, sweat and tears are crime scene evidence? The "tears" part really threw me because I imagined that the loved ones of a murder victim were crying, and so the whole thing felt really awful and cruel. But maybe tears are evidence? Or maybe it's not liquid tears but cuts, gashes, those kinds of tears. No less gruesome, but those kinds of "tears" seem more plausible as crime scene evidence than boo-hoo tears. I'm still not sure I like the idea of the puzzle doing cutesy wordplay over a dead body, though.
- 48A: Not *quite* a failure (D-PLUS) — I think this is a grade that exists only in "Peanuts" -- no, wait, Peppermint Patty always got a D-MINUS ... which actually fits this clue even better:
- 29D: Something drawn by an invisible horse outside Disney's Haunted Mansion (HEARSE) — had the "H," wrote in HANSOM ... which is something that *only* a longtime crossword solver would do ... #CarriageLife
- 14A: Fort ___ (Peace Bridge terminus) (ERIE) — another component of my disastrous NW corner. Neither the fort nor the parenthetical thing that was supposed to point me to the fort was known to me. I live within (very loud) shouting distance of the Peace Bridge and had no idea it was a thing. So though I've seen ERIE in my puzzle roughly one trillion times, I couldn't access it today.
- 37D: First K-pop group to perform at the Grammys (BTS) — this group is so massive that you should just memorize their name right now if you haven't already. I realize it's not easy to remember seemingly random letters, so I went through the trouble of finding out what the letters mean, and, well ... I learned something. Thank you, Seventeen Magazine:
 |
| backronym!!! |
P.S. infuriatingly, the puzzle has decided to change a clue for some solvers, thus my clue for POT was [Dope] (which is clear), but many of you are seeing [Dank], which ... is less clear. I mean, less clear to many of you, clearly. (As should be obvious by now, [Dank] is slang for marijuana, i.e. POT)
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110 comments:
My experience in the NW paralleled @Rex's almost exactly. The only difference is that my "aha" moment came when I realized that credit card charges (1D) are essentially DEBTS. Then the NW fell into place. DAPS at 1A was my last entry. Other than that it was a breezy Friday, with my only overwrite the result of confidently filling in an answer before reading the clue. I had
_ _ _ _ R AEROBICS for 36A and confidently put in chaiR AEROBICS, probably because I get constant emails encouraging me to join a group for the latter. Corrected when I couldn't get any of the downs to work, and then read the clue.
If Rex is uncomfortable with "cutesy wordplay over dead bodies," perhaps he could find some comfort in the other meaning of "forensics," turning his mind to live actors pouring their blood, sweat and tears onto the stage and into their roles.
And now for something completely different...
What bliss that these comments are fertile
with helps to meet each crossword hurdle
But when every day
Sees a new game hold sway
Thoughts soon will be drowning in Wordle
Agree with @Rex about FART. Not offensive as much as not clever, not funny, not really anything. I feel the same way about much of the material in various entertainment formats, TV, movies, comedians. For example, most crotch humor just isn't funny. I always think, "Is that really the best you can do? And it's in your promo to entice me? No, thanks". I stopped watching Succession when the character pleasured himself all over the window of his fancy office. Not offended but again, "That's all you got? Why on earth is that in your story?" It shows a serious lack of writing skill.
There’s a RAFT of answers I find lovely: HUFFY, SWOON, BITTER ENEMIES, BODICE RIPPERS, NAKED LIE, BAD APPLES, SHERPA, and FRESCOES.
It’s words like these that lift a puzzle out of being simply a rote fill-in, that enrich the soul, actually, adding to the pleasure the brain gets through the work of remembering things long dormant and cracking riddles.
There’s a saying attributed to Maya Angelou: “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”
Puzzles like today’s that radiate with personality and elevate the moment – these stand out and make me thirst for more by the maker because of the ineffably sweet feeling they evoke. You’re one of the very good ones, Aimee. Thank you for your work and for today’s gem.
Isolated corners only tenuously connected to the rest of the puzzle are always suboptimal in my opinion. 75% of this puzzle is Friday easy, and then that mini-puzzle in the NW is challenging. I’ve used the Rainbow Bridge and the Lewiston-Queenston Bridge without ever knowing their names, but I’m pretty sure I’ve never crossed on the Peace Bridge. For whatever reason, I was thinking that “Peace Bridge” would be an improvement on the Edmund Pettis Bridge so was in Alabama until the end. As for DAPS, “offers” really threw me off. If you just offer a fist you haven’t DAPped, yet. DAPS take two so all that clue evoked here was “don’t leave me hanging, bro.” And like Rex, was not thinking music so the 3D clue was killing me softly. Unlike Rex, I didn’t stay in the NW. STRUT/TSO got me into the rest of the puzzle and it was a pleasant solve. Eventually came back in to the NW via NANOTECH and SWOON, the R-W gave me ARROW and then the NW fell in a trice.
BRAINFART is a perfect term. Mildly embarrassing. Everyone does it. Causes the mildest of momentary discomfort. Used in a self-deprecating way. It is a perfect term for the phenomenon. And so Rex’s FART musings were funny to read. But Rex being Rex, I had a LOL moment at getting to the end of the FARTing and finding a video of a song titled Beautiful Gas Mask. 🤣😂Chef’s Kiss😂🤣
D PLUS, NAKED LIES, HOLES, Am I the only one detecting a subtweet?
👍🏽👍🏽👍🏽
**wordle talk**
One vowel in the wrong place, one vowel in the right place, one vowel in the right place, solved. Oddest feeling solve ever for me.
I agree 100% with Rex today, especially about the NW, which was brutal. I still don’t understand DAPS, probably just me being an old person. Also very much dislike BRAINFART, always have, and all fart humor. The world seems to be turning into an adolescent boy.
The rest of the puzzle was great, I loved BODICERIPPERS which I got instantly, although I haven’t actually read any for several decades, and the reference to Hamilton and Burr. And to BTS, always welcome in the puzzle.
Welp I knew TONKATSU and I thought BRAINFART was just excellent, so unlike Rex I had a joyous time with today's puzzle. Everything fell into place with ease. Ran a Friday in 6 minutes... which is VERY fast for me, I'm normally a 3-4 minute Monday solver but my average Friday is up around 17. This played like a Wednesday in my opinion.
BRAIN FART isn’t bad, but who wants to be staring at TONKATSU for goodness sakes. The good: no verbal synonyms today ! The not so good: With at least 100,000 valid ways to clue ALICE they chose to require a magnifying glass to read the clue - if you are going to have ASL in your grid, why not at least a token accommodation to the visually impaired as well ?
BODICE RIPPER - had not heard of that one, sounds a touch on the risqué side but maybe I’m reading too much into it. I don’t get the clue for HOLES (Green features) - all I can think of are OZONE holes (I forget, are they good or bad ?). That, along with the two trivial entries (OWENS, ENSOR) made the SW mini section a real challenge until LENO and the USSR came to the rescue.
@Lewis - I appreciate how you phrased it, “a saying attributed to…” Attribution is a perilous thing. I’m pretty sure Maya Angelou said that, but somebody else said it first, and I’m pretty sure the essential idea preceded Carl W. Buehner saying it on the radio and then it getting added to a book of quotes in 1971.
And speaking of frequent misattributions…
@Anoa Bob Late - Churchill also allegedly said something along the lines of “democracy is the worst form of government ever concocted by men… other than every other form of government.” This pretty much sums up my opinion.
I appreciate Rex for trying to give me a way to remember BTS (which I never seem to remember). But somehow knowing it comes from "Bangtan Sonyeondan" isn't likely to do it for me. I'll try Bacon Tomato Submarine for now (hold the lettuce). I also need help with REI, which I want to make REm every time I see it clued. (Here's the sad truth--there is an REI store less than 15 blocks from my home, and I still can't remember it! Must be a BRAIN F_ _ T.)
Easy Friday for me. Very close to my personal best.
If I were to clue a Hidden Diagonal Word (HDW) in today's grid as: Vlad _____ (aka Dracula)--would anybody know the 5 letter answer was TEPES? I am very aware of "the Impaler," but never knew he is sometimes referred to as Vlad Tepes (tepes being the Romanian word for impaler). Just wondering ...
What everyone is saying about the NW, except TONKATSU was a gimme. Ha ha, no, it needed every cross. If you put that in immediately, good for you, and I don't believe you.
NE corner was sticky until I remembered actually seeing Goya FRESCOES s in a chapel in Madrid. They[re up on the inside of a dome and seem to be looking down at you over a railing. Way cool, and a very nice memory.
Took a while to see BOXEDWINE as I tend to think of it as "box wine". Also, I don't buy it, so low on the familiarity scale. DPLUS should have been more obvious, as I was only thinking that DPL..... was a very odd way to spell anything.
All in all a terrific Friday with just the right amount of crunch to lead to a very satisfying solve. Thanks for all the fun, AL. We're Always Lucky to have you on a Friday. Come back soon.
Wordle 244 5/6
⬛⬛⬛⬛🟩
⬛⬛⬛⬛🟩
⬛⬛⬛⬛🟩
⬛⬛🟩🟩🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
Strange hole today - I had one correct letter out of my first 15 and was lucky to escape with a bogey. 6-under after 16.
Wow, wonderful Friday! Agree it was a tad fast. Lots of fun clues and delightful word play. And Sophia Loren. TGIF.
@Southside Johnny - That is a golf clue for HOLES, but because the “green —> eco” connection is so common in clues I am not surprised your thoughts went to the ozone HOLE.
Also, Did you know that you can make the clues appear larger? Clue size is one of the settings in the app and on a computer using “alt+” or “⌘+” will zoom the screen making everything easier to read.
BTW - I occasionally see people mentioning having tech issues here. Your local public library probably has a free or very low cost computer class that will cover the basics and the teachers are usually more than willing to help people overcome frustrations. If something frustrates you, it probably has frustrated others, and someone has probably come up with a solution.
Lots of obscuria + segmented corners = not much fun. Liked FRESCOES and NAKED LIE. Wanted mortal ENEMIES. Dislike BRAIN FART when I hear it in conversation - don’t want it in my puzzle. Assuming I’m not the only one who had to back into OWENS.
I’ll take a pass on this one.
This was hard and easy and hard and easy and overall really nice. A lot of outside my wheelhouse pop culture but I somehow managed to get through it. I got BODICE RIPPERS without a single cross, which felt nice. Sorry, Rex, a BRAIN FART has nothing to do with farts and I thought it was a great answer.
I prefer the term "cerebral flatulence" myself. And every time I see a clue for that Korean band, I know it starts with B and my brain, feeling slightly bloated, always wants to fill in BLT.
Many years ago, when I was in college, my Economics professor needed a beautiful woman to use in an example and he used Sophia Loren. But he called her Sophie. A kid in the back yelled out "Sophie?," and the professor, quick as a flash, replied, "Well, to her friends."
Decades later I reconnected with him and one of the first things he asked me was whether I remembered his Sophia Loren moment, and I said, "Of course, we all loved it."
We began a correspondance and at one point I mentioned a New Yorker article about cultural points of reference: how each generation has its own cultural icons. And I said, for example, if I needed a beautiful woman for an example in class today, I wouldn't use Sophia Loren. I'd use Taylor Swift.
And he wrote back, "Who's Taylor Swift?"
Thx Aimee; an ideal Fri. puz! :)
Med.
A great workout, with just the right amt of resistance.
Finally getting a solid handle on a few things, e.g., BTS, TEA, DAPS, ASL, SEIKO, REI, UDON, ENSOR.
Unknowns: TONKATSU, BODICE RIPPER, BOXED WINE.
Good stuff; liked it a lot!
@thfenn (12:10 PM yd)
Well said! :)
___
yd pg: (8:58) W: 6*
Peace ~ Compassion ~ Tolerance ~ Kindness to all 🕊
Another “not Helga” sighting on my Twitter Feed (I haven’t read the jeremiad - but the graphic caught my eye)
@Anon8:27 - 👍🏽👍🏽👍🏽👍🏽 for “cerebral flatulence.” And maybe BLT stands for “Bacon, Lettuce, and TONKATSU.”
Rex, do you like fried chicken? Do you like schnitzel? If so, you will like tonkatsu. Try it!
Oh, don't be! Please, please don't be, I said to myself as I resisted writing in 17A for as long as I could. Now you all know that I am seldom to never offended by anything in a puzzle, but I was very offended by this. By the "Look how naughty I am"-ness of it. By the "Look how adorable I am"-ness of it. But all I saw was the sophomoric smuttiness of it. It was like one of those BAD APPLES cited in 33D -- "corrupting" the rest of what would otherwise have been a nice themeless with some good stuff in it.
The taste levels of our culture keep falling until you sometimes think they can't go any lower. I think the NYT has an obligation not to be pulled down right along with it. You're not being "with it" and "contemporary", NYT -- you're just being...tasteless.
Re, BTS, not only does Rex choose to ignore our comments, he apparently fails to read his guest commentators as well.
I was having a zippy run through this thing until I hit the SW corner. NW didn't cause a problem at all, thanks to reasonable crosses, but Queen Latifas' real name and the Belgian crossing not SSRs but USSR caused a problem.
Dom. Rep. announced the end of all virus restrictions this week. Hope it's not wishful thinking.
Hey All ?
Almost got through Goog free, but ALAS, not to be. Had to look up Torpid and Queen Latifah. Weird that they were consecutive clues. But was getting antsy at that point, and the ole BRAIN wasn't coming up with anything. Ah well.
There's a good story in this grid is someone wants to come up with one. I was going to try, but not enough time this morning.
Liked the puz overall, tough enough for a FriPuz (I can hear the people who hate when posters say that groaning!)
In NW, had SWOON in, but couldn't get any Downs to work, so took it out, and then was able to fill that corner in. Weird how that works, when SWOON turned out correct.
yd -7, should'ves 4
Three F's
RooMonster
DarrinV
Easy and (mostly) enjoyable. Starting out, crosswordese DAPS suggested DEBTS, followed by the rest of that corner; then TONKATSU-->TSO-->CONES and an unfurling to the bottom. I thought the center section was really good. also NAKED LIE and WORE DOWN. I was surprised at 17A, didn't care for the ooh, look at me vibe.
Very easy. This was a Wednesday for me. TONKASU was my only WOE and the crosses were cake. Could be a wheelhouse thing? I put in DAPS/DEBTS immediately and finished the NW in a trice.
Sparkly and smooth, but light on challenge, liked it.
POT, FARTS, FORENSICS, HEARSES and NAKED BODICE RIPPERS. Way to keep things classy NYTX. Just kidding! I’m not BITTER but I won’t LIE, I could’ve done without the farting. And as Rex pointed out, my automatic response to 48A as clued was D MINUS. But okay, I’ll apply the Rule of @Joaquin there and let it slide. I don’t love BOXED WINE but what a perfect entry to kick off the weekend. Thanks Aimee. Much to ADORE here.
I liked TRASH under BODICE RIPPERS which my dear mother - who had one of the purest hearts I ever knew - read voraciously. She used to buy those things by the dozen at garage sales and always had stacks of them within reach. I never shared her level of enthusiasm but would occasionally read one that she recommended. Nearly all of them WORE a cover depicting the breathless half NAKED heroine valiantly battling the irresistible charms of the handsome dashing man determined to possess her. My hubby once saw me reading one and asked “what would your mother think if she knew you read those trashy books?” Little did he know she was the very source of my corruption. 😂
wow, what a stodgy group of folks here. I thought BRAINFART was one of the high points of the puz, although I have pretty lowbrow tastes, so yeah . . . .
and rex complaining about TONKATSU because he never heard of it says more about his provincial taste in food than anything else. I think it's perfectly fine for a Friday, which BTW was well under my average time and only a minute off my fastest. The long stackers were awesome (Here's looking at you, BODICERIPPER!)
If I had any little nitpick, it was the stack of OWENS/ENSOR in the SW. That was just sheer guessing on my part.
While today's puz skewed super easy for me, today's Wordle was just a disaster. Happy to escape with a bogey and move on to the next HOLE.
Wordle 244 5/6
⬜⬜⬜⬜🟩
🟨⬜⬜⬜🟩
⬜⬜🟨⬜🟩
⬜🟩⬜⬜🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
@jae
You stole my post. I had the exact same solving experience.
Wordle 244 4/6
⬛⬛⬛⬛🟩
⬛⬛🟨⬛🟩
⬛🟩⬛⬛🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
Lucky guess to make par.
@pabloinnh - Well, TONKATSU was a gimme for me, and my first foothold into the puzzle. I can never remember the name of the Japanese mat quite right or the Japanese robe or sash or whatever, but once you start talking food of any country, I'm on it! TONKATSU is typically served with, well, katsu sauce. If you have a grocery store with an Asian section, you are likely to find Katsu Sauce there. Heck, I live in a Mexican neighborhood, and they have katsu sauce. The "ton" part of "tonkatsu" specifies that it's a pork cutlet. Even better -- in my opinion -- is tonkatsu (or chicken katsu) served with Japanese curry and rice. Comfort food of the gods! I understand TONKATSU may be somewhat esoteric, but if uni, unagi, bonito, ahi, soba, udon are all fair game, tonkatsu should be as well.
Not my fastest Friday, but half the time of my average Friday, so easy peasy lemon squeezy here. Though the above fell in quickly for me, the NW still had the most bite, with me being unable to see PIANO, ARROW, and SWOON, quickly. My brain was stuck trying to force a three-letter verb into the beginning of S--ON for the fainting clue, only to realize after a minute or so that a two word answer wasn't going to happen there.
BODICERIPPERS was the clear highlight of the puzzle. There's a phrase I've never used, but always liked its liveliness.
I'm genuinely befuddled how "brain fart," the name of a political hack one despises, or really any word at all appearing in a crossword can affect someone's mood or solving experience. How can a functioning adult allow themselves to be harmed by abstract symbols on a page? I'm really trying to ask this without causing offense - my question is sincere, no condescension meant. I just don't get it.
The world will never conform to our desires or sensibilities. How can a mere word, any word, cause offense or even distraction, unless YOU give it permission?
(I'm not picking on Nancy above, or Uncle Rex - this is just something that's been rolling through my mind ever since I followed this blog long enough to see this type of debate repeatedly. Just seemed an opportune to raise my befuddlement.)
Barely settled into my chair before this was finished. Almost a PB for a Friday. Faster than my average Wednesday time.
Just caught the right wavelength, I guess.
So, of course, I loved it and feel that all the clues and answers are terrific 😊
I ADORE Aimee’s puzzle even though I don’t SWOON over the BOXED WINE she espoused in the grid. Since my go to order in a sushi joint is always TONKATSU & my nephew hosts a NANO TECH blog plus referral last evening in my Good Reads critique of The Alice Network as dropping in places to BODICE RIPPER level……well, ALAS, some days just click & are over before they’re begun. I’m not inclined to get HUFFY about an easy Friday that crosses NCR & RNS, tosses in OSH by gosh or sneaks singers I never play into my Como collection of LPs. (Thanks Rex for the BTS tutorial—will try to remember)
Can you tell me how a HOST is a RAFT???
Lewis put his finger on one of my biggest pleasures in solving, "remembering things long dormant."
One of the things I don't like about BRAINFART is that the person saying it thinks he's being naughtily cute.
I had a problem in the SW. DPLUS is closer to an average grade than to a failing grade. I thought it might be DPASS.
Nice crunchy puzzle.
NANOTECH was a new word for me. Do any of you have any experience with it?
TONKATSU was a gimme (lived in Japan for a year), loved BRAINFART and BODICERIPPER. Set a new personal record for Fridays.
Along with everyone else, I had a tough time up in the NW. It wasn't helped by the fact that I knew exactly what the pork cutlet was but spelled it as dONKATSU instead of TONKATSU (Don is the Korean version).
I have a problem with BODICERIPPER even though it's a great answer. Many many years ago I swore I would never read a BODICERIPPER. When I was reading Pynchon's Mason & Dixon, about 100 pages in, a woman literally rips off her bodice. Joke or not, I simply got up, closed the book, and placed it on the shelf where it has remained ever since. A man has to stick to his principles.
I very much enjoyed this puzzle even though I DNF’d in the RASP (I had HISS), ALTO (at first I had MEAN) area. I KNOW RAFT can mean “a slew of,” but I had a BRAINF%#@ and just could not think of it! (And I had the offensive word in place)
Speaking of which, I guess I’m more like @Z with the term BRAINFART. It might be because I was until just recently steeped in office talk and I’m desensitized to the potential crudeness of this “other F word.” And this coming from a person whose family NEVER said either of the F words. My mother used to say “are you windy”? At any rate, my only nit is with the clue…I don’t think of it so much as a “mental err” (or was it error?) as much as a “temporary mental block” which I suppose could be “err.”
@Brian A at SLC….I imagine you will get MANY responses to your question…🤣🤣🤣
There is something very odd about a puzzle when I can finish it (in the newspaper edition using pen and ink) in six or seven minutes. Paused in only two places: "dank" and "ensor", neither of which/whom I have ever heard. And in Boston, at least, "General
Tso" is unknown as it is always "General Gao's Chicken." A bright (and for me, lightning fast) way to begin a Friday.
@Peter P-I certainly believe you and no disrespect meant. Even here in the wilds of NH I am within take out distance of a number of Japanese, Chinese, Thai, and Mexican restaurants and it's just a word I've never seen (or haven't remembered). So, applying OFL's logic, if I don't know it it shouldn't be there.
Anyway, it sounds delicious and I will search for it on various menus with hope of success.
Fun puzzle but I got held up by a lot of answers that were partially right: Got crushed because I was convinced of “Mortal Enemies” and not “Bitter Enemies.” Once I got past that, I couldn’t close because I didn’t know “Bodice-Rippers” at all so couldn’t suss out the first letters of that. Also had “NANOTEST” instead of “NANOTECH.”Plus I had “SSRS” and not “USSR” so I couldn’t close on “D-Plus.”
@Kenny 10:46 – HOST and RAFT are both synonyms of "plethora".
There was a host of piñatas for El Guapo's birthday.
There was a raft of piñatas for El Guapo's birthday.
In both cases it means:
many, many piñatas.
@OffTheGrid (6:29) Totally agree with you about the sleaze factor in our entertainment venues. My response is identical to yours: “Is that really the best you can do? THIS is what do you think I want to see?” I mean, it’s offensive in so many ways, but especially in the sense that the producers of those programs actually think I will find that sort of thing appealing. It seems to be especially prevalent in the series programs which have become so popular on the cable networks. And it’s interesting that you mention Succession in particular because I decided not to even try that one out based solely on their embarrassingly smutty promo ads. I figure if they had to stoop to that level to try to get me to watch, it was only going to get worse. Thank you for verifying that it did.
On the subject of cable series however, I will say I have found one with great promise which is The Gilded Age on HBO, set in the early days of New York City Society. Not exactly PG material but so far all “adult” subject matter has been very tastefully done. And the acting - led by the marvelous Christine Baranski as family matriarch and the spinster niece played by Cynthia Nixon - has been superb at every level. Monday nights at 9:00 Eastern on HBO. Currently going into the fifth episode but has already been renewed for another season. I highly recommend it.
CheapWINE and morTalENEMIES before getting sorted out, but thought this was, oh, a BODICERIPPER. Lots of fun. First thought after BRAINcramp wouldn't fit was BRAINFART works, but didn't write it in because some voice was whispering "that wouldn't be in here", so was very happy that it was.
@Brian A, I think the short answer to your question is that words aren't random arrangements of abstract symbols. They have meaning, or name something, and one thing I love about this blog is actually seeing how often they have wildly different meanings and spark widely different associations for different people.
@bocamp, thank you. @H Gunn, appreciate your reply yesterday. Just disagree. I don't think Wordle posts have created a dual, or even unwelcome, focus. Your, and everyone's, thoughts on baseball, tennis, knitting, baking, NASCAR, and trains are welcome reading, to me anyway.
TGIF.
yeah, had DANK. no freaking idea how that is POT when hOT is far closer. I guess if I were 20-something...
can't say that I recall DAPping as using a fist?
@mathgent - "One of the things I don't like about BRAINFART is that the person saying it thinks he's being naughtily cute."
Nah. I call it a "brain fart" because that's what the idiom is. It's the phrase in my dialect that happens to convey that thought of a mental slip. I've never thought much more into it. I'm certainly not trying to be "naughty" or "cute." (I can think of much better words if I'm trying to be naughty or cute, but I'll keep it PG.) I suppose I could also call it a "senior moment," but I suspect that would also be met with a grumpy two-hundred-fifty word aside on how that's an inappropriate answer.
@Kenny, LOL, I can't. But I'm sure others here can and will be back to find out.
@Z:
Churchill made no claim to originate that phrase. Trump-like, he asserted that
"[I]t has been said that democracy is the worst form of Government except all those other forms that have been tried from time to time; but there is the broad feeling in our country that the people should rule, and that public opinion expressed by all constitutional means, should shape, guide, and control the actions of Ministers who are their servants and not their masters."
here: https://prawfsblawg.blogs.com/prawfsblawg/2019/01/misquoting-churchill-on-democracy.html
so, where did it originate??
"Aristotle considered democracy to be the worst form of government, though in his classification it meant mob rule. The best form of government, a polity, was, in contemporary terms, akin to an efficient, stable democracy. "
here: https://www.britannica.com/topic/political-science/Historical-development
well... in times past (years, not centuries) a BRAIN FART was called a SENIOR MOMENT; esp. if the perpetrator wasn't a SENIOR, of course.
Next stop : Google, Define “DAPS”.
I did solve the puzzle, but the NW was slow to fall. I realized right away that the KATSU part of 20A was somewhere in my brain and that I would recognize it, but whether it started or ended the word and the remaining letters were a total toss up. It reminded me how much I love the atmosphere of the little Japanese restaurant down the street that serves it. Yataimura Maru. It's been too long.
It was a satisfying aha to see PIANO and that opened the way.
Yay! for BODICERIPPERS, the most engaging answer of the day.
I was also happy to get BITTERENEMIES. It makes me feel l've done okay in spite of my woefully poor history education K-12. It seemed every year in fall we started with the Nina, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria, and ended in spring with Westward Expansion. Oh, except for the year we studied 2 states. Ours (at the time) Wyoming, and one of our choice. Mine was Oregon. Fatefully, as it turned out.
Nanotechnology is basically atomic scale mechanical devices. I don't know what "study" has to do with it so the clue is misleading. "Small scale, for short" would have been a better clue.
My wife, a pseudo prude, corrects people who say “fart”. “You mean Woofter” she’ll aver. So perhaps BRAINwoofter would be acceptable.
Shout out to Claire. I hope she did today’s puzzle and had the thrill of seeing the Bulletproof Boy Scouts in the grid.
Alternate clue:
30A. Nepotistic advice for an employer?
HIRE SON
24D. Son’s response to hiring offer.
SHERPA
Wonderful puzzle. Thank you, Aimee Lucido.
Anyone else think it odd that Rex complains about the inappropriate inclusion of "fart" but doesn't have a problem with occasionally including "f**k" in his comments?
They seriously censored a pot-related clue in the year of our Lord 2022?? But left farts? ;)
I didn't intend to commont today, but after reading the comments I've changed my mind.
I have to dislike any crossword puzzle that has an entry similar to the one for 17A (I refuse to repeat it.) It's not that I dislike slang, although too much is too much. It's just that low class slang is something I find demeaning, and hip slang I find anti-intellectual. It doesn't matter if I'm wight or wrong. It just matters how I feel when doing a puzzle. So I pretty much dislike today's puzzle and pretty much agree with Nancy. If one were to complain to me that the NYT puzzles are being dumb-downed, I'm not sure what my reply would be.
Let me comment on the Wordie issue, which is why I am commenting at all. The general rule seems to me to be that one can digress in a comment as long as one includes (or has already included) comment about the crossword puzzle itself. If I am correct, Wordie comments will continue to infiltrate these comments (that's a bad attempt at humor) as long as the commentator includes something about the puzzle itself. This may be confusing. Maybe a moderator can explain in greater detail. Maybe even Mike can.
I once went to a Sophia LOREN tribute in San Francisco and found myself sitting near Sophia Herself in the press section during a screening of “Two Women” before she was called up on the stage to be interviewed. Her beauty was so stunning that I finally understood how ancients came to believe that gods live among us. She won the Oscar for her performance in that film and, as she watched herself on the big screen during a heart-wrenching moment, I happened to notice that she had tears in her eyes. She seemed as beautiful on the inside as she was on the outside.
And, oh yeah, I really liked the puzzle.
My clue was "dank", which was and is a word I never heard or read as a POT synonym. The only really bad thing in an otherwise good puzzle. I'll blame WS. I blame myself for being so slow to come up with BAD APPLES, which I needed to complete the puzzle. Of course I wanted WATER AEROBICS but that seemed too obscure. Though come to think of it, there must be millions of women to took that class during pregnancy -- my wife did at our local Y.
It does occur to me that an English major likely read some Chaucer in high school, maybe even in Junior High. The Miller's Tale, in particular, precisely because it features FARTs, and indeed other naughty words such as "quaynte", old Geoff's version of the C word. Plus the Miller and the Reeve have a far more entertaining battle than LENO ever took part in with is late-night rivals. Lotta swiving going on! And in my day, you could not find any erotic literature in your school library, and your public library was likely pretty prudish too. But Chaucer they had, and Chaucer I read. I was especially fascinated by the Wyf of Bath.
I can only hope tomorrow's puzzle is just as gettable. In my experience Fridays are the toughest of the week, and if I complete it with nary a writeover, I can be proud.
@pmdp - Is BRAINFART supposed to be an example of "low class slang"? I can't tell if that post is being serious or just taking the piss.
My favorite comments this morning.
Whatsername (10:36)
Peter P (10:40)
Ok. We are now vulgar -- 17A. Shame on you Will Shortz. What's next?
The F-word?
@TJS (12:06) Yes, I had that same thought. This from a guy who invented the term “Scrabble effing??” But I suppose we all have our standards.
Same here, exactly. I looked at comments and saw that you and I are in the minority here, so far. Vulgarity is another form of dumbing down.
ERIE was an absolute gimme (shocked that Rex wouldn’t know it) and I knew TONKATSU though I had it grossly misspelled at first. Switched to the north which fell in easily and that gave me the unBRAINFART which led to the rest of the NW falling.
Btw, I just don’t get the aversion to BRAINFART at all. When I or someone else says it my brain doesn’t even think about the lower “windy” connection. And that’s coming from someone who spent the last 25 years working in a sewage treatment plant. And what’s so wrong with farts anyway? We all have them, whether we admit it or not. I just don’t get American’s general aversion to the human body.
My biggest stumble today was in the SW. Had WORE____ and just couldn’t see DOWN for the longest time. Didn’t know BODICERIPPERS (and if that offends you don’t *ever* read the stuff from the Victorian Era!!). Wanted Dminus before plopping down fPLUS(!?). Got HOLES but didn’t know ENSOR and OWENS.
Fun, learned some things, what more can one ask?
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Wordle 244 5/6*
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I'm so glad I got the "Dope" clue for 8D instead of "Dank" that Rex mentions. My knowledge of drug slang dates back to the anti-drug films we saw in the '70s in high school health class. "Dope" was around that long ago.
I'm with Rex on the appearance of the BRAIN F-word. It so irritated me that when I got to 33D, with BAD filled in, I said to myself, "Oh, we're going to be like that today" and started entering BAD Ass.... Too short, thank goodness.
Otherwise, only AnniE before ALICE gave me any trouble today. Aimee Lucido, thanks for an easy, breezy Friday puzzle.
Both mean “a lot.” Not a common use of raft, but that is one of its meanings.
@Tony M:
ERIE was an absolute gimme
not necessarily, since most of the Fake News has been about clogging crossings in and around Ottawa, which is nowhere near Niagara Falls. "Slowly I turned, step by step..." and the clue/name, naturally, is (I suspect) chosen for the irony associated with the Trucker nonsense elsewhere.
1A Pool units: LAPS
1D Pulitzer winning playwright of "August:Osage County": LETTS
17A Amount for the Acela: TRAIN FARE
8D "The Gold Bug" author: POE
Fixed it.
A good Friday, BRAINFART and all. I feel it's been colloquially common for decades so there is no "I am so naughtily cute" about it. Just hasn't been in NYTCW.
BODICERIPPERS was was unknown to me. Sounded a bit rape-like to me so I thought that might cause a todo here. When I found out what they were I recognized the genre. Not a feminist favorite. But let women enjoy what they enjoy. I enjoy some trash-lit myself. When I had the PPERS I was going down the BarrelpePPERS BananapePPERS type of steamy.
okay before ITIS and morTal before BITTER slowed things down a bit.
My favorite answer was the mixed double pun of NAKEDLIE. I mean WOW!
Eventually the crosses got me there. A rather large eventually.
In the SW I thought there were plenty of gettable crosses in both directions. In approximate order: BTS SEP LENO USSR HOLES WOREDOWN DPLUS BADAPPLES TRASHES. The fact that WATERAEROBICS went in early probably was key to solving 70% of the puzzle. An anchor to grasp on to when crosses were looking iffy.
I won't say it was easy but there were enough gimmies sprinkled in that I wasn't dealing with empty space anywhere for long.
Aldrin and Owens both took new names and both are from New Jersey. Glen Ridge and Newark. Not *quite* the same New Jersey. But relatively close.
bills loans before DEBTS.
I went to see the Polish Wieniawaski Philharmonic Orchestra (Wojciech Rodek conducting and piano soloist Tomasz Ritter on piano). Seventy plus people on stage. My first large on stage indoor music since the birth of covid. As much fun as my first covid era baseball game. Every other row seating made it extra comfy watching too. Ritter was wonderful. Rodek too. All music 150 to 190 years old except for encores. Rex might think it stale. And yes more old folks than young folks in attendance. But Oh to hear a full orchestra again.
Good clue for ERIE. I think it has been in the news lately.
Wanderlust,
Raft is by far the most common term for a large group of ducks on the water.
Rex's whole paragraph complaining about farts appearing in crosswords is a whole lot funnier when you remember that he once wrote an entire puzzle about farts for BuzzFeed.
Don't mean to be HUFFY but it's a dark and stormy day hereabouts so I have some IDLE time to ask what the following all have in common: DAP, CONE, HIRE ON, BITTER ENEMY, BODICE RIPPER, TRASH, HOLE, NEW, DEBT, BAD APPLE, STREET, COIN OP, FRESCO, RN & HEED? Final Jeopardy theme plays as contestants look like they are having a painful BRAIN FART until at the last second one writes "What is too small for their respective grid slots" and wins a year's supply of BOXED WINE (and valuable points toward their POC merit badge).
With 38 black squares we get a lot more short stuff than we usually see in a themeless grid.
More evidence of carry-over repetition between puzzles---yesterday we got RAT HOLES, today we get HOLES.
Or if you want a cutesier clue for 17a –
Cost of some bridal apparel?: TRAIN FARE
Nice little staircase in the center. My favorite is the odd looking string ERAERO in the middle of WATER AEROBICS. And BODICE RIPPERS of course.
I hear BRAIN FREEZE more often than... that flatulence word.
PIANO is one of those Italian words that you run into over there, usually meaning a completely different thing. In this case "floor" as in "third floor". And "camera" means "room". And "opera" means "work", as in construction.
[Spelling Bee: yd pg -4, just a train wreck.]
From "Our Senses: An Immersive Experience" - Page 145
Rob DeSalle · 2018
Many of you may have heard of the rather gross term “brain fart” (it's actually in the Oxford English Dictionary). The brain fart is simply a momentary and temporary lapse of brain function usually tied to loss of memory.
Raft and host are akin to shitload.
I visited my son many times during the six years he lived in Japan, so I know the names of most common Japanese foods, but don't always remember which name goes with which food. So for the pork cutlets, I first tried to put in 'katsura,' which is actually a kind of tree. But the crosses fixed it right up. ENSOR though, I knew (already had the E), and when I first saw the term BODICE RIPPER, I thought it was such a nifty name for the genre that I've remembered it ever since.
I hesitated to fill in 17A, but then I looked at the name of the constructor, who generally is a no-limits type (plus lots of high tech and pop culture, and tricksy clues). I'd never actually say that, but it also didn't bother me.
I grew up maybe 50 miles away from Oshkosh WI, so I'm always taken aback by that upper-case K in the brand name. I guess that's the way they do it, though.
Here are the Dresden Dolls on one of those COIN-OPS
"Dope" is a much better clue for POT than "dank." Maybe I'm behind the times, but I've always heard "dank" as an adjective, not a noun -- e.g., "that's some dank s**t," but not just "that's some dank"
Thank you Evan. Now we know that in addition to being a scold, killjoy, we also know he’s a hypocrite.
We all know he has a hard on for Shortz, but to take him to task for the same sin he himself committed is hard to take.
@Peter P. I agree that when the word BRAIN#@$% has been used among my work colleagues and friends it is not meant in a “naughtily cute” way. Like I said above, THAT eff word was NEVER said in my family when I was a kid and even later. I guess because of that I DO understand how folks would think it is a crude colloquialism AND even though I filled in the answer I questioned whether it was acceptable to the NYT. I did learn as I grew older that MANY people have ALWAYS just called it that…none of the “passing gas,” “broke wind,” etc. and that they do not think of it as “naughty.” This is to be distinguished from things that relate to the act, ie…people lighting them OR audible gags that sound disgusting. (Please no one tell me the true meaning of disgusting)
Easy-peasy. Scored my best time ever for a Friday, though still 10 seconds longer than my best Saturday time. Go figure.
I liked this, even the BRAIN FART. Lots of unique answers, some nice clues (USSR). I got the gist of the credit card clue but put in loanS at first instead of DEBTS, which does make more sense. But that didn’t slow me up too much in the NW - I finished last in the SW, where I couldn’t see the second part of WORE AWAY and where I did not know Queen Latifah’s real last name or have the slightest idea about the Belgian expressionist. But still finished closer to my best Friday than to my average.
DC resident here. I’ve given many a tour of the city and explained why there is no “J” among the alphabet STREETS in Washington. The fun but apocryphal answer is that Thomas Jefferson and John Jay, the first US Supreme Court Chief Justice, were BITTER ENEMIES, and Jefferson banned J Street. The less interesting but more likely answer is that the letters I and J were pretty much indistinguishable then. (There also are no X, Y or Z streets.)
ive never liked the term brainfart, including today. too trite. made tonkatsu for dinner a couple weeks ago so knew that from the K. the only hard thing was getting stuck on MILE at 52D and couldnt make sense of either across (NMK lol) until i finally found the X for BOXED.
best thing about todays puzzle was that it gave a ton of good 5-letter starters - usually fri/sat are not so kind and i have to go with a low probability start. yday was so bad i had to use TOURS from STARTOURS.
Wordle 244 2/6
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using a word from that days puzzle makes it so much more interesting than the same high quality word every day. makes it a little harder too.
and no, im not going to say im "14 under" because 4 is not par.
Can we chalk I up to some people having BRAIN FARTs?
@Beezer - I guess it's just how you grew up. "Fart" was never an objectionable word. Between my wife, the dog, me, and two kids, we probably use the word near "daily." We're a gassy bunch. Hell, last night, it was (directed to me from my wife) "did you fart or was that the dog?" The morning before: "Why does mom fart so much?" from the 7-year-old. When we're feeling delicate, we may use the word "poot," but, generally, it's "farts" all around. I mean, it's just a fart. We all have 'em, we all do 'em, why dress them up? Similarly, my kids (5 and 7) are well aware and use the term "shart" where appropriate. That one I could sorta see as pushing the boundaries a bit, but, eh, who cares. My 7-year-old, being clever, asked me how to say "seal" in French. The dirty rascal!
@2:19
well... I don't know about that, in the sense of disliking Shortz. he clearly does, but the term (which is more offensive to most than FART, btw) when used in the sense you propound, always reminds me of what Mae West is reputed to have said (IRL, or script I don't recall). let's go see...
" “Lieutenant,” she ad-libbed with a Westian leer, “is that your sword or are you just glad to see me?” "
much discussion here: https://quoteinvestigator.com/2013/08/20/glad-to-see/
Wordle 6 5/6
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Wordle 7 5/6
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Wordle 10 4/6
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Wordle 11 3/6
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@Evan (1:49 pm)
Yikes! Great catch. How funny.
Though in Michael's defense, that puzzle was published more than 6 years ago, and a lot of wind has broken since then.
Yes, like a "whole raft of new ideas."
"But anything even vaguely (even metaphorically!) scatological kinda spoils the solving mood for me."
I agree 100% in all communication, except maybe if there was something I needed to discuss with a medical professional.
Dordle is a strange game.
Daily Dordle #0025 2&6/7
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@Peter P. Thanks for sharing.
This thread just reveals/confirms how uncomfortable most Americans are with their bodies and their bodily functions.
As far as BRAINFART "dumbing down" the puzzles, I think that conflates two very different phenomena. The reality is that today's puzzles, for whatever reason, are a bit easier than their counterparts from only 10 years ago, and are a whole quantum level easier than what was being published 20 years ago. Anyone working their way through the archives would agree.
And yes, 4 = par on Wordle. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise.
I note that Rex’s “Fart” puzzle (thanks @Evan) also includes t.he word “fuck” in the clue for 64A.
@Anonymous 4:35 - Just my way of showing how ridiculous the complaints are.
All,
Come on. Rex is a bloviator. The worst kind of pundit— always throwing stones, casting aspersions, making wild claims —based on his, imho, grotesque moral calculus—with no genuine push back. He’s indemnified himself with the, imho. Bogus claim that he doesn’t read the comments.
Peeps. Rex is a bad guy. The worst kind of guy. An acolyte of the latest fad, not willing to consider other points of view.
He’s terrific at critiquing the puzzle— his pathological Shorts hatred excepted—-but that expertise is no endorsement of his world view.
If you enjoy a good German schnitzel, you will also love a good TONKATSU. I had my first one at 5, when a family from Japan moved in next door, and of course, my grandmother made friends post haste. She brought cookies and we received something- I don’t remember my very first taste of Japanese cuisine but I do recall Gran helping acquaint the neighbors with shopping an the bus system. It wasn't long at all before Gran and Mrs.H (embarrassed to have forgotten their name) had found so much in common.
I remember one Sunday evening Gran made schnitzel and Mrs. H made TONKATSU. And both families (6 of us and 4 of our neighbors) connected through food. I swear we could achieve world peace if we could all just sit down and share a meaningful meal.
Very enjoyable puzzle.
Thank you! I use the term because it's a very common, harmless term that people understand. There's no "cuteness " involved. Yeesh...
I had the opposite experience from many. As I sipped my BOXEDWINE, the NW filled easily, although I have never heard of TONKATSU. But I also never heard of a BODICERIPPER, so that (nor either of the other two long answers) came to me, which would have helped jump start my finish. Also not a fan of stacked PPP in the SW (OWENS over ENSOR)
@Penna Resident (3:40) -- I, too, have gotten in the habit of using a word from the day's puzzle as my first word in Wordle. It makes for a nice additional challenge -- though some times there's a word that's a great choice as one was today.
You and I obviously used the same first word -- but I didn't have the spectacular eagle that you had. I had to settle for a birdie.
Wordle 244 3/6
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@Evan and others - So Rex wrote a puzzle for a site that specifically aimed at a crowd that might want a puzzle that was “naughty or edgy or something” six years ago? I’m not sure this makes the point you think it does.
I don’t think “senior moment” and BRAIN FART are quite the same. The latter has more of a self-deprecating embarrassment to it. I do agree that “cute” does not quite apply, but I get why that might be someone’s reaction.
@Anon4:35 - Have you tried Quordle? I’ve had several DNFs.
Daily Quordle #25
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quordle.com
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@Unknown 5:37 - 44 solves and I have 15 3s and 17 4s. If this is typical than “par” is really something like 3.5.
TONKATSU is the usual protein served in the traditional preparation of a bowl of UDON in a ramen restaurant.
@anon
Why should he come here and deal with you? Earlier. today you accused him of having a hard on for shortz like it's a bad thing. Well you have a hard on for Rex. So I guess that's bad thing too.
Oh… forgot…
Wordle 245 6/6
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4th time’s a charm
If I could ban one thing from crosswords, it would be Japanese foods. No way to know what they are, and no way to even know if it is correct when you fill it in from crosses. May as well be unclued.
I'll take random roman numerals and directions and much more if you just get rid of Japanese foods.
SW corner with OWENS and ENSOR was also pretty unforgivable.
One of the regulars from the New Yorker Magazine, Aimee is consistently good. My only nits are some of the little glue bits: RNS, NCR, TSO, SEP, OSH etc. Then there’s HIRESON. The ON is redundant. takESON yes. HIRESON no. Or just HIRES. Also, there were quite a few answers with a gratuitous S at the end. But all in all it was a pretty enjoyable solve.
I used Will's patented technique - if you have a guess, try it out. And, as usual, one thing led to another, and I finished without any other help! No BODICERIPPing required, and I did SWOON at the finish. Even with 2, count em, 2, unknown names in the SW corner. Not a D, an APLUS in my book.
Diana, Lady-in-Waiting for Crosswords
It’s new. Quordle. It’s like Wordle on steroids.
Daily Quordle #60
6️⃣3️⃣
7️⃣8️⃣
quordle.com
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⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ ⬜⬜⬜🟨⬜
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BRAINFART didn't bother me as much as the rest of that north central section. Who knew that dank was POT? And to equate host with RAFT is a stretch that'll break any rubber band. Plus, entire tens of people will get TONKATSU. I mean, I know it's Friday, but let's try to be fair. I took wild stabs, shrugged--and guessed right. The rest of it was a piece of cake. Agree that BODICERIPPERS was nice, but overall, despite Ms. LOREN as DOD, just a par.
ICED, BOXED
ALAS, the BITTERENEMIES owed no DEBT,
the FORENSICS showed the NEWS is worse,
those BADAPPLES are KEEN on what a LIE gets,
they SWOON when each one HIRESON a HEARSE.
--- EDWIN ENSOR OWENS
Had sUrlY before HUFFY (Irritated), and that was my single error.
TEA (Latest gossip?), AXLE (Toll unit??), POT (Dank???), are okay but didn’t ring my bell.
Oh, and have to doubt that LENO and ENSOR are or ever were BITTER ENEMIES.
Peace.
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