.png)
Relative difficulty: Easy-Medium
Theme answers:
- 26A: FLIP (QUICK SALE)
- 20A: FLOP (EPIC FAIL)
- 26A: FLIP-FLOP (CASUAL SANDAL)
- 45A: FLIP-FLOP (POLICY CHANGE)
- 53A: FLIP (COIN TOSS)
- 60A: FLOP (PLUNK DOWN)
The term kola nut usually refers to the seeds of certain species of plant of the genus Cola, placed formerly in the cocoa family Sterculiaceae and now usually subsumed in the mallow family Malvaceae (as subfamily Sterculioideae). These cola species are trees native to the tropical rainforests of Africa. Their caffeine-containing seeds are used as flavoring ingredients in beverages applied to various carbonated soft drinks, from which the name cola originates. [...] The kola nut has a bitter flavor and contains caffeine. It is chewed in many West African countries, in both private and social settings. It is often used ceremonially, presented to chiefs or guests. In folk medicine, kola nuts are considered useful for aiding digestion when ground and mixed with honey, and are used as a remedy for coughs. Kola nuts are perhaps best known to Western culture as a flavoring ingredient and one of the sources of caffeine in cola and other similarly flavored beverages, although kola nut extract is no longer used in major commercial cola drinks such as Coca-Cola.(wikipedia)
• • •
I (mostly) think of PLUNK DOWN as something you do with money so the PLUNK part of that answer was oddly hard for me, especially because it intersected INSPOT, which ... who says that, esp. now?? That sounds like a way to describe a NYC nightclub circa 1952, not a place where the "cool kids" (whoever they are) hang out (47D: Where the cool kids go). Thought LOO might be LAV. And I am doomed to wander the crossword world having absolutely no idea about the "Grey's Anatomy" universe. Slightly absurd how many characters from this show I'm supposed to know, but we all have our crosses to bear and this is mine—which is to say ADDISON, shmaddison (49A: Dr. Montgomery on "Grey's Anatomy"). The only ADDISON I know is a disgraced former Chicago Cub (glad this clue wasn't about him). Oh, I guess I know ADDISON and Steele, founders of The Spectator magazine, but they seem like pretty tough fare for a Wednesday. And then crossing ADDISON was DITTO, which seems easy enough, until you realize the first "T" and the "O" also match up with "ME TOO," which seemed more than plausible for that clue (51D: "So do I!"). That's a kealoa* I didn't see coming—had TUTOR written in, then pulled it because "ME TOO" seemed so right. This is all to say that everything from the "P" in PLUNK DOWN through ADDISON and down to DITTO (i.e. the SW corner, roughly) gave me far, far more trouble than anything else in the grid. I don't even know what happened in the rest of the grid ... [scans grid quickly] ... not much.
Explanations / observations:
Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld
- 1A: Quite dry, but sparkling? (BRUT) — I don't get the "?" on this clue. Am I supposed to imagine the clue refers to conversation? Anyway, I wrote in ASTI here, of course, despite the fact that ASTI is not "dry."
- 9A: Instrument with 47 strings and seven pedals (HARP) — I wrote in LYRE. Thanks, "R." Kealoa!*
- 4D: Like whatever comes after "How should I put this?" (TACTFUL) — I mean, in theory, but in no way necessarily. If anything, the "how should I put this?" calls attention to your performative "tact," which makes the harshness of the underlying assessment all the harsher.
- 34D: One of a pair in the mule family? (CLOG) — this kind of mule:
- 56D: Flare up? (NOVA) — because it's up ... in the sky? Maybe? Anyway, a NOVA is an event created by two stars in a close binary system (he said, authoritatively, having just read a wikipedia page):
Classical nova eruptions are the most common type. They are likely created in a close binary star system consisting of a white dwarf and either a main sequence, subgiant, or red giant star. When the orbital period falls in the range of several days to one day, the white dwarf is close enough to its companion star to start drawing accreted matter onto the surface of the white dwarf, which creates a dense but shallow atmosphere. This atmosphere, mostly consisting of hydrogen, is thermally heated by the hot white dwarf and eventually reaches a critical temperature causing ignition of rapid runaway fusion. (wikipedia)
Good day.
*kealoa = short, common answer that you can't just fill in quickly because two or more answers are viable, Even With One or More Letters In Place. From the classic [Mauna ___] KEA/LOA conundrum. See also, e.g. [Heaps] ATON/ALOT, ["Git!"] "SHOO"/"SCAT," etc.
[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]
Why are the theme clues yelling? Is the average solver too dense to notice that we got flip flop over and over?
ReplyDeleteMore of an eyebrow twitch than a full arched eyebrow at POLICY CHANGE. I think of a political flip flop as either a position change (can we stop thinking that’s a bad thing? I want my politicians to change their minds when they get new, better information) or flat out lying (saying one thing to the Rotary Club and something opposite the next day to the Kiwanis). I don’t think of a POLICY CHANGE towards, say, Russia as a “flip flop.” I see how it’s okay, just not the way I think of it.
What did arch my eyebrows was finishing the puzzle and having the BEATLES smack dab in the middle? I wasted several precious nanoseconds pondering possible theme relatedness and decided there was none, they just happened to fit. But it looks like some subtle shade throwing, as if Mick had something to do with this puzzle. I do think AZTEC BEATLES is a great band name.
One last random thought… Are CASUAL SANDALs okay on CASUAL Fridays? Or are thongs and thongs too CASUAL?
ReplyDeleteTried to do it without reading the clues for the long acrosses. I was successful, except I had PLANK DOWN (?) at 60A because I had no idea about the actress at 61D, probably because I haven't watched Orange is the New Black. Nice "aha moment" when I read the clues. Like @Zed, I thought BEATLES might be part of the theme as I was solving.
Ouzo crossing Uzo? Poor editing
ReplyDeleteOne of the few things I liked!
DeleteThe puzzle was fine. The flips and flops and flip-flops flip-flopped around the grid. I thought it was fun and saw no need to DEEPEN the meaning. Got a chuckle over @Rex's lyRe attempt (47 strings & 7 pedals).
ReplyDeleteSome commenters say they like to guess what @Rex's take will be on a puzzle. I always wonder what non-issue will be beaten long after the horse dies, yesterday's IRON FILING(s) discussion for example. I see nothing obvious for today. Maybe something about NOVA(e) or the "real" inventor of popcorn. Or it could be a tangential thing that won't appear until comments are made.
My clue for NOVA would be "One time Chevy". The clue for SHAM, Fancy pillowcase, could have been "When doubled, a fake fancy pillowcase".
FLIP FLOP has a sing-song quality, like the rhyming “hip hop”, or “ping pong”, “chit chat”, “dilly-dally”, “hanky panky”, and should I include “jiggery pokery”?
ReplyDeleteThey were fun to me as a kid, and fun for me now, so that gave this puzzle a nice kick for me. And, in a little post-puzzle reading I learned that these phrases follow a RULE: If the first word has “i”, the second has either A or O. Linguists apparently endlessly debate over why this is. @Loren, chime in please!
But, moving on, the funniest moment in my solve, actually, was when I had INS_ _ _ for [Where the cool kids go], and confidently threw in INSIDE, thinking, “Wow! What a great clue!” I actually put it on my list as a candidate for a Clue of the Week, until I had to cross it off.
There was a mish-mash of little details I liked: SIDE on the side, a backward SLEEP to go with that TWIN bed, the A-bracket quartet of ADA / ASIA / AIDA / AVIA, and those vowel-rich four-letter entries of OUZO, AVIA, ROUE, AIDA, and ASIA.
‘Twas a fun excursion for me, no wishy-washiness there! Thank you, Barbara!
I suppose casual sandals are for Fridays. Other days I wear my fancy dress sandals.
ReplyDeleteRex, show me a lyre with seven pedals and I’ll buy your keoloa argument.
I'd never wear my formal sandals to a Cubs game at Wrigley Field on the corner of Clark and Addison
DeleteToo right @Alan. Casual only in Wrigleyville!!
DeleteCan’t figure why PE CLASS has “informally”, in the clue, rather than an abbreviation indicator.
ReplyDeleteOUZO definitely does not pass the breakfast test.
I'm guessing because the "formal" would be physical education class? As if anyone ever called it anything but PE Class
DeleteSome of us called it Gym
DeleteMy take on this was pretty much the same as OFL's, with some exceptions:
ReplyDeleteThe order of the themers didn't bother me (FLIP FLOP FLIPFLOP FLIPFLOP FLIP FLOP) since the order makes sense. Ending with FLOP FLIP might be more symmetrical, but it would be a glaring departure, IMHO.
Didn't have the same trouble spots
(e.g., a lyRe with pedals??).
And it might not be the best answer for crossword, but my go-to ADDISON will always be DeWitt.
That's my story and I'll change it for a fee.
🧠🧠
🎉🎉.5
OUZO isn’t wine.
ReplyDeleteThe clue is "Drink of Athens". Nothing to whine about.
DeleteThx Barbara, for a smooth Wednes. offering! :)
ReplyDeleteEasy+
On Barbara's wavelength all the way.
Started in the NW with BRUT and ended in the SE with YANG.
Liked the OUZO / UZO cross. It may help me to remember Aduba's given name.
Just finished watching Peter Jackson's 'The BEATLES: Get Back' on Disney+. Currently watching 'McCartney 3,2,1' (6 episode mini-series featuring interviewer Rick Rubin) also on Disney+
Mixed feelings and memories of playing 'dodgeball' in PE CLASS; I loved it, but how scary it must have been for some.
A fun romp, even if it did do lots of 'flip-flopping'. 🩴
@Jae
Finally got around to doing Croce's 693; agree with your assessment. No probs. See you next Mon. :)
@okanaganer 👍 for yet another great pg time yd
___
Thx to Christopher Adams for recommending Ryan McCarty's 'Chasm No.10' (Themeless). It was a challenging and rewarding solve. Learned a bunch of stuff, too. (maybe). lol
___
yd pg: 20:35 / W: *4
Peace 🙏 🇺🇦 ~ Compassion ~ Tolerance ~ Kindness to all 🕊
@kitshef - informality in language often involves shortening?
ReplyDeleteAlso briefly wondered what a PEC LASS was when I was looking back over the puzzle. Do you think a PEC LASS prefers CASUAL SANDALs?
I plonk but never plunk. And we used to call it a bog rather than a loo roll!
ReplyDeleteBOG ROLL before LOO ROLL.
ReplyDelete@Trockmn 7:26. You're right. OUZO isn't wine, and neither is motor oil.
ReplyDeleteThe clue is; Drink of Athens
Was bobbing and weaving in the early rounds and didn’t have my hands up - took a one-two punch right in the face (never saw it coming). ROUE crossing SETTO had me seeing stars. I would have guessed it the other way - ROUE sounds like it should be the “Altercation” and SETTO sounds like a CAD as well. Regrouped a bit after the mandatory standing eight-count and stumbled into a couple of good clues for PE CLASS and the not knotty UNTIE.
ReplyDeleteI thought the little 4x4ish section in the middle of the south was a good example of how to be tough but fair - OUZO, TROT, SLUR and even the INSPOT that Rex picked on a bit are all tough but fair (UZO not so much - hey, I said it was a good example, not perfect !).
Personally, I enjoyed the clue for NOVA which is appropriate and acceptable - hopefully it doesn’t become today’s IRON FILING, as it is just not that controversial (IMHO).
Now the whole concept of a CASUAL SANDAL does seem a touch redundant to me - how many of us have worn our FORMAL SANDALS when dressed in a Tux at a friend’s wedding? Maybe it’s a generational thing - do kids wear their FORMAL SANDALS to the prom these days ? Side question: Are proms even still a thing, or did they go belly up in this era of pandemics, gender-bending, pronoun-redefining, . . . Maybe they are still around, but pretty much just background noise now - like awards shows and beauty pageants.
I PLUNKD DOWN a big OUZO. Good thing I had a LOO roll handy.
ReplyDeleteMy solving experience was fine, despite the “mild” theme, but, like others, I kept wondering what The BEATLES were doing right in the middle of this thing… unless maybe it was supposed to run on some anniversary of 2/12/64?
ReplyDeletePuzz - mostly OK.
ReplyDeleteI don't generally like themes that are simply different examples/answers for the same clue which typically causes the answers to skew to the outer reaches of reasonableness (I am staring at you PLUNKDOWN....really?).
One letter Natick DNF since I don't know the name of a mathematician from 1851, nor the crossing name of an Italian Opera from 1871.
Not surprisingly, I am OK with my lack of this useless knowledge (before the rants begin.....useless in my world, if your orbit includes such nuggets of trivia then you get to feel superior and smart today. I applaud your big brain!) However, I am not as content with NYT requiring such trivia to solve a puzzle.
Ah well - hope everyone has a wonderful Wednesday.
A lyre has seven strings. I suppose it could be a Kealoa if you’re going ninety miles an hour, but I thought a Kealoa was an answer which there is no way to know without more information. I guess Rex coined the term so it can mean whatever he wants it to mean. If he relaxed and took his time he might enjoy the puzzles more.
ReplyDeleteAnd lyres also have zero pedals! Definitely not a jealous!
DeleteBog roll.
ReplyDeleteI liked it - theme was cute but a little too loose and overdone. My neighbor just flipped his parent’s house in less than a week - definitely a QUICK SALE.
ReplyDeleteHUFFILY? Hmm - TABOO x BOOSTER sounds like Kyrie. Liked the GOOD x GAME DAY cross. Is YANG still a thing?
@Z - there was a time in the mid 80s when people were comparing Roddy Frame to McCartney
Enjoyable enough Wednesday solve.
The clues are in caps because they are flip flopped with the answers.
ReplyDeleteCASUAL SANDAL would normally be the CLUE for flip flop. QUICK SALE is a typical clue.
So I was also very confused about the thinness of this theme, but I actually . . . think you might be on to something when you say that the answers are clues? Are they "flip-flopping" the answers and the clues here? And that's why the clues are in all caps? This is probably a huge stretch but . . . maybe?
ReplyDeleteThis breezy puzzle is brimming with personality. It feels as though Barbara Lin would be a fun person to have lunch with. That she might be "quite dry, but sparkling".
ReplyDeleteBut while I enjoy the bubbly as much as anyone, I was disappointed with BRUT as the answer to 1A. I was hoping for a person, not a beverage -- preferably someone from the Algonquin Round Table, preferably someone male, who would regale me with his sparkling dry wit.
But I wouldn't want him to be a ROUE if he's also a cad. If he's not a cad, I wouldn't mind so much if he's a ROUE. I think of ROUEs as sorts of "Peck's bad boys" -- dripping with dangerous charm but not necessarily caddish. I'd use "rake" as a synonym, not "louse" or something saltier.
And I'm not sure I agree on TACTFUL at 4D. When someone says to me "How should I put this?", my heart starts to pound and I want to say: "please just don't!" I actually tried to squeeze TACTLESS into 4D, but it wouldn't fit.
So much to talk about, Barbara, and I haven't even gotten out of the NW yet. We'd better have that lunch. And I loved the playfulness and good humor of this puzzle.
I liked it.
ReplyDeleteI agree that the caps on the themers is a strange choice. Why would one shout FLIP or FLOP unless you were at a political protest meeting and that phrase always annoyed the heck out of me, anyway, Why can’t one change a policy opinion? Italics would have been less jarring.
ReplyDeleteCASUALSANDAL was my final answer because it feels awkwardly redundant. I wanted thongSANDAL to fit. On reflection, most women do own dressy sandals that are often high heels. I actually own a pair of silver Birkenstocks adorned with a rhinestone buckle. That’s an oxymoronic, fancy-schmancy shoe in my world!
@Gio - Thank you! I was wondering how far down in the comments I was going to have to read before somebody pointed out, um, the clues and the answers are FLIP-FLOPPed. I was wondering why QUICKSALE and CASUALSANDAL just felt oddly dull in the grid until I realized, oh, they're actually meant to read as clues.
ReplyDeleteRex, the musical link in your blog today should definitely have been Cool Kids by Screaching Weasel.
ReplyDeleteRe: PECLASS, it's not strictly an initialism, because CLASS is not abbreviated.
ReplyDeleteWe called it either PE (omitting CLASS), gym, or sometimes gym class.
Hey All !
ReplyDeleteA CUTE Flip-Flopper of a puz. Rex's why? is my Why not? Not every theme has to fit his world. There, I said it. 😁
J and X from a pangram. EPIC FAIL? Nah, but would've been nice to shove them in somewhere.
Agree that the BEATLES seemed Reveal-ish, especially with the long clue that a lot of Revealers have.. Got the answer right away, and thought theme might have something to do with that, regardless that I already saw the FLIPs and FLOPs.
Is there an ARIA in AIDA? Off the B of BEATLES, wanted BIRDIES for Third shot, for many, thinking it a clever clue. For 30A, wanted ASSHATSWHODONTCAREABOUTTHEPEOPLETHEYREPRESENT, but was too long. 🤪 Don't think I've ever seen AVIA shoes, regardless how many times I've seen them in the puz. Maybe I'm not shopping in the correct store?
Nice puz, Barbara, seemed TuesPuz themey, but came in at WedsPuz time.
Hopefully this ROO isn't a ROUE. At least I try not to be. To be or not to be. Do be do be do.
yd -6 (missed 2 P's! Holy moly), should'ves 2, but seems like I could've gotten them all. Silly brain.
Three F's
RooMonster
DarrinV
DITTO Rex.
ReplyDeleteWell, BBQS was obvious but BRUT for some reason was not, especially since I had LOUT fpr "cad", so I went elsewhere. "Swallow or duck"? BTRD was far too obvious, so I outsmarted myself by trying to make "verb" be right, which it wasn't, even though the R may have lead to RULE, but it dd not. That kind of a start.
ReplyDeleteEventually got the ship righted although it toon forever to see GOOD as a goal of philanthropy, as The GOOD seems far more common.
The usual "who is this person" reaction to ADDISON and UZO, and thanks to crosswords for BTS and ADA.
Have to say I don't mind different examples of FLIP and FLOP and FLIPFLOP as themers. Had to think about them, and that's a good thing.
Hand up for smiling when imagining a lyre with pedals. That would be interesting.
So a nice enough Wednesdecito, BL. Kept me Busy Long enough to provide some good fun, for which thanks.
I like OUZO crossing UZO even though I needed to look up UZO. Ditto I was done in by DITTO fighting METOO. I should have known HARP but SITAR kept not fitting over and over.
ReplyDeleteI teach music for (mostly) retired adults and I learned years ago how to bring Boomers together from all political, cultural and economic backgrounds: Just say, "The Beatles weren't that good." Sphincters clench and humor ebbs. As GenX the Beatles mean little to me and the more I teach them, the less I am impressed by the music, but by golly I've learned the holy level of piety attributed to those boys is messianic.
And why are they in the middle of this puzzle? Constructors? Don't you put the big words in first?
@Gary Jugert -- I'm GenX, too, and the Beatles are pretty high up there in terms of respect. I've played in a number of bands, and hung out indie music scenes in several countries and all that, and I don't think I've ever met a single person who didn't cite them as an influence or at least have respect for them. My younger Millennial friends as well. They transcend generations. From the punks to the classical musicologists, all types of people find meaning and joy in the Beatles. No, they're not everyone's cuppa, and that's fine taste being what it is, but it's hardly a Boomer-only thing.
ReplyDeleteWhile sympathetic to Rex’s lament about having to know Grey’s Anatomy cast, I am much more often stuck because of never having watched The Simpsons. Although, thankfully, not today. I’ve sometimes thought of just making myself a chart of Simpsons cast to keep on my desktop.
ReplyDeleteI felt like I was watching a tomato grow on a vine. It started out like a green little round blob. I watched with patience hoping it would ripen soon and turn into a delicious red, plump, juicy morsel for my tossed salad. Well it did grow but I'll be a tia's uncle if it didn't come with a bunch of worms.
ReplyDeleteThe largest worm eating away actually started with 46D. Barbara..if you ever go to England, (and with all due respect) and you want to be in the IN SPOT, you would call it a BOG roll. No one says LOO roll. I will skip to my Loo.
I don't pay much attention to constructors having their ducks in a cute little order: FLIP FLOP FLIPFLOP FLIPFLOP FLIP FLOP. It reminds me of when I tried to teach my husband how to dance the fandango tango. He was the FLOP de jour. He said it was an EPIC FAIL and preferred to go up to a bar and order a mojito.
56D: Flare up? I think I'll pass and do the Bossa NOVA.
I prefer to SLINK down rather than PLUNK. Ker PLUNK....I'm dead.
I thought I might try to be the new cool kid when arriving to this alien country called the USofA. It was a major FLOP. I didn't speaky the language good. I did, though, finally meet a boy taller than me and he showed me that all the cool kids skipped PE CLASS and smoked in the LOO . That, evidently, was the IN SPOT.
BBQS on GAME DAY. OUZO dribbling down my chin. My best buddy UZO singing along side.
Haven’t seen too many lyres with pedals. Nor 47 strings. Be quite an instrument to haul around if it existed, which it doesn’t. And novas come in several flavors....not necessarily a binary system come to grief. Like as not, most novas are simply single stars reaching the ends of their long, long lives.
ReplyDeleteTook me ages to find my error where I had PLONK DOWN / OZO instead of PLUNK DOWN / UZO
ReplyDelete@GILL
ReplyDeleteI'll have my NOVA on an everything bagel with a schmear.
Well of all the Wednesday puzzles I’ve ever done, this was one of them. It was fine really but I get what Rex said about it feeling a bit disorganized. Or something. The themers were great although I did arch a brow at 60A. FLOP = PLUNK?? 🤔
ReplyDeleteI liked discovering that the AZTEC culture gave us popcorn, for which I will be eternally grateful. I am hopelessly addicted to that stuff they sell at Sam’s in the big purple bag, Angie’s Boom Chicka kettle corn. Oh yes, and I also learned that Grey’s Anatomy, which I lost interest in at least a decade ago, is still on the air and in its 18th season. Good grief!
@Nancy and others who do Wordle 2: Maybe it’s old news to others but I just recently found out there are two puzzles each day and the changeovers occur at noon and midnight Central Time.
Quick sale is definitely a thing
ReplyDeleteOf course. Flipping is a real estate term. I buy a house then resell it for a quick profit. Maybe that doesn’t happen in Binghamton.
DeleteThought that this puzzle was kindA CUTE and that at least half of it should be dedicated to comedian Wilson.
ReplyDeleteThe only themer that flops in the wrong way for me is PLUNK DOWN, as in “The stranger sauntered into the saloon, asked for a shot of whiskey, and flopped his money on the bar.”
Didn’t realize that a series of notes in sheet music could be subject to damaging remarks and wonder if this could be legally actionable.
I don't get the idea that the answers and clues are "FLIP-FLOPped". That makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. First of all, you'd still have all cap. clues. Second, it makes zero sense.
ReplyDeleteHere is the reason for the appearance of (the)BEATLES at center grid
ReplyDelete@JC66 10:09. I hadn't realized there are so many differences in salmon. You made me look up NOVA with a schmear. Is that a New York thing? I always do the belly lox. Can you guess why?
ReplyDeleteThere is such a thing as a "quick sale". It is done in real estate all the time, but only a philistine would know that.
ReplyDeleteThanks to all those who commented that the clues and answers are FLIPped. Makes perfect sense now! An absolutely brilliant touch which went FLOPping right over my head.
ReplyDelete@Southside Johnny (7:48) I’d say there is such a thing as formal sandals, at least for ladies. But when we’re talking fancy the term is generally “dressy” or strappy sandals, as the case may be. I have multiple pairs of FLIP FLOP styles which are jeweled, sequined, or otherwise adorned and completely acceptable for a formal occasion. Of course where I live, so are cowboy boots but keep in mind that both the sandals and the boots - especially the boots - probably cost more than the formal attire they’re being worn with.
@Noalist (9:06) and @Anonymous (9:20) When I was in school during the dark ages we called it Phys Ed.
@Gary Jugert (9:37) I don’t believe that messianic loyalty to The BEATLES is based in how “good” they were so much as what is contained in your next sentence: As GenX the Beatles mean little to me. Of course they don’t, and the same could be said with most musical groups of any era versus different generations. But as a Boomer, my adolescent world was rocked by The Beatles first and foremost. Other groups followed but they were the cornerstone of the 1960s musical revolution. We were a generation of sleepy teens raised in the cozy safe post-war world of the 1950s and along came the Fab Four opening our eyes to a whole new brand of music, culture and thinking. Ask most anyone in their 70s or so if they remember where they were when they first saw or heard The Beatles and they could probably tell you. It was that great an impact on our lives.
The textbook publisher Addison-Wesley is the only Addison I know.
ReplyDeleteWe've had puzzles with a repeating clue, and this one repeated flip, flop and flip-flop. I get that, it's a theme. I don't get the clue-and-answer-as-flips. Lots of clues and answers are interchangeable: Verboten/Taboo, Volunteers/Enlists for two. ??
ReplyDeleteFLOP/PLUNKDOWN seems to be the least crisp of the themers. A weak case can be made but if still sounds off.
ReplyDeleteFrom Webster's II New College Dictionary:
vi (intransitive verb) meaning 2. "To drop or fall abruptly or heavily"
So FLOP on the bed? PLUNK DOWN on the bed? Adding DOWN to PLUNK makes it sound more like a transitive verb.
Close enough for Xword?
A rare six-themer puz. I assume the themer's clues were in caps merely to emphasize the commonality of what was bein addressed. No problemo, with that.
ReplyDeletestaff weeject pick: We lean toward BTS, here. Not a band I knew of, so learned somethin new. Also grooved on the crossins of ADA/AIDA & UZO/OUZO, tho. Only 10 weejects to choose from, btw.
likes: TACTFUL. HUFFILY. AZTEC. PECLASS [har]. BEATLES. DONUT (always).
no-knows: Only ADDISON and BTS. UZO was a bit hazy, but recalled her from previous crossword experience.
ASIA. AVIA. AIDA. ARIAS. Holy Flip-floppin AI's, Batman.
Thanx for the fun, Ms. Lin darlin. Reminded M&A of Big Joe Turner's rockin song: "Flip Flop & Fly".
Masked & Anonymo9Us
**gruntz**
A guy with a PhD in English doesn’t know Joseph Addison?
ReplyDeleteThere’s no way, none, that Mr.Sharp wasn’t exposed to Addison. I can believe that he forgot the name, but Joseph Addison was enormously influential. Still is if you think Spectator Magazine is important.
Quick sale isn’t exclusively the provenance of real estate.
ReplyDeleteReduced for quick sale is a phrase used in all manner of marketplaces.
I think it's terrible that someone bought their parents house and sold it for more money a week later.
ReplyDeleteI took one look at all the FLIP/FLOPS and said "I'm going to hate this" but I ended up liking it. I think you can make a case for all the theme answers, and I definitly agree with @Roo about REX' "Why ?" being my "Why not ?".
"Lyre" with 7 pedals...Hah, the curse of the speed solver strikes again.
Folks, anytime you see opera and Egypt hanging around together,just throw in "Aida" and move on.
How can I say this ? The Beatles are not really a "rock" band. Not since they left that German club, anyway. And I have owned two bars in the past and never heard a Beatles song played on the jukebox. I love their music but they are pretty much in a category of their own,
a QUICK SALE has nothing, necessarily, to do with house-flipping. although on the teeVee versions, that's the point. a QUICK SALE is a technical term: "Known as a "quick sale," it's the sale of a property that's in its defaulted mortgage's preforeclosure period."
ReplyDeletehere: https://homeguides.sfgate.com/quick-sell-mortgage-52694.html
you'd not often see a house-flipper doing a QUICK SALE
Just did Patrick Berry's latest New Yorker puzzle. Man, his creations are still works of beauty. What a talent!
ReplyDeletedefinition of R&R: three chords and words no one cares about. don't know if it was invented by R&R, but the capo allows other keys to be used for those self-same three chords.
ReplyDeletewho knew a HARP had seven pedals? and only 47 strings? btw: the frame and strings of a piano (88 notes and lots more strings) is also called a HARP and just 3 pedals.
there was (is?) a time when PE instructors would accept most terms for what they teach, but not Gym Class. no idea why that was/is verboten.
had a bit of OUZO once. should have gone with the motor oil.
I can't believe a regular poster wouldn't know who BTS is as Clare posts links regularly whether they are in the puzzle or not. They also appear regularly in the puzzle.
ReplyDeleteI FLIPped over the theme which was no FLOP.
The comments are better than the puzzle.
ReplyDeleteAfter his death, NYT had an article about William Hurt's best movies, Body Heat among them. We watched it the other night. The first half was excellent, sexy scenes, witty dialogue. Then it got lost trying to tell a twisted story. One of Kathleen Turner's lines was "You're not too smart, are you? I like that in a man." I had thought that it was from Bull Durham. Ted Danson had a supporting role. This was 1982, just when he started Cheers.
Matty : [to Ned] You aren't too smart, are you? I like that in a man.
DeleteNed : What else do you like? Lazy? Ugly? Horny? I got 'em all.
Matty : You don't look lazy.
Medium. I gotta go with @Rex and Jeff at Xwordinfo on this one.
ReplyDeleteI have to laugh when people get confused at something that has no special meaning that they can't figure out. Is that a speed issue also.
ReplyDeleteEnjoyable puzzle.
Too bad Patrick Berry's puzzles deem to be abolished on weekdays now that he composes a Sunday variety puzzle each week. I do miss his masterpieces.
Mathgent— Not sure I agree with your assessment of the second half of Body Heat. But I know for a certainty that the line you like so much is Lawrence Kasdan’s. Actors come and go. Great lines, from The Odyssey to Shakespearean sonnets, to Body Heat are forever. The genius of the writer not the mouth who delivers them.
ReplyDelete"First a bunch of flying saucers flew over
ReplyDeleteThen I smelled the burning metal reek of Nova
And the CIA and Jehova
Said blame it on the bossa nova"
Now if I can just pull my 47 string lyre from the back of my closet and see how many pedals it has.
And Rex keeps pushing this serta-sealy terminology to get a crossword term to his credit. This one seems dumb to me because there is no reason a serta-sealy is bad. Any equal length synonym clued with a third synonym qualifies. Very few clues have unique answers. It is no BFD. You can have grid spanners that are serta-sealy examples. Who cares. Find another cross. Not interested.
@lewis
Flim-flam. Tip-top. But rinky-dinky, itty-bitty.
But my favorite kinda-sorta rhyme was the the first FLIP FLOP themers: QUICKSALE EPICFAIL. Too bad they all couldn't rhyme. That would have been great.
I Wenzed my way through this puzzle rather slowly, possibly because of the "not in the language" phrases of 26A or 16A, possibly because of clues like 12D. "Pre-pares potatoes" had me splatzing down PrepS first.
ReplyDeleteI was pleased to get BRUT right away. But PLUNK DOWN's area was hardest to fill in. I don't feel a correlation between FLOP and PLUNK DOWN at all so I needed all those crosses to finish. On the other hand, that answer gave me my Wordle starter word so it didn't fill me with dismay.
@Whatsername, your opening line garnered a hearty laugh in my office!
Barbara Lin, I won't be flip; I didn't flip over this puzzle but neither was it a flop. Thanks!
LYREs don’t have pedals, for future reference.
ReplyDeleteI also didn't really enjoy this theme, for the reasons mentioned. Also didn't think the clue for tactful was necessarily accurate. Didn't like ADA crossing AIDA, or UZO crossing OUZO. Liked the clog clue.
ReplyDeleteThe best way to see BTS: Google “BTS crosswalk concert” for James Corden’s ‘epic concert production’ …. in, yes, a Los Angeles crosswalk. Great mix of Corden’s deadpan humor with K-pop energy.
ReplyDelete@Offthegrid - My vote for non-puzzle related issue today goes to Beatles ‘center stage’ (and, as a bonus, spin off conversations about the Beatles). Although I must say I am usually entertained by ‘non issue’ posts and often learn something - if nothing else about different peoples opinions.
@GILL
ReplyDeleteIn NYC, if you ask for lox it's usually smoked NOVA Scotia salmon, whereas belly lox is saltier.
Lyres have long noses.
ReplyDeleteMFCTM.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous (7:45)
SouthsideJohnny (7:48)
Nancy (8:55)
Gary Jugert (9:37)
Gill I. (9:52)
JC66 (10:09)
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDelete@Anon 12:00 – The pedals on a harp have a different function from those on a piano. Each pedal on the harp corresponds with the strings for a specific pitch, hence seven pedals – D, C, B on the left and E, F, G, and A on the right. The pedals are used to alter the pitch when required. When a pedal is in the topmost position, all of the strings for that pitch are flatted. Press it down once and they become natural, press it down again and they become sharp.
ReplyDeleteKinda liked the theme; the concept that the clues and answers are flipped is nice. However as Rex and many others said, it makes for fairly dull theme answers.
ReplyDeleteOh and yes "quick sale" is a phrase I've seen a zillion times.
And the HILL reminds me that the US capital is on Capitol Hill (named after the one in Rome, I think?). So the "o" spelling has become standard in the US for fed & state "capitols".
[Spelling Bee: yd 11:40 to get genius, but stopped the timer and later realized there were 2 more pangrams. So "p(g*)"? Then later QB after somehow getting this word which I've never heard of! Always pays to try jamming smaller words together.]
Paying homage to COOL and INSPOT the clue should be: Where the cool kids went.
ReplyDeleteAnd another thing about an IRON FILING in an IRON MINE, both and at the same time neither....Hey! Just kidding! Don't want to ruffle any more feathers and be seen as a heretic among the TRUE believers who hold the NYTXW as infallible.
ReplyDeleteI enjoy solving puzzles from the NYT archive---one of the perks to having a subscription---especially to see how they have changed over the years. Couple of days ago I saw the mother of all combo POCs slash POC enabler. It is itself a plural of convenience plus it enables five (!) other possible crossing POCs. Unfortunately it occurred in a clue rather that in the grid. The clue was "What an assessor assesses. Still hoping to see that in a grid.
What do you call the uproar caused by a politician suddenly making a 180° uey POLICY CHANGE? It's a FLIP FLOP FLAP.
@Joe, the harp maven:
ReplyDeletelearn something new every day. have seen harpists a few times on the teeVee, but the camera seems always to focus on the hands, i.e. the middle of the 'harp', so I doubt if the viewer ever sees the pedals. just a guess, to continue, the 47 strings correspond to the white keys on the standard piano? nope. the innterTubes says 52, so the harp is pretty close.
lyRe / HARP is not a kealoa -- lyre is not a viable answer.
ReplyDelete_OU_, "Cad" -- now THAT'S a kealoa!
I thought the theme got off to a snappy start with the pairing of the success of a QUICK SALE and the rhyming EPIC FAIL, a level of spark the following two flip-flops disappointingly didn't live up to. PLUNK DOWN brought back some zing, but I don't see it as quite right for "flop." And the BEATLES? Because of their floppy mops?
ReplyDeleteI agree with @Rex and @Nancy 8:55 about TACTFUL as clued - I think the person being addressed might react HUFFILY.
Do-overs: A stab at ADvISOr for ADDISON, UbO before UZO.
@albatross shell - good one! I'll join in the "LYRE/HARP is not a kealoa" chorus. Natick and kealoa shouldn't be demeaned just to mean something you don't know or take the time to think about. Harp is the large orchestral instrument and the lyre is the little handheld one played by winged creatures in Greek statues. (I was sorry when Rex was on vacation for our recent literal kealoa.)
ReplyDeletePatrick Berry also had a fun puzzle in the NYer games edition from late last year. (Just got caught up with that section on a cross-country flight). Each dark square was either the end or beginning of an answer that didn't fit in the allotted white squares. Of course those letters spelled out a long sentence that was the basis of a metapuzzle. I heard "Why this sentence/metapuzzle?" in my head, lol.
Isn't the capitalization of theme clues like this used regularly? Seems fair for a Wednesday.
***Not a spoiler spoiler alert***
ReplyDeleteFOUL! Dordle employs a pluralized abbreviation for one of today's "words".
Next time I order dessert, I'm gonna ask my server for a SLAB of cake (23 Down). Who says that? Probably the same people who polish off, errrr, EAT (43 Across) slabs of cake in the first place. This clue/answer was poor: to eat isn't always to polish off, which means to eat the last of something. "Honey, did you polish off that last piece of cake?"
ReplyDeleteOther than those two questionable clues, the puzzle wasn't bad. I'm guessing the "theme" clues were written in all caps so we'd know they were part of the theme; the constructor could've very easily made this a themeless by eliminating the caps in those clues. Never heard of a mule clog before ...
Ada, Aria, Aida, Avia, Asia.
ReplyDeleteYeesh.
Italics is more common at least on Sundays. But what folks here figured out (not me until I read it here) was that the unifying element is that thr clues are answers and the answers are clues. Thus they have been flip-flopped. Rex missed that too. Thus his confusion about the why. I'll go read Wordplay. Maybe the constructor missed it too? But that is why the capital letters make more sense than italics in this case. Also a confusion for Rex.
ReplyDeleteA one to one exclusive relationship between clue and answer is not required.
ReplyDeleteI am pretty sure the capitalization of the themer clues is related to the BEATLES entry. I have several Beatle albums and I'm playing them backwards, listening for clues. It might reveal the real results of the 2020 election or where in D.C. the Democrats hold their Satanic rituals. I know it will all come together if I'm patient. Stay tuned.
ReplyDelete@albatross. Say it ain't so that you got sucked into the clue answer FLIP FLOP conspiracy theory. Seems like the only one who matters is the constructor, who says nothing about it. It's even more contrived than the idea that Scrabble has anything to do with Xwords.
ReplyDeleteRex,
ReplyDeleteI stopped reading before I got to your acknowledgment that you do indeed know Joseph Addison. But in all fairness to me, your initial assertion was so plainly impossible it literally stopped me in my tracks.
@Lewis-I did today's New Yorker puzzle, which is a fine puzzle by Aimee Lucido, and I was confused by your Patrick Berry reference, but then I notice that you said PB's "latest" New Yorker puzzle, which is obviously a different thing.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, I'd recommend today's as well, as it is Absolutely Lovely.
Rachel Fabi mentions the sonewhat reverse relationship between clue and answeron the themers. Barbara Lin does not. She does mention the the editors had her change SLUMP DOWN to PLUNKDOWN. I like PLUNK DOWN better. I think PLUNK is better but there is maybe a tranitivity problem in either case.
ReplyDeleteI didn't mind this puzzle until I got to the end and had to guess at UZO and ROUE. I'm happy to learn words but if I can have my cake and eat it too, I like to be able to guess them from context.
ReplyDeleteI love hard puzzles, that are "easy answers, hard clues." This puzzle was very much "hard answers, hard clues."
Nobody mentioned the little downward step thing with:
ReplyDelete(The Fool On The) HILL → BEATLES → GOOD (Day Sunshine)
As if any more proof were needed that the Fab Four are part of the theme.
Third shot - I had Birdies first then changed to Bad Idea which I would have loved if it had been right.
ReplyDeleteMaybe OFL is overthinking the theme clues in caps? I simply thought it was the constructor telling us that the caps clues go with the theme. Had to laugh at the idea of a seven pedal lyre. No such thing!
ReplyDeleteLike others, show me the word ADDISON, and I’m off to the game at Clark and ADDISON, the Cathedral of Baseball, Wrigley Field. Can’t wait to get back. Soon as I can figure out my schedule, I’ll buy tickets - hopefully Cubs/Pirates in memory of my Dad and his years at Pitt for his Ph.D., lived above a bar right across the street from old Forbes Field. My father and I sadly spent most of my life estranged. Baseball was one thing we could enjoy together. The boundaries of a game we both loved allowed us to spend a couple hours immersed completely in all things baseball, avoiding anything else beyond what to eat and drink.
But I digress. I liked the theme and the puzzle just fine. Because I do not “live” in a world of communication via text, I do not automatically consider all caps as “yelling.” consequently, I never considered the theme clue caps as anything other than an indication that they are in fact theme clues any more than I look for footnotes or notes at the bottom of the clues list when I see an asterisked clue.
I gave a raised eyebrow to the OUZO/UZO cross, but perhaps rather than being a bit iffy, the editor thought it interesting. No harm, no foul as we say during March Madness.
Other than the SW corner (I never ever watched a single episode of “Gray’s Anatomy,” but once ADD_ _ O _ fell, I thought ADDISON (only because of Clark and ADDISON streets) and it stuck! Had trouble seeing BOOSTER, ACUTE, DITTO, and INSPOT. In fact, when I got the IN, I immediately thought inside” as in if one ia too cool, that’s where to go to warm up (hi, @Lewis; so glad I’m not out there alone on this one).
If it weren’t for the breadth of the women’s shoe “fashion” designs, I would question whether a non-casual sandal exists this making CASUAL SANDAL a bit oxymoronic, but, these says jewel encrusted, stiletto sandals are seen on high fashion catwalks and at all kinds of formal events, so . . . I suppose me and my Birkenstocks (the US factory for which is in Santa Rosa, CA where my kids live) will just have to stay in our very, very casual lane and look forward to a visit and some cool factory seconds.
After the fact, I always think SETTO is an Italian musical or poetic term with which I am curiously not familiar. No complaints here, Miss Barbara. A fine Wednesday effort with just enough crunch to keep my ego in check.
@CDilly52: "Because I do not “live” in a world of communication via text, I do not automatically consider all caps as “yelling.” consequently, I never considered the theme clue caps as anything other than an indication that they are in fact theme clues."
ReplyDeleteAmen, @CDilly22, Amen! And btw, I don't live in that world either.
Being pattern seeking creatures, we will often invent one where none exists. Hence conspiracy theories and the idea that the clues and answers have been flipped.
ReplyDelete@Photomatte - A SLAB cake is basically the same thing as a sheet cake.
ReplyDeleteBrut is dry champagne.
I agree with REX on the CAPS clues. Usually when certain clues are all in caps, it suggests some pun or such on the way. Here, the “flips” and the “flops” fell within the everyday meanings of those words.
Please, someone just explain SLAB to me. Please?
ReplyDeleteHand up for bog roll.
ReplyDeleteSLAB is a big hunk of cake. I guess. You don't like it? I'll take it. A wednesday special.
ReplyDeleteI liked it. I don’t understand the rage from Rex about the theme. It seems pretty simple yet elegant. Various phrases that alternate meaning FlIP, FLOP and FLIP-FLOP. I would have clued 37A a little differently to link it in with the theme - in a way. 37A Rock band that has one of its members crossing Abbey Road barefoot on a 1969 album cover, with the.
ReplyDeletePaul McCarney told CNN in 2018: “It was a very hot day and I happened to be wearing sandals like I am today so I just kicked them off because it was so hot we went across barefoot,”
A NOVA does not need two stars.
ReplyDeleteI would have bet my life that we'd see a picture of Drew Carey beside the TPIR game, saying "FLIP, FLOP, or FLIP-FLOP." in OFF's blog. Oh well.
Pretty simplistic for the day, belongs in a Tuesday or even a Monday slot. Just things that can mean the capitalized (why?) clues. The only real ugliness was PECLASS, a double letter-add-on. OUZO/UZO also not stellar, but the latter at least contains the DOD. Par.
RENT BOOSTER
ReplyDeleteA POLICYCHANGE means it’s TRUE,
the new RULE means no QUICKSALE,
so PLUNKDOWN no COIN, it’s TABOO.
Our OPINION: EPICFAIL.
--- ELLE and ELI ADDISON
I don't understand OFL's rage EVER. But that's me. I prefer to enjoy life - one of the many reasons I don't time myself or rush through the pux.
ReplyDeleteThis one was no FLOP - it FLIPPED into place all the way thru.
Diana, Lady-in-Waiting for Crosswords
OK - so I'm not in love with names being used in puzzles. But they weren't constructed just to please me - or anyone else for that matter.
A bit wonky in terms of clueing. Enjoyed the solve. Comments even better.
ReplyDelete- - - Robert