Anastasia's love in 1997's Anastasia / MON 4-11-22 / Australian young woman / Curly-tailed Japanese dog / Sign on a moody teen's door / Eating utensils that might come wrapped in red paper
Constructor: Rachel Simon
Relative difficulty: normal Monday
THEME: PICK UP (66A: Learn, as a new skill ... or what can precede the ends of 20-, 36-, 42- and 59-Across) — just what the clue says; so, PICK UP lines, games, trucks, and sticks):
Theme answers:
FAULT LINES (20A: Earthquakes occur around them)
VIDEO GAMES (36A: Fortnite and The Legend of Zelda, for two)
DUMP TRUCKS (42A: Construction site vehicles)
CHOPSTICKS (59A: Eating utensils that might come wrapped in red paper)
Word of the Day: LOOFA (1D: Shower scrubber) —
Luffa is a genus of tropical and subtropical vines in the cucumber family (Cucurbitaceae).
In everyday non-technical usage, the luffa, also spelled loofah, usually refers to the fruits of the species Luffa aegyptiaca and Luffa acutangula. It is cultivated and eaten as a vegetable, but must be harvested at a young stage of development to be edible. The vegetable is popular in India, China and Vietnam. When the fruit is fully ripened, it is very fibrous. The fully developed fruit is the source of the loofah scrubbing sponge which is used in bathrooms and kitchens. [...] The fruit section of L. aegyptiaca may be allowed to mature and used as a bath or kitchen sponge after being processed to remove everything except the network of xylem fibers. If the loofah is allowed to fully ripen and then dried on the vine, the flesh disappears leaving only the fibrous skeleton and seeds, which can be easily shaken out. Marketed as luffa or loofah, the sponge is used as a body scrub in the shower.
In Paraguay, panels are made out of luffa combined with other vegetable matter and recycled plastic. These can be used to create furniture and construct houses. (wikipedia)
• • •
Incredibly basic and entirely adequate Monday puzzle. Could've run thirty years ago, no problem, but that's not bad, just ... not good either. "Word that can precede (or follow)" is one of the most rudimentary theme types there is, but sometimes rudimentary concepts can yield fabulous results. Today's results, however, were just ho-hum. Also, aesthetically, the grid is a little ... odd. The revealer is in a weird place. One up from the bottom ... on the left? So ... the anteanteanteantepenultimate Across answer? Not clear to me why this grid wasn't a mirror image of itself with PICKUP in the standard revealer place (i.e. bottom right). It's not like the theme is particularly tricky or demanding. I'm a stickler for form if there's no clear reason to break form. If there's clear (good) reason to mess with standard format, then mess away! Otherwise, put things where they belong. The other, somewhat harder-to-see aesthetic imperfection (imho) is that the grid is really Really cut off, top half from the bottom. It doesn't look it, but you can feel it when you're solving, as your flow gets choked off quite bad as you descend. There are only two tiny pathways from the top to the bottom of this grid:
Technically, yes, there's still all-over interlock here, but barely—felt like I was completely restarting the puzzle on the bottom, as there were hardly any crosses to latch on to, and even those were on the longer side. On a Monday, that flow interruption was jarring. Is it a big deal? It is not. It is Monday. Everything is very solvable. But in general I like ... multiple paths in and out of sections. A feeling of openness. Flow. I like things to flow. So I didn't particularly like the cut-offedness of this puzzle's two hemispheres. Beyond that, the fill ... is largely acceptable, but also largely unremarkable. Lots and lots of repeaters and not a lot of oomph or sparkle. BLOSSOMED is probably the highlight, but the other 7+-letter answers just kind of lie there. Again, the puzzle absolutely makes sense and is puzzle-shaped and does not miss the mark in any kind of egregious way. But it feels like a passable imitation of a late twentieth-century puzzle. It doesn't feel like it's trying very hard to bring anything new to the table. I think I prefer ambitious failure to cautious, moderate success.
ADMAN is one of those answers that gives me Warning, Warning feelings if I see it early on. It feels old, and it feels Very crossword-old, and while it's legit, it still seems like a bad harbinger. This ADMAN was followed by two French answers and INIT and EASE crossing tEASErs, etc. and while no one of those things is bad, exactly, they combine with the ASPS and the ESPYs to keep things in superfamiliar territory. "OH, I SEE" has a little life to it. KEEP OUT also has some pep, but the "moody teen" bit in the clue just makes the puzzle feel even crustier—the theme type and the fill already feel sort of old. No need for the clues to make it worse. I spelled LOUFA like that, and I thought YODA (not LEIA) "founded the Resistance" (got the final "A" first and just guessed wrong). No other real problems. See you tomorrow.
Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld
P.S. the preferred spelling of LOOFAH appears to be the terminal-H version. Maybe it lost the "H" in ... marketing? I dunno. But merriam-webster dot com doesn't even have LOOFA as an alt spelling in its LOOFAH entry.
@bocamp - Croce’s Freestyle #697 is a skosh easier than last week’s but still in the “over an hour to solve” range. That said I’ve been rewatching “The Sopranos” recently so that clue was a gimme. Good luck!
After yesterday's tragic example of the NYTXW editors phoning it in (and the mindless political fiddle-faddle from too many commenters), this puzzle was joyous and should be used as an example of how to do things right.
I don't care where a revealer shows up since I often do puzzles bottom up, or right to left, as long as the reveal makes you stop, look back, and say, "Hm, well how 'bout them apples." This one does that and I see no reason to think a theme should be anything else.
Yay:
ALTOID OH I SEE COLOGNE KEEP OUT BLOSSOMED CHOPSTICKS: I LUV everything about CHOPSTICKS. I don't know why.
And, I LUV all the crosses answering every bit of what I didn't know.
Not a single Ug. (Well, maybe ANAL, but I guess we've given this word over to mainstream acceptance.)
I solved by looking at only the down clues (I like it cuz it makes Mondays a lot harder). But I got stuck in the 4 to 7 area, so I cheated by looking at 4 across. Success! Today the theme was a little thin, so a bit more harder (harderer?). I couldn't understand what the theme was (because I hadn't seen any of the down clues) so I went looking for a revealer, and PICKUP looked good... and it was.
Writeover: OLD NEWS for AT AN END (No longer happening.) I would argue a more fun answer for that clue.
[Spelling Bee: Sun 9 min to pg, then got QB much later by another very lucky guess of a "word" I've never heard of. My week, Mon to Sun: 0, 0, -1, 0, 0, 0, 0. Quite lucky this week!]
Thx Rachel; excellent Mon. puz to start off the week! :)
Easy+
Went thru this just about as fast as the fingers would move.
One of my ECHO Dots went unresponsive recently. Finally had to reset to factory, reinstall, and Bob was my uncle. Occasionally enjoy playing all 9 of them in the 'everywhere group' thru-out the suite.
Drove a Euclid DUMP TRUCK for Hoogovens steel plant in IJmuiden, Netherlands ('68).
Didn't know ALTOID.
Fun xword! :)
Enjoyed the Acrostic yd; another easy one. Seems like solving top down is now my standard m.o..
An ANAL/LAMA cross? OMG!!! OHISEE. If I PICKUP some GRASS I’ll have BEGUN to fall ASLEEP!
Pretty sweet Monday puz as far as I’m concerned. The “revealer” didn’t really reveal anything I hadn’t already filled in, but it was still a solid and enjoyable debut. Thanks, Rachel Simon.
My five favorite clues from last week (in order of appearance):
1. Sound of a mouse pointer? (3) 2. Safety net? (3)(6) 3. Toddler's eruption (5) 4. Gathering that occurs once per decade (6)(4) 5. What you find kitch in (3)(5)
To begin with, props to Rachel for finding four “pick up” endings that have such completely different meanings. Props also to Rachel for even *looking* for “pick up” endings – that’s a veteran constructor move, IMO.
After I had the first two theme answers, I tried to figure out the theme. No clue. I did the same after I got the third and fourth. No clue. Not until the reveal gave it away. Thus, I got my brain exercise fix in, and on a Monday! Furthermore, I love getting fooled fair-and-square, whether by a clue or theme. When that happens, I bow down with my thumbs up. I love getting got.
ROILED, SHEILA, and LOOFA – words I love – enriched the experience. I enjoyed the six double-E’s, the French contributions of ETRE, ANNEE, and COLOGNE (as in “eau de”), not to mention those two corner words that become French when turned around: LAB and SAP. Plus those five contributions from the schwa-de-vivre dénouement départment: LAMA, SHEILA, LEIA, LOOFA and AKITA.
This is one promising debut, with its stamp of quality from top to bottom. Please do keep at it, Rachel, and thank you for this lovely interlude!
Great debut from Rachel Simon. But for the greatest Monday debut ever, check this out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DLzxrzFCyOs&ab_channel=AllKindsOfStuff
Never had a clue what the theme was. Revealer came in from the downs, so I never even knew there was a revealer. Had to come here to become enlightened.
Slapped in FAULkLands at 20A based on FAUL_L and poor spelling ability. The N and the S worked, too, so that was hard to shake.
@Rex - Suprapropreantepenultimate is/may be the word you're looking for. It goes ultimate, antepenultimate, preantepeunultimate -- and then it gets a little fuzzy. Propreantepenultimate, suprapropreantepenultimate, and ultrasuprapropreantepenultimate. I'm not entirely sure those last three are "official." I do see "propreantepenultimate" in various online dictionaries, including Collins, but at the supra level, it's not really attested.
Interesting that the Aussies apparently use the word SHEILA generically to mean a girl or young woman. Had not heard that one before.
Lots of familiar faces today - NUKE, for microwave, ETSY, UTAH which is frequently clued as "home of etwas", MIT, LEIA, AKITA, ANAL . . . etc. Low on dreck . . . and a pretty fair, drama-free review by OFL ! Nice start to the week.
Solid Monday and just the right level of difficulty. Had "Keep off the ___" for a moo cow and OAST to remind us that it's a crossword. Nice.
Hand up for trying to suss out the theme, unsuccessfully. Agree with OFL that the revealer belongs in the SE corner and should be the last thing to appear, but that won't ruin my day.
I buy ALTOIDS (the tenor's friend) in bulk and have a tin of them sitting next to me at all times. Tic Tacs? I sneer in your general direction.
Agree with @bocamp that the Acrostic was pretty easy, but today's SB was a gimme. Literally. I opened it to find I had found 35 words and achieved Genius status. Somehow I have acquired the ability to do these telepathically.
Very nice debut, RS. A Rewarding Solve and hope to see you again on a different day of the week. Thanks for all the fun.
Monday Funday. Had enough crunch to make it interesting. Agree with @Gary J's list of neat words and share his love of chopsticks. (Even have a lovely dark wood set so I can eschew the happily papered ones that come with take-out.)
Cute puzzle - although Rex is correct that we don’t see this type of theme much anymore. Seems tight enough - I can’t come up with many others. No issue with the revealer location.
ANNEE, OAST, SHEILA maybe out of place early week? I liked BLOSSOMED and ADORNS. Some unknown trivia like DIMITRI glommed things up.
Lewis tried to guess the theme, couldn't, and enjoyed the fact that the revealer surprised him.
I didn't notice any theme, never thought to look for one, solved it as a themeless, and was pretty underwhelmed by the theme when I learned it.
I guess that's the difference between a curious person and a not-so-curious person.
This is an especially good example of a puzzle type -- words that go with either the first or second word of the theme answer -- that tend to bore me no matter how well they're done. This was no exception.
manitou (3:51 AM yd) re: the doc 'Feels Good Man' featuring PEPE's creator, Matt Furie
Posted this at the end of yd's blog, but just in case, wanted to provide the info again for those who may be interested. :)
Thx for the iTunes idea. I just searched for 'Feels Good Man' on my Apple TV and discovered it's streaming on Tubi. And, as you indicated it can be purchased or rented in the Apple TV app, as well. All's well that croak's well! Ribbit! 😊 🐸 ___ @okanaganer 👍 for your recent SB successes! :)
For you, much more than 'luck' I'd say! Otoh, I got your mystery word, and for me, it definitely was a lucky stab lol. Still missing a 5er from yd. On to today's. 🤞
Peace 🙏 🇺🇦 ~ Compassion ~ Tolerance ~ Kindness to all 🕊
I thought this was pretty much everything a Monday is supposed to be. Easy. Toeholds everywhere. A theme and a reveal that 'work'. There's a little for me to learn, not knowing DIMITRI or ASTLEY right off the bat. And a little dose of comeuppance, as I had igetit before OHISEE and bUlldozerS before DUMPTRUCKS.
It doesn't spark controversy, tho surely someone will find something to keep things polarized. It didn't evoke memories, fond associations, or offer topics I want to learn more about. But i dont think mo betta Mondays abound, and this one offered a nice little PICK me UP to start the week.
Happy 80th Birthday to the NYT Crossword puzzle. NBC TV just did a five minute piece on the history of the puzzle with now 30 year editor Will Shortz. He holds a college degree in enigmatology. According to Wikipedia, his favorite individual clue is "It might turn into a different story" (whose solution is SPIRAL STAIRCASE).[17]
Like @Nancy, I didn't even think about the theme, except that I did notice the revealer. I couldn't figure it out anyway, so I got PICKUP from crosses and went, 'OH! I SEE!" As @Lewis noted, it's a great theme because "pick-up" changes its meaning with each example.
And OAST, it was nice to see you again. It's been too long.
Hey All ! PICK'emUP things. Don't care too much that the Revealer is on the opposite side, but am concerned there is no symmetric Themer to said Revealer. ROILED is sitting there feeling quite awkward, saying "don't look at me!" Maybe change to ROLLED (which you could change GAMBLE to GOBBLE, getting you OOL [clued as "Swimming area sign word?"] and BLT), and clue as something like "66A turnover?" or somesuch to tie into the theme. Two cents, and all that.
Anyway, disappointed the SB had a glitch, and opened to some random, already made Genius previous one. But, did go the Help page, and saw for the first time the Hints they give you, including the "first two letters" one. Found out I was missing quite a few answers (was at G judging by the score counter being at the end of the scale), and with the two letters help thing, got to QB. So at least still had a bit of fun. Shakes from withdrawal avoided. Har.
Nicely filled puz for a debut.
Although FSTOP gets me an F, I don't want them to STOP! 😁 (Feel free to sneer at that one!)
@RooMonster ah, OOL. fond memories of that sign my sister's daycare mom had outside her pool. "welcome to our OOL," it read, "notice there's no P in it, let's keep it that way." perhaps it has been done to death by now but i'd never seen it before or since (my sister is nearly 30 now) and it still makes me smile.
Thank you Rachel Simon for this enjoyable puzzle! Friday and Saturday puzzles last week had me flummoxed! Sunday I completed but didn't understand why there were anagrams used in the two word answers. Today was a breath of fresh air for me. I especially liked "ROILED" crossing "EDDY". Yes I experienced it on the Delaware River. As we sat in kayaks in roiling water and waited for a member of our party to right her capsized kayak, a gusty wind blew off my hat and it disappeared into the vortex of a nearby eddy.
I an offended by DUMPTRUCKS being in the puzzle. How insensitive are you to run this puzzle with that theme answer after the Steelers quarterback Dwayne Haskins was hit by one. You should be ashamed.
An old-school theme, very nicely done. I'm one of those who tries to catch on to the theme along the way, but couldn't see any commonality, so the reveal brought a welcome surprise and a smile. A smile also for wondering how @Anoa Bob would regard the plurals (required, I believe, to avoid a singular CHOPSTICK and PICK-UP STICK).
I've become newly attuned to how newer solvers might fare, as I now have one in my household: after getting hooked on the Mini, my husband has been dipping a toe into Monday puzzles. So OAST, SHEILA, and AKIRA got an uh-oh from me. We'll see.
I timed this as my fastest Monday. I don’t see how I could write any quicker if I look at each clue. Not that this is my goal. I just happened to notice the app timer. DIMITRI would have been the only hold-up except it barely registered. The theme didn’t factor into my solve until I hit 66. While there isn’t a thing to criticize in this classic Monday puzzle, I’m always looking for a bit of humor.
@pabloinnh - The Spelling Bee has obviously weighed our respective talents and found me a bit wanting, as I only came in as "Amazing" with 26 words on today's telepathically solved puzzle.
Solid Monday with a traditional theme type. Don’t really care where the revealer is, as long as it’s there somewhere. Regardless of it’s location, I usually don’t look at the revealer or its clue until the end so that I can try to figure out the theme on my own. In this case, I couldn’t PICK UP the theme without having it fed to me at 66A.
In a world where almost any word can become a verb, it occurs to me that each of the themers could be an action phrase:
* FAULT LINES - blame your wrinkles for looking old * VIDEO GAMES - use a camcorder to record sports * DUMP TRUCKS - ban over-sized vehicles from residential streets * CHOP STICKS - cut up tree branches for firewood
What a pleasant way to pass the time on a rainy Monday morning. A nice little theme with fill that flowed nicely. Rex is right that the grid is unusually segregated north and south but not that it made the solve any more difficult IMO. It didn’t inspire me to do a TOE TAP but it’s a perfectly nice debut. Congratulations Rachel.
As a child of the IKE era, I can recall playing PICKUP STICKS for hours at a time. That and a card game called Old Maid. What can I say? I was easily entertained.
LOOFA is the only sp I'm familiar with; probably more xword friendly. I see both Amazon and Ngram prefer LOOFAh by a wide margin, tho, and as @Rex pointed out, M-W has LufFA as its variant.
@Escalator (9:07 AM)
Love the 'spiral staircase' clue! :)
Btw, I'm currently working (and re-working) the 1942 NYT xwords, edited by Margaret Farrar. ___ td pg: 12:55 (-10 after 30 min; I need some of @pabloinnh's (8:05 AM) & @Carola's (10:42 AM)'telepathy'. lol)
Wordle 296 3/6*
⬛⬛🟨⬛⬛ ⬛🟨⬛🟨🟨 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
Peace 🙏 🇺🇦 ~ Compassion ~ Tolerance ~ Kindness to all 🕊
A FOOL with his LOOFA did the TOE TAP dance with his CHOPSTICKS. EGGS were tossed. Why? you ask....Because his ANAL audience wanted to hear RAPS. What a DUMP someone shouted ...let the SPAR begin. After the SPAR had BEGUN, you could hear the sand trickle down the TIME PIECE which ADORNS the mens loo. ETSY and ESPY guard the entrance. ONE SAP HIT ASTLEY IN HIS ANNEE. His GUT reaction was to try and do the fandango tango. It didn't work. More EGGS were tossed. Someone sang an ODE to the GODS of GRASS. OH I SEE TILTED windmills another sang. UH UH yelled EDDY (who was standing by the ROILED OAST)...You better KEEP OUT...I'm cooking up some DEER with a side of LAMA. It needs to be DRY and I ain't taking a GAMBLE. Pass me an ALTOID. The evening finally came AT AN END....This time everyone sang their favorite ODE: "Another Day in Paradise" as they skipped to my loo.
Does PHIL Collins still sing? He was my favorite for many years.
@GILL – Phil Collins has health issues that affected his abilities as a drummer, but not his voice, I don't think.
For a first-ever published puzzle by a constructor, this is spot-on. Who cares that the revealer is on the left side? Oh, @Rex does. He always has fault lines to contribute.
I am posting before reading this morning on purpose. First, I am able to solve early (yay me!) and finally and most importantly, I have an unusually strong reaction to OFL.
The NYTXW is, first and foremost the NYTXW. Not to get too tautological about it, but the point is, this puzzle has history and tradition and its long time solvers have expectations. Monday is intro level, Thursday is tricksy (and hopefully for ne with a rebus)), Friday is clean and challenging and Sunday is big, fat and has nutsy themes all over the map, etc. i am one of the solvers who loves this puzzle for its history and tradition and because it is (almost always) a puzzle I rely on to follow its own practices.
This does not mean that within its structure, the puzzle shouldn’t be fresh and unexpected and new and clever and surprising. It should and (probably not often enough) is. But the fault at this level lies, in my opinion with the editorial leadership, or lack thereof.
Today’s puzzle was a Monday delight. Sure, it skewed very easy, but it was not dreary or full of junk. It ticked every Monday box and was very instructive to new solvers. Let’s face it folks, NYT is a business and needs subscribers.
I well remember the first time I solved a Monday puzzle by myself; I was eight years old, almost nine and thought it the biggest achievement of my life, and I was hooked.
OK, so I was already a regular since I sat with my Gran every evening as she solved hers in ink and was just in awe. On this particular Monday, the puzzle was straight ahead and conformed perfectly to its Monday-ness. The theme was a theme type I recognized from other Monday solves and that alone gave me a glimmer of hope. The process by now was as follows: I read the clue and Gran would wait to see if I had a guess. I could write a book about the woman’s patience.
Anyway, the puzzle was incredibly easy but in my defense, we are a wordy bunch, my family and a houseful of adamant educators professionally and avocationally. We love to learn things. I kept having good ideas and occasionally Gran would have to suggest that we slow down a bit before inking in the answer because it was her puzzle after all and we were going to use her pen! If it were today, instead of asking “Do you think we should check some down before we put that in?” She, ever a movie buff would probably say something more like “Patience my young Padawan.”
I promise you all, someone or someones out there will get their very first NYTXW no cheat solve today and it will hook them, and they and possibly others will be very proud. How do I know, besides counting my first solve as a true right of passage?
Gran passed during my 2L year. After her funeral, the family gathered and as always were sharing stories and memories of this dearly beloved woman. I had missed being able to say a final goodbye due to a Con Law professor who refused to allow me to delay taking a final exam and was very sad. My Uncle Merrill who had been at her bedside took me aside and told me I was exactly where I should have been and that Gran had been so very proud of me. He took me into the room at my parents home that had been hers for so many years, and took her German Bible off her night stand and handed it to me. “she wanted you to have this.” I accepted this precious tome, and as I lightly ruffled the pages, out fell the carefully clipped and pressed NYT puzzle, and in her copperplate script in the margin “Carol’s triumph, May 28,1961.”
That, my friends is the power of a perfect Monday puzzle..
@pabloinnh. I get you. I share your love of the "curiously strong mint". It became a problem a few years ago so I went to A.A...............Altoids Anonymous, of course.
Three CHOPSTICKS lovers on the blog so far...and then there's me.
Please understand that I give the Chinese full credit for their invention of paper; paper money; the decimal system; whiskey; matches; the compass; and umbrellas. It's a great culture, it really is. Who would ever want to deny that?
But CHOPSTICKS as an efficient way of getting food from the plate to your mouth? Give me a break. Not that I need one: it's a break that I've been giving myself ever since the first (and last) time I dropped a sauce-laden piece of chicken, along with a noodle or two, onto my beige cashmere non-washable, had-to-be-cleaned-by-an-expert-and-very-expensive-dry-cleaner sweater.
I remember once being in a Chinese restaurant around 4 p.m. -- at a time when the family that owned the restaurant was dining themselves. The elders ( in their 50s and 60s) were all eating with chopsticks. Their kids (in their 20s and 30s) were all eating with a knife and fork. And my first thought was: How utterly sensible!
One can find chopsticks charming...or exotic...or of cultural significance -- but I don't see how anyone can find them well-suited to the task that they were ostensibly invented to perform. I find them impossible to use.
(Of course to be fair, you don't want me performing brain surgery on you either.)
@CDilly (11:38) Just read your comment and I am in tears. That’s one of the most touching stories I’ve ever read - about crosswords or anything else. Thank you for taking the time to put it in such eloquent words which conveyed both your grandmother’s love and the point you are making about the importance of tradition in our shared pastime.
@Commentariat Members: If you missed it, do yourself a favor and take the time to read all of CDilly’s 11:38 post. Words worth remembering.
At 17A I was thinking, "What fresh hell is this?" (thank you, Dorothy Parker, even if that might not be exactly your phrasing), and, the NYTXW being kinda edgier at times, typed in WTF. Looked at 1D and so replaced that with OMG. Guess it was the trying week I had last week.
Has anyone done the April 6 NYer puzzle? Two answers in it, happening to cross, were quite fun, neither of which I'd seen in a crossword. I fully agree with the answer to 36A.
Like @Nancy 8:21 and @jberg 9:26, I solved it as a themeless, and, like @Joseph Michael 10:45, it doesn't matter to me where the revealer is as long as I run across it somewhere.
@CDilly52 11:38 - Thank you for the deeply touching story of your Monday crossword and your amazing Gran.
Easy Monday and a very nice debut, Rachel, thank you!
Nice Monday PICK-m&e-UP, at our house. Made M&A feel feistier than the puz, for once.
80 years of NYTPuzs, as of now. And yep there's been a looot of puzthemes along the way that have fed on some commonality in the starts or ends or even the middles of theme answers. I can't help wonderin who thought of doin it, first...
What we need now is a revealer that advertises itself as "not in the starts of any of the themers", or somesuch. That'd be re-freshinly different. (Runtpuz dibs.)
fave moo-cow eazy-E MonPuz clue: {"Keep off the ___" (park sign)"} = GRASS. Could also be in a rehab place's sign, if it were a TuesPuz.
staff weeject pick: OTO. Best from the weeject stacks in the NW & SE corners. honrable mention to LAB, which was a weeject sportin a moo-cow-gimme-ish clue, too boot. Also kinda partial to LUV.
fave fillins included: D(I)MITRI. COLOGNE. UHUH (a 50-pUrcenter). only no-know: ASTLEY.
Thanx for the fast fun, Ms. Simon darlin. And congratz on yer fine debut.
Lovely story @CDilly! And I thought the puzzle was simple, elegant, and just enough fun for a Monday.
@Roo, one difference between you and me is the fact that when todays puzzle showed up as already worked (and Queen Bee!) I briefly wondered if I worked it when half (or wholly) asleep and what did THAT say about my fully conscious mind!? 🤣
Wonderful and moving reminiscence; bless your Gran! 🙏
@pabloinnh (8:05 AM) / Carola (10:42 AM)
Spelling Bee Solver has a rational explanation for today's NYT SB gaffe. nytbee.com has also updated their site. ___ Peace 🙏 🇺🇦 ~ Compassion ~ Tolerance ~ Kindness to all 🕊
Having stopped to pay my tribute, I now can comment on the puzzle, which I enjoyed greatly. I do think SHEILA as clued should have raised a little Rexwrath. We had, in an interesting period of our lives in this house, occasion to meet a very good and reliable young man from Australia who had befriended my oldest daughter in Europe, and now was returning home after a visit to the USA. Nothing, it seems, is more traditional in Oz than for men to travel solo for a couple of years, after high school or college, find jobs, and (if you ask me) become connoisseurs of the local beers. Through him we met the occasional Aussie woman, and their belief was that SHEILA was an insult to woman. Fine to call any man a bloke, but not fine to call any young woman a SHEILA.
I suppose that is still true today. We exchange holiday cards with our friend, who became a policeman in Queensland, and by all accounts has had a fine career, and a wife and children of his own. (He was by no means my daughter's boyfriend, and tried to act as her big brother, at a stressful time in her life).
My other comment is the only Thunderpussy I admire is the late Magnolia Thunderpussy, who for a time owned a restaurant on the key corner of the Haight Ashbury. Fun place, loved by all. After some vicissitudes, Dave McLean founded a brewpub there, which he called Magnolia's, in her honor. They made (and I suppose still make) excellent beer. And thus, you can see the site even today.
@CDilly52, what a poignant story. Nice to have memories like that; I have none of my grandfolks as they all died when I was very young. I envy my nieces and nephews; some reached their 30s and still had grandparents.
[Spelling Bee: td (Mon) no technical issue for me, 3:30 to pg then about 10 min to QB. But such odd letters!]
@CDilly Very well written antithesis to Rex-screed. I might've resorted to cuss words! And what a great heart felt story about finding that MonPuz from your Gran. Dang, tearing up a bit.
@JC66 Was going to suggest someone tell Rex to read it. You beat me to it. Maybe that'll get him to revert to his early blog days, when he still enjoyed solving.
@bocamp 1:27 - Thank you for posting those clarifying Bee-related links, which render moot my wondering, "Who the heck would hack my Times account to do the Spelling Bee?" :)
@Stephanie 10:56 I've seen that sign many times. I got a good laugh out of it the first time seeing it!
@bocamp Dang, 33 on your Duotrigordle. Tough. Only can go one better if your first word is in the list. Color me impressed. I had a pen and paper trying to figure out words, and got the closest I've been today, only missing three until I ran out of tries!
I always cringe when I see or hear ANAL (5D) used to mean "Obsessive about little details" (as clued). Maybe a century ago it would have sounded sophisticated and knowledgeable but nowadays it just sounds antiquated and misinformed, like using terms from astrology or phrenology to describe personality traits.
And I always think the user is secretly giggling inside and thinking they got away with using a naughty word in public while at the same time appearing to have some kind of inside information known only to the elite intelligentsia. For anyone who has taken even an intro psych course in the last sixty or seventy years, however, the opposite is true. It sounds lowbrow and pretentious. It's from the dark ages of psychology and psychiatry, right in there with other discredited Freudian terminology like "penis envy" and "Oedipal complex". Need a term for "obsessive about little details"? How about "conscientious"? Need a clue for ANAL? How about "___ trig" or "___ chem"? Or clue it straight up like "Relating to the lower extremity of the G.I. tract". Or maybe I'm just being an asshole about ANAL!
On a lighter note, I became reasonable proficient using CHOP STICKS while living and working in Asia in the mid 80s. It was either learn to use them or go hungry! When I returned stateside I happily went back to silverware. I still use a single bamboo CHOP STICK (hi Carola @10:32) so as not to break the glass when I stir the grounds in my coffee press.
I'm sure they had to plan the puzzle in advance, but it feels pretty tone deaf to have ETSY clued so blandly on the day that many artists are starting a week-long strike to protest against rising fees.
Yes, somewhat strange letter combo, but much easier than the other one.
@RooMonster (3:46 PM)
Ty :)
It's my fave of all the Wordles. I start the day with SB and try to finish the duotrigordle before doing the daily NYT xword. I'll most likely never get a 32 with the first word I use, but it almost always stands me in good stead. I very rarely get a shot at 33, usually ending with 34. Like I used to do with the SB, I spend a good amt of time on it, going thru each of the 32 words to see if I can get at least one on my 3rd attempt (which is most of the time). Just adding (or eliminating) one letter at a time usually gets the job done. Here are my start words.
@okanaganer 👍 for QB td! :) ___ td pg: 3:34 (the correct one; 0 in under 30) (still working on the missing 5er from yd)
Peace 🙏 🇺🇦 ~ Compassion ~ Tolerance ~ Kindness to all 🕊
When M&A was around 9-10, my dad and I would solve and submit the Cashword Pete puzzle each weekend. They offered a cash prize, for a correct solution. The prize would build up from week-to-week, as there usually wouldn't be a winner. The clues were such that there was always more than one possible answer for many of them. And sometimes the logic for what was "correct" got a bit desperate.
We never won, but it was kinda fun. Sooo ... U helped bring back a nice memory, for M&A. Thanx again,
I really liked the BLOSSOMED as clued and answered. TIMEPIECE KEEPOUT TOETAP SHEAF-SHEAR. I pick up faults when I run with a bad crowd. I pick up dumps when I walk my dog I pick up chops when I take karate lessons. I use to pick up videos when I went to blockbluster.
Clock as sock or stocking decoration near ankle? Its in the dictionary. Any one know that's about.
What the bald man has who suns either without hat or without swim trunks?
I’m not sure where all of the Thunderpussy stuff is coming from, as I’ve been out building fence all day which, believe me, is a job-and-a-half for a 68 year old guy. But I wanted to give a shout out to the Seattle rock band, Thunderpussy, which has a pretty big following from touring, performing at SXSW and a couple of albums. Co-founder and lead singer Molly Sides is a friend and high school classmate of my daughter.
@Joe DiPinto 9:52. Thanks. I read Rex this morning, but didn’t have time to watch the Thunderpussy link. I 100% enjoy your comments, whether germane or off-beat. I hope you keep it up forever.
I know what OFF means by "place filler." Belongs in the current slot, does its job...like that. Solid theme that makes you guess at the commonality, then reveals it--eliciting an "OHISEE." Perhaps not the force of an "AHA!" but close enough. Almost too easy--even for a Monday--but relatively junk-free. For a debut: birdie. (@albatross: it's with an IE, not a Y.)
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Easy-medium. Solid and smooth, liked it. Excellent debut!
ReplyDeleteGotta love the ASTLEY clue.
@bocamp - Croce’s Freestyle #697 is a skosh easier than last week’s but still in the “over an hour to solve” range. That said I’ve been rewatching “The Sopranos” recently so that clue was a gimme. Good luck!
After yesterday's tragic example of the NYTXW editors phoning it in (and the mindless political fiddle-faddle from too many commenters), this puzzle was joyous and should be used as an example of how to do things right.
ReplyDeleteI don't care where a revealer shows up since I often do puzzles bottom up, or right to left, as long as the reveal makes you stop, look back, and say, "Hm, well how 'bout them apples." This one does that and I see no reason to think a theme should be anything else.
Yay:
ALTOID
OH I SEE
COLOGNE
KEEP OUT
BLOSSOMED
CHOPSTICKS: I LUV everything about CHOPSTICKS. I don't know why.
And, I LUV all the crosses answering every bit of what I didn't know.
Not a single Ug. (Well, maybe ANAL, but I guess we've given this word over to mainstream acceptance.)
I solved by looking at only the down clues (I like it cuz it makes Mondays a lot harder). But I got stuck in the 4 to 7 area, so I cheated by looking at 4 across. Success! Today the theme was a little thin, so a bit more harder (harderer?). I couldn't understand what the theme was (because I hadn't seen any of the down clues) so I went looking for a revealer, and PICKUP looked good... and it was.
ReplyDeleteWriteover: OLD NEWS for AT AN END (No longer happening.) I would argue a more fun answer for that clue.
[Spelling Bee: Sun 9 min to pg, then got QB much later by another very lucky guess of a "word" I've never heard of.
My week, Mon to Sun: 0, 0, -1, 0, 0, 0, 0. Quite lucky this week!]
Thx Rachel; excellent Mon. puz to start off the week! :)
ReplyDeleteEasy+
Went thru this just about as fast as the fingers would move.
One of my ECHO Dots went unresponsive recently. Finally had to reset to factory, reinstall, and Bob was my uncle. Occasionally enjoy playing all 9 of them in the 'everywhere group' thru-out the suite.
Drove a Euclid DUMP TRUCK for Hoogovens steel plant in IJmuiden, Netherlands ('68).
Didn't know ALTOID.
Fun xword! :)
Enjoyed the Acrostic yd; another easy one. Seems like solving top down is now my standard m.o..
@jae
Looking forward to Croce's 697 later today! :)
___
yd pg -1 (missing a 5er) (did find that 4 from dbyd, altho, missed these 2, both of which I have in my List, albeit, in plural form)
Promised I wouldn't post another Duotrigordle unless I managed a 33/37. Got it just before bedtime. Yay! :)
Daily Duotrigordle #39
Guesses: 33/37
2️⃣0️⃣ 2️⃣1️⃣ 2️⃣2️⃣ 2️⃣3️⃣
2️⃣6️⃣ 2️⃣5️⃣ 2️⃣4️⃣ 0️⃣7️⃣
1️⃣1️⃣ 0️⃣9️⃣ 1️⃣0️⃣ 0️⃣8️⃣
2️⃣7️⃣ 2️⃣8️⃣ 1️⃣2️⃣ 2️⃣9️⃣
1️⃣3️⃣ 3️⃣0️⃣ 0️⃣5️⃣ 0️⃣3️⃣
3️⃣1️⃣ 1️⃣5️⃣ 1️⃣4️⃣ 0️⃣6️⃣
3️⃣2️⃣ 0️⃣4️⃣ 1️⃣6️⃣ 1️⃣7️⃣
1️⃣8️⃣ 3️⃣3️⃣ 1️⃣9️⃣ 0️⃣2️⃣
https://duotrigordle.com/
Peace 🙏 🇺🇦 ~ Compassion ~ Tolerance ~ Kindness to all 🕊
An ANAL/LAMA cross? OMG!!! OHISEE. If I PICKUP some GRASS I’ll have BEGUN to fall ASLEEP!
ReplyDeletePretty sweet Monday puz as far as I’m concerned. The “revealer” didn’t really reveal anything I hadn’t already filled in, but it was still a solid and enjoyable debut. Thanks, Rachel Simon.
My five favorite clues from last week
ReplyDelete(in order of appearance):
1. Sound of a mouse pointer? (3)
2. Safety net? (3)(6)
3. Toddler's eruption (5)
4. Gathering that occurs once per decade (6)(4)
5. What you find kitch in (3)(5)
EEK
TWO POINTS
MOLAR
CENSUS DATA
BAD TASTE
REMEMBER THIS?
ReplyDeleteTo begin with, props to Rachel for finding four “pick up” endings that have such completely different meanings. Props also to Rachel for even *looking* for “pick up” endings – that’s a veteran constructor move, IMO.
ReplyDeleteAfter I had the first two theme answers, I tried to figure out the theme. No clue. I did the same after I got the third and fourth. No clue. Not until the reveal gave it away. Thus, I got my brain exercise fix in, and on a Monday! Furthermore, I love getting fooled fair-and-square, whether by a clue or theme. When that happens, I bow down with my thumbs up. I love getting got.
ROILED, SHEILA, and LOOFA – words I love – enriched the experience. I enjoyed the six double-E’s, the French contributions of ETRE, ANNEE, and COLOGNE (as in “eau de”), not to mention those two corner words that become French when turned around: LAB and SAP. Plus those five contributions from the schwa-de-vivre dénouement départment: LAMA, SHEILA, LEIA, LOOFA and AKITA.
This is one promising debut, with its stamp of quality from top to bottom. Please do keep at it, Rachel, and thank you for this lovely interlude!
Great debut from Rachel Simon. But for the greatest Monday debut ever, check this out:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DLzxrzFCyOs&ab_channel=AllKindsOfStuff
Never had a clue what the theme was. Revealer came in from the downs, so I never even knew there was a revealer. Had to come here to become enlightened.
ReplyDeleteSlapped in FAULkLands at 20A based on FAUL_L and poor spelling ability. The N and the S worked, too, so that was hard to shake.
Revealer was 66 across
Delete@Rex - Suprapropreantepenultimate is/may be the word you're looking for. It goes ultimate, antepenultimate, preantepeunultimate -- and then it gets a little fuzzy. Propreantepenultimate, suprapropreantepenultimate, and ultrasuprapropreantepenultimate. I'm not entirely sure those last three are "official." I do see "propreantepenultimate" in various online dictionaries, including Collins, but at the supra level, it's not really attested.
ReplyDeleteInteresting that the Aussies apparently use the word SHEILA generically to mean a girl or young woman. Had not heard that one before.
ReplyDeleteLots of familiar faces today - NUKE, for microwave, ETSY, UTAH which is frequently clued as "home of etwas", MIT, LEIA, AKITA, ANAL . . . etc. Low on dreck . . . and a pretty fair, drama-free review by OFL ! Nice start to the week.
Solid Monday and just the right level of difficulty. Had "Keep off the ___" for a moo cow and OAST to remind us that it's a crossword. Nice.
ReplyDeleteHand up for trying to suss out the theme, unsuccessfully. Agree with OFL that the revealer belongs in the SE corner and should be the last thing to appear, but that won't ruin my day.
I buy ALTOIDS (the tenor's friend) in bulk and have a tin of them sitting next to me at all times. Tic Tacs? I sneer in your general direction.
Agree with @bocamp that the Acrostic was pretty easy, but today's SB was a gimme. Literally. I opened it to find I had found 35 words and achieved Genius status. Somehow I have acquired the ability to do these telepathically.
Very nice debut, RS. A Rewarding Solve and hope to see you again on a different day of the week. Thanks for all the fun.
Monday Funday. Had enough crunch to make it interesting. Agree with @Gary J's list of neat words and share his love of chopsticks. (Even have a lovely dark wood set so I can eschew the happily papered ones that come with take-out.)
ReplyDeleteCute puzzle - although Rex is correct that we don’t see this type of theme much anymore. Seems tight enough - I can’t come up with many others. No issue with the revealer location.
ReplyDeleteANNEE, OAST, SHEILA maybe out of place early week? I liked BLOSSOMED and ADORNS. Some unknown trivia like DIMITRI glommed things up.
The TIMEPIECE stretched across his wrist
Enjoyable Monday solve.
Lewis tried to guess the theme, couldn't, and enjoyed the fact that the revealer surprised him.
ReplyDeleteI didn't notice any theme, never thought to look for one, solved it as a themeless, and was pretty underwhelmed by the theme when I learned it.
I guess that's the difference between a curious person and a not-so-curious person.
This is an especially good example of a puzzle type -- words that go with either the first or second word of the theme answer -- that tend to bore me no matter how well they're done. This was no exception.
manitou (3:51 AM yd) re: the doc 'Feels Good Man' featuring PEPE's creator, Matt Furie
ReplyDeletePosted this at the end of yd's blog, but just in case, wanted to provide the info again for those who may be interested. :)
Thx for the iTunes idea. I just searched for 'Feels Good Man' on my Apple TV and discovered it's streaming on Tubi. And, as you indicated it can be purchased or rented in the Apple TV app, as well. All's well that croak's well! Ribbit! 😊 🐸
___
@okanaganer 👍 for your recent SB successes! :)
For you, much more than 'luck' I'd say! Otoh, I got your mystery word, and for me, it definitely was a lucky stab lol. Still missing a 5er from yd. On to today's. 🤞
Peace 🙏 🇺🇦 ~ Compassion ~ Tolerance ~ Kindness to all 🕊
I thought this was pretty much everything a Monday is supposed to be. Easy. Toeholds everywhere. A theme and a reveal that 'work'. There's a little for me to learn, not knowing DIMITRI or ASTLEY right off the bat. And a little dose of comeuppance, as I had igetit before OHISEE and bUlldozerS before DUMPTRUCKS.
ReplyDeleteIt doesn't spark controversy, tho surely someone will find something to keep things polarized. It didn't evoke memories, fond associations, or offer topics I want to learn more about. But i dont think mo betta Mondays abound, and this one offered a nice little PICK me UP to start the week.
I have a completely different puzzle in the app. I'm very confused.
ReplyDeleteHappy 80th Birthday to the NYT Crossword puzzle. NBC TV just did a five minute piece on the history of the puzzle with now 30 year editor Will Shortz. He holds a college degree in enigmatology. According to Wikipedia, his favorite individual clue is "It might turn into a different story" (whose solution is SPIRAL STAIRCASE).[17]
ReplyDeleteLike @Nancy, I didn't even think about the theme, except that I did notice the revealer. I couldn't figure it out anyway, so I got PICKUP from crosses and went, 'OH! I SEE!" As @Lewis noted, it's a great theme because "pick-up" changes its meaning with each example.
ReplyDeleteAnd OAST, it was nice to see you again. It's been too long.
Hey All !
ReplyDeletePICK'emUP things. Don't care too much that the Revealer is on the opposite side, but am concerned there is no symmetric Themer to said Revealer. ROILED is sitting there feeling quite awkward, saying "don't look at me!" Maybe change to ROLLED (which you could change GAMBLE to GOBBLE, getting you OOL [clued as "Swimming area sign word?"] and BLT), and clue as something like "66A turnover?" or somesuch to tie into the theme. Two cents, and all that.
Anyway, disappointed the SB had a glitch, and opened to some random, already made Genius previous one. But, did go the Help page, and saw for the first time the Hints they give you, including the "first two letters" one. Found out I was missing quite a few answers (was at G judging by the score counter being at the end of the scale), and with the two letters help thing, got to QB. So at least still had a bit of fun. Shakes from withdrawal avoided. Har.
Nicely filled puz for a debut.
Although FSTOP gets me an F, I don't want them to STOP! 😁 (Feel free to sneer at that one!)
yd -4, should'ves 2
Two F's
RooMonster
DarrinV
@RooMonster ah, OOL. fond memories of that sign my sister's daycare mom had outside her pool. "welcome to our OOL," it read, "notice there's no P in it, let's keep it that way." perhaps it has been done to death by now but i'd never seen it before or since (my sister is nearly 30 now) and it still makes me smile.
DeleteThank you Rachel Simon for this enjoyable puzzle! Friday and Saturday puzzles last week had me flummoxed! Sunday I completed but didn't understand why there were anagrams used in the two word answers. Today was a breath of fresh air for me. I especially liked "ROILED" crossing "EDDY". Yes I experienced it on the Delaware River. As we sat in kayaks in roiling water and waited for a member of our party to right her capsized kayak, a gusty wind blew off my hat and it disappeared into the vortex of a nearby eddy.
ReplyDeleteI an offended by DUMPTRUCKS being in the puzzle. How insensitive are you to run this puzzle with that theme answer after the Steelers quarterback Dwayne Haskins was hit by one. You should be ashamed.
ReplyDeleteToday I tried doing only Downs, fun stuff. Took 7 minutes. But can't make much of @Rex because I didn't see many of the clues!
ReplyDeleteAn old-school theme, very nicely done. I'm one of those who tries to catch on to the theme along the way, but couldn't see any commonality, so the reveal brought a welcome surprise and a smile. A smile also for wondering how @Anoa Bob would regard the plurals (required, I believe, to avoid a singular CHOPSTICK and PICK-UP STICK).
ReplyDeleteI've become newly attuned to how newer solvers might fare, as I now have one in my household: after getting hooked on the Mini, my husband has been dipping a toe into Monday puzzles. So OAST, SHEILA, and AKIRA got an uh-oh from me. We'll see.
I timed this as my fastest Monday. I don’t see how I could write any quicker if I look at each clue. Not that this is my goal. I just happened to notice the app timer. DIMITRI would have been the only hold-up except it barely registered. The theme didn’t factor into my solve until I hit 66. While there isn’t a thing to criticize in this classic Monday puzzle, I’m always looking for a bit of humor.
ReplyDelete@pabloinnh - The Spelling Bee has obviously weighed our respective talents and found me a bit wanting, as I only came in as "Amazing" with 26 words on today's telepathically solved puzzle.
ReplyDeleteSolid Monday with a traditional theme type. Don’t really care where the revealer is, as long as it’s there somewhere. Regardless of it’s location, I usually don’t look at the revealer or its clue until the end so that I can try to figure out the theme on my own. In this case, I couldn’t PICK UP the theme without having it fed to me at 66A.
ReplyDeleteIn a world where almost any word can become a verb, it occurs to me that each of the themers could be an action phrase:
* FAULT LINES - blame your wrinkles for looking old
* VIDEO GAMES - use a camcorder to record sports
* DUMP TRUCKS - ban over-sized vehicles from residential streets
* CHOP STICKS - cut up tree branches for firewood
What a pleasant way to pass the time on a rainy Monday morning. A nice little theme with fill that flowed nicely. Rex is right that the grid is unusually segregated north and south but not that it made the solve any more difficult IMO. It didn’t inspire me to do a TOE TAP but it’s a perfectly nice debut. Congratulations Rachel.
ReplyDeleteAs a child of the IKE era, I can recall playing PICKUP STICKS for hours at a time. That and a card game called Old Maid. What can I say? I was easily entertained.
Hands up for being a CHOPSTICKS lover! 🥢
ReplyDeleteLOOFA is the only sp I'm familiar with; probably more xword friendly. I see both Amazon and Ngram prefer LOOFAh by a wide margin, tho, and as @Rex pointed out, M-W has LufFA as its variant.
@Escalator (9:07 AM)
Love the 'spiral staircase' clue! :)
Btw, I'm currently working (and re-working) the 1942 NYT xwords, edited by Margaret Farrar.
___
td pg: 12:55 (-10 after 30 min; I need some of @pabloinnh's (8:05 AM) & @Carola's (10:42 AM)'telepathy'. lol)
Wordle 296 3/6*
⬛⬛🟨⬛⬛
⬛🟨⬛🟨🟨
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
Peace 🙏 🇺🇦 ~ Compassion ~ Tolerance ~ Kindness to all 🕊
@Joaquin 7:03, nice rickroll.
ReplyDeleteA FOOL with his LOOFA did the TOE TAP dance with his CHOPSTICKS. EGGS were tossed. Why? you ask....Because his ANAL audience wanted to hear RAPS. What a DUMP someone shouted ...let the SPAR begin. After the SPAR had BEGUN, you could hear the sand trickle down the TIME PIECE which ADORNS the mens loo. ETSY and ESPY guard the entrance. ONE SAP HIT ASTLEY IN HIS ANNEE. His GUT reaction was to try and do the fandango tango. It didn't work. More EGGS were tossed. Someone sang an ODE to the GODS of GRASS. OH I SEE TILTED windmills another sang. UH UH yelled EDDY (who was standing by the ROILED OAST)...You better KEEP OUT...I'm cooking up some DEER with a side of LAMA. It needs to be DRY and I ain't taking a GAMBLE. Pass me an ALTOID.
ReplyDeleteThe evening finally came AT AN END....This time everyone sang their favorite ODE: "Another Day in Paradise" as they skipped to my loo.
Does PHIL Collins still sing? He was my favorite for many years.
@GILL – Phil Collins has health issues that affected his abilities as a drummer, but not his voice, I don't think.
ReplyDeleteFor a first-ever published puzzle by a constructor, this is spot-on. Who cares that the revealer is on the left side? Oh, @Rex does. He always has fault lines to contribute.
🟩 ← One of the theme combos
I am posting before reading this morning on purpose. First, I am able to solve early (yay me!) and finally and most importantly, I have an unusually strong reaction to OFL.
ReplyDeleteThe NYTXW is, first and foremost the NYTXW. Not to get too tautological about it, but the point is, this puzzle has history and tradition and its long time solvers have expectations. Monday is intro level, Thursday is tricksy (and hopefully for ne with a rebus)), Friday is clean and challenging and Sunday is big, fat and has nutsy themes all over the map, etc. i am one of the solvers who loves this puzzle for its history and tradition and because it is (almost always) a puzzle I rely on to follow its own practices.
This does not mean that within its structure, the puzzle shouldn’t be fresh and unexpected and new and clever and surprising. It should and (probably not often enough) is. But the fault at this level lies, in my opinion with the editorial leadership, or lack thereof.
Today’s puzzle was a Monday delight. Sure, it skewed very easy, but it was not dreary or full of junk. It ticked every Monday box and was very instructive to new solvers. Let’s face it folks, NYT is a business and needs subscribers.
I well remember the first time I solved a Monday puzzle by myself; I was eight years old, almost nine and thought it the biggest achievement of my life, and I was hooked.
OK, so I was already a regular since I sat with my Gran every evening as she solved hers in ink and was just in awe. On this particular Monday, the puzzle was straight ahead and conformed perfectly to its Monday-ness. The theme was a theme type I recognized from other Monday solves and that alone gave me a glimmer of hope. The process by now was as follows: I read the clue and Gran would wait to see if I had a guess. I could write a book about the woman’s patience.
Anyway, the puzzle was incredibly easy but in my defense, we are a wordy bunch, my family and a houseful of adamant educators professionally and avocationally. We love to learn things. I kept having good ideas and occasionally Gran would have to suggest that we slow down a bit before inking in the answer because it was her puzzle after all and we were going to use her pen! If it were today, instead of asking “Do you think we should check some down before we put that in?” She, ever a movie buff would probably say something more like “Patience my young Padawan.”
I promise you all, someone or someones out there will get their very first NYTXW no cheat solve today and it will hook them, and they and possibly others will be very proud. How do I know, besides counting my first solve as a true right of passage?
Gran passed during my 2L year. After her funeral, the family gathered and as always were sharing stories and memories of this dearly beloved woman. I had missed being able to say a final goodbye due to a Con Law professor who refused to allow me to delay taking a final exam and was very sad. My Uncle Merrill who had been at her bedside took me aside and told me I was exactly where I should have been and that Gran had been so very proud of me. He took me into the room at my parents home that had been hers for so many years, and took her German Bible off her night stand and handed it to me. “she wanted you to have this.” I accepted this precious tome, and as I lightly ruffled the pages, out fell the carefully clipped and pressed NYT puzzle, and in her copperplate script in the margin “Carol’s triumph, May 28,1961.”
That, my friends is the power of a perfect Monday puzzle..
@pabloinnh. I get you. I share your love of the "curiously strong mint". It became a problem a few years ago so I went to A.A...............Altoids Anonymous, of course.
ReplyDeleteThree CHOPSTICKS lovers on the blog so far...and then there's me.
ReplyDeletePlease understand that I give the Chinese full credit for their invention of paper; paper money; the decimal system; whiskey; matches; the compass; and umbrellas. It's a great culture, it really is. Who would ever want to deny that?
But CHOPSTICKS as an efficient way of getting food from the plate to your mouth? Give me a break. Not that I need one: it's a break that I've been giving myself ever since the first (and last) time I dropped a sauce-laden piece of chicken, along with a noodle or two, onto my beige cashmere non-washable, had-to-be-cleaned-by-an-expert-and-very-expensive-dry-cleaner sweater.
I remember once being in a Chinese restaurant around 4 p.m. -- at a time when the family that owned the restaurant was dining themselves. The elders ( in their 50s and 60s) were all eating with chopsticks. Their kids (in their 20s and 30s) were all eating with a knife and fork. And my first thought was: How utterly sensible!
One can find chopsticks charming...or exotic...or of cultural significance -- but I don't see how anyone can find them well-suited to the task that they were ostensibly invented to perform. I find them impossible to use.
(Of course to be fair, you don't want me performing brain surgery on you either.)
@CDilly52 - What a wonderful story! Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDelete@CDilly (11:38) Just read your comment and I am in tears. That’s one of the most touching stories I’ve ever read - about crosswords or anything else. Thank you for taking the time to put it in such eloquent words which conveyed both your grandmother’s love and the point you are making about the importance of tradition in our shared pastime.
ReplyDelete@Commentariat Members: If you missed it, do yourself a favor and take the time to read all of CDilly’s 11:38 post. Words worth remembering.
if we have to have LEA in the fill, how's about an alternative to 'meadow'?
ReplyDelete- could be small spirit?
- ego-less Star Wars Princess?
my attempts. that's go folks!!
Lovely story, @cdilly52. Thanks. And another hand up for Altoids vs "the rest".
ReplyDeleteOh My God!
ReplyDeleteCarol (@CDilly 52) brought tears to my eyes.
Whatever I was going to say about the puzzle seems hardly worth saying anymore.
@CDilly52 -- Thank you. That was very moving and beautiful.
ReplyDelete@CDilly
ReplyDeleteLoved your comment and sent @Rex an email recommending that he read it.
At 17A I was thinking, "What fresh hell is this?" (thank you, Dorothy Parker, even if that might not be exactly your phrasing), and, the NYTXW being kinda edgier at times, typed in WTF. Looked at 1D and so replaced that with OMG. Guess it was the trying week I had last week.
ReplyDeleteHas anyone done the April 6 NYer puzzle? Two answers in it, happening to cross, were quite fun, neither of which I'd seen in a crossword. I fully agree with the answer to 36A.
Like @Nancy 8:21 and @jberg 9:26, I solved it as a themeless, and, like @Joseph Michael 10:45, it doesn't matter to me where the revealer is as long as I run across it somewhere.
@CDilly52 11:38 - Thank you for the deeply touching story of your Monday crossword and your amazing Gran.
Easy Monday and a very nice debut, Rachel, thank you!
Nice Monday PICK-m&e-UP, at our house. Made M&A feel feistier than the puz, for once.
ReplyDelete80 years of NYTPuzs, as of now. And yep there's been a looot of puzthemes along the way that have fed on some commonality in the starts or ends or even the middles of theme answers. I can't help wonderin who thought of doin it, first...
What we need now is a revealer that advertises itself as "not in the starts of any of the themers", or somesuch. That'd be re-freshinly different. (Runtpuz dibs.)
fave moo-cow eazy-E MonPuz clue: {"Keep off the ___" (park sign)"} = GRASS. Could also be in a rehab place's sign, if it were a TuesPuz.
staff weeject pick: OTO. Best from the weeject stacks in the NW & SE corners. honrable mention to LAB, which was a weeject sportin a moo-cow-gimme-ish clue, too boot. Also kinda partial to LUV.
fave fillins included: D(I)MITRI. COLOGNE. UHUH (a 50-pUrcenter).
only no-know: ASTLEY.
Thanx for the fast fun, Ms. Simon darlin. And congratz on yer fine debut.
Masked & Anonymo6Us
**gruntz**
@CDilly 52, I add my thanks for the wonderful story. How lucky you and your Gran were to have each other!
ReplyDeleteLovely story @CDilly! And I thought the puzzle was simple, elegant, and just enough fun for a Monday.
ReplyDelete@Roo, one difference between you and me is the fact that when todays puzzle showed up as already worked (and Queen Bee!) I briefly wondered if I worked it when half (or wholly) asleep and what did THAT say about my fully conscious mind!? 🤣
Sorry I'm late. I've been trying to find my old Thunderpussy albums...Ahh,good times.
ReplyDelete@CDilly52 (11:38 AM)
ReplyDeleteWonderful and moving reminiscence; bless your Gran! 🙏
@pabloinnh (8:05 AM) / Carola (10:42 AM)
Spelling Bee Solver has a rational explanation for today's NYT SB gaffe. nytbee.com has also updated their site.
___
Peace 🙏 🇺🇦 ~ Compassion ~ Tolerance ~ Kindness to all 🕊
It felt fun and fresh to me in an otherwise stressful day. A nice debut!
ReplyDelete"I think I prefer ambitious failure to cautious, moderate success."
ReplyDeletesays the person who obviously has never read this blog.
Having stopped to pay my tribute, I now can comment on the puzzle, which I enjoyed greatly. I do think SHEILA as clued should have raised a little Rexwrath. We had, in an interesting period of our lives in this house, occasion to meet a very good and reliable young man from Australia who had befriended my oldest daughter in Europe, and now was returning home after a visit to the USA. Nothing, it seems, is more traditional in Oz than for men to travel solo for a couple of years, after high school or college, find jobs, and (if you ask me) become connoisseurs of the local beers. Through him we met the occasional Aussie woman, and their belief was that SHEILA was an insult to woman. Fine to call any man a bloke, but not fine to call any young woman a SHEILA.
ReplyDeleteI suppose that is still true today. We exchange holiday cards with our friend, who became a policeman in Queensland, and by all accounts has had a fine career, and a wife and children of his own. (He was by no means my daughter's boyfriend, and tried to act as her big brother, at a stressful time in her life).
My other comment is the only Thunderpussy I admire is the late Magnolia Thunderpussy, who for a time owned a restaurant on the key corner of the Haight Ashbury. Fun place, loved by all. After some vicissitudes, Dave McLean founded a brewpub there, which he called Magnolia's, in her honor. They made (and I suppose still make) excellent beer. And thus, you can see the site even today.
ANAL? has it really come to this?
ReplyDelete@CDilly52, what a poignant story. Nice to have memories like that; I have none of my grandfolks as they all died when I was very young. I envy my nieces and nephews; some reached their 30s and still had grandparents.
ReplyDelete[Spelling Bee: td (Mon) no technical issue for me, 3:30 to pg then about 10 min to QB. But such odd letters!]
@CDilly, brava!
ReplyDelete@CDilly
ReplyDeleteVery well written antithesis to Rex-screed. I might've resorted to cuss words! And what a great heart felt story about finding that MonPuz from your Gran. Dang, tearing up a bit.
@JC66
Was going to suggest someone tell Rex to read it. You beat me to it. Maybe that'll get him to revert to his early blog days, when he still enjoyed solving.
RooMonster Where's My Tissue? Guy
@bocamp 1:27 - Thank you for posting those clarifying Bee-related links, which render moot my wondering, "Who the heck would hack my Times account to do the Spelling Bee?" :)
ReplyDelete@CDilly-Just a great story. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDelete@bocamp-SB is back to normal, thanks. PG in a hurry today, very low word count.
@old timer-I thought the male counterpart of a SHEILA was a "Bruce", but it's possible I'm making that up.
Oh, and @Beezer 1:11
ReplyDeleteLOL!
@Stephanie 10:56
I've seen that sign many times. I got a good laugh out of it the first time seeing it!
@bocamp
Dang, 33 on your Duotrigordle. Tough. Only can go one better if your first word is in the list. Color me impressed. I had a pen and paper trying to figure out words, and got the closest I've been today, only missing three until I ran out of tries!
Roo
I always cringe when I see or hear ANAL (5D) used to mean "Obsessive about little details" (as clued). Maybe a century ago it would have sounded sophisticated and knowledgeable but nowadays it just sounds antiquated and misinformed, like using terms from astrology or phrenology to describe personality traits.
ReplyDeleteAnd I always think the user is secretly giggling inside and thinking they got away with using a naughty word in public while at the same time appearing to have some kind of inside information known only to the elite intelligentsia. For anyone who has taken even an intro psych course in the last sixty or seventy years, however, the opposite is true. It sounds lowbrow and pretentious. It's from the dark ages of psychology and psychiatry, right in there with other discredited Freudian terminology like "penis envy" and "Oedipal complex". Need a term for "obsessive about little details"? How about "conscientious"? Need a clue for ANAL? How about "___ trig" or "___ chem"? Or clue it straight up like "Relating to the lower extremity of the G.I. tract". Or maybe I'm just being an asshole about ANAL!
On a lighter note, I became reasonable proficient using CHOP STICKS while living and working in Asia in the mid 80s. It was either learn to use them or go hungry! When I returned stateside I happily went back to silverware. I still use a single bamboo CHOP STICK (hi Carola @10:32) so as not to break the glass when I stir the grounds in my coffee press.
Penis envy wasn’t Freud’s it was Jung’s.
DeleteI'm sure they had to plan the puzzle in advance, but it feels pretty tone deaf to have ETSY clued so blandly on the day that many artists are starting a week-long strike to protest against rising fees.
ReplyDelete@Carola (3:20 PM) yw :)
ReplyDeleteGlad your mind's at ease now! :)
@pabloinnh (3:21 PM) yw :)
Yes, somewhat strange letter combo, but much easier than the other one.
@RooMonster (3:46 PM)
Ty :)
It's my fave of all the Wordles. I start the day with SB and try to finish the duotrigordle before doing the daily NYT xword. I'll most likely never get a 32 with the first word I use, but it almost always stands me in good stead. I very rarely get a shot at 33, usually ending with 34. Like I used to do with the SB, I spend a good amt of time on it, going thru each of the 32 words to see if I can get at least one on my 3rd attempt (which is most of the time). Just adding (or eliminating) one letter at a time usually gets the job done. Here are my start words.
@okanaganer 👍 for QB td! :)
___
td pg: 3:34 (the correct one; 0 in under 30) (still working on the missing 5er from yd)
Peace 🙏 🇺🇦 ~ Compassion ~ Tolerance ~ Kindness to all 🕊
@CDilly wins the internet today.
ReplyDelete@CDilly52: Luvly crossword story. Thanx.
ReplyDeleteWhen M&A was around 9-10, my dad and I would solve and submit the Cashword Pete puzzle each weekend. They offered a cash prize, for a correct solution. The prize would build up from week-to-week, as there usually wouldn't be a winner. The clues were such that there was always more than one possible answer for many of them. And sometimes the logic for what was "correct" got a bit desperate.
We never won, but it was kinda fun. Sooo ... U helped bring back a nice memory, for M&A.
Thanx again,
M&A
I really liked the BLOSSOMED as clued and answered. TIMEPIECE KEEPOUT TOETAP SHEAF-SHEAR.
ReplyDeleteI pick up faults when I run with a bad crowd.
I pick up dumps when I walk my dog
I pick up chops when I take karate lessons.
I use to pick up videos when I went to blockbluster.
Clock as sock or stocking decoration near ankle? Its in the dictionary. Any one know that's about.
What the bald man has who suns either without hat or without swim trunks?
A TAN END.
Though DIM, I TRy.
chinch @6:38, you might want to double check on that.
ReplyDeleteWordle 296 4/6*
ReplyDelete🟧⬛🟦⬛⬛
🟧🟦⬛⬛⬛
🟧🟧🟧🟧⬛
🟧🟧🟧🟧🟧
The birdy rimmed out if you catch my drift.
@CDilly. Loved it. Thanks for sharing. Thanks
ReplyDeleteI’m not sure where all of the Thunderpussy stuff is coming from, as I’ve been out building fence all day which, believe me, is a job-and-a-half for a 68 year old guy. But I wanted to give a shout out to the Seattle rock band, Thunderpussy, which has a pretty big following from touring, performing at SXSW and a couple of albums. Co-founder and lead singer Molly Sides is a friend and high school classmate of my daughter.
@egs – @Rex posted a Thunderpussy video up top.↑
ReplyDeleteWordHurdle 166 2/6 #wordhurdle
ReplyDelete💛💛🤍💛💛💙
💙💙💙💙💙💙
https://www.wordhurdle.in
Lucky first word.
@Joe DiPinto 9:52. Thanks. I read Rex this morning, but didn’t have time to watch the Thunderpussy link. I 100% enjoy your comments, whether germane or off-beat. I hope you keep it up forever.
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ReplyDeleteBravo to Rachel Simon on her debut NYTXW. A very solid effort.
ReplyDeleteI know what OFF means by "place filler." Belongs in the current slot, does its job...like that. Solid theme that makes you guess at the commonality, then reveals it--eliciting an "OHISEE." Perhaps not the force of an "AHA!" but close enough. Almost too easy--even for a Monday--but relatively junk-free. For a debut: birdie. (@albatross: it's with an IE, not a Y.)
ReplyDeleteI LUV PICKUP LINES
ReplyDeleteLEIA and SHEILA are TEASERS
who fall ASLEEP before the GAME’S done.
They SAY, “AT the END we’re pleasers”,
but IT’s not OVER until IT’s BEGUN.
--- DIMITRY ASTLEY
Ahhh, back to Monday and sanity. Let's hope this week fares better than last. Just my wish.
ReplyDeleteDiana, Lady-in-Waiting for Crosswords
Anonymous 9:48
ReplyDeleteAnd to add to the outrage, the dump truck had a NRA decal.