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Manet called him the painter of painters / FRI 5-20-22 / A sumo wrestler's is called a mawashi / Velvet-voiced Mel / Status on a conservationist's "Red List" / Italian nickname that omits Al- / Only one-word country that contains all five vowels / Astronomer Thomas for whom a comet is named
Friday, May 20, 2022
Constructor: Hal Moore
Relative difficulty: Easy-Medium
Word of the Day: GONZO journalism (44D: Highly exaggerated and subjective, as journalism) —
Gonzo journalism is a style of journalism that is written without claims of objectivity, often including the reporter as part of the story using a first-person narrative. The word "gonzo" is believed to have been first used in 1970 to describe an article about the Kentucky Derby by Hunter S. Thompson, who popularized the style. It is an energetic first-person participatory writing style in which the author is a protagonist, and it draws its power from a combination of social critique and self-satire. It has since been applied to other subjective artistic endeavors.Gonzo journalism involves an approach to accuracy that concerns the reporting of personal experiences and emotions, in contrast to traditional journalism, which favors a detached style and relies on facts or quotations that can be verified by third parties. Gonzo journalism disregards the strictly-edited product once favored by newspaper media and strives for a more personal approach; the personality of a piece is as important as the event or actual subject of the piece. Use of sarcasm, humor, exaggeration, and profanity is common.
Thompson, who was among the forefathers of the New Journalism movement, said in the February 15, 1973, issue of Rolling Stone, "If I'd written the truth I knew for the past ten years, about 600 people—including me—would be rotting in prison cells from Rio to Seattle today. Absolute truth is a very rare and dangerous commodity in the context of professional journalism." (wikipedia)
• • •
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| [Las Meninas (1656)] |
Once you leave the SUPERSONIC / CURRY FAVOR quadrant, though, things once again go to seed. I kinda like seeing crosswordese Hall-of-Famer (Hall of "Fame"-er?) IRENE CARA here in her full-name form, but the other two longer answers of the SW really bring the room down. SOFT TARGET just makes me think of carnage. Of non-combatants dying in large numbers. Here's the opening line of the wikipedia entry for "soft target":
A "soft target" is a person, thing, or location that is easily accessible to the general public and relatively unprotected, making it vulnerable to military or terrorist attack.
The term makes me think of human beings shot or blown to pieces. Even under normal circumstances, I'm not gonna like this answer, but Ukraine + Buffalo makes it a very hard "No" at the moment. The puzzle finally peters out, fittingly, at the very bottom, or nadir, of the grid, as we hover for a second over SURF THE ___, wondering what dated '90s term for The World Wide Web is going to go here. Web? Net? Web? Net? "Web" seems like the better option, but neither one is gonna brighten your day. And so NET lands with a thud, and we round things off with a crosswordese cross of the highest order, where ESTA meets NENA.
Speaking of crosswordese, I don't particularly like this trend of dressing ugly or aggressively common fill up in newish technical or trivial clothing. ABRA will never be good. Better to not put it in the grid at all then to try to convince me it's a Pokémon (36A: Pokémon that ultimately evolves into Alakazam). And NTH is NTH is NTH. Making it some "calculus concept" adds about as much joy to the grid as INNUMERATE did (45A: ___-term test for divergence (calculus concept)). I am, however, highly in favor of really getting GONZO with your crosswordese clues, like the clue for OAHU today (23A: U.S. locale that, when said quickly, sounds like a cheer). Make me see the word in a weird new light! Make me whisper-shout the word as I'm solving! Wahoo! The clue here basically says "yeah, you've seen this one a million times before, but we're gonna have some fun with it." I appreciate that. [Stock exchange?] for MOOS, also good. Overall, this puzzle could've used more verve. I did enjoy roughly one third of it, though. See you tomorrow.
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101 comments:
So, @Rex, what is MOOS? Is it "good"? Or just "tolerable"?
I thought the conservationist's status at 8D might be THREATENEr, assuming a list of environment-affecting forces. And my small flaw at 53A was a tICK. The latter made GONZO hard to see, and together they gave me a difficult time with DOGMATA.
Worth noting that Benjamin Cardozo was of Spanish and Portugese heritage. Whether that makes him 'Hispanic' is debated, but the Sotomayor clue needs nuancing.
OAHU is worth price of admission. Most of the rest was enjoyable as well. I needed a couple of lookups(I won't call it cheating because who cares?-I don't). Anyone else try endangErED before THREATENED? Having edge(border) for ABUT caused that. See how errors snowball? I wanted SHUT for 3D "Close". Didn't work but then worked for 18A "Close". Last night I had an AMY"S Thai Green CURRY, YUM! I had a bad CLAM once that gave me GAS.There were no clunkers in this as I see it.
A total wheelhouse puzzle. IRENE CARA, aardwolves, MOZAMBIQUE, BOPP, all automatic or close to it. Even ABRA. Now, there are probably fewer than ten Pokemon I could name. But ABRA happens to be one.
In case you ever need to know it, Port-au-prince is a national capital with all five vowels, once each.
Lot’s of good stuff today - although DOGNAPPER and DOGMATA seem like an ODD COUPLE (as well as possibly a duplicate?). Liked ZENO for the Stoics, ABRA for the gamers and of course a big shout out to the Hale-BOPP comet.
Great clue for my favorite of the elements (ARSENIC), which I dropped in right away. That Luftballoons song was from quite some time ago, so I had to pick-a-vowel at the end of ESTA/NENA.
I’m not familiar with Mr. VELAZQUEZ, but a post-solve google inquiry confirmed that he indeed created a lot of portraits and the like - so that clue was spot on as well.
HYENA and AARDWOLF are both awesome words - the fact that they are related is even cooler. I got a chuckle out of the clue for INNUMERATE as well.
Segmented grid - odd trivia and too many 9’s. I did like some things but overall it didn’t hit for me. Agree 100% on the DOGNAPPER entry - thought that entire NW corner failed. The geography lesson was awkward and not a fan of the full IRENE CARA.
CURRY FAVOR, SUPERSONIC and PRESCIENT were all solid. Keep the OAHU clue - we never use SHORT TON. No idea what CATAN is.
I know it was you FREDO
This was a letdown Friday.
Can someone explain 42A to me? How is Teeny a monster’s opposite?
For a certain demographic (mine), ABRA would have been easier clued as a character in East of Eden.
Abra was one of the original 151 Pokémon. Alakazam was one of the strongest psychic types. The evolution also went Abra -> Kadabra -> Alakazam.
Thar generation is in adulthood and likely doing and constructing more crosswords.
An easy Friday with some very fun clues. I liked spot remover, and candle holder. And the clue for Mozambique really made me scratch my head. Too bad for Rex that familiar crosswordese ruins it for him...I really had fun.
Poor Sue in Syr is unfortunately going to be carpet bombed today by all of the good natured souls pointing out that the opposite of a monster piece of cake would be a TEENY one, and the hilarity shall ensue.
Thx, Hal; just right for a Fri. puz. Lots of crunch, but doable! :)
Easy/med/tough all bundled into one.
Finished in just under avg time, but the solve felt tougher.
Again, so much stuff I didn't know, but fair crosses (more or less) come to the rescue once again.
Unknowns: ABRA (ROBO bailed me out; just used the term a couple of days ago); ZENO (know Elea, but not Citium); IRENE CARA / ALDO (figured it had to be 'A'); NENA (always have trouble with 'A' or 'o', and crossing ESTA made it tricky); VELAZQUEZ; GONZO ('Z' looked better than 's'); CATAN; BOPP.
Beautiful misdirection for ARSENIC (know the elements and their atno's, but not all the symbols).
Enjoyed this one very much! :)
___
yd: WH: 3 / Sed: 18 / Duo: 35
Peace 🙏 🇺🇦 ~ Compassion ~ Tolerance ~ Kindness to all 🕊
I like dogs too and I think “Spot remover” is a funny and clever clue for DOGNAPPER.
Not everyone is a dog lover. I’d be extremely happy if someone DOGNAPPed the dogs next door who bark every time I leave my door and seem happiest when they’re chasing deer in our field.
— Jim C. in Maine
Size. Monster may mean large sized sandwich, tires, etc.
I enjoyed the Near NIGH SHUT cunfusion. Also for Lead-in for call. I went tOll-ROll-ROBO with a brief thought of ROLe which I know to be wrong but I always wonder why a play wouldn't have one.
How sweet it is when Rex enjoys the scrabbly letters and with good cause. However, he should let sleeping dogs lie.
That was a monster storm. That was a TEENY storm.
Channeling @Gil, Abut, Abra and a Loincloth walk in a bar. Riff on that for a while Mah.
Threatened and Endangered both have the same number of letters and Red is usually the get-serious-quick color so I hung onto the E word for a long time. Abut I won't dwell.
Webster's online appears to have no definition for Dogmata but the Collins dictionary has it British English. Maybe if I'd dug deeper.
I've always like the word Nob. Some wealth in the 19th century could make you a snob. But if you were robber baron like Stanford, Huntington, Crocker and Hopkins and made Big money, you got to be a Nob and live on a hill. Carnegie made dirty money too but at he least mopped up his legacy by giving almost all of it way at the end.
Where's our favorite San Franciscan @mathgent? I'm sure he knows this story well.
@Son Volt, "I knew it was you..." my thought too.
monster = huge
teeny = small
I'm not defending it ;-)
VELÁZQUEZ, Goya, and Picasso are my big three (El Greco is DQed on a technicality) Spanish painters. Las Meninas by itself can probably sustain a senior or graduate level seminar, so much has been written and theorized about it. Italy and France get all the “great painter” love, but what Spain lacks in depth it compensates for in Star Power.
I’m right with Rex on the SE sizzle. That corner is the star. Less bothered by DOG NAPPER, but I am appalled that SOFT TARGET is basically every day vernacular.
Otherwise, a study in ODD COUPLEs. ABRA and Mel TORMÉ are not a pair I expected to see in the same grid. Likewise, the IRENE CARA/NENA generation are not the stereotypical Settlers of CATAN players. Personally, I like it. For me multigenerational PPP balance is a good thing. But if a solver feels some neck pain from the cultural whiplash I understand.
DOGmata DOGNapper CATan...is there a hidden theme here? Fun puzzle but easyish.
Why does Rex spend so much emotional energy on whether the answers are "upsetting". Yeah, dognapping is bad, but here it's an answer in a puzzle. It's abstract. Just solve and enjoy.
Abra, and Pokemon in general is over 25 years old, and the original Pokemon are so well known that I would hardly count it as NICHE anymore. Especially when it seems every crossword recently has had either EUGENE, or DANIEL, or LEVY, or OHARA, and schitts Creek is far less well known than Pokemon
I had CoSLEEPER for Spot Remover. It worked early on.
Agree with 🦖
But thought it was medium challenging. Yes, some clues trying to be cutesy but not like a DOGNAPPER.
Yes to MOZAMBIQUE and VALASQUEZ!
Enjoyed it mostly. 🤗
🤗🦖🦖🦖🦖🤗
Hispanic generally implies Latin American origin, though Latino requires it.
Found it hard to get a foothold without a cheat among all the trivia, especially in that SE corner with the Zs and Qs. I managed to spell the country but the artist was another matter. DOGMATA was weird and then throw in GONZO which was unfamiliar but which I now understand is basically the Fox version of news reporting.
DOGNAPPER wasn’t my favorite either but I really cringed at LOINCLOTH. Eeww! Very tough going today but no fault of the puzzle, just not in my wheelhouse. Oh well. TGIF anyway. Or I should say OAHU!
@JB 8:54 - HISPANIC equally means of or relating to the people, speech, or culture of Spain. The Latino/Latina meaning is a relatively new development. And, of course, even that definition falters given that there are sizable Latin America populations that are in no way HISPANIC (Brazil and the Yucatán area come immediately to mind). This is a bit of a family debate for me. My maternal grandmother is Spanish, but my paternal grandparents have Dutch ancestry, which is conceivably really just more Spanish ancestry. Meanwhile, my aunts married Mexican-Americans. So who is more “purely” “Spanish” and who is more “purely” “HISPANIC?” My cousins or me and my brothers? All of which is just a long way of saying that the entire question is, in many ways, absurd. But when you live in a racist country these discussions happen.
If only I'd heard of OMNIdirectional, I might have been able to enter the NW. For one thing, I would have gotten OLD right off the bat -- which I didn't. I was too busy thinking about the sky and what you might find there for "Up there, you might say". A very good clue. So I went elsewhere...
This was a "keep the faith" puzzle for me as my NW was white as snow and the rest of the puzzle was filled with stuff I didn't know. My biggest writeover was ROLL call before ROBO call -- not helped at all by the most indecipherable clue I have seen this entire year: "Pokemon that ultimately evolves into Alakazam". What on earth ARE you talking about??? This reads like complete gibberish to me. More gibberishy to me than that [big "huh?"] "mawashi" word.
But then you have DOGNAPPER -- perhaps the best clue/answer of the year. I saw the dog pun before I spotted the answer (pun intended), and I was thinking of some sort of VET or DOG WALKER.
I loved the clue/answer for INNUMERATE and the answers LOINCLOTH; CURRY FAVOR; and ODD COUPLE.
A plethora of dogmas are called DOGMATA? Let me make a note of that.
The MOZAMBIQUE clue (30D) has the hand of Will Shortz written all over it. How much research did he have to do in eliminating every other possible country? The mind boggles...
A tough puzzle -- at least for me -- and one that made me feel smart when I managed to solve with no cheats.
Always enjoy seeing what Rex is going to crab about this time, whether I share his gripes or not. Hey, I have my own. DOGMATA wasn't one, though. The crosses quickly gave DOGM---- and the otherwise superfluous box pretty much ensured it had to be the relatively obscure Latin plural rather than the anglicized one, so easy-peasy. I like it when little fragments of the actual classical languages get in the back door through words that have been modernized in ways that shave off all their knobbly bits. Especially Greek origins, which tend to suffer more than Latin ones in this way. Yes, the English plural of octopus is octopuses, not octopi--speaking as a guy who worked in a public aquarium for most of his career--and KUDOS is already singular (still grumbling about that one from last week). I mean sure, the back-formation is acceptable usage--I'm not being prescriptivist, just regretting the missed opportunity to delve into a bit of linguistic archeology. Like the actual meaning of "playing fast and loose" is SO much more interesting than what most people think it means. I just love it when language hides trap doors like that that lead into hidden grottoes... another favorite example. DOGMATA isn't the most fascinating one, but still, hooray for DOGMATA.
I liked this one a lot, with the possible exception of yet another "Schitt's Creek" appearance. I should just print out a cast list and keep it handy, except that would feel like cheating, and somehow I would rather take a wild guess than just look something up. At least OHARA is a common enough name to be a reasonable assumption.
I'm with @Zed on VELAZQUEZ and Las Meninas. I used to do a unit on Spanish artists and did my best to point out all the great things in that painting. For those of us here unfamiliar with this Spanish master, he's more than worth looking into , so to speak. My favorite artist beginning with a V, the other one being Vermeer.
This felt just right for a Friday, required some thinking and coming up with things that I hadn't thought about in a long time, like INNUMERATE and the Dylan version of MAOZAMBIQUE was worth the price of admission.
Very nice Friday indeed, HM. You've made me a Happy Man this morning, for which thanks.
Hey All !
A little head-scratchy in places, but managed to get an error free solve. YAY ME! Last section for me was NE corner. Had OMNI originally, which got me Near for 3D (NIGH), but couldn't get the crossers to play nice, so erased it all and restarted. Eventually saw OLD, put OMNI back in, figured out NIGH, then got a chuckle out of getting MOOS. Nice clue. Forgot the board game CATAN. Is it still out there? Never played it. Was more a Life (fun) boardgame guy. Played Risk a time or two (too long). I used to kill at Stratego in my grade-school days (pre-brain drain... 😁).
MOZAMBIQUE neat to see in a puz. Also, cool trivia clue on that one. Thanks for the five vowel Capital, @kitshef, but next time it comes up, I can assure you I'll forget it.
CURRY FAVOR could be clued "Ask someone not to add this spice to my food, please."
NOB Hill in SF, Gobblers NOB in Punxsutawney, PA. I'm sure there are other NOBs around. Still a good insult. Har.
yd -5, should'ves 4
Duo 36, missed 1-4-6-35(real stupid miss on 35, had two highlighted yellow letters the ole brain decided to ignore)
Word Hurdle Complete: 4 letter in 2 guesses, 5 letter in 6, 6 letter in 4, and .....
Phrazle in 1!! 👍
Three D's
RooMonster
DarrinV
OK. Hands up for all who saw the German and _ENA and song and immediately dropped L in place??? As in, of course, Lotte Lena???
Two fantastic clues, for ARSENIC (especially) and DOGNAPPER. Yes, I did have a "Poor Spot!" moment, but then thought Spot was being dognapped from an abusive home and taken to live on a farm where s/he gets to chase rabbits all day. (Wait, poor bunnies!)
My thespian career lasted from junior high to high school and included "ARESENIC and Old Lace," one of a quartet of plays we did in which quirky battiness wins out over staid seriousness. ("You Can't Take It With You," "Harvey" and "Barefoot in the Park" were the others.)
Agree with other posters on VELAZQUEZ -- Las Meninas is one painting that you just have to see at The Prado to appreciate. Reproduced, it just looks dark and odd but in person you can look at it for hours.
Except for ABRA and ALDO, the PPP was totally in my wheelhouse today. Catherine O'HARA has always been a favorite from the "mockumentary" movies, but in Schitts Creek she gave maybe the best comic performance I've seen on TV ever. MOZAMBIQUE is on the bucket list -- even more so now that I know it has all five vowels and doesn't repeat any!!!! Must go!!!!
CHAI -- my Pakistani colleague hates it when we talk about CHAI tea. "CHAI means tea!" she shouts in mock exasperation. "It is not a KIND of tea!"
Easy-medium works for me. INNUMERATE was a WOE but the rest was in the wheelhouse. Smooth and solid with a wee bit of sparkle, liked it.
Brief pop-by to say that although I've been enjoying Rex's more recent write-ups (still read them every day), bullcrap to INNUMERATE being a "dull technical term". Is "illiterate" a dull technical term? The idea is pretty much the same, and the words are even parallel to each other.
I use DOGMATA with the same frequency as "lemmata", which is to say: never. I know them, for sure, but to me they sound a little too hyper-correct. They make my nose wrinkle a little. Octopodes, anyone?
Technically, sumo is a form of belt wrestling, and "belt" is therefore the first association I have with "mawashi". So it took me a while to arrive at LOINCLOTH, where my first thought is: thingy for covering the privates.
Clever misdirection for ARSENIC, where you gotta recognize the first word of the clue as not as it seems to be at first (As is the chemical abbreviation). Was this mentioned yet? Rex used to have those nifty little endnotes, where this would be a perfect candidate.
Happy Friday, everyone!
Oh...where did I begin...and where did I end? I'll tell you, if you should care:
I started with the two long names that I knew for sure: MOZAMBIQUE (because it's the only trivial thingie I know) and then the QUE gave me my secret love VELAZQUEZ. QUE sera the rest? Oh, look... there's smarty pants Sonia and we all know she is HISPANIC. Three long ones down and a SHORT TON to go.
I won't bore you with all my hits and miss nor my having to wonder how to spell PRESCIENT or if DOGMATA is really a word (I cheated on that one)...I loved the MOOS and the OAHU and I always thought a CLAM was happy; evidently he refuses to answer. What a deal.
I didn't know that RIFF was an improvisation..I always thought it was a guitar thing. Another love of mine was the PIG sitting with SUPER SONIC. Wasn't he a hedgehog?
My end (after lots and lots of thinking and trying to remember OLD things) came with a plucked ODD COUPLE out of my eyebrows and I yelled ABRA cadabra Alakazam....close the cave door, you ended with the laughter of a HYENA and so....the fandango tango was danced to delight.
I'll take a Friday likes this and eat my CAKES any day, Hal....
I watched the first couple of episodes of Schitt's Creek last year to see why it was coming up so much. It was ugly and much more offensive than DOGNAPPER. Supposedly it improved over time, but why would you subject yourself to that?
OHARA, IRENECARA, VELAZQUEZ, TERESA, ABRA, NENA, TORME, ZENO, BOPP, CODA
Admittedly I was able to guess the majority with crosses and knew a couple, but still.
SOFTTARGET. How about WATERBOARD? GUANTANAMO ABUGHRAIB? The hits just keep on coming.
I did like DOGNAPPER, though I fear one and am vigilant with little Miss Rikki.
Monster.....the old noun/adjective switcheroo.
Spot on, @Southsude! My sentiments exactly.
MOZAMBIQUE was the Secret Country in Worldle recently.
Welcome to Friday's puzzle, subtitled Riff, Fredo, Teresa, Nena and Aldo go to an Irene Cara concert. (Nick meets up with Fredo and Aldo later at the Velazquez exhibit.)
Today's puzzle is an exemplar of how to use ? clues. There are only three, which should be the limit. And all three are excellent. Brief, amusing, and on point, with no strained puns that land with a thud. It would have been cool if ARSENIC were situated at 33a or d.
TEENY always reminds me of a picture storybook I had as a child called "The Teeny Tiny Omelette". I couldn't find any info on it for the longest time, but @Barbara S located it with the title "The Little Omelette" in a collection of Italian folk tales.
Got my Phrazle streak of 2s back on track after the ALL OVER THE BOARD debacle last week. 10 and counting...
Agree 100% @Anonymous 8:06, 8:26. I categorize the type of clue that stretches “opposites” beyond the pale (as does monster vs TEENY) as a clue that “tries too hard.”
What a lovely cross-word finish, with MOZAMBIQUE intersecting VELASQUEZ, and CURRY FAVOR involved, too. That contrasted with my rough start up top, where four incorrect entries made the NW impossible: OMNI x Near, followed by edge x eLk and endangered (in defense of the eLk: from Weisshorn I inferred an animal with white horns, never mind the Matterhorn or that elks have antlers). I was saved by remembering Thomas BOPP and then getting the crucial ABUT. Smooth sailing from there.
I liked Soft Market better.
Reading up on the painting of Juan de Pareja I find he was enslaved and this painting seem to have caused Velazquez to sign a contract of manumission freeing him a few years in the future. Manumission, didn't know that one. Also learned Velazquez was a Gentleman of the Bed Chamber. Also new to me. Ahh, royalty.
INNUMERATE is not a math or arithmetical term but about the ignorance of such things. Neat word.
Also surprised how stale and dull SURFTHEWEB is just sitting there. No sign of life. Makes SUPERSONIC seem exciting.
@Zed
Hispanic asylum seekers are a soft target for the MAGA crowd. Bad usage?
Haven’t seen Lewis comment today but I fully expect to see “Spot remover” on his next “best-of” list.
What the f!%@ kind of name is NENA? I naticked by putting in NENE (must have got it confused with the nae-nae “dance craze of the 2010s”. Este / esta…take your pick.
Didn’t have the visceral reactions @Rex did. In fact, I rather liked the clues fir DOGNAPPER and MOOS (especially MOOS). In fact, those two gave me my kickoff to this enjoyable Friday.
Where I ran into a bit of a mire was with ABRA. I have no Pokemon knowledge and my daughter, squarely of the first Pokemon generation never had any interest. However, the fact that Alakazam was the ultimate result of its morphing made my guess pretty easy since I had AHAS and ROBO. Loomed it up after the solve to see exactly what the whole “morph” thing meant (I only knew that Pokemons were cards or discs (coins?) or something tangible to be collected never having any idea that there was so much interaction among collectors. The back story that ABTA, when traded becomes Kadabra and finally Alakazam, gave me a hint into the allure of Pokemon. And I now have a soon-to-be-adopted and absolutely adorable granddaughter who is part of the current Pokemon craze, so I feel ready to be educated .
I had the same reaction to OAHU as @Rex. Just the best clue for a crossword standard. Absolutely worth the price of admission, as was “As” telegraphing ARSENIC. That one took me a minute to suss out. Über clever!
All in all a worthy Friday. Thanks Hal Moore.
Used to mean Spanish-speaking, Hispanic is literally "of Spain"
The number of Pokemon I could name is fewer than one.
I am waiting for a contractor (who is late) so this is way too long. Skip to the next person.
Fun puzzle.
Yay:
Why won't a CLAM answer?? So funny.
Why are sumo wrestlers so much fun compared to every other combat activity? And how 'bout them mawashis?
CAKES often are indeed candle holders for me because most of them are terrible. Too much frosting, overly sweet, too dry. Go with pie when you can and it should be cherry pie.
I love the word PRESCIENT, but I can't find a use for it in real life often enough.
Who'd'a thunk Pokémon knowledge would be so important and useful on a regular basis? I have to say it seems brilliant that ABRA becomes KADABRA who becomes ALAKAZAM. I don't understand what any of this means, but I am glad it's true.
I love ZENO and the Stoics. Lots of puzzlers could do themselves a favor to learn their ways.
Learned a little more math with NTH-term.
Delighted to meet Diego Velázquez. After yesterday's wonderful discussion on Rothko's work, it's fascinating to think about how one is easier to understand than the other.
Stock exchange equals MOOS. Cute. Probably has been done before, but I like it.
Did you know the Hale-BOPP comet isn't coming back until 4380? Lame.
Free Indian food is a CURRY FAVOR.
Didn't know a ton is actually a SHORT TON.
LAKE GENEVA and MOZAMBIQUE filled themselves thankfully, so I learned two new things on accident.
Boo:
I had DOG ZAPPER for awhile before DOG NAPPER became inevitable, and I hate both ideas. Be nice to all dogs always.
The clue for ARSENIC makes no sense. Editors, you have "___ and Old Lace" readily available. Use it.
SOFT TARGET. Ug.
IRENE CARA crossing TERESA isn't ideal. Do you remember when virtually everyone had seen that god-awful movie Flash Dance? Brutal. On the other hand, NENA and her luftballons was around the same time I think and I will be singing that chorus all day.
INNUMERATE was the death of me today. I don't get it.
Solver's reaction! I never AHA any more. I only OHO.
If you are a "Seinfeld" fan, you may have recalled the episode where Elaine, Kramer, and Newman kidnap a noisy dog who has been tormenting Elaine. HERE'S A LINK
I really like that (starting at 18) you get a stack of SHUT MAH ARSE. On the other hand, it’s tempting to reclue 25A as Butt cut…..ARSE NIC. Could even try to tie in 5A (ABUT), but this race to the bottom must end.
Easy, smooth flowing Friday. Just what Rex says he likes until he doesn’t.
Thanks, Hal Moore.
Watched CODA when it first streamed on Apple TV+; what a great film! 🎥
"As a CODA (Child of Deaf Adults) Ruby is the only hearing person in her deaf family. When the family's fishing business is threatened, Ruby finds herself torn between pursuing her passion at Berklee College of Music and her fear of abandoning her parents." (IMDB)
@Roo 👍 for your PhrACE! :)
@TTrimble (11:05 AM)
Good to see you! and, Happy Friday to you, too! :)
___
td pg: 5.30 (0; in just north of 30) / W: 4* / WH: 4 / Globle: 2 / Worldle: 3
Peace 🙏 🇺🇦 ~ Compassion ~ Tolerance ~ Kindness to all 🕊
Such fun to check the solution and find your only error in the bottom row. Had I known I was going to become a crossword solver, I’d have taken a Spanish course at some point of my education. ESTe/NENe ☹️ I really did enjoy this puzzle - some wonderful vocabulary along the way.
This one was solved in jig time. I fell into a few traps, though. Slapped in ABUT, then took it out for the sake of endangErED. Got the NAP part of DOGNAPPER first, so thought the spot remover must be some sort of NAPkin. When DOG emerged, I thought what on earth is a DOGNAPkin?? When I finally got it, I loved it. I thought a vulnerable area might be “underbelly” which, sadly, has the same number of letters as SOFT TARGET – didn’t fill it in, though, so saved a few nanoseconds. DOGMATA’s an interesting word. I’m assuming that MATA is the plural of MA, although certainly one sees DOGMAS commonly (if you see it at all). Does that mean we could have ENIGMATA and TRAUMATA? I hope so. (Hi @DrBB and @TTrimble -- and welcome back!) Ah, VELAZQUEZ (sometimes spelled VELAsQUEZ). I’m always happy to see art hysterical – I mean – art historical content. Manet’s one trip to Spain, although brief, made a lasting impression and reverberated through his art. And – trivia, schmivia! – who can possibly be unhappy to learn about aardwolves?
The clue on OAHU confused me. How does one pronounce OAHU normally? Is it two syllables or three? I impressed myself by getting MOZAMBIQUE immediately – but that was because it was the first and only long country name beginning with M that I could think of off the bat (having temporarily forgotten Mauritania, Montenegro and the like).
GONZO’s a great word and concept. Thanks to Rex for making it his Word of the Day, and here’s etymonline.com:
gonzo (adj.)
1971, American English, in Hunter S. Thompson's phrase gonzo journalism. Thompson in 1972 said he got it from editor Bill Cardosa and explained it as "some Boston word for weird, bizarre." Probably from Italian (Neapolitan) gonzo "rude, sottish," a word of unknown origin, perhaps from Spanish ganso and ultimately from the Germanic word for "goose" (see goose (n.)). The Muppets character so called debuted in 1970, but not with the name, which seems to have developed after Thompson's use of the word.
So the ultimate root of GONZO is goose? Tee Hee.
Probably a lot of you saw the comet Hale-BOPP when it flew past Earth and was visible to the naked eye for 18 months in 1996 and 1997. My husband did a lot of observing with his 8-inch telescope and was gobsmacked by the detail he could see. (I hadn’t met him yet, so missed it all. But he has shown me many wonders of the heavens since.) Hale-BOPP has a huge nucleus which spews an enormous amount of material as it travels – considerably more than any other comet he’s observed. And it rotates, so the ejecta forms a spiral, giving the whole a pinwheel effect. It’s a comet for the ages, much more spectacular than the celebrated Halley’s, which he’d spent a lot of time with in 1986.
I often think deep(ish) thoughts when doing housework, and for the past two mornings while cleaning the sink, I’ve been contemplating the growing trend to denounce “trivia” in crossword puzzles on this blog. Any definition of trivia you look up says that it’s information of little or no value. Well, heck, one person’s forgettable fact is another person’s indispensable intelligence. And since we’re all equally qualified to be arbiter of what’s important and what isn’t (and to fight about it tooth and nail), I favor jettisoning the pejorative term trivia and returning to the venerable PPP (Popular Culture, Product Names and other Proper Nouns), a more neutral and less value-laden label. Like many here, I will always prefer wordplay in my puzzles, but the factual information from the broad range of fields that turns up here enriches my puzzle-solving experience, too (and our daily discussion), providing it’s kept in proper proportion in the grid. So I say – out with “trivia” and back in with “PPP” (even if we have to keep explaining what it means to newcomers).
Apparently I have never needed to pronounce "Oahu", which is lucky for me, It's not three syllables and doesn't start with "Oh" ? Imagine that.
Reading "conversationalist" for conservationist can really slow you down. Take my word for it.
Good tough Friday, IMO.
I have very distant memories of my combined physics/chemistry class in high school. Bunsen burners were used. And of course there was that Table of the Elements on the wall. But we did not have to know them, only understand their relationships. So I never knew that As is the symbol for ARSENIC. Clever clue.
At the Prado in Madrid, it ain't just Las Meninas. The whole collection of VELASQUEZ paintings is amazing. Allow an extra hour just for those, and for the El Grecos, though my two favorite El Grecos are at the Met in NY.
Nob Hill is a shortened form of Nabob Hill. A nabob was a wealthy Indian ruler, and by extension, an Anglo who got obscenely rich in India.
The real point of Hale-BOPP wasn't BOPP, but the knuckleheads who went off into space (or wherever; too lazy to look up the specifics) through mass suicide. If only the MAGA crowd would do so at a lunar eclipse; more opportunities.
NENA is a one hit wonder from the 1980’s with very good letters. Sort of a German Brian Eno. Remember her name because she’s coming to a puzzle near you soon.
@TTrimble - I was going to say much the same and I forgot. I’ve mentioned before being flabbergasted by educated parents who would pooh pooh bad math grades with “we don’t do math.” Just amazing.
@CDilly52 et alia - I loved that clue.
@Albatross - Change that to “border patrol” and it is too spot on and literal.
@Lewis mentioned that me would be out of town for a couple of weeks.
@egsforbreakfast - You win the award for most anal post of the week. Sir Mix-A-Lot is proud of you.
Neat hidden animals theme in a FriPuz. Like.
Ones M&A maNAGed to loCATe durin the solvequest:
* DOGNAPPER & DOGMATA were, of course gimme themers. Suspected seed entries. [staff weeject pick = DOG]
* CAT in CATAN.
* LION in LOINCLOTH, unfortunately mis-spelt.
* ENT in PRESCIENT. Might be plant/animal debatable, tho.
* CLAM in CLAM & HYENA in HYENA & PIG in PIG.
* RAT in INNUMERATE. Also, a backward EMU in there -- but that might just be coincidence.
* ROO in ROOT (yo, @Roo).
* CUR in CURRYFAVOR. And in OCCURS. The doggies really did well, in this puztheme.
* COD in CODA.
* HEN in SURFTHENET.
* RAY in TRAYS.
* NIT in INIT.
* Am still eyein MOOS, but am undecided …
Thanx for the fun, Mr. Moore dude. Nice one.
Masked & Anonym007Us
**gruntz**
The word RIFF is often mistakenly used to mean an improvisation. "Mistaken" is the key here. A RIFF is a repeated musical phrase, often performed by a guitarist, that typically OCCURS at the beginning of a song and throughout. Play "I can't get no satisfaction" in your mind. What do you hear first - the 8 notes repeated before Jagger belts out the opening lyric? That's a RIFF.
As Janice on "Friends" would say upon making an entrance:
OH...
MY...
GOD!
Phrazle 64: 1/6
🟩🟩🟩🟩 🟩🟩 🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩
I had the same thought about DOGMATA as Rex - do we really need the TA? Apparently, according to @JD, the Brits do!
I guess I'm not one for fashion footwear because ALDO is only ALDO Nova to me.
CURRY FAVOR gave me visions of people being groomed like horses.
And we have the three IC endings of ARSENIC (great clue!), HISPANIC and SUPERSONIC with a bonus NICK.
Thanks, Hal Moore, this was neither too hard nor too easy for a Friday.
@johnk 12:55– true for music, but stand-up comedians are often said to be "riffing" on a subject. In their case, they are improvising. Or they might be, anyway. They frequently do a fairly set routine that's meant to sound improvised.
@Barbara S 12:05
👍 👍 👍 On your last paragraph.
@johnk (12:55) Here's Webster's definition of RIFF.
Definition of riff (Entry 1 of 3)
1: an ostinato phrase (as in jazz) typically supporting a solo improvisation
also : a piece based on such a phrase
2: a rapid energetic often improvised verbal outpouring
especially : one that is part of a comic performance
Definitely improvisation involved -- both for the musician and for the comic.
Re: Abra, I really can't overstate how common Pokemon knowledge is to people younger than ~35 -- especially Gen 1 Pokemon, and especially for the sorts of people who end up doing crosswords in their adulthood. Boomers get tossed clues all the time that are hopeless for younger people. Let us have the Pokemon clues, will ya? ;)
Sometimes I think you're psychic, @Joe D. (1:12), and at other times I'm sure of it. And you do understand that sometimes I hate you:)
I ended up with a 3 when I had a definite shot for a 2, but, alas, I made a really boneheaded mistake. But I never had a chance of a 1.
Racist country? what a hoot. If the US is so racist why are all those brown-skinned people desperately try ng to cross our Southern border?
I first learned the word RIFF in this context watching Mystery Science Theatre 3000. They watch a corny science fiction movie and improv jokes as it is going. This is the concept behind the show, coming up with funny riffs.
Also Catherine O'Hara is a goddess. I was a huge fan way before Schitt's Creek. She is so great in all the Christopher Guest movies. A Canadian National Treasure.
@2:01
you do know, don't you, that all those brown-skin people are the dark-skinned people in their homelands, where the light-skinned people treat them as slaves. as to the USofA being racist?? have you listened to Trump/MAGA at all? just because it's better here than there, may be, doesn't mean that white folk don't treat Black people as cattle; they did get here in chains from their homelands. and a white person couldn't marry a Black person, legally, until 1967. that's kinda racist, yes?
Pokémon is huge. It's a thing. Why wouldn't the most popular crossword include it once in a while? Just to keep old conservative solvers happy? Haha. If the puzzle only included trivia you know and like until you died, then the puzzle world die with you.
Mostly easy. The difficulty was all in tricky clues, and I was on their wavelength with only a few quickly correctable exceptions (looking at you, 'edge'). I didn't know IRENE, and thought maybe she was another CARr, but that took care of itself.
Then I got to 57A, saw it was a painter starting with VE, and confidently wrote in VEneZiano, which had the fatal flaw of having the Z in the right place. That's not an artistic judgment, so don't make fun of my taste (he's not bad, though), just the name I happened to think of .. and stick with far too long. When the obvious MOZAMBIQUE wouldn't work, I was stuck until I finally decided to try ZEN, which fixed it all up.
@Barbara S., @TJS -- that's why the clue specifies "when said quickly." Say it fast enough and the O and A blend together into a WA sound.
@TTrimble -- I don't know much about belt wrestling, but don't the wrestlers have to hold each other's belts? That's not the case with sumo. You can grab a belt as one technique, but you can also grab an arm, or just duck out of the way so that your opponent's momentum carries him or her out of the ring.
Fun fact: for at least the first six decades of my life I thought both ZENOs were the same person, and that therefore there was something stoic about those paradoxes.
Just because it may be improvisational doesn't make it "an improvisation," just as saying something in a conversational tone doesn't make it a conversation.
Why ask us? Why don't you ask them?
"Gonzo" was slang for wild musical improvisation among Black New Orleans musicians for many years. Some also used it as a code word for drugs.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7-QCMTDSosA
(And in case anyone didn't catch the reference, the flipside was named "Cool Turkey"):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4jISTJSMDhw
@jberg
Yeah, after writing that, I began to second-guess myself. I had written that thinking I read that somewhere, but "belt wrestling" as such might more commonly refer to something more restrictive than what I was thinking. "Belt wrestling" and "jacket wrestling" had formed somewhat broad categories in my mind, with judo being an example of the latter (again, in my mind), but I'm really not sure that's what other people think.
Anyway, my point FWIW was that LOINCLOTH played second fiddle in my mind to thinking of a mawashi more in terms of a belt, which does play an important aspect in terms of the sport itself. Of course you're right that there are a whole bunch of techniques in sumo.
This comment from @Barbara S cracked me up earlier:
I often think deep(ish) thoughts when doing housework...
I just love the whole droll concept of "thinking deep(ish) thoughts". Then I started wondering if I ever think any deep(ish) thoughts, and if so, when I think them. It wouldn't be on those infrequent occasions when I'm doing housework: When I'm doing housework my deepest thought is how soon will I be finished with the housework?
The English teacher is telling us that INNUMERATE is dull. And that calculus is joyless. Gotcha.
If you can't see that Stagflation is your fault, then I don't know how your brain functions. Obviously it doesn't.
Easy to medium sounds about right for this one. My solving was interrupted last night so I can't say exactly how long it took. The only thing I wasn't completely sure of was the cross of DOGMATA and CODA. The latter won last year's Best Picture award and I've never heard of it. The only thing I know about the latest Oscars was the slap. In my defense I was out hiking the PCT when all that happened.
After a strenuous sumo workout I have to washy mawashi.
Mon-Thu pg -0, Sun pg -5
Yes, well, @Nancy, the thing about housework is that it's so utterly deadly dull that the mind is freed to wander where it will, while the body goes through a series of well-practised motions by rote. I've had some of my most creative ideas while vacuuming the acres of carpet in this house. But maybe this is just a quirk of my family. My sister has always said that she has her greatest moments of inspiration while brushing her teeth.
I think the clue for 60A HYENA "Cousin of an aardwolf" works for xword purposes but the aardwolf itself is actually a HYENA. The HYENA family includes the brown, spotted and striped HYENAs along with the aardwolf. I learned about HYENAs years ago in grad school when I read the fieldwork ethnography "The Spotted Hyena" by Hans Kruuk. Spotted HYENAs are matriarchal and females are larger than males. The females even have male appearing genitalia called pseudo penises and testicles. Now your day is complete. You're welcome.
Why can't we settle on one kind of TON? There's the 20D SHORT TON, the long TON and the metric TON. Confusing.
@jberg "I was stuck until I finally decided to try ZEN, which fixed it all up." Om to that!
@Nancy and Barbara S…I confess that when doing housework I think both “deepish” thoughts along with intermittent thoughts of “when will I be done with this”? 🤣 I’d like to think I think deep thoughts while brushing my teeth but I’m usually just trying to figure out how NOT to spray toothpaste particles on the bathroom mirror!
Lol @Joe Dipinto! Congrats! You probably didn’t see this but on my very first Phrazle I Phraced! Needless to say…I’ve had probs since then but was happy to report a Phreagle on afternoon offering. I think I’ve said before, I already work too many damned puzzles so I’m spotty on getting to Phrazle!
@Barbara S: "I've had my most creative ideas while vacuuming the acres of carpet in this house.
I knew we were kindred spirits, @Barbara S. I'm a "carpet person" too. Living in an apartment as I do and not in a house, there's nothing like "acres" of carpet to vacuum, but I'm sure I have more carpet per square foot in my apt than pretty much anyone else in the building.
The floors in this pre-war building are exquisite -- though my floors when I moved in 27 years ago were badly in need of sanding and refinishing and staining and buffing. I did none of it and still haven't. I spent the money instead on wall-to-wall carpeting in both the LR and the BR. "You can't cover those floors!!!" said Sue G. to me. "You have to put in an area rug!" Then, "Well, maybe with a step-down living room you can get away with wall-to-wall carpet."
"Tell you what, Sue," I said. "I could get away with it even if I didn't have a step-down living room."
I bought the carpet from a place on either First or York Avenue in the low 80s that was half the price of ABC Carpets and a third of the price of Bloomingdales. The salesman brought out a book of samples, told me to take off my shoe and sock and step on the one he pointed to. I did. "What do you think?" he asked. "OMG", I said, "it's absolutely...orgasmic!". I bought it for both rooms and I've never regretted it for a minute.
But my home will never be featured in Architectural Digest and, if your carpet is also wall-to-wall, Barbara, neither will yours. Wall-to-wall carpet has been considered declasse and bourgeois for at least 30-40 years. And I don't care. Walking on carpet feels 100 times better than walking on wood -- it just does.
@Beezer – I'm pretty sure I did see it, and I just noticed that @Roo had a phrace today too. So congratulations all around.
I agree there are too many puzzles. I've stopped doing most of the Wordle variants. I still do the original and the six-letter one and Phrazle, and then Globle and Worldle. That's enough time to spend.
I don't know, @Nancy. I'm still waiting for that call from AD. I think we're back in fashion.
Oh, Wow, Barbara! Wall to wall carpets are back as of the beginning of 2022???!!! After all this time? Well, not a moment too soon -- that's what I say! I'd better get my apartment ready for the arrival of the photographers from AD. And I promise to be on the lookout for your featured spread in the issue right after that one.
Your Hawaii correspondent again. Hawaiian is an official language of this place, clueing Oahu as a joke word is offensive to 100s of thousands of people here. Do better. The best clues are the ones that tie it to a real part of the culture. And not the tourist aspects.
Mods Anon 5:45 post needs to be deleted. It doesn't add to the discussion, rather it insults another poster.
Mini-theme: DOGMATA/DOGNAPPER. Once again, these things exist. "The answers in this puzzle do not reflect any opinions, approval or disapproval, of the constructor." This caveat should be attached to every grid, automatically. Locally, we just had an instance of a pet dog stolen and then brutally slaughtered. I am sorry to report this, but the good news is that the perpetrators were caught, and are now being prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
And the judge is a dog lover.
Fun puzzle, easy-medium for a Friday. The only ABRA I know is Cal's love interest in Steinbeck's "East of Eden," charmingly played on screen by DOD honorable mention Julie Harris. The sash goes to IRENECARA. Another h.m. to TERESA Weatherspoon.
One writeover when I had an S for the first Z of VELAZQUEZ. Made GONZO hard to see, but created a "Doh!" moment. Birdie.
I seem to have fallen apart. In my Wordle "tournament," disaster has struck on the final round's back nine--as it has so many times in real life. My first guess yielded YYBYY, yet I STILL managed to stretch that to a bogey. It's like driving the green and then four-putting.
OK puzzle but there’s just not enough pizzaz or AHAS. It just doesn’t BOPP aside from the excellent crossing of MOZAMBIQUE and VELAZQUEZ. Liked the right side. The left side, not so much. Like an ODDCOUPLE of puzzles split down the middle. Speaking of ODDCOUPLES, DOGNAPPER and DOGMATA should not be seen together unless there are many more DOGs involved. Not trying to be a NOB, just my two cents INIT?
Wordle 370 5/6*
⬜⬜🟩🟨⬜
🟩⬜🟩⬜🟩
🟩⬜🟩⬜🟩
🟩⬜🟩⬜🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
Edit: Pizzazz not pizzaz.
It seems like forever since I last commented here but seeing GONZO, an integral component of my screen name, appear in the grid was enough to draw mw out of retirement. It's nice to see some familiar "faces" still around here in syndi-land. Oh yeah, the puzzle - I finished with OWS at the A-DO/VE-AZQUEZ intersecction. In hindsight, it was a stupid mistake.
DOGMATA OCCURS
TERESA was PRESCIENT re: OLD men,
AVID to CURRY NICHE FAVOR when
her TEENY LOINCLOTH and thigh
and THE SOFTTARGET so NIGH,
THREATENED to make an ODDCOUPLE by ZEN.
--- GENEVA VELAZQUEZ
Agree with @Foggy - ask the constructor for just a DOGgone moment - who let the other DOGs out of this puzzle? Too bad.
Not a hard puzzle for a Friday, but also one that I Did Not Finish. By hed code is maagging me feel like crab. Ahhchooo, snuffle snuffle
The candle holder (at times) was my favorite "doh!" moment today.
Diana, Lady-in-Waiting for Crosswords
@diringonzo - OWS? Surely not Occupy Wall Street…Does it stand for One Wrong Square?
@thefrogman - it is indeed "one wrong square" and it harks back to a time when Andrea Carla Mitchell (ACME) was a frequent and much-loved contributor here. She used the acronym frequently and others picked it up as a convenient way to share our misfortune. But I have a fondness for "Occupy Wall Street", too - income inequality is just one of the problems that still plagues us and I fear the 1% are winning on all fronts.
Cheers Dirigonzo! And welcome back.
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