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Peruvian cocktail / THU 7-7-22 / Opening in a magic act / Pro who calls the shot / Very handsome as a beau / Many a Cook Islander / River on which Greek deities swore their oaths / Northern terminus of I-79
Thursday, July 7, 2022
Constructor: Philip Wolfe
Relative difficulty: Easy
Theme answers:
- "YOU ONLY LIVE LIVE" (for "You Only Live Twice")
- BLIND BLIND STUDY (for "double-blind study")
- GOODY SHOES SHOES (for "goody two-shoes")
Pisco is a colorless or yellowish-to-amber colored brandy produced in winemaking regions of Chile and Peru. Made by distilling fermented grape juice into a high-proof spirit, it was developed by 16th-century Spanish settlers as an alternative to orujo, a pomace brandy that was being imported from Spain. It had the advantages of being produced from abundant domestically grown fruit and reducing the volume of alcoholic beverages transported to remote locations.
• • •
As for the theme, here's the main problem: way too easy and more "huh, OK" than "wow." It's nice that the themers all came out to grid-spanning length—gives the puzzle a certain structural elegance—but once you get one of them, you can get the others immediately. The puzzle gives up everything at once. It took me a long time to finally make sense of the first themer, but I spent that "long time" easily filling in the whole top of the grid, so the first themer didn't play tough so much as mysterious. Anyway, I didn't get that second LIVE, and thus the theme gimmick, until right here:
But after that, I was able to go instantly to this:
Game over. Basically. Easy as pie. Too easy for a Thursday theme. The only bite in this grid came from the PISCO SOUR. Add this to the list of the many ways in which cocktails have made me happy.
I made some errors! They were inconsequential! But I will rehearse them here! I know Dante's Inferno way way too well to even think of ABYSS as an answer for 1D: Hell, to Dante, LOL. I mean ... true enough, I guess, but I really wanted the Italian word for "hell" there ... which, it turns out, funnily enough, is "Inferno." I had the AB- and still no idea. Did I mention I teach Inferno every year, sometimes twice a year? Sorry, SOMETIMES SOMETIMES A YEAR. It's true. Moving on. Had the usual E/I hassle at 15A: Accustom (INURE). Wrote in CONS for OFFS (10A: Does a hit on), which is a weird choice, in retrospect. I never really know what era or planet the NYTXW's "slanginess" is going to be from, or whether it's going to be accurate or awkward and tin-eared, so the clue just sounded like some kind of slang for running a scam. But OFFS is better, yes. Had DRESSY before DREAMY (40D: Very handsome, as a beau) and UPSHOT before UPTAKE (60A: Comprehension). I do believe that's it for screw-ups and struggles. I hope you enjoy the remainder of your Thursday, or whatever future day you happen to be reading this on. See you tomorrow.
Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld
[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]
[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]
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110 comments:
The thing that held me up from grokking the theme earlier, was confidently putting in "FRODO" at 8D ("Ring bearer"). Have a feeling that might have been deliberate to catch out the LOTR nerds...
Otherwise, generally agree with Rex. Once the theme was obvious, the fill was a bit drab. But never totally disappointed with a breezy Thursday!
Agreed. Easy-ish for a Thursday. And I caught onto the them at exactly the place OFL did. 😁
Started this out harder than it was by convincing myself that at some point in the Bond canon (ahem) there was a movie called You Only Live Once, and that You Only Live Twice was a sequel. Yeah, that’s the ticket. More hilarity ensued from the back pat for Bat before Owl. Stet means leave as was (in my case, ignore my impulsive edit). If it meant Put Back In, it’s gone and how would anyone know what it was? But Anyhoo ...
The lightbulb flickered on at Good Shoes Shoes. That’s really fun to say. I just laughed typing it.
As tired as I am of seeing the words A Certain (Whatever) in clues, Langston Hughes wrote more than one poem. Something stronger to describe a powerful piece of work would’ve better served.
As many times as Tali has had the straight-up clue Ankle Bones, it was still news to me. According to XWord, the first time was 1944. I wasn't born yet, but still.
Looved Abra. Luved it. Yesterday should’ve started with it. Would Rex have preferred something like garment that helps women stay abreast.
Fun Thursday, above are nits that tighter editing would’ve solved. Or not. Could all just be me. A really clean and entertaining first effort. Thanks Philip Wolfe.
BILLYBOB Thornton was excellent playing the Bill-Clinton-like president in Love Actually. He was visiting England where Hugh Grant was the Prime Minister.
A rare Tuesday* DNF when I put in SNiT instead of SNOT (confusing it with SNip), and didn’t know the Langston Hughes work which wound up as ITiO. I figured that would be wrong, but guessed my error would be the cross with SKITS.
* Some might claim today is Thursday, but I’ve seen Thursday puzzles and this was not one.
Easy here as well. The Peruvian drink was a WOE, and I really wanted the anklebones at 27D to have a rebus, TA[RS]I. Fat lot I know about anatomy. At first I wanted the beginning of 61A to be GOODie, but a quick character count disabused me of that notion.
I liked that this puzzle had no letters hidden in black squares, that there was no rebus, that there was a clever theme that wasn't tortured, that it had interesting fill, that it was very enjoyable. I hope for more from Mr.Wolfe.
I assume someone has a bet going on how many puzzles the NYT can work TORT into and bet the overs ! But I am intrigued about how easy it might or not be to purchase Pisco and make a Pisco Sour. I think I’d like to try one.
I second @Ann Howell's FRODO. I made it through but had tough time in the middle. Nothing of TALI, SKITS, OAKS, ITOO, STOATS felt great, so I tiptoed my way through.
Oh, that was a fun you-can-say-that-again theme, the kind that once you figure out one theme answer, it helps with solving the others. I like that the missing words of the theme answers – “Twice”, “double”, and “two” – are three different ways of indicating pairs.
There was a bevy of words that struck my fancy: FLIMSY, UPTAKE, ABYSS, ROUGE, FRIVOULOUS, and STASIS. And very impressive was the never-before-used clue for EDEN, a word that has appeared more than a thousand times in the NYT puzzle: [Locale for a talking snake].
I winced at the OFFS clue, however, after the events of the last few weeks. This has been the main genre of clue for that word in the NYT. But there’s another OFFS-clue genre that has appeared in other venues that, to me, is less off-putting – [X-___], where you can substitute for the X, words such as SHOW, COOK, TRADE, BRUSH, SEND, ONE, WRITE, SIGN, and one I haven’t seen yet KNOCK. There is also another clue angle that can be taken, the angle taken in my favorite OFFS clue: [Switch positions], a NYT clue by Peter Abide (9/04).
But overall, Philip, your debut was delightful to uncover. Those odd couples in the theme answers charmed me, and had me heading into my day with a smile. Thank you!
Maybe a different clue for ABRA would have made Rex happier. Here's a suggestion that also ties to the theme.
Lady's undergarment.
Speaking of OFFS, I just watched "The Kitchen", starring Melissa McCarthy, Elisabeth Moss, and Tiffany Haddish. Three women take control of their lives. Awesome, IMO.
I had Goody Goody as a doubled phrase in my head for too long a time, but then finally got to the shoes. Enjoyed it.
Pretty much the same experience re: catching on to the theme. Had YOUONLYLIVE--V-, and still didn't see it until I got to 38A and -----BLINDSTUDY.
I kept trying to figure out a way to cram more letters in somewhere, but the V in the second LIVE was the sticking point, as I was 99.9999% sure 12D was FIVE.
Only other problem was keeping SNIP (36D) around too long. That area was the last to fall, when I finally got around to the gimmes at 48D and 49D.
I would have filled the whole thing in instanter if I'd thought of the familiar OFFS and not deserted the NW when ACES went nowhere. Knew it was "twice", saw the twofer thing at BLINDS, which had to be DOUBLE, confirmed with the two SHOES, and after that, Monday easy.
Can't remember the last mixed drink I had, but I did know PSICOSOUR.
FLIMSY is a good word for a lousy excuse, and so is FEEEBLE, which also begins with an F. Oops.
Nice little Thursdecito, PW. but Pablo's Waiting (still) for another Thursdazo. Thanks for some fun, at least.
Given the puzzle love for a certain cookie, I was expecting double stuffed Oreos to make an appearance.
We're back to the over easy puzzles... hopefully not for long. This might have been a great Wednesday theme. Yesterday's theme wobbled between an interesting concept for a Wednesday and totally pointless except as an architectural exercise. No fun during puzzle solve, and obvious once the revealer was solved and completely unnecessary to finish the puzzle. So at least today 's theme was essential to figure out to make sense of the puzzle.
Too easy. I'm so bored with the NYT XW lately. Grrrrr. :-(
ABYSS BROIL ROUGE (Go Rouge #DCTID) do not justify nor sanctify ABRA BROT. I’m with Rex, tear out that corner and start again. That’s a fine corner for Downs Only solvers, but us sane people get smacked in the face with not one, but dead dead fish.
I did like the theme, although it was maybe more Wednesday appropriate difficulty wise. When double BLIND STUDY and YOU ONLY LIVE twice wouldn’t fit I was thinking we were in for a rebus, but the nanoseconds wasted rebus-hunting were few.
The biggest mystery of the puzzle was Tangle —> SKEIN. My image of a SKEIN is the yarn being orderly and easy to unwind. The tangle is what happens when I try to reorder the unused yarn. But Merriam-Webster says this is legitimate. Who knew? Certainly not me.
Well, PISCO SOUR was also a wee bit mysterious. PISCO was a little fishy, but maybe fishy alcohol was an Incan thing? Anyway, just accepted it on faith in the crosses. And grapes, not fish, so it’s basically just a brandy?
The theme seemed really weak - you repeat the word instead of saying "twice" - haha. I definitely have Greek Muse fatigue (and the rest of the whole Roman/Greek mythology stuff - I'm surprised that he NYT doesn't run one of those "What a [insert term for mythology buff] here studies" clues, as apparently they have at least one on their staff of editors.
I didn't know what a STOAT is and don't really want to deal with SNOT this early in the morning, so I just left that one blank.
A couple of good clues (LASER and even the harmless but somewhat cute clue for ROUGE, for example). I definitely prefer those type of wordplay clues to the "Who lives on COOK Island" stuff. I don't care if I DNF on stuff like MAORI crossing ERIE or answers like SNOT anymore.
As usual, I hope they take advantage of the absence of a theme tomorrow and avoid the dreck (instead of just relying on arcana to amp up the difficulty to Friday-level).
Scientist here and peeved as hell at "double-blind study" being clued by "randomized clinical trial". Those are two different methods of control used to eliminate very different issues and DO NOT have to go hand in hand! Science literacy is out of control bad.
Easy. Cute. Fun.
I did like seeing BillyBob Thornton in a puzzle; I am sure it's not a first time, but it was a refreshing discovery for me.
I agree with Rex about abracadabra being one word (though i think there's a British group that splits up the word).
May I offer a theory? - the word has gotten split since Harry Potter. Abracadabra doesn't appear in any of the HP novels - but a very strong, killing spelll is Avada Kedavra. Two words. Maybe that's the source of the frequent confusion?
Neat gimmick - liked the spanning themers. After LIVE twice fell - it did clear things up. Like Rex - PISCO SOUR and FRIVOLOUS jumped out. French fried pataters.
Didn’t like the YES or DOOFUS plurals or TITHED.
Go to Zum Stammtisch in Ridgewood and enjoy the BROTchen before dinner.
The hip flask and fumbled SKEIN
Enjoyable Thursday solve.
Took me a surprisingly short time to discover this POO POO theme (didn't like), and then the puzzle was over (weeping). Guess I got lucky again today with another wheelhouse solve. I am impressed by well written clues -- not too hard or too easy -- just smart -- ya know, like every puzzle could be.
Struggled to remember ERATO (as always). Those Muses are messy. PISCO SOUR filled itself in thank goodness. Didn't know where Cook Island is and never heard that usage of SKEIN so the SE was the last to cave.
Yays:
So many fun words and great clues. Too bad a really FLIMSY theme cast an evil shadow over a great romp.
Boos:
ABRA and BROT is a pretty ugly beginning.
TALI feels desperate, like the constructor was running late for a social engagement and didn't have time to mock his own software's really bad idea. I'm sure one of you was an orthopedic surgeon and TALI is a real word you included in casual banter about the guy who jumped off the building and lived because his TALI saved him, but I don't think it's a puzzle-worthy plural. It's a plural of convenience exposed to radiation in a lab and now it's destroying Gotham.
Uniclues:
1 Muse on Nyquil.
2 Mom AND dad yelling at you for those credit cards.
3 Billy Crystal's varmint.
4 Eyebrows magnificent, skin fantastic, ear lobes luscious, and ___, i.e., his body is anything but a nightmare.
5 Seeing Sling Blade again.
6 Best man's naughty "last night of freedom" offer.
7 How a moderator de-Anonym-oti-ifies.
8 Polynesians at Starbucks.
9 What will never pass the breakfast test.
1 SLEEPY ERATO
2 DEBTS SCOLDS
3 EMCEE'S STOAT
4 NAPE DREAMY
5 BILLY BOB STASIS
6 BRIDE'S "NO" TEST
7 SEVERS DOOFUSES
8 FRIVOLOUS MAORI
9 FIVE DUDE SKEIN
One of the best Bond themes.
Don't tell anyone using military time (or anyone who eats Brot) that there's no 13th hour. Lunch quitting time ... for many.
@JD:
To answer your (possibly rhetorical) question - because in the copy being edited, the stet mark refers to matter that has a dele mark through it, in the typeset page. That's how they know what it was. It's still in the typeset page; stet mark means ignore the dele mark.
My only nit would be that 13:00 hours *is* military time.
Other than that, this was a clever theme, and a wonderful NYT debut.
Reading the constructor's notes is always a pleasure (he's funny!). Reading the SOUR (pisco-less) comments here or rex et al, not so much.
Given how much people complain about these puzzles, I wonder why they do them. Unless the whole point is to complain?
Without giving it a second thought (pun intended), I confidently wrote in YOU ONLY LIVE ONCE.
Even after I had BLIND BLIND STUDY, I never thought to correct YOU ONLY LIVE ONCE.
I thought that was the title. I really need to brush up on my James Bond.
But when "quitting time" was ??C?, I knew I had to do something pronto...
Based on BLIND BLIND STUDY, I figured out LIVE LIVE. After which GOODY SHOES SHOES was a slam dunk.
This was a fairly easy Thursday that I managed to make harder for myself in the NE due to not being so much of a Bond fan. And also not having much of a memory. But I found the theme delightful and (I think) original and I had a perfectly swell time solving it.
One additional observation. I thought of the French "piscine" for swimming pool and imagined the PISCO SOUR as tasting of chlorine and God knows what else. I'm quite sure I'll never order one.
I don't know Bond movies that well, and I hadn't realized that after the groom takes the ring from the actual ring-bearer and puts it on the BRIDE then she might be called "ring bearer." So I was looking at Y__VELIVE and figured there was a You'VE in there, which didn't seem to work. I went on, got more fill, and confidently wrote in controlleD STUDY. Fortunately, I TOO am in the group of those who have heard of the PISCO SOUR without ever having tasted one. (You gotta admit it's kind of a memorable name). That gave be BLIND BLIND and the theme.
I had @Zed's misconception about the meaning of SKEIN, and thought incorrectly that the poem's title was "I TOO sing America," but neither thing held me up.
I liked the SIGNALing yawn right above SLEEPY, as well as the fly-fishing reminder. Also the symmetrical arrangement of INURE and INUSE.
Looks like @JD and I did the same TAKE TAKE on 17A.
I too had FRODO as the ring bearer, which turned the “nasty repartee” into BARFS. Given the current state of our public discourse, wherein most people simply regurgitate whatever talking points they’ve been fed by their preferred media programs, I thought “this checks out”.
Oof. Lord what a bunch of dreck. Solved this one with my wife and we went through it in record time, so not hard, but definitely drab. The Bond themer was a gimme for me, and, as in Rex’s case, the other two immediately slotted in after. PISCO SOUR is so good that it seems like it belongs in a completely different puzzle. I also like BILLYBOB, although the clueing on it was extremely basic. Just seems like everyone at NYTXW took the week off for the holiday. Only puzzle I’ve *kinda* liked this week was the T Swift one, and even that one was just “Oh. Okay. That’s cute I guess.” Truly mind-boggling that the world’s premier puzzle can run a solid week of slop and no one says anything.
Hey All !
Having __OO for the 43A poem, wrote in OMOO because it's been forever since we've had that answer, and really wanted it to be true! Even though 1) I think it's a book, not a poem?, 2) I didn't think it was written by Hughes, but the ole brain said never mind that, and 3) wanted it to be that so bad, left it in and got a DNF. Dang.
Neat theme, only three Themers, used to be the norm, now the exception. Hadn't heard of a PISCO SOUR, thankfully crossers were solid.
OWL weird clue. I can see it being lawyered to . make sense.
I TOO. Maybe I'll write a poem and call it I ROO. Or maybe one called F TOO. The mind boggles.
Three of a kind beats pair pair. (Sad, that 😁)
yd -2, should'ves 1
Three F's
RooMonster
DarrinV
Just found out about @lollapuzzoola Lollapuzzoola Saturday, August 27 in NYC.
What do y'all think about these puzzling events? Fun to attend?
@Anonymous Ride the Reading, I'm being nit picky here and I pray to the Gof of xwords that you aren't Notorious Anon in disguise, but Stet (officially) means let it stand or retain original. If I signal a paragraph indent and then say stet, what would they be putting back in?
But again, nit picky and pedantic, yeah it's not a definition, etc. It just slowed me down because I was a big stet user in the print edit days.
@Nancy, We thought it because that's the way they should've done it.
@Frodo people, you're answer is better.
A clever theme and appropriate but awfully, awfully easy. Like Rex I got the trick at 17A and it was pretty much just fill in the blanks from there. But that’s okay, I don’t mind an occasional easy ride on a Thursday. Plus it’s too hot to put forth one bit more effort than absolutely necessary on much of anything.
Loved seeing BILLY BOB Thornton, one of those actors who can take any role and completely transform himself into that character.
GOODY SHOES SHOES reminded me of the time I went to work wearing two different colored shoes. I’m a firm believer in the theory of “if the shoe fits, buy one in every color.” This was back in the 80s when flats were the rage. I had three of the same pair in black, dark green, and navy blue. My outfit that day had both blue and green, so I tried on one of each to see which would look the best. In my SLEEPY state of mind I forgot to switch one of them out and went on to work that way. One of my more sarcastic coworkers immediately dubbed me Connie Two Shoes, and I never lived that down.
It's a double blind clinical trial. Nobody, but nobody, in the drug business (the legal division) calls it a 'STUDY'.
@The Joker:
just read the rest of the paper. the bra is out. tape is in.
I missed the usual Thursday tricks that either confound or delight me, and sometimes both. That disappointment aside, I enjoyed this puzzle, despite the very fill-y fill (amazed that The Hated Cookie didn't make an appearance). The long downs were lovely and the theme, while easy, was enjoyable and made me laugh.
These days, anything that makes me laugh gets an A+.
I haven't had a PISCO SOUR in decades, but now I'm remembering how delicious it was and wishing I could have one. But I'm guessing there's not a bartender within a 500-mile radius who would know how to make one.
Abra Cadabra is from Aramaic and should be two words. (It should be as I say)
Spot on critique for Rex today. “ Too easy for a Thursday theme. The only bite in this grid came from the PISCO SOUR. ” still it was cute and fun as @Lewis points out, so happy to applaud Mr. Wolfe’s debut.
Yes....It was easy but I didn't care. Sometimes a Thursday makes me want to tear my brains out, today I just smiled and sailed away.
So you give me a James Bond movie and I immediately think DREAMY. Every New Years Eve my husband watched them all. I do the singing in the background. You should see my Pussy Galore impersonation.
Then you hand me a PISCO SOUR. I had my very first in Villarica, Chile. The hotel we stayed in overlooked the lake and you could see a very active volcano eyeing us with a spurt here and there.
@Nancy...if the drink is made well, it's absolutely delicious. Knowing you, I think you'd like to sip it in some fancy bar in Manhattan. I've had several since (here in the US) but for some reason, the one in Villarica had a lot more sparkle. Think musky.
I always wondered where the phrase GOODY (two) SHOES came from. All I can think of is that if you owned two shoes instead of one, that made you all uppity? Who makes these things up?
Anyway...I enjoyed your puzzle, Philip. We can share some BROT with a little PISCO and maybe take our SHOES off and dance a little fandango tango.
Agree with others that the 13th HOUR is definitely a thing as are the 14th through the 23rd. I used the 24 hour clock and UTC for 28 years on my job and EVEN years after retirement, I still think in those terms of time.
@Brainpan (8:19) Thank you for pointing out that a double blind study is not the same as a randomized clinical trial. I had mentally questioned that but wasn’t really sure. I have a dear friend who participated in a double blind study for a new Alzheimer’s drug and it certainly was not what it was cracked up to be. One big advantage was that he received extensive testing at no cost which he would probably would not have gotten otherwise. However the test process itself was frustrating. Delays, postponements, and cancellations at the last minute, usually with no explanation whatsoever. And unfortunately the doctor seemed to have little interest in him beyond his continued participation in the trial. Very disappointing experience.
INURE STET ERATO TALI Rex is right, before doing crossword puzzles, these words were maybe not unknown to me, but certainly not in the forefront of my brain like they are now.
My whole life I thought the line was "things beyond my care" not KEN. I knew KEN meant knowledge but not from that song. I might be known to sing the Sound of Music in the shower at the top of my lungs.
BILLY BOB THORNTON was amazing in Fargo, the TV series. The TV series version I highly recommend if you enjoy great acting and excellent story. Warning though it is pretty gory - COVERYOUREYES -but one of the best shows I've ever seen. The first season stars Martin Freeman, who is excellent. You may know him from the British show Breeders and he also played the "Jim" role (Tim) in the original Office. Fargo is supposed to be filming a fifth season and I can't wait. Each of the four seasons feature a completely new cast and different story. Season 2 stars Jean Smart, Ted Danson, and Jesse Plemons (Todd in Breaking Bad) and his wife, Kirsten Dunst.
If I may add my cents cents, I thought this was a clever puzzle that had me seeing seeing and I wouldn’t think think about doing another one of this constructor’s puzzles.
Being 500 miles away from any bartender who might know how to make a pisco sour is somewhere I'm glad I don't live. (Actually since he said "500 mile radius" I guess it would only be 250 miles - still too far!)
Yep easy. Catching the theme early was helpful. BROT and PISCO SOUR were WOES, but the rest didn’t offer much resistance. I’m looking for a little more challenge on Thursday. @Rex is right about the fill.
Just realized that no one has posted a link to Langston Hughes’ poem that’s as relevant today as it was when he wrote it. On the first week in July it strikes me especially hard: it’s here. Enjoy your seat at the table wherever your place card lands!
Thx, Philip; you 'doubled' my pleasure on this one! :)
Easy-med.
Very easy in the NW & MW, but got wind of the trickery at YOU ONLY LIVE ____. Put in 'once', but that obviously was not going to work with the downs.
Not quite sure when the 'double' idea twigged, but it was fairly late in the game. The puz was pretty easy, so the theme kinda worked itself out.
Enjoyed the adventure. :)
@Carolita (3:52 PM yd) 👍 for QB :)
___
yd 0 (lucked out on this one) / Duo: 36 (2 abject blunders)
Peace 🙏 🇺🇦 ~ Compassion ~ Tolerance ~ Kindness to all 🕊
I agree that the puzzle played easy once you figured out one of the theme answers. It seems like the constructor realized this and devised difficult crosses for the doubled-up words (the 2nd LIVE, BLIND and SHOES).
Because of my struggles with those crosses (OWL, as clued, writ, VET, as clued, OAKS, TALI, ITOO, SKEIN, as clued, ERIR, as clued), it took me a long time to finally unlock the gimmick. Then it all fell into place.
Wanted otter for the ferret look-alike.
Bit of a side-eye to "Some amateur theatre productions" as the clue for SKITS; would prefer something like "Evening entertainments at a summer camp."
@Whatsername:
Thank you for pointing out that a double blind study is not the same as a randomized clinical trial.
I'll bet that one can count by the average number of teeth in a hen's mouth the number of FDA approved trials that were not both.
@BigSteve - I don't think you really know what a radius is.
Easy, cute, endearing (DOOFUSES). For the first theme answer I had the second LIVE in place when the midsection was still empty, so it was easy to get the title and the puzzle's trick - I thought. I assumed we'd be ascending in numerical value, so wanted three "phases" for the clinical trial (of which my oncologist husband has conducted many, so "Phase III" is often heard around here), but that idea was immediately scotched by the initial B. Not to mention that four of anything would have been hard to fit in one line of the grid. Nice array of adjectives: SLEEPY and DREAMY, FRIVOLOUS and FLIMSY.
My indelible memory of learning PISCO SOUR: a 1969 tour of Machu Picchu where a group of loud and obnoxious Americans harassed the guide by haranguing him to cut short the boring historical and cultural information so that they could get back to the hotel and their PISCO SOURs. Mortification city.
Do-over: iceS before OFFS, almost wrote in Kentucky OAtS for the horse race. Help from previous puzzles: SKEIN as clued; I, TOO.
Pisco is a high-alcohol spirit made from fermented grapes (kinda like brandy, but not really.) Native to Peru & Chile.
Recipe for pisco sour:
1 1/2 oz Pisco, 1 Egg white, 1 oz Lemon Juice, 3/4 oz Simple syrup. Shake in cocktail shaker til egg is foamy, serve in cocktail glass.
A STOAT is an ermine. In winter, when the animal is white, the name ermine is generally used. STOAT is a term used in summer when the coat is brown.
We vacationed once in Peru, so the PISCOSOUR was a no-brainer. They’re delicious, btw. If you can’t find PISCO, you can always try making one with sec sec sec. After my Pa had too many of those, I’d tell him that neither MĀORI approved.
If you did a “Randomized clinical trial” on the subjects of a nursery rhyme, it would be a BLINDBLINDSTUDY of blind blind blind mice.
I actually liked the theme. I agree that it was only hard until you got one, and then it was easy, but the idea was good. Way too easy for a Thursday, but NTCF (Not The Constructor’s Fault). Thanks for a fun debut Philip Wolfe. Congrats.
This was an unusually easy Thursday. BROT and PISCOSOUR we're new to me as was todays definition of SKEIN. The surrounding fill on all three of those words was as routine as it was in the rest of the puzzle so they caused minimal slow downs.
yd pg -1
I thought the the clue for 36 Down looked like a booger, but it turned out that it'SNOT.
"I'll bet that one can count by the average number of teeth in a hen's mouth the number of FDA approved trials that were not both."
But the thing is, even if there were a lot that were not both, they don't have to be. The clue does not say that all double blind studies are randomized clinical studies, or vice versa. It's like if the clue was "red fruit" and the answer was "cherry" that doesn't mean all red fruit are cherries, or that even all cherries are red. A double blind study is often/usually a randomized clinical trial, just like a cherry is often/usually a red fruit. I mean, this page from a health service even says:
"What is a double blind study? A double blind study is a randomized clinical trial which: [explanation of what makes it randomized and double-blind.]"
https://www.premierhealth.com/faq/what-is-a-double-blind-study-
After the news I thought the bond would be Liveandletdie which fits. Nope. Also put in GoodyThreeShoes confident in your sense of humor. AgainNo. But Some misClues: asp is not hidden in the words given but tangled up - and a skein is NOT a tangled-it is very clearly rolled to be unwound neatly.
YOU ONLY die twIcE, YOU ONLY LIVE oncE. YOU ONLY LIVE LIVE, whew.
Snare>>SKEIN. I'm liking SKEIN along with YARN. I get several emails a day from various yarn shops around the globe and it takes all of my willpower sometimes to not place an order - I'm a yarn hoarder, and I haven't ATONED for it yet (when my stash no longer fits in my crafting closet, I may have to do something about it.)
I like SLEEPY under the yawn SIGNAL.
Thanks, Philip Wolfe, congrats on the debut.
My immediate reaction: "This is way way too easy." I at first thought the answer for the top themer was "YOU ONLY once LIVE, but the Downs cleared that up, and I fully agree with OFL that once you got the trick the puzzle lost all interest.
PISCO brought back memories of my college days, though. I had read that PISCO punch was a classic San Francisco drink, and so I had one, at one of those bars that never checked IDs for well dressed students. Pretty tasty, and when I visited Santiago, Chile I had one or two there a decade ago. Never heard of a PISCO SOUR, though, though I have no idea what my PISCO drink was called in Spanish, and my traveling companion and I made a point of only speaking Spanish to waiters and bartenders.
@Peter P:
But the thing is, even if there were a lot that were not both, they don't have to be.
Again, so far as FDA & EMA are concerned (and why else would you do a trial?), a 'randomized clinical trial' will be double-blind by definition, with exceptions noted. If you watch the TV, and see adverts for various OTC snake oil nostrums, in the teeny print at the end will a disclaimer which says, in various words
- based on our clinical trials
- our snake hasn't been approved by the FDA
If "there were a lot that were not both" is just the point: there aren't a lot, about as many as hens' teeth, at least in the world of the FDA & EMA.
So, yeah you can run a half-arsed trial, but it isn't worth much besides a TV commercial.
yep. Kinda what @RP said, re: the theme. It was kinda tricky, until it became easier than 36-Down.
The mysterious fly-by-night-er was tryin real hard to slow us down on OFFin the theme mcguffin, but it could only drive us BATs for so long.
At first, M&A suspected a ThursPuz rebus motif, since the James Bond flick was a letter too short. Wrong again, M&A breath. Wasted precious nanoseconds, tryin to come up with other words for condensed ICE, and such.
staff weeject pick: OWL not BAT. For its valiant theme-protection efforts, as outlined above. Only 8 weeject choices today, btw. I blame a 74-word, 34-blacksquare puzgrid.
Even tho the last two themers were almost gimmes, the puz did try to put up a little fight. Had 3 ?-marker clues, f'rinstance. And STOAT is always good to gobble up a few nanoseconds. Ditto for UPTAKE and STASIS. That SKEIN clue was also a bit feisty, I reckon.
Some fave stuff: BILLYBOB [Debut flick M&A saw him in: "Chopper Chicks in Zombie Town"]. DOOFUSES. FRIVOLOUS. DREAMY. SNOT.
Recommended Xtra themer: SECSECSEC.
Thanx for the easy fun ThursPuz solvequest, Mr. Wolfe DUDE. And congratz on yer fine debut.
Masked & Anonym007Us
Actually Steve, it would be 1000 miles - far enough?
Did anyone else say goody goody shoes? Instead of goody shoes shoes? That really held me up.
All this fuss about Abra ... a perfect clue would be "Caleb's muse" ... i.e. the girlfriend of the young protagonist of Steibeck's East of Eden.
The phrase "Abracadabra" only serves as a reminder to me that Steve Miller, for all his guitar prowess and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame accolades, can't write song lyrics to save his life. Some of his lyrics are simply bad and incompetent. Some, like the lyrics to the loathsome "Take the Money and Run," are reprehensible in content as well as being bad aesthetically.
@egs 11:38. As usual, you got a big laugh from me. MA OR I.
But not really on sec sec sec. A comparison is if vodka and tequila had a baby, out would pop PISCO.
By the way, you can buy PISCO at total Wines and More.
Cheers.
Wasn't "Love, Actually" re-titled "Hittin' on the Help" recently?
Agreed with many of youse-guys (Nancy, M&A) - got a little hung up, briefly, on the James Bond shortage of one letter.
My b-in-law grew up in Peru, so I've known about a PISCOSOUR for decades.
In my British-Eng lexicon, a SKEIN is how we used to buy wool, not a tangle at all, but you had to roll it into a ball yourself, on a younger sister's outstretched arms, or failing that, a chair.
Amazing how if I grok a Thursday puz easily, I get kicked by the SB; half an hour today didn't even get me to g.
@Gary Jugert 10:10 -- Re: Lollapuzzoola:
I went to the one in 2015 and never had the least desire to do it again. I won't make anyone here who had to suffer through my extremely l-o-o-ng blog post about my experience back then LIVE LIVE it now. But if you're curious, Gary:
Go to Rex's blog on Tuesday 8/11/15. My [extremely detailed] description appears at 9:22 a.m. and then is continued at 9:45 a.m.
There are people here, though, who love these tournaments. Our @Teedmn is one of them.
Like Nancy, had YOU ONLY LIVE ONCE, which fit but didn't look right, so I tried YOU ONLY DIE TWICE which fit but looked and sounded even worse. So I left the last 2 words blank and came back when I got the trick.
TARSI, CARPI, etc, and now TALI. Duly noted!
[Spelling Bee: yd pg-1, missed this 7er which I'm pretty sure I've never heard of. @bocamp, well done to get it!]
@M&A re: Xtra themer—
Also, A LADY A LADY A LADY (a gridspanner to boot)
@Gary Jugert, as @Nancy mentioned, I like puzzle tournaments. I've done Lollapuzzoola 4 times and the ACPT 3 time. I've done a number of online tournaments also, which can be fun too.
Lollapuzzoola is a good intro tournament - it's only one day, it doesn't take itself too seriously and people are friendly. But you may need to solve while noise is occurring (which is one of the things that frightened @Nancy away) - they usually have an overarching theme that sometimes takes over.
I won't be going to this year's tournament but I hope to start up again in 2023. I recommend going (sometimes you can get a Rex sighting; certainly many constructors are there and Will Shortz sometimes makes a cameo appearance during the final solve-off.)
You should be able to find it at a liquor store. I had several Pisco Sours while in Peru and bought a bottle of pisco at the local state store (I live in Oregon!) when I got home. I don't bother with the egg white and it tastes just fine 🐱
@GILL I. I wasn’t serious about Triple Sec being a substitute for PISCO. Just foolin’ with the theme idea.
They are quite tasty - made with fresh lime juice. The pisco does not have a strong taste so you end up drinking a couple before it hits you 😸
They are really easy to make - you can find the recipe online 😺
The PS I had in Peru was made with fresh lime juice. Also, it was topped with two drops (or drops drops!) of bitters. 😺
Same here! Really slowed me down on otherwise easy puzz
This grid has two ingredients that I think set the stage for a top notch themed puzzle, one with good balance between theme and fill.
The first is the modest amount of grid space taken up by having just three themers. This is a welcomed respite in my book from the typical themer bloat we tend to see nowadays where up to five or six themers only leave room for desultory 3s and 4s in the fill.
The second is having 34 black squares which I think is the sweet spot for getting both good theme content and quality fill. Leaves lots of open space and flow in the grid. More black squares make a more segmented grid with less interesting fill and fewer black squares can result in compromised fill necessary to make it all work.
Whether this puzzle realized its potential or not is another matter. As a number of yous have noted, there is some iffy fill here and there. And there were more POCs (plural of convenience) than usual but I see at xwordinfo.com that this is a debut and maybe with experience the constructor will become more adept in those areas. Overall I thought it was a good puzzle and an enjoyable solve.
I took more grad school courses in experimental design and statistical analysis than in any other subjects. A double blind study (experiment, test, trial, etc.) is one where neither the ones conducting the study nor the ones participating in the study as subjects know who is getting the experimental treatment (the independent variable) and who is getting a placebo or no treatment at all. It's the gold standard in experimentation because it eliminates the biases that can influence outcomes when only one or neither groups is blind.
Any clinical trial (study, experiment, test, etc.) worth its salt will be a double blind one. And "randomized" is also part of double blind studies because the pool of total test subjects is randomly divided into two groups, the experimental and the control groups to eliminate biases there.
Wonder if Rex uses the Robert Pinsky translation for his class?
p.s.
@Joe Dipinto 2:25pm: Primo Xtra themer selection. Unfortunately, turns out I accidentally duped my SECSECSEC themer from an @egsforbreakfast previous post. Sooo… we sorta unknowinly created a SECSECSECSECSECSEC. Sorry 'bout that.
Occurs to M&A that the followin woulda been cool weeject entries for this puz:
* AAA. [Triple A.]
* XXX. [Triple X.]
* EEE. [Tripoli.]
Then there's the whole world of HHHH, and beyond …
sheesh
M&Also
anti thematic matter: INABLUEMOON
And yet once again an expert in an area (I presume they were being honest about being a scientist) manages to say something wrong and insulting at the same time. This is why the Germans coined “fremdschämen.” @Peter P explains it quite well so no need to belabor the point but let me suggest once again that before you yell “wrong,” pause, maybe even do a google search. Sure, I know what a SKEIN is, but that doesn’t mean the clue doesn’t work in some way that isn’t occurring to me.
@LorrieJJ - I always heard it “Goody Goody Two Shoes” so I would have been happier if the grid accommodated “goody GOODY SHOE SHOE.”
According to Merriam-Webster, ABRAcadabra is one word and from late LATIN. No mention of Aramaic but it does say its origins are obscure.
Also, Rex’s nit aside, ABRA has never been clued as a separate word in the NYTX. When the clue is magical it’s always “Start of…,” which is also used for prefixes.
Also noteworthy given the “puzzles are easier these days” discussion of late is that prior to Shortz ABRA usually got a Steinbeck clue or a canyon clue with only occasional magic clues. Since Shortz the pattern is completely flipped with Aron’s girlfriend only being the clue 9 or 10 times out of the 49 ABRA Shortz era appearances, and zero canyon clues. In case you’re wondering, there were 82 appearances before Shortz.
Agree with Rex. Was a pretty easy Thursday. "Goody Goody Two Shoes" is the phrase I grew up with, not "Goody Two Shoes".
I have a vague memory of a high school German class where we learned a poem that maybe concluded with "Brot is freiheit, freiheit brot!". I thought it was written by a well-known humanitarian German poet, but I find no trace of it online. Was I being taught some variant of the Nazi campaign slogans (with some famous posters) about being for bread and freedom or bread freedom and work. Work makes freedom. Will the Magas' adopt it for the coming election?
But Shirley, with all the Spanish and French we get, a word of German is over the top? I don't get it.
Didn't anyone else try bat before OWL?
A neat little Thursday film. I liked it. But we have been getting some wild Thursdays of late even on Wednesdays, so it pales a bit.
And I thought yesterday's wordle was a pain.
Wordle 383 X/6*
⬛⬛🟧⬛🟧
⬛⬛🟧⬛🟧
⬛⬛🟧⬛🟧
⬛⬛🟧⬛🟧
⬛⬛🟧⬛🟧
⬛⬛🟧⬛🟧
Wordle 383 3/6
⬛⬛🟩⬛🟩
⬛⬛🟩🟩🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
Oh. I guess M&A did bat or at least considered it.
@albie - Blrrgh - My third DNF but I did manage to get closer than you. Personally I think using a Greek word is cheating.
Wordle 383 X/6*
⬛⬛🟨🟨⬛
⬛⬛🟩⬛🟩
⬛⬛🟩⬛🟩
⬛⬛🟩⬛🟩
🟩⬛🟩⬛🟩
🟩🟨🟩⬛🟩
As for BROT, to me it would be fine somewhere else in the puzzle with good fill around it, but paired with ABRA in the NW corner is what is suboptimal.
@JC66 - Show Off. 😉
@Z
A lucky Show Off.
One has to wonder if @M&A has exposed himself with tomorrow’s puzzle.
@albatross shell
SMH can you afford to live? I can't
Ha same
I also had Frodo, and was significantly delayed by it! Also just seems to have lingering issues with one of the two doubled words in each of the long answers, so had to get way too far in before getting the theme. Glad to hear someone else experienced my pain.
Abra is a character in "East if Eden."
@JD,
Sorry for late response - no, I'm not Notorious Anon. I just don't comment often.
The dele and stet marks - the way I'm looking at it is, a character, word, phrase or paragraph has a dele mark through it, with the circled dele in the margin. The stet mark means to ignore the dele mark. This is from the days of typeset proofs. So the item isn't "gone" from the page - it's just been marked for the typesetter. And the stet is telling the typesetter to ignore the dele.
I'm a photo editor at a wire service.
In Peru, virtually everyone dining in a restaurant has a Pisco Sour before lunch or dinner. They’re easy to make at home. The egg white adds a lot to the visual experience and to the tradition itself. I buy pasteurized egg whites at the super market. Easier and safer than starting with an egg. Use a traditional cocktail shaker and keep on shaking way beyond what you would think is necessary. It makes a fun sound. Also part of the tradition.
In Peru virtually everyone in a restaurant has a Pisco Sour first. It’s a fun custom to be sharing with your fellow diners. I recommend the egg white. It makes the drink more festive. Instead of starting with an egg, buy pasteurized egg white at a supermarket. Easier and Safer. Mix in a traditional cocktail shaker, of the sort that allows you to give it a good shake. That’s also part of the tradition. Shake shake shake!
Did not like this one. Found the gimmick to be rather bland. I did not like the crossing of PISCOSOUR and ELS. Not being familiar with Chicago trains, I guessed ELt and reasoned that the drink was a PISCO tOUR. Wrong. Was the crossing fair? I think it was a Natick. Why is the editor allowing (or missing) so many lately? Why the cryptic cluing for SKEIN when A meta clue with 67A would have worked perfectly (Ball of 67A). The all-too convenient use of plurals also turned me off. TALI was just the plural of talus because it was cheap glue. DOOFUSES too. But the one that takes the cake is COODYSHOESSHOES. Technacally it’s passable, But I would have prefered both shoes to be singular as in GOODYSHOESHOE at for the sake of uniformity since none of the other gimmicks had a pluralized word. There are many other extaneous plurals cluttering the grid (YESES, DINS etc.) but I’ll leave it at that for now. Not FIVE stars.Maybe three.
BRIDE SNOT INURE UPTAKE
BARB'S a GOODY(TWO)SHOES,
NE'ER FRIVOLOUS, but nice,
but (DOUBLE)BLIND IN SEX USE,
DUDE, YOUONLYLIVE(TWICE).
--- BILLYBOB STOAT
Hand up for the "East of EDEN" clue for ABRA, which OFF strangely failed to mention during his tirade. Surely as an English prof, he knows of the character, charmingly played by DOD Julie Harris in the film. Still, reworking the NW stands as good advice.
The whole deal today had sort of a 52-across feel to it. The trick fell instantly for me, as YOLT was too long despite being the answer. A few secs in the NE was all it took, and the themers were in. Of 24 S's in the grid, most were either plurals or third-person present-tense verb endings. It felt as though this would've made a better 13x13.
I do give props for several juicy long downs, but when fill outshines a dumb theme something's not right. Agreed that this doesn't make it all the way to Thursday, falling by the wayside by about Tuesday. I have to say bogey.
A Wordle par featuring yet another anomaly:
BYYBY
BYYYB
YYYYY!
GGGGG
As a Bond fan I liked YOUONLYLIVELIVE. TOO bad it was all 2s. I was hoping for the next one to be the Tony Orlando song KNOCKKNOCKKNOCK (yeah, TOO many Ks) and the last to maybe be a geezer with glasses OLDEYEEYEEYEEYE. They would be near impossible to cross.
Coulda been a wordle eagle but it was not clear I couldn't plead to glean the answer. So par.
If I hadn't fought with myself I would have gotten it. Kept saying "THAT can't be it."
Quite a clever and fun Thursday, without a you-know-what!
Diana, Lady-in-Waiting for Crosswords
@fogman 10:31am :
That was not even close to being a Natick. I'm sure you have heard of drinks called a sour, plus the Chicago trains clue asked for a plural, and finally, the answer els has been an answer in the NYT Xword puzzle over 560 times.
@zed 8:01pm :
I notice you almost always use the Merriam-Webster dictionary when citing definitions. To each their own and all that, but my preference is either Random House, or OED. I own many many dictionaries, including the M-W, and also a one volume OED unabridged that has very very tiny tiny print, that came with a half globe magnifier, that is several inches tall.
Ps: I do know you are looking them up online.
I wish everyone on this blog would stop being brats* about the word brot! I love learning new words!
* Please pronounce it as a German word.
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