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Ancient inhabitants of Crete / TUE 8-23-22 / Production company behind Hunger Games and Saw films / Where to find edible ants / Secluded narrow valley / Card game with a spinoff game called Dos / Commotion informally
Tuesday, August 23, 2022
Constructor: Trey Mendez
Relative difficulty: Easy-Medium
Theme answers:
- VAPOR TRAIL (18A: What follows a plane going from Richmond to Chicago?) (Virginia to Illinois)
- LANDING GEAR (26A: 26A: Part of a plane traveling from New Orleans to Little Rock?) (Louisiana to Arkansas)
- CONTINENTAL (45A: Former airline from Denver to Birmingham?) (Colorado to Alabama)
- FLYING TIME (56A: Duration of air travel from Miami to Bangor?) (Florida to Maine)
Enos Strate is a fictional character in the American television series The Dukes of Hazzard. The character of Enos was on from 1979-1980 and then after short break was on 1982-1985. Enos was played by Sonny Shroyer. (dukesofhazzard.fandom.com) // Enos is a short-lived American action-comedy television series and a spin-off of The Dukes of Hazzard. It originally aired on CBS from November 12, 1980, to May 20, 1981. The series focused on the adventures of Enos Strate, a former deputy in rural Hazzard County, after he moved to Los Angeles to join the LAPD. Actor Sonny Shroyer played the character of Enos on both shows. The scene was set for Enos leaving Hazzard to become a Los Angeles lawman in the third season Dukes of Hazzard episode "Enos Strate To The Top". // Each episode of "Enos" featured the title character fighting crime alongside partner Turk Adams. Episodes usually began and ended with Enos writing a letter to "Dukes of Hazzard" character Daisy Duke in which he told her of his adventures in L.A. In an attempt to boost ratings, a number of characters from The Dukes of Hazzard (Daisy, Uncle Jesse and Rosco) were brought in as guest stars, but "Enos" still failed to catch on. It was canceled after one 18-episode season. (wikipedia)
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| [first story in MAD Magazine #1] |
Also very entertaining: the basic idea of this puzzle. It's trying to do something clever, and I think it mostly gets there. Air travel-related answers that "travel" from one state to another. Yes. The most I think about it, the more I like it. Doesn't matter whether Continental actually flew Denver to Birmingham—the air routes are fanciful, hence the "?"s on the ends of the theme clues (which alert you to the puzzle's secondary thematic content, i.e. the state codes). As far as this theme goes, I have no complaints. Good Tuesday stuff. The fill, however, has some issues. The biggest issue for me is ONALOG, which is a horribly awkward standalone phrase (long prepositional phrases always seem so strange and naked and bereft). It's also easily avoidable. Just change it to ANALOG (a real thing!) and then change GOT UP to GAS UP (also real) and TAP to SAP (really real!). Badda-bing, voilà, no more ants ON A LOG (for those of you somehow not familiar with this foodstuff, the log is celery and the ants are raisins and I think peanut butter is the adhesive, but maybe cream cheese works too? I don't know, never ate it, even as a child).
A few more things:
Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld
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| [cringe] |
NEOLOGIC is also strange, for different reasons (36D: Like a recently coined word or phrase). It's not bad so much as esoteric. That is, I know what a "neologism" is, but I've never seen anyone use the term for the inherent quality of a neologism (and it turns out NEOLOGIC is actually the "less common" adjectival form of the word; see "neological," here). I actually thought of "neologism" immediately but couldn't bring myself to write in NEOLOGIC because it didn't seem like a thing. Anyway, it's a very odd word to see hanging around a Tuesday grid. This is only its third appearance of the century, and both the other appearances came on Saturdays. The short fill is OK but a little on the limp and stale side—lots and lots of old friends like OLIO and ITO and ENOS and ESSO ... speaking of ESSO, I was surprised to see that Canada is considered "overseas" now (54D: Exxon, overseas).
- 10A: Woman's name hidden inside "assumed name" (EDNA) — still not understanding why the NYTXW has (of late) steered so hard toward this way of cluing short names. It's oddly childish and patronizing. Makes me want to repost the Bernie meme (courtesy of Christopher Adams, who filled in for me on Sunday):
- 26D: "___ at 'em!" ("LEMME") — I had "LET ME" at first. But of course that would be the more formal "LET ME at them, please."
- 34D: Production company behind "The Hunger Games" and the "Saw" films (LIONSGATE) — bold, original fill. As someone who once put VILLAGE ROADSHOW in a puzzle (because it contained "LAGER"), I approve.
I think this is Trey Mendez's NYTXW debut, so congrats to him.
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107 comments:
I disagree with @Rex: I liked seeing ONALOG as a non-partial and delightfully clued. Only overwrites were LEt ME before LEMME (although with a mental proviso that "that could be an M") and sLUGGED before GLUGGED. Fun puzzle.
This one was delightful. I really like that there is no revealer. You know where the theme is (circled squares) but why those squares? What do the cities have to do with it? Then AHA & OHO. Not a difficult mental exercise but fun. Same with yesterday's. No revealer, no circles but you know there's a theme 'cause it's Monday. So you look at the long crosses to find the connection. A clever revealer can be fun too, but sometimes I like to work just a little bit harder.
Modern Family scene COMBINING TWO ENTRIES FROM THE PUZZ
I knew a guy named Dale GLEN DELL Vale II.
Yeah – HOOHA. Hah. I’ma add this into the rotation in the most possible ambiguous way.
Them: Loren – you going to the bachelorette party Saturday?
Me: Nah – too much drama and HOOHA.
I always get a kick out of themes that play around with state abbreviations. I liked that this one worked the location aspect in by using only phrases associated with travel from state A to state B. So like MOVING SIDEWALKS or PARKING DECKS wouldn’t work.
Just seeing the clue for LEIA made me feel a little queasy. TikTok made me go and buy Pillsbury Grand Cinnamon Buns and bake them in a heavy cream bath with extra sugar, butter, and cinnamon all over everything. And I threw in an extra can of cream cheese frosting. After just one (each) of these massive sugarfatsodium bombs, Mom and I were in a stupor. Sinfully, deliciously disgusting. I’ve eaten several more, and now just seeing the phrase cinnamon bun makes me want to lie down and face the wall.
Who knew there was a card game spinoff of UNO - Dos. Tres cool.
You know what really mucked up everything for way too long? I had “Up and” for LEMME. Totally defensible. (@Conrad – I had “let me” first, too,)
Oh, and also “dew” for EMS. I vaguely marveled that dew would form on clay, too. Once I sorted all that out, I really, really liked that clue.
Rex – I get it abut the EDNA dealie, and lots here seem to get put out by clues like that, but not me, buddy. I always cheerfully play the game and consider the phrase to find the hidden name. Love. That. Mom’s best friend here goes by her last name, Herche, because there are like 12 other women in the complex with the same first name. You can find Herche in Cherchez la femme. Snort
Lip SYNC reminded me of this clip of, well, inspired fake lip syncing. Syncking. Sync’ing. Hold on – lemme ask Merriam. . .
. . . seems it’s either syncing or synching. It’s all boils down to making sure that C stays hard, and when you add the ing without a barrier. . . Same issue with the problematic Our speaker is miced and ready to go onstage.
So Rex is going to let slide THEHUDSON and THEEU? Not sure why I thought he'd be up in arms about that. Me, just slightly queasy over it. Are those things special in some way or can we now put the definite article in front of most any noun, proper or improper? Ah well, I'm over it.
Any puzzle--I don't care how otherwise clever it is--that includes a 10A-type clue gets a big, fat red F. Circled. At the top of the page. And with "See me" scrawled next to it. Is Shortz doing this, or are the constructors suddenly in love with this dopey, insulting nonsense? Fail.
I solved this as a themeless and then thought, “Oh yeah, what’s going on with these circles?” Cute and clever. You can imagine circles and apply the same principle to other answers, too: the INANE airline takes you from Indiana to Nebraska, and the oddly named MINOANS carrier from Michigan to Nova Scotia. (Mercifully I stopped looking for more examples after those two.) Thanks to Rex for explaining ON A LOG. We’ve had “ants ON A LOG” in puzzles before, and it’s the only context in which I know this particular foodstuff and I forgot it today and couldn’t make any sense of that clue/answer. I enjoyed seeing the word GLUGGED. I don’t mind those “hidden name” clues, although they usually make finding the answer too easy. But what’s worse: a clue that’s too easy or a clue that references PPP* you might or might not know? I thought [Share one’s seat?] for MOON was hilarious. And speaking of hilarious, @LMS’s fake lip-syncing clip nearly had me on the floor.
Even though I’m not a beer drinker, I got a bit nostalgic over Molson COORS (which, BTW, calls itself a “beverage” rather than a “brewing” company). Nostalgic, because through most of my life, Molson has been one of the most iconic, high-profile Canadian companies, and it hurts a bit to see it as part of an American corporation. It was established over 200 years ago and it started with beer, but in the early days Molson was into a lot of things – they founded a bank and a shipping line. And Molson has always had a close relationship with hockey, specifically the Montreal Canadiens – since the ‘50s, the Canadiens have been owned or partly owned by them. Scene: my parents watching Hockey Night in Canada on TV, me playing with paper dolls on the floor, and tuneful commercials for Molson Canadian and Molson Export filling the room.
* PPP = Popular Culture, Product Names and other Proper Nouns.
Oh. I misinterpreted the theme. (Not the first time I’ve done that.) I thought it was about… oh, never mind, it doesn’t make any sense.
“ UNO - Dos. Tres cool.” 😄 ⭐️
Oh, I liked this a lot, an awful lot. The fill-in itself was typical Tuesday. But two things stood out:
1. Figuring out the circles, then thinking about it. I didn’t grok the circles through the solve. I was thrown off by how they spelled VAIL in VAPOR TRAIL, and COAL in CONTINENTAL, but was confused as to why they didn’t spell anything in the other theme answers. Finally, while focusing on my completed grid, I got it, but there wasn’t a direct connection, really, between the state abbreviations and the answers they bookended. Or was there? I started picturing that vapor trail on the specific flight from Richmond to Chicago, and the landing gear coursing through *its* specific flight, etc., and the more I imagined the more I felt like I myself was flying, floating. It was beautiful, and I loved it.
2. There were so many rarely-seen or never-seen answers in this grid, giving it a brilliant freshness. Of the four theme answers, CONTINENTAL has been in the NYT puzzle four times in 80 years, VAPOR TRAIL was a debut, and the other two answers have appeared but twice. Then there were other rare answers, like UNION DUES, MINOANS, GLUGGED, and LIONS GATE. I loved this too.
Thus, what a terrific puzzle, and I would have said so even if it weren’t a debut. Bravo on this, Trey, congratulations. And enthusiastic thanks for a jaunt that lifted me out of the ordinary!
By the way, Jim Horne nailed it in his XwordInfo blog today on the benefits of the NYT puzzle team encouraging new constructors to send in puzzles, and the sacrifices necessitated. It’s short, entertaining, and worth a read, IMO. https://www.xwordinfo.com/Crossword?date=8/23/2022
Okay Muse. Starting with HOOHA and ending with a hard C… ‘Nuff said.
I’m on Team Adam’s/Rex on the name thing. Sure Sure, the whole real women are under-represented in puzzles thing. But more importantly, the whole “letters can be used in more than one word” thing has never been all that interesting of an observation to me.
We have had postal abbreviation themes before. This one seems like the best of the lot since they are just one of the layers. I agree the theme works. But Tuesday’s gotta tuezz so the fill was making my eyebrows ache from arching.
@bulgie - I agree. Just no on the THEs. One makes my eyebrow arch. Two on a tuezzday makes the eyebrows downright Gothic church windows.
NEOLOGIC looks like some geologic era, maybe right after the Jurassic.
Cringed at "THE Hudson" and "THE EU". C'mon now.
Today I learned that AXIOM can mean adage, in addition to its usual meaning. I slowed down quite a bit in that section because I kept doubting my across answers, not understanding why they were spelling AXIOM.
Oh, I’m all aflutter [desperately fanning self with dainty lace handkerchief]. I’ve won a Dishonorable Mention in the Bulwer-Lytton Fiction contest. This a competition for bad writing in homage to one Edward Bulwer-Lytton – he of “It was a dark and stormy night” fame. Gosh, now that my terrible prose has received international recognition, how ever will I be able to sink lower than – I mean, of course – top this? But wait!...credit where credit is due: to *this blog*, wherein I first read about the contest and, specifically, to @Nancy, who gave me excellent, indeed prize-winning, advice last summer. If you’re so foolish as to desire to read my entry (and all the other winners), click on this link. For mine, go to “Crime and Detective” and check out the first DM featuring Rock Mahon.
Amy: very clever and entertaining. Congrats Trey. Appreciating the word GLUGGED there in the SE. Great word: wonderful example of onomatopoeia.
Never heard of ants on a log so that was fun. Might try that snack. And went with NEwLingo before NEOLOGIC, but all sorted. Today's offered a fun theme and a pleasant dive into the difference between dells, glens, and vales - perfect Tuesday.
I disagree with OFL on this one. I think the theme is too convoluted for the meager reward. For example. you have this long, detailed clue about the duration of air travel from Miami to Bangor and the answer is a generic phrase that is true for the duration of just about any (successful) flight - FLYING TIME (and the payoff is two state abbreviations?).
Additionally, other stuff is just sloppy or a little "off the rails". No abbreviation in the clue for BFFS; NEOLOGIC pushes the limits for a Tuesday but still an outlier, the suburb of Boston (LYNN) comes too close to the "random county in one of the 50 states" category that (in my opinion) should definitely not be encouraged, and of course MINOANS crossing something that appears to be Spanish (NINOS) - yea, yea, yea the NYT editors know a few foreign words, big deal.
I don't frequent the North Shore, it's possible or even probable that LYNN has become swallowed up by suburbs. But it is its own city. "Lynn, Lynn, City of sin/ You won't go out the way you came in." We all know that one. And I think it was the world's largest manufacturer of shoes for a while.
Liked the clue for EDNA. I think if I were obsessed with my solving time I wouldn’t like it. That makes me like it more.
Congrats @Barbara S.!! Reads like a winner to me.
As a former airline employee, was thinking the airport codes would have been a more apt themer. Maybe not so widely known.
Wordle 430 5/6*
⬜⬜⬜⬜🟦
🟦🟧⬜🟧⬜
⬜🟧🟦🟧⬜
🟧🟧⬜🟧🟧
🟧🟧🟧🟧🟧
Hit Naticks on 3, 4, 5. Bad guesses. (While game is cute, it’s spoiled by the amount of pure randomness)
Neat early week theme - I liked it. A little hiccup at the LEMME x MINOANS cross and hand up for the hating on the redundant THE - although it’s nice to see the Queen City in the clue.
Didn’t really know LIONSGATE and backed into NEOLOGIC. All this HOOHA talk makes me want to watch Scent of a Woman.
Almost PERSUADEd
Enjoyable Tuesday solve.
I'm used to the "hidden name" kind of a clue as they appear frequently in the USA Today crosswords, which are sometimes otherwise okay. What I'm not used to is seeing such an easy Tuesday. The theme is apparent instantly and having four letters be gimmes just made those answers easier. I even missed some of the clever clues because I had the answer from crosses and didn't need them. Oh well. I did like the idea and the execution, which were indeed elegant.
No problem with THEHUDSON. I grew up in NYS and almost never heard HUDSON all by itself. And ants ONALOG is fine with me. We had a Thai lady cooking for us one summer who made a very spicy version of this, and it did not involve peanut butter or celery.
Shout out to OLIO, who has been MIA for some time. Welcome back.
@Barbara S--I agree with your observations about Molson ("The big ale in the big land") and its unfortunate connection with Coors "beer" and its even worse little brother, Coors Lite, which may be good for watering plants, but not much else. Congratulations on the writing prize, which I will search out ASAP.
And congrats on the debut, TM. Nice idea, and hope you Try Making the next one a little harder. Thanks for all the fun.
Oh, @Barbara, Your writing has advanced the fictional literature of mineralogy canon in a way that no one else's ever has and you now hold a talc-like spot in my heart for it.
The puzzle was tough for a Tuesday. The clue for Edna was fair and fun for kids of all ages and I applaud it.
I always feel that the NW corner sets the tone of the puzzle -- so this puzzle pleasantly surprised me. The NW corner was slam-dunk Tuesday-easy, but then the grid got much more interesting.
I really like the theme. It's clever and imaginative and well-executed. I doubt it was easy to find all those words/phrases that begin and end with a state abbreviation and then make sure that they're symmetrical. And then -- to have them all relate to plane travel is really the icing on the cake.
More icing on the cake: To have such nice long Downs when you're dealing with such a restricting and restrictive theme idea. NEOLOGIC and LIONSGATE are quite impressive and would even be welcome in a themeless puzzle. A very nice job, Trey!
Puzzle authors and editors can't win. If they clue a name after a person, there will be complaints that said person isn't puzzle-worthy, either by reputation or infamy, or by obscurity. Clue it cryptic-lite style, and you get complaints like today's.
Shouldn’t AXIOM be MAXIM?
I was so busy praising the puzzle that I forgot to mention my big writeover at 48A. I saw those three mountains (I may have mentioned that Geography is not my strong suit) and I already had ---CA--ES filled in. I confidently wrote in casCAdES instead of VOLCANOS. Boy was I surprised when five Down answers didn't work at all.
Solved as themeless, did not notice the state codes until coming here. Thinking, VAIL, either a school where I worked or a town in Colorado, neither having anything to do with Richmond or Chicago... maybe something to do with @Roo, or is that too inside? And that's as far as I thought.
Also "THE HUDSON"? "THE EU"? Really? After yesterday? Or was it Sunday?
But very easy, so there's that!
Hey All !
HOOHA-HA. Starting to think it IS intentional...
Molson is North America's Oldest Brewery. The United States' oldest brewery is a beer from Pennsylvania called Yuengling. Which I miss (originally from PA, me), and is really quite good.
INGMAR Bergman. Dang, talk about an old entry. Unless there's a newer person with that name I don't know about?
Decent TuesPuz. Not really stuck in any section, yet still took a bit longer than YesterPuz. Theme was neat. Plane terms with departing and arriving states. Good for a Tuesday.
Is the DAB really a "modern" dance move? Isn't it so last year? Asking for a friend who's stuck in that position.
Two F's
RooMonster
DarrinV
Easy, you’re basically given 4 letters of each themer once you “get it”. THEHUDSON? yuck. I purposely only put it LE_ME because I knew it could go either way. LEMME/LEtME.
Well what a nice breath of fresh Tuesday air! Pun intended BTW. I loved the theme without the circles and then when I saw what was going on with them after the fact, did one of @GILL’s little happy dances. Pretty clever constructing to put those at the beginning and ends of the answers. Thanks so much for this Mr. Mendez! You had me FLYING high with this one.
Pretty cheeky clue for MOON and I was delighted to see HOOHA which always cracks me UP. I remember an editorial cartoon back during the big - well HOOHA if you’ll pardon the expression - over transgendered access to public restrooms. It showed the doors of men’s room and ladies’ room with a stern looking church lady type standing between them holding a sign that said HOOHA INSPECTOR.
My first ever airplane flight was on CONTINENTAL from KC to LA out of MKC Airport, not MCI which at that time was still a CORN field. That was back when commercial air travel was a privilege and NOT the cattle haul it is today. I sure thought I was somebody special TOO.
The first rule of FLYING is that your LANDINGs should always equal your takeoffs.
Damn!!! The student eclipses the teacher. Double damn!!!
Just kidding, @Barbara S. A Dishonorable Mention!!!!! Wow!!!! Such a towering achievement! Such a plucked feather in your cap! Your paragraph is absolutely the worst piece of prose I have ever read. It unquestionably deserved the First Prize for Awfulness -- truly it did. Outrageous that you weren't awarded it.
Thanks for giving me a shoutout, Barbara, but I am not worthy of it. My dreadful prose is only "second-rate dreadful" compared with the magnificent dreadfulness of yours. I shall now retire to a quiet corner to lick my wounds. Meanwhile I hope this momentous award is just the beginning of what will be a splended career for you in the annals of Bad Writing.
I was wondering if there are more slang words for vagina than for penis. I Googled "slang words" for each and found 14 for each that I have heard. One on the list I hadn't heard but which amused me: panty hamster. The one that my first wife (who went all through the Catholic schools) used was "down there." One not on the list, courtesy of Neil Simon, "The Tender Trap."
@Barbara S: CONGRATULATIONS! Love that contest, and your entry is a dazzler! "Feldspar fists!" Great job!
Some of the fastest and most fun interstate travel I've done. And I enjoyed the view from the plane, too, on the transCONTINENTAL trip from THE HUDSON to the VOLCANOES of the West. I agree with others here - creative theme, nicely executed, easy and still a treat to solve.
Re: MINOANS and LIONSGATE - I thought these were a humdinger of a pair...until I checked. The Lion Gate was built by the MINOANS' eastern Mediterranean Bronze Age neighbors, the Mycenaeans.
@Barbara S. - Congratulations! Loved your lapidary prose.
I liked this puzzle a lot. I did not esteem it based on ease or difficulty per se. Rather, I found it elegant regardless of level of difficulty. I found the theme charming, clever, and even picturesque, if not particularly challenging. I learned how RACHAEL Ray spells her first name—That did not incur an overwrite so much as it did a provisional "e" that got turned into an "a," and not thanks to ANITA, as one might think, but based on my realization that it was a variation of Rachel based on the spelling of my own name, Michael. Which led me to wonder what "ra cha el" means in Hebrew, since "mi cha el" is Hebrew for "Who is like God." Turns out it means nothing in Hebrew. I have not confirmed this yet, but I suspect it is simply what linguists and philologists call a "back formation," meaning, as I said above, it's just a variant spelling modeled on "Michael" that has no inherent linguistic justification. I did not know DAB but was content to get it from crosses. As a holder of a doctorate in classics, I was pleased to see MINOANS in the puzzle. Odd that we've seen HOOHA twice in, I believe, two days. True overwrites included slurped before GLUGGED and exam before TEST. At the risk of turning a perfectly good clue into a bit of PPP, and potentially WOE PPP at that, I would love to have seen ITO clued as "Judge in the OJ murder trial."
@NYDenizen 9:05 AM - Yeah, it should. That was a momentary annoyance. But I very much enjoyed this puzzle overall, so I'm not holding a grudge.
All in all a fun puzzle, but I have a minor quibble with 62 across: 'Exam' would seem more appropriate than 'Test'.
@Nancy 9:01 AM - You nailed it. Agreed on all points.
1. Where planes fly from Honolulu to Wilmington?
2. What most folks do before flying from Seattle to Omaha?
3. Where most folks sit while flying from Boston to Fort Wayne?
4. What you hope doesn't happen to your flight from San Diego to Toronto?
1. HIGHALTITUDE
2. WAITINLINE
3. MAINCABIN
4. CANCELLATION
had sins instead of sons on 63A at first and thought they were actually going with OLII, which isn't a thing
This puzzle was a trip. Congrats to Trey on the debut. I’m not usually a fan of themes featuring postal codes, but this one has an original take that made it interesting. I especially liked the journey from Richmond to Chicago.
Also really liked the clue for MOON.
@Barbara S, congrats on your Dishonorable Mention. Loved your detective’s uzonite unsentimentality and egg-shell trail. I think you would have won first place if you had included the word HOOHA.
That would be Salem. The factory was known locally as " the shoe"
A very clever theme, IMO.
One more:
What caused a turbulence from Milwaukee to Bentonville?
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WINDSHEAR
Congratulations to Barbara S! Thanks for sharing the link. What a HOOt! HA!
When you come right down to it, the chances of a gent of my years getting HOOHA two days in a row are unfathomably small.
University of Tenn. water craft must be VOL CANOES.
I’m thinking that THEHUDSON must flow past The Manhattan, though not, I fear, THEEU.
Is someone with a thing for their former spouses an EXIST?
Congrats Barbara S!!! Rock solid.
I have a feeling that it would be interesting to know more about today’s constructor, Trey Mendez. Living in Croatia, dabbling in various thing’s remotely in the U.S. of A. Constructing a NYTXW debut, and a tight and fun one at that. Trey bien, monsieur.
On the tough side for me. arose before GOT UP and upand before LEMME made for slower going. Throw in a couple of typos/misspellings and....
Very smooth with a novel theme, liked it. Nice debut!
“What’s all the HOOHA?”
- Col. Henry Blake
(Yes, ANALOG much better than ONALOG.)
Enjoyed it, and it really took off 🚀 for me after getting the theme at LA-NDINGGE-AR🛩
Clever Tuesday with a balance of easy-gimme clues and thoughtful clues/answer.
✈️🦖🦖🦖🦖🦖✈️
Quick retort re: extending the theme. Your examples won’t work because the theme answers are all linked to air travel. Inane and Minoans aren’t related to the theme.
The THE's are fine because, as pabloinnh pointed out, people don't usually say HUDSON without THE. Same for THEEU. England didn't leave EU. They left THE EU. It's probably a gray area but not an egregious offense.
I agree with Bernie.
Tired of this phrase, "solved as a themeless".
Had to be LEMME on account of the 'em. Folksy.
Agree.
I Googled “maxim synonym” and AXIOM was in the resulting word list.
@Barbara S: I always knew you’d make it big one day. Congratulations! The boiled egg symbolism was genius. I may actually have trouble getting that image out of my mind. 😂
Actually, that would be Beverly. A relative worked there, he was from Salem but " the shoe" was in Beverly. Sorry !
Leia’s hair style is based on that of Hopi women https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-38452953
Hooha is getting close to beaner but not quite.
@BULGIE Huh? I've ever heard nor read Eu without the i front of it. The Eu is the name.
And I haven't quite managed to mentally "hear" any river name without the in front of it.
So even though it is common in crosswords to have just the name of a river as the answer your comment about just putting "the in front of..." ???
@Rex I don't particularly like looking for names in other words or phrases, however, it seems to me it is wordplay instead of a trivia contest and so perhaps more appropriate to a crossword puzzle than having to know a persons name. With the obscure athletes and rock musicians I just look them up. These I can figure out on my own.
So I might have to duke int out with the Bernie meme.
Hey...there's TOE TAP's BFF HOOHA lurking amongst the elite!
First: @Barbara S. In a word, (or 3) HOOHA, HOOHA, HOOHA to you and your Dishonorable Mention award. You give me hope and inspiration. I didn't even know they existed but I just may subject them to one of my awful and silly stories.....Congratulations, indeed!
Second: The crossword. A treat on a Tuesday!. My radar popped up at LANDING GEAR. I know all the abbreviations and I know most of the airline codes. No codes involved today But Louisiana and Arkansas made my flight smooth.
Anything airplanes will grab my attention. I rarely fly now because, well, they give me the newbie jeebies. One of my yay's upon retiring was keeping my stand-by benefits. I thought I'd be using the privilege every weekend. Then things turned bad: A trip to Portland and losing my luggage. Only the clothes on my back for 7 days. Delays of 24 hours on a trip to NYC. Crew time expirations and waiting on a plane for hours before replacements arrived. Sitting and waiting on tarmacs with no air-conditioning. They no longer serve ALCOHOL! I prefer using my expensive gas guzzling car.
I sat up and took notice of Ants ON A LOG. I first wanted MEXICO to go in that little slot. They eat everything. Fried crickets are pretty good so are the worms in a tequila bottle.Then there are eyeball tacos, bulls testicles, and Chicatanas (flying ants). I think you smarty pants constructors ought to dedicate a puzzle to intriguing, exotic foods, that nobody would eat.
And last: If this is a debut then you get my En HORA BUENA award.
VAPOR TRAIL. They say it's water, but I don't believe them. I think it fairy dust. It's why everything is so great.
Three different spellings for RACHAEL before landing on the normal one.
You'd think they'd have LANDING GEAR by now that doesn't go WHUP when they lower it.
I love GLUGGED.
I live in Denver and didn't know COORS and Molson are one company now. That seems like failure to me, but dunno why. They were kinda gross anyway.
THE EU and THE HUDSON seem THE unnecessary.
Uniclues:
1 Well have you listened to her? Of course she is.
2 Most offensive three-word phrase allowed in the New York Times.
3 Phrase airlines would need to use if they were required to be honest about how your trip is really going to go.
4 When crossword commentators just give up over the baffling things they've found in the puzzle. (Or, never! for the purists).
5 Director of sales ultimatum to the closers.
1 "RACHAEL? SINGLE?"
2 MOON EYE HOOHA
3 FLYING TIME ... ALSO...
4 NEOLOGIC GIVE-IN (~)
5 "PERSUADE. NO LESS."
So Molson merged with Coors and moved to Chicago. LIONSGATE began 25 years ago in Vancouver and moved to California. Of course Lion's Gate is the famous passage into Vancouver Harbor, crossed by the famous Lion's Gate Bridge which is smaller than the Golden Gate but still beautiful. The bridge was built by the Guinness family (yes, the Irish stout family). Beer is everywhere!
Thx, Trey, for the 'state'ly of'air'! :)
Med.
Bit of a rocky FLYite, but managed a smooth LANDING.
Loved the clue for MOON, one of which appeared on the main drag in 'American Graffiti' (which I watched last week).
Have viewed all 3 of the VOLCANOES. Had a laughable skiing experience on Hood.
Paid DUES to the Retail Clerks UNION in the 60's & 70's.
Watched '42' (featuring Jackie Robison) a coupla days ago, where, while playing first base, he's spiked by ENOS Slaughter. Here's ENOS' take. Also in the movie, Jackie is beaned at the plate, which causes quite a HOO-HA. ⚾️
LIONS GATE Bridge connecting Vancouver BC to the North Shore municipalities.
Really enjoyed this one; evoked some fond memories. :)
@jae
Two cell dnf on Croce's 736; couldn't see the 'designer's performance', hence got both 'off work' and 'return to nature' wrong. Oh well, did the best I could in 2+ hrs.; time well spent, tho. See you next Mon. :)
___
Peace 🙏 🇺🇦 ~ Compassion ~ Tolerance ~ Kindness to all 🕊
Ants on a Log: Celery, peanut butter, raisins...
Seems like a few people are feeling queasy for various reasons today. Well I've been mooned before and it left me feeling queasy but the clue for 40A? I circled it because "Share one's seat?" is very clever, in my opinion.
I saT UP at 5A first. I always marvel at movie action scenes when people are hand-to-hand fighting and they get up from what seem to me killing blows and are able to continue fighting. I've been hit in the face by a softball and I was stunned and certainly not ready to GET UP and go again!
Trey Mendez, congratulations on your debut. Nice Tuesday puzzle!
I just read the comments and it’s nice nice to know I wasn’t alone on upand - Hi @Loren.
Congrats @Barbara!
@bocamp - That was the toughest part of the grid for me and the last to fall.
Add me to the list of those who prefer cluing for names that strives to keep the puzzle focused on words and wordplay, and minimizes recall of trivia. I'd like to think that my solving skills are tested by my command of the language and the ability to conceptualize words in a novel way rather than being able to regurgitate names of Harry Potter wizards, rap artists, 12th century odists, or deep sea invertebrates.
I love the THE haters. So I guess you hear a lot of people say "took the bridge over Hudson" or "took a steamboat down Mississippi" or "The longest river in Africa is Nile" and on and on. You all must hang out with some weird individuals.
One of the "Coors" brothers (Peter, I think) was in my freshman dorm at Cornell, back in 1963. No one had ever heard of his beer. Had his name been "Peter Rheingold" or "Peter Schaefer" he would have been a big shot. Time marches on ...
P.S.: He was a very nice guy, by the way.
@bigsteve46:
well... back in 63 most beer was a local business, with the exception of Bud, which started the buyout/merger insanity that has led to most beer being brewed, dehydrated/concentrated, shipped here and there, rehydrated, gassed, put on your local beer store shelf. the craft beer 'revolution' hasn't made much difference. many, if not most, are either contracted brewed in free time at megabreweries or just 'craft brewed' brand names of Bud/Miller/etc. beer is a lot like bread: it never gets better with age; if there is a brew pub in town, skip the megamart 12 pack.
THE Hudson *and* THE EU? Eww.
Despite playing for a few years now somehow I've missed OLIO, another arrow in the quiver, but an awkward cross with Artur Miller and obscure MA towns.
Also per @Prof Karl above, eww on definite articles, agreed.
With you all the way, @TAB2TAB (1:24)!
Thanks to @thfenn, @pabloinnh, @JD, @Nancy, @Anon (9:52), @Carola, @Joseph Michael, @beverly c, @egsforbreakfast, @Whatsername, @Gill I., @jae and @anyone else who enjoyed Rock Mahon and all the other Bulwer-Lytton winners. I had some funny conversations today trying to explain what the contest is and why one would want to win it! Thank goodness for people of good humor and good cheer.
Re 28D, I believe that "meninos" is Portuguese for "boys".
@TAB2TAB (1:24) Yes, yes, yes! Few things can ruin a good crossword faster than too much overdone trivia.
@Anonymous (1:44 PM): 'I love the THE haters. So I guess you hear a lot of people say "took the bridge over Hudson" or "took a steamboat down Mississippi"'
It's the arbitrary inconsistency. For example, no one says anything but "the Erie [canal]" but ERIE almost always stands on its own. Why shouldn't HUDSON, except that the constructor found it too hard to make it work without THE?
@Anon 6:55 – that would be across the border in Brazil.
Congratulations, @Barbara S. That was truly awful/great.
@Barbara S. -- Hah! And Hah! again! Congratulations!
Busy all day. Finally got a chance to sit down and catch up here. I have not looked at LMS's lip synch nor Barabara S's entree yet but am looking forward to both.
I got the theme almost instantly with four crosses in VAPORTRAIL.
Then filled in most of the center far west with downs including the incorrect Adage and was left gibberish. Maxim? More gibberish. Then went and finished the rest of the puzzle.
Came back. MINOANS. AXIOM? Seems likely. EXIST. Good one. LEMME, not LEtME. So EMS? Jeez, clay to CLAMMY. That's so bad it's good. MOON? Reread clue. That's so bad boy it's brilliant!
A SUPERTUEZAPALOOZA.
And commetariat added sparkle.
@all
LMS does not do typos like some do (moi for one). Thus her "abut" for about is a reference to the MOON, the star of the show today. Yes?
I must be polymorphous perverse when it comes to clueing, because I have no strong preference between the clue today for EDNA and Millay. Or Ferber or Best or O'Brien.
Save the long distance runner for Saturday.
@ Barbara S. Having now had time to read all the entries, I would put tours up for Most Dishonorable. A really rough ride over really rocky terrain.
Tours, of course, = yours in my previous post.
Epic. (Different Anonymous here)
Rex
This blog is starting to run its course with me. So we complain if more than one answer could be correct in a spot (you mean you need the cross to solve it? How dare they). If a puzzle doesn’t dazzle and gleam with mirth, then it’s a waste. But if a 72-word puzzle gets too clever and ends up with 4 or 5 bits of crosswordese fill as a result, then it’s a slog. The references are too old and out of date. Or else they’re too modern. Now everyday I have to read the constant griping about proper nouns (never had a problem with them, myself). Then (that’s right) somebody heard you and started giving some gimmes on the names, and it’s a meme lecture about how dreadful that is. What do you want, man?
Don’t get me wrong, I love bitching. Just spent two hours on the phone today with my supervisor doing so. But good bitching really has to have some wit, not just shaking your fist at everything you don’t like. You have to be standing on firm ground if you’re going to do so. Otherwise what is clear becomes more obvious—you’re just bitching because you missed something or are uninformed, and you want a crossword to be tailored onto your exact knowledge base and understanding. And honestly, for a crossword blog, I’m surprised about the number of things that every week are misinterpreted or misunderstood or not known. Maybe some folks need to expand their experiences a bit more if they’re going to make it their brand to bitch. (How does someone not know a tube sock is one-size? And what do they have to do with the 80s?)
But yeah this thing is starting to just put me in a negative mood every day. Not every puzzle is my favorite, but instead of critical takes on construction when deserved, this has just become so sour that it’s starting to ruin even the most perfectly diverting, simple solve days. I used to have fun doing my puzzle for 5-50 minutes a day. Now I come here and have to read 50 things some guy doesn’t like, or thinks is wrong because he’s uninformed. And it makes me hate the puzzle. Maybe just get a book of crosswords greatest hits and stick to that. But time for me to find a new hangout with people who are good at crosswords and don’t get so derailed by every tiny thing.
@anon1052pm
If I knew which anon you are, I would care more or less.
Ha ha!!
@Anonymous 10:52 pm. What you point out is true. But there are 7 or 8 contributors who will often provide insights, smiles or critiques that are wonderful. You need to skip some of the predictable drags.
I think Lynn is not random because it’s from a children’s song, Trot trot to Boston, trot trot to Lynn….
On this style of cluing names, if you have a good, famous person you can use, then I'm OK with it. But better a letter-pattern clue than someone that fewer than 15% of solvers will have heard of. If that's the best clue you have for LYNN, by all means use a letter-pattern clue.
The only time I've heard HOOHA used to mean anything other than its meaning in this puzzle has been on this blog and the accompanying comments.
Many ants are edible and consumed by people all over the world. I don't think the author intended any offense but it's a really ignorant way to clue ONALOG.
DNF because I went with LEtME and tINOANS at 26D and 35A. Will Shortz should have fixed that because unless you are well-versed on ancient Cretian civilizations the crossing is a big fat Natick.
UNION DUE
INGMAR was ABLE TOO PERSUADE
her TOO GIVEIN and mingle,
NOLESS it was TIME he GOT laid
and ANITA was SINGLE.
--- LEIA FINN
All right, that's it. I've HAD it! Here I am shuffling through August again, scroll scroll scroll...WAKE UP!!! The link is stuck on Sunday--AGAIN!!! I swear, I am going to stop doing this if somebody doesn't fix the problem! To quote "Network:" I'M MAD AS HELL AND I'M NOT GONNA TAKE IT ANYMORE!
And I only got here (at LAST!) so I could slam this INANE puzzle to bits. Of all the bleedovers in all the gin joints in the world, you pick HOOHA?!? And you surround it with still more nonsense: GLUGGED? Is that even a verb? I can't go on; suffice to say that the fill in this is so bad it was actually HARD to solve! You know: "Oh no, it can't be THAT!" But yeah, it's that.
Even the theme is a shrug. State postal abbrevs. at the ends of words. Oh joy. How did this abomination make it to the published page? What, is EVERYBODY asleep down there? Maybe they're all dead and robots are putting the paper out. They've all been turned into soylent green. AHHHHH.....
Wordle par.
Two days in a row, members of my personal pantheon of artistic greats appear in the puzzle. Yesterday it was The Jam, today the incomparable Ingmar Bergman. I am a retired filmmaker and film professor. My favorite/most influential film of my life is Bergman’s “Cries and Whispers.”
Whenever the Syndi link is out of SYNC all I do is google Rex Parker and the constructor’s name plus maybe one of the long answers and google finds the link to the correct page. Works every time.
@anonymous 6:55pm:
Bolivians speak Spanish, Brazilians speak Portuguese.
Not the most startling of themes, but fine. No problems.
Not sure what you'all see on the blog, but I don't find it very hard to get to the right puzzle even when the SyndieLand link is out of sync. ;-)
Diana, Lady-in-Waiting for Crosswords
@Spacecraft 12:25pm;
That was not the theme, and personally, I found this easier than yesterday's. But, then again, you do seem to like to spend a lot of your time in the outhouse.
@anonymous 3:50am:
"Ants on a log" is a snack. The clue has nothing to do with real ants on a real log. Nothing ignorant about the clue, whatsoever.
I've never heard of "ants on a log" as a snack item so this one hung me up for a bit. I have eaten crickets and know that insects as food items is becoming a real thing. I got through that clue with the acrosses and thought to myself, "I guess you can find ants on a log out in the world, but weird cluing".
@anonymous 7:01pm :
No real ants involved. The so-called ants are raisins. The snack has been around since the 1950's.
@anon 4:26 - yes that was the theme.
Know what you get on a FLIGHT from New Orleans to Bangor? LA ME. That's what this was
I liked it
@Anonymous 7:22 PM
Yeah, in reading the comments here I got that there's a snack item called Ants on a Log (featuring raisins). However, I had never heard of it. Maybe it's just an American thing (or maybe even a regional American thing). I can't recall ever seeing such a snack in my corner of Canada. That's why I got hung up on the more literal ants as actual insects. :-).
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