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Relative difficulty: medium-ish? idk, I solved on paper and kept making notes on things that annoyed me, which took lots of time and mental effort
grid lovingly taken from xwordinfo because i solved this puzzle on paper and can't be arsed to type the grid into the new york times website
THEME: In the Money — theme entries contain world capitals, which are hinted at by parentheticals in the clues, except an extra letter has been inserted, and these spell out (in order) KA-CHING for some reason.
Theme answers:
- CASH REGISTER [Sight at a checkout counter] (also this is in no way explicitly identified as theme, which, lmao)
- MARK O'MEARA [Golfer who won the 1998 Masters (Italy)] (golf content, yay)
- DO A SLOW BURN [Seethe (Norway)]
- QUIT COLD TURKEY [Give up all at once (Turkey)] (this is about the point where I wanted to give up on this puzzle)
- CHAIR OF THE FED [Major player in U.S. economic policy (Egypt)]
- TIMBER INDUSTRY [Boarding group? (Switzerland)]
- MAKING A LIST [Activity for Santa (Rwanda)] (probably my favorite hidden capital here)
- DOG HANDLER [One who walks to work? (Qatar)] (this one gets a pass because I lived here for a year)
- CAPITAL GAINS [What this puzzle's circled letters are with respect to the surrounding shaded squares?]
Inventing Anna is an American drama miniseries created and produced by Shonda Rhimes, inspired by the story of Anna Sorokin and the article in New York titled "How Anna Delvey Tricked New York's Party People" by Jessica Pressler. The series was released on Netflix on February 11, 2022. Julia Garner starred as Anna Sorokin, the title character. The series received mixed reviews from critics, who praised the performances (particularly Garner) but criticized the inconsistent tone.
Under the assumed name Anna Delvey, Russian-born Anna Sorokin is able to con members of New York City's upper crust into believing she is a German heiress with access to a substantial fortune. She uses this persona to receive hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash, goods and services while working towards her goal of opening an exclusive art-themed club.
• • •
Once again, it me, indie crossword person Christopher Adams, here to fill in for Rex, and on a Sunday no less. Despite filling in many times before, I always worry a bit—what if the puzzle is absolutely hot garbage, which means I have to spend all this time solving a puzzle I don't like and even more time finding things to say about it, instead of doing what I usually do with puzzles that don't spark joy, which is just throw them away half solved and never look at them again. (Seriously, there's so many good puzzles out there, and so little time to solve them; the daily crossword links newsletter is a good place to start.)Anyway, all of the above holds even more true on Sunday, when there's twice as much to slog through, and which usually don't spark joy. Oftentimes, they feel stretched out to fill the extra space, and might have worked better as a 15x15 puzzle instead. And, unfortunately, that's how this one felt to me.
It very much reminded me of the type of puzzle that Evan Birnholz is fond of doing at the Washington Post, minus all the excellent touches that make the Post (imo) the premier Sunday puzzle. Theme entries contain other words (plus an extra letter), and those extra letters spell something out. When done well, that extra layer elevates the puzzle, but when not, it falls flat.
DRUM SOLO (Special collection of musical hits?) — i cannot recommend x japan enough; also, yoshiki's been doing this for like four decades now and still kicks ass, and does not look like he's aged one day at all despite *gestures vaguely* everything that's happened in his career.
Case in point here: the title, "In The Money", hints that the shaded letters are probably currencies, and the circled letters are in the money. I tried LIRA and EURO first at 26A before actually reading the clue, which probably would've helped since I am a certified golf guy™ and found that clue easy and enjoyable (most of you will not, and that's OK; the continued inclusion of golf content in NYT crosswords is probably one of the three things Will Shortz and I actually agree on). Anyway, the title doesn't work, and tbh the reveal (CAPITAL GAINS) would've worked better as a title. No need to put it in the grid; have some faith that the solvers will figure out the theme from the answers / clues (especially since the countries are given in the clues), and let them get the a-ha from figuring out the pun on CAPITAL (meaning both capital cities and also money stuff here) rather than railroading and hand-holding them through it.
Also: KA-CHING? Is that the best you can come up with for a final touch? The potential is there for a capital pun, but the answer is rather meh. (Compare to, say, the 1/3/2021 NYT by Paolo Pasco, where a bunch of dances are interrupted by letters that spell out MAY I CUT IN?, which actually makes sense and nails the landing.) If you're gonna go for this pun, maybe have the added letters spell out an actual type of monetary capital. Hell, CASH by itself would've been better imo (also, love the way that CASH REGISTER is just wedged into the puzzle without any indication at all that it's part of the theme).
Which brings me to a third point: if you're not gonna make it worth being a 21x21, then it should be a 15x15. Only two of the theme answers (OK, three if you count MARK O'MEARA, which I recognize most people won't) really stood out as assets to me: QUIT COLD TURKEY and MAKING A LIST. TIMBER INDUSTRY was like, yeah, sure, guess that's a real thing, and stuff like DO A SLOW BURN actively made me frown. (Side note: if you're gonna do a thing where you add extra letters to things, don't make that extra letter a stand-alone word, as happens with DO A SLOW BURN.) Probably should've gone down to four(ish) answers, really made all of them sing, and put it in a 15x15. (Of course, you lose the title when going down in size, but I'd be OK with putting CAPITAL GAINS back in the grid if it meant better theme entries and a better final punchline.)
more japanese music recommendations: fishmans
[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]
more japanese music recommendations: fishmans
Olio:
- EOS — Would rather see this as the camera or the lip balm, but we just got both Friday, so we get Greek myth instead.
- DEE — [World's end?] as in the last letter of the word "world", as opposed to, idk, someone famous with this name.
- DANA (Queen Latifah's given first name) crossing LAURENTS (Sondheim and Bernstein's collaborator on "West Side Story") — Natick alert here; that vowel could just as well be an E, an I, or an O; A is the most likely option (or at least looks the most right), and is the right letter, but still, more care should be taken on that cross.
- LIN (Playwright ___-Manuel Miranda) — I am not a fan of a FITB that splits apart a name into two pieces, even if it's at the hyphen. I am also not a fan of Lin-Manuel Miranda, but that's another gripe for another time.
- TRIDENT (It's good for three points) — my favorite clue here, by far.
- NATE (Statistician Silver) — :vomit emoji:
- STU (Nickname that's three consecutive letters of the alphabet) — NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO a thousand times NO. I've said it before, I'll say it again: clue names as actual people with those names. (Especially women; this example happens to be a man's name, but by and large it's mostly women who get underrepresented by (not-so-)cute wordplay angles for names.)
- EEYORE (Sad ass) — the name derives from the sound of a donkey (hee-haw, but make it British).
- FRIED EGG (Burger topping that jacks up the cholesterol) — Don't judge me, Will Shortz; it's delicious and I'm gonna keep ordering it. (More preferable here, perhaps: a golf clue about how a ball buried in a bunker looks like...well, you know.)
- MESCAL (Liquor from Mexico) — hated the S here, both because it's crossing STU (see above) but also because it's generally known as MEZCAL and there's no indication that this is a variant spelling.
- LONGER (Like em dashes vis-à-vis en dashes) — a clue after my own heart; I'm very very fond of em dashes (and parentheses—look, all these tangential thoughts need to fit into one sentence, and I'm gonna find a way to do it) and will utilize them wherever possible—here, for example.
- SINTER (Fuse by heading below the melting point) — sure, if you say so; at least all the crossings were fair (MIA Hamm's well-enough known, or should be, to be fair, but if you wanna complain about that crossing, I won't argue with you even if I don't agree with you).
- NRA — this entry alone would've ruined the puzzle for me if I didn't already dislike it; instead, it's the disgusting cherry on top. Anyway: domestic terrorist organizations do not belong in crosswords, full stop.
[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]
First of all, any constructor(s) who work MIA Hamm and CARLI Lloyd into the same puzzle deserve big kudos.
ReplyDeleteI’m disappointed to see arses and asses give way to REARENDS. Maybe Will Shortz got a memo from the Gray Lady.
Side eye to SEWON and RATON.
Cop #1: These kids today are ingesting some shit that makes them crazy.
Cop #2: Yeah, I heard they’re even eating chips loaded with sour cream that’s full of positively charged atoms.
Cop #1: You mean they’re ON ION DIPS?
I thought this was a fine puzzle. No particular solving problems. But when you saw the basic fill trick for the themers, which I’m sure most solvers did at MARKOMEARA, you were given the bulk of the remaining themers without much thought. OSLO, QUITO, CAIRO, BERN, KIGALI and DOHA probably didn’t stymie most solvers for long. And once you filled in those, the theme answers became pretty apparent.
So, a capital idea, brought slightly down by capitals that were too easy. But thanks for the fun. I never go a day without reading xwordinfo and I love both of your blog voices, Jeff Chen and Jim Horne.
I only half disliked the puzzle, which means I only half agree with all the critique from Christopher. His is too long a list of complaints though to go over each point here, so I'm picking one at random. As a good clue for a famous DEE person I'd nominate Judge DEE, a historical figure as well as a hero of both traditional Chinese detective stories and of (relatively) modern and highly recommend stylized (Chinese) mysteries by Robert van Gulik. The problem though is not so many people are familiar with him in any of these three capacities.
ReplyDeleteEeyore is almost definitely a reference to the Winnie the Pooh character.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteCorrect—but the character's name is indeed an onomatopoeia (something that did not occur to me until I was in my 30s, even though I grew up *on a donkey farm*)
DeleteThere are times when I really hate Sundays and this was one of them. It was difficult in ways I just found tedious so even though I got a clean grid there was no enjoyment just relief it was over.
ReplyDeleteThe last thing I want to see as the first themer is some golfer's name. CHAIROFTHEFED is just GREENOFTHEPAINT. There was a lot of dismal material to slog through.
LAURENTS was a complete unknown and that sections challenge was made that much worse by my misreading the 54A clue as "Chum." BAIT sat there for far too long and messed up CLICK as well. Cleaning that up was like the icing on a big annoying cake.
yd pg-2
Kinda harsh review, I guess fair enough. But I'm pretty tired of the "this is not as good as XXYYZZ's puzzles on abcd.com" judgement. So far whenever I try those suggested "better" puzzles, they're not really better, just different.
ReplyDeleteNote: On xwordinfo.com, a nice recap of how the constructors Jim and Jeff met.
Agree that FRIED EGG could be nicely clued for the golf bunker shot. But Rex hates golf, so...
Today's beach sighting, nothing to do with the puzzle: a guy paddling a SUP (stand up paddleboard) very awkwardly, with a pile of stuff on top. As he got closer I saw the "stuff" was two young children and a ghetto blaster. And he was paddling with only one arm (thus the awkwardness), because his other arm was in a huge plaster cast. Crazy humans.
[Spelling Bee: Sat pg-2, missing a 5er and 7er. This puzzle's 39a, in the singular, is an answer for Sat.]
Christopher, thanks for your honest and thorough write-up. And for reminding me of that Pasco puzzle last year.
ReplyDeleteIt’s my wont to be very forgiving about theme elements that bug others, and my day’s the better for it, imo. I, too, was looking for some kind of rebus or funny business with that first K; kept trying to see if an R would work there. Once I figured out the trick, I enjoyed seeing how good I was with world capitals. I couldn’t plop down KIGALA or DOHA without major help, but I can live with that. When I spelled out KACHING and said it out loud, I smiled and sent Jeff and Jim a Vulcan mind meld thank-you.
@okanaganer – your beach sighting description made me laugh out loud.
99A – “Except for” . . . I’ll try to use SAVE this way and invariably scrap it ‘cause I can’t figure out if it needs the for.
I ate everything save the garnish.
I ate everything save for the garnish.
DENTIST and RAW NERVE. I’m beyond terrified of the dentist and was just delivered the devastating news that I need a tooth pulled and an implant, well, implanted. The $5000 out-of-pocket notwithstanding, this is devastating. But BUT. . . I found a sedation dentist, made the first appointment, and my world lightened just a bit.
Loved the clue for HEAR. It seems I’m not catching enough waves these days, but my crappy non-implant insurance doesn’t cover hearing aids, either. Happily, Mom had to upgrade, so I’m now in her hand-me-downs, adjusted by a swell audiologist to work for me. I have to steel myself not to notice the old walker she retired in favor of a better version. But it mocks me daily.
The upside could be that hearing aids and a walker will make me an even less likely target for the students I have who are there specifically for attacking a teacher. I don’t care how big and tough you are, how high up you are in your gang. . . attacking an old lady who has hearing aids and a walker is not a good look. Fingers crossed. (Just kidding – my students are terrific kids who just need to be seen and heard. I adore them, even the teacher-attackers.)
“Causes for pauses” – the occasional centipede in my bathroom that I can’t bring myself to dispatch ‘cause what if it does indeed have a soul and/or a family to feed? When there’s one in the sink who can’t get the foothold to climb out, I carefully lay a TP escape route and back out, hoping it’ll be gone when I go back. Dumb, I know.
So, ok. OK CUPID. Why do guys think that the perfect profile picture is one where
a. They’re holding a big ole fish
b. They’re leaning against a motorcycle
c. They’re toasting you from a golf cart
d. They’ve got their arms crossed with their hands pushing out their biceps, fooling absolutely no one?
Maybe they think that the fact that they love morning cuddles and honesty will set them apart? Asking for a friend.
COLON – I think I’ve shared recently the startling texts and Instagram posts where the GIRL has misspelled cologne as COLON. So she can still smell her guy’s COLON on her pillow. That sh%$ will flat Wake. You. Up.
PS - @Lewis – I really enjoyed wrestling with your LAT yesterday! The clues for 35A and 28D were terrific!
Hi LMS please do not allow yourself to be put under anywhere except a hospital, where there is a dedicated anaesthesiologist and quick access to help. So not let a dentist or oral surgeon do it.
DeleteSpit my coffee at the colon/cologne switch. I’m an old dude who has never been on Instagram, but I might have to start. Too.Damn.Funny.
DeleteMedium. Clever, smooth, and amusing, so I liked it quite a bit more than Chris did... and MARK OMEARA was a gimme for me too.
ReplyDeleteI liked the puzzle. Filled in all the capitals so it was easy. Christopher, 49-across referred to Ecuador, not Turkey, so stop grumbling about that clue!
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteExcuse me, but I don't know a 26A golfer from 24 years ago. In keeping with the capital part of the clue I thought it might be that famous Italian golfer, MARcO MEARA. But TOcE made no sense. 18D flew me out of Natick.
I did today’s WaPo Sunday puzzle to see what a premier puzzle looks like. It was fun. I finished it much more quickly than today’s NYT puzzle. There were no hiccups in either puzzle, but I seemed to glide through the WaPo puzzle more easily. I didn’t find the WaPo puzzle any more, or less, witty or enjoyable than the NYT puzzle. It seems the nuances and details are lost on me. I just like solving crossword puzzles. I do appreciate the opinion on the WaPo puzzle; now I have another daily puzzle to enjoy. A pleasant Sunday to all.
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of golf, what's happened to our old friend Ernie ELS?
ReplyDeleteA CAPITAL (city) GAINS a letter that turns it into gibberish. RKOME, OASLO, etc. And the extra letters spell KACHING. I'm still looking for the fun or pleasure in this.
ReplyDelete"EEYORE (Sad ass) — the name derives from the sound of a donkey (hee-haw, but make it British)."
ReplyDeleteI guess Chris doesn't know his A. A. Milne.
Also not clear why NATE Silver makes him vomit. That seems extreme.
Villager
His comment is about the origin of the name Eeyore. Who else do you think he is referring to, other than the A.A. Milne character?
Delete"Domestic terrorist organizations (NRA) do not belong in crosswords". How about foreign terrorist organizations (PLO)?
ReplyDeleteAmen.
DeleteHear hear. Let’s not politicize, shall we?
DeleteNo kiddin, right? Hella cringe but also hella funny.
DeleteFelt like this was missing something to pull it all together.
ReplyDeleteAnd weird that the downs made real words without the added letters (TOE, NEW, LICK, SO) ... until suddenly they didn't (CONOTES, TRINGOF). Did one constructor do the top, making sure the added letters could be pulled of the downs, and then the other one took over and said “nah, too much effort”?
Maybe Christopher Adams does not like Nate Silver's 538?
ReplyDeleteI didn't really *get* this puzzle until after it was completed. Which means the title ("In the Money") was unhelpful. Even getting CAPITALGAINS did not help - after scratching my head nearly bald, I finally understood, but there was no "Wow!" moment. I will stop short of saying I didn't like this: I pretty much enjoy all the puzzles (to varying degrees) and always appreciate the effort that goes into their construction.
The WaPo puzzle is one of my go-to's each week as well.
Some random thoughts:
ReplyDelete• Not all DIVAS have big egos.
• Nice rhyming cross of EWE and VIEW.
• NATE goes with “silver” which goes with SCREEN. Is there a game here?
• My favorite part of this whole puzzle is having KACHING! and CASH REGISTER in the same grid.
• Every time my brain sees DOLOOP, it wants to change that middle O to an L, to make a word I love, “dollop”.
• Kinda cool that Samoa’s capital, APIA, shows up in order in CAPITAL itself.
A capital mix, Jeff and Jim, of footholds and barriers, with a couple of enriching TIL’s (SINTER and CATTALO). This is as good a place as any to thank you two for XwordInfo.com, a resource I visit so often it’s like family – so well organized, with continual new features that keep the site fresh. And thank you two for your offering today, which brought great pleasure!
@Loren -- Thank you kindly!
ReplyDeleteI expect puzzles from Chen to be odd (not in a bad way) and that's how I reacted today. Yes, once you get the concept if you know your world capitals you can fill in a bunch of letters automatically. But somehow the puzzle played tough for me. Let's say I am pleased and leave it at that.
ReplyDeleteA word about ka-ching. When I looked at the circled letters, I found kaching which puzzled me a lot. Only after seeing it with the hyphen did I understand what it represented. Money comes in paper or coin versions. The paper version goes into your wallet an the coin version goes into your pocket where it creates a jangling sound sounding like ka-ching. At least in the vernacular. Seems silly to me to complain about that. Unless you simply want to complain.
I think Ka-Ching comes from the sound an old-fashioned cash register makes when you pull the handle and the drawer opens.
DeleteQuite easy for me; lots of stuff was right in my wheelhouse. Nevertheless, I didn't find it very exciting. I don't have nearly as many complaints as Mr. Adams, and actually disagree with a few of his, especially wanting every proper name to refer to an actual person. Trivia about random people is one of my least favorite parts of puzzles and I welcome a decrease in constructors and editors expecting us to be familiar with every person who ever lived, currently lives, or may possibly live some time in the future, either here on earth, in space, in fiction, or even just someone they invented in their mind.
ReplyDeleteWith that being said, my biggest hiccup was 98A, where I confidently plugged in "Fry" and patted myself on the back for that gimme. I mean, how many Stephens with three-letter surnames can there be in that movie? That mistake held me up briefly until I came across 92D, which could only be DALMATIA.
Other complaints: Sooooo much sports. Yawn. And the clue for TWO? Hey, I know! Maybe we can have all numbers clued as references to people who actually used that number! Give me a break.
DO A SLOW BURN is lazy. I've never heard of nerves referred to RAW, but I dunno... Maybe it's regional? YER (more sports!) is garbage. And STICKONS? WTH is that fake word?
I don't remember what else bugged me--it was late when I solved it and I was tired. I think I'd be more bothered if I wasn't familiar with a lot of other answers, but I suspect a lot of other solvers won't be happy with a few bits of this one.
Really brilliant blog
ReplyDeleteHere are some bad dentist jokes for you, LMS. (Never underestimate the power of bad jokes.)
ReplyDeleteJust as the dentist is about to start drilling, the woman in the chair reaches up and grabs him by the nuts.
"My Goodness, Mrs. Johnson, what in the world is going on?"
She smiles up at him and says: "Now, we're not going to hurt each other, are we?"
A Texan is at the dentist. The dentist says, "You're teeth are in excellent shape," and the Texan says, "Drill anyway, Doc -- I feel lucky."
*******
On the puzzle, I thought the write-up was a little harsh too. I enjoyed working through it. Also -- loved the Lewis puzzle in yesterday's LA Times. If they still print them in the Newark Star-Ledger, it reached much of NJ too. Perfect level of difficulty for me -- thank you LR!
Overall easier than most Sundays. Probably could have done better thanKa-Ching as the punch line on this one. Don’t need to see things like World’s End in my puzzle. Would much rather hav seen a Ruby Dee reference. Love our USA soccer stars in this one.
ReplyDeleteFeel like an idiot here - why is a dentist a “calculus expert?”
ReplyDeleteA calculus is sort of like a type of dental plaque.
DeleteChristopher, I'm totally with you on the stupid clue genre that uses a semi-phonetic spelling of a letter as a clue--as in 35A. Kill it with fire. Also, we both love em dashes and think it should be "mezcal." And 122D sours every puzzle it's in.
ReplyDeleteBut you're OK with the inclusion of obscure golf junk (I know plenty of golfer names, but the winner of one championship 25 years ago??? Come on!). And you're not OK with Lin-Manuel Miranda. And you've clearly never read A.A. Milne, so you're probably too young for me. Our romance is doomed from the start.
This puzzle: Nice theme. But the puzzle was too big--and sometimes too big for its britches, as in too much straining to be clever. I ended up enjoying it/not enjoying it, which is no mean feat. In any event, one of my longer Sunday solve times and no really fabulous clues to take away. And everyone knows that Post-it Notes are "stickies," not STICKONS.
@Liveprof: Wait a minute. Lewis Rothlein is OUR "Lewis?" That was a nice puzzle yesterday!
ReplyDeleteBack in the day of first edition Trivial Pursuit, my Achilles heel was geography. If it was on me for the win, my husband at that crucial point would yell, "Ask her a geography question!" So another parenthetical country puzz in a short time span, another Panic, another Raw Nerve. But it sparked my masochistic streak.
ReplyDeleteLiked the stealth finance theme - Save, After Tax (with the T in, wanted Matching), Chair Of The Fed, Capital Gains, Cash Register, Unpaid, (bothersome) Regs, Ka-Ching. A Loyal Fan of finance must've had a hand in constructing this (ya think?).
@Gill, this one goes out to you. Colon, Renal, & Dentist, LLP representing professionals from end to end.
Calculus is hardened plaque.
ReplyDeleteSad ass is a mean spirited reference to a sweet sad donkey.
@Anonymous, 8:03 AM: Calculus is that stuff they scrape off your teeth.
ReplyDeleteI used to think calculus was a little different from tartar... but no.
From Wikipedia: "In dentistry, calculus or tartar is a form of hardened dental plaque. It is caused by precipitation of minerals from saliva and gingival crevicular fluid in plaque on the teeth."
Tough one, it felt like I was getting bludgeoned by Jeff C the whole time. The theme also felt too contrived; I agree with the reviewer - perhaps if it were dialed back and didn’t try so hard. Stuff like CATTALO, SINTER, EEYORE, DENTIST (as clued), and of course DANA x LAURENTS caused this one to be as much a boxing match as it was an enlightening trip around the grid.
ReplyDeleteProbably some decent evidence today that a super-ambitious theme can put so much strain on the grid that even when in the talented hands of Mr. Chen, it struggles to stay afloat.
Better than I expected, but still a bit of a Sunday Slog. I can appreciate all the theme layers post solve, but during the solve it was just a wee bit too much to wade through.
ReplyDeleteAdams references Pooh without mentioning Pooh and it seems to have flown past a couple people. Here you go, EEYORE (Sad ass) — the character’s name in Winnie the Pooh derives from the sound of a donkey (hee-haw, but make it British like A.A. Milne).
@okanganer & @frankbirthdaycake - Do @Evan’s puzzles for two months and you will start to feel the difference. To be arbitrarily numeric about it, on a scale of 1-10 the NYTX is typically in the 3 to 6 range with more 0-2 puzzles than 7-10 puzzles. WaPo lives more in the 5-8 range with 9’s and 10’s popping up fairly regularly and never falling into the “how the hell did this get published” category.
@LMS - SAVE sans “for” seems slightly haughtier, so I’d save it for my snootier friends.
As for your instagram observation - 🤣😂🤣
I don’t know why Adam’s vomits at NATE Silver, but I had to stop following him on Twitter. His COVID policy takes were exactly what one fears from someone too buried in numbers to realize we’re talking about people dying.
@anonymous 8:03.... Calculus is dental tartar (gross) sorta like plaque but not plaque. The toejam of the mouth.
ReplyDeleteBTW - At least in English MEzCAL is the variant spelling.
ReplyDeleteTheme was a little disjoint - final product just seemed like a typical Sunday. Agree with Chris on the awkward redundancy of DO A SLOW BURN - a snazzy entry dulled down. I too enjoy an egg on my burger - once over so it’s still runny. Is it SPIN or weave A WEB?
ReplyDeleteI typically only do alternate puzzles when I have some background - like @Lewis’ yesterday. Rex’s recommendations fall on deaf ears now after getting burned a few times. Over time and enough sample size - the WaPo puzzles closely resemble the NYTXW - some good some bad. I always do Stan Newman’s Saturday Stumper and have been taken recently with some really good New Yorker puzzles.
Hard to listen to but our crossword icon screeching COLD TURKEY
Seems like Sundays are getting very repetitive.
After finishing the puzzle, I realized (very belatedly) that my work wasn't done. There were filled-in white squares inside the CAPITALs that I needed to ferret out. KACHING ???? I made the mistake of pronouncing it KAYtching in my mind. First cousin to kvetching? Oh, wait, I think it's ka-CHING. That means "Tada!", right? I looked it up. Wrong! It's the sound a cash register makes. At least that's what Google tells me. So now, IN THE MONEY (the puzzle's title) makes sense.
ReplyDeleteOnly it doesn't. The money is in the CAPITALs, the CAPITALs aren't IN THE MONEY. Bad, bad title.
The revealer, CAPITAL GAINS, is better. The CAPITALs have gained something. They've each gained one letter. And CAPITAL GAINS are measured in $$$. They make (I suppose) your cash register go KA-CHING?
Thought for the day: Any CAPITAL GAINS worth talking about should not be left in your cash register.
This grid is admittedly a masterwork of construction. The result, though, is a pretty easy puzzle that's made even easier by the theme. I think there was almost certainly more joy in the making of it than there was in the solving of it. At least that was my experience.
@hillaryfan nailed it. NRA ruins the puzzle, but the PLO is totally fine? Regardless, in reality the NRA has been completely neutered and is basically irrelevant at this point. But we need a boogeyman and something to whine about to make us feel like we’re good activists!
ReplyDelete@LMS 2:47 Not to be too paranoid, but please DO NOT get anesthesia in a dentist's or dental surgeon's office. Please only get it at a hospital setting with a dedicated anesthesiologist administering it, and the proximity of emergency help.
ReplyDeleteShirley
Just read Arthur LAURENTS autobiography (the first one) a few months ago, so that was a gimme. The man got around. Also managed to anger a lot of people along the way.
ReplyDeleteIf you aren't familiar with him, you probably are familiar with his work:
- West Side Story
- Gypsy
- Anyone Can Whistle
- The Way We Were
- The Turning Point
- The Time of the Cuckoo/Summertime/Do I Hear a Waltz (all the same basic story: play/film/musical)
- Rope
Again with the politics. The NRA is a thing that exists. Knock it off!
ReplyDeleteI thought that the blogger was too harsh and too hard to follow. Hope that Rex returns soon. Enjoyed solving the puzzle, but never understood the KACHING until I read the blog. That did not detract from my enjoyment of the puzzle. I thought everyone knew about EEYORE.
ReplyDeleteNitpick with the puzzle's creators: eating cholesterol (egg) doesn't cause formation of cholesterol in our bodies. Eating saturated fat is what does it. So, Christopher, go ahead and have that fried egg with your burger without worry. Those of us who like bacon on our burgers, well.....
ReplyDeleteAmy: How can you not like Lin-Manuel Miranda?
ReplyDelete@pmdn - Ka-Ching is the sound of and olde-timey cash register, not jangling coins.
ReplyDelete@Anon 9:09 - Who is this Amy you're referring to? Do you think you're at Diary of A Crossword Fiend? Otherwise, no Amy here.
I thought Rex was back when I started the blog - hated the puzzle, patronizing “for some reason” reference, golf dis (I thought the O’Meara comment was sarcastic), etc. Rex’s curmudgeonliness is more than redeemed by his wit, but that isn’t the case today. What’s with the unexplained LIN-Manuel Miranda and NATE Silver insults? (But to those dissing Christopher for not knowing who EEYORE is, I think he does but is just explaining how the donkey got his name.)
ReplyDeleteI am a geography nerd, so I liked this one, except that it was perhaps too easy. I grokked the theme quickly and then could easily fill in all the capitals and their longer answers - even KIGALI. I agree that the KA-CHING fell a little flat as a meta reward, and not all of the theme answers sang. But TIMBER INDUSTRY and DOG HANDLER were redeemed by nice clues.
Not sure I agree with the praise of the WaPo as the sine qua non of Sunday puzzles. It can be reeeeally great, but Evan’s penchant for complex meta puzzles often results in the solving experience itself being very blah. Sometimes I do the whole puzzle and see no scintillating answers or clues - all to make way for a post-solve puzzle that I often don’t care about. And there’s definitely a sameness from the same constructor doing the puzzle every week. But it’s my hometown paper and the only one I get in print, so I usually do it.
I am a big MESCAL fan, whether you spell it with an S or a Z. Next time you make a pitcher of margaritas, sub mescal for half the tequila. It gives it a nice smoky flavor. I could do all mescal, but that might be too much for some. In the state of Chihuahua, they drink a version called sotol. That was my last pre-pandemic work trip and we went out for drinks one night to a place that specialized in sotol. They had one that was fermented in a jar with a dead venomous snake. You know I had to try that.
+1 to LMAO at @Loren’s COLON remark. And I can just picture those guys crossing their arms and pushing their biceps out, surely while also sucking in their beer bellies. Hmm, just looked at my long-unused Grindr profile and it seems I am doing both. I’m posing in front of art, though, not a fishing boat, so maybe it’s OK?
The writer of the blog today is super negative. I hope he can have a better day.
ReplyDeleteThank you @LiveProf and @anon 8:15 for those kind comments!
ReplyDelete@Loren -- Having the dental work done under sedation is one of the best life decisions you will ever make. There will be a lot going on in there -- drilling, pulling, and heaven knows what else -- but it won't really be happening to you. I know this from my own experience.
ReplyDeleteI have a huge gagging reflex that's totally outside my control, so the sedation is as much for the dentist as for me. Otherwise any kind of extensive and prolonged work just can't be done.
You'll be mildly groggy when you awake from the anesthesia, but not unpleasantly so. In fact you'll be very relaxed and mellow. The good news is that you'll be so mellow that you'll scarcely notice the humongous bill when they present you with it. The bad news is that in just a few short hours you'll notice it plenty :)
Mr. Adams, as you (like Rex) have many peeves, allow me to pass along two of mine. Please stop saying or writing “oftentimes” or “utilize” — [em dash] both of which are unnecessarily elongated and pretentious.. I’ve yet to hear a good example of when they can’t be replaced by the simpler and thus more elegant “often” and “use.”
ReplyDeleteThank you, Christopher, for calling out WS on a very bad puzzle, particularly for a Sunday.
ReplyDelete@Nancy from yesterday: Re the gynecologist name . . . gonna be pretty tough to top that one. LOL!
ReplyDeleteNo puzzle for me today but wow! It looks like a doozy - and a good example of why I never do the Sunday slog.
As others have already noted: Christopher please keep your obvious political views out of your write-up - not the time or place. Good day!
ReplyDeleteI don't usually do the Sunday (too big, too much time) but, when I saw that it was from Chen and Horne, I jumped in. Happy I did. On the easy side so filling the big grid didn't take too long. Smart sharp cluing. Fun seeing the capitals (minus a letter) fit smoothly into a long.
ReplyDeleteExcellent critique Christopher. On point. Good job!
ReplyDelete@Loren -- Sedation is the way to go. Just remember not to eat anything
after midnight the day before. That is important.
Thx, Jeff & Jim; great Sun. workout! :)
ReplyDeleteHi Christopher; thx for your take! :)
Med+
About as far off the constructors' wavelength as possible, but fair crosses save the day. :)
Only a mild hitch at the 'A' in the LAURENTS / DANA cross, but what else could it be?
Slow and steady won the race.
Still working on grokking the theme, i.e., how the circled letters fit in. [ok got it: CAPITAL cities GAIN the letters KA-CHING]
CASH REGISTER and THE FED fit in nicely; seems as tho all the themers had some kind of job/financial connection SAVE QUIT & SLOW, altho (stretching a bit) one can QUIT a job, and the economy can SLOw down. Also one can BURN thru their SAVIngs.
An exhilarating early morning exercise; worth the price of gold. loved it! :)
___
Peace 🙏 🇺🇦 ~ Compassion ~ Tolerance ~ Kindness to all 🕊
Hey All !
ReplyDeleteThe CAPITALs are GAINing an extra letter. Works for me. The CASH REGISTER goes with the KA-CHING of the circled extra letters. It all meshes together, and works fine, although I agree the clue for CASH REGISTER needs to have an inclusitory phrase to tie it into the puz. Like "Sight at a checkout counter... and the sound indicated in the circled letters", or somesuch. Yes? No? Go away, Roo? Any answer is acceptable.
Only hadn't heard of KIGALI. Didn't immediately know all the CAPITALS, but sussed them out. Confession: Had BonN first for BERN. Har
Just the right amount of resistance for me today. Tough enough not to insta-fill, but not so tough you want to throw your hands up on the air and give up. Actually did do a fist pump when I put my last letter in and heard the Happy Music!
overdo for UNPAID held me up a bit up there. The VPS clue with Seconds also misleading. Couldn't get the time aspect of Seconds out of the ole brain, thinking, "how do you shorten Seconds beside SECS?" Good stuff.
COmmaS for COLONS another time hold up.
Had to look close to whether see the GO DOWN clue said "FAIL" or "FALL", turns out either way works! Is that a genius clue, or a Fail? 😁
Four F's
RooMonster
DarrinV
Glad to see a grumpy take on this and the use of “arsed” made my day! After a few lines, had to check who wrote this: great job, Mr. Adams. Good grief, I’ve heard of egg on the face but not on a burger, is that an “East Coast bias”?, here in SF, I thought, “avocado?”: wrong in more ways than one…. Last entry was that golf guy. I’ll be checking menus, maybe try cooking that at home.
ReplyDeleteNot a big fan of the NRA. Am horrified by the PLO. Have no problem with either as crossword puzzle answers.
ReplyDeleteQuito is the capital of Ecuador, which is correct in the puzzle…. you have written Turkey above in your theme explanation. Might be worth a quick edit given the answer is Quit Cold Turkey. :)
ReplyDeleteSaw what was going on early but like @Nancy, was satisfied that the theme of CAPITALGAINS was justified by adding a letter to the capital. Also I got as far as KAC as some kind of revealer but (mistakenly) decided that as that was no proper beginning for anything I would have to rearrange a bunch of letters and didn't want to do that.
ReplyDeleteI would have clued FIREDEGG as the quickest way to ruin a hamburger.
Mostly a quick run-through here, with the only real slowdown occurring at LOYALFAN, where I had LOYALIST for too long. Been reading too many political stories about someone and his LOYALISTs, I suppose.
Nice enough Sunday, JC and JH, but your initials are giving me Just Cause for Just Hoping you don't collaborate again. Thanks for some fun, at least.
OK Sunday, JC and JH.
This one falls into the joyless but technically strong category. Yes, it's got capitals and money. Fine. But the fill worked hard to suck all the joy out of Sunday morning: TIMBER INDUSTRY, CHAIRMAN OF THE FED, DENTIST, NRA, a moderately successful golfer from 25 years ago, some "sort of" phrases (e.g., DOG HANDLER), two pieces of computer logic, and 30ish 3-letter answers. Just not fun.
ReplyDeleteThis is sort of like spending a couple of hours putting together a set of metal shelves for the garage. I guess it's a success, but not much to smile about.
Will someone explain 101 D?
ReplyDeleteI believe em and en to be print sizes from the old days.
DeleteThanks!
DeleteThe words “sideburn” and “sideburns” were named after General Ambrose Burnside and his distinctive facial hair . At least he was a Union General. I shudder to think of the tantrum our guest blogger would have had if the Times had included a CSA General in the puzzle.
ReplyDeleteEasy and enjoyable, witty and elegantly done. I liked the play on CAPITAL and the bonus of the GAINS, saw the KA-CHING coming after the first couple of letters. Plenty of other fun-to-write-in entries, too, with a special nod to RAW NERVE. I had fun with this one from top to bottom, no slogging here.
ReplyDeleteDo-over: I misremembered Arthur LAURENce. No idea: DO LOOP, CATTALO.
Not a fan of the NRA, but if three letters hurt your sensitivities, maybe it is your sensitivities that are out of whack.
ReplyDeleteMaybe because my random-solving method means the theme sneaks up on me rather than being spoiled early on, but I enjoyed finally seeing the capitals (the reference to shaded squares in the revealer went over my head because they didn't show up in the app I used to solve. Going back to the NYT grid, I see they would have made the theme much easier to see, possibly lowering my enjoyment.)
ReplyDeleteI did look funny at the circled letters, thinking that if they didn't spell something out, that would be a real "ding" on the puzzle. I was skeptical of that K starting anything out but KA-CHING rang the cash register for me in tying together capitals, capital gains and the "In the Money" title.
So I can't agree with Christopher on his dislike of the puzzle. I thank Jeff and Jim for their Sunday effort!
"Give up all at once" is not "TURKEY" It's Ecuador. Quito. Get it now?
ReplyDeleteSunday is not Funday. The excessive trivia and cluing style of this puzzle hit a RAW NERVE and made me DO A SLOW BURN until I finally started TIRING OF it. Or to put it more thematically, this was a KA-CHING that led to a “No Sale.”
ReplyDeleteI couldn't disagree more with those commenting that Christopher's review was "too harsh." For my money, it was not nearly harsh enough! This puzzle was just one long PPP slog from beginning to end. I somehow managed to stumble through every one of the naticks, but this is not my idea of a good time.
ReplyDeleteGive 'em hell, Christopher!
I try and I try and I try to get the best out of this blog, like Lewis and LMS and anyone else who is just a tiny bit positive. We’re all doing the NYTXW, so we like doing it? No! Half of the people including Rex and some of the guest commentators do the XW to rip WS and point out all the foibles of the puzzle. As a relative newby (1-2 years), I love the challenge of the puz and many of the comments. But please, please stop telling us how great other puzzles are (implied that NYT sucks) and try to be a little generous in evaluating constructors. If there are just 2 or 3 clever clues, I’m psyched up for the rest of the day (calculus expert, eg). Anyone else tired of the incessant bashing? And people crowing about quickly they solve the puz?
ReplyDeleteGiven that men are NOT underrepresented in puzzles, I'm not sure why Christopher Adams is so insistent that STU has to be clued by referring to an actual person. Why is that a "NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO a thousand times NO"?
ReplyDeleteI find Christopher has many strong opinions, and he doesn't always convey that he understands that others can have different opinions that are also legitimate. His analyses can come across as rants, which diminishes his effectiveness in transmitting whatever point he is trying to make.
Lucky that Rex was on vacation. He would have been even harsher.
ReplyDeleteMore about Arthur LAURENTS: apparently, he was a genius but a jerk and impossible to get along with. He had feuds with EVERYBODY. Mary Rodgers, the daughter of Richard Rodgers who wrote Once Upon a Mattress and the novel of Freaky Friday, was once asked about him for an interview, and her reply was, "Call me when he's dead."
ReplyDeleteLaurents preceded Rodgers in death, but she never gave out any details publicly even after he died. But in her recently published memoirs, she had the last word, saying, "Talent excuses almost anything but Arthur Laurents."
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteNate Silver is one of the few news sites I trust. He gives the numbers with no spin, and keeps his opinions to himself. When the mainstream press couldn’t bring itself to write that Trump might win in 2016, Nate said there was a 30-something % chance Trump would, two thirds Clinton. Afterwards when people said he got it wrong, he said, Don’t be so surprised when something that will happen one out of three times actually happens. Anyway, I find vomit emojis generally don’t make the world a better place.
ReplyDelete@Davidin. Not tired of the bashing, it’s therapeutic. Personally I want someone to point out how and why they feel that Birnholz kicked Will’s ass, again (which, btw, he did once more today).
ReplyDeleteTwo things strike me today:
ReplyDelete1 -- Puzzle was OK. A bit all over the place in terms of quality. Feels like the constructors figured out phrases with world capitals with surrounding single letters, but couldn't polish the themers, title or revealer quite enough to live up to the premise's full potential.
2-- Christopher Adams does not come across as someone enjoyable to hang out with.
@LMS. Home dentistry is the way to go. Get yourself a good mirror and a good light and DIY. And, no bill!**
ReplyDelete**This advice is no more absurd than other commenters telling you what to do.
I put up with OFL's political correctitude and bizarre obsession with the NRA because, well, what choice to I have? He provides a wonderful service every day, and I happily contribute to him when the time comes. But I do wish his substitutes would be entirely apolitical. (BTW I think someone pointed out that NRA could sometimes be clued as a New Deal Organization -- the National Recovery Administration as I recall).
ReplyDeletePlus, the discussion today was so wordy I could not make it to the end.
I did know all of the CAPITALs, except for KIGALI, though that came to me in the end. It really helped with the solve. And my, this puzzle was full of green paint, as OFL would have been quick to say. Plus one clue, for ETC, that really should have been replaced. KACHING I did not bother with. Shaded squares are fine, circles can so often be done without.
I just figured out, thanks to the blog comments, that EEYORE really is sort of British for hee haw. At least in the non-rhotic parts of England, where the R is not pronounced. In the North, the R's are pronounced, and way up in the Borders, the R's are trilled just as they are in Scotland. If you hike across the Cheviot, as I once did, and have a Londoner for a companion, you will hear every possible form of the letter R.
Off to read the rest of the Magazine, and do dip in to the other parts of the paper.
Loren, I recommend happy gas. Much better than sedation.
ReplyDeletePosting later today after (ill advisedly) agreeing to go to the Pearl Street farmers' market neatly sandwiched between all of the most affluent and privileged neighborhoods in Denver. In @Malaika fashion, here's some data: Total number of people: OMG way too many. Temperature: Apocalyptic. Percentage of ethnic people: Approaching 0%. Percentage of brunettes with tans who might be mistaken for ethnic Deverites: Pretty many. Percentage of designer dogs: 100%. Percentage of actual farmers to people selling weird random things in jars: 2%. Total number of masks: 3. Number of times I'll go back: 0.
ReplyDeleteHighlights of today's puzzle:
REAR ENDS. BUTT. CHAIR OF THE FED. GIRLS, with the most tortured clue anyone could possibly dream up. A slog. Done without cheating. Looking forward to Monday.
Uniclues:
1 Volunteer furniture repairman realizes it's his anniversary.
2 Alternative to a wishy-washy POS station.
3 Enthusiastic patron of legendary sister of Frozen heroine in her adult career of tending to teeth.
4 Bachelor undertaking a written self-analysis of how he ended up alone.
5 Bezos travails.
6 Posterior ad campaign slogan.
7 Poker fanatic down to stuff out of his vegetable drawer offered up everything he owned outright.
1 RESTORER UNPAID PANIC
2 ABSOLUTE CASH REGISTER
3 DENTIST ANNA LOYAL FAN
4 MAKING A LIST: GIRLS, EXES.
5 CAPITAL GAINS OUT THERE
6 REAR ENDS! I SIT LONGER!
7 ANTED UP AFTER-TAX LEEK
Nancy - forget the implant. Mine fell out and I never missed it or needed it.
ReplyDeleteSince I prefer to solve crosswords without keeping up with our vapid popular culture, I prefer name clues that DON'T reference an actual person.
ReplyDeleteAre there any currently popular people named Stu?
--Alby
NRA is a domestic terrorist organization? Not sure I see it that way nor how it’s relevant to a puzzle solve.
ReplyDelete@Unknown -- I think you're confusing me with Loren. My dental work is done already, and it wasn't an implant.
ReplyDeletedreary witless bore.... I hope the crossword 'gods' bring fresh blood into the Sunday puzzles they're so god awful week after week its not FUN... it's supposed to be FUN!!!
ReplyDeleteOn the topic of what fails the breakfast test, by now the Russian head of state would presumably fail for almost everyone. This brought up the following random thought: would it be OK to have a clue as follows:
ReplyDelete"Subway train added to service that is not part of the regular schedule."
(The answer being PUT-IN, though usually used in the plural)
Villager
Agree with Christopher that "In The Money" was completely off, and "Capital Gains would have been much better for the title. But I still don't feel the connection... this puzzle feels like it's about capital cities and forcing "ka-Ching" in there doesn't really make it feel like a 'money' puzzle.
ReplyDeleteAlso, the puzzle felt very heavy on the PPP, which always has the capacity to turn the puzzle into a trivia slog for some and a gimme for others. This is also where I disagree with Christopher One Hundred Percent.
If you *must* put a person's name into your grid, you should do everything in your power to clue the name in a way that involves interesting wordplay rather than knowledge of an obscure individual.
How is no one talking about cattalo??
ReplyDelete@Pete - I think that is @Amy’s way to identify her posts.
ReplyDelete@Paul Rippey - I agree on 538. But being loudly and defensively wrong about his COVID opinions, and doubling down when his misinterpretations were pointed out, led me to unfollow him. I generally block stupid on Twitter, and he eventually made it impossible for me to not unfollow him.
@DavidinDC - It is possible to criticize things you enjoy. And it is possible to see many weaknesses besides the many strengths of the NYTX and hope for the elimination.
What's there to say about cattalo? They are more obscure by far than beefalo, but they are a real term, invented in the 19th century.
ReplyDeleteVillager
1) I did not love the puzzle; 2) I did/do enjoy Christopher’s write up (note he’s entitled to his views; they don’t have to be same as yours/ours); (3) Maybe he went overboard in his comments so those of you who gripe about Rex’s views will welcome him back tomorrow (assuming he makes it home after his car died on Fwy)! 5) I wouldn’t post as “Anonymous” but I don’t use Google accts and Anon is easiest. Enjoy these precious few last days of summer. 😎
ReplyDeleteUnusually challenging for a Sunday. Well-executed theme. Nice little bonus with the circled letters. Good for a laugh-out-loud reaction. My only nit is CATTALO which sounds like a cross between a cat and a buffalo. It’s beefalo not CATTALO. Other than that, it’s a good solid offering by Chen AND Home. An ABSOLUTE delight to solve.
ReplyDeleteRe: guest bloggers: I'm always kinda impressed by their hearty opinions, especially as they all seem so young; too young to know stuff that seems obvious to older people, and yet they can go right ahead and DISS it. But today I really don't get an unexplained :vomit emoji: - is that opinion of NATE Silver common among young people?
ReplyDeleteAnyway, at that age I pretty much kept my opinions to myself. Especially negative ones.
EEYORE the character is a sad ass (more like morose and grumpy, really). His name is supposed to sound like a British hee haw.
CATTALO gave me pause, when I saw it. I'm thinking about my son's cat, who claims to be part bear... a cat crossed with a buffalo? Whew. Yeah, cattle, I get it.
@LMS
laughed out loud at the COLON misspell.
@whomever
Dental work is expensive and terrifying, and, worse, some of it is clearly only done for the provider's benefit (exhibit A being a very expensive procedure I was told was essential, until it turned out that my insurance wouldn't cover it. They just canceled the procedure when I called to tell them, no suggestions about paying over time or reducing the fee so I could still have this essential work done).
People here give advice because they care. If folks on this blog are strongly advocating anesthesia only in a hospital I'd definitely take that into consideration. Quite possibly the dentist is using the anesthesia as another profit center. No need to get snarky with DIY suggestions to @LMS.
With regard to dentists: a good one is vewy, vewy hard to find. With regard to implants: I'll guess that all here who also watch some cable TV have seen the endless adverts for implant supported false teeth; color me disgusted by said adverts. If you all take a close look at the fine print near the end of one of same, you all will see that The Company 'guarantees' said false teeth for the wonderous span of 5 years. So, unless you all are on the far side of 65, good luck. Implants aren't a slam dunk (there's the L&O episode running where that phrase has a prominent place). Mededith NH is a nice place. The first wife's family had a nice summer camp on one of the smaller lakes in town.
ReplyDeleteLOVED IT!! Hard enough without being frustrated and still be fun. CUDOS to Jeff and Jim.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Smith. Indeed i am just concerned about LMS. While the vast majority of patients do fine getting general anesthesia at a dental office or with dental surgery, not everyone does. When a mistake happens or something unexpected occurs, the dental surgery office is not able to deal with it. The patient has to be taken to a hospital, which takes time.
ReplyDeleteNot to be too much of an alarmist, but Joan Rivers died from anesthesia administered at an outpatient facility (for ENT surgery) as did the writer Olivia Goldsmith.
States have different requirements for anesthesia in a dental office. Some states require an anaesthesiologist be there, but in other states the dentist/oral surgeon is the one administering the anesthesia -- while simultaneously performing the dental work. South Carolina was holding hearings to prohibit the and to require the presence of a licenses anaesthesiologist. Dentists and oral surgeons opposed this proposed change because they would have to charge the patients another couple thousand dollars.
LMS, if you go ahead and do this, at least please make sure there will be an anaesthesiologist in addition to the dental surgeon; that the monitoring equipment is state of the art; and that the nearest hospital isn't more than a few minutes away.
If you want to read more https://coastalpediatricdental.com/2018/01/15/general-anesthesia-in-the-dental-office/
Alternatively you can get nitrous oxide. As to implants, a couple friends love theirs but another not so much. Constant pain in bones of his face where the titanium was connected. Again, rare, but when it goes bad, it's disastrous and can't be fixed.
I had to get to the end of your review to see that in absentia Rex’s disdain for the NRA was represented. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteChen keeps getting terrible puzzles in because he’s Will’s BFF.
When the best clue in the puzzle is “baa, baa” ma, you know it’s going to be a slog. Sometimes I only finish to keep my streak going, but I’ve let bad puzzles end them on principle. This one almost did it.
Eeyore here. This puzzle was okay, but rather boring really. As usual I had nothing else to do so I suppose I should be grateful for a distraction to fill in what would have been 25 minutes of drudgery with 25 minutes of drudgery. Ka-ching is an anagram of hacking like hacking your way through something very unpleasant. It might be interesting to set up a sweepstakes to guess when n the last time anyone we know said ka-ching. But then again, maybe not.
ReplyDeleteThis was a decent theme but I was TIRING OF the fill by the end. INA AAHS LAS DAS EWE DEE YER YES ZES SHO PLO RCA NRA NFL SPA STU ETC - can we just NOT? I mean, I want to be a LOYAL FAN….I did like VIEWERS by their SCREEN, MESA by BUTT(e), ANEW AND NOVO, ANGORA CATTALO, the LEEK ONION DIP and the SLOE, SLOW BURN. EEYORE is my hero. And yet….
ReplyDeleteCompletely the opposite reaction to how I savored every chewy morsel served up by @Lewis yesterday. My senses were put on high alert to the end, and when I filled in the last square it was a triumph. His was ambrosia; this, cold turkey. Not that there’s anything wrong with cold turkey. Just don’t leave it INA NOOK or it’ll develop an ODOR.
@LMS, I have totally done the TP rescue thing, and for the same reasons! Maybe it’s dumb but it works and I can sleep at night.
@Lewis, I was thinking not all DIVAS have big voices!
@pablo, ditto on KAC, FRIED EGG and LOYALIST!
If the DENTIST is in again tomorrow it’ll be a TRIDENT. And I’ll have something to say about it.
Nice DRUM SOLO clue. Reminded me of an old joke:
An anthropologist is visiting an aboriginal society. One night, he hears drums beating in the distance. Concerned, he asks one of the locals what's up with the drums. The native says "Drums ok, but if drums stop very bad."
After another hour, the drums stop. The native stops dead in his tracks and looks up and says "Drums stop! Very bad!"
Scared now, the anthropologist asks what happens next.
The native replies "Bass solo!"
I’ll show myself OUT THERE.
Marvin GAYE: What’s Going On?
What is it about this blog that attracts people who derive such joy from trashing others? Nate Silver is a former colleague. He's not only one of the smartest people I've ever met, he’s kind and sincere and someone I admire. He has this impossible job of trying to explain math concepts to people who don’t understand statistics, but he does it as well as anyone. I come to expect constructors to be trashed here (they’re people too, by the way) but I don’t get why others need to be slimed too.
ReplyDeleteNate Silver is a superb statistician, but he does sometimes shoot from the hip in his tweets. Also, he is probably saying "This is something we should all give some thought to" but he gets interpreted by some as saying "I'm telling you this is the way it is."
ReplyDeleteWhile Silver does work to improve numeracy amongst the hoi polloi, he is not a statistician, if that term connotes someone with an earned degree in statistics; at least BA, if not graduate. Near as I can find on the innterTubes, he has a BA in economics from Chicago (which means he may have had a class or two in econometrics, but that's it); not chopped liver, but not math stats. The simple fact is, he made his bones filtering 'baseball statistics' which aren't even a little bit statistics; they're just numbers, in particular population data from which one might be able to generate descriptive statistics, which is just math stats way of denigrating population parameters.
ReplyDeleteThe word 'statistics' (et al) is amongst the most abused in the English language. Both out of ignorance and venality, those peddling numbers, for some agenda, nearly always cloak their agenda in the word 'statistics'. Because most of the hoi polloi figure that means the attendant brain twisting math they saw in that Baby Stat 101 course they had to take as a poli sci major is on offer. It isn't; it's just some numbers. Like RBI or OPS or ...
Appreciated your blog review, Chris Adams.
ReplyDeleteProbably because I feel and do the same thing w Sunday 🧩s ie don’t finish them if they’re boring, long, not fun.. And other points - well, taken
Though kinda enjoyed this one despite its irregularities.
How could I not love the - one sad ass - EEYORE clue⁉️
🤗🦖🦖🦖🦖🤗
@A - 😂🤣🎸🎸😂🤣
ReplyDelete@9:26 - As far as I know there is no licensing requirement to be statistician. Silver is probably our most famous practicing statistician. Second, if you go around suggesting descriptive statistics aren’t statistics you look a wee bit ignorant. Yeah yeah, inferential statistics come second so are “more advanced,” but they are all just stats. And descriptive statistics are powerful tools.
@8:32 - No really, Flat out arguing with epidemiologists on Twitter and not taking being wrong well. All things sports and politics I’d agree with you. But he just didn’t recognize what he didn’t know regarding COVID and epidemiology.
Even after the surprise of seeing Yoshiki, I paused in disbelief seeing Shinji Sato's face. Fishmans are my favorite band of ever and Sore wa Tada no Kibun sa is deep-cut gold. This post (and its liberal parentheticals) made my day.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteWhat a great piece of article! Well-known specialist wedding services in Bangalore. Let's see he may change your occasion style. Wedding Planners in Malleshwaram
ReplyDeleteYour political views are neither appropriate nor appreciated
ReplyDeleteRe; DavidinDC @ 11:51: "Anyone else tired of the incessant bashing? And people crowing about quickly they solve the puz?".
ReplyDeleteGod yes! Amen! Trying to solve the NYT crossword puzzle is one of the highlights of my day. (Especially Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday). Working world capitals (in the money) into lengthy clues, with the circled letters (capital gains) spelling out ka-ching (the sound of a cash register) is - when accompanied by inspired cluing (catch a few waves? calculus expert?) - f'ing amazing!
So take your constant kvetching, self-aggrandizing (I solved this puzzle I hated in 31 seconds!) virtue-signalling (If the letters NRA give you the vapours, time to get a life) sad ass and take up another hobby.
Got all but a tiny bit of the SW corner. CATALLO?????
ReplyDeleteLet's all make up words and animals now...
Diana, Lady-in-Waiting for Crosswords
ABSOLUTE SIREN
ReplyDeleteUNPAID, BUTT LOYAL to IT,
one OF TWO GIRLS IN town,
AND YES, ALICE will DO IT,
she's NOT SLOE to GODOWN.
--- TIM DEWALT
I've heard of beefALO but not CATTALO (still don't believe it) so the only write-over WAS OUTTHERE. NOT exactly slapping my knees at CAPITALGAINS.
ReplyDeleteDouble on the wordle.
I was really displeased with the inclusion of mis-spelled MESCAL, which I have never seen in use by anyone.
ReplyDeleteIf a variance is needed by constructor(s), I suggest integrating that into the clue itself, i.e. "Bad spelling of Mexican liquor import." or "Mexican liquor, as interpreted by snobby Englishmen"
Also never heard of CATTALO, and do not believe it has ever found use on a real dairy farm or ranch (if needed, look up the different definitions of RANCH and FARM). Never ever have I heard of the fictitious CATTALO.
Challenging enough puzzle, had to bounce myself to RexParker to resolve stupid answers such as FEDCHAIRMAN and similar.
Once again proof that constructors changing answers to fit in their theme words can go horribly wrong. Don't do it, please!
Mr Adams - a man of words who doesn't understand the meaning of terrorist ? And has a blind spot when it comes to viewing current events ? If Mr Adams is looking for an acronym to relate to a terrorist group he might try BLM rather than NRA. If he could name one terrorist act by the NRA it would be headlines.
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ReplyDeleteNRA should not be allowed but PLO is ok ?
ReplyDeleteUninspiring puzzle that would have been much better without the country names in the theme clues. Having the country names made obvious what should have required cleverness.
ReplyDelete