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Ellen first Hispanic woman in space / MON 8-22-22 / Clobber but good / gobi curry dish / Online brokerage pioneer
Monday, August 22, 2022
Constructor: Doug Burnikel and Zhouqin Burnikel
Relative difficulty: Challenging *for a Monday* (that is, it played slow ... which is at least partly because it's oversized)
Theme answers:
- SUBWAY SANDWICHES (17A: Black Forest Ham and Cold Cut Combo, for two)
- METRO AREA (26A: Region encompassing a city and its suburbs)
- TUBE SOCKS (49A: One-size-fits-all hosiery)
- UNDERGROUND FILMS (62A: Nonmainstream productions like "Pink Flamingo" and "Eraserhead")
: any of various tools or devices with a helical shaft or part that are used for boring holes (as in wood, soil, or ice) or moving loose material (such as snow) (merriam-webster.com)
• • •
The fill is also subpar in many places, esp. the S and SE (which includes, fittingly, SSE). ORO UAE ETRADE LEN AMMO MOE SSE. It's just a bit gunky down there. It's better elsewhere, but not too much better. I could not follow the logic of the clue on INDOORS (21A: Away from the sun, say). Really seems like the clue is suggesting something akin to "in the shade," not all the way INDOORS, where ... you would not necessarily be "Away from the sun" ("say" or no "say"). Just odd. Also odd: having "dog" in your IDTAG clue (19D: Attachment to a dog collar, informally) when you've already got it in your grid, DOGGONEIT! Worst moment for me, in terms of my own performance, was writing in the wrong AUGUR. There really shouldn't be two words that look and sound so much alike. AUGER is a noun, a tool for boring. AUGUR is primarily a verb ("portend"), though in the ancient Roman world, an augur was someone who foretold the will of the gods specifically through studying the flight behavior of birds, which sounds cool, if scientifically dubious. I'm about to re-re-re-re (ad inf..) embark on a reading of Virgil's Aeneid this week. Gonna keep my eye out for bird stuff. You keep your eyes on the birds as well, good people of Crossworld, and I'll see you tomorrow.
Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld
[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]
Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld
[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]
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111 comments:
Unfortunate timing for 56A [Hall-of-Fame QB Dawson]. LEN Dawson, 87, a great competitor and wonderful human being was just admitted to hospice care last week.
There’s a Mr. C.C? Who knew?
Isn’t it TUBE SOX?
Interesting that the added width accommodates two POCs.
I’ve no problem with METRO AREA. The METRO is a very different meaning than the METRO in METEO AREA.
Liked it more than Rex.
Re Clue 17a, those two sandwiches are on the menu at Subway, the franchise/chain. It doesn't look like Jeff Chen picked that up either, he seems to think "subway" must be an alternate name for a hero sandwich (that's "submarine").
Medium. I had to stare post solve for several nanoseconds to grok the theme which was pretty tight. A solid Monday and a fine debut for C.C.’s husband, liked it quite a bit more than @Rex did.
urban before METRO plus a couple of typos pushed this into medium territory.
@bocamp - Croce’s Freestyle #736 was pretty easy for a Croce. I was in the medium-tough NYT Saturday range for me. Good luck!
SISSY STERN would WAITOUT
For a dude named GARY GLEE.
He’d STRIP her SHOES and TUBESOCKS
In ALOO in UAE
But TOETAP on her HOOHA
And she’d say I GOTTA cruise
Your UNDERGROUNDFILMS are SOLID
But they don’t AMUSE like ROO’S.
I pretty much agree with Rex on my this one, except that I’m not the least bit vague on AUGER/augur. Hope @Roo appreciates my poetic shoutout. Thanks Doug and Zhouqin Burnikel and congrats to Doug on the debut.
I solve Mondays by looking at only the down clues, and this one was quite tough at first. Several unknown names, which are the worst thing for this method. I was also waylaid by RIDE OUT for staying at home in a hurricane, but eventually corrected that (but I think WAIT OUT is not as good for that clue). I also had DRILL for the "Tool for boring holes". (Well that's exactly what a DRILL does, right???)
Eventually I completed the grid without looking at any across clues, but finished with 2 errors, both crossing a dreaded unknown name. ACHOA crossing SUBWAY SANDWICHES, and KLIM crossing UNDERGROUND FILMS. (The acrosses TASS and TIMS were both plausible.)
Agree with Rex about 2D, at first no 4 letter words came to mind. Later with the U in place from SUBWAY, tried DRUB and ROUT which didn't work. WHUP was my final word (me: "Oh, the crosses are OWL, THAI, and PSALMS! Nice.")
[Spelling Bee: Sun pg-1, currently missing a 6er.]
I agree with Rex that this was surprisingly hard for a Monday. In fact, a couple of times I glanced at the top to make sure I hadn’t mixed this one up with one of the BEQ Monday themelesses I keep on my clipboard.
I was thinking people’d be complaining that TUBE is the outlier since it’s not a generic term. It’s specific only to London, right? But it opened the door for my avatar.
I was today years old that I realized that DAUB was not just a fancier way to say dab. Or if I had known that, I’d certainly forgotten it. DAUB is slather. I DAUB on my cheap Equate sunscreen but dab on my obscenely expensive Retinol.
TRIO- An alert Real Housewife pointed out recently that this other housewife was calling a TRIO a string quartet. I can’t believe I’ve never noticed this phenomenon; I bet lots of people call one cellist, one violist, and one violinist a string quartet. I’ma be on the lookout for this mistake so I can quietly feel superior and sad for the person. It’s my plan to be gracious, to not let on and show my judgery.
Wanted “house” before EARTH and already had my back up picturing people in poor cities living in cardboard boxes and such. I would love to take a class or read a book on the history of human shelter.
In a book once I saw the funniest sign outside a KFC that advertised their New Spicy Bowl!! But the B had fallen off, so it read TRY OUR NEW SPICY OWL! That will flat wake you up.
Rex – I beg to differ with you on the clue for SUBWAY SANDWICHES. I don’t eat at SUBWAY often, so when I do, I experience the same panic I get when ordering at a Starbucks. There I am among all these people who know *exactly* what they want: I’ll have a foot-long BMT on honey oat toasted with provolone, lettuce, extra tomatoes, onion, green peppers, pickles, olives, mustard, double mayo, oil and vinegar, and oregano. Since it seems that everyone is in a super hurry, when it’s my turn to order, even after frantically studying the menu, I always choke and order the foot-long Cold Cut Combo on white bread. My obsession with not slowing up the line is so great that when they start asking me to make the fifteen decisions about the stuff to out on it, I just say something like, Surprise me, but no onions, please. And slather on that mayo. So for me Cold Cut Combo screams SUBWAY. (Hi, @Joe Dipinto.)
Whup?
I was doing okay, with about an average time for Monday, until I got the dreaded "one square is wrong" message, and it took me over a minute to figure out that I'd spelled "GUIANA" wrong. I'd always thought that both Guyana and its French cousin were spelled with a "Y" in the middle--how wrong I was!
The meanings are exactly the same. In both cases it is short for metropolitan.
I’ve always used HOOHA as a comical way of referring to a vagina. I enjoyed this one, though it was my slowest Monday in a while.
-Brando
I had "independent film" before "underground film" (as well as "dagnabbit" before "doggoneit"). I imagine "indie" might have been included elsewhere to steer people away from my original answer
I conclude that @Rex actually liked this puzzle more than he let on. I say that because he really had to dig deep for his criticisms.
TUBE is slang for the London UNDERGROUND.
METRO is the term in Paris and makes an occasional appearance in the NYT xword clued as such.
SUBWAY is NYC and I guess sort of a generic term for below the EARTH's surface rail systems.
Note: The above represents only my understanding and in no way is meant to be authoratative.
Loren, you’re right about string quartet vs. trio. But remember that if you want to hire a combo to play Baroque trio sonatas, you’ll need four musicians.
My biggest problem with the theme is that I believe both TUBE and UNDERGROUND refer to the London train system, whereas SUBWAY is the New York system, and the METRO is in Paris or Washington DC. So I think that’s a big miss. Shouldn’t these have all been from different places?
I agree that WHUP is completely random, and DOGGONEIT as well. I had DAGNABBIT at first, probably more old-fashioned but just as possible.
This is CC’s 75th NYT puzzle, and while most of them have been early week offerings, she also has made eight Friday/Saturday puzzles, so along with creative longevity, she has range. This is Doug’s NYT debut, and congratulations on that, Doug!
Two of the puzzle’s answers describe my reaction to the puzzle – SOLID and SWEET. Any puzzle CC’s name is on will have a paucity of junky answers, and today’s is no exception. The theme is simple, yet it’s never been done before, best as I can tell, and is just right for Monday.
I liked the three palindromes (ASA, ORO, DAD), the TOSS up, the eight schwa-ending words, the cross of DEWY and a backward WETS, and EARTH crossing GROUND.
And I always love the feel – a feeling that I’m in very good hands – of going through a CC puzzle, and that feeling was strong with Doug joining in. Thank you two for a lovely start to the week!
I found this to be a very easy puzzle, so I was surprised, and gratified, to see that Rex found it difficult. Yay! Don't know if anyone has mentioned that Metro is the DC area subway.
Enjoyed the little extra crunch on a Monday. I found the central east particularly elusive, with DOGGONEIT, TALC and AYES clued a touch ambiguously.
Not a big fan of stuff like HOOHA, WHUP, and OCHOA - but at least they were fairly crossed.
Nice, clean puzzle - not sure why the sourness from the big guy. I’ve always spelled it WHOOP.
Solid themers - like the lack of a revealer. Although the fill trended older - SISSY, LEN, YURI etc - I thought it was super slick. Liked MANDELA clued with his book.
Baby, we all GOTTA go down
Enjoyable Monday solve.
@Joe Dipinto: I checked out Chen's blog and discovered that Jeff is no sandwich expert: He refers to hoagies as "hoagie sandwiches," a phrase that has never been used, ever, in polite company. And as all true Philadelphians know, and Jeff doesn't, SUBWAY SANDWICHES are not "synonyms for hoagie sandwiches." They might look the same in photographs, but they are worlds apart in terms of ingredients, flavor, and most important of all, bread.
Confusing these two foods--one fairly godawful, one the pinnacle of the sandwich-maker's art--is kind of like ordering the "spicy owl" @Loren Muse Smith mentioned as being advertised at a KFC.
Puzzle: pretty meh.
@egs 1:33am - UAE is a part of the Middle East. Aloo is a Hindi word. Some places cancel you for lesser offenses
I, too, did a double take in the NW to make sure I was doing a Monday and not a later week puzzle at first. But I thought, hey, it'll sort itself out. And that's exactly what happened. So my initial emu instead of OWL, and WooP before WHUP gave me some fits. Thought 1D (OTS) would something more unique since the clue seemed overly specific. But the plural S ending, combined with the B from my correct-on-the-first-try LABS, indicated SUBWAY.... . Had no idea those were sandwiches on their menu. Haven't eaten there in decades when they were the only franchised 'food' place in my little New England village. It was a desperation move brought on by hunger occasionally, and never ceased to disappoint. Artisan bread? If you say so. I just can't figure out how they can make it fresh and still have it taste like last night's wet dish rag. I heard that they were not allowed to call their product 'bread' in England or some place because of how little resemblance the ingredients had to real bread. Similarly, having lived near the Black Forest in my childhood and having grown up on ham of the region, I can assure you there is no resemblance between their product and the wonderful, created-by-master-butchers, full-of-flavor actual BF ham. (End of Subway rant).
Was actually surprised #rex didn't embed a link to Berlin's song _Riding on the Metro_. Classic 80s! As far as the theme is concerned, meh. No real Aha moment. And I feel that the first three are specific references to certain cities or countries, but UNDERGROUND, is just a general term. Or am I missing something? Do people in England or somewhere actually say, "You take the UNDERGROUND three stops and switch to the bus for the last few blocks."?
Other than that I liked our little space mini-theme with OCHOA and YURI orbiting the EARTH during their STERN (German for star) TREK. Quite the opposite of our sub-terrestrial actual theme. So, that's cute.
This felt nothing like a Monday, and time-wide, I ended up at twice my average Monday time. While I love the inclusion of the first Hispanic woman in space, that’s not Monday material. Answers like WHUP (I had WHIP), IWASRIGHT, RIDEOUT, had too many possibilities. The worst for me was DAGGONEIT. I started by confidently dropping in DAGNABBIT, eventually realized it was wrong because I need3d a second G, so I changed to DAGGUMMIT, then I needed then O for TUBESOCKS, so I made it DAGGONNIT, and finally got to the desired DAGGONEIT.
Put this puzzle a bit later in the week and I might’ve felt like at least it belonged, even if it wasn’t my favorite.
Humph. I did not realize that METRO and TUBE were also part of the theme. I was stuck thinking how on earth we could have just a two-answer theme, based on the nearly-synonymous SUBWAY and UNDERGROUND.
@Joe Dipinto — yes, also just a sub, or a hoagie, or a grinder. I’ve even heard a cheese steak called a steak bomb but that’s rare, I think.
I recommend “Home: A Short History of an Idea” by Witold Rybczynski. https://www.amazon.com/Home-Short-History-Witold-Rybczynski/dp/0140102310/ref=sr_1_5?crid=5K65NKD5CUBC&keywords=witold+rybczynski+books&qid=1661170661&sprefix=Witold+%2Caps%2C94&sr=8-5
For anyone who might eat at a SUBWAY, check out John Lover’s takedown of the chain from last May (I think).
There’s no metro where I live and many rail systems aren’t called “the metro”, so I don’t have a problem with the clue, either.
It call all be hint that the Mets play the Yankees in the Subway Series tonight
Same! Never heard of the liqueur and though “tya “ looked wrong, but had to “check puzzle” which I never do on a Mondays.
Sharp was certainly grumpy today. I liked the puzzle a lot. Would newbies really find it difficult?
So Sharp is going to read something I happily was forced to read in Latin in fourth year high school (and parse all the words as a homework assignment if one failed to satisfactorily translate the previous day's assignment - something the teachers called a "ticket" to the class, or was it tickee). Ah, those were the days, long ago.
Arma virumque cano and so forth.
You might enjoy Bill Bryson’s “At Home: A Short History of Privacy.” It’s a wonderful read about the history of shelter.
Wordle 429 4/6*
🟦⬜🟦⬜🟦
⬜🟦⬜🟦🟦
⬜🟧🟦🟦🟦
🟧🟧🟧🟧🟧
Missed an easy pattern?
Although used interchangeably today, TUBE and UNDERGROUND originally referred to different parts of today's mass transit system in London. The UNDERGROUND was the first system, which was built with shallow cut and cover tunnels just barely under the surface, and open air in many places. This was due to the use of steam engines and the need to deal with the resulting smoke and steam. The Circle, District and Metropolitan lines are examples.
As technology advanced, with the development of electric trains, a deeper system with bored tunnels was built. These lines were known as the TUBE. Examples are the Northern, Jubilee and Central lines.
Until the Depression era, the lines were run by different private companies (much like NYC's systems were), so people still used the names to specifically identify particular lines. After the systems were merged, the terms started to be used interchangeably.
Thanks!
Newbie here. Simply put, this was incomprehensible to me! Seems all you experts out there have forgotten what beginners face. And you constructors, take note too. As one of my experienced friends says, Great Monday puzzles are really difficult to make. And then pointed me to Liz Lempel as the exemplified of that.
A hot DOG IS a SANDWICH, dammit.
As Mondays go, I quite liked this one. A smooth grid with no junk and a dense, cute theme with themers that are all very different and well-chosen.
Because I had WHiP before WHUP -- and never questioned it -- my 17A gridspanner began with SIB. I was wondering if there was such a thing as SIBLING SANDWICHES. Not knowing the curry dish didn't help.
I was going to riff on one of the theme answers -- oh, I had such a great riff in mind -- and then I thought: maybe I can use an element of this idea in my next puzzle. So far I can't make the symmetry of the theme answers work, but then I've only been thinking about it for five minutes or so. Give me time and wish me luck.
Some number of you will know this but the L.A. Times Crossword Corner (crosswordcorner.blogspot.com) was started by C.C. They are both frequent contributors.
@NYDenizen
Wordle 429 3/6
⬜🟨⬜⬜🟨
🟩🟩🟨🟨⬜
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
I had a fortunate guess for line 2. I always use a word from the NYT xword of the same day as my starter. I'm on a mini streak with scores of 3,2,3 the last three days.
Most enjoyable Monday in a while.
Hey All !
@egs
Thanks for the shout-out!
My stories don't amuse quite like @Gill's, though. Dang, she can weave a story!
Got a chuckle out of @Zeds "There's a Mr. CC? Who knew?" I'll add, Where has he been?
Noticed the 16 wide grid, so brain still ticking. I liked the theme. Four different terms for Below-Surface conveyances. (Dang, put that in your puz!)
Isn't it HOOHAH? HOOHA has a risque connotation. Which is a funny slang term, actually.
Many OO's today, ALOO, INDOORS, HOOHA, and the best, ROOS. Har
I thought TUBE SOCKS came in S, M, L. No?
I like to picture CC and hubby thinking of me when ROOS went in. Who knows? It could happen. 😁
Time to get my ARSE WHUPped by the SB.
One F
RooMonster
DarrinV
NYDenizen - Please don't put spoilers about Wordle in these comments.
I don’t understand where the CC comes from - her name is listed as Zhouqin on my phone app.
Didn't find this particularly challenging, learned where GUIANA is, good to know, and what ALOO might be, other than a baseball family misspelling, however....
I wanted rhe 62A answer to be the revealer, and I wanted to figure it out, ergo, I never read the clue for it, and was left wondering how SUBWAY, METRO, and TUBE, which were obviously related, could be some kind of UNDERGROUNDFILM. Turns out they can't. Mystery solved.
Was happy to see WHUP, as it brought to mind the delightful expression "Open up a big ole can o' WHUP ass on you", which is wrasslin' talk brother.
Agree with @anon 8:42. Anything by Bryson is worth reading.
OT but I was reading a reader's comment in a sports section yesterday and someone said "nothing stop's you from doing that". It was a matter of time before apostrophes started showing up in verbs, and we are that much closer to the end of civilization.
Congrats on the debut, DB. Delightful beginning. Good choice to work with the estimable CC, Celebrated Constructor that she is. Thanks for all the fun.
Got it!!!!!
Lewis writes: “Any puzzle CC’s name is on will have a paucity of junky answers, and today’s is no exception.” Rex writes: “The fill is also subpar in many places, esp. the S and SE (which includes, fittingly, SSE). ORO UAE ETRADE LEN AMMO MOE SSE. It's just a bit gunky down there. It's better elsewhere, but not too much better.” Who makes the more convincing case? I tend to value points supported by textual evidence over feel-good sentiments supported by wishful thinking.
Quite surprised that Rex — and many commenters — found this puzzle difficult. I am by no means an accomplished solver and this one filled in like butter for me. But then I fill by quickly doing the ‘gimme’ acrosses, then finishing with the downs. Which for me, for this puzzle, made all of the unknowns inferable (if not auto filled in, such as OCHOA). Plus I occasionally read CC’s LAT blog (when I do the LAT puzzle) so maybe I know her thinking a little.
On a side note, I think an appropriate anthem for the puzzle would be the Kingston Trio’s 1949 “MTA”. (A good song for TOETAPping by the way). I don’t know how to embed, but here’s a link to copy:
listen to the kingston trio m.t.a. - Google Search
Supposedly written in protest to a subway fare increase, it tells of Charlie, a man who boards an MTA subway car, but then cannot get off because he does not have enough money for the new ‘exit fare’. As Rex would say, hilarity ensues: ie his wife comes to the station every day to give him a sandwich.
Wiki tells me that the song has remained so popular in Boston that, in 2006, when the MBTA launched its electronic card-based fare collection system they called it the "CharlieCard". Apparently some version of this card is still in use today.
I'm in the puzzle! I don't know why they clued me as "Actor" Oldman, cuz I really AM an old man, but it's just nice to be recognized. Of course, like some of the other distasteful people who end up immortalized in grids, you might argue celebrating someone who regularly writes unnecessarily long blog comments and thereby causes several grouch monsters to scroll more passionately than they would have otherwise only encourages more long-winded posts, more poetry of highly dubious quality, and of course the always annoying meta-view of the meta.
Other than being all about me, this was a wonderful puzzle. Enjoyed every moment of it.
Uniclues:
1 Big city pro-creator.
2 Solution for nude jacuzzi-ist with ugly feet.
3 Recipe for online stock ulcers.
4 Muscles.
5 Spanish aunt goes for the gold.
6 Desperate classical composer raised money.
7 Notta danged burrito, it's Tuesday fer gosh sakes.
1 METRO AREA DAD
2 TUB TUBE SOCKS
3 STEW E*TRADE TUMS
4 GYMNAST BULGES
5 TIA SELECTS ORO
6 PAWNED PRELUDE
7 TACO, DOG GONE IT
My five favorite clues from last week
(in order of appearance):
1. Ten pins in two bowls (5)
2. What makes you question everything you know? (8)
3. Words before and after "deal" (4)
4. Locale for a pin (3)
5. Expression in an uncomfortable situation (6)(5)
SPARE
JEOPARDY
OR NO
MAT
FORCED SMILE
Anon 9:47 - Not sure why Anon showed up; actually posted by lodsf@aol.com
Hard? Finished it with one eye closed.
Waste of 2 minutes.
And a hero sandwich is a sub, not a subway or submarine. Jeez where were the editors born?
I liked the (for me) double reveal: "SUBWAY and UNDERGROUND? That's all?" followed by the realization that the Paris METRO and London TUBE were theme answers, too, leaving me with a smile at the nice way those two were "buried." I also liked the imaginary exchange "I WAS RIGHT!" and "DOGGONE IT!"
Help from previous puzzles: OCHOA (like @Rex, the wrong one, but still); METRO AREA as a legitimate phrase; MOE. Vowel insecurity: GUIANA.
@Anonymous 8:47 - Thank you for the fascinating explanation of why the London UNDERGROUND is called the TUBE. My experience is mainly on the Northern Line, which you reach by going down-down-down to the deepest level. What an engineering feat.
@G Weissman -- It's a matter of taste, IMO. On Rex's list, I would consider SSE and maybe UAE subpar, and I never like gun-related AMMO, but I don't consider it subpar, as I believe it's fair game for a puzzle. Looking at the rest of the puzzle, ASA and maybe OTS are iffy, so for me, four out of 79 answers doth not strike me as subpar-rich, considering the compromises constructors always have to make. But, as I said, it's a matter of taste, and I certainly respect those who believe differently.
Blundered around in the central far west with urban and variations of "it was as I say". And had SUB --Y SANDWICHES without seeing the WAY to I WAS RIGHT until SUSSING the theme.
ALOO totally unknown. One toilet in the Underground? Felipe's spelling impaired 4th brother?
OCHOA unknown, but the crosses were easy and the H was an obvious choice even without having SANDWICHES.
No AUGER-AUGuR problems here.
The London UNDERGROUND, (official name) nicknamed the TUBE, was originally the METROpolitan Railway, the first underground railway system. So London has a claim on 3 of the names. Tube may be unique to London. I am not sure who else uses UNDERGROUND. Subway is NYC and Philly and maybe that is all.
Metro is a train system partially underground. In METROAREA, METRO has nothing to do with trains. Thus different meanings even if they have a common source. METROnome, metro means measure. Greek not Latin.
The TUBE became the nickname because of the shape of those later tunnels. At least that was what I thought.
Fun Monday puzzle. Took a minute to SUSS out the theme, though the grid itself was EASY enough to fill. I’ve been a passenger on all of these trains, so I guess I like subterranean travel. The most memorable is the METRO in Moscow mainly because of the immense size of the structure. In fact, everything in Russia is immense, including the mosquitos.
Agree with Rex about the odd clue for 21A. I’m INDOORS now and I’m in the sun not away from it.
I wish more people today knew that the stories they are hearing are MYTHS and not facts. I think we’d all get along much better.
@JT
if that was a hint to solving it was the Wordle it was pretty subtle. Maybe all early wordle reports should have a spoiler alert. The pattern itself may be a tip off if studied. Tell me tomorrow what the hint was.
@Anon9:34 - Other xword publishers will list her as C.C. Burnikel, only the NYTX insists on “Zhouqin.”
@The Joker - Now you’re just stating facts instead of cracking wise?
@Anon4:22 - “Etymological Fallacy” mean anything to you. The METRO is always a public transit system. It is in no way synonymous with “metropolitan,” which is generally an adjective except when referring to the baseball team.* METRO AREA is about as far away from the train meaning as possible, The METRO doesn’t come anywhere close to covering the METRO AREA.
@JT - Agreed that one shouldn’t post spoilers but I’m hard pressed to see what could be a spoiler in that post? Or did the spoiler get deleted by the Mods?
@Wordler & @NYDenizen - I really feel like I should get credit for a birdie:
Wordle 429 4/6*
🟨🟨⬛⬛⬛
⬛⬛🟨🟨🟩
🟨🟩🟨🟩🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
*MW says a person can also be called “a METROpolitan” - I’ve rarely seen that usage. MW gives examples from the web, but fully 75% of its examples of “metropolitan” as a noun are actually “metropolitan” as an adjective. Seems however they get their web examples has a small flaw.
“Tube” is London-specific, but “Underground” is a general term synonymous with “subway.” Granted, in English it’s very much associated with London as well, but there are other examples (like Berlin’s U-Bahn).
Thx, Doug & C.C. for getting us off to a fine start this week! :)
Med.
Smooth Mon. solve.
Only a slight hitch with GUyANA, but TIA Maria came to the rescue.
Looked up GUIANA and learned some geography today.
Had Shape before SOLID.
Always good to see Nelson MANDELA.
PSALM 23
The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.
He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.
Enjoyed the adventure! :)
Thx @jae; on it! :)
___
Peace 🙏 🇺🇦 ~ Compassion ~ Tolerance ~ Kindness to all 🕊
@B Right There
"STERN (German for star) TREK"
You've reminded me of living in Germany, long ago, and watching the dubbed version of Star Trek, titled "Raumschiff Enterprise." For some years afterward my wife and I referred to the series as "Roomship Enterprise."
TOE TAP and HOOHA were making their daily TREK to the SUBWAY which was out in the METRO AREA of GUIANA. They wanted to eat some SWEET THAI SANDWICHES but it was TIA TACO ORO day. DOGGONEIT exclaimed TOE TAP...I WAS RIGHT... no SANDWICHES to be found!!! EUREKA! HOOHA yelled with GLEE, we can eat STEW at the TUB TUBESOCKS diner. You'll have to put on your SOCKS and SHOES and sit INDOORS but if you need ALOO, there's one in the STERN.
BULGES, their waiter, looked like a GYMNAST from some UNDERGROUND FILMS. He could TOSS a STRIP of bacon like no other SISSY. He was SWEET, though, in a SANTA kinda way.
TOE TAP SELECTS some KLUM STEW and HOOHA has GOTTA DAUB in the GUEST special. BULGES assured him he wouldn't need any TUMS or a need for ALOO.
They ate by the DEWY EARTH. MANDELA was playing his AUGER and a SWEET TRIO named TALC LUN TUMS led them into a PRELUDE of ACTI PSALMS. A night to remember!
They PAWNED a EURO so as to take the SUBWAY home. It was worth it because SUSS, their SURF SON was waiting with GLEE. He RAN up to them and with a WHUP he yelled "DAD...we're out of ketchup."
Have to disagree about the difficulty of this puzzle - it flew by in about half the time as usual for Monday. Critique seemed a bit nitpicking today. I like the theme, but was surprised to see a company name given so much space. Only problem was the crossing of KLUM and MOE. I've seen him enough in crosswords here I should have known the name. KLUM, no idea.
@Anonymous 8:47 Thanks for the history re London transit system.
The Gray Lady is getting kind of risqué with HOOHA SCOUR GLEE, no? I've spent a sizeable portion of my bathing time doing just that, but publish it in a puzzle? I don't think so.
I just have to pass along a terrific catch by a man named Norman, who is unable to post it himself for technical reasons, but emailed it to me and gave me permission to post it.
He noticed that "Underground Railroad" would be a good name for the puzzle, and further noticed that in the puzzle itself, are TUB and MAN(dela). Primo!
oh for cryin out loud @OFL!! METRO AREA is the shortened term for (what was for years) SMSA - Standard Metropolitan Statistical Area. since changed to something else I disremember. in any case, it has not a thing to do with public transportation. just like the others.
John's last name is Oliver, and is the only reason some of us pay for HBO. we Love him.
@Anonymous every-woman:
A very, very close friend (of long ago, sadly), also of the female persuasion, would occasionally pass on our afternoon snogging sessions because "I've already taken care of myself" whilst sitting at her desk in the office. Made me feel redundant. "A woman needs a man like a fish needs a bicycle".
@Anon 10:01 – True, people generally just say "sub" but it's short for submarine sandwich. The answer isn't referring to a type of sandwich, though, it's referring to the restaurant chain SUBWAY, which has those two specific (capitalized) items on its menu. So the entry is fine.
it may be worth noting that the term is pasted together: "it's the SUB WAY" i.e. kind of like the Way (Tao) of Pooh; the best WAY there be.
Agree withZed that the Metro is not the same as metro in metro area Thought this puzzle and theme fun.
like a previous commenter I wondered for a moment how there could be only two themers then found tube and metro. I'lm more with Lewis than Rex re "gunk". and thought "I was right" "doggone it" "toe tap" " hooha" lively.
And not harder than a typical Monday.
.
METROsexual is not usually about trains.
Being INDOORS is not usually about being in the sun.
I discovered the blog today! Great stuff.
The word of the day section is appreciated. Thought I would share a different meaning for 65D: SSE
In computing, Streaming SIMD Extensions (SSE) is a single instruction, multiple data (SIMD) instruction set extension to the x86 architecture, designed by Intel and introduced in 1999 in their Pentium III series of Central processing units (CPUs). SIMD instructions can greatly increase performance when exactly the same operations are to be performed on multiple data objects. Typical applications are digital signal processing and graphics processing.
It was fun to get the theme, finally. At first I thought, what, a week of themeless puzzles? But UNDERGROUND back to SUBWAY eventually allowed me to SUSS the theme out.
You big feet types better not stretch out my TUBE SOCKS!
Thanks, Doug and CC!
@Zed I too was puzzled about what the Wordle spoiler was, especially since there were at least 7 words in the crossword today that would be perfectly decent Wordle starting words.
However, if you look closely at the progression of your solve, that could be quite a big spoiler for some people as it gives away a major characteristic of the answer.
@Gill I 10:49 - Nice story!
@Unknown
A little late here but I truly appreciate your post about your wife. I knew that the Lego art existed but nothing about who did it. Took a look at her wiki page and her Facebook page and her Twitter page. Good stuff. Much enjoyment there.
You are very lucky to be with her and since she seems to be a woman with high standards I will trust she is just as lucky to be with you.
My best to you both.
! SUBWAY, METRO, TUBE, UNDERGROUND!
❤️this Monday 🧩
ALOO gobi (my fave!j 👍🏽AUGER or Augur 👍🏽 (my homophonic pseudonyms - Natalie Augur or Auger)
This was the most consistently creative, unboring fill in a long time!
Yay for a fab Monday! (Easy doesn’t have to be boring crossword-y!)
🤗🦖🦖🦖🦖🦖🤗
“DOGGONE IT, son, why’d you have to go and say HOOHA to SISSY? Now I GOTTA give you a WHUPpin.”
Guess my southern rearing gave me an advantage today - felt EASY even for a Monday. Probably also because I didn’t bother with the theme. Sorry, theme, you’re very nice. I was wrong to ignore you. We don’t have many UNDERGROUND trains down here. I did visit UNDERGROUND Atlanta a few times in its heyday - Dante’s Down the Hatch, Scarlet O’Hara, the Wax Museum. It was just fascinating how they built streets above the old streets.
I did notice all the U’s (hope @M&A sees today’s puzzle) and the OO’s scattered around the GROUNDs - ALOO ROOS INDOORS HOOHA. (Hi, @ROO)
I followed @Rex’s link to AUGER - I don’t recall learning in school about those rituals (and I think I’d remember haruspicy) but it’s worrisome to think that so much of ancient Roman thought was guided by bird talk and liver reading.
Speaking of AUGER, I have a great photo of my brother grinning at me from behind a stuck auger and the two 8-foot 2 by 4’s we were using to pry it out. Never try to use a 2-man auger with one and a half men.
@Zed - nice TUBE SOX.
@LMS, I’ve never noticed it either but I bet you’re right about the string trio/quartet thing. “String quartet” is sort of the Kleenex of classical music ensembles. By the way, what kind of book has a photo of a spicy OWL sign?
It’s Claude Debussy’s birthday. This music is from the first ever concert by the NBC Symphony. Also on the program was Bach’s PASSACAGLIA and Fugue in c minor.
I love exploring cities via public transportation, so this was a hit for me. I knew the four different terms for subways, and I’m glad to learn from comments that TUBE and UNDERGROUND are not interchangeable in London.
There are three different ways to name subway lines - letters or numbers (as in NYC), words or names (as in London), and colors (as in Washington). I love that Mexico City has a unique symbol as well as a name for each station - helpful for illiterate riders.
I just discovered my absolute favorite transit system in the world this month on a trip to Bolivia. La Paz, which is built in a valley of the ANDES with urban areas climbing up the mountainsides to the aerie of El Alto, has a subway in the sky. The city has about a dozen “teleferico” lines crisscrossing above the city. Each has a different color, and the cars and stations all match their line’s color(s). The cars and stations are beautifully designed and squeaky clean. The #1 tourist attraction in the city is just to ride the telefericos, taking in the stunning views of snow-capped mountains, getting out to explore certain stops, and transferring from one line to another as you please. Add La Paz and nearby Lake Titicaca (highest navigable lake in the world) and Tiwanaku archeological site to your bucket list.
Oh, and despite loving the theme, the puzzle played challenging for me, too (for a Monday).
My average for a Monday was beaten by this one—1 second! I completely forgot this was supposed to be themed. Seems ok to me although I don’t understand where the “take the ‘A’ train” comes from. I got that the A means Across?of course, I know that there are 4 underground types of transport but where is the clue that reveals the theme? All of the answers are adjectives; so, consistency is achieved. I don’t know what you call it but isn’t a themed puzzle supposed to have a clue and answer as a “revealer?” Just curious, TY!
@Gill
Thanks for another great story, right on cue!
@A
I'll ask you kindly to stop looking at my INDOORS HOOHA. 🤣
RooMonster Taboo, Wahoo! Guy
@Wanderlust:
I just discovered my absolute favorite transit system in the world this month on a trip to Bolivia.
I'm a public transit fanatic, no doubt. Should have been raised in Europe. Oh well. The Wiki has a detailed report, but leaves out one point: do the cables stop as each gondola reaches each 'station' for passenger exit/boarding (would seem to add a lot of time to transit), or is it similar to a ski lift where traveller change happens as the gondolas continue moving (assumes that folks are have 'normal' mobility). From the photos in the wiki page, the gondolas look small-ish, 10 passengers per.
A truly imaginative solution, esp. for a shit-hole (Communist) country. :)
"The general election had a record voter turnout of 88.4% and ended in a landslide win for MAS which took 55.1% of the votes compared to 28.8% for centrist former president Carlos Mesa."
-- the wiki
As a wise moron once said: "They had things, levels of voting that if you’d ever agreed to it, you’d never have a Republican elected in this country again."
One can only hope.
Legit question@Anonymous 2:24
We were paying less under "one-who-shall-not-be-named" (your people preference) and country running smooth. How is this guy better? It's worse from my standpoint.
@Adam S
Yes but if you did not want a spoiler why would you study the progression of the words. Or check out the available words in today's CW.
Now if one uses the todays puzzle system you might have to switch to something else for the day. But just say spoiler alert wordle!
*Spoiler alert wordle!*
Wordle 429 5/6*
⬛🟦⬛🟦🟦
⬛⬛🟦🟦🟦
🟦🟦🟦⬛⬛
🟦🟧⬛🟧🟧
🟧🟧🟧🟧🟧
The 4th answer was one I suspect isn't on the wordle answer list but it could be. It was one that I felt would produce good info. If I had thought of the fifth word on my 4th turn I would have used it instead. Not a great performance. On the other hand I got a 2 yesterday. Luck has a lot to do with it but skill matters more in the long run. I do not keep a list of used answers nor try to memorize them. As my score gets lower, I assume I am getting better. I do try to use a good first word and like to use the same word for 20 or 30 puzzles before moving on.
@2:48
Only a moron asserts that Sleepy Joe is the direct or even indirect cause of the waning inflation. The economists that actually know how things work predicted a transient inflation 'after' Covid (not that after has actually arrived, what with 120,000+ infections/day) just like after WWII (you should look it up if you actually care about facts); $2.3 trillion in unspent moolah and some billions in Damn Gummint support during the Covid peak.
If it were all Sleepy Joe's fault and therefore a USofA problem, then why is it that all Western countries are experiencing much larger degrees of inflation?? Hmmm?? Well, Russia cutting off petro and grain and China shutting down many factory towns for their 'zero Covid' response to the virus just might have something to do with it. IOW, it's a broken supply-side global inflation. Period.
You can believe what you want. May be some day the USofA will be a White Paradise. Ya think?
I don't get the "it's harder because it's oversize" remark that Rex makes so often.
It's 15 x 16 instead of 15 x 15. So it's 6.67% larger. Meh. Who's even going to notice that? If Rex's typical Monday time is 3 minutes, that's an extra 12 seconds.
Villager
@Roo. I thought of naming TOE TAP and HOOHA's son ROOS instead of their SURF SON SUSS. I wasn't sure if you like ketchup, though. :-)
@A – I just listened to a recording of Debussy's Piano Preludes last night, and today I find out it's his birthday *and* PRELUDE is in the puzzle. How spooky.
I always liked this plot synopsis I once read of his opera Pelleas et Melisande:
"Nothing happens, then Melisande dies."
Lewis @ 10:05, I thank you for generously taking the time to explain your reasoning. Your points make good sense. My issue with AMMO relates not to how it’s clued but to the frequency of it’s being an answer. When I see AMMO, AYES, EURO, TRIO, TACO, TREK, etc., I think “Hello old friend. I wish we met less frequently.” Except for taco on Tuesdays.
Yeah, SUBWAY SANDWICH, METRO AREA, TUBE SOCKS and UNDERGROUND FILM all fit tightly around a below ground transportation systems theme. Trouble is, their letter counts don't match up with their symmetrically located slots in the grid.
There is, of course, an easy and convenient way to wiggle out of that predicament---plural of convenience (POC) to the rescue! Here two POCs are needed to rectify the situation with a two-letter bump for SUBWAY SANDWICHES and a one-letter bump for UNDERGROUND FILMS.
To my mind, having to resort to any kind of letter count inflation (LCI) in order to make the set of theme entries work is a blemish on the puzzle. The combination of finding a set of themers that cohere tightly around a central concept and that have matching letter counts for symmetrically located positions is the main challenge for a themed puzzle. I think that high degree of difficulty elevates the overall quality of the puzzle and that, on the other hand, resorting to quick and easy fixes to get around those constraints significantly lowers that quality.
The themer POCs put a damper on my solve buzz but all was not lost. The clue "Habitat for humanity?" for 55D EARTH reminded me of R. Buckminster Fuller's 1969 "Operating Manual for Spaceship Earth". He likened our helter-skelter burning of EARTH's fossil fuels to people on a wooden ship in an endless sea burning the ship piece by piece until the critical piece is burned, the ship collapses and the passengers and crew perish. An updated version would say the ship becomes too hot to allow life onboard to continue.
Did 62A UNDERGROUND FILMS remind any of yous of the UNDERGROUND Cinema 12 Film Society of yore that played experimental films on Saturday nights at midnight? I still have my Membership Card from around 1968. It cost 25¢! We watched them at the Academy Theater on University Ave. in San Diego.
Yes, I did have an extra cup of coffee today!
@Joe Dipinto I respectfully disagree. I heard of the term "sub" well before the Subway chain came along.
I always figured it referred to the shape of the sandwich.
As I was solving this puzzle (which I did in essentially my average time), I was thinking how this would be a perfect puz for newbies, as it was not especially hard. Apparently I was wrong.
Perhaps it helps that each time we order some takeout Indian food, we always include an order of ALOO GOBI, which I don't think is a particularly esoteric dish. But folks in Binghamton might disagree.
My only nit is I don't think people really refer to a PRELUDE of an opera or a musical, as much as an OVERTURE. I'm sure there are some accomplished musicians on this blog who might know more of this issue.
I didn't realize there was a theme until I had finished the puz, and it made me smile. All in all, I thought this was a wonderful Monday. rex's blog just makes me realize that yes, if we really look hard enough, we can find many things to complain about. If that's how you want to live your life . . . .
@Israel Padilla (12:39 PM)
Welcome aboard! 😊
___
Peace 🙏 🇺🇦 ~ Compassion ~ Tolerance ~ Kindness to all 🕊
@Joe D, thanks for that great recording, which was itself spooky. I learned a few Debussy piano pieces but that's not one of them. Awesome playing by Jacobs. Pelleas et Melisande was a blast to play but I only remember the music, not the plot. Can’t see much from the pit.
@Unknown, overture was my first thought but PRELUDEs, prologues and sinfonias can all be found in the opera world. Generally the overture and sinfonia are longer and have themes from the opera; the prelude and prologue shorter and truly just introductory. The clue did say "in a musical or opera" not “before” so maybe it's referring more to smaller introductory sections. If so it’s not a Monday clue. ;-) Musicals are a different story. My brief search only yielded the "PRELUDE and Overture" from Camelot. Maybe others know of preludes in musicals.
@anon 10:41. Love Roomship Enterprise! My family often did funny bilingual mis-translations like that. Guess the love for words and wordplay started early and paved my way for loving crosswords. Which, by the way, are much better in English than German by far!, in my opinion. The English language just lends itself to those misdirects. Hubby and I often look at a clue and say, "Noun or verb?" Adds alot of fun. As does this blog.
Thanks also. Never heard of the origins of the 2 terms. I also didn't know about the Depression London merger, though I knew of the NYC merger
She is originally from Taiwan. Before the mainland Chinese changed the transliteration system of Chinese to English ( e.g. Peking to Beijing) her given name was abbreviated in English to C.C. Since Taiwan kept the old system much longer than the mainland., she was use to C.C. and referred to herself that way when she first was known in Cross World. However, the Times doesn't like abbreviations and prefers the current transliteration system anyway she has to use the current transliteration of her given name, Zhouqin. (I believe under the old system the name would be written Chow-Ch'in, hence C.C.).
@Unknown 5:04 – Yes, the "sub" (submarine sandwich) predates Subway the restaurant. I'm not following...I don't understand what you think we are disagreeing about.
Probably too late for you to see this, but to answer your questions: the cars slow down for passengers to exit and then enter, but they never really stop. And while they obviously can’t hold as many people as a subway train, a new car arrives every couple of minutes (much more frequently than a subway train). I never waited more than a few minutes to board a car.
As for the political comments, I’m pretty sure Bolivia developed this during a leftist regime. I saw a mix of middle class and clearly lower class people using it. I’m for major government expenditures in public transportation, specifically to help people who don’t have their own cars. I don’t have a car and rely on walking, biking, public transportation or (if necessary) taxis or Uber/Lyft. If you live in a city with good public transportation, ditch your car!
Loved it. Hope you do more
I believe C C is originally from Xian, a beautiful city on the Silk Road. Her brother Andy still lives there. C C's command of English is genius IMO. Doug is writing and solving while fighting cancer! Well Done!
that’s…weird logic.
Add me to the 'hard for Monday' camp. Would have been an average Tuesday.
My food nemesis a la @LMS with Subway is Chipotle. My standard (and only) order is "I'll have the same", because I have no idea what else to do. But if at all possible I'll just avoid it completely.
Excellent in almost every way. I wish the puzzle had a snappy revealer. Other than that, it was a fine Monday offering.
EURO EUREKA (MYTH ENDS)
GOTTA think that SWEET Ms. KLUM
will STRIP INDOORS at night,
to her SOCKS in your GUEST room,
DOGGONEIT IWASRIGHT!
--- GARY STERN
OFL is stuck in his ivory tower again. Those two very specifically named SANDWICHES are items on the menu at every SUBWAY™ restaurant I've ever been to.
Didn't have to SUSS much after METRO appeared. I've been on the SUBWAY in NY and the METRO in Moscow and the TUBE in London (mind the gap) so traveling UNDERGROUND comes EASY for me.
Heidi KLUM, yeah baby.
Wordle par.
I can’t believe no one has commented on “Going Underground.” The Jam is one of the greatest rock and roll bands of all time and this song is my personal favorite. The fact that Rex’s musical taste and mine occasionally coincide is a serendipitous bonus of following the blog.
We in the hinterlands who solve on paper get the NYTXW six weeks after you app users do. Sorry for the extremely late post.
I have to agree with just about everything OFF said this time. It is doubly unfortunate that his go-to expression "eat a sandwich" finds full flower in the first gridspanner. SUBWAY is still one of the many fast food places that refuses to stock gluten-free bread, so that doesn't help.
-->shout-out to restauranteurs: it keeps great in the freezer!<--
I was very surprised to see the Burnikel name attached to a puzzle with such iffy fill; enough examples have already been given. I have ridden the TUBE in London, slang for UNDERGROUND which is its actual name, plus the Paris METRO. Also saw a really weird movie called "Zazie dans le METRO." Still have no idea why that film was shot.
I'm sure the next offering from the Burnikel household will be back up to the high standards usually followed there. Bogey.
Bogey also on the Wordle. BUT! The Eagles stifled Washington 24-8 to go 3-0 on the season! So it was a good day after all!
Yeah yeah - I been on all them there undergrounds also, but nothing beats the SUBWAY/surface cars of Philadelphia. Not to mention the Frankford El. (Where you can't get to heaven, oh yeah, cause the Frankford El only goes to Frankford) (Philadelphian's are easily amused.)
And it truly was a tad more difficult than the average Monday - surprised to see CC's name!
Diana, Lady-in-Waiting for Crosswords
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