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Stands the test of time / TUES 8-9-22 / Monkey business? / Win every game of a series / What "C" faucets are in Italy, confusing
Tuesday, August 9, 2022
Hello again, it’s Clare — yes, again! — for this Tuesday puzzle. Long time, no talk! I already gave my update yesterday, and there hasn’t been much in the way of sports in the past 24-ish hours, so let’s just dive right in, shall we?
Relative difficulty: Challenging (for a Tuesday)
Theme answers:
This puzzle was architecturally very impressive but felt like a slog for me, as I didn’t know some of the crucial acrosses/downs and apparently need to brush up on my biblical knowledge. I definitely could have seen this puzzle appearing later in the week. Or maybe this one was just firmly off my wavelength.
- GOLIATH (17A: One known for living large and getting stoned?)
- VALLEY OF ELAH (20D: Biblical site for the battle depicted in this puzzle)
- BOOK OF SAMUEL (22D: Hebrew Bible text with the story depicted in this puzzle)
- DAVID (56A: Classic underdog)
Jorge Francisco Isidoro Luis Borges Acevedo (24 August 1899 – 14 June 1986) was an Argentine short-story writer, essayist, poet and translator, and a key figure in Spanish-language and international literature. His best-known books, Ficciones (Fictions) and El Aleph (The Aleph), published in the 1940s, are compilations of short stories connected by common themes, including dreams, labyrinths, philosophers, libraries, mirrors, fictional writers, and mythology. Borges's works have contributed to philosophical literature and the fantasy genre, and influenced the magic realist movement in 20th century Latin American literature. His late poems converse with such cultural figures as Spinoza, Camões, and Virgil. (Wiki)
• • •
I thought the theme itself was alright, though two puzzles in a row that are heavy on religious themes feels overdone; the grid created some nice symmetry and feels inventive. When I first saw the grid, I expected some sort of football theme, with what looks very much to me like a goal post there in the middle of the puzzle. (In fact, there are two football-related clues, at 44A: Issue for a punter or field goal kicker and 58A: Big Ten addition announced in 2022). But, alas, the puzzle grid is depicting a slingshot with a very cute little stone after 19A and before 21A.
I was a bit confused while I was solving about what the theme actually was. I got down to 56A as DAVID and thought, “This is really a lot of biblical stuff. But that’s pretty clever to have both DAVID and GOLIATH in the puzzle.” I certainly know the story of DAVID and GOLIATH, but I did not remember where it took place (even though I’ve actually been there and thrown a stone myself) or in what book of the bible the story was told. Also, I found it a little weird that neither 2D: Twin in Genesis (ESAU) nor 43D: Makeup of Joan Didion's "Slouching Towards Bethlehem (ESSAYS) related to the theme of David and Goliath, even though both also are tied to the Bible.
I found the NE corner, in particular, to be challenging. I didn’t know the tennis player Tony TRABERT (21A: Tony ___, tennis champ of the 1950s), unfortunately, which was kind of the way into this section. I also didn’t remember CRATCHIT (7D: Scrooge's clerk), and I had to rack my brain for SHANTY TOWNS (14D: Hoovervilles during the Great Depression, e.g.) from a section back in APUSH in high school. Add in that I put “Elle” instead of DIOR for 10D: Big name in French fashion and that two clues play off each other (9A: Premium subscriptions often remove them and 9D: Tool that's a homophone of 9-Across), and it was a recipe for disaster for me in that section.
On another note… what in the world is 13D: Flatters in order to boost self-esteem?! EGO MASSAGES just looks gross, first of all, and I also don’t think it’s a verb used in that way?? Like, sure, I’ve heard of massaging someone’s ego. But EGO MASSAGES? No, thank you. Seriously, imagine going around like, “Oh, I’m just going to go EGO MASSAGE someone today.” (?!) The puzzle clearly needed the “s” at the end of “ego massage” to make the puzzle work, but EGO MASSAGES can’t possibly be a verb. Wow, that was a long rant; apparently it really bothered me.
Another thing that really bothered me is Y’KNOW (35A: "Catch my drift?"), which is unbearably ugly. I seriously stared at that answer and that “y” next to the “k” and was convinced I had something wrong. That was the last answer I put in, and I expected to see an error message and instead got the little signal saying I’d completed the puzzle. I’ve seen — and used — both “you know” and “ya know.” But Y'KNOW? Uh uh.
There was a weird amount of slang in this puzzle with GOT YA (39A: April Fools' exclamation), Y’KNOW (35A), ISH (28A: Sorta), LOTSA (31D: Many, informally), and LETS (64A: "Sure … why not!"), and some of it felt too forced. “Gotcha” feels much more natural to me than GOT YA. It’s called a gotcha. And, LOTSA could easily have been “loads” or “lotta.”
Now for the good: 44D: Wrong thing to say when you're actually lying? as LAYING is quite a clever clue/answer. The clue for GOLIATH (17A: One known for living large and getting stoned?) is an instant favorite clue. I also liked 41A: EN VOGUE (Fashionable, in France) a lot. And 18A: Monkey business? as ZOO amused me.
Also, this is apparently Bruce Haight’s 60th puzzle, which is quite an accomplishment!
And that’s all I’ve got! (Sorry for all the ranting. I might still be a tad tired from my epic “Lord of the Rings” marathon.)
Misc.:
Misc.:
- With 44A as LAYING, I couldn’t help but think my dad would really appreciate this one. In a song (“All I Wanna Do” by Sugarland) that I used to sing out loud all the time, there’s a line, “Let’s just lay here and be lazy,” and every single time he would loudly say “lie” over the singing. It happened so frequently that I now can’t sing along with the song without saying “lie” myself.
- When I saw 12A: __ Today, I seriously couldn’t think of anything except for the BTS song “Not Today.” And now I have this amazing song stuck in my head, so I’ll link it here so you all can have that as an earworm, too.
- When I saw 23A: Espresso diluted with hot water as AMERICANO, I remembered the time while working my first job as a server and someone ordered an AMERICANO. I was bewildered (not being a coffee drinker at all) but nodded like I knew what the person was referring to and immediately asked someone else on staff. Never forgot what it was after that.
- I put JORGE Luis Borges (25D) as the word of the day, and he seems like he was a fascinating guy. My dad actually met him in college, when Borges dropped in to speak about “Don Quixote,” his favorite book, at a seminar my dad was taking.
- With 30D: Ramp taken by a skier, I couldn’t help but think the most apt answer would be a magic carpet (which took you from the bottom of the little hill to the top of it when you’re skiing at three years old). Apparently, though, this clue related to ski jumping and the technical term INRUN. (I was a ski racer, not a ski jumper, so this was a new term for me.)
- I’d say yay for ONELS (13A: 1st-yr. law students), though this plural form is a tad strange to see. Still, I got this one nice and quickly!
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119 comments:
i had problems with this puzzle, but not with Y’KNOW. i’ve spelled it that way my entire life, so i think it’s common enough to be used here
That was not a Tuesday puzzle.
We’re getting enough ADZEs these days to arm an army of Leisls.
If YKNOW is acceptable, then I have TNOTE the IDLERICH and their META POSH EGOMASSAGES.
I loved the clue for 44D ( Wrong thing to say when you’re actually lying) for LAYING. I know it’s the kind of distinction without a difference that is disappearing from ingles, but it was still HOAC (Hell of a Clever) clue.
Thank you, Bruce Haight. You rocked this just like DAVID rocked GOLIATH.
I agree.
Clever construction.
Tough Bible clues.
Is it unbearably nitpicky and pedantic to note that David didn't fell Goliath with a slingshot, but rather a sling? It's an entirely different weapon.
Kelly, unbearably pedantic is at least a run above Kpop references, so preferable for sure
Tough. More liked a medium Wednesday for me. TRABERT was a major WOE. Like pretty much everyone, I know the story but I’m not well versed in Bible trivia except that I know DAVID’s slingshot did not look like the one in the grid. Not the best of Tuesday’s.
No, I found that irksome also. Big fail. Might as well have run a william tell theme and had the grid depict a revolver and a pineapple.
Hey, Clare – yeah – I saw a goal post, too. The kind a kicker would target after receiving a LOW SNAP.
I actually liked EGO MASSAGES. Man oh man do I work with some people who seek them out. But now that I think about it, don’t we all seek them out?
@TJS from Saturday – 43A anyone? I’ve never been much for poetry - it just makes me feel stupid – but the last two lines in “The Second Coming” stunned me in high school. I kept reading them and thinking about them. And so eerily apropos today. Here’s hoping that the current rough beast’s hour has indeed come ‘round at last, but not in a good way. I can already hear his whiny This IS SO unfair!
IDLE RICH – never heard this expression, but I’d sure be willing to join them. (@amy – Shep Rose, right?)
The clue for ADS enrages me. I’ll remind those of you of a certain age that back in the day, back when tv was free, but there were only like 4 channels, cable tv hit the market, and we justified actually paying for tv because there were no ads. Right. How’d *that* work out for everyone? And don’t get me started on Sirius. . .
@Kelly, @jae - I learned the slingshot factoid from Malcolm Gladwell. Seems that the guys who could use those slings were deadly sharp shooters. Goliath showed up for physical combat, but David essentially brought the equivalent of a handgun.
I don’t mean to brag, but I’ve lived in a SHANTY TOWN – “Hippie Cove” in Cordova, Alaska. My cousin and I slept in a tent that was nailed to an overturned rowboat. He was there looking for work in a salmon cannery. I was there looking for my backbone. Good times.
Thanks for the fun, Bruce. Oh, and I bet you’ll appreciate this: 43D. . . stuffed animal, Saudi Arabia, smoke alarm, scam artist, space age, Stacey Abrams, silent auction, Sister Act, sound asleep.
Looked like a tuning fork to me. Pretty tricky Tuesday in my book.
My father didn’t believe in organized religion, so any biblical reference is pretty much lost on me. Anyhoo, got through it.
Onward.
It's impressive, but the construction doesn't really work, since as the story goes, DAVID didn't kill GOLIATH with a slingshot, but a sling. Y'know, the piece of leather or rope that gets spun around really fast with a rock tucked in it until you release one side. Not the weapon of choice of Dennis the Menace.
TRABERT was a WOE, as was INRUN. Most damaging overwrite was VALLEY OF Evil at 20D. That was before I read the clue, but it wouldn't have helped if I'd read it first. @Clare, are there any open seats in that Remedial Biblical Knowledge course you're going to take?
@Kelly and others. Not pedantic at all to mention this glaring error of a slingshot. It MARs the puzzle but doesn't ruin it. I enjoyed the solve very much.
Revolver and a pineapple! Double HAR!
I found it disappointing that the major bloggers made no mention of the sling/slingshot error. Not Clare, not Jeff Chen, not Jim Horne (though he brushed against it), not Rachel Fabi, not Amy at Crossword Fiend. Oh, well. It's a beautiful morning. Cheers!
This quite bothered me quite a bit as well. It also would be a heck of a lot easier. I’m decent with a sling but couldn’t reliably hit a person; it’s really hard to aim well.
I mean, it’s a common enough thing to confuse, but if you’re going to make it the centerpiece of your puzzle…get it right?
Totally agree with @Clare about EGOMASSAGES as a verb. Very tortured-sounding. Also agree that this seemed Wednesdayish. I had several places where I thought "Uh oh! I don't know this one. Too bad, because I'm kinda enjoying this one. Sure hope the crosses help me out.". And they did. I'm talking about the BOOK OF something, that TRABERT, and JORGE. Thanks to all for pointing out the slingshot error, but I also agree that it didn't destroy my enjoyment of the puzzle. I'm often not on BH's wavelength, but this puzzle made me sit up and want to get eager about the solve. Unlike the usual type-in Tuesdays where I just immediately get the answers. I liked just about everything from JUMP to SHANTYTOWNS (I mean of course the word and word length, not the sad condition of living circumstances). Had ToNic before TINCT.
But enjoyed that the constructor got so much variety into this themed grid. We have essayists, French words, sports, old-timey terms (SHANTYTOWNS), pop culture, science (I'm counting TINCT there), etc. The complete Trivial Pursuit set of pie wedge categories (original version). Other than that, I think @Clare highlighted my feelings about YK of YKNOW, as well as about all the little stuff. Just one thing to add, didn't like the two USEs (USEDTO and OFUSE), though I get that they aren't quite identical. So, in general felt that this was a crunchy Tuesday. Could be difficult, but I successfully navigated it and got a satisfied feeling.
Yes, a sling is not a slingshot, but I did not know that when I first heard that story in some kind of Sunday school situation. I did shoot gravel with my first sling shot. Never mastered a sling. That was too tough.
Mostly every thing Clare said except bts and and EGOMASSAGES is not gross but it does work best as a plural noun.
Also never knew TINCT could mean medical liquid except as an abbreviation.
TRABERT was unknown to me. I looked him up, and one online list has him as the number one male tennis player of the 50s. I would have thought Laver who was 24th. The other ones I know off the top of my head are Rosewall, Gonzales and Talbert.
Great design despite the slingshot thing. My childhood memories ENDURE.
Oh yes. Thought tentcities before SHANTYTOWNS but the letter count failed br one.
Yes, I saw the goal post and waited for the football theme to emerge. So you fooled me there, Bruce, and then you charmed me with the clue for GOLIATH. “Living large” – hah!
I liked seeing the SEW up, JUMP down, SWEEP out, and that ON EDGE that is exactly that, on the lower edge. I also liked the unusual-for-Tuesday rub, but less experienced solvers than I may not. I guess the comments will tell. I was also wondering how ELAH is pronounced, and in case anyone here is as well, best as I can tell from my research, it’s EE-lah.
The underdog winning is a theme that ENDURES, and with the mid-terms so close, well, one can dream, no?
Anyway, Bruce, I loved your bold grid art and that ever-present twinkle in your eye, and congratulations on NYT puzzle #60. Thank you so much for this!
After studying the emotional turmoil seething through all 67 entries from yesterday's BOX/BOX travails, we should hope the NYTXW department would have thrown a burning pencil from it's windows into the streets of Manhattan as a sign to the world it would no longer be party to such inexcusable sacrilege. We would expect WS to be home tapping away on his Olivetti tidying up his résumé (Previous employment: Destroyer of English and all things right). AND YET, here they are again today doubling down. Did you see how EVERY SINGLE LETTER in OREO is in the clue?! It's time for a march on Washington with tens and tens of cruciverbalists raising impeccably spelled signs demanding the government take action. And let's do this on a Monday when we have a little extra time cuz the puzz is way too easy these days.
I was pleasantly surprised to see David and Goliath in the puzzle today since I wrote about Daniel and Goliath yesterday. Daniel (who importantly rhymes with manual) was David's half brother who worked in the sling shot manufacturing biz as an accountant, but was known more widely in the Elah transvestite community as Chee Kee Beach.
When I opened the puzzle, I saw the goal post and the football flying over it and I prepared myself mentally for a full day of the commentariat saying, "I never watch sports, so this puzzle is terrible," but it turns out to be a slingshot, and I'm expecting a full day of "I never use slingshots, so this puzzle is terrible." At least we would have known from yesterday, thanks to the unique brain trust of our beloved Anonym-oti that football in America isn't racist, whereas sling shots seem to be a lefty-lib woke thing where the big guy loses and we know the big guy doesn't lose without election fraud.
For those getting bent over sling vs. sling shot, it might be helpful to remember the story is fiction, Goliath ends up dead either way, and walking in the park can be a healthy remedy for this particular brand of crazy.
WHAT'S A TINCT?
sipping an AMERICANO
in Capistrano
she wondered, "what's a TINCT?"
it made her thinked
was it EN VOGUE
among the rogues
was it for dressage
or used in the garage
for sabotage
or an EGO MASSAGE
she bet each witch among the IDLE RICH
in their gowns and SHANTY TOWNS
used it on WARTs
and sprinkled on TORTEs
is it the stuff in an OREO
or found growing on GOLIATH's toe
she didn't know, Y'KNOW?
Uniclues:
1 2016 to 2020
2 Drinking blended kale and surfing.
3 Takes breakfast to the limit.
4 All of them, since y'know the poor ain't readin' them.
5 Floating in his cup, the colorful fish had had just about enough.
6 Restaurant manager's order.
1 USA ENDURES DIP
2 JOLLA-ISH TOILS
3 RIDES HOT TORTE
4 IDLE RICH ESSAYS
5 TETRA ON EDGE
6 SPOT SWEEP MATS
Reminded me of Desmond Dekker's Shanty Town:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kpVxwWQjIy0
@Clare Thanks for the clarification on the Cafe Americano! We couldn’t figure out why our tour group kept getting weak tasting coffee in Italy, the land of strong and delicious coffee, at breakfast each day. I guess they were trying to give us what Americans are accustomed to having in the morning. We finally gave up and visited any local cafe where the coffee was wonderful.
As for the puzzle, I learned a lot and the crosses made it possible for me to finish it. Unique clues for a Tuesday but they were appreciated!
Finally got around to checking out USE TO and USED TO. To my surprise USED TO is correct.
"Incorrect
Horseback riding was frightening to me at first, but now I am use to it.
Correct
Horseback riding was frightening to me at first, but now I am used to it."
Apparently misused because one spells by ear and the d and the t blend together.
@LMS
Is this something I have to get use to or familiar with or accustomed to?
Also how are you not familiar with the IDLERICH? Do they only have the IDLEpoor on BRAVO? It is referenced in many old movies. Try TCM once in a while.
What a delightful Tuesday...compensating for yesterday's trival effort. Clever theme I got to think about after completing the puzzle. The low snap was hard, but I'm a Big 10 fan, so UCLA was easy enough. I don't know my bible, never heard of the Valley, but crosses delivered the answer. All I know of Esau comes from crosswords, so I know him well.
Idle Rich threw me. Overwork seems to be expected of anyone with even a good job, these days. Perhaps their kids??
Puzzle was fun today, a make up for yesterday's, but let's see some real interest tomorrow.
Enough with the religious puzzles!
What @chris said, Y’KNOW?
In regard to all these sling/slingshot complaints: You do know that the DAVID & GOLIATH story is just a fable, right? It's not as if we're bringing charges against David for assault and we need the weapon as forensic evidence.
Did not like YKNOW or GOTYA either, same reasons. Great write up! Thanks so much for filling in.
Is this biblically themed puzzle @Bruce Haight's way if thanking gfd that @Rex is on vacation? Just asking.
Was absolutely ROFLMAO when I got the theme gimmick and realized that the constructor and the entire editorial team of a CrossWORD puzzle don't know the difference between the WORDS SLING and SLINGSHOT. Omg, it's still funny.
EGO MASSAGES ? JOLLA crossing JORGE ? Seriously a neighborhood in San Diego? Nurse!
At least this Turkey was good for a laugh.
Difficult to graphically display a sling with black and white squares - the theme works. Agree that the overall fill tends late week. Side eye to the GOT YA - Y’KNOW pair. Liked the LAYING clue. I thought EGO MASSAGES was pretty neat. FESS will always be Davy Crockett.
I used to get a large AMERICANO everyday at Gregory’s on Broadway when I worked downtown - delicious.
This place ain’t the same without you ANNA
Enjoyable Tuesday solve.
Clare, I think your 'rant' of one paragraph was reasonable and not excessive. It was totally on point, like the rest of your write up. Maybe one of these days, someone will manage a puzzle about extra points with the ball flying over the uprights.
A LOW SNAP is a problem for a punter, but for a field goal kicker it'd be a bad snap since the holder wants a low snap.
I'm not a fan of GOT YA when gotcha is conventional.
LOTSA (I think with the identical clue) and TORTE (as a themer) were both in the LA TIMES puzzle today. It seems like the editors do that often.
Hey All !
@LMS
How did you not comment on the LAYING clue? I was so looking forward to an "Aha! See?!" comment. 😁 Or was it too low hanging fruit?
Nice puz, regardless of the Sling vs. Slingshot debate. It's close enough for crosswords. Naturally, I also thought it would be a football thing. Then when it seemed I wasn't getting anything theme-y, was perplexed when I got to the 20D clue. Biblical battle? I don't see any battle...
But it all worked out in the end.
Closed off NE/NW corners. Rework them to get an F in there somewhere. 😁 I redid the NW quickly,
ELF
RUE
GAL
OUT
and not only got an F, but a RUE (close enough!)
That silliness aside, I thought puz was pretty good, even though I had a higher than normal time. Thankfully, I don't let stuff like that bother me, YKNOW?
Two F's
RooMonster
DarrinV
First, thanks to LMS for the memory jog. I knew I had read that description of what a well slung stone from a sling could do somewhere, and of course it was Mr. Gladwell. Mystery solved.
I was doing acrosses and somehow missed the clue for INRUN entirely, which I would have recognized instantly as the approach taken by a ski jumper. Both of my wife's brothers were state champions here in NH, which is the last state in the country that still has high school ski jumping as a sport. Boys and girls both, thank you. Her younger brother is a jumping judge and can choose his venues, as it's a dying art.
I was doing downs and had the Y and the K next to each other and thought, I bet that's YKNOW, so no real problem there. Didn't know the Bible book but when you have BOOKOFSA____ it became obvious.
Probably a wheelhouse thing but I found this one Monday easy. Sorry I missed your slingshot, BH, But Hiding it plain sight like that is pretty devious. Thanks for all the fun.
The GOLIATH clue is an instant classic. I got it just off the O, but I imagine that some novice solvers won't. It's not all that hard but it's imaginative, clever, original, and completely adorable.
I was a bit startled by ZOO as the answer to "monkey business". Does that mean the inmates are in harge of the asylum?
A big writeover for me at "medicinal liquid", where I had the T and wrote in TONIC without much thought. But who were those ODL idlers?And in what language is cETRA four? Eventually TINCT went in.
A bit sloppy in the GOTYA/Y'KNOW department. But pretty smooth eveywhere else. I'm embarrassed to say I hadn't a clue about the VALLEY OF ELAH -- the only Biblical valleys I know are The Valley of the Kings and the Valley of Death. (Or is the latter only from Tennyson?) Anyway, a nice Tuesday that provided a bit of resistance.
Wow. How did this run on Tuesday. I think this would have been the hardest Wednesday ever, had it run there. How much of that is lack of biblical knowledge, I'm not sure. But other than SHANTY TOWNS, I had no chance on any of the long downs until a lot of crosses came in. And even then EL_H/MET_ was a semi-guess.
I had a sling/slingshot rant all ready, but that dead horse has been beaten.
Amy: with @Joaquin on this one. Found the puzzle amusing. Thanks, Clare. BTW, made a BTS station on Pandora recently and thought of your account of the concert.
It’s notable that many artistic depictions of DAVID and GOLIATH focus on the beheading. But among works that show the sling, Castagno has a leather or fabric sling, and Bernini’s is made out of rope.
My last name is RICH so more days than not, I’m IDLERICH.
(That answer came a little too easy to me. Gotta do more than a Xword and Spelling Bee today, Y’KNOW?)
Good review!
I’m no Bible scholar but once you have VALLEYOF and BOOKOF the rest is crosses, and this puzzle was another too easy fill-in the blanks Monday puzzle. Oh, except for TRABERT. No idea.
@ Loren - The IDLERICH are mainly busy getting EGOMASSAGES day and night and jetting between their numerous estates to play golf and attend society galas. There are lots of them. They’re the cause of the SHANTYTOWNS in all of our cities.
@Diane Joan - What a surprise about your tour coffee! I imagine you enjoyed visiting the local cafes. They are a pleasant memory for me.
Saw Bruce Haight in the byline, and was glad Rex is on vacation.
@LMS - For IDLERICH, think back to your stories of the women who lunch who look at you like you are crazy when you describe your work. Or drink iced tea (nyah) at the tennis court. Or every show you watch on BRAVO. Can I assume you are pranking us claiming not to know this? If so, 39A!
I was expecting to open up a Tuesday puzzle and race through, but had wide open white pastures to the East and West on first pass.
"a la mode" before ENVOGUE. More to fashion than pie, I s'pose, y'know.
For 45D "anxious", angsty fit too well. Low snap leads to ONEDGE literally and figuratively.
I remember as a kid wondering how I could kill someone with my little hand-whittled sling (shot). Eventually learned the sling is a wrapping (like for an arm cast) that one puts a stone in and whirls around (envisioning the hammer throw or shot-put).
@Joaquin - I like your attitude about this one!
35A "Feel my drift?" first guess was "gotme". 39A GOTYA was too much of a dupe for one of them not to be wrong. Even though USE was duped-ISH with USEDTO and OFUSE.
25A & D a classic PPP Natick, but "J" by far the most likely candidate.
Somewhere in this country, there must be other people who
A) don't need to vote with the idea of inflicting their religious beliefs on others
B) can handle the existence of religion without the need to performatively dismiss it.
What a beautifully constructed grid. DAVID in one side, GOLIATH on the other, a slingshot suggesting a sling between and the rock in flight. And then the site of the confrontation and the Bible reference symmetrically framing them. Wow!
Bruce Haight, you're my guy. And only eleven Terrible Threes.
I guess TINCT is short for tincture. It's not a name for a liquid by itself.
Okay so we JUMP from one of the fastest Mondays in recent memory to the toughest Tuezday? Why YES MAAM it seems that way. Like the constructor, I admired the grid art and the unique configuration but I would’ve liked it a lot better tomorrow. Way too tough for what is supposed to be the second easiest puzzle of the week. But that’s not on Bruce Haight who gave us a very solid well done puzzle, as always.
Great clues for GOLIATH and LAYING. Liked the little side theme of football and the fact that the grid design could easily be swapped for a goal post. Getting me in the mood to kick off the season of my much beloved sport and watch my favorite QB take his first SNAP. But UCLA in the Big Ten?? Good grief! It’s turning into quite a ZOO up there.
Nobody picked up on the "tinct" error? "Tinct" is a verb meaning to color or dye. It is only a medicinal liquid when "tinct." is an abbreviation for tincture. The clue didn't indicate an abbreviation.
Imagine how much UCLA has added to its carbon footprint with this move. It kind of makes a mockery of their commitment to Environmental, Social, and Corporate Governance (ESG).
This was somewhere between a Wednesday and a Thursday for me. And I was so excited that there were goalposts in the puzzle! Oh, well....
I have a feeling that my first tennis racket was a TONY TRABERT. It was wood (obviously) and had one of those trapezoidal medieval-torture-device-looking gizmos with wing nuts to keep the head of the racket from warping. Tony's headshot and signature were emblazoned on the enamel throat.
But it took a while and a few crosses before I could come up with TRABERT; an odd Tuesday entry!
Samuel in the Hebrew Scriptures becomes 1st and 2nd Samuel in the Christian Old Testament. The DAVID and GOLIATH tale is in 1 Samuel, which confused me briefly. Long deceased Southern comedian "Brother Dave" Gardner performed a version of the story that I loved as a kid, in which he posited "little David" as the creator of rock and roll, because he "took the rock and rolled the giant." It was funnier in the fifties (you had to be there). It is available if you'd care to Google it.
I didn’t notice the grid art while solving and was impressed with the concept and construction after having it pointed out by Jeff Chen. I especially like the stone flying through the air toward Goliath. However…
This was no fun to solve. Way too much trivia (1950s tennis champ, San Diego neighborhood, Argentine writer), too many weirdisms (yknow, fess, gotya), and too much crosswordese (oreo, acme, ish). Perhaps the most frustrating part was the segmentation of the corners where only one word lets you in to each isolated mini grid. The worst of the four for me was the NE where nothing made sense for too long and the only entry point was that tennis player’s name. However…
I usually like Mr. Haight’s puzzles and am sorry that for me this one missed the mark.
It took me a little longer for a Tuesday as well. I kept getting lost down Memory Lane, and so while I NUI would recognize it when it finally came, the old brain wasn't much OF USE at first. JORGE, which should have come easily since I admire Borges so much, also didn't JUMP to mind.
CRATCHIT must be one of those names with LOTSA variant spellings. Like the name "Hayley". Somewhere I read there are over 50 of them!
The puzzle felt segmented, with small apertures connecting the various regions which thereby became minipuzzles. The hardest one for me was the NE (Espy? no, SPOT; Elle? no DIOR; who's that tennis guy?). At least he overall visual had a certain Pow! to it, like the stone that felled GOLIATH (by the way: Well SPOTted, folks, who commented on the distinction between a sling and a slingshot).
EGO MASSAGES did not feel icky to me. Is it an association between massage and sex work that makes it seem icky? Clare, if you've never had a massage, the kind offered at a suburban spa, you should try it some time; it feels great, and is often restorative. EGO MASSAGES from a friend might also be given in a positive and restorative way, as the clue implies.
Where applicable: don't forget to get OUT and VOTE today!
I looked at the grid and thought the puzzle would be about Greek letters. (My former New Testament Greek teacher insisted psi rhymed with tee, not tie. Woe to math student on how to pronounce pi.) I usually dislike Bruce's puzzles, crammed as they might be with slang. But today's theme won me over, if not the puzzle in general.
There's been a lot of complaints about sexism in the crossword puzzle world and so forth. How about religion?
Jim Horne composed a longer than normal comment that was published over at XWordInfo.com. Could have been aimed at some of those who comment here. What he says rings true to me. A crossword puzzle should not be a source of correct information (although it can prod you into expanding your horizons). I've learned that and taken it to heart, not that I'm all that happy about it. Perhaps more of those who comment here should cogitate on his thoughts (if they don't).
I thought this was a terrific puzzle, with the wit of DAVID in possession of the slingshot and the stone flying up to hit GOLIATH in his midsection and the wonderful pair of "where" Downs: in the VALLEY and in the BOOK. I also liked the parallel IDLE RICH and the no-doubt woefully underpaid and overworked Scrooge employee Bob CRATCHIT, just a step away from SHANTYTOWNS. For me this was the Tuesday puzzle equivalent of a supernova - unexpected and very impressive.
Me, too: Toner before TINCT; no idea about TRABERT.
@Laura 8:06 - Re: the Big Ten...I'm a Badger, you?
@JC66 (8:29) Good question! 😄
@Joe W (8:34) Excellent point about the SNAP position. Many a field goal has had to be abandoned after by a high one.
I'll just point out that the word SLINGSHOT is not in the puzzle anywhere.
@southsidejohnny
the fun thing about the jorge/jolla cross is that the j’s have the same pronunciation
I’ve done considerable research on TINCT on a bunch of online dictionaries and can find no definition relating it to a medicinal liquid. None. It can be used as an abbreviation for “tincture,” but that wasn’t the clue.
I also agree with the concern, as has been pointed out several times, about the historical accuracy regarding slingshot vs. sling. One would think they could do better.
@Loren Muse Smith
Thanks Loren (and you too Lewis)
You've got a nice set of essays there! :)
Here’ how to solve the lay and lie concern: Today I lie down, Yesterday I lay down, For three days I have lain down.
The editing has been beyond sloppy lately, to the point where it has become an embarrassment. BOX in a clue and the same answer yesterday. Mistaking a SLINGSHOT for a SLING (as part of their theme!) today, a double-whammy of a misfire on TINCT, which is at best an abbreviation (none in the clue) or another outright mistake. I guess we don't know if Will is on vacation and delegated things too far down the food chain, or maybe he just doesn't care and is phoning it in for some reason. These puzzle are drifting quickly toward mediocre on a daily basis while the rest of the major publications are significantly stepping up their games.
@10:04: Good point and it’s not just football. It’s every sport except beach volleyball. Rough estimate is 35 Men’s and Women’s teams. How many additional airline miles will they be flying ? How many additional airline miles will the Big Ten schools fly to L.A.?
Don’t believe what these people say when they talk about the climate. Look at their actions.
except in a few movie titles, does anyone actually pre-attach BOOK OF to the book? wrack my brain for a book name that long. figuring, being from the French/Italian, AMERICANe under the B of TRABERT (know the name, he he) what the hell book is that?
@Kelly:
no it isn't. esp. considering one can go to a gun store, and some outdoorsie stores, and get a slingshot with large ball-bearing sized ammo that can kill small game. https://top10best.how/hunting-slingshots-for-adults?utm_source=Google&utm_medium=Search&t_source=64&utm_campaign=6230&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIlMGjlIK6-QIVg-DICh2qQwHTEAAYAiAAEgJ3dPD_BwE
I just LOVE Haight puzzles! Yes, it is more challenging than most Tuesdays but I like things shaken up a bit. @Amy, your observation is low level pedantic compared to what we get some days. With that said, I tend to go with @Joaquin’s pov, and for whatever reason the sling/slingshot difference didn’t occur to me until I saw Amy’s comment. Yeah, I can see now that a leather sling could be a much more powerful weapon and I doubt they had materials elastic enough back then for a slingshot to do much damage. And was David and Goliath actual a fable or lore that got horribly exaggerated over the years?
@LMS I think the term IDLERICH has been replaced by terms like “trust fund babies,” and “old money” but even people with old money are not necessarily idle as they often perform charity work.
@Southside…c’mon now. If I can know Brooklyn as a “neighborhood” (or subset Williamsburg) of New York City AND that La Jolla is San Diego AND live nowhere near either coast it’s fair game.
Thx, Bruce, for a puz of Biblical proportions! :)
Hi Clare; good to see you yd & td! Thx for your input. :)
Med-hard.
Careless dnf at JOLLA / JORGE; knew the pronunciation of both and unwittingly dropped in an 'h'. Took forever to find the gaff, chiefly due to not trusting the VALLEY OF ELAH. :(
ToNic before TINCT.
Didn't know AMERICANO.
Misremembered Tony TRABERT as being one of the Aussie greats. Obviously need to brush up on my tennis stars of yore.
So sad to see UCLA & USC moving to the Big Ten in 2024. It's all about media coverage, prestige, recruiting and ultimately, money; keeping up with the mega-conference JONESES, I guess. :(
Enjoyable solve, even if I did botch it. :)
@jae
Found Croce's 733 Easy-med; (1 3/4 hrs). Nice afternoon workout. See you next Mon. :)
___
Peace 🙏 🇺🇦 ~ Compassion ~ Tolerance ~ Kindness to all 🕊
As to the right/wrong of LOW SNAP as clued: it's right. Both the punter and the holder want the ball at a certain heigth from the snapper, and if it's too LOW, each has an execution problem. The punter is more likely to get blocked and crushed, while the holder will likely have to deal with a bounced/skidded ball and both he and the kicker will get blocked and crushed.
I got seriously thrown off by the theme clue. I instantly assumed the biblical story was where Moses has to hold his arms in the air so that the Israelites can win a battle. That's still what the puzzle looks like to me, even though I now know better. That story is recorded in Exodus. And who the hell knows where it took place? They were literally wandering through the desert at the time.
@math gent, @upstate
According to M-W TINCT is a liquid, at least archiacly and medically.
GOLIATH was brought down by a sling shot. That is a shot from a sling. So we have pun graphics.
Near late week resistance on a Tuesday was a welcome surprise. The NE corner was the last to go in. TRABERT was an unknown.
td -0, yd -0, Sun pg -4
Tony Trabert was an Ohioan. One of few American men to win French open. Cool to include shot and hit in sling handle.
You are quite correct. Dennis the Menace wielded a slingshot.
Liked it!
And also appreciated the critique, Clare. You noted things as 🦖 might - (that’s a compliment!)
Goal post quickly turned into a slingshot at GOLIATH.
This 🧩just seemed so tight and elegant with the theme and visuals!
Though the east side came slowly due to SHANTYTOWNS and BOOKOFSAMUEL, it felt like a Tuesday with a gentle, sparkly bite.
Good one!
🤗🦖🦖🦖🦖🦖🤗
In my elder wheelhouse thanks
“What do we say to death? Not today.”
-Arya Stark
Never heard of TRABERT. Otherwise, Tuesday Easy.
Song of the day begins:
Down below the amusement park where the hobos play cards
All broke down, SHANTY TOWN 'neath the railroad yards
See those guitar players come in, drinkin' and a carryin' on
Down to Jack's Red Cheetah till the cold grey light of dawn.
Jack's Red Cheetah is a lovely song, about a very real place just north of The Bronx. Likely the composer of the song lived nearby. A local Sonoma County band would sing it every single time they played.
I wondered of Dr Bruce Haight came from the Hudson Valley. Sadly, not. He's from Wisconsin, and a long time resident of the San Diego area, where LA JOLLA is.
@Urban Legend (11:08) Fair point which I also considered and therefore did not think or mean to imply the clue was wrong. However, that said, I would be more likely to call what you’re describing as a “bad snap.”
If you have some time to waste, here’s a collection of spectacularly bad ones.
There's a loose connection with Bethlehem and Esau. Bethlehem was important in David's life - his family was from there, and it's associated with the messiah, who by tradition will be descended from David. Esau was the progenitor of some Canaanites, although I don't believe the Philistines, which Goliath was (don't have time to check - Edomites?).
Quite an admirable piece of construction. I got past distinction tween sling and slingshot.
LAYING outstanding. TRABERT was helluva player. JUMP a personal fav.
Loved it. Super fast and a bit quirky.
I think what actually happened was Goliath was killed by a falling goalpost. His fans tore it down to celebrate a victory over UCLA.
I think I tanked at TINCT...I think my EGO needed a bit more than a MESSAGE because I Pffft on a Tuesday word.
A religious theme? I like all things religious because it is so interesting to try understanding stories, sagas, and the beliefs people hold dear in the name of God.
Goal post be gone...As soon as I wrote GOLIATH, I crossed my soul and hunted for DAVID. There he was, tiny as ever, holding his sling and aiming it at the giant. The SUMO was slain.
We see CRATCHIT being tortured by Scrooge, We see a WART growing on the IDLE RICH and we SPOT the JONESES sitting with ESAU and trying to decipher the meaning of the BOOK OF SAMUEL.
Bruce was HOT to trot today. YES MAAM indeed. A Tuesday to remember.....
Now I LAY me down to sleep, I pray thee lord my brain to keep.
I like this. I don't mind that a more modern slingshot is featured in the grid art. And Biblical DAVID was from Bethlehem so the Didion clue is no coincidence, I'm sure.
The GOLIATH clue made me lol, for the first time in...ever, probably.
And btw:
R.i.p. actor CLU Gulager, reliable crossword filler of yore (see obit in today's Times).
Keeping up with young Quincy JONES, composer/arranger of this track on the French VOGUE label.
Sorry, CLU obit was in Monday paper.
Since I pretty much hated this puzzle, I am choosing to think of it as an American football themed puzzle — with the LOW SNAP resulting in a field goal that missed the uprights low and to the right.
@eggs - an giant LOL from me! The Liesl army wielding ADZEs is stuck in my brain as they all sing “Sixteen Going on Seventeen.” Bruce Haight rocked the puzzle, but you rocked your comment! 🎯 Bullseye!!
Since some insist on mixing foobaaaah and religion in this puzzle:
https://songmeanings.com/songs/view/3530822107858974027/
" Dropkick me, Jesus, through the goal posts of life"
For those of you who didn't know Tony TRABERT: If you also wouldn't have known Ken Rosewall, then it's understandable, but if you knew Ken but not Tony, it just goes to show how tennis amateurs back in the day never achieved the fame they might have gotten as pros. Rosewall turned pro; Trabert never did. And therefore he, like Vic Seixas, never became a household name.
Here for your viewing pleasure is a brief glimpse of what, for all I know, may have been the first tennis match I ever watched.
And for those of you who couldn't care less, I know that @mathgent will.
HooBOY this wasn’t anywhere near my wheelhouse! An i credibly challenging Tuesday, especially since it is nearly mid-August and all thoughts here in Norman OK turn to football. That was a goal post not a slingshot and I was primed from the jump for a sports theme. When all the biblical references started flowing, I knee I was doomed for a slog. As it turned out, not so sloggy but certainly tough fir a Tuesday.
And yes to the sling not a sling-shot, and kudos to Anon 11:51 AM for reminding us that ‘twas Dennis the Menace who famously wielded a slingshot. Chuckle!
@Joe D (1:00) -- Good pickup on the Didion clue. I never noticed it.
@Barbara S. (9:53)-- How much do I like the Bernini work? Let me count the ways. What a great piece of sculpture!
Hey @Nancy, isn’t it true that Rosewall became famous not because of being pro but because of his success as a teen at Wimbledon in the early 1950s? He never was a “household name”for any reason, was he? . Trabert did become rather famous as a TV commentator, albeit a rather poor one.
Thanks Clare for stopping by; I’m always happy to see your take on the day’s crossword adventure. I’m not a frequent fan of early week grids, but knowing Rex was playing hooky made it worthwhile to swing by, & your take seemed spot on👍🏼
@egs, you are a rascal. Go sit next to @Gary and Y’KNOW, behave!
Hand up here for the TRABERT fan club gathering around today’s goalpost graphic…at least I could see that the kick was good😉
Thanks Bruce for a wonderful graphic grid (though it took @mathgent’s explication for me to fully realize it), and those clues for GOLIATH & LAYING balance that SW badness to earn forgiveness. Looking forward to your 61st🥳
Absolutely spot-on write up. It was unusually hard for a Tuesday, and a real preponderance of biblical clues.
Instant classic NYT puzzle.
Thank you! I was scrolling for a comment like this one.This puzzle is an architectural misfit.
I didn't find today's puz to be particularly hard, but I'm always a bit amused/bemused by those who are upset that *gasp* this ran on a Tuesday. In the big scheme of things, the placement of the NYTXW puz is pretty irrelevant.
I'd heard of Tony Trabert, but didn't know much about him. I agree w/ @Nancy - - - he was a dominant amateur (circa 1955, when he won 3 of the four majors), but financially it made sense for him to turn pro, and back then, once you were a pro, that was it for the majors until I believe 1968?
I liked Clare's write-up. I'll take a dozen of her "rants" over one of rex's typical critiques.
And I agree with her on the large number of casual, slang terms, which was my only "nit" w/ today's puz.
Recommending today's SB as there are only 20 entries to achieve QB, and some xword experience is very helpful.
TINCT does not seem to be a word or even an abbreviation having anything to do with medicine. I did find a definition as tint or color in Webster's II New College.
Loved the puzzle, especially the architecture, which is a thing of beauty. How the stone hits Goliath right in the (I). and how the V in David is shaped kinda like a slingshot. I could care less about 'but it's a sling not a slingshot.... someone should get fired' Great puzzle, bravo!
Is there a SnapChat angle to LOW SNAP? Do users punt anything on SnapChat? (Asking for a friend)
I love this puzzle primarily because of the Tony TRABERT . Brought back memories of a couple of people mentioned by @Nancy—Rosewall and Vic Seixas, great tennis stars in the 1950’s. None of these is a household names , so I can understand unlike for the Trabert clue. So, thanks for memories of them and Hoad, Drobny, Patty, Richardson, Flam, Ampon, et al.
Trabert wasn’t an Aussie but a plain ol’ Ohioan . One if few Americans to win the French. I used to hear him when he was a commentator on TV at major tourneys. Lost a lot of respect for him when he called Vitas Gerulaitus , “Goldilocks.”
I wish Rex were back, the guests are ok I suppose but cannot match the sophistication of the Rex.Didn’t much care for one today as many have done,
Surfing USA "All over La Jolla" helped me a lot, but I turned 70 last week.
I wonder how many, before they looked it up, could correctly pronounce TRABERT and Seixas?
Thanks @Nancy for mentioning Elias Victor Seixas— the perfect player in all respects.,
Not a Tuesday.
Don't know how on God's no-longer green but fiery, flooded, overheated Earth this is a "Tuesday." Also, great editing, Will. On Monday you allowed a clue that included "boxing" for an answer that included "box." On Tuesday you have a "USEDTO" and an "OFUSE" in an obtuse, arcane, Biblical-themed, definitely-not-Tuesday puzzle. Give me a break. Not fun or entertaining. Annoying. BTW, anyone have "TONIC" before "TINCT" (a not-Tuesday word if ever there was one) for 4A?
@ghost:
anyone have "TONIC"
Big Sir, Yes Sir!!
Am I the only one to notice that the stone from the slingshot hits Goliath right between the “i’s”?
Puzzles with religious themes (and I mean any faith) have no place in the daily paper. Totally inappropriate. And the answers were ridiculous. And it was a sling, not a slingshot. A very bad showing for the NYT xword.
Really hard. Really bad.
@Loren. 43D straight away. I’m a long time puzzler but rare (only once) commenter, and enjoy completing the NYT puzzles though in print in mid-Canada weeks after initial publication.
EGOMASSAGES OUT
ANNA ENDURES the TOILS
OF DAVID as one HOT rogue:
TYING him up IN coils
and LAYING him is ENVOGUE.
--- JORGE JONES
Liked this one very much. A bit challenging for a Tuesday but very enjoyable. The NYT crossword is up and down like a rubber ball lately in terms of quality. This one bounced pretty high. Well done Bruce Haight.
I'm a physician (long ago retired) but I'm unfamiliar with tinct. Looks like an abbreviation for tincture as tincture of iodine. Medicine is famous for using abbreviations such as EKG for electrocardiogram, but tinct is a doozy.
As toasty for a Tuesday as yesterday was mild for a Monday.
But I love a puz that I get bit by bit - like this one.
How could I miss @RON yesterday????
I guess TINCT is for tincture - my old doc used to say "tincture of time" will cure many things.
Diana, LIW
Bruce Haight takes deadly aim today, firing his sling from between the goalposts and hitting GOLIATH square in the I! So the theme is right on, and perfectly executed. Flow suffers, though. Each corner has but a single outlet.
Twin sets of long downs set the final/first two letters of 18 (!) entries in stone, thus fill has to suffer somewhere. I cite ONELS as perhaps the worst of those, but I think that's pretty good overall. Score this a birdie.
Shoulda had one in Wordle too but had a brain fart and finished with a par.
A sling is not a slingshot, but OK
Wordle birdie
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