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Baroque painter Guido / SUN 9-18-22 / Tragic showgirl of song / Animal working in the DMV in Zootopia / Word seen at the end of many Jean-Luc Godard movies / Liquor in tiramisu / Painter whose motifs include ants and eggs
Sunday, September 18, 2022
Constructor: Katie Hale
Relative difficulty: Easy (very very)
Theme answers:
- "I'LL TURN THIS CAR AROUND!" (22A: Mechanic's go-to parenting phrase?)
- "SIT UP STRAIGHT!" (37A: Personal trainer's go-to parenting phrase?)
- "DON'T USE THAT TONE WITH ME!" (55A: Conductor's go-to parenting phrase?)
- "I TOLD YOU A HUNDRED TIMES!" (79A: Mathematician's go-to parenting phrase?)
- "YOU'RE GROUNDED!" (100A: Air traffic controller's go-to parenting phrase?)
- "LET'S PLAY THE QUIET GAME!" (117A: Librarian's go-to parenting phrase?)
nursery school [noun] a school for very young children. (dictionary.cambridge.com) [so basically it's the Fr. word for "kindergarten"]
• • •
PINK PANTHER and (esp.) TWO LEFT FEET really give this grid some oomph, for sure. Other than those answers, though, there's not a heck of a lot to comment on, good or bad. The grid is reasonably smooth, which is always nice. There are bumps here and there, but none that are that jarring. Beside the aforementioned names, which were from outer space as far as I was concerned, the only part that caused me anything close to trouble was the SW, and that was due almost entirely to the fact that I got the "T" in 125A: GPS calculations (ETAS) and wrote in RTES (this despite feeling, correctly, that I had already written ROUTE in the grid (40D: Road trip determination)). Because of that error, I couldn't see TEA (118D: Hot spot in England?) and I couldn't see "TELL ME!" (98D: "Spill it!"). Plus STARRY wouldn't stretch to fill the space at 92D: Like a clear night (STARLIT), and LAPIS is not a word I ever think of as a standalone thing (don't think I've seen it much without LAZULI in TOW). So yeah, there was some sputtering down in that corner, but there were enough easy answers to help me recover without too much effort. I think that's it. Hope you enjoyed the breezy cuteness of the concept, and hope you got more than 8 minutes enjoyment out of your solving experience (I didn't time myself, but I can't imagine I took that much longer than 8; certainly no more than 10).
["Don't you worry 'bout TWO LEFT FEET!"]
Registration for the Boswords 2022 Fall Themeless League is now open! This 10-week event starts with a Preseason puzzle on Monday, September 26 and features weekly themeless puzzles -- clued at three levels of difficulty -- from an all-star roster of constructors and are edited by Brad Wilber. To register, to solve a practice puzzle, to view the constructor line-up, and to learn more, go to www.boswords.org.I don't compete in these, or I haven't so far, but John always sends me the puzzles once the season is over and they're always highly imaginative and of a very high quality. If you're looking for some reasonably low-key competitive solving experience, all from the comfort of your own home, you should definitely have at it.
See you tomorrow (or next week for you Sundays-only folk),
Save And Share :
111 comments:
Masaochist's go-to parenting phrase:
THIS IS GOING TO HURT ME MORE THAN IT WILL HURT YOU.
I take issue with cluing AT FIRST as "From the get-go". They aren't synonymous in meaning. From the get-go means as of the very beginning and continuing for the duration. AT FIRST means at the beginning but not so much later on.
♪ At first I was afraid, I was petrified ♪
♪ From the get-go I was afraid, I was petrified ♪
No.
Great to see the original KEA/loa back in action, although I would guess that the vast majority of solvers got PINKPANTHER right off the bat, rendering moot the KEA/loa.
YOUREGROUNDED brought back some kinda cool memories. The best was that my friends and I (a brash bunch subject to frequent groundings) took to altering the phrase to “ground dead”. Like, “My mom says I’m ground dead.” Seemed clever at the time.
I liked the mini beasts of burden theme, with MULE appearing directly atop YAKS.
Congrats on the NYTXW debut for Jen PSAKI, who was such a breath of fresh air as a responsible, caring and largely truthful press secretary. Thanks for your service to our country and to what is right.
The puzzle was easy easy easy, but still fun and well executed. Thanks, Katie Hale.
@Joaquin – lol
This puzzle was like a large Monday. Ridiculously easy. I found myself getting angry it was so easy.
Rex said "Easy (very very)", yet I got hung up at TA- crossing -SAKI and had no idea; tried all the vowels including Y, then about 10 consonants, then gave up. What a horrible cross, if you don't know PSAKI which just looks so wrong. Unknown names are awful.
But yeah, aside from that land mine waiting at the very end, it was easy. The only theme answer I chuckled at was YOU'RE GROUNDED. And the only writeover I remember was PIE before ABC for "Epitome of simplicity". It's just better, cuz of "simple as pie".
I asked once before but will ask again, what has happened to Barbara S.? I think it's been quite a while since she's spoken up. Barb, if you got tired of this or went on a trip it's fine, but let us know you're all right.
[Spelling Bee: Sat 0, QB for 8 of last 9 days.]
A hundred times for a mathematician
And what parent, thinking they were extremely clever, didn’t say “Don’t look at me with that TONE of voice?”
I think I was GROUNDED throughout high school, from report card to report card. B’s and C’s didn’t cut it with Dear Old Dad.
My OPI color of choice is Barefoot in Barcelona, I’ll have to check out TICKLE MY FRANCE-Y and see if I want to switch.
Rex is spot on with the rating, I started this in the late afternoon and was done before wine time. Had to print our another puzzle to occupy myself.
Yep, easy. Cute, smooth, mildly amusing and breezy, liked it.
Me too for rtes thinking didn’t I just put in ROUTE...oh yeah ETAS.
upFronT before ATFIRST
Easy, as everyone has said. But I needed an easy Sunday. It was late -- much later than usual for me -- I was tired and bed was calling. Thank you, Crossword gods (and Katie)! HUDDIE at 71D was a WOE but fairly crossed. Only non-typo writeover was RENe before RENI for the painter at 25D.
*Pushes glasses up nose*
Actually, a Pterodactyl's WINGSPAN was only about one meter. Presumably the clue on 35A means "pterosaur", which is the broader term for flying Mezozoic reptiles (that were not dinosaurs, but lived at the same time as dinosaurs) and includes huge creatures like Quetzalcoatlus as well as the relatively little Pterodactyl.
The link between the “things parents say” and the jobs is so tenuous it’s a surprise this got accepted.
Well below PR time until a DNF at LIA*A crossing I*ES.
I thought Rex's assessment was fair. It was easy-ish. I liked the theme more than he did but he's a critic. I'm just a poor country solver.
Cute. Agree some of the themers just didn't quite ring true.
I kept scratching my head with ILLTURNTHISCARAROUND, although my wife insists this is something parents say on a road trip with misbehavin' children.
Maybe "Drill sergeant's go-to parenting phrase"? - for I TOLD YOU, A HUNDRED TIMES!
Alternate clue for AUDI...........Umbilicus type.
Had to be one of my fastest Sundays ever, and some portion of my brain was the Mystery 101 movie in the background.
HUDDIE is news to me, and I would spell WOWEE as WOWIE, if I were to spell it at all, which I wouldn't.
Once again drew a blank on OPI.
My junk drawer of a brain had HUDDIE hidden somewhere, maybe behind the thumbtacks; I hadn’t given it a thought for decades. What a terrific name!
This puzzle was kind and restful, with its warm-smile-producing theme, and being light on trickiness. I left it feeling lovely and mellow, like after tubing down a river. No craziness or wildness. Heck, the puzzle even says YOU’RE GROUNDED.
I did like DOUBLE UP, which echoed Friday’s UPUP, and the PuzzPair© of ALPE and THIN AIR.
Why the warm smiles from the theme? The puzzle reminded me of the times when, with my kids, I’d snap out with a phrase in the same vein as the theme answers, then remember that it was precisely a phrase one of my parents used with me, and I would vow never to use that phrase again, and then I would. We humans can be very funny.
Thank you, Katie, for your feel-good puzzle!
This one was just flat out boring - I had to flog myself to complete it. Absolutely no interest in the theme, as there really isn’t one of any consequence. Why bother even having a theme with all the associated constraints when there is basically no payoff?
Hopefully Robyn, Jeff Chen or one of the scads of talented constructors whose work graces many other fine publications on a regular basis will stop by soon (I’m rooting for Robyn, lol) - as this puzzle just doesn’t belong in the NYT.
This was a very meh Sunday for all of the reasons stated above. No one knows everything about everything but could we get a little more obscure than HUDDIE ? One of the few redeeming qualities of this puzzle was the nod to Peter Sellers and memories of my uncle taking me to see the Pink Panther movies in the theater. When that was a thing. I assume Seller’s personal problems resulted in him having somewhat less celebrity than his contemporaries but I always felt he was a bit under appreciated. He got some nominations and won a golden globe.but I always though he was somewhat of a comic genius.
Pleasantly amusing theme. Scolds ending with a QUIETGAME.
PINKPANTHER didn’t jump out at me this morning. I liked it and TWOLEFTFEET.
This was like doing 3 or 4 Monday puzzles.
I hate Monday puzzles.
A little strange to have ANTIFUR crossing FOIE. Like it's OK to eat the animal's insides as long as you don't wear their outsides.
I confess to being shocked and appalled that you don't know the name of Leadbelly. For those of us in other countries, he is one of the great American cultural icons - a blues singer and composer with a storied life. Two tasks for you, Rex.kj
Sorry I'm a day late with these.
How did the chicken farmer stay warm? He kept a capon.
How you get a chicken out of the oven? Pullet
Cute theme. I like ILL TURN THIS CAR AROUND - never encountered LETS PLAY THE QUIET GAME.
Some unknown fill for me - but the overall was easy enough. I guess SLOTH is from a movie? and like @okanagner didn’t really know PSAKI.
There’s no AND/OR about it Graham Nash’s CARRIE Ann is quite a different girl than Sufjan’s CARRIE
Pleasant enough Sunday solve.
Rex said “Easy (very easy)” but I disagree. I would say “Easy (very very very easy).” But it was not an unenjoyable solve.
I almost made the same RTES for ETAS mistake Rex did, but luckily I caught myself.
Rex, musicians care about tone. The notes are on the page and what you play, but the tone . . . that's what sets musicians and instruments apart. Also, did you miss the 'times' with hundred? Pretty basic math, though.
Not being a crossword puzzle expert, I enjoyed this being easy, without any tricks or gimmmicks.
Reminded me of Tom Petty's "Turn This Car Around":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hi6TEnKGV_g
Please stop saying that librarians make people be quiet.
Liked it more than Rex--and a lot of you--did, despite the fact that it was so easy that I equaled my Sunday PB Sunday AND had to search and search for whatever typo was holding back the music. The theme was pleasant, as was most of the fill. I've never heard of 117A, but it made sense and was easy to get. 55A was very familiar, since my mother used it frequently. Good times...
I will always, always take a Robyn Weintraub puzzle--any day of the week, any difficulty level--and we haven't seen any from her here in a while, and I'd sure love to have one on a Sunday. But it wasn't all that bad having just a plain old pleasant one either.
Favorite answer: PSAKI. As @egsforbreakfast said, she was a breath of fresh air that cleared out the miasma left by TFG's platoon of press rats.
@Coniuratos: Do tell! I learn something new in this blog pretty much every day. Thanks for that info.
@kitschef: There's OPI and there's "Essie" and that's it. I don't know why any other companies even bother making nail polish. I have OPI's "You're Such a Budapest" on my toes right now. Good stuff.
Parenting has changed since I was a child. No one ever said LET'S PLAY THE QUIET GAME to me. What they said was "Nancy, keep your voice down! Not everyone on this bus wants to hear your conversation"! That's an actual admonishment on the Madison Avenue bus, ca 1950 or so, spoken by my mother at the very moment I was telling her the most thrilling news about my day at P.S.6.
No one ever said I'LL TURN THE CAR AROUND either. Perhaps because hey were too busy dealing with my own "Mommy, Mommy, are we there yet?" (I was that kind of child whenever I was in a car and I've remained that kind of grownup too.)
The only one of these that I actually found amusing was YOU'RE GROUNDED. The personal trainer's was blah and the mathematician's was forced.
I always wonder why someone striving for wordplay cleverness in their theme clues and answers doesn't strive for the same playfulness in all the other clues. I found this a quite dull and uninspired puzzle -- and I could have stopped anywhere. As in: "Mommy, Mommy, are we there yet?
Terrific, @Joaquin!!!!
Are you librarian? And…aren’t you telling us to be quiet?
Okay, so there wasn't some cutesy "hook" to figure out...pretty straightforward. Sometimes a slow, idle wander through a meadow is just as satisfying as a power walk.
P.S. LAPIS doesn't require LAZULI any more than CHICAGO needs ILLINOIS.
I totally got Naticked on LIANA / INES. I’m not at all familiar with LIANA. Sure - looking it up, it’s a thing. So is the town of Natick. But I’d argue both aren’t familiar to everyone. So you need a solid cross. I’d argue that ITE and IDE are both just as common as chemical suffixes as INE. And liada/liata/liana-all equally plausible if you don’t know.
Hands up for knowing Leadbelly, but not HUDDIE
Joaquin and Joe, nice one-two punch (lines) from the get-go.
That SLOTH scene is hilarious, btw, and a go to image for whenever I am rushing around pressed for time and run into someone operating at half-speed that I need to deal with or get around. I used to rush out of the apartment door, having gotten 2 kids fed and dressed for school, and had a half an hour to get them to 2 different schools, and then start my job. Inevitably, the elevator would stop on the 4th floor so a slow, cantakerous senior citizen could get her newspaper right during the morning rush.
Hey All !
Twas easy. Not too much of a blemish to me to be easy. Sometimes easy puzs are welcome. I liked today's offering.
UP seems to be coming UP quite regularly lately. Today, we get three, STOOD UP, SIT UP STRAIGHT, DOUBLE UP. Plus UPI. (If you really want to be anal - OCT(UP)LE). It's the new ENO, ONO, OREO.
Only six Themers in a SunSize grid. Back to the old days. The fill was good. Some -ese here and there, but some nice Longs to balance it out.
And that concludes my technical analysis of this puz. (Rereading what I wrote sounded to me like a technical breakdown!)
Puz was on the UP and UP. Har.
Five F's
RooMonster
DarrinV
@Southside - go away
@Joe Dipinto 12:23 AM - Ditto. I thought the were similar issues with nuances of usage in other clues as well.
If they are going to use tired phrases with occupational ?s, at least throw in a pun twist. Something. Anything to liven this DOA puzzle.
Halved my usual time but didn’t feel good about it.
Could have used the Psaki-ism for turn the car around - “CIRCLEBACK” was her go-to phrase…
@kitshef. Me, too, for WOWiE. I have linked OPI to OPIE in what passes for my memory. That seems to help.
I take issue with faulty usage in some of the clues. As @Joe Dipinto 12:23 AM points out, AT FIRST does not mean [from the get-go].
Less egregious, but similar: GETS REAL does not mean [accepts the facts] so much as accepts a situation, or perhaps something like accepts the inevitability of a situation.
I think the most egregious example is [chemical suffixes] as the clue for [INES]. The suffix "-ine" is one suffix. The fact that the entry is INES (plural) does not mean it's okay to pluralize the clue and leave it at that. As it turns our (grace à Wikipedia), the suffix "-ine" is used to denote two types of chemicals, namely, alkaloids and some hydrocarbons. So a better clue might have been something like [alkaloids and some hydrocarbons].
HERETO means "to this matter," not [in this matter]; again, they are not the same thing.
Next up, more of a mere quibble perhaps, but a FRENEMY is not really a [rival you kind of like]. I would go with something more like "One of two engaged in an amicable rivalry."
ABC is a simile for easiness, not simplicity, which is not the same thing. That being said, I would have clued ABC as [simple as do-re-mi, per a classic pop song].
By contrast, [Sellers franchise, with "The"] was a delightful clue, just misleading enough to earn a chuckle when solved with (characteristic of this puzzle) relative ease.
I liked it! Recalling the cliche phrases many of us use when pulling our hair our hair out 😉 with our kids tickled me. We do become our parents! 😆
@Geezer I had just decided two minutes ago to relate OPI to OPIE! Great minds ... ?
@Unknown: Rude! @SouthsideJohnny gets to air his grievances, or bestow his kudos, here, along with everyone else. Including you.
ER doc's go-to parenting phrase?
It's all fun and games until somebody loses an eye.
Rex is spot on. Fun theme but super easy. The good news is this was my record for a Sunday NYTXW! (Not as fast as Rex, but still...)
What a conductor would actually say is "Passengers will please refrain.....".
"I'LL TURN THIS CAR AROUND" My mother was not a mechanic but I heard her say that more than once. And it worked on me and my brother because we knew it wasn't an idle threat. Mom never made idle threats!
Even with the many missteps (erasures) I made today, this went by fast. I think it was due to the many simply clued three- and four-letter words. I was held up in the NW for a while with Guts instead of GALL but otherwise most were easy to rethink.
Clever idea, Katie Hale. My favorite theme is DON'T USE THAT TONE WITH ME. Thanks!
Naricked at the cross for 66D and 86A. Guessed C instead of S for OTIS-SELA and thus the DNF. WOWEE seems wrong. It doesn’t appear in my copy of the OED or MW. So where’s the editor when you need him?
Where is Loren Muse Smith this morning?
My real enjoyment of this puzzle was imagining her likely hilarious takes on the parenting theme.
In particular, I want to hear her riff on “Don’t use that tone with me!”
Same. Took too long to suss out my error.
I'll put in another plug for Boswords, which I've been doing the past couple of years. The puzzles are more indie-style than the NYT ones are, and there are often references or answers that feel very transient. But the puzzles are fun and there's an interview with the constructor that's also fun. A great way to spend some Monday nights!
I didn’t know the pigeon thing or the Jay Z song or the Emmy winning Ward, so that was hard. Are those all so well known? And the tropical vine and chemical could’ve been anything. So not easy at all to finish.
Sounds like Tiger Moms 101!.
This brought back many memories of when my sons were young. I must’ve used the same phrases 100 times! It was an easy puzzle but I enjoyed solving it.
@Southside, ignore the idiot(s).I actually enjoy your comments. We all have different levels of solving experience. Your entitled to your opinions as much as anyone else. I actually react to some entries with an "Oh, Southside's gonna hate this one". (But you might as well make a note on "liana")
Psychic’s go-to parenting phrase: YOU’LL THANK ME FOR THIS SOME DAY.
Stan Davis (8:49) -- But my friend Bob worked in a library as the Head Shusher for years.
Also, my oldest granddaughter is named Lianna - with an extra n. Not from the vine -- from the John Sayles movie (1983). I am very proud to have suggested it. She will be 13 in a few weeks, kinehora. If you run into her, try to pull her away from her phone.
Cute theme. I'm going to try to squeeze the conductor joke into rehearsal this week.
Didn't need Uncle G today and it freaks me out when that happens. If we don't have to look up random weird things to complete a puzzle, then Google is going to go out of business, and we're going to be right back where we started with a giant set of encyclopedias, and the best atlas money can buy -- each of which will be completely useless on any Africa related questions.
AMARETTO and ANISETTE have the same number of letters and many of them are the same and I was 100% sure I'd never had a licorice flavored tiramisu, but I'm not a New York sophisticate so maybe that's a thing among the elite, and that's what went in and it caused havoc in the center of the puzzle.
Uniclues:
1 Result of smoking.
2 Idled novelist romanticizing lack of production.
3 Bachelor ghosted, shockingly.
4 Friend of Guido describing him on espresso.
1 AT FIRST, YOU'RE GROUNDED
2 PEN SET HERETO STAR LIT
3 STAG STOOD UP... UH UH
4 RENI WIRED -- WOWEE
A few of the many singers influenced by Huddie Ledbetter (LeadBelly):
Bob Dylan credits Lead Belly for getting him into folk music. In his Nobel Prize Lecture, Dylan said "somebody – somebody I'd never seen before – handed me a Lead Belly record with the song 'Cotton Fields' on it. And that record changed my life right then and there. Transported me into a world I'd never known. It was like an explosion went off. Like I'd been walking in darkness and all of the sudden the darkness was illuminated. It was like somebody laid hands on me. I must have played that record a hundred times."[29] Dylan also pays homage to him in "Song to Woody" on his self-titled debut album.
In 1951, the Weavers' recording of their arrangement of Lead Belly's "Irene," released as "Good Night, Irene," was the first folk song to reach #1 on the U.S. charts, selling some two million copies.[25]
Kurt Cobain promoted the legacy of Lead Belly, and some modern rock audiences owe their familiarity with Lead Belly to Nirvana's performance of "Where Did You Sleep Last Night" (which Lead Belly called "In the Pines") on a televised concert later released as MTV Unplugged in New York.[26] Cobain refers to his attempt to convince David Geffen to purchase Lead Belly's guitar for him in an interval before the song is played. In his notebooks, Cobain listed Lead Belly's Last Session Vol. 1 as one of the 50 albums most influential in the formation of Nirvana's sound.[27] It was included in NME's "The 100 Greatest Albums You've Never Heard list".[28]
(All quotes from Wikipedia article on Lead Belly.)
I’m in agreement with those folks that found this a pleasant but easy Sunday and agree with @Rex as to the stand-outs of PINKPANTHER and TWOLEFTFEET. I was initially taken in by the “Sellers” misdirect and thought there might be a franchise small grocery called Pink Pantry. 🙄
@Nancy, I was also an “are we there yet” kid. I was familiar with ILLTURNTHISCARAROUND even though I never heard it from MY parents and I think it is because my sister is eleven years older than me and I would NEVER have tried to fight with her in the back seat. That phrase also requires the trip to be kid focused (going to beach/amusement park) or it means nothing. I DO remember hearing QUITKICKINGMYSEAT on family car trips.
@egs…perfect thing to say about Jen Psaki!
@anonymous 8:07…I hear ya BUT nothing in the clue indicated the liver was for pâté.
@kitshef, same here for WOWiE.
I see no real objection to HUDDIE. I knew about Leadbelly and Ledbetter but had no idea of his first name. But every single cross was straightforward.
As for TAP and PSAKI, agreed that's a Natick, but only if you deliberately remain totally out of touch with current events. For all of 2021, you had to be in a real cocoon to never notice the name Psaki, and then of course wonder, oh what an unusual name.
Except from Tom Lehrer's Lobachevsky, 1953:
I have a friend in Minsk
Who has a friend in Pinsk
Whose friend in Omsk
Has friend in Tomsk
With friend in Akmolinsk
His friend in Alexandrovsk
Has friend in Petropavlovsk
Whose friend somehow is solving now
The problem in Dnepropetrovsk
Villager
Ah, re Psaki, I forgot to notice that the comment came from Okanaganer (spelled the Canadian way). Agreed, no way to know. Not a Canadian household name.
Villager
Thx, Katie; a wonderful Sun. offering, and not just BECAUSE I SAID SO! :)
Easy-med.
Technical dnf, as I has FOIs, and somehow ended up with PEN SsT. Easily tracked down and corrected, tho. lol
Had Grit before GALL, so obviously didn't know the meaning of 'Chutzpah', nor did I know how to pronounce it.
Liked the Polynesian flavor with MOANA & 'Mauna' KEA. 🌴
Excellent article on preventing ALGAE buildup in your tank: here.
Fun coincidence: just prior to embarking on this puz, I'd set a reminder to watch ANDOR (Disney+ on the 21st).
Enjoyed today's adventure a lot! :)
___
Peace 🕊 🇺🇦 ~ Compassion ~ Tolerance ~ Kindness to all 🙏
( addendum to prior post about musicians influenced by Lead Belly): Lonnie Donegan's recording of "Rock Island Line", released as a single in late 1955, signaled the start of the UK skiffle craze. George Harrison of The Beatles was quoted as saying, "if there was no Lead Belly, there would have been no Lonnie Donegan; no Lonnie Donegan, no Beatles. Therefore no Lead Belly, no Beatles."[30] In a BBC tribute in 1999, which marked the 50th anniversary of Lead Belly's death, Van Morrison – while sitting alongside Ronnie Wood of The Rolling Stones – claimed that the British popular music scene of the 1960s wouldn't have happened if it weren't for Lead Belly's influence. "I'd put my money on that," he said. Wood concurred.[31]
Touché!
Timid Rock climber's go-to parenting phrase? "Don't make me come up there!"
Personal Sunday best for me too, and would have been faster but for the time it took me to find my WOWiE error. Pleasant enough, though I thought some of the occupations were a bit off. “Chauffeur” seems better than “mechanic” and “accountant” or “bookkeeper” better than “mathematician.”
I don’t think of FRENEMY as a “rival you kind of like” at all. I think of it as a person you count as a friend whom you secretly can’t stand and perhaps try to undermine. So kind of the opposite of the clue. Let’s call a rival you kind of like an “enemiend.”
TWO LEFT FEET reminded me of the hilarious mockumentary “Best in Show” with Eugene Levy as a man with literally two left feet. He and his wife - played, as usual, by Catherine O’Hara - are reminiscing about how they met at a dance. She wanted him to dance, and he had told her, “I’ve got two left feet.” Catherine says, “I thought he was kidding” and the camera moves down to show that he does in fact have two left feet. Then he says that when he was a little boy they called him “Loopy” because he always walked in circles. All totally deadpan, of course.
Yes lol
Huddie was a no brainer for me.
I know conductors are responsible for the interpretation of the score in front of them and, given the people they're conducting, "notes" are one of their least concerns, while "tone" is a large one.
As for the French and English speakers, perhaps the "kindergarten" answer lies in the fact French is a Romance language and English is Anglo-Saxon?
As others, the clues for the theme answers were rather unnecessary as well as pretty "meh". The puzzle was easy as pie which, of course, I had before "ABC", which feels less prevalent to me but kind of presages the librarian thing I guess (I'm from the Northeast US, maybe that has something to do with it). For some reason I had real trouble with "assent" even when I had most of the letters. Go figure.
Fast and kinda fun Sunday. I'll take it.
@other David: yes, to tone being important; I wouldn't demote "notes" quite that far - even with the best professionals, there can be typos in the score to listen for.
inre Kindergarten: good point with Romance language. Plus, the French have a government bureau dedicated to keeping foreign words out, and preserve the French language as it is. LMS would have a lot of fun with that, or her head would explode from the prescriptivism.
Speaking of whom, I'll repost this from last night: So glad to have LMS back on a regular basis again. That thing that happens when you start typing and you have no idea how that spun GOLD came out of your fingers, it is called TALENT! (which has also been backed up with years of work, study and practice). As someone else mentioned a few years ago, you should really look into writing a regular column or compile your thoughts into a book!
The last thing librarians do is shush their patrons.
Peter Sellars is spelled like this.
Fun puzzle, but +1 for the LIANA/INES Natick at the N. Terrible cross. Never heard of LIANA in my life (and never will again after this puzzle, I guarantee), and for all I know the suffix could have been ISES (my first guess), ITES, ILES, IMES, IDES.
Did not find it so easy. a number of clues seemed to vague to get until I had some crosses and as I was totally misled by the Seller's clue , thinking there we=as som online seller's franchise it took me a long time to get anywhere up top. Eventually it got easier.
The only parenting line I hadn't heard was the quiet game, but it seemed believable.
Disagree with Rex abut the connections being tenuouss. Thought them clear and entertaining.
Joaquin and others with alternate themes :Thnx for the chuckle.
Cute and easy, though Pink Panther misdirect was tough. Never heard of ..The Quiet Game. My daughter wouldn't have fallen for that one. My go to was, "I'll pull this car over!" I never knew what I'd do if they'd taken me up on it and I don't think they ever thought, "How bad could it get?" But it worked always worked.
@Anonymous 1:23 PM Yes, but he's a different guy.
Monday x 4 ❗️
But it was cute 🥰.
🤗🦖🦖🦖🦖🤗
Re: 37D and 70D – can we agree that a SCAD is a large number but a TON is a large amount? This conflation occurs more and more in both the written and spoken word. A number is more than one; an amount is measurable but not countable.
I would guess that the very easy rating was by design for a puzzle primarily aimed at casual solvers who maybe only do one xword a week, maybe while playing cards with friends or watching sports on TV and who come back to the puzzle in the interims and breaks between those activities. It could have been amped up in difficulty by using late week, themeless level clueing but I don't think that was the editorial intent.
I use 80D LAPIS lazuli in some inlaid crushed stone wood jewelry I make. It's a stone composed of several minerals of which lazurite gives it its otherworldly deep, deep, deep blue color. The ultimate ultramarine powder would be made from just pure lazurite. Other minerals in LAPIS lazuli like calcite (white) or pyrite (fools' gold) would make the blue less saturated, faded even. Almost all LAPIS lazuli comes from a few mines in Afghanistan.
Yahoo! Dropped in 33D OPI without any crosses and did a boisterous happy dance!
Hale, yes!
M&A salutes this SunPuz, for its…
* Humorous theme. Always a plus, with a ginormous-sized puz solvequest. fave themer: DONTUSETHATTONEWITHME.
* 19 U's! Even tho there were still more of each of yer other vowels, that's a ton of U's.
* THINAIR scam. In that it scammed M&A into puttin THEBLUE in there first. Followed by BLUE (Christmas) then showin up right next-door, to slap old M&A back to his senses, before he lost too many precious nanoseconds lost in recovery mode.
* 28 sweet lil weejects for the staff to pick from. Today's pick: OPI. M&A almost remembered how to spell this nail polish brand this time [had OPA, so 2 outta 3].
* fave fillins, such as: OCTUPLE. DOUBLEUP. WINGSPAN. GETSREAL.TWOLEFTFEET. Beto OROURKE [Oh, please please, win]. FRENEMY.
* Just the right sprinklin of sparkly/feisty clues. Was kinda extra-partial to the PENSET clue.
Thanx for the TON of fun, Ms. Hale darlin. Smoooth job.
Masked & Anonymo(TON)Us
illustrated, sooo … recommend usin the Down Home approach, for yer solvequest:
**gruntz**
I imagine the French might be especially averse to adopting German words.
There are a lot of wineries in my area of northern Michigan. One is named Peter Cellars.
I’m sure I will find several duplications of my comment, but I will save those to read later… For clarification, the French word “école” means simply school. It is used to refer most often to an elementary or a grammar school but it is not by any means kindergarten. “Grande école” means college or university. Finally, "jardin des enfants" does mean "kindergarten", as does "école maternelle".
Glad so many found this easy, as I was halfway through when I started thinking I could have done this just using the down clues, as some folks do on Mondays. Way too late for that by the time it occurred to me.
HUDDIE is wheelhouse stuff for me, but I'm not sure how you'd come up with it if you've never heard it, so I'm giving those of you who didn't know it a pass, although you really should know this. Just saying.
Everything in this one seemed familiar, although I never heard YOUREGROUNDED in my growing-up days, probably because in my little town there was really nowhere to go.
Nice enough Sundecito, KH. even if I Knew Half the answers without thinking twice. Nice Beginner Sunday. Thanks for all the fun.
@Anoa Bob (2:34 PM)
Ditto re: OPI. I think I've almost got Essie, as well. :)
@Rex; @Jill (4:18 PM)
Thx for the French lesson! :) I got 'children's gardens' and wondered how that translated to ECOLES, i.e., 'schools'. Didn't even twig on 'kindergartens'. 🤔
___
Peace 🕊 🇺🇦 ~ Compassion ~ Tolerance ~ Kindness to all 🙏
The phrases are all ones I've heard, and sometimes used, or my wife has. The threat to turn the car around was pretty common if our kids fought in the back seat on the way to the beach or other fun place.
I rather think a jardin d'enfants is a preschool -- a day care center, most often provided by a local government. Or perhaps a kids' playground. Seems to me there are nice playgrounds in several parks in Paris. Usually in the more elegant neighborhoods.
A frenemy is always a rival. But one you enjoy arguing with, and kind of like.
I loved those Pink Panther movies. Comic masterpieces all.
I really want to thank OFL for that clip of a man performing Vincent. It's written by Don McLean, famous also for Bye Bye American Pie. We pretty much played the grooves off the album those songs are on.
In other news, it took a while but I did solve the Split Decisions after some effort, also of course the PB quiz
Yours was funnier than any in the puzzle.
Not much time to comment today, so I'll just say that it's "Dont make me turn this car around!"
Peter Cellars Is a winery in Sonoma County, a far cry from Michigan. LOL
Alternate speakers: I’ll turn this car around (racecar driver). You’re grounded (electrician).
You’d think SERE (arid) is the root of Serengeti, but the park name means “endless plains.”
Peter Sellars is a respected theater & opera director who teaches at UCLA. Peter Sellers was the British actor and comedian who played Inspector Clouseau in The Pink Panther series.
Intersecting words OCTUPLE and COTE were new to me.
SCAD is used interchangeably with SCADs. Both plural nouns.
AT FIRST doesn't mean “from the get-go.”
WOWEE should be WOWiE, like owie, yowie, zowie.
Lastly . . . Sean Spicer, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Stephanie Grisham, and Kayleigh McEnany were reflections of their boss. Jen Psaki was a reflection of her boss. Smart, classy, and well adjusted — just when we needed her.
I thought the themers were cute but on the whole I wish the parenting expressions were a little more positive. They all seem so chiding and negative. My son is 26 now and I can't recall any phrases that were on repeat when he was little, but I'm sure there are some more positive ones (this is dorky but like an astronomer's could be "I love you to the moon and back")
Nah. This one was fun
C’mon, folks! I’m often surprised at what some of the wisest among you don’t know. Huddie “Leadbelly” Ledbetter is an American icon. If you don’t know you certainly should.
In the Pines is an amazing song by Huddie Leadbetter. Kurt Cobain does an amazing cover of it on MTV unplugged and talks about Leadbelly being the band’s favorite singer. Listen to it loud.
Yes, easiest Sunday puzzle in a year of Sundays. Hey, we all got our whatevers. I'll take blues and folk musicians in less than a heartbeat over Game of Thrones characters, Disney princesses, and all the like. Huddie Ledbetter, legend.
Stephen King's first (obscure) nivel crossed by a nail polish brand. Are you kidding me? Sent directly to file 13...
I had the same thought when solving. Not a good clue.
Nitpicky comment: kindergarten is not the "literal translation" of jardin d'enfants—a literal translation is one in which each word in a phrase is translated on its own instead of translating the overall meaning of the phrase.
The true literal translation of 'jardins d'enfants' is 'gardens of children'.
Also, to get even more nitpicky, 'jardins d'enfants' means 'kindergartens' (plural); jardin d'enfants means 'kindergarten' (singular).
SHE SHE GAME
I'M HERETO say YOU TOLD ME
TO BRING THIS couple UP,
TERI AND SELA rolled ME;
those TWO will DOUBLEUP.
--- HUDDIE O'ROURKE
I MUST remember that nail polish brand. It always eludes me.
My favorite word of the day - can you guess? WOWEE I plan to use it all day.
Do you have a favorite puzzle word of the day?
Diana, Lady-in-Waiting for Crosswords
@D,LIW - SLOTH, I think today I like SLOTH.
@spacey will be giddy with both SELA and TERI in there.
Wordle birdie.
@Ken Freeland 4:01am :
Carrie is hardly obscure.
@Mike in Bed-Stuy 10:15am :
I agree about the chemical suffix conundrum, but, thankfully, liana is old xwordese, although I haven't seen it in some time. Rolodex it.
Ah yes: NINE apathetic sympathetic diabetic old men on roller skates with a marked propensity toward procrastination and SLOTH...sure, I'll even use it as a starter word in tonight's Wordle. I hope I get ANOTHER birdie*
Many's the time those parental go-tos were foisted on me...except that last one. We had no "QUIET GAME." The quieter Mother got the madder she was: you had to stop your yammering to hear her! She starts whispering and the fear of God descends.
Nice, easy Sunday romp with plenty of nostalgia. Birdie.
*GBGYG
GGGBG
GGGGG
Should really have been an eagle, truth be known.
I wonder why people get hung up on the Kindergarten clue. It’s clued with “par exemple”, as in “for example”. A “jardin d’enfants” is clearly a type of school, i.e. “école”. No issue there.
@ Diana - Favorite word for me FRENEMY - I'm on a swim team and so I have a few frenemies. Friends out of the pool, rivals in the pool. Cool modern word.
I liked this puzzle, but DNF since I don't follow JayZ or Kanye West and I have no idea who Sela Ward or Ward Sela is.
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