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Relative difficulty: Medium (normal Monday)
Theme answers:
- TAPE DELAY (17A: Built in lag time to allow bleeping during a live broadcast)
- SCISSORS KICK (24A: Part of a swimmer's sidestroke)
- BOX SEAT (40A: Good vantage point at an opera house or stadium)
- PAPER TRAINED (51A: Like a puppy who's learned where to "go") ("quotation marks?" "really?")
- BOW STRING (64A: Archer's arrow launcher)
Rolfing (/ˈrɔːlfɪŋ, ˈrɒl-/) is a form of alternative medicine originally developed by Ida Rolf (1896–1979) as Structural Integration. Rolfing is marketed with unproven claims of various health benefits. It is based on Rolf's ideas about how the human body's "energy field" can benefit when aligned with the Earth's gravitational field.Rolfing is typically delivered as a series of ten hands-on physical manipulation sessions sometimes called "the recipe". Practitioners combine superficial and deep manual therapy with movement prompts. The process is sometimes painful. The safety of Rolfing has not been confirmed.
The principles of Rolfing contradict established medical knowledge, and there is no good evidence Rolfing is effective for the treatment of any health condition. It is recognized as a pseudoscience and has been characterized as quackery. (wikipedia)
• • •
The fill was not bad, just drab. ASA ITWAS ENIAC ORANG LEI LUAU ASSN AMOR etc. The answer ROLF always makes me laugh, in that I always knew it as a slang word for "barf" and anyway ROLF is not [Massage deeply], it is proprietary pseudoscientific gobbledygook (see "Word of the Day" entry, above). Isn't ROLF the dog on "The Muppet Show"? Oh, darn, he's ROWLF (put *that* in your puzzle and smoke it!). Anyway, ROLF is silly, which is better than bad and/or boring, I suppose. Hey, what (the hell) is the difference between SEAR and CHAR (23A: Scorch)!?!? Definition of "SEAR" that I'm reading right now says it means "burn or scorch the surface of (something) with a sudden, intense heat" (google). That [Scorch] works for both words is ... confusing, not least because they both end in -AR (making that pair a hard kealoa*) (soft kealoas* only have one letter in common ... I'm making this stuff up as I go along, you understand ...). Hope the rest of your day is nice, or at least not EXECRABLE. Do not have A FOUL day, is what I'm saying. See you tomorrow.
Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld
Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld
*kealoa = short, common answer that you can't just fill in quickly because two or more answers are viable, Even With One or More Letters In Place. From the classic [Mauna ___] KEA/LOA conundrum. See also, e.g. [Heaps] ATON/ALOT, ["Git!"] "SHOO"/"SCAT," etc.
[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]
Execrable seemed a bit rough for a Monday.
ReplyDeleteI've usually seen "ralph" as the slang variant for barf... but maybe that's just me.
ReplyDeleteOther than that, a not-too-flashy simple Monday. Quickish solve; I'll give it a plus for happy holiday mood.
I concur with “ralph.”
DeleteI’m on team “ralph” as well.
DeleteMaybe if the theme answers wers in an "orderly" format?
ReplyDeleteBOX SEAT
PAPER TRAINED
SCISSORS KICK
TAPE DELAY (Isn't it TIME DELAY?)
BOWSTRING
Could have moved GIFT down to the lowest far right corner (off BOWSTRING) maybe?
Anybody need further proof that Rex is down under? He says that GIFT is “jammed all the way over there to the left.” Of course to those of us in the northern hemisphere, GIFT appears to be on the right. This is a corollary Coriolis effect, which can be verified by flushing the puzzle down the toilet.
ReplyDeleteThis puzzle has something for everyone, from ASSES to ABS, plus the juicy crossing of (BOX)SEAT and ASS(N). By the time I finished I felt like I’d been PAPERTRAINED on my iPad.
Cute Monday-of Christmas-week puzzle as we procrastinators get down to wrapping presents (once we actually buy them). Thanks, Jennifer Nutt.
So, what do we think the grid looks like today? I vote for: a football inside a truncated backwards swastika.
ReplyDeleteIt's appropriate that SKYROCKET is placed symmetrically to EXECRABLE in the grid, since "skyrockets" is a lyric in
one of the most execrable songs of the 1970s. (Sorry about that. Here's something to wash away the bad taste.)
I wanted HOUSEBROKEN for the puppy answer but it was a letter short. PAPER-TRAINED is absolutely a thing and if you can't figure out why people would do it, well...
This was a perfectly fine holiday week puzzle. I'd say the constructor is eying a tropical vacation soon though, what with leis, luaus, palms and Samoa making their presence (presents?) felt.
That was a fun, little, get ready for the Holiday puzzle. One write over seAR before CHAR when I couldn’t figure what Japanese cuisine SUSeI was, Oh SUSHI. Okay! I’ve had SUSHI twice and broke out with hives both times. No more raw fish for me.
ReplyDeleteEXECRABLE filled out with crosses only, thank you very much.
Come back @Z I miss your comments.
Funny I always thing of char and sear being two slightly different things at least when it comes to meat - - char means to burn over high heat, whereas sear means to cook something with the intent of building up a barrier so that interior juices are kept inside. But others may surely disagree! But I agree with Rex - it's a scissor kick.
ReplyDeleteAgreed that seat and CHAR are two different things. But the purpose of searing is to get flavor and texture from the Maillard reaction. The old theory that it creates some kind of juice barrier has been disproven.
DeleteMedium.
ReplyDeleteASSES does not leap to mind when I read Dodos.
Pretty smooth and @eggs cute works for me, liked it.
@bocamp & pabloinnh - Croce’s Freestyle #769 was on the easy side for a Croce. That said, I missed it by one square. Wishing you better luck than I had!
Look, peeps. For all the complaints, it was a F-ing Monday. When... sigh. When was the last time the #NYTXW posted a good Monday?
ReplyDelete@Robin 2:47 AM
DeleteEvery Monday has been a great Monday. Or a terrible Monday. Or just a Monday. In Denmark, there is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so according to a now dead prince.
BTW: "kealoa" could be replaced by "orcent", although neither seem to apply to this puzz.
ReplyDeleteBut ORC and ENT don’t share any letters? Yes they’re both LOTR lore, but they’ve always been easy to parse. KEA and LOA are always clued “Mauna ___.”
DeleteThe next time someone gets offended by Xmas...
ReplyDeleteThe "X" is the Greek Chi, the first letter of (and commonly used to stand for) "Christos." In Christian art you see it as part of the Chi Rho, which is all over the place.
My five favorite clues from last week
ReplyDelete(in order of appearance):
1. Inspiration for some fashion lines? (5)
2. Unnamed alternative (2)(4)
3. Cold shower? (11)
4. Place with multiple ports (4)(3)
5. Joke that goes over the line? (5)(4)
ZEBRA
OR ELSE
THERMOMETER
WINE BAR
CRANK CALL
I liked this! A holiday-themed puzzle that wasn’t too cutesy, but laid out five items required for the wrapping of presents (yes, I know you can use gift bags). In order to use these things for wrapping, the meaning or context has to change in four out of the five themers: audiotape becomes Scotch TAPE, legs making SCISSOR motions become SCISSORS, theater BOX becomes cardboard BOX, and an archery BOW becomes a BOW made out of ribbon. You can’t do much in the case of PAPER, but I guess newspaper becomes colored PAPER. I agree that’s a strange location for a revealer, but I thought it worked – I liked the look of themers and revealer laid out that way. (But, yeah, SCISSOR KICK without the extra S seems more in-the-language to me.) At 6D I was happy to meet Mrs. CLAUS, who added to the general holiday ambience. (But why the designation "year-round North Pole resident" as if that sets Mrs. CLAUS apart? Don't Santa and the elves live there all year, too?)
ReplyDeleteI’m so Un[With it] that I failed to get HIP at 1A until I’d filled in HATS and IMAC at 1 and 2D. (Damn – and to think I used to be one of the cool kids.) I thought [Landscape, e.g.] was an odd clue for SCENE. Thankfully I already had the SC in place when I read it or I would have stuck in “genrE,” as in a type of subject matter for painting. EXECRABLE is a great word, but a downer concept in such a cheery puzzle (and, btw, "Egregious" has the same number of letters). I liked the dynamic SKYROCKET. Also enjoyed the side-by-side AYE ROLLS, the two neighboring rivers, SLACKER crossing ASSES, EXECRABLE cozying up to AFOUL (hi, Rex), and PALMS almost growing on ICE FLOES. I don’t know anything about training puppies, but I can certainly vouch for bird-watching cats occupying SILLS – they’re BOX SEATS for felines.
[SB: yd, -4. Not my finest hour, and I blame the distractions of the season. Among my misses were these two biggies. With this set of letters, I’m always amused that the top word in this pair is acceptable but the bottom word is not.]
More ASSES again, which is boring and way beyond its expiration date. ROLF seems kind of bogus.
ReplyDeleteI was a bit surprised that the editors didn’t clue the SILLS in the SW as “Opera singer Beverly”; why let an opportunity to fire up a quad-PPP stack on a Monday get wasted ? That corner could have had something for everyone - a college in MN, a real-life diva, a country over near Rex and a county in England. Could have been a classic on a Monday.
I was planning to talk about how it is ‘scissor kick’, not SCISSORS KICK, but apparently this is recency bias. ‘Scissor kick’ has taken over only in the last decade.
ReplyDeleteSKY ROCKET made me think of Afternoon Delight, which I have not thought of for years (and I was OK with that).
AMY: lol, I too (regrettably) remember that song. Nice harmonies, though.
DeleteWhen I started swimming seriously in 1984 it was called a "scissor" kick. My wife was swimming for more than a decade before that, and she has never heard of a "scissors" kick. No recency bias involved. Nobody who swims has ever called it a "scissors" kick.
DeleteNice Monday puzzle. A clever glue for GIFT would have been, "ESP, e.g."
ReplyDeleteGoogle search for Pee Pads.
ReplyDeleteFor a depiction of rolfing (and many other pseudosciences), see Burt Reynolds, Jill Clayburgh, and Kris Kristofferson in "Semi-tough," a football movie that's about more than football.
ReplyDelete@jae - for me, Croce 769 was the hardest I've ever done -- had to use "check puzzle" twice. Never heard of:
ReplyDelete22A, 29A, 35A, 26D, 23D, 10D.
The 29A/10D cross is clearly a problem, but the fact that 35A crossed all three unknown downs was what really did me in.
I just solved @Nancy and Will's Universal puzzle. Har! Great revealer and a very timely theme in this season of over-the-top shopping.
ReplyDelete@BarbaraS
DeleteHave you got a link? I can't find it! Thx
All the theme answers are interesting and lovely; they give the puzzle a sweet feel. Plus, there was an excellent supporting cast: SLACKER, ICE FLOE, SPINET, EXECRABLE.
ReplyDeleteRegarding cluing, what a difference a day makes. Early in the week, SPINET has mostly been clued as [Small piano]. But on Friday and Saturday, in the NYT and other venues, the clues get tougher: [Small parlor piece], [Upright], [Keyboard instrument], [Celesta’s cousin], and the wordplaying [It’s less than a grand].
This puzzle was a charming way to start the week. Thank you so much for it, Jennifer!
I agree with Rex on what should be SCISSOR KICK and house TRAINED, but I really enjoyed this. I’m not into gifts (Xmas or otherwise, bah humbug) but I found this a more enjoyable than usual Monday, both clever and with some kick, in a good way. Oh, ROLFing, as in deep tissue massage, was a big thing when I was in college, but it always seemed scary to me.
ReplyDeleteI liked the chronology of this--you get out your TAPE and your SCISSORS, find a BOX wrap it with PAPER, and put a BOW on it. If you substitute "my wife" for "you", you get what happens in our house. When I wrap something it looks like I was trying to do it while wearing boxing gloves.
ReplyDeleteHard to leave the revealer for last, as I try to do, as A) it was filled in by obvious crosses and B) it was itself obvious.
Left the S off of SCISSORS and SEAR before CHAR, otherwise a sprint. I used EXECRABLE to describe either a clue or an answer sometime last week. Alas, memory does not serve.
Nice Mondecito, JN. It Just Needed the revealer in a different place. Thanks for all the fun.
Now on to Croce and the New Yorker Monday (the hard one). Also, thought yesterday's Acrostic was on the easy side.
Cooking snob here: searing is something you do intentionally to create a Maillard reaction on the outside of the meat because browned and crispy (seared!) food tastes good. Charring is something that happens accidentally when you leave it on the flame for too long and it is destroyed.
ReplyDeletetldr; seared is delicious, charred is ruined.
Charred meat is definitely bad. However charred vegetables, generally can't be seared, can be good
DeleteI read PAPERTRAINED as trained to “go” and get the paper. Hence the quotation marks.
ReplyDeleteI’m pretty much down with @egs and Joe D’s take on this one. Cute theme - densely filled and in the moment. I liked the isolated placement of the revealer.
ReplyDeleteLiked BOXSEAT dead center - maybe EXECRABLE was a stretch early week? Not a lot of pushback. Smoke a BLUNT - become a SLACKER. Dell Griffith.
If you stare intently at the grid and stand on your head - you’ll see a little nativity scene.
Enjoyable Monday solve.
New RIDERS
@Rex, Jasper definitely "ralph"
ReplyDelete@JoeD Afternoon Delight!!! I thought the same thing
Also, definitely SCISSOR(s)KICK.
Mondays are fun. The only thing slowing me down to over 5 min is my own tendency to typos. Thought the theme was apt enough, as I still use all those things when wrapping. Gift bags are expensive and seem like, idk, cheating? Like you didn't care enough to get down with the PAPER, SCISSORS and TAPE and finish it off with a BOW?
@Anon 8:22 - Two new jobs for you -
ReplyDeletePop up anywhere and everywhere when people talk about caramelizing their meat. Tell them it's the Maillard reaction. Sugars caramelize, not proteins.
Tell everyone that charring food is ruining it. I don't want my tacos/pizza/bread/cheese-cake charred.
Be as overbearing as you want, those who disagree with you are idiots.
@Barbara S - is there a link that you could post for the Nancy/Will puzzle? If possible, thank you!
ReplyDeleteToo bad Rex can’t stand stomach-churning references in puzzles. He would not like to know that Rolf is another term for vomiting or upchucking.
ReplyDeleteJoe Dipinto with a real Rorschach test on the grid there. Truly expressing the essence of the American id.
ReplyDeleteHey All !
ReplyDeleteSNUG as ASSES in a BOX SEAT. 😁
Nice MonPuz. Christmas-y. Next Sunday already. Time flies.
Not too much to say today. The theme was pretty good, all the stuff needed to wrap a GIFT.
Did have nice longer Downs.
If you think ROLFing is a joke, are you ROFL about ROLF?
(Best I got today.)
Three F's
RooMonster
DarrinV
Amy: still enjoying a post world cup glow. Fantastic crowds in Buenos Aires! This was a fair Monday, nice nod to the holidays. My only woe was Shun instead of SNUB in the SE, easily rectified.
ReplyDeleteHere's the real GIFT: The NYTXW team has placed a spotlight on its slush pile strategies. Want to be published after unleashing the power of your Macintosh with whatever software is filling in a grid for you? Just make sure ASSES is one of your entries, hopefully on the top line, and you'll be rolling in five $100 bills like a scene from a romantic comedy where you're the pithy street urchin. Try to squeeze in BLUNT too. They've been so clear on their affinity for butts and anything making them tee-hee with tween humor. Think like a fifth grade boy, run your compiler accordingly, and we'll be dragging you through the mud on this blog in no time. Hope for a guest blogger on your day and you might be among the most loathsome creatures galumphing through the venerable world of puzzling. Or you might be a hero. I will probably celebrate you even with a phalanx of ASSES.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, I love this puzzle. It took me longer than usual, but Sound of Music is on and it's like watching the greatest train wreck of all time in slow motion. Not to be missed.
Uniclues:
1 Subject of myth in a world lit afire by one invasive species.
2 Opinion one on a diet holds at a bakery.
3 The injury-claims lawyer on my TV seventeen times a night.
4 Seeds left by bird drumming up future business.
1 DENSER ICE FLOE
2 EXECRABLE ROLLS (~)
3 ABC SPOT PEST
4 STORK GIFT EGGS
The NYT has been on an ASSES KICK recently. I wonder if they read our modest little commentary section and conclude we can't get enough, not realizing there's a heavily ironic undertone to it all. (Hi EGGS.) Oh, and there's ASSN. Cut it out already.
ReplyDelete@SouthsideJohnny
The only thing bogus about ROLF is the claim that "Rolfing" has proven medical benefits. Otherwise: oh, it's all too real.
"You are never famous until you've had your name in a crossword puzzle" -- Beverly SILLS.
Apparently she was very fond of crosswords (from a 1971 Times Magazine article: "Beverly can do a crossword puzzle in 20 minutes, in ink" -- I believe that was meant admiringly, and not in the tone Rex struck yesterday when he posited 20 minutes as a possible solving time for some of you lot).
"For we need a little Christmas, right this very minute
Candles in the window, carols at the SPINET"
SB: I've had a mini-streak, with 0's for the past three days. Yesterday it was a challenge finding some of those biggies (hi @Barbara S.). I'm allowing myself a sack dance just because it's been a while since I could claim that, ever since weaning myself from looking at grids, which got to be an EXECRABLE habit for a while.
The correct word to describe a dog that knows where to pee and poo is "housebroken." Potty trained is an acceptable alternative. I've never heard of the phrase "paper trained." For dogs that go on peepee pads, I've never heard anyone calling that "paper training." Such as bad answer.
ReplyDeletePeople traditionally used old newspapers (i.e. free) for paper training puppies. Now people buy pads. Guess digital news changed all that.
DeleteDitto that
DeleteWe “paper trained “ our puppies. When we leave the house, there was a spot near the door we’d lay down newspapers in case dog had to “go “ while we were gone. We called it “paper trained.”
The swastika debate rages on. Though I’m not thrilled to be in agreement with Don Jr., how can anyone be swastika deniers?
ReplyDeletehttps://nypost.com/2022/12/19/new-york-times-slammed-over-swastika-crossword-on-first-day-of-hanukkah/
As for PAPERTRAINED, now that I read the news on an iPad, will I have to train my next pup on a bunch of Apple devices? But it used to be the way to “go”, at least.
Didn’t know about Christos-mas — thought X was shorthand for the method of execution - like in Xword. Not offended though by swastikas on Hanukkah or Xing out some letters in Christmas.
But I wasn’t offended by the Xtopher Adams writeup, so maybe I just don’t get put out that much…
Rex,
ReplyDeleteYou hate to default to Christianity. So do many of your acolytes. But there well over 2 billion people who love Christianity. Go ahead. Mock, belittle and try to marginalize the importance of The Nativity. But the incarnation is the seminal moment of history. That's why we even use it as the demarcation of our dating system. God Bless you Rex. wishing you all the blessings of the season.
It is apparent that Rex was not belittling anything other than the reader who chose to be offended by the innocent use of a commonly used word.
DeleteAnd now you also chose to be offended by a construct of your own making.
Thanks, Barbara! And here's the link to Will N's and my Universal puzzle today.
ReplyDeleteAs for this NYT puzzle -- I was so relieved when it turned out not to be yet again another ROCK, SCISSORS, PAPER theme. But I wasn't 100% happy with the themers from the standpoint of the GIFT receiver. So there's the package on your doorstep and there's the BOX and there's the PAPER and there's the BOW. The SCISSORS (I hope) is not part of the packaging. I know it was used in creating the packaging, but still...
A word about BOX SEATs. Yes, great at a stadium, but the absolute pits (pun intended) in a theater if you have an inside BOX SEAT as i had during the first act of "The Odd Couple". (I sneaked down to the front of the orchestra for the 2nd Act since I'd used my perch to pinpoint an available seat.)
Thx, Jennifer; dug your HIP GIFT! :)
ReplyDeleteMed+ (played like a Tues. pour moi).
The ICE FLOE rescued my OLAF vs OLAV kealoa.
A daily goal is to crack the EGG without breaking the YOLK for my morning poached treat.
Love my CROCs (except when it's raining).
Wanted EXCRABLE. EXECRABLE is almost 'unspeakable' (one of those 'tongue twisters' that doesn't exactly trip off the tongue). lol
SCISSORS KICK, SCISSOR KICK, SCISSORSKICK, SCISSORKICK:
SCISSOR KICK wins the Ngram battle of the KICKs.
A fun romp for a Mon.; lots of crunch. Liked it a lot! :)
Thx @jae; on it! 🤞
Easiest Acrostic ever yd; loved the theme (hi @TTrimble).
___
Peace 🕊 🇺🇦 ~ Compassion ~ Tolerance ~ Kindness to all 🙏
I admired the creative concealment of the GIFT-wrapping supplies, with TAPE DELAY and BOW STRING being especially good, I thought. Never a puppy owner, but PAPER-TRAINED was known to me somehow. I was surprised that the GIFT itself was pushed aside. Nice longer Downs!
ReplyDeleteHere, in 43 seconds, superhero costume designer Edna Mode illustrates why a CAPE is a very bad idea (from "The Incredibles").
According to the constructor, this was not created as a holiday themed puzzle. That was the feeling of the editors. If the CLAUS entry was part of the original submission I would say it's more of a holiday theme than not. Either wa, I though it was a nice start to the week. Less of a slog than the giant puzzle published yesterday.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, I've been watching old recordings of Samantha Brown and her Places To Love shows, and just watched three whose location happened to be New Zealand. Wonder what Mr. Sharp would have to say about them. I wonder if he would agree with what the locals have to say. I can become annoyed at some things, but I like that the show presents things you might not find in other travelog programs.
Two very nice puzzles today, Jennifer and Nancy!
ReplyDelete@Anon 9:45 - How can something that happened thousands of years into our communal history be "the seminal moment of history"? Asking for someone who knows what seminal means.
ReplyDeleteThe theme was OK, though I wanted some ribbon (I know, it's in the bow); and since you can wrap a package with STRING, that was out of place as a second word. But it was fun, and seasonal. The very best thing was not the theme, but the image it evokes of Mrs. CLAUS living on an ICE FLOE.
ReplyDeleteI don't usually look at the Universal puzzle, but I'd been tipped off, so I solved it. Fun theme, I enjoyed the puzzle. I also enjoyed the way it appeared in the Boston Globe, with a grid large enough that I could read the numbers without putting on my reading glasses and squinting.
I've never done it, but puppies get PAPER TRAINED so you can go out and leave them for several hours without having your rug soiled. You move on to training them to go outside when they've grown up a bit.
If you look the puzzle in the eye, GIFT is on the puzzle's left, your right.
I try Monday puzzles using just the across clues and have maybe a 50-70% success rate. From that perspective, this puzzle was quite harder than average. Didn’t feel like it pulled from the same library of overused Monday crosswordese words. Especially thwarted by ROLF, AMOR, and the southwest corner
ReplyDeleteAnon 9:45,
ReplyDeleteAre you sure you know what seminal means? I'm not so sure.
The world cleaves the world into A.D. And B.C. Our dating system begins with the birth of Christ. In that way seminal, properly understood, is just the right word. The Nativity is the formation, the primary date, the beginning, the seminal event from whence our calendar springs.
As for the event occurring two thousand years ago, so what? Seminal refers to origin. It' has no expiration date. And the beginning remains the seminal event--at least as far as the calendar is concerned-- no longer how long ago it occurred.
One nice bit is you needn't even believe in The Nativity to acknowledge its preeminence. Just look at the cornerstone of any big building, you'll see proof enough.
Fun puzzle by Nancy and Will N. with a clever theme/reveal, something I'm guessing we've all thought at times. Worth doing, and thank you, Nancy, for dreaming this up!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Lewis!
ReplyDeleteI gather that the puzzle plays on the easy side. I'm not surprised--since the Editor, David Steinberg, let us know upfront that he would make some of the clues easier. Evidently the Universal audience is not geared towards solving especially hard puzzles. I consider that a real shame since, as you know, I love making y'all suffer:) In my original version that's certainly what I tried to do. Hope you enjoy the puzzle anyway.
If anyone's still looking for a link to @Nancy's Universal puzzle, see her post at 9:49.
ReplyDeleteI did the Sunday puzzle, never saw a swastika. Much Ado About Nothing. Don Jr none the less? GMAFB. Never heard of EXECRABLE before, learned something new. Nice, easy puzzle, Happy Christmas week to all. Going into the city w the fam to see the Radio City Christmas show today.... never gets old though I’ve seen it a bunch of times
ReplyDeleteThe POSSE RIDERS from the town of CROC were TRAINED to KICK out the EXECRABLE who ran AFOUL of the ASA ASSN. There was a CLAUS that stipulated that all ASSES had to MOVE ON.
ReplyDeleteOLAF, the town ESSEX was the man to do this. He was no SLACKER. He wore a CAPE, smoked a PIPE and wore several HATS. His one GIFT was being able to SPOT a YOLK a NILE AWAY.
His side KICK was named SCISSORS. She drove a ROLLS around CROC SNUG as bug. She once TAPED a SCENE in INDIA of EGGS being thrown at this ORANG eating SUSHI. The locals thought the ORANG was a PEST and needed a KICK in his SPINET. SCISSORS, who was TRAINED to BOX, would LEI it on. She'd take out her BOW STRING which would SKY ROCKET through the crowd to make them MOVE ON. It worked.
Back at CROC, she teamed up with OLAF. They would meet at a BARR called IMAC and watch the ICE FLOW into jugs of PALMS; IT WAS a way to LURE the EXECRABLE. The EATS made some of them ROLF, but neither OLAF nor SCISSORS felt any AMOR for this crowd. The had to get them to MOVE ON......
PALMS had to be greased and the ASSN called in to lift the bad OMEN. The SCENE AMID the chaos made the EGGS lose their YOLK. The ICE on the DECO SILLS melted...there was CHAR everywhere and the STORK forgot to bring a baby. AYE, IT WAS A FOUL scene to behold.
After the clock ticked VII, the POSSES showed up. They did LEI it on. No STRING needed to be pulled nor PALMS greased. They were very BLUNT with these ASSES...either MOVE ON or get a KICK in your ENIAC.
They chose to MOVE ON.
AYE...the SCENE now gave one a SENSE of calm. It was truly a GIFT of AMOR to have two such as OLAF and SCISSORS LURE away the SLACKER crowd from CROC. The BARR was cleaned up and the EATS improved. They added EGGS to the SUSHI menu and the ICE did FLOE again.
The folks were happy again; they danced the SCISSORS KICK CROC and listened to NINA play the SAX. It was a HIP scene and everyone was invited to the LUAU.
And that's the truth!
Nice Christmas warm-up puz. [Only 5 shoppin days left.] And, it was Nutt-filled.
ReplyDeletestaff weeject pick: ASA. Matches well with ASSN & ASSES.
some fave stuff: EXECRABLE. SKYROCKET. SLACKER. Mrs. CLAUS. YOLK & EGGS.
Thanx for the nice GIFT, Ms. Nutt darlin.
Masked & Anonymo5Us
**gruntz**
@Gary Jugert – since you brought up "The Sound Of Music", it should be pointed out that ROLF is a character in that movie who joins the Nazi party. The editors tried to disguise him with a "massage" clue, but we know their real intent.
ReplyDelete@Nancy – Enjoyed your Universal puzzle.
@Joe Dipinto 12:19 PM
DeleteEw. Rolf is the worst. And he could've gotten the girl ... a girl who learned to play the guitar in one day. Who knows where her talents would've taken her if she wasn't so busy hiking mountains to get away from that paper trained dodo.
I’ll double down on @Lewis’ review of @Nancy’s Universal puzzle. Elegant theme with just enough nuance - overall fill was squarely in the early week category - a smooth solve.
ReplyDeleteNancy - I think running this week can work both ways. True there can be plenty of holiday distractions but I’m sure many like myself look forward to the puzzle as a brief respite from the other hectic stuff. Looking forward to it.
Nice puzzle Nancy and Will. Thanks for sharing. I’m kind of glad the editors kept a watchful eye on the level of difficulty, lol.
ReplyDelete@Nancy (9:49) Thanks for posting the link because for some reason I had trouble finding a blank grid without the solution already given. I had a doc appointment this morning, and it sure helped that blah experience to have a fun puzzle to pass the time. Perfect Monday level difficulty and I thought the long downs added some nice crunch. Now looking forward to Wednesday!
ReplyDelete@Nancy: What Son Volt said at 12:19. The busiest times are when my escape to Crossword World is even more important to me. Helps maintain my sanity AMID the chaos.
ReplyDeleteI'm with @Barbara S: I found this to be a cute and timely puzzle. When I got down to the BOW, I felt the whole gift was beautifully wrapped. Though my family never does BOWs - we're always carting presents long-distance in the car, needing to tote them carefully stacked in tote boxes - this does not lend itself to bows on top.
ReplyDeleteMy mother had an enormous roll of aluminum foil which she used to wrap her presents. It looked absolutely lovely under her perfectly decorated tree with its myriad lights. I helped her wrap presents the last year she was with us and found that folding the foil (it was thicker than your normal grocery foil) was harder than I thought it would be. Miss you, Mom!
Thanks, Jennifer Nutt, for the sweet Christmas puzzle.
Solving only looking at the downs, the middle took a while. For 7 down "Soar" had --Y-O--E- and thought it just had to be FLY (SOMETHING). Then finally I saw SKYROCKET!
ReplyDelete[SB: @Nancy S and @TTrimble... yd I was -1; got all the longs but missed this 5er.
Previous week, Sun to Sat: 0, 0, -1, 0, 0, -2, -1. Pretty hit and miss.]
playing catch-up after a busy weekend. Friday turned out to be simply beyond my solving capability; breezed through Saturday on Sunday afternoon; normal Monday solved on Sunday night; easy/medium Sunday solved this morning--kept trying to find the theme in spite of the title.
ReplyDeleteSo, back on schedule and glad to have OFL back on the job!
Wish my alma mater were known as more than crosswordese (and recognized for more than its fine music program, while I’m at it). Maybe it shows up as frequently as it does because it lacks the “‘s” of nearly all colleges named for saints.
ReplyDelete@kitshef - re: Croce #769 - 35a was the cause of my one square DNF.
ReplyDelete@jae, kitshef-Same place, just couldn't see 1D. Stopped running the alphabet too soon.
ReplyDelete@Joe Pinto - if I find myself sitting at a Rhodes keyboard or Wurly, I play that opening sequence from Riders on the Storm, glad to see it makes your hit list. It is also good for demonstrating the Dorian mode. I must confess I am a bit of a sucker for Afternoon Delight, however - although that video might make me change my mind. The one part of the song I don't like is the "skyrockets in flight", so I'm with you there.
ReplyDeleteA little more resistance than the usual Monday, but the basic theme held up its end of the bargain.
Nancy - I don't quite know what to make of your puzzle. It is solid, but was over so quickly - I didn't really pick up your voice; it would be interesting to see your original clues:)
@All Crocers (semi-spoiler follows):
ReplyDeleteMed+ (2:23). Botched the termini of the 'Aztec drink'; the top was an inexcusable blunder, the bottom might have fallen with some addition thot. Should probably wait before entering the final cell, and revisit any iffy word/s with more energy after a restful break in the action. 🤔
___
Peace 🕊 🇺🇦 ~ Compassion ~ Tolerance ~ Kindness to all 🙏
I was stunned last night when my niece and nephew texted me to ask if I’d finished my Sunday crossword. I said yes, that the Sunday was easy and thankfully my streak was still alive and well. Then they asked if I was offended. That one really confused me. Neither of them does xwords, so I just asked them if they were referring to the NYTXW for 12/18/22. And they said “yes, the swastika puzzle.” Apparently the issue of the grid went viral and they’d seen references on a couple different social media platforms. Not a social media user, I continued to be astonished at the things that become “important” or at least mentioned for their proverbial “15 minutes.”
ReplyDeleteAs for today, I thought this was appropriate and well crafted. A holiday Monday demonstrating (sort of in order of process) what’s needed to wrap a present. I actually do gather up TAPE, SCISSORS, BOX, PAPER and a BOW (if I have one) before I get busy with the actual wrapping. The only reason I PAPER TRAINED my puppy was I’d already figured out the theme. Had I not understood the theme, I 100% would have house TRAINED the little rascal. It saves a strep and better assures the pet’s people that accidents won’t happen or will be extremely rare. I am aware that some folks, especially those living in housing without yards, do leave “puppy pads” by the door to train dogs to take care of business there when the person isn’t able to walk them. Ya gotta do what ya gotta do, I guess. Anyone using paper training though, should always have a good SPOT remover! I wouldn’t want to risk lingering odors and would find a dog walker.
All this about EXECRABLE excrement! And during the holidays when I prefer to talk about food and treats and cookies - oh yes the cookies! Spent the morning getting all “mise en place(ed” for a couple days of manic cookie baking. I hope to have at least six varieties to take around to friends and neighbors on Friday and Saturday. Better get back to it.
@Nancy, thank you to you and Will for the extra fun today. Great theme! I never saw the reveal coming, and it's perfect.
ReplyDeleteTAPE DELAY seems a bit dated. How long has it been since any form of tape has been used in broadcasting, or recording or computers for that matter?
ReplyDelete@CDilly52
ReplyDeleteYou're best off ignoring social media, for the most part, IMHO. The whole swastika thing is a good illustration of some ill effects. Ordinarily smart people get sucked into entertaining some mighty weird notions, such as that the NYT would dog whistle antisemitism through a crossword puzzle. (Please, people: use your heads. On what planet would it make sense that the NYT would deliberately do any such thing? Or course, people involved in this may be trolling.)
It can be great, though, if you have niche interests and find a group with those interests. My wife is way into knitting, needlepoint, crochet, arts within this general area, and has fun sharing her projects with others, or joining team competitions, etc.
By the way: I love your posts, and especially how the warmth of hearth and home and cooking and baking is being passed down the line in your family.
soo.. nobody took issue with ORANG ? teh feck? can somebody please supply me with the OED example? ok, urban dictionary?
ReplyDeleteNot going to SKYROCKET to the top of the top of the greatest puzzles of all time list, but decent enough, A great puzzle for beginner solvers. And that’s what Mondays are for.
ReplyDeleteThe things people argue about! SCISSOR [S] KICK? WHO CARES?! The S-less word would not fit the theme, that's all. Plus the given entry is the same length as PAPERTRAINED. Puppies don't have a lot of lag time when it comes to excretion; the nearest door might be too far away. Give the little guy a break. @OFF, you must live in an apartment.
ReplyDeleteTypical Monday. I like the long down antonyms (kinda), SKYROCKET and EXECRABLE. This puzzle fits neither. Par.
Wordle par as well.
Par was annihilated at the AMEX, where more than 20 players finished at least 20 under it. I dunno, maybe let the rough grow as in US Opens? Something.
AMOR LURE
ReplyDeleteOLAF and NINA made A SCENE,
IN A SENSE, ITWAS overdue.
WAS IT TAPEDELAY with ESSEX queen?
What ELSE? A few ROLLS with SUE.
--- CHAR BARR & ROLF TAFT
from yesterday:
ALLACCESS PRINCESS (LOCAL ENTRY)
ROSE is the NICEST MODEL, IGUESS,
so AGILE if a GENTLEMAN wills,
NAMEIT, she OBEYS with a "HELL yes!",
EUPHORIC to CONTORT for LARGEBILLS.
--- MR. HUGO GOODEN
Nice enough GIFT for a Mon-puz no matter how you SPINET.
ReplyDeleteWordle par; no fluke to elude it.
I agree with the rest of the SyndieCats - hooray for Monday!
ReplyDeleteDiana, Lady-in-Waiting for Crosswords