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Internet star Majimbo known for her comedy videos / SUN 12-11-22 / Having successfully made it slangily / Symbol of Irish heritage / Invertebrate with floral eponym / Mane character in Wizard of Oz / Onetime auto make with Metro and Prizm models / Voting rights matriarch Boynton Robinson
Sunday, December 11, 2022
Constructor: Laura Taylor Kinnel
Relative difficulty: Medium
Theme answers:
- PYTHAGOREAN THEOREM / LEAN-TO (23A: Hypotenuse-finding formula / 9D: Simple shelter)
- ABOVE REPROACH / BROACHES (40A: Having an impeccable reputation, say / 35D: Brings up, as a subject)
- DESIGNATED DRIVER / SIGNATURE (43A: One drinking soft drinks at a party, perhaps / 31D: Ink on a contract)
- CELTIC KNOT / STICKS (67A: Symbol of Irish heritage / 60D: Adheres)
- INSPECTOR CLOUSEAU / SILK BLOUSE (89A: "The Pink Panther" character / 63D: Shiny top)
- IN LIKE FLYNN / BRIEFLY (92A: Having successfully made it, slangily / 72D: In a few words)
- LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN / BEECH (110A: Composer who studied under Joseph Haydn / 112D: Stately shade tree)
The United States National Security Council (NSC) is the principal forum used by the President of the United States for consideration of national security, military, and foreign policy matters. Based in the White House, it is part of the Executive Office of the President of the United States, and composed of senior national security advisors and Cabinet officials.
Since its inception in 1947 by President Harry S. Truman, the function of the Council has been to advise and assist the President on national security and foreign policies. It also serves as the President's principal arm for coordinating these policies among various government agencies. The Council has subsequently played a key role in most major events in U.S. foreign policy, from the Korean War to the War on Terror.
The NSC has counterparts in the national security councils of many other nations. (wikipedia)
• • •
I thought we agreed that PEPE LePew was a sexual harasser / assailant and no longer welcome in the grid. No? OK. I have been on college campuses my whole life and have never heard anyone refer to their class as meeting SEMI-WEEKLY (78A: Common frequency for college classes). Is that every other week? Like, once every other week? Pretty cushy. Or is it twice per week? Because that is pretty normal ... but again, no one but no one calls it that. We somehow make do with "twice a week." Same number of letters, fewer syllables.
People confuse MANET and Monet's *names*, but no one is going to confuse their actual paintings—no one who is paying attention, at any rate. I mean, does this woman like a haystack? Does she?
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Hmm, maybe. There is something kind of ... triangular about her. Let's compare.
OK, I take it back, they're very similar.
I read [Onetime auto make...], looked at -EO, and wrote in REO. The REO Prizm, LOL, someone design that, please. The '20s / '90s hybrid no one is asking for! Anyway, GEO, man, forgot about that. It's like Saturn or YUGO. Bye bye bye. Bygone. Which ... gives it at least one thing in common with the REO. OK, that's about enough of that. Hope you enjoyed your bug-hunting escapade. See you tomorrow.
Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld
P.S. We regret to inform you... (re: IN LIKE FLYNN)
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113 comments:
Easy-medium. My only major problems with this one were misreading clues and fat finger typos. ELSA (as clued) and DIATOMIC were WOEs. Fun and breezy, liked it.
@Rex is right about the title, and I also got BRIEFLY hung up in the FLYNN area.
A good solid Sunday and a handsome piece of construction. Made me work for it, but not too hard.
A very, very fun puzzle... I hope this constructor comes back for more, and right soon. A couple of quasi-naticks but nothing you couldn't guess your way out of... had never heard the term "rotter" so had to make an educated guess as to its meaning.
I say this was a superb feat of construction, and the fill was mostly very solid. Checked all my boxes.... five stars
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Anyone else first have WIG rather than BEE?
Whoa, glad I never read the title before I started the puzz. Actually still haven't read it.
I had some college courses that were SEMI-WEEKLY. Sessions were either Mon/Thu or Tue/Fri.
no errors but took me awhile. BROACH was last to fall. I got hung up when I had “tent” in for LEANTO and was wondering why the trick worked one way but not the other. Rex, You got way to irritated. Sure, you don’t “step” on a gnat, but y’know... it’s a crossword puzzle
Uh…excuse me…uh….Mr. @Rex? Um.. the clue for 78A is “Common frequency for college classes”. I believe you interpreted it to mean “Commonly used phrase for a common college class frequency.” If the later had been the actual clue, your rant would be justified. However, the former is the correct clue, and SEMIWEEKLY is an unassailable answer.
This is the second day in a row that ALONE has appeared. Maybe we’re sneaking up on Will’s annual in-office viewing of Home Alone, complete with bottomless cups of WATERMELON Kool-Aid for the entire puzzle department.
The ACETONEs would have been a good name for a Motown group.
I agree with Rex about the title. When you think of how a good Buddhist would react to all this squashing of bugs…….
But the puzzle was fun and well-constructed, although super easy. Thanks, Laura TAYTAY Kinnel.
My strongest thought about this puzzle is exactly what Rex said: the title is just plain stupid. Stepping on bees and gnats??? Puzzle: good. Title: stupid.
But I have a real problem with USNA crossing NSC. That is pretty much the worst one this year; two not very familiar initialisms crossing... bad! I had a G there cuz I thought ole Jimmy Carter was from Georgia, so maybe USGA for U of South Georgia? I hate hate hate college abbrev's.
Rex's Manet painting is the poster that hung over my bed throughout my university years. And Renoir's Luncheon of the Boating Party was on the other wall.
Typeover: 90 down "Cloud nine feeling": ELATION before ECSTASY.
What a horrible inhumane title. Reflects badly on the editor and the Times. ALL CREATURES GREAT AND SMALL would have been a better title.
Yikes, turns out I was done in by the same natick... thought I had completed the puzzle correctly but alas, I made the same "error" in thinking USgA made sense... damn!
I agree, great puzzle with a bad title.
I have no problem killing ants or flies when they invade my kitchen or gnats when they decide to go swimming in my glass of wine (at least they die happy) or ticks when they bore themselves into my puppy. Don’t even get me started on roaches 🪳 they grow them big here. I once knelt on a bee by accident when I was a wee bairn, neither one of us was happy about it.
Fun time today.
I worked my way through the puzzle and ran into a noseeum at the 115th square. I was certain that it was another bug and tried NIT, MITE, FLEA, WASP, to no avail. Gave up, checked Xword info and found out I only needed the R for the happy tone!
Rex – omigod. Friday I had a conversation with Mr. Burch (head custodian and Supreme Wonderman of the Universe) about stepping on bugs, namely – my inability to do so. I had reported yet another Hot-Wheels size ROACH in my room. He grinningly asked if I had stepped on it.
Me: No! [shiver] I could never recover from the crunch.
Burch: The pop? I love that pop.
Me: I can’t kill any bug. What if it just told its kids it’d be back in just a sec and they’re all waiting? I know the thought is ridiculous, but still.
I think this was when he decided to keep a little distance, make sure I’m not a lunaTICK.
So while I would without hesitation dispatch a ROACH if I had the nerve, there’s no other bug on the planet I could willingly kill. One of my favorite times with my daughter was when we had hiked to the top of Merrit Mountain in Sebasco Maine and then laid (sic) back to stare at the sky and discuss whether or not a bugs has a soul. We reached no conclusion, but I’m taking a Pascal’s Wager kind of stance. (And fwiw, If a ROACH has a soul, it’s a vile, mean, small little soul.)
I’ve described before the paper-towel foothill I position in my sink to help the frantic spider climb out.
So anyhoo. . . point well taken about the macabre title. But what else could it be? “Squashed Bugs” is least a sad description and not a directive. “Instectinside”?
The brave girl raised her hand in German class to demonstrate her counting prowess. Eins, zwei, drei, fünf, she said fearlessly.
Funny to have “windshield annoyance” clue in a puzzle celebrating a bug’s demise. Old joke – what’s the last thing that goes through a bug’s mind as it hits your windshield? Its PATOOTIE.
One more piece of serendipity - same day as the Burch ROACH conversation. We were reading an article about a guy who sent his 14-year-old daughter to work at a cattle farm for the summer, and one of her jobs was checking to see if cows were pregnant. This involved a shoulder-length glove. I stared at the students. You see what this is saying? {Eyebrows way up}. One kid finally got it and was disgusted. Said No way. Oh yeah? I called my daughter right then and there on speaker phone so she could confirm. She told them that she had done it several times on a rotation. Said it was in the dead of winter (Colorado) and that her biggest take-away was that during the brief explorations, it was so warm for her arm, she was grateful. The students just stared, grossed out and stunned. Alrighty then. . .
I’ll leave you with this, that I’ve shared here before. I wish I could claim it as my own, but, no, it’s someone else’s brilliant observation. All birds have tail feathers called “pinions” that help them fly. Crows have 3 pinions and RAVENs have 4. So the difference between a crow and a RAVEN is just a matter of a pinion.
@lms thanks, old one but stole your crow/raven quote for my Facebook friends. Love your school tales.
Title possibility: It’s A Small World.
My favorite part of this puzzle is the seven theme answers, all with zing, lighting up the puzzle. Oh, and every one of them is a NYT answer debut, enriching the oeuvre. May I remind you?
PYTHAGOREAN THEOREM
ABOVE REPROACH (my favorite)
DESIGNATED DRIVER
CELTIC KNOT
INSPECTOR CLOUSEAU
IN LIKE FLYNN
LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN
Wow. And, for me, enough rub to delectify the entire excursion. A sweet sweet Sunday side trip. Thank you for creating this, Laura!
My only major hang-up was in the WSW. I couldn't associate PATOOTIE with "Bum," my lips were sealED before they were cURlED before they were finally PURSED and my ghost-seer was ScarED (didn't fit) before they were ShOcKED before they were SPOOKED.
My only NIT (young or future bug) is with the title. It first led me to try to drop "IT" from answers. Then the bugs came out. And stepping on a gnat, fly, or bee is unlikely. Fix the title and all is well.
What is it that causes positive words (e.g. DIVA, or its sister prima donna) to become negative words? A word for a glamorous, talented woman becomes a word for a vain egotist.
Of course, it can work the other way – 'terrific' used to be bad – causing terror. And one of my favorites, the original definition of ‘nice’ was ‘stupid or ignorant’.
Although I was happy to see Morocco win, it was sad to see PEPE go out. He’ll be 43 for the next FIFA World Cup, so a vanishingly small chance he’ll have another chance.
I liked the title just fine. Could it mean hurry up? Did it mean answers would take steps and change lines? Also, it's in that *____ ____ it!* form that we've been seeing, to which I have become accustomed. Do we need to call the ASPCA? Probably not. Personally I prefer detente with insects, spiders, and other pests. I ignore most or put them outside. My cat deals with one now and then. I will dispose of a biting mosquito or deer fly.
Pepe is a cartoon character. I don't think he needs to be cancelled.
I loved the solve. It was great fun! A favorite was Beats around the bush … or bushes/HEDGES.
12
Yep, I liked this puzzle but had similar thoughts about the title and the INLIKEFLYNN answer.
LMS, it's good to see you again, and thanks for the 'pinion on crows and ravens!
I am not convinced that "Protein-mimicking molecule" is correct for RNA... Mimicking? How does RNA (any of the RNA's: mRNA, tRNA, rRNA) mimic protein? RNA is involved in protein synthesis, and yes, it makes copies of proteins but not in a mimic-sort-of-way. Maybe I'm reading this clue all wrong...?
Me!!! Took me forever to get this figured out.
You can tell a happy motorcyclist by the bugs in his teeth.
I laughed at the big guy’s undeviating interpretation of the the title. “Step on it” may be a little rough but allegorically works perfect. Cute theme - love a simple rebus on a Sunday. My top themers are the ones that span - ANT, TICK - some chops to build those in.
Overall fill is solid here - PATOOTIE and SCRAM trend a little Waltonsish but I liked SPARE RIB, ENAMOR, WATERMELON, MATISSE etc. The OMICRONS plural is rough and should get @anoa bob’s attention.
I think @egs explains SEMIWEEKLY clearly.
5 CHINESE Brothers
Enjoyable Sunday solve.
Shameful title promoting ignorance at best and cruelty at worst. Wake up, NYT. Not ok.
Re the title…Me think you doth protest too much…. My take on this is she constructed this for her kids’ wedding and the guests worked on it using markers during the party and I am assuming it was on the ground and they all had to step on the foam board and fill it all in. I thought it was really fun and she did a great job finding these themers. Well done.
A classically terrific NYT Sunday puzzle! Been a while since I've spent time with one of those, and this solve felt really good. Got off to a somewhat rough start, with TENT for 9D, RIME for 26A, and no idea about 8A (still had to consult Dr. Google on that one after finishing). Not expecting a rebus puzzle but knowing the answer to 23A led me into a dither of potential letter substitutions before I got the correct downs in the NW and then LEANTO and found where the rebus went. Much enjoyment followed, with mostly smooth sailing, although CELTICKNOT eluded me for a while. I know shamrocks and harps as Irish symbols, but the KNOT not so much. PATOOTIE took a while because I read the clue as "Burn," instead of "Bum." That's happened before. The INSPECTOR CLOUSEAU/SILK BLOUSE cross was especially brava-worthy.
I never knew what IN LIKE FLYNN meant. Now I do. Ugh.
My solve time was slightly higher than usual because of the need to go back and forth to enter the rebus cell answers. No problem! Worth every minute. And yes, the title is terrible, and Shortz et al. should be ashamed. YESYOU, Will.
The title actually gave me the idea that bugs were going to be involved in some way, and then I never thought about it again. The puzzle was somewhat more challenging than a typical Sunday, in a very good way. It never became sloggy, with lots of fun and crisp answers. It’s difficult for me to get angry at any classic Looney Tunes characters, no matter how offensive they seem today.
I had high hopes for this one - got the theme and was wandering around the grid thinking Wednesday-level today, and then - alas, I headed over to the SW and just crashed and burned - unfortunately too much stuff that I had no chance of getting, and not enough crosses to even take a few stabs at guessing. Things like ANEMONE, OMICRONS, UTNE, DULCE, and ALLO all stuffed into that one corner - noooooooo chance, lol. To be fair, even if the SW had dropped in nicely, I may well have dnf’d on the ATTAR/HOAR cross as I had not heard of either of those as well.
We need to figure out a way to get Rex to come out of his shell - I’d like to see him stop holding back and tell us how he really feels. Seriously big guy, it’s ok - if you don’t like the title, just tell us so (I got a chuckle out of trying to visualize Rex attempting to step on a GNAT).
This is a first for me. Finished the puzzle (with two cheats), got it right...but the computer said I was only "close." Check the software, folks!
Figured out the insect theme quickly and only had to cheat for UTNE and CARDIB.
As the fabulous @LMS says, I was today years old before I learned that the phrase was “In like Flynn” and not “In Like Flynt”. I was all set to use it and then I saw Rex’s postscript about Errol Flynn. So — ew. Maybe back to Flint?
Agree about the title (terrible) and about the puzzle (great). The whole concept of the mindless killing of insects is particularly egregious in relation to BEEs. We probably most readily think of BEEs living in hives, but the majority are ground nesters. So I guess you could step on a ground BEE, but don’t do it! Apart from the risk of getting stung, the recent decline in BEE populations means that we need all the pollinators we can get. You should really see my pollinator-friendly garden. It’s a little wild, but in the late summer and fall, it’s rife with blooming golden rod and asters, and BEEs of many species come from miles around. I particularly love the bumblers, who always look as klutzy as their name suggests, and the sweat BEEs with their iridescent green glow.
But I liked the theme and enjoyed hunting down the bugs. Although I didn’t think of 1A’s ABATING in my initial pass-through, I did okay in the NW corner because I knew PYTHAGORE[AN T]HEOREM. I realized that it was too long, examined the downs, and immediately thought of LE[AN-T]O for 9D’s [Simple shelter]. Aha, oho and tee-hee! It was either an ANT or a bug rebus, so let the search begin.
I had the NSC/USNA natick and had to run the alphabet – just no idea about that N. I didn’t know ELSA Majimbo either (also right in that area), but her first name quickly became inferable. Also bumped into two kealoa(ulu)s: HOAR/rime at 26A, and ROLES/partS at 75A. CEL[TIC K]NOT took me a minute, and at first I feared they were giving us CELTICK in some goofy, made-up-to-look-obsolete spelling.
Fun puzzle, though, with a buzzworthy theme (sorry).
[SB: After my recent confident assertion that I’ve been getting lots of QBs: Oh, No! Fri: -4 and Sat: -1. Four of my five misses were should’ves, and one was one of the insects that got rebused today! The fifth was a word I didn’t know. On Friday I was really cheesed that they wouldn’t accept GANNET or MENAGE.]
Got the trick somewhere around ANT and ROACH, or maybe it was GNAT. Anyway, it was fun looking for the other bugs and the double themers were tricky and creative so yay for all that. I agree that stepping on many of these is not advised and ineffective, also in the case of BEES, just plain stupid.
I thought @LMS's suggestion for "Squashed Bugs" would have been a better title, as you have to squash the bugs to get them in that little box. I was thankful I had sharpened my pencil before I started this one.
In my career as a "resort" owner I have dealt with swarms of carpenter ants in cabins, and I'm sorry, but there is no way to politely escort them outside. Paying guests are looking for something a little more drastic, I'm afraid.
Best Sunday in a while, LTK. Like The Kid with all the WATERMELON Kool Aid. this one made me smile all the way through. Thanks for all the fun.
GREAT puzzle!~ Really enjoyed it. 28 minutes for the Father/Son team so medium for us. The best rebus puzzle in weeks! Thanks for this. Especially loved DESIGNATEDDRIVER and BEETHOVEN and PYTHAGOREANTHEOREM! Thanks. --Rick
NYTXW Sunday, Dec. 11, 2022
Ok, I really enjoyed this one. Even though I have to fess to clocking a rather long (55:51) solve time—much of which was spent staring blankly at the screen for infernally long stretches. Which brings me to my defense of the title. For starters: it’s really not that serious. NYTXW themes/titles/entries don’t represent a moral editorial to me any more than a game of Boggle would. They are words and phrases, patterns and prefixes, clues and puns. And while words should most certainly evolve in usage so as to not reinforce socially oppressive concepts, and should expand in universe so as to stop other-ing peoples’ norms, it’s a bit of a stretch to turn the idea of stepping on a bug into a referendum on humanity. It wasn’t a manifesto.
But more than that, I just thought the title did exactly what it was supposed to do: it not only allowed the theme to linger in delightful ambiguity (with no revealer, yay!) through the majority of the solve, but the use of the word “step” itself made for a clever bit of misdirect that fully duped me. I even started to get annoyed, but it made the a-ha moment that much more fun (and funny). Instead of quickly grokking the common rebus conceit after one or two theme entries, and then zipping (or trudging) along to fill in the rest, the theme remained elusive, the missing letters were inconsistent, and I was lured into believing I was looking for some kind of step or line change gimmick—even after having five across themers narrowed down to approx. their missing letters! Shameful, I know.
But I was finally snapped out of my confirmation bias dead-end when I got to 35D and pinpointed ROACH, and even then still hesitated a moment in my stupor…until “Step on it!” suddenly became a fully animated scene in my head, complete with chair-jumping and broom-waving straight out of a Tweety Bird short. I wanted to facepalm at having missed such a simple theme, but it made me snort laugh out loud instead. Hilarious! Then I saw all the bugs.
So, no, while you can’t step on a gnat, and while I actually did physically cringe when I got to the BEE, because of the mere correlation of the idea of stepping, I let it slide. Why? Because the constructor did not say that one should step on a bee. Or that any of these insects even could or should be stepped on. You made all that up yourself. The title is merely a hint to the theme.
Criticism necessitates the application of logic and perspectives beyond those offered in any work, but the analysis has to be rooted in the actual source material. To extrapolate a message beyond what was said, then draw definitive conclusions based on your own inference of those extrapolations, and attribute those to the constructor, while holding them to account for a standard that you imagined out of whole cloth (e.g. insisting that the puzzle be judged not by parameters that the constructor set, but by parameters that you invented which require a literal interpretation of the title be applied to all theme answers), and then criticizing the constructor for imagined viewpoints, or imagined mistakes, and maligning them when they fall short of the imagined goalposts, is really disingenuous.
All the usual white male-centric thinking, just cloaked in feminist and inclusive catchphrases.
Art historical musings –
Matisse’s Le bonheur de vivre is in the Barnes Foundation, and for decades, until they lightened up in 1990s, that institution wouldn’t permit any color reproductions of the works in their collection. I think the prohibition was based on founder Albert C. Barnes’s belief that works of art were fatally reduced by reproduction, and that it was imperative to stand in front of them to get the true impression. It’s possible to have some sympathy with this view while tearing one’s hair out in frustration, particularly if one curated a large image collection used in the teaching of art history, which I did. Le bonheur de vivre is a seminal work in the transformation of painting in the first decade of the twentieth century, so the inability to show it properly to students was a major headache. We had one dingy slide, obtained I don’t know how and no one ever told me the story – it predated my arrival at the university. I always envisioned some hapless art historian creeping around the Barnes with a camera disguised as a boutonnière. When, finally, I actually saw the painting in a trip to Merion, PA. in the 1980s, I realized how bad our slide was: the greens were grey, the yellows were brown and the oranges were magenta. And color is crucial in discussing that particular work! I fear we warped a whole generation of art historians who passed through our gates.
The confusion of MANET and MoNET has a long history that began back in the 1860s with the painters themselves. The Paris Salon was the large annual exhibition sponsored by the Académie des Beaux-Arts. It was a big deal: every-artist who was any-artist strove to get their works accepted for display at the Salon. One year in the mid-1860s, while strolling around the Salon’s galleries, MANET found himself being complimented by people he knew on his two seascapes hanging three rooms away. Seascapes, thought MANET, I didn’t submit any seascapes, and apparently made a BEEline to find out what on earth people were talking about. According to art historian George Heard Hamilton, “MANET seems to have been exasperated when Monet’s work first attracted favorable attention at the Salon, and the inevitable confusion of names resulted.” And there’s a cartoon published in 1866 by satirist André Gill (which unfortunately I couldn’t find online), which shows Gill’s parody of a work by Monet with the caption: “Monet or Manet? – Monet. But it is to Manet that we owe this Monet; bravo, Monet; thank you, Manet.” The story has a happy ending, though, as the two became friends. But I’m sure they rolled their eyes and shook their heads for the rest of their lives over the aggravating confusion of names.
I loved Rex’s art history lesson this morning: very on-point, very punchy. And, yes --
Manet: people; limited color, high contrast; works created in the studio
Monet: landscapes, transitory effects of light and atmosphere on the colors we see; painting en plein air
the bugs are squashed into boxes, thus step on.
Amy: have mentioned in another life, would be an entomologist so loved this puzzle. Agree with y'all that the title needs to be debugged.
Thank you for your comments regarding the title. I've always enjoyed your observations, and now I'm a dedicated fan! No stepping on bees, for sure. And leave bugs alone.
Won't lie. Had SPORTBRA before SPARERIB for "One on a rack."
My response when I entered BEE was WTF? Who steps on bees? Obviously someone who pounces on any creature that annoys them? Where does that end? Where’s the line? And I just read that today’s constructor works at a Friends school, otherwise known as a Quaker school? I thought that Friends were particular peace-loving and strongly opposed to violence etc. Go figure! Would’ve been better to title it CONGREGATION OF CRITTERS or some such silliness. It’s just another reminder that SAPIENS can really SUCK.
As for the puzzle, easy-peasy, one of my best times ever, and quite entertaining—until BEEthoven appeared,.
Sorry for the RANT but I’m partial to bees.
In fairness to the non-Errol origin of the phrase, read the paragraphs above and below it in the Wiki-planation:
Barry Popik of the American Dialect Society and Nattalie Grebenshikoff of the Gold Coast Literary Society found an example from 1940, as well as this from the sports section of the San Francisco Examiner of 8 February 1942: “Answer these questions correctly and your name is Flynn, meaning you’re in, provided you have two left feet and the written consent of your parents”. To judge from a newspaper reference he turned up from early 1943, the phrase could by then also be shortened to I'm Flynn, meaning “I’m in”…
In addition to the Errol Flynn association, etymologist Eric Partridge presents evidence that it refers to Edward J. Flynn, a New York City political boss who became a campaign manager for the Democratic party during Franklin Delano Roosevelt's presidency. Boss Flynn's "Democratic Party machine exercised absolute political control over the Bronx.... The candidates he backed were almost automatically 'in'."
Of course, it could just be rhyming slang, e.g., Starvin’ like Marvin. Which doesn’t necessarily refer to Lee Marvin’s insatiable sex drive.
Speaking of perennially horny, leave “Peppy like Pepe” alone. They made him a skunk and his last name the French equivalent of “The Stink.” Talk about toon animal cruelty! Step off it!!
@LMS,
Thanks so much for the morning smiles. As a person who took German in high school some time in the last Jahrhundert, but has forgotten all but a few words, I was giggling at "fearlessly." Then "a matter of a pinion," and I was nearly crying.
Trying to come up with a rack (wreck?) and pinion joke to combine two of the segments there. No luck. Zwei and Zwei again, I vier.
Yeah I loved the puzzle except the whole “in like Flynn” thing and I agree, Step on it was a terrible name! Interesting that Jimmy Carter went to USNA, I did not know that. Thanks for always saying what needs to be said!
Hey All !
In same vein as existing title, another title could be Squish 'Em! Still cruel, but gets the Rebus aspect across. Or Snug as a Bug in a Rug? Maybe @LMS's brilliant Insectinside. How about Small Buggers? Shoo-Ins?
That ARI/REIN cross was a guess, but seemed to be the plausible cross. Got the Almost There message after last letter in. Dag-nab-it. Wanted to change said R, but didn't. Hit Check Puzzle, saw my one-letter DNF, and let out a grunt. A stupid spelling error. Had ExSTASY. Dang. NSx was as good as NSC for me!
Figured out the Squishy Bugs at GNAT. Had enough crossers to see DESIGNATED DRIVER, but not enough spaces. Ah, says I, we're Step(ping) On bugs. Set out to find the rest.
I'm a bug hater. They tend to freak me out in large bunches. One or two alone, I can handle. But 3000 of them out to attack me all at once?That sends me running for the hills. (Or a body of water 😁)
Funny story, lived with roommates in CT, the girlfriend of one of them was over all the time. See cleaned the bathroom one time (which was awesome, BTW), then when I went in to use said bathroom, the entire floor was covered with ants. There may have been a nest in there no one knew about, and she may have disturbed it during the cleaning, whatever. But I. Freaked. Out. I ran out, she was in the kitchen, I blurted out, "Ahh, I need you! There's ants everywhere in the bathroom!" I had that body-shake Eww-ness happen even just thinking about it. She went in fearlessly, scooped em all up, and continued on her day. I thought it funny how it was opposite from usually the woman is the "Eek"er and runs to get a man, when I was the "Eek"er and ran to get her!
Nice puz. Thought LUDWIG was a VON, not a VAN. Time to get my PATOOTIE in gear.
One F
RooMonster
DarrinV
Thx, Laura, for the Sun. workout! :) So sad to see how the theme was titled, tho. :(
Med+
Not on LTK's wavelength, so a skosh over avg time.
Excellent fill all the way; lots to learn today! :)
Always welcome a challenge, but in the final analysis, can't say I found enjoyment in today's offering, with the thot in mind of these creatures being intentionally 'stepped on'. :(
Ala @Nancy, I compose my first review prior to reading the comments, then briefly scan them before posting to see if I need to respond to someone. I wondered if I might be an outlier today, but apparently not. I love @Lewis's idea for a title: "It's A Small World". :)
@Son Volt, pablo
Found the Stumper to be seemingly impossible, to maybe doable, to very doable. Just n. of 2 hrs, so relatively med. for a Stumper. See you next Sat. :)
___
Peace 🕊 🇺🇦 ~ Compassion ~ Tolerance ~ Kindness to all 🙏
An anecdote that might only be amusing in this forum.
Was introduced by a mutual friend to Eric Utne a few years ago, on a day when his name happened to appear in the NYTXW.
“Hey, I just filled in your name.”
“24th* time!”, he responded.
“You’re a constructor’s best friend!”, I opined.
Ok, not a very interesting story. Just that he exists and does keep track.
If I’m ever introduced to TAYTAY Swift, will try to come up with something better.
(Note to self, if this unlikely scenario ever occurs, don’t call her Taylor - she apparently hates that - or suggest I might be INLIKEFLYNN)
* or whatever the frequency of usage was at the time
I agree 100%, Rex. Why would anyone intentionally step on insects. They are the base of the food cycle. At this very moment, insects are dwindling, threatening our very existence. Live and let live. Amen.
This was a fairly easy Sunday and the theme was easily identified, but UTNE crossing ANEMONE (as clued) was a *very* rough spot for me. I did not know that sea anemones are named after a flower. Just no idea there. And Utne is a brand new word (name?) to me. Upon Googling, I was distressed to find that it isn’t an initialism - just Utne. Booooo
S'pose anyone calls the constructor "TAYTAY"?
Yes and yes, and yes. Fabulous puzzle, very enjoyable solve. Much I knew though the puzzle fought back just enough to satisfy. But I concur - What a terrible title!
I posted this a while ago and it seems to have been lost in the ether. Apologies if this turns out to be a dupe.
Art-related musings –
MATISSE’s Le bonheur de vivre is in the Barnes Foundation, and for decades, until they lightened up in 1990s, that institution wouldn’t permit any color reproductions of the works in their collection. I think the prohibition was based on founder Albert C. Barnes’s belief that works of art were fatally reduced by reproduction, and that it was imperative to stand in front of them to get the true impression. It’s possible to have some sympathy with this view while tearing one’s hair out in frustration, particularly if one curated a large image collection used in the teaching of art history, which I did. Le bonheur de vivre is a seminal work in the transformation of painting in the first decade of the twentieth century, so the inability to show it properly to students was a major headache. We had one dingy slide, obtained I don’t know how and no one ever told me the story – it predated my arrival at the university. I always imagined some hapless art historian creeping around the Barnes with a camera disguised as a boutonnière. When, finally, I actually saw the painting in a trip to Merion, PA. in the 1980s, I realized how bad our slide was: the greens were grey, the yellows were brown and the oranges were magenta. And color is crucial in discussing that particular work! I fear we warped a whole generation of art historians who passed through our gates.
The confusion of MANET and MoNET has a long history that began back in the 1860s before the painters even knew each other. The Paris Salon was the large annual exhibition sponsored by the Académie des Beaux-Arts. It was a big deal: every-artist who was any-artist strove to get their works accepted for display at the Salon. One year in the mid-1860s, while strolling around the Salon’s galleries, MANET found himself being complimented by people he knew on his two seascapes hanging three rooms away. Seascapes, thought MANET, I didn’t submit any seascapes, and apparently made a BEEline to find out what on earth people were talking about. According to art historian George Heard Hamilton, “MANET seems to have been exasperated when Monet’s work first attracted favorable attention at the Salon, and the inevitable confusion of names resulted.” And there’s a cartoon published in 1866 by satirist André Gill (which unfortunately I couldn’t find online), which shows Gill’s parody of a work by Monet with the caption: “Monet or Manet? – Monet. But it is to Manet that we owe this Monet; bravo, Monet; thank you, Manet.” The story has a happy ending, though, as the two became friends. But I’m sure they rolled their eyes and shook their heads for the rest of their lives over the aggravating confusion of names.
I loved Rex’s art history lesson this morning: very on-point, very punchy.
And, yes --
Manet: people and themes of modern life; limited color, high contrast; works created in the studio
Monet: landscapes, transitory effects of light and atmosphere on the colors we see; painting en plein air
Neo pronoun?????
Suggestion for a silly title: Bugs in a Box…probably too descriptive but in line with the puzzle humor…think of box with open top for humaneness…
People, please, it is a crossword puzzle title. Not a directive to be followed. Y’all are so easily triggered it is almost fun to watch.
Title fooled me into thinking there would be some sort of word ladder, so took me way to long to try a rebus.
Enjoyed it!
Ay Dios mío. STEP ON IT???... One of my favorite religions is Jainism. Jains believe that if you crush just one itty bitty ANT it will come back a thousand times in its next life and crush you. Having said my dos centavos on what's in store for you if you squish one of God's creatures, I will say this:
It's a Bugs Life...
Yes...take away the title and you have a pretty good Sunday puzzle. I saw my first bug being a SMEAR over the DESI[GNAT]ED DRIVER. Oh...sez I, we're in for bodacious bugs...AND you're supposed to step on them. OK, so I wiped that thought away from my frowny face and just went about my business.
Lots of grown-up words here. Will I ever use PYTHAGORE[ANT]HEOREM in my life? No. Will I ever inhale some DIATOMIC? No. Do I know what IN LIKE A FLYYN means? No... But I sure loved PATOOTIE and the clue for BVDS. Actually, I really liked the puzzle and thought I'd probably have fun at the wedding reception, too!
CELTiCK KNOT? What about ROSY cheeks!
I saw the movie In Like Flint when it came out too many years ago. All my life, until today, I thought that was the saying.
Rex, I agree about the title. Seems unnecessarily cruel. But the puzzle was the most fun Sunday in a long time.
Hand up for hating the title but liking the puzzle.
I enjoyed finding the critters hidden in the grid, especially the ROACH. That discovery was my first clue to what was going on themewise. The LOUSE was a fun surprise along the way.
Also liked the puzzle’s Irish flavor: ALLO, CELTIC KNOT, JOE GREENE, and, alas, IN LIKE FLYNN.
@egs, I was surprised you had no comment on PATOOTIE.
Better make sure that DELi CASE is closed after you put in the big cheese. A BRIE FLY might get in.
The editor should not have accepted USNA crossing with NSC. One little-known acronym is allowable. Two of them crossing each other is not. The theme title “Step On It!” is weak. I would have gone with something like “The Place is Bugged”. PS - Don’t step on BEEs please.
Count me in with the group that can distinguish a fun crossword puzzle from wantonly slaughtering insects. Jeesh!
Since I work on the NYT puzzle app I almost NEVER click on the “i” button to see the name of the puzzle and NOW I know this apparently a GOOD thing because I really enjoyed this puzzle! In fact, I’m not even gonna let the horrible things found out later about Errol FLYNN ruin my admiration. As to @Rex’s question of “Who steps on a bee”? I’m thinking about ANY hooman who has walked through a field of blooming clover that wasn’t constantly looking where they are stepping. Yeah, yeah, I get the stepping on a GNAT or LOUSE thing. Whatever. I figured out insects were in the rebuses early and I didn’t need a puzzle title.
@LMS, I loved your story about Mr. Burch and the roach “pop.” I loved it, but at the same time it made me cringe! I mean, not just the pop but if you STEP on it you have well, yuck, I can’t go on.
And am I right that the UTNE Reader is no longer published? I THINK you can only get older hard and digital copies. I found this out looking for something for my son-in-law so if someone knows something different let me know.
In India I saw a procession of Jain monks. Two monks with brooms walked in front of the high priest sweeping the path so he wouldn’t step on any living thing. (Of course they could not pay close attention to where they were stepping so who knows how many bugs they squashed in preserving their leader from sin.)
Jain prayer (from Wikipedia)
Forgiveness
I forgive all living beings,
may all living beings forgive me.
All in this world are my friends,
I have no enemies.
— Jain festival prayer on the last day
For us oldies, "In Like Flint" was a 1967 spy movie with James Coburn. Yes, it was a play on the phrase.
Ribozymes are RNA molecules that can catalyze reactions similar to enzymes (which are proteins)
@Mods
I've tried twice to post a second comment that seems to have vanished into thin air. Maybe Blogger ate it. Or I'm wondering if you guys deleted it for some reason. If so, please advise. Thanks for any info.
I like that interpretation. Wasn't horrified by the killing of bugs that consist of ink or pixels, as bugs within crossword puzzles do, but tend to catch and release most bugs (and all geckos) that make their way into the house
@Barbara S
Didn't delete your comment. Like you said, maybe Blogger ate it.
My first deathless prose attempt disappeared, so briefly-
Caught on early, liked the theme, the title not so much. Stepping on bugs is not something I do for fun, but they had to get squished to fit them into the boxes.
I've dealt with infestations of carpenter ants in places where they had to be removed, and leaving them all alone is not an option. Just saying.
Very nice Sunday indeed, LTK. I wasLike The Kid with the WATERMELON Kool Aid smiling all the way through this one. Thanks for all the fun.
I hope to have today's puzzle(s) sometime tomorrow. I made a pilgrimage to a friend in my old building (they got a NYT yesterday; my building didn't) to get yesterday's puzzle. It was a doozy and well worth the expended effort. I'll post my reaction on Saturday's blog -- which I now can read without spoiling the puzzle for myself.
A stranger in my old building witnessed my distress about not getting the magazine (my friend doesn't get Sundays) and said he'd call me when he finished it and give it to me.
I'm a little baffled by how many people are working themselves up into a lather over the idea of squishing bugs. Seems like we have bigger things to worry about.
OK, trying this for a third time. Maybe Blogger's anti-art.
Art-related musings –
MATISSE’s Le bonheur de vivre is in the Barnes Foundation, and for decades, until they lightened up in 1990s, that institution wouldn’t permit any color reproductions of the works in their collection. I think the prohibition was based on founder Albert C. Barnes’s belief that works of art were fatally reduced by reproduction, and that it was imperative to stand in front of them to get the true impression. It’s possible to have some sympathy with this view while tearing one’s hair out in frustration, particularly if one curated a large image collection used in the teaching of art history, which I did. Le bonheur de vivre is a seminal work in the transformation of painting in the first decade of the twentieth century, so the inability to show it properly to students was a major headache. We had one dingy slide, obtained I don’t know how and no one ever told me the story – it predated my arrival at the university. I always imagined some hapless art historian creeping around the Barnes with a camera disguised as a boutonnière. When, finally, I actually saw the painting in a trip to Merion, PA. in the 1980s, I realized how bad our slide was: the greens were grey, the yellows were brown and the oranges were magenta. And color is crucial in discussing that particular work! I fear we warped a whole generation of art historians who passed through our gates.
The confusion of MANET and MoNET has a long history that began back in the 1860s before the painters even knew each other. The Paris Salon was the large annual exhibition sponsored by the Académie des Beaux-Arts. It was a big deal: every-artist who was any-artist strove to get their works accepted for display at the Salon. One year in the mid-1860s, while strolling around the Salon’s galleries, MANET found himself being complimented by people he knew on his two seascapes hanging three rooms away. Seascapes, thought MANET, I didn’t submit any seascapes, and apparently made a BEEline to find out what on earth people were talking about. According to art historian George Heard Hamilton, “MANET seems to have been exasperated when Monet’s work first attracted favorable attention at the Salon, and the inevitable confusion of names resulted.” And there’s a cartoon published in 1866 by satirist André Gill (which unfortunately I couldn’t find online), which shows Gill’s parody of a work by Monet with the caption: “Monet or Manet? – Monet. But it is to Manet that we owe this Monet; bravo, Monet; thank you, Manet.” The story has a happy ending, though, as the two became friends. But I’m sure they rolled their eyes and shook their heads for the rest of their lives over the aggravating confusion of names.
I loved Rex’s art history lesson this morning: very on-point, very punchy.
Yes, and --
Manet: people, and scenes of modern life; limited color, high contrast; works created in the studio; not an Impressionist but highly influential for them.
Monet: landscapes, transitory effects of light and atmosphere on the colors we see; painting en plein air; an Impressionist, in fact the term comes from his Impression: Sunrise.
Trying to wrap my mind around the revelation that some of us believe USNA and NSC to be "little-known acronyms."
from my history days, I always understood that "in like flynn" had to do with machine politics and the same wiki article notes "In addition to the Errol Flynn association, etymologist Eric Partridge presents evidence that it refers to Edward J. Flynn, a New York City political boss who became a campaign manager for the Democratic party during Franklin Delano Roosevelt's presidency. Boss Flynn's "Democratic Party machine exercised absolute political control over the Bronx.... The candidates he backed were almost automatically 'in'."[4]", but I think it is likely a phrase known mostly to people over 50 today.
Rex, regarding your reaction to the puzzle’s title: What’re you, four?
OK, glad I wasn't the only one irked by the title. We need a major rethink on the automatic assumption of insects = pests.
Credit should be given to Erik Agaard for this puzzle, who constructed this in 2016.
http://gluttonforpun.blogspot.com/2016/05/puzzle-197-squished-bugs.html?m=1
His original title made a lot more sense than this one too.
Pinions are actually flight feathers (primaries) rather than tail feathers. Cute pun, though.
@Eniale (from yesterday)
I really enjoyed the account of your high school and college days, and I totally identified with your Catulli Carmina story. When we were translating Catullus, my Latin teacher [who was a) a married and b) man, close to the end of his career] brought in Catulli Carmina on LP, played a little of it in class and asked if anyone wanted to borrow the record overnight. I did and listened in fascination, although I didn’t go to your lengths of memorization! Here’s a little something to sing along to. Be warned – it starts with a bang!
@jberg (from yesterday)
Thanks for ferreting out that website. I’ve had a brief look at it and I’m looking forward to diving back in.
Great theme undermined by a weak title. First they came to step on the ROACH and I said nothing, because yuk, roaches. Then they came to step on the TICK and LOUSE and GNAT and I said nothing, but thought to myself stepping on them isn’t going to get you too far. Finally they came to step on the BEE …and I said wtf?
Really? Don't know the difference between bi-weekly and semi-weekly?
Pretty nifty puzzle, I thought.
Pepe is just a cartoon. I can't think of a cartoon which offends me offhand, but if I do, I promise I'll just turn it off rather than plant my flag of righteous indignation on it.
The folk etymology behind "in like Flynn" is likely more problematic and, likely, not correct; it's more likely the expression predates the actor and became associated with his loutish (and at times, illegal) ways later. Being a native New Yorker, I also have heard the association mentioned by others here.
Step on a bee, help kill mother nature. Good idea. Step on a gnat, break your mother's back? How do you step on a gnat? Or a louse? Or a Tick? "Here child, hold your head still whilst I use my boot to pick your nits."
Oh, but... I think the title is far from literal. This is a puzzle, after all. I think it has to do with squishing the bugs into boxes, in which case it's pretty clever.
And yes, waiters serve food in restaurants. So much so that some places, which refuse to use the word "waiter" as gender-neutral (as we use actor, comedian, author, and a host of others we didn't use to) call their waiters "servers". Strange (and somewhat parochial) are the ways of the language police.
Using Monet, Manet, and Matisse in the same puzzle left quite an impression on me.
I had no idea Kool-Aid has flavors. Is "watermelon" what normal people call "pink"?
I think this was the nicest Sunday puzzle in quite some time. Thank you Laura.
I happened, in my time travels, to come across the entry from the 2062 Wikipedia for “In Like Flynn”. In addition to the current citations, it includes:
Starting in the 2020’s, the phrase took on a meaning of being outrageously and flamboyantly guilty but securing absolution from a sociopathic holder of power. This meaning derives from the case of the noted QAnon advocate and enemy of the former United States of America, Michael Flynn, who was justifiably tried and convicted before being pardoned by the now infamous President Donald J Trump, who died a pauper and is largely forgotten. Thus, to be “In like Flynn” now means to be temporarily constrained with the expectation of an unjustified release from the constraints.
@beezer utne.com still is published digitally and quarterly (but not by Eric Utne)…
Fun puzzle! Got off to a slow start when I saw Haydn's famous student and decided to start there. Of course it didn't fit. Aha! Step on it! meaning step on the gas pedal! It's a motor vehicle rebus! So I confidently entered VAN in one square. Bewilderment ensued for quite some time until I found the BEE and then the other critters.
I supposed I'm the only one who came up with such a brilliantly wrong idea?
Of all of the places I could have gotten squashed, I could not get REIN, bit by a bit... crossing Ari. Yikes.
I totally agree that stepping on bees, roaches and ants is cruel and pointless for the others. I guess we should be thankful that the title didn't promote blasting away with pesticides.
Guess I was only one with SHANTY instead of LEANTO... messed me up good!!
This is a Sunday NYT classic type puzzle brought up to the minute with its clever and all debut theme answers (hi @Lewis!). Since I did not read the title before diving in, it had no effect on my a solve enjoyment-which was huge. So sure, the title is silly, ill conceived and unnecessary. Enough said.
The theme itself was clever and easily discovered if the solver is familiar with the common phrases. When PYTHAGOREAN THEOREM wouldn't fit, I knew something was afoot,
Odd segue, but I watched The new Sondheim film of “West Side Story” last night because I discovered that Justin Peck choreographed it. I’m a huge fan of his work, but won’t go into detail. Wrl maybe one thing. Anyone in the neighborhood who is a dance lover should see “Ballet 422.” It document’s the amazing collaborative process of creating a new ballet and setting it on the NYC Ballet company. Everything about the work is brilliant, and I expected to be blown away by the dancing, but what literally brought me to tears was watching Peck’s unusual collaborative process. Learning that he set the dances in the new movie made me want to see it. And now I have the song “Maria” firmly ensconced in my brain. And back to the puzzle. . .
So, still humming “Maria,” I left a space in the first theme answer until I could identify where the rebus went (or if the missing letters, whatever they might be were discovered going another direction, etc). STEELER, RAH, SMEAR going down and TEAM GAME across got me thinking and soon the only space left wanting something was the rebus for ANT. All of a sudden, I started singing (to the tune of “Maria”),“The most wonderful word I ever heard, a rebus, a rebus, a rebus, a rebus. . . A rebus, I just found the trick, it’s a rebus. . . “. Ugh, right! Anyway, after that, I enjoyed wandering through this delightful and superlatively crafted Sunday puzzle.
I enjoyed the puzzle, though once I figured it out I did not go back and try to write in all those letters in a tiny square.
I just wanted to say that the print edition has a lovely Split Decisions today.
And of course wish I had had our Muse as a teacher, though I would not have qualified to be assigned to her current class. She knows so many interesting things, and it is always a joy when she shares them with us.
OMG. How long ago did you mention the crow/raven thing? Just yesterday I was looking out my window at a flock of crows and thought to myself that I don't really know that they aren't ravens. So I looked it up which led me to the pinion joke. Of course, I found that difference was not actually true. I did learn how to tell the difference but it's not simple.
Re: In like Flynn - The American Boys Club in Defense of Errol Flynn (ABCDEF) still remains as a men's club to this very day. What it lost in its specificity to Mr. Flynn it gained in breadth, consequence and power by including all 'Boys'. Its membership has provided all members of the Republicans seated on the Judiciary Committee since 1962, and thank god for that.
@LMS - One day, long ago, my horse vet and I were musing about the first person who decided to do an 'internal exam' on large animals. He said no one knows, but that he's referred to as "El Greco" in the industry.
Carter just turned 98 in October.
Amazing life.
My first thought was "Good luck stepping on a gnat" and the ensuing mental visual looks like Monty Python. I agree with the commentariat that the title bugged me but the puzzle was great.
About stepping on bees: I had an ESL kindergartener who had suffered terrible abuse in his home country and had reacted by killing small animals (you really cannot make this stuff up). But. He was also super smart, always wanted to know more about almost any topic. So the day a bee came into the classroom, was crawling on the floor and he lifted his foot high to step on it - I grabbed said foot (totally bad) and sat him down. We talked about honey and flowers and he said he didn't know bees were good for anything. Next thing you know he's holding a seminar for all these little kids explaining in 2 languages why "it's up to us to take care of bees."
I often forget to look at LMS's avatar. I just remembered to and it is very funny. Perhaps Anoa Bob would find that the avatar includes a real rebus, although the pronunciation is different..
Agree with pretty much everything....except everyone should absolutely squash and kill as many spotted lantern flies as possible. This is directive from all local and national agriculture etc. departments. They are a scourge and destroying trees everywhere.
“Don’t Bug Me” would have been a far better title. Is Shortz responsible for the awful one they used?
I find it hard to believe that Jimmy Carter attending the Naval Academy is not common knowledge. He was a peanut farmer too, btw.
@Bass
I had "shanty" too. The only quad I could not finish. Had to do a bit of looking up. Glad I'm not the only one.
Buggies!
Better puztitle: Raid!
Staff weeject pick: ARI (Had a neat clue).
Got here ultra-late, due to many chores/distractions that kept m&e from finishin up the puz.
Sooo … M&A kinda did the opposite, of what the puztitle was urgin.
But, hey -- good SunPuz.
Thanx for the fun, Ms. Kinnel darlin.
Masked & Anonymo8Us
**gruntz**
FYI CC Burnikel's spouse and fellow constructor Boomer passed away yesterday.
Liked the puzzle but agree on the title. Wondered whether it was an attempt to get more life out of Amber Heard’s dog stepping on bee? But that would be a stretch. I guess I should be glad that it took me a a long time to figure it out and did not click that it was bugs we were stepping on.
Rex, you're wonderful.
Thanks!
Better title would have been: In Sections
I thought BRIEF/INLIKEFNN was plausible! I thought, okay maybe there's a Financial News Network, so a successful person might be IN, LIKE, FNN, according to a valley girl (or 90% of the young population these days).
@Liveprof 7:10–
One of my father’s favorite jokes! And he had many. He wasn’t above stepping on bugs either!
Why do most people find roaches so disgusting anyway? Right up there with stink bugs. I mean other than the fact that they’re almost impossible to corner and will probably take over the world after we humans have ruined it. I don’t want to step on them,
but I don’t want to see them climbing my walls either or munching on my cat’s food. Thank you, Truly Nolen!
btw- the puzzle itself was excellent, regardless of the title. Shortz could have changed it— perhaps he counted on it to engender
more comments?
DNF because of that G vs. N issue.
I liked the puzzle I thought it was very clever. Plus it had very few references to names of people, movies, pop culture, etc which really irritate me. I like to have puzzles that have twists on words, puns and the like.
I was having the hardest time with this puzzle, and starting to get really frustrated. Then I thought, what does Rex have to say about this?? Your sass always helps me through the frustrating ones. Thank you!!
@Trina: Loved your first paragraph and am squarely in agreement with it. In "Contact," James Woods has the line "And just how concerned would we be if we stepped on one of those 'ants'?" I mean, can you imagine someone going to confession and saying "Father, forgive me; I stepped on an ant!"? Please. OK, bees are a little different; I would not harm one lest its buddies get mad and come after me. But yeah, I'll cheerfully splat a roach.
Good Sunday rebus. Some stretchy fill, but expected in a 21x21. Easy-medium; birdie.
Wordle par.
Merry Christmas, everybody!
ROSY BAYOU
I,TOO, HOPE YOU can NOT TELLALIE,
IN LEGALESE - there's disaster WAITing.
YES,YOU SATOUT ALONE, AND why?
INLAW, TO try SLOE master ABATING.
--- INSPECTOR ERWIN AMES
This puz bugged me. Like OFL said, how do you step on a GNAT? And please, never step on a BEE - some species are endangered or threatened, those that are likely to be underfoot. Step on all the wasps you want.
Wordle par.
Merry Christmas to all!
How about instead "Don't Bug Me" for the title ? Then I would say ok I can get behind that. Otherwise a very nice Sunday puz. Never heard of ATTAR. I need to study up on fragrances.
Off subject- Niners destined for Super Bowl victory with Mr Irrelevant ? If so, he would surely enter future crosswords.
Laura you hit it to the warning track. With my title it would have been out of the park !
Wow. Rex is really grumpy today.
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