Start of an old advice column / SAT 12-17-22 / Forked-tailed fliers / Honorific that translates to born before / Eschews a cab, say / Outdoor event with long sticks informally / Some modern media-related speculations / Subject of a Nepali hunting license

Saturday, December 17, 2022

Constructor: Christina Iverson and Tom Pepper

Relative difficulty: Easy


THEME: none 

Word of the Day: Jack Dempsey aka The Manassa MAULER (15A: The Manassa ___, nickname for boxer Jack Dempsey) —

William Harrison "Jack" Dempsey (June 24, 1895 – May 31, 1983), nicknamed Kid Blackie and The Manassa Mauler, was an American professional boxer who competed from 1914 to 1927, and reigned as the world heavyweight champion from 1919 to 1926. A cultural icon of the 1920s, Dempsey's aggressive fighting style and exceptional punching power made him one of the most popular boxers in history. Many of his fights set financial and attendance records, including the first million-dollar gate. He pioneered the live broadcast of sporting events in general, and boxing matches in particular.

Dempsey is ranked tenth on The Ring magazine's list of all-time heavyweights and seventh among its Top 100 Greatest Punchers, while in 1950 the Associated Press voted him as the greatest fighter of the past 50 years. He is a member of the International Boxing Hall of Fame, and was in the previous Boxing Hall of Fame. (wikipedia)

• • •
***HELLO, READERS AND FELLOW SOLVERS IN SYNDICATION*** (if it's mid-January 2023, that's you!) How is the new year treating you? Well, I hope. Me, uh, not great so far (COVID, you know), but I'm 95% better, and was never terribly sick to begin with, so I have every reason to believe things will turn around for me shortly, thank God (and vaccines). Anyway, it's early January, which means it's time once again for my annual week-long pitch for financial contributions to the blog. Every year I ask readers to consider what the blog is worth to them on an annual basis and give accordingly. I'm not sure what to say about this past year. This will sound weird, or melodramatic—or maybe it won't—but every time I try to write about 2022, all I can think is "well, my cat died." She (Olive) died this past October, very young, of a stupid congenital heart problem that we just couldn't fix (thank you all for your kind words of condolence, by the way). I'm looking at the photo I used for last year's fundraising pitch, and it's a picture of me sitting at my desk (this desk, the one I'm typing at right now, the one I write at every day) with Olive sitting on my shoulder, staring at me, and making me laugh. It's a joyous picture. Here, I'm just gonna post it again:


I love the photo both because you can tell how goofy she is, and how goofy she made me. Her loss hurt for the obvious reasons, but also because she was so much a part of my daily routine, my daily rhythms and rituals. She was everyday. Quotidian. Just ... on me, near me, being a weirdo, especially in the (very) early mornings when I was writing this blog. She took me out of myself. She also made me aware of how much the quotidian matters, how daily rituals break up and organize the day, mark time, ground you. They're easy to trivialize, these rituals, precisely because they *aren't* special. Feed the cats again, make the coffee again, solve the crossword again, etc. But losing Olive made me reevaluate the daily, the quotidian, the apparently trivial. In a fundamental way, those small daily things *are* life. No one day is so important, or so different from the others, but cumulatively, they add up, and through the days upon days you develop a practice—a practice of love, care, and attention given to the things that matter. If you're reading this, then crossword puzzles are undoubtedly an important ritual for you, just as writing about crosswords for you all is an important ritual for me. It gives me so much. I hope that even at my most critical, my genuine love for crosswords—for the way my brain lights up on crosswords—comes through. I also hope that the blog brings you entertainment, insight, laughter ... even (especially) if you disagree with me much (most? all?) of the time. 

[man, I really wear the hell 
out of this red fleece...]
The blog began years ago as an experiment in treating the ephemeral—the here-today, gone-tomorrow—like it really mattered. I wanted to stop and look at this 15x15 (or 21x21 thing) and take it seriously, listen to it, see what it was trying to do, think about what I liked or didn't like about it. In short, I gave the puzzle my time and attention. And I continue to do that, every day (Every! Day!). And it is work. A lot of work. Asking for money once a year (and only once a year) is an acknowledgment of that fact. There is nothing to subscribe to here ... no Substack or Kickstarter or Patreon ... and there are no ads, ever. I prefer to keep financial matters simple and direct. I have no "hustle" in me beyond putting my ass in this chair every morning and writing.

How much should you give? Whatever you think the blog is worth to you on a yearly basis. Whatever that amount is is fantastic. Some people refuse to pay for what they can get for free. Others just don't have money to spare. All are welcome to read the blog—the site will always be open and free. But if you are able to express your appreciation monetarily, here are three options. First, a Paypal button (which you can also find in the blog sidebar):

Second, a mailing address (checks should be made out to "Rex Parker"):

Rex Parker c/o Michael Sharp
54 Matthews St
Binghamton, NY 13905

The third, increasingly popular option is Venmo; if that's your preferred way of moving money around, my handle is @MichaelDavidSharp (the last four digits of my phone are 4878, in case Venmo asks you, which I guess it does sometimes, when it's not trying to push crypto on you, what the hell?!)

All Paypal contributions will be gratefully acknowledged by email. All snail mail contributions will be gratefully acknowledged with hand-written postcards. I. Love. Snail Mail. I love seeing your gorgeous handwriting and then sending you my awful handwriting. It's all so wonderful. My daughter (Ella Egan) has designed a cat-related thank-you postcard for 2023, just as she has for the past two years, but this year, there's a bonus. Because this year ... the postcard is also a crossword puzzle! Yes, I made a little 9x9 blog-themed crossword puzzle for you all. It's light and goofy and I hope you enjoy it. It looks like this (clues blurred for your protection):

I had fun making this puzzle (thanks to Rachel Fabi and Neville Fogarty for proofing it for me!). For non-snail-mailers who want to solve the puzzle, don't worry: I'll make the puzzle available for everyone some time next month. Please note: I don't keep a "mailing list" and don't share my contributor info with anyone. And if you give by snail mail and (for some reason) don't want a thank-you card, just indicate "NO CARD."  Again, as ever, I'm so grateful for your readership and support. Now on to today's puzzle...

• • •

PUKEKO (6)
Greetings from Down Under, the Land of the Long White Cloud, Aotearoa, Kiwiville, Middle Earth, what have you. You know, there are all kind of endemic birds here, striking birds, birds with lovely calls, birds you see All The Time. There are tuis and fantails and wood pigeons galore down here on the South Island, so if you were looking for a national symbol that was also a bird, you wouldn't have to look far ... unless one of your criteria was that it be a weird roly-poly flightless thing that you never actually see. If weirdness and ungainliness are what you're after then ... well, honestly, even then, there are more striking birds that fit the bill (!) that are actually part of the everyday landscape. The pukeko ("they're like pests ... people shoot them" said one of my wife's delightfully unsentimental relatives) are striking purple-bodied orange-billed primeval chicken-like things that look like non-terrifying dinosaurs strutting across your backyard. I'd sooner be a pukeko than a kiwi. Kiwi are real enough, I'm told, but I've never seen one. They still seem mythical to me. Like Hobbits (another thing associated with NZ, the fascination with which I do not get). Anyway, I am Team Pukeko all the way. Or Haast's Eagle, have you heard of this thing!?!?! It's extinct (as are a lot of native birds now, thanks, humanity/rats) but in its day ... big as a Buick ... a flying Buick. Haast's eagles were so big, they preyed on moa. Moa! Have you seen a moa?! Well, no, of course, no one has since the Polynesians basically hunted them out of existence (mid 15c.), but they were bigger than me. I actually saw a moa tibia today, alongside a human tibia, at The Museum of Natural Mystery in Dunedin, and ... well, it was bigger, is what it was. Bigger than the human tibia. I also bought this moa t-shirt:

[Have I mentioned it's beautiful here?]

Where was I? Ah, this puzzle! Which, sadly, has no TUI, no KEA, no MOA, no NZ birds at all! Wait, does NZ have TERNS (39A: Forked-tailed fliers)? OMG there's something called a New Zealand fairy tern!!!! Look at this baby:


OK I'm going to pretend the TERNS in the puzzle are fairy TERNS, if you don't mind. That will help me enjoy it more. Not to say I didn't enjoy it. There just wasn't much, in terms of fill, that made me think "ooh" or "ahh." I never know how I'm supposed to spell "WEENIE," so WEENIE ROASTs are always gonna be kind of a bust for me. The clue on THERMOMETER was great (16D: Cold shower?) (it's showing you ... that it's cold), but the clue on SPOT REMOVER, meh, fill-in-the-blank jokes don't really work, joke-wise. Timing is thrown off, so groaners only get groanier (18D: "I spilled ___ on my dog. Now he's gone": Steven Wright). Really like ABOVE THE FRAY, but FAN THEORIES ... ugh, I now associate "fandom" with a horrid narrow online groupthink, buncha gatekeepers and nostalgia freaks, self-appointed brand police—sad mean people, basically, to say nothing of uncritical consumers of corporate IP. It's possible I'm thinking exclusively of "Star Wars" and Marvel fandom, but I doubt it. It's an original answer, that one, and I'm sure some will love it, but it didn't move the needle for me, unlike yesterday's puzzle, which was a sizzling masterpiece. Thursday's puzzle ... was there a puzzle on Thursday? who can remember that far back? 


Here was my second big mistake:
My first big mistake was REVS UP for KEYS UP (1A: Psychs), with the "R" seeming correct because RAMA seemed correct at 1D: Hindu god of love and desire (KAMA). So "YOU'RE ON FIRE!" was slow-going. But that was the only slow-going part. The rest flew by (again, unlike yesterday). The clue on RED RYDER was weird, as I thought RED RYDER was the brand, not the BB gun itself (49A: Ralphie's wish in "A Christmas Story"). He doesn't say he wants a RED RYDER. He has a whole spiel, and it definitely involves the word "gun:"


Any tough clues? The ports in 14A: Place with multiple ports are wines, of course. "Retirement" means "sleeping" in 43A: No-frills retirement options? (COTS) (not really sure why that clue even needs a "?"). The "pitcher" in 27D: Pitcher's aim? is someone making a SALEs pitch. That should do it. If you have any other questions, I'm sure the very helpful folks in the comments section can, well, help. That's all for today. Can't tell you how nice it is to have the puzzle come out at 4pm!!!! Liberating. Gonna move here just for the sleep schedule benefits! See you tomorrow (when the puzzle comes out at noon!!!!).

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]

98 comments:

Loren Muse Smith 1:16 AM  

HEY, REX! YOU’RE SO FAR AWAY! CAN YOU HEAR ME? Thanks for your dedication, man. And that New Zealand fairy TERN is adorable, looks like a affable little guy.

I had a bit of push-back in the southwest because I didn’t know RED RYDER, but once I *finally* saw DOS, I was able to finish.

Agree that the clue for AIR FRESHENER is great. (I recently discovered this, and it’s hands-down the best one I’ve ever had. – Glade Cashmere Woods. I. Love. It.)

I also liked the clue for THERMOMETER. Sneaky-sneak to make us say “shower” like that. Oh, and the clue for SELFIE – terrific!

I had a student once in WV who asked me why it’s “blink” or “bat” with the singular “eye” because when we blink or bat, we use both eyelids. Wink – one eye, bat – two eyes. Anyhoo. . . I was childishly jealous that I had never noticed that.

It’s hard to look back at my finished grid and not see ID OTTER. It could be some kind of app, right? Heck, maybe it is. I bet there’s an app called SPOT REMOVER that adioses ads. (My avatar is a picture of the absolute best spot remover I’ve ever used. A landlord told me about it. He also told me you can clean a fiberglass shower insert with oven cleaner and use sandpaper to get rid of toilet bowl hard water lines, just fyi.)

I’ll leave you with this TED TALK about an EMAIL HOAX. This is truly worth watching. This one is about trying to unsubscribe.

This is really funny, too.

Tom, Christina – fine Saturday right across the plate . (Tom - see you at the ACPT this year?)

egsforbreakfast 1:31 AM  

Nice to have@Rex back, although Malaika and Rafa each did yeopersons work in his stead. Even a write up that is about NZ birds and only glances at the puzzle is such a joy versus the psycho.

Hope the vegans could stomach all of the HAMS, WEENIE and MEAT today.

I assume that those who pitched a bitch about CIRRI a few days ago will do likewise for STRATI today.

Nice puzzle with some good clues, but way too easy for a Saturday, which is not a criticism of the constructor. Thanks for a good time, Christina Iverson and Tom Pepper.

jae 1:44 AM  

Yep, pretty easy. I had ON tape before FILE and had to fix my AURORAL and WEENIE misspellings but that was about it for missteps. Plus, like @Rex, I wasted some nanoseconds wondering why BB Gun didn’t fit.

Entertaining Saturday, liked it.

Anonymous 1:53 AM  

I’m definitely Team Pukeko. Highly recommend the NZ child book series Perky the Pukeko, which my five year old has loved for past few years. Has Pukeko ever appeared in NYTXW? It should. And NZ is very civilised times for crossword releases. I definitely enjoy in Australia.

Oh yes, the puzzle: enjoyed it!

Kira 2:19 AM  

Maybe I’m too young (23!)but I found this puzzle much harder than previous weeks. “EMAILHOAXES”?? That’s not even a thing! Scam is far more likely to be used than “hoax”. Actually never is “emailhoax”’a thing ever seems entirely made up for this crossword alone

Anonymous 3:59 AM  

I guess I am an “i dotter” because I was the one looking for a place to put the “.” in my answer on EDU. I mean, how can this be a proper alternative to .com and .org without the dot? Anyways…

Conrad 5:10 AM  


rAMA before KAMA led to rEYUP at 1A. Spanglish "King high" poker hand? And Jack Dempsey was the Manassa MAshER before he was a MAULER. But my worst mistake was Aromatherapy at 17A off the second A in rAMA/KAMA. I was so proud of that I stayed with it too long. Once I got AIR FRESHENER the rest of the puzzle flowed.

OffTheGrid 6:15 AM  

Difficult without being satisfying. ABOVETHEFRAY was the only really good entry. The puzzle was marred by "?" after "?" and "ese" that is expected on Mon and Tues but not Fiday & Saturday. Grade-D.

Lewis 7:00 AM  

A pair of lovely pairs: HAMS and EMOTE; the cross of MEAT and WEENIE ROAST. Sweet to see UP in the top row. And a moment of puzzlement: “You mean there are people who don’t dot their I’s????” Followed by a moment of agogness: “You mean there is a word in our language for people who do????”

I got stuck for quite a bit in the 9-box square that is the SW corner, satisfying my brain’s yearning on Saturday for sweat. And, all in all, a most enjoyable outing from a pair of pros. Thank you, Christina and Tom!

kitshef 7:20 AM  

DEAR ANN has to be the most godawful partial I’ve ever seen. And AFTS is no prize pig, either. The rest of the puzzle was fairly fun. Easier than yesterday’s.

andrew 7:21 AM  

IDOTTER seemed suspect - while it has a wiktionary mention, many more results for Ohio State Marching Band dotting the i.

Weakest entry - is TCROSSER a thing too?

This would have been a good Wednesday but much easier than yesterday’s. I know some don’t think xword days matter, but I’m a TCROSSER at heart (I think, therefore I i-dot and t-cross).

Twangster 7:25 AM  

Agree this was easy, except for the bottom left, which was brutal. Had to look up the movie to finish. I would have though a Red Ryder was a sled, not a gun.

Anyone else start out with AROMATHERAPY for 17A?

Son Volt 7:27 AM  

Nice puzzle - a little strained in sections but overall very doable. I count 9 actual ?s with others that border on it - that may be trying a little too hard. I thought KAMA was a gimme to start off and knew MAULER so that opening corner fell quickly.

Liked the clues for SALE and PRIEST. Jury is still out on I DOTTER - didn’t know TED TALKS. I guess ANN is Landers? I was KEYed in to Abby.

All the longs were solid - nothing earth shattering but cool - WEENIE ROAST, TRUE OR FALSE, ANOVE THE FRAY. Agree with @kira that EMAIL HOAXES are not a thing - seems like an X out of convenience.

Enjoyable Saturday solve. Check out that funky grid in Anna Stiga’s Stumper for something a little more strenuous.

who’s ON FIRE?

Anonymous 7:31 AM  

You're a regular but where is Zed?

Wanderlust 7:39 AM  

In addition to the nice clues noted by Rex and Loren, I’ll add DADBOD for “certain parental figure” (I can relate, sadly) and PRIEST for “clerical worker.” Any etymologist want to explain how clerical came to mean a member of the clergy and a member of the typing pool?

I figured that “crude meas.” would be an abbreviation for barrel, but how did it become BBL? I wanted BrL but I couldn’t see what would follow WINE other than BAR. I was sure I’d get the sad trombone instead of happy music at the end, but no, BBL was right.

My other hold-up was in the SE, where I had ON tapE instead of ON FILE for a long time and Gibe before GOOF for a short time. I thought I wouldn’t know the actor Michael from a show I’ve never heard of, but then I thought, “could it be CERA?” The speculative C made me see COFFIN. (I was looking for another trick answer there for “final resting place” so you tricked me by being straightforward!) Then it all fell quickly.

Rex, I am so jealous of your sojourn in NZ. It is absolutely the top entry in my long bucket list. Whenever I meet a Kiwi (or as I will now call them, a Pukeko), I always tell them that, adding that I felt that way even before LOTR. Someday I’ll get there.

Anonymous 7:57 AM  

Oh 2D felt off. These aren’t HOAXES, they are either spam or frauds.

Anonymous 8:02 AM  

lol yea on “clerical”, same origin. Basically a worker. ”Clerk” same.

SouthsideJohnny 8:03 AM  

Do people really drink port wines - isn’t it a fortified dessert wine, and usually sweet ? A WINE BAR may offer one, but multiple ports seems like a stretch (yes, close enough for CrossWorld though). Was all confused by the BBL (Brazilian Butt Lift) being a crude measure - as I thought people do it as an attempt to improve their appearance. AFTS and its associated clue are definitely a cop out - need a better clue or a different answer there. I like it when there are nothing but nits to pick on a Saturday - congratulations to the constructors, this is a Major League effort for sure.

Phillyrad1999 8:11 AM  

Here’s to the pukeko! The cluing in this puzzle made it very enjoyable. FANTHEORIES AND TRUEORFALSE were a little weak for the long downs. Wanted UBERS to be WALKS and so spun my wheels out of the gate. Crosses helped to course correct.

TaylorSlow 8:23 AM  

Good to have you back, Rex, and thanks for all the bird lore from NZ! I look at the photo of the moa tee shirt, but all I'm seeing is the view out the window. What a beautiful place!

Enjoyed this puzzle--not bangs-head-on-laptop hard, but MEATy enough for me, especially after Friday's acid bath. Also had REVS UP/RAMA--nice misdirection. RAMA is one of those answers that I don't actually *know* fits the clue but in Crossworld, I'm assuming it's correct. This time, nope. The long answers were mostly delightful and original, but I'm with Rex on FAN THEORIES. Never knew they existed prior to today, asked Prof. Google what they were, am not interested because I think of "fandom" in the same way Rex does. Although he says it better.

But Rex, you got one thing wrong, and it's the RED RYDER thing. "He doesn't say he wants a RED RYDER," you write. Well, yes, he does. Again and again and again. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ppOXpyhM2wA
But unlike me, you probably don't watch this movie every year. Nice to see Ralphie in a puzzle right about now.

Anonymous 8:43 AM  

All more of less okay except FANTHEORIES. Is that a thing? Has anyone ever seen this in print, or heard it?

pabloinnh 8:51 AM  

Saw the Ralphie clue while scanning around and decided to start there, but of course BBGUN did not fit, so I fixed that by writing in AIRRIFLE, not as smart as I thought I was, obviously. Nothing leaped out until the SPOTREMOVER joke, and that was a major toehold, which led to lots of other things, and I was done soon enough.

The next SLEFIE I take will be my first, but at least we had the rare ID OTTER frolicking in the corner.

We're dealing with a foot or so of wet heavy snow here so duty calls.

Very enjoyable Saturday, CI and TP, Clever, Intelligent, and a Total Pleasure. Thanks for all the fun.

And now to print off the Stumper before the power goes out.

Anonymous 8:57 AM  

I was wondering how Rex was going to reference Thursday’s blog debacle. Cleverly, of course!

mmorgan 9:00 AM  

“Easy”?! “Easy”?!?!? Well, for me it was hard. And fun! Good hard fun! Fun hard good!

@Kira: actually I say EMAIL HOAXES quite often.

Hope you’re not too jetlagged, Rex!

Did Thursday’s blog shatter all records for comments received on a single day??

beverly c 9:05 AM  

I liked the cluing and that the long answers weren’t slangy phrases. The Fairy Tern is a charmer. Thanks for the bird info!

burtonkd 9:21 AM  

@Southside, yes people drink port. And what bar of any kind have you ever been to that only has one option????

Any time Rex wants to write about birds (even with obligatory misanthropism) is fine with me! You would think going half way around the world would cure someone of ennui for a day; I found plenty of joy in this puzzle. The HBO series "White Lotus" has a theme of people traveling to get away and live their fantasies only to get there and find that they themselves are the source of their problems. Speaking of White Lotus, there is a murder mystery that somehow makes its way to the background. Nevertheless, FANTHEORIES abounded about which character could die or be responsible.

I thought this one had excellent wordplay clues that held me up for needing crosses to get a hold, then "aha, oh that meaning". I usually go directly to the not as common IRL crossword sense of a clue, but not today.

Hands up for rAMA. When KEYSUP finally insisted, I had a headslap moment - oh yeah, the KAMA Sutra.





Anonymous 9:29 AM  

I’m with @mmorgan. Hard fun good!

Anonymous 9:30 AM  


'alternative to .com or .org' ? Should have omitted the dots...

Nancy 9:33 AM  

It was sure to be one of the "-AMA"s at 1D and that's what I wrote in. That's what I always do when it comes to Hindu gods. And then I wait.

All the 3-letter streets I've ever met are ELM. (Admittedly I live in Manhattan where tree-named streets are not to be found.) I got OAK very late and very reluctantly when I couldn't make ELM work with TED TALKS.

Is there such a thing as a DAD BOT? The question mark at the end of "certain parental figure" made me think so. But I didn't write it in because tRS made no sense at 12D. Still, would a DAD BOT make the MOM BOT do all the work?

Question: What does a DAD BOT do? Answer: It reads the newspaper, goes out to play 36 holes of golf, and pours itself a drink when it comes home.

Loved the clue for SPOT REMOVER -- though I've heard the joke before. The hardest clue/answer for me was IDOTTER. Nice! A mostly easyish Saturday with a few tough places, many colorful long answers, and mercifully free of proper names and crosswordese. A quite enjoyable solve.

Anonymous 9:38 AM  

You took the words right out of my mouth!

OffTheGrid 9:39 AM  

I hadn't even noticed BBL when I solved. This puzzle is even worse than I thought.

@Wanderlust. I'll explain CLERICAL if you'll explain why SCAT can mean "Go away!", jazz singing, or animal poop. Ha.

bocamp 9:43 AM  

Thx, Christina & Tom; nicely done! :)

Easy (the opposite of yd, i.e., an easy Fri. delivered td vis-à-vis a tough Sat. yd).

Nevertheless, a fine construction. I don't mind a breezy Sat. on occasion.

Top to bottom solve.

Sift before PARE slowed me for a sec, but was quickly MAULEd by Jack, which was a gimme.

Watch a TON of TED TALKS and listen to their blog every day.

Finally have LORI down pat, but still a bit hazy on CERA.

Always striving to STAY ABOVE THE FRAY.

Would've had RiDER had it not been for BYTE.

Wanted THERMOstat before THERMOMETER.

Fun puz today, enjoyed the stroll in the park.

On to Anna Stiga's Sat. Stumper. And, I see an Acrostic awaiting us for tomorrow. 🤞
___
Peace 🕊 🇺🇦 ~ Compassion ~ Tolerance ~ Kindness to all 🙏

jberg 9:44 AM  

Me too for rAMA at 1-D. If the KAMA Sutra had occurred to me I'd have been fine, but that held me up a tad. Also STRATa before STRATI. I thought the latter was wrong, but then thought a little more and realized that strata is the plural of stratum, not of stratus -- a mistake I have been making ALL MY LIFE! I'm so glad I finally learned it.

One other writeover -- SENior, which does mean 'born before,' before SENSEI. I'll have to take the puzzle's word for it, since in practice it means "teacher."

@Loren, I dunno about batting -- I'd say "she batted her eyes at me," for example. But I would use blink only in the negative--"DIDN'T blink an eye" means you didn't blink even one of them. If I say "I didn't blink my eyes" you'd be left wondering if I'd winked one of them instead.

@Southside, I don't frequent WiNE BARs much, but even a good restaurant may have more than one port on its menu; they vary as much as bordeaux or burgundy.

So how about this ON FIRE/ON FILE thing? Bug or feature?

Oh, right, another writeover. I thought that pitcher was a reliever, aiming for a SAvE.

kitshef 9:50 AM  

@mmorgan 9:00a. Top three that I know of:
12/15/2022 336 comments
9/15/2016 257 comments
9/11/2014 245 comments

Ted 10:08 AM  

A reasonably easy Saturday, with that same REVSUP hangup that Rex had, plus difficulty parsing IDOTTER.

Complaint: the clue on 50D: Alternative to .com or .org (EDU). That's... not really true. You can register yourself some .com and .org domains all day long, have at it! But you can't just go out and snag a .edu, you need to be a school of some sort and jump through some hoops. It's not really an alternative, any more than saying that a personal helicopter is an alternative to a taxi.

RooMonster 10:13 AM  

Hey All !
YesterPuz was tough SE corner, today's is tough SW corner. Had ONEARTH, CODED, plus the ends of the long Downs, and ABOVE, and was just plumb stuck. Knowing 51D (Shags, e.g.) needed an S, had me scratching the ole head as to what it could possibly be. Deciding twixt EDU, net, give also a sticking point. I DOTTER once I figured out the rest, was a "Really? I DOTTER! C'mon man!"

I hope you're sitting down, because I have some jaw dropping news right now. I have never watched "A Christmas Story".
I know, take a minute or two. That's what held me up also in the SW. And, some more ridiculous non-knowing, after having to Goog for it, thought it was a wagon or something. Not a gun. Actually did try airRifle for a second. Ah, uncultured me.

Holding me up slightly in the SE was FAN THE flamES, as had GafF for GOOF and Casket for COFFIN initially. Once I filled that corner in, had a brief flicker of a thought, "what in tarhooties is FAN THE ORIES?" Har, good stuff.

So a nice SatPuz. Didn't seem too difficult, and I know I'm not getting better at puz solving, so it must mean the puzs are getting easier! Lots of fun ? clues. Enjoy your Saturday everyone!

Six F'S (KEYSUP this DAD BOD!)
RooMonster
DarrinV

GILL I. 10:22 AM  

Oh goodie...@Rex is back and he graces us with birds! I hope @chefwen chimes in...she's the bird lady of Hawaii...
A nice, sweet Saturday. No angst nor agita to wallow in. A smile hither and yon, a pleasant romp through tip toeing tulips and a SENSEI of a finale.
Yes...RAMA before KAMA...should a sutra follow? Mental picture of a DAD BOD hovering over a WINE BAR with a WEENIE in his mouth. Some AIR FRESHENER being misted by DEAR ANN. SELENA in the back with a MEAT THERMOMETER hanging out of some HAMS. Someone yelling YOURE ON FIRE today...yes it was fun.
I had a pause - a long pause - at 46D. I was breezing along until I wasn't. Our son and daughter faithfully watched "A Christmas Story" every Christmas. My husband and I have continued the lark. I was sure Ralphie wanted some sort of pop gun, or BB gun or air gun. I had the RED in place and thought "Surely it can't be a RED WAGON?" No...it was a RYDER spelled with a Y. So my BITE finally emerged as BYTE and I was done.
My last little mind wandering was the answer for COFFIN. My final resting spot will involve my ashes being shot up in the air by some bodacious fireworks. I want to be scattered all over the place. Food for thought!

albatross shell 10:32 AM  

FANTHEORIES is certainly a thing and people who are fans do express and guard theories about the person or object of there fanhood. Anti-fans (haters of said persons or objects) have theories too. You might have noticed hate is quite popular. Even right here on this very blog you might have noticed some folks have FANTHEORIES about Rex. Pro and con. Rex, like most of us, think FANTHEORIES are mostly not very interesting and take up more space than they deserve. You might even notice he has some himself. Don't we all? Just be modest. Don't overdo it. Except for the entertainment of us all.

EMAIL HOAXES are a thing too. You can find articles about them. "Hoax emails" and internet hoaxes are also things. Now the clue is more likely to be described as an Email scam because money is involved, but is accurately and reasonably described as an Email hoax. And those 2 words go together quite often. I never get why a word definition clue has no limit on the frequency of usage compared to other synonyms, but a two word phrase has to be the one that is most common and the one you are most familiar with. When did people here start worshipping conformity? Originality, innovation and accuracy matter too.
Yes slang and folkisms and not jarring the ear have a big plus side but they are not the only values in putting a puzzle together. The rings hollow I would put as most important not to do. Because one is used 10 times more than the other is a pathetic reason.

I cannot be the only one who put in AIRRIFLE.

Tweren't easy for me. Several googles. Loved many clues and answers.
Saturday worthy.

andrew 10:37 AM  

@kitshef 9:50

Thanks for the AWS stats (as in “AW, that Thursday blog was AWful”)

I like stirring the pot - one of the reasons I like Rex’s often snide, but always clean and well-written reviews. No lifetime ban for Christopher Adams!

He’s the GOAT in generating responses! Can give him the lede now (after a Rex edit).

“Hey, Mother)@*)#s! Look who’s #=&,#’ back!”

Jmorgie 10:42 AM  

This baby bird / Now has a brother / For one good tern / Deserves another
Burma Shave

Anonymous 10:51 AM  

When people see Red Ryder in relation to A Christmas Story, they know it references a BB gun. Just as when people hear about somebody riding a Harley, they know it's a motorcycle. Not that big a stretch.

Anonymous 11:00 AM  

Vacation Rex is fun! So many exclamation points!!

Solved this 3 minutes faster than yesterday's, thought it was smooth and fun. Personally liked FAN THEORIES (I listen to a lot of podcasts and believe me, almost every TV show has those); I DOTTER was the only answer that made me cringe a bit

Carola 11:01 AM  

@Rex, thank you for the bird lore, the moa t-shirt, and that view out the window. It was a real treat to read your post this morning.

As for the puzzle, I'm going to quote @mmorgan: "'Easy'?! 'Easy'?!?!? Well, for me it was hard. And fun! Good hard fun! Fun hard good!" Exactly. I thought I'd gotten off to a good start with MAULER and TED TALKS, but then I went wrong at 2D with spAm...something, and I'll just say that I was definitely not ON FIRE for the rest. Took me eons to get the long entries (well, except for SPOT REMOVER). Great misleading clues.

Do-overs: spAm..., WEiNIE.... Help from previous puzzles: CERA. No idea: FAN THEORIES, RED RYDER. Couldn't believe it was right: BBL (Hi, @Wanderlust). Last in: an alphabet run for the G at RIG x GUSHED.

Anonymous 11:04 AM  

I Dotter????? NO, just NO. Like the urge to put 'E' in front of any word to make it look modern. EBook I get, and ECash is suspect to me. What's next, 'Floor covering in a Sims game': ERug?

TTrimble 11:06 AM  

@Southside
That was an imaginative reading of BBL! It's a weird abbreviation for barrels (of crude oil, for example, hence the cluing). Where does that second B come from, you may ask? The answer is here:

"In the early 1860's, when oil production began, there was no standard container for oil, so oil and petroleum products were stored and transported in barrels of all different shapes and sizes (beer barrels, fish barrels, molasses barrels, turpentine barrels, etc.). By the early 1870's, the 42-gallon barrel had been adopted as the standard for oil trade. This was 2 gallons per barrel more than the 40-gallon standard used by many other industries at the time. The extra 2 gallons was to allow for evaporation and leaking during tranport (most barrels were made of wood). Standard Oil began manufacturing 42 gallon barrels that were blue to be used for transporting petroleum. The use of a blue barrel, abbreviated "bbl," guaranteed a buyer that this was a 42-gallon barrel."

Aha!

Lots of good comments today. Including from @kitshef (DEAR ANN, AFTS, oof and oh brother) and @Andrew (I DOTTER pfft) and all who called out EMAIL HOAXES as ever so slightly off.

I had "cumuli" before STRATI. I did not know Manassa MAULER. Had trouble with KEYS UP. [I kept interpreting "psychs" not in the "excites" sense (I'm psyched!) but more in the "psyched out" sense, or "psych!" as in the thing people say when they've outsmarted you.] RAF was only gettable through crosses.

On the other hand, SELFIE and THERMOMETER were brilliantly clued, and c'mon Rex, give it up a little for SPOT REMOVER. Steven Wright is great. I also kind of like DAD BOD, which I have and which I never imagined I would have when I was younger, being such a skinny lad then.

By the way, @Rex: nice to have you back. What a week! Never been to NZ, but I did live in Australia for a few years, and I can totally relate to that different planet feeling, with all those strange birds and other fauna. Merry Christmas!

@Anonymous 7:31AM
Zed has left the building, because he got fed up with the NYTXW on a certain occasion and vowed not to do it anymore. Actually he's put in a few appearances here since, to make public service announcements, such as when Rex's cat died.

R Duke 11:06 AM  

Old toy refresher:

REDRYDER - air rifle
Flexible Flyer - sled
Radio Flyer - red wagon

BobL 11:09 AM  

SOUTHSIDE You're definitely an I-Dotter, T-Crosser, and Nit-Picker

Teedmn 11:10 AM  

I know my observation is probably all too common today but when Friday's puzzle takes more than twice as long as Saturday's, there's something weird going on. Perhaps it was, as mentioned at xwordinfo, to let Tom Pepper get a Saturday puzzle to complete the "cycle" (and don't get me wrong, Tom Pepper is a great guy and deserves good things) but to pair it with KAC's PPP-laden oeuvre from yesterday is vaguely annoying.

But this puzzle was cute, lots of very clever clues that still didn't do much to slow down my progress. Rex's rEvS UP and ON tapE were my only writeovers.

AIR FRESHENER - I never use them, too artificial. At work, our office supply company delivered a free Febreze spray can with our envelopes and paper. The scent was "Linen and Sky". I couldn't resist spraying a little on a piece of wrapping plastic, just to see what "Linen and Sky" smelled like. After a few moments, I had to take the plastic out of my wastebasket and move it to the other end of the office, it was emitting so much scent. And I have no way to describe the scent - not offensive but nothing found in nature!

Christina and Tom, thanks for the sweet Saturday puzzle. Loved the THERMOMETER clue!

JC66 11:17 AM  

@TTrimble

Very interesting BBL fact.

Do you happen to know why pound (the weight) is abbreviated lb?

Nancy 11:20 AM  

For anyone interested, I have a letter in today's NYT. If you get the paper, why not read it there; letters always look better in print. If you don't get the paper, here's the link.

Also -- can anyone tell me what BBL stand for?

JC66 11:24 AM  

I found this.

Tina 11:33 AM  

Is AFTS even a real word?

TTrimble 11:36 AM  

@Nancy
Nice letter. I too was very interested in this news, but things have to happen fast. It will still take some time to mitigate the effects of so much carbon in the atmosphere, with still more to come.

In case you otherwise miss it, I explained BBL in my previous comment.

Anonymous 11:41 AM  

Barrel, I believe. Second B a mystery.

robardin 11:41 AM  

Unfortunately for me, after getting a lot of cross letters, I filled in 32A “Like the Northern Lights” as AURORAS (since “Lights” is a plural word, right?), and ended up assuming SASE was the answer for “Pitcher’s aim?”, as in, all those commercials on TV until about 20 years ago that still urged you to send a “self-addressed stamped envelope” to try to get a premium/prize or to enroll in something.

When you’re one letter off, that’s really hard to see as the one that’s wrong, LOL. I thought KAMA was maybe RAMA, and that maybe REYS UP was some new slang I hadn’t picked up on yet. Then, questioned I DOTTER because that totally was something I filled in and still don’t believe is a real term for “a detail oriented person” (what, and also T CROSSER?).

Anonymous 11:58 AM  

Congratulations, Nancy! Wonderful letter, full of hope. I loved when you wrote how you would always remember the moment of first hearing about the nuclear fusion breakthrough: “December 14, 2022, 8:30 a.m. at the breakfast table.” You’ve reminded me (& countless others) not to give up hope! Many thanks!

puzzlehoarder 11:58 AM  

This was a big disappointment for a Saturday. The contrast with yesterday's quality solve just added to the from the penthouse to the outhouse feeling.

There were a couple of little speed bumps up north changing REVS to KEYS and remembering the always strange looking BBL but coming down the east side, backfilling the SW and middle was all Wednesday level. The puzzle had a low brow early week feel to it.

The one section that held out a little was the middle west. This was mainly caused by my refusal to put SHOE in at 25A. I kept thinking that this is supposed to be a Saturday so they couldn't possibly be going with one of those lame sole/SHOE types of clues. Sadly they did. This was a Saturday made by HAMS going for the lowest common denominator. It started out easy and ended with a clunk.

Crosswords are always fun until someone loses an eye.

@Nancy, you're description of a DADBOT's day was priceless

Anonymous 12:02 PM  

Red Ryder was a comic strip, originally. The BB gun brand was Daisy.

Red Ryder became a franchise that moved into radio and film serials, books, and several TV pilots that never sold, including one wedged into the Gunsmoke franchise in the early 1960s. It was also one of the early forays into licensed merchandising: gifts, toys, clothing, sporting goods, etc.

bocamp 12:04 PM  

@Nancy (11:20 AM)

Excellent letter to the editor! :)

Speaking of TED TALKS and carbon/climate issues, this TALK was featured today in my daily TED email.

"Could the same mechanism used to accelerate vaccine development work for spurring solutions to the climate crisis? Sustainability innovator Stacy Kauk introduces the billion-dollar fund to supercharge the carbon removal market, which would help build a new industry aimed at drawing down carbon pollution from the air and storing it safely."

More on the possible source of BBL for barrel:

"The "b" may have been doubled originally to indicate the plural (1 bl, 2 bbl), or possibly it was doubled to eliminate any confusion with bl as a symbol for the bale. Some sources assert that "bbl" originated as a symbol for "blue barrels" delivered by Standard Oil in its early days. However, while Ida Tarbell's 1904 Standard Oil Company history acknowledged the "holy blue barrel", the abbreviation "bbl" had been in use well before the 1859 birth of the U.S. petroleum industry" (Wikipedia)
___
Peace 🕊 🇺🇦 ~ Compassion ~ Tolerance ~ Kindness to all 🙏

CuppaJoe 12:06 PM  

I’m just happy I never sat through “A Christmas Story”.

Rosebud.

Masked and Anonymous 12:22 PM  

One of the funnest themeless puzs I've ever solved. Had it all. Clever clues. Some great longball answers. Raised-by-wolves fillins, here and there. The Official Jaws of Themelessness. Absolutely BBLy.

staff weeject pick: DOS. Mostly becuz of its sneaky clue.

@RP: Great New Zealand write-up. It was for the birds, and M&A luved it. Welcome back to The Blorg.
Tell us more, about bein down under and gettin the puzs like U are in a time warp and other such.

some of the fave stuff: OAK street. SPOTREMOVER & clue. THERMOMETER & clue. REDRYDER. IDOTTER. TRUEORFALSE. AMOEBA clue. AIRFRESHENER & clue. WEENIEROAST & clue. ABOVETHEFRAY. Fairy TERNS. SALE clue. YETI clue.

Thanx for gangin up on us, Iverson & Pepper folks. Superb job, y'all. AURORAL. Etc. Come back any old themeless time.

Masked & Anonymo5Us


illustrated. use of Down Home feature is recommended:
**gruntz**

Tale Told By An Idiot 12:45 PM  

Time - any.
Place - Iceland.
Characters: a man and his child.

“I am I and this is my child Idottir the idotter.”

CDilly52 1:11 PM  

Such commitment@Rex! Thank you for your dedication. I mean it. And big hanks to Malaika and Rafa as well. They always do such great work in your stead. My son-in-law’s sister and her husband live in NZ, Duneden to be specific. I’ve never gotten to go to either Australia or NZ, but they ate both at the very top of my bucket list. Enjoy! And please do not hesitate to include more pictures in your daily missives.

After yesterday’s fabulous but tough Friday, today’s fun and themeless Saturday was a breeze; half my average Saturday. That said though, the puzzle is solid and fun. Great clues for THERMOMETER - having to “show” that we understood that the device is a “shower” was such fun! I love, love, love those kinds of words as clues.

RED RYDER was a gimme. I watched “Christmas Story” and the new “Christmas Story Christmas” with my family over Thanksgiving weekend. I’d totally forgotten how the dishes from the turkey feast are barely washed and the leftovers still uneaten when kids decide to flip into Christmas mode. And OK, I was thrilled this year to see it happen.

7:00 AM Friday after the turkey, I’m barely conscious (it was 5 AM my time) and mainlining coffee and there’s my 10 year old granddaughter bouncing through the house blasting Christmas music from her tablet as she hauls out the first boxes of decorations. As chaotic as the entire day was, I was delighted to see her unguarded and happy, and truly feeling part of the family, and showing ownership of us! Sometimes the system works. My kids are thrilled to be parents and she finally believes that people love and want her. That’s all I hoped for this year.

Anonymous 1:29 PM  

You need to watch the clip you posted. He doesn’t say he wants a “RED RYDER” period, end of sentence. He says he wants a RED RYDER BB GUN. Sometimes there are more words because it’s important to him that he gets a very specific model of BB GUN, but he never says just RED RYDER. What he actually wishes for is the BB GUN. This clue was total garbage. The modern equivalent would be if Ralphie wanted an Apple iPad and the crossword answer was “APPLE” instead of “IPAD.” Wishing for an APPLE makes no sense, in the same way that wishing for a RED RYDER makes no sense.

Anonymous 1:32 PM  

Why are you happy you never watched a fun Christmas movie?

Anonymous 1:52 PM  

RED RYDER is not accurate or correct. He doesn’t want a “RED RYDER” he wants a RED RYDER BB GUN. He wants a GUN. A RIFLE. Red Ryder was a character associated with lots of different products at the time the film was set, including clothing, knives, and comic books. It’s like saying a kid’s Christmas wish is a Hello Kitty. A Hello Kitty what??? He says some variation of “Red Ryder Carbine-Action Two-Hundred-Shot Range Model Air Rifle BB gun with a compass in the stock and a thing which tells time” many times in the film but always includes either “rifle” or “BB gun” because that’s the important part! Frustratingly sloppy work from the NYT.

albatross shell 2:23 PM  

Dot your i's and cross your t's does mean take care of all the details. Today with handwriting disappearing it should be sign and date your ballot.
A clue that was actually a clue. Not one you would just know. Gather info and think. Excellent.

Also like the clues for PENT and COTS.

I don't agree with critics of the clue for DEARANN. Nothing partial about it, but yes, Abby would have been better because of Prine. If you needed 4 letters. A sister of convenience

I believe we had the discussion and explanation for BBL before. Maybe the correction of the explanation too. Not that I remembered in time to be of help.

The best example today
of nit perfection was that the clue for EDU shouid have been Alternative to com and org. Accurate and minimal. I did not agree with the other nit about that clue because if I am trying to remember an email address they are alternatives for me.

REDRYDER is the better answer. The answer as clued should have been airlifted. The clue should have been corrected.

pabloinnh 3:15 PM  

@So Volt-Some grid for the Stumper indeed. Not easy at all but trusted some guesses and that worked out.

And to all you people DOTTing I's, I am sadly deflated to see my OTTER imagined otherwise. Sadder but wiser I am.

Shza 3:36 PM  

Sort of expected I’d be faster than yesterday, since that KAC puzzle was legit hard. But this was actually more than twice as fast. I’d be surprised if there were many who found this Saturday more difficult than yesterday’s Friday puzzle, so the placement is odd. This played almost like a Wednesday for me.

TTrimble 3:39 PM  

@albatross shell
If you're able to find the "correction" of the explanation, please share.

In my view, the Wikipedia article that @bocamp cited is wanting, because the link provided in the WP article goes to an article where it is merely asserted that the blue barrel explanation can't be correct because BBL was in use before 1859.

Now, that may very well be, and I have no reason to disbelieve it, but there are no earlier citations actually given, and so for now it is merely a free-floating evidence-free assertion. Worse, the article declines to tell us where the abbreviation BBL does come from after all, if not from the "persistent oilfield myth". Quick, is there a lexicographer in the house?

TTrimble 3:55 PM  

Ah, well, I'll gladly cede the point now that I find from this page some earlier citations of BBL, proving that the "blue barrel" explanation is indeed a myth. (Boy howdy, this is some riveting stuff, let me tell you.)

-------------

Niles Weekly Register, June 15, 1816. Supplement.
Page 369.

“23,650 bbls. tar”; “6,015 bbls. flour”; etc

-------------

William Cobbett, Porcupine's Works, Vol. VIII, May 1801. Page 462

“The schooner Columbus, Mason, from St. Vincent's, for Kennebunk, was boarded by a French privateer, which detained her six hours, and took out of her 60 gallons of rum, a bbl. of sugar, &c."

-------------

Still a mystery where BBL comes from. Dang.

bocamp 4:50 PM  

@TTrimble (3:39 PM)

Valid points re: WP's BBL article; my conclusion is: as per @Anonymous (11:41 AM), it's a 'mystery' (barring further evidence). 🤔

@Son Volt, pablo

Med. Sat. Stumper (just n. of 1 hr.), with the bottom 1/3 being the toughest. See you next Sat.! :)
___
Peace 🕊 🇺🇦 ~ Compassion ~ Tolerance ~ Kindness to all 🙏

albatross shell 5:13 PM  

Indeed I was referring to the @bocamp wiki-quote. No independent info. I should have said the challenge to it's accuracy. I think there was some back and forth on this very issue before. Were you the one who brought this up before if it was brought up here before? Or do you remember this coming up before on this blog. I actually find this whole blue barrel and the 2 extra gallon stuff an interesting historical sidelight.

Anonymous 5:27 PM  

Thank you for helping me understand BBL!

TaylorSlow 5:45 PM  

@CuppaJoe: Why are you happy about that? Jean Shepherd wrote wonderful stories and is a mid-20th-century treasure. The movie does his work justice. It's quite wonderful. Maybe you just don't like Christmas. In which case, tant pis.

Trina 6:26 PM  

Southside, please read up on ports! There are probably hundreds of options ranging from very old and valuable vintages to dime store stuff, sweet (desert like) to earthy, and everything in between. We tried many on a trip to Portugal and still enjoy seeking out unusual bottles.

(Better r\yet, read up and then drink up!)

dgd 6:35 PM  

I watched White Lotus and had the same reaction. There were a lot of "fan theories" inspired by that show. And they weren't the negative type experience perhaps inspired by Star Wars etc.
Anyway, ALSO agree the puzzle was good.

Anonymous 6:50 PM  

From Latin?

jae 6:52 PM  

@Shza - I may be the only solver who found yesterday’s slightly easier time wise than today’s, and I rated yesterday’s easy-medium and today’s easy (for a Saturday).

I went back over yesterday’s to see why I was an outlier. Best I can tell is that
I got BAD JUJU very quickly, I knew a lot of the PPP...GINSA, OLY, KID A, KOOLS, AQUINAS, RHEE, VODKA CRAN...and I wasn’t mislead by clues like “Jam producers? “ and “Certain hog.” It was definitely tougher than a Robyn puzzle but still slightly below my Fri. average.

dgd 6:57 PM  

TTrimble explained it above at 11:06 AM. All oil barrels in the 19th century were blue: so blue barrel leads to bbl.

alicat 6:58 PM  

Fun puzzle and delightful review.
Regarding bbls, my longshoreman dad once said it is a very old way that British shipping manifests differentiated between bale (bl) and barrel (bbl).

Welcome home, Rex.

Alice

I have a picture of an old ship manifest but can’t paste it here.

Anonymous 7:00 PM  

The clue said informal and it is used. To me it is a valid an Ester. No less so than sis which is used all the time and no one complains.

Jane 7:01 PM  

Great puzzle! Easier than yesterday for me. Sadly, Bob Clark, who directed A Christmas Story and his younger son, Ariel Hanrath-Clark, were killed in a head-on car crash by an illegal immigrant who tested over 3x the legal limit for alcohol.

alicat 7:05 PM  

Here is the interesting manifest from the 1891 ship:

Hope it downloads for you…

IMG_0655.jpg

TTrimble 8:48 PM  

@alicat
Thank you. I've read a number of theories now on the "true" derivation of BBL, none quite confirmed. I think my eyes did alight on the proposition given by your longshoreman dad. Another I saw was that doubling a letter is an old way of indicating a plural (like pp. for pages, as in pp. 817-839 when giving a bibliographic citation). So that in ships manifest, they would say 20 BBL or whatever. The fact that BBL could be a singular form nowadays, as in $75 US/BBL, is not really an argument against how the practice may have started.

This may be a mystery for which there is not enough extant evidence to solve. I hope someone proves that wrong.

Anonymous 10:06 PM  

Dessert wines have complexities, too; they’re not wine coolers. If a WINE BAR offers ports (and likely has dessert items to pair with the ports), it wouldn’t be uncommon at all to offer a variety, to go with different dishes. Tawny, Ruby, domestic, aged, late bottled…ports have a lot of character. Even ice wines have complexities. I’m not a big fan of dessert wines, but they are enjoyable with the right pairing, and fun at the holidays.

Joe Dipinto 10:11 PM  

I'll go on record to say I hate "A Christmas Story". And any movie or TV show where an adult narrator comments in voiceover on his banal childhood "escapades" with supposedly wry insights (think "The Wonder Years"). It's never funny, and it's never entertaining. It might work on the printed page, so the best bet is to leave it there.

JC66 11:30 PM  

@Joe D

I disagree. "A Christmas Story" is entertaining, moving and memorable.

I'm Jewish and I enjoy watching it every year,

Gary Jugert 1:55 AM  

WEENIE ROAST was in this puzzle, so who cares what else happened.

Uniclues:

1 Puts on sandals with socks, cargo shorts with way too many pockets, tucks in his tee shirt, cinches down his belt, and prepares to hit the grocery store where he's certain the cashier thinks he's funny.
2 Great place to frequent for those into mitosis.
3 Holy man with an obsession.
4 Comment from computer user in the 80s when the machine didn't crash.
5 Subject of many an extraterrestrial Instagram feed.
6 Advice guru's last home.

1 KEYS UP DAD BOD
2 AMOEBA WINE BAR
3 "I" DOTTER PRIEST
4 "YOU'RE ON FIRE, DOS."
5 SELFIE ON EARTH
6 DEAR ANN COFFIN

alicat 7:56 AM  

Good morning!

I haven’t done the puzzle yet, but want to repeat my late post yesterday regarding the abbreviation BBL.
Long ago, in the early ‘40s I asked my Vancouver longshoreman dad about this abbreviation. He told me it was to differentiate two common commodities (a loaf of bread a glass of wine and Thou…) in olden times: BL for BALE and BBL for BARREL.

Last night I was unable to post the link to a ship's 1821 manifesto but perhaps this will work:


https://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee150/woad_yurt/BBL1821.jpg


Here is where I found the manifest. It’s a fascinating peek into cigar history!

http://www.cigarhistory.info/Wooden_box_types/Earliest_Boxes.html


Now to the puzzle, Alice

Anonymous 8:41 AM  

I think a lot of cruciverbilists were born with a dominant nitpicking gene which, combined with an argumentative bent results in long and tedious disquisitions on minutiae. I find it completely natural to refer to the BB Gun as a “Red Ryder”, and that’s what I called mine when I was a kid in the 50s. And “Red Ryder” is not the brand: that is “Daisy”. “Red Ryder” is the model name, so you could want a Red Ryder for Christmas just as someone else might want a Camero or a Corvette or a Thunderbird without specifying “car.”
Also, for what it’s worth: I have worked in the wine business for 43 years and was taught to abbreviate one barrel as “BBL” a two or more as “BBLs”.Finally, it should have been obvious that “Kama” was correct rather than “Rama” by reference to the Kama Sutra.

Deb 10:18 AM  

Bloomin' Onion is still the Bloomin' Onion, not BloominG Onion. Not cool.

Anonymous 3:49 PM  

Not going to lie, I-dotter (53A) annoyed me a little.

thefogman 11:47 AM  

DNF because I had REDRiDER and BiTE. Not easy by any stretch especially the SE corner. Had SENior before SENSEI, ONtape before ONFILE and ABOVETHEFold before ABOVETHEFRAY. A few rough spots, DRS, HON, EDU and UBERS used as a verb e.g. but overall pretty decent.

spacecraft 12:37 PM  

My oopsie was out of THEFRAY instead of ABOVE. Held things up for a while. Very hard to get started, but after a certain point it seemed to ease up. Finished in the SW, where IDOTTER elicited a scowl. Also, FANTHEORIES was a huh? to me. My "fan theory" is that my Eagles will beat the Giants tonight.

Clues made this more medium than easy, over "here" (ONEARTH). But in keeping with today's avian theme, a birdie.

Wordle par, recovered after a whiffed opening.

Burma Shave 1:09 PM  

PENT UP PARE

DEAR SELENA, YOU'REONFIRE,
SEE, your BOD TERNS me ON, HON,
that SELFIE KEYSUP desire,
HITME like bricks by THE TON.

--- DR. TED CERA

rondo 1:32 PM  

No inkfest today, the supposed hardest day of the week. I did have one I that turned into an E in WEENIEROAST, so no fest. How much is ONE ARTH, and how do you FAN THE ORIES? Hard to ignore SELENA Gomez and Lucy LIU.
Wordle par.

Diana, LIW 5:59 PM  

Only a couple names and my lack of boxer knowledge got in my way today. Not bad, for me, on a Saturday. I even came up with AURORAL all by myself.

Diana, LIW for Crosswords

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