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Relative difficulty: Easy-Medium
Theme answers:
- TOP RANKS (3D: "It is such fun to fool the folks / And make them butts of harmless jokes ...") ("To Pranks")
- TOGAS (18A: "Whene'er I need to get a bump / I find it right there at the pump ...") ("To Gas")
- TOASTERS (11D: "An avid flower lover sees / A fall bouquet that's full of these ...") ("To Asters")
- TOADS (32A: "For me, the Super Bowl's a bore / But watching these is fun galore ...") ("To Ads")
- TOMCATS (44A: "Exams a must for future docs / Make sure your answers fill the box ...") ("To MCATS")
- TOWARDS (47A: "A hospital has many specialized places / Where patients recover in bright, cheerful spaces...") ("To Wards")
- TORONTO BLUEJAYS (60A: "I don't have the words / That rightly commend / Cerulean birds / And Harry's best friend ...") ("To Ron, To Bluejays")
The USS Cole bombing was a suicide attack by the terrorist group al-Qaeda against USS Cole, a guided missile destroyer of the United States Navy, on 12 October 2000, while she was being refueled in Yemen's Aden harbor.
Seventeen U.S. Navy sailors were killed and thirty-seven injured in the deadliest attack against a United States naval vessel since the USS Stark incident in 1987. (wikipedia)
• • •
A little terrorism with your morning puzzle, did you enjoy that? It's weird to make your toughest answer, the proper noun that people are likely to spend the most time on (U.S.S. COLE) ... it's weird to make that answer a ship famous only for the murder of 17 sailors on board. That is ... a choice. Sometimes, you have to ask yourself whether your "original" fill ... is worth it. The clue could've at least acknowledged *why* the "Navy vessel" was "in 2000 headlines." Here, the terrorism is hidden, so discovering it becomes ... part of the game? If you want to point to a terrorist attack, point to it—tell people *why* the ship is famous. Don't be all coy about it. It's like you're trying to leave unpleasantness out of the surface level of the puzzle, but ... the answer is inherently unpleasant, so the clue seems not just vague but intentionally coy. Weird way to handle terrorism. Overall, the fill was rickety and often off-putting. That NW corner, with OTOH OPPO SHORTE into ASTI AINGE etc. Rough. Even rougher: the utter misspelling of GRANDAD (8D: Family man) ... crossing a random Italian aria word (GIA!?)!??? If you're going to misspell a word, it should at least result in a cleaner, more interesting grid overall, but you can turn GRANDAD into a real word and make the grid cleaner just by turning GRANDAD to GRANTED. Try it! Change to TIA to SEA! Or ARA! Or whatever. Anything but what we've got. Again, the choices today, they are beyond my understanding.
 |
| dictionary.com |
How many I.T.- variations are we supposed to accept? I.T. PEOPLE may be the worst of the bunch, since it dodges the gender issue in the longest and most ungainly way possible (2D: Providers of assistance after a crash, informally). Again, not all "originality" is good. Despite its apparent redundancy, I like "I.T. TECH(S)" best. Short, to the point, and very very much in-the-language. Nothing was particularly hard today. I didn't know drumsticks had CONEs, so that slowed me down slightly (56D: Drumstick part), but otherwise, aside from that awful GRANDAD / GIA patch, not many speed impediments today. As far as good fill ... I liked DASHIKI (52A: Colorful garment). Adds, well, color to the grid. As for the rest of it ... well, if you like a certain kind of elaborate dad-humor, you're in luck. There's a cleverness to the the concept (parsing the "to-" words as ode titles), but the execution, particularly the cluing, just didn't work for me.
Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld
Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld
P.S. 40D: Wanders around an airport, in brief? = TSA because TSA agents use "wands" to scan your body ... sometimes.
P.P.S. only just realized that the "Drumstick" in question today (at 56D: Drumstick part) is the ice cream ... CONE:
No, they don’t fit the theme exactly, they only echo it, but I like AJAR and ALIEN, two of today’s answers, because you can stick “Ode To” in front of them.
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteI finished, but I didn't get the theme's ode connection until I came here. I didn't get the Drumstick/cone connection, and I couldn't parse TO RON, TO BLUE JAYS even though I recognized the team name. Like @Rex, I resisted IT PEOPLE, and I refused to complete the mistaken GRANDAD until every last cross was in.
Not only am I also over variations on the IT people clues, “IT” really isn’t a thing anymore. If you are considering working for a company and it has an “IT” department, don’t take the job because the company is still living in 1987.
ReplyDeleteAs a long time pro, still employed, I can assure you the term is used at some of the largest most successful companies in the world. I'm a developer consultant, and IT are the folks you have to deal with to get anything done.
DeleteIt would have been easy enough to include ANODE in this puzzle to tie it all together.
ReplyDeleteOh so clever! Great call. @Anon 6:22 AM
DeleteOh, I liked this theme, and how the theme answers formed actual words unrelated to the ode motif. I found it fun going from, say, “TO MCATS” to seeing TOMCATS. Every. Single. Time. Solving a puzzle with fun like that built in – well, it sure put me into a good mood. Not to mention the doggerel. How often do you see doggerel in your crossword clues?
ReplyDeleteOn top of that, I am so impressed that Joe came up with this idea at all. Never been done before. Wacky, fun, and out there. Uber-original. Minds like Joe’s are a Crosslandia gift.
I see the T in the middle of the grid, and it seems to be surrounded by what might be construed as an O. Is that supposed to represent TO, as in Ode TO? If so, wow Joe. Can you let us know?
The variety of answers all over the grid lit up areas all over my brain – DASHIKI, NAMASTE, SATAN, TORONTO BLUEJAYS, DWAYNE the Rock, MACROS, TARTAN, MINT OREOs, and even GIA, which I didn’t know, but I love how it looks.
Great wakeup and smile-producer for me. I am most grateful. You are a spark, Joe, and thank you for this!
Couldn’t agree more Lewis - Rex, I guess others are entertained by you riding dead horses, but stop!
DeleteAgree
DeleteThanks @Leeis. I loved this solve and hoped someone else did too!
DeleteStared at the theme entries for a while, looked around for a title or a revealer and found nothing, hoped for some divine inspiration, but alas - nothing. Not that I’m surprised - I just don’t get along well with cryptic, gimmicky themes which are pretty much a mainstay on Thursdays. Add in the usual outliers like PESACH, NAMASTE, Zwiebel-whatever, etc and the puzzle was pretty much unsolvable for me - which is fine, I’m not the target demographic anyway.
ReplyDeleteI had a hard time even entering GRANDAD in the grid - with a clue that bad, it made me feel like I was abetting a crime against humanity (or at least against CrossWorld-manity). Btw, Danny AINGE retired years ago, I think he’s still a GM somewhere, but I imagine that could be a real tough one for the non sports fans out there.
I'm not a fan of basketball but Danny Ainge does indeed exist! Just never heard of him!!
DeleteAccording to Google Ainge is 'CEO of basketball operations and alternate governor of the Utah Jazz' so currently pretty obscure.
DeleteHe was a two-time champion with the Celtics during the Larry Bird era. I'm not the most knowledgeable sports trivia person, but the name was in my mind's recess.
DeleteBrilliant. Toasts to stuff that also make themselves words when you kill the space between "To" and whatever you're toasting. Loved it. And then spent a very long time figuring out how on earth you'd toast RON-TO-BLUEJAYS. LOL, got the team name, just couldn't see there were two toasts there. Fun having them down and across, wanted two more downs in the bottom half. No issues whether these are odes or toasts, in fact not even sure there's a difference, and no issue with the poetry or whatever you'd call it in the clue. They're just amusing ways (rhymes, poetry, whatever) to help me see what's being toasted. I'm toasting my daughter soon, too bad Tocaroline isn't some kind of gemstone or something. So, TOJOE, thanks for the puzzle. Lol, someone else can make up a fitting poem, got to get cracking.
ReplyDeleteAppreciated the condolences yesterday, and folks sharing their own stories and validation - meant a lot. @Whatsername (and whoever else) a bit of birder shop talk awaits you at the bottom, but figured I'd put more relevant commentary towards the top.
ReplyDeleteI am definitely am someone who likes a certain kind of elaborate dad humor, and I mostly liked this easy-for-me puzzle. I got the theme pretty quickly, and had a similar experience to @Lewis with those solves. And yes, the odes were not good verses, but they were silly and ultimately clever clues. Worked for me. TO ASTERS was a fave, since I love being rewarded for my nature nerdery. In one of my favorite books, Braiding Sweetgrass, Indigenous ecologist Robin Wall Kimmerer shares that she wanted to become a botanist to learn why purple asters and goldenrod look so beautiful when they bloom together in the fall. Worth a read if that's your thing, too.
I found a lot of the cluing to be gently clever, and I loved that even the theme was dad-joke adjacent, being that ODES themselves are crosswordese.
I hated the misspelled GRANDAD and similarly refused to fill it until the end, and agree with all re: IT.
A couple other follow-ups from yesterday - AOC made that comment about HOOPS (hoop earrings) because many school dress codes have (or had) thinly veiled racist undertones, and therefore explicitly ban things like hoop earrings, which are much more commonly worn by Latine and Black students than white students in most parts of the country. They're a real form of cultural expression and in no way distract from one's ability to learn.
Raising my hand as one of the pro-WELP contingent. I use it pretty regularly, and while it might be a relatively recent neologism, I think its utility might mean it's here to stay.
And finally, birding. @Whatsername, that's a lovely story about the cardinals and the birthday visit. I have been engaged in a losing battle against squirrels at my birdfeeder. Since we're recent transplants to rural life, this is our first winter with a feeder, which my partner bought me for the holidays. Unfortunately, they didn't do research into squirrel proofing, and despite all my jerryrigging and cayenne, the lil' varmints find a way. We have safflower seed arriving today, and hopefully that will be good enough to tide us over til next season, when I'll get a squirrel-resistant one. The chickadees and nuthatches are worth all the fuss, though.
We have to take the seed feeder down in late March once the black bears wake up, but soon after, the hummingbirds will be back - can't wait!
There is a feeder called Squirrel Buster. We've had it for four years and not once have the squirrels got into it.
DeleteHad most of this done, i.e., most of the boxes filled, and it still wasn't making any sense. TOASTERS? WTF? And so on. I then had a "wait a minute, a lot of these wacky clues start with TO realization", when I ran into the "Source of many an ode" clue, and thank goodness for that. Went back, check out the "TO this, and TO that" as answers, and hey nonny nonny, there it was. Having TO be part of an actual word was the diabolical element that made this one shine.
ReplyDeleteNice to see my friend DASHI in a puzzle again, even with an appendage. I don't know if Danny AIMGE is well known outside of Celtics territory but that was a gimme. Had GRANDPA (me) for GRANDAD (nobody) for too long, and since I misread "hermana" as "hermano" that slowed things down considerably.
My remaining TOMCAT is doing well and spends a lot of time next to my leg when I'm sitting in my recliner, where he barely fits. Many extra pats for him.
Thought this was going to be a complete enigma, JD. Just Didn't get it, so when I did, it became a great Thursday. Thanks for all the fun.
Yea wacky enough - but just a little too obtuse for me. Fill was a combination of unknown trivia and oddities. Liked NAMASTE and TARTAN. Neat to see OLD GRAND dAD and RYES together.
ReplyDeleteYou want a piece of me?
PESACH is apt. No idea on DASHIKI and OPPO. I’ve always thought ROTARY was just a New England thing - we refer to them as roundabouts. How many variations of OREOs are there? Second sighting of the BLUE JAYS this week.
Nondescript Thursday solve.
XTC
Oy. That's twice this week I had to have the theme explained to me. I must be getting old. Or stupid. Or both.
ReplyDeleteLet's see: Person, woman, man, camera, TV.
OK. Just old.
This was a most enjoyable puzzle, a real treat, a lovely diversion. Would love to have puzzles this good every day. Rex must have gotten up on the wrong side of the bed this morning at 4:30. Poor Rex. Thank you Joe Deeney and Will Shortz.
ReplyDeleteI cannot for the life of me figure out what the word inonego is supposed to mean!
ReplyDelete“In one go”. It had me for a while as well!
DeleteBoy did I overthink this one. I got TOPRANKS and I thought they wanted to do pranks on the "top ranks". So I got to TOWARDS and it didnt make the same sense. Didnt understand drumstick/CONE til I read Rex. Never heard of PESACH. i think I had 2 boxes wrong so a DNF. And if I do not finish I do not enjoy.
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteDelightful, charming, witty, fun!
A waggish puzzle, blithely spun!
Perhaps the best I've ever done!
But out of room for praise I've run.
TOJOE
Boy, did I ever love this!!! Thanks, Joe!!!
This puzzle was a lot of fun. The theme became clear at TOGAS, and then the rest of the puzzle was just trying to uncover to whom or what the odes were dedicated.
ReplyDeleteSure, it’s corny. But a lot of crossworders are corny. Life is corny sometimes! Especially out here in the Midwest.
I liked it!
I was stuck on this for quite a while until the floodgates opened and when they did, then whoosh! Since it’s Thursday, I was rebus-hunting, and thought for a bit that with SHOR__ in place, 4D, “Beginning to end?” was somehow going to work out to be “ship to shore” with some kind of rebus. Rebus, where are you rebus? Once I let go of that, things filled in so quickly that I barely read the rhyme clues. Not my favorite puzzle ever but I guess it was reasonably clever. I could do without Harry Potter clues because I’ve never read the thing or seen any of the movies. I know, I know…
ReplyDeleteBlech to the theme.
ReplyDeleteI DNFed with OT PEOPLE. You know where you go after a bike or car crash, to PT and OT. It's gonna be a long day.
ReplyDeleteI too was flummoxed by the GRANDAD/GIA cross and also misread hermano at 26D. I had figured out the "TO" part of the theme clues but ended up with TOoaS at 26A and simply couldn't untangle it. 8D just HAD to be GRANDpa. Had to be. And GIp could have been right, right? But, alas...
ReplyDeleteAlso had a mess at 55A and 56D. Never occurred to me that Christina didn't spell her name RIChI, and since I had no knowledge of drumstick parts, hONE made as much sense as anything else.
I DID finish the puzzle; I just happened to have some (pretty egregious) mistakes. I therefore make a proposal: There should be another term for such an outcome rather than DNF. As noted, I did finish. So maybe FBWM. Finished but with mistakes.
Maybe some of you clever PEOPLE (whether in IT or not) can come up with a better acronym?
On the LA Times crossword blog they use (or at least used to use - haven’t read it in awhile) FIR and FIW for “finished it right” / “finished it wrong”
DeleteHow about Ibi....I blew it!!
Delete53D the clue seems poorly worded. 'Something it might be good to break'
ReplyDeleteLoved this one! My aha moment sprang from having ASTERS, BLUEJAYS and ADS (after TIA had chased off “adman”) in place and then being delighted to see the TO’s emerge and realize I had been reading ODE’s! In a crossword! I mean C’mon!
ReplyDeleteThen to see that the answers themselves were also words (unclued, key Rex rant)? - be still my xword heart.
And finally to nail the landing with TORONTO BLUEJAYS? Very nicely done, Mr Deeney.
Martha my dear, sweet idea but really makes zero sense. You could enter an X into each square and say FBWM.
ReplyDeleteI may be the only one who wondered why TORONTO BLUEJAYS was an answer when all the rest were fake odes…
ReplyDeleteLoved it! Thanks!
ReplyDeleteFun fact, possibly intentional on the part of the constructor: Danny Ainge also played major league baseball, for the........Toronto Bluejays!
ReplyDeleteC'mon, Rex. Two can play that "cite the dictionary" game: GRANDAD. I've mentioned before on this blog that as a kid, when writing thank-you notes for Christmas gifts, I had a hard time deciding between "Dear Granddaddy" [too many d's!] and "Dear Grandaddy" [wait, that also looks weird].
ReplyDelete(If you asked me today, I would say Granddaddy is my preference, but I acknowledge both as attested and acceptable. True, AS A rule, usually one doubles the consonant in forming such compound words. But there are notable exceptions. "Pastime", not "pasttime". "Wherever", not "whereever". So it's a little UNWISE to be too insistent on what the rules are. I kind of want "noone" to be a word, but I can see why others wouldn't.)
@Zac
Huh? Cite?
I liked the theme execution much more than Rex did. I greet this sort of "corniness" not with a wince, but with more like an indulgent smile. (How would you rewrite those clues, Rex?) But the answers themselves, with the exception of TOWARDS, are well-chosen for not having anything to do with "to". (In my case, the theme was cracked with TOMCATS, which I love.) TOGAS, in Praise of Gas, I thought was funny. So was TOADS. I guess the real marquee answer is TORONTO BLUEJAYS, whose two to's are what I imagine spawned the theme.
I agree with the Easy-Medium assessment. Once you crack the theme, it seems a lot easier.
Christina RICCI I haven't seen in a while. The thing I'll always associate with her is the movie Buffalo '66, produced and directed by Vincent Gallo who also stars in it. A very peculiar movie in my estimation.
I sometimes wonder how conventions get established in mathematics. It's true that THETA is very commonly used to denote an angular measure. Why?
As filler goes, I like DASHIKI and PESACH. And I find NAMASTE is a classy and beautiful greeting. Nice to have UNO clued differently for a change.
My in-law family is all German, so Zwiebelkuchen was an utter gimme. OTOH:
USS COLE was gettable by me only from crosses.
Like Rex, I too was confounded by CONE for a while, but also like Rex, I figured it out after I completed the puzzle. Tricky. Good one.
SB: 0 yd and 0 dbyd. My last word yesterday took a long time because I had miscounted how many letters were left to go, but it was this utterly prosaic and obvious 5-er.
Decidedly unpleasant. it seems that at least 1/2 of the ode clues should hint at the completed word. So, for example, togas should be hinted in part of the 18 across clue, as well as gas. otherwise, what is the connection? Weak sauce. 👎🏻
ReplyDeleteI come in peace, my good señor
ReplyDeleteThis puzzle was a gem, for sure.
Like @Rex, I thought they were toasts until after the grid was filled and the "Wait a minute" moment when ANON finally flipped the switch to odes. Clever and creative theme, fun to solve. Starting out, TOp PRANKS had me confused (obviously): what kind of rebus would have a double P? Not to mention that the phrase didn't make sense. TOASTERS straightened me out. Eagerly awaited the discoveing the other TO-creations, with TOMCATS my favorite.
ReplyDeleteDo-over: eerie before ALIEN. No idea: AINGE, GIA. Hardest to parse: IN ONE GO. Wish I'd seen: Drumstick = CONE - it would have been almost as much fun to get the clue as to eat one of my childhood's favorite confections.
Hey All !
ReplyDeleteI had TvADS in, then got __WARDS, and was thinking ivWARDS, thinking the theme would be (something)V(word). Then managed to get the NE corner finished, saw TOASTERS in for the Themer there, scratched the head, and said, "WELP, let's see where this leads."
Not sure exactly where I figured it out, but looked back at TOASTERS to see if I could reparse it, saw TO ASTERS, looked at my __WARDS, then the lightbulb, said, "Heyyyy, that could be TO WARDS, and all the rhymy things could be that." Revisiting my TvADS, saw it could be TO ADS/TOADS, said, "Hah! Clever! TO-something that makes real words!"
Have I told you I talk to myself a lot?
So I enjoyed this neat little puz.
GRANDAD was known to me from SB. Missed it all the time for a while, but I know it now. 😁
Some difficulty in the SW/S Center. Got a chuckle out of Seinfeld Jerry clue. Almost wrote in SEINFELD. Har.
"For the ones who compile the scores / We give you the beers that are poured..."
TOTALLY
(Sad attempt!)
No F's (also sad)
RooMonster
DarrinV
@MarthaCatherine 8:42
ReplyDeleteIt'll probably be answered multiple times, but we occasionally use FWE (Finished With Errors). It was a discussion here in the past.
RooMonster FWE A Lot Guy (But not as often as it used to be...)
There once was a man from Nantucket, and he hated this puzzle.
ReplyDeleteI caught the theme early on but was completely flummoxed by INONEGO crossing both AINGE and GIA. Ended up running the alphabet a couple times at each blank until I could finally parse it. Not a fun way to end the puzzle.
ReplyDeleteOverall I liked it, & am impressed w/ the cleverness.
ReplyDeleteBut do we want to "break" HABITS, or "build" new productive ones? So that threw me.
And like many of you, I confidently wrote down GRANDPA, and so the Italian aria was a complete mystery.
Maybe someone can explain to me why rex gets so easily offended by certain historical events, viz. USSCOLE? Was it a tragic event? Yes. Should it never appear in a puzzle b/c someone might be offended or put off by the memory? Not so sure. I normally disdain the term "snowflake" when the hard right toss it around, but . . . when rex goes off on a tangent like today, I kind of get where it comes from. There's a part of me that says, If you're so easily offended, perhaps you need to find another hobby. But maybe I'm in the wrong here, so I'm open to hearing another perspective.
I would have preferred "2023 World Series Champs" for the 60 across clue but I guess it wouldn't have fit the theme.
ReplyDeleteDo you have to be so negative all the time?
ReplyDeleteGreat puzzle. Clever and well-executed theme. I think you've invented your own crossword rules that you think everyone should follow...
@B-money
ReplyDeleteI thought Rex was saying that if you have to have an answer that is famous only because of a connection to terrorism (do you?), then at least be straight up about it in the cluing. Don't water it down, don't be half-assed about it, don't pussyfoot around.
In another words, no wet ass pussy [dodging tomatoes].
(Which I thought was a great way to clue ASS in this Monday's New Yorker puzzle: part of WAP. If you have to have ASS in your crossword (do you?), then go in all the way. None of this namby-pamby "tushy" business, cluing a vulgar answer by something cutesy and all tee-hee-like.)
Would a suitable clue for GRANDAD have been "Parent's parent and parent"?
ReplyDeleteI do not like entries such as IN ONE GO or SHORT E. Especially the second one. And I like reading complaints about offensive entries that are over long even less. Tpday just wasn't my day. But all will be well after Yonkers Restaurant Week lunch at X2O. Still, I reserve the right to be grumpy. At least I completed one of the two Two Not Touch puzzles today.
ReplyDeleteWhat a sad excuse for a Thursday puzzle. Too many names of actors, for one thing. This will not age well.
ReplyDelete@RooMonster: That is excellent. FWE. I figured it had probably been discussed. I should just change my name to MarthaCatherineFWE.
ReplyDeleteAs someone once said, “If you like this sort of thing, this is the sort of thing you like.” Or something like that. I found a certain amount of appeal to the concept and the effort it took to come up with the rhymes but as far as solving … can’t say it will ever go on the list of my favorites. By the time I got to the seventh verse, I was ready to be done with poetry for the day. But I wouldn’t say I disliked it really and I always appreciate it when a constructor offers something new and different.
ReplyDelete@Anomymous (7:59) I did a double take at 6D too and finally figured out it’s actually IN ONE GO. Still a term which was ALIEN to me, possibly because Merriam-Webster says it’s chiefly British.
@Nancy (8:14) Good one!
TO ADS! GRAND ADs!
ReplyDeleteThis was the most cringeworthy puzzle the NYT has produced in a long, long time. There was absolutely zero joy from getting the 'theme' today. It felt like driving through rush hour traffic. Not surprised GRANDAD made it through the vetting process; this puzzle clearly missed on many levels. Perhaps if that clue had been worded as "the best Super Bowl commercial," it would've been better.
ReplyDeleteClues (answers below):
ReplyDeleteNo bird would lift, or fly without
A flapping limb that’s light but stout…..
My deepest wish, though nothing drastic
A handsome dude that’s made of plastic…..
Stark black and white, fair sepia tones
Rare beauty comes from Apple phones…..
NAMASTE, Joe Deeney. I offer these crumbs in tribute to the delightful inanity of your theme.
Answers:
TOWING
TOKEN
TOPICS
Brilliant! Thanks!
DeleteDo not understand 46D
ReplyDelete@Weezie (7:31) I do love the precious chickadees and nuthatches, and I believe it was @the fenn who mentioned those yesterday too. As for those pesky squirrels, I decided to stop fighting them and just share with them. I even bought a couple of flat feeders that are easy for them to get into and it’s really worked out pretty well. As long as I keep sunflower seeds out for them, they leave the hanging feeders alone and let the birds eat in peace. I’ve never tried switching to safflower seeds to discourage them but that might work. My worse problem is with the grackles in the spring and they will be arriving soon. Safflowers are supposed to keep them away too but all they did was chow down at twice the price.
ReplyDelete@Sun Volt (7:50) Loved the Seinfeld clip. If you haven’t seen it, here’s the out takes of the same scene - even funnier.
@Anonymous (9:51) 🤣
Had two ahas, realizing first that each themer is an ode title and second that the ode title can be reparsed as one word. Loved it, with a special shout-out to the clue for TSA.
ReplyDelete“A friend of Barbie, cute and tall
Some say that he’s a living doll.”
TO KEN
One hour and five minutes. Didn't cheat. The best part was the weird theme. Clunky fill and a befuddling lower half was murder. The dreadful northwest signaled a bumpy ride ahead.
ReplyDeleteI must be the last person to hate an S on the end of TOWARD (or forward, or backward).
Looked up a buncha people after finishing:
Danny Ainge got in a kerfuffle when he claimed he knew nothing about racism in Boston. He works in Utah now and there's probably no racism there either.
Roald Dahl made an appearance today despite publication of "sanitized" versions of his classics and despite him hating one class of people for his entire life.
Maybe he and MLK, Jr are sharing lunch in a gondola on the river Styx and chatting about religion.
Ana de Armas's portrayal of Marilyn Monroe wasn't received well by many and Joyce Carol Oates defended her.
Christina Ricci likes to stir up controversy apparently. Me too.
JKR, the current whipping-xi for all that's wrong with intolerance, probably isn't leaving crosswords anytime soon. GOT, Simpsons, Disney, Asian cooking, it's a wonder we do puzzles at all.
Arne Duncan pushed for Common Core standards and data accountability in education successfully dividing everyone against him.
Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson was (maybe still is?) buddies with legendary anti-vaxxer and racist shock jock Joe Rogan, and in the interest of comedy has been recorded being a bit of a bully to various groups including JKR's targets.
A collection of skallywags, eh? Being famous and hero-worship has its challenges.
Uniclues:
1 The French sequel to Smurfs.
2 Good lookin' fellahs go shopping in 1975. (By the way, did you know that company still exists and only closed its last retail location two years ago?)
3 Those videos on YouTube where you make your own kilt and lose your knickers.
4 Popular ones after a morning bagel.
5 Repeatedly begging auntie for paletas in Chihuahua.
6 The Rex Parker blog and its commentariat according to the Anonym-oti and many constructors, probably.
7 Spit over a fire.
8 Nickname for Johnson when he's not working out.
1 BLEU SONS
2 TOMCATS TO WARDS
3 TARTAN BOOT CAMP (~)
4 ONIONY IT PEOPLE (~)
5 NAG TIA HABIT
6 UNWISE MOB (~)
7 ROTARY TOASTERS (~)
8 MINT OREO DWAYNE
Travel alert!!!!
ReplyDeleteBack from a bodacious trip to. Charleston. My tummy still full of oxymoron shrimp galore...Oysters, oysters, oysters and more...No Okra (Hi @Anoa)... The friendlies from the South giving me uplifting cheers. I love the South, the people, the food.
Back to @Rex...back to trying to unjumble brain and remembering why I stopped flying years ago. Ugh....5 hour layover in Charlotte with my two GRANDKIDS who were insanely wonderful the whole time.
So I wondered why DAD wasn't GRAND. Did I forget more of my English? I need an ODE to Sacre BLEU...
I rather enjoyed the puzzle. When I haven't done puzzles in a while, I need some re-booting. Not this time. I don't even know where I figured out the Ode TO - maybe TOASTERS, or maybe TOGAS or maybe TOPRANKS or maybe I didn't care. My always challenge is spelling and names. NAMASTE, PESACH and DASHIKI were my bartenders tonight.
I found most of this easy but I had to take my time. As I was writing in my answers, I kept thinking this is very clever and fun. What an idea!!!....I figured amiga @Nancy would enjoy this. I figured someone would find lots of fault and I'm wondering what the topic du jour might be (here's looking at you grandad).... No matter, I had fun and it's good to be back. Dreams of sweet tea and vodka...
IN ONE GO we filled the grid?
ReplyDeleteAlas, the theme was hid.
Til Rex TO ASTERS gave a clue?
For Joe: applause is due!
That’s all a dog or rule
Can do before our morning gruel
@egs -- Bravo sir, those are excellent!
ReplyDelete@jberg here— I was mystified by TOASTERS and TOPRANKS, and when the clue for 44A told me to make my answers fill the box I took it as a hint to stretch out MCATS. I considered medCATS, but happened to glance rightward and finally noticed those barely hidden ASTERS. Now it all made sense.
ReplyDeleteI would have loved the puzzle if it had had GRANDpa—always love seeing mysel there—but I still like it at least.
One minor nit—the two odes in 60A are clued in the wrong order. As written, it should have been TO BLUEJAYS TO RON.
I liked it a lot. Cute rhyming clues. Clever gimmick. Sorry that so many of us didn't get any enjoyment out of it. I don't mind being an outlier when Nancy is with me.
ReplyDeleteThx, Joe; outstanding production! :)
ReplyDeleteVery hard (2x avg).
Way out of my wheelhouse.
Took some time post-solve to grok the theme; clever!
Loved the challenge! :)
___
Peace 🕊 🇺🇦 ~ Compassion ~ Tolerance ~ Kindness to all 🙏
46 D? anybody ?
ReplyDeleteMacros are pretty much exactly what the clue says. Shortcuts that users can write into programs like Microsoft Word and Excel to dramatically reduce the time spent doing repetitive tasks.
DeleteHow sweet of you, @mathgent!
ReplyDelete@Egs and @Joseph Michael -- really nice!
I wrote my earlier post from the waiting room of a car dealer while the car was being serviced, and had to break off because they finished the job early. Now I'll just add a couple of points.
ReplyDeleteFirst, I knew USS COLE right away, but hesitated thinking "but that was many years ago, not in 2000." I've noticed this before -- any date that starts with a 2 just strikes me as recent. OTOH, I just figured out that the last time I had a Drumstick CONE was probably 60 years ago, and have difficulty believing that myself.
Second, the only real weakness of this puzzle is the poetry. He should have hired @Nancy for that.
Hand up for being convinced that GRANDpa had to the family man AND misreading the clue for 26D and having TIO. Once I realized I’d never heard an Italian word end in P (not sayin’ it’s not possible), figured out INONEGO, and realized it was aunt instead of uncle I finished the puzzle. Did I give a side-eye to Grandad? Sure, but I’m in the @TTrimble (and others) camp with that. End result…a very fun Thursday puzzle and I actually figured out the ode connection.
ReplyDeleteYes, TORONTOBLUEJAYS is ambitious and in the “wrong” order but, hey…I BET Joe spent a considerable amount of time trying to formulate a rhyme in the “right” order. The crosses really made me confident of the answer, but I confess I did NOT have a clue as the Harry Potter and Ron Weasley connection.
@GILL I, welcome back and glad your trip to Charleston was bodacious!
@GILL: Welcome back! Now you’re making me hungry. I think I could eat my weight in seafood, starting with those two litttle fishies. Heck, I’d even eat the okra if it’s pickled. And don’t forget the grits. Nice to have you back among us.
ReplyDeletehar. Well, Joe Deeney probably shouldn't quit his day job to become a full-time poet. But this puztheme was funny and different and M&A luved it. thUmbswayUp.
ReplyDeleteAlas, kinda looks like @RP splatzed this puz where the sun don't shine (on his way out to commute for work) ...
{"Left the house without no fuss/Threw the puzbits beneath the bus"} = TO REOFFENDS.
Primo grand finale double-ode on TORONTOBLUEJAYS.
I got the sense of the theme mcguffin nice and early, at TOPRANKS. Liked how all the TO-honorees also made separate words that started with T-O-. Nice extra touch.
staff weeject picks: GIA/TIA. woof. @RP's SEA/GEE sounds like a friendlier way to go. Plus, hey -- they still rhyme, PuzPoet Laureate Joe D.
Thanx for the fun, Mr. Deeney dude. Here's to U, 3 times over ...
Masked & Anonymo3Us
**gruntz**
@Weezie - If your feeder is on a pole, go out and buy a Slinky - a real metal one, not some cheap plastic one. Feed the pole through the Slinky, then attach the Slinky to the top of the pole/bottom of the feeder. It will hang down somewhat and when the squirrel tries to climb up it will be forced to cling to the Slinky which will then deposit the squirrel on the ground. It keeps the food safe, and you get to watch the squirrels be tormented.
ReplyDeleteI am among those who didn't enjoy the puzzle.
Thanks for the Slinky tip as a squirrel deterrent! I'm going to order one on Amazon today!
DeleteOde Ear was this one bad.
ReplyDeleteEasy-medium. I caught the theme about two thirds of the way in and it helped me fill the stuff I’d left blank. This was goofy and I like goofy so I liked this one quite a bit more than @Rex did. Fun solve!
ReplyDeletePESACH was a WOE.
I was at the wrong “gate”, thought Mia was the lady in the Puccini opera, had to get a puzzle check from the NYTimes app, and definitely didn’t finish it “in one go”. Otherwise I enjoyed the odes!
ReplyDeleteFor what it's worth, The NY Times Spelling Bee also accepts "Grandad" as well as "Granddad." I don't know. I don't make the rules.
ReplyDeleteAs usual, I liked the theme just fine, even though I finished the puzzle with no idea, and had to think for a minute to get it. Especially the BLUE JAYS one.
ReplyDeleteMINTOREO looks funny... a Spanish sports car?
@MarthaCatherine 8:42 am, I'm with you on thinking it's crazy to say "I DNFed" when you did finish, but you had a mistake. In a contest, you are penalized for each error, but not disqualified...right? I tried to fight this battle here a couple of years ago but was shouted down.
I had no problem with GRANDAD because of Spelling Bee. If ya got GRANDDAD, ya also got GRANDAD.
Speaking of which..[yd 0, last word this odd 6er which M-W doesn't even have a page for. QB streak 13 days!]
I didn’t read all these. Is t the Seine “bluer” (feminine - “La Seine”)
ReplyDeleteYou are correct! La Seine est bleue. But actually it's more gray than blue 😉
DeleteBut Rex, the "corny poetry" is totally fun. The best thing about the puzzle.
ReplyDeleteI can see why you found the last clue, 60a, better. But it was my least favorite because I found it impossible to understand until I came here. Maybe if Ron's friend had come before cerulean birds....
For the love of god! Please, someone explain 46D to me.
ReplyDeleteThis is an incredible feat of construction that made me smile all the way through. It also allowed me to forgive the junk. Fill in the boxes and move on to the next fun spot.
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, think of the theme, then find all the TO . . . words, and then write the clever, silly doggerel. I enjoyed every minute of this. I do think reference to the USS COLE could have been clued with a bit more propriety. Or possibly edited out?
I got stuck on the drumstick for a minute. Thought the reference was to a percussionist’s drumstick and the answer was looking for the “bead” at the tip which is most certainly not a CONE. Fortunately, I had recently purchased a box of ice cream sandwiches at my dairy store for my niece and nephew who were coming over for a game night. After my wrangle with the drumstick, I remembered that my purchase was sitting in the freezer case next to the “Drummies” (the dairy store’s name) and the CONE made sense.
I sussed out the theme fairly quickly because TOP RANKS looked absolutely weird up there in the NW. i knee it had to be a theme answer because of the quotation marks and the goofy clue. Took my brain a minute to quit sewing TOP, but once I did, i was excited to find the rest and loved that there were so many.
Favorite theme answer today was TORONTO BLUE JAYS because I am a doe hard baseball fan, and am well into my annual Spring Training regimen. I am also a true blue die hard, goat tradition loving Cubs fan. The “Harry’s best friend” reference made me instantly think of Harry Caray, the Cubs play by play announcer. Harry loved Ron Santo (what baseball fan didn’t ??) and I just assumed the whole thing was about baseball.
This one was 100% fun. Kudos Joe Deeny. I’d love to gear about your process for this one. More please.
@anon re 46d
ReplyDeleteComputing
COMPUTING
a single instruction that expands automatically into a set of instructions to perform a particular task
@okanaganer and @MarthaCatherine…yes, I know! Since I solve on the NYT app I can “finish” the puzzle but know something is wrong due to the fact the app TELLS me. Sometimes I have just had a typo/sometimes I put in the wrong answer. I pretty much adhere to my own code of conduct. If I KNEW the word AND how to spell it but typed the wrong letter in, I correct and figure I completed it with no errors. Otherwise, under the blog terminology if I just flat out put in the wrong thing…I count it as a DNF. Seems like it is more like an FWE (finished with errors) but oh well. To me, DNF seems more appropriate to when you have portions of the puzzle totally blank and have NO clue what would be right (and end up Googling to get a toehold). On balance, crossword solving is all honor system anyway and any one of us could misrepresent one’s prowess at solving on this blog.
ReplyDeleteTo Nancy aa and To Egsforbreakfast
ReplyDeleteThank you for the fun rhymes
Egs...Almost too poetic to fit the context, are you a published writer?
@okanaganer
ReplyDeleteCongrats on your streak!
FWIW, I think you're obviously right about the DNF issue. If I know what I'm doing but fat-finger the last entry, and then fix it a second later to get the happy music, then I finished the puzzle for that day by any normal understanding of the word "finished". In the normal understanding, finished doesn't mean "got every detail perfect the first time around". If that were the case, then by definition I would probably never finish writing up an article.
At first I wondered whether this excessively virtuous interpretation of "finished" stems from crossword tournament rules (I've never participated in one). As in, you raise your hand to announce you're done, they spot a mistake, and wah-wah you're dead for that round. But no, from a quick reading the scoring seems to be point-based, and from what I can tell they don't use language along the lines of "sorry buddy but you didn't finish".
I'm sure I'll be hearing more from others, now that I've stuck my neck out.
Worst. Puzzle. Ever. A disaster.
ReplyDeleteTo the always-DNF people (this not an ode):
ReplyDeleteIf you fill in every single answer on a multiple-choice test and submit it, and afterward find out you got five wrong, do you tell people you didn't finish the test?
@Anonymous 11:51 AM
ReplyDeleteI see that @albatross shell already answered, but I'll add a concrete example from my own experience. Suppose you're preparing a document that has to make use of specialized fonts, and you have to make repeated use of a particular string of characters which, using the commands embedded in the software you have, is doable but is tedious. What you can often do is define a MACRO which abbreviates the set of commands you'd have into a single new command that you have created. Then just apply that macro whenever you need it, instead of tediously typing out the old commands every time.
I rather liked this one, including the theme. Sorry, I'm a dad age guy I guess. Really liked the corny poetry and got the Ode reference right away.
ReplyDeleteI also never watch the Super Bowl, even not for the grand ads they run. As for "grandad", that would be your grandmother's father, right?
With you on "IT People". What??? IT dept. IT tech(s). Plain old IT. IT People? Nope. Not gonna happen.
Here where I live, Thursday is trash day. Lately, the NYT is as well.
ReplyDeletenot being a harry potter fan, I thought Harry's friend would be Tonto, which seemed to work but through me off the theme
ReplyDeleteLet's see if I can stump you:
ReplyDeleteWhen sickened by disgust, you might say "Ick!"
But here's a nicer word that you can pick. (5 letters)
#############
Those Lovelace theorems are so highly prized,
Their author has been duly canonized. (7 letters)
For now, I'll post the answers at the end of yesterday's comment section. I'll post them HERE after 9 p.m. EST.
When Toronto Blue Jays became undeniable, I looked at all those other « useless to’s » (as I regarded them) and reckoned Harry’s best friend must be Tonto, as in that old film. Or am i dating myself (asked the Amorous Solipsist)?
ReplyDeleteI just despise these “junky” “cute” crosswords.
ReplyDeleteMy kids have a GRANDAD. Not sure why it’s an issue!
ReplyDeleteIf people “despise” a crossword, why bother completing it? And then wasting time commenting?!!
I liked Rob in "Northern Exposure" a lot
ReplyDeleteIn "Numb3rs" he made FBI work seem hot...
Answer tomorrow.
@Joe D
ReplyDeleteGood one!
@TTrimble and @Joe DiPinto…YES to both of you! Meaning: I get your point.
ReplyDeleteI get that you can't know everything. There are those who would immediately know "Gia, mi dicon venal." Yeah...
ReplyDeleteOn the relative obscurity of Danny Ainge... Over the last 4 decades, he's been well known to NBA fans; due to his playing career, where he won 2 titles with the Celtics, coaching career (not as good), and probably most for in his executive career. He's known for being an adept swindler in trades, hoarder of draft picks, and builder of championship caliber teams. While in charge of the Celtics, his team won another title, and he was named executive of the year. The current Celtics team, with the league's best record, was built by Ainge.
@Nancy 3:04. Nice job! The first one was easy, even if Jeff Chen hadn’t riffed on it in his write-up. The second was much tougher, and one needs to pay close attention to the clue. And yes, Nancy, I know what I did in the previous sentence, but I couldn’t stop myself. Hope you’ll forgive me.
ReplyDeleteJust want to credit Rex for a new high in (strangely enjoyable) grumpiness. 😁
ReplyDelete@Nancy
ReplyDeleteGot 'em both. I like the second (7-letter) one especially.
You can tell what it is by how it will lean
But if perfectly fair it will never be seen
Yet another stupid Thursday puzzle. So tired of puzzles with idiotic gimmicks. Sigh.
ReplyDelete@egs -- I never saw Jeff Chen's column today -- I swear I didn't. I'm glad I didn't because if I had seen it I wouldn't have felt free to use that clue/answer.
ReplyDelete@TTrimble. Boy is that hard -- a real riddle, especially the 2nd line. Can you tell us the # of letters, please -- don't know if it will help, but it can't hurt.
Oh, I think I have it, @TTrimble. Six letters, right?
ReplyDeleteHere's another (6, 4):
ReplyDeleteOf things that I need, you know what is best:
That cupful of goodness, and plenty of rest
“Spook” should not be in any puzzle….
ReplyDelete@Nancy 7:44 PM
ReplyDeleteYup, I think you got it!
@Nancy. To be clear, it never crossed my mind that you had seen Jeff Chen’s column. I was just commenting that it made it even easier for me because I had.
ReplyDeleteI see two kinds of comments here tonight. People (like me) who thought this was a below par puzzle with a lot of obscure answers and clues, and people who rave over the puzzle in an attempt to lift themselves above the others.
ReplyDeleteOver the years i have stopped caring about my streaks, times, hints etc. When I don't enjoy a puzzle (such as tonight) I close the tab and watch a youtube video or something else less self-important.
I come here to gauge the relative difficulty of a puzzle that I had issue with, but know to filter out the overly rave reviews (which usually come from the same few reviewers) and the trolls (which often dont make it past the moderator)
That was one of the most unpleasant (to me) puzzles I have ever filled out.
ReplyDeleteOkay, I promised you the answers after 9 p.m. and it's now 9:45. Scroll down...or don't if you want to continue to work on it.
ReplyDelete1) TOUGH
2) TOSTADA
Most odes are not anonymous. Much of the ugliness about —as usual with anything edited by Shortz— are the clues. Poorly written (25 across) or flat out impossible.
ReplyDeleteSolved the entire damn puzzle without a clue about the theme. Merely filled in enough crosses until I could see *something* to fill in the theme answers. Only after reading Rex's explanation of the theme did I even notice all the "To ..." answers. What a slog.
ReplyDeleteI thought 25A clue was accurate. Maybe not elegant.
ReplyDeleteAnd there are anon odes. And reasons to write anon odes. Subject matter or the doggerel quality of off the cuff satire. There seem to be books of a anonymous odes but maybe not best sellers.
“Grandad” is perfectly acceptable alternative spelling of “granddad” though maybe more British than American). It’s in Websters and the OED.
ReplyDeleteIn case anyone wants to know the answers to my own clues (6:28 PM, 8:18 PM), they are here.
ReplyDeleteEven after reading this comments, it still took me far too long to figure out:
ReplyDelete"inonego" = "in one go"
Lots of terrible choices in this puzzle.
Thursday. Yep. Definitely a Thursday!
ReplyDeleteLoved it! The slog of the last two days is entirely forgiven.
ReplyDeleteI did not understand CONE either. Don't think I've ever seen that type of drumstick.
And I've seen the Seine: it ain't bleu.
@kitshef 10:56pm:
DeleteI don't know if you are kidding or not, since Drumstick ice cream cones have been around for 95 years. I loved those things, and had to use my newspaper route tip money to buy one at the local Clover Farm store. I think they cost a dime back then, but maybe less.
Interesting concept but too rough around the edges (OTOH, MLK, ANON, UNY, ATMS, GIA, TIA etc. etc.)
ReplyDeleteStarting out, I thought, no way am I ever going to get this. I had to throw wild guess after wild guess in, just for any chance at all.
ReplyDeleteThen things began to coalesce, and I found myself gazing at a completed grid. But were the guesses right? They were!
Take "easy" AND "medium" off the table; this was full-out challenging, for ANY day of the week. I finally saw the gimmick, when agonizing over 6d/32a + sq. 29, the last vacant squares. Naturally I was thinking TVADS, but what would end in a V going down? At last it came to me: INONEGO, the catchword of John Michael Higgins on "America Says." And the Italian opera thing was GIA, who would ever know? Now we had TOADS, which I was finally able to parse into TO ADS--and to see that they were all TO-things that formed new words. A pretty big aha! moment.
Aggressively murky clues plus impossible obscurities put this one off the difficulty scale. I declare it's the toughest puzzle I ever finished. ANA DeArmas is DOD. How to score? For triumph points an albatross, but it really wasn't all that well filled. I guess birdie.
Wordle par.
UNWISE TOMCATS SNARL
ReplyDeleteELSA has this ARCANE HABIT
TO be CLADIN TARTAN when she SENSES
that ONE PUTSON COATS, dagnabbit,
and SLEEPSIN DASHIKI during menses.
--- DWAYNE D. STILLER & SONS
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteA further nudge towards skipping the Thursday puzzle. An aggravation.
ReplyDeleteLots of names I don't know kept it from being a clean solve. But at least I did catch on to the "theme."
ReplyDeleteLady Di
My high school sports team name was the BLUEJAYS. So, TO RON and TO BLUEJAYS.
ReplyDeleteOtherwise not that impressed.
Wordle bogey, tried the wrong first letter.
SALLY before TONTO before...RONTO?
ReplyDelete