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Hello, everyone, it’s Clare — here for a slightly later Tuesday than usual! Hope everyone had a good January, filled with making resolutions (and then forgetting them two weeks later). I just moved into a new place, so things are a little hectic, and I’m sitting here writing this while surrounded by boxes, half-assembled IKEA furniture, and piles of clothes; I’ll get around to putting it all away eventually! I’m also more sore and tired from moving in than I have been in a very long time — I’m on the third floor, sooo….. I’ve still been rock climbing a bunch (getting better, slowly but surely), watching sports (let’s not talk about Liverpool), and generally just staying busy.
Anywho, onto the puzzle…
Relative difficulty: Fairly easy
THEME: A series of related items that can be grouped together into a well-known phrase (that’s the best way I can think to describe it)
Theme answers:
This was a really lovely Tuesday puzzle. And I’m not just saying that because I’m sleep-deprived and frazzled. (I’m seeing cardboard boxes in my dreams.) The theme here was fresh and fun; nothing about the grid felt super forced; I kind of flew through it; and I thought some particular clue-and-answer combos were great. The puzzle just made me smile in a way that not many Tuesday crosswords have in a while (at least that I can remember).
- DAISY CHAIN (18A: Buchanan-Duck-Duke)
- SUBWAY SERIES (29A: Paris Métro-BART-London Underground)
- GUITAR STRING (49A: Fender-Gibson-Yamaha)
- PICKUP LINE (63A: Silverado-Ram-Tundra)
Paul Neal "Red" Adair (June 18, 1915 – August 7, 2004) was an American oil well firefighter. He became notable internationally as an innovator in the highly specialized and hazardous profession of extinguishing and capping oil well blowouts, both land-based and offshore. (Wiki)
• • •
In fact, I knew I’d like the puzzle as soon as I figured out DAISY CHAIN (18A). I put together Daisy Buchanan and Daisy Duck and Daisy Dukes and thought the way the three came together was super clever. It was joyful!
PICKUP LINE (63A) was probably my favorite out of all of the theme answers. Some other favorite answers were MAGIC BEAN (3D: One of several traded for Jack's family cow, in a fairy tale); STAND TALL (36: Act confidently); LOOKS UP TO (2D: Admires). I started singing when I saw 54D (Car mentioned in the Beach Boys' "Fun, Fun, Fun") and wrote in T-BIRD. I love seeing ELIZA Hamilton (31D: Sister to Angelica and Peggy in "Hamilton") in a puzzle (and I started singing songs from the musical, too). Some of the other clues/answers were also interesting in the way they were phrased. SEGO (72A: State flower of [Utah]) was a bit different than the usual “sega.”. “Like a bug in a rug” should be the only way ever allowed to clue SNUG (60D). 5D: Third degree? for PhD and 14A: Organizer of a couples cruise? for NOAH were both clever clues that made this puzzle feel fun.
I’d be remiss if I didn’t have a couple small complaints, of course. I got held up with SCOOB (23A: Snack-motivated Great Dane of toons). I get that the clue might be hinting to you to find a nickname by using “toons” instead of “cartoons,” but I still thought I had something wrong here because I was so sure it had to be “Scooby.” There was also some tired fill such as ARIA (7D); IM PEI (53D); EMO (66D); and YETI (19D), but I’m inclined to look past that because the rest of the grid was so nice. I don’t even have a theme answer to complain about because they were all so good.
Wow, I’m really waxing poetic here about the puzzle. This was just what I needed to take me out of the drudgery that is unpacking boxes and turning screws.
Bullets:
[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]
Bullets:
- I’m not a big poetry person, but SHEL Silverstein (62D) will always have a special place in my heart. “Where the Sidewalk Ends” is a brilliant book full of zany, heartfelt poems, and the titular poem is a wonderful idea, beautifully written.
- I was reminded by some Greek trivia in the puzzle, that HERA (15A: Greek goddess of marriage) and ZEUS (46A: Brother (and husband) of 15-Across) are both husband-wife and brother-sister. (Guess we know where George R.R. Martin got his ideas.) I thought that was an interesting tidbit, and of course, my Greek mythology–loving sister already knew it!
- I can’t even say how many times I watched “Scooby-Doo” growing up. That was my ultimate comfort show, and I somehow never got tired of watching them unmask a person every time and still being surprised it wasn’t a monster.
- Seeing ELIZA (31D) in the puzzle makes me want to share this version of “Burn,” which is brilliant. All the singers have such lovely voices and showcase the emotion of the song really well (and of course, Lin Manuel Miranda wrote some incredible additional verses).
[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]
Easy and fun.
ReplyDeleteRed ADAIR was a gimme but so was (the incorrect) SUBWAY system. Oh well. That's why we call 'em "puzzles" and not "fill-in-the-blanks".
The clues consist of words that are linked in a way that can be described as a chain, series, string or line. Nicely constructed puzzle.
ReplyDeleteVery easy, perhaps because I just finished the LAT Sunday puzzle with the same theme. I liked that one and I liked this one, or pretty much what @Clare said.
ReplyDeleteSmooth grid with no erasures and no WOEs for me, plus a couple of nice long downs. Very nice Tuesday!
Hi Clare! Yes moving is a pain. I remember my previous move; unpacking I needed my cordless screwdriver to put things back together, but could not find it. I found it after my next move 5 years later, when I opened a box that somehow I had not ever opened in those 5 years. Unfortunately the battery was dead and would not recharge. So I vowed never to move again, and 17 years later here I still am!
ReplyDeleteYes amusing theme. After finishing I thought -- something that didn't bother me but that Rex would likely object to -- the last two involved a fundamental change to the normal meaning of STRING and LINE, but the first two did not with CHAIN and SERIES. Well, we'll never know!!
SUBWAY SERIES don't happen that often any more. There were 5(!!) in the 1950s, but only one (2000) since then.
[Spelling Bee: Mon 0, my last 3 words were real goofballs, can't believe I remembered this 6er.]
Omigosh, it's the night before we can begin commenting and I can already hear the "too easy" and "shoulda been a Monday" comments.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Clare, and I thought it was a delightful and zippy puzzle with a theme that worked with a smile. Cluing was transparent without much comedy, but it'll do since I start 10 days alone with two sickly pets and I need to get some rest. These puzzles take me a lot longer to do than I wish most days, and embarrassingly long compared to many of you. Luckily it's not a competition. Or is it?
SCOOB is wonderful. I love the idea of a subway series, but I bet getting home afterward must be a nightmare.
TOGA and TOGO 😃.
Uniclues:
1 Give 'til it hurts.
2 Frat boys in a row.
3 Whenever a zombie ghost is nearby.
4 Say prayers for a certain previous "leader."
5 Demand Aykroyd pray for a certain previous Olympian.
6 "I only have one wife."
7 Reason you still get credit card offers from a university you barely remember attending.
8 What a mullet does in its free time.
9 How tight should this head and neck restraint system be?
10 Turn up the Stockholm olé.
11 Be vericose-ly afflicted.
1 BRAVE ALMS PLAN (~)
2 TOGA DAISY CHAIN
3 SCOOB AT WORST
4 BLESS REAL APE (~)
5 HONOR ZEUS, DAN
6 UTAH PICK-UP LINE (~)
7 ALUM FILE ERROR (~)
8 LOOKS UP TO T-BIRD
9 SNUG... PER NASCAR (~)
10 REBUFF OSLO RAH (~)
11 VEINS STAND TALL
I got SUBWAY SERIES pretty early, went back up to fill in DAISY CHAIN, smiled, and looked forward to SUSSing out the other two. What a great idea. SUBWAY SERIES is the weakest of the bunch imo ‘cause SERIES isn’t that far removed from its groupsome feeling. But with no reveal, you need four, and I can’t think of anything else that’d work. (“Trojan, Durex, Skyn” = RUBBER BAND has only 10 letters, and it’s too racy and obscure. “Apple, Samsung, Nokia” = CELLPHONE LOT - nah. I prefer SUBWAY SERIES.)
ReplyDeleteClare – moving is probably The ickiest thing anyone can ever do. Some advice I’m pretty proud of that I gave my kids is that, when asked if they can help a friend move, they should absolutely say yes, but they should have an exit strategy. Like tell them they can help until 1pm, when they have to leave for some prior commitment. The friend who’s moving will tell them that it’ll take about half a day when actually it will take 31 hours.
Joplin’s Maple LEAF Rag (the original one, not the simplified version) is about the funnest thing you can play on a piano. There was a room with a piano next to the room where our youth group met at church on Sunday nights. I’d get there a little early and play the Maple LEAF Rag hoping against hope that Tommy R would hear me, come investigate, and decide on the spot to break up with Melody B in favor of me. Never worked out, and Melody went on to be crowned Miss North Alabama University. Damn.
The clue for RUN made me laugh out loud. Honestly, if you’re in a place like Walmart or the nail salon, someone shouting RUN!!! would flat get your attention. (I guess it could also have been an echo clue, “Stadium shout.” Like it doesn’t really occur to Christian McCaffrey that he should run once he’s handed the ball, so you shout helpful advice from your seat forty rows up.)
I liked the symmetry of LOOKS UP TO and STAND TALL. My son is taller than Michael Jordan, and let me tell you, when you’re that size, navigating the world is a challenge. He told me once in high school that he would choose to lose a finger if he could wake up and be like just 6’2”. Broke my heart. But he’s cool with it now.
In honor of 8D, I’ll leave you with this.
Love the rubber band!
DeleteNice puzzle, low on drek (except for SCOOB). Always nice when the theme doesn’t overtax the grid, and it actually is kind of interesting today. Also noticed that we had EMO pay us a visit, which is the undisputed OREO of GENRES.
ReplyDeleteI'll just agree with Clare and all the other positive comments thus far. @jae. I did that LAT, too. thought it was nifty.
ReplyDeleteMaybe someday we can get IMPEI to sing us an EMO ARIA
ReplyDeleteWhat a breath of fresh air to have someone who just plain likes a NYT puzzle!
ReplyDeleteInstead of solving with Downs only, I try to solve by filling in only those answers that connect to my previous answers, usually but not always starting with 1-Across. Today I completed a Tuesday puzzle this way, which is unusual for me. (My overall skill level is that I don’t even try the Friday puzzle.) Anyone else use this method?
ReplyDelete@Robert Cole 7:21 am:
DeleteI almost always try to use the connect the letters version of filling in xword puzzles. I'm much more successful with that method early in the week. Also, it helps if you can fill in a very long answer with very few letters needed to get it.
I liked this puzzle, especially for its relative absence of pop culture names. The theme was comfortable, not bizarre.
ReplyDeleteWhat made the puzzle easy (even for a Tuesday) was the fill, all of which used straightforward cluing.
"I went to search for the pot of gold that's lying where the rainbow ends.
ReplyDeleteI searched and searched and searched and searched and searched and searched and then...
There it was, deep in the grass, under an old and twisted bough;
It's mine, it's mine, it's mine at last!
What do I search for now?"
Shel Silverstein
(Written from memory of years ago--so some paraphrasing perhaps. I love that the last line can be read either dejectedly--the pot of gold isn't as great as I'd hoped; or enthusiastically-that was so much fun I'm ready for another search.)
@LMS, I guffawed at “rubber band.” I wish the NYT would go there.
ReplyDeleteI did try some other possible themers, not necessarily the right lengths.
Greece, India, Zimbabwe - COUNTRY BAND
Evita, Company, Rent - MUSICAL GROUP
Proscenium, Larva, Denial - STAGE SET
Sugar, Snickerdoodle, Thin Mint - COOKIE BATCH
Everest, Denali, Aconcagua - MOUNTAIN RANGE
Tom, Matthew, Wayne - BRADY BUNCH
I’ll stick to my day job.
Thanks, also, for the hilarious Jeff Gordon clip. I wonder if they still would have put out the clip if the salesman had wet himself.
BLESS your heart! If you’ve lived in the South, you know this is usually a way of making an insult seem sweet. “Lula Mae, you ain’t got the sense God gave a June bug, bless your heart!” See also, “God love her.”
I liked the puzzle and your writeup, Clare! I wish I could lend you my sister-in-law, who loooooves assembling Ikea stuff. Give her a Bjorkstrom or Frygurdling and she is like a hog in slop, bless her heart. Good luck!
This was a sweet puzzle. A simple wordplay theme exceptionally presented in a sea of words that evoke good feelings – BRAVE, BADER, SCOOB, BLESS, IDEAL, IM PEI, T-BIRD, MAGIC BEAN, SONG, SHEL, STANDING TALL. No pyrotechnics or brain-warping maneuvers. Simply, “This is me. I am your puzzle, and I am here to make you feel good.” Ahhh.
ReplyDeleteI did like seeing FELL down, the pair of TOGA and TOGO, and seeing both SKID and OAR, two words that go with “row”.
But mostly I liked figuring out the theme answers. They required, for me, enough effort to the bring joy of accomplishment, and they brought that happy hum that comes when I run into cleverness. From top to bottom, a feel-good puzzle. Thank you for this, Ellen, and welcome back!
("Welcome back", because this is Ellen's first NYT puzzle in six years.)
ReplyDeleteGiblet-white-mushroom: GRAVY TRAIN
ReplyDeletePatrick-movie-silver: STAR CLUSTER
Fun, Fun, Fun puzzle. Was thinking Eurostar at first when I saw 29A, before getting the theme. We took the Eurostar this summer from Paris to London, it took 2 hours 15 minutes, very comfortable train and they served us a meal. 31D had ELIsA at first and had sEth before ZEUS.
ReplyDeleteTotes agree! Good luck unpacking. thanks for filling in.
ReplyDeleteThis puzzle had plenty of sparkle--something that has been in short supply in NYTXWorld for a bit. Really enjoyed the sassy theme, but I was also impressed by the four long downs, especially MAGIC BEAN. TOGA and TOGO. Great clue for PHD.
ReplyDeleteI love ragtime, and the "Maple LEAF" is one of the best known and most loved for a reason: It's a gem. But one of the most beautiful rags is a relatively new one, by William Bolcom. "The Graceful Ghost Rag"--listen to it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQVoY3f-Ctc You won't be sorry. It's simply gorgeous.
Robert Cole, I try to do this “connected solve” too. I can usually get it Mondays and Tuesdays. Succeeded today. Starts getting tough on Wednesdays, and is usually out the window the rest of the week. I don’t know where or when I got the idea, but adds a little fun to the early week puzzles.
ReplyDeleteKind of an out of left field clue for SAL. I like it.
ReplyDeleteI remember SUBWAY SERIES from the 40s and 50s when I lived in the NY Metro area. Possibility of another one still exists. In the DC area where I now live we have the potential for a BELTWAY SERIES involving the National and the Orioles. Sports writers use that name for a regular season inter-league series.
ReplyDeleteI continue to wonder why Rex and Clare and other guest bloggers feel the need to complain about the FILL. There must be fill; just accept it and ignore it.
Very smooth and very easy puzzle and very entertaining puzzle.
Neat little theme - smooth fill. I liked PICK UP LINE - but of all the themers that one felt misplaced. The long downs supported the grid - MAGIC BEAN, STAND TALL are nice early week entries.
ReplyDeleteDr. Hook
No interest in Hamilton so didn’t know ELIZA but all of the other trivia was in my wheelhouse. We get an anti Anoa Bob plural today with STAT. Clare - I would recommend the Oresteia for further family stuff.
Waylon
Enjoyable Tuesday solve.
Johnny
Perfect review
ReplyDeleteVery enjoyable easy puzzle
But SCOOB was not ok, bugged me the whole time
I enjoyed this and really zipped through it. Great time on the clock, but crossword puzzle pleasure ended too soon. I was really won over by DAISY CHAIN, which brings back summer holidays and fashioning botanical jewelry with Dawn and Mary in the field near our houses. The rest of the themers are nice, too – PICKUP LINE was especially cute.
ReplyDeleteAnswers that reminded me of Canadian musicians:
I met you on a midway at a fair last year
And you stood out like a ruby in a black man's ear
You were playin' on the horses, you were playin' on the GUITAR STRINGs
You were playin' like a devil wearin' wings.
and
STAND TALL, don't you fall oh, don't go and do something foolish
You're feeling it like everyone, it's silly human pride
STAND TALL, don't you fall, don't go do something you'll regret later
You're feeling it like everyone, it's silly human pride.
UNICLUES:
1. Aspires to classic sports car ownership.
2. Particularly hairy rock star explains his angsty-er style.
3. Decides to panhandle at a weapons testing facility.
4. Frat boys line dancing.
5. Possible answer to “How badly wrong could I go in choosing a ghost-hunting private detective?”
6. “Worship the thunder god, Mr. Rather.”
7. Out-of-control sugar daddy’s exhortation.
8. Be about to blow your top.
1. LOOKS UP TO T-BIRD
2. “YETI SUSS EMO.”
3. ALMS PLAN BRAVE
4. TOGA DAISY CHAIN
5. “SCOOB, AT WORST.”
6. “HONOR ZEUS, DAN.”
7. “IT’S ON ME – SPEND!”
8. VEINS STAND TALL
{SB: Bit of a bloodbath since I last posted: -1, -4, -2, 0. Yesterday, like @okanaganer, I somehow dredged that 6er out of the deep recesses for the win. The -4 on Saturday was failure to think of a gaggle of VERY LONG WORDS – alas. By the way, @puzzlehoarder – you’re an SB powerhouse!]
Amy: hi Clare, glad you are well, even though a trifle moving-in battered. Moved here to ATL area 1.5 years ago. The upside of moving is the impetus to jettison a lot of STUFF.
ReplyDeleteReally liked this breezy puzzle. GUITAR STRING is apropos of Bonnie Raitt's Grammy Sunday. Both B.B.King and Rolling Stone are on record noting her slide guitar skills. While I am a bit younger than Bonnie, grew up a fan of her dad, John Raitt, due to being a geeky musical fan since about age 6. He was a. tremendous baritone who originated a number of iconic roles. You can check "Hey There" (Pajama Game) and "O What a Beautiful Morning " (Oklahoma) if you are curious.
Incredible that some people didn't know who Bonnie is. If that's you, her 1989 "comeback" album "Nick of Time" is worthy of a listen. And she's a tremendous person, humble and kind. When she learned that a lot of older blues players were not fairly compensated for their work in the recording industry, she worked to set up a foundation years ago that attempts to rectify that and provide assistance for those in need.
@Anon 8:42 – Bonnie Raitt does a great version of the Joni Mitchell song that @Barbara S 8:37 posted with the "guitar strings" line. It's on her "Streetlights" album.
DeleteRobert Cole (7:21) - That's the way I solve, too. I don't allow myself any entry not connected to a prior entry. This is not a good method for a speed solver but if that's not your thing (it's not mine) then it makes solving even more of a challenge.
ReplyDeleteAll the theme entries were fun, with the droll DAISY CHAIN the clear winner. Very playful -- in a way I wish that every Tuesday could be.
ReplyDeletePICKUP LINE makes me think that Silverado, Ram and Tundra must be trucks. Right? I don't know trucks any better than I know cars. I thought Silverado, Ram and Tundra were ranches. Don't they sound like ranches to you?
But that's the good thing about early week puzzles. Whatever you don't know will fill in anyway.
I like this constructor's playful approach. Give the gal a Thursday!
@Barbara S. 8:37 AM
ReplyDeleteHa! I debated Rather vs. Aykroyd. Two world-class Dans evoking the Acropolis.
Clare, re: IKEA assembly. Do yourself a favor and get / borrow a screwdriver (preferably a "ratcheted" one) with a bit that fits the IKEA fasteners. It makes it SO much easier than using those twisty hand (finger) wrenches included in the IKEA box.
ReplyDeleteHello Clare,
ReplyDeletePerhaps not your typical comment, but I wanted to share with you a puzzle that you inadvertently inspired me to make!
I often read the Rex's blog after solving puzzles, but hearing you talk about one of your hobbies (which I share) inspired me to make a puzzle a few months ago! I had been looking for a way to potentially share it with you, in case you'd like to take a peek, but haven't found you outside the blog yet. Therefore, I wanted to pass along the puzzle here, in case it has a chance of reaching you!
https://crosshare.org/crosswords/sPV4M4uRapqGqZcCzrTT/problem
I won't say much more about the puzzle for fear of spoilers, but hopefully it's just a quick exercise and not a killer, especially with the knowledge about this hobby you might have!
Regardless of taking a look at the puzzle, thank you for inspiring some creativity in me!
Best,
-Pseudopod
@Gary Jugert (1:30 and 8:49)
ReplyDeleteWe're together on frat boys as we were with hippies a few days ago. But I remember now that I'd actually worked out a different clue for that one:
Caesar's murderers waiting in a queue.
TOGA DAISY CHAIN
Your #6!!
Hey All !
ReplyDeleteNeat theme. Liked the open NW/SE corners, too, with their stacked 9's. And light on dreck.
Thought we'd get Rex today, and thought we'd get a screed about the UPs. Three of 'em, one being in a Themer. Sacrilegious. Har.
@LMS
Rubber Band... 🤣😜
With my weird noticing-one-letterness, ala my plight of the F, there seemed to be a lot of B's as I solved. Maybe I just got successive answers containing B's. Turns out there are 7 of them.
Good ole IMPEI. Saw the clue, had in ___E_, and without a second of wondering, wrote him in. Too many puzs?
SACRE bleu! Who doesn't like a puz with that in it?
Three F's
RooMonster
DarrinV
@Gary Jugert
ReplyDeleteP.S. I also considered Quayle.
My favorite part of this puzzle is the description "snack-motivated" in the clue for 23A.
ReplyDeleteMy new theory on child rearing, now that I have grandchildren, is that 100% of it comes down to bribes and threats. It has been scientifically established that it is not possible to get the four of them into the Odyssey without the use of M&M's.
ReplyDeleteMy Silverado, Ram and Tundra looked dull so I gave them the cold shoulder while I REBUFFed them.
I wonder why SCOOBY’s tail is hanging down?
LOOKSUPTO ONTO TOGO IMUP PICKUPLINE ITSONME. A nitpickers wet dream. TOGO or not TOGO in my TOGA or not in my TOGA? That is ……
This is the 3rd appearance of STP in 2023. I suspect that Shortz is long the stock.
Nice to “see” you, Clare. I’m kind of an IKEA freak if you need help. I just love how the very simple, wordless assembly instructions initially seem unintelligible, but as your gaze switches rapidly between the physical pieces and the diagrams, you eventually see how you need to start, and everything gradually falls into place. By the end, you’re struttin’ and crowing’. Almost like @Lewis feels after dispatching a tough Saturday puzzle. Speaking of puzzles, this one was fun, smooth and just right for a Tues. Thanks, and welcome back, Ellen Leuschner.
Yeah, moving, yuck. After nearly two years we're still trying to cram the contents of a big house with a two story two car garage into a condo. The rule still seems to be, if you want one thing, move two other things. At least we're down to one storage unit. As far as helping others move, if you own a pickup, as I have done for a long time, you will discover friends that you otherwise might not have.
ReplyDeleteEasy Tuesday but somewhat unusual in having only two proper names that were unknowns-SAL, who should have been Mineo, and ELIZA, who should have been Dolittle, but that's probably my own fault, darn it.
A little odd to see GUITARSTRING in the singular as most of the folks I play with usually explain lots of retuning by saying "I just put new STIRNGs on". Performer I saw replace most single STRINGS during a show was Richie Havens, who used to really whale away.
Very nice smooth Tuesday, EL. Every Last themer brought a smile. Thanks for all the fun.
Found the Croce to be easy-ish, for a Croce. No real problems except for some of the usual sideways cluing.
I'm with you, Clare! The theme was a winner and the fill was fine. This was everything a Tuesday should be -- and more.
ReplyDelete@Anonymous 8:42--Nice info about the wonderful Bonnie Raitt. "Nick of Time" is one of my all-time favorite albums. Got to see her back in the 1990s in a small Chicago venue, and it was one of the best live shows ever.
ReplyDeleteThe clue for SCOOB was somehow too descriptive and yet not enough info. "Snack-motivated Great Dane of toons" might as well be "Snack-motivated Great Dane of toons who rides around in a van called the Mystery Machine." It's elementary school-easy. And also, his name is Scooby-Doo, so the clue should hint at a nickname. Only one character really calls him "Scoob" on a regular basis, so a better clue would have been "Shag's best friend."
ReplyDelete"I just love how the very simple, wordless assembly instructions initially seem unintelligible, but as your gaze switches rapidly between the physical pieces and the diagrams, you eventually see how you need to start, and everything gradually falls into place."
ReplyDeleteFor you, maybe, @egs, but for me they remain unintelligible. Remember, I'm the person who put EASY TO ASSEMBLE right next to ONE SIZE FITS ALL in my "I DON'T BUY IT" puzzle. We left-brained types who are fully capable of trying to fit a square peg in a round hole can't truly fathom you handy DIY "Mr. Fixit" right-brained types. We just know that your skills are probably a lot more useful than our skills.
As far as moving is concerned: I said when I last went through it in 1995 that there should be support groups for people who move. It's one of life's most stressful events. It certainly was for me and I was moving all of a block and a-half away.
About moving, truer words were never said. Especially when one is downsizing like I was after 52 years in one house!
Delete(I also agree it was a good puzzle).
A fun and thoroughly enjoyable Tuesday. Yes, easy but the themers added some excitement. After the first one, there was a bit of anticipation to see how quickly I could guess the next group. GUITARS would’ve been my first guess for the clue but I had no idea those names also refer to the STRINGS.
ReplyDeleteThank you Ellen and I’m sorry that your FRATERNITY ROW didn’t make the cut. I like it a lot. Thanks also Clare, for taking a break from your busy life to spend some time with us.
STP is indeed a long-time sponsor of just about every type of auto racing. A few decades ago when I first started following NASCAR, the main sponsors were beer and tobacco companies. The top two divisions were called the Winston Cup and the Busch SERIES. But those names started disappearing not long after the young wholesome Jeff Gordon came ONTO the scene. Nowadays sponsors run more toward breakfast cereals and Disney films.
Clare, thank you for the cheery write-up. I'll just add a "me, too," to all of the positive comments on the theme (a special nod to DAISY CHAIN) and their supporting cast..
ReplyDelete@Robert Cole 7:21, @Anonymous 7:59, @Joaquin 8:44 - That's the solving method I use on Sundays. My rule is that I have to start with the first cross I'm sure of and then work from there, no looking ahead at clues or skipping around. I started doing this a long time ago when a run of Sunday puzzles seemed more slog than challenge. Fun to learn about this "collective."
Thx, Ellen; perfect Tues. offering! :)
ReplyDeleteHi Clare; always good to see you! :)
Med.
Fun solve; liked it a lot! :)
___
@Croce Freestylers: struggling mightily with this one (over 2 1/2 hrs. in). There are 9 words in the central-lower midwest (crossing each other) that have befuddled me. If I can get at least one of them, I may have a chance. 🤔
___
Peace 🕊 🇺🇦 ~ Compassion ~ Tolerance ~ Kindness to all 🙏
@Whatsername - STAGE SET is excellent!
ReplyDelete@Pseudopod - fun puzzle, and the theme was not necessary to finish, but what on earth does 20A mean?
Times-Post-Tribune
ReplyDelete*or*
Joyful-delighted-ecstatic
(answers below)
A very fine puzzle. I resent the description of I.M. PEI as "tired fill". At my last job, his office had the floor below ours, and we frequently saw him on the elevator or in the lobby, looking damned good in his mid-90's.
Shel gets dumped. (waves to @Son Volt)
PAPER TRAIL
*or*
HAPPY TRAIL :-)
I'll start with my first big smile....I never really understood poetry but you gave me SHEL Silverstein. I understood him...I bought "Where the Sidewalk Ends" for my children and this one little master piece of his is what I remember so well:
ReplyDeleteIf you are a dreamer, come in.
If you are a dreamer, a wisher, a liar,
A-hope-er, a pray-er, a MAGIC BEAN buyer...
If you're a pretender come sit by my fire
For we have some flax-golden tales to spin.
Come in!
Come in!
He and I danced to the same tune....Come in, indeed.
I enjoyed this enjoyable Tuesday. SUBWAY SERIES was the hardest for me because I'm not sure what that means. I knew the SUBWAY part... and I stopped. BART transported me for many months from Concord to the City. Memories of standing up the entire trip while very pregnant with my son, and staring at all the wall streeters with their noses in (probably) the WSJ. One time, a sweet, elder, woman gave up her seat for me. I refused at first but she insisted. If I had had a bag full of gold, I would have given it to her.
SERIES finally showed up. I remembered SAL from my go to crazy Mad Men. I haven't seen Hamilton yet, but ELIZA seems to pops up and besides I love that name.
Since I'm on a roll, here's my favorite PICK UP LINE:
"Well here I am. What are your other two wishes?"
I've actually had the non-pleasure of being a target. My girlfriends and I liked to go to the Horseshoe Tavern for after hours drinks. It always had a beer crowd and it was always packed. It was fun and noisy and full of mostly straight men looking for a night's hook-up. I just remembered a lot of them smelled like they had just hauled in crabs from the Bay....(the ones you eat!)...
Anyway, a puzzle that makes me reminisce is always good in my book.
Have Tuesdays been getting better lately?
@bocamp-Put it down for a while, go play some music with your friends, then come back and finish it. Worked for me.
ReplyDeleteGo get 'em!
Downs only, didn't see the themer clues but did notice they all ended in some kind of cord, thought SUBWAY SERIES didn't fit, but once you see the clue it does. It's interesting figuring out long acrosses without the clues; these are all "in the language" altho I tried DAIrY before DAISY.
ReplyDeleteThree long downs went in just off the clue: LOOKSUPTO, MAGICBEAN, ENDINATIE, so very quick solve.
Didn't remember SAL but guessed off the S because REAL and SLIPS seemed ok.
sos before RUN, but HONOR took care of that.
Not bad for a Tuesday.
@Shirley (I think) I'm enjoying The Marlow Murder Club, thank you!
@kitshef (11:30) Thanks but I cannot take credit for your compliment. I think you meant to address @Wanderlust at 7:30.
ReplyDelete@Wanderlust: I thought all your suggestions were excellent and yes, STAGE SET in particular is brilliant.
I agree that this puzzle was joyful! Thanks for sharing the "Burn" link - I'm going to download that right now. Unpacking isn't fun, but it will feel so good when you're done!
ReplyDeleteFor some reason I didn't get to the NW until the end, and SCOOB was the last word I needed to finish. But it was fun and mostly easy and I thought Clare hit all the high points. Is it me or are there just too many ONTO and EMOs in puzzles?
ReplyDeleteFun, yup. Easy, that too. So I enjoyed myself, standing especially tall because I remembered the state flower of Utah. The state flower of Wisconsin, where I grew up, is the violet; here in Massachusetts I have no idea.
ReplyDeleteContrary to @Okanaganer and @Loren, I figured it would be hard to make all the second words change their meanings, but I wanted the first words t do that. PICKUP LINE was the best, DAISY CHAIN pretty good as well; GUITAR STRING not so much, or SUBWAY SERIES either. I wouldn't have noticed this as a problem if PICKUP LINE hadn't been so good.
SAL next to ELIZA was tough; crosses turned out to be OK, though no one I know has worn a SLIP for maybe 40 years, so it was a little slow in coming to mind. I prefer the Erie Canal mule called SAL -- but I looked it up to make sure I remembered the lyrics right, and all the hits were to crossword-clue-explainer sites, so I guess it's been used before.
Clare, I recently read that the single most requested job on Taskrabbit is to put together Ikea furniture. Do let us know if you ever actually unpack everything, something I haven't managed in either of my two recent moves -- in 1974 and again in 2000. The one in 1974 made me vow never to move again, so when I had to finally I went all in, paying a moving company to pack as well as move. One of the best decisions I ever made; but I still had to unpack, and have not quite finished.
@Robert Cole - I, too, solve puzzles in the same manner as you,
ReplyDeleteGAH! Sorry, @ Wanderlust!
ReplyDelete@Joe D - I’ve always loved that song but until today for some reason thought Jim Messina wrote it.
ReplyDeleteThis ot off to a great start. Put smiley faces by14A and 5D and then I was copleltely bewildered by daisy chain's relation to the clue and forgot about it so that I did't realize it was a theme answer once I got the rest of them. Had to come here toes the names we all daisies.
ReplyDeleteSlowed down by names. Had forgotten Scoobie Doo so with scooter inlace I put p and was totally confused by "Py.." as the start of a farewell. Not familiar with characters o Mad Men or Hamilton. But zeus cleared up Eliza and all became clear.
The justification for SCOOB comes from Shaggy regularly calling him that and one of the shows or movies being titled that, I guess. I knew it had to be him, so I wrote it in but didn't love it.
ReplyDeleteLove that LOOKS UP TO and STAND TALL are in oppositional relationship in the symmetry
ReplyDeleteLikely unintended. But she should take credit anyway.
Claire....
ReplyDeleteCheck out the scene in Season 1, episode 5 of The Wire when Det. McNulty tries to put together IKEA bunkbeds for his two kids...
Less than a minute into it, he's throwing the pieces across the room in frustration, and taking a couple of pulls on his whiskey pint.
Then, POOF!
Nest shot in the bedroom, a perfectly constructed bunkbed set.
Try it. It might work.
https://youtu.be/XyMHCduJDM8
Very nice Tuesday. Smooth theme, didn't have a revealer, didn't need one. And a PB to boot. As with salsa, I'm generally a spice hound, but sometimes it's a light, mild touch that hits the spot.
ReplyDeleteThe MAGIC BEANs are a jam band that would be god-tier (talking like Phish/String Cheese/Umphrey's level) if their guitarist could improvise even a little bit. They're worth a look. Here's the song that got me into them: https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=1Ehj3cwa1vM&feature=share
No resistance at all- felt like a Monday
ReplyDeleteThx for the encouragement @pablo! I took your advice (putting it down and picking it up numerous times), and in the end was successful – coming in at 3:37. What a battle! It was getting the final part of the 'South American meal' that enabled me to see the 'vehicle', and Bob was my uncle. :)
ReplyDeleteOn to Anna's New Yorker Mon. 🤞
___
Peace 🕊 🇺🇦 ~ Compassion ~ Tolerance ~ Kindness to all 🙏
Syndi-lander here, jumping to real-time to ask a question. Thursday 12/29/22 blog has many references to a 3:11 post by Loren Muse Smith. But the post is missing. Anyone know what could have happened? Can't believe she would have said anything objectionable. (Just Google "Rex Parker Dec 29 2022" to get to it.)
ReplyDeleteWhile I'm here -- I do puzzles from printed PDF downloads. Several times lately clues have been omitted due to lack of space. 12/28/22 was the worst -- the last 5 Down clues were omitted. seems like this issue could be fixed somehow.
Hey @bocamp-Good for you! I think we had a similar problem in thinking of South American as Brazil or something. I wanted something to do with a churrasqueria for the longest time. The actual answer I really did know, but had only heard it with the last word as a plural.
ReplyDeleteAnna's was not easy, and today's Natan Last was almost too contemporary, but fell eventually.
The SCOOB ado could have been easily avoided by changing SCOOB to SCORE and REAL to PEAL.
ReplyDeleteA minor nit to pick with the duplication of ON in ONTO and ITSONME.
Overall a very good puzzle IMO
“It's a bit wearying.” Perhaps TAXING?
ReplyDelete@Clare: You think moving is tough now? Wait till you get old. It is the world's WORST job. GL
ReplyDeleteThis puzzle was Monday-easy and frankly, didn't have a ton of stuff going for it. The theme was OK, and the fill occasionally interesting, but nothing to get me going a la DOD SASH winner Catherine Bach as DAISY Duke. Couple of cross-references. Par.
Wordle par.
IDEAL PLAN
ReplyDeleteShe STANDs TALL, her FACE REAL fine,
IT’S an HONOR just TO see
that DAISY FELL for A PICKUPLINE,
now she LOOKSUPTO ME.
--- DAN BADER, PHD, MBA
PICKUPLINE LOOKSUPTO IMUP, and two of the UPs cross! And hardly a word written about that. What’s UP with that? Princess LEIA in the corners, BLESS her heart.
ReplyDeleteWordle will have to wait.
As long as we have the POWERUP and not a POWEROUTAGE, I'm ok!
ReplyDeleteAnd I agree - Monday easy. Nothing wrong with that, wither!
Diana, Lady-in-Waiting for the lights to stay on
Wordle birdie!
ReplyDelete