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Ancestral spirit in Pueblo mythology / SAT 3-4-23 / Decodable device featured in "The Da Vinci Code" / Over 95% of its residents live near a riverbank / Title lyric after Ours is a love in a 1950s hit / Component of a sake bomb often / Actress Chumsky of Veep / Spur of industry according to David Hume
Saturday, March 4, 2023
Constructor: Ryan McCarty
Relative difficulty: Medium-Challenging
Word of the Day: KACHINA (20A: Ancestral spirit in Pueblo mythology) —
A kachina (/kəˈtʃiːnə/; also katchina, katcina, or katsina; Hopi: katsina [kaˈtsʲina], plural katsinim [kaˈtsʲinim]) is a spirit being in the religious beliefs of the Pueblo peoples, Native American cultures located in the south-western part of the United States. In the Pueblo cultures, kachina rites are practiced by the Hopi, Zuni, Hopi-Tewa, and certain Keresan tribes, as well as in most Pueblo tribes in New Mexico.
The kachina concept has three different aspects: the supernatural being, the kachina dancers, and kachina dolls (small dolls carved in the likeness of the kachina, that are given only to those who are, or will be responsible for the respectful care and well-being of the doll, such as a mother, wife, or sister).
• • •
The puzzle was also hard, but it's supposed to be hard. It's Saturday. That said, it was definitely harder for me than most recent Saturdays have been. Not just hard, but a little scary, in that I got genuinely, alarmingly stuck in both of the small corners (not where I expected to get bogged down). Could get "Hot PASTRAMI" for the life of me, and wouldn't commit to CRYONIC for some reason—I knew CRYONICS was a word but wasn't sure about the "S"-less adjectival form. Anyway, not having these answers in place paved the way for a near-fatal error: instead of IDIOM / BASIC, I had ADAGE / BANAL (53A: Never say never, say / 43D: Not complicated at all). "Never say never" just didn't seem idiomatic—literally, don't say it. Don't say "never." I see now how it's got the figurative meaning of "don't give up" (whether you're actually *saying* anything or not), but still, as a bit of advice, as something posing as a truism, it felt much more like an ADAGE. And then the totally mysterious reality TV name was in there just to make matters worse. Oh, and I could not get the "R" in RUT, which would've helped with PASTRAMI for sure. Eventually JOT made me pull ADAGE for IDIOM and everything came together. The NE was similarly harrowing, if slightly less so. Again, as with SONJA in the SW, CRYPTEX (not a real thing) was gumming up the small NE corner. After I got USED TO BE, I couldn't make any of those short Acrosses work at first. And CAR TITLE, woof, no way (25A: Document for some travelers). Couldn't parse it. Had CART- and that really looked like the first part of the answer was going to be the document (a "carte" of some kind...? I dunno...). Clue is really set up to make you think of something in the "passport" or "visa" family. Finally broke through by just thinking "Where do people live by a river ... rivers ... rivers ... well, there's the Nile, that's ... D'oh!" And so EGYPT, not the stupid fictional decoding device, helped me finally decode this puzzle once and for all.
Look at this weird solving path I took today:
- 4D: Component of a sake bomb (ASAHI) — a Japanese beer, common to crosswords. Sake bombs are made by dropping a shot of sake into a glass of beer.
- 14A: ___ place (ONES) — in relation to the decimal point, there's the ONES place, the tens place, etc. (so, not "ONE'S place")
- 36A: Big to-do? (TASK) — I guess because TASKs are on a "to-do" list? Not sure what "Big" is doing here, clue-wise. The word TASK conveys, if anything, smallness.
- 47A: Street wear? (RUT) — because when you "wear" a street down (with your ox carts and what not) you get a RUT.
- 7D: French open activity, for short? (PDA) — well, this is referring to kissing (a "public display of affection"). The "open" part is a stretch, because, well, good luck "French" kissing with your mouth shut. Maybe the "open" is supposed to refer to the fact that you're doing it "openly," for all to see. Still, grammatically, that's iffy. As with [Big to-do?], the "?" misdirection feels forced here.
- 40D: What has stories of East Asia? (PAGODA) — I knew they were buildings (usually temples or other sacred buildings), but I didn't know those buildings actually had multiple "stories." I realize now I was confusing PAGODA and GAZEBO (!?). Anyway, still got this one easily.
That's all. See you tomorrow.
P.S.
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104 comments:
Why is VAN a leading position?
Still confused by VAN
For a while I felt like I was slip slidin’ away toward a DNF, but my crossword angel said, “Don’t you dare!”, and then, with amazement, I began chip chippin’ away at what seemed insurmountable, that Impossible Dream moment:
To reach the unreachable star
This is my quest
To follow that star
No matter how hopeless
No matter how far
Oh, the magnificent cluing on this one – vague clues, vicious clues, LOL clever clues – buttressed by out-of-wheelhouse answers, all presenting an obstacle course, that, in my case, took great grit to complete. Just what I want on Saturday.
I liked the six double esses, that amazing sash of seven long words running down the middle, the gorgeous word KACHINA, the clean clean grid (at a so-low 66 words!), and the wordplay, the blessed wordplay in the cluing, such as those for RUT, PRESS ENTER, CAR TITLE, TASK, and UNCLE.
A proper Saturday, expertly built. A scintillating quest for me. Crosswords at its finest. Thank you, Ryan!
In the van means in the lead or front, especially militarily. As in vanguard.
KNEELED gave me pause because although it is obvious and familiar, I would say ‘knelt’ and I’d guess that I’ve heard ten ‘knelt’s for every ‘kneeled’. And kneel/knelt and feel/felt are weird, aren’t they? “I knelt down and pelt ten pounds of potatoes on KP. When I was done, I felt so elated I cartwhelt down the hallway,”
@Weezie from yesterday. Today’s puzzle is a perfect example of how solving ability continues to build up, even after years. I’ve never heard of ISSA RAE outside of crosswords, but (s)he appears so often in them that it never takes long to drop that in. I’ve never heard of BENTO BOX outside of crosswords, and it’s not as common as ISSA, so it took longer to sink in, but now it’s familiar enough that I filled that in from _____BO_. And SO RARE I’ve never heard of outside of crosswords, but today I think is the first time I’ve filled it in without needing almost every letter, and it really helped to penetrate the SW.
Will I remember KACHINA next time it appears? Maybe, maybe not.
Will I remember SONJA? Absolutely, positively not. But if (please no) she appears another ten or twelve times, she’ll probably sink in. But I’m hoping the next constructor to use SONJA will use Red Sonja or Sonja Henie or the Queen of Norway, just as god intended.
Usually I can handle up to 20 mysteries and solve without a lookup. Couldn't do it last night. Only 11 mysteries and I still needed five lookups (CRYPTEX, KACHINA, GUINEABISSAU, ANNA, AVARICE).
Even with the lookups, it took a lot of time without much fun along the way. And having to put up with some crap like CARTITLE. The juice wasn't worth the squeeze.
I thought the Jet Set had their own jets and left reward accumulation to the lowly frequent flyers. Nice puzzle, tough but fair.
Wouldn’t axIOM be more apt than IDIOM? (Adage also made more sense).
Too many obscurities and absurdities (VAN meant VANGUARD?) made this a less than POW! experience for me.
Had the same issue with CART___ as Rex did.
Read Da Vinci code long ago, hated it, thought the answer might be some kind of "codex." Did not remember CRYPTEX and hope not to remember it in the future. So I guess I'd better stop writing about it before it sinks in. Oh hell it might be too late.
Seems to me that "March Madness" is at least as "familiar" (in both senses: informal and commonly used) as NCAAFINAL. Why the "familiarly" tag?
A car title is a SELLER's document. You can (and generally do) lots of travel without it.
And what's this ENCHANTA?
@kitshef, your kneeled/knelt rant is worthy of @LMS (and that's a high compliment). You really should go to a Japanese restaurant and order yourself a BENTO BOX. They're terrific!
Overwrites:
CRYPTiX at 11D. I read The DaVinci Code once a long time ago, don't remember much of it let alone the obscure fictional trivia.
Slowed down in the SE because my baked goods name at 38D was hostess.
vOlARE before SO RARE at 44A
KACHINA at 20A was a WOE. Needed Sergey and Larry for that one.
Ditto @Megafrim: tough bit fair. NE was last to fall, with an experience much like Rex’s. And I’ve been to Egypt, so it shouldn’t have been quite so hard.
Maybe it’s that I finally got a good night’s sleep yesterday, or maybe it’s my bent towards trivia, or maybe it’s that I took a break after a first pass to get out there and shovel the first 7” of snow, but I actually found this puzzle easier than yesterday?! Still medium-challenging, though. Knowing GUINEA-BISSAU helped *a lot*. I had a few hairy moments in the center and northeast of the grid, but got there eventually. I was SO certain about BIBIMBAP for “all in one meal that often includes rice” that I resisted overwriting longer than I should have - how’s that for a kealoa?
While this puzzle didn’t quite sparkle, and while there were a *lot* of nits to pick (do people call it SARAN sans wrap? Maybe it’s a regional thing?), I still enjoyed it. I loved the inclusion of something about an Indigenous nation other than their names, and now I know about KACHINA. I thought CLASSISM was a solid literary trivia clue, and I enjoyed being rewarded for knowing what xeriscaping was. Basically, this nerd had a good time with this tough, trivia-heavy puzzle!
What a treat it’s been to hear about your solving experiences over time - it’s been super generous and helpful, thank you! Also, just to clarify one aspect of it - my questions were less about speed solving and more about whatever subjective rubric folks use to think about their progress or skills. I actually turn the timer off when I’m solving and only look at it afterwards, mostly as a gauge for how difficult the puzzle might be compared to my own previous times. I’m never racing (okay, sometimes on Mondays - it makes it a lot more interesting), and I’m never competing with others - difficulty is so subjective that I wouldn’t see the point.
Useful context might be that I’m neurodivergent, and so my brain craves some kind of structure to my special interests. When it comes to crosswords, having a sense of my solve times over time is helpful for that. I’m not hard on myself for slower times, and I have a lot of other subjective measures - am I having an easier time with themers? Did I more readily grasp a clever clue’s meaning? Could I pull some starlet’s first name out of the recesses of my brain or did I need every cross? Basically, I love doing crosswords, I love getting better at them (using various metrics) because I like to be good at things after putting the effort in, and I’m excited that it sounds like growth will be possible for years to come, based on all of your lovely stories. Thank you for sharing them.
I don't think the BAY STATE makes up a big part of New England. It's about 1/7th of the total area. The Pine Tree state makes up nearly one-half of the total area of New England. That's big, for New England.
@Megafrim: you got me thinking about the jet set. In the sixties, they were the folks who could afford to fly regularly. You'd see pictures of them on Mediterranean beaches. They would have been members of frequent flyer programs but those didn't exist until air travel became affordable for the many. "Jet set" isn't really a thing any more, is it? But if it was, I think it should probably mean, as you suggest, people with their own jets and with few if any frequent flyer miles.
Hated hit. On to the WAPO Mini Meta.
I liked “go to the next line” for PRESS ENTER (they could have even gone with “go to the head of the line” as well). Thanks to Rex and others for the knowledge drop on VAN.
Unfortunately, the rest of it was a trivial lover’s delight with ENCANTO, ASAHI, GUINEA BISSAU, CRYTPTEX, 1950’s stuff that’s oh SO RARE, ISSA RAE, SARA LEE, KACHINA et al. Combine that with Saturday-level crosses and that can easily push one into slog-fest territory.
Personally I despise clues like “Preposition in Spanish or French” - there are only like a million to choose from, even if you speak one of the languages. Why bother even having a clue - just leave the clue line blank rather than phone it in like that. I know this type of nonsense is a NYT staple, so my choices are either get used to it or move on. Fortunately, I rarely see that type of gimmick elsewhere. I do believe that shoddy cluing like that drags the NYT down a notch or two though, especially because they are so cavalier about it.
Thank god for an across that was my gimme and toehold. Yep. I dabble in Pueblo mythology and adore all things KACHINA, especially that little trickster Kokopelli. Love his flute. Ok. Maybe not. SONJA was my first entry – thank you Bravo tv – but I did do a bit of a spelunk into the world of KACHINAS. There’s this other one named HU The Whipper who “purifies children, clowns, and Crow Mothers by whipping them with the yucca fronds.” Where do you even start with something like that?
Actually, I had an official dnf ‘cause I had “kachine/anne” – ah me. Bet we’re legion this morning.
I liked learning about Japan’s answer to the boilermaker. Probably tastes just as good. Whatever your preference, do about four and then settle in to write some startling Pueblo myths.
“Jaws” before GAPS. Can’t orthodontists help you with that weak lower jaw?
@Andrew - couldn’t agree more about IDIOM being axiom. You speaka my language.
Liked TEACHER crossing HIRE. As if. Our educational system is tanking, and no one seems to care. At least no one who can do anything. What we teachers are being asked to do is beyond the pale, and I’m not helping the cause by digging in and killing myself to deliver. I’m at school working Mon- Fri from 6am to 5pm. The idea of serving only my contracted hours seems like heaven. If you have kids or grandkids in a public school be very, very concerned. (I know next to nothing about private schools.)
“Jail” – CONFINE struck me this morning because yesterday I was poking around for poems other than the ones I’m supposed to teach that might actually engage my kids, get them to buy in rather than check out. I’m ashamed to say that I had never read Angelou’s “Caged Bird” (poetry is just not my thang), but I was stunned and then moved to tears by the tragic beauty of its truth, especially for the demographic that I teach, the kids who find themselves CONFINEd in an endless cycle of despair with no hope, the kids who are just written off, shipped off to languish in an alternative school that is hemorrhaging teachers.
But a bird that stalks
down his narrow cage
can seldom see through
his bars of rage
his wings are clipped and
his feet are tied
so he opens his throat to sing.
The caged bird sings
with a fearful trill
of things unknown
but longed for still
and his tune is heard
on the distant hill
for the caged bird
sings of freedom.
Jeez Louise, I’m sorry I got so dark. It had been my plan to run off at the mouth about KNEELED not knelt, learned/learnt, dreamed/dreamt, pleaded/pled. . . ( hi, @kitshef), but I got sweeped up in an outrage born of impotence (mine) and apathy (society's).
I also was going to point out that though the trend is vastly to regularize irregular verbs, I’ve heard many times people say slown down instead of slowed down. So that’s cool.
Talk about crying UNCLE. This one kicked me square in the BENTO BOX (or somewhere close to it). And speaking of UNCLE, if it weren't for Uncle Google I'd be working on this until Shavuos.
Wonderful puzzle - difficult but not impossible. The center stack is classic and the starting NW corner is fantastic. @Z would be proud to start the solve today. I knew KACHINA - the crossing with ZONK OUT really shines for me. IDIOM may be the topic of the day here.
We’re the old Chevrolet set
I had no idea on CRYPTEX or SONJA - crosses were not easy but I think fair. Haven’t had SARA LEE in years. Big part doesn’t need to reference area - it’s the most populated state in NE. My brother had a 64 SPITFIRE - I can remember helping him with those EU carbs constantly. Seeing ISSA quite often lately.
The hot PASTRAMI at Essen Deli in Midwood is my favorite in the city. I don’t get down to south Brooklyn much anymore but always stop there when I do. It’s worth the agita.
FYC
What a great Saturday solve this was. We also get a real Stan Stumper today - life is good.
the great Arthur Alexander
Ok, CRY- twice? I didn’t think that would be the case. Also VAN? Yeah, no. I see the meaning there but never heard it before so ok. But I was today years old when I realized that IDIOM and ADAGE are not actually interchangeable. Going to Google that now. I did finishe the puzzle, but it was a bit unpleasant and also was excited about the constructor, so disappointing. I had to actually look up the meaning of Abrogate so that is a nice new word for me. Of course I’ve seen it but without context I was not sure what it actually meant. Thanks as always for your fun and informative write ups!!
Hated this one start to finish.
Ok, now that I actually DID google the whole Idiom/Adage situation it seems to me that “never say never” is actually a Proverb!
Adages:
Adages are expressions about human nature. They come from observations of how people behave. These expressions are believed to be true because they have been repeated for a very long time.
Proverbs are expressions that teach a lesson or give advice. These familiar sayings have been around for a very long time.
Tough sledding here. This was full of a lot of things I knew eventually but couldn't quite remember, CRYONIC, BENTOBOX, and KACHINA chief among them. KACHINA was actually the last to fall and I thought of KACHINA dolls, for some reason. Never knew their relationship to Pueblo mythology.
MAN before VAN, as in "leading MAN", and the MAN leads when you're dancing. Maybe that's not true any more. AVARICE became clear and fixed that. I've read elsewhere that capitalism is perhaps the best economic system, but it's still based on greed.
I missed the chance to show off my obscure knowledge of GAPS, as the clue made no mention of a DIASTEMA. I only know this because I see one between my front teeth when I smile in front of a mirror.
Nice workout, RMC. Really More Challenging than Saturdays have been of late. Wasn't really expecting a second Stumper today, but there it was.
And now off to shovel some snow (yay!).
Thx, Ryan, for such an excellent Sat. workout! :)
Med+
Slow, but steady, all the way. Solid crosses, so no guesses today.
Bibimbap (SB word) before BENTO BOX.
NCAA FINAL wasn't coming; wanted near 'End', e.g., FINAL Four, men's FINAL, semi FINAL or something around 'cutting down the net'.
Bit of a tough time parsing PRESS ENTER.
Knowing GUINEA BISSAU (from Sporcle) was a major help.
Unknowns, hazies, learnings: ASAHI; ZETA; KACHINA; CRYPTEX; VAN; CLASSISM; SO RARE; BAY STATE; SONJA; ESSAY MILL; AVARICE.
Didn't realize that VAN could stand alone, without 'guard'.
It's finally sunk in: ENTRE means 'between' and not 'enter'! lol
Interesting to see 'Cry' in the clue for 58A, then appear in CRYONIC & CRYPTEX, as well as the possible CRY UNCLE, given the right circumstances.
IDIOM vs axiom. I'm leaning toward 'never say never' being an IDIOM and an adage, but not an axiom.
I'm wondering if 'Big part of New England' connotes 'important', as opposed the geographical?
I've often pondered UTE vs UTES, but never looked it up:
"Ute (/ˈjuːt/) are the Indigenous people of the Ute tribe and culture among the Indigenous peoples of the Great Basin. They had lived in sovereignty in the regions of present-day Utah and Colorado in the Southwestern United States for many centuries until European settlers seized their lands. The state of Utah is named after the Ute tribe." (Wikipedia)
ENCANTO: a delightful watch.
Loved the challenge this morning! :)
___
On to the Sat. Stumper by S. N. (is that Stanley Newman editing his own puz??). 🤞
___
Peace 🕊 🇺🇦 ~ Compassion ~ Tolerance ~ Kindness to all 🙏
Amy: if public education fails, will democracy follow? Without an informed electorate, how do we progress?
A very, very tough puzzle, but once I cheated on ENCANTO, I didn't have to cheat any further. Solving, though hardly easy, was now possible.
I would have thought the answer to 2D would have been "Let It Go" from FROZEN...or "Someday My Prince Will Come" from either CINDERELLA or SNOW WHITE, I forget...or "Beauty and the Beast" from BEAUTY AND THE BEAST...or "Circle of Life" from LION KING. What on earth is ENCANTO?
But at leastI ended up not having to cheat on ZETA; KACHINE or SONJA.
It was hot POTATOES before PASTRAMI. I've never heard VAN used that way. I had no idea that EGYPT was so heavily rivered.
Some of the fill hit me right between the eyebrows for a highly upsetting reason I'll explain in my next comment. And it's NYT-related.
Seems like Will Shortz missed an opportunity to do something special today. March 4th is National Pun Day. Really. So march forth with your groaners all day. If you can't think of any simply drop back 15 and pun-t.
Saturday. Hard! I actually know someone named Kachina (and why she’s named that), so that was a gimme. But much here was very obscure to me. But I was able to grind, grind, grind my way through it. Yeah, Rex isn’t wrong about some marquee answers being a little flat, but this was a good old workout and a satisfying solve.
What a perfect Saturday. With every puzzle he puts out this constructor puts himself at the very top of the pile. I saw this grid print out with it's little corners and that long center staircase stack with relatively short lengths and I thought this grid is designed for difficulty and boy did it deliver.
To end up with a face plant dnf like BONK crossed with BETA marring an otherwise perfect solve is a sign that my infrequent solving is catching up with me.
@lms, thanks for the quote, poetry isn't my "thang" either but those lines say it all. We have a mayoral run-off coming up here in Chicago that's right up your alley. I'll be voting for the same person again cause I feel ya.
yd PG -1
Public education already has failed.
"Sitting on a cornflake. Waiting for the VAN to come."
I had bibimbap in there and that messed up the middle royally.
The big to-do clue was simply wrong.
>30 minutes of the day consumed.
Does that put me in the van(guard)?
Oof. This was about as smooth a ride as trying to go down those old metal slides in the summer with shorts on, where your bare legs stuck rather than slid, and you ended up having to awkwardly scooch yourself all the way down.
Got stuck on HOTPASTRAMI, SONJA, ESSAYMILL, CARTITLE (which I veto as a decent answer for the given clue), GUINEA-BISSAU, and PRESSENTER (my fault there - I kept wanting to read it as “presenter” and it wasn’t making sense to me with the extra letter).
Pretty sure SPITFIRE doesn’t quite fit the clue, and I dislike VAN’s cluing, even though it’s technically correct.
So yeah - not a smooth ride. *scooch scooch*
Hey All !
Tough one here. Was stuck here, was stuck there. Filled in a word or two, stuck-stuck-stu... ooh, I got that one! Stuck...stuck...
Preserved without a cheat, however. Well, full confession, I did Goog for the meaning of 15A, Abrogate. Had _N_O and just couldn't get the ole brain to help me make a word out of that. After the Goog, did a mind meld on that answer, finally seeing UNDO.
Put last letter in ... Almost There! ARGH! Really? I actually said Really out loud (there's no one else here!) Usually I don't take the time to go back through the puz looking for where I could have a wrong, but today I did. Some of the iffies I had, I tried changing a letter or two, still nothing. Broke down and hit Check Puzzle, and yelled out another Really!? I had 1D as ZONeOUT. Dang! I had looked at eACHINA, but not knowing my Pueblo ancestral spirits, figured that was as good a name as any. KACHINA sounds like KA CHING. The Spirit of Money?
So still taking the puz as a win, because, well, it's my rules. 😁
jAMIN for RAMIN holding me up in SE. Looking at SOjAR_ for that title lyric, had me thinking, "who names a song SO JARS?" Har.
So another BRAIN CELLS using puz. I swear there's only a few left. Maybe they regenerate when you ZONK OUT. One can only dream. (Ha! See what I did there?)
Two F's
RooMonster
DarrinV
There are good Saturday slogs and bad Saturday slogs; for me, this was the latter. Reasons:
-- Booooooring marquee answers, some verging on green-paint-ness -- MAJORROLES, CARTITLE, PRESSENTER, ERRORMESSAGE, SOLOARTIST.
-- Way too many forced clues -- e.g., for TASK, TEACHER, PDA, PAGODA.
-- Stuff I'll never read/watch -- "The Da Vinci Code" and "Real Housewives".
I enjoyed ZONKOUT, GUINEABISSAU and the clues for UNCLE and RUT, but that was about it.
@kitshef - you should definitely try ISSARAE, BENTOBOX and SORARE in real life!
I love how the last thing in Rex's writeup is an explanation of VAN, then the first 2 posts ask about VAN.
So many great Disney songs, disappointing to learn Billboard top is Bruno-no-no-no-no. ENCANTO is an enjoyable movie nontheless.
Epiphytes are my go-to plants when xeriscaping, but CACTI also work.
Terrific Saturday workout, but a few clues seem forced. Is a TEACHER "all over the board" because they write on it?
OTOH, I loved seeing 7D French open clue snap into place, plus UNCLE was great!
cONK, bONK, ZONK OUT kealoa. BETA is a Greek letter, someday I'll learn that song and get them in order.
Oh yeah, this was a Saturday of Saturdays. The NE nearly took me out. I put in MAJOR clues (as leads) crossing JETSETTERS (and thinking MAJOR clues was very green-paint-y) and that held up a lot of territory that would enable me to get into the NE. The tiny LAPELS flags and ERROR message helped break down that log jam but whew. Does SARAN make storage containers or is it merely that you could wrap something in SARAN rather than put it in Tupperware? We mostly reuse the sandwich meat tubs my husband goes through.
GUINEA naSSAU (d'oh) was in place before SPaTFIRES pointed out my ERROR. It took a bit longer to swap the "n" for a B.
Clever clue for UNCLE. And I just got the clue for PDA. Snogging was involved, aha.
I would not have known ENCANTO except there's some sort of theater or "on ice" ENCANTO activity here in the Twin Cities for which ads have been playing on TV.
And a shout out to ISSA RAE's ubiquitous-ness - I had no idea she got her start on YouTube but once ISS showed up in the grid, the SE was mine!
Ryan McCarty, thanks for the great puzzle; you never disappoint!
My bank, HSBC, closed permanently a few months ago. My accounts were switched to a new bank. For the last three years, the NYT has been wiring payments for the puzzles I've constructed directly to my account. I forgot to inform them of the change and got a notice that the payment for my last puzzle hadn't gone through and that I needed to send them instructions by filling out an online form. It could not be handled any other way and "Action" was "Required!" "Within two business days!"
The little horror they sent me via email is called the "Coupa Supplier Portal" (no I don't know what it means either). And yesterday I manfully --or rather womanfully -- tried. Really I did. Cross my heart.
I filled in the usual easy stuff. Then I came to the box that asked for "address purpose". What on earth did that mean????? Whose address? I assume mine, or was it the bank's? No reference to an address had come in any of the previous lines. And what's an address's "purpose"? I tried to type in "Receive a check" and was told "Not valid answer!" I tried "to live in" and was told "Not valid answer!" I typed in "I don't know what the hell you're asking me" and was told "Not valid answer!"
I skipped over the question and then tried to PRESS ENTER but the cyberbot stopped me in my tracks. It didn't say ERROR MESSAGE, but it just wouldn't let me proceed without that piece of info inserted. There was no box or line that asked for my new wiring instructions-- the acct # info and the routing # info. Would there have been had I figured out the "purpose" of the address? There was also no "Send" button to PRESS. Did the bot take that possibility away from me when I left out that mysterious address piece of information?
I PRESSed the "Chat with a staff member" key, but nobody came. I PRESSed the "Help!" key, but nobody came. I found an empty space to type in my phone number, but nobody called. Maybe no one was ON HIRE?
I cried UNCLE, left the computer and hit the wine bottle. Hard. Well, it could have been worse; it could have been the vodka bottle.
I made a somewhat drunken phone call. I then sent a drunken email to "Accounts Payable". I then found the phone numbers of two more people and made two more drunken phone calls. I may have said "so then don't bleeping pay me, but I cannot possibly use your ridiculous online form, I simply can't!"
(We're not talking pin money here. We're talking $375.)
It was after 3:30 Friday and there was no one ON HIRE. Now I have the whole weekend to sweat this out. Will someone get back to me on Monday? Can they figure out a way to pay me that won't either give me a nervous breakdown or put me in an early grave. Stay tuned...
I second what @Marissa said at 10:08 - like dragging yourself down a metal slide on a hot summer day - and about as much fun. SO much trivia and most of it pretty OUT there, even for a Saturday. I’m with Rex on The DaVinci Code, followed closely by Mission Impossible and The Real Housewives of Anywhere. Just yesterday, I was telling @Weezie how I never feel confident on a Saturday even after 20+ years of solving. Proof in the pudding right here.
jAM IN and never noticed that the crosses didn't work; pure carelessness on my part, so I LOST! Wah!
Despite that, I loved the puzzle. final four before NCAA FINAL made it tougher, but I knew I might be wrong. My knowledge of the order of Greek letters goes 'alpha, beta, gamma, delta,....omega.' Maybe next time I'll remember what comes fifth. And although I know about KACHINAs and have seen many of the dolls, I couldn't dredge up the word for too long -- actually considered kaduna (too short, it's a state in Nigeria, perhaps confused with kahuna down in my subconscious). And I'd forgotten where GUINEA BISSAU was. Mauretania, Mali, Guinea, Gambia were all too short, but I needed that BENTO BOX to see what it was. (Never considered bibimbap, but it wouldn't fit, since it's always, not often, rice).
KNEELED seemed weird but acceptable; the other day we had 'learnt' clued as a British usage; and 'feeled' would come across as illiterate. If you agree with Fowler that usage is a war between idiom and analogy, with the latter winning, then felt and knelt will probably go away in the next century.
@megafrim -- I first heard the term JET SETTERS on the Jack Paar Show, and it definitely referred to airline travel--and of a particular kind, like flying to Paris for dinner.
Re: CRYPTEX, I don't get Rex's point -- it's clued as a device in a work of fiction. I mean, you could have a motor scooter in a work of fiction, but it doesn't seem important to mention whether the device is real or not. Also, I thought Rex's confusion of PAGODA with gazebo was the funniest thing today, with the possible exception of Loren's avatar.
My usual Saturday stroll through Go-ogle. Lessee, did I learn anything worth knowing?
Frogs have the Egyptians beat by 4%.
I worked with a Navajo woman and she hated kachinas because she really believed they had spirits.
I think I need to go try a bento box. It's been in a puzzle recently, but I needed every cross.
I think I will continue to call it Massachusetts, as Bay State seems less helpful.
I read the first line of the Gettysburg address ten times and thought, there's no adverb in here. Then I learned he didn't write it hurriedly in the train on the back of an envelope. Is anything they taught us in third grade true?
PAGODA wormed its way onto the bottom of my favorite words list today in spot 24 of 27. AVARICE is a pretty good word too.
My memory of the occasional Sara Lee cheesecake on special holidays as a kid is the standard by which I judge all cheesecake as an adult and honestly lots of it fails to pass.
Uniclues:
1 Genderless horde eat leftovers.
2 Fill three boxes in crosswords, be a car, be native, and describe Mormons (sorta).
3 Oppress the poor.
4 Summer treat for language-bending gangsters.
5 Pillow.
6 Nickname for spinster instructor with no intent to connect meaningfully with her students.
7 Top quality brisket.
8 Manufacturer of top quality brisket.
9 Good advice to aspiring musician.
10 Previous outlook on the tragedy of modern life.
1 ONES UNDO SARAN
2 "UTE" MAJOR ROLES
3 CLASSISM TASK
4 IDIOM-RING ICEE
5 ZONK OUT BASIC
6 TEACHER CRYONIC
7 FIRM PASTRAMI
8 PASTRAMI FIRM (~)
9 SOLO ARTIST ISN'T
10 USED TO BE ROSY
ESSAY MILL is "seedy" (51A: Seedy business for college applicants) perhaps because seeds are processed in a mill? Agricultural reference maybe. Kind of a reach, even for a Saturday.
@Loren, I hear ya.. I do have three grandchildren in public schools, two here in Boston and the other in a ritzy suburban school. They're all OK, and the two here are now in a high school where you have to take a competitive exam to get in. But it all requires tremendous parental involvement, both to get into a good school (that's right, everyone's assumption is that some of the schools are good and the rest are bad), and to make sure that everything is OK. My son got so involved in the schools he left his job as a carpenter to get an MAT, and is not a pre-K teacher, and struggling with the system. There is new city leadership, but the problems are so basic -- e.g., getting the buses to actually pick up the kids every morning -- that it's hard to focus on improving quality.
But then there's the health care system.....
On the tough side I think. I did this piecemeal during cocktails and appetizers with my sister and BIL when ever things lulled (which was not often). The bottom half seemed easier than the top. NW was tough because ENCANTO was a WOE and NE was tough CRYPTEX was also a WOE. The 7 tiered stack in the center was pretty impressive. Liked it but I think Malaika’s puzzle deserved POW at Xwordinfo over this one. So, I mostly agree with @Rex.
Natick alert at KACHINA and ANNA. Not knowing either, I could have easily put an E in that final cross.
It was a fandango tango to remember. I stepped on many toes...I tripped...I got back up and laughed with merriment. I knew I could learn the steps...I did.
ZETA/ZONKOUT...you gave me hope. First entry. Stare mightily at empty white spaces. Think. Pull out answers you know from long long ago. Take my time. Some of it worked...some did not.
So I had GUINEA at 5D What follows? I knew it, I knew it... but couldn't remember how to spell BISSAU. Like @Weezie, I toyed with BIBIMBAP. At least I had the B. Thank you SPITFIRE...you paved the way.. Back up to correct my meal. Ah, yes...BENTO BOX. JET SETTERS gave me the E I needed. Wow, I was actually doing this.
Struggles everywhere. ON HIRE? CAR TITLE? Oof. Should I look you up? I had to. Nothing came to mind. Even with a break, I couldn't figure them out. Two other cheats: SORARE at 44A. I wanted VOLARE. Hah1
ISSA RAE was the other. Boy do I dislike names in my crossword. Oh...and I had TITHE for 9A. Easy enough to correct WITH LAPEL and ENTRE.
ENCANTO made me smile as did KACHINA. CRYPTEX I was able to get from the acrosses. Biggest thriller was remembering CRYONIC. I remembered seeing the word when it was written that Walt Disney was cryonically preserved. The concept fascinated me. My family talked about it at dinner. If a turkey can be frozen then brought back as a Thanksgiving meal, why can't a human be brought back as an ICEE dessert? Can you imagine if you forgot to replenish the ICE? I'll have to dig further into this.
This was hard but most satisfying. I don't ever like to give up on a puzzle; I almost did with this one. I knew that if I tried hard and stared enough, words would come to me. When that happens I think my mental acuity gene is still intact and I'm happy. My spelling has not improved over the years, but damn, I can still pull words out of my old hat and I still can dance with the best of them.
Oh...I even knew VAN...How about that?
Ladies and gentlemen. Today’s presenter will PRESSENTER in the press center.
An idiom is a phrase or expression that typically presents a figurative, non-literal meaning attached to the phrase; but some phrases become figurative idioms while retaining the literal meaning of the phrase. Categorized as formulaic language, an idiom's figurative meaning is different from the literal meaning. Wikipedia.
“Never say never” might be an adage as well, but it certainly qualifies as an idiom.
My fellow JETSETTERS and I like to take our Irish Setters on Sunsetter cruises. Nary a travel rewards card amongst us.
I often use SARAN on my leftover SARALEE goodies.
Wonderful puzzle. Thanks, Ryan McCarty.
Re today's Stumper--Pretty cute, SN. Pretty cute.
Challenging. I stared at a looming DNF in the NE for quite a while, until I finally saw CAR TITLE and the USED of USED TO BE. Happy to finish this one! With GUINEA-BISSAU, SOLO ARTIST, and JET SETTERS in place early on, I thought I had the anchors for a (relatively) quick Saturday solve. But the crosses I needed to expand that territory just didn't come. So, much grid roaming and probing for entry. Favorite "reveals": ESSAY MILL, SPITFIRES.
Do-overs: cONK, yield before UNCLE, a desperate guess at tamPa before EGYPT, CRYOvac. Help from previous puzzles: ASAHI, SIA, ISSA RAE, VAN as clued. Help from a friend who keeps NAGging me to see it: ENCANTO. No idea: SO rare, SONJA.
@Ryan McCarty, thank you for the kind of Saturday I look forward to.
I’m sensing an angst over life in the modern world from today’s commentariat. Things are in the saddle and ride mankind I heard from a grey-bearded poet….and that before @Nancy had a computer? Today’s excellent Saturday grid had me in a similar state of bewilderment as I pondered clue after clue without having ONE! Having passport in ONE’S mind instead of the CAR TITLE in the glove box really messed up that portion of the grid. A Google check of SONJA?? to make sense of that J in JOT finally started a reverse avalanche and ultimately BENTO BOX & ASAHI allowed climbing back to summit this peak of the week. Sweaty but finally done.
Now we can hope that next week the bus will be on time, congress will pass the debt ceiling and the help line actually helps.
Difficult puzzle, and not in a fun or satisfying way. Just a frustrating slog. I take issue with a bunch of entries here. ZONK OUT? I reject this. Conk, sure. And zonked as an adjective, okay. But one does not ZONK OUT in my world. CAR TITLE is yucky. The title to your car is just that – the title. No one says “car title.” VAN confused me like many other solvers. “Familiarly” does not feel like the right modifier for the NCAA FINAL clue. Almost, but wrong. I learned BAY STATE from this puzzle, which is probably useful, but when you have that and TORI and KACHINA and SONJA and GUINEA-BISSAU in one puzzle, it gets overly trivia-heavy. Didn’t make for a fun solve.
@Nancy (10:29) Oh I’m so very sorry! You told your story so beautifully that I can feel your pain. But you also told it so well that I laughed out loud. Please forgive me. I’ll say a prayer to the computer gods on your behalf.
It’s really a historical/ military term… those in the front of the advance are known as the “van”
Vanguard
I think the word “ago” as used in the first line of the Gettysburg address is an adjective, not an adverb. It modifies the noun “years” doesn’t it? Any linguists out there?
Officially a themeless SatPuz, as it includes the Jaws of Themelessness. Also, only a 66-worder, which definitely also qualifies. Kinda a tough solve, as it had lotsa no-knows, at our house. Lost tons of precious nanoseconds, and had to turn to the PuzEatinSpouse, for assistance.
some fave spots: BENTOBOX. PASTRAMI. The symmetric(al) CRYPTEX & CRYONIC, which just cryout for recognition. The PDA clue. Woulda also have accepted MAJORROLLS, if clued up as: {Cinnamon-infused pastries of note}.
Used to go to lunches with the rels at a local Japanese restaurant, and order up the BENTOBOX. It was superb. And U could always find an empty table at the place, no matter when U showed up … which turned out to be sorta a bad sign, I reckon. Place closed down. We now go bentoless.
staff weeject pick: VAN = {Leading position}. Learned a new meanin, there. Sooo … "Van in the van" can be a thing, huh?
Thanx for the tougher-than-spit-fires solvequest, Mr. McCarty dude.
Masked & Anonymo4Us
definite biter alert:
**gruntz**
Fuggedaboutit
geographically true… I give it a pass for population
How are doughnuts and TORI related? (30 Across)
Also, when I lived in Japan, nobody had heard of dropping shots into pints of beers. I taught a lot of my Japanese friends what a boilermaker was and none of them said "oh, that's just like a sake bomb!" Pretty sure it's a Western invention. Or maybe I showed so many Japanese what a boilermaker was, they copied it and came up with a sake bomb 🤔🤔😜
God didn't give me the computer-literacy abilities he gave a sponge-- but he gave me Franklin. Franklin is my handyman.
Franklin came up today to assess what kind of new doorbell I should buy (the old one was damaged in the hallway renovation) and when I blurted out my computer-based miseries of yesterday he said "Why didn't you come to me?"
It took him 40 minutes (!) to fill out this @#$%$# counterintuitive online nightmare of a form, but he did it. He figured out what the computer wanted for the "apartment purpose" question and gave it back to them. That was far from the only big "Huh?" involved but he figured everything out somehow. No way I could "sign" the damned document -- yes the idiot computer wanted me to do that -- but Franklin said if what he'd done wasn't good enough for the NYT, he could print it out for me (the building has a printer) and then scan my signature back in. Another mysterious techie process I know nothing about. Anyway this rigid, stubborn, "It's my way or the highway" computer program finally allowed the document to be "submitted" and I think human people now get to decide if what's been done is "approved." But from an email I got, I think it has been.
Requiring someone of my age to cope with this Byzantine online nightmare is nothing short of "elder abuse" I'd maintain. After all, not everyone is lucky enough to have a Franklin in their life.
@anon 12:07. Methinks you are onto something. If you just say “87 years ago”, there is not even a verb in the phrase to be modified. Above my pay grade, so yes, is there a linguist in the crowd?
I believe someone inquired about TORI. It is a mathematical construct, the formula for a TORI produces an image of what a doughnut would look like if it were perfectly round and smooth.
@Phoitomate
TORI is the plural of torus.
I USED TO BE a TEACHER (3D) and often referred to it as being in the "chalk and talk" trade, so I especially like it's clue, "One who is all over the board".
I tried ON call and ON deck for 24A "Available for a service". ON HIRE sounds weird to me. To HIRE or for HIRE, sure, ON HIRE, no.
The 4D "sake bomb" in ASAHI beer reminded me of my father telling how sailors in WWII would drop a shot glass full of whiskey into a mug of beer while shouting "Depth charge!" Sounds to me like a way to ruin both the sake or whiskey and the beer!
I tried a 32A BENTO BOX or two while living in Japan in the 80s, usually while the train was stopped briefly at a station and vendors would come through selling O BENTO. Maybe in the States they are good fare but over there they were the equivalent of airplane food, to be eaten only if hungry with no other options ON HIRE.
Nancy, I just learned from you that HSBC closed its branches in the US a couple of years ago. I used to live near one. I had no idea. I hope your problem gets resolved and you get your money soon!
Ryan McCarty is a great constructor, and I usually find his puzzles to be tough but fun. But today's just seemed off to me, and apparently to many others. Too much cluing that is too contorting. There's a point at which trying to be clever takes precedence, and there were too many clues in this puzzle that crossed that line IMO.
@Nancy. I would like to know what Franklin figured out about the intent of Address Purpose.
What Rex said exactly. It played hard, as a Saturday should, but all the unknown names turned it into a slog. Example: with little help from crosses, 25 across could be: PASSPORT (too easy), EXIT VISA, FARE CARD... so many possibilities, and all of them dull. I finished with an error at ZONE OUT crossing EACHINA.
Other typeovers: ON CALL before ON HIRE (what an awkward phrase), AFRO before TASK (clue contained "do"!), CRYOPAC before CRYONIC, JAWS and GUMS before GAPS, and as someone else mentioned, BIBIMBAP before BENTO BOX (hey two of the Bs work).
[Spelling Bee: yd 0 but it wasn't easy! Last word this tricky 6er. QB streak at 6 days.]
I hated this puzzle. Too many boring answers and too much idiotic cluage.
Two things:
1) The only 1950's chart hit (a big one) of SO RARE was by Jimmy Dorsey; it was a sax solo that didn't include vocals except as background in the first bridge section. The line used in the clue isn't there. Go ahead, see if you hear it. So that was dumb.
2) For ESSAY MILL I assumed like @Ted 10:49 that the "seedy" descriptor was supposed to conjure a spice mill, which grinds seeds and the like. That was also dumb.
Sometimes it's hard to award Worst Clue Of The Day because there are so many awful ones. Today I narrowed it down to five contenders:
5. One who's all over the board?
4. The ESSAY MILL clue
3. A good word for giving?
2. French open activity, for short?
But the hands-down winner is
1. What has stories of East Asia?
@Anons 12:07 and 12:58 - in the Gettysburg Address, I believe AGO would be an adverb that establishes a relationship in time. You could substitute "previously".
@Nancy Hellishly frustrating, commiserations. "Address purpose" is gnomic, but I'm thinking maybe "Residence" would have worked.
Found this one pretty challenging but didn’t mind this type of challenging. Finished in the southeast and filled in VAN by default but didn’t understand it until reading the blog. So thanks Rex!.
My goodness this was hard! All the cryptic clues had me stumped. VAN really got me but I finally put it in the final N on faith alone. SARA LEE was one of the very few gimmes and AVARICE FELL AFTER I got ISSA RAE, ICEE and NEED.
This was hunt and peck city the entire trip. I was certain that my streak was going down today. The pop culture? Not my wheelhouse. I scraped by on experience and sheer luck.
As I was struggling with the NE where the wheels just about came off, i had EGYPT and the TLE at the end of CAR TITLE (I think the clue refers to the states that require drivers to carry title and registration), -ES from MAJOR ROLES and the X at the end of BENTO BOX (limed this clue lots). None of these helped at all.
I had no idea for Tupperware alternative and even when it looked like it might be SARAN WRAP, I didn’t think it was a true “alternative” to Tupperware. I was thinking Lock ‘n’ Lock or Rubbermade, the similar products. Some of Ryan’s clues seemed just a bit far fetched.
And as for UNCLE, my very very last entry, I almost quit. I went and ran an errand and had lunch and came home and all I needed was the last E but wasn’t sure. Pretty sure - real sure actually about ENTRE which made UNCLE AND WOULD (maybe?) get me the happy music, but it still did not make sense. Then I actually said out loud, “OK Mr. McCarty, I give, it’s UNCLE.” And started laughing at my dumb self!
And now, the lyrics “Chip, chippin’ away. . . “ are my earworm. Hi @Lewis!
had CARTILLE for the travel document at first; seemed like a reasonable foreign name for a visa or something.
Rex, the computer science may not have turned into the magic world you imagined, but it did at least enable the NYTCW blog we are enjoying at the moment.
@Nancy Don't leave us hanging! What worked in the "address purpose" box???
Roof, bed, mail, bills, handyman employment
@Nancy – For Address Purpose did you try filling in
That these dead shall not have died in vain—that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom—and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.
? :-)
Like @egs, I want to know what Franklin figured out.
FWIW, Bing's AI does a horrible job of constructing xwords and gave "clues" to the Sudoku it created! In case nobody has tried that yet.
Horribly clued, seemingly designed to give no toehold.
Real Housewives? Gimme a break!
I've been driving for 55+ years, and the only time I was a "traveler" with a car TITLE with me was when I was going someplace to complete the sale of my car. The rest of the time, a car title should stay in a safe place at home or bank. A car REGISTRATION is, of course, another matter, as is your driver's license. These two are what the cops ask for when they pull you over. Back in the day, hotrodders regularly carried their car titles with them because you needed it to take part in a challenge race in which losing meant the winner gets your car.
I was really wanting BOOGIED for 39D (Got down, in a way). I don't want to kneel in a Saturday puzzle... give me the boogie.🕺🪩
I'm with @Joe D. on AGO being an adverb, as it describes when something takes place. "When" was pretty much a criterion for what made an adverb back when I was learning such things. Also, try saying "ago years".
@Egs, Donna, Joe, Sandy -- I think he said it was "Other". I wasn't standing looking over his shoulder when he typed it in, though. I think he said it had something to do with the fact that I had only one address and didn't use a business address as well? (Imagine me saying this last line in an UPTALK.)
Although Franklin usually is highly communicative and outgoing, he spent much of his screen time mumbling to himself under his breath while facing away from me. As well he might; this was no easy task and you would have too. So I'm not 100% sure that's what he said, but I think it is. Evidently many of the more peculiar questions were aimed at ascertaining that I'm just a single independent contractor and not an entire business enterprise.
I love this blog for its empathy. And for its wit, too. Thanks, everyone!
@Ted, i think the clue for ESSAY MILL means seedy as in sleazy or disreputable.
@Nancy (12:55) I agree with you 100% on the “elder abuse” comment. It used to be that doing such things on line would be optional but more and more it’s getting to the point where it’s mandatory. So unfair to people like you and many others who never had the opportunity to become computer savvy. And another thing that many don’t realize is there are people in rural areas who don’t even have internet service. I suppose you could call both situations technology GAPS. But don’t get me started on how unfair it is.
Nah… just… nah…
@pabloinnh, @Son Volt, @bocamp - I appreciate your mentioning the Saturday Stumper. Just finished it - what a workout! I needed the stop-for-a-nap technique in order to finish.
Didn’t see relationship between “tori” and “doughnuts, e.g.” (30A). Can someone please explain? Also, I have never, ever, heard of “Saran” used in its “unwrapped” form, i.e., Saran (brand name?) wrap. Also, don’t consider it a viable alternative to Tupperware.
FWIW Most Egyptians live near one river, the Nile of course, so it was a tricky if not trick clue. Some here think this is an unfair type of clue but I like it. Having watched (too?) many programs about ancient Egypt -almost all ancient Egyptians lived near the Nile- it was a gimme for me. Liked the puzzle.
See Anonymous @12:58 for an explanation of TORI, aka, more tenuous cluing from this dastardly constructor.
And I’m with you re: SARAN. I’m still grumpy I had to overwrite PYREX.
Stan's Sat. Stumper took just under 3 hrs; dnfed at 24D / 35A (which wasn't too bad, as I thot my answer made sense). Great workout, tho! (Hi @Carola (5:51 PM)). I came back to it a number of times in the PM, and nodded off once or twice in the process. I've got the 1 min. nap almost down to perfection. lol
Now I can kick back and finish watching The CAINE Mutiny (from yd's puz). 🎥
___
Peace 🕊 🇺🇦 ~ Compassion ~ Tolerance ~ Kindness to all 🙏
Anon 6:26 -
Look up "torus" - it's a geometric shape that describes things like doughnuts - "tori" is the plural.
@anon 6;26
Or read the comments.
I’m unfamiliar with “zonk out.” “Zone out” OR “conk out,” yes. Not a great entry.
Originally jet set referred to those rich enough to not take the train.
If this puzzle is regarded as Medium-Challenging”!then what does it take for Rex to deem a puzzle Challenging”?
Why is AGO an adverb, you ask? As Mrs Nemiroff taught us in 8th grade, adjectives modify nouns, while adverbs can modify verbs, adjectives or other adverbs. She also taught us that words that answer the question “when?” are adverbs. Putting those two facts together, we see that the adverb AGO is modifying the adjective “eighty-seven”, which is modifying the noun “years,” not modifying “years” directly. At least that’s what I think.
Hard. Super hard. like the good old days.
Had PASSPORT and so CARTITLE was not even on the radar screen.
And with the B in first position (in the VAN haha), I thought, no it can't be BIBIMBAP because that always has rice.
Had to go to Google for the African nation and the actress in real housewives. A rare DNF
And I recently heard someone had ‘arrove’ instead of arrived. 🤭
Oy veh to that one
Old-school hard.
BASIC ERROR
She's a TEACHER OUT ONHIRE,
and SORARE her ROLE TO see,
once an ARTIST and SPITFIRE,
ROSY ISN'T what she USEDTOBE.
--- MAJOR SONJA VAN BISSAU
Just a Z away. Argh!!!
Of course, I didn't know the Pueblo spirit, or Morgan of Housewives, or other names. But ZETA. Duh.
Oh well. At first I didn't think I'd get more than about 10% of the puz, so I can take that small victory home.
Diana, Lady-in-Waiting for Crosswords
Puzzled by this as well.
No. I'm sorry, but that dog won't hunt. In the clue for 17a, you used the word "familiarly." Okay, it's "familiarly" known as FINAL FOUR. That's it. NCAAFINAL?? That's about as "familiar" as some river in Yakutsk. NOBODY says "NCAAFINAL." It's Final Four. That is the single most unfair clue in the history of puzzlemaking, and I call a very rare constructor-DNF. It's not MY DNF, it's his.
Wordle birdie.
Agree with @spacey re: NCAAFINAL, although the U of MN hockey team is in an NCAAFINAL tonight, but not the March Madness type; Frozen Four I think they call it for hockey.
Wordle par.
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