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Relative difficulty: Easy
Theme answers:
- DONKEY KONG (17A: "Barrel of monkeys")
- SONIC THE / HEDGEHOG (28A: "With 50-Across, a blue streak")
- TETRIS (32A: "Shapes up")
- PACMAN (48A: "Ghost in the machine")
- ANGRY BIRDS (64A: "Knock me down with a feather")
Valdez Venita Demings (née Butler; born March 12, 1957) is an American politician and former police officer who served as the U.S. representative from Florida's 10th congressional district from 2017 to 2023. The district covers most of the western half of Orlando and includes much of the area around Orlando's resort parks. It includes many of Orlando's western suburbs, including Apopka and Winter Garden. From 2007 to 2011, Demings was chief of the Orlando Police Department, its first female chief, capping a 27-year career with the department. She has also been first lady of Orange County, Florida, since December 4, 2018, when her husband Jerry Demings was sworn in as the mayor.Demings was the Democratic nominee to represent Florida's 10th congressional district in Congress in both 2012 and 2016. After losing in 2012 to Republican incumbent Daniel Webster, she won in 2016 after the State Supreme Court mandated redistricting statewide.
On January 15, 2020, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi selected Demings to serve as a House impeachment manager in the first Senate trial of President Donald Trump. In early August 2020, Demings was said to be one of the top contenders to be Joe Biden's vice-presidential running mate in the 2020 United States presidential election, along with Kamala Harris and Susan Rice.[3] She was the Democratic nominee in the 2022 United States Senate election in Florida, losing to Republican incumbent Marco Rubio. (wikipedia)
• • •
I don't know if this is a failing or a consolation, but the puzzle was exceedingly easy. After the second themer (TETRIS), I didn't even bother to look at the theme clues anymore. Those themers just filled themselves in from crosses (or, rather, I got a few crosses and was easily able to see what game we were dealing with). The worst / best part was when I got -HOG and then was able to backfill *all* of SONIC THE / HEDGEHOG, again without ever seeing the clue. There were a couple hiccups and (surprise) they both involved names. I forgot Dora's cousin's name :( That cost me about 5 seconds (the "G" from IGLOO pretty much took care of it). And then I forgot who VAL Demings was. I also didn't trust SANER at all as the answer for 53D: More even-keeled. The clue suggests something having to do with temperament, not sanity. So I held back the SA- part, which happened to run through VAL. So I had a harrowing, I dunno, let's say 5 seconds again there, and then SANER proved correct, and wham bam that was that.
I had a lucky guess, getting PEDI off the "I" (could've been MANI—there's an kealoa* I never considered) (41D: Spa treatment, informally). I was completely unsure about the alleged skiing slang "Shred the GNAR!" (sounds like a catchphrase Bart Simpson might've tried to make happen circa 1990) (72A: Shred the ___ (skiing slang for conquering difficult terrain)). But the crosses all checked out, and I could see how you'd get to GNAR from "Gnarly!" (slang I *have* heard), so I left it, and it was good. Puzzle's got two UPs (RANUP, SETUP) but I don't care (with two-letter words, you gotta cross 'em or give me more than 2 before I throw a flag). I did not know ADIEU was "formal" (59A: "Toodles," but more formally). In the 21st century? I would've thought "ironic" before "formal." I mean, unless you're French. Then, it's just, you know, a word. OK, I'm off to play *my* games now (Wordle/Quordle). No giant apes, alas. I do miss 1982 sometimes. Hanging out at Round Table Pizza, Joan Jett on the jukebox, quarters lined up on DONKEY KONG. Probably the most iconically "adolescent" time of my life. I can't believe I'm getting misty about Fresno. OK, bye.
Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld
P.S. [Person you might see in August?] is GUS because that letter string ("GUS") is literally in the name "AuGUSt" :(
*kealoa = a pair of words (normally short, common answers) that can be clued identically and that share at least one letter in common (in the same position). These are answers you can't just fill in quickly because two or more answers are viable, Even With One or More Letters In Place. From the classic [Mauna ___] KEA/LOA conundrum. See also, e.g. [Heaps] ATON/ALOT, ["Git!"] "SHOO"/"SCAT," etc.
ReplyDeleteI didn't read the theme clues except for 32A, which I read not realizing it was part of the theme. I also didn't read the clues for the two long downs. Still seemed Monday easy.
Speaking of the 32A clue, I take issue with "Shapes up" for TETRIS. In Tetris the shapes go down.
Up and at 'em early today. So yeah, games. Guess that's it. Had the odd sensation of the theme answers going in more readily from the downs than from the clues, so maybe something going on there - it was almost like the clues were the fun part/reveal. Little odd with the fill-in-the-blank Whac-A-MOLE, isn't that a game?
ReplyDeleteNot much else to say. But a games theme and SEEDING are enough of a prompt for me to again invite all to fill out a bracket and join the NYTXWD Commentariat Pool, as I was late with it yesterday. Password is Natick. Deadline for entries is 9AM tomorrow.
Kind of sad that I know the puppet but never knew there was a famous person named ALF, who apparently even ran for President. My bad. No clue on GNAR as well - hopefully it’s fairly popular among skiers and not one of those quasi-slang terms that the NYT trots out when it’s trying too hard to be cool and hip.
ReplyDeleteI looked up HUZZAH - it’s apparently a real word. Please some one from the group tell me that they have used it, or knows someone that has used it maybe once or twice. I think it is pronounced like ha-za which sounds kind of celebratory, so maybe it’s a regional thing. I don’t think I have ever heard anyone say it though.
Can confirm: I use huzzah all the time to express excitement that something good happened. Usually semi-ironically, but sometimes sincerely. Like “hooray” but better, drier.
DeleteIt’s said more when someone is trying to sound funny because of its Viking-era sound. If you’ve ever seen The Great (recommended), they use it a lot as a punchline.
Delete"These Moscow mules have quite a kick." First season is a classic.
DeleteWhen drinking I regularly shout HUZZAH and throw my glass at the nearest wall.
Delete@SouthsideJohnny 6:54am:
DeleteI say huzzah all the time, when I'm with my gnarly friends, and we're all high on the seven seas.
Finished it without cheating, but I have no idea what SONICTHEHEDGEHOG means.
ReplyDeleteI'm eager to find out what the theme was. The crosses were mostly easy, but the theme clues don't seem to make sense (I guess that was the idea all along).
It’s the most iconic Sega game/character/franchise in existence. Blue streak references his color and his need for speed!
DeleteCluing on the themers was particularly tortured. And it was really weird that our games had DONKEY, HEDGEHOG, MAN, BIRDS, and then no animal in TETRIS.
ReplyDeleteNice pairing of OUT OF REACH and NOT A CHANCE, and each crossing two themers, to boot.
@SouthsideJohnny - I use HUZZAH fairly often, as do both Monty Burns and Sideshow Mel.
I can't say I've ever played any of these, but having children of a certain age and being around high school students mean I've at least heard of all of them. The clues were a little sideways, or it would have been a classic "how fast can you write" puzzle.
ReplyDelete@Southside-I've said HUZZAH, but then I've read some pretty old books. I usually use it in the phrase "Huzzah boys, and throw our caps in the air!".
I've been skiing for a long time but not with the age group that uses GNAR for anything, so that was a WTF.
Does everyone know UMASS? Pretty common around here.
OK Wednesdecito, MBB. Mighta Been Baffling to a non gamer, but at least you got SMOLDER in there, so huzzah for that. Thanks for lots of fun.
@Southside Johnny, I’ll own up to occasionally saying HUZZAH in mock victory after achieving something easy, such as today’s puzzle. So it’s a word only to be used ironically. Ta-ta, toodles, ADIEU.
ReplyDeleteThe art of making a puzzle is more than forming interlocking words in a grid. There is also art in creating the difficulty level. Today’s puzzle hit the Wednesday level just right, IMO, more a stop-and-go than a whoosh, at least for me. Yet there were no beads of sweat. That is Wednesday perfection to me, and kudos to the constructor/team.
ReplyDeleteI loved running across STROP and GNAR, two striking-to-me words I don’t see often in the wild. And SMOLDER, now there’s a word I find so gorgeous, I actually stopped solving for a moment when it showed itself, just to relish it.
I got initially fooled by [Buildup of tanks?], [Orientation inits.], and [Person you might see in August] – which resulted in sweet ahas when they finally fell.
Thus, overall, a lovely puzzle and impressive debut. Skill-full and art-rich, making me grateful, Michael, that you have joined the NYT constructor cadre, and grateful for this splendid outing. Thank you!
There’s some tasty fill here - the theme or whatever as Rex notes is secondary. Never liked PAC MAN or DONKEY KONG - Asteroids and Crystal Castle guy straight up. My kids played SONIC I think and who knows about ANGRY BIRDS.
ReplyDeleteNOT A CHANCE - OUT OF REACH are top notch. SMOLDER, BASMATI x PILAF add to the joy. Never like the SOFT G type entries. Love to see the puppy in 1a.
Deer Tick
First heard “shredding the GNAR” surfing Rincon in the early 80s. It is in the vernacular with my now older kids mainly boarding - of course with them it’s usually appended with “pow”.
Typically the other way around - but today we get a flat theme with solid fill and an overall enjoyable solve.
To celebrate the day. Such a great tune - I don’t think I've heard anything else from them. @JoeD - one hit wonder?
@Son Volt 7:53
Delete!!Asteroids!!
this was orders of magnitude easier for me to solve than yesterday's. felt like a Monday more than a Wednesday.
ReplyDeleteA theme puzzle is easy when you have no idea what the link between most of the theme clues and their respective answers is and yet you complete the puzzle within normal time. I had a least heard of all the games. But I guess I prefer to waste my time doing crosswords and other old fashioned things rather than playing them.
ReplyDeleteI really have nothing to say about this puzzle, but I enjoyed seeing UMASS in there.
ReplyDeleteSame! My daughter is a senior there
DeleteJust because a word is more formal than another doesn’t mean that word is formal. A Porsche is cheaper than a Maserati, but isn’t cheap.
ReplyDeleteWhy has there been an influx “name found in such and such word” clues over past few years? They might as well just fill answer for me IMO. This one was at least a tad bit more creative than most.
“ Speaking of the 32A clue, I take issue with "Shapes up" for TETRIS. In Tetris the shapes go down.”
ReplyDeleteOne could argue that the shapes build up once they have fallen to the bottom of the screen.
Unlike Rex, I liked the theme! Cute, simple, fun. It's only a Wednesday, it doesn't have to be deep and layered. :)
ReplyDelete@Conrad: In Tetris you build up a shape from the bottom of the screen, using the blocks. In that way the clue makes sense. But also: I just don't overthink it.
Nice fill, nice solve.
I felt like I fell asleep on the bus and missed my wheelhouse exit by 15 stops. But all was gettable from crosses; turned out to be a relatively easy Tuesday.
ReplyDeleteHappy Ides of March. (Don’t forget to beware.)
ReplyDeleteBelieve it or not, I had a shortish phase as a videogamer (Diablo in all its incarnations), but the only one of the themers I’ve ever played is TETRIS. They’re all iconic, though, so no mysteries in any of the names. I didn’t really cotton on until HEDGEHOG, specifically the HOG part, and then, like Rex, I backfilled the rest and realized what the deal was. I thought it was a perfectly acceptable theme. It didn’t excite me particularly, but then neither did MARCH MADNESS yesterday. But that’s not to say they were poor themes, just out of my immediate area of interest.
DEBRA Messing is having a moment. I never watched Will and Grace, but I liked her in The Mysteries of Laura, which was only on for about 5 minutes. Liked SMOLDER, and BASMATI crossing PILAF. Also OUT OF REACH crossing STAR: sounds like the lyrics to The Impossible Dream:
To try when your arms are too weary
To REACH the unREACHable STAR!
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy had a lot of interesting things to say about Earth and its inhabitants, such as: “Far out in the uncharted backwaters of the unfashionable end of the Western Spiral arm of the Galaxy lies a small unregarded yellow sun. Orbiting this at a distance of roughly ninety-two million miles is an utterly insignificant little blue green planet whose ape-descended life forms are so amazingly primitive that they still think digital watches are a pretty neat idea.”
UNICLUES:
1. A playful gem of a pooch.
2. Pirates’ popular provender.
3. Videogame hedgehog who displays rapid cell division.
4. Feelings at the 52-minute mark of a one-hour TV thriller.
5. Possible answer to “Pleeeeease, will you look after my cobra for the weekend?”
6. Locks eyes with the stranger’s passionate stare, which causes a warm, all-over tingle.
7. What the Artful Dodger did.
1. MUTT PEARL BOOP
2. SEAS PILAF
3. SONIC THE TETRIS
4. HOPES, DIRE
5. “TEND? NOT A CHANCE!”
6. TAKES IN SMOLDER
7. LED GRAB
[SB: Mon & Tues, 0. These were my last words.]
I found this puzzle… fine. Boring theme but I honestly have come not to expect much out of Mon-Wed themes. I found some of the fill good, some of it stretching it. Much better than yesterday, yeesh.
ReplyDeleteBut serious quibble about cluing LGBT as “Orientation inits.” LGB and the missing Q are sexual orientations, trans is very much an umbrella gender identity. While our transness might or might not impact our sexual orientations, its inclusion here is akin to saying being a woman is a sexual orientation. It’s just inaccurate and it makes it very clear that the author is out of touch. Which is fine, you don’t have to be up on issues that don’t concern you (though it would be nice!), just don’t make inaccurate clues about those issues, then.
Liked it. The games were so old school that I mostly knew ‘em.
ReplyDeleteThought for the day: A solver can't be asked to "riff" on a video game if said solver wouldn't know that video game if she fell over it.
ReplyDeleteI have no idea what the relationship between each clue and its video game answer is -- and I intend to leave it that way.
But there are other reasons why I do not consider this a "grown-up" puzzle:
There are many serious EDNAs. 61D's "no capes advocate" isn't one of them.
Why would I go around tapping someone else's nose (10A)? Do you go around tapping other people's noses? And why would I say "BOOP" while doing it. I should think that the receiver of such unwelcome tapping might say "BOOP" and BOP me in my own nose -- thus sending me back unceremoniously to the ORAL stage of a baby's development. Which I would richly deserve.
No, this is definitely not a "grown-up" puzzle. Not a Nancy puzzle either.
Hahah “grown-up puzzle.” I think you might need to lighten up a bit.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI grew up in Utah and can tell you that GNAR is absolutely a thing. Generally used on a powder day as GNAR pow.
ReplyDeleteI think this was a well done debut and certainly an acceptable theme. Lists of related items with figurative or misdirected cluing have been a staple of crosswords forever. I know with the gazillion puzzle sites now available and all trying to outdo each other the emphasis is on the wow factor but this was just fine. If you wanted a special revealer theme, the constructor could have included a Shakespearean “The play’s the thing”. I know it’s a 16 but I like it.
ReplyDeleteIf you watched Shitts Creek, would definitely know the BOOP nose tap from Alexis.q
ReplyDelete@Nancy - the only time I have heard BOOP is when Alexis Schitt would playfully bop her boyfriend’s nose.
ReplyDeleteHuzzah has been quoted by Tobias Funke, Niles Crane, Ned Flanders, and someone from the cast of Community.
Sadly, the only literary characters I know are from sitcoms…which I guess is a half-step up from video games.
Like @kitshef 7:22, I noticed the animals in the game names and wished that TETRIS could have been something else that fit in the menagerie, along with the supporting cast of the MUTT, MOLE, and ELK. Agree with others about the stellar pairing of NOT A CHANCE and OUT OF REACH. I also liked the anatomically correct LEGS (IT) over PEDI.
ReplyDeleteThx, Michael, for the gamey puz; GNARly, dude! :)
ReplyDeleteEasy-med.
Smooth solve, in spite of not fully grokking the theme.
Liked it! :)
___
Peace 🕊 🇺🇦 ~ Compassion ~ Tolerance ~ Kindness to all 🙏
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteExpected negative reactions from those for whom video games is not their thing. In my day, I played a good number of hours of video games if I likes a game. (Space Invaders, yes. Asteroids no. Pacman, no. Ms. Pacman yes.) Because of my past, I did like the puzzle. For me, more cute than overwhelming.
Weezie: I have learned not to get upset about clues. Seems that crossword clues can be just approximations, and "close enough" is acceptable. Irritating for those of us who prefer 100% accuracy, but I guess you just have to live with it, editors taking the approach they do.
Leo before GUS. PEel before PEDI. My kids grew up with these games though they weren't in the house. Interestingly I know SONIC exclusively from the TV show, my oldest loved that show and it was his Halloween costume one year. I made him an incredible head covering out of papier mâché. One of my best creations. Weirdly I knew GNAR from a rock group someone I knew only on line liked. Had no idea it was a skiing term. My first thought on finishing the puzzle was, "Nancy is going to hate this one."
ReplyDeleteA GAME effort Mr Berg😉
ReplyDeleteRex is certainly right in his critique, but I’m not expecting much until at least Thursday, so I’m happy to not have to dig out rap stars, et al. The only game I played was TETRIS, but that seems fair enough; like DIAGO and SONIC the cited games were/are in the culture of our kids/grandkids.
Uniclue:
ReplyDeleteBack when Ms. Messing completed her only marathon
(Answer below)
Wow, there were so many short answers that I struggled to see this morning. It's either a wheelhouse thing or COVID brain! But I got it done.
Answer to Uniclue:
ONCE DEB RAN ONE
Excellent!
DeleteI remember we had a Tetris puzzle last year and it riled a buncha folks. Today's excursion was quite pleasant. SOFT G took my lunch money and kicked sand in my face over not knowing my Landons.
ReplyDeleteI'm betting the first time a poet used EBON his readers treated him about as well as we treat constructors using the word OREO, but then a second poet thought, "Oh, a two syllable trochee, maybe Bob's screwed up ebony for black ain't such a bad idea," and then they brought it up to the Weird Poetic Words Approval Committee and here we are now thinking, "Yeah, okay, you just drop the Y and you can look past the barely even abbreviatedness of it and sure black is a whole lot better in so many ways, but okay, EBON it is."
Wow, somehow I know things about Dora the Explorer having spent zero time on her. I know her cousin's name for some insane reason. My student number at school I need to use multiple times a week? Nope. What modern PR genius is behind the Dora franchise?
GNAR! ❤️❤️
Uniclues:
1 Um, that's not right grampa.
2 My assessment of the likelihood of achieving my goals and dreams at this point in my life.
3 Murder most fowl.
4 Answer to, "Can you water my garden while I'm on a trip to Paris?"
5 Stares into rapacious eyes.
6 CEO who thinks he's cool.
7 Drop coins, pull handles.
8 Those taken with 600mm lenses.
9 The clothing flattening contraption on the top shelf in the back since I just throw away wrinkled shirts these days.
10 Force xi to giggle and guffaw rather than gyrate and gesticulate.
1 SONIC THE TETRIS
2 HOPES DIRE
3 REND ANGRY BIRDS
4 TEND? NOT A CHANCE.
5 TAKES IN SMOLDER
6 EXEC SAP
7 PAY NEVADA ATMS (~)
8 SANER ELK SHOTS (~)
9 OUT OF REACH IRON
10 PARE SOFT G USER
Post script (per 🦖's challenge) :
Celebrate beloved flapper's marriage as she exits the church by turning a noun into a verb: BASMATI BOOP
Don't know Schitt's Creek from a hole in my ... never mind; but there is a memorable "boop" moment at the very end of the 1999 movie Dogma. Alanis Morissette, in the role of God, Is asked by a character named Bethany, "Why are we here?" After a moment, "God" reaches out, taps Bethany on the nose, says, "Boop," and walks away.
ReplyDeleteNot the clearest theological moment, but a classic BOOP.
The Ides of March are come.
ReplyDeleteAye, Caesar, but not gone.
Remembered how much I enjoyed watching my son play Donkey Kong. I loved that little tune .
Never heard of the B rice dish or BOOPing someone’s nose or the other games. For some reason, I immediately knew DIEGO . Don’t understand why ADIEU would be “ironic”in some sense. Iconic?
This didn't appeal to me either. I think my son, though, would've liked a stab at this puzzle. Perhaps the NYT seeks to appeal to a more hip generation than mine... although I try to understand the language. Hah!
ReplyDeleteAnyway....I've only played one of these: PACMAN. Didn't it come out around the early 80's? I even remember exactly where I was and why. Visiting family friends in Keene, NH and nothing to do. It was raining. Normally we'd be out on a boat or skiing or eating under a tree or drinking bloody Mary's.
My friend set up this console type thing and introduced me to PACMAN; he said that I'd be addicted. I had nothing better to do so I tried it. I didn't stop until the rain finally disappeared. It was my first introduction into the mindless, meaningless, and general turgidness of a game for empty little minds and I actually had fun.
When we bought the original Apple iMac, my mom and I would play solitaire for hours on end. She might've yelled Huzzah when she made all her cards. I'd be happy for her and BOOP her nose.
So that's my story. Oh...I also knew SONIC THE HEDGEHOG as a book both my kids loved to read
Perhaps we'll get a little leprechaun on Friday.....
I have to agree with Rex. It’s just a list. And the items on it are long ago and far, far away from my non-gaming life. So, for me, this was just a fill-in-the-blanks experience. Highlight of the solve was reading the clue for 10A and having the word BOOP mysteriously come to mind. Also liked the clues for EARTH, SCOT, and LGBT.
ReplyDeleteanonymous 8:10,
ReplyDeleteI don't think you've been car shopping in a while. It's true the base model Porsche Macan starts at 57 and the lowly Maserati Grecale starts at 63.5, but almost every other Porsche model is more expensive than every Maserati model. Frankly it's not even particularly close. And that's' not even considering top of the line 911 iterations, which are all pushing a quarter of a million these days.
I went through this puzzle like SONICTHEHEDGEHOG all the while knowing that it would probably be panned. @Rex did not disappoint with his “just a list of games” comment. @Nancy, I played arcade games and later video games well into adulthood. (Hi Barbara S!). All I can say is…they can be fun!
ReplyDelete@Nancy and others…yes, I remember Alexis Schitt BOOPing Ted’s nose. However, I relate BOOPing to tapping an adorable puppy or dog’s nose. Anyone else?
Babies!
DeleteWow! From feast to famine. Yesterday I was in HOG heaven, bouncing with joy over the basketball theme. And today video games. Meh. While I did remember the names of the games, that’s about the extent of what I know … and of my desire to know. I may have played PAC-MAN ONCE back in the 80s but the rest are just labels I’ve heard of.
ReplyDeleteI liked MUTT crossing TAKES IN right off the bat. Love those those unpedigreed four-legged friends. But then LEGS IT made me wonder WOE because the expression I’ve always heard for “goes by foot” is HOOFS IT. And basically the clues for all the theme answers seemed weird but that’s probably because I’m just NONE too familiar with any of them. I had to look up TETRIS because I thought it was some some sort of exercise machine.
At least it was easy.
@pmdm (9:59). Those who have been around for a while know your observation as Joaquin's Dictum.
ReplyDelete@Barbara S (8:37). Wonderful quote. "Ape-descended."
"Buildup of tanks" for ALGAE. Huzzah!
@Tom T - I had forgotten that BOOP. Thanks for reminding me of it, and of that wonderful movie in general.
ReplyDeleteTougher Wednesday than usual for me because I never played these games and have zilch interest in becoming familiar with them. But I finished the puzz since the crosses were mostly easy and I have heard of these games. Anyway, I enjoyed the challenge. Glad to see VAL Demings here, so sorry she lost in Fla.
ReplyDeleteI liked this one, but the Donkey Kong character is an ape, and there is only one of him. So barrel of [plural] monkeys is not so great.
ReplyDeleteI ski in Californa, and gnar is a real thing for sure.
My favorite answer today is …… UM ….ASS.
ReplyDeleteThere’s a sort of odd type of double-ended kealoa at 10D, where I initially had jASMine instead of BASMATI.
In the heyday of TETRIS, my wife really got addicted, to the point that other important aspects of her life were being ignored. I subsequently read an article about how this was a fairly widespread phenomenon and was confined mostly to women. Something about a need to have everything put away in its correct place. It was long ago, so I’m probably forgetting important stuff, but that was the gist of it. Happy to report that she has been TETRIS free for decades now.
ANGRYBIRDS was originally conceived as Mad Cows, but the disease namers grabbed it first.
I like that the Giant head? Of 34D is never found in a (33D) IGLOO.
I’m about with Rex on this theme and fill.
We’re off to Patagonia for 3 weeks tomorrow and I have no idea about when we’ll have the infrastructure for this kind of thing and when we won’t. So, y’all may have a well-earned break from me. Have fun!
@egsforbreakfast 11:28 AM
DeleteLucky. Try to visit one of the many Gonia ranches. Most will let you pat a gonia.
As a non-arcade-etc gamer the theme clues were completely superfluous (and not really that helpful). Once D O N K E Y K fell into place I just entered DONKEYKONG (ugly name IMO) and then went to the other themers and filled in whatever games that I have heard of that matched crosses in place. Otherwise OK puzzle. Liked seeing STROP and liked clever BREXIT clue at 47A with a SCOT voting on the failed 2014 referendum.
ReplyDeleteSolid if easy Wednesday. Grew up in the heart of the dawn of video games. Liked Ms PacMan more. Went through a TETRIS playing period, where I’d see the game as I was trying to sleep. The others I know because they are famous. Maybe should have tried to include WORDSWITHFRIENDS to scrabble-taunt Rex? Loved BOOP, BASMATI, the clue for GUS.
ReplyDeleteThat barrel of monkeys in 17a? I think maybe this puzzle was scraped off the bottom of it. I've played Tetris, and Pac-man back in the day, but really, this feels pretty moldy.
ReplyDelete@Son Volt – Great song choice. I forgot today was the day. I never heard anything else by the Ides of March; "Vehicle" was their only Top 40, so I would consider them a one-hit wonder. But— lead singer-songwriter Jim Peterik went on to become a founding member-songwriter of Survivor, who hit big with "Eye Of The Tiger" and other hits in the 1980's. So he did okay.
Toodles, to yieu and yieu and yieu
Yep easy. No WOEs and no erasures. Although the last video game I played was Space Invaders (some time in the ‘70s?), these were all pretty familiar (having grandkids helps), liked it.
ReplyDeleteAgreed they felt random. I thought they were all going to be either arcade or classic games so angry birds took me a while as I wasn’t thinking modern at all.
ReplyDeleteGnar crossed with seeding took me a while as I don’t know either term. Softg I thought I had a mistake and had to look up (didn’t know the FDR competitor)
Barrel of Monkeys is also a game, so that caused some confusion at first.
ReplyDeleteOG's of the 80's
ReplyDeleteMad Man of the Year, 1982
PACMAN
The gnar head?
SILENTG
The end of Dig Dug?
HARDG
Frogger's middles?
HARDGS
Enemy alien from above, 1981
GLAGAN
Destination of Dirk the Daring, 1983
DRAGONSLAIR
Humanoid robot in the year 20XX
MEGAMAN
16-bit medieval world, 1989
GOLDENAXE
The gnarled joystick if using the eponymous glove, 1985
GAUNTLET
PEDI in the crossword on the same day the Spelling Bee tells me it’s not a word. Huh. (There are other slangy shortened words that it accepts.)
ReplyDeleteTOYED kinda seems like the revealer, today.
ReplyDeleteKnew most of the video games, except for the HEDGEHOG one. But *had* heard of the SONIC one somewhere before [probably the xwords' fault], at least.
some faves: TOYED. OUTOFREACH. NOTACHANCE. SMOLDER. BOOP.
staff weeject pick: GUS. Luved its clue. Very runtzpuzlian. One of around 4 ?-marker clues, today. Seemed like there were more, cause some of the other clues still packed elements of semi-mystery, for the M&A.
Stuff like: {Insert a token, say} = PAY. That pup is also very theme deja-vu-ish, btw.
Toughie area: BASMATI/DIEGO, mixed in with a HEDGEHOG and a TETRIS and a sneaky SOFTG clue, with a BOOP on the snout for good measure.
Thanx for the feisty/gamey fun, Mr. Berg dude. And congratz on yer debut puz. And … BOOP
Masked & Anonymo5Us
warnin: contains a Brit word-spellin. No refunds…
**gruntz**
Poor Boomer. Except for PacMan had no idea what the other answers meant. Not to mention Dora or her relatives. Finished but in confused ignorance. Sure hope this is not a trend.
ReplyDeleteI never played DONKEY KONG, so it was a wild guess once I had the DONK. Turns out it has an ape and a bunch of monkeys. Certainly played TETRIS, and remember that while the shapes fall downward, the finished set of interlocking pieces are usually assembled from the bottom up, so the clue was just fine.
ReplyDeleteI certainly spend many quarters playing Ms PACMAN at my favorite watering hole. A very addictive game, for me. My one writeover: I confidently put in "seed" for a word after high or seven, thinking of sports tournaments. And I really wanted "words" to be a parting thing, instead of SHOTS, though the crosses were not there, and my desired answer was clearly OUT OF REACH.
Video games - I never got into any of them. The few times I tried my hand, I was terrible and it didn't appeal enough for me to put in the time (and money!!) to get better. But I enjoyed watching people play, people who were good. The asteroids game in the lobby of my dorm was a real crowd-draw.
ReplyDeleteBut there is one game I play on my iPad. I am a registered customer at Sherwin Williams paint store (lots of DIY at our house.) One time they emailed me a link to a game that involves moving pictures in a grid to get three of a kind. The pictures are paintbrushes, paint cans, paint rollers and three or four colors of dots. The game doesn't have a timer and it seems to cut you off at random and tell you your score (based on what, I have no idea) and then you start over. Or not. It is the most mindless thing ever and somehow soothing. I pull it out every couple of months and waste 15 minutes and that's that.
Michael Berg, congratulations on your debut!
I'm in the OUT OF REACH and NOT A CHANCE crowd when it comes to video games. I played the ping pong video game Pong in the early 70s for about ten minutes and had a "Is that all there is?" experience. I've never played another video game since. My ill-spent youth was mostly three dimensional stuff, like throwing the frisbee and shooting pool.
ReplyDeleteI did recognize the names but thought SONIC THE HEDGEHOG might be a Milne or Seuss character. ANGRY BIRDS sounds like a sequel to Alfred Hitchcock's 1963 "The Birds". Or a description of that movie.
There are a bunch of possibilities for the end of 10A BOO_ and start of 13D _ARE. The BOOP option seems weak and more late weekish. BOOB, BOOM or BOOR seems like it would be more accessible to the general solvership.
I regularly use a leather STROP (40A), mostly for kitchen knives. A better clue would be "Leather band used to hone razors". If a cutting edge isn't sharp, a leather STROP is worthless. It's best used to re-straighten the fine edge of an already sharpened blade.
I had the same reaction as Rex to the theme: am I missing something? Guess not. The only game on the list that I ever played a lot was TETRIS on the computer. The only arcade game I played back in the day was Asteroids, but boy, did I play it a lot. There was one in our dorm's common room and I must have put a few thousand quarters in that sucker. The high scores were all by a nerdy little Chinese guy whose user name was God.
ReplyDeleteTypeover: "Buildup of tanks" = ARMOR before ALGAE. I think that was the only one!
[Spelling Bee: Like Barbara S, Mon and Tues 0. My last words seem to be kinda random lately.]
Good news @Egs! The time in Patagonia is only an hour difference from EDT! Oh. You might actually spend time NOT solving AND blogging? Mercy me! 🤣
ReplyDeleteHave a wonderful Autumn-like trip!
I struggling here, guys. My brain is foggy and all pf the last few days just seem to be more difficult than usual. Loved reading everyone as usual to figure out what I missed.
ReplyDeleteFirst of all today, the fact that I have never played a video game made this more of a challenge than it might have been. I had heard of Packman and Angry Birds
Wow, these last few days of healing have really been tough. No stamina and my brain is just slow. Like I was in an auto accident or something. Reading all the comments made me feel better; something about keeping up with my habits and patterns just makes me feel more like I am moving forward.
ReplyDeleteToday was legitimately tough since I have never played a video game. Ever. Once I figured out the theme, things became easier. Unfortunately it took me all the way down to PACMAN to find a theme answer that I had heard of. And the top center tiny chunk with only PEARL, ALGAE, the end of donkeyKONG and GUS for some reason just about stumped me.
As for Monday and Tuesday, the fact that I love sports and its March was very helpful and I did better there than today. Healing is a process, right?
I almost wish folks would leave their ages after posting their comments. I think (a) it would put the comments into proper context and (b) show that most of us are pretty old!
ReplyDeleteI knew "Shred the GNAR" cause I get the Stio catalog and read it cover to cover.
[63]
@CDilly – When I had a major surgery some years back, I found that recovery didn't always move forward to my satisfaction – I might have two days of feeling progressively better and then the third day feel out-of-it again. It was frustrating. You'll get back to normal, but it can take time, so just be patient. We'll be here. :)
ReplyDeleteThe Alf Landon clue reminded me that there was an 80s sitcom that had Alf Landon Junior College. I had to look it up because I didn't remember which show it was. It turned out to be "Growing Pains." There's some 80s nostalgia for you. The interesting thing is that Alf Landon was from Kansas but "Growing Pains" took place in Long Island. Unlikely to have a school named after him there.
ReplyDeleteHOPES? NONE.
ReplyDeleteI TOYED with THE IDEA:
PAY to get IN DEBRA's pants.
DEBRA said, "NO SHOTS, seeya,
OUTOFREACH, NOTACHANCE!"
--- GUS DYER
A theme in DIRE (DYER?) need of a snappy reveal.
ReplyDeleteNot that easy, because of the clues. The puzzle seemed to want games, but "Shapes up" turned into TETRIS??? And stuff like that. Obfuscation is the rule here. A couple of nice longfill entries, but otherwise less than ideal. DEBRA Messing (TOYing?) is a fine DOD, but a stroke penalty for SOFTG. Par.
ReplyDeleteWordle par.
Electronic games, huh. Played a few back in the day but no big deal to me.
ReplyDeleteDEBRA Messing makes a yeah baby return.
Fairly disappointing wordle with no THUMbs up.
I gotta agree with Rex. Five video games? Why? Why?
ReplyDeleteI mean, the games helped me get the answers, but... It's like kale potato chips. Are they really needed?
Diana, Lady-in-Waiting for Crosswords
I'm an old never been married baby boomer, and have heard of all these games. I've played three of them, and sucked at all of them. However, I had a perfect score on one game. I got to my local bar after I got off from work, but before it opened. They had a tabletop Asteroids, and the bartender made me play with him, even though I told him that I sucked at video games . After one session of Asteroids, I had a score of ZERO! Let's see who can top that! Needless to say, the bartender never asked me to play again.
ReplyDelete