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Relative difficulty: Easy
Theme answers:
- OVERBEARS (17A: Ursa Major and Ursa Minor?)
- NIGHT CRAWLERS (29A: Scorpio and Cancer?)
- SHOOTING STARS (49A: Sagittarius and Orion?)
- HIGH HORSE (65A: Pegasus?)
Bratislava (/ˌbrætɪˈslɑːvə/ BRAT-iss-LAH-və, US also /ˌbrɑːt-/ BRAHT-, Slovak: [ˈbracislaʋa] (listen); Hungarian: Pozsony [ˈpoʒoɲ][...]), historically known as Pressburg (German: Preßburg), is the capital and largest city of Slovakia. Officially, the population of the city is about 475,000; however, it is estimated to be more than 660,000 — approximately 140% of the official figures. Bratislava is in southwestern Slovakia at the foot of the Little Carpathians, occupying both banks of the River Danube and the left bank of the River Morava. Bordering Austria and Hungary, it is the only national capital to border two sovereign states. (wikipedia)
• • •
But back to my ignorance: BRATISLAVA! Got it easily enough with a few crosses, so it's definitely a place name I'd heard of, but I learned all my geography (or most of it) in high school, before the fall of the Berlin Wall and the decomposition of the U.S.S.R. and the war in the Balkans and all the other things that seriously changed the European map, so some of the more recently-formed countries and their capitals still haven't fully registered with me. Wikipedia says that "Slovakia became an independent state on 1 January 1993 after the peaceful dissolution of Czechoslovakia, sometimes known as the Velvet Divorce." OMG "Velvet Divorce"! That's fantastic. Sounds hot. I don't want to get divorced, I love my wife more than I can say, but if we *had* to get a divorce, I hope it would be velvet. So soft. Also, constructors, you are encouraged to put VELVET DIVORCE in your grids now—totally valid, based solely on my having run into it during a random wikipedia search just now. Come on, you know it's better than half the stuff you were planning on putting in your themeless grid anyway, go for it! Also, I would eat a dessert and/or drink a cocktail called the "Velvet Divorce." The phrase just has so many suggestive possibilities ... Anyway, back to BRATISLAVA, it borders not one but two countries (Austria and Hungary)! That's pretty cool. Odd enough to have your capital border even one, but two!? I mean, I have no burning desire to go to Hungary right now, but still, seems cool that you can essentially walk to two foreign countries and still be home for tea. Like VELVET DIVORCE, BRATISLAVA sounds like a dessert I would eat—a kind of fancied-up baklava, maybe. I feel like I'm learning / making up so much today...
The fill on this one was OK. Of course, the hardest part of the solve was the part where they decided they were going to do that paired successive clue thing—32D: Defensive line? / 36D: Offensive line? Love to fight my way to ... SLUR? *That* kind of SLUR? Pfffft. Don't need to think about *those* kinds of SLURs any more than this stupid world already makes me think about them. I guess the ALIBI clue is OK. I just hate when the cluing gets ugly or warped just because the cluer (whether constructor or editor) thinks they can get off a "clever" clue pairing. I don't read the clues in succession or solve them successively, so whatever cuteness is supposed to be there is always lost on me and I'm left just wondering why, why lord? That ALIBI part was the only part that was even remotely tough today, mostly because I couldn't really understand the clue on WRAP (again, it's trying way, way too hard) (26D: It's filled, and may be filling), and I somehow still haven't read / watched Dune, so "???" on SPICE, which is far more generic a term than I thought I'd be dealing with (40A: Critical resource harvested in "Dune"). But as I say, this puzzle was easy so these hang-ups were nothing out of the ordinary for a Wednesday and barely count as hang-ups. Looking over the grid, maybe it's actually better than OK. In addition to BRATISLAVA / GANGSTA RAP (splashy answers both), you've got bouncy stuff like ELIXIRS and JIMMIES and GARISH (a great word), and there isn't much that's grating (beyond ESME and her condescending clue) (61D: She's found in "She loves me not"). Anything else I might complain about amounts to little more than NITS. Not exactly a BLOG RAVE today, but yeah, this is pretty good Wednesday fare. See you tomorrow.
Don’t know why but I expected kudos for SPICE, I just assumed OFL would be a Dune fan.
ReplyDeleteSuper easy again - close to record times on Tuesday and Wednesday this week.
First up, props to the commentariat for your excellent poetry and quipping yesterday - what a treat it was to read through after a long day of work.
ReplyDeleteOn to today - oh, this was *such* a delightful Wednesday, in my opinion. Clever, cute, cleanly filled. I don’t know what thin air I pulled BRATISLAVA out of (maybe my brother and his childhood penchant for memorizing capitals?), but that along with grasping the theme at OVERBEARS made for a breezy solve. The clues Rex saw as “trying too hard,” a complaint that we often share, in this case landed and really worked for me!
And, I’m always happy to see my beloved and beleaguered CUNY - City University of New York -mentioned. My mother dropped out of college at 19 to marry her first husband and follow him back east. The only nice thing I can say about him is that once divorced, he was a good father to my older brothers.
Anyway, thanks to the CUNY system which was basically free back then, when my mom wasn’t waiting tables, she was able to go back to school part time, get her BA, and then eventually got her PhD in psychology. The CUNY preschools were a life saver for my mom and dad (husband #2) when my younger brother and I were little. And as adults, my little brother went to Hunter for his BA, I went there for social work school, and my second eldest brother went to Brooklyn College for his masters in mental health counseling, with honorable mention to my eldest brother and his SUNY New Paltz BA. It’s not nearly as financially accessible as it used to be, and it’s woefully underfunded by the state and city, but these schools have such a beautiful history of creating opportunities for moving out of poverty for working class New Yorkers, especially New Yorkers of color. I will always feel tremendous pride in and gratitude for our being a CUNY family. Here’s to public education!
This was me, again. Sigh.
Delete@Weezie 6:15 AM
DeleteLove this story.
I also found it easy, with only one sticking point. GANGSTARAP come slowly because "GANGSTA" isn't in my everyday vocabulary. The crosses made it work.
ReplyDeleteThe cluing was almost entirely straightforward. Will Shortz is saving the misdirects for Friday and Saturday, I presume.
Thx, Victor, for this STAR studded offering! 😊
ReplyDeleteEasy-med.
Pretty much in my wheelhouse, except for PEPYS.
The themers were easy enuf to intuit from a few crosses.
Enjoyed the SPaCE SPICE. A stellar adventure! :)
___
@Pablo: Gorski's Mon. New Yorker was relatively easy (on a par with a med-challenging NYT Sat.)
___
Peace 🕊 🇺🇦 ~ Compassion ~ Tolerance ~ Kindness & Freudenfreude to all 🙏
JABBA, IDRIS ? Plot line from DUNE? Celebrating RAP ? Add to that a really icky theme with no pizzazz and it’s really just a bore today. Win some, lose some and move on.
ReplyDeleteIt was very easy and it was very entertaining. Don't understand Rex's criticism of OVERBEARS. Had trouble at the crossing of SPI_E AND _UNY, but running the alphabet fixed that in a big hurry. I did enjoy ANONYMOUS' recital of his family's encounters with CUNY. That personal touch is what makes the Comments a treat to read - most of them anyway.
ReplyDeleteI thoroughly enjoyed the solve today. Some nice medium-length words like RETINUE, ELIXIRS. And I liked the astronomy theme (and on that, I would have liked to see SPICA/ARGO in place of SPICE/ERGO).
ReplyDeleteGood puzzle, but I always find it a little amusing when anything related to the internet is clued as “modern”. I mean, sure, compared to all of human history. But blogs haven’t been a modern journal for two decades. In the mid-aughts they largely became click-seeking content farms, not one persons daily thoughts and opinions.
ReplyDeleteOh, there were some gorgeous-to-me answers today: GARISH, ELIXIRS, RETINUE, HIGH HORSE, JIMMIES, and even BRATISLAVA. Sprinkling beauty like this around the grid so greatly heightens the outing.
ReplyDeleteAnother plus is when a theme makes you want to come up with more answers, as today’s theme did. Best I could come up with was [Gemini?] for PAIR UP.
Which brings up another point. It’s one thing to think up answers that fit a theme; it’s another to find pairs of quality answers with the same number of letters to work in a standard symmetrical crossword grid. Coming up with a quality theme set is an art, as much as cleanly filling a grid and coming up with engaging clues. Bravo, Victor for fashioning this excellent set.
Ooh, I like the differently-spelled word ending oo’s today: RETINUE, CASHEW, ADO. Also, sweet to see HORSE and MORSE in the same line. And I loved the cross of LAMA with AMEN.
The theme brought back to me that night in Hawaii where nothing dimmed the sky, a sublime splash of stars I’ll never forget. Thank you for rekindling that, Victor, and for a puzzle which itself sparkled with beauty!
Is it just me or are there a lot more of those “found in” clues lately? I just don’t recall those from even a year ago, and they happen easily once or twice a month now.
ReplyDeleteI did a bike tour from Vienna to Budapest along the Danube a few years ago, and we passed through BRATISLAVA along the way, so that was an easy get for me. Tragically, that was the day that I had an awful stomach bug and had to use the support van to ride to a medical center in Austria rather than bike, so I can’t tell you anything about Bratislava other than that my friends really liked it.
ReplyDeleteLove me a space-themed crossword. Partly because of my husband’s work on the icecaps of Mars (no, he hasn’t been there, or has only been there inside his mind), but really, I was interested in stars and planets and nebulae and galaxies long before I ever met him. Did you know that Orion contains the star Betelgeuse? It’s Orion’s right shoulder (so on the left from our vantage point). OK, getting off-topic. I enjoyed the themers – they were all smile-producing although not thigh-slapping. It made for a pleasant solve, but perhaps a touch on the too-easy side. I had to reorient, though: near the beginning when I ran into the clue for 20A [1992 role for Robin Williams or 2019 role for Will Smith], I wondered if that was the theme.
ReplyDeleteHad to look up CYBERsquat. Hoped it was a beneficial exercise you could do online while reclining on the couch with your laptop on your knee. Hoped I could discover many more exercises like that, and I could dispense with the old-fashioned body-moving type of workout. Alas. It’s about buying up domain names and selling them for a profit. Lots of lovely words in this puzzle: ELIXIRS, RETINUE, GARISH, TETHER, CASHEW, JIMMIES, BRATISLAVA.
UNICLUES:
1. What the Hutt’s French henchmen used to do with their boss over plusieurs bières.
2. Where cabbage and magic meet.
3. Samuel’s library amazed.*
4. Radar O’Reilly, sneaking around and peering through foliage, dressed in one of Klinger’s more flamboyant get-ups.
5. What the budding poetess does every Saturday night at the Will/Shake poetry slam.
6. Obočie
7. …. .. --. …./…. . . . .. … .
1. BRAG AVEC JABBA
2. SLAW ELIXIRS
3. PEPYS’ ROOM AWED*
4. GARISH NEHI SPY
5. BELTS SONNETS
6. BRATISLAVA “BROW”
7. MORSE “HIGH HORSE”
* Not just a uniclue but a fact. Samuel PEPYS’s library, preserved as it was when he died in 1703, is in the PEPYS Building at Magdalene College, University of Cambridge. It’s a rare and wonderful example of a splendid private library from the seventeenth century. The books are arranged by size (!) in the oak bookcases SP designed himself. It blew me away!
[SB: yd 0. My last two words were non-descript 5ers.]
Bouncy and fun puzzle. A bit of Scrabbliness, some excellent entries, neighboring Samuels, and most of the cluing was cool (with one exception).
ReplyDeleteThe exception: the ridiculous clue for ESME, which is becoming more and more common; I know we had one on Monday, and last week as well. I am begging: PLEASE STOP!
I suppose I should be grateful that Samuel isn't "in" a remorseful mood, or that the enchanted young woman isn't "staying in" the Bellagio, or that Mr. Elba isn't "in" a movie called "Covid Rising".
GANGSTA with an A is cringe
ReplyDeleteFun and clever!
ReplyDeleteQuestion for YALL: would “I got slurs that Jimmy Johnny Jingo” be an example of WhiteyRap?
For those too young to know the reference, here ya go! https://youtu.be/9CUXLuVjO-w
Resisted adding the B when I had OVER_EARS, since OVERBEARS seemed like nonsense, despite having figured out the general idea of the theme. Erred by putting in sUNY instead of CUNY - knew it was probably wrong, but blanked on the correct answer at first. Nice to have a retinue instead of a posse today.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the "Bodhisattva" link, Rex. Have "Countdown to Ecstasy" on worn-out vinyl, and on order on SACD. Finally saw the group - well, Donald Fagen and company - a year and half ago. After the eight Bodhisattvas, I shouted "Look out!" - but Fagen didn't. Oops. Shrank back in my seat after that one.
It was "Aja" night - they opened with the entire album. Before "Black Cow," one of the singers put an album on a turntable (from my spot in the balcony, couldn't see if it was "Aja.") "Pretzel Logic," indeed.
Great answer-like clueing, especially OVERBEARS! And what delightful comments by the blogger except the snide one about not going to Hungary. I guess this is about the existing head of government . Would you really deprive yourself of going to such a beautiful and interesting country. and to the magnificent city of Budapest? Refuse to go to St. Petersburg? Beijing? Turkey?
ReplyDeleteThere’s no end to how restricted one would become.
The theme brought back to me seeing the starry sky over the Big Bend park in Texas. Unbelievably beautiful!
Great puzzle all the way round.
I'd pick on OFL for his gaps in geography knowledge (Slovakia and BRATISLAVA have been nation and capital since, checks watch, over 30 years now) but its only in the last year or so that I've challenged myself on improving my own geography skills, so I get it. I wonder if we'll get my favorite Ljubljana Slovenia in a crossword someday?
ReplyDeleteFun puzzle 👍👍 Fascinating to learn the eyes of one former partner in the velvet divorce are now closely focused on each of the former partners of the defunct Austria-Hungary union.
ReplyDeleteAnon@7:43, the "found in" clues are fairly new. They're gimmes if you look closely, so I don't mind them. I really dislike the self-referential clues like, "the middle letter sounds like the 1st letter and last letter together" because there's no way you can figure that out unless you start getting some crosses.
ReplyDeleteI also really dislike the completely self-referential cross clues where 1A is "capital of 26D" and 26D is "country for 1A" for the same reason.
What in the barking heck is a cyber squat?
ReplyDeleteHey YALL !
ReplyDeleteFill came out surprisingly clean in this one. With the addition of some Scrabbly letters, as some are wont to call them. X ,J, Z! Alas, none of the oft overlooked letter...
Had a funny thought about the clue for 46A, Tupperware lid sound. Wanted THHBT or however you'd spell that sound!
Interesting theme, took me a second to realize Cancer is represented by a crab. 16A may have been included, clued as "Orion's, and others". Nice Long Downs.
Hump Day. Downhill from here...
No F's - What the ELL?
RooMonster
DarrinV
I'm in the "fun and clever" camp this morning. No real problems and I had to get most of the crosses before thinking, yeah now I remember that. Looking at you guys, SPICE and VUE. CYBER squat was today's learning experience.
ReplyDeleteWas reminded that it's always a good idea to get to the mixed nuts first before all the CASHEWS are gone.
We had love in the ESME clue, but no squalor. Hand up for having seen enough of this kind of clue for a while. Hidden words like this belong on the kid's placemat.
Nice job, VB. Liked all the references to that Vast Beauty above us, and thanks for all the fun.
@bocamp-Agree with your assessment of the Mon. NYorker. My biggest problem was reading my printed copy after I spilled coffee on it while heading out to babysit. Not recommended.
BRATISLAVA crossing VUE was a little dicey for me but otherwise I enjoyed the puzzle. I think the reversal of the theme where the answer is the pun and the clue is the normal part is the more enjoyable way to set these things up.
ReplyDeleteApparently Rex considers William Shakespeare "no one"
ReplyDeleteFrom Henry V -
"How dread an army hath enrounded him ; Nor doth he dedicate one jot of colour Unto the weary and all - watched night ; But freshly looks and overbears attaint With cheerful semblance and sweet ..."
Entertaining theme and two exceptionally lively long downs. Great architecture.
ReplyDeleteI would be okay with never talking about a Jabba ever again, especially CGI Jabba, and everything else in Star Wars. We should also see if it's possible to delete LEIA from the crossword software. There's probably a popup that says, "You can't do that." If you try to delete OREO I heard a guy in sunglasses and a suit with skinny-legged jeans comes to your house.
Speaking of SALSA, the taco place two blocks from here has two great salsas and one terrible one so we always ask to trade the terrible one for two of the green kind and it's always a bit of a fuss. If you own a restaurant, let people mix and match salsas because if there are three one is always the worst.
I do have to wonder if the NYTXW editorial team knows what the word modern means. BLOGS are modern? They've been around since the OJ trial and the unabomber.
Tee-hee! We've got ASSES oh yes we do.
Uniclues:
1 Mayonnaisipodes.
2 It's DIT, not DAH ... duh.
3 Unfortunate but expected result of giving an aging English major a megaphone.
1 SLAW ELIXIRS
2 MORSE HIGH HORSE
3 BELTS SONNETS
Easy puzzle on Wednesday isn’t a surprise, but that lead off anonymous tip of the hat to Tuesday commentariat gives me pause. Monday & Tuesday are usually OVERBEARS of boredom so I’m going elsewhere to explore, so maybe time to at least drop by after lunch?
ReplyDeleteRex’s observation about having learned geography in grade seven seems spot on for most of us. Hans Rosling has a wonderful link to update one’s world view. Rosling builds a strong case for seeing the progress rather than the decline of civilization.
Pretty nifty wordplay as far as the theme clues and answers are concerned, I'd say. The fact that there are two constellations that fit each clue -- with the exception of Pegasus (although that's my favorite themer) -- is quite an achievement. But then...
ReplyDeleteI sort of feel that having reached for the stars in creating and executing the theme, the constructor pretty much went on automatic pilot after that. The cluing for the rest of the puzzle lacks spark, lacks wit, and is much too easy. It's certainly too easy for a Wednesday. A Tibetan monk is a LAMA? A rapturous review is a RAVE? A modern journal is a BLOG? ACES are good hole cards? Really? You could have fooled me.
My feeling is if you've come up with a good theme that you're happy with, take the time to make the rest of the puzzle sing too. This could have been so much better than it is. And more challenging as well.
I spent some time fruitlessly trying to shoehorn the two URSAs and OVERhEARS into a theme concept, until I was forced to accept a B, with an uncomprehending shrug. Only with NIGHT CRAWLERS (really good!) did the light bulb go on (or, the STARS come out?). I see @Rex's point that OVERBEARS is the weakest, but for me it was also the best, in simultaneously disclosing and hiding the key to the theme. Anyway, a very clever theme, I thought, and many other pleasures in the grid, too. Liked the idea of GARISH BELTS.
ReplyDeleteDo-over: Ail before ADO, CcNY. Moment of geographic shame: "BRATISLAVA is a world capital?" Enough, yet: the ESME clue.
Uniclues:
ReplyDelete1) How James Bond, James Stewart and James Earl Jones really feel about life
2) How Idina Menzel sings poems she's changed to power ballads
3) What can I do if one of my most ardent followers is a ditz?
4) "I'll tell you and it's no baloney:
I'm much better than Marconi!!!!"
1) JIMMIES PSYCH
2) BELTS SONNETS
3) RETINUE YOYO
4) MORSE HIGH HORSE
Stellar.
ReplyDeletestaff weeject pick: GLO = {Star twinkle interrupted?}.
some faves: CASHEW. BRATISLAVA. PSYCH. ELIXIRS. Dune SPICE.
solve-trek was pretty smooth cruisin. Almost warp speed.
Thanx, Mr. Barocas dude.
Masked & Anonymo3Us
**gruntz**
Rex is a Sagittarius? It all makes sense now.
ReplyDeleteThank heavens for the Czech Brothers skits on SNL- they’re how I knew BRATISLAVA!
ReplyDeleteHave to agree another super easy breezy run through today. But I enjoyed it and liked the theme a lot. I’ve always been fascinated by the vastness of space and the depths of the ocean. I doubt I’ll ever get a chance to explore the latter but I have spent a lot of time with a telescope just gazing at the heavens so this was familiar territory for me. Well except for BRATISLAVA anyway.
ReplyDeleteI liked BRAG crossing BLOG because that’s what a lot of them amount to. PSYCH looked like it needed an E. No idea either of those fine actors ever played a GENIE. I wonder if Will Smith’s ever slapped anybody.
I guess the clue for 43A is okay even though it’s not strictly southern. It’s also a very common expression in the Midwest and - AHEM, just so Y’ALL know - the plural of y’all is all y’all.
Constellations on my menu.....I would rate this medium rare...just as I like it. The medium difficulty was trying to remember SPICE and JABBA. I read DUNE...I loved the book; didn't like the movie but why SPICE took me so long to savor is one of those things. JABBA..well, thank you JIMMIES for getting me to remember JABBA.
ReplyDeleteThe rare was actually spelling BRATISLAVA correctly. Another rare came when I saw STAR embedded into GANGSTA RAP which crosses SHOOTING STARS. So I went sniffing in the kitchen to see if any of the other theme answers had this same little thing going on. Alas...no. Was this a tease?
Back to my menu. My favorite little choice was smiling at the defensive/offensive lines. I thought they were cute. ALIBI SLUR sound like a name for a saloon. OK, so we have a CASHEW, some SLAW and SPICE SALSA in a WRAP. Some fine ALES and NEHI ( for the non imbibers) for drinks...Any takers?
I enjoyed this Wed. puzzle...Menu was just right and it got polite BURP from me. Thanks Victor!
Interviewer on the red carpet: Hello, Mrs. Incredible Hulk. Can you tell us a bit about your unique outfit? Like, what is your skirt made of?
ReplyDeleteMrs. Hulk: My skirt? It’s granite.
Interviewer: And your hat?
Mrs. Hulk: My hat? It’s shale.
Interviewer: And your bra?
Mrs. Hulk: Welp, you’re getting a bit personal there, but if you must know, my BRA ‘TIS LAVA.
That was an awfully long set up for such a groaner. So sorry.
Definitely a star-filled puzzle, including the SHOOTING STAR and the GANG STAR. The latter is the subject of a college level course available in high school, known as GANGSTARAP.
I like OVERBEARS the best of the themers. It has personality. Like, “Hi, we’re the OVERBEARS.”
Anyway, it was a fun Wednesday. Thanks, Victor Barocas.
Thought for sure Rex would embed a video of “See the Constellation” by TMBG this morning, but I’ll take Steely Dan any day
ReplyDeleteEasy. No real problems with this one except for some fat finger typing. Clever idea, pretty smooth grid, liked it.
ReplyDeleteUnlike “anonymous” I would not spend one dime in a country run and/or controlled by a dictator or his government. In spite of acquiring knowledge or culture, repression of an entire people is not on my list of places I would contribute any travel money to. Myanmar, anyone? Russia? North Korea? Hong Kong..
ReplyDeleteSuch a lovely Wednesday puzzle and seeing BRATISLAVA just made me smile!
ReplyDeleteI’m PROBABLY one of the few people that toured Slovakia prior to the dissolution of the SSRs. It was 1986 and if you had family there, and were willing to go through TONS of bureaucracy you could do it. My husband still had a surviving aunt (two aunts did not move to U.S….long story but my husband’s Slovak grandparents had 12 children and HIS father was actually born in the U.S). Boy howdy, THAT was an eye opener! We flew into Vienna and toured then got on train to Bratislava. Two hours at Checkpoint Charlie while soldiers checked UNDER the train with cattle prod looking things, came INSIDE and did the same thing under seat compartments, went through the suitcases, etc. Then we had to check in at the police station. We first stayed a few days with a cousin in Bratislava (the Stare Mesto ) old town was lovely even then. Nove Mesto…not so much. Traveled out to the area where the aunt and most cousins lived. They really DID close all curtains and speak in hushed voices if “the government” was brought up. I learned NO means YES (Àno is yes) and that babka is grandmother AND bread. Also had the Slovak National dish which was delicious! It translates to roughly “sheep’s cheese and noodles” and I still remember when our trusty 18 year old family member/translator said if I thought she said SHIP’S cheese.
The changes since independence have been amazing and the countryside is beautiful…in this small country they have both the Carpathians (think Smokey Mountains) and the Tatras (think small Rockies). The Slovaks and Czechs never really hated each other although the Slovaks think they got the short end of the stick when together. The Czechs didn’t think Slovakia could survive without them but “let them go.”
Agree that the puzzle had some nice answers but the clues could have had a bit more going on.
ReplyDeleteI was familiar with BRATISLAVA because my husband's grandmother emigrated from there by herself at age 11. The relative that was supposed to meet her stateside was late, so she had to wait at Ellis Island alone, not speaking English, for a week. The whole experience was so terrifying that she refused to travel back to Europe for any reason for the rest of her life.
Am I the only one who didn't understand the answer "BURP" for "Tupperware lid Sound"?
ReplyDeleteEasy and enjoyable, although I'm still struggling to believe there was ever a car model called VUE. And Wiki says it was their best-selling model! Well, I don't know cars.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was in college, history was divided into four periods: Classical (when they drank NEHI) beverages, Medieval, Renaissance, and Modern, which began around 1500. I art history, though, Modern began around 1900. I'm not sure when BLOGs started.
As more of us have begun to solve cryptic puzzles, cryptic-style clues have started to creep into the regular puzzles. That's what the clue for ESME is, except that is has a big sign hung around its neck to tell us what kind of clue it is; in a cryptic that would have to be disguised.
Or maybe those clues were always around, and I just didn't know enough to recognize them.
I have been teaching a single course this spring. Grades are due tomorrow, so today overdue papers are falling on me like snowflakes. I'd better get to it.
How is burp a Tupperware lid sound?
ReplyDeleteArrived at Bratislava on a River boat. Taxied into town. Driver told us that taxis were NOW going on strike but not to worry because it will be over at 4pm!
ReplyDeleteWe toured the city (very nice) but subconsciously feared that we would not make it back to the boat.
At 3:50 pm Returned to the taxi stand to find our driver asleep at the wheel. We sat on a bench and waited…and waited. Sure enough at 4 every driver stirred and all was well. Fun to look back on…
ESME is a girl’s name?? …. Who knew?
@Mr. Cheese 11:56am:
DeleteJ. D. Salinger
@Anon (6:15). Stroll on down to this corner, by the water fountain. We've got a nice piece of cake for you.
ReplyDeleteELIXIR!
I think it's important to pick NITS before they hatch into full grown lice. A louse is a natural born BITER that can leave behind the bacteria that cause typhus fever. I'll do my part today by pointing out an inconsistency in the themers. Three of them needed to be pluralized (letter count boosted) to fit their slots while the fourth was able to get it done in the singular.
ReplyDeleteBit of a food and beverage mini-theme with CASHEW, SLAW, WRAP, SPICE, NEHI, SALSA, ALES, and HAM, all topped off with a heartfelt BURP.
@John H Davison…You are supposed to “burp” the lid of Tupperware to let out the extra air inside before you store your things in fridge or whatnot. I was always a “burping” scofflaw…I’m not storing my food for a month! When I did try it once I don’t remember it made much of a noise…maybe a tiny “whoosh”
ReplyDeleteBoy, the questions about burping a Tupperware lid sure do make me feel old.
ReplyDeleteTupperware Burp
ReplyDeleteHey all you whippersnappers out there who don't know about tupperware burping. Why to you taunt me so?
ReplyDelete@Beezer - The remove of some O2 might have helped forestall spoilage, but mainly it improved the seal. And was a good gimmick.
Not sure if BLOG can be clued as “modern”
ReplyDeleteanymore. I might even be more ready to accept “old school.”
Ive been to Bratislava and especially remember the bronze statue of Andy Warhol sitting in a chair outside a cafe. His parents were immigrants from the area, now known as Slovakia.
ReplyDeleteI had OVER-EARS and could only think of OVERHEARS which had me stumped... what on earth had that to do with the Ursas?
ReplyDeleteLike @Beezer, in 1987 I went to the trouble to get a visa for Czechoslovakia which supposedly was good for two crossings of the border. I went from Vienna to Prague, then back to Vienna. I'd planned to visit Bratislava but on my way out of Czech., they confiscated my visa at the border. Stupid border guards!
[Spelling Bee: yd 0, no goofy words!]
@Mr. Cheese 11:56a - Salinger knew
ReplyDeleteWe're looking up today, yet without any need to look anything up.
ReplyDelete@Okanaganer…omg…I can totally see that happening! Btw…for years my husband LOVED to tell the story of being on the train on the Austria/Bratislava border and my reaction (age 30) at the border guards with Kalishnikovs barking at me in Slovak. He always said…”and I told her “hon, step away…you don’t have to show them your underwear”! So many memories back then. The cousin in Bratislava was a physician. Drove an old (Voda?) and his daughter (18) would sit behind him in back seat and prop her legs on the back of his driver’s seat so it wouldn’t roll back.
ReplyDeleteWe actually left Czechoslovakia from Prague by train to Frankfurt. I remember being happy the first train station inside Germany when I saw a small billboard with a smiling face AND flowers planted by the station! Truly…happy to see an ad and flowers? Yes. Yes I was.
Charming, clever, creative, and fresh. I could go on but enough already. This is one of the best Wednesdays in I don’t know how long. Could have been BRATISLAVA by itself for me that sent me down memory lane in such a good way. Then @Rex added to my mirth with his ideas for food and beverages named “Velvet Divorce.”
ReplyDeleteBack in the early “90s when I was young and working in the ultra-fast lane of huge private firm worldwide complex litigation, for the decade of the ‘90s I spent a great deal of time in the UK, Paris and Frankfurt. During this time of massive upheaval in the former USSR and in the immediate aftermath of the Berlin Wall coming down the world news each day was riveting. During this tumultuous time when so many of the former USSR satellites were gaining independence and forming new governments, everything seemed so hopeful for a while. In that spirit, the media (or someone) coined the phrase Velvet Divorce for the separation of Slovakia from Czechoslovakia with BRATISLAVA as the new capital.
Unfortunately, my trips to Europe were grueling with long flights followed immediately by arduous days and nights inside law firms that resembled those in America except in some cases the historic buildings were more beautiful and travel to and from work was “sightseeing.”
Leisure and fun were reserved for extravagant dinners when the experts were in town. During these times we would always have one dinner out at a Michelin star restaurant (the likes of which I cannot afford in my real life unless I go early, sit at the bar and order an appetizer). After dinner and drinks we would let our hair down for a couple hours.
For quite a while, the Velvet Divorce was a topic of discussion. I was truly awed by the depth of knowledge around the table and the insights our economists and environmental experts shared and learned so much. The breadth of knowledge and experience left me feeling ignorant. But we digressed after dessert.
OFL’s entry reminded me of the the often slightly raunchy different beverages and dishes we discussed that could be named Velvet Divorce. We had a couple fabulous couples desserts over the five years it took to get this enormous case ready for trial that actually qualified for such an elegant name.
What I learned during this decade of my life was that the fast lane life wasn’t for me. I only joined the huge firm for economic reasons. Sure, arguing and winning a game changing issue before the World Court at the Hague was a huge deal, but that life wasn’t why I went to school. I’m a public servant at heart, raised to be so by my Gran.
By the time mediation was accomplished and the case settled, I had made such good friends. Our London firm made an offer of employment to me that was well, gaudy - and flattering and tempting. Even as I told my husband and daughter, I knew it wouldn’t work. He and Kate are nesters. Home is what fuels their souls and a move so far from everything they know was asking too much.
After a couple days in deep thought, I declined the offer. It would have changed my career trajectory and put me on a path to “great things” including professorships, books, the bench. Over a lovely tea, I simply told my colleague (and still close friend who sends me real Cadbury Milk Bars) that ultimately, while my family would agree to an international move, they would not be happy and that I could not risk ending up with fame, fortune and a divorce . . . Velvet or otherwise. He chuckled, shook my hand and kissed my cheek. He said I was extraordinary because I listened more than I spoke and it made me “one of the finest barristers of his lengthy acquaintance.” I shall never forget that astonishing compliment or those years, but think much more often about my family and the riches they have provided.
PS:I hope to see lots more from Victor Barocas!
@pabloinnh (9:14 AM) 🤣
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@okanaganer (1:58 PM)
Speaking of Prague, my youngest granddaughter and some of her Thompson Okanagan teammates will be representing Team BC in Prague this July in their "Czech Lions Ringette Cup" U16 division. She'll be one of the youngest players at age 13. What a thrill for her and her mom. And, thank goodness, no more border hassles (hi @Beezer (3:31 PM)). 🤞
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Peace 🕊 🇺🇦 ~ Compassion ~ Tolerance ~ Kindness & Freudenfreude to all 🙏
To me, there were soooo many proper names (Jabba, Idris, Mann, Ella, Pepys, Morse, CUNY), and many of them skewed kind of old (even for me!), so that always lessens my joy a tad.
ReplyDeleteBUT, I did like the themers - - - and yes, I knew Pegasus was a constellation.
OUI and AVEC in the same puzzle? Eh, pourquoi? Est-ce que necessaire??
Answer of the day: GANGSTARAP.
NSFW:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMZi25Pq3T8
I remember Malaika once said she quits the puzzle if she doesn’t like it. Well, I agree with her 100%. I got 2/3 the way through and just stopped. Obtuse, obscure answers and clues (Bratislava????) are not fun.
ReplyDelete@CDilly52…wow! My career path was similar but not nearly as promising as yours. That is, both my husband I were attorneys and HE actually “put me through/paid for” my law school. While doing the govt public service gigs I had many offers to go into private practice (NOT like YOURS!) At any rate, I’m showing my age when I say I couldn’t fathom a “nanny” situation. (I actually worked 1/2 time for many years). It just makes me think of one of the GOOD things today with technology…that is, most law firms today are all-in with remote work AND flexibility of hours.
ReplyDelete@bocamp... lucky granddaughter! Ringette-- on ice?-- in July, in Prague. Better weather for sightseeing though.
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't mind going back some time to see the changes since the Iron Curtain fell. Also to Berlin! Four of the countries I visited in 1987 no longer exist.
PS…afterthought…PLEASE don’t scold me young people…I DID do “daycare”! To me “nanny” is either a live-in or “totally on-call” situation. And, in the Midwest back then…only for the very rich.
ReplyDeleteQuick enough, but got completely stuck on the last 4, no idea who John Le Carré or Samuel Pepys are, didn’t feel fair to cross those, nor have I heard of NEHI nor Thomas MANN. 1929? Really? Another puzzle that assumes no one under 65 will be doing it
ReplyDelete@okanaganer (7:12 PM) 🤣
ReplyDeleteI hope you have the chance to go back someday! :)
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Peace 🕊 🇺🇦 ~ Compassion ~ Tolerance ~ Kindness & Freudenfreude to all 🙏
Vaclav Havel was a fan of the Velvet Underground. So the first president of independent Slovakia coined that term, I believe.
ReplyDeleteRETINUE ADO
ReplyDeleteJIMMIE had no ALIBI,
would BRAG about the GANGSTA fight,
SPICEd ELIXIRS made him HIGH,
ERGO the SHOOTING Friday NIGHT.
--- ESME & EZRA MANN
Four STARS for this one.
ReplyDeleteLove a good pun - made this fun. My stars!
ReplyDelete@Rondo - saw your rhyme the other day about easy cheesy - the same day that Liz had "cheesy" puns on her weekly puzzle. Are you the mystery source of the Liz puzzles?
Diana, Lady-in-Waiting for Crosswords
Victor: You in MY house now! Though OVERBEARS creaks with desperation, all the themers were laydowns. As was SPICE, wonderfully centrally placed, and the key action mover in Herbert's classic Dune.
ReplyDeleteI'm somewhat surprised that several seemingly educated "peeps" here didn't know Samuel--and also, I'm guessing, that his name is pronounced like the word in quotes in this sentence. His writing is key to understanding life in those times.
Lots of cool fill: ELIXIRS! BELTS! GARISH! Plus my better half's very favorite nut, CASHEW!! Me likey. Eagle.
Congrats and a throw of the Space helmet onto the ice (for captain Stone's hat trick) to our own Vegas Golden Knights, winners of the 2023 Stanley Cup!
Wordle par.
I thought OVERBEARS was particularly lame. I came here to see if Rex didn't like it either. I was pleased to see he didn't.
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