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I can relate in Gen Z slang / FRI 6-30-23 / Dancing duo of the early 1900s / "Waiting to Exhale" or "Bridget Jones's Diary," dismissively / Dining option where bow ties might be expected / Endangered predator of the Southwest / Certain modern investment informally
Friday, June 30, 2023
Constructor: Carly Schuna
Relative difficulty: Medium-Challenging
Word of the Day: IDLI (48D: Steamed rice cake) —
Idli or idly [...] (plural: idlis) is a type of savoury rice cake, originating from South India, popular as a breakfast food in Southern India and in Sri Lanka. The cakes are made by steaming a batter consisting of fermented black lentils (de-husked) and rice. The fermentation process breaks down the starches so that they are more readily metabolised by the body. [...] To make Idli, four parts uncooked rice (idli rice or parboiled rice) to one part whole white lentil (black gram, Vigna mungo) are soaked separately for at least four hours to six hours or overnight. Optionally spices such as fenugreek seeds can be added at the time of soaking for additional flavour. Once done soaking, the lentils are ground to a fine paste and the rice is separately coarsely ground, then they are combined. Next, the mixture is left to ferment overnight during which its volume will more than double. After fermentation some of the batter may be kept as a starter culture for the next batch. The finished idli batter is put into greased moulds of an idli tray or "tree" for steaming. The perforated molds allow the idlis to be cooked evenly. The tree holds the trays above the level of boiling water in a pot, and the pot is covered until the idlis are done (about 10–25 minutes, depending on size). A more traditional method is to use leaves instead of moulds. (wikipedia)
• • •
This puzzle felt aimed at a younger generation than my own, but that's cool ... and it's not what made it difficult. I struggled a lot, but primarily with the shorter, less generationally-specific fill. So much vagueness. And a host of hard-to-grasp "?" clues. Between the vagueness of 3D: Wear out (TIRE) and the "?"-ness of 1D: Isn't oneself? (ACTS) *and* 1A: Crash protection? (AUTOSAVE), I had trouble just getting started. Hard to get into the western section because of hyper-vagueness of 23A: Up *and* 23D: Well. Two clues, two words, whole lotta shrugging (AT-BAT, APTLY). The -EST suffix on 38A: Bottom (again with the one-word clues!) never occurred to me (LOWEST). I had LOW-END in there, I think. 42A: Hangs on was vague (LASTS). 43D: Business card abbr. wasn't TEL (STE.) (stands for "suite"). Had the CAS- and no idea what [Borrowing option] was supposed to mean. Another inscrutable "?" clue down there with 47D: Brief out line? ("I LOSE") (?) (I guess when you are "out" (in poker?) the "line" you might say is "I LOSE" (!?))(only just now realizing what the "pun" there is supposed to be, i.e. "outline" broken into two words). The SW was somehow also hard, as I initially forgot IDLI existed, and that MIEN clue (49D: Air), again, the vagueness! And INNER, same (60A: Spiritual). PASTA BAR clue eluded me for an embarrassingly long time (i.e. I can't believe it eluded me at all) (59A: Dining option where bow ties might be expected). LOOPHOLE was great but, again, the clue was so vague that I couldn't get hold of it (56A: Way out). What should've been a whoosh-whoosh Friday often felt like a grind. More Saturday than Friday pacing for me today.
Somehow the clue on ONE-ON-ONE feels very wrong (61A: Like a tryst, usually). Who would ever describe their trysts this way??? Also, did you do a tryst survey? "Usually?" Please cite your sources, lol. I'd guess the number of "trysts" that are ONE-ON-ONE is some number nearly indistinguishable from 100%, but that's not the issue. The issue is this term does not go with that scenario. ONE-ON-ONE is for (non-sex) meetings. Or interviews. Or certain defensive scenarios in sports. I guess Hall & Oates do give you some cover on this one, but still, I'm frowning and shaking my head. Oh, speaking of Hall & Oates, I saw No Hard Feelings yesterday, and it contains a truly great Hall & Oates musical moment—I keep wanting to talk about this movie, but since I saw it cold, with absolutely no idea what it was about before I went in, and was so happy I did, I don't want to tell anyone anything specific. But trust me, there's a Hall & Oates scene, and a great one. Also, the movie as a whole is extremely enjoyable. I haven't laughed in the theater like that in a while.
That's all. See you tomorrow.
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122 comments:
Very challenging for me. A puzzle aimed at Gen Z is tough for a guy in his 80s. After several passes through the puzzle I decided that I had to cheat, not too much I hoped, but it turned out to be quite a lot. Alas. I was able to fill in many words correctly, so still found the puzzle sort of enjoyable. Forgive me my sins as I vow to forsake all cheating in the future. Maybe.
The vagueness of the clues killed me. I couldn’t get much of anything in the W or SW. Actually no, I had EVAN, DIVIDE and LEAVES, but I pulled DIVIDE because -DL- and. -IE- both looked wrong. I had to look up the dancing duo. I forgot there was a female ASTAIRE - I think she was his sister, not his wife. Anyway, that cheat did enable me to finish but I didn’t have a feeling of satisfaction. I like clever clues; vague ones not so much. This one wasn’t for me.
I'm not sure that Fridays are designed to go "Woosh." They're supposed to be on the tough side, and today's hit the spot.
If I had one nit to pick, I don't see CRYPTO as an investment as much as a Ponzi scheme, but then technically I'm a Boomer and not Gen-Z, so perhaps with them, with a longer investment timeline, it makes sense? For me, old enough to remember the ASTAIRES (although they were old when I was young), not so much.
A crunchy Friday which took me numerous passes. To me, what made the puzzle a delight was the real paucity of proper names (not much apart from the afore-mentioned ASTAIRES and the fun fact about IDAHO), very few 3s, and none of the standard filler.
I enjoyed the BOW TIES appearing at the PASTA BAR, and the TORTILLA, which would feel welcome at a BURRITOS BAR. It would have been even more delightful if they threw in a nice glass of Rioja or Chianti to round out what could be a very pleasant yet casual dining experience (maybe have some house Sake available for the IDLI as well).
I also like the way the constructor gave us CHICK LIT ? - BITE ME ! in the same row. Nice touch.
No surprise if you have read my past posts ... I absolutely detested this. The three marquee answers all have 'colloquial equivalency clues', which are always terrible. These ones were particularly so.
My first guess for “brief out line” was IM GAY, which would at least have been a bit of cleverness in this otherwise putrid offering.
I am in my seventies and not the most proficient puzzle solver, but I did not find it particularly tough. The current expressions I didn't know mostly popped up, and seemed right after filling in the other clues. Just hit a sweet spot with me somehow.
This would have been an easy puzzle but for the two long phrases I've never heard of before. "Hell to the no"? Do people really say that? Ditto "That is such a mood"? I mean really.
The clue for ET AL is wrong. "Among others" is inter alia.
Well, BITEME. That works. Tough slog, not much reward, and just another signal that I am not current. I mean, really. And IMEANREALLY. There is some sparkling subtheme with trysts, and VILLAINS, LOOPHOLE, BROUHAHA, ISLANDER, and CRIES, but that's a longer story and yeah, ONEONONE kind of sucked the fun out of it.
There've been some reports of wolf in Maine recently. Maybe they're LOBO escaping the heat. Hope you all enjoy the long weekend, and happy Fourth.
Oh, Olio City, in the best way.
• Phrases I never heard before, but really like, and that illustrate that language is a living, breathing thing.
• That newness balanced by visits to the past (ASTAIRES, MAYA).
• Wordplay clues such as [Isn’t oneself], [Crash protection], and [Dining option where bow ties might be expected].
• Tough short vague clues such as [Air], [Inner], and [Up].
• Smile producing serendipities: That cross of BITE ME and HERO, the PuzzPair© of DITCH and LEAVES, and MOO in the middle row, followed by LOW and BAA in the next one.
• Something that keeps happening: Today, that long-O ending sound – IDAHO, UHOH, TAHOE, ALPO, CRYPTO, LOBO, HERO, AÑO.
• Splat fills balanced by thorny thickets.
A most enjoyable mix – a puzzle with personality – that satisfied my solving itch and somehow made me feel great about the world. Thank you, Carly!
The clues Rex saw as vague I saw as clever. When I hit on the answers I got a definite click of approval. This was a good Friday, one that I finished but took me time. And although I'm in my 80s and never heard "mood" used as slang, the phrase as a whole made sense so I gave it the kind of shrug I give the name of a rapper. Good puzzle!
HELL TO THE NO?????!!!!!!!!!!
THAT IS SUCH A MOOD?????!!!!!!
Is this the English language we're speaking? Or rather, that you're speaking?
I MEAN REALLY!!!!!!!!!!
Your attempt at being "now" and "with it" is risible, NYT. It's as if, at my advanced age, I were to put on a pair of jeans with holes in it, dye my hair pink, and get a punky tattoo. I'd be laughed right off Lexington Avenue. And I'd deserve it.
A rare day when my experience is a lot like Rex’s. Felt like a Saturday. Put up a fight, this one did, in a good way. Ditto to Lewis’s words of praise. Gotta agree with @kitshef, though, that [brief out line] was a lost opportunity for IM GAY.
Extra credit for anyone who can recall the first name of the female ASTAIRE. Now, there’s an old crossword standby that gets reclued nowadays.
I'm pretty much in agreement with Rex, which I don't think is typical on Fridays. Halfway through I remember thinking, "This feels like it's trying really cater to Rex and his desire for snappy modernisms, but it's just cringey."
HELL TO THE NO is indeed a stupid phrase, but I at least give credit for having the clue match its uncool "How do you do, fellow kids?" vibes.
Because it was late at night, my brain misproccessed Gen Z as Gen Y, and I was rolling my eyes hard thinking, "We don't say that!" But fair play. My mistake.
I didn't realize IDLy was also spelled IDLI, so that confused me a bit. Overall it was a quick but not completely painless puzzle -- not tough, just tedious with bland, not-quite-on-the-nose clues. Decent enough.
I sensed the same strained cluing as Rex - overall a fun solve but went out of its way in places just to be hip.
Either way I LOSE
Me too. I could have written this word for word.
I like vague cluing, and I liked this puzzle. And since I don't know GenZ slang, THAT IS SUCH A MOOD didn't trouble me (and I do think it sounds more real with the uncontradicted THAT IS for emphasis). I've never heard HELL TO THE NO, though, so I've no idea if it fits the clue.
The hardest part of the puzzle was, of course, trying to fit 'penseur' into 4 spaces at 11D. I needed a lot of crosses for that.
Like @Southside I enjoyed the near symmetrical NW and SE corners, with TORTILLA (luckily, serape didn't fit) echoing PASTA BAR, AUTOSAVE providing a way out along with LOOPHOLE, and a nice CHICKLIT story about a ONE ON ONE tryst.
I was brought up in the Congregational church, which didn't have so many titles, so I still don't know the difference between a RECTOR and a pastor, but I did like the crossing BROUHAHA, so that was OK.
Let's just agree to skip the usual discussion about 32-A.
Were the Astaires early 1900 hundred?
Adele. She was his sister.
And I promise I didn't Google that. But I am second guessing my confidence so now I'm going to check...
Yeah, Adele. 😊
I'm Boomer/xer cusp, with Millenial/Gen Z-cusp kids, I'm a teacher of Mellenial/Gen Z's, and I've obviously been around for a while. Never heard of the first two themers at all. So, glad for the education (?) but it was no help solving the puzzle. There was some cleverness here, though.
Not a fan. Cluing was way too vague in too many places. And I kind of like the occasional slangy term of the moment, but to have all 3 marquee answers be that kind of slang, especially since the terms feel very fluffy, seems desperate. It feels like the dad who wants to be cool to his kids and just embarrasses himself. NYT, you don't have to try so hard to be hip.
I forgot to say: the reason I remember that is because its such a nice, classy name that's pleasant to say.
Adele Astaire.
The studio execs knew what they were doing when they came up with that one.
Around here (Northern NJ), people seem to say HELLs TO THE NO. All the variations on THAT ... A MOOD were completely new to me, as was IDLI. Got hung up in the SE, mainly due to guessing gila instead of LOBO. When I finally got LOBO I took it out because I couldn't correlate ONE ON ONE with the clue. Definitely Saturday on Friday.
Exactly the same experience by someone who turns 77 tomorrow.
Happy International Asteroid Day. (I love those space-traversing zoomers…as long as they don’t hit us.)
I decided to do something a bit different today: I tracked all my first guesses to see which/how many survived to puzzle completion. I started solving by reading through all the across clues in order and filling in as many answers as I could without reference to any downs, so no help from crosses. This initial foray resulted in 12 answers. Here’s the list:
16A: TORTILLA [Mexican wrap]
21A: MAYA [Some pyramid builders]
22A: BUSY [Tied up]
28A: NAP [Go out for a bit?]
31A: PART [Role]
32A: AÑO [52 semanas]
41A: egg [Urge] – This was an error: turned out to be YEN
42A: wAiTS [Hangs on] – Another error: LASTS
44A: rendS [Tears up] – This was wrong, too, which I realized as soon as I looked over the puzzle after getting these initial 12 answers. Explanation below.
46A: HIRE [New employee]
52A: LAM [Flight]
58A: LEAVES [Word with tea or autumn]
When I perused the puzzle at this point, I saw that the combination of rendS at 44A and HIRE at 46A caused 44D, whose clue I hadn’t yet read, to begin with RR. This seemed so unlikely that I decided to change one of these guesses immediately, so I reconceived [Tears up], deleted rendS and put in CRIES, which turned out to be right. Another interesting tidbit was that I had a malapop in this first crop of answers, as I’d filled in wAiTS incorrectly at 42A, immediately above the proper position of WAIT at 45A [Pedestrian caution].
Anyway, I found it a fun exercise to see what eventually happened to all my first stabs-in-the-dark. I was happy with myself for coming up with as many as 12 in that first pass, and for getting 9 out of 12 right. That’s a better showing than I’m often able to manage.
Dunno, I enjoyed this puzzle a lot. Not a ton of PPP, and some fun cluing. Not so much of the standard fare, and no un-inferable crosses as far as I was concerned.
Thx, Carly, nice work; you're HIREd! 😊
Med (bang on Fri. avg); altho seemed a bit tougher.
Slow start in the NW; ALLEY was my LOOPHOLE.
Had a bonafide malapop with WAITs for 'Hangs on'.
IDLI was a bit scary, but the crosses were solid.
Had a d'oh moment with maNI before PEDI.
PRIES before CRIES; CRYPTO to the rescue.
Finished APTLY at YEN for the win.
A most fulfilling solve; loved it! :)
___
Peace 🕊 🇺🇦 ~ Compassion ~ Tolerance ~ Kindness, Freudenfreude, Serendipity & a DAP to all 👊 🙏
Whew! Didn't think I'd finish it without cheating, because of all the hiphop talk, but somehow I did. Never heard of IDLI, and didn't think EVAN could be a female name, so the SW was mostly guesswork. I had "make me" instead of BITEME, an expression I've never heard in 82 years on the planet...but the crosses forced it.
The SE was also tough. I had "gila" for the endangered mammal instead of LOBO. Knowing Will Shortz' love of misdirects, I caught on to the "bow ties" clue quickly, which got me to PASTABAR.
I'm giving myself a pat on the back (that's also hard at my age).
Has anyone heard from Loren Muse Smith? She hasn’t posted since 25 May. A bright spot on the blog, for sure, and is missed. Feeling a little concerned.
Never heard THAT IS SUCH A MOOD in any iteration and all my employees are Gen Z. Speaking of employees, a new employee (46 Across) isn't called a HIRE. A new hire, yes, I suppose. But just plain hire? No. And what's with not pluralizing MAYA (21 Across)? The Mayans built pyramids, not the Maya. This is as egregious as pluralizing tatami, which the NYTXW occasionally does, even though no such word exists. I suppose I should be happy the puzzle is aimed at a younger audience since that insinuates Gen Z folks might actually read!
I thought my previous comment was plenty long enough, but I have more to say, so I’m back!
As for the longer answers, I’d never heard either HELL TO THE NO or THAT IS SUCH A MOOD, making large areas of the grid hard to figure. I normally like these colloquial clue/answer equivalencies (or, sometimes, less-near equivalencies), but those two sailed right over my head. Did enjoy I MEAN REALLY, though.
Turning to showbiz, no problem with the ASTAIRES, but ITCHY nearly killed me (his specialty, I gather). I finally resorted to asking my husband, who’s pretty knowledgeable on Simpsons’ lore. I know, I know, you’re going to say I cheated, and I suppose you’re right. But I always think that if an answer comes straight from a human brain (even if not my own) without reference to Google or any outside authority, it’s legit.
Like Rex, I immediately went for CHICK flick and was stumped at its length. And this from a former bookseller, who knows all about the genre designated CHICK LIT. In the context of the bookstore, I got to the point of normalizing “CHICK LIT” and not thinking it particularly derogatory or dismissive. I just looked on it as a type of easy-reading, light-hearted fiction with women and their exploits (usually comic, often romantic) at its center.
Hah! I was absolutely convinced that [Brief out line?] was about visible panty lines through tight pants! Is my mind in the gutter, or what? On further reflection, I guess that would've required “outline” to be one word. Still, it’s a worthy conceit and might be an idea to revive if I ever construct a puzzle.
I was glad to see mention of NAOMI Klein, whose name was a gimme. She does good work in social and environmental justice areas close to my heart.
[SB: Wed 0, yd -1. I was brought down by this 8er, which I found out has a bunch of meanings in its non-proper noun guise.]
Oddly, I like it! Cluing was fair, although I did finally have to google “idli.” Hopefully, my French thinker will remember it!
The long answers were inferable, but totally new to me, and I have no intention of trying to use or remember them.
Thought the best clues were #s 1, 15, and 59 Across. Thanks for a good Friday, Ms. Schuna!
Hey All !
Wasn't HELL TO THE NO our generation, Rex? I remember hearing and/or saying that in my early twenties, maybe? As for the Gen Z stuff, gobbledygook to my ears. However, every Generation has there own slang, ya dig? Ya feel me? Totes. 😁
That W-Center area with all those one word clues intersecting was a challenge! Last section to fall, but figured it all out. *Pats self on back* Finished in good time, here, considering I was stuck in each section. 24 minutes! How does it seem I'm getting better at crosswords, but I keep missing simple words in the SB? Weird. (And I mean simple words, ala four letter common ones. Ugh.)
Liked this puz. A nice, brain tingling sort of toughie that went quickly enough but kept my interest.
BROUHAHA always a fun word. And who doesn't like a puz with BITE ME? Har.
No F's (I MEAN, REALLY)
RooMonster
DarrinV
So weird, it seemed kinda tough but I solved it way under my normal Friday time. The Southwest was last to drop and I was surprised to hear the happy music as I entered IDLI/MIEN/INNER. I’ll take it. HELL TO THE NO and THAT IS SUCH A MOOD both sound dumb, but they came from the crosses for me. I agree what Rex says about CHICKLIT c’mon look at the NYT best sellers - 90% seem to be women authors these days. Such a misogonistic word. BITEME. lol . Not sure if this was mentioned but if you get a chance read WordPlay in the Times today. Today’s constructor, Carly Schuna is a very talented woman - she is also a circus performer and there is a clip of her doing wild things with a wheel. Just watch it , I can’t explain. THANK YOU Carly, this is a great puzzle and you are a very interesting individual https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/29/crosswords/daily-puzzle-2023-06-30.html
A big reason I do the puzzle is to keep up with new expressions, so I welcome the mood line and HELLTOTHENO. Rex seems go be saying that they are used (with slightly different wording). It seems that HELLTOTHENO comes from a song. Once people forget about the song, it'll probably be back to simply "Hell, no!" And how does "mood" connect to having been in the same situation? Also from a song?
I wanted to get to sleep last night with the NE undone so I looked up ITCHY. I might have guessed it from the crosses but my tired old brain failed to see DITCH.
I agree with Rex that No Hard Feelings has a few good laughs, but it's not a good movie. Jennifer Lawrence is the only reason to see it. Especially if you'd like to see her naked.
ONE ON ONE for tryst works best if it's X-rated. Just sayin'.
So Rex mostly knows women? That explains why he's so grumpy most of the time. [That was a joke. I ran it by my wife before typing it. She told me not to use it, but only because it's not funny. Good point.]
And speaking of mostly women, my daughter is an excellent RN in oncology. (I am very proud of her.) Once when she was a nursing student, she texted me and asked if I could bring her notebook to her in class -- she had left it on her desk at home and she needed it for an open book/notes exam. She gave me the room number and said I should just come in, stand in the back, and she'd come and take it from me. I said sure, grabbed it, and drove the short distance to her school.
The minute I walked in, about 25 exquisite 19-year old women turned and looked at me. It was like walking into a Victoria's Secret catalog. The instructor said something, and I remember thinking if I could somehow get out the words "daughter" and "notebook" amid my stammering, I might be okay. Finally, after what seemed like a very long time, my daughter rescued me (with a big smile) by coming up and taking the book.
SHE has really been making progress. From selling sea shells earlier in the week to getting a gold mine today. Keep it up, SHE.
If trump gets elected again, I’m saying HELLTOTHENO to Hail to the Chief.
I just started a huge book that covers many eons. Right now, I’m just ONEONONE.
As I filled in BROUHAHA, I thought “There must be a beer fest somewhere called Brew HaHa!” There probably is, but when you Google it, you get hits for many, many coffee houses.
Liked this puzzle. Tough, fun Friday. Thanks, Carly Schuna.
There is no explaining wheelhouse solves. Every single answer except IDLI and EVAN dropped in first guess at a consistent steady pace and then I was done.
I don't find Fridays and Saturdays fun, mainly because it's a random collection of words with the third and fourth definition and not nearly enough comedy. Most of the time I end up on Google after an hour of flouncing about and figure enough is enough. And then there's no reason to come here and make fun of a terrible theme. I suspect the NYTXW doesn't push the comedy on weekends as the solving pool drops to only those with significant experience and those folks aren't known for grasping humor.
This ends up with a theme anyway with those colloquial phrases gumming up the acrosses.
We'll probably spend all day talking about generational stuff, which is always a yawner as you hep cats know. I don't think I know a single Gen Z person or how they're using words wrongly. I do know they've started moving into the condos where I live and they seem like the cast of Super Bad grown up. I guess I am too busy being a face stretcher to pay attention to the children, still this puzzle was the frog's eyebrows.
Interesting Fred Astaire became famous dancing with his sister before Ginger was in the picture.
MERE is having a good week.
Tee-Hees: HELL. Tryst. Kinda aching for its own uniclue, eh?
I forgot to label yesterday's uniclues, so I am sorry if some of you wandered into them thinking they were worth reading.
Uniclues:
1 Clear the cache.
2 Author's response to her blood sweat and tears being pigeonholed.
3 New Mexico priest.
4 More ambitious than those lazy Anasazi.
5 Expresses anti-Italian sentiment at the expense of culinary genius.
6 Why that shower is taking forever.
7 Member of the Jamaican bobsled team.
8 Crescent wrench picks a fight with hexagonal enemy.
1 DITCH AUTOSAVE (~)
2 CHICK LIT? BITE ME.
3 TORTILLA RECTOR (They really do use tortillas there.)
4 MAYA BUSY
5 LEAVES PASTA BAR
6 INNER ONE-ON-ONE
7 SKI HAT ISLANDER
8 C'MON ALONE, ALAN
Like Barbara, not a whole lot of gimmes. But just enough to lift the fog from just enough vague clues to get a few more, and a few more, then before long the puzzle went from acres of white squares to complete.
I tried to google the steamed rice cake without using a xword answer aggregator, but there are so many variations (banh didn't work with the crosses) that it was next to impossible. IDLI just didn't look right, but the crosses were fair.
Looking for fresh phrases really is an art form. Either they are just plain vanilla, or trying too hard. This gives extra appreciation for those constructors who manage to find that sweet spot of fresh, in the current language answers. For the record, I was fine with those today, though agree that the "mood" one is an odd combination of formal phrasing and slang.
@egs, SHE rocks!
This puzzle was very easy for me but it’s decidedly a generational and wheelhouse thing, and there were some clues I liked more than some. That said, I fully agree about the whole try hard thing. I’m an elder millennial (I *was* considered Gen Y, and I deeply resent now being generationally lumped in with kids who grew up with cell phones and social media), but I work at a QTBIPOC youth-centered foundation so there are a lot of young people in my daily life. I firmly agree with Rex about the lack of contraction on THATISSUCHAMOOD, and including THATIS in the first place. Mostly it’s just “mood.”
By the way, if you’ve ever wondered about where I work and if there were ways to support it, today’s a great day, since to wrap up Pride Month every gift we get of any size or duration will get matched with $150. No pressure and please only give if you’re able, but we support some incredible orgs working on everything from reproductive freedom to trans liberation to climate justice to racial justice:
To donate: bit.ly/give2thirdwavefund
To learn more: https://www.instagram.com/3wavefund
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Thanks for indulging me friends! And maybe someone will do me the favor of hyperlinking below!
@Barbara S - on Ralph Bunker's website (http://puzzlecrowd.com:8080/CrowdSource/) you can solve using a setting called "cycle thru exam", which shows you all the clues in order and allows you to type in a guess (or tab to skip it), but does not fill in any answers. You get to try every clue without knowing any crosses, and once you have been through all the clues, it will tell you how you did. A typical Monday might be something like: '58 answered correctly, 10 answered incorrectly, 8 skipped'.
It also has options to solve using across only, or down only, or 'move to random clue'. Or to just solve normally.
To upload a puzzle to the site, you need to use the crossword scraper extension to create a .puz file.
On Wednesday, I got an email from NYT Games with an “easy mode” version of this puzzle. As a longtime solver, I deleted the message but almost pulled it out of the trash folder to get through this one. Kicked my butt, but managed to finish.
I’m with @ GAC in finding generational difficulty with this puzzle. And added difficulty due to some clunky clues as Rex mentioned. So out of my wheelhouse but can see why some found it much easier. Overall OK after Googling some of the PPP, but easily got the ASTAIRES ‘cause they were more in my generation. Most fun was reading @Nancy’s description of fanciful prance down Lexington Ave…
Same here for 75 year old!
If I comment, either verbosely or tersely, I SLANDER I Carly (or am LIBEL too, the longer ASTAIRE at this).
I’m in SUCHAMOOD, may not get PAST A BAR today without imbibing something stronger than DIETSODA…
(wouldn’t MAYANS be the APTLY answered 21A?)
Challenging for me, and I was happy to be able to finish, although I couldn't really "relate," as two of the starring-role answers meant nothing to me. I liked having a Friday workout, and enjoyed the surprise appearances of AUTOSAVE, PASTA BAR, BROUHAHA, and LOOPHOLE (surprises, since I'd interpreted the clues along different lines). I also enjoyed reading the constructor's note on xwordinfo.
Do-overs: let go before DITCH, pasTOR before RECTOR. No idea: HELL TO THE NO, THAT IS SUCH A MOOD, IDLI, ITCHY.
19 year olds? What??
Enjoyed this immensely, an exceptionally good Friday for ME. One of those puzzles I was able to keep working at, getting stuck but getting a letter here and there which would break open enough that I could get going again. CMON, I MEAN REALLY is something I’d very likely say but never THAT IS SUCH A MOOD. Still, good to know in case I do hear it said by some young whippersnapper.
Fantastic clues for TORTILLA and PASTA BAR and I’m definitely gonna remember Ben Franklin’s advice. No DOUBT there were times in my life when I would have been wise to take it. Thanks Cathy, this was a fun start to the holiday weekend.
Thanks for the info, Weezie.
Like others, the answers to 19A and 35A are phrases I have never read or heard uttered. Puts quite a crimp in one's solving success.
At 47D, I wanted the brief out line to be “I’m gay.”
But instead it was “I lose” and that pretty much sums up my experience with much of this puzzle.
I'm with you. Or, as the "now" NYT might put it, "I such get yer mood."
Nope. This was NOT a puzzle aimed at GenZ. You CANNOT have a puzzle with ADELE Astaire in it that is aimed at Gen Z. As far as I could tell, THATISSUCHAMOOD is the only Gen Z answer. Like @mathgent I enjoy learning new colloquialisms even though I’m not very good at figuring them out (no matter what generation) without crosses. I ALMOST cheated at three different times while solving today but hung in there to finish at IGLI/INNER…YAY!
@Bob Mills, it gets harder each year for me to be “current” on the slang phrases. I’m thinking that “hip hop” refers to a music/song genre, and I don’t think any phrases in the puzzle are “hip hop.” I know as a little kid I learned an old (to me then) colloquialism “it’s the berries.” I’m thinking most people today would think “what on earth does THAT mean”?
@Weezie…yes, you are my daughter’s age(you said it the other day)…kind of a cusper…depending on what year a website says Gen X officially “ended.” My son is five years younger and he STILL didn’t have a cell phone until high school. But…I think being a “cusper” would be very cool since you can relate to TWO generations! One thing that kind of perplexes me is that Gen Z seems to have a lot of “unpleasant” feelings toward Gen Y. (Well, I’ve noted this on some sites). Okay. Time to donate!
Oops! Sorry Carly. I misread your name when I posted my earlier comment. That’s what happens when we Gen B’s (Boomers) have our bifocals on crooked. 🤓
Medium. Smooth and sparkly, fun solve, liked it.
Did not know IDLI and, ALAN and NAOMI as clued, nor did I know the Gen Z slang so it seemed fine to me and, I too found some of the cluing pretty vague.
I also had problems spelling VILLAINS.
I liked this a lot (pasta bar for one) & a lot of Gen Z stuff I didn't know but fun to learn.
Nice Friday, Carly.
I'm afraid I don't parlez current colloquialism. But then, nobody understands me either.
As I started to climb the generation ladder, I became stuck. I wasn't even sure if I was enjoying the climb Eventually I reached a bit of youthful satisfaction when I reached the roof.
I don't know any GEN Z's. I'd like to. My daughter is a Millennial and my son a Gen Y. I don't now how I know this because I don't understand any of this Gen stuff and I feel left out.
Any way...I MEAN REALLY just popped. I like that one. I just danced all around the others. I was determined to find you. I did. I had my HELL in place and it ended in O. Oh, it's TO THE NO. Whaaaaaat? Move on.
THAt IS SUCH A MOOD kinda gave me the angst agita as well. I got you anyway.
I thought this was trying awfully hard to impress me. Your cluing was fiendish and I wasn't always able to dance to your tune.
ITCHY! A mouse I know. BRUHAHA! I spelled you correctly. TORTILLA! You took so long. A TORTILLA in Spain is made with eggs and potatoes . Oh, we're talking Mexican. Aha!
I'm pondering now at pyramid builders at 21A. Did anyone else write in ANTS? No? Oh, the MAYA did. Marketers profit at 33A was stepping on my toes. AD FEES? No. AD RATE? No. Aha...AD SALES. I finally got you because of your S. I know my SMORE. Liked that clue by the way.
So I finished this late last night. It was a struggle. I like struggle if it's sweet. I'm not sure what this was....
Now off to walk the pups and brush my teeth.
I'm in the aging millennial category and the slang was all familiar to me. (Agree with Rex's assessment of mood -- I've never heard it in the wild as a formal declaration.)
Also adding my voice to those who were disappointed that the brief out line wasn't I'M GAY.
Well I googled "such a mood" and at the very top of the results was this, from a query on Reddit:
Something is a “mood” if you really like it and it emotionally connects with you/relates to you. So for example, if you watch a really sad movie about someone struggling in school, and meanwhile you are also struggling on school, you might say “omg, that movie is such a mood” because it feels very relevant to you.
So apparently it is a way someone might say it. The answer doesn't seem formal, just generic – "that" could be that movie, that situation, etc. I mean really, Rex.
I enjoyed this puzzle. Most of it was not problematic to discern. That tryst clue is bizarre, I agree – I got held up a bit trying to figure that one out. I learned that the Astaires actually started out professionally as a child duo around 1905, though they didn't achieve real fame until the 1920's.
Autumn Leaves
@weezie, sorry…I need to take a tutorial every time I hyperlink but it was no big deal to copy and paste link into Chrome.
I’m an old Millennial, and I guess I know most Gen Z slang (?), but I had never heard THAT IS SUCH A MOOD before. That said, I also had trouble with the sw corner until I remembered that my racist grandparents used to talk wistfully about the ASTAIRES while bemoaning the state of 1990s pop culture. I really DOUBT that many Gen Z-ers would get that reference, though.
@Beezer
Email me and I'll send you my Embedding Cheat Sheet.
I thought this was a fine Friday puzzle. Challenging enough to chew on (3 minutes longer than my average time), full of answers that felt fresh, some misdirects that led to real “doh” moments for me, and blessedly free of things like “Raiser” and “eely”. I live with a Gen Z er and feel very lucky that she likes to talk to me, and while “That is such a mood” wasn’t my first guess, I can certainly imagine her and her friends saying it.
Kinda liked the 'tude of this here themeless pup. Always neat to have all kinds of different constructioneer personal cultures and experiences shine through, with no themers to somewhat block that road. This time the slant was of a fairly young & hip persuasion, I'd reckon.
fave thing: HELLTOTHENO. M&A is assumin [without knowin] that it's short for "HELL TO THE NO power" -- i.e., a math term reference. Cool stuff.
other fave stuff: IMEANREALLY. BROUHAHA/BITEME. TORTILLA & PASTABAR. CRYPTO. That long MOOD-thing, swingin across the center, was funny & ok, but sounded sorta made up. But, hey -- maybe it's what some folks are sayin, out there in the wild.
staff weeject pick: HAN. Primo creative clue for it.
Thanx for the tour of yer mind, Ms. Schuna darlin. Good job.
Masked & Anonymo3Us
**gruntz**
Yep, too young for this geezer. "Bite me" isn't "sassy," it's puerile. I thought the long(ish) answers were "common reactions with strangely too many words." (e.g., "Hell no"; or "Such a mood!")
Never been to one of those franchises with a "pasta bar." I've been to many Pastarias, so that one flummoxed me for quite a while.
Maybe should've used "derogatory" rather than "dismissive" for 14A's clue. (Oh look, Rex said that too...)
Okay puzzle, very strange to me; that's not a bad thing, it just is.
I’m 74 and got 100% despite never having heard of any of the following: HELLTOTHENO, THATISSUCHAMOOD, and IDLI. That’s the beauty of crosswords. The crossing words, if fair, give you a shot. IMEANREALLY (not ludicrous).
Wow, so very tough at first. Lots of blanks at the bottom with no idea. Then I took a 5 minute break to open some windows and move the sprinkler, came back and filled in everything quick quick!
I wonder if 10 years from now anyone will still say 19 and 35 across. 48 across, however, will probably be going strong in 60 years. Note that MEAN crosses MIEN.
[Spelling Bee: Thurs -3, missed these tricksters.]
Didn't know some of the current lingo, but certainly not offended, even though I don't think these are going to last for the long run, not like Hell F*(*ing NO!, a true classic. Still, can't fault the kids for trying new things.
@Weezie - Well, now that Roberts has (once again) proved that we live in a post-racial world, I don't know if your org is truly necessary, but I gave anyway. Maybe you can redirect some of the money to help those who got into Harvard on a rowing scholarship resurrect their status, it seems everyone picks on them when discussing Harvard admissions. Mediocre white boys have rights too!
OK...so I just spoke to my 36 year old daughter and showed her the puzzle. Well, I showed her the clues and answers for HELL TO THE NO and THAT IS SUCH A MOOD. She also looked at the entire puzzle.
She said that's she's heard these phrases but It sounded to her like the constructor had probably talked to their grown children or grandchildren and asked them for some "cool" phrases.
Well...that's another perspective!
It’s funny. Rex rated Wednesday and Thursday this week as easy and I struggled mightily with both of them. Friday was a complete breeze for me and it’s medium to challenging. It’s not the GenZ stuff — I’m nearing 60. I think I simply click with some constructors and not with others and that’s true for everyone.
Easy for this Xer, which I can't say for most Fridays. I'm not sure I've heard or read "THAT IS SUCH A MOOD" before, but it was all inferable to me. I could swear I've heard it. I have a couple of Generation Alpha kids to keep me current on my slang, but I don't remember hearing them use it before. I'll have to quiz them when they get home. I absolutely love following slang and watching how it develops over time. It's all part of the beauty of language, always keeping me on my toes and developing new ways to express old things and some new ones, too.
HELL TO THE NO I feel goes back as far as the 00s, maybe even 90s? It feels really old and dated today, though I would use that phrase with a wink and a smile.
CHICK LIT is a phrase I originally learned from my wife, strangely enough (or perhaps not. To be honest, I've only heard that description from women to describe a somewhat predictable genre of popular fiction aimed at women readers.) There's a wonderful collection of short stories called "This Is Not Chick Lit", edited by Elizabeth Merrick, that I highly recommend. It's a diverse selection of eighteen short stories that rebel against many of these tropes, although some stories do touch on romance and finding identity in the big city.
I feel like I might be living in an alternate universe, but I’ve done nearly this exact same puzzle before. Same answers, different clues.
For example, PASTABAR was something along the lines of “A place where elbows on the table are expected”.
SMORE was “treat that leaves you with sticky fingers”. ONEONONE was “a private meeting”… Nearly every clue.
I looked back at my recent puzzles and couldn’t find another similar puzzle, so maybe I’m just having a crazy weird case of deja vu!
Me too! I still scroll all the way through every day looking for her, even though she usually posts right at the top.
Two puzzles for me. One part easy, one part medium or harder. Above a line roughly from square 18 to the end of 44A, easy. Below that, not so much. Partly because of the phrases, IDLI, and my confidence in my misspelled entry of tratoria at 56A. Eventually fixed that, which was a big help.
Apologies for a couple days ago for, essentially, repeating what someone had posted about Scions, four hours before I had. Thought I'd read the posts, or at least scanned them, but missed that one.
I’m 31. Solved this in 16 mins, which is about bit under average for a Friday for me. Not very difficult.
Brief out line (I LOSE) is a reference to gaming, I think, more than poker. At least, that's what my 12 y.o. kid says...!
THAT IS SUCH A MOOD is an absolute non sequitur; having utterly no idea what a SMORE or a PEDIS is (are?), I assumed the phrase was THAT IS SUCH A HOOT, and the words in question were SHORE and PETIS, which make at least as much sense as the "real" words do. So I went with it.
"HELL TO THE NO" has been around for a while, and it's not just a Gen Z-ism. Some years back there was a very popular southern soul-blues song by a veteran "chitlin' circuit" entertainer who called himself Bishop Bullwinkle, satirizing hypocritical preachers and church folk, called "Hell to the Naw Naw." Its target audience was primarily middle-aged, working class African-American southern blues lovers (not exactly a Gen Z demographic), and it was very successful.
Thank you for supporting! 💕
Is there a word for the phenomenon of being stuck on the xword, putting it aside for a short while to do something else, and then upon returning to the crossword immediately seeing an answer you overlooked? That happened to me today and it’s not the first time. I would love it if such a word exists
Aw Beezer my friend TY for the support. And yes it’s definitely good to be able to relate to various generations. My older (technically half) brothers are 12 and 14 years older than me so they are firmly Gen X, which helps in that generation’s direction. It’s just a pet peeve of mine to be lumped in because I didn’t have a cell phone til after college and Internet arrived in my home around high school. That’s a very different upbringing and sociocultural experience than, say, my 28 year-old supervisee. I don’t know why it bugs so much to be declared part of that generation, tbh, and I recognize it’s silly, but here we are!
I hear a lot of people say “That’s such a mood” or “That’s a mood” but I more regularly see it truncated to just “mood” as a response that basically saying “I commiserate and don’t have anything to add”
Haha, thank you for the support nevertheless and we’ll be sure to divert the funds accordingly! 😘
Me too at 76. But I have grandkids in their late teen and early 20s who keep me in the loop. Liked chick lit with bite me but Crypto isn’t an investment, I mean really!
Asked totally without judgment, did you grow up in the US? And if so, where? I feel like s’mores are ubiquitous, though maybe not for some urbanites? They are a campfire staple: roasted marshmallow and a piece of chocolate sandwiched between graham crackers.
As for PEDIS, that’s a plural. It’s short for pedicure, and frequently used in salons as mani-pedi, short for manicure-pedicure. I don’t know anyone who uses PEDI as a stand alone, honestly, but that could be a regional thing.
"I'm afraid I don't parlez current colloquialism. But then, nobody understands me either." --@GILL
Oh, I understand you totally, @GILL, and I always have. And thanks to your colloquialism comment, you're the person I feel most closely bonded to today.
Except, of course, for your ability to identify the various generations. That's something I don't do, have never done, and have never once tried to do. I'm not at all sure I could even if I wanted to.
To me, younger people -- and I'm fortunate enough to count a number of them as friends -- are not members of particular "generations". I don't know one generation from the other -- I really, really don't. I tend to identify a younger friend as a "twenty-something", a "thirty-something", or a "forty-something". I don't know their generational "categories". If, for instance, you say "Gen Z" to me, I'll furrow up my brow and ask myself: "Now which ones, exactly, are they?" Reverse the question, and it's the same thing. Ask me what generation, say, a 25-year-old or a 41-year-old is and I'll just stare at you blankly.
When I think about it -- and I haven't often thought about it -- I sort of think that breaking people down into their "generational" identity is like breaking people down into all their other various identities. The recent trend to identity politics has, I think, been extremely detrimental to the health of our nation -- and I would imagine that generational identity could prove to be almost as detrimental. (Though at the moment it does seem more a matter of good-natured ribbing than anything else.)
I turn 40 in 4 days and I never use or hear anyone talking about something being "a mood". Yikes.
I had a lot of fun with this puzzle. It was challenging in parts but I never got frustrated with the cluing. The marquee answers weren’t a chore once I got a couple down letters in. I liked that the marquee answers were modern phrases that are still in regular use. It doesn’t have the vibe of “this is what older people think young people are saying, but they really aren’t.” It was refreshing.
@MetroGnome -- if you're not American, you probably won't know what a s'more is. If you are and don't know what it is, you've probably never been camping. I'm about four or five hours away from having s'mores with my kids tonight. It's melted marshmallow and a (usually) Hershey's chocolate stuffed between two graham crackers. It's about as American as camping food gets. They even have s'mores flavored ice cream, yogurt (see: Chobani), and other desserts.
A PEDI is a pedicure. Often hear in the context of MANIPEDI (manicure & pedicure.) It's shown up 19 times in the last ten years, and this is its third appearance this year. So it's a good one to commit to memory. (MANI has shown up 3 times in the last ten years, and MANIPEDI last showed up in 2022 (twice).
I’m (only) 50 … and this puzzle was irritatingly hard. I finished without cheating but I didn’t enjoy the ride. I teach Gen Z kids and not one has ever said “that is such a mood”.
I mean, really!
As to the MAYA vs MAYANS BROUHAHA, I've seen it both ways in xword puzzles. I think the letter count convenience determines which ones are used. I prefer the collective MAYA to refer to "Some pyramid builders" but would have no problems with MAYANS being the answer to that same clue.
I may be able to claim some street credibility to my MAYA preference. In the 90s, an intrepid group of us would make annual pilgrimages into Mexico and parts of Central America that we called our Explorando La Ruta Maya trips.
I would say that you can't go wrong visiting almost any MAYAN ruins, but Tikal would be my top recommendation, partly because of the soul-stirring, majestic beauty of the ruins themselves but also because there's an airport near by and you can stay in the charming city of Flores at night while you explore Tikal during the days. Definitely worth a three or four day or longer excursion.
If you do go to Tikal, you might witness an unusual behavior of the howler monkeys, hopefully from afar. They like to defecate into their hands and then fling it at any unwelcome intruders on the ground below! We were unscathed, having been forewarned to keep our distance from the howlers.
@Nancy…and @GILL I…I TOTALLY get you on the “generation-speak,” there is SO much overlap! One example is what @weezie said as to it being hard to relate to peeps that didn’t grow up with cell phones. My personal example is the fact that I was born in 1955 and my ONLY sib (sister) was born in 1944 and is assigned “the Silent generation”. To me, the fact that we had “young” Elvis, Bobby Darrin, Everly Brothers, Buddy Holly and the Crickets 45 rpm records in my house as a young child enriched my life. My only point is that each age group, however you cut it up, comes up with slang phrases. They don’t always make sense to some of us and may (as someone above said…apologies) may derive from something said in a movie that resonates to that age group. Some live on for awhile and some die off. Anyhoo. I’m okay with learning these things…as long as the crosses are fair…hahaha!
@GILL I - Just to bring you up to date Gen Y and Millennials are the same thing and were born between 1982 and 1994. Gen Z spans 1995 to 2010.
“No Hard Feelings” has a 68% score on Rotten Tomatoes which puts it in the “fresh” as opposed to “rotten” column, and 90% of Google users liked the movie.
@moomoopants. If you are serious, you did the "easy clues" version of this puzzle that was sent out earlier this week.
@Nancy 3:55. See! I just read @jae at 5:11 and I've gotten all my gens wrong anyway. I'm still not sure what I am (all of the above?)...I'm not the least bothered - nay, I like listening to new phrases and try to use them if they make sense to anybody listening. @Beezer 5:03 brings up some good points on how each generation comes up with their own "slang" speak. When I lived in Southern California everything was "Bitchin." Bitchin this and bitchin that....Another one I remember was "Don't flip your wig!" And how about "Groovy" and "Far Out?"
And now I feel as though I need false teeth and a walker to get around.
@Anonymous (3:44 PM)
Recently, bloggers have suggested 'incubation', 'percolation' and 'serendipity' as relative to the word you're looking for, esp in the context of putting it down for a time, then returning to find immediate success. My fave is 'inspiration'. If you're looking for phrases, 'bolt out of the blue' and 'flash of 'inspiration' might fit the bill. I asked ChatGPT to chip in some other ideas. It came up with this:
"When describing a "flash of inspiration" or a sudden realization, you can use various synonyms or related phrases to capture the essence of the experience. Here are some words and phrases that convey similar meanings:
Epiphany: A moment of sudden revelation or insight, often associated with a profound understanding or realization.
Revelation: An unexpected and dramatic disclosure of information or understanding.
Eureka moment: A exclamation of joy or satisfaction when one discovers or solves something, famously attributed to Archimedes.
Insight: A clear and deep understanding of a particular issue or problem.
Aha moment: An exclamation used to express sudden comprehension or realization.
Brainwave: A sudden and brilliant idea or inspiration that comes to mind.
Regarding the comparison and contrast with the words "incubation," "percolation," and "serendipity":
Incubation: In the context of creativity or problem-solving, incubation refers to the period of time when one sets aside a problem or task and allows the subconscious mind to work on it without active conscious effort. During this phase, ideas and solutions may develop gradually until a breakthrough or flash of inspiration occurs.
Percolation: This term is often used metaphorically to describe the process of ideas or information gradually filtering through one's mind, combining and merging, until a new and insightful understanding emerges.
Serendipity: Serendipity refers to the occurrence of fortunate or unexpected events by chance, often leading to pleasant or beneficial outcomes. In the context of the xword blogger's experience, serendipity may apply when they coincidentally come across the answer they overlooked upon returning to the crossword.
While all these terms involve moments of insight or realization, they differ in their specific connotations and the processes involved. "Flash of inspiration" and "bolt out of the blue" refer to sudden, immediate, and often surprising moments of clarity or understanding. On the other hand, "incubation" and "percolation" involve more gradual processes where ideas develop and mature over time. "Serendipity," in the context of the crossword experience, pertains to the fortunate chance encounter with the previously overlooked answer."
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Peace 🕊 🇺🇦 ~ Compassion ~ Tolerance ~ Kindness, Freudenfreude, Serendipity, & a DAP to all 👊 🙏
To Beezer; I used "hiphop" as a broad phrase meaning "current." I'm old.
A decent, fairly enjoyable puzzle with one GLARING, TERRIBLE miscluing.
Attributing Astaire/Rogers to the "early 1900s" is deliberately and crucially misleading. All their great film numbers are from the 1930s and 1940s. Some as late as 1949! Early? Give me a break!
Loved it! Didn’t feel try-hard at all. More current language and less erma/iceT cobwebs please. Hard but fun.
I do the puzzle on paper and I confidently wrote in the same wrong answer (in pen!). The actual answer is a big let down. Boring in fact. But otherwise I didn’t hate the puzzle.
I didn’t know the mood expression at all and got it through crosses and completing words. So if it is accurate or not is irrelevant to me. Odd how mood got to mean what it does here though. I can see why kitchef hated it but zzI didn’t.
Close enough for crosswords.
The clue is not about Astaire/Rogers
@Beezer (5:03) -- Woe to the people who shoved your early-Boomer 1944-born sister unceremoniously into the Silent Generation when no one was looking, just as they did to 1942-born me. Such an outrage! If I ever find out who they are, there will be all hell to pay. That's a promise.
The Silent Generation was the generation of the 1950s -- epitomized by one-income families and women who mostly didn't work. At the end of the 1950s, I was a senior in high school and your sister was a sophomore in HS. We were not yet in college, not yet working, not yet married. Not really anything yet.
It was during our college and young adult years that all the Boomer events occurred: Vietnam; the JFK assassination; the rock music revolution; the Freedom Riders; Woodstock; drugs. There was nothing remotely "silent" about our generation. We not only lived through but helped create one of the most tumultuous eras in U.S. history. We were always considered Boomers in our youth; no one every told us otherwise.
Decades passed. Many, many decades. And then one day I'm reading an article in the paper and it tells me that I and every single person my age is a member of the Silent Generation. Get outta here! First I'd heard of it and I was not a happy camper.
Meanwhile, it seemed they've also shoehorned people born all the way up to 1964 into the Boomer generation. Get outta here! JFK was shot before those people were even born. The Vietnam War was over before they were 10. They would have had to go to Woodstock at age 5. And Elvis had long since left the building. Who are these wannabe pretenders kicking your sister and me out of our rightful generation in order to steal a completely unwarranted and erroneous place for themselves?
They'd better hope your sister and I never find out.
"Fred Astaire and Adele Astaire began performing together as a dance partnership in the early 20th century. Their careers took off during the 1910s and 1920s. The brother and sister duo gained fame as a highly talented and entertaining act in various vaudeville performances and on Broadway.
Their first significant success came with the 1917 Broadway musical "Over the Top," which helped them establish themselves as talented dancers and performers. They continued to collaborate in several other successful Broadway shows, including "For Goodness Sake" (1922) and "Funny Face" (1927).
Adele Astaire was highly praised for her dancing and acting abilities, while Fred Astaire, although not yet the legendary figure he would later become, showcased his remarkable dance skills and charismatic stage presence alongside his sister.
In 1932, Adele Astaire decided to retire from the stage after getting married to Lord Charles Cavendish, becoming Lady Charles Cavendish. After her retirement, Fred Astaire went on to have a successful solo career in Hollywood and became one of the most influential and celebrated dancers in film history.
Together, Fred and Adele Astaire left a lasting legacy in the world of dance and entertainment, and Fred Astaire's solo career further solidified his status as a legendary figure in the performing arts." (ChatGPT)
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Peace 🕊 🇺🇦 ~ Compassion ~ Tolerance ~ Kindness, Freudenfreude, Serendipity & a DAP to all 👊 🙏
Boy is it late. I solved this on my laptop while sitting by the pool and it took forever. At least I found out what the happy music sounds like.
The absolute worst moment for me was finally seeing IMEANREALLY, which I tend to put in MY OWN COMMENTS about once a week. I borrowed it from Bill Bryson who is one of my favorite authors.
And tomorrow is a 4AM wakeup call and back home. Florida has some very nice people in it, but they still elected a poltroon. I mean, really.
Best part of this puzzle for me was the ASTAIRES. I adore all those old films with the cookie cutter plots. It’s the songs and dance numbers that do it for me. Overall though, the Gen Z focus certainly gave me a run for my money.
I did get some good wavelength access though. Just felt so good to put in the answer I thought might be correct and discover that it is!
I do agree though that THAT IS SUCH A MOOD doesn’t fit the clue nor have I ever heard it said as the clue describes. But overall a satisfying Friday solve.
Nearly perfect! Took me over an hour but no cheating. ETAL is incorrect. Thanks to the editor.
I was initially thrown by the "early 1900s" reference to the ASTAIRES, since I think of Fred as a mid-1900s star, but of course his career with his sister Adele was much earlier, so the clue was fair and appropriate.
Is TAHOE ever clued as a lake? I'd like to see commercial products clued as their eponyms unless it's a clever clue, which this was not. There are lots of ways to clue TAHOE that might have taught us something about the lake.
I suppose CRYPTO has to be clued as a currency, but I'm not a fan of something whose very existence requires huge amounts of energy. According to the NYT, it takes 155,000 KWH to "mine" one Bitcoin.
THANK YOU. Wow it all makes sense now. Totally forgot about that. Phew.
I like all these comments about the Silent Generation.of which I am a member. . We didn’t do anything great but go to Viet Nam which people hated us for doing, Most of us did nothing really . Unimaginative era. I still write and have published book reviews and am writing a law review article. Just being insular. Reading .Work xword puzzles. Watch my diet. Eat protein,. Limit alcohol. Walk.
Great friends to have from that era. who love to bullshit. There are complainers , to be sure. Always think that they have been shortchanged. Make fun of new generations. Very envious they were not in on the great computer eras. It is difficult for many of that generation.
A sad generation but they love their grands.. Accept it, old timers.
STRAP is a word that goes with both boot and spaghetti. You pull yourself up by your boot straps. And a spaghetti strap is a thin shoulder strap that supports a woman's dress or top.
I wasn't familiar with the Hall & Oates song but wish to draw your attention to George Michael's "I want your sex":
Sex is natural
Sex is fun
Sex is best when it's
ONE ON ONE
I totally agree that the cluing was off, but enjoyed the musical diversion
Heard this song in car just yesterday, singing along, got to “ONE ON ONE” and said “OH MY GOD” out loud lol —RP
ITCHY MOOD
"C'MON", CRIES NAOMI,
"IMEAN THAT ISSUCH fun!"
HELL, THAT CHICK will show ME
how SHE ACTS ONEONONE.
--- ALAN ASTAIRE
DNF, by a long shot. Had NE & E, and endings of two long ones: --TOTHENO and --SUCHAMOOD. Couldn't for the life of me figure out what began those two. Had nothing else at all except LEAVES and HAN. Most of the clues were of the "that can be ANYTHING" variety.
Wordle par, misguessed for a bird. Not my finest day.
Sorry, CRYPTO isn't an investment. It's a 100% speculation that gullible young people think is an investment. The only people who use it in business are drug dealers and hackers.
I thought there was a theme with the three longest answers being slangy phrases. This one felt more like a Saturday. It took a while to gain traction and there are many BIC Wite-Out © blobs on my grid. Enjoyable solve with plenty tricky challenges.
Add BITEME to the list of non-theme themers. Phrases with attitude, which include HELLTOTHENO, THATISSUCHAMOOD and IMEANREALLY.
PASTABAR sounds like a good idea.
I wanted CHICKFLICK too, but of course it didn't fit. And I had something before "bite"ME. Now I can't remember what. ah well
Diana, LIW
Perfectly clean grid, but not without plenty of deliberation. Sure I haven't heard a couple of those phrases in the wild. Concession to the kids.
My wife is an avid reader of books that I have zero interest in. They are written exclusively for a female readership. She admits they are chick lit, though she doesn't like the term.
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